190 



MY LIFE 



[Chap. 



see buttresses and pinnacles for ornament alone, when the 

 roof is wholly of wood and there is no outward thrust to be 

 guarded against ; while in some cases we see useless gargoyles, 

 which in the old buildings stretched out to carry the water 

 clear of the walls, but which are still sometimes imitated 

 when the water is carried into drains by iron gutters and 

 water pipes. I also learnt to appreciate the beautiful tracery 

 of the large circular or pointed windows, whose harmonies 

 and well-balanced curves and infinitely varied designs are a 

 delight to the eye ; while in most modern structures the 

 attempts at imitating them are deplorable failures, being 

 usually clumsy, unbalanced, and monotonous. One of the 

 very few modern Gothic buildings in which the architect has 

 caught the spirit of the old work is Barry's Houses of Parlia- 

 ment, which, whether in general effect or in its beautifully 

 designed details, is a delight to the true lover of Gothic 

 architecture. My brother had seen the exhibition of the 

 competing designs, and he used always to speak of the un- 

 mistakable superiority of Barry over all the others. 



Among our few intellectual friends here was the late 

 Mr. Charles Hayward, a member of the Society of Friends 

 (commonly called Quakers), as were Mr. Price of Neath 

 Abbey, and our temporary landlord, Mr. Osgood. Mr. Hay- 

 ward had a bookseller's shop in the town combined with that 

 of a chemist and druggist, but he himself lived in a pretty 

 cottage about half a mile out of the town, where he had two 

 or three acres of land, kept a cow, and experimented in agri- 

 culture on a small scale ; while his partner, Mr. Hunt, lived at 

 the shop. A year or two later these gentlemen gave up the 

 business and took a farm from Mr. Talbot of Margam Abbey, 

 which they farmed successfully for some years, their chemical 

 knowledge enabling them to purchase refuse materials from 

 some of the manufacturers in the district which served as 

 valuable manures. Later, Mr. Hayward took a larger farm 

 near Dartmouth, where I had the pleasure of visiting him 

 after my return from the East. A good many years later, 

 when I lived at Godalming, he was again my neighbour, as 

 after the death of his wife he came to live with his nephew, 



