I hold a theory that the English people are utterly
incomprehensible to the rest of humanity, and this will be duly set
out in my forthcoming volume.
I speedily found the clipping I was in search of. It proved to be a
letter to the _Times_, and was headed: 'Proposed Destruction of
Rantremly Castle'. The letter went on to say that this edifice was one
of the most noted examples of Norman architecture in the north of
England; that Charles II had hidden there for some days after his
disastrous defeat at Worcester. Part of the castle had been battered
down by Cromwell, and later it again proved the refuge of a Stuart
when the Pretender made it a temporary place of concealment. The new
Lord Rantremly, it seemed, had determined to demolish this ancient
stronghold, so interesting architecturally and historically, and to
build with its stones a modern residence. Against this act of
vandalism the writer strongly protested, and suggested that England
should acquire the power which France constantly exerts, in making an
historical monument of an edifice so interwoven with the fortunes of
the country.
'Well, madam,' I said, 'all this extract alludes to is the coming
demolition of Rantremly Castle.
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