But to the castle of Durham I have no objection whatever. I
should like to live in it, as I should in all other Tudor houses,
great or small, that I saw, where, as I am constantly saying, a
high ideal of comfort is realized. It is almost as nobly placed
as the cathedral, and it is approached by a very stately court-
yard, of like spacious effect with the cathedral piazza. Inside
it there is a kitchen of the sixteenth century, with a company of
neat serving-maids, too comely and young to be, perhaps, of the
same period, that gives the tourist a high sense of the luxury in
which the Bishop of Durham and the Judges of the Assize Courts
live when they are residents in the castle. One sees their
apartments, dim and rich, and darkly furnished, but not gloomily,
both where they sleep and where they eat, and flatteringly envies
them in a willingness for the moment to be a judge or a bishop
for the sake of such a fit setting. There is also a fine crypt,
with a fine dining-hall and a black staircase of ancient oak, and
a gallery with classic busts, and other pictures worthy of
wonder, let alone a history from the time of William the
Conqueror, who first fancied a castle where it stands, down to
the present day.
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