Observations of a Gentleman

In the afternoon we took a view of the castle at Durham, the residence of the bishop. The situation is wonderfully fine, surrounded by the river and commanding all the country. Many of the apartments are large and stately, but the furniture is mean beyond imagination. I know not where I have seen such in a gentleman's house or a man of five hundred a year, except that of the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin. In the largest chambers the tapestry is quite faded; beside that, it is coarse and ill-judged. Take but one instance: In Jacob's vision you see, on the one side, a little paltry ladder and an angel climbing it in the attitude of a chimney sweeper; and on the other side, Jacob staring at him, from under a large silver-laced hat.

The Journal of John Wesley