It was embowered in fine woods, which
were interspersed in every direction with rising, falling, and swelling
grounds. The manor-house had evidently descended through a long line of
ancestry, from a distant period of time. The Gothic character of its
original architecture was still preserved in the latticed windows,
adorned with carved divisions and pillars of stone-work. Several pointed
terminations also, in the construction of the roof, according to the
custom of our forefathers, fully corresponded with the general features
of the building.
One end of the house was entirely clothed with the thick foliage of an
immense ivy, which climbed beyond customary limits, and embraced a lofty
chimney up to its very summit. Such a tree seemed congenial to the walls
that supported it, and conspired with the antique fashion of the place to
carry imagination back to the days of our ancestors.
As I approached, I was led to reflect on the lapse of ages, and the
successive generations of men, each in their turn occupying lands,
houses, and domains; each in their turn also disappearing, and leaving
their inheritance to be enjoyed by others. David once observed the same,
and cried out, "Behold, thou hast made my days as an hand-breadth, and
mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is
altogether vanity.
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