[Illustration: BRAY CHURCH.]
We come to Maidenhead and Taplow, with Brunel's masterpiece of
bridge-building connecting them, its elliptical brick arches being the
broadest of their kind in the kingdom. Below this, as beauties decrease,
we are compensated by scenes of greater historical interest. Near
Maidenhead is Bisham Abbey, the most interesting house in Berkshire. It
was originally a convent, and here lived Sir Thomas Russel, who at one
time was the custodian of the princess Elizabeth. He treated her so well
that she warmly welcomed him at court after becoming queen.
Bisham is a favorite scene for artists to sketch. Bray Church, where
officiated the famous "Vicar of Bray," Symond Symonds, is below
Maidenhead. This lively and politic vicar lived in the troubled times of
King Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. Having
seen martyrs burnt at Windsor, but two miles off, he found the fires too
hot for his tender temper, and therefore changed his religion whenever
events changed his sovereign. When taxed with being a religious
changeling, his shrewd answer was, "Not so, for I always keep my
principle, which is this--to live and to die the Vicar of Bray." The old
church, nestling among the trees, is attractive, and we are told that an
ancient copy of _Fox's Book of Martyrs_, which was chained to the
reading-desk in Queen Elizabeth's time, is still preserved here for the
edification of the faithful.