The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ea oe a Sr cr rrr cer ca cr er he ere a I OIE I I I I PT AGE I TO TT ee. ————————————————eee—eeeeeeeeeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEe_ee , and thence the 9 THR MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. The scenery amidst which it is situated, is impos- | They are the most ancient parts of the castellated ing and beautiful,—giving fo the entire mass of sailing and all its accompaniments an air truly Picturesque. The long line of castellated structure forming the western side of the castle, stands upon tke very verge of the river's bank; and in some parts the masonry iteelf is washed by its limpid waters. The front of the edifice, which is at rigut angles with the stream, commands a southern of sweeping valleys undulating like a rolling ocean of the brightest green, the uniformity of which is however broken by groves of a darker verdure, as if they were islands dotting the vast expanse. White cottages and village-steeples, peeping from amongst the dense foliage of those woods, enhance the pic- turesque beauty of the scene; and all those broad Hinds, Tar ae the eye can reach, constitute the lordly domain of Saxondale. On the eastern side of the castle—the one farthest removed from the river—two magnificent rows of ancient trees, evidently the growth of esnturies, form an avenue beneath the luxuriant foliage of which it ig sweet to find shelter from the scorching sumimer’s sun, oF to ramble in the refreshing covol- ness and mystic serenity of evening. This avenue and elegance, lie the shrubberies and! plantations ; rolling landscape éxtenda, as above described, until bounded by the horizon. The interior of the castle requires. o two-fold description. One portion of it,—namely, the whole of the front, and all that side overlouking the gar- dens,-—is used for the habitation of the inmates; and is fitted up with the sum magnificgnce, refinement, and taste of modern splendour, yet.in a manner to harmonise admirably with the antiquated style of the architecture. The doorways, the wia- dows, the chimney-pieces, and the comnices, are all carved or sculptured in the richest manner, and. are inwrought with armorial bearings amd decorative devices. The entrance-hall is of immense axztent, with a double row of marble pillars on each side, and having an elaborately groined. ceiling. The pavement of this hall is of marbles: At variegated the extremity facing the high folding-doors at the | family magnificent entrance, a staircase is seen rising to about the mid-height of the hall; and from that point it branches into two handsome flights, one winding to the right and the other to the left hand. One leads to the state-apartments and draw- g-rooms: the other to a landing, whence open ee brary and picture-qalery. The walls all up these staircases are decorated with armorial devices, and ornamented with suits of armour and statues. From « long corridor, stretching the whole length of that line of the building which overlooks the gar- dens, and which is called the Fastern Side, open the sleeping apartments intended for the family, visitors, and guests. The chambers of the numerous depen- dants communicate from a similar gallery over-head. So much for the inhabited of Saxondale Castle: but the whole of the Western Side over- Invking the river, and that end which may’be termed the back of the building, have long been disused. structure: but the rooms: which they contain are these disused apartments are hung with tapestry, for the most part torn and tattered: the furniture consists of similar ta -work or Utrecht velvet covering the oaken chairs, some of which are elabo- rately carved. But to preserve this furniture and from into complete decay, frequent fires are lighted in the rooms, and constant attention is paid to them. One or two more features in Saxondale Castle must be mentioned ere we enter upon our story. The first is the chapel, which is situated in the western side ov the River Trent. Not having been used as a place of worship for some tower. At the bottom of this staircase there are vaults stretching to a comsidarable distance bencath the western side, and even under the bed of the river. These subterrancans were doubtless used as piaew +f -evem of more terrible punishment—in those Catholic times when a portion of Saxondale Castle was tenanted by the holy fathers of a monkish order. In a cloister oat: from the chapel, and on the same level with it, are several tombs and monuments, enclosing the resiains of some of the earlier scions of the house of Saxondale. In the middle of this cloister stands a colossal figure, earved in black marble, representing a warrior in complete armour with his visor closed, and reputed to have been the image of the founder of the Saxondale in the earliest times of the Tudors. The ap- pearance of this giant-statas, in its sable gloom, but in a natural life-like attitude, with the left hand upon the hip, and the right arm extended as if me- nacingly pointing towards the door, is well calcu- lated to produce a startling effect upon the visitor who, unwarned of its presence there, enters that cloister for the first time, and beholds the colossal image uprearing its huge form in the midst of the dim cathedral-light which pervades the place. The reader must not fancy that from this long deacription of Saxondale Castle we are about to en- tertain him with the gloomy mysticism or the dark horrors of a romance of the olden time: but it was necessary for the purposes of our narrative to record these details im respect to the ancestral seat of a family which ie destined to play no mean part uvce the stage of our story. Without further prefi.ce, therefore, we will proceed to state that in the yoar 1825 does our rarrative open. ElOOO COMM