The monk, insensible to beauties which the age had not regarded as
deserving of notice, was, nevertheless, like a prudent general,
pleased to find himself out of the narrow glen in which the enemy
might have stolen upon him unperceived. He drew up his bridle, reduced
his mule to her natural and luxurious amble, instead of the agitating
and broken trot at which, to his no small inconvenience, she had
hitherto proceeded, and, wiping his brow, gazed forth at leisure on
the broad moon, which, now mingling with the lights of evening, was
rising over field and forest, village and fortalice, and, above all,
over the stately Monastery, seen far and dim amid the vellow light.
The worst part of the magnificent view, in the monk's apprehension,
was, that the Monastery stood on the opposite side of the river, and
that of the many fine bridges which have since been built across that
classical stream, not one then existed. There was, however, in
recompense, a bridge then standing which has since disappeared,
although its ruins may still be traced by the curious.
It was of a very peculiar form. Two strong abutments were built on
either side of the river, at a part where the stream was peculiarly
contracted. Upon a rock in the centre of the current was built a
solid piece of masonry, constructed like the pier of a bridge, and
presenting, like a pier, an angle to the current of the stream.
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