The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 481, March 19, 1831

THE TOPOGRAPHER

MONMOUTHSHIRE

(For the Mirror.)

 
Soon round us spread the hill and dales
Where Geoffrey spun his magic tales
And call'd them history. The land
Whence Arthur sprung, and all his band
Of gallant knights.
 

BLOOMFIELD'S BANKS OF WYE.

This county, the inland parts of which consist of verdant meadow or arable land, is bounded on all sides excepting that which joins the Severn, by ranges of hills which have generally either been covered with woods or devoted to the feeding of cattle. The southern or Severn side presents to the view well cultivated lands, gently rising from the shore.

Monmouth, the capital town, is situated at the confluence of the Wye and Munnow, "in a vale," says Gray, "which is the delight of my eyes, and the very seat of pleasure." It is surrounded on all sides by hills, which by affording the lowlands shelter from the bleak winds, promote vegetation, and present a beautiful prospect of hanging woods, interspersed with corn and pasture land.

The town consists principally of one long and handsome street, at the end of which is an old tower, which formerly defended the Munnow Bridge. There are a few remains of the castle in which Henry V. was born; an elegant and highly ornamented residence "the Castle House," has been built within its site, and partly of its materials. Monmouth is supposed to be the ancient Blestium. Abergavenny on the Usk is situated in a spot which partakes still more of the character of Welsh scenery: on the south west rises the Blorench mountain, in height 1,720 feet; to the north west the still higher mountain of the Sugar Loaf towers amidst the clouds. To the north east lies St. Michael's Mountain, or the Great Skyrrid, at one end of which is a remarkable chasm about 300 feet in breadth. The castle at Abergavenny formerly belonged to the Nevilles. The Welsh chroniclers have celebrated the Mountains of Carno, near this place, as having been bedewed with the blood of the Saxons.

The magnificent ruins of Ragland Castle lie half way between Monmouth and Abergavenny. Charles I. was entertained here during the first troubles of his reign, with noble hospitality by the aged Marquess of Worcester, who surrendered the castle, after a siege of almost three months, to the Parliamentary army under Sir Thomas Fairfax, in 1646:

 
"Majestic Ragland! Harvests wave
Where thundering hosts their watchword gave,
When cavaliers, with downcast eye,
Struck the last flag of loyalty."
 

BLOOMFIELD.

His son Edward, the second Marquess, was the author of the celebrated "Century of Inventions," in which the first hint of the steam engine appeared, which he calls "By divine providence, and heavenly inspiration, a stupendous water commanding engine, boundless for height or quantity;" and so delighted was he at the discovery of what he terms "The most stupendous work in the whole world," that he returned thanks to God for having vouchsafed him an insight into so great a secret of nature. He died in 1667, and his remains were conveyed with mournful solemnity to the cemetery of the Beaufort family in Ragland Church.

The town of Caerleon on the Usk, abounds with Roman remains, and is supposed to have been built on the site of a British town. Giraldus Cambrensis writes that "very eminent men were brought up and taught here," which countenances the supposition that its real name may have been Cathain Leigean, "the city of learning."

About two miles to the east of the mouth of the Usk rises Goldcliff, a solitary hill amidst the moors on the banks of the Severn. It derives its name from its glittering appearance when the sun beams on it. "I cannot be persuaded," says Camden, that "there is a flower here without fruit, were any man to search into the veins, and using the direction of art enter into the inmost and most secret bowels of the earth."

Caerwent, the Venta Silurum of the Romans, is now an inconsiderable village; it was once a seaport, but at present is two miles distant from the Severn; it occupies a gently inclining plain. Mr. Coxe, in his "Tour through Monmouthshire," has given a plan of the Roman town, which was defended on all sides except the southern, by a deep fosse. The walls are from twelve to twenty-four feet in height, and from nine to twelve in thickness. Many curious figures which have been discovered in the pavements, have been destroyed through the ignorance of the country people. The mounds and mouldering walls in the adjacent fields, present melancholy memorials of the former grandeur of this place.

The village of Trelech is remarkable for three Druidical stones, which give name to it. Harold here defeated the Britons, and from an inscription on a pedestal in the village, we may suppose that a large tumulus near this spot, contains the bones of the slain.

At the mansion of Courtfield, at Welsh Bicknor, the seat of the Roman Catholic family of Vaughan, Henry V. is traditionally reported to have been nursed, under the care of the Countess of Salisbury; a monumental effigy of a lady in accordance with the style of that age, is in the church.

The celebrated ruins of Tintern Abbey, on the banks of the Wye, which are kept in high preservation by the Duke of Beaufort, afford a noble specimen of Gothic architecture, and retain marks of their ancient magnificence:

 
"The fair wrought shaft all ivy bound
The tow'ring arch with foliage crown'd
That trembles on its brow sublime,
Triumphant o'er the spoils of Time."
 

These remains acquire additional beauty from their romantic situation. The roof has fallen in; but the pillars and tracery of many of the windows are perfect. The green lawn is covered with fragments of sculpture and memorials of those who once dwelt within this magnificent pile:

 
"But all is still. The chequer'd floor,
Shall echo to the step no more;
Nor airy roof the strain prolong
Of vesper chant or choral song."
 

BLOOMFIELD.

In the year 1634, Colonel Sandys attempted to make the Wye navigable by means of locks, but as this experiment was unsuccessful, they were afterwards removed. This river from the confluence of its mountain streams after heavy rains, is subject to sudden inundations, which though in many respects injurious to the farmer, greatly fertilize the meadows in its vicinity, and especially those near Monmouth, by the valuable matter it deposits. The tide of the Severn, from the peculiar projection of the rocks at the mouth of the Wye, flows up the latter river with great rapidity, to the height of more than forty feet. "The highest tide," says Mr. Coxe, "within the memory of the present generation, rose to fifty-six feet."

To the admirers of the architecture of the baronial mansions of the middle ages, the remains of the numerous castles which have been erected on the banks of the Wye to repel the incursions of the Welsh, by the Talbots and Strongbows, and other renowned families of former days, will afford the highest gratification, and give a silent though powerful admonition, that human grandeur endureth but for a day:

 
"On the Gwentian shore
The regal banner streams no more.
Nettles and vilest weeds that grow,
To mock poor grandeur's head laid low,
Creep round the turret's valour rais'd,
And flaunt where youth and beauty gazed."
 

W

THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS

THE SUNDAY LIBRARY

This work is intended to consist of "Manuals of Religious Edification, more especially adapted for the LORD'S DAY; as containing the sentiments of many of the more eminent Divines of the Church of England in the Discourses delivered from their pulpits:" or, in plain terms, it is to comprise a Selection of Sermons from the most eminent Divines of the Church of England, chiefly within the last half century. Its editorship is entrusted to the learned and accomplished Dr. Dibdin, who enforces the publication of a religious Library, in these energetic words:—"Let it be specially impressed upon the minds of Christians of EVERY persuasion, that at NO moment can a work, similar to the present, have stronger claims upon their attention and support, than at this precise period, when the elements of civil society seem to be agitated in a variety of directions, and when a sound and sober exposition of Scriptural Truths may essentially contribute to the support of the best interests of the COUNTRY."

The two volumes before us contain the incomparable Mount Sermon by Bishop Porteus; Bishop Bloomfield on the Choice of a Religion; two Sermons by Paley; prefixed to the latter is a Memoir, concluding with these excellent observations by the Editor:—

"The Sermons of Paley were chiefly a posthumous publication. They were preached to, as they were written for, a country congregation; they are therefore divested of studied ornament of style, and elaboration of argument. But they bear the peculiar impress of the author's own powerful and unsophisticated mind; and for strength of conception, and clearness and sometimes vigour of expression, it may be questioned whether many in them have been ever surpassed. They are not, strictly speaking, eloquent; but there is a force, as well us a novelty of treatment, in many of them, that put them above all comparison. They are familiar without coarseness, and terse without obscurity. Their main charm may be said to consist in the simplicity and strength with which religious and moral truths are handled; the uncompromising and straightforward manner in which human frailties and sins are exposed; the kindliness of exhortation to repentance and godliness of living; the power, purity, and comfort of the Gospel-dispensation; and, above all, the perfect absence of fanaticism, of an overheated fancy, and of a persecuting spirit. But these qualities, which so eminently distinguish the writer, ought in some degree to possess the reader, of the sermons in question. For the kindly reception of the scriptural truths enforced by Paley, there must be nothing ascetic, nothing morose, nothing self-willed and intolerant, in the mind of him who sets himself in right earnest to the task of their perusal. In like manner, all highly wrought, impassioned, and uncontrollable emotions, which carry the infatuated understanding into a wide and wild sea of doubt and distraction, must be absent from the reader. It cannot be dissembled that, when read with a proper spirit, we rise from the perusal of Paley's Sermons not less convinced of the necessity of putting a guard upon the unruliness of our passions, than of living in peace, goodwill, and brotherly love with all mankind."

Among the remainder in the first volume (in all 16,) is Bishop Horne's Life a Journey, upon that touching line in Psalm cxix.—

 
"I am a stranger upon the earth."
 

How beautifully are the consolations of our blessed religion set forth in the imagery of the subsequent extract:—

"Although the traveller's first and chief delight is the recollection of his home, which lies as a cordial at his heart, and refreshes him every where and at all seasons, this does by no means prevent him from taking that pleasure in the several objects presenting themselves on the road, which they are capable of affording, and were indeed intended to afford. He surveys, in passing, the works and beauties of nature and art, meadows covered with flocks, valleys waving with corn, verdant woods, blooming gardens, and stately buildings. He surveys and enjoys them, perhaps, much more than their owners do, but leaves them without a sigh, reflecting on the far greater and sincerer joys that are waiting for him at home. Such exactly is the temper and disposition with which the Christian traveller should pass through the world. His religion does not require him to be gloomy and sullen, to shut his eyes, or to stop his ears; it debars him of no pleasure, of which a thinking and reasonable man would wish to partake. It directs him not to shut himself up in a cloister, alone, there to mope and moan away his life; but to walk abroad, to behold the things which are in heaven and earth, and to give glory to him who made them; reflecting, at the same time that if, in this fallen world, which is soon to be consumed by fire, there are so many objects to entertain and delight him, what must be the pleasures of that world which is to endure for ever, and to be his eternal home; Flocks feeding in green meadows, by rivers of water, remind him of the future happy condition of the righteous, when 'they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water.' From fading plantations he carries his thoughts to the paradise of God, where, in immortal youth and beauty, grows the tree of life, whose tree never withers, and which bears its fruit through the unnumbered ages of eternity. Earthly cities and palaces cause him to remember thee, O thou holy city, heavenly Jerusalem, whose walls are salvation, and thy gates praise, and the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple in the midst of thee! He who sees the world in this light will draw its sting, and disarm it of its power to hurt; he will so use it as not to abuse it, because the fashion of it passes away; he will so enjoy it, as to be always ready to leave it for a better; he will not think of settling at his inn, because it is pleasantly situated. He remembers that he is a traveller; he forgets not that he is a stranger in the earth."