OLD CLEEVE ABBEY. 97 
the lapse of a few short months a railroad will probably 
pass through the ancient moat. The Vallis Florida, the 
wild retreat chosen by the pioneers of civilisation for the 
scene of their religious meditations, will be desecrated and 
disturbed by the rattle of locomotives, and the solemn 
harmony of the choir be superseded by the discordant 
screams of the steam-whistle. But lamentable as this may 
appear to the lover of the pieturesque, harshly as this 
change may jar upon the feelings to those who look beyond 
mere pounds, shillings, and pence, trust me (and it is a 
strong recommendation to the study of antiquities), that 
no one knows so well as the archzologist that the present 
is better than the past—that no one has such sure grounds 
as the archxologist for hoping that the future will be better 
than the present. 
voL. vI., 1855, PART II. N 
