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was duly admired. Whatever Londoners may claim for the 
famous view from Richmond terrace over the Thames, this 
exquisite scene certainly bears the palm, and is unequalled for 
beauty and extent in the British Isles. Facilis descensus Averni / 
possibly, but not that from this elevated eyrie to the thatched 
cottage at it base. At least 1,000 steps have to be descended, 
perilously steep and uneven. Persons given to vertigo had 
better not attempt the ladders, nor anyone with nails in his boots 
or in greasy weather. The Members, however, happily succeeded 
in the toil, and refreshed themselves with milk at the cottage 
before re-entering the brake and proceeding to Tintern. The 
welcome hostel of the Beaufort Arms soon came in sight, 
and the necessary repast rewarded the Members for the arduous 
exercises of the morning. 
At three the beautiful Abbey was visited, most picturesquely 
situated in an amphitheatre of forest-clad hills on the bank of the 
meandering Wye. Secluded from the turmoil of the garish 
world, here Cistercian monks lived their lives of piety and 
meditation, studying Divinity, copying and illuminating precious 
manuscripts and ceaselessly interceding before the Host for the 
wicked and merciless worldings without, until a king of ruthless 
cupidity reigned and dispossessed them of their home of peace, 
handing over their property to Henry, second Earl of Worcester, 
in 1537. The estates were worth, as Dugdale reckons, 
£192 1s. 44d. per annum, ie. nowadays £5,131 10s. This 
inimitable ruin, with Netley Abbey, has always moved the 
poetical rapture of English writers. There is no such exquisite 
fabric, as a ruin, known. In its decay it is even more beautiful 
than in its original perfection. The style of architecture is 
Decorated Gothic of the 13th Century, the first Mass was sung 
atthe high Altar in 1287. Cruciform, the Abbey was 228 feet 
in length, 150 feet in breadth at transepts, height of central 
arches 70 feet, of Eastern window 64 feet, of the Western 42 feet. 
There is one peculiar tombstone lying in the green sward, with a 
