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Untitled Article
Though we may well doubt the wisdom of leaving a charity in the state indicated by the words placed in italics , Buckingham appears by no means to be uncareful of her poor , and the general appearance and character of her lower classes does not give a harsh idea of those who rule their destinies . At the same time , we can and do wish that this kindly-intentioned charity were enabled to fulfil its
largest scheme of usefulness . We can only , en passant , refer to the goodly list of liberal and well-directed bequests , which fill the eleventh chapter of Willis ' s careful history , bequests which are sufficient to show the high standing that Buckingham once occupied , and to prove that , even in the days when superstition might have oppressed the understanding , it neither chilled the heart , nor held back the hand , when want put forth her appeal .
To return to the lower end ( popularly called North Eend , in the local patois ) of the town , we cross the old burial-ground , where a few rough and unshapen stones , said to be fragments of the old church , are pointed out to the attention of visitors . That they may be genuine remains of the ancient structure we have no wish to deny ,
but we are sceptical as to their occupying their original position . A few fragments have probably been placed , here and there , with a view to indicate the site of the old church , but they cannot be regarded as indicating the remotest traces of a foundation , as their thinness and erect position makes them more like fragments of gravestones than the substratum of a wall .
Beyond the churchyard , and slightly in advance of the present railway viaduct , a bridge , indicated in our old print , formerly crossed the Ouse ; but railway innovations settled the bridge , and turned the river aside into a more convenient direction . If they had
fancied tunnelling through the hdl , we might have found a few curious monuments , perhaps a stone coffin or two , as at Oseney ; possibly a bishop , walled up in masonry , as in the quaint crypt lately brought to light in that parade of mercantile palaces , Cannon Street .
Buckingham , however , is not rich in monuments . The old church was replete with many a good name and memory , but of these there are even less remains than we see in the crypt of St . Paul's . Blackened with fire , battered , and bruised , though they be , still St . Paul ' s crypt can show Lord Burleigh { minus half his legs ) , and a goodly array of the stone and marble inhabitants of the old cathedral , before
the " great fire gave Evelyn an opportunity for his wonderful and picturesque description . But in Buckingham the good and the bad , the great and the small , are sunk in one oblivion , and the industry of past antiquaries is the sole guarantee for the existence of one or the other . The new parish church is too crude and too
pseudo-Palladio-Wrennish in its style to conjure up much idea or the past , and even if we could forget the bad taste which has converted its altar-window into a ducal hatchment , the hideous stove and gigantic chimney-flue , which is certainly the most conspicuous object in the interior , there would be amply sufficient to make us mourn over the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
Though we may well doubt the wisdom of leaving a charity in the state indicated by the words placed in italics , Buckingham appears by no means to be uncareful of her poor , and the general appearance and character of her lower classes does not give a harsh idea of those who rule their destinies . At the same time , we can and do wish that this kindly-intentioned charity were enabled to fulfil its
largest scheme of usefulness . We can only , en passant , refer to the goodly list of liberal and well-directed bequests , which fill the eleventh chapter of Willis ' s careful history , bequests which are sufficient to show the high standing that Buckingham once occupied , and to prove that , even in the days when superstition might have oppressed the understanding , it neither chilled the heart , nor held back the hand , when want put forth her appeal .
To return to the lower end ( popularly called North Eend , in the local patois ) of the town , we cross the old burial-ground , where a few rough and unshapen stones , said to be fragments of the old church , are pointed out to the attention of visitors . That they may be genuine remains of the ancient structure we have no wish to deny ,
but we are sceptical as to their occupying their original position . A few fragments have probably been placed , here and there , with a view to indicate the site of the old church , but they cannot be regarded as indicating the remotest traces of a foundation , as their thinness and erect position makes them more like fragments of gravestones than the substratum of a wall .
Beyond the churchyard , and slightly in advance of the present railway viaduct , a bridge , indicated in our old print , formerly crossed the Ouse ; but railway innovations settled the bridge , and turned the river aside into a more convenient direction . If they had
fancied tunnelling through the hdl , we might have found a few curious monuments , perhaps a stone coffin or two , as at Oseney ; possibly a bishop , walled up in masonry , as in the quaint crypt lately brought to light in that parade of mercantile palaces , Cannon Street .
Buckingham , however , is not rich in monuments . The old church was replete with many a good name and memory , but of these there are even less remains than we see in the crypt of St . Paul's . Blackened with fire , battered , and bruised , though they be , still St . Paul ' s crypt can show Lord Burleigh { minus half his legs ) , and a goodly array of the stone and marble inhabitants of the old cathedral , before
the " great fire gave Evelyn an opportunity for his wonderful and picturesque description . But in Buckingham the good and the bad , the great and the small , are sunk in one oblivion , and the industry of past antiquaries is the sole guarantee for the existence of one or the other . The new parish church is too crude and too
pseudo-Palladio-Wrennish in its style to conjure up much idea or the past , and even if we could forget the bad taste which has converted its altar-window into a ducal hatchment , the hideous stove and gigantic chimney-flue , which is certainly the most conspicuous object in the interior , there would be amply sufficient to make us mourn over the