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stituted the mouldings of . this august 
fabric. 
It is impossible to contemplate the 
ponderous ruin, without reflecting on the 
contumely with which the memory of 
the founder has been treated. Henry I, 
ehed in Normandy; and his body, rudely 
embalmed, and wrapped, as it Is said, in 
tanned ox-hides, was brought to Eng- 
Yand in great state. King Stephen met 
the body at Reading, and assisted in 
supporting the bier, Fr, en tlie remains of 
the aged sovereign were interred before 
the high altar m the abbey ehurch,* 
But we are informed by Sandford, that 
at the time of the Refor: ination, the king’ s 
tomb was destroyed, and the bones were 
.eontemptuausly eee out.’ Se 
‘Phe pedestrian will look 1m vain for 
¢é an island near the abbey,’ > on which a 
ehivalric ducl was fought in the reign of 
Elenry LI. The course of the river is so 
entirely altered, that no island is any 
fonger percepiible ; ; yet by sich a term 
was the spot designated, on which Ro- 
hert de Montfort and Henry de Essex 
fought, in the year 1163, Henry de 
Essex was hereditary standard-bearer to 
the king of England; and, in an engage- 
ment which Henry ig vie tidal with 
the Welsh, he was seized with a panic, 
and threw dewn the standard, on a false 
alarm of the king’s being slain, or taken 
prisoner.. For this act of cuimaeee he 
was challenged by De Montfort; and an 
island near the abbey of Reading” 
was named by the king as the place of 
combat. The conflict was galiantly sup- 
poved by both parties: but at leneth 
Essex fell, covered with wounds; and ihe 
king, coneluding that he was slain, eave 
the “monks permission to inter his body. 
But, when taken to the abbey, Essex 
revived; and, on his complete age A 
beiny efecied, he assumed the habit of 
the Benedictine order, and spent the 
yermaauter of his days 1p pious offices. 
Namberless rare assemblages cf pic-' 
turestpne scenery will tempt the traveller 
ea 
to pause a5 le prasecutes his walk along 
the banks of the Thames, towards the 
; and when he reaches’ 
the point which faces the noble mansion 
village of Sonning 
at.Ca versham, circumstances of historic 
egend w iff unite with the charms of na- 
tuyal beauty, ta affect his mind with 
interesting images. To the edifice which 
Sipe eT 
* Speed says, that Henry’s queen was in- 
terred with bim in the collegiate church of 
“the abbey, and that both tae bodies were’ 
&* veiled and crowned.” 
Walks in Berkshires 
[April #, 
formerly. stood on this site, Anne of 
Denmark, queen of. James 7. was en- 
ertained in a splendid manner by the 
lord Knolles, then possessor of the 
estate; and bere Charles I. the unfortu- 
nate son of that queen, had an interview 
with his children during that calamitous 
intestine war, in which regal severity, 
and puriténical deceit, strugeled to outdo 
each other in acts of tuibulence and 
bloodshed. a 
The modern dwelling of the Palmer 
family, announces the approach of the 
pedestrian to the village of Sonning. 
The situation of this house is peculiarly 
happy. The building is seated on an 
eminence, and is autouuden by fantastic 
ranges of underwood ; while the majestic. 
bt of the ‘Thames meanders at its” 
base, and regales the eye with @ 
chowtand sedvy recesses and fairy nooks, 
The house, however, has little claim 
to approbation. It is too Softy for its 
width, (an error peculiarly offensive in 
the construction of a country residence ;} 
and possesses no determinate character, 
either of ancient or modern architecture. 
If this building should pass to posterity 
as aspecimen of the taste of the age, it 
appears that one particular only—the 
judicious cheice of site—will obtain ap- 
plause. ~The imcrease of descriptive 
poetry, and the excellence attained by 
the landscape-painters of the period,’ 
have indeed rendered very general a re. 
gard for ‘elevated situations: Thus we 
return, from a principle of taste, to the 
mode in use with the very early ages 
from .a motive of necessity. In days of 
baronial contention, the founder of a 
magnificent abode" placed his frowning 
edifice on the sammnt of the loftiest hill, 
indifferent to the winds of winter, bee 
cause that spot promised personal se- 
curity to himself: and his ambitious 
fannly. When “thé union of the roses,” 
and the introduction of commereiak 
habits, removed all- apprehension of. 
predatory incursions, our unpolished 
ancestors looked with ‘a listless or dis- 
dainful eye on the sweetest attractions of 
rural nature; and, while they placed: 
thei mansion’ in the depth of a valley 
impervious to thé northern wind, they 
trimmed the fire onthe nests and 
thought themselves the wisest of men. 
‘Phe day is now arrived, in whiely a core 
rectness of taste triumphs over the ap= — 
prehensions prevalent in both these eras — 
of our country; and the painter andthe 
poet possess the merit of having ens. 
couraved such an admiragion for nature, | 
ig 
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