"
"If this movement in the church had only revived a taste for
Christian architecture," said Lady Maud, "it would not have
been barren, and it has done so much more! But I am surprised
that old families can be so dead to our national art; so full
of our ancestors, their exploits, their mind. Indeed you and
I have no excuse for such indifference Mr Egremont."
"And I do not think I shall ever again be justly accused of
it," replied Egremont, "you plead its cause so effectively.
But to tell you the truth, I have been thinking of late about
these things; monasteries and so on; the influence of the old
church system on the happiness and comfort of the People."
"And on the tone of the Nobles--do not you think so?" said
Lady Maud. "I know it is the fashion to deride the crusades,
but do not you think they had their origin in a great impulse,
and in a certain sense, led to great results? Pardon me, if I
speak with emphasis, but I never can forget I am a daughter of
the first crusaders."
"The tone of society is certainly lower than of yore," said
Egremont. "It is easy to say we view the past through a
fallacious medium. We have however ample evidence that men
feel less deeply than of old and act with less devotion.
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