, and other portions at an
earlier period, and it stands on the isthmus left by the Severn in its
wandering course about the town. The Duke of Cleveland now owns it. I
do not know who occupies it.
In the course of this walk, we passed St. Mary's Church,--a very old
church indeed, no matter how old, but say, eight hundred or a thousand
years. It has a very tall spire, and the spire is now undergoing
repairs; and, seeing the door open, I went into the porch, but found no
admission further. Then, walking around it, through the churchyard, we
saw that all the venerable Gothic windows--one of them grand in size--
were set with stained glass, representing coats of arms and ancient
armor, and kingly robes, and saints with glories about their heads, and
Scriptural people; but all of these, as far as our actual perception was
concerned, quite colorless, and with only a cold outline, dimly filled
up. Yet, had we been within the church, and had the sunlight been
streaming through, what a warm, rich, gorgeous, roseate, golden life
would these figures have showed!
In the churchyard, close upon the street, so that its dust must be
continually scattered over the spot, I saw a heavy gray tombstone, with a
Latin inscription, purporting that Bishop Butler, the author of the
Analogy, in his lifetime had chosen this as a burial-place for himself
and his family. There is a statue of him within the church. From the
top of the spire a man, above a hundred years ago, attempted to descend,
by means of a rope, to the other side of the Severn; but the rope broke,
and he fell in his midway flight, and was killed.
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