The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 279, October 20, 1827

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Various. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 279, October 20, 1827

BRAMBLETYE HOUSE

BATTLE HYMN

ENGLAND IN 827, 1827, 2827

THE ROBIN

BUYING AND SELLING THE DEVIL

PREVENTION OF EFFLUVIUM

NANCY LEWIS,

THE NOVELIST No. CXII

A MOUNTAIN STORY

ARCANA OF SCIENCE

THE SKETCH-BOOK. No. XLVIII

HIGHLAND SUPERSTITION

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

SADDLED AND BRIDLED. BY A. CUNNINGHAM

TOBACCO-PIPE CONTROVERSY

FASHIONABLE NOVELS

MAN-EATING SOCIETY

THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS

SAILING ROUND CONSTANTINOPLE

THE CORAL ISLAND

THE GATHERER

TAKING PHYSIC

MARRIAGE

PERVERSENESS OF FOREIGNERS

DOUBLE DEALING

EIKON BASILIKE

TIME

RIVAL SINGERS

HOW TO EVADE PROOF

Отрывок из книги

On the borders of Ashdown Forest, in the county of Sussex, stands the above picturesque ruin of Brambletye House, whose lettered fame may be dated from the publication of Mr. Smith's novel of that name, in January, 1826. The ruin has since attracted scores of tourists, as we were, on our recent visit, informed by the occupier of the adjoining farm-house; which circumstance coupled with the high literary success of Mr. Smith's novel, has induced us to select Brambletye House for the illustration of our present number.

Brambletye, or, as it is termed in Doomsday Book, Brambertie House, after the conquest, became the property of the Earl of Mortain and Cornwall, forming part of the barony then conferred upon him, and subsequently denominated the honour of the eagle. Passing into possession of the Andehams, Saint Clares, and several others, it came into the occupation of the Comptons, towards the beginning of the seventeenth century; and from the arms of that family impaling those of Spencer, still remaining over the principal entrance, with the date 1631 in a lozenge, it is conjectured that the old moated edifice (represented in the annexed vignette) which had hitherto been the residence of the proprietors, was abandoned in the reign of James I., by Sir Henry Compton, who built the extensive and solid baronial mansion, commonly known by the name of Brambletye House.

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In 827, how confined her empire, how narrow her limits, how few her resources; the lord and his vassals the only classes of society. In 1827, she may exclaim with the Spanish Philip, "The sun never sets upon my dominions." How difficult to mention the bounds of her empire, or to calculate the vastness of her resources! and still more difficult task to enumerate the gradations of society which modern refinement has produced. Where will this extended sway, this power, these resources, and these refinements be in 2827?

Judging by the fate of nations, they will have passed away like a morning cloud. Look at the fame of Nineveh levelled in the dust. Search for the site of Babylon, with its walls and gates, its hanging gardens and terraces! Contemplate the ghost of the enlightened Athens, stalking through the ruins of her Parthenon, her Athenaeum, or Acropolis. Examine the shadow of power which now remains to the mighty Rome, the empress of the world. Even so will it be with England; ere ten centuries have rolled away, her sun-like splendour will illume a western world. Our stately palaces and venerable cathedrals, our public edifices and manufactories, our paintings and sculpture, will be fruitful subjects of conjecture and controversy to the then learned. And a fragment of a pillar from St. Paul's, or a mutilated statue from Westminster, will be as valuable to them as a column from the Temple of Belus, or a broken cornice from the Temple of Theseus, is now to us!

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