BRAY CHURCH.
We come to Maidenhead and Taplow, with Brunel's masterpiece of bridge-building connecting them, its elliptical brick arches being the broadest of their kind in the kingdom. Below this, as beauties decrease, we are compensated by scenes of greater historical interest. Near Maidenhead is Bisham Abbey, the most interesting house in Berkshire. It was originally a convent, and here lived Sir Thomas Russel, who at one time was the custodian of the princess Elizabeth. He treated her so well that she warmly welcomed him at court after becoming queen.
Bisham is a favorite scene for artists to sketch. Bray Church, where officiated the famous "Vicar of Bray," Symond Symonds, is below Maidenhead. This lively and politic vicar lived in the troubled times of King Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. Having seen martyrs burnt at Windsor, but two miles off, he found the fires too hot for his tender temper, and therefore changed his religion whenever events changed his sovereign. When taxed with being a religious changeling, his shrewd answer was, "Not so, for I always keep my principle, which is this—to live and to die the Vicar of Bray." The old church, nestling among the trees, is attractive, and we are told that an ancient copy of Fox's Book of Martyrs, which was chained to the reading-desk in Queen Elizabeth's time, is still preserved here for the edification of the faithful.
ETON COLLEGE.
1. ETON COLLEGE FROM THE PLAYING FIELDS.
2. THE CRICKET-GROUND.
Soon the famous Eton College comes into view on the northern bank of the river—an institution dear to the memory of many English schoolboys. The village consists of a long, narrow street which is extended across an iron bridge to Windsor, on the southern bank of the Thames. Henry VI. founded the "College of the Blessed Mary of Eton beside Windsor" as early as 1440. The older parts of the buildings are of red brick, with stone dressings and quaint, highly ornamental chimneys, and they are clustered around two quadrangles. Here are the Lower and Upper Schools and the Long Chamber. About thirty-five years ago fine new buildings were erected in similar style to the old buildings, which provide a beautiful chapel, schools, and library (though books are said to be scarce there), and extensive dormitories. Adjoining them to the north-east are the Playing Fields on the broad green meadows along the river's edge, with noble elms shading them. In the Upper School of the ancient structure high wooden panelling covers the lower part of the walls, deeply scarred with the names of generations of Eton boys crowded closely together. In earlier times all used to cut their names in the wood, but now this sculpturing is only permitted to those who attain a certain position and leave without dishonor. Thus the panelling has become a great memorial tablet, and above it, upon brackets, are busts of some of the more eminent Etonians, including the Duke of Wellington, Pitt, Fox, Hallam, Fielding, and Gray. In the library are kept those instruments of chastisement which are always considered a part of schoolboy training, though a cupboard hides them from view—all but the block whereon the victim kneels preliminary to punishment. More than once have the uproarious boys made successful raids and destroyed this block or carried it off as a trophy. But vigorous switching was more a habit at Eton in former days than it is now. Of Head-master Keate, who was a famous flogger a half century ago, and would frequently practise on a score of boys at one séance, the scholars made a calculation to prove that he spent twice as much time in chastisement as in church, and it is recorded that he once flogged an entire division of eighty boys without an intermission. On another occasion he flogged, by mistake, a party who had been sent him for confirmation. Tall stories are also told of Eton flogging and "rug-riding"—the latter being a process whereby a heavy boy was dragged on a rug over the floors to polish them. Down to 1840 the Eton dinners consisted entirely of mutton, with cold mutton served up for supper, but this regulation diet is now varied with an occasional service of beef and other courses. Games are no inconsiderable part of the English schoolboy's education, and the Duke of Wellington said that in the "Playing Fields" of Eton the battle of Waterloo was won. These fields, "where all unconscious of their doom the little victims play," contain one of the finest cricket-grounds in England. The boys divide themselves into "dry bobs" and "wet bobs," the former devoted to cricket and the latter to boating. The procession of the boats is the great feature of June 4th, the "Speech Day." Of late years the Eton volunteer corps has attained great proficiency, being a battalion of over three hundred of the larger boys. This famous college is one of the preparatory schools for the universities. It is a world in miniature, where the boy finds his own level, and is taught lessons of endurance, patience, self-control, and independence which stand him in good service throughout after-life.