ETON HALL. THE POINTED GOTHIC. 137 



&quot; No ! How the bloody rascals did howl that night 

 though, didn t they T 



Following the carriage road, we came near a mass of 

 shrubbery, over and beyond which the trees were closer and 

 taller. It was separated from the deer park by an iron fence. 

 Passing this by another light gate, and through a screen of 

 thick underwood, we found ourselves close to the entrance 

 front of the Hall. 



&quot; It is considered the most splendid specimen of the pointed Gothic. 

 It consists of a centre and three stories, finished with octagonal turrets, 

 connected -with the main part by lofty intermediate towers, the whole en 

 riched by buttresses, niches, and pinnacles, and adorned with elaborately 

 carved heraldic designs, fretwork, and foliage, surmounted throughout by 

 an enriched battlement.&quot; 



So much from the Guide Book. It is not my business to 

 attempt a criticism of &quot; the finest specimen of the pointed 

 Gothic&quot; iu England ; but I may honestly say that it did not, 

 as a \vhole, produce the expected effect of grandeur or sub 

 limity upon us, without trying to find reasons for the failure. 

 Even when we came to look at it closely, we found little to 

 admire. There w r as no great simple beauty in it as a mass, 

 nor yet vigorous original character enough in the details to 

 make them an interesting study. The edifice is long and 

 low, and covered with an immense amount of meaningless 

 decoration. 



Such w T as our first impression, and we were greatly dis 

 appointed, you may be, sure. We admired it more after 

 wards on the other side, from the middle of a great garden, 

 where it seems to stand much higher, being set up on ter 

 races, and gaining much, I suspect, from the extension of 

 architectural character to the grounds in its front. Here we 

 acknowledged a good deal of magnificence in its effect. Still 

 it seemed as if it might have been obtained in some other 



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