Non-Fiction > Books > London, 1878 - Inland voyage

1 68 Aji Inland Voyage.
admirals sail the sea no longer ; the old ships
of battle are all broken up, and live only in
pictures ; but this, that was a church before
ever they were thought upon, is still a church,
and makes as brave an appearance by the
Oise. The cathedral and the river are pro-
bably the two oldest things for miles around ;
and certainly they have both a grand old
age.
The Sacristan took us to the top of one of
the towers, and showed us the five bells hanging
in their loft. From above, the town was a
tesselated pavement of roofs and gardens ; the
old line of rampart was plainly traceable ; and
the Sacristan pointed out to us, far across the
plain, in a bit of gleaming sky between two
clouds, the towers of Chateau Coney.
I find I never weary of great churches. It is
my favourite kind of mountain scenery. Man-
kind was never so happily inspired as when