The sun., 1900-12-14
SIAW'S NEW ETCHINGS

Robert Shaw, the artist, has just pub
lishpd two new etchings of subjects of
local interest which will add much of
historical interest and artistic worth to
collections of "Shaw's Etchings." The
historic subjects Of this series now in
clude the old mill and bridge over the
Brandywine ut Market street, which if
we remember Alright was the first Of
Shaw's plates; Old Swcdes Church; the
Barley Mill. several of the old churches
of the Peninsula, and now Belmont
Hall is added.
homestead in Kent county, dates from
about 1170. The tract of land composing
the original land grant was made by Will
liam Penn to an Englishman from whom
it took the name of ''pearman's Choice"
A house stood on the site of the hall
late in the seventeenth century. The
original of the present building was
erected by an Englishman named Moore
who bought the land from Governor
John Cook. The body of the Hall was
added by Governor Thomas Collins, who
bought the Belmont tract from Moore in
iii, and enlarged the dwelling to its
present proportions in 1878. During the
Revolutionary War Governor Collins gar
rsoned the Hall, stockaded the grounds
and maintained Il brigade of militia for
its defense. The bricks Of which the
Hall is built are said to have come from
England and all the hardware bears the
imprint of the British stamp.
There is Il story of Il night attack on
Il ~ 4.
tnel who was pacing his beat on the
observatory platform at the top of the
house, was shot and fatally wounded.
Being unable to give the alarm he
crawlcd down stairs, and reaching the
drawing room was found there lying in
pool of blood. The blood stains are
still shown on the floor where the man
died. Or this historical house, Marion
Harland, in ''AIore Colonial Home
steads" says:
The facaue of the Hall is imposing,
and the effect of the whole building, set
in the center of park and gardens
twenty acres in extent, ana quite re-
moved from the highway, is noble and
dignlhed. One of the most beautiful
views of the house is to be had from the
garden behind it, where a low terrace
falls away from the ornamental grounds
to the level of the surrounding fields.
The stroller in the winding alleys, look
ing up suddenly at the ivied gables of the
oldest part of the Hail. framed in the
broad arch of the arbour at the top of the
terrace steps, fancies himself, for one
bewildered instant, in the Old World,
in the neighborhood of grange or priory
the age Of which is measured by centu-
4 L.
borne out by patrarchial trees, knobbed
and hoary as to boles, and broad of
crown, and with Il cOmpactncss of foliage
Iunattainable by groves Of less than fifty
years old"
Shaw's picture of this historic house is
made from the front approach and shows
the fine old colonial facade through a
tracery of delightful foliage. A great
ring of low fiat trimmed lockwood en-
closing a pedestal and urn lying lust in
front of the steps divide the approach
into sweeping roadways ending in wide
/ low steps leading TO tho porch and the
lhospitable entrance Of the Hall. Thence
| from steps TO porch roof, to cornice and
ballustrade on the roof rises this famous
house making with its quaint solid arch.
lecture and arboral surrounding Il pic.
/
acteristic Of honorable old age-a picture
the beauty of which has been perfected
| by the slow processes of time the soft
mellow lines and tints of centuries
growth as distinguished by the garish
outline and color of creation All of
this is far more prettNy expressed in
Sbaw's etching than can be in words.
The second of the new etchings is n
Brandywine study, called "a Sheltered
Ford" 1t is typical of the romantic
Brandywine in its quiet moods where its
waters are shallow, and smooth and
quie+ in its broader reaches. and where
the thick foliage of overhanging tree
limbs shut out the light making cool
deep shadows. In such place, just be-
yond break in the smooth flow of the
placid water, where the light CLEANS
clear and bright on the bubbles of the
break, is a group of cows gathered at
sheltered Ford as if it We're a stopping
! place on the way home-a beautiful sum
mer day picture.