wings; and a goodly leads[1] upon the top, railed with statua's interposed; and the same tower to be divided into rooms, as shall be thought fit. The stairs likewise to the upper rooms, let them be upon a fair open newel[2] and finely railed in with images of wood, cast into a brass colour; and a very fair landing-place at the top. But this to be, if you do not point[3] any of the lower rooms for a dining place of servants. For otherwise you shall have the servants' dinner after your own: for the steam of it will come up as in a tunnel. And so much for the front. Only I understand the height of the first stairs to be sixteen foot, which is the height of the lower room.
Beyond this front is there to be a fair court,[4] but three sides of it, of a far lower building than the front. And in all the four corners of that court fair staircases, cast into turrets, on the outside, and
- ↑ Leads. The sheets or strips of lead used to cover a roof. "If Fairford's journey had been hitherto in a stifled and subterranean atmosphere, it was now open, lofty, and airy enough; for he had to follow his guide over leads and slates, which the old smuggler traversed with the dexterity of a cat." Scott. Redgauntlet. XIII.
- ↑ Newel. The newel of a winding stair is the upright pillar round which the steps turn, and by which they are supported from the bottom to the top. An 'open,' or hollow, 'newel' is the central or open space or well in a winding stair.
- ↑ Point. To appoint.
"The souldier may not move from watchful sted,
Nor leave his stand, untill his captaine bed.
Who life doth limit by almightie doome
(Quoth he) knowes best the termes established;
And he, that points the centonell his roome,
Doth license him depart at sound of morning droome."
Spenser. The Faery Queene. Book I. Canto ix. Stanza 41.
- ↑ In his edition of the Essays, Mr. S. H. Reynolds suggests that the "fair court" Bacon describes may be the Great Court of Trinity College, Cambridge. The plan of the Great Court, "with a cross" and four grass plots, was the work of Thomas Nevile, Master of Trinity College from 1593 to 1615. Bacon took his M.A. degree at Cambridge July 27, 1594, and represented the University in Parliament in 1614.
