His family mansion is an old castellated manor-house, gray with age, and
of a most venerable, though weather-beaten appearance. It has been built
upon no regular plan, but is a vast accumulation of parts, erected in
various tastes and ages. The center bears evident traces of Saxon
architecture, and is as solid as ponderous stone and old English oak can
make it. Like all the relics of that style, it is full of obscure
passages, intricate mazes, and dusky chambers; and though these have
been partially lighted up in modern days, yet there are many places
where you must still grope in the dark. Additions have been made to the
original edifice from time to time, and great alterations have taken
place; towers and battlements have been erected during wars and tumults:
wings built in time of peace; and out-houses, lodges, and offices, run
up according to the whim or convenience of different generations, until
it has become one of the most spacious, rambling tenements imaginable.
An entire wing is taken up with the family chapel, a reverend pile, that
must have been exceedingly sumptuous, and, indeed, in spite of having
been altered and simplified at various periods, has still a look of
solemn religious pomp. Its walls within are stored with the monuments of
John's ancestors; and it is snugly fitted up with soft cushions and
well-lined chairs, where such of his family as are inclined to church
services, may doze comfortably in the discharge of their duties.
To keep up this chapel has cost John much money; but he is stanch in his
religion, and piqued in his zeal, from the circumstance that many
dissenting chapels have been erected in his vicinity, and several of his
neighbors, with whom he has had quarrels, are strong papists.
To do the duties of the chapel he maintains, at a large expense, a pious
and portly family chaplain. He is a most learned and decorous personage,
and a truly well-bred Christian, who always backs the old gentleman in
his opinions, winks discreetly at his little peccadilloes, rebukes the
children when refractory, and is of great use in exhorting the tenants
to read their Bibles, say their prayers, and, above all, to pay their
rents punctually, and without grumbling.
The family apartments are in a very antiquated taste, somewhat heavy,
and often inconvenient, but full of the solemn magnificence of former
times; fitted up with rich, though faded tapestry, unwieldy furniture,
and loads of massy gorgeous old plate. The vast fireplaces, ample
kitchens, extensive cellars, and sumptuous banqueting halls, all speak
of the roaring hospitality of days of yore, of which the modern
festivity at the manor-house is but a shadow. There are, however,
complete suites of rooms apparently deserted and time-worn; and towers
and turrets that are tottering to decay; so that in high winds there is
danger of their tumbling about the ears of the household.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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