THE SOUTH DEVON 



MONTHLY MUSEUM. 



PLYMOUTH, JANUARY 1, 1834. 

 No. 13.] PRICE SIXPENCE. [VOL. III. 



TAVISTOCK ABBEY. 



IT appears obvious, on reflection, that the world, 

 in its primitive age, was in its infancy : in this view of 

 its early stage, it is evidently absurd to apply to that 

 period the term Antiquity. Now is the time of its 

 old age ; and we, not excluding from the honour the 

 blooming and the fair, are the ancients. Of late it is 

 fashionable to quote Bacon, under the sonorous title 

 of Lord Verulam : Why should we not comply with 

 the fashion, and adopt his expression, respecting the 

 youth of the world, as it is prematurely called its anti- 

 quity. " Antiquitas seculi, Juventas Mundi." 



Were I gifted with the inventive powers and ready 

 wit of the gentleman, who furnished your Museum 

 with " The Legend of the Abbey Tower/' I might be 

 prompted by an impulse of friendly emulation to unfold 

 a tale of the days of yore, involving the fates of inno- 

 cence and excellence, in a manner, that would excite the 

 curiosity, and gratify the taste, of some of your readers. 

 Mine is a humbler aim, and an easier effort to direct, 

 their attention to the Monastic Institutions ; which of 

 old adorned our county with their magnificent struc- 

 tures, and still challenge our veneration by their 

 mouldering remains. In defiance of the antipathy of 

 modern bigotry to what is deemed ancient fanaticism ; 

 and the prudish disdain of the children, who protest 

 Against the superstitions of their fathers, under the 

 very domes, which they erected with devout zeal and 

 exquisite skill, in reverence of the Most High ; I will 

 venture to recount the debts we owe our clerical ances- 



VOL. in. 1834. A 



