One of these avenues flows out of the midst of the smart parades and crescents of the former town,—along by hedges and beneath the shadow of great elms, past stuccoed Elizabethan villas4 and wayside alehouses, and through a hamlet of modern aspect,—and runs straight into the principal thoroughfare of Warwick. The battlemented turrets5 of the castle, embowered half-way up in foliage6, and the tall, slender tower of St. Mary's Church, rising from among clustered roofs, have been visible almost from the commencement of the walk. Near the entrance of the town stands St. John's School-House, a picturesque7 old edifice8 of stone, with four peaked gables in a row, alternately plain and ornamented10, and wide, projecting windows, and a spacious11 and venerable porch, all overgrown with moss12 and ivy13, and shut in from the world by a high stone fence, not less mossy than the gabled front. There is an iron gate, through the rusty open-work of which you see a grassy14 lawn, and almost expect to meet the shy, curious eyes of the little boys of past generations, peeping forth15 from their infantile antiquity16 into the strangeness of our present life. I find a peculiar17 charm in these long-established English schools, where the school-boy of to-day sits side by side, as it were, with his great-grandsire, on the same old benches, and often, I believe, thumbs a later, but unimproved edition of the same old grammar or arithmetic. The newfangled notions of a Yankee school-committee would madden many a pedagogue18, and shake down the roof of many a time-honored seat of learning, in the mother-country.
At this point, however, we will turn back, in order to follow up the other road from Leamington, which was the one that I loved best to take. It pursues a straight and level course, bordered by wide gravel-walks and overhung by the frequent elm, with here a cottage and there a villa3, on one side a wooded plantation19, and on the other a rich field of grass or grain, until, turning at right angles, it brings you to an arched bridge over the Avon. Its parapet is a balustrade carved out of freestone, into the soft substance of which a multitude of persons have engraved20 their names or initials, many of them now illegible21, while others, more deeply cut, are illuminated22 with fresh green moss. These tokens indicate a famous spot; and casting our eyes along the smooth gleam and shadow of the quiet stream, through a vista23 of willows24 that droop25 on either side into the water, we behold26 the gray magnificence of Warwick Castle, uplifting itself among stately trees, and rearing its turrets high above their loftiest branches. We can scarcely think the scene real, so completely do those machicolated towers, the long line of battlements, the massive buttresses27, the high-windowed walls, shape out our indistinct ideas of the antique time. It might rather seem as if the sleepy river (being Shakespeare's Avon, and often, no doubt, the mirror of his gorgeous visions) were dreaming now of a lordly residence that stood here many centuries ago; and this fantasy is strengthened, when you observe that the image in the tranquil28 water has all the distinctness of the actual structure. Either might be the reflection of the other. Wherever Time has gnawed29 one of the stones, you see the mark of his tooth just as plainly in the sunken reflection. Each is so perfect, that the upper vision seems a castle in the air, and the lower one an old stronghold of feudalism, miraculously32 kept from decay in an enchanted33 river.
A ruinous and ivy-grown bridge, that projects from the bank a little on the hither side of the castle, has the effect of making the scene appear more entirely34 apart from the every-day world, for it ends abruptly35 in the middle of the stream,—so that, if a cavalcade36 of the knights38 and ladies of romance should issue from the old walls, they could never tread on earthly ground, any more than we, approaching from the side of modern realism, can overleap the gulf39 between our domain40 and theirs. Yet, if we seek to disenchant ourselves, it may readily be done. Crossing the bridge on which we stand, and passing a little farther on, we come to the entrance of the castle, abutting41 on the highway, and hospitably42 open at certain hours to all curious pilgrims who choose to disburse43 half a crown or so toward the support of the earl's domestics. The sight of that long series of historic rooms, full of such splendors45 and rarities as a great English family necessarily gathers about itself, in its hereditary46 abode47, and in the lapse48 of ages, is well worth the money, or ten times as much, if indeed the value of the spectacle could be reckoned in money's-worth. But after the attendant has hurried you from end to end of the edifice, repeating a guide-book by rote49, and exorcising each successive hall of its poetic50 glamour51 and witchcraft52 by the mere53 tone in which he talks about it, you will make the doleful discovery that Warwick Castle has ceased to be a dream. It is better, methinks, to linger on the bridge, gazing at Caesar's Tower and Guy's Tower in the dim English sunshine above, and in the placid54 Avon below, and still keep them as thoughts in your own mind, than climb to their summits, or touch even a stone of their actual substance. They will have all the more reality for you, as stalwart relics55 of immemorial time, if you are reverent57 enough to leave them in the intangible sanctity of a poetic vision.
From the bridge over the Avon, the road passes in front of the castle-gate, and soon enters the principal street of Warwick, a little beyond St. John's School-House, already described. Chester itself, most antique of English towns, can hardly show quainter59 architectural shapes than many of the buildings that border this street. They are mostly of the timber-and-plaster kind, with bowed and decrepit60 ridge-poles, and a whole chronology of various patchwork61 in their walls; their low-browed doorways62 open upon a sunken floor; their projecting stories peep, as it were, over one another's shoulders, and rise into a multiplicity of peaked gables; they have curious windows, breaking out irregularly all over the house, some even in the roof, set in their own little peaks, opening lattice-wise, and furnished with twenty small panes64 of lozenge-shaped glass. The architecture of these edifices66 (a visible oaken framework, showing the whole skeleton of the house,—as if a man's bones should be arranged on his outside, and his flesh seen through the interstices) is often imitated by modern builders, and with sufficiently67 picturesque effect. The objection is, that such houses, like all imitations of bygone styles, have an air of affectation; they do not seem to be built in earnest; they are no better than playthings, or overgrown baby-houses, in which nobody should be expected to encounter the serious realities of either birth or death. Besides, originating nothing, we leave no fashions for another age to copy, when we ourselves shall have grown antique.
Old as it looks, all this portion of Warwick has overbrimmed, as it were, from the original settlement, being outside of the ancient wall. The street soon runs under an arched gateway68, with a church or some other venerable structure above it, and admits us into the heart of the town. At one of my first visits, I witnessed a military display. A regiment69 of Warwickshire militia70, probably commanded by the Earl, was going through its drill in the market-place; and on the collar of one of the officers was embroidered71 the Bear and Ragged72 Staff, which has been the cognizance of the Warwick earldom from time immemorial. The soldiers were sturdy young men, with the simple, stolid73, yet kindly74 faces of English rustics75, looking exceedingly well in a body, but slouching into a yeoman-like carriage and appearance the moment they were dismissed from drill. Squads76 of them were distributed everywhere about the streets, and sentinels were posted at various points; and I saw a sergeant77, with a great key in his hand (big enough to have been the key of the castle's main entrance when the gate was thickest and heaviest), apparently78 setting a guard. Thus, centuries after feudal31 times are past, we find warriors79 still gathering81 under the old castle-walls, and commanded by a feudal lord, just as in the days of the King-Maker, who, no doubt, often mustered82 his retainers in the same market-place where I beheld83 this modern regiment.
The interior of the town wears a less old-fashioned aspect than the suburbs through which we approach it; and the High Street has shops with modern plate-glass, and buildings with stuccoed fronts, exhibiting as few projections84 to hang a thought or sentiment upon as if an architect of to-day had planned them. And, indeed, so far as their surface goes, they are perhaps new enough to stand unabashed in an American street; but behind these renovated85 faces, with their monotonous86 lack of expression, there is probably the substance of the same old town that wore a Gothic exterior87 in the Middle Ages. The street is an emblem88 of England itself. What seems new in it is chiefly a skilful89 and fortunate adaptation of what such a people as ourselves would destroy. The new things are based and supported on sturdy old things, and derive90 a massive strength from their deep and immemorial foundations, though with such limitations and impediments as only an Englishman could endure. But he likes to feel the weight of all the past upon his back; and, moreover, the antiquity that overburdens him has taken root in his being, and has grown to be rather a hump than a pack, so that there is no getting rid of it without tearing his whole structure to pieces. In my judgment91, as he appears to be sufficiently comfortable under the mouldy accretion92, he had better stumble on with it as long as he can. He presents a spectacle which is by no means without its charm for a disinterested93 and unencumbered observer.
When the old edifice, or the antiquated94 custom or institution, appears in its pristine95 form, without any attempt at intermarrying it with modern fashions, an American cannot but admire the picturesque effect produced by the sudden cropping up of an apparently dead-and-buried state of society into the actual present, of which he is himself a part. We need not go far in Warwick without encountering an instance of the kind. Proceeding96 westward97 through the town, we find ourselves confronted by a huge mass of natural rock, hewn into something like architectural shape, and penetrated98 by a vaulted99 passage, which may well have been one of King Cymbeline's original gateways101; and on the top of the rock, over the archway, sits a small old church, communicating with an ancient edifice, or assemblage of edifices, that look down from a similar elevation102 on the side of the street. A range of trees half hides the latter establishment from the sun. It presents a curious and venerable specimen103 of the timber-and-plaster style of building, in which some of the finest old houses in England are constructed; the front projects into porticos and vestibules, and rises into many gables, some in a row, and others crowning semi-detached portions of the structure; the windows mostly open on hinges, but show a delightful104 irregularity of shape and position; a multiplicity of chimneys break through the roof at their own will, or, at least, without any settled purpose of the architect. The whole affair looks very old,—so old indeed that the front bulges105 forth, as if the timber framework were a little weary, at last, of standing106 erect107 so long; but the state of repair is so perfect, and there is such an indescribable aspect of continuous vitality108 within the system of this aged109 house, that you feel confident that there may be safe shelter yet, and perhaps for centuries to come, under its time-honored roof. And on a bench, sluggishly110 enjoying the sunshine, and looking into the street of Warwick as from a life apart, a few old men are generally to be seen, wrapped in long cloaks, on which you may detect the glistening111 of a silver badge representing the Bear and Ragged Staff. These decorated worthies112 are some of the twelve brethren of Leicester's Hospital,—a community which subsists113 to-day under the identical modes that were established for it in the reign114 of Queen Elizabeth, and of course retains many features of a social life that has vanished almost everywhere else.
The edifice itself dates from a much older period than the charitable institution of which it is now the home. It was the seat of a religious fraternity far back in the Middle Ages, and continued so till Henry VIII. turned all the priesthood of England out of doors, and put the most unscrupulous of his favorites into their vacant abodes115. In many instances, the old monks116 had chosen the sites of their domiciles so well, and built them on such a broad system of beauty and convenience, that their lay-occupants found it easy to convert them into stately and comfortable homes; and as such they still exist, with something of the antique reverence117 lingering about them. The structure now before us seems to have been first granted to Sir Nicholas Lestrange, who perhaps intended, like other men, to establish his household gods in the niches118 whence he had thrown down the images of saints, and to lay his hearth119 where an altar had stood. But there was probably a natural reluctance120 in those days (when Catholicism, so lately repudiated121, must needs have retained an influence over all but the most obdurate122 characters) to bring one's hopes of domestic prosperity and a fortunate lineage into direct hostility123 with the awful claims of the ancient religion. At all events, there is still a superstitious124 idea, betwixt a fantasy and a belief, that the possession of former Church-property has drawn125 a curse along with it, not only among the posterity126 of those to whom it was originally granted, but wherever it has subsequently been transferred, even if honestly bought and paid for. There are families, now inhabiting some of the beautiful old abbeys, who appear to indulge a species of pride in recording127 the strange deaths and ugly shapes of misfortune that have occurred among their predecessors128, and may be supposed likely to dog their own pathway down the ages of futurity. Whether Sir Nicholas Lestrange, in the beef-eating days of Old Harry129 and Elizabeth, was a nervous man, and subject to apprehensions130 of this kind, I cannot tell; but it is certain that he speedily rid himself of the spoils of the Church, and that, within twenty years afterwards, the edifice became the property of the famous Dudley, Earl of Leicester, brother of the Earl of Warwick. He devoted131 the ancient religious precinct to a charitable use, endowing it with an ample revenue, and making it the perpetual home of twelve poor, honest, and war-broken soldiers, mostly his own retainers, and natives either of Warwickshire or Gloucestershire. These veterans, or others wonderfully like them, still occupy their monkish132 dormitories and haunt the time-darkened corridors and galleries of the hospital, leading a life of old-fashioned comfort, wearing the old-fashioned cloaks, and burnishing133 the identical silver badges which the Earl of Leicester gave to the original twelve. He is said to have been a bad man in his day; but he has succeeded in prolonging one good deed into what was to him a distant future.
On the projecting story, over the arched entrance, there is the date, 1571, and several coats-of-arms, either the Earl's or those of his kindred, and immediately above the doorway63 a stone sculpture of the Bear and Ragged Staff.
Passing through the arch, we find ourselves in a quadrangle, or enclosed court, such as always formed the central part of a great family residence in Queen Elizabeth's time, and earlier. There can hardly be a more perfect specimen of such an establishment than Leicester's Hospital. The quadrangle is a sort of sky-roofed hall, to which there is convenient access from all parts of the house. The four inner fronts, with their high, steep roofs and sharp gables, look into it from antique windows, and through open corridors and galleries along the sides; and there seems to be a richer display of architectural devices and ornaments134, quainter carvings135 in oak, and more fantastic shapes of the timber framework, than on the side toward the street. On the wall opposite the arched entrance are the following inscriptions136, comprising such moral rules, I presume, as were deemed most essential for the daily observance of the community: "Honor all Men"—"Fear God"—"Honor the King"—"Love the Brotherhood138"; and again, as if this latter injunction needed emphasis and repetition among a household of aged people soured with the hard fortune of their previous lives,—"Be kindly affectioned one to another." One sentence, over a door communicating with the Master's side of the house, is addressed to that dignitary,—"He that ruleth over men must be just." All these are charactered in old English letters, and form part of the elaborate ornamentation of the house. Everywhere—on the walls, over windows and doors, and at all points where there is room to place them— appear escutcheons of arms, cognizances, and crests140, emblazoned in their proper colors, and illuminating142 the ancient quadrangle with their splendor44. One of these devices is a large image of a porcupine143 on an heraldic wreath, being the crest141 of the Lords de Lisle. But especially is the cognizance of the Bear and Ragged Staff repeated over and over, and over again and again, in a great variety of attitudes, at full-length, and half-length, in paint and in oaken sculpture, in bas-relief and rounded image. The founder145 of the hospital was certainly disposed to reckon his own beneficence as among the hereditary glories of his race; and had he lived and died a half-century earlier, he would have kept up an old Catholic custom by enjoining146 the twelve bedesmen to pray for the welfare of his soul.
At my first visit, some of the brethren were seated on the bench outside of the edifice, looking down into the street; but they did not vouchsafe147 me a word, and seemed so estranged148 from modern life, so enveloped149 in antique customs and old-fashioned cloaks, that to converse150 with them would have been like shouting across the gulf between our age and Queen Elizabeth's. So I passed into the quadrangle, and found it quite solitary151, except that a plain and neat old woman happened to be crossing it, with an aspect of business and carefulness that bespoke152 her a woman of this world, and not merely a shadow of the past. Asking her if I could come in, she answered very readily and civilly that I might, and said that I was free to look about me, hinting a hope, however, that I would not open the private doors of the brotherhood, as some visitors were in the habit of doing. Under her guidance, I went into what was formerly153 the great hall of the establishment, where King James I. had once been feasted by an Earl of Warwick, as is commemorated154 by an inscription137 on the cobwebbed and dingy155 wall. It is a very spacious and barn-like apartment, with a brick floor, and a vaulted roof, the rafters of which are oaken beams, wonderfully carved, but hardly visible in the duskiness that broods aloft. The hall may have made a splendid appearance, when it was decorated with rich tapestry156, and illuminated with chandeliers, cressets, and torches glistening upon silver dishes, where King James sat at supper among his brilliantly dressed nobles; but it has come to base uses in these latter days,—being improved, in Yankee phrase, as a brewery157 and wash-room, and as a cellar for the brethren's separate allotments of coal.
The old lady here left me to myself, and I returned into the quadrangle. It was very quiet, very handsome, in its own obsolete158 style, and must be an exceedingly comfortable place for the old people to lounge in, when the inclement159 winds render it inexpedient to walk abroad. There are shrubs161 against the wall, on one side; and on another is a cloistered162 walk, adorned163 with stags' heads and antlers, and running beneath a covered gallery, up to which ascends164 a balustraded staircase. In the portion of the edifice opposite the entrance-arch are the apartments of the Master; and looking into the window (as the old woman, at no request of mine, had specially144 informed me that I might), I saw a low, but vastly comfortable parlor165, very handsomely furnished, and altogether a luxurious166 place. It had a fireplace with an immense arch, the antique breadth of which extended almost from wall to wall of the room, though now fitted up in such a way, that the modern coal-grate looked very diminutive167 in the midst. Gazing into this pleasant interior, it seemed to me, that, among these venerable surroundings, availing himself of whatever was good in former things, and eking168 out their imperfection with the results of modern ingenuity169, the Master might lead a not unenviable life. On the cloistered side of the quadrangle, where the dark oak panels made the enclosed space dusky, I beheld a curtained window reddened by a great blaze from within, and heard the bubbling and squeaking170 of something— doubtless very nice and succulent—that was being cooked at the kitchen-fire. I think, indeed, that a whiff or two of the savory171 fragrance172 reached my nostrils173; at all events, the impression grew upon me that Leicester's Hospital is one of the jolliest old domiciles in England.
I was about to depart, when another old woman, very plainly dressed, but fat, comfortable, and with a cheerful twinkle in her eyes, came in through the arch, and looked curiously174 at me. This repeated apparition175 of the gentle sex (though by no means under its loveliest guise) had still an agreeable effect in modifying my ideas of an institution which I had supposed to be of a stern and monastic character. She asked whether I wished to see the hospital, and said that the porter, whose office it was to attend to visitors, was dead, and would be buried that very day, so that the whole establishment could not conveniently be shown me. She kindly invited me, however, to visit the apartment occupied by her husband and herself; so I followed her up the antique staircase, along the gallery, and into a small, oak-panelled parlor, where sat an old man in a long blue garment, who arose and saluted176 me with much courtesy. He seemed a very quiet person, and yet had a look of travel and adventure, and gray experience, such as I could have fancied in a palmer of ancient times, who might likewise have worn a similar costume. The little room was carpeted and neatly177 furnished; a portrait of its occupant was hanging on the wall; and on a table were two swords crossed,—one, probably, his own battle-weapon, and the other, which I drew half out of the scabbard, had an inscription on the blade, purporting178 that it had been taken from the field of Waterloo. My kind old hostess was anxious to exhibit all the particulars of their housekeeping, and led me into the bedroom, which was in the nicest order, with a snow-white quilt upon the bed; and in a little intervening room was a washing and bathing apparatus180; a convenience (judging from the personal aspect and atmosphere of such parties) seldom to be met with in the humbler ranks of British life.
The old soldier and his wife both seemed glad of somebody to talk with; but the good woman availed herself of the privilege far more copiously182 than the veteran himself, insomuch that he felt it expedient160 to give her an occasional nudge with his elbow in her well-padded ribs184. "Don't you be so talkative!" quoth he; and, indeed, he could hardly find space for a word, and quite as little after his admonition as before. Her nimble tongue ran over the whole system of life in the hospital. The brethren, she said, had a yearly stipend185 (the amount of which she did not mention), and such decent lodgings186 as I saw, and some other advantages, free; and, instead of being pestered187 with a great many rules, and made to dine together at a great table, they could manage their little household matters as they liked, buying their own dinners and having them cooked in the general kitchen, and eating them snugly188 in their own parlors189. "And," added she, rightly deeming this the crowning privilege, "with the Master's permission, they can have their wives to take care of them; and no harm comes of it; and what more can an old man desire?" It was evident enough that the good dame190 found herself in what she considered very rich clover, and, moreover, had plenty of small occupations to keep her from getting rusty and dull; but the veteran impressed me as deriving191 far less enjoyment192 from the monotonous ease, without fear of change or hope of improvement, that had followed upon thirty years of peril193 and vicissitude194. I fancied, too, that, while pleased with the novelty of a stranger's visit, he was still a little shy of becoming a spectacle for the stranger's curiosity; for, if he chose to be morbid195 about the matter, the establishment was but an almshouse, in spite of its old-fashioned magnificence, and his fine blue cloak only a pauper's garment, with a silver badge on it that perhaps galled196 his shoulder. In truth, the badge and the peculiar garb197, though quite in accordance with the manners of the Earl of Leicester's age, are repugnant to modern prejudices, and might fitly and humanely198 be abolished.
A year or two afterwards I paid another visit to the hospital, and found a new porter established in office, and already capable of talking like a guide-book about the history, antiquities199, and present condition of the charity. He informed me that the twelve brethren are selected from among old soldiers of good character, whose other resources must not exceed an income of five pounds; thus excluding all commissioned officers, whose half-pay would of course be more than that amount. They receive from the hospital an annuity200 of eighty pounds each, besides their apartments, a garment of fine blue cloth, an annual abundance of ale, and a privilege at the kitchen-fire; so that, considering the class from which they are taken, they may well reckon themselves among the fortunate of the earth. Furthermore, they are invested with political rights, acquiring a vote for member of Parliament in virtue201 either of their income or brotherhood. On the other hand, as regards their personal freedom or conduct, they are subject to a supervision202 which the Master of the hospital might render extremely annoying, were he so inclined; but the military restraint under which they have spent the active portion of their lives makes it easier for them to endure the domestic discipline here imposed upon their age. The porter bore his testimony203 (whatever were its value) to their being as contented204 and happy as such a set of old people could possibly be, and affirmed that they spent much time in burnishing their silver badges, and were as proud of them as a nobleman of his star. These badges, by the by, except one that was stolen and replaced in Queen Anne's time, are the very same that decorated the original twelve brethren.
I have seldom met with a better guide than my friend the porter. He appeared to take a genuine interest in the peculiarities205 of the establishment, and yet had an existence apart from them, so that he could the better estimate what those peculiarities were. To be sure, his knowledge and observation were confined to external things, but, so far, had a sufficiently extensive scope. He led me up the staircase and exhibited portions of the timber framework of the edifice that are reckoned to be eight or nine hundred years old, and are still neither worm-eaten nor decayed; and traced out what had been a great hall in the days of the Catholic fraternity, though its area is now filled up with the apartments of the twelve brethren; and pointed206 to ornaments of sculptured oak, done in an ancient religious style of art, but hardly visible amid the vaulted dimness of the roof. Thence we went to the chapel207—the Gothic church which I noted208 several pages back—surmounting the gateway that stretches half across the street. Here the brethren attend daily prayer, and have each a prayer-book of the finest paper, with a fair, large type for their old eyes. The interior of the chapel is very plain, with a picture of no merit for an altar-piece, and a single old pane65 of painted glass in the great eastern window, representing,—no saint, nor angel, as is customary in such cases,—but that grim sinner, the Earl of Leicester. Nevertheless, amid so many tangible58 proofs of his human sympathy, one comes to doubt whether the Earl could have been such a hardened reprobate209, after all.
We ascended210 the tower of the chapel, and looked down between its battlements into the street, a hundred feet below us; while clambering half-way up were foxglove-flowers, weeds, small shrubs, and tufts of grass, that had rooted themselves into the roughnesses of the stone foundation. Far around us lay a rich and lovely English landscape, with many a church-spire and noble country-seat, and several objects of high historic interest. Edge Hill, where the Puritans defeated Charles I., is in sight on the edge of the horizon, and much nearer stands the house where Cromwell lodged211 on the night before the battle. Right under our eyes, and half enveloping212 the town with its high-shouldering wall, so that all the closely compacted streets seemed but a precinct of the estate, was the Earl of Warwick's delightful park, a wide extent of sunny lawns, interspersed213 with broad contiguities214 of forest-shade. Some of the cedars215 of Lebanon were there,—a growth of trees in which the Warwick family take an hereditary pride. The two highest towers of the castle heave themselves up out of a mass of foliage, and look down in a lordly manner upon the plebeian216 roofs of the town, a part of which are slate-covered (these are the modern houses), and a part are coated with old red tiles, denoting the more ancient edifices. A hundred and sixty or seventy years ago, a great fire destroyed a considerable portion of the town, and doubtless annihilated217 many structures of a remote antiquity; at least, there was a possibility of very old houses in the long past of Warwick, which King Cymbeline is said to have founded in the year ONE of the Christian218 era!
And this historic fact or poetic fiction, whichever it may be, brings to mind a more indestructible reality than anything else that has occurred within the present field of our vision; though this includes the scene of Guy of Warwick's legendary219 exploits, and some of those of the Round Table, to say nothing of the Battle of Edge Hill. For perhaps it was in the landscape now under our eyes that Posthumus wandered with the King's daughter, the sweet, chaste220, faithful, and courageous221 Imogen, the tenderest and womanliest woman that Shakespeare ever made immortal222 in the world. The silver Avon, which we see flowing so quietly by the gray castle, may have held their images in its bosom223.
The day, though it began brightly, had long been overcast224, and the clouds now spat225 down a few spiteful drops upon us, besides that the east-wind was very chill; so we descended226 the winding227 tower-stair, and went next into the garden, one side of which is shut in by almost the only remaining portion of the old city-wall. A part of the garden-ground is devoted to grass and shrubbery, and permeated228 by gravel-walks, in the centre of one of which is a beautiful stone vase of Egyptian sculpture, that formerly stood on the top of a Nilometer, or graduated pillar for measuring the rise and fall of the river Nile. On the pedestal is a Latin inscription by Dr. Parr, who (his vicarage of Hatton being so close at hand) was probably often the Master's guest, and smoked his interminable pipe along these garden-walks. Of the vegetable-garden, which lies adjacent, the lion's share is appropriated to the Master, and twelve small, separate patches to the individual brethren, who cultivate them at their own judgment and by their own labor139; and their beans and cauliflowers have a better flavor, I doubt not, than if they had received them directly from the dead hand of the Earl of Leicester, like the rest of their food. In the farther part of the garden is an arbor229 for the old men's pleasure and convenience, and I should like well to sit down among them there, and find out what is really the bitter and the sweet of such a sort of life. As for the old gentlemen themselves, they put me queerly in mind of the Salem Custom-House, and the venerable personages whom I found so quietly at anchor there.
The Master's residence, forming one entire side of the quadrangle, fronts on the garden, and wears an aspect at once stately and homely230. It can hardly have undergone any perceptible change within three centuries; but the garden, into which its old windows look, has probably put off a great many eccentricities231 and quaintnesses, in the way of cunningly clipped shrubbery, since the gardener of Queen Elizabeth's reign threw down his rusty shears232 and took his departure. The present Master's name is Harris; he is a descendant of the founder's family, a gentleman of independent fortune, and a clergyman of the Established Church, as the regulations of the hospital require him to be. I know not what are his official emoluments233; but, according to an English precedent234, an ancient charitable fund is certain to be held directly for the behoof of those who administer it, and perhaps incidentally, in a moderate way, for the nominal235 beneficiaries; and, in the case before us, the twelve brethren being so comfortably provided for, the Master is likely to be at least as comfortable as all the twelve together. Yet I ought not, even in a distant land, to fling an idle gibe236 against a gentleman of whom I really know nothing, except that the people under his charge bear all possible tokens of being tended and cared for as sedulously237 as if each of them sat by a warm fireside of his own, with a daughter bustling238 round the hearth to make ready his porridge and his titbits. It is delightful to think of the good life which a suitable man, in the Master's position, has an opportunity to lead,—linked to time-honored customs, welded in with an ancient system, never dreaming of radical239 change, and bringing all the mellowness240 and richness of the past down into these railway-days, which do not compel him or his community to move a whit179 quicker than of yore. Everybody can appreciate the advantages of going ahead; it might be well, sometimes, to think whether there is not a word or two to be said in favor of standing still or going to sleep.
From the garden we went into the kitchen, where the fire was burning hospitably, and diffused241 a genial242 warmth far and wide, together with the fragrance of some old English roast-beef, which, I think, must at that moment have been done nearly to a turn. The kitchen is a lofty, spacious, and noble room, partitioned off round the fireplace, by a sort of semicircular oaken screen, or rather, an arrangement of heavy and high-backed settles, with an ever-open entrance between them, on either side of which is the omnipresent image of the Bear and Ragged Staff, three feet high, and excellently carved in oak, now black with time and unctuous243 kitchen-smoke. The ponderous244 mantel-piece, likewise of carved oak, towers high towards the dusky ceiling, and extends its mighty245 breadth to take in a vast area of hearth, the arch of the fireplace being positively246 so immense that I could compare it to nothing but the city gateway. Above its cavernous opening were crossed two ancient halberds, the weapons, possibly, of soldiers who had fought under Leicester in the Low Countries; and elsewhere on the walls were displayed several muskets247, which some of the present inmates248 of the hospital may have levelled against the French. Another ornament9 of the mantel-piece was a square of silken needlework or embroidery249, faded nearly white, but dimly representing that wearisome Bear and Ragged Staff, which we should hardly look twice at, only that it was wrought250 by the fair fingers of poor Amy Robsart, and beautifully framed in oak from Kenilworth Castle, at the expense of a Mr. Conner, a countryman of our own. Certainly, no Englishman would be capable of this little bit of enthusiasm. Finally, the kitchen-firelight glistens251 on a splendid display of copper252 flagons, all of generous capacity, and one of them about as big as a half-barrel; the smaller vessels253 contain the customary allowance of ale, and the larger one is filled with that foaming254 liquor on four festive255 occasions of the year, and emptied amain by the jolly brotherhood. I should be glad to see them do it; but it would be an exploit fitter for Queen Elizabeth's age than these degenerate256 times.
The kitchen is the social hall of the twelve brethren. In the daytime, they bring their little messes to be cooked here, and eat them in their own parlors; but after a certain hour, the great hearth is cleared and swept, and the old men assemble round its blaze, each with his tankard and his pipe, and hold high converse through the evening. If the Master be a fit man for his office, methinks he will sometimes sit down sociably257 among them; for there is an elbow-chair by the fireside which it would not demean his dignity to fill, since it was occupied by King James at the great festival of nearly three centuries ago. A sip258 of the ale and a whiff of the tobacco-pipe would put him in friendly relations with his venerable household; and then we can fancy him instructing them by pithy259 apothegms and religious texts which were first uttered here by some Catholic priest and have impregnated the atmosphere ever since. If a joke goes round, it shall be of an elder coinage than Joe Miller's, as old as Lord Bacon's collection, or as the jest-book that Master Slender asked for when he lacked small-talk for sweet Anne Page. No news shall be spoken of later than the drifting ashore260, on the northern coast, of some stern-post or figure-head, a barnacled fragment of one of the great galleons261 of the Spanish Armada. What a tremor262 would pass through the antique group, if a damp newspaper should suddenly be spread to dry before the fire! They would feel as if either that printed sheet or they themselves must be an unreality. What a mysterious awe30, if the shriek263 of the railway-train, as it reaches the Warwick station, should ever so faintly invade their ears! Movement of any kind seems inconsistent with the stability of such an institution. Nevertheless, I trust that the ages will carry it along with them; because it is such a pleasant kind of dream for an American to find his way thither264, and behold a piece of the sixteenth century set into our prosaic265 times, and then to depart, and think of its arched doorway as a spell-guarded entrance which will never be accessible or visible to him any more.
Not far from the market-place of Warwick stands the great church of St. Mary's: a vast edifice, indeed, and almost worthy266 to be a cathedral. People who pretend to skill in such matters say that it is in a poor style of architecture, though designed (or, at least, extensively restored) by Sir Christopher Wren267; but I thought it very striking, with its wide, high, and elaborate windows, its tall towers, its immense length, and (for it was long before I outgrew268 this Americanism, the love of an old thing merely for the sake of its age) the tinge269 of gray antiquity over the whole. Once, while I stood gazing up at the tower, the clock struck twelve with a very deep intonation270, and immediately some chivies began to play, and kept up their resounding271 music for five minutes, as measured by the hand upon the dial. It was a very delightful harmony, as airy as the notes of birds, and seemed, a not unbecoming freak of half-sportive fancy in the huge, ancient, and solemn church; although I have seen an old-fashioned parlor-clock that did precisely272 the same thing, in its small way.
The great attraction of this edifice is the Beauchamp (or, as the English, who delight in vulgarizing their fine old Norman names, call it, the Beechum) Chapel, where the Earls of Warwick and their kindred have been buried, from four hundred years back till within a recent period. It is a stately and very elaborate chapel, with a large window of ancient painted glass, as perfectly273 preserved as any that I remember seeing in England, and remarkably274 vivid in its colors. Here are several monuments with marble figures recumbent upon them, representing the Earls in their knightly275 armor, and their dames276 in the ruffs and court-finery of their day, looking hardly stiffer in stone than they must needs have been in their starched277 linen278 and embroidery. The renowned279 Earl of Leicester of Queen Elizabeth's time, the benefactor280 of the hospital, reclines at full length on the tablet of one of these tombs, side by side with his Countess,—not Amy Robsart, but a lady who (unless I have confused the story with some other mouldy scandal) is said to have avenged281 poor Amy's murder by poisoning the Earl himself. Be that as it may, both figures, and especially the Earl, look like the very types of ancient Honor and Conjugal282 Faith. In consideration of his long-enduring kindness to the twelve brethren, I cannot consent to believe him as wicked as he is usually depicted283; and it seems a marvel284, now that so many well-established historical verdicts have been reversed, why some enterprising writer does not make out Leicester to have been the pattern nobleman of his age.
In the centre of the chapel is the magnificent memorial of its founder, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick in the time of Henry VI. On a richly ornamented altar-tomb of gray marble lies the bronze figure of a knight37 in gilded285 armor, most admirably executed: for the sculptors286 of those days had wonderful skill in their own style, and could make so lifelike an image of a warrior80, in brass287 or marble, that, if a trumpet288 were sounded over his tomb, you would expect him to start up and handle his sword. The Earl whom we now speak of, however, has slept soundly in spite of a more serious disturbance289 than any blast of a trumpet, unless it were the final one. Some centuries after his death, the floor of the chapel fell down and broke open the stone coffin290 in which he was buried; and among the fragments appeared the anciently entombed Earl of Warwick, with the color scarcely faded out of his cheeks, his eyes a little sunken, but in other respects looking as natural as if he had died yesterday. But exposure to the atmosphere appeared to begin and finish the long-delayed process of decay in a moment, causing him to vanish like a bubble; so, that, almost before there had been time to wonder at him, there was nothing left of the stalwart Earl save his hair. This sole relic56 the ladies of Warwick made prize of, and braided it into rings and brooches for their own adornment291; and thus, with a chapel and a ponderous tomb built on purpose to protect his remains292, this great nobleman could not help being brought untimely to the light of day, nor even keep his lovelocks on his skull293 after he had so long done with love. There seems to be a fatality294 that disturbs people in their sepulchres, when they have been over-careful to render them magnificent and impregnable,—as witness the builders of the Pyramids, and Hadrian, Augustus, and the Scipios, and most other personages whose mausoleums have been conspicuous295 enough to attract the violator; and as for dead men's hair, I have seen a lock of King Edward the Fourth's, of a reddish-brown color, which perhaps was once twisted round the delicate forefinger296 of Mistress Shore.
The direct lineage of the renowned characters that lie buried in this splendid chapel has long been extinct. The earldom is now held by the Grevilles, descendants of the Lord Brooke who was slain297 in the Parliamentary War; and they have recently (that is to say, within a century) built a burial-vault100 on the other side of the church, calculated (as the sexton assured me, with a nod as if he were pleased) to afford suitable and respectful accommodation to as many as fourscore coffins298. Thank Heaven, the old man did not call them "CASKETS"!—a vile181 modern phrase, which compels a person of sense and good taste to shrink more disgustfully than ever before from the idea of being buried at all. But as regards those eighty coffins, only sixteen have as yet been contributed; and it may be a question with some minds, not merely whether the Grevilles will hold the earldom of Warwick until the full number shall be made up, but whether earldoms and all manner of lordships will not have faded out of England long before those many generations shall have passed from the castle to the vault. I hope not. A titled and landed aristocracy, if anywise an evil and an encumbrance299, is so only to the nation which is doomed300 to bear it on its shoulders; and an American, whose sole relation to it is to admire its picturesque effect upon society, ought to be the last man to quarrel with what affords him so much gratuitous301 enjoyment. Nevertheless, conservative as England is, and though I scarce ever found an Englishman who seemed really to desire change, there was continually a dull sound in my ears as if the old foundations of things were crumbling302 away. Some time or other,—by no irreverent effort of violence, but, rather, in spite of all pious183 efforts to uphold a heterogeneous303 pile of institutions that will have outlasted304 their vitality,—at some unexpected moment, there must come a terrible crash. The sole reason why I should desire it to happen in my day is, that I might be there to see! But the ruin of my own country is, perhaps, all that I am destined305 to witness; and that immense catastrophe306 (though I am strong in the faith that there is a national lifetime of a thousand years in us yet) would serve any man well enough as his final spectacle on earth.
If the visitor is inclined to carry away any little memorial of Warwick, he had better go to an Old Curiosity Shop in the High Street, where there is a vast quantity of obsolete gewgaws, great and small, and many of them so pretty and ingenious that you wonder how they came to be thrown aside and forgotten. As regards its minor307 tastes, the world changes, but does not improve; it appears to me, indeed, that there have been epochs of far more exquisite308 fancy than the present one, in matters of personal ornament, and such delicate trifles as we put upon a drawing-room table, a mantel-piece, or a whatnot. The shop in question is near the East Gate, but is hardly to be found without careful search, being denoted only by the name of "REDFERN," painted not very conspicuously309 in the top-light of the door. Immediately on entering, we find ourselves among a confusion of old rubbish and valuables, ancient armor, historic portraits, ebony cabinets inlaid with pearl, tall, ghostly clocks, hideous310 old china, dim looking-glasses in frames of tarnished311 magnificence,—a thousand objects of strange aspect, and others that almost frighten you by their likeness312 in unlikeness to things now in use. It is impossible to give an idea of the variety of articles, so thickly strewn about that we can scarcely move without overthrowing313 some great curiosity with a crash, or sweeping314 away some small one hitched315 to our sleeves. Three stories of the entire house are crowded in like manner. The collection, even as we see it exposed to view, must have been got together at great cost; but the real treasures of the establishment lie in secret repositories, whence they are not likely to be drawn forth at an ordinary summons; though, if a gentleman with a competently long purse should call for them, I doubt not that the signet-ring of Joseph's friend Pharaoh, or the Duke of Alva's leading-staff, or the dagger316 that killed the Duke of Buckingham (all of which I have seen), or any other almost incredible thing, might make its appearance. Gold snuff-boxes, antique gems317, jewelled goblets318, Venetian wine-glasses (which burst when poison is poured into them, and therefore must not be used for modern wine-drinking), jasper-handled knives, painted Sevres teacups,—in short, there are all sorts of things that a virtuoso319 ransacks320 the world to discover.
It would be easier to spend a hundred pounds in Mr. Redfern's shop than to keep the money in one's pocket; but, for my part, I contented myself with buying a little old spoon of silver-gilt, and fantastically shaped, and got it at all the more reasonable rate because there happened to be no legend attached to it. I could supply any deficiency of that kind at much less expense than regilding the spoon!
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1
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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pedagogue
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| n.教师 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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illegible
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| adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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buttresses
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| n.扶壁，扶垛( buttress的名词复数 )v.用扶壁支撑，加固( buttress的第三人称单数 ) | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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awe
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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miraculously
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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abruptly
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cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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abutting
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| adj.邻接的v.（与…）邻接( abut的现在分词 )；（与…）毗连；接触；倚靠 | |
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hospitably
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| 亲切地，招待周到地，善于款待地 | |
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disburse
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| v.支出，拨款 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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splendors
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| n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 )；壮丽；光辉；显赫 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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rote
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| n.死记硬背，生搬硬套 | |
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poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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glamour
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| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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quainter
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| adj.古色古香的( quaint的比较级 )；少见的，古怪的 | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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doorways
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| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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65
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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66
edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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67
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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68
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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69
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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70
militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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71
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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72
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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73
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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74
kindly
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|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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75
rustics
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| n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 )；粗野的；不雅的；用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
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76
squads
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|
| n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍 | |
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77
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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78
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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79
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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80
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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81
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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82
mustered
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|
| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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83
beheld
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|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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84
projections
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| 预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物 | |
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85
renovated
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| 翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
monotonous
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|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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87
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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88
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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89
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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90
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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91
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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92
accretion
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| n.自然的增长，增加物 | |
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93
disinterested
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|
| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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94
antiquated
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|
| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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95
pristine
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|
| adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的 | |
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96
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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97
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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98
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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99
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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100
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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101
gateways
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| n.网关( gateway的名词复数 )；门径；方法；大门口 | |
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102
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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103
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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104
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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105
bulges
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|
| 膨胀( bulge的名词复数 )； 鼓起； （身体的）肥胖部位； 暂时的激增 | |
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106
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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107
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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108
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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109
aged
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|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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110
sluggishly
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| adv.懒惰地；缓慢地 | |
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111
glistening
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|
| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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112
worthies
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|
| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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113
subsists
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的第三人称单数 ) | |
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114
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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115
abodes
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| 住所( abode的名词复数 )； 公寓； （在某地的）暂住； 逗留 | |
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116
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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117
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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118
niches
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| 壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位） | |
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119
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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120
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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121
repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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122
obdurate
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|
| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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123
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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124
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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125
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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126
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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127
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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128
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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129
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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130
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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131
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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132
monkish
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| adj.僧侣的，修道士的，禁欲的 | |
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133
burnishing
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| n.磨光，抛光，擦亮v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的现在分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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134
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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135
carvings
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| n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 )；雕刻术；雕刻品；雕刻物 | |
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136
inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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137
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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138
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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139
labor
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|
| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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140
crests
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|
| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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141
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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142
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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143
porcupine
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| n.豪猪， 箭猪 | |
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144
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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145
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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146
enjoining
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| v.命令( enjoin的现在分词 ) | |
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147
vouchsafe
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| v.惠予，准许 | |
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148
estranged
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| adj.疏远的，分离的 | |
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149
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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150
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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151
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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152
bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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153
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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154
commemorated
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| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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155
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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156
tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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157
brewery
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| n.啤酒厂 | |
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158
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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159
inclement
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| adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的 | |
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160
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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161
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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162
cloistered
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| adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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163
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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164
ascends
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的第三人称单数 ) | |
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165
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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166
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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167
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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168
eking
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| v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的现在分词 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日 | |
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169
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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170
squeaking
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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171
savory
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| adj.风味极佳的，可口的，味香的 | |
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172
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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173
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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174
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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175
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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176
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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177
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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178
purporting
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| v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的现在分词 ) | |
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179
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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180
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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181
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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182
copiously
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| adv.丰富地，充裕地 | |
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183
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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184
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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185
stipend
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|
| n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金 | |
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186
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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187
pestered
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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188
snugly
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|
| adv.紧贴地；贴身地；暖和舒适地；安适地 | |
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189
parlors
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| 客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店 | |
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190
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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191
deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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192
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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193
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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194
vicissitude
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| n.变化，变迁，荣枯，盛衰 | |
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195
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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196
galled
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| v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱 | |
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197
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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198
humanely
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| adv.仁慈地；人道地；富人情地；慈悲地 | |
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199
antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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200
annuity
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| n.年金；养老金 | |
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201
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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202
supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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203
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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204
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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205
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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206
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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207
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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208
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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209
reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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210
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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211
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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212
enveloping
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
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213
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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214
contiguities
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| n.接近( contiguity的名词复数 )；一连串的事物；一系列；一大片 | |
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215
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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216
plebeian
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| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
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217
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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218
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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219
legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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220
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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221
courageous
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|
| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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222
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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223
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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224
overcast
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| adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天 | |
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225
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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226
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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227
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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228
permeated
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| 弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
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229
arbor
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| n.凉亭；树木 | |
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230
homely
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|
| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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231
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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232
shears
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| n.大剪刀 | |
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233
emoluments
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| n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 ) | |
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234
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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235
nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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236
gibe
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| n.讥笑；嘲弄 | |
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237
sedulously
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| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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238
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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239
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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240
mellowness
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| 成熟； 芳醇； 肥沃； 怡然 | |
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241
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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242
genial
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|
| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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243
unctuous
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| adj.油腔滑调的，大胆的 | |
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244
ponderous
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|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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245
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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246
positively
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|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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247
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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248
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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249
embroidery
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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250
wrought
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|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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251
glistens
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|
| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的第三人称单数 ) | |
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252
copper
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|
| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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253
vessels
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|
| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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254
foaming
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|
| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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255
festive
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|
| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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256
degenerate
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|
| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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257
sociably
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|
| adv.成群地 | |
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258
sip
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|
| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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259
pithy
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|
| adj.(讲话或文章)简练的 | |
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260
ashore
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|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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261
galleons
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|
| n.大型帆船( galleon的名词复数 ) | |
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262
tremor
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|
| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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263
shriek
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|
| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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264
thither
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|
| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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265
prosaic
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|
| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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266
worthy
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|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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267
wren
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|
| n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员 | |
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268
outgrew
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|
| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去式 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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269
tinge
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|
| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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270
intonation
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|
| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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271
resounding
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|
| adj. 响亮的 | |
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272
precisely
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|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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273
perfectly
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|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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274
remarkably
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|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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275
knightly
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|
| adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地 | |
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276
dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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277
starched
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|
| adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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278
linen
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|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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279
renowned
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|
| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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280
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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281
avenged
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|
| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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282
conjugal
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|
| adj.婚姻的，婚姻性的 | |
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283
depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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284
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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285
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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286
sculptors
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| 雕刻家，雕塑家( sculptor的名词复数 )； [天]玉夫座 | |
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287
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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288
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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289
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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290
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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291
adornment
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| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
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292
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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293
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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294
fatality
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| n.不幸，灾祸，天命 | |
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295
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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296
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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297
slain
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|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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298
coffins
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| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
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299
encumbrance
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| n.妨碍物，累赘 | |
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300
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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301
gratuitous
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|
| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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302
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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303
heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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304
outlasted
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|
| v.比…长久，比…活得长( outlast的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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305
destined
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|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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306
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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307
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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308
exquisite
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|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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309
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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310
hideous
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|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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311
tarnished
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| （通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏 | |
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312
likeness
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|
| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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313
overthrowing
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| v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止 | |
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314
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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315
hitched
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|
| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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316
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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317
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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318
goblets
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| n.高脚酒杯( goblet的名词复数 ) | |
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319
virtuoso
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| n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手 | |
参考例句： |
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320
ransacks
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的第三人称单数 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
参考例句： |
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