e Stuarts, having a
deeply-rooted sentiment of hereditary loyalty. _Multa fecerunt_
and _multa tulerunt_, certainly, for that unhappy race. Here they
show a chair in which _a plot_ was contrived against Charles I.--
that is, 'in which the president of the conspirators is said to
have sat.' The story was obscure, but I did not think it
advisable to press the narrator for explanations. Likewise a
cradle, which tradition assigns to Henry V. (Harry of Monmouth),
which is evidently old enough and was splendid enough in a rude
style to justify any such tradition; the only unfortunate thing
is, that there is a rival cradle somewhere else with the same
claim. Mr. Wyatt, the Duke's agent, received me with great
civility and hospitality, having been enjoined by the Duke to
make me his guest and himself my _cicerone_. Accordingly we set
forth on Monday morning and went to Usk Castle, a ruin of which
not much is left besides a picturesque round tower; neither the
Castle nor the country is very remarkable, but we brought home a
crimped salmon, for which Usk is famous (and where the crimping
is said to be a secret unattainable even to the vendors of Wye
and Severn salmon), which was, without exception, the most dainty
fish I ever ate. From Usk we returned to Raglan Castle, a most
noble and beautiful ruin; there has often been a notion of
restoring it, and an estimate was made of the probable expense,
which was calculated at L30,000; but the idea and the estimate
are equally preposterous: it would be reconstructing a very
unmanageable house and destroying the finest ruin in England, and
the cost would infallibly be three times L30,000. As there had
been a question of its restoration, I expected to find greater
and more perfect remains, but, though some of the apartments may
be made out, it is a vast wreck. The strange thing is that the
second Marquis of Worcester, when his possessions were restored
to him, and when the damage done to the castle might easily have
been repaired, should not have done it nor any of his immediate
descendants. Great pains are now taken to preserve the beauties
of this majestic fabric and to arrest the further progress of
decay. Yesterday I rode to Goodrich Castle, stopping to see some
remarkable views of the Wye, particularly one called Simmons Yat
or Rock, which is very beautiful (and must be much more so when
the river is clear and transparent); and a curious rock called
the Buck-stone, which was probab