The aroma
and fragrance of new thought were perceptible in these designs, after
three centuries of wear and tear. The charm lay partly in their very
imperfection; for this is suggestive, and sets the imagination at work;
whereas, the finished picture, if a good one, leaves the spectator
nothing to do, and if bad, confuses, stupefies, disenchants, and
disheartens him.
* * * * *
From the "English Note Books."
=_300._= RUINS OF FURNESS ABBEY.
The most interesting part is that which was formerly the church, and
which, though now roofless, is still surrounded by walls, and retains
the remnants of the pillars that formerly supported the intermingling
curves of the arches. The floor is all overgrown with grass strewn with
fragments and capitals of pillars. It was a great and stately edifice,
the length of the nave and choir having been nearly three hundred feet,
and that of the transept more than half as much. The pillars along the
nave were alternately, a round solid one, and a clustered one. Now, what
remains of some of them is even with the ground: others present a stump
just high enough to form a seat; and others are perhaps a man's height
from the ground; and all are mossy, and with grass and weeds rooted into
their chinks, and here and there a tuft of flowers giving its tender
little beauty to their decay.
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