The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

REYNOLDS’ WORKS CHAPTER I THE OLD MAN’S SECOND MARRIAGE On the bank of the Trent, and within the border of Lincolnshire, stands Saxondale Castle. The edifice is of immense extent, formed of buildings surrounding two quadrangular courts, and which having been erected at different periods, exhibit various styles of architecture. When viewed from a distance, the long, irregular ranges of battlements and towers, frowning with a sort of gloomy grandeur above the river and over the landscape through which it winds its way, give the idea of a strongly fortified place, and though on a nearer approach this impression is scarcely diminished, yet a minute survey will show that while displaying the baronial architecture of bygone times, the edifice never was intended as a fortalice of defence. The scenery amidst which it is situated is imposing and beautiful, giving to the entire mass of building and all its accompaniments an air truly picturesque. The long line of castellated structure forming the western side of the castle stands upon the very verge of the river’s bank, and in some parts the masonry itself is washed by its limpid waters. The front of the edifice, which is at right angles with the stream, commands a southern view 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 1 GOmiGodooks (S(O)