* * * * *
Arrived at the summit of the hill, commanding such extensively charming
views, Jocelyn halted and looked back with wonder at the vast and
populous city he had just quitted, now spread out before him in all its
splendour and beauty. In his eyes it seemed already over-grown, though
it had not attained a tithe of its present proportions; but he could
only judge according to his opportunity, and was unable to foresee its
future magnitude. But if London has waxed in size, wealth, and
population during the last two centuries and a-half, it has lost nearly
all the peculiar features of beauty which distinguished it up to that
time, and made it so attractive to Jocelyn's eyes. The diversified and
picturesque architecture of its ancient habitations, as yet undisturbed
by the innovations of the Italian and Dutch schools, and brought to full
perfection in the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth, gave the whole
city a characteristic and fanciful appearance. Old towers, old belfries,
old crosses, slender spires innumerable, rose up amid a world of quaint
gables and angular roofs. Story above story sprang those curious
dwellings; irregular yet homogeneous; dear to the painter's and the
poet's eye; elaborate in ornament; grotesque in design; well suited to
the climate, and admirably adapted to the wants and comforts of the
inhabitants; picturesque like the age itself, like its costume, its
manners, its literature.
Pages:
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114