1 1HB8 
 
 imlllli^ 
 
 \m 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■■ 
 
 WMwHBDB 
 
 IHB1 
 
 nJuAjTHifii I mi ml IS U u ill I 1 
 
 WniM WBfflSl 
 
 mVBSBBm 
 
 hM bis 
 
 HIS 
 
 b 
 
 6& 
 
 aovmn 
 
 SfflHRHEfflH 
 
 Hffli 
 
 B8H 
 
 WBmm 
 
 MRHH 
 
 91 K& 
 
 Ifl 
 
 n 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/insoutsoflondonOOodan 
 
INS AND OUTS 
 
 OP 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 BY 
 
 W. O'DANIEL 
 
 " A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping, 
 
 Dirty and dusky, but as wide as eye 
 Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping 
 
 In sight, then lost amidst the forestry 
 Of masts ; a wilderness of steeples peeping 
 
 On tip-toe, through their sea-coal canopy— 
 A huge dun cupola, like a fool's cap crown, 
 
 On a fool's head— and there is London town ! 
 
 * * * j» ***** 
 
 For Juan stood well, both with Ins and Outs." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY S. C. LAMB, 
 
 310 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
 1859. 
 
<v 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF C ONGR ESS 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 
 
 S. C. LAMB, 
 
 In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the Eastern 
 
 District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 ROBB, PILE, & M'ELROY, Printers. 
 
 S. D. Wyeth„Agt., Stbrkotypbju 
 209 Pear Street Pliilaia. 
 
TO 
 
 GIDEON T. TODD, 
 
 Formerly of Delaware, 
 Now of Philadelphia, 
 
 WHOSE SUGGESTIONS AND ASSISTANCE IN BRINGING THESE SKETCHES BEFORE 
 THE PUBLIC HAVE BEEN OF MUCH SERVICE, 
 THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY 
 DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The City of London — the great metropolis 
 of Britain, produces more numerous and grander 
 points of attraction than any other city in the 
 world. During a somewhat lengthy residence in 
 that city I collected various statements and pre- 
 pared extensive notes concerning many of those 
 grand points, not dreaming at that time that these 
 scribblings would ever be presented to the pub- 
 lic eye, unless through the unpretending columns 
 of some village Journal. Why they appear in 
 the present form, I am free to confess, I really do 
 not know — -although it is said there should be an 
 object in every undertaking. 
 
 Books containing descriptions of countries 
 and cities have at all times met with some degree 
 of popular favor, and in fact more so than have 
 works of romance or poetry. A large number 
 
 1* (vii) 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 of works on London have appeared within a few 
 years but the theme is not yet exhausted. Lon- 
 don, large, dirty, dusky, crowded, and ever-enter- 
 taining London will furnish material for the 
 most unpretending pen for centuries to come. 
 Here have lived Shakspeare, Milton, Locke, 
 Bacon, Goldsmith, JNTewton — and an " innumera- 
 ble host " of poets, sages, heroes, and statesmen, 
 and here still is the abode of learning, intelli- 
 gence, industry, and commerce. In the following- 
 pages I have not endeavored to produce anything 
 new. The majority of the objects themselves, 
 upon which I have written, are old— and the 
 accounts we have of them are old — but, as I have 
 before stated, the theme is exhaustless. I have 
 principally endeavored to describe persons and 
 things as I found them — nothing more. The 
 pleasure of occupying many leisure hours has 
 repaid me for all trouble taken with my notes — 
 and thus, w^ith a clear conscience and without 
 apology, I cast the drop into the fathomless sea 
 of books. Wm. O'D. 
 
 Wilmington Del 1858. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The Voyage.- — Starting.— Dinner at Sea. 
 — Pleasures of Sea Sickness.— Every-day 
 life at Sea. — An Excitement. — Death in the 
 Forecastle. — Burial at Sea. — Shores of Eng- 
 land. — The Goodwin Sands. — Deal Boatmen. 
 — Salvage Laws. — Custom House Officers. — 
 London, .... page 17 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Streets of London. — Origin of the City. 
 — Irregularity of the Streets, page 37 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Houses. — Number and Variety. 
 — Stores. — American Stores in London. — 
 Patent Right Laws, - - page 47 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Inhabitants. — Queen Victoeia. — 
 Peince Albeet and the " Family." — Couet 
 cleculae." — eveey-day life of the aeistoc- 
 eacy, ... . page 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Inhabitants Continued. — The Mid- 
 dle Class. — Geneeal Ignoeance. — Gulla- 
 bility. — Deess. — Unifoems. — Teachees. — 
 Beauty and Health of the Ladies. — Lowee 
 Classes. — Peostitution. — Humane Societies. 
 — The Woekhouse, - - - page 75 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Westminstee Abbey. — " Poets' Coe- 
 nee." — hlstoey. — tlie chapel of heney 
 vii. — Legends in Stone. — The Monu- 
 ments, - page 92 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Amusements. — The Handel Festival. — 
 " God save the Queen." — The Opera — " Her 
 Majesty's Theatre." — Piccolomini — La Tra- 
 viata. — The Consumption. — Co vent Garden 
 Theatre. — Go vent Garden Market. — A Bal 
 Masque.— -Drury Lane Theatre. — Correspon- 
 dence of the Stage Managers. — Haunts 
 of Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild and 
 others. — Music Halls. — Home Amuse- 
 ments, page 107 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 St. Paul's Cathedral. — The Druids.— 
 History. — The Organ. — Reading Desk.— 
 Communion Table. — Monuments. — Bishop 
 Heber. — The Library. — Whispering Gal- 
 lery. — The Great Bell. — The Ball. — The 
 Crypts. — Wellington's Titles. — Service of 
 the Church of England vs. the Prayer 
 Book, page 130 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Parks and Gardens. — Hyde Park. — 
 Achilles. — Sublimity and Business. — The 
 Serpentine. — Riders. — Buckingham Palace/ 
 — St. James' Palace, and Park. — The Poet 
 Rogers' House. — Regent's Park, and 
 Amusements. — Kew. — Surrey and Spur- 
 geon, - page 155 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Crystal Palace. — John Bull's In- 
 consistency. — Pleasure Grounds of the 
 Crystal Palace. — Water Temples. — The 
 Pre-Adamite Inhabitants of the Earth. — 
 Arrangements for the comfort of Visitors. 
 — Gallery Stores and Statuary, page 178 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Courts of the Crystal Palace. — The 
 Court of the Alhambra. — The Egyptian 
 
CONTENTS. Xiii 
 
 Court. — The Tomb of Abousaimbul. — The 
 Greek and Roman Courts. — Hindoo laws of 
 Architecture. — The Apollo Belvidere. — 
 The Pompeian Court. — Herculaneum and 
 Pompeii. — The Nineveh Court. — Byzantine 
 Court. — The Medi jevel Courts. — Nubian 
 Court. — The Italian, Renaissance and In- 
 dustrial Courts, - - - page 193 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Down the Thames. — The Great Fire of 
 1666. — The Fire Monument. — London 
 Bridge. — English Steamboats. — Billings- 
 gate. — Custom House. — Mud Larks. — The 
 Tower of London. — Trinity House. — 
 Docks, ..... page 249 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Thames, Continued. — Thames' Tun- 
 nel. — Greenwich. — Millwall — the " Big 
 Ship." — Blackwall. — East India Docks. — 
 
 2 
 
xiv contents. 
 
 West India Docks. — Victoria Docks. — 
 Woolwich. — Gravesend, and the United 
 States' War Frigates, " Niagara" — " Sus- 
 quehanna," .... page 274 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Palace of Westminster, or the 
 New Houses of Parliament. — History. — 
 Description. — The Princes' Chamber. — 
 The House of Lords. — The Throne. — 
 Parliamentary Anecdotes. — St. Stephen's 
 and Westminster Hall. — The House of 
 Commons. — The Members. — Elective Com- 
 panies, - ... page 296 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Hotels. — Coffee and Chop Houses — Gin 
 Palaces. — Boarding Houses. — Miseries of 
 Boarding, - - - - page 318 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The British Museum. — History and 
 Description. — Room of the Gods. — The 
 Library. — Madam Tussaud's Exhibition. — 
 That Lady and General Washington. — The 
 Royal Family. — The Hall of Kings. — The 
 Shrine of Napoleon, or the Golden Cham- 
 ber. — Clothing and Equipage of Napoleon. 
 — The Chamber of Horrors. — The 
 Guilotine. — Interesting Predicament. — The 
 Bastile, page 333 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A Heterogeneous Mass. — Rail Road 
 Travelling. — City Funerals — The Bank 
 of England. — The Royal Exchange. — 
 Petticoat Lane. — Trafalgar Square. — The 
 Temple, page 355 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Hampton Coukt Palace. — History and 
 Description. — Royal Relics. — The Cartoons 
 of Raphael. — Wolsey's Hall. — The Palace 
 Gardens. — Cardinal Wolsey. — His Private 
 Life. — His Desertion and Death, page 381 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE VOYAGE.— STARTING.— DINNER AT SEA. 
 —PLEASURES OF SEA SICKNESS.— E VERY-DAY 
 LIFE AT SEA.— AN EXCITEMENT.— DEATH IN 
 THE FORECASTLE.— BURIAL AT SEA.— SHORES 
 OF ENGLAND.— THE GOODWIN SANDS.— DEAT, 
 BOATMEN.— SALVAGE LAWS.— CUSTOM HOUSE 
 OFFICERS.— LONDON. 
 
 That this is a world of mutation is a fact too 
 well known to require comment. It is equally 
 certain that the mental structure of " Young- 
 America" undergoes this mutating operation 
 quite as frequently as does anything else. I 
 might give many reasons for my sudden deter- 
 mination to " brave the dangers of the deep " in 
 the midst of winter and of college studies, but 
 knowing the world, or rather the inhabitants 
 thereof are not slow in judging and attributing 
 
 2* ( xvii ) 
 
XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 causes for every effect under the sun I will allow 
 said inhabitants to indulge their Yankee pro- 
 pensity for " guessing " at my reasons. The con- 
 clusion to go — however — was most certainly 
 arrived at; and here one half the battle was 
 over; preparations for — and the journey, were 
 secondary considerations. A few days passed — 
 I found myself standing on the platform of the 
 cars, about to start for New York, and wafting 
 an affectionate farewell from the folds of a pocket- 
 handkerchief to Rev. — 's " Seminary girls ?" My 
 feelings at this moment were of the indescribable 
 kind. Suffice it to say that only the considera- 
 tion I entertained for the spotless purity of the 
 aforesaid handkerchief prevented its being appro- 
 priated in a different manner. The iron horse 
 gave the starting signal, I cast a long-lingering, 
 last look at the College steeple in the distance 
 (which looked unusually beautiful) and away we 
 went "riding on the rail." 
 
 After arriving in New York I was not long- 
 in coming to satisfactory conclusions concerning 
 how I should embark. At two o'clock one after- 
 noon I was seated in one of the innumerable 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 skiffs that surround the piers in the East River, 
 sailing out the Harbor towards what the owner 
 called the largest and best clipper ship ever built 
 
 — by name W of Rockland, Maine ; under 
 
 command of Captain W. C . I soon got com- 
 fortably established on board, and made the 
 acquaintance of all the passengers — two in num- 
 ber — both Englishmen who had been fortune 
 hunting in the West and having partially suc- 
 ceeded were about to return to " merry Old Eng- 
 land " to spend Christmas with their relations. 
 We were soon out of the harbor, and spent the 
 remainder of the afternoon in devising schemes 
 for murdering time during the voyage. After 
 tea we were entertained by the captain with finely 
 spun yarns of his own adventures on the " ocean 
 wave." At ten o'clock I made a critical inves- 
 tigation into the comforts of my sleeping apart- 
 ment. Fully satisfied with the result, and the 
 " bunk" looked so inviting I was not long in per- 
 forming for the first time the " turning in " opera- 
 tion. This, as every one knows who has been at 
 sea, is performed by balancing oneself very 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 evenly on one side of the bunk and turning over ; 
 and woe be to the man that forgets he is not on a 
 four-post bedstead* 
 
 November. — Wakened by an unearthly noise 
 on deck, got up, clothed myself in the worst look- 
 ing " rigging " I could command, and went out. 
 Found the noise to proceed from the sailors who 
 were hoisting more sail and dragging the anchor 
 cable between decks. Satisfied with my dis- 
 coveries I returned, called my fellow travellers 
 from their slumbers, and soon partook of my first 
 ship-breakfast. The variety and quality of this 
 I defy a French connoiseur to have found fault 
 with. Breakfast over went again on deck and 
 found a pleasant seat aft. It was a beautiful day 
 — warm for so late in the fall, and altogether the 
 proper time, place, and circumstances to indulge 
 in a revery. 
 
 The distant shores of my native land were 
 fading like a mist away. Home, relatives, and 
 friends were on that land ; — between us nothing but 
 the "deep, dark blue ocean," and involuntarily 
 the questions arose, When shall I again see them ? 
 
INTRODUCTION. * Xxi 
 
 What changes may take place! I am about to 
 roam I know not where, or how far I may be driven 
 by that love of travel I cannot restrain! — 
 Land entirely disappeared. 
 
 Behind me rolled the sea — ahead the sea — 
 on either side the sea — above, the clear blue sky 
 — below, a thing of planks buoyed upon the waves 
 to save me from an awful plunge. 
 
 I was soon joined by my companions, who I 
 found objected very seriously to saying anything 
 either about the past or the land behind, but were 
 faithfully occupied in thoughts of the future, 
 when they should meet with those from whom 
 they had parted long before. On a resolution 
 unanimously agreed upon by all three, that under 
 ordinary circumstances neither of us, in presence 
 of the others, should look, act, or speak seriously 
 for the remainder of the voyage, we adjourned to 
 dinner. In my mind there exists a very intimate 
 relationship between dining and dying. I seldom 
 do the former without thinking a little of the 
 latter. I am hardly able to account for this asso- 
 ciation of ideas unless it be that we do the first 
 
XX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in order to delay as long as possible the second. 
 Or, perhaps, it may be caused by seeing turkeys, 
 chickens, portions of beef and mutton that " once 
 glowed with the rose tint of health " lying, stript 
 of their glory in the trenchers. Moreover, this 
 eating is a vulgar institution. The idea of a 
 young lady, perhaps one that we almost idolize, 
 the idea of such a one stretching her pretty face 
 into hideous shapes in the act of conveying to her 
 mouth a piece of steaming hot plum pudding, 
 apple dumpling, or " corn, hot on the ear.' 7 It is 
 absurd. It spoils all the romance. Dinner on 
 shore, even in a storm, is vastly different from 
 dinner at sea. For instance suppose you take 
 tea for dinner, spend ten minutes in getting it 
 properly sweetened, about to convey it to your 
 lips — ship rolls a little — pour the tea in your 
 bosom — and are perfectly convinced without desir- 
 ing farther demonstration that " there's many a 
 slip 'tween the cup and the lip." 
 
 A beautiful potato (that is what my English 
 friends call a fine one) claims your attention — it 
 is on the other side of the table — friend hands 
 
introduction. xxiii 
 
 you the dish — ship rolls a little as before — stick the 
 fork in your hand — drop the dish — and meditate 
 on the folly of all human expectations. 
 
 " In the course of human events " dinner was 
 over — and the dav soon followed. In the evening 
 it clouded over, the winds began a concert among 
 the rigging, and the barometer gave every indica- 
 tion of a squally night. JSTo indication of sea- 
 sickness yet — cannot tell what the remainder 
 may prove. Turned in very early. 
 
 November. — I have been sea-sick! It is a 
 peculiar sensation. So peculiar I cannot describe 
 it. It is an awful institution. So awful it cannot 
 be imagined. It is a feeling of perfect worthless- 
 ness. The person who would have thrown me 
 overboard I truly believe I could have considered 
 mv best friend. What a night it was ! I have 
 often heard about waves running mountain high 
 but thought it all poetical imagination. I am 
 now convinced beyond a doubt that there are such 
 things. The wind blew and howled among the 
 rigging; the ship "tossed to and fro like a 
 drunken man" and I was nearly at my "wits 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 end." From these causes, and I am sure they 
 were sufficient for any one, I was anything but 
 sentimentally sea-sick. Managed to get out on 
 deck, found the storm still raging. There was a 
 great deal of water aboard, and waves continu- 
 ally washing over us. Everything that was not 
 " lashed up " was floating about in wild confusion, 
 and it was almost impossible for the crew to walk 
 about. A man was lost overboard from the main 
 yard sometime in the night but not an effort could 
 be made to save him. — Struck by a wave, carried 
 half way along the deck, brought up in collision 
 with a hatch house — soaked through — and con- 
 cluded it was about time for a " landsman " to 
 leave for the cabin. The soaking was not very 
 agreeable, and changed my mind about drowning. 
 One of the effects of sea-sickness is that appetite 
 is an unknown quantity or quality which nothing 
 can equal. Breakfast I did not touch. Made 
 my usual memoranda and turned in. 
 
 December. — Nothing written in my "log 
 book " for over a week — and for several reasons. 
 The ship overloaded by several tons sat very low 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 in the water so that the waves completely swept 
 her decks. The ship continued rolling. If these 
 are not excellent reasons for not journalizing, 
 I possess one unanswerable argument in my 
 favor. I have been turned in since Saturday — 
 more than a week have not eaten a mouthful, 
 and have had a bucket somewhere in proximity 
 to my bunk. The steward persisted in coming a 
 dozen times a day to see if I wanted anything, 
 when even to talk about eating made me wonder 
 why the art was invented. I apparently got 
 along very well without it. On complete recovery, 
 however, as is always the case, I could destroy any- 
 thing mentioned in the vocalulary of cooking from 
 " soft tack " and " salt junk "to a roast turkey. 
 My companions were in the same predicament 
 and the black steward looked thunder-struck at 
 the vengeance wreaked upon his various and 
 sometimes incomprehensible dishes. The day 
 according to the Almanac and observances on 
 land was Sunday. Our voyage being so very 
 stormy the steamer had no Sunday. The same 
 course of work had to be carried on as through 
 
 6 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the week. On many ships this is the case in 
 pleasant weather as well as stormy. I have known 
 owners to discharge captains for allowing the 
 crew to observe the Sabbath as far as it was pos- 
 sible at sea. The reason given for this is that a 
 ship at sea demands every moment of daylight 
 in attending to the examination of rigging, stores^ 
 and other portions of the ship. At sea a day 
 commences twelve o'clock — noon. Then all 
 hands fore and aft take dinner. The crew 
 is divided evenly in two watches, larboard and 
 starboard. One under command of the first mate 7 
 the other under the second mate. Some ships 
 require all hands on duty through the day — our 
 voyage being very rough and laborious — and 
 having a good crew — the watches did duty alter- 
 nately. A watch is four hours, commencing at 
 noon or eight bells. The dog watches — when 
 observed — are from four to six, and from six to 
 eight o'clock, P. M. In emergency all hands, 
 even to steward and cook, are called and must 
 perform with dexerity any thing commanded. 
 Thus one day passes, and thus another, and 
 apparently " we take no note of time." 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXvii 
 
 December. — Three days more have passed 
 but who could describe them ! In jpauca verba 
 nothing but a succession of rain and hail squalls, 
 rough seas, waves dashing over the ship and all 
 the other pleasant things attendant on ocean 
 travelling in December. Last night capped the 
 climax. It was about twelve o'clock. My friends 
 had just turned in, I had been in for some time 
 and was dozing slightly, when I was completely 
 wakened by finding myself thrown, in a denuded 
 condition, very unceremoniously into the middle 
 of the room. Fortunately I "landed" upon a 
 very largely developed, but unpoetical portion of 
 my " fizzical phraam." I had not long remained 
 in this situation, when a small boat that had been 
 washed off the poop in spite of its firm lashings, 
 broke in the cabin door, followed by a huge body 
 of water, with boards, spars, barrel staves, and 
 pieces of wood of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. 
 By this time all hands headed by the captain 
 were out on deck examining into the amount of 
 damage sustained. A wave unusually large had 
 broken over the after part of the ship, carrying 
 
XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 from the quarter deck, the boats besides a man 
 and a boy who were on watch. The violence of 
 the water stove in two hatch houses, broke down 
 the cabin doors, and broke in several large water 
 casks. The man was found dead, lying under 
 a heavy spar, and the boy escaped injury by hav- 
 ing been covered with one of the boats which had 
 fallen keel up. We got a little righted and turned 
 in again. The day broke clear and beautiful. A 
 striking contrast from last night. I can hardly 
 imagine this the same ship — and floating on the 
 same sea. Everything on board looks clean and 
 bright — everything in perfect order — the sea so 
 smooth that not the slightest ripple can be seen — 
 nothing except a great broad lazy roll — and the 
 sails hang loose without the slightest wind to fill 
 them. There is sorrow in the forecastle ! — Of it 
 the dead man was the light. The captain 
 respected him — the mates loved him — the crew 
 were as his brothers — and the boys looked upon 
 him as the true pattern of a Yankee tar. At ten 
 o'clock borne by a body of the sailors, and 
 enshrouded in the stars and stripes, the body was 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 brought upon deck. A more solemn scene I 
 never witnessed. Everything so tranquil, not the 
 straining of a cord to be heard, and the ship 
 seemed to cease moving on the surface of the 
 great deep. The captain with trembling voice 
 read the sublime, and on this occasion, peculiarly 
 touching burial service of the Episcopal Church. 
 At the words " We commit his body to the deep," 
 he was quietly dropped into his watery grave. A 
 plunge — a separation of the waters — he was lost 
 forever to the sight — and the billows of the great 
 Atlantic rolled on as before. 
 
 " Lonely, lonely is his bed, 
 Never there may flowers be shed, 
 Marble reared, or brother's head 
 Bow'd to weep." 
 
 A sailor on shore and a sailor at sea appear 
 to belong to two different classes of beings. On 
 shore he is out of his element. At sea beneath 
 a rough exterior he seems to have better oppor- 
 tunities for showing forth a heart as warm as 
 ever throbbed in the bosom of wealth and refine- 
 ment. A more solemn set than there is on board 
 
 3* 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 this ship I never saw — the slightest desire 
 of the officer seems anticipated by the willing- 
 crew — meals have not been touched — every one 
 seems busy with his own thoughts — and heavy 
 hearts will be carried through the tedious watches 
 of this night : 
 
 u Ave, sanctissima ! 
 *Tis nightfall on the sea ; 
 
 Ora pro nobis ! 
 Our souls rise to thee ! 
 
 " Watch us while shadows lie 
 O'er the dim waters spread ; 
 Hear the heart's lonely sigh, 
 Thine, too, hath bled ! 
 
 * Thou, that hast looked on death, 
 Aid us when death is near ; 
 Whisper of heaven to faith ; 
 Sweet Mother, hear. 
 
 " Ora pro nobis ! 
 The wave must rock our sleep, 
 
 Ora, mater, ora ! 
 The star of the deep !" 
 
 December. — The anxiously looked for chalky 
 cliffs of England are not only in sight but are 
 close at hand. Last evening we passed a short 
 distance from the clebrated Eddvstone Lio'ht- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 house. At a later hour lights on the coast of 
 France, off to the southwest were distinctly seen. 
 To-day we passed the Bill of Portland, and 
 through a glass we could discern the people in 
 the town of Dorchester, We are now at anchor 
 off the Isle of Wight. 
 
 December. — Passed the far-famed Goodwin 
 Sands — Beachy Head, and through the straits of 
 Dover. Sailors generally indulge in some super- 
 stitious belief. I have sometimes conversed with 
 them concerning some modern idea — and found 
 they rejected it altogether, but at the same time 
 they would cling to an old tale — narrated per- 
 haps when they were but ship boys, many years 
 before. There is no subject upon which they are 
 so generally superstitious as they are concerning 
 the Goodwin Sands. The very name speaks to 
 them of dangers so great, that do what they can 
 they cannot ward them off. There are many 
 romances, poems and plays whose foundations are 
 laid on the Goodwin Sands ; and sailors suppose 
 that these are the only things which can be founded 
 thereon. The legend is that formerly the Sands 
 
XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 were good solid earth joined to England, but Earl 
 Godwin having made an unsuccessful attempt to 
 invade the Weald of Kent and being in great 
 danger made a vow that if spared he would erect 
 to the memory of the Virgin a steeple in Tenter- 
 den ! and his vow passing away with his danger. 
 Heaven in consequence destroyed his land. 
 
 Another is, that he was so greatly engaged 
 in fulfilling his vow that he neglected to make a 
 sea-wall around his land, and during a great 
 storm and earthquake it was destroyed; and 
 there afterwards remained only the Sands on 
 which nothing could rest a moment without being 
 swallowed up. Its density was supposed to be less 
 than that of water. " One story is good until another 
 is told." Experiments were made on the sands, 
 and it was discovered that its density instead of 
 being less than water, was much greater than 
 that of earth, almost as great as that of hard rock 
 and firmly resisted a pickaxe. To warn sailors 
 of too near an approach a light was erected here. 
 This stood many years without sinking the eighth 
 of an inch. It was run into and knocked down 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXxiii 
 
 by a Dutch barque at high water. Many lights 
 have been erected since then, but have not been 
 very successful as a means of saving life. The 
 Sands are so very near the coast that lights only 
 tend to mislead the mariner. The Deal Boat- 
 men are the most beneficial instruments of saving 
 life from accidents in this quarter of the Channel. 
 These boatmen from their disinterested hospitality 
 and their endeavours to save life at the greatest 
 risk of their own have worthily become of great 
 reputation. The Salvage Act of England operates 
 very singularly as regards the Deal Boatmen. 
 They are rewarded very liberally by the Govern- 
 ment, for all descriptions of goods which they 
 save ; they receive five shillings (one dollar and 
 twenty cents) for every corpse they bring on shore, 
 but yet nothing except thanks for live humanity, 
 even should they save a hundred. During a 
 storm a few years ago a Norwegian barque was 
 wrecked. The boatmen cared nothing about the 
 goods on board but risked their lives to save the 
 crew and saved it — and received thanks. Another 
 barque was wrecked, the boatmen went out to 
 
XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 save the crew — could find no part of it — saved 
 a few goods and got liberally rewarded. An 
 American ship was wrecked in the vicinity — the 
 boatmen saved a number of lives — the news was 
 sent to the " States " — and each boatman engaged 
 in the transaction received a vove of thanks, a gold 
 medal and a very liberal sum of money from the 
 President. (Hon. Franklin Pierce.) 
 
 We came to anchor off Gravesencl about 
 twenty-six miles from London. From the river 
 this is a dirty looking town — coal smoked and 
 poorly built. A friend says it is much better 
 than it appears. Here, as is always the case, 
 three Custom House Officers came on board and 
 searched all the baggage and stores. In the 
 trunks every article was carefully looked at. Out 
 of about one hundred books that I had with me 
 not one escaped a critical examination of its title 
 page in order to see whether or not it was an 
 American edition of an English book. The duties 
 on these are generally high. Their principal 
 search was for tobacco. The duty on fine manu- 
 factured tobacco is tremendous and brines into the 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 government coffers about fifteen millions of dol- 
 lars annually. Ladies' baggage, even the unmen- 
 tionables, is by these officers held in no high 
 degree of estimation and is alike exposed by law 
 to their inquisitiveness. 
 
 December. — And finally. On our way to 
 London, with beautiful farms, villas, mansions, 
 and hovels on all sides. Everything looks Eng- 
 lish, and nearly as I imagined them. We are 
 going to enter Victoria Docks. Came up to the 
 pier — friends anxiously awaiting friends — busi- 
 ness men hurrying on board and off again — the 
 crew, as is usual, left the pier — and having bid 
 good bye to all friends, I started for the crowd and 
 confusion, and was not long in finding my way to 
 the boarding house to which I had been recom- 
 mended. Spent my first night at home pro tern. 
 making the acquaintance of the family, which at 
 some future time I may introduce to all who 
 desire to become acquainted. 
 
e Ifrota — Origin of % City 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " Houses, churches mix'd together, 
 Streets unpleasant in all weather : 
 Prisons, palaces contiguous. 
 Gates, a bridge, the Thames irriguous ; 
 Gaudy things enough to tempt ye, 
 Showy outsides, insides empty ; 
 Bubbles, trades, mechanic arts, 
 Coaches, wheelbarrows and carts ; 
 Warrants, bailiffs, bills unpaid, 
 Lords of laundresses afraid : 
 Kogues that nightly rob and shoot men ; 
 Hangmen, Aldermen, and footmen, 
 Lawyers, poets, priests, physicians, 
 Noble, simple, all conditions." 
 
 IRREGULARITY OF THE STREETS. 
 
 The origin of the British Metropolis, the 
 " Royal Chamber of the British Sovereigns," is 
 involved in great obscurity. In fact, historians 
 of the olden time, have such a peculiarly interest- 
 ing manner of contradicting each other and of 
 introducing their own opinions and prejudices, 
 that it is often impossible for the reader to arrive 
 at any very definite conclusion of the truth. 
 
 4 C37J 
 
38 OKIGIN OF LONDON. 
 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth says, that London was 
 founded by Brute, a descendant from iEneas, 
 Son of Venus, daughter of Jupiter, about 1108. 
 B. C. He calls it Troynovant, Trinovant, or 
 New Troy. Tacitus calls it for the first Lon- 
 dinium. Marcellinus, 380. A. D. calls it then 
 Vetustum Oppidum, an ancient town. King Lud is 
 said to have called it Caer Lud, or Luddin, the 
 City of Lud. A late writer gives the etymology 
 in several manners, and the present inhabitants 
 of the world, I suppose, are allowed the liberty 
 of believing whichever they think right and 
 proper. 
 
 Lhong means a ship, Dinas a town — hence 
 Lhongdinas, Londin a city or harbor of ships. A 
 great harbor the city certainly seems to be. From 
 the manner in which towns were formerly built, 
 that is in a wood, I believe that the following is 
 nearer the truth. Llhwn a wood, Dinas a town. 
 London was commenced in the centre of a wood, 
 on the northern bank of the Thames. From this 
 centre it was increased for a time only in one 
 direction — towards the river, in order to allow the 
 warlike tribes, who inhabited it, time to escape in 
 their barges in case of a sudden attack by their 
 
STREETS. 39 
 
 enemies. The inhabitants at this time were in 
 the same condition as the Indians of North 
 America, and living in, if possible, a more bar- 
 barous manner. It must be borne in mind then 
 that London was founded nearly three thousand 
 years ago. This vast length of time will become 
 more apparent when we remember that the dis- 
 covery of America by Columbus was only three 
 hundred and sixty-six years ago, and that the great- 
 est city in America has been founded within that 
 time. 
 
 The inhabitants of London then in increas- 
 ing their city increased it only along the Thames. 
 The Thames is the most irregular stream I ever 
 saw. The streets or rather the goat-paths lead- 
 ing from hut to hut were consequently irregular. 
 The inhabitants still increased. More pretend- 
 ing habitations were erected. Horses, carts, 
 wheelbarrows, and other means of conveyance 
 where unknown; and one of the first laws (a 
 model British law) was, that the passages be- 
 tween the houses should be wide enough to allow 
 " one man to pass another with a bundle on his 
 back." Horses next came into use as a mode of 
 conveyance. The passages were made a little 
 
40 STREETS. 
 
 wider. Carts of different kinds made their 
 appearance. The passages were made a little 
 wider and called streets. The inhabitants got 
 tired of widening their streets, and from that time to 
 the present, although more than two thousand 
 years have passed they seem never to have gotten 
 over their fatigue. It is a fact, that although the 
 population is now over three millions, and these 
 making pretensions to refinement, architectural 
 taste and knowledge of how things ought to be, 
 they are yet to make a very great change before 
 they will have even an improvement upon the 
 streets as laid out by their savage ancestors. 
 There are, it is true, some half dozen (not one 
 more) that have been made within a few years 
 that are wider than the old ones but equally 
 crooked. It is impossible to convince an Eng- 
 lishman that a city could be laid out at right 
 angles, In London there are ten thousand five 
 hundred streets and it would puzzle, as the Eng- 
 lish say of anything puzzling, "a Philadelphia 
 lawyer" to find ten in this entire number that 
 would form right angles a half dozen times in 
 succession by meeting or crossing other streets. 
 I have frequently started out for a walk and 
 
STREETS. 41 
 
 found myself, unaccountably, in the same place 
 whence I started, three or four times, each time 
 taking an apparently different route. This often 
 happened until I became perfectly familiar with 
 the twists and turnings in a few of the principal 
 streets. There is not a particle of use in attempt- 
 ing to find one's way by the names of streets. 
 There are in a majority of streets different names 
 for every two or three " turnings" (they do not 
 say " squares ") Some streets that are passable 
 at the beginning, will become in the eighth of 
 a mile perfect alleys. But they are always crowd- 
 ed — the people live in the streets. There is 
 decidedly more truth than poetry in the remarks 
 of a brawny Scotchman on his first visit " I'se 
 ne'er see'd sic bonnie work in a' mi liefe, there's 
 nae walking up the streets wieout bein' knocked 
 doon, and nae walking doon the streets without 
 bein' knocked up." 
 
 I am thus lengthy about the streets because 
 I always look particularly at them first. They 
 possess a very peculiar and very expressive 
 physiognomy. I can read from them the nature 
 and ideas generally of the inhabitants. From the 
 streets of London I judged the inhabitants to be 
 
 4* 
 
42 APPEARANCE OF THE CITY. 
 
 a matter-of-fact-generally, but-never-know-how-to- 
 take-them always set of beings and eventually 
 found I had judged just about right. The streets 
 joined together would extend in a straight line 
 over five thousand miles, or from London to New 
 York and nearly half way back. A few of the 
 main thoroughfares, running the length and 
 breadth of the city are traversed by about six 
 thousand cabs, five thousand five hundred omni- 
 busses, with over sixty thousand horses, in exclu- 
 sion of all kinds of private teams. 
 
 The thickly portion of the city is egg-shaped. 
 In length thirteen miles, in breadth about ten, 
 and in circumference about thirty-five miles. 
 
 Groldsmith in his " letters from a citizen of 
 the world" " to his friends in the east" says in 
 one of the letters of Lien Chi Altangi — 
 
 " Judge then my disappointment on entering 
 London to see no signs of that opulence so much 
 talked of abroad ; wherever I turn I am pre- 
 sented with a gloomy solemnity in the houses, 
 streets and the inhabitants ; none of that beautiful 
 gilding which makes a principal ornament in 
 Chinese architecture. The streets of Nankin are 
 sometimes strewed with goldleaf: very differ- 
 
SIDE-WALKS. 43 
 
 ent are those of London ; in the midst of their 
 pavements a great lazy puddle moves muddily 
 along ; heavy laden machines with wheels of un- 
 wieldy thickness crowd up every passage ; so that 
 a stranger instead of finding time for observation 
 is often happy if he has time to escape from being 
 crushed to pieces." 
 
 The side-walks are exceedingly low and very 
 narrow. Oxford, Regent, Cannon and a few 
 other streets are the only exceptions. I have 
 frequently seen brewers' teams and others come 
 within one foot of the store windows, and have 
 been obliged to jump into a store door to escape 
 being struck. To walk two or three abreast in 
 the city is perfectly impossible. In very few 
 streets is there any protection to the curb and 
 consequently the hubs of the wheels, especially 
 when passing other teams, extends several inches 
 over the side-walk. 
 
 London has frequently been visited by 
 destructive fires. The greatest occurred in 1666, 
 when acre after acre was laid waste and the 
 entire city seemed doomed. This fire commenced 
 about London Bridge, a magnificent monument 
 described in another chapter, has been erected on 
 
44 FIRES. 
 
 the spot. The great destruction was undoubtedly 
 caused by the narrow streets and their irregularity. 
 Sir Christopher Wren the distinguished designer 
 a ad architect of the times, and by whom the 
 present Cathedral of St. Paul was designed, pre- 
 pared plans for the laying out and rebuilding of 
 the burnt district in squares. This would have 
 succeeded but the government could not purchase 
 the ground, and learned men of the law presented 
 the claims of their clients to the property. Their 
 claims could not be opposed, and the consequence 
 is that London of 1859 is exactly the same as 
 London of 1666, or to go farther than that, it is the 
 same now that it was two thousand years ago. 
 And it is a fact, no less surprising than true, that 
 the authorities of the city are contemplating 
 improvements and advantages of civilized life 
 that Rome and the cities of Greece had two thou- 
 sand years ago, and that every town and village 
 of importance in the United States has had for 
 many years. The only redeeming qualities that 
 the streets of London possess are the beautiful 
 and permanent manner in which they are paved, 
 and the comparative state of cleanliness in which 
 they are kept. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE HOUSES.— THEIR NUMBER AND VARIETY.— 
 
 STORES.— AMERICAN STORES IN LONDON— 
 
 PATENT-RIGHT LAWS. 
 
 "The houses borrow very few ornaments from architecture; their chief 
 decorations seems to be a paltry piece of painting hung out at their doors or 
 windows, at once a proof of their indigence and vanity ; their vanity in each 
 having one of those pictures exposed to view ; and their indigence in being 
 unable to get them better painted. In this respect, the fancy of their paint* 
 ers is also deplorable. Could you believe it ? I have seen five black lions 
 and three blue boars in less than the circuit of half a mile ; and yet you know 
 that animals of these colors are no where to be found, except in the wild 
 
 imaginations of Europe." 
 
 Goldsmith. 
 
 The houses in number are about three hund- 
 red thousand. The variety is almost as great as 
 the number, for it is very difficult to find two 
 alike, except in certain portions of the city where 
 " rows," " terraces," and " places," are in fashion. 
 They are built of brick of a bright-yellow color, 
 and in some parts are very handsomely plastered 
 in imitation of stone-work. Bituminous coal is 
 used in London ; the houses consequently are al- 
 ways black and appear uncomfortably dirty. 
 There are some very costly houses of stone in tho 
 
 " West End," but these are not remarkable for 
 
 (45) 
 
46 houses- 
 
 their architecture ; at least as far as the modern 
 buildings are concerned. The only remarkable 
 specimens of architecture are those erected many 
 years ago. Indeed it seems as if the taste of 
 modern English architects had degenerated. The 
 houses generally are from three to five stories 
 high, but very narrow, with no attention paid to 
 shape, proportion, or regularity. Every inch of 
 ground is built upon. The shape of the lot con- 
 sequently determines the shape of the building. 
 I have seen in one block, houses round, square, 
 triangular, octagonal, parrallelogram, and some 
 whose shape geometry does not and could not de- 
 fine. There are seldom any yards to the houses, 
 especially to the business houses and the centre 
 of a lot is generally built up, having alleys for 
 entrances. Many of the churches, theatres, con- 
 cert halls and other public buildings are thus 
 situated. The vast difference between the city of 
 London, or in fact between all the towns of Eng- 
 land that I visited, and those of the United States 
 was simply that in England the houses are built 
 and then the streets laid out so as to accommodate 
 the builders. In the United States the streets 
 are laid out and the builders must conform to the 
 
STORES. 47 
 
 rules of the street commissioners. Another rea- 
 son may be given for the general appearance of 
 poverty in building — that is the difficulty of 
 establishing a claim to property. Property in 
 general has passed through so many generations ; 
 now leased, anon mortgaged, then rented, perhaps 
 sold " clear of all encumbrances," so that it is a 
 very difficult matter to know certainly to whom a 
 portion of property belongs. 
 
 About the stores of London, there was one 
 characteristic that struck me as being entirely 
 John Bull; that was the tremendous windows, 
 and the immense quanity of goods placed therein ; 
 the exceedingly small stores and the emptiness 
 of them. Take for instance the jewelry stores. 
 Ninety-nine in every hundred possess windows 
 from twelve to eighteen feet square, or else 
 twenty feet long by ten deep. These windows 
 are arranged with glass shelves upon which nine- 
 tenths of the entire stock in trade is exposed. 
 The interior of the store is often not more than 
 twice the size of the window, and if not entirely 
 empty contains one or two cases of fancy articles, 
 and seats for customers to rest themselves while 
 the clerk is engaged in removing from the win- 
 
48 AMERICAN INVENTIONS. 
 
 dovv one half the stock to get at the required 
 article. 
 
 Among other stores those established by 
 Americans seem to claim a great share of atten- 
 tion, and certainly do a large business. Of these, 
 Hobbs's is apparently ahead. John Bull opened 
 his eyes with wonder, when Hobbs picked the 
 greatest locks made in Great Britain, and which 
 had been repeatedly tried by the most notorious 
 burglars, but in vain. John was still more sur- 
 prised when Hobbs produced his patent lock, 
 called the parantoptic, and offered a thousand 
 dollars to any one who would pick it. The pub- 
 lic press called loudly for some public spirited 
 burglar to step forth and redeem the honor of 
 England, his country, by picking Hobbs's locks. 
 The honor of the country has not yet been 
 redeemed. 
 
 Next to Hobbs's the American Invention 
 Stores attract great attention. Wooden clocks 
 wooden nutmegs, patent wash-tubs, singing tea- 
 kettles and baby -jumpers, are more than the 
 wildest imaginations of her Majesty's subjects 
 ever dreamed. It is admitted by the English 
 journals that Britain has derived greater advan- 
 
PATENT RIGHTS. 49 
 
 tages from the fertility of Yankee brains in the 
 last twenty years, than it has done from all other 
 sources in almost as many centuries. 
 
 One great reason of the success of American 
 inventors is, that British inventors have but little 
 encouragement from their own Government. 
 There are two manv difficulties to be encountered 
 by the inventor in securing to himself the benefits 
 that should arise from his work. In cases where 
 there are no disputants to his claim for patent 
 rights, the cost for procuring such rights is about 
 five hundred dollars. Then he must run the 
 risk of Scotch and Irish inventors and copyists. 
 For although these are all under one govern- 
 ment, yet in some respects, especially as regards 
 patents, England is as one country, or is rather 
 as the entire government. If the claimant has 
 opponents the cost is greater; and if he loses 
 entirely he has still to pay the five hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 There are besides the stores enumerated, a 
 large number of American stores and offices, and 
 they are creditably successful, considering the 
 competition, and the prejudices which the Lon- 
 
 5 
 
50 AMERICAN ARTICLES. 
 
 doners generally possess in favor of their own 
 stores and rules of business. 
 
 In the United States. I have frequently no- 
 ticed on the store windows in every town and 
 village that could boast a store, sentences similar 
 to the following, " Dry Goods at Philadelphia 
 Prices." " Latest Fashions just from London." 
 " Broadway Bonnets," and many others of like 
 character. In London wherever you turn, you 
 behold emblazoned in letters a foot long, over the 
 doors, down the sides of the windows, and on the 
 glass, "American Shoes at American Prices." 
 "Paris Fashions," "New York Hats," " Ameri- 
 can Cough Candy," and every thing "American," 
 that Londoners ever heard of, saw, or conceived, 
 whether or not it was ever out of London. Some 
 of the signs of these business places are amus- 
 ingly inconsistent. For instance, every store has 
 its name, — "The Lion House." Here you find 
 a black lion. This is a dry goods store. At 
 the perfumery store, a green bear is the guard- 
 ian angel of the establishment. Here is a 
 dry goods store, where the Queen's cook's, wait- 
 ing boy's son, bought a quarter of a yard of cloth 
 to patch his pantaloons-, and up goes a sign, 
 
THICKS OF TRADE. 51 
 
 " Patronised by Her Majesty," and along with it 
 the Royal Coat of Arms, a pink lion and blue 
 unicorn, " fighting for the crown." Here is the 
 " Emperor Napoleon's American Confectionary 
 and English Mutton pie-shop." While next door 
 at the beer-shop, as an inducement to enter, you 
 perceive written on a shingle with red chalk a 
 piece of remarkable intelligence — " The New 
 York Herald," "A slate bagatelle table and a 
 skittle ground taken in here." Enter, secondary 
 motive, to take a glass of ale, but primary to 
 have a look at the " Herald," and find something 
 or somebody else " taken in." Get a glance at 
 a copy three months old and find " there be some- 
 think wrong with the mails, latest number be-int 
 come yet." 
 
 Many an hour that would otherwise have 
 " dragged its weary length along," have I spent 
 in observing the various tastes of London paint- 
 ers, and then agreed with Goldsmith, that the 
 majority of their representations have no exist- 
 ence "except in the wild imaginations of the 
 people of Europe." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE INHABITANTS.— QUEEN VICTORIA.— 
 
 PRINCE ALBERT AND THE "FAMILY."— 
 
 " COURT CIRCULAR."— EVER Y-D AY LIFE 
 
 OF THE ARISTOCRACY. 
 
 We learn from Genesis that in the Garden 
 of Eden the Serpent helped Eve to the fruit of 
 the Tree of Life without saying anything concern- 
 ing it to Eve's lord and spouse, the unsuspecting 
 Adam. The Serpent thus set an example which 
 all the civilized portion of mankind has seen 
 proper to follow. Ladies are universally first in 
 everything. Following this universal law of 
 female priority, instead of commencing this chapter 
 with the lords of the English creation, allow me 
 kind reader to introduce to your notice her Majesty 
 Queen Victoria. Alexandrina Victoria — Queen 
 of the United Kingdoms of Great Britian and 
 Ireland — w T as the only daughter of Edward Duke 
 of Kent, and was born May 24, 1819. 
 
 On the death of her uncle William IV. 
 (52) 
 
THE QUEEN. 53 
 
 she succeeded to the throne. This was June 20, 
 1837. 
 
 It is needless, of course, to inform my reader 
 that Queens and other specimens of royalty were 
 babies. And consequently between May 24, 1819, 
 and June 20, 1837, Alexandrina Victoria passed 
 through three periods of Shakspeare's Seven Ages. 
 
 u At first the infant, 
 Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms ; 
 And then the whining school girl with her satchel, 
 And shining morning face, creeping like snail 
 Unwillingly to school ; And then the lover ! 
 Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad 
 Made to " her cousin Albert's moustache in embryo.'* 
 
 During the days between the infant and the 
 school girl several awful anecdotes of the going-to- 
 be-Queen's perpetration were recorded and deemed 
 sufficiently important to be chronicled among tho 
 remarkable occurrences of the times. Strolling 
 through the gardens of Wentworth House, the 
 gardener cautioned her against walking in a certain 
 place where he said " the ground was damp and 
 slape." " Slape ! slape!" enquired she, " what is 
 slape?" The gardener replied " very slippery." 
 Victoria ran on, thought she knew about as much 
 
 as the gardener, went just where he told her not to 
 
 5* 
 
54 ANECDOTES. 
 
 go, and tumbled down. Jumping up she exclaimed 
 " JNTow I know what slape means.'' Now the 
 majority of mothers would have whipped her for 
 being disobedient and soiling her clothes, but she 
 saved herself by committing said anecdote. She 
 commenced taking lessons on the piano when very 
 young and growing tired of it was informed that 
 unless she persevered she could not become 
 mistress of the instrument. " Oh ! " said she 
 " I am to be mistress of my piano am I ? " 
 " Undoubtedly !" was the reply. She was then 
 informed that there was no royal road to music. 
 She said she knew of a royal road, and how to 
 become mistress at the same time. She then 
 shut up and locked the piano, and placing the 
 key in her pocket said, " That is the way to become 
 mistress, and the royal road is never to take a 
 lesson until I am in the humor." These anecdotes 
 of a royal child might by the generally slow 
 Londoners be considered awfully startling, but I 
 have heard fast American babies blunder smarter 
 things than these and not be half so obstinate. 
 Under the domestic, yet unsurpassingly 
 refined guardianship of her mother, the Duchess 
 of Kent, Victoria really developed a naturally 
 
ROYAL FAMILY, 1857. 55 
 
 strong mind and amiable disposition. Although 
 " uneasy lies the head that wears a crown " yet 
 "bright skies have continuously over-arched " her 
 reign. Many great undertakings have been "be- 
 gun, continued and ended" successfully under 
 the management of Victoria. She is very do- 
 mestic and thinks more of attending to her own 
 family than she does of all England and its 
 possessions. She was married to Francis Albert 
 Augustus Charles Emanuel, Duke of Saxe, 
 Prince of Saxe Cobourg and Grotha. He was 
 her cousin. The marriage took place in Feb, 
 1840. At this time from a statue in wax at 
 Madame Tussand's, described more at length in 
 another place, I should say she was exceedingly 
 handsome. She now however reminds one of a 
 Dutch doll; about as high when lying down as 
 when standing up and is besides considerably 
 wrinkled and faded. That she is really a good 
 woman there can be no doubt^ She is now the 
 happy mother of nine children. The oldest the 
 Princess Royal is about to be married and that in 
 style surpassing all the fairy tales of ancient times. 
 For instance a part of the bridal dress, (the 
 skirticoat, ) is to be entirely of lace. The number 
 
56 queen's duties, 
 
 of these is to be almost infinite, for the Princess, 
 as all are creditably informed, is not going to wear 
 hoops but is nevertheless to expand herself to 
 modern fashionable dimensions. Roses, shamrocks 
 and thistles, the emblems of England, Ireland and 
 Scotland are to be worked in these skirticoats. 
 All the girls in a large village in France are 
 engaged in the mammoth undertaking. 
 
 The Prince of Wales, the heir apparent, is 
 next. Then comes the remaining seven whose 
 names I do not give, because like all royal names 
 a half dozen of them would fill a small sized book. 
 
 The annual salary of the Queen, including 
 those of her children (she gets annually so much 
 for every child) amounts to something over eight 
 hundred thousand dollars. Her duties consist in 
 letting parliament know exactly what she would 
 like ; in being present at all the great grand balls, 
 parties, concerts and dejeuners that take place in 
 the kingdom : ai^d once a year or at every session 
 of parliament in writing a kind of school girl 
 composition and sending it to parliament where 
 it is read by the Lord Chancellor. The last 
 " Queen's Speech " and Mr. Buchanan's inaugural 
 made their appearance in the English journals 
 
COURT CIRCULAR. 57 
 
 about the same time. The editors almost univer- 
 sally declared the Queen's speech a nullity, consign- 
 ed it to blazes, and complimented the United States 
 on the manner in which state affairs are made 
 public and on their condition and prospects. 
 Another duty of the Queen is to do something 
 every clay of which an account will appear the 
 next day in every paper in the Kingdom under the 
 caption •" Court Circular. " Court Circular reads 
 somehow like the following : " Her Majesty yester- 
 day afternoon, accompanied by His Royal High- ■ 
 ness Prince Albert, and their Royal Highnesses 
 the Princess Royal and the Prince of Wales took 
 a ride in an open barouch and four in the Park." 
 " Her Serene Highness " perfectly-incomprehen- 
 sible-and-not-to-be-pronounced-name " from Ger- 
 many, and the Right Honorable, the very Reverend 
 Dean of Windsor, had the distinguished honor of 
 dining with her majesty." 
 
 " In the evening their Royal Highnesses, the 
 Princesses Helena Augusta Victoria," (aged 10) 
 " and Louisa Carolina Alberta," (aged 8) " hon- 
 ored Her Majesty's Theatre with their royal pre- 
 sence, accompanied by His Royal Highness Ar- 
 thur Patrick William Albert," (aged 7). 
 
58 PRINCE ALBERT. 
 
 Occasionally a short but rather exciting no- 
 tice comes in the Court Circular. Another prince 
 or princess is born, to render its parents happy 
 and cause the people to look blue at the additional 
 taxes. All the church bells are set to ringing, 
 and the great guns at the Tower are fired, to re- 
 mind the people of the necessity of practising 
 economy in their domestic affairs. 
 
 Prince Albert is next in importance. Pie is 
 a tall proportionally stout man ; not at all bad 
 looking, and in heart a good man, although his 
 head occasionally leads him into places and cir- 
 cumstances where the Queen and others say it 
 should not. He holds several very important 
 offices under the government. His principal 
 duty is to protect, love, accompany at all times, 
 honor and obey his better half. His salary 
 amounts nearly to a quarter of a million of dol- 
 lars. Notwithstanding the large amount received 
 by the royal pair, the royal family is poor! 
 much poorer than the majority of the nobility of 
 Great Britain. This is caused by the tremendous 
 household which the family is obliged to keep 
 constantly around it. 
 
 The children, of whom I have seen seven 
 
THE QUEEN. 59 
 
 are not at all remarkable either for looks, man- 
 ners or dress. They are brought up by the 
 Queen in the same plain manner in which she 
 lives. I mean, of course, plain for royalty, and 
 in comparison with the major part of the nobility 
 of the country. Many anecdotes are recorded of 
 the Queen's plainness of dress. At the opening 
 of the Crystal Palace she was admiring a piece 
 of machinery and requested the man in attend- 
 ance, to explain a certain portion of it. The 
 man, who had been talking and operating all 
 day, exclaimed, " Oh ! I can't be talking this 
 over all the time to every one that comes along." 
 11 1 am sorry," replied the Queen , " that I asked 
 you, never mind if it is any trouble," and away 
 she glided down the avenue. A gentleman 
 stepped up to the machinist, and asked him if he 
 knew who the person was to whom he had spoken 
 so sharply, "No," replied he. "Well," said 
 the gentleman, " that was her Majesty Queen 
 Victoria !" It is said that the machinist was not 
 seen in the palace the remainder of the day. 
 
 I know of nothing that affords more inter- 
 esting amusement, and of nothing that tends 
 more to disgust sensible humanity with man, than 
 
60 AEISTOCRACY. 
 
 watching the every-day life of the London Aris- 
 tocracy. To go to bed when dawn is breaking, 
 and when the laws of nature say that man should 
 rise ; to rise when the day is half gone ; to be 
 seen in their coaches at a certain hour, wending 
 their way to some fashionable ride where is the 
 point of attraction for greetings from, friends, 
 (aristocratic friends and acquaintances,) from a 
 shake of the hand affectedly warm, the haughty 
 bend, the familiar nod of arrogance, or the pro- 
 longed smile of contempt to the exceedingly hum- 
 ble bow of servility ; to dine when others are at 
 supper ; to spend the night in attendance at the 
 opera, the Ball Masque, or the Soiree ; this con- 
 stitutes the every-day life variegated only by 
 Sunday. Here persons with titles and without 
 money assume the consequential air of dignity 
 that pertains to the truly independent. Here the 
 truly independent think, speak and sometimes 
 act like men that would be measured by their 
 souls, but even these are few. Here everv thin or 
 seen or heard speaks of opulence when but a 
 slight examination would prove undeniably that 
 "all is not gold that glitters." Few of this class 
 live in themselves— and many out of self — en- 
 
PUBLIC DEBT. Gl 
 
 cleavoring to be what they are not — bending in 
 servility to the opinions of some thay desire to 
 imitate, but without their samplers, means or 
 minds. But if this is their butterfly state of ex- 
 istence, it may be asked on what flowers they 
 feed? 
 
 Ask the laborer, the man of family who rises 
 with the lark and toils hard and late. He will 
 tell a story of the tax he paid on salt for his po- 
 tatoes ; of the extra price of bread ; he will point 
 to the windows and counting the panes of glass 
 will tell of the tax on each ; he keeps a donkey 
 with which to haul coal or goods for the neigh- 
 bors between times a tax on that, and a tax to 
 pay for every street through which it passes. 
 The clerks and store girls can tell of a large per- 
 centage, deducted by law from their salaries to 
 pay the expenses of war. The politicians can 
 then speak in defence of such laws by saying the 
 public debt is nearly six billions of dollars. The 
 annual interest of this must be raised ! But 
 the principal is increased by borrowing often 
 eighty millions of dollars [$80,000,000, borrowed 
 from Baron Rothchild in 1856,] at one time where- 
 
 6 
 
62 TAXES. 
 
 with to pay the interest and to meet other expenses 
 — otherwise — to support the poor nobility. The 
 poor man can, and does too, speak of the great 
 wedding. Two hundred thousand dollars dowry ! 
 and forty thousand dollars a year for life to sup- 
 port her who will sometime be the Queen of 
 Prussia, and may, as Prussia often does, quarrel 
 with England, and thus England support a war 
 against herself. But concerning one child they 
 do not complain, eight, and Heaven knows how 
 many more are to follow ! all must be supported, 
 and properly cared for, and the laborer must sup- 
 ply the means. 
 
 This is free and enlightened England ! Eng- 
 land, where African Slavery is considered the 
 great moral curse of mankind ; where " Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin," is read more and revered not quite 
 as much as is the Bible ; and where its authoress 
 has been canonized. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INHABITANTS CONTINUED. — THE MIDDLE 
 CLASS.— GENERAL IGNORANCE.— GULLABILITY. 
 DRESS.— UNIFORMS.— TEACHERS.— BEAUTY AND 
 HEALTH OF THE LADIES. -LOWER CLASSES.— 
 PROSTITUTION. — HUMANE SOCIETIES. — THE 
 WORKHOUSE. 
 
 The middle class of society, that class which 
 the Aristocracy has endeavored to annihilate, is 
 the strength, the vital power of the entire 
 country. This once out of the way, the power of 
 the nobility, as in many parts of Europe, becomes 
 absolute. From this class came the early set- 
 tlers of our own country. Although our fore- 
 fathers were thus sprung, yet their government, 
 instead of providing a popular education as an 
 additional security to the government as ours has 
 done, has neglected everything of the kind, and 
 the class has degenerated alike in intel- 
 lect and refinement, and is sadly inferior in 
 
 many respects to our own general order of Amer 
 
 (G3) 
 
64 IGNORANCE. 
 
 ican society. This inferiority is no where more 
 visible than it is as regards intellect and liber- 
 ality of opinions. Lamenting the change which 
 had taken place even in his time. Pope says, 
 
 ' Time was, a sober Englishman would knock 
 His servant up and rise by five o'clock ; 
 Instruct his family in every rule, 
 And send his wife to church, his son to school ; 
 To worship like his fathers, was his care, 
 To teach their frugal virtues to his heir; 
 To prove that luxury could never hold, 
 And place on good security his gold. 
 Now, times are changed !" 
 
 But ignorance is not the only bad feature of 
 English society in general. It is exceedingly 
 proud. In America a very haughty person shows 
 nothing but his own littleness of soul. In Eng- 
 land, the contrary is taught and practised. To 
 the rich and noble condescension is preached from 
 the pulpit ; taught in the Bible class, taught in 
 the schools, and forms an important part of every 
 speech and lecture. To the poor, " the lower 
 class" is taught and preached humility, patience 
 and servility. Pride and ignorance are insepara- 
 ble companions. The young men of London in 
 general imagine that it is only necessary to know 
 how to read and write, and then read the local 
 
COCKNEYISM. 65 
 
 items in a newspaper, in order to be perfectly- 
 conversant upon any subject upon which a con- 
 versation may turn. To express an idea of any- 
 thing out of London, would to five in every six, 
 be a matter of perfect impossibility. I have con- 
 versed with some who seemed very intelligent, 
 but who were struck with utter amazement, and 
 set me down as an. escaped lunatic, when I told 
 them of cities, towns, and villages in the United 
 States, better lighted with gas, and better sup- 
 plied with water, and possessing finer houses and 
 more costly stores than London. New York is 
 about the only American city much heard of, and 
 every place out of New York, is imagined to be 
 situated in boundless forests. I have frequently 
 been asked if the Indians did not attack us in our 
 houses ! And if we did not always carry bowie 
 knives and revolvers for self defence against 
 beasts of prey? Many reasons may be given for 
 their general ignorance of every thing foreign. 
 One is, those of them who do travel, go only to 
 the Continent — France and Italy are the places 
 of resort. And for the opinions of rowdyism 
 which they entertain of us, we cannot much 
 wonder. They see only a blunt rough set of 
 
66 IDEAS ABOUT AMERICA. 
 
 Americanized-foreign Captains and seamen, whose 
 ships are constantly lying in the docks in and 
 around London. 
 
 As their ideas are small of everything 
 out of London so are they proportionally great 
 of every thing in London. For instance the 
 river Thames to them is a mighty stream that 
 has no equal in the world, The following anec- 
 dote I have heard related as really a fact. Dr. 
 Breckenridge was in a stage coach not far from 
 London, and one of his travelling companions 
 happened to be a Cockney. The Dr. says, " He 
 was a gentleman-like, and well informed English- 
 man who having found I was an American, after 
 dilating on the greatness, the beauties, the majesty 
 in short of this noblest of British rivers (the 
 Thames) concluded : — 
 
 " Sir it may seem almost incredible to you 
 but nevertheless true, that this prodigious stream 
 is from its mouth to its source, not much, if at all, 
 short of one hundred and fifty miles long. " 
 
 I looked steadfastly in his face to see if he 
 jested ; but the gravity of deep conviction was 
 upon it. Indeed John Bull never jests. After 
 composing myself a moment I slowly responded — 
 
JOHN BULL STARES! G7 
 
 " Perhaps sir, you never heard of the Ohio 
 river? " 
 
 " I think I have." 
 
 " Perhaps of the Missouri ? " 
 
 " I think so, though not sure." 
 
 " Certainly of the Mississippi ? " 
 
 " Oh ! yes, yes." 
 
 11 Well, sir, a man will descend the Ohio, in 
 a steamboat of the largest class, a thousand miles." 
 
 " Of what sir ! — how many sir ? " 
 
 " A thousand miles ; and there he will meet 
 another steamboat of the same class, which has 
 come in an opposite direction twelve hundred 
 miles down the Missouri, and then, after going 
 down the Mississippi fifteen hundred miles more, 
 he may see that flood of waters disembogue itself 
 by fifty channels into the sea." 
 
 I had made up my mind to be considered a 
 cheat, so I went calmly and emphatically through 
 the statement. As I progressed my companion 
 seemed somewhat disposed to take my story as a 
 personal affront ; but at its close, he let down his 
 visage into a contemptuous pout, and regularly 
 cut my acquaintance." 
 
 In his "Windsor Forest" Pope must also 
 
68 GULLABILITY. 
 
 have been possessed with similar ideas of the 
 greatness of the Thames : — 
 
 " Thou too great father of the British floods ! 
 With joyful pride survey'st our lofty woods ; 
 Where towering oaks their growing honors rear, 
 And future navies on thy shores appear. 
 Not Neptune's self from all his streams receives 
 A wealthier tribute than to thine he gives. 
 No seas so rich, so gay no banks appear, 
 No lake so gentle, and no spring so clear." 
 
 Their ignorance or rather as Americans 
 would say their old fogyish ideas in general renders 
 them rather a gullable race. Any idea however 
 absurd will readily find numerous supporters. 
 This has been so for a long time. A beautiful 
 monument of this fact stands at present in a very 
 public part of the city. The South Sea House. 
 This is a fine building standing at the corner of 
 Threadneedle street but a short distance from the 
 Bank of England. The South Sea Company was 
 established for the purpose of exclusive trade to 
 the South Seas. Grand inducements of becoming 
 wealthy were held out by the company. The 
 magnificence of fairy tales would be insignificant 
 to the vast amount of gold and diamonds that 
 all and each connected with the S. S. Co., would 
 possess. Thousands of the poor, ever on the look 
 
EXCEEDINGLY COOL ! 69 
 
 out to invest their little savings, invested all in 
 the South Sea enterprise. The bubble bursted — 
 they were ruined — and the managers retired with 
 immense fortunes that came from anywhere rather 
 than from the South Seas. 
 
 At another time, a man advertised that in a 
 certain evening in the Hay-Market Theatre, he 
 would literally and bona fide creep into a quart 
 bottle, and would, when in the inside, entertain 
 the audience with a solo on the violin. Long be- 
 fore the time appointed, every nook and corner 
 of the house was crowded. A long time elapsed, 
 the people grew impatient and called loudly 
 for the performer. He made his appearance, and 
 was tremendously applauded. The house grew 
 perfectly quiet, expectation was on tip-toe, the 
 operator quietly advanced to the front of the 
 stage, and then coolly stated that he had been 
 unable to find a quart bottle conveniently large, 
 but would, on the next evening, at the same time 
 and place, creep into a pint bottle, to compensate 
 them for their great disappointment ! The audi- 
 ence rose en masse, the performer had the money 
 in his pocket, a side window was at hand, he 
 jumped, carrying away glass and sash, and was 
 
70 COMET EXCITEMENT, 
 
 clear before any of the assembly could get out of 
 the building. 
 
 The great comet that was going to come last 
 year, was the cause of a tremendous gull. Ex- 
 citement ran high. Authors wrote, and booksel- 
 lers published and sold more works on comets in 
 a day, than is generally done in twenty years* 
 Preachers, preached about nothing but the ap* 
 proaching awful collision between the comet and 
 the earth, and of the immediate necessity of 
 " setting their house in order." Street preachers 
 talked of the necessity of purchasing white gowns 
 at the linen drapers, and how requisite it was to 
 find an open situation, where the ascent would be 
 unimpeded. A travelling astronomer, advertised 
 the largest telescope in London would be sta- 
 tioned at a certain place, for the accommodation 
 of all who wanted to learn the exact moment of 
 the collision, to make their examinations, for the 
 low price of " two-pence." Many gowns were 
 procured, many sites of ascent picked out, much 
 property sold, and the money received therefor, 
 "lent, to the Lord," — and many from the country, 
 " cum up to Lunnen," to join the brethren, think- 
 ing it would be all the better to have comjDany 
 
FASHION. 71 
 
 during the " wreck of matter and the crush of 
 worlds." But the day prophesied turned out 
 very disagreeable ; the collision was postponed on 
 account of the weather, and some how or other, has 
 not yet taken place. The booksellers and print- 
 ers made money, the linen drapers made money, 
 the telescope man made money, (that telescope 
 was made of old chimney-pipe wrapped with 
 fancy paper, smoked glass at the end of sight, 
 nothing at the upper end, and a burning candle 
 in the middle, which seen through the smoked 
 glass looked enough like a comet to those who 
 had never seen one, to be perfectly awful) and 
 the Railroad companies made money, — so all par* 
 ties concerned were satisfied, save and except 
 only the gulled. 
 
 Americans, from the great number of news- 
 paper articles that appear daily, imagine that 
 London next to Paris, is a great centre of fashion, 
 and whatever Londoners wear must of necessity 
 be perfect. The reverse however is the case. As 
 far as the men are concerned, they do not in gene- 
 ral dress even with neatness. All the colors of 
 the rainbow, and abundance of jewelry, whether 
 gold or good brass is immaterial, are worn by the 
 
72 SERVANTS. 
 
 majority. In this particular, their general tone 
 of matter of fact disappears, although they are 
 not as gay in their attire as some other of the 
 European people. The great number of men in 
 uniform, I met with claimed particular attention. 
 Male servants of the house all wear black pants, 
 a black or white waistcoat, black dress coat, and 
 white cravat. Some of them, especially in aris- 
 tocratic families powder the hair, or wear grey 
 wigs with long cues. This renders them rather 
 a reverend looking set of men. Before I under- 
 stood exactly their duties, I thought what pat- 
 terns of Christianity I was sojourning with, 
 where almost every family kept a chaplain. I 
 came near getting into difficulty several times by 
 mistaking good looking servants for ministers of 
 the gospel, and bad looking ministers of the 
 gospel for servants. 
 
 The coachmen wear knee-breeches, white 
 stockings, blue, green, black, brown and every 
 other color of coat, trimmed off with gilt buttons, 
 gilt lace, cords, tassels, and always powdered 
 wigs, powdered eyebrows, and powdered whisk- 
 ers, when they can cultivate them, but, which, 
 owing to juvenility, is very often not the case. 
 
UNIFORMS. 73 
 
 The footman, whose place is always behind the 
 coach, on a seat or standing, there erected for 
 him, is the exact shadow of the coachman belong- 
 ing to the same equipage. Judges, barristers and 
 others employed in the Courts must wear the uni- 
 versal white wig and black gown. The letter 
 carriers or " postmen," (no one has a private 
 box — all letters are carried out, and the carriers 
 paid by the government,) all have scarlet coats, 
 black pants with red stripe, and are in everything 
 perfectly systematic. The houses of London are 
 supplied with knockers, and very few with bells. 
 The postman comes only with two loud and sharp 
 knocks. The newsman knocks only once, and 
 very loud. Servants knock once and quite low. 
 Visitors three or four times in rapid succession. 
 The police and duns are allowed to knock in any 
 manner at all that will secure admission. 
 
 Each school has its uniform. " The Blue 
 Coat school." This is a very ancient school, and 
 takes its name from the blue, coarse cloth coat or 
 gown w r hich the scholars must all wear. Neither 
 must any one connected with the establishment 
 wear any kind of covering on the head, They 
 also wear knee breeches and yellow stockings. 
 
 7 
 
 J 
 
74 SHOE-BLACK SCHOOL. 
 
 This is considered the best school in Great 
 Britain, and requires the influence of the greatest 
 men in the country, to secure admission. The 
 uniform of the girls' school, is a blue frock, white 
 apron, and white cap. The ragged school, or 
 shoe-black school, for its uniform has red-flannel 
 shirt, and knee breeches of blue. The members 
 of this school are only the shoe-blacks of the 
 city. The regular price for blacking boots is a 
 penny. The boys take a regular stand at certain 
 places in every street, and remain there until re- 
 lieved by another set. Those relieved, return to 
 school. The amount realized by the boys is di- 
 vided. The boy keeps one-half of his own earn- 
 ings, the remainder goes to his credit in the books 
 of the school, and when he arrives at a certain 
 age, he is put to some trade and the money 
 returned to him. The education received at these 
 schools is not of much account. The system of 
 teaching is bad. We cannot wonder at the state 
 of education, when w r e consider the position in 
 society which teachers occupy, not only as regards 
 public teachers, but also private governesses. The 
 Quarterly Review, some time ago, contained an 
 article on governesses^ w r hich shows so exactly 
 
GOVERNESSES. 75 
 
 their position, that I will quote a few disconnected 
 sentences. 
 
 " The line which severs a governess from her 
 employers is not one which will take care of itself, 
 as in the case of a servant. If she sits at table she 
 does not shock you — if she opens her mouth she 
 does not distress you— her appearance and man- 
 ners are likely to be as good as your own — her 
 education rather better : — there is nothing upon the 
 face of the thing to stamp her as having been 
 called to a different state of life from that which it 
 has pleased God to place you, and therefore the 
 distinction has to be kept up by a fictitious bar- 
 rier " ******** 
 
 " She must to all intents and purposes live 
 alone, or she transgresses that invisible but rigid 
 line which alone establishes the distance between 
 herself and her employers." ****** 
 
 " We must ever keep them in a sort of isola- 
 tion, for it is the only means for maintaining that 
 distance which the reserve of English manners, 
 and the decorum of English families exact." 
 
 An article appeared in the London Times, 
 about August last, complaining of the want of 
 governesses* Some time afterwards it was replied 
 
76 AMERICAN LADIES. 
 
 to by a " Lady of Philadelphia," who stated the 
 existence of a great number of young ladies in 
 Philadelphia who possessed good education and 
 who would be glad of employment even in London. 
 She recommended American governesses to go, 
 and concluded by giving her address and stating 
 that she would be happy to have those ladies call 
 on her or something to that effect. A number of 
 governesses, born and educated in England, have 
 within a few months past committed suicide, from 
 injured feelings and want of employment. If 
 this is the effect of position on ladies accustomed 
 to the distinctions of English society, how would 
 it be with American ladies who feel, and who of 
 right ought to feel, themselves equal to all man- 
 kind. American ladies could better show the 
 depth of their mental endowment by remaining 
 at home ; or rather than commit suicide abroad 
 and be buried without service, like a dog at night, 
 commit suicide at home and be buried in a chris- 
 tianlike manner. 
 
 As for the ladies of London, or rather of 
 England, they are in personal appearance by 
 no means as good looking as the ladies of America* 
 This is admitted willingly by English writers 
 
ENGLISH BEAUTIES. 77 
 
 and travellers. I believe I am able to judge, for 
 I have seen large numbers of American ladies 
 and as many as twenty thousand at one time of 
 the English. The general characteristics of Eng- 
 lish beauty are dark complexion, dark hair, dark 
 eyes and very rosy cheeks. This seems to con- 
 tradict historians in their account of the earlier 
 settlers of Great Britain. The Celts, Saxons, 
 Angles and Danes all possessed light complexions, 
 blue eyes, and red or very light hair. There is 
 in England no strong southern sun that could in 
 the course of centuries darken their natural com- 
 plexion and I have met with no account that 
 explains or attempts to explain the contradiction. 
 As far as the appearance of health is concerned 
 the preference must be given for the English. 
 Of this they are trained from babyhood to take 
 care. Girls there are not women when they arrive 
 at twelve or thirteen. They think, dress, and act 
 like girls. Stays, corsets, and other means of 
 torture form no part of a girl's wardrobe. Out 
 door exercises of all kinds are engaged in with 
 spirit, and the advantages reaped from them are 
 incalculable. 
 
 The ladies do not dress for the street with 
 
78 LOWER CLASSES. 
 
 one fourth part the elegance they do for home, 
 theatre, opera or parties. In this respect they 
 contrast strongly with the ladies of America who in 
 general believe in great show on the public 
 promenades. I know of nothing with which I 
 was so much pleased as the promenade dresses of 
 the English. After being for years accustomed 
 to see long dragging skirts in all weathers, rainy 
 or dusty, at home in the "States," the London 
 ladies looked perfectly charming in their thick 
 soled long boots, short and beautiful scarlet pet- 
 ticoats, neatly looped up dresses, comfortable 
 looking little bonnets and rosy living linings in 
 the same. And, (I say blushingly) such mis- 
 tresses of skirts as are the English ladies, and 
 with such grace as skirts are handled by them, I 
 did not see an article of female, white apparel, 
 during my whole stay in London, that betrayed 
 a spot of mud however stormy it might have 
 been. 
 
 Of the lower classes of London society, it 
 would be a matter of impossibility to give a de- 
 scription. They form the largest portion of the 
 inhabitants, and with accurate accounts of them, 
 many volumes might be filled. There is one 
 
TEMPTATIONS. 79 
 
 class however, on which it is necessary to say a 
 little, inasmuch, as it is connected with every 
 every other class, and is as much an institution 
 of London, as slavery is of the Southern States, 
 or as free labor is of the Northern. This class 
 attracts as much of the attention of the London 
 legislators and the public press, as does slavery 
 in the States, and should I omit it, the omission 
 would be considered too great by any who know 
 anything of London. I allude to courtezans. It 
 is said, that these form about one-fortieth part of 
 the entire population, or, are in number about 
 fifty-five thousand. Many reasons are given why 
 this class is so large, but there can be no doubt 
 that the chief reason is, the general state of 
 poverty among the lower classes, caused in a great 
 measure by the wholesale system of taxation. 
 The children of the poor, almost as soon as they 
 can walk or talk, are sent to the workhouse. For 
 girls, these are the primary schools for prosti- 
 tution. The large number constantly leaving the 
 workhouse for service, renders work scarce, and 
 the number of the unemployed great. Thus, of 
 necessity, they become vicious. There is not a 
 particle of doubt, but that stern necessity makes 
 
80 SAD STATISTICS. 
 
 more persons wicked, than does the love of ini- 
 quity. On the countenance of these girls, nothing 
 but joy and animation can be seen, while the very 
 vulture of misery is gnawing — hour after hour — 
 day after day — at their hearts. Originally se- 
 duced from a state of innocence, and then aband- 
 oned by every one w r ho held them in any degree 
 of estimation, they are left upon the w r orld, and 
 have no alternative but to go on in the way they 
 have commenced. They are then exposed to in- 
 sult without the means of redress, imposed upon 
 by the police, must stand all kinds of weather, 
 often without a friend in misery, or a place to 
 call home. Fifty-five thousand such creatures 
 roam the streets of London, No wonder that the 
 journals teem with cases of suicides. Of these, 
 fifty-five thousand nine-tenths die prematurely 
 of disease and in misery, having lived lives of 
 almost unimaginable hardships, and having, during 
 those lives corrupted twice, or thrice nearly, their 
 number of young girls — to say nothing of the 
 ruin showered upon strong masculine constitu- 
 tions. In a police report, I recently noticed a 
 return of four parishes, containing in all, about 
 12,900 houses, and 70,000 inhabitants. Of the 
 
SOCIETIES. 81 
 
 houses, 510 were of ill-fame, and of the inhabi- 
 tants about 4,000 were prostitutes. 
 
 Humane societies are established in all parte 
 of the city. One places life buoys, drags and 
 ropes on all the piers, bridges, docks, and where- 
 ever the water is a few feet deep, so that in case 
 some poor soul " weary of so long life" in misery, 
 concludes to end it not with " a bare bodkin," 
 but by a plunge she can be rescued, provided 
 some one sees her, and the cold water has cooled 
 her ardor. So many persons have jumped from 
 London Bridge, that it has become a bye-word. 
 If a person says he is going to London Bridge, 
 he is looked at immediately, to see if there is any 
 sign apparent of " temporary insanity." 
 
 Another, Humane society sends thousands of 
 dollars annually to civilize the inhabitants of a 
 country thousands of miles away, who never 
 heard of civilization and the Gospel, and are 
 therefore, not as responsible as those who have, 
 but the same society utterly neglects the misery, 
 destitution and heathenism of their own countrv- 
 men in the next street. 
 
 Another, at the present time, is endeavoring . 
 to annihilate capital punishment. And still another 
 
82 KEFLECTIONS. 
 
 is establishing a reformatory for the courtezans 
 whom the injustice of legislators creates. This 
 one sends clergymen into the lobbies of the The- 
 atres, into the dancing cribs and concert-halls to 
 reclaim girls, and to render them good wives for 
 honest men. A large home is provided, and kept 
 in grand style. The girl who previously would 
 have hesitated before casting herself upon the 
 smiles of a by-no-means-generous public, now 
 launches fearlessly away. Her after life, when 
 beauty and the charms that please are faded, is 
 now of no consideration. This humane society 
 says, " go-a-head," and when that time comes, 
 if come it will, why, you have only to come here, 
 we will give you a home, and will endeavor to 
 reform you. The society thus cuts off the 
 branches of the great tree of misery — but leaves 
 the root (taxation) and, like trimming trees, each 
 branch cut off, but grows out the stronger. 
 
 The wealth of England, and her so-called 
 exhaustless resources, are the boast of every 
 Englishman on the face of the earth, yet, no 
 country in the world has so much poverty — starv- 
 ing, suffering humanity as has this same Eng- 
 land. But is there no relief? Yes — a glorious 
 
WORKHOUSES. 83 
 
 relief — the Workhouse ! An institution to which 
 honest poverty is consigned — hand-in-hand with 
 the vagrant — drunkard — thief — prostitute — and 
 every one else whom the jails may be too full to 
 hold. Here, poor corrupted girls and unmarried 
 women resort until delivered of their dearly-pur- 
 chased fruits of sin! while here dwell poor or- 
 phans and homeless children, until of age to 
 be apprenticed: here is the asylum of idiots, 
 madmen, blind, lame, and diseased : and here 
 lives natural and premature old age, " only wait- 
 ing" until called from this state of utter hopeless- 
 ness — from this hell — either to a land of happiness, 
 or, as in the majority of cases, to a hell, that to 
 human calculation, could not be much worse. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, the overseership 
 of the workhouse is a matter of terrible compe- 
 tition. In the majority of cases, the successful 
 candidate is a man of "naturally sour disposition. 
 Thus children placed under his care grow up to 
 twelve, fourteen, and sixteen years of age, without 
 ever in their lives having heard one kind word — 
 without affection — without being loved, and in 
 their turn loving no one ! 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 WESTMINSTER ABBEY.— " POETS' CORNER." 
 
 HISTORY.— CHAPEL OP HENRY VII LEGENDS 
 
 IN STONE.— THE MONUMENTS. 
 
 " Hail ! venerable pile ! with awe I tread 
 The sacred mansions of th' illustrious dead ! 
 Where rise, o'er forms now mouldering into dust ! 
 The ' storied urn ' and ' animated bust ; '— 
 Beneath the fretted dome, aspiring high, 
 Here monachs, heroes, poets, sages, lie ! 
 1 Deaf the praised ear, and mute the tuneful tongue. * 
 Here sleeps the bard with those whom erst he sung ; 
 And all consigned to one impartial doom, 
 Lo ! kings and subjects levelled in the tomb !" 
 
 It was towards the close of one of the finest 
 days in summer, that alone, I commenced the 
 solemn yet pleasing task of a systematic stroll 
 through this burial place of kings, heroes, and 
 poets. 
 
 I entered at " Poets' Corner," and then sat 
 for awhile at the foot of a massive column, in 
 order to recall the little I could of what I had 
 heard and read concerning the " venerable pile' 7 
 that surrounded me. 
 
 (84) 
 
ilif "lllilll 
 
WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 87 
 
 Although founded later in the history of the 
 country than was the city, yet its origin seems 
 more obscure. There is a legend still in existence, 
 which I find has some believers, that says 
 Sebert, King of the East Saxons about 610, 
 ordered Melitus, Bishop of London, after having 
 built the Abbey, to perform the dedication cere- 
 mony, but that St. Peter himself, came in the 
 night preceding the day appointed by Sebert, ac- 
 companied by legions of angels, and surrounded 
 by a glorious appearance of burning lights, and 
 dedicated the Abbey to himself. The Abbey is 
 frequently called the Collegiate Church of St. 
 Peter. Although this legend is of course fabu- 
 lous, yet historians agree with it as far as the 
 date is concerned. And to Sebert was ascribed 
 the honor of superintending the work ; which 
 was then only the part that now constitutes the 
 East angle. Even this part, after the death of 
 Sebert, was allowed to decay ; was pillaged, and 
 looked like a vast ruin. Henry III., then took 
 the matter in hand. He pulled down, built up, 
 enlarged, and added a new chapel. Henry VII., 
 also added a chapel. This was named after him, 
 
88 ITS HISTORY. 
 
 and is now, externally at least, the finest portion 
 of the entire building. 
 
 Several fires and robberies occurred, and the 
 Abbey was suffered to remain in a dilapidated 
 condition, until a very recent period. Wow car- 
 penters and masons have their shops in the cells, 
 formerly the abodes of the monks, and are at all 
 times ready to repel the assaults of the elements. 
 The Abbey is in the form of a cross. " Poets' 
 Corner," where I commenced observations, is the 
 South-Eastern angle of the Cross. From this 
 spot the general view of the interior is excellent, 
 although, I afterwards found the best view to be 
 from the West door, between the two front towers. 
 Although in a thickly settled part of the West end 
 of the city, little noise from the world without, enters 
 here. Everything tends to fill the mind with 
 awe. " The eye gazes with wonder at clustered 
 columns of gigantic dimensions, with arches 
 springing from them to such an amazing height ! 
 and man wandering about their bases, shrunk 
 into insignificance, in comparison with his own 
 handiwork." 
 
 The first object of interest that attracted my 
 attention in Poets' Corner was a monument erected 
 
gakrick's monument. 89 
 
 to the memory of G-arrick. "David Grarrick, 
 who died in the year 1779 — at the age of sixty 
 
 three.' ' The following is the inscription — 
 
 « 
 
 To paint fair Nature by Divine command, 
 
 Her magic pencil in his glowing hand, 
 
 A Shakspeare rose— then, to expand his fame 
 
 Wide o'er this " breathing world " a Garrick came. 
 
 Though sunk in death, the forms the Poet drew, 
 
 The Actor's genius bade them breathe anew; 
 
 Though, like the bard himself, in night they lay 
 
 Immortal Garrick call'd them back to day : 
 
 And till eternity, with power sublime 
 
 Shall mark the mortal hour of hoary time, 
 
 Shakspeare and Garrick, like twin stars shall shine 
 
 And earth irradiate with a beam divine. 
 
 Pratt. 
 
 " This monument, the tribute of a friend, was 
 erected in 1797." — Webber facit. The monument 
 represents Garrick throwing aside a curtain, this 
 reveals a medallion of Shakspeare, and is intended 
 to represent G-arrick's power in developing the 
 beauties of Shakspeare. 
 
 Passing by many others, mostly of minor 
 importance I came to the monument of Addison. 
 This is a statue of himself, erected on a circular 
 base, around which are figures of the Muses. 
 The inscription is in Latin and has been thus ren- 
 dered. " Whoever thou art, venerate the memory 
 of Joseph Addison, in whom Christian faith, 
 
 8* 
 
90 HANDEL. 
 
 virtue, and good morals found a continual patron ; 
 whose genius was shown in verse, and every ex- 
 quisite kind of writing; who gave to posterity 
 the best example of pure language, and the best 
 rules for living well, which remain, and ever will 
 remain sacred ; whose weight of argument was 
 tempered with wit, and accurate judgment with 
 politeness, so that he encouraged the good, and 
 reformed the improvident, tamed the wicked and 
 in some degree made them in love with virtue. 
 He was born in the year 1672, and his fortune 
 being increased gradually, arrived at length to 
 public honors. Died in the 48th year of his age, 
 the honor and delight of the British nation.'* 
 This is only a monument to his memory ; his re- 
 mains are interred near Henry VII. 's Chapel, in 
 another part of the Abbey. 
 
 The next monument is to the memory of one 
 of the greatest musicians of the world — George 
 Frederick Handel. This monument was the last 
 piece of work of the celebrated Roubilliac. It is 
 recorded as a singular fact that his first work and 
 also his last was a statue of Handel. Here the 
 left arm of Britain's great musician is resting on 
 a collection of musical instruments, and he is 
 
SHAKSPEAKE. 91 
 
 attentive to the music of an angel playing on a 
 harj), in the clouds over his head. Before him 
 lies the celebrated Messiah, opened at the air "I 
 know that my Redeemer liveth." — Handel was 
 born in 1684 and died in 1759. 
 
 Again for want of time, leaving many monu- 
 ments and tombs behind, I came at last to the 
 monument of Shakspeare. The design as well 
 as workmanship of this is very elegant. The 
 figure of Shakspeare leaning on a pedestal, his 
 very attitude and style of dress seeming to breathe 
 of life cannot but arrest the attention of the most 
 casual observer. The sculptor has also very aptly 
 chosen for the open part of the scroll which he 
 holds in his right hand a sentence of the great 
 poet, from the " Tempest" 
 
 "The cloud capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, 
 The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 
 Yea, all which it inherits, shall dissolve, 
 And like the baseless fabric of a vision 
 Leave not a wreck behind.'* 
 
 On the pedestal of the statue are the heads 
 of the three principal characters represented in 
 his plays. Henry V., Richard III., and Queen 
 Elizabeth. This monument to his memory was 
 erected one hundred and twenty five years after 
 
92 MONUMENTS. 
 
 his death. His remains are interred in the Great 
 Church at Stratford. 
 
 In Poets' Corner are monuments to Ben 
 Jonson, — Milton, — Campbell, the Author of " Plea- 
 sures of Hope," — and many others which space 
 forbids me mentioning. For this part of the 
 Abbey no name could be more appropriate than 
 that by which it is known. The monuments, as once 
 was the dust they commemorate, are very plain, 
 but are generally elegant from that plainness. 
 The monuments of warriors, kings, and statesmen 
 in other parts of the Abbey may be more mag- 
 nificent, but one cannot look on and linger around 
 these as he does in Poets' Corner. On almost 
 every stone erected here we read the name of 
 friend. Though dead they still live our friends 
 through the living monuments handed down to 
 us by them. From this spot I started direct for 
 one of the seven wonders of the world ; — viz : — 
 "The Chapel of Henry VII. This is said to be 
 the best specimen of Gothic architecture in the 
 world. The exterior is adorned with sixteen 
 small towers, placed at different angles, and each 
 tower richly ornamented by the sculptor. The 
 Chapel is joined to the Abbey and cannot be en- 
 
CHAPEL OP HENRY VII. 93 
 
 tered except by passing through it, although from 
 the outside it appears separated. To enter the 
 Chapel I left the Abbey by the East Gateway, and 
 ascended a broad flight of marble stairs, under 
 a magnificent portico, leading direct to the nave 
 of the Chapel. The gates through which I passed 
 to the nave are of solid brass, finely decorated 
 with fluer-de-lis, port-cullis, crowns, entwined 
 roses, and lions. In the body of the Chapel tho 
 magnificent tomb of Henry VII. and his Queen 
 Elizabeth, attracts the attention. The tomb is en- 
 closed in a heavy railing of brass, about six feet 
 high and decorated similarly to the entrance gates. 
 The marble base of the railing is decorated with 
 statues only four of which are remaining : — St. 
 George, — St. Bartholomew, — St. James, — and St. 
 Edward. The tomb is of fine black marble, the 
 head resting upon a dragon, and the foot upon an 
 angel. The tomb is also ornamented with the 
 twined roses, fluer-de-lis, port-cullis, and crowms. 
 Other objects in bass relief tend to make the 
 work complete. On the tomb, in repose — and 
 plenty of dust — lie the effigies of the King and 
 Queen in their state-robes. Next to the tomb the 
 ceiling was most wonderful. This is entirely of 
 
94 ORDER OF THE BATH. 
 
 stone, worked in wreaths, circles and all imagin- 
 able shapes and objects. The floor is of marble, 
 black and white. The Chapel was formerly occu- 
 pied by the Most Honorable Order of the Bath. 
 The pews in which they were wont to sit, are 
 arranged in regular order around the walls. These 
 pews are of very singular construction and would 
 by no means be suitable for modern places of 
 worship or modern worshippers. They are made 
 very high and divided into seats, each seat large 
 enough for only one person ; and so constructed 
 that if a person goes to sleep, or in any manner 
 whatever loses perfect control of the body, the 
 seat slips down and the person is thrown over 
 into the choir in front. Here the Members of 
 the Order of the Bath were installed with great 
 ceremony. On each pew is still to be seen a brass 
 plate, containing respectively the arms of the 
 members ; while high above these still wave the 
 standards of the Knights as they did in the days 
 of Henry VII. There are in this Chapel several 
 other tombs of Kings and Queens, down to the 
 time of George III., since which time Windsor 
 has become the Royal Sepulchre. Near this spot 
 two monuments attracted my attention. The first 
 
MONUMENTS. 95 
 
 of these was a slab of marble, inlaid with solid 
 brass letters, placed in front of a magnificent 
 monument, the grandeur of which contrasts strongly 
 with the other's plainess. This slab was placed 
 here by the present Earl of Ellesmere, to mark 
 the spot where rest the remains of 
 
 Addison. 
 
 Ne'er to the chambers, where the mighty rest. 
 Since their foundation, came a nobler guest ; 
 Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed 
 A fairer spirit, or more welcome shade. 
 Oh ! gone forever ! take this long adieu 
 And sleep in peace, next thy lov'd Montague* 
 Egerton. Earl of Ellesmere. Born 1672. Died, 1719. 
 
 1849. Poole, mason. 
 
 A monument, previously noticed, was erected 
 to his memory in Poets' Corner. The other was 
 a large block of marble, with a cherub on each 
 end, and between them a double scroll. On this 
 monument is the following inscription, translated 
 from the Latin. 
 
 " Here lie the relics of Edward V., King of 
 England, and Richard, Duke of York, who, being 
 confined in the Tower, and there stifled with 
 pillows, were privately and meanly buried, by 
 order of their perfidious uncle, Richard the 
 usurper. Their bones long enquired after and 
 
96 VARIOUS CHAPELS. 
 
 wished for, after lying one hundred and ninety- 
 one years, in the rubbish of the Stairs, (i. e. those 
 lately leading to the Chapel of the White Tower,) 
 were on the 17th of July, 1674, by undoubted 
 proofs, discovered, being buried deep in that place. 
 Charles II., pitying their unhappy fate, ordered 
 these unfortunate princes to be laid among the 
 relics of their predecessors, in the year 1678, and 
 the thirtieth of his reign." 
 
 Besides the Chapel of Henry VII. there are 
 eight smaller Ghapels. called respectively, St. 
 Benedict's, — St. Edmund's, — St. Nicholas', — St. 
 Edward the Confessor's, — St. Paul's, — Islip's 
 Chapel dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, — St. 
 Erasmus', — and a Chapel dedicated to St. John, 
 St. Michael, and St. Andrew. In St. Benedict's 
 are the tombs of many distinguished persons of a 
 very early date. The most important and in- 
 teresting was the tomb of Sebert, King of the 
 East Saxons, who is said to have been the founder 
 of the Abbey. His Queen, Athelgoda, is also 
 buried here. Over their tombs, is a curious piece 
 of work, about eleven feet long and three feet 
 high. It is made of wood and stone, elaborately 
 finished. The centre piece contains a figure 
 
fe^lsfe.- mk \&*ir Mm 
 
 interior View of Ilcnn Vil.'e L'h»|iOl. 
 
ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 99 
 
 undoubtedly intended for Christ, holding the 
 world, and angels with olive branches on each side. 
 On the left is a figure of St. Peter. There are 
 many other sculptured figures on it, but time has 
 so defaced them that it is impossible to tell exactly 
 what they were and consequently it is equally 
 impossible to replace them. 
 
 Leaving this chapel, and before entering St. 
 Edmund's, my attention was drawn to a costly 
 monument, entirely of mosaic work, erected to 
 the memory of the children of Henry III., and 
 Edward I. Like its cotemporaries, it solemnly, 
 yet loudly declares that even marble must pass 
 away, before the onward, and still onward march 
 of time. " The fashion of this world passeth 
 away." 
 
 In the chapels of St. Edmund, and St. Nich- 
 olas, are some fine mementoes of departed 
 w r orth, but none, that I considered of especial 
 interest. The chapel of St. Edward the Con- 
 fessor, like that of Henry VII., possessed not 
 only a beautiful style of architecture, but also 
 every object which it contained, claimed par- 
 ticular attention. The first object that meets the 
 eye, is the shrine of St. Edward. This is said 
 
100 MONUMENTS. 
 
 once to have been the glory of England. It has 
 been literally picked to pieces by those who loved 
 Edward so much that they would not allow him 
 to keep over his ashes, even a respectable tomb- 
 stone. Comparing its present appearance with 
 the early accounts of it, it is very difficult to form 
 an idea of the original splendor of the shrine ; 
 and especially when the fact is taken into consid- 
 eration, that the jewels alone with which it was 
 decorated, were taken possession of by Henry 
 III., and sold by him, for about thirteen thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 On the south of the Shrine, is interred Edith, 
 daughter of Godwija, or Goodwyn, Earl of Kent, 
 (formerly mentioned in connection with Goodwin 
 Sands,) and who was also the Queen of St. Ed- 
 ward. In addition to o-reat beautv and o-entle- 
 ness, she is said to have possessed wonderful 
 learning and skill in needlework. 
 
 Her epitaph has been translated thus : — 
 
 " Success ne'er sat exulting in her eye, 
 Nor disappointment heaved the troubled sigh. 
 Prosperity ne'er saddened o'er her brow, 
 While glad in trouble, she enjoyed her woe; 
 Beauty nor made her vain, nor sceptres proud, 
 Nor titles taught to scorn the meaner crowd; 
 Supreme humility was awful grace, 
 And her chief charms a bashfulness of face." 
 
CORONATION CHAIRS. 101 
 
 Near this is buried Queen Matilda, of whom 
 it is recorded, that every day in Lent, she would 
 walk from her palace to the Abbey, barefoot, 
 wearing coarse hair clothing, washing and kissing 
 the feet of poor people and bestowing alms. All 
 the monuments in this chapel are exceedingly 
 magnificent, and under them are entombed only 
 the remains of Kings and Queens, awaiting with 
 the unknown contents of unmarked graves, the 
 dawn of the auspicious morning. 
 
 " The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
 And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
 
 Await alike the inevitable hour : 
 The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 
 
 In addition to the monuments, the chapel 
 contains various chairs, canopies, and other relics 
 of former centuries. Two coronation chairs on 
 the left as I entered, presented a very antique 
 and singular appearance. The most ancient of 
 the two encloses in the seat a stone about two 
 feet long, two wide, and one thick. This stone 
 by many, is believed to be the genuine Jacob's 
 pillar. Of course, we enjoy the privilege of be- 
 lieving as much of this as we desire; but one 
 thing is certain, the stone was brought from Scot- 
 
102 SCULPTURES. 
 
 Land, and offered to the shrine of St. Edward, by 
 Edward I., in 1297. All the Sovereigns of Great 
 Britain, from Edward I., down to Victoria, have 
 been crowned in this chair. The chairs are of 
 oak, very heavy, and in style gothic. The four 
 legs rest upon gilded, couchant lions, resembling 
 very much in style, but not material, the new 
 Throne recently erected in the House of Lords. 
 Some distance above the chairs are sculptures, 
 representing scenes in the life of St. Edward. 
 These, of course, are only legendary. The first, 
 is the trial of Queen Emma ; the second, the 
 birth of Edward ; the third, his coronation ; the 
 fourth, shows how Edward was so frightened by 
 seeing the devil dance upon the money casks that 
 he abolished the Dane gelt. The fifth, represents 
 him winking at the thief who was robbing him ; 
 the sixth, represents the appearance of Christ to 
 him ; the seventh, the frustration of an invasion 
 of England, by the drowning of the Danish 
 King ; the eighth, the quarrel between Totsi and 
 Harold, predicting their respective fates ; the 
 ninth, the Confessor's vision of the seven sleep- 
 ers ; the tenth, the meeting with St. John the 
 Evangelist, dressed as a pilgrim ; the eleventh, 
 
JAMES WATT. 103 
 
 curing the blind ; the twelfth, St. John delivering 
 a ring to the pilgrims ; the thirteenth, the pil- 
 grims delivering the ring to the King, which the 
 King had given St. John when he met him 
 dressed as a pilgrim. This was attended with a 
 message from St. John, foretelling the King's 
 death. The last scene represents the haste which 
 the King made to finish founding the chapel. 
 
 The chapel of St. Paul, contains among 
 others, a colossal monument to the memory of 
 James Watt. He is seated on an oblong pedestal 
 with a scroll in one hand and compasses in the 
 other, forming a design. 
 
 " Not to perpetuate a name which must en- 
 dure while the peaceful arts flourish, but to show 
 that mankind have learned to honor those that 
 best deserve their gratitude, the King, his min- 
 isters, and many of the nobles and commoners 
 of the realm, raised this monument to James 
 Watt, who, directing the force of an original 
 genius, early exercised in philosophical research, 
 to the improvement of the steam engine, en- 
 larged the resources of his country, increased the 
 power of man, and rose to an eminent place 
 among the most illustrious followers of science 
 
104: MONUMENTS. 
 
 and the real benefactors of the world. Born at 
 Greenock, 1736. Died at Heathfield, Stafford- 
 shire, 1819." 
 
 The chapel of St. Erasmus, and that dedi- 
 cated to St. John, St. Michael, and St. Andrew, 
 contain nothing either very grand or interesting. 
 The chapel of Islip, contains a very fine monu* 
 ment of General Wolfe, killed at Quebec. In 
 another part of the Abbey, is a dilapidated look- 
 ing monument erected to the memory of Major 
 Andre. The sentence on the monument, relates 
 the story of his being hung by Washington as a 
 spy. It is said, that this monument had not been 
 erected one month, when some British soldier in 
 retaliation for Andre's hanging, knocked off the 
 marble head of Washington — a statue of whom 
 with Andre, was on the monument — some demo- 
 cratic spirit then knocked off Andre's marble 
 head. Leaving the chapels, I entered the North 
 Transept, surrounded on all sides with monu- 
 ments to the good and great. Pitt, Londenderry, 
 Canning, Fox, Grattan, Wilberforce, Newton, 
 and many others are interred here. 
 
 " Life is a frost of cold folicitie, 
 And death, ye thaw of all our vanitie," 
 
SUNSET. 105 
 
 Now "bright and red the evening sun was 
 setting," and with a melancholy feeling of rever- 
 ence for the place, I left its grandeur to stroll 
 through the low-arched, dim, dark cloisters with- 
 out. Here once dwelt, shut out from all the 
 troublesome cares and alluring pleasures of life, 
 a race of monks. Everywhere around are seen 
 their humble tombstones. The walls around are 
 damp, hung with moss and wild flowers, and 
 slow, silently, indiscernibly, as time steals on, are 
 falling away. The finely chiseled stone that once 
 might have seemed touched with fairy hand, now 
 presents a rounded, worn away front. The old 
 Abbey clock, tolled out the hour for departure, 
 and alone as when I entered, though many have 
 passed through, I left the vast monument of other 
 days and other men. Frequently afterwards, did 
 I attend service here, and frequently have I 
 sought out its most inmost recesses, and there 
 with a pleasure indescribable, endeavored to trace 
 human life through the vast desert of its infir- 
 mities and misfortunes. Centuries have passed, 
 millions have indulged in the same reveries, in 
 the same parts of the Abbey — some of those mil- 
 lions lie buried around — some in one quarter of 
 
106 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 the globe, some in another — centuries will pass 
 and untold millions may yet visit this scene ; the 
 noble dust of Britain's aristocracy will, year after 
 year be added; other monuments of immense 
 cost will be erected ; but at last, by the decaying 
 touch of time, the whole will be " but as the dust 
 they were vainly intended to commemorate." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AMUSEMENTS.— THE HANDEL FESTIVAL— 
 "GOD SAVE THE QUEEN."— THE OPERA.— HER 
 MAJESTY'S THEATRE.— PICCOLOMINI, LA TliA- 
 VIA TA, AND THE CONSUMPTION.— COVENT GAR- 
 DEN THEATRE.— CO VENT GARDEN MARKET— 
 A BALL MASQUE.— DRURY LANE THEATRE- 
 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE STAGE MANAGERS- 
 HAUNTS OF JACK SHEPPARD— JONATHAN WILD 
 AND OTHERS— MUSIC HALLS.— HOME AMUSE- 
 MENTS. 
 
 It is not my intention here to say anything 
 of the numerous discussions that are going on 
 concerning the morality or immorality that is 
 spread from theatrical exhibitions. 
 
 As the Handel Festival at the Crystal Pal- 
 ace is now, (June 1857,) the all absorbing topic, I 
 know of no better beginning for this chapter, 
 than an attempt at its description. By referring 
 to " Westminster Abbev," it will be seen that 
 Handel was England's great musician, and that 
 
 (107) 
 
108 HANDEL FESTIVAL. 
 
 he was born in 1684, and died 1759. The 
 Handel Festival was a grand, national musical 
 festival, of three days continuance in honor of the 
 birth of this musician; and the oratorios per- 
 formed on the three days, were successively 
 " The Messiah, — " Judas Maecalceus " — " Israel in 
 Egypt" — Handel's three most wonderful pro- 
 ductions. 
 
 The operatic chorus numbered two thousand 
 performers ; the instrumental band five hundred. 
 The choristers to each part were five hundred. 
 The instrumental band was distributed into one 
 hundred and fifty violins, fifty violas, fifty violin- 
 cellos, fifty double basses and two hundred wind 
 instruments, besides a tremendous organ built for 
 the occasion, and a " monster drum." This drum 
 was about eight feet in diameter. The performance 
 commenced on the first day at one o'clock. Long- 
 before that time nearly thirty thousand persons 
 were strolling through the park, gardens, and 
 porticos of the Palace. The conductor of the 
 oratorio was M. Costa. A great part of the 
 nobility was present, but the second day was of 
 course the great day of the feast owing to the 
 presence of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Prince 
 
FOREIGN ROYALTY. 109 
 
 Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess 
 Royal — several other members of the Queen's 
 household, besides the Emperor Maximillian of 
 Austria, Prince Frederic William of Prussia, and 
 other specimens of foreign royalty. The first 
 day was devoted entirely to the " Messiah" During 
 the hallelujah chorus I walked beyond a quarter 
 of a mile through the Park and the sound of so 
 many voices in full accord could be heard that 
 distance plain enough to distinguish the words. 
 The effect of this music as I heard it, now solemnly 
 low, then breaking out in one full chorus, was 
 peculiarly impressive. I afterwards understood 
 that the music was heard beyond a half mile from 
 the place called Norwood near the Palace. The 
 position occupied by the performers was perfect. 
 The west-end of the Central Transept was devoted 
 entirely to the stage. This was arranged seat 
 above seat, the highest being about twenty five 
 feet above the lowest. The organ was near the 
 top. The lady performers, one thousand in number, 
 occupied the lower and consequently the front 
 seats. A more beautiful sight — I venture the 
 assertion never was witnessed and never can be 
 imagined. The lady performers were dressed in 
 
 10 
 
110 handel's Messiah. 
 
 opera costumes, and the gay colors of their dresses 
 contrasted strongly with the deep black dresses 
 of the fifteen hundred male performers. The 
 "Messiah" was composed in 1741. It is said to 
 have been written in the remarkably short space 
 of twenty two days. Considering the perfection 
 of the music this seems incredible. It was first 
 performed in Dublin one hundred and seventeen 
 years ago. And although Mozart, Beethoven, 
 and Haydn have flourished since then, yet the 
 Messiah is, by those capable of judging considered 
 the masterpiece of music. After the chorus " His 
 name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor," the 
 entire assembly sent throughout the vast length 
 and breadth of the Palace, a burst of applause so 
 long, so loud that the crystal walls seemed to 
 rattle and the iron girders to tremble as they 
 echoed and re-echoed the startling sound. Madame 
 JNTovello, Herr Formes, and Sims Reeves were 
 the principal solo singers. The solos of the 
 national anthem were sung by Madame JN T ovello. 
 A beautiful feature of every public entertainment 
 in England is, the performance always concludes 
 with " G-od save the Queen." If at a concert — it 
 is sung — or at the theatre it is played by the 
 
ROYAL CRITICS. Ill 
 
 orchestra. This is always the signal for adjourn- 
 ment, and is as regularly looked for as the 
 adjournment itself. The second day was, as 
 previously stated, " the great day of the feast." 
 The audience was considerably larger and of 
 course much gayer. Her Majesty was plainly 
 dressed as usual, and had she not had a 
 conspicuous and well known seat would have been 
 taken, by myself at least, for anybody rather 
 than the Queen of the United Kingdoms of Great 
 Britain and Ireland. The Princess Royal is 
 decidedly too handsome and intellectual looking- 
 for the apparently pusillanimous Prince of Prussia. 
 Prince Albert is a good-looking open countenanced 
 specimen of a John Bullized German. 
 
 The whole royal family must either be a 
 collection of good musicians and all the rest of 
 England perfectly ignorant of the science, or else 
 the royal family is perfectly ignorant and the 
 English, amateurs ; for I noticed that the royal 
 family gave unbounded applause when every one 
 else was quiet and was silent when every one else 
 applauded. Perhaps this was aristocratic exclu- 
 siveness ! 
 
 " Judas Maccaboeus " the oratorio of the 
 
112 HANDEL FESTIVAL. 
 
 day, though not as fine a production, was per- 
 formed, if possible to detect a difference, better 
 than the Messiah, It is also calculated better to 
 delight the popular ear. As the piece advances 
 one seems to hear the heathen rage and boast 
 themselves on their invincibleness. Then is 
 heard the pious chorus of the people of Israel, 
 praying for their deliverance from the hand of 
 their own and their God's enemies, lion's walls 
 are without warriors, and deserted are her towers. 
 The music seems only as a long solemn lamenta- 
 tion. Judas declares himself and is recognized 
 the leader of Israel's armies. He then returns 
 victorious, and the chorus 
 
 " Fall'n is the foe, 
 
 Sion now her head shall raise." 
 
 sweeps with melodious force, over the delighted 
 and almost breathless audience. The war crv of 
 Judas "Mi Camoka Baslin, Jehovah," was re- 
 sponded to by the bands of Israel's warriors and 
 the heathen full of terror at the might of God's 
 people hastened to their far distant homes. 
 The Sanctuary is recovered, and the triumphant 
 chorus " Hallelujah ! Amen !" concludes the second 
 
OPERA HOUSE. 113 
 
 day. The third day was devoted to l( Israel in 
 Egypt y The success of the festival was unpre- 
 cedented. The total receipts amounted to one 
 hundred and thirty thousand dollars, and the 
 total expenditures to about sixty thousand dollars. 
 Such was the Handel Festival, and the impressions 
 there received will remain fresh forever in the 
 minds of every one that was present. Grand, 
 inconceivably so, as it was, it is but the precursor 
 of one which is to take place in 1860, and which 
 will far surpass it. 
 
 The regular Opera house of London is " Her 
 Majesty's Theatre." This is a large stone build- 
 ing, surrounded entirely with an immense stone 
 portico, and is decidedly the most imposing place 
 of amusement in London. The interior is also 
 richly decorated. It has five tiers of boxes, all 
 private property, or let for the season. Thus it 
 is often very difficult for a casual visitor to secure 
 a seat. In this particular, having purchased 
 tickets at the door, and placing oneself confidingly 
 in the hands of a " guide," acquaintanceship or 
 friendship is found to be very useful, for without 
 this convenience, nine times in ten a seat cannot 
 
 be procured. Dress is extremely favorable to 
 
 10* 
 
114 LA TR A VI ATA. 
 
 good seats. A man that is dressed most, whether 
 best or not, is sure to get the best seat. Admis- 
 sion is totally impossible without dress coat, black 
 pants, and fancy waistcoat ; and the nearer ladies 
 come to carrying a fancy silk store, the better, 
 infinitely so, it is for them. 
 
 Here only, the greatest vocalists of the world 
 appear. For some time, the first magnitude stars 
 have been— feminine, Madlle. Piccolomini ; mas- 
 culine, Signer Beneventano. The attraction "La 
 Traviata" " La Traviata" whatever may be 
 said of the immorality of the title, or the plot, is 
 an exquisite production. And the persons here 
 engaged in it, twelve in number, are very likely 
 the best vocalists in the world. Certainly, Pic- 
 colomini is if the English journals are judges.* 
 The conclusion of La Traviata is very affecting, 
 and would almost " move a rock to tears." Vio- 
 letta Vatery, (la traviata,) Madlle. Piccolomini, 
 is in the last stage of consumption, and is about 
 to "shuffle off this mortal coil." After waking 
 up suddenly in the night, she summons all her 
 friends and servants to attend her in her last 
 
 * Piccolomini afterwards visited the United States, but met with only a 
 favorable reception. Her talents were not considered so remarkable. 
 
SENTIMENTALISM. 115 
 
 moments. She then exclaims, " Ah ! io ritomo 
 avivere!" and passes away so beautifully that 
 involuntarily I exclaimed, " let me die the death " 
 of Piccolomini, and let my last end be like hers. 
 But unfortunately, the Madam spoiled all the 
 beauties of her death, by letting the audience 
 know her "last end" had not come. She reap- 
 peared in five minutes, recalled to her worthless 
 state of existence by the clamors of the multitude ; 
 and with an inward, irresistible feeling of dislike 
 to her for coming to life again, and thereby 
 spoiling my vision of a happy death, I left the 
 establishment. 
 
 Consumption is, in reality, the bane of Eng- 
 land, but since Piccolomini has been learning the 
 people how to die with it, it is strange, how im- 
 mensely popular the disease has become. All 
 sentimental young ladies look pale; dress as 
 much as possible in white, (emblematical of their 
 purity ;) carry white handkerchiefs in their hands, 
 make frequent application of the same to their 
 mouth ; and faint if a door is left open, or vio- 
 lently shut. The minor theatres have also got 
 the disease ; and those that cannot afford a per- 
 son w T ho will die sentimentally slow, make ample 
 
116 COVENT GARDEN THEATRE. 
 
 amends by shooting an actor into the other world 
 from a large wooden cannon, or by allowing him 
 to be blown to pieces, by sitting down on a pack 
 of exploding crackers. 
 
 Not far from " Her Majesty's," is " Covent 
 Garden Theatre." As the entire neighborhood is 
 so intimately connected with the doings of the 
 Theatre, it may not be improper for me to place 
 here the result of my various perambulations in 
 this part of the city. This is rather an ancient 
 spot. Covent, formerly Convent Garden, was so 
 called, from the old monastery formerly situated 
 here ; some say, that it was named from being 
 a part of the yard attached to Westminster Ab- 
 bey. The distance between this and Westminster, 
 is about one mile and a half, and is entirely built 
 up ; some of the houses bearing so old a date that 
 this is rendered rather unlikely. I have seen 
 Covent Garden mentioned in old plays bearing 
 the date 1500. but cannot now recall the sen- 
 tence. There is one, I remember but of a much 
 later date, 1673. " Come, doe not blaspheme 
 this masquerading age, like an ill-bred citie dame 
 whose husband is half broke bie living. in Covent 
 Garden." The greatest market in Great Britain 
 
FRUITS. 117 
 
 is held here. This originated, as a stone bears 
 record, in 1656, from a few old women's stalls 
 near Bedford house. The proper time to see the 
 real beauty and grotesque appearance of this 
 market, is about three o'clock on a fine summer 
 morning. Fruits, flowers, vegetables, pet-birds 
 and gold-fish, are the principal articles of mer- 
 chandise. From the morning markets held here, 
 all the huckster stalls and green-grocer shops in 
 London are supplied. In every part of London, 
 at three o'clock begins the tumultuous war of the 
 drivers, and the rumbling of carts on their way 
 to Covent Garden. It is not a little remarkable 
 that, although the climate of England is damp, 
 and cloudy, especially so in the neighborhood of 
 London — yet fruits arrive at very great per- 
 fection. Pears, cherries, plums, strawberries, 
 raspberries, figs and grapes, are generally of 
 mammoth size, and very cheap. Peaches are 
 almost unknown. Those they do have come 
 mostly from France, and sell at a shilling 
 (twenty-four cents) each. Apples are very poor, 
 compared with those of the American markets. 
 English gardeners, certainly do excel all others 
 in raising fine pears, grapes and strawberries. 
 
118 st. Paul's parish church. 
 
 The jargonelle pear of England, cannot be 
 equalled. They are sold in London for a penny 
 and " two-pence" each, and are greatly superior 
 to the foreign jargonelle pear sold in the New 
 York and Philadelphia Saloons, at fifty and 
 seventy-five cents each. On one side of Covent 
 Garden, I noticed about two hundred and fifty 
 old women, sitting upon boards raised on stones, 
 shelling peas for the sellers. The Cockneys con- 
 sider peas a very beautiful fndt. On the West 
 side of the market, stands St. Paul's Parish 
 Church, (not the Cathedral) built in 1633, and 
 rebuilt 1795. This church has been, like many 
 other objects in the neighborhood, rendered cele- 
 brated by the pencil of Hogarth. I once pur- 
 chased from a wandering Jew pedlar, in Philadel- 
 phia, a small copy of Hogarth's " Morning," on 
 which was a portion of this church. It is repre- 
 sented as being built of brick, with stone columns 
 in front, and covered with the red earthen tiles 
 still in use. This church at present is of stone, 
 inlaid with brick, the same stone columns and a 
 slate roof. Covent Garden Theatre, of which the 
 green room opened into the market, is of course 
 the most celebrated place near the market, unless 
 
JULIEN. 119 
 
 I except its rival sister, the Drury Lane Theatre, 
 situated about two minutes walk to the North- 
 east. Covent Garden Theatre, according to its 
 historical tablet, was first opened Dec. 7, 1732. 
 This building was burned down in 1808. In the 
 fire, the celebrated Handel organ, and the wines 
 of the Beef Steak Club w r ere entirely destroyed. 
 The Prince of Wales laid the first stone of the 
 second building in 1808, and it was re-opened in 
 1809. Here M. Julien, held his promenade con- 
 certs, and in 1847, opened it with tremendous 
 expense as an Italian Opera House. An idea of 
 its style can be had, when it is known that the 
 expenses of the house for 1848, were over two 
 hundred and ten thousand dollars. The receipts 
 were somewhat less. Julien sustained the loss, 
 but made up for it, the succeeding year. In De- 
 cember last, Julien held a grand "Bal Masque" 
 here. The beauty of London, in fact of the 
 country, was present. The large hall was crowded. 
 The gay costumes of the masquers, the sparkling 
 of diamonds, the glitter of gold, and the light 
 shed upon the scene by a thousand gas-lights, 
 conspired to render the gay show indescribably 
 bewildering. Here, an inhabitant of lower, 
 
120 BAL MASQUE. 
 
 darker regions, leaned pensively on the arm of 
 his arch enemy a clergyman ; here Punch sported 
 in the dance with the Queen of the Fairies ; and 
 Punch's Judy was taken care of by a soldier ; 
 sailors, fairies, foreign princes and princesses, 
 stern judges in their furs and robes, bold Jack 
 Sheppard, historical, mythological, and poetical 
 figures without number, made up the party. The 
 band struck up, almost for the last dance on the 
 programme, partners were chosen, the cry of 
 " fire," arose in their very midst, a simultaneous 
 rush was made for the doors, many bright and 
 beautiful beings were crushed to death, and an 
 hour afterwards, the entire scene of beauty had 
 vanished like a dream. The ruins are cleared 
 away, and stone after stone of a new Italian 
 Opera House is filling up the vacancy. 
 
 Between this and Drury Lane, I could find 
 no traces of the houses of Molly King, Mother 
 Douglas, and Mrs. Bright, which have been ren- 
 dered immortal by many authors, as the places 
 where Hogarth obtained the models for his inimi- 
 table " Rake's Progress," and "Harlot's Prog- 
 
 ress." 
 
 The exterior of Drury Lane is rather impos- 
 
DRURY LANE. 121 
 
 ing. It is of stone, with stone columns at the 
 front and side. The interior is much better than 
 the majority of London Theatres ; though this is 
 not saying much. The best theatres of England 
 cannot be compared with those of Broadway N. Y., 
 and only favorably with those of Philadelphia. 
 There is one thing, however, in favor of London 
 theatres ; the actors and actresses must be superior 
 or they are not countenanced by the public. As 
 regards also the numbers employed they cannot 
 be surpassed. I have frequently seen in one 
 play, on the stage at the same time, one hundred 
 and thirty first class performers. Their orchestras 
 are good and number from thirty to fifty per- 
 formers in the first class establishments. An 
 actor's pay in London is a hundred per cent lower 
 than in America, and undoubtedly it is low 
 enough there. 
 
 I have called Drury Lane the rival sister of 
 Covent Garden. Their histories are very sim- 
 ilar. One is hardly allowed even to burn 
 down without the other " following suit." Ap- 
 parently from records existing, the greatest rivalry 
 was in 1816. Each had its supporters. Some 
 
 were loud in their praises of the Covent Garden 
 
 11 
 
122 THEATKtCAL MANAGEMENT. 
 
 actors, others equally loud for "old Drury/' 
 Both houses were nightly crowded to excess. 
 The rivalry was soon exploded by the fact be- 
 coming known, that the two theatres were under 
 one management, having only one company of 
 actors. Each actor had two names, one for Drury, 
 the other for Covent. When an actor was not 
 wanted at one, his services were required at the 
 other. Thus the rivalry was very beneficial to 
 the management. The following letters which I 
 quote from an old pamphlet soon appeared, and 
 give a very good idea of the modus operandi ; but 
 whether or not they were written by the managers 
 of the two stages, as it is pretended they were, 
 appears somewhat fabulous. 
 
 11 Drury Lane, Nov. 9. 
 "Dear Wild:— 
 
 " For God's sake lend me a couple of con- 
 spirators for to night. Recollect you have borrowed 
 one of ours for a singing druid, and another of 
 our best is Doge of Venice on Packer's resignation. 
 Entirely and devotedly yours 7 Hopkins/' 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 123 
 
 " Covent Garden, Nov. 9. 
 11 My Dear Hopkins : — 
 
 " I have ordered them to look you out two of 
 the genteelest assassins, and I'll take care they 
 go shaved and sober. Pray tell Farren he must 
 play our archbishop to-morrow : we'll cut the 
 part that he may dress time enough afterwards 
 for your general in the camp. 
 
 Yours perpetually — Wild. 
 
 P. S, If you have a full moon to spare, I wish 
 you'd lend it us for Thursday. I send you some 
 lightning that I can venture to recommend." 
 
 11 Covent Garden, Kov. 11. 
 " Dear Hopkins : — 
 11 Pray how shall we manage without Smith 
 to-morrow ? I depend on your lending him us for 
 Harry Fifth ; but now I see you have put him on 
 for Charles Surface. Could'nt you let him come 
 to us and play two acts of Harry, as you don't 
 want him in Charles till your third? and Hull 
 shall read the rest, with an apology for Smith's 
 becoming suddenly hoarse, sprained his ankle, 
 &c. ! &c. ! ! Cordially yours. — Wild. 
 
 P. S. My vestal virgin grows so plagued 
 large I wish you'd lend us Mrs. Robinson for a 
 night." 
 
124 COVEN* GARDEN THEATRE. 
 
 " Drury Lane, Nov. 11, 1816. 
 11 Dear Wild:— 
 
 u By particular desire our vestal virgin is 
 not transferable, but we have a spare Venus, and 
 a duplicate Juno ; so send for whichever suits you. 
 The scheme for Smith won't do— -but change your 
 play for anything, for we"ll tack the Camp to 
 the School for Scandal, to secure you an over flow. 
 Thoroughly yours, Hopkins. " 
 
 " Co vent Garden, Nov. 12. 
 " My Dear Fellow: — 
 
 " There's the devil to do about our Tuesday's 
 pantomime — the blacksmith can't repair our great 
 serpent until Friday, and the old camel that we 
 thought quite sound, has broken down at re- 
 hearsal ; so pray send us your elephant by the 
 bearer, and a small tiger with the longest tail 
 you can pick out. I must trouble you too for a 
 dozen of your best dancing shepherds for that 
 night ; for though I see you'll want them for 
 highwaymen in the Beggar's Opera, they will be 
 quite in time for us afterwards. For ever com- 
 pletely yours, Wild." 
 
PKURY LANE. 125 
 
 " Drury Lane, Nov. 12. 
 " Deae Wild :— 
 
 " I just write you a line while the beasts are 
 packing up, to beg you'll not be out of spirits, as 
 you may depend upon the shepherds and any 
 other animals vou have occasion for. I have it in 
 orders to acquaint you too that we dont use 
 Henderson for Falstaff on Friday, you may 
 have him for Richard, wath a dozen and a half 
 of our soldiers for Bosworth Field, only begging 
 that you'll return 'em us in time for Coxheath, 
 Totally yours — Hopkixs. 
 
 P. S. Lend me a Cupid — mine's down with 
 the measles — ." 
 
 " Co vent Garden, Xov. 12. 
 " Dear Hopkins : — 
 
 " Thank vou for vour Henderson and the sol- 
 diers ; do let them bring their helmets, for ours 
 are tinning. The bearer is our Cupid at a shill- 
 ing a night, finding his own wings. 
 
 Genuine yours — Wild." 
 
 As Drury Lane is a first class building, so 
 are the actors of the very best class of perform- 
 ers. The drama is here displayed in all of its 
 
 11* 
 
126 LONDON ICE CREAM. 
 
 perfection and legitimacy. In the admission, the 
 prices coincide with those of the American thea- 
 tres ; but there is one portion of the interior sys- 
 tem, that is entirely John Bull. The box-passage 
 guide for walking with you to the box-keeper, 
 humbly beseeches you for sixpence. The box- 
 keeper for opening the door, requests sixpence. 
 The " bill-boy," thrusts a programme at you and 
 demands sixpence. If you accompany a lady, she 
 is obliged to leave her bonnet in charge of a wo- 
 man engaged for that purpose ; said woman 
 " according to the laws of the house," is en- 
 titled to one shilling. Should you decide on ice- 
 cream between the plays, you receive a mixtm*e 
 of so " questionable a shape," that you find it 
 very difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion as 
 to whether it is inodorous bear's grease, or a mix- 
 ture of lard, water, and bruised strawberries. 
 One excellent apology may be made, however — 
 for the miserable compound : — the people of Lon- 
 don do not know what good cream or milk is. It 
 is said that " figures will not lie ;" from actual 
 calculation there is more milk consumed in Lon- 
 don in one day, than all the cows in England and 
 Wales can give in three. Where does it come 
 from ? 
 
ANNOYANCES. 127 
 
 Another part of the interior arrangement, 
 particularly annoying, is the number of old wo- 
 men and bovs allowed to roam at will through 
 the building, selling " lemon y'ade," " gin - gcr 
 be'y'eer," m bottle st-y'out," and yelling it with a 
 peculiar nasal twang. 
 
 In the neighborhood of the Theatre, still 
 stand houses, formerly the haunts of Fielding, 
 Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild, Dick Turpin, 
 and other members of this fraternity. In addi- 
 tion to Drury Lane, there are several first-class 
 theatres patronised by royalty, but greatly infe- 
 rior in architectural beauty and size. The same 
 annoyances and pleasures are observable, how- 
 ever, as in the celebrated " Old Drury," 
 
 In London there seems to have been no pub- 
 lic Theatre previous to 1676. In that year three 
 or four were erected. Among others, the Black- 
 friars, celebrated on account of the connection of 
 Shakspeare with it. Also the " Curtain," in 
 which Ben Jonson performed. Before this period 
 there were public amusements of this nature, but 
 the performances all took place in the inn yards, 
 under canvass coverings, w 7 ith platforms erected 
 for the spectators — very similar altogether to the 
 
128 PUBLIC GAKDENS. 
 
 strolling companies of the present day. In Lon- 
 don, at the present time there are twenty 
 theatres. 
 
 In addition to these, nearly all the taverns 
 have music rooms or stages for the performance 
 of the minor drama. Public Gardens are also 
 greatly in popular favor. A lengthy allusion to 
 these will be found in another place. Public 
 Fairs have almost disappeared. The frolic and 
 mischief attendant upon the celebrated Green- 
 wich fair, is ended by parliamentary enactment. 
 A few trifling concerns called fairs, are held on 
 certain days throughout the year, in various parts 
 of the city. A lively time is brought with them 
 — especially to pickpockets — and the vicious. 
 Among others, that held in the Thames' Tunnel, 
 is peculiarly interesting. 
 
 Home amusements consist of dancing, music, 
 and whist in general, besides all parlor games. 
 The majority of the private dwellings of the 
 wealthier classes are furnished with a room for 
 bagatelle or billiard table. These amusements 
 are in no particular confined to those called 
 " worldly minded," but even clergymen can, con- 
 sistently with their calling, dance or play a soci- 
 
SOCIAL HABITS. 129 
 
 able game of whist or bagatelle. And as these 
 home amusements are on the increase, so propor- 
 tionately the business of the dancing cribs and 
 music halls is on the descending scale. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.— THE DRUIDS— 
 HISTORY.— THE ORGAN— READING DESK AND 
 COMMUNION TABLE— THE MONUMENTS— JOHN 
 HOWARD.— BISHOP HEBER— THE LIBRARY- 
 WHISPERING GALLERY— THE GREAT BELL— 
 THE BALL.— THE CRYPTS— WELLINGTON'S TI- 
 TLE—SERVICE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, 
 VS. PRAYER BOOK. 
 
 To attempt to give the exact history of this 
 grand monument of the early Christians would 
 be fruitless. Its earliest clays are buried in ob- 
 scurity as profound as those of Westminster 
 Abbey. 
 
 In various parts of England, especially in 
 
 Cornwall, still exist the remains of the Druids, 
 
 and from the fact that Druidic remains have at 
 
 various times been discovered in the ground on 
 
 which St. Paul's Cathedral now stands, I think 
 
 there can be but little doubt that the Druids had 
 
 here a temple in the very earliest days of Britain's 
 
 (130) 
 
THE DRUIDS. 131 
 
 history. There are very few, however, who be- 
 lieve this. In whatever manner this has been 
 disputed, the discovery of the stone coffins and 
 funeral vases of the early Britains, said to have 
 been made here, and those of Roman construction, 
 has never been disputed. Sto we says, as late as 1313, 
 there was discovered many scalps of oxen. This 
 to the believers of Druidic foundation, would be 
 a confirmation of their opinions. A venerable 
 historian, (Bede) and one whose testimony must 
 bear great weight, whatever may be our indi- 
 vidual opinions, declares that a Christian church 
 was erected here, cotemporaneous with St. Au- 
 gustine. The general account is, that in 610, 
 Ethelbert, King of Kent, undertook the erection 
 of St. Paul's. In 686, Erkenwald, devoted vast 
 sums of money to its completion. This was de- 
 stroyed by fire in 961, and rebuilt the next year. 
 In 1086, it was again destroyed by fire. Then 
 originated the design of building the tremendous 
 Cathedral which preceded the present structure. 
 This was not completed until 1240. This build- 
 ing was several times struck by lightning and 
 otherwise injured. In 1666, came the tremendous 
 fire, alluded to in other portions of this work, and 
 
132 st. Paul's. 
 
 in this fire the Cathedral was entirely destroyed. 
 The destroyed building, although by no means as 
 large as the present, must have been a mag- 
 nificent affair. Roman Catholicism built it, as it 
 did Westminster Abbey, for the awe-inspiring 
 service of the Romish church. Here Romanism 
 stamped everything as it did in Westminster, and 
 as is still visible there. Here were seventy-six 
 chantry chapels, with two hundred priests. In 
 the nave of the Cathedral, stood a tremendous 
 cross with a taper in front of it constantly burn- 
 ing, and everywhere around, the eye rested upon 
 images of the Virgin and the Saints. The 
 Reformation dawned nearly three centuries and 
 a quarter ago; the glorious customs began to 
 die away, burning candles were forever extin- 
 guished, mass was said for the last time, and 
 the Book of Common Prayer was introduced. 
 The fire came, Protestantism reared a new Ca- 
 thedral, and on this is stamped Protestantism, 
 as indelibly as is Romanism on the Abbey. 
 
 The present Cathedral was commenced in 
 1675, and was not completed until 1710, 
 although in the intervening space of about 
 thirty-five years, the masons were daily in all 
 
g 
 
st. Paul's. 135 
 
 weathers employed. Sir Christopher Wren, was 
 the designer and superintendent of the work, 
 until it was completed. The most beautiful 
 external view of the Cathedral, can be obtained 
 toward sunset on a summer evening, approach- 
 ing it from Ludgate Hill. This, (the western) 
 front is very imposing. Within the enclosed 
 space in front, is a marble statue of Queen 
 Anne. On the base of this, is a figure of Brit- 
 ania with a spear, Gallia with a crown, Hiber- 
 nia with a harp, and America with a bow. 
 The church is Portland stone. This, in the 
 original state, is a hard white stone, but from 
 the appearance of St. Paul's, owing to bitumi- 
 nous coal smoke, its color might be mistaken 
 for black. The grand entrance is in the west 
 front. A flight of twenty-two very broad steps 
 of Irish black marble leads to it. At the top of 
 the steps is a doubled portico. The lower col- 
 umns of which are Corinthian, and the upper 
 Composite. On each side is a tower, two hundred 
 and twenty- two feet high. One of these forms 
 the belfry, the other a clock tower. The towers 
 are enriched, as in fact is the entire building, with 
 various statues of the Apostles and Saints. Cn 
 
136 PORTICOES. 
 
 the pediment between the towers, is a piece of 
 sculpture representing the Conversion of Saint 
 Paul. 
 
 There are entrances also in the north and 
 south fronts. A semi-circular portico approached 
 by twelve steps of black marble is around each 
 entrance. The east front is very plain. The 
 ground plan, like all ancient places of worship, is 
 in the shape of a cross. The length of the Ca- 
 thedral is five hundred feet. Its breadth at the 
 transept, two hundred and fifty feet, at the west 
 front, one hundred and eighty. The walls in 
 height ninety feet. The height to the top of the 
 cross on the dome four hundred and five feet. 
 The diameter of the dome, one hundred and 
 eighty-nine feet. The entire building, covers an 
 area of nearly three acres, and is surrounded with 
 a tremendous iron railing of which alone, the cost 
 was sixty thousand dollars. So much for the 
 exterior in shape and appearance. The chief 
 beauties, unlike the " whited sepulchre," are 
 within. The usual entrance for visitors, is that 
 on the north. On entering, gigantic columns sup- 
 porting the arched ceilings, the variegated marble 
 floors, vergers in their black gowns, moving slowly 
 
THE ORGAN. 137 
 
 through the building, the monuments of the 
 great, and the solemn chanting of the choir, in 
 the chapel on the left, — all tend to fill the mind 
 with the solemn grandeur of the scene, not un- 
 like that experienced in Westminster. So in- 
 spired with awe, was an Esquimaux woman, that 
 shrinking back on her conductor and gazing aloft 
 she asked, " Did man make it ? " 
 
 There is but little to be admired on the first 
 floor of the Cathedral, except the tessellated floor, 
 the massive columns, the tremendous height of 
 the arches overhead, and the chapel. This 
 chapel, or as it is usually called the choir, is 
 separated from the nave of the Cathedral by 
 heavy gates of iron. The organ is built above 
 these gates, supported by eight marble columns. 
 The organ is a magnificent piece of workman- 
 ship. The cost of it was about fourteen thousand 
 dollars. It contains two thousand one hundred 
 and twenty-three pipes. The sound, especially 
 when accompanied by the voices of the choir, is 
 grand beyond description. It echoes and re- 
 echoes through the vast building, and when heard 
 from the whispering gallery, sets every nerve in 
 motion. The soul is filled with ecstacy, and 
 
 12* 
 
138 THE CHOIR. 
 
 seems carried away far beyond the arena allotted 
 to human pleasures. While with rapture listen- 
 ing to the anthem notes as they were borne along 
 the arched roof, the walls, and monuments of the 
 illustrious dead wafting back the hallowed strains 
 and every echo breathing a sound that seemed 
 not born of earth, I have often recalled the 
 words of Mrs. Hemans, 
 
 " Wherefore must rapture its full tide reveal, 
 Thus by the signs betokening sorrow's power ? 
 Oh ! is it not, that humbly we may feel 
 Our nature's limits in its proudest hour! 1 ' 
 
 In the choir, in addition to the organ, the 
 two principal attractions are the reader's desk, 
 and the Communion table. The reader's desk is 
 made of brass deeply covered with gold. The 
 Bible from which the lessons are read, rests upon 
 the expanded w r ings of an eagle. The Com- 
 munion table is covered with rich crimson velvet, 
 and stands within an enclosure paved with por- 
 phyry, and finely inlaid with various figures. 
 The choir everywhere is decorated with wood 
 carvings of fruits, flowers, cherubs and crowns, 
 said to be the finest wood carvings in the world. 
 
 The monuments, about fifty in number, the 
 
MONUMENTS. 139 
 
 majority of which are erected to heroes of the 
 army and navy, are not particularly interesting, 
 with but one or two exceptions. Very few re- 
 mains are interred here. There certainly seems 
 to be a greater amount of interest hovering 
 around an unmarked newly-made grave in a 
 country churchyard, in which reposes some mor- 
 tal remains in an unwaking sleep, than there is 
 in the too often heartless monuments erected here. 
 The monument, however, of John Howard, the 
 philanthropist is peculiarly interesting. This is 
 a fine statue of Howard, dressed in the Roman 
 costume, trampling in the dust some fetters, hold- 
 ing in his right hand a key, and in his left a 
 scroll bearing the words " A Plan for the im- 
 provement of Prisons and Hospitals." On the 
 pedestal is a bass relief, representing the interior 
 of a cell, and Howard just entering with food and 
 clothing for the prisoners. Under this, is the 
 simple name " John Howard." On the opposite 
 side of the pedestal is the inscription : — 
 
 11 This extraordinary man had the fortune to 
 be honored whilst living, in the manner in which 
 his virtues deserved. 
 
 " He received the thanks of both houses of the 
 
140 JOHN HOWARD. 
 
 British and Irish Parliaments for his eminent 
 services rendered to his country and to mankind. 
 
 "Our national prisons and hospitals, improved 
 upon the suggestion of his wisdom, bear testimoy 
 to the solidity of his judgment, and to the estima- 
 tion in which he was held. 
 
 " In every part of the civilized world, which 
 he traversed to reduce the sum of human misery, 
 from the throne to the dungeon, his name was 
 mentioned with respect, gratitude and admiration. 
 
 "His modesty alone defeated various efforts, 
 which were made during his life to erect this 
 statue which the public has now consecrated to 
 his memory. He was born at Hackney, in the 
 County of Middlesex, Sept 2, 1726. 
 
 " The early part of his life he spent in retire- 
 ment, residing principally upon his paternal 
 estate at Cardington in Bedfordshire, for which 
 County he served the office of Sheriff in the year 
 1773. 
 
 " He expired at Cherson, in Russian Tartary, 
 on the 20 Jan., 1790, a victim to the perilous and 
 benevolent attempt to ascertain the cause, and 
 find an efficacious remedy for, the plague. 
 
 " He trod an open and unfrequented path to 
 
BISHOP HEBER. 141 
 
 immortality in the ardent and unremitted exercise 
 of Christian charity. 
 
 "May this tribute to his fame excite an 
 emulation of his truly glorious achievements." 
 
 Another splendid monument is that of 
 Bishop Heber. This is a statue of the Bishop 
 kneeling, one hand upon his breast, the other 
 resting upon a Bible. On the pedestal he is 
 represented confirming two Indian converts. 
 His inscription concludes with the following lines 
 written by himself some years before his death, 
 
 u Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not deplore thee, 
 
 Though sorrow and darkness encompass the tomb ; 
 Thy Saviour has passed through the portal before thee, 
 
 And the lamp of his love is thy guide through the gloom. 
 Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not deplore thee, 
 
 Whose God was thy ransom, thy guardian and guide, 
 He gave thee, he took thee, and he will restore thee, 
 
 And death has no sting, for the Saviour has died." 
 
 Leaving the monuments, on the right is a 
 door from which is a flight of stairs leading to 
 the whispering gallery. After ascending one 
 hundred and twenty Jive of these I came to a door 
 opening into the Library. This is a fine room, 
 the most remarkable feature of which is the floor. 
 This is composed of two thousand, three hundred 
 and seventy six pieces of oak, so wedged in that 
 
142 st. Paul's, 
 
 not a nail or screw of any kind was used. 
 There are nearly eight thousand volumes in the 
 library including the first printed volume of the 
 Common Prayer. I then passed by the geometri- 
 cal stairs, ninety steps in number, so evenly 
 balanced on the bottom step as to need no farther 
 support, and ascended the remaining one hundred 
 and thirty jive, (in all 260) steps to the Whisper- 
 ing Gallery. This runs entirely around the base 
 of the Dome. It is constructed on the principle 
 of an unbroken communication, so that the least 
 whisper on one side of gallery is distinctly heard 
 on the other, a distance of about one hundred 
 and forty feet. If the door leading to the gallery 
 is violently shut, the noise is quicker and much 
 louder than the report of a rifle. It is now 
 against the law to shut the door, as it is feared it 
 will ultimately injure the dome. Though on a 
 " certain consideration " this will sometimes be 
 done by the guide in attendance. From the 
 Gallery the floor of the Cathedral appears very 
 beautiful. The centre piece of the floor, under 
 the Dome is a large plate of brass. This is 
 directly over the sarcophagus of Lord JNelson in 
 the vaults below. Some idea of the great distance 
 
THE CLOCK. 143 
 
 between the floor and the Whispering Gallery 
 may be found from the fact that an English penny 
 dropped from the Gallery edgewise was greatly 
 flattened and cut a hole in the solid marble 
 nearly half an inch in depth. 
 
 It was something of a task to get up to the 
 great bell, but when once there I was well repaid 
 for the trouble. It is ten feet in diameter, the 
 metal is nearly a foot thick, and weighs eleven 
 thousand four hundred and seventy-four pounds. 
 The hour is struck by a hammer that weighs one 
 hundred and forty-five pounds, and the clapper 
 which is used only on the death of a member of 
 the Royal Family, weighs one hundred and 
 eighty pounds. Under this there are two smaller 
 bells on which the quarters of the hour are struck. 
 The clock is rather an extensive affair although 
 by no means as large as that about to be placed 
 in the Clock Tower of the New Houses of Par- 
 liament. The two faces of the clock are each 
 twenty feet in diameter, the minute hands are 
 nine feet eight inches long, the hour hands about 
 six. The figures on the faces are three feet high. 
 The weight on the pendulum weighs about one 
 hundred and ten pounds and is singularly sus- 
 
144 THE BALL. 
 
 ponded by a steel spring only a little more than 
 the sixteenth part of an inch in thickness. 
 
 The view from the galleries is extensive, 
 especially in very clear weather. If it was a 
 task to mount to the bell it was a much greater 
 one to get up into the ball on the top of the Dome ; 
 a distance as before stated of over four hundred 
 feet, ox six hundred and twenty two steps. The ball 
 from the street appears like any common gilded 
 ball on a steeple and is apparently about six inches 
 in diameter, it is decidedly another matter when 
 near it. It is in reality about seven feet in diame- 
 ter, and a dozen persons would experience no diffi- 
 culty in sitting comfortably within it. It is com- 
 posed of sheet iron very thick and firmly riveted. 
 The weight of the ball is five thousand six hun- 
 clred pounds. Thirty feet above this is a cross 
 fifteen feet high. 
 
 Sir Christopher Wren must have had a 
 towering architectural taste ; but had he only had 
 Barnum for a co-laborer, undoubtedlv a much 
 easier way would have been invented for reaching 
 the top. Why could not a steam engine be built 
 in one of the numberless arches in the "vaults" 
 and thus save the awful racking of the ascendant's 
 
SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN. 145 
 
 bones by shooting him up with telegraphic speed, 
 either to the top, or else have stations every hun- 
 dred feet or so on the route? It is true this 
 would spoil the romance ! 
 
 Having become satisfied with the extreme 
 top I took up a rapid march towards the extreme 
 bottom ! the Crypts or Vaults under the edifice. 
 The Crypt is divided into three parts, by immense 
 columns or butments forty feet square. In these 
 divisions are many smaller arches supported by 
 numberless small pillars. There are many tombs 
 here, and some remains of the old Cathedral. 
 The most celebrated painters of England are 
 buried in the Vaults. Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 Benjamin West, and others. The tomb of Sir 
 Christopher Wren is also in the Crypt. This is 
 the plainest tomb of the entire number. A sim- 
 ple slab over his remains bears the inscription. — 
 
 " Here lieth 
 
 Sir Christopher Wren, Knt., 
 
 the builder of this Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 
 
 who died in the year of our Lord, 1723, 
 
 and of his age, 91 " 
 
 In noticing the Choir, I forgot to mention a 
 
 13 
 
146 NELSOSf. 
 
 plain slab there, also to the memory of Sir 
 Christopher Wren, The inscription is in Latin 
 thus rendered. Under this is buried the builder 
 of this church and city, Sir Christopher Wren, 
 who lived beyond ninety years not to himself but 
 to the public good. Reader if you seek his monu- 
 ment look around. He died Feb 25, 1723, aged 91. 
 The sarcophagus in which are the remains 
 of Horatio Viscount JNelson is very handsomely 
 made with a black marble top. This was pre- 
 pared by Cardinal Wolsey for his own interment, 
 but in this as in many of his long cherished 
 hopes he was disappointed. The Duke of Well- 
 ington is also buried in a vault similar to that in 
 which is the tomb of Nelson. His monument 
 has not yet been erected. If this should be as 
 magnificent as his coffin,, or his four coffins, it will 
 undoubtedly be the most attractive feature of 
 the Cathedral. The following is engraved on the 
 coffin lid, and as it is an excellent specimen of 
 titles of nobility, I copied it verbatim : — 
 
 " The Most High, Mighty, and Most Noble 
 Prince Arthur Duke and Marquis of Wellington, 
 Marquis of Douro, Earl of Wellington, Viscount 
 Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, and 
 
WELLINGTON. 147 
 
 Baron Douro of Wellesley, Knight of the Most 
 Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross 
 of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, one of 
 her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, 
 and Field Marshal and Commander in Chief of 
 Her Majesty's Forces. Born 1st., May, 1779 : 
 Died 14th. September 1852." 
 
 In connection with St. Paul's, I have several 
 times alluded to Westminster Abbey. Westmin- 
 ster possesses a peculiar aspect of majesty. 
 Erected by Romanism, the enthusiasm, the love 
 of grandeur, the zeal for the church, which Ro- 
 manists so generally possess, all of which are so 
 indelibly marked upon the Abbey, in spite of our 
 own convictions or inclinations, inspire us with 
 sincere respect. In St. Paul's, it seemed to me 
 that I did not possess this feeling. There was 
 something which caused me to admire in a greater 
 degree the artistic beauty and the great mind of 
 the builder. To those who have never visited 
 and compared the two monuments of the Church, 
 it w r ould be very difficult to imagine the difference. 
 Built as was one for the worship of God, the 
 Saviour, and the Virgin, in an unknown tongue, 
 clouds of incense rising and spreading through- 
 
148 st. Paul's. 
 
 out the building, and the mysterious lights of a 
 thousand tapers shed over the scene. The other, 
 a sacred temple of the living God, where He was 
 to be worshipped " in Spirit and in Truth," in a 
 language that all could understand, where was no 
 sprinkling priest, and where Christ was the light, 
 and a broken heart, the most acceptable offering. 
 How wonderful the change produced by the 
 Reformation ! Only three centuries and not quite 
 a quarter ago, yet the world was so revolutionized 
 that the strongest minds stagger at the contem- 
 plation. How great must have appeared the 
 change to those who were wont to assemble daily 
 to hear mass, and the reading and interpretation 
 of Scriptures by the priests in Westminster, when 
 they assembled in St. Paul's, and there learned 
 that the same Scriptures were to be read and 
 studied by themselves ; that these were the rules 
 of Faith, instead of the traditions of the Church. 
 In the three and a quarter centuries that have 
 passed, so great have been the results of the 
 change in England, I find from actual calcula- 
 tions, that the number of Romanists is exceed- 
 ingly small, and the number of Protestants is 
 nearly eleven millions, or more than one-third of 
 
CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT. 149 
 
 the entire population. One-half of this number 
 belongs to the established Church of England. 
 
 There is but little difference between the 
 service of the Church of England, and that of the 
 Episcopal Church of the United States, although 
 the establishments are vastly different. The 
 Church of England, in almost every particular, 
 is connected with the Government of the country. 
 The Government builds the churches from the 
 income derived from church lands, tithes, church- 
 rates, offerings received on Easter, and from 
 several other rates and offerings. The income 
 amounts to about twenty-five millions of dollars 
 annually. From this income the clergy is paid. 
 Each church has its vicar and curate. The vicar 
 can be displaced only by preaching or practising 
 error in doctrine. Consequently, if a congrega- 
 tion dislikes its minister, it can go wherever it 
 desires, but cannot discharge the offending cler- 
 gyman. This seems very well when a congrega- 
 tion happens to be well suited, a minister does 
 not often receive a " louder call," and conse- 
 quently bad feelings are not engendered. The 
 number of churches owned by the Church of 
 
 England, is about fourteen thousand, of which I 
 
 13* 
 
150 EDUCATION. 
 
 judge there is about one-fourteenth located in 
 London. 
 
 Americans, or any other foreigners, unless 
 at some time connected intimately with the 
 Church of England, experience great difficulty in 
 understanding exactly what it is. Its intimate 
 connection w T ith state, its tithe system, with all of 
 this system's modifications and many exceptions, 
 and many other parts of the system so dissimilar 
 to the church in other countries are the causes of 
 this difficulty. 
 
 The poor quality and small quantity of edu- 
 cation possessed by the Londoners in general has 
 already been alluded to. Whatever may be said 
 of this, yet, learning the most profound, united 
 with wealth, and often with rank and titles is 
 found among the clergy. Notwithstanding the 
 fact that daily schools for all classes are "few 
 and far between," yet the church is realty awake 
 to the importance of universal education. Almost 
 every church has connected with it a Charity 
 school, and in these, the children are taught 
 everything in relation to the Christian religion. 
 The children of America, however proficient 
 otherwise, do not receive one-tenth part of the 
 
% PRAYER BOOK. 151 
 
 religious instruction that do the children of 
 England, 
 
 I mentioned a slight difference existing be- 
 tween the Church of England Service, and that 
 of the Episcopal Church in the United States. 
 The first difference occurs in the opening sen- 
 tences of the Morning Prayer. There being three 
 more in the Prayer book, than in the " Church 
 Service/' (the name by which the Prayer book 
 is generally called in England.) The short 
 " declaration of absolution," is not in the Church 
 Service. At the conclusion of the first prayer, 
 the sentences beginning, " Lord open thou our 
 lips," are six in number in the Church Service, 
 instead of two only, as in the Prayer book. In 
 the Church Service, the Gloria in Excehis occurs 
 only in the Communion service. The Nicene 
 creed is not in the Daily Morning prayer, but is 
 used daily in the portion of the Communion ser- 
 vice, read before the Epistle and Gospel for the 
 day. The prayers at the conclusion of the Morn- 
 ing prayer, are common to both books with the 
 exception of substituting the names of the Queen 
 and other members of the Royal family, for those 
 of the President of the United States, and the 
 
152 CHUKCH SERVICE.* 
 
 members in Congress assembled. In the evening- 
 service, the Magnificat is used in the Church 
 Service, instead of the JBonum est of the Prayer 
 Book ; and nunc dimittis, instead of Benedic, ani- 
 ma mea. The litany is the same with the excep- 
 tion of a very few words. The Prayers and 
 Thanksgivings occur in different orders, but the 
 words are about the same. The Church service 
 in the Communion, has two prayers for the Queen, 
 and the Mcene creed, instead of " Hear also," &c, 
 down to the sentence beginning " Let your light ;" 
 is different. The form of Solemnization of Matri- 
 mony is four times as long in the Church Service, 
 as it is in the Prayer Book, and is different in seve- 
 ral manners. In England, the bans of Matrimony 
 must be published every day of church for three 
 weeks before the time of the ceremony. This is 
 done by the officiating clergyman of the parish 
 in which the " happy couple" reside, and consists 
 only in the clergyman saying " I publish the 
 bans of Marriage between M. — of — and N. — of — 
 If any of you know cause, or just impediment, 
 why these two persons should not be joined to- 
 gether in holy matrimony, ye are to declare it. 
 
HAKRIA6ES. 153 
 
 This is the first, (second or third) time of asking." 
 Publishing the bans is still the law in some parts 
 of the United States. The Church Service, also 
 requests the officiating clergyman to preach a ser- 
 mon for the especial benefit of the married pair, 
 and requests them to take the Communion. 
 It thus requires no short period of time to 
 get married in England. The Church Service 
 contains a Commination, or denouncing of God's 
 anger and judgments against sinners. This is 
 read the first Sunday in Lent. A form of prayer 
 to be used with Thanksgiving on the fifth day of 
 November, for the escape of King James L, and 
 the three estates of England from the Gunpow- 
 der Plot. And one or two other forms of prayer 
 to be used on anniversary occasions, in relation 
 to the Royal Family. 
 
 All other denominations are called dissenters, 
 and their places of worship unendowed or dis- 
 senting chapels. Their number is about five and 
 a half millions, of which the largest part are 
 Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Quakers, 
 and Methodists. There are, however, a great 
 many professors of all the religions and isms ever 
 
154 DISSENTERS. 
 
 heard of. The Mormons number about seventeen 
 thousand. Before their appearance, Swedenborg 
 affirmed himself the divinely authorized agent 
 and publisher of a new revelation, and he has 
 here about six thousand disciples. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PARKS AND GARDENS. — HYDE PARK. — 
 
 ACHILLES SUBLIMITY AND BUSINESS. — THE 
 
 SERPENTINE— RIDERS. -BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 
 —ST. JAMES' PALACE AND PARK. — THE POET 
 ROGERS' HOUSE.— REGENT PARK AND AMUSE- 
 MENTS.— REY. SURREY AND SPURGEON. 
 
 " Are they not all proofs 
 That man, immured in cities, still retains 
 His inborn, inextinguishable thirst 
 Of rural scenes, compensating his loss 
 By supplemental shifts, the best he may.'* 
 
 Cowper's Task. 
 
 If every account which we have concerning 
 the gardens of the ancients is true, how passionate 
 must have been their feelings towards gardens, 
 and how great their " thirst of rural scenes !" 
 
 In America, we talk and read of the plea- 
 sures and advantages of beautiful gardens and 
 extensive parks, but in order to experience these 
 pleasures and advantages, and to bring these gar- 
 dens and parks before the physical and not men- 
 
 (155) 
 
156 GARDENS. 
 
 tal organs of sight, it becomes necessary to ramble 
 in foreign climes. 
 
 The city of London, for instance, presents a 
 great variety. Beginning with parks of five and 
 six hundred acres, and finally arriving at the 
 twelve feet by ten garden of the public house, 
 at which John Bull stops to take his " pint ov 
 af-naf," (half and half) and crust of cheese, 
 when at " lunch time," he feels like making a 
 few internal improvements. 
 
 Hyde Park is, I believe, the most celebrated 
 park in London, although it does not present the 
 variety of amusements that do several others. 
 Once upon a time, as story books say, Hyde Park 
 contained nearly six hundred and twenty-five 
 acres, and that by enclosing Kensington gardens, 
 about one-half of the park was taken away. Be 
 that as it may, the park now contains four hun- 
 dred acres. Its name is derived from the old 
 manor of Hida, which belonged to the monks of 
 St. Peter at Westminster Abbey. It now belongs 
 to the crown. On entering at Hyde Park corner, 
 by Apsley House, where dwelt the Duke of Well- 
 ington, the first object that struck my attention 
 was a -colossal statue of Achilles. This was 
 
Queen Elizabeth's Tomb. 
 
ACHILLES. 159 
 
 erected to the memory of the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, by the ladies of England. It is about twenty 
 feet high, and weighs thirty tons. It stands on a 
 granite pedestal which bears this inscription : — 
 
 To Arthur Duke of Wellington, 
 
 And His Bkave Companions in Arms, 
 
 This Statue of Achilles, 
 
 cast from Cannon 
 
 Taken in the Victories of 
 
 Salamanca, Victoria, Toulouse, and 
 
 Waterloo, 
 
 is INSCRIBED 
 
 By their Countrywomen. 
 
 Achilles, if writers inform us correctly, was 
 once disguised in female apparel by his mother 
 and concealed in the ranks of maidens, whether 
 under hoops or not we are not informed, at the 
 court of Lycomides, in order to escape going to 
 the siege of Troy. Ulysses, calling at the court, 
 discovered Achilles and compelled him to join 
 the regiment. The monument of Achilles erected 
 by the English ladies, I hope is not an emblem 
 of the taste of those ladies. A man twenty feet 
 high, should certainly be enrobed, if not in 
 
1G0 JOHN BULL. 
 
 female apparel, in something more than one only 
 of those leaves, of the kind of which our father 
 Adam made himself an apron by sewing many 
 together. 
 
 The attitude of the statue though admirable 
 is rather questionable. It is said that Achilles 
 was invulnerable in every point except the heel 
 by which his mother held him when she dipped 
 him in the Styx. Even if this was perfectly true, 
 is it likely that a man of Achilles' mould would 
 engage in war in a state of nudity ? If he would 
 not, and if he did not, are not the ladies of Eng- 
 land exceedingly culpable in endeavoring to 
 destroy his character in this unchristianlike 
 manner ? Like Brutus " I pause for a reply." 
 
 The statue is surrounded by an iron railing, 
 in front of which lies a large cake of patent cement. 
 This is thoroughly John Bull — the sublimest 
 work of nature or art in England is connected 
 with some monstrous absurdity. Visit West- 
 minster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral and in 
 sums of a penny and " tupence" one is obliged to 
 pay several dollars for seeing the different parts 
 — the funds realized being for the support of the 
 clergy and poor nobility. This monument of 
 
THE SEKPENTINE. 161 
 
 Achilles, a great work of art — loses its grandeur 
 besides a great cake of patent cement only because 
 the cement maker pays for the privilege of placing 
 it there! — Verily I believe the crown could be 
 bought. This cake of cement is about twelve 
 feet by ten, and eight inches thick. It was made 
 in a distant county and conveyed to London in its 
 present shape, and exhibited at the Crystal Palace 
 in 1851. This is one of the curious forms of 
 English advertising. Its durability becomes ap- 
 parent by years of exposure, and those desiring 
 good pavements and solid garden walks have no 
 difficulty in ascertaining how and where such can 
 be obtained. 
 
 The Serpentine is a very pretty artificial 
 stream. It was made in the reign of Queen 
 Caroline at her request. When a London winter 
 is severe enough to freeze this over it presents a 
 very gay scene. I was fortunate enough to spend 
 several interesting days on the ice. The London 
 ladies are by no means behind the country 
 damsels in their love of out-door exercise. And 
 the agility with which they can sit down, buckle 
 on their skates, and glide away w r ould cause 
 many an American amateur to yield his victorious 
 
 U* 
 
162 EQUIPAGES. 
 
 palms to the fair skaters. The utility and beauty 
 of the reel petticoat are very apparent in skating, 
 and they are certainly handled by the London 
 ladies with as much grace as by their beautiful 
 Scotch inventresses. 
 
 The various drives through the park are 
 greatly resorted to, and to study the various 
 grades of society I know of no way or place that 
 presents so anrple an opportunity as do these. 
 Yellow painted carriages, denoting the inmates to 
 be of the first families of the Aristocracy, with 
 ancient drivers, and ancient-looking juvenile 
 footmen, buried in gilt buttons and lace, drive 
 along, regardless of breaking either the carriage, 
 the necks of the horses or the arms of the driver. 
 The inmates of these bow very profoundly when 
 passing rather a gayer yellow team than their 
 own. Then comes the less aristocratic dark-blue. 
 The same kind of drivers and footmen. The 
 inmates of the yellow nod very graciously to 
 those of the blue: blue speaks as ridiculously 
 profound to yellow as yellow did to brighter 
 yellow. Then comes the rich commoner. Modest 
 looking carriage. Fat but still ancient driver; 
 pusillanimous footman. Gilt lace and buttons still 
 
HAUTEUR. 163 
 
 abundant. Yellow carriage could not think of 
 recognizing commoner, although yellow was glad 
 the day before to succeed in borrowing a thousand 
 pounds from commoner. Blue team nods very 
 condescendingly to commoner, and commoner 
 look after yellow through quizzing glasses ; and 
 speaks to blue, making about the same kind of 
 bow that the village boys do when they meet 
 their parson. Should it be on a Saturday after- 
 noon or Sunday, the numbers are tremendously 
 increased by the half-holliday or once-a-week- 
 men. These are counting house clerks, store 
 boys, and all others of this denomination, who 
 are very generously allowed as holliday from 
 twelve o'clock Saturday (noon) until Monday 
 morning for their own recreation. A portion of 
 the salary pays for a clarence, or any kind of a 
 team. These constitute the independent riders 
 of the park. They bow very profoundly to yellow, 
 blue, commoner, and everyone else, except only a 
 brother gang in a clarence, these do not deign to 
 recognize each other. Of course yellow, blue and 
 commoner treat clarence with the utmost con- 
 tempt, and complain loudly through all public 
 mediums of the arrogance and impudence of the 
 
164 HIDING. 
 
 once-a-week-men. Altogether the teams with 
 the thousands of pedestrians and spectators form 
 a wild scene of motion and apparently of pleasure. 
 
 " Round, round, and round about they whiz, they fly, 
 With eager worrying, whirling here and there, 
 They know nor whence, nor whither, where nor why, 
 In utter hurry-scurry, going coming 
 Maddening the summer air with ceaseless humming.' 
 
 In Hyde Park, stood the first Crystal Palace. 
 This was built for the great national exhibition 
 of 1851. Almost opposite is Apsley House. At 
 the South-east corner of Hyde Park, is a trium- 
 phal arch, through which I passed down Consti- 
 tution Hill towards Buckingham Palace, (the 
 town residence of her Majesty,) and St. James' 
 Park. The arch is very magnificent, for a modern 
 work of the kind. The top is occupied by another 
 statue of Wellington. This is a colossal eques- 
 trian statue. Its height about twenty-five feet 
 and its weight forty tons. 
 
 St. James' Park was laid out by Henry 
 VIII. This park is visited more for its pleasant 
 walks through beautiful gardens, where grow 
 specimen trees from nearly every country, rather 
 than furnishing pleasant rides. A beautiful little 
 
 
HYDE PAKK. 165 
 
 river has just been completed. This is of the 
 general depth of five feet. The sides and bottom 
 are covered with cement. The water can be let 
 out at pleasure. The river is very wide, snd 
 contains abundance of gold and silver fish. There 
 are islands in the stream, and on these, foreign 
 and domestic birds in great numbers and variety 
 have their homes. Aquatic birds, including some 
 very fine swans are well cared for; and have 
 become so tame that they w r ill come up the banks 
 to eat from the hands of children, who by hun- 
 dreds and sometimes thousands are playing in 
 the park. 
 
 If Londoners have no yards, they are ade- 
 quately compensated for the loss by the large 
 parks provided for the public use and pleasure. 
 
 The Horse Guards, and the different instru- 
 mental bands of the Queen, are also attractive 
 features of St. James'. A general rush is made 
 to hear the sacred music of the bands on Sunday 
 morning, as they perform about church time. It 
 would take an exceedingly delicate ear to detect 
 the sacred, part of the sacred music. I once tried 
 for fifteen minutes to make some application of 
 the sacred part, but eventually discovered that 
 
166 BUCKINGHAM PALACE. 
 
 the tune was a compound of " Norma," " Keemo, 
 Kimo," and " Stop dat knockin'." 
 
 At the West end of the Park, is Bucking- 
 ham Palace. The old palace was originally the 
 residence of the Duke of Buckingham. It was 
 purchased by George III., in 1762. This was 
 taken down and rebuilt by George IV. It is 
 very showy externally. I did not have an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing it internally, as no one is 
 admitted on any account, and to enforce this law 
 soldiers are stationed at every gate. Several 
 attempts have been made, though not lately, to 
 take the life of the Queen, hence this precaution. 
 
 St. James' Palace is by no means an attract- 
 ive building externally. It is here that the Queen 
 holds her " drawing rooms." The palace is mag- 
 nificently furnished, and during the Queen's en- 
 tertainments, when hundreds of persons, includ- 
 ing the beauty of the Court are present, it pre- 
 sents an almost matchless scene of grandeur. 
 
 Adjoining St. James' Park are other build- 
 ings, not palaces or princely residences, but places 
 where abode poets and statesmen. Among these 
 the most attractive and entertaining, is the house 
 of Samuel Rogers, the author of " The Pleasures 
 
ROGERS 1 HOUSE. 167 
 
 of Memory." The house is not grand, but there 
 is that indefinable something pervading the whole 
 that speaks a grand possessor. " If you enter 
 his house, his drawing-room, his library, you of 
 yourself say, this is not the dwelling of a common 
 mind. There is not a gem, a coin, a book thrown 
 to one side on his chimnny-piece, his sofa, his 
 table that does not bespeak an almost fastidious 
 elegance in the owner." 
 
 The house looks like the abode of a great 
 poet, and the interior everywhere seems to breathe 
 poetry. Here in lively conversation and deep 
 debate have met Byron, Campbell, Moore, Scott, 
 and other poets, men of art, and musicians, even 
 the poor Haydn. From the many statues and 
 paintings that are to be seen in every part of the 
 house, especially in the entrance-hall and dining- 
 room, it is not unlikely that Rogers gained many 
 ideas brought forth in the beautiful sentences that 
 occur in " The Pleasures of Memory." For in- 
 stance, " A Landscape View of his House at 
 Richmond Hill," might have suggested, 
 
 " Mark yon old mansion frowning through the trees, 
 Whose hollow turret wooes the whistling breeze. 
 That casement arch'd with ivy's brownest shade, 
 First to these eyes the light of Heaven conveyed, 
 
168 regent's park. 
 
 The mouldering gateway strews the grass-grown court, 
 Once the calm scene of many a simple sport; 
 Whon nature pleased, for life itself was new, 
 And the heart promised what the fancy drew." 
 
 * & ♦ 
 
 " Now stained with dews, with cobwebs darkly hung, 
 Oft has its roof with peals of rapture rung : 
 When round yon ample board, in due degree, 
 We sweetened every meal with social glee. 
 The heart's light laugh pursued the circling jest, 
 And all was sunshine in each little breast. 
 'Twas here we chased the slipper by the sound, 
 And turned the blindfold hero round and round." 
 
 ♦ ♦ # 
 
 The portraits of loved friends might have 
 inspired him : — 
 
 "And hence that calm delight the portrait gives : 
 We gaze on every feature till it lives ! 
 Still the fond lover sees the absent maid: 
 And the lost friend still lingers in his shade ! 
 Say why the pensive widow loves to weep, 
 When on her knee she rocks her babe to sleep : 
 Tremblingly still, she lifts his veil to trace, 
 The father's features in his infant face. 
 The hoary grandsire smiles the hour away, 
 Won by the raptures of a game at play; 
 He bends to meet each artless burst of joy, 
 Forgets his age, and acts again the boy." 
 
 To describe the many paintings, relics, stat- 
 ues, and costly presents in Rogers' house, would 
 be almost an endless task. 
 
 On the side of the city, opposite St. James' 
 and Hyde Park, is Regent's Park. This contains 
 
THE GARDENS. 169 
 
 about four hundred acres. The attractions here, 
 are all of an instructive character, and consist of 
 the Gardens of the Zoological Societies, the Gar- 
 dens of the Royal Botanic Society, and the 
 Colosseum. 
 
 The Zoological Gardens were established in 
 1825. The arrangement of the animals in classes, 
 each class being kept in artificial states as natu- 
 ral as art could invent, renders the study of 
 animated nature very easy. The hyppopotamus, 
 boa constrictors, and African lions, seem as much 
 at home as it is possible to conceive they would 
 in their native wilds. 
 
 The Botanic Gardens are beautifully laid 
 out. Here flourishes every tree, flower, shrub 
 and weed, that nature and art combined can 
 make grow in British soil. 
 
 The Colosseum is one of the most interesting 
 places of amusement in the metropolis. The 
 most entertaining object, I found to be the pano- 
 rama of " London by moonlight." The panoram- 
 ma is stationary, and in order to see it, it is 
 necessary to ascend the dome of the Collosseum. 
 This is about one hundred and thirty feet high. 
 
 From the gallery around I looked down and 
 
 15 
 
170 PROMENADE CONCERTS. 
 
 imagined myself conveyed by some supernatural 
 power to the top of St. Paul's. This was owing 
 to the skill of the artist, who has laid out the 
 plan of the panorama from St. Paul's so perfectly, 
 that at first sight, I was astonished at my rapid 
 voyage from the Colosseum to the Cathedral. 
 Every street, steeple, and public building that 
 can be seen from the topmost point of St. Paul's 
 is easily distinguished in the panorama. The 
 next really interesting object was the " Stalactite 
 Caverns." The original caverns are at Adelsberg, 
 These have been explored about seven miles. The 
 imitation in the ground around the Colosseum, is 
 said by travellers to be excellent. The countless 
 arches, the glistening ceiling of spar, the faint 
 noise of dripping water, and the low echoes of the 
 flowing river, in imitation of the Poick, which 
 flows through the Adelsberg caverns, all render 
 the illusion complete. The rays shed upon the 
 walls and ceiling from the torches add to the dim 
 feelings of mystery of the invader. 
 
 The promenade concerts held in the large 
 hall of the Colosseum, are not only extensively 
 got up, but what does not always follow are 
 extensively patronized. 
 
VICTOBIA PARK. 171 
 
 Victoria Park, is but a recent addition to the 
 pleasure of the plebs. This is in the east end, 
 and being but newly laid out, is not very attract- 
 ive, save only on Sunday morning, while the 
 band is discoursing sacred music. 
 
 The Gardens of London are of three kinds. 
 Public, amusement, (where one is admitted by 
 ticket), and the gardens attached to almost every 
 public house, in which the people congregate 
 during the Spring, Summer and Fall, to drink 
 and smoke. Of the first kind, Kew Gardens are 
 undoubtedly the greatest. I found no gardens in 
 or around London pleasanter than Kew. In the 
 gardens the same variety of flowers exists as in 
 Regent's Park. The favorite palace of George 
 III., was here, and is kept still in a thorough 
 state of repair, although royalty no longer here has 
 its abode. The palace is small, but very pic- 
 turesque, and reminded me forcibly of the 
 descriptions of England's " hospitable homes,'' 
 so often given by travellers, but in reality, so 
 seldom met with. Here were educated the two 
 sons of George III. ; by name George IV., and 
 the Duke of York. The Queen's garden just 
 behind the palace, is still shown as the ground 
 
172 KEW GAKDEN3. 
 
 tilled by the Royal buds. Here, it is said, they 
 sowed the grain, reaped and threshed it, ground 
 it, sifted the flour, kneaded the dough, baked the 
 bread, and when their parents came to take tea, 
 presented them with the first-fruits of their first 
 labor. In the collection of trees and plants, 
 America is nowhere forgotten. The tall trees 
 from California attract the greatest amount of 
 attention. One of these was planted when very 
 young in Kew, and has flourished in Britain's 
 changeable climate, to a wonderful extent. There 
 are a great many ornamental buildings through 
 the gardens, the most important of which are the 
 orangery, the palm-house, the museum, and the 
 great pagoda. The pagoda is built in imitation 
 of the Chinese Taa. It is about one hundred and 
 eighty feet high. The lower story is forty-nine 
 feet in diameter, each story above, diminishing in 
 diameter and height one foot. The pagoda pos- 
 sesses but little beauty, owing to the meagre 
 manner in which it was built. A pagoda, to 
 claim any admiration, should possess some of the 
 " oriental gilt gingerbread," of the Chinese pa- 
 godas. There are a number of small temples 
 erected to different mythological deities, of which 
 
SUKKEY. 173 
 
 the Pantheon is the most beautiful. In the 
 interior of this, there are eighteen tablets in com- 
 memoration of victories achieved by the British 
 armies between 1760, and 1815. There are busts 
 also of George III., George IV., William IV., 
 and the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 Next to the public gardens of Kew come the 
 gardens of amusement of which Surrey under 
 the guardianship of Mons. Jullien stands ahead. 
 Surrey is in every sense of the word a garden of 
 amusement. The entertainment begins on Mon- 
 day morning and is kept up until Sunday night. 
 Entrance is obtained by ticket at one shilling 
 each person. Although the admission is so little 
 the entertainment is great, and often ten thousand 
 persons participate in the revelry. Some hours 
 through the day the gardens are open only to 
 nurses and children. The principal performances 
 begin about dark. The first duty consists in 
 refreshing the inner man at some of the refresh- 
 ment tables which are scattered every where 
 through the gardens. This can easily be done by 
 making a telegraphic signal to one of the black 
 coat, black pant, black vest and white cravat 
 
 gentry, who ever on the lookout for his doceur is 
 
 15* 
 
174 jullien's concerts 
 
 simultaneously on the lookout to serve the " gen- 
 tleman hand lady." Whatever is called for if it 
 be in the eating or drinking line can be obtained. 
 Having performed this operation entirely to the 
 satisfaction of all concerned, the band (Jullien's 
 celebrated) prepares to allow all that desire to 
 engage ina dance to do so. This is kept up in lively 
 manner for some time, when the band retires to 
 the Concert Hall, leaving only a few violinists to 
 play for those who would rather dance than 
 listen to the Concert. This Concert Hall is a 
 tremendous establishment. It holds many thou- 
 sands and is nightly filled with the gay of the city. 
 The galleries, four in number, are arranged in 
 rather an irregular order one above the other 
 supported by stone columns. The attractive 
 feature of Jullien's concerts for some time have 
 been Mdlls. Grisi and Alboni and Miss Poole. 
 This Hall is a fair example of the " life and 
 death, the bane and antidote," that the poet talks 
 of. The crowd assembles to drink wine, and beer, 
 to dance, play cards and carry on all kinds of 
 games until twelve o'clock Saturday night. 
 Again it assembles on Sunday to hear the 
 celebrated Rev. Spurgeon preach everlasting de- 
 
SPUHGEON. 175 
 
 struction to all sinners. On Sunday the crowd is 
 greatly increased by the curious Dukes, Duchesses, 
 Lords and others whom Spurgeon's wrathful 
 denunciations occasionally reach. From twenty 
 to twenty-five thousand persons assemble at 
 Surrey Hall every Sunday morning to hear him. 
 He is one of London's two hundred and fifty 
 independent preachers. Of these two hundred 
 and fifty about thirty belong to that class 
 denominated " popular preachers.' 7 I have heard 
 about fifteen and did not like any. They all 
 possess some eccentricity bordering on the dis- 
 agreeable. I do not see how the one in question 
 ever attained his present degree of popularity. 
 He possesses considerable animation but is any- 
 thing rather than eloquent. I have frequently 
 heard itinerent illiterate African brethren at a 
 genuine African camp meeting, who could with a 
 much surer title lay claim to eloquence. He 
 indulges very much in practical demonstrations. 
 His favorite ones are, first, he knocks a tumbler 
 on the floor, in order to crack it. Then he shows 
 the tumbler to be imperfect because it has a 
 crack in it, and says, it could not be any 
 more imperfect if broke in a thousand pieces, 
 
176 SPORTS. 
 
 and adds that a person who breaks one of the 
 laws is guilty of the whole as much so as the 
 entire tumbler is imperfect. Second, he makes a 
 terrible leap from the pulpit to the floor of the 
 Hall and says the sinner falls from grace that 
 rapidly and easily, he then climbs up again in- 
 stead of going up the pulpit stairs, and declares 
 that it is just so hard for a sinner having fallen 
 from grace to climb up into favor again. His 
 other demonstrations are about as homely as that 
 of the African preacher when he was exhorting 
 his followers to attend more regularly at the 
 sanctuary. " Bredern ef you donH you'll all be 
 lost, jus so sure 's I kill dat fly." At the same 
 time bringing his hand down ferociously on a poor 
 specimen of that genus on the desk before him. 
 Raising his hand he exclaimed, " Dere, by golly, 
 I'semiss'd him and konsequontly your all saved." 
 Besides the " sports," enumerated at the 
 Surrey, balloons are ascending every moment, 
 there are boat rides out on the fancy ponds, there 
 are hermit's cells to visit, Venetian serenades, 
 and everywhere, on every side, nothing is heard 
 but music, laughing, and merry talking, with the 
 rushing and hissing of fireworks. Nothing is 
 
FLOWERS. 177 
 
 seen but joy and animation, though these are 
 often but the indices of sorrow and wretchedness 
 at heart The performances conclude each night 
 between twelve and one, with a grand display of 
 fireworks. 
 
 There are many other gardens of like nature, 
 including the celebrated Cremorne, and that, to 
 American captains and seamen, well-known spot 
 called the " Eagle." Theatres, and "American 
 Bowling Alleys," are attached to these. This is 
 the only point in which they differ from Surrey K 
 unless I except the good music and " first-class," 
 refreshments. Flowers and creeping vines are 
 cultivated, fountains dash their sparkling waters 
 high in the air, and in the flame of many thou- 
 sand gas-lights which illumine every garden, 
 these flowers and fountains appear singularly 
 beautiful. 
 
 " The vino 
 Mantles the little casement; yet the brier 
 Drops fragrant dew among the July flowers* 
 And pannies rayed, and freaked and mottled pinks, 
 Grow among balm, and rosemary and rue • 
 There honeysuckles flaunt, and roses blow 
 Almost uncultured ; some with dark green leaves, 
 Contrast their flowers of pure unsullied white ; 
 Others like velvet robes of regal state, 
 Of richest crimson ; while in thorny moss, 
 Enshrined and cradled, the most lovely wear, 
 The hues of youthful beauty's glowing cheek." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE CRYSTAL PALACE— JOHN BULL'S IN- 
 CONSISTENCY. — PLEASURE GROUNDS OF THE 
 PALACE.— WATER TEMPLES. —THE PRE-AD AM- 
 ITE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH.— ARRANGE- 
 MENTS FOR THE COMFORT OF VISITORS.— GAL- 
 LERY STORES AND STATUARY. 
 
 John Bull is a singularly inconsistent kind 
 of an animal. If a servant cheats him of a 
 penny, or a poor omnibus conductor or cab driver 
 overcharges him "threpence," John without 
 hesitation, consigns the offender to — perdition — 
 or jail, and the poor fellow's family to the work- 
 house, and then pays annually a large tax for the 
 support of jails and workhouses. But if some 
 great excitement is set on foot, the grander the 
 scheme the better, John, also without hesitation, 
 engages in it to the tune of thousands or hun- 
 dreds of thousands. In fact, excitement, provided 
 
 it is of the expensive kind, is becoming an abso- 
 
 (1TO) 
 
SECOND CRYSTAL PALACE. 179 
 
 lute necessity of John's existence. Modern, very 
 modern days have witnessed some of his greatest 
 efforts in this line. The first Crystal Palace, for 
 the exhibition of the industry of all nations, made 
 London for one season the great centre of fashion, 
 of beauty, and of joy, of the whole civilized world. 
 Next came the Russian War. Here the officers 
 of John's army, w r ho, in general are appointed on 
 account of their titles and not merits, found out 
 the great difference existing between " playing 
 soldier," in caps and feathers through the streets 
 of London, and meeting with men as soldiers in 
 " battle array." Then came the extant Crystal 
 Palace, with its long list of amusements and 
 strange excitement. And still later a " big ship," 
 Indian mutinies, and a Royal w r edding, have 
 engrossed the attention. Certainly, to use a very 
 domestic illustration, England can be likened 
 to the 
 
 " Old woman that lived in a shoe, 
 She had so many children/' &c. 
 
 The first Crystal Palace, although " a thing 
 of beauty," w r as not " a joy forever." It has 
 passed away, and not a trace is left to mark the 
 
180 BIG SHIP. 
 
 spot where once it stood. The Russian War, 
 John undertook, like the house-builder, in the 
 Bible, "without sitting down first and counting 
 the cost." He ultimately submitted to taxation, 
 and all that he could not raise thus he borrowed, 
 so that finally he was enabled to square up. 
 
 That " big ship," if it ever should get into 
 its " native element," may probably turn out 
 successful — yet, it is very possible that it will not. 
 The Indian mutinies, it is said, are about over. 
 If so, the governors of India can again assemble 
 in Leadenhall street, many thousand miles from 
 India, fold their arms, and wait patiently for 
 another outbreak. The great wedding w T as un- 
 doubtedly a pretty affair. But it is only the first 
 edition. Many others are likely to follow on the 
 same subject by the same authors. The extant 
 Crystal Palace at Sydenham, will afford excite- 
 ment and pleasure as long as the iron pillars and 
 girders will support its Crystal walls. Of the 
 Palace, I will not give its various dimensions for 
 these would probably prove incomprehensible 
 from the fact that the building is rather irregular. 
 Suffice it to say, that the extreme length is nearly 
 two thousand feet, the height of the middle tran- 
 
Naval Gallery. - Painted II 
 
PENGE PARK. 183 
 
 sept two hundred and twenty feet, and the span 
 of the middle transept arch, one hundred and 
 twenty-five feet. Penge Park, in which the 
 Palace is built, is several miles from London, and 
 connected with the city by a railroad. About two 
 hundred and twenty acres of the Park are laid 
 out and enclosed, thus forming the pleasure 
 grounds of the Palace. The ground from the 
 foot of the Palace towards the front, descends in 
 precipitous slopes about two hundred feet. To 
 remedy the roughness, several Italian Terraces 
 have been erected. The terraces are fronted with 
 stone, finely sculptured and arched. Each ter- 
 race has several flights of stone steps connecting 
 with other terraces, or with the Palace. On all 
 sides are magnificent sloping banks and beds of 
 turf and flowers of rare shapes and beauty. The 
 arrangement of the flowers is novel and unimagi- 
 nably beautiful. Flowers of one kind and color 
 are planted together, in beds from eight to ten 
 feet square, so thickly, that not a particle of soil 
 is seen. Consequently, looking down on the 
 ground from the upper terrace, the whole surface 
 appears like one rich carpet of immense figures 
 and costly material. Statues and marble vases 
 
184 WATEE TEMPLES. 
 
 filled with flowers are scattered profusely through 
 the park. Cascades, fountains, and water tem- 
 ples send forth their glittering streams, filling the 
 air with melodious murmurings. These mingled 
 with the perfumes of flowers from all climes ; the 
 warbling of every species of singing birds, that 
 have their homes in the beautiful houses prepared 
 for them on all sides ; the hum of thousands of 
 human voices, and the tread of thousands of feet, 
 all form a scene rather like the fabulous land- 
 scapes of fairy tales, than anything that possibly 
 could be conceived of as reality. 
 
 There are two water temples that I admired 
 more than I did any other portion of the water 
 works, although the great fountains in the Palace 
 seem to attract most of the general attention. 
 The two temples are on opposite sides of the 
 main flight of stone steps leading to the terraces. 
 Each stands in the centre of an octagonal pond 
 and like the pond is octagonal with a dome roof. 
 In height, each temple is about twenty-five feet, 
 in diameter about fifteen. At each of the eight 
 corners of the the bases, is an iron column that 
 supports the roof, and is similar to the frame- 
 work of the Palace. The temples instead of hav- 
 
THE ROSERY. 185 
 
 ing glass walls have walls of water, formed by 
 thin, descending sheets of water from the roof. 
 Festoons of running vines cover the columns, and 
 when the sun shines on their spray-sprinkled 
 leaves and flowers, the whole appears like some 
 vast article of diamond set jewelry. Of the 
 remaining ornamental buildings through the 
 grounds, the Rosery is the most important. This 
 is nothing but an immense dome-shaped arbor, 
 covered entirely with roses, standing on a high 
 cone, with stone steps leading to the shady re- 
 treats within. 
 
 There is one thing about the lower end of 
 the ground that I thought rather preposterous, 
 nay, superlatively ridiculous. This may be all 
 right,- and I may not possess enough common 
 sense to appreciate it, or it may be all wrong. I 
 allude to various artificial specimens of defunct 
 animated nature, intended to ornament, but which 
 in reality, deform the ponds in that portion of the 
 grounds. Why did not the learned geologists 
 who placed them there, post up for the public 
 good, descriptions of their existence with all the 
 wherefores, hows and whys ? It is well enough 
 to talk concerning Primary, Transition, Secondary, 
 
 16* 
 
186 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 Tertiary, and Alluvial strata, and fossil remains, 
 and great bones of extinct animals in the British 
 Museum, and many other things of like nature. 
 These are all evident enough. Common sense 
 can grasp and retain all these. But when I am 
 told that these fossil remains taken from these 
 different strata, and these great bones, belonged 
 to animals resembling in size, shape, and appear- 
 ance those works of ornament in Penge Park, I 
 think I will throw myself upon my right of be- 
 lieving as much as I desire and no more. If these 
 animals did live, move and have being, it must 
 have been just after that very indefinite time 
 mentioned in the first verse of the first chapter 
 of Genesis, " In the beginning." But their re- 
 presentations are visible in the grounds of the 
 Crystal Palace, and I will attempt as adequately 
 as possible to describe one or two. Those de- 
 scribed, will be only from among the medium 
 specimens — as I should not like to say much con- 
 cerning the greatest, for fear of exposing the 
 humbugism existing among some of the Crystal 
 Palace company. 
 
 After almost breaking my neck to get on the 
 antediluvian-looking island on which these crea- 
 
THE IGUANODON. 187 
 
 tures abide, I suddenly found myself entirely 
 surrounded by the monsters. Some were stand- 
 ing, some squatting, some lying down, and one 
 monstrous monster was standing on his hind feet, 
 his fore legs around the upper part of the trunk 
 of an immense tree, and his head quietly repos- 
 ing on the topmost branches. 
 
 0#e of these animals is called the Iguanodon. 
 It is said that the fossil remains from which the 
 geologists imagined and manufactured this, were 
 dug from the upper layer of the secondary strata. 
 The length of the Iguanodon was said to be one 
 hundred feet, or about ten times as large as an 
 elephant. The geologists of the Crystal Palace, 
 whatever they might have believed very pru- 
 dently for their own reputation munufactured this 
 specimen only thirty- five feet long, and propor- 
 tionally broad. The Iguanodon is a vegetarian 
 lizard, and this one is represented feeding on 
 vegetables, the leaves of which are one foot thick, 
 and proportionally long and broad, resembling a 
 cabbage leaf. Probably the plant was an ante- 
 diluvian cabbage. Some idea of the size of this 
 monster may be formed from the amount of ma- 
 terial used in his construction. " Four iron 
 
188 STRUCTURE OF THE PALACE. 
 
 columns — 9 feet long by 7 inches in diameter, 
 600 bricks, 650 5-inch half round drain-tiles, 
 900 plain tiles, 38 casks of cement, 90 casks of 
 broken stone (making a total of 640 bushels of 
 artificial stone.) These with 100 feet of iron- 
 hooping, and 20 feet of cube-inch bar, constitute 
 the bones, sinews and muscles of this large model, 
 the largest of which there is any record of a cast- 
 ing being made." 
 
 The Ichthyosaurus is rather an indescribable 
 animal. It has a head like a lizard, with its 
 mouth oj3en, shewing several rows of horrid teeth, 
 and its body seems a combination of whale, por- 
 poise and mud-turtle. In its habits, I should say 
 it was decidedly swinish. It is wallowing in the 
 mire, covered with slime and trickling water, and 
 appears about as horrible as the ingenuity of man 
 could make it. Its length is about thirty- 
 two feet. 
 
 Having thus seen every part of the grounds, 
 I commenced my observations of the Palace. 
 The frame-work of this consists entirely of iron 
 columns, ranged row above row, and secured by 
 arched girders, and lattice work of crossed iron 
 bars. These columns extend throughout the 
 
HEATING APPARATUS. 180 
 
 length and breadth of the building, thus forming 
 aisles and courts within. The walls and roof are 
 of glass supported by the iron columns and light 
 wooden sash. The first floor of the Palace is 
 occupied with machinery of different kinds, in- 
 cluding the heating apparatus which is so adjusted 
 that one portion of the Palace is exceedingly hot 
 while another may be kept very cool. This is, 
 of course, to keep the plants of different climates 
 as near as possible in their native conditions. 
 The real internal beauties of the Palace begin to 
 appear as the floor above is reached. Then bursts 
 suddenly on the sight, long rows of columns cov- 
 ered with vines and flowers ; w r ire baskets hanging 
 from the numberless galleries from which stream 
 forth hanging plants producing all kinds, sizes 
 and colors of flowers ; the girders covered with 
 strange plants ; trees, including the stately date- 
 palm, warding off the sun's bright rays; the 
 glistening of white statuary ; the gay plumage of 
 foreign birds, and crowds of light-hearted, mirth- 
 loving people from all quarters of the globe. The 
 foreign courts are the most interesting and at- 
 tractive features of the exhibition ; and desiring 
 to devote some time and attention to these, I found 
 
190 WASH ROOM. 
 
 sufficient other material to consume the remainder 
 of the first day. To go over the Park and Palace 
 in one day would be impossible. Scarcely an idea 
 of the vast exhibition could be gained in that 
 time. 
 
 The arrangements made for the comfort of 
 visitors are complete. Immediately on entering 
 the park, an entrance is found leading to the 
 " Wash Rooms." Here are servants, paid by the 
 establishment, whose duties consist in brushing 
 the visitor's clothes, boots and hat, in supplying 
 towels, and in making themselves generally use- 
 ful. Ladies are equally well cared for in a sepa- 
 rate suite of rooms. This is, I believe a London 
 idea. Certainly, I never heard of it before. The 
 plan would, if successfully carried out in sundry 
 American exhibitions, prove a great improvement 
 and luxury. Cattle and agricultural shows need 
 it— and at camp-meeting, its advantages would 
 be incalculable. Sermons would not have so 
 much dust to cut through before reaching the 
 heart. Then the " Refreshment Rooms," are 
 w r ell supplied ; and thus, the outer and inner man 
 in a perfect state of comfort, one can ramble at 
 will up, down, or across, with great pleasure. 
 
GALLERIES. 191 
 
 The galleries of the Palace are occupied only 
 as stores. These are all branch establishments 
 of the city stores. The articles here on sale, 
 must be of the best material and workmanship. 
 JNTo difference how common the article, if it is 
 only a toothpick, it cannot be sold in the Crystal 
 Palace unless well made. These gallery stores 
 or stalls pay to the Crystal Palace Company, an 
 annual rent of about two hundred thousand dol- 
 lars. The carriages, jewelry, philosophical in- 
 struments and paintings, exposed for sale, are 
 particularly beautiful. The list of prices is con- 
 siderably more reasonable than would be imagined* 
 The statuary of the Palace is mostly in imitation 
 of the original. They are only of plaster of 
 Paris — made by the best artists. The celebrated 
 Courts are also works of imitation. The manner 
 in which this was accomplished, was simply by 
 sending persons of sufficient judgment to foreign 
 countries to hunt up objects of especial interest. 
 How faithfully those persons performed their 
 duties, the magnificent Courts of Rome, Egypt, 
 the Alhambra and others will bear testimony. 
 The statuary embraces every class and description 
 of that art. The great men of the world in form 
 
192 STATUARY. 
 
 and feature are presented to the observation. 
 Here is man in every state, from the grinning, 
 hideous savage, to that One, human, yet divine. 
 The deities of Mythology are here, in all the 
 characters of war, of storm, of peace, and of love 
 ascribed to them. On one hand stands the un- 
 taught barbarian, on the other, the polished 
 scholar of Athens. Beside the slow, apparently 
 frozen Laplander, dances in merry defiance of 
 time and weather, a native of the French Me- 
 tropolis. 
 
 The relation which sculpture bears to paint- 
 ing, can be easily studied and well learned in the 
 Crystal Palace. Here, sculpture shows forth 
 organic form in its perfection, nothing is unde- 
 fined — nothing is wanting — while painting gives 
 the mere appearance. Stationery objects, and 
 those possessed of volition, sculpture brings out 
 in full power, leaving painting to supply the sea, 
 the skies and other transient objects. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 COURTS OF THE CRYSTAL PALACE.— THE 
 COURT OF THE ALHAMBRA. — THE EGYPTIAN 
 COURT. — THE TOMB OF ABOUSAIMBUL. — THE 
 GREEK AND ROMAN COURTS.— HINDOO LAWS OF 
 ARCHITECTURE. — THE APOLLO BELYIDERE.— 
 THE POMPEIAN COURT. — HERCULANEUM AND 
 POMPEII. — THE NINEVAH COURT.— BYZANTINE 
 COURT. — THE MEDIEVAL COURT. — NUBIAN 
 COURT. — THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE, AND 
 INDUSTRIAL COURT. 
 
 " A Gothic Cathedral has been called a petri- 
 fied religion — the Alhambra may be called a 
 petrified Eastern poem." 
 
 Certainly, to describe in detail and accurately 
 this gorgeous ruin, would be beyond the power 
 of man. Thirty years ago, it was Washington 
 Irving's fortunate lot to spend several months 
 within its walls. He has given us many legends 
 concerning it, but no description, however slight, 
 
 17 (193) 
 
1.94 THE ALHAMBRA. 
 
 upon which in imagination, we can build up this 
 monument of luxury and peaceful enjoyment of 
 the ancient Governors of Granada. Proud, yet 
 deserted, it stands on its rocky bed, on the moun- 
 tains of Sierra Nevada, in its desertion and decay 
 surpassing the most magnificent palaces of earth , 
 defying in its beauty all rivalship, save only from 
 the sunny skies of Spain. 
 
 The fortress was commenced in the thirteenth 
 century by Muhamed Abu Alahmar. He spent 
 great time, care, and wealth on it, but it was not 
 completed for more than a century later; con- 
 suming in its course of erection the entire estates 
 of Muhamed's XL, and III., and was at length 
 completed by Yusef Abul Hagig. In its earliest 
 days, it was a fortress, capable of holding within 
 its walls forty thousand soldiers. It then ap- 
 peared undoubtedly, in the brightness and order 
 ascribed to it by various writers, and as it is 
 represented by the small portions in the Crystal 
 Palace. Then its tessellated floors formed no 
 garden of weeds ; then the fine carvings and 
 gilding on its walls were fresh ; then the many 
 fountains that played in its courts, added their 
 murmurings to the sound of the music of the 
 
COURT OF LIONS. 195 
 
 love-breathing voices of the bright-eyed damsels 
 of the Harem, accompanied by the guitar and 
 castanets. But the brightness of the once glori- 
 ous dream has departed, only the faintly glim- 
 mering shadow of what it was remains. Its beau- 
 tiful gardens, cultivated by the fairy hands of the 
 Alhambra's inmates are destroyed ; the fountains 
 have ceased to play ; time, the all-changing, has 
 laid his hand violently upon the sculptured mar- 
 ble walls; its builders and inmates have all 
 passed away ; and the building so rich, so large, 
 so grand, is but the sheltering place of beggars 
 and robbers. " Alas, for the Alhambra." 
 
 The two portions of the Alhambra, chosen 
 for examples of the architecture by the Palace 
 Company, was the Court of Lions, and the Hall 
 of Justice. " On the Court of Lions," Irving 
 says, " The hand of time has fallen the lightest, 
 and the traces of Moorish elegance and splendor 
 exist in almost their original brilliancy." Hence, 
 I suppose the object in view, in choosing that for 
 a specimen. The Court consists of a wall, which 
 to the height of five feet, is built of polished tiles, 
 and faced externally with stone. The tiles are 
 of black, white, blue, scarlet, green and other 
 
196 HALL OF THE ABENCERRAGES. 
 
 shades. These are crossed by a fine lattice work, 
 of which each intersection of the bars is concealed 
 under a lozenge-shaped ornament of red. Around 
 the wall, some feet above the tiles, is a beautiful 
 cornice, under which is emblazoned the shields of 
 the ancient Moorish Kings, knights and chief 
 men. These are surrounded by the names of the 
 kings, religious sentences, and short legendary 
 tales. The arches are large, fretted and horse- 
 shoe shaped. One of these arches in the original 
 forms the entrance to the Hall of the Abencer- 
 rages. The Hall should certainly have been 
 added to the exhibition. The interest manifested 
 in the blood-stained fountain, near which the 
 Abencerrages were murdered is very great. How 
 exciting it is here to walk through the dim 
 dreamy spot, and fancy one hears the clanking 
 chains, the low groans, and wails of agony made 
 by the spirits of the murdered ! 
 
 A beautiful colonnade runs around the Court, 
 formed of very slender, perfectly white columns. 
 Smaller columns also support small arches along 
 the wall between the cornice and the tiles. The 
 ceiling is flat, and consists of a gilded ground, 
 ornamented with red and blue stars, and bordered 
 
COURT OF LICKS. 197 
 
 with white. This is the ceiling of the colonnade. 
 The Court is open. The capitals of all the col- 
 umns are ornamented richly with gilded leaves, 
 flowers, and scrolls bearing short Arabic sen- 
 tences, ascribing glory to God and the Sultan. 
 
 On two sides of the Hall of Two Sisters, 
 connected with the Court, are low arches not 
 more than two and a half feet high. In the 
 original, these are latticed, but in the imitation 
 they are entirely open. Cushions are in front of 
 each arch, and on these once reclined the beauties 
 of the Harem, who were allowed to see without 
 being seen, all that took place without. The Hall 
 is faintly lighted by a small dome of stained 
 glass. An especial object of interest in the Court 
 of Lions, is the great central fountain. This is 
 of the finest white marble, and has twelve sides 
 supported by the same number of lions, or at 
 least, by some things that are called lions. I 
 know they are intended for lions, but if such 
 lions ever did exist, it must have been cotempo- 
 raneous with the animals in the lower part of the 
 grounds. They are sans joints, sans paws, by no 
 means sans manes, and appear like very pleasant 
 
 lions. 
 
 It* 
 
198 HALL OF JUSTICE. 
 
 The fountain has two basins, one supported 
 above the other by several small columns. The 
 lower basin is much the largest, and around it is 
 the inscription : — 
 
 " Blessed is he, who gave the Sultan Mo- 
 hamed a mansion, which in beauty exceeds all 
 other mansions. Look at this solid mass of pearl 
 glistening all around, and spreading through the 
 air, its showers of prismatic bubbles, which fall 
 within a circle of silvery froth, and then flow 
 amidst other jewels surpassing everything in 
 beauty — nay, exceeding the marble itself in white- 
 ness and transparency. Seest thou not how the 
 water (from above) flows on the surface, notwith- 
 standing the current underneath strives to oppose 
 its progress; like a lover, whose eye-lids are 
 pregnant with tears, and who suppresses them for 
 fear of an informer. (9, thou who beholdest these 
 lions couching, fear not. Life is wanting to enable 
 them to show their fury." That last clause is 
 very apparent. 
 
 The Hall of Justice, is also entered through 
 one of the predominant horse shoe arches. The 
 Hall is not as beautifully built as is the Court. 
 The same feelings of gloom hang over the visitor, 
 
HALL OF THE ABENCERRAGES. L99 
 
 and the same appearance of luxuriance living is 
 noted. Boabdil, surnamed " el Logoybi," the 
 unlucky, was the last Moslem Governor of the 
 Alhambra. He surrendered it to Ferdinand and 
 Isabella. The Moors still think, had he not 
 done so, the Alhambra would yet continue the 
 property of the Moslems. They accuse him of 
 committing many crimes, including cruelty to his 
 Queen ; the murder of the Abencerrages, before 
 alluded to, thirty- six of whom were beheaded in 
 the Court of Lions ; and traitorously surrender- 
 ing the fortress. Irving says, " as far as these,'' 
 (the accusations) " can be traced, they appear to 
 have been the acts of his father, Aben Hassan, 
 who is represented by both Christian and Arabian 
 chroniclers, as being of a cruel and ferocious na- 
 ture. It was he who put to death the cavaliers 
 of the illustrious line of the Abencerrages, upon 
 suspicion of their being engaged in a conspiracy 
 to dispossess him of his throne." If this is true, 
 how very appropriate was the surname of Boab- 
 dil ! Who is more worth v the name of " the 
 unlucky," than he who is accused of crimes he 
 never imagined ! Accounts of which are handed 
 down to posterity, with all the alterations and 
 
200 THE ALHAMBRA. 
 
 additions which a gossiping people can and do 
 make. Or of whose crimes, as in the case of 
 Boabdil, the accounts " have passed into ballads, 
 dramas and romances, until they have taken too 
 thorough possession of the public mind to be 
 eradicated." 
 
 Between the Court of Lions and the Hall of 
 Justice are several bas-reliefs from the Capella- 
 de-los-Reyos. The most singular of these is a 
 representation of poor Boabdil, presenting the 
 keys of his loved Alhambra to Ferdinand and 
 Isabella who have advanced to him at the head 
 of armed troops. How easy it is to imagine the 
 scene ! With drooping head, and tread slow and 
 measured, his little garrison following with heads 
 uncovered, humbly he surrenders that spot so 
 long his mansion " surpassing in beauty all other 
 mansions." With sorrow he looks back on its 
 towers and gilded walls, gloriously shining in the 
 rays of the sun of Spain ; and feels like the man 
 leaving for the last time and forever the paternal 
 roof, where he had spent the " happy, happy hours 
 of childhood." Then to his grief add the bitter 
 reproach of his mother. " You do well, to weep 
 as a woman over what you could not defend as a 
 
MOORISH ARCHITECTURE. 201 
 
 man." Alas poor Zoabdil el Bogoybi. "Alas 
 for the Alhambra ! ■? 
 
 Following the Moors through their many 
 ages ; finding them by nature a rough hardy set 
 of men accustomed wherever they might be to 
 render that spot their home ; there pitching their 
 tents in defiance of every change of weather, 
 or of ferocious tribes, we cannot much wonder at 
 the magnificence of their buildings, when having 
 conquered many cities they studied the different 
 orders of architecture thrown in their way. 
 Egypt's pyramidal style was too dull and heavy. 
 Greece's pillars were too thick and disproportion- 
 ate. Of all styles there w r as none to suit the 
 Moor, so from all he carved out one to suit 
 himself. And behold it — the Alhambra, Beside 
 it the imagined palaces of fairy land sink into the 
 insignificance of hovels. The brightest ray that 
 fell from Aladdin's lamp shone not half so bright. 
 Concerning it— no wonder many legends remain 
 among the legend-loving Granadians, and no 
 wonder that with it they associate the ideas of 
 magii concealed in the folds of wonder-working 
 cloaks, divining where lay concealed untold sums 
 of gold wherewith to erect it. 
 
202 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 If all this effulgence is shed by the small 
 portion of the Alhambra in the Crystal Palace what 
 must be the original ? What delight to behold 
 it, to walk through its Tower of Comares, its 
 Balcony, its Hall of the Sisters and of the Aben- 
 cerrages, its Tower of las-Infantas with all of its 
 courts and gardens ! To see it by moonlight ! 
 To listen to distant sounds of the guitar and 
 castanets ! To hear from the lips of the Moors, 
 co-descendants the legend of the " Rose of the 
 Alhambra," of the "Discreet Statues," the "Moors' 
 Legacy " and of the " Arabian Astrologer " in 
 addition to the many others! To wander at 
 nightfall into its inmost recesses, to hear the 
 screeching owl as it 
 
 " Does to the moon complain 
 Of such as, wandering to her secret bower, 
 Molest her ancient solitary reign." 
 
 To study the Arabic inscriptions on its pol- 
 ished walls ; or to ramble on the highest peaks 
 of the Sierra Nevada and watch the glorious 
 vie^y presented by a sunset in Spain, 
 
crystal palace. 203 
 
 The Egyptian Court. 
 
 " On entering one cannot fail to experience 
 the peculiar emotion produced by Egyptian 
 architecture ; a feeling of gloomy sublimity, which 
 awes rather than elevates, and which to the 
 ordinary spectator is greatly heightened by the 
 sculptures and hieroglyphics which everywhere 
 cover the walls, in mute, mysterious meaning, 
 leading back our thoughts to the recondite religious 
 ideas which they symbolize, and inspiring a deep 
 and almost trembling curiosity as to the rites 
 which were celebrated in the recesses of these 
 soul-subduing temples. The flat roof in its dusky 
 obscurity, and the grand portal of simple and 
 heavy proportions, with the inner chambers 
 receding into utter darkness, add to the effect of 
 this first impression." Bartlett. 
 
 If the Moors were the gayest and most 
 complicate of builders, the Egyptians were the 
 plainest, although of this, the gaudy coloring and 
 decoration everywhere visible on Egyptian build- 
 ings would apparently be a contradiction. The 
 Moor took the most magnificent specimens of 
 
204 HALL OF KAEiNTAC. 
 
 architecture chance threw in his way and there- 
 from formed his design. The Egyptians on the 
 contrary, formed his buildings from the mouutains, 
 or gigantic rocks. From the palm tree he shaped 
 his columns, and for the capitals he took the buds 
 and flowers of the lotus. From the entrances of 
 dens and caverns in the earth he formed his 
 doorways. He built his walls thick and pyramidal, 
 his ceilings and roofs flat and heavy, his cornices 
 immense. If he ornamented with sculpture and 
 desired to place the statue of some great man of 
 his country in a conspicuous place, it was only 
 necessary to carve out anything in an upright 
 position with two arms, two legs, and a head. 
 This demonstrated a man, and hieroglyphics told 
 who and what manner of man he was. 
 
 The pyramid might properly be called the 
 emblem of Egyptian architecture, Repose, so- 
 lidity, durability and tremendous strength its 
 characteristics. 
 
 The Hall of Karnac as being the best 
 specimen of the architecture of Egypt in general, 
 and the Tomb of Abousaimbul of tombs, are the 
 two examples exhibited in the Crystal Palace. 
 The Hall of Karnac is, by travellers, said to be 
 

 
 
 j 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 f .^wtiiM 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 '-y^ 
 
 
 JL— ,ii' r '■pJa 
 
 
 [P ~™ ~ TJJiSif 
 
 
 teem ii R 
 
 
 1 t31 H 
 
 
 H 
 
EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE. 207 
 
 the most striking feature of Thebes now remaining. 
 The Hall in the original measures three hundred 
 and twenty-nine feet by one hundred and seventy. 
 It is supported by twelve columns, about seventy 
 feet high, and twelve in diameter, in addition to 
 one hundred and twenty- two smaller columns. 
 Its representation at Sydenham is of course greatly 
 inferior in size. The Hall is over three thousand 
 years old, and, unlike many temples that are 
 known to have been built cotemporaneously, is in 
 ruins. The bases of the columns are buried 
 among the fallen fragments of the roof and a 
 superincumbent mass of earth. Jackals have 
 their abode in the ruins, and bats flit everywhere 
 through the labyrinthine colonnade. The statues 
 of monarchs and deities here are thought to be 
 the best in Egypt. The entrance to the Egyptian 
 Courts is (I believe from paintings of the Tem- 
 ple of Edfon I have seen) decorated with the 
 front of that Temple. This consists of six pillars 
 supporting a heavy cornice and roof; pyramidal 
 doorway open at the top ; the spaces between the 
 columns closed with slabs containing historic sen- 
 tences in hieroglyphic writing. 
 
 The Court is entered through a colonnade of 
 
208 TOMB OF ABOUSAMEUL. 
 
 immense pillars, on rounded bases which bulge 
 out, thus appearing as if the immense weight had 
 flattened them. The capitals of these pillars are 
 buds and flowers of the lotus tree, placed in alter- 
 nate order. The pillars generally are of white, 
 covered with hieroglyphics of red, green, black, 
 and other colors. The roof — which presents a 
 very heavy appearance, is pannelled and covered 
 with the all-abounding gaudy hieroglyphics, red 
 vultures, and the holy beetles of Egypt. Before 
 the entrance, is an avenue bordered with couchant 
 lions of singular shape and docile demeanor. The 
 interior of the court presents but little beyond 
 columns and antique statuary. 
 
 Tho tomb of Abousambul is west from the 
 court. There is nothing peculiarly remarkable 
 about this, more than there is about Egyptian 
 tombs generally. They all bear witness to 
 Egypt's former grandeur. An ancient writer 
 remarked, that the Egyptians spent more time 
 and wealth on their tombs than on their houses. 
 And it is not a little remarkable that on these 
 tombs nothing is said of death, and in no manner 
 is death represented. On the contrary — those 
 buried are represented as they were in life. Eat- 
 
REFLECTIONS. 209 
 
 ing, drinking, at assemblies, and pursuing their 
 various avocations. With the laboring man were 
 entombed all the instruments with which he 
 worked during life. He was buried without a 
 coffin, but was carefully embalmed. Whole 
 cemeteries of the embalmed poor are said yet to 
 be in existence. 
 
 With the monarch was buried his jewels and 
 sceptre, his marble vases and costly furniture. 
 He was embalmed, and laid in a sarcophagus 
 carefully sealed, with all of his virtues inscribed 
 in gaudy hieroglyphics. 
 
 Antiquarians have pursued their researches 
 so zealously, that the poor have been left in peace, 
 while the sarcophagus of the rich has been torn 
 open, his remains and costly ornaments carried 
 off, and instead of finding their resting place in 
 the costly tombs of Egypt are stowed away under 
 some table of fancy work in old European and 
 young American museums, exposed to the rude 
 handling and ridiculous remarks of the public. 
 
 18 
 
210 crystal palace. 
 
 The Greek and Roman Courts. 
 
 At the magnificence of the ancient architect- 
 ure of Greece, Rome, and the countries of the 
 East, we can hardly wonder when we consider 
 the fact that even the dispositions of the archi- 
 tects and their various assistants were thought to 
 demand much attention before terms were agreed 
 upon. This will be better understood from the 
 following rules quoted from an ancient work on 
 architecture. 
 
 "An architect (sthapati) should be con- 
 versant in all sciences; ever attentive to his 
 avocations ; of an unblemished character ; gene- 
 rous, sincere, and devoid of enmity and jealousy." 
 
 "Of nearly equal qualifications with him, 
 should be the (sutragrahi) ; he may be either the 
 son or the disciple of the (sthapati) ; he should 
 be particularly skilled in mathematics, and be 
 strictly obedient to the will of the {sthapati.) 
 
 " A (tacshaca) who is thus called, from part 
 of his avocation being to pare rough wood, should 
 be of a cheerful temper, and well versed in all 
 mechanical arts. 
 
 " A (vardhaci) is he who is dexterous in join- 
 
GBBEK COURT. 211 
 
 ing wood, and uniting other materials one with 
 another ; he should be of a calm disposition, and 
 acquainted with drawing and perspective. 
 
 " As it is impossible to build houses and the 
 like, without the aid of the four descriptions of 
 artisans, let the enlightened twice born, (Bramins 
 and others, belonging to the first, second and 
 third class of Hindoos,) gratify them in every 
 respect, so that buildings may be erected. 
 
 " Woe to them who dwell in a house not 
 built according to the proportions of symmetry. 
 In building an edifice, therefore, let all -its parts 
 from the basement to the roof, be duly con- 
 sidered." 
 
 I do not know that the Greek and Roman 
 Courts in the Crystal Palace, are portions of any 
 particular temple or palace in Greece or Italy. I 
 think they are merely specimens of the magnifi- 
 cent and symmetrical general style of architecture 
 of the two countries. 
 
 On the walls of the Greek Court glitter in 
 golden letters the names of kings, statesmen, sol- 
 diers and poets. The sculptured decorations of 
 the walls, chiseled as they were by the masters 
 of the Grecian art, present a beautiful view of 
 
212 KOMAN COURTS. 
 
 grace and lively execution so characteristic of the 
 early artists. 
 
 Adjoining the Greek Court, is the Roman 
 Court. Their proximity and similarity presents 
 a fine opportunity for the architectural student to 
 study the really existing differences between the 
 two, and to discover what meaning is intended to 
 be conveyed by the sentence so often quoted by 
 writers on Greek and Roman architecture. " The 
 Greek art has modified Roman Taste." Rome, 
 the mistress of the world, with all her boasted 
 pomp, wealth, and learning, was dependent on 
 Greece for her designs. For centuries, after 
 Greece had succumbed to her powerful rival, her 
 Roman conqueror, continued to borrow from her 
 monuments of art. The only apparent differ- 
 ences of style are the greater simplicity or plain- 
 ness of the Roman walls, and arches being sub- 
 stituted for the flat entrances and ceilings of the 
 Greek. The architects of Greece seem not to 
 have possessed any knowledge of the arch, while 
 those of Italy seemed to have known and used it 
 in every kind of structure. 
 
 " Necessitv is the mother of invention." So 
 said somebody of old. but patent-offices of modern 
 
VENUS. 213 
 
 clays bear witness to the fact that this is not always 
 true. It, however, is undoubtedly true in very 
 many cases, " The first bridge was probably a 
 tree which had fallen from one bank to the other 
 of some mountain torrent." This might, in the 
 course of a great many years, when large streams 
 were to be crossed, have suggested the idea of 
 the arch. How permanent a feature of architect- 
 ure, the arch has become is evidenced by the 
 most unpretending village church. It is no 
 church at all without an arched doorway, window, 
 or ceiling. 
 
 If there is nothing particularly striking in 
 the walls of the Greek andRoman Courts, there are 
 ample amends made by the statues and other 
 objects of interest exhibited in those courts, The 
 centre piece of the Greek Court is a magnificent 
 statue of Venus. The great beauty of the work 
 consists in its unusual attitude, and the fineness 
 of the carving. 
 
 " On her beryl throne by Tritons borne, 
 Bright rose the goddess like the star of morn, 
 "With rosy fingers, as uncurled they hung, 
 Round her fair brow, her golden locks she wrung ; 
 O'er the smooth surge in silver sandals stood, 
 And looked enchantment on the dazzled flood." 
 
214 AroLLO BELVIDEBE. 
 
 The finest piece of art in the Greek Court, in 
 fact said to be the finest work of the kind in the 
 world, is the celebrated Niobe Group. This is 
 from a temple in Rome, discovered in 1583. The 
 next object of unusual interest, was the groop of 
 the Laocoon. The original was discovered in 
 1506, near the Baths of Titus at Rome. There 
 are statues of Sophocles, Demosthenes, Socrates, 
 and other statesmen, philosophers, poets and 
 historians. In the Roman Court, the best statue 
 was the Apollo Belvidere. The attitude, and the 
 combined expression of intellect and physical 
 symmetry, render this especially attractive. Apol- 
 lo had many names, originating from the places 
 in which he was worshipped, or in which his stat- 
 ues were erected. Hence, Belvidere from the 
 part of the Vatican of that name, where the 
 original statue was discovered. The artist from 
 whose hand the Apollo Belvidere proceeded is 
 not known. The origin of it was once given 
 by a celebrated writer in France. This has been 
 translated. 
 
 " Polydore, (an assumed name,) a young 
 sculptor of Athens came to participate in- the 
 games of Olympia. He had seen around the race 
 
GBEEK COURT. 215 
 
 course, exposed to the eyes of all Greece, the stat- 
 ues of the heroes and the gods. He had seen a 
 young man intoxicate his heart with the Venus 
 of Praxiteles, and the forehead of a young beauty 
 blush with modesty near the Mercury of Termis- 
 andre ; he had seen in the looks of a disciple of 
 Socrates an unchanging religious contemplation 
 before the Jupiter of Phidias. 
 
 "The love of glory and jealousy (but that 
 noble jealousy the companion of talent and of the 
 love of glory) took possession of the heart of 
 Polydore. He departed from the circle of the 
 games; gained the borders of the sea; and 
 there alone, in silence, thoughtful, he heard not 
 the waves which were breaking with a crash 
 against the shore ; he heard only the voice of 
 renown, which published to the universe the 
 names of his rivals and eternized them. * Yes,' 
 exclaimed he, 4 it shall thus publish mine ; it 
 must publish it ; it must come to pass, that when 
 men shall see me appear, they will say, there he 
 is. I will constrain in my turn my rivals to hear 
 my name with inquietude. I will oblige that 
 proud and oppressive look of powerful men to 
 fall less haughtily upon my brow, and that of the 
 
216 POLYDORE. 
 
 most disdainful beauties no longer to neglect 
 Polydore. Upon me will rest with more complacency 
 the look of my dear Ephria. If I may be but 
 able to conceive a master-piece, which shall sur- 
 pass all those which the Grecian chisel has hith- 
 erto devised ! Let me essay to unite in a single 
 work the true, the beautiful, and the sublime all 
 at once. To form this happy alliance, I will 
 choose the model from the gods ; the forms in the 
 imaginary beautiful ; the graces, between youth 
 and manhood ; the action, among those only that 
 command that moderate expression in which the 
 true retains the beautiful, and from which the 
 beautiful does not exclude the true." 
 
 " Then the imagination of Polydore entered 
 Olympus and passed all the gods in review before 
 him. It stopped not at Mars, it stopped not at 
 Mercury ; it disdained Adonis whom Venus alone 
 had made a god. ' I see ' said he ' only Apollo 
 who can fulfil my project, I see only the god of 
 day, the master of the lyre, the son of Jupiter, 
 and the conqueror of the serpent Python,' Poly- 
 dore selected Apollo. The day began to decline ; 
 Polydore returned home; he retired to rest, he 
 dreams, he thinks, he imagines. ' Behold him ' 
 
GREEK COURTS. 217 
 
 he exclaims, 4 he walks ; he sees the monster, he 
 draws his bow, the monster is dead and the god 
 departs with indignation. The arm that drew 
 the bow is yet suspended ; the other is at rest.' 
 At the first ray of day Polydore flies to his 
 workshop. He fixes his eye upon a block of 
 marble. % He is there ' says he ' I see him • 
 (his genius made him there) he must now come 
 out from it. Already the chisels of his pupils have 
 taken possession of the block. But as soon as Poly- 
 dore thinks he sees the place where the god is, he 
 stops the chisels of his pupils and takes his own. 
 Each stroke he gives detaches and causes to fall at 
 his feet a part of the veil which hides Apollo from 
 him. Already one beholds sparkling a body the 
 most noble, the most harmonious, a body the 
 least masculine, and the least youthful all at once ; 
 limbs free from all the imperfections of humanity 
 and rising one from the other. But the head yet 
 remains concealed ; and if the body be a god the 
 head must be Apollo. It is the head above all 
 that must show the god of the lyre, of day, and 
 the conqueror of Python. The chisel of Polydore 
 trembles in approaching the divine head, and 
 hesitates to unveil it ; but at length emboldened, 
 
 19 
 
218 CRYSTAL PALACE. 
 
 without doubt by Apollo himself, he lightly ruaa 
 over the forehead, which suddenly thinks ; he 
 raises his eyebrows, and there escapes from his 
 eyes a look that outspeeds the arrow ; finally he 
 passes over the lips, and indignation breathes 
 from them." 
 
 " This is the Apollo Belvidere ! this is that 
 marble made a god by one of these creating 
 chisels, which in selecting, combining, or imitating 
 nature have surpassed nature ! How beautiful is 
 it ! how noble ! how imposing and touching all at 
 once. How perfectly that body is developed I 
 The eye is forced in running over it to follow the 
 admirable line which designed it ! it can stop in 
 no part. What an artist was Polydore ! One is 
 obliged to recollect that this Apollo is marble to 
 think that it is the work of man." 
 
 The Apollo Belvidere is in existence and 
 " Polydore" might have reaped for the time 
 being somewhat of the glory he desired but he is 
 now unknown. 
 
 In the Roman Court the vases are of 
 wonderful size and workmanship. The sarcophagii 
 are of better material than those of the Egyptian 
 Court. The ornamental work is finer and but 
 
SARCOPHAGUS. 219 
 
 few hieroglyphics mark them. The Romans 
 considered the stone of a sarcophagus to be only 
 sarcophagus (flesh — consuming) when it came 
 from Assos in Asia Minor. It was singularly 
 true that this stone would entirely consume a 
 body in about six weeks. 
 
 In the Court there is what is thought to be 
 an exact model of the Roman Forum. The 
 very spot where Cicero delivered his orations is 
 carefully pointed out. There are many other 
 statues and models in the Greek and Roman 
 courts but accurate descriptions would prove 
 tedious and uninteresting. 
 
 A visitor accustomed to system might very 
 naturally ask, why in describing the courts I 
 have not followed the order in which they stand 
 in the Palace ; commencing with the Egyptian, 
 then through the Greek, Roman, Alhambra, 
 Byzantine, German Mediaeval, Mediaeval, French 
 Mediaeval, Italian, Pompeian, and the Industrial 
 Courts. This is the course generally recommended. 
 My own opinions however may be no index to 
 those of another, but I visited in order, those in 
 which I felt the greatest degree of interest, and 
 
220 CRYSTAL PALACE. 
 
 having afterwards tried the regular prescribed 
 order I can safely say the irregular is much the 
 best. 
 
 The Pompeian Court. 
 
 Could it be that a person could obtain some 
 elevated spot overlooking an entire city, and then 
 have all the houses opened to his view in such a 
 manner that he could look down through them 
 what a tremendous assortment of domestic affairs 
 would his eyes behold. "Family jars," domestic 
 bliss, amours, drinking, feasting among the rich ; 
 fasting, repining, and utter wretchedness among 
 the poor ; fine revelations made of scandalizing 
 neighbors, of female gossiping societies, of ma- 
 noevering mothers, and in fact he would find 
 almost everybody at almost everything except 
 their prayers. 
 
 To us of the nineteenth century two cities 
 are exposed to view not quite in this manner. 
 Instead of being opened all at once they were 
 concealed suddenly and are now being dug into a 
 re-existing state. Herculaneum and Pompeii 
 destroyed by the very mountain to which they 
 
POMPEIAN COURT. 221 
 
 were clinging for protection. The descriptions of 
 
 former times former people and their customs 
 
 given by historians are, as it were, nothing to the 
 
 history laid before us by the excavations already 
 
 made in these two cities. In imagination we can 
 
 form some slight outline of the scene as it was. 
 
 Two Roman cities enjoying with Rome their 
 
 palmiest days. Triumphal feasts are being held 
 
 in their palaces. Masquerades are taking place 
 
 in public saloons and the gaily attired masquers 
 
 are seen wending their ways through the brilliantly 
 
 lighted streets. The sick, suffering and dying are 
 
 there lying upon couches and beside them the 
 
 patiently watching wife, sister, or mother. But 
 
 the feasts and revelry were high, and wild, and 
 
 and those not enjoying them were forgotten ; 
 
 " And bright 
 The lamp shone o'er fair women and brave men ; 
 A thousand hearts beat happily, and when 
 Music arose with its voluptuous swell 
 Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again— 
 And all went merry as a marriage bell ; 
 But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strike like a rising bell.'* 
 
 The cry spreads, an awful irruption of Vesu- 
 vius is taking place, and from its crater pours 
 forth the consuming rivers of molten lava. Scenes 
 
 19* 
 
222 ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. 
 
 of revelry become in a second heart-rending 
 scenes of woe. In the tuinltuous rush mingled 
 parents seeking their children, children their 
 parents, friends their friends, and lovers their 
 beloved. And there was seen. 
 
 " Gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, 
 And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago, 
 Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness : 
 And there was sudden partings, such as press 
 The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs, 
 Which ne'er might be repeated." 
 
 The city nearest the mountain was Hercu- 
 laneum. It consequently w r as destroyed by the 
 lava pouring into it and ultimately covering it. 
 Pompeii was buried by the stones, ashes and 
 scoria3 thrown from the crater. It is on this ac- 
 count that the excavations of Pompeii have been 
 more successfully carried on than have those of 
 Herculaneum. 
 
 The streets as far as they have been opened, 
 reveal to the explorers many of the doings and 
 secrets of private Roman life, and which other- 
 wise would never have become known. The 
 Pompeian court is a Roman court, and the only 
 difference existing between the two, as they are 
 
FOMPEIAN HOUSES. 223 
 
 in the Palace is, the Roman court consists of 
 specimens of the finest Roman architecture, while 
 the Pompeian consists of the private residences 
 of the Romans, as discovered at Pompeii and 
 Herculaneum. From the comparative degree of 
 magnificence of these specimens, it is evident that 
 the two cities are not so very ancient. The early 
 houses of the Romans were but little more than 
 huts. Hence, Augustus of Rome, boasted he 
 found in that city, the houses to be of unburnt 
 brick, but he would have them of marble. This 
 is applicable, as is evident to Pompeii and Her- 
 culaneum. 
 
 The Pompeian courts are composed first, of 
 an open hall, surrounded with columns, an arched 
 semi-roof and tessellated pavement. In the cen- 
 tre of the court is generally a fountain. From 
 the court, are small passages leading to the differ- 
 ent rooms, all of which are very small. The 
 decorations are exceedingly rich. The frescoes 
 consist of a ground-work of bright colors, on 
 which are painted landscapes and Roman deities. 
 The cornices and ceilings are finely carved and 
 gilded. 
 
 To the Pompeian courts, there is a some- 
 
224 NINEVEH COURT. 
 
 thing wanting to destroy the bare appearance of 
 the place. It looks very much like a tenantless 
 house. A much better idea of the convenience 
 of Roman dwellings could be obtained, if the 
 Palace company would expend a small sum and 
 take the necessary care to procure Roman furni- 
 ture from Pomeii wherewith to furnish the courts. 
 A wax family group at Coma, might show the 
 Roman taste displayed in arranging a table, and 
 also exhibit the perfection of their cooks. This 
 would also exhibit the Roman couches on which 
 they reclined at their meals ; and their various 
 styles of eating and drinking vessels. While 
 around the table might linger the darkly clothed, 
 slippered and tunicked slave. The models for all 
 of which could easily be procured at Pompeii. 
 
 The Nineveh Court. 
 
 To the exertions of A. H. Layard Esq., the 
 fruits of whose labors are now in the British 
 Museum, the Crystal Palace Company owes the 
 Nineveh Court. This court is taken entirely from 
 the monuments and other specimens of architect- 
 
MK. LAYAKD. 225 
 
 lire sent by Mr. Layard from Nineveh, to the 
 British Museum, during the years he spent 
 among ruins and strange people. The specimens 
 were all excavated from mounds of sand and dirt, 
 in which for centuries they had been entombed. 
 The difficulties attendant upon- their excavation 
 and removal must have been very great, not only 
 from their weight and depth of burial, but also 
 from the many interruptions occasioned by the 
 people. During one of a great many of these 
 interruptions, Mr. Layard wrote, u I had scarcely 
 resumed my labors, when I received information 
 that the Cadi of Mosul was endeavoring to stir 
 up the people against me, chiefly on the plea that 
 I was carrying away treasure; and what was 
 worse, finding inscriptions which proved that the 
 Franks once held the country, and upon the evi- 
 dence of which they intended immediately to 
 resume possession of it, exterminating all true 
 believers." Here he was again obliged to stop, 
 and did not resume his labors for several months. 
 Interruptions of this kind seem to have attended 
 him during his entire work. Other difficulties 
 originated in the thievish propensities of the sur- 
 rounding tribes, and in the choice of native 
 
226 WINGED BULLS. 
 
 workmen. Of the latter, he had about two hun- 
 dred with seven overseers. These he divided 
 between Nimroud and Kouyunjik. His company 
 of overseers consisted of two Arab Sheiks, three 
 Mosuleans, one Candiote, and one JSTestorian 
 Christian. 
 
 The first view of the exterior of the Nineveh 
 Court, is particularly impressive. This presents 
 to the eye a grand colonnade, about one hundred 
 feet long, raised upon walls twenty feet high. The 
 entrances to the court consist of three great gates. 
 One large central gate, and two smaller ones 
 placed at regular distances on each side of the 
 grand gate. The jambs of the grand gate are 
 composed of two immense human-headed winged 
 bulls, similar to those discovered by Mr. Layard 
 at Kouyunjik. The bulls are intended to convey 
 about the same meaning as the human-headed 
 winged lions, mentioned not only by Mr. Layard, 
 but also by % M. Botta. "They," says M. Botta, 
 concerning the builders of the temples, "could 
 find no better type of intellect and knowledge 
 than the head of the man ; of strength, than the 
 body of the lion ; of rapidity of motion than the 
 wings of the bird." The bulls are covered with 
 
NIMROD. 227 
 
 bright paint. On each side of the small entrances 
 is a colossal human figure, representing " Nim- 
 rod, the Mighty Hunter." He was the founder 
 of the Assyrian Empire, and is here represented 
 in the act of strangling a young lion by pressing 
 it to his body. There is in his left hand a hooked 
 instrument which was used in war as well as in 
 hunting. This weapon is still used by the wild 
 tribes. From its semi-circular shape, it describes 
 when thrown an elipse, returning towards the 
 thrower. The cornice immediately over these 
 figures and below the colonnade is formed of cir- 
 cular and diamond-shaped ornaments, painted 
 blue and orange. The columns at all the corners 
 are square, ornamented with figures and colors 
 similar to the cornice ; these are surmounted with 
 capitals of scroll work. The intervening columns 
 are round, fluted and beautifully painted. Their 
 capitals consist of the joined heads, breasts and 
 forelegs of two bulls. Over these, is a highly 
 ornamented cornice with turrets supporting the 
 roof. Red, blue and orange, are the predominant 
 colors. The grand entrance leads into a large 
 hall, in which are four large pillars supporting 
 the roof. The roof is constructed of large cross- 
 
228 WINGED LIONS. 
 
 beams, pannelled in squares, richly colored and 
 ornamented with flowers, faces and cones of the 
 fir. Nearly opposite the grand gate in the hall, 
 is a small portal supported and guarded by a pair 
 of the human-headed, winged lions, from Nim- 
 roud. The originals of which are in the British 
 Museum. " These lions," Mr. Layard says, 
 " were not idle creations, the offspring of mere 
 fancy; their meaning was written upon them. 
 They had awed and instructed races which flour- 
 ished 3,000 years ago. Through the portals 
 which they guarded kings, priests, and warriors, 
 had borne sacrifices to their altars, long before 
 the wisdom of the East had penetrated to Greece, 
 and had furnished its mythology with symbols 
 long recognized by the Assyrian votaries. They 
 may have been buried, and their existence may 
 have been unknown, before the foundation of the 
 Eternal City. For twenty-five centuries they had 
 been hidden from the eye of man, and they now 
 stood forth once more in their ancient majesty. 
 But how changed was the scene around them ! 
 The luxury and civilization of a mighty nation 
 had given place to the wretchedness and ignor- 
 ance of a few half barbarous tribes. The wealth 
 
NINEVAH. 231 
 
 of temples, and the riches of great cities had been 
 succeeded by ruins and shapeless heaps of earth. 
 Above the spacious hall in which they stood, the 
 plough had passed and the corn now waved.' ' 
 
 " Nmevah, a desolation and dry like a wil- 
 derness, and flocks lie down in the midst of her ; 
 all the beasts of the nation, both the cormorant 
 and bittern lodge in the upper lintels of it, their 
 voice sings in the windows ; and desolation is in 
 the threshholds." 
 
 From the large hall, there are many passages 
 leading to small inner chambers. In these, are 
 quantities of statues, bass reliefs and fine orna- 
 mental sculpture. The only really attractive 
 feature of the Ninevah Court, are the exterior and 
 the winged lions in the great hall. 
 
 Byzantine Court. 
 
 The principal portions of the Byzantine 
 Court, are from the Church of St. John, at Sama- 
 ria. From the appearance of the court, the 
 church must be remarkably beautiful, but it is 
 not a little unfortunate that many of the most 
 
232 BYZANTINE COURT. 
 
 celebrated travellers have been prevented from 
 visiting the various parts of the church by the 
 bands of robbers at all times there congregated. 
 In consequence of this, the descriptions of St. 
 John's are very indefinite and hastily written. 
 The ruins and situation are said to be among the 
 most prominent and striking to be met with in 
 the Holy Land. One traveller after complaining 
 of being unable to visit th<3 ruins for fear of being 
 abused, says of a party of his friends whom he 
 saw enter the church, they "were set upon by 
 these lawless fellows, their bags and portmanteaus 
 rudely hauled over and rifled, themselves 
 called all manner of names, and most outrag- 
 eously pushed about and jeered at, and at last 
 suffered to escape only by submitting with admi- 
 rable patience and presence of mind to the impor- 
 tunities of these scoundrels for bakhshish, and to 
 their unscrupulous thefts before our friends' eyes." 
 From the Byzantine style of architecture, 
 one thing seems very prominent, that is, the 
 architects thought for their worshipping places 
 nothing could be too costly or too grand. This, 
 however, was certainly carried too far. Certain 
 ladies indulge in dressing in all varieties of gay 
 
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE. 233 
 
 colors, without paying any attention to taste or 
 harmony. These are said to be "dressed to 
 death." The Byzantine style may be said to be 
 dressed in like manner. Wherever gilding, blue, 
 orange, red, or green can be placed, with or with- 
 out effect, there it is in abundance. The Byzan- 
 tine architect, covered his arched ceilings with 
 deep blue paint, and then covered the paint with 
 stars of gold, placed as regularly as the squares 
 on a chess-board, and as thickly set as are the 
 stars of the milky way, comparatively speaking. 
 The decorations of the arches, pillars, and capi- 
 tals, consist of trees without branches, branches 
 without twigs, and twigs without leaves. Leaves 
 seem to have been altogether unknown. 
 
 The exterior of the court consists of a cloister 
 of which the west front is composed of an im- 
 mense arched doorway, and four small arches on 
 each side. The pillars supporting the arches are 
 made of dark-red and green marble in alternate 
 layers. The ornaments on the capitals of these 
 pillars consist of dragons showing their teeth. 
 The teeth are certainly their most prominent 
 features. The dragons, like the lions in the court 
 
 of the Alhambra, notwithstanding their teeth ap- 
 
 20* 
 
234 CRYSTAL PALACE. 
 
 pear very harmless. They are white, emblematical 
 of their innocence. The walls in some parts are 
 covered with gold leaf, in other parts they are 
 pannelled in squares of variegated marbles. The 
 borders of the squares are tessellated mosaic 
 marbles, black, red, and gilded. On this western 
 front, and immediately over the capitals of the 
 pillars are fresco portraits, life size, painted 
 on a gold ground. The first is the ma- 
 jestic Mcephorus, robed in an azure mantle, 
 bordered with golden hearts. The second, Justi- 
 nian. He is crowned and dressed in black, purple 
 and gold. The third, Theodora, carrying a large 
 gold urn. She is dressed in claret-colored velvet 
 trimmed with gold, and a cap inlaid with dia- 
 monds, rubies and pearls. The fourth, and last 
 on the western front, is a sitting figure of Charles 
 le Chauve, clothed in a vest embroidered w T ith 
 gold, over which is thrown a scarlet mantle. On 
 the northern front, are four similar frescoes. The 
 first, on one end is Day, represented as a young 
 and exceedingly beautiful virgin. Her skirt is 
 of light green, vermillion bocldice, with lilac and 
 gold mantle thrown carelessly around her. She 
 holds an upright flaming torch. On the opposite 
 
SANCTA MARIA. 235 
 
 end is Night, dressed in a dim purple skirt, dim 
 claret boddicc, dark blue, star-spangled veil, cov- 
 ering the head, and holding a reversed torch 
 merely smoking. Between Day and Night, are 
 Sancta Maria, and the young Saviour. Sancta 
 Maria, instead of appearing the poor carpenter's 
 wife, the lowly mother of Jesus, who took Him 
 to rest in a manger, appears here the queen of 
 the whole earth. She is clothed in a dove- colored 
 skirt, over which is a blue robe, brilliantly 
 worked with gold and diamonds. One of her 
 arms is around the waist of the child, and in her 
 hand, she holds a dove. The child is clothed in 
 a robe of white, ornamented with large lilies of 
 gold; any one of which would have purchased 
 the " inn," and all it contained, where, because 
 He had not an abundance of the filthy lucre, 
 there " was no room for Him." 
 
 There are several small cloisters but of no 
 interest except for some of the frescoes they 
 contain. These are of Jesus, the Virgin, St. John 
 the Baptist and others. The direct entrance to the 
 Court is through an avenue of twisted mosaic 
 pillars. Over these is an archway decorated with 
 fruits, flowers, animals and hunting scenes. After 
 
236 BYZANTINE ANGELS. 
 
 entering the court a tremendous doorway in the 
 northeast corner presents not only the chief 
 feature of the interior but also a very extraordinary 
 sight. On each side of the door is a massive 
 blue pillar, up which ran a thick vine, and, in 
 turn, up the vine clambers a great pink dragon. 
 Between the door and the two outside pillars are 
 two small pillars, painted green. On these small 
 pillars instead of dragons there are sea-sick 
 looking sailors, savage withal, and clothed with 
 great broad blue pantaloons and striped jackets. 
 It would be very difficult to determine what these 
 were intended to represent did one not see just 
 two such figures on the other side with wings. 
 Hence they are evidently angels of Byzantine 
 imagination. The entire doorway is decorated 
 with flowers and vegetables, the kind that flour- 
 ished about the time of the great animals in the 
 grounds previously mentioned. Certainly never 
 since then. The arch over the door is probably 
 the most curious part of it. The sides of the 
 arch are covered with supernatural human faces, 
 and lizards tied up in sailor knots, and for want 
 of something better to do, they are snapping at 
 their own tails. The keystone of the arch is 
 
GROTESQUE DESIGNS. 237 
 
 indescribable. It is certainly intended for an angel 
 with broken back or that kind of colic produced 
 by eating green grapes. It seems to be jerking 
 at the earth, and is evidently in a quandary, for 
 if it holds on, the earth will pull it down and if 
 it lets go its hold the earth will be injured. 
 Altogether a more hideous affair than this door- 
 way is not to be seen throughout the length and 
 breadth of Sydenham. There are many other 
 doorways, sculptures and frescoes in different 
 parts of the Court all of which are more or less 
 covered with blue, black, red, green and orange, 
 and deformed animals. The Byzantine Court is an 
 excellent specimen of the Byzantine architecture ; 
 but at the same time it is the most unharmonious, 
 tasteless affair imaginable. Moreover there is 
 one thing belonging to several parts of it that may 
 do very well for the heathen and savages but 
 which to any one making pretensions to civiliza- 
 tion or Christianity is particularly revolting. I 
 allude to several attempts made to embody in a 
 material form certain conceptions of the Supreme 
 Being. 
 
 Although undoubtedly the Byzantine architect 
 carried his designs too far, yet certainly there is 
 
238 GOTHIC AKOHITECTURE. 
 
 something praiseworthy in his zeal for everything 
 pertaining to his religion, his houses of worship, 
 and his yearnings for the truth. 
 
 The Mediaeval Courts. 
 
 The Mediaeval Courts above all others will 
 always be, to Londoners, the most interesting 
 inasmuch as these are composed principally of 
 the best specimens of English Gothic architecture. 
 In endeavoring to trace the history of the various 
 styles it is a matter of great difficulty to discover 
 when, where, or how the Grothic originated. 
 Magnificent specimens of Gothic art have been 
 discovered in England, France, Italy, Spain and 
 Germany, all of which apparently bear the same 
 date. That honor might " be given to whom 
 honor is due " it would form a fine subject of 
 investigation for some puzzle loving antiquarian 
 to discover the oldest Gothic edifice. All of the 
 countries mentioned have added some little pecu- 
 liarity to the orignal plain Gothic in the course 
 of years, and consequently the style may now be 
 considered perfect. 
 
TINTEKN ABBEY. 239 
 
 The specimens of English Gothic art are 
 from the Cathedrals and Abbeys of the country, 
 including Westminster, Tintern, Lincoln, Lich- 
 field, Hereford and others. Of these Westminster, 
 previously described under that caption, and 
 Tintern are the best. Tintern was built by the 
 Cistercian Monks. This order was founded by 
 Robert, Abbot of Molesne. It was dedicated to 
 the Virgin Mary about 1131. If the stringent 
 rules of a modern civilization and stringent 
 religion have banished monks and such ecclesias- 
 tical orders in some countries, they seem at the 
 same time in those countries to have struck the 
 death-blow at everything like an extraordinary 
 work of art. Little obscure country towns and 
 villages in many parts of Europe owe the little 
 importance they possess to some old ruin, the 
 original structure of which modern art cannot 
 equal. And North America from one extreme to 
 the other can hardly boast of a dozen edifices, of 
 any kind, that would call forth from an observer 
 any other exclamation than " how pretty," or of 
 which a full description could not be given in a doz- 
 en lines of a village newspaper. The religion of the 
 monks, it is true was stringent, nevertheless their 
 
240 FRENCH GOTHIC. 
 
 places of worship and abode were perfect models 
 of architectural beauty and excellence. Tintern 
 is considered an unapproachable piece of love- 
 liness. But it is rapidly passing away. But 
 little remains beyond the sacristy, dormitories 
 and refectory. 
 
 The Gothic architecture in the department of 
 the Mediaeval Courts devoted to France, give the 
 student a fine opportunity for noting the peculiari- 
 ties of French and English Gothic. In the English, 
 walls highly ornamented and but few windows are 
 noticed. In the French the decorations are richer, 
 but the walls are greatly reduced to windows 
 filled with costly stained glass. Many other 
 slight peculiarities exist so that a casual observer 
 would readily suppose them two distinct styles. 
 
 The German specimens are few in number, 
 and by no means remarkable. 
 
 For an aged person, every one cherishes 
 naturally a feeling of respect. So it is with Gothic 
 architecture — it is old — nay — almost buried. 
 We sometimes see its monuments, but w r e respect 
 them as having been erected in, and belonging to, 
 other days. 
 
 Several distinguished architects in the world, 
 
PYRAMIDAL CITIES. 241 
 
 and a certain one or two in London, are earnestly 
 recommending a return to ancient styles, instead 
 of making improvements on them, or of invent- 
 ing new styles. They say, " Go back only to the 
 Gothic." If so, for why not farther? "Why not 
 commence with the Hindoo, from which in genea- 
 logical order is descended the Egyptian, then the 
 Greek and Roman? Or to be slightly more 
 modern, suppose we take the pyramidal style of 
 Egypt. Pyramidal houses, pyramidal churches, 
 pyramidal monuments, pyramidal walls, door- 
 ways, steeples, everything pyramidal, and covered 
 with red, green, black and blue hieroglyphics. 
 How picturesquely beautiful an American city 
 would look thus built ! The tide of travel would 
 be turned from the East towards the West. Cairo, 
 Gizeh with its pyramids, Thebes, and all the rest 
 of the world would sink into insignificance, be- 
 side the pyramidal city built by " that guessing, 
 reckoning, and calculating tarnal Yankee nation." 
 The rich, the titled, the noble, all who visit dur- 
 ing the summer Italy and the Nile, would join 
 the poor laborer in his song : — 
 
 " To the west, to the west, where the rivers that flow, 
 Run thousands of miles, spreading out as they go ; 
 
 21 
 
242 NUBIAN C0UKT, 
 
 Where the green waring forests shall echo our caf?, 
 
 As wide as old England and free to us all;— 
 
 Where the prairies like seas where the billows have rolled^ 
 
 Are broad as the kingdoms and Empires of old ; 
 
 And the lakes are like oceans in storm and in rest 7 
 
 Away, far away, to the land of the west," 
 
 The Nubian Court. 
 
 To the south, of Egypt, lies a tract of land 
 about eight hundred miles long, by name Nubia. 
 The Nile flows through this, according to the 
 statements of travellers, between two high ranges 
 of granite and sandstone hills. The Nile here 
 rises only to a certain height, and thus the country 
 does not possess the advantage of the annual 
 overflow as does Egypt. Nubia, consequently is 
 watered by means of the water-wheel so preva- 
 lent in some parts of Europe. These are worked 
 by oxen, night and day. One American writer 
 in describing them, says, concerning the creaking 
 of the ungreased wheels, " As all the grease in 
 the country is used in plastering the long hair of 
 the unturbaned heads of the Nubians, they creak 
 all along the river with a sound which in the dis- 
 tance is like the hum of a musquito." This 
 
ROCK TEMPLE. 213 
 
 Nubia is what geographers call, or, at least a part 
 of what is called, "the unexplored region of 
 Ethiopia." Notwithstanding its want of fertility, 
 Nubia has nevertheless contributed its share to 
 the amusement and instruction of hundreds of 
 thousands of persons who have visited the Crys- 
 tal Palace, and w r ill contribute to the pleasure of 
 millions who will yet visit it. The chief features 
 of the Nubian court, are the colossal sitting fig- 
 ures which adorn one end. These are from the 
 Rock Temple of Ipsambul, or more frequently 
 Abousimbil and Abousaimbul. The figures are 
 said to be representations of Rameses, by whom 
 the Rock Temple was excavated. By dropping 
 a line from the head to a level with the feet, the 
 figures measured sixty-four feet each. The faces 
 are seven feet long, and the nose two feet eight 
 inches. When operations for digging the Tem- 
 ple out of the sand in which it had for many 
 years, and in fact many centuries been sunk, it 
 was estimated that the entrance to the Temple 
 was buried only twenty feet. Twenty feet of 
 sand was cleared away, then thirty feet, and it 
 was not until fifty-two feet were dug and carried 
 away, that the stone platform was reached. The 
 
244 EAMESE9. 
 
 • 
 
 dimensions of the Temple were then found to be, 
 width, one hundred and twenty feet ; height, 
 eighty-six feet) and depth of excavation in the 
 solid rock, one hundred and seventy feet. The 
 Temple is richly sculptured with sentences in 
 praise of Rameses. In the original, there must 
 be several apartments, for Stanley says, " In that 
 square rocky chamber, to which we are thus 
 brought by the arms of the mountain, closing us 
 in with a closer and ever closer embrace, stood, 
 and still stands though broken, the original altar. 
 Behind the altar, seated against the rocky wall, 
 their hands upon their knees, looking straight out 
 through the door of the Sanctuary, through the 
 corridor, through the second hall, and through 
 the first to the small aperture of daylight and 
 blue sky, as it is now— to the majestic portal as 
 it was in ancient times — sate and still sit the four 
 great gods of the Temple." 
 
 The Nubian court has for its ornaments 
 many animals, formerly worshipped by the Nu- 
 bians. These look like miniature copies of the 
 nondescripts in the grounds of the Palace. Com- 
 paring the great Temple with the animals deco- 
 
INDUSTRIAL COURTS. 245 
 
 rating it, I fully realized the truth of the trite 
 saying, " there is but a step between the sublime 
 and the ridiculous." 
 
 The Italian Renaissance and Industrial 
 
 Courts. 
 
 In the style of architecture of the Italian, 
 Renaissance and Industrial Courts, there is noth- 
 ing remarkable nor yet interesting. The con- 
 tents consists only of statues of Venus, Cupid, 
 Leo X., Lucretia Borgia, and an almost endless 
 list of gods, human beings, and fanciful imagin- 
 ings wrought in marble. These are nearly all 
 from the hand of Michael Angelo. The Indus- 
 trial Courts are arranged as Stores, for the sale 
 of English manufactured articles, pottery, glass 
 ware, and cutlery, compose the general stock. 
 
 In few words, the Crystal Palace, is an epi- 
 tome of the geography and history of the World. 
 Here are the plants, animals, and specimens of 
 the humanity of all countries under the sun. 
 
 4/ 
 
 Here are material forms given to the imaginings 
 
 of Homer, Milton, and Shakspeare. Here are 
 
 21* 
 
246 CRYSTAL PALACE. 
 
 the heroes, sages and poets of all countries and 
 ages. Here are representations of every gigantic 
 work of art produced since Adam, of which there 
 is the faintest record. And here, in the building 
 itself, is the greatest work of architectural art of 
 the nineteenth century. 
 
 I do not kno\f how better to conclude this 
 already too long chapter, than with the beautiful 
 and appropriate prayer of the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, used at the opening of the Palace. 
 
 "Almighty and everlasting God! who dost 
 govern all things, both in Heaven and earth, in- 
 cline Thine ear, we entreat Thee, to Thy people, 
 which call upon Thee, and graciously receive our 
 prayers. Without Thee, nothing is strong, noth- 
 ing is holy. Except the Lord build the house, 
 their labor is but lost who build it." And now 
 we entreat Thee, to bless the work which we have 
 accomplished in this place, and to render it the 
 means of promoting Thy glory. May those who 
 admire the wonders of nature here displayed, be 
 taught to perceive in those the vigor of that cre- 
 ative wisdom by which all things fulfil the pur- 
 poses which they are designed to serve ; enable 
 those who survey the wonders of art and industry 
 
OPENING PRAYER. 247 
 
 which surround them to remember that it is by 
 Thee that knowledge is increased, and science 
 made to minister to the benefit and comfort of 
 mankind ; for the spirit of man is from Thee, and 
 the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him un- 
 derstanding; therefore, 4 JSTot unto us, Lord, 
 not unto us, but unto Thy name be all the praise/ 
 While we contemplate the remains of former 
 ages, and the monuments of ancient greatness, 
 enable us to profit by the examples they afford of 
 the instability of earthly things, and ever to bear 
 in mind, that according to Thy Providence, na- 
 tions flourish or decay ; that Thou hast but to 
 give the word, and the richest may become poor, 
 and the proudest be levelled in the dust. There- 
 fore, Lord, we entreat Thee so to regulate the 
 thoughts of our hearts, that they may not be 
 lifted up, that we forget the Lord our God, as if 
 our power or the might of our hands had gotten 
 us this wealth. It cometh of Thine hand, and is 
 all Thine own ; both riches and honor come of 
 Thee; and Thou reignest over all, and in Thine 
 hand it is to make great, and to give strength 
 unto all. Now, therefore, Lord we thank Thee, 
 and praise Thy glorious name, and beseech Thee 
 
248 CRYSTAL PALACE. 
 
 to grant that the many blessings vouchsafed to 
 our nation, may dispose our hearts to serve Thee 
 more faithfully, and in all that we undertake to 
 seek Thy honor and glory. Above all, teach us 
 so to use the earthly blessings Thou givest us 
 richly to enjoy, that they may not withdraw our 
 affections from those Heavenly things that Thou 
 hast prepared for those that love and serve Thee 
 through the merits and mediation of Thy Son, 
 Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose prevailing name 
 and words w r e farther call on Thee." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE GREAT FIRE OP 1666.— THE FIRE MONU- 
 MENT. — LONDON BRIDGE. — ENGLISH STEAM- 
 BOATS. — BILLINGSGATE. — CUSTOM HOUSE. — 
 MUD LARKS.— THE TOWER OF LONDON. — TRIN- 
 ITr HOUSE. — ST. KATHARINE'S AND LONDON 
 DOCKS. 
 
 DOWN THE THAMES. 
 
 Of the River Thames, I hardly know what 
 to say. It is a narrow — dirty — and rapid stream 
 — near its mouth it flows through a flat country 
 not particularly picturesque — about forty miles 
 from London it gradually becomes a scene of life, 
 beauty and business. Thousands of pleasure 
 boats, steam boats, trading vessels, fishermen 
 . crafts, and large ships completely throng the 
 water. Among others, there are a tremendous 
 assortment of river pirates — requiring for the 
 protection of property, a large and vigilant police 
 
 (249) 
 
250 fire 1666. 
 
 force. The amount of their depredations, to- 
 gether with the goods they smuggle into the city, 
 is perfectly incalculable. Their actions are dar- 
 ing, and are performed under colors as water- 
 men, lightermen, bargemen, and day laborers ; 
 but often, when caught, some men holding (he 
 highest offices under the customs, have been im- 
 plicated. These depredations are not now so 
 numerous as they were very few years ago. Al- 
 though the river itself possesses but little of 
 interest, it affords a convenient means of visit- 
 ing the noted places which completely line its 
 banks. 
 
 " From the London Gazette, Extraordinary, 
 Sunday, 2d. September, 1666. 
 
 " About two o'clock this morning, a sudden 
 and lamentable fire broke out in this city, begin- 
 ning not far from Thames street, near London 
 Bridge, which continues still with great violence, 
 and hath already burnt down to the ground many 
 houses thereabouts; which sad accident affected 
 his Majesty with that tenderness and compassion, 
 that he was pleased to go himself in person, with 
 his Royal Highness, the Duke of York, to give 
 
MONUMENT. 25 J 
 
 order that all possible means should be used for 
 quenching the fire, or stopping its farther pro- 
 gress. In which care the Right Hon. the Earl 
 of Craven, was sent by his Majesty, to be more 
 particularly assisting to the Lord Mayor and 
 magistrates ; and several companies of his guards 
 sent into the city to be helpful, by what ways 
 they could in so great calamity." 
 
 " a plllae to be set up in memory 
 of the Fire." 
 
 And the better to preserve the memory of 
 this dreadful visitation, be it farther enacted, that 
 a column or pillar of brass or stone, be erected on 
 or near unto the place where the said fire so un- 
 happily began, as conveniently may be, in per- 
 petual remembrance thereof; with such an 
 inscription thereon, as hereafter by the Mayor 
 and Court of Aldermen in that behalf be 
 directed." Act of Parliament, 1667. ch. 2. sec. 29. 
 
 In accordance with the Act of Parliament, 
 Sir Christopher Wren designed the Fire Monu- 
 
252 MONUMENT. 
 
 ment, the first stone of which was laid in 1671. The 
 moniinient is of Portland Stone, and consists of 
 a fluted Doric column, standing upon a Palladian 
 pedestal. The pedestal is forty feet high, twenty 
 one feet square, and the plinth from which it 
 rises twenty eight feet square. The abacus is 
 surrounded by an iron railing, above which is a 
 gilded flaming urn. The height to the topmost 
 point is about two hundred and fifteen feet. From 
 the entrance to the top there are three hundred 
 and forty-five steps, " around, around, and 
 around,"— and having so lately been in the ball of 
 St. Paul's, I believe the view presented from the 
 top of the monument in no way repaid the 
 laborious work of climbing it. I will take part 
 of that back, the glory of seeing another produc- 
 tion of the brains of Sir Christopher Wren 
 should be considered recompense enough. From 
 the top of the iron railing, there is an arched 
 arbor of iron. This is to prevent persons from 
 committing suicide by throwing themselves over, 
 as many have done, and been clashed to pieces on 
 the pavement below. The pedestal contains on 
 each side Latin and English sentences. The 
 inscription on the north side, in Latin is rendered. 
 
INSCRIPTION. 255 
 
 " In the year of Christ, 1666, the fourth day 
 of the nones of September, eastward from hence, 
 at the distance of 202 feet — near the height of this 
 column — about midnight a fire broke out, which 
 driven on by a high wind, not only wasted the 
 adjacent parts but also places very remote, with 
 incredible noise and fury. It consumed 89 
 churches, the city gates, Guildhall, many public 
 structures, hospitals, schools, libraries, a vast 
 number of stately edifices, 13,200 dwelling houses, 
 400 streets ; of twenty six wards it utterly des- 
 troyed 15 and left eight others shattered and half 
 burned. The ruins of the city were 436 acres, 
 and extended hence from the Tower by the side 
 of the Thames, to theTemple Church, and thence 
 from the north east along the City wall to the 
 head of the Fleet ditch. Towards the labor and 
 fortunes of the citizens it was fatal ; but harmless 
 towards their lives ; that it might in all things 
 resemble the Last Conflagration of the World." 
 
 The South side contains : — 
 
 11 Charles II., Son of Charles the Martyr, 
 King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, 
 Defender of the Faith, a most gracious prince, 
 commiserating the deplorable state of things, 
 
256 GREAT EXCITEMENT. 
 
 whilst the ruins were yet smoking, provided for 
 the comforts of the citizens and the ornament of 
 his city — remitted their taxes, and referred the 
 petitions of the magistrates and inhabitants to 
 the Parliament, who immediately passed an Act, 
 that the public works should be restored to 
 greater beauty with public money, to be raised by 
 an imposition on coal ; that churches and the 
 Cathedral of St. Paul should be rebuilt from their 
 foundations with all magnificence ; that the bridges, 
 gates, and prisons should be new made; the 
 sewers cleaned ; the streets made straight and 
 regular, such as were steep levelled and those 
 which were too narrow made wider ; and the 
 markets and shambles removed into more open 
 places." 
 
 The West side is occupied by a bas-relief 
 representing Charles II., and on the left the fire ; 
 and the laborers preparing to rebuild on the right. 
 There was a sentence round the top of the plinth 
 which excited a flame almost as great as the fire, 
 although of a different nature. 
 
 The sentence was carved in the stone in 
 1681 :— 
 
 " This pillar was set up in perpetual remem- 
 
LOXDOX BRIDGE. 257 
 
 brance of the most dreadful burning of this 
 ancient city, began and carried on by the treachery 
 and malice of the Popish faction, in the beginning 
 of September, in the year of our Lord 1666, in 
 order to the carrying on their horrid plot for 
 extirpating the Protestant religion, and old 
 English liberty, and introducing Popery and 
 Slavery." 
 
 In 1685, by order of James II., this was 
 entirely cut out. In 1689 by order of the Lord 
 Mayor, it was replaced. Here it remained until 
 1831, when it was removed by Act of Parlia- 
 ment. The plinth now presents a rough broken 
 surface. The accusation in the inscription, was 
 without foundation as was proved long ago, and 
 the only wonder is that it was allowed to remain 
 as long as it did. 
 
 The first stone bridge was built across the 
 Thames in 1177; previous to which the bridge 
 was of wood. The stone bridge built in 1177 
 was replaced in 1824, with undoubtedly the best 
 bridge in the world. This consists of five arches 
 composed of immense blocks of stone. The 
 centre arch is one hundred and fifty feet in clear 
 rising, and about thirty feet above high water 
 
 22* 
 
258 LONDON BRIDGE. 
 
 mark. From the centre the bridge slopes gradualty 
 towards the ends thus making the two arches 
 adjoining the centre arch one hundred and forty 
 feet, and the two extreme arches one hundred and 
 thirty feet. The length nine hundred and sixty, 
 and width eighty-five feet. The carriage way 
 fifty-five feet wide. The pavements are of cubical 
 blocks of stone. The side walks are paved with 
 tremendous slabs, and on each water edge there 
 is a wall of stone blocks, each block about eight 
 feet long, four and a half high, and three feet 
 thick. At distances of about twenty feet are 
 niches containing stone seats for pedestrians and 
 surmounted with gas-lights. The view up and 
 down the Thames from these niches is very fine. 
 London Bridge is one of the greatest thoroughfares 
 in Europe. From actual observations, the average 
 of one horse teams that cross the Bridge in twelve 
 hours, is eleven thousand one hundred and fifty. 
 Of two horse teams four thousand, tw T o hundred 
 and sixty-five. Of three or more, five hundred 
 and seventy-seven ; giving a total of fifteen thous- 
 and nine hundred and ninety -two , The number of 
 saddle horses and pedestrians in the same time 
 averages forty thousand. London Bridge is the 
 
STEAMBOATS. 259 
 
 lowest bridge over the Thames ; above it are a 
 great many built of stone, iron, wood ; tubular, 
 iron suspensions, and fancy bridges. These are 
 nearly all arched, none are draw bridges. No 
 large vessel can go above London Bridge. The 
 steamboats that go up the river are furnished 
 with hinged pipes so that on approaching a bridge 
 the pipes are lowered horizontally. 
 
 The English river Steamboats, like London, 
 its houses, streets, and everything in or pertain- 
 ing to London, are dirty coal-smoked crafts. They 
 possess no saloons, except a little concern between 
 decks, in which a very short man or woman can- 
 not stand upright — and these, bad as they are, 
 are generally filled with common tobacco-smoke. 
 Every body is expected to sit out on deck. The 
 seats are all benches, formed of plain slips from 
 two to three inches broad, and intervening open- 
 ings the same breadth. Cushions or arm-chairs, 
 or neatly furnished saloons on a steamboat have 
 not yet been thought of. Externally, the boats 
 are painted black, internally, a bright green. The 
 upper deck is three feet, never more, above the 
 water ; the wheel-houses occupy one-third of the 
 room, the wheels are great awkward things — and 
 
260 RIVER CRAFT. 
 
 the consequence is, that every one on board re- 
 ceives a very inconvenient quantity of spray. The 
 engines are old fashioned, small moveable cylinder 
 affairs, built entirely below the water. All, as I 
 said before, must sit out on deck — a very hot day 
 there may be an awning, or there may not, just 
 as the (generally) lazy captain sees proper. On 
 wet days, (five days in seven belong to this class) 
 unless well provided with umbrellas, incalculable 
 damage ensues to every article of apparel done 
 up with starch. There's no escape. Altogether, 
 an English steamboat presents a perfect picture, 
 of utter wretchedness. I mean this, without a 
 single exception, of every river steamboat in 
 England ; the ocean steamers are of course much 
 better. I have often been amused at the crowds 
 of people standing at certain book and picture 
 establishment windows, looking at prints of the 
 steamers on the Mississippi and other American 
 rivers. They seemed filled with about as much 
 awe and reverence for the prints, as the multitude 
 did for the Prince that fed it with five loaves and 
 two small fishes. Their remarks were decidedly 
 in favor of American ship-builders. There may 
 be only one thing said in favor of the London 
 
BILLINGSGATE. 261 
 
 boats, they are built strong, and are thus able to 
 stand the collisions and thunipings against the 
 bridges which they encounter, caused in a great 
 manner by the rapid flow of the river. 
 
 The steamboats, like the Parks, afford excel- 
 lent opportunities for obtaining an insight into 
 Cockney character, and many an hour, I have 
 wiled away, first up, then down the river. Lon- 
 don Bridge is the chief station for all boats up or 
 down. The first object that claims the attention 
 going down, is an arched gateway and market- 
 place, with scores of small boats lying at the 
 wharves in front. This is the world renowned 
 Billingsgate. Celebrated as being the best fish 
 market in Europe, and the dirtiest hole, filled 
 with the lowest white people, to be found in the 
 world. There is brought to this market and sold, 
 annually one hundred and sixty thousand tons of 
 fish. The language spoken by the temporary 
 residents, the fish men and women, is said to be 
 " The pure, original, and only genuine " Cockney, 
 of which the following are correct specimens : — 
 
 " You bloody varmint, d'ye give that hare 
 'oss hany bloody hoats this mornink?" 
 
 11 My hys, Jim, vat hawful slippy valkink 
 
262 CUSTOM HOUSE. 
 
 'tis this here bloody niornink — I should 'ate fell'd 
 if so be has 'ow, I 'adn't cotched 'ould hov a 
 post is." 
 
 The fights here, especially those among the 
 fish women, are by Londoners, considered exceed- 
 ingly interesting. The beauties of the fish- 
 woman's female form, and the Cockney language, 
 shine in all their brilliancy, during these pugi- 
 listic encounters. 
 
 Just below Billingsgate, is a long broad ter- 
 race, with stone walls extending out into the 
 Thames. This portion of the river is called the 
 11 Crown Moorings." The large building on the 
 north-side of the terrace, is the new Custom 
 House. The Sovereigns at one time derived all 
 the revenue they received from the customs. 
 There was for this no system, no regularity, and 
 no custom house. The first custom house was 
 originated by a certain John Churchman. This 
 was about 1380. The principal object of that 
 custom house was, for weighing wool. It was 
 destroyed by fire. The second was of stone, built 
 by Queen Elizabeth. This was destroyed in the 
 great fire of 1666. Several succeeding ones were 
 burnt. One designed by Christopher Wren, was 
 
MUD LARKS. 263 
 
 destroyed in 1718. The next one was about to 
 be torn down in 1814, but it also shared the fate 
 of its predecessors. The present building was 
 erected in 1814, of Portland stone, and is a well 
 built edifice. It is four hundred and eighty-eight 
 feet long. The " long room," on the first floor, 
 is one hundred and ninety feet long; magnifi- 
 cently furnished and possessing, in each depart- 
 ment, every accommodation for clerks and mer- 
 chants. 
 
 A short river trip at low tide, presents to the 
 most casual observer, a sad picture of low life. 
 Thousands, and probably scores of thousands, of 
 poor creatures in London make their living, some- 
 times a comparatively comfortable one, in search- 
 ing the mud, washed out from the sewers into 
 the river, for whatever may have negligently been 
 lost or thrown out by accident or careless ser- 
 vants; such as silver spoons, forks, and other 
 small articles. These " mud larks," understand 
 so well the tides, that often they will venture 
 great distances up the sewers. As they are seen 
 Dn the banks of the river, (which at low tide 
 leaves a beach of fine pebbles many feet broad) 
 the men in mud-sprinkled fancy costumes, women 
 
264 THE TOWER. 
 
 in short bright-colored skirts and head dresses, 
 and children half naked, altogether appear gro- 
 tesque ; — but it is a picture of want and misery. 
 
 About a half mile below London Bridge, is 
 the famous Tower of London. On the wharf of 
 the Tower, are sixty-one cannon handsomely 
 mounted. These are fired on state occasions. A 
 complete history of the Tower, teeming with in- 
 terest as does the building, would fill volumes. 
 The date of its foundation generally received is 
 1076, although some suppose it to have been 
 founded by Julius Caesar. There is still exhibited 
 one tower called Caesar's Tower. William the 
 Conqueror built many portions of it, if he did 
 not found it. Almost every monarch succeeding, 
 has added either a tower, or some building of 
 antique shape and appearance. The word Tower 
 is associated in the mind with the idea of some 
 single, tall building. In this way I w r as misled 
 by it, and was very agreeably disappointed by 
 finding, instead of a tall plain looking build- 
 ing, a tremendous pile of buildings, covering 
 nearly thirteen acres. What originally was the 
 Tower, was a square building of brick, seven or 
 eight stories high, and enclosed within four 
 
CHAPEL OF ST. JOHN. 267 
 
 towers. This was formerly a royal residence, but 
 has degenerated into a state prison, a royal 
 arsenal, and a place of safety for the jewelry be- 
 longing to the crown. The entrance from the river 
 into the Tower is by means of a drawbridge. 
 There is also a gate placed deep in the water, and 
 reaching above the water. The passage through 
 this gate connected the ditch surrounding the 
 Tower with the river. It was through this gate 
 that prisoners were taken in boats to Westmin- 
 ster for trial. On the west side, there are four 
 entrances. These four are opened w r ith consider- 
 able ceremony every morning at daylight. 
 
 On the second floor of the White Tower, is 
 a beautiful little chapel dedicated to St. John, In 
 this Tower, King John of France, and several 
 members of English royal families have been 
 confined. In a little room below St. John's 
 Chapel, Sir Walter Raleigh was detained a pris- 
 oner. Another one of the four, the Bloody 
 Tower, was the scene of the murder of the infant 
 princes. In the Record Tower, Henry VI. w r as 
 murdered, Near this Tower, is the Church of 
 St. Peter, in which are buried Queen Ann Bo- 
 leyn, and Queen Katharine Howard ; Lady Jane 
 
268 CKOWN JEWELS. 
 
 Grey, and many others. In the armories are 
 deposited the arms of all ages. Knights in coats 
 of armor and mounted ; revolving muskets, car- 
 bines, swords, and all other warlike weapons. In 
 the different parts of the armory, there are arms 
 enough to equip one hundred and fifty thousand 
 men. The number of arms was formerly much 
 greater, but a fire destroyed the majority of them 
 in 1841. A small room, before the fire, alone 
 contained arms enough to equip one hundred thou- 
 sand men. Of twelve thousand muskets in that 
 room, eleven thousand were destroyed. The 
 Jewel House, is now the most attractive portion 
 of the Tower. The finest articles in the collection 
 are, the Crown of Victoria, (about to change 
 ownership) ; the great Koh-i-noor ; and the 
 Prince of Wales' Baptismal Font. The crown is 
 about seven inches in diameter, and six high. 
 The interior cap is of scarlet velvet, bound with 
 ermine ; the gold bands which cross the velvet, 
 are thickly set with diamonds, and cost several 
 millions of dollars. The government of Hanover 
 has beautifully played this crown into its hands. 
 The Koh-i-noor, mountain of light, the largest 
 diamond in the world, is, in daylight a dull com- 
 
TRINITY HOUSE. 269 
 
 mon looking affair. In the Crystal Palace, where 
 this was first exhibited, in order to show its bril- 
 liancy, it was placed in a small glass house 
 brightly lighted with gas. Thus showing clearly 
 that even the most brilliant and costly diamond 
 could not shine except in certain circumstances. 
 What a good text for a sermon on position in 
 life! 
 
 The Prince of Wales' Baptismal Font, con- 
 sists of a bowl about a foot and a half in diameter, 
 and ten inches deep, with a richly carved lid. 
 This rests upon a shaft, two and a half feet high, 
 and six inches in diameter. The base is octago- 
 nal. The entire font is of solid gold, richly 
 ornamented with the rose, shamrock and thistle. 
 
 North-west from the Tower, is Trinity House, 
 which from the name and appearance, might be 
 taken for an ecclesiastical establishment. On the 
 contrary, it is the seat of the Trinity Corporation, 
 for the improvement of light-houses on the coasts ; 
 for collecting all harbor dues, regulating the sales 
 of ballast, and everything else connected with the 
 shipping of the metropolis. 
 
 A short distance lower down the river, are 
 the St. Katharine and London Docks. No ship 
 
 23* 
 
270 DOCK COMPANIES. 
 
 can enter the port of London without taking on 
 board at Gravesend, some miles from the city, 
 several custom-house officers who examine the 
 cabins, lockers, stores and baggage. One of these 
 officers, called tide-waiter, is left on board until 
 the cargo is discharged, and the clearances signed. 
 To render less difficult and annoying the various 
 duties of the Custom House, and discharging car- 
 goes, companies have been incorporated. The 
 companies procured suitable situations, dug deep 
 docks, connected with the river by means of 
 locks ; built large water-houses and wine vaults, 
 and enclosed the whole with high walls. Officers 
 are stationed at every gate, so that not a single 
 bundle, however small, can escape being exam- 
 ined. Any one can take into the docks whatever 
 he desires, but the same article cannot be brought 
 out again without being examined. 
 
 The Dock Companies, immediately a vessel 
 is reported down the Thames, send their " run- 
 ners," to endeavor to get the vessel to lay up in 
 the docks in which respectively they are inter- 
 ested. Each dock has its signal, so that it is 
 known by the arrangement of the flag on the 
 
THE DOCKS. 271 
 
 vessel, what dock she intends entering, conse- 
 quently the locks are prepared in time. 
 
 St. Katharine's Docks will contain two 
 hundred large ships. The London Docks five 
 hundred. The London Docks are more intimately 
 connected with the government of Great Britain 
 than any other. The wine vaults of the London 
 Docks afford a very singular species of amusement. 
 Very few visitors enter here without having 
 obtained from some liquor merchant a " tasting 
 ticket." This entitles the holder to ramble at 
 will over the vaults attended by a servant of the 
 Company. The servant taps for the " taster " 
 any case of liquor desired, and the " taster " can 
 taste from every case in the vaults, with only one 
 proviso — i. e. if he remains in a state of con- 
 sciousness whilst tasting from thousands of cases 
 in a dozen vaults. 
 
 However pure liquor may be when the vessel 
 arrives at London Dock, it can only leave the 
 wine vaults in a certain state. Brandies, for 
 instance, coming pure from France must be 
 proved, and if pure the Government derives a 
 profit from it by making a large number of barrels 
 out of a small number. The adulterating articles 
 
272 LONDON DOCK BKANDY. 
 
 used by the Government are harmless, consisting 
 principally of water. An injuriously adulterated 
 liquor of any kind is not allowed to leave the 
 Dock. Hence the great demand throughout the 
 world for London Dock Brandy. "All is not 
 gold that glitters," neither is all " London Dock 
 Brandy " the genuine article. The London 
 wholesale merchant buys the liquor from the 
 company — he makes adulteration number two. 
 
 The medium dealers who supply the foreign 
 market purchases from the wholesale, — he makes 
 number three. The foreign purchaser by the 
 wholesale, finds it will not stand number four 
 without something additional. In it goes. Every 
 one through whose hands it passes adds a little to 
 it — just like some piece of scandal — until eventu- 
 ally, it is all a new article done up in a new style. 
 But it is London Dock Brandy. 
 
 The "furnaces" in the London Dock form 
 another item of John Bullism. Contraband 
 tobacco, American editions of English books, on 
 which the owner does not see proper to pay the 
 heavy duties, are burned. Tons of tobacco, taken 
 by the pound and often less (three quarters of a 
 pound the law allows a person to bring in free) 
 
DUTIES ON BOOKS. 273 
 
 from the sailors, who do not often know anything 
 about the law, are at all times burning in the 
 furnaces. Why not " sold and the money given 
 to the poor," or some of the government expenses 
 paid ? 
 
 Books often share the same fate as tobacco. 
 I had, when I entered London, a number of books 
 with me the majority of which from appearance 
 had passed through several periods of " hard 
 times." Every one of these was opened at the 
 title page and carefully compared with a published 
 sheet, in order to ascertain whether or not it was 
 an American edition of an English work. Of 
 these there happened to be about ten, the duty on 
 some was " tupence" on others " threpence," They 
 passed through several hands, some compared 
 them with other editions, some recorded the titles, 
 and at length, after detaining books and myself 
 longer than the books were really worth, sentence 
 was pronounced by a grey headed, portly, reverend, 
 old-fashioned-English-inn-keeper looking gentle- 
 man. " Has you, ave halready paid the hexpenses 
 hov your baggage hexamination, ve vill hoverlook 
 the triflink duties hon the books." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THAMES' TUNNEL. — GREENWICH. — MILL- 
 WALL, AND THE "BIG SHIP."— BLACK WALL, 
 THE EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCKS.— YICTO-. 
 RIA DOCKS.— WOOLWICH. — GEAVESEND, AND 
 THE UNITED STATES' WAR FRIGATES, "XI- 
 AGRA," AND "SUSQUEHANNA." 
 
 DOWN THE THAMES, (CONTINUED.) 
 
 The Thames' Tunnel is the greatest novelty 
 in London. This was designed and commenced 
 many years ago, but the water broke through, 
 filling the place in less than ten minutes, thus 
 destroying the work of many months. In this 
 state it remained until 1828, when I. Brunell Esq., 
 formed a new design for the Tunnel, and simul- 
 taneously invented a machine, called the " Shield." 
 
 This shield was formed of platforms one above 
 (274) 
 
THAMES' TUNNEL. 275 
 
 the other, each platform large enough for several 
 men to work on ; the whole affair being move- 
 able as fast as the work of digging progressed. 
 There was room enough on the shield for two 
 dozen men to work ; thus, as fast as the Tunnel 
 was dug, masons put up the sides and arched 
 ceiling. The work in this manner proceeded at 
 the rate of one foot a day. It was not completed 
 until 1841. It now consists of two shafts, fifty- 
 five feet in diameter, and seventy- five feet deep ; 
 placed one on each side of the river, about one 
 hundred feet from the water edge. Over each 
 shaft is built a rotunda thirty feet high, thus 
 making the shaft from the roof, one hundred and 
 five feet deep. The rotundas are painted with 
 landscapes of Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, 
 towers, palaces, and cascades, including a very 
 good painting of Niagara Falls. From the top 
 of the shaft around the wall, is a winding stair- 
 case leading to the Tunnel. There are over one 
 hundred steps in the descent. The echo is very 
 great, and music, (of which there is at all times 
 great abundance in the Tunnel,) as the strains 
 echo along the arches and up the shafts, sounds 
 particularly fine, though seldom proceeding from 
 
276 THAMES' TUNNEL. 
 
 anything but hand-organs, or wandering-street 
 musicians. 
 
 The Tunnel is built of brick paved with stone, 
 and consists of two rows of arches, each row 
 twelve hundred feet long. The arches meet each 
 other in the centre, and there rest upon stone 
 columns thus forming two avenues divided by 
 a tier of columns. From each shaft towards the 
 centre the Tunnel inclines, thus resembling a 
 vast stone suspension bridge under water rather 
 than over. I have heard that the Tunnel has not 
 answered the original purpose ; what that purpose 
 was, I do not know. One thing I do know — it is 
 of no use except to foot passengers, and the ex- 
 penses of gas and attendance are met by charging 
 a toll of one penny on each visitor. One row of 
 arches is divided into a number of apartments, 
 each apartment opening on the other avenue. In 
 these apartments are penny shows, refreshment 
 rooms, and fancy stores. Considerable value is 
 attached to anything bought in the Thames' Tun- 
 nel, and almost every article sold there, even the 
 cakes and confectionary, has some picture or sen- 
 tence concerning the work. 
 
 Now was this Tunnel situated in Yankee 
 
RIVER BOATS. 277 
 
 dominions, or had a portion of that denomina- 
 tion control of it, it would be put to another use, 
 and be made to pay ten times as well as it does. 
 In the first place, ferry boats are unknown in 
 London. I mean as Americans understand the 
 word. A large steamboat that will hold a dozen 
 wagons, horses and all, besides a crowd of people, 
 and goes ahead backwards or any other how. A 
 London ferry boat is large enough to seat two 
 persons comfortably without any baggage or bun- 
 dles. If a person in the neighborhood of the 
 Tunnel desires crossing the river with articles 
 of merchandize he can walk down one hundred 
 steps along twelve hundred feet under the Thames, 
 and up another hundred steps, feeling delightfully 
 fatigued when he reaches the top. If he owns a 
 horse or donkey team he is obliged to go round 
 nearly ten miles to London Bridge. Now the 
 shafts of the Thames' Tunnel are sufficiently large 
 to admit in addition to the winding stair case, a 
 moveable platform on which could be driven two 
 or three small teams. The avenues are suffi- 
 ciently large to admit carriage ways in addition 
 to footwalks. There is not a Londoner but 
 would prefer paying some toll, to driving ten 
 
278 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 miles over the rough stones of the crooked streets 
 of London. Instead of this long rough drive, he 
 would drive his team on the platform, the opera- 
 tor would give the signal and away he would go, 
 whizzing, to the bottom. Mr. Horse or donkey 
 would trot along the avenue, on to the other plat- 
 form and go up as comfortably as if in his stall. 
 
 Exactly under the middle of the river is a 
 refreshment room, kept by an eccentric old man, 
 who has not been a half mile from the Tunnel 
 since it was completed. Daylight to him is 
 almost unknown. He does not sleep in the Tun- 
 nel, but he enters before day in the morning, and 
 does not leave until late at night. This old man 
 on account of his many wonderful stories and 
 jokes, in addition to good cakes and wines, has 
 many visitors. 
 
 The sensations experienced as one sits here 
 are very peculiar. A thin brick ceiling over 
 head, covered with a few feet of mud, and many 
 feet of water, with water trickling from the 
 ceiling and through the walls ; — and steamers, 
 ships and barges sailing along far above you ! — 
 Many bright eyes of timid beauties, and ominous 
 glances of frightened old men, have I seen 
 
GREENWICH. 279 
 
 directed to the walls and ceiling as the crowd 
 hurried along. 
 
 Greenwich. 
 
 1 Go, view the splendid domes of Greenwich, go, 
 And own what raptures from reflection flow." 
 
 ( Hail, noblest structures imaged in the wave ! 
 A nation's grateful tribute to the brave. 
 Hail, blest retreats from war and shipwreck, hail ! 
 That oft arrest the wondering stranger's sail. 
 Long have ye heard the narratives of age, 
 The battle's havoc, and the tempest's rage ; 
 Long have ye known reflection's genial ray 
 Gild the calm close of valor's various day.'' 
 
 Rogers' Pleasures of Memory. 
 
 There is nothing that reflects more to the 
 credit of a nation than an ample provision made 
 for the comfort and happiness of that nation's 
 sick, disabled and superannuated seamen and 
 soldiers. In this respect England may probably 
 be ahead of the world although it would be hard 
 to draw a very broad line of distinction between 
 her and the United States in any matter of this 
 nature. On arriving at Greenwich pier the first 
 and almost only object of interest is the Hospital 
 — "one of the noblest buildings in the world, 
 
280 HISTOEY. 
 
 devoted to one of the noblest objects — public 
 gratitude to the humble heroes of the country." 
 The site of the Hospital was formerly that of a 
 royal residence. Edward VI., died in the Palace 
 that stood here. Charles II., tore the palace 
 down and the often mentioned Sir Christopher 
 Wren designed the Hospital. It consists of four 
 large and magnificent buildings of stone, sur- 
 mounted with domes, built upon two sides — or 
 rather four corners of a square — thus leaving a 
 broad court between the buildings. Two of the 
 buildings have river fronts ; the remaining two 
 front on the court and towards Flamstead House, 
 the Royal Observatory on Greenwich Hill. It is 
 from Flamstead House that the geographical 
 degrees are reckoned. The Hospital buildings 
 are respectively called King Charles's ; Queen 
 Anne's. King William's and Queen Mary's 
 Wards. The attractive spots of the wards, are 
 the Chapel and the Painted Hall. The Chapel 
 is in Queen Mary's Ward, The entrance hall is 
 large and beautiful. In it there are several niches 
 containing statues of Faith, Hope, Charity and 
 Meekness. The wood and plaster work of the 
 Chapel are carved and ornamented. It will seat 
 
west's paintings. 281 
 
 fifteen hundred persons. Over the altar is one 
 of West's finest paintings. It is a representation 
 of St. Paul's escape from shipwreck on the Island 
 of Malta. There are several other paintings by 
 West, in different parts of the Chapel. The 
 Painted Hall opposite the Chapel, in King 
 Charles's Ward is so called from its beautifully 
 painted ceiling, and the great number of paint- 
 ings hung around the walls. The paintings 
 generally represent sea fights, battles on lands, 
 besieged cities, and portraits of British Admirals 
 and their subordinate officers. There is not a 
 painting in the Painted Hall, or in any other 
 that I have seen, representing, or directly 
 connected with any battle that took place in 1776, 
 between England and her " thirteen colonies in 
 North America.' ' Moreover I have not met with 
 a dozen persons in England who seemed to know 
 much about the American Revolution! This 
 seems singularly, but very conveniently, to have 
 been entirely forgotten. In the Painted Hall 
 there are a great many curiosities and relics, and 
 also Nelson's funeral car. 
 
 The Hospital establishment consists of a 
 
 governor, lieutenant-governor, eight lieutenants, 
 
 24* 
 
282 DREADNOUGHT.. 
 
 a large number of petty officers, two thousand 
 seven hundred and thirty pensioners in the four 
 buildings, thirty-two thousand one hundred out- 
 pensioners, and seventy nurses. The in-pen- 
 sioners receive their food and clothing and 
 regular allowance of spending money suitable 
 to their rank. The out-pensioners receive 
 annually from twenty-three dollars, to one hun- 
 dred and thirty-five dollars each. I made a 
 number of acquaintances among these crippled 
 and superannuated men of war, and spent several 
 summer evenings very pleasantly seated among 
 them, on the terraces overlooking the river, 
 and listening to their tales of the olden time. In 
 imagination they go through all the scenes of 
 strife in which they have been engaged. They 
 re-climb the walls of besieged cities, and gazing at 
 their scars name each an honor. And each one in 
 his account would seem to have the impression, 
 that if he had not been just where he was in the 
 battle, and had not done just what he did, the 
 fortunes of war would certainly have been against 
 them. 
 
 Almost opposite Greenwich Hospital is a 
 floating Hospital for sick and disabled seamen of 
 
MANAGEMENT. ^83 
 
 all nations. This originated in 1817, on board 
 the hull of an old war ship which in 1831, was 
 exchanged for a much larger one. This was an 
 old one hundred and four gun ship — by name 
 the Dreadnought — a name from its Hospital 
 associations familiar to everv seamen of the world 
 whether or not he ever enjoyed its hospitalities. 
 This continued the hospital until 1857, when it 
 was considered unsafe and condemned, — one of 
 similar size and appearance being substituted for 
 it. This is finely fitted up, the rigging all taken 
 out, and the spaces between decks arranged in 
 different wards. In system it is conducted as 
 other hospitals. It has a Superintendant, Sur- 
 geons, Assistant Surgeons, Physicians, Visiting 
 Physicians, Apothecary, Chaplain and others. 
 To gain admission to the Dreadnought (by which 
 name the hospital is yet called) it is only neces- 
 sary for a seaman of any nation to be pre- 
 sented alongside. His appearance in all cases is 
 recommendation enough. If he wants clothing 
 in addition to treatment this also is given him. 
 Every patient is allowed to remain until per- 
 fectly well. When thought to be beyond cure, 
 on convalescent, if the patient desires it, con- 
 
284 GREAT EASTERN. 
 
 veyance home is procured for him, to any part 
 of the world. The annual expenses of the hos- 
 pital are about fifteen thousand dollars, which 
 amount is received only by voluntary contributions 
 of the public. During the last few years about 
 two thousand seamen born in the United States, and 
 belonging to American ships, have been patients 
 in the Dreadnought, of which number nearly all 
 have recovered under the careful treatment of the 
 Faculty. 
 
 On the other side of the river from Green- 
 wich, is Millwall where the great ship is building. 
 The " Great Eastern," rising as it does like an 
 immense wall of iron, high above the surrounding 
 houses, is a sight as novel as it is interesting. 
 She was designed by I. S. Brunell Esq., for the 
 Great Eastern Navigation Company. To the top 
 of St. Paul's Cathedral, the highest point in 
 London, the distance is four hundred and Jive feet 
 The length of the Great Eastern is six hundred 
 and eighty feet. So that could the Great Eastern 
 be raised upon one end she would tower two 
 hundred and seventy-five feet above St. Paul's, 
 and the upper end would be out of sight. She is 
 eighty-three feet broad and sixty high. She is 
 
STEAM APPARATUS. 285 
 
 entirely of iron. Up to the water mark there 
 are two shells, or rather one hull placed in another, 
 leaving between the two a space of three feet. 
 f The plates of iron here are an inch in thickness ; 
 above this a trifle thinner. There are two objects 
 in view from this double hull. The first is, in 
 case of a collision at sea. Should the outer hull 
 be broken the interior hull will prevent any 
 serious consequences. The second object, is in 
 provision of a larger amount of ballast while at 
 sea. This ballast can be obtained bv filling, or 
 partly filling, the intervening space with water, 
 by means of the pumps. The space will contain 
 about two t/iousand Jive hundred tons of water, 
 which alone is equal to the full tonnage of a first 
 class clipper ship. 
 
 The hull is divided into ten water-tight 
 compartments, so that in case of accident any one 
 or more parts can be guided independently of 
 the remainder. The steam power to be employed 
 is wonderful and almost incredible. She will 
 have not only two tremendous paddle wheels, but 
 also the largest screw propelling apparatus in the 
 w r orld. Her steam power consists of ten boilers 
 having five funnels. Each boiler requires ten 
 
286 " BIG SKIP." 
 
 furnaces. Thus there are one hundred furnaces. 
 In addition to the steam power there are seven 
 masts, spreading about six thousand Jive hundred 
 square yards of canvas. Mr. Brunell says she 
 will sail eighteen miles an hour in any weather. 
 Of course he knows. There are four paddle 
 engines, with oscillating cylinders, each eighteen 
 feet long and six feet two inches in diameter. 
 These have fourteen feet stroke. Each engine is 
 forty-five feet high and one thousand horse power. 
 The diameter of the wheels is fifty-six feet each. 
 The screw is equally wonderful in size and power. 
 It is twenty-four feet in diameter and its connect- 
 ing shaft one hundred and sixty feet long. The 
 propellor engine is of sixteen hundred horse power. 
 In addition to this steam, there are two small 
 engines by which the pumps are worked, the sails 
 hoisted, cargo taken in and discharged and several 
 other things, done usually by hand. A vast 
 amount of time and expense will thus be saved. 
 
 The " big ship " will carry four thousand 
 passengers, independently of a crew and list of 
 officers numbering altogether four hundred. In 
 addition to the passengers she will carry twenty 
 thousand tons of freight. The anchors and other 
 
ENORMOUS DIMENSIONS. 287 
 
 fixtures are proportionally large. One of her 
 small deck boats is a steam boat as large as any- 
 sailing on the Thames. The ship is to be lighted 
 entirely with gas, the manufacture of which is to 
 be carried on very extensively on board. The 
 saloons will be indiscribably grand. The wood 
 carvings rich, and the furniture of palatial 
 magnificence. 
 
 The progress of the work has been so 
 interrupted by visitors, that an admission fee of 
 sixty cents was deemed necessary. But so great 
 was the public curiosity that the number instead 
 of diminishing daily increased. 
 
 The intention of its great length is that it 
 may ride three waves of the Atlantic, thus pre- 
 venting the disagreeable pitching of the steamers 
 in general. It may succeed in this, but it is so 
 high and narrow that, as is evident to any observer 
 its rocking will be awful. Of the two evils 
 pitching is decidedly the least. To be " rocked 
 on the bosom of the deep " sounds well enough in 
 poetry, but the writer of that like the author of 
 11 A Life on the Ocean Wave " has evidently 
 never been to sea in a storm. 
 
288 BLACKWALL. 
 
 " That man may have sailed in a boat, 
 In some puddle or on a sound ; 
 But if he has ever been to sea and wrote 
 Such a song, he deserves to be drowned." 
 
 Blackwall. 
 
 Some distance below Millwall on the same 
 side is Blackwall; of which the most attractive 
 part is the extensive terrace high above the river, 
 and from which there is an extended view up and 
 down. This terrace is crowded with pleasure 
 seekers every pleasant afternoon. The best view 
 of river gaieties is also had here. Rowing 
 matches on an extensive scale take place almost 
 daily. The crowds of the friends of the com- 
 petitors, all anxious for the success of certain 
 ones, their various exclamations of applause or 
 disapproval, ladies waving their handkerchiefs, 
 flags flying, and the terrible noise from the 
 surrounding ship-yards combine to make an 
 exhilerating scene. During the hours of rowing 
 the entire river, as far as the eye can reach, seems 
 perfectly alive with all kinds of boats, loaded to 
 overflowing with ladies and gentlemen. The 
 ladies of London, enjoy and take almost as active 
 
SHIP-YARDS. 291 
 
 a part in rowing matches as do the gentlemen. 
 This is the case however, in nearly all the out 
 door exercises. The boats used in these trials of 
 skill, by the competitors, are composed of very 
 light wood, They are often twelve feet long, one 
 and a half broad, only a few inches deep, having 
 but one opening in the centre large enough for 
 a single person. They are perfectly sharp at each 
 end and to the central opening are level with the 
 water. 
 
 The ship-yards around Blackwall are very 
 celebrated. Here, some of the largest ships in 
 the British Navy have been built. Some of these 
 yards employ between two and three thousand 
 men. 
 
 The East and West India Docks, situated at 
 Blackwall, are under laws and companies similar 
 to those of St. Katharine's and London. The East 
 India Docks, are appropriated especially to the 
 merchant-ships of the East India Company. The 
 store houses of this dock are in the city, and at 
 all times are filled with the most costly goods. 
 Victoria Docks, a short distance from Blackwall, 
 are the largest and best docks in London. They 
 are comparatively new, and, although commenced 
 
292 woolwich. 
 
 many years ago, they are not yet completed. 
 Business, however, is carried on. They are rather 
 inconvenient to the city, but nevertheless, will 
 prove in time, vastly injurious to all other docks. 
 Woolwich, a small town, is large in import- 
 ance. It is a dirty, unpaved, hilly spot, and 
 resembles some of the lowest suburbs of London. 
 It owes its importance to the Government Dock 
 Yards, Barracks, Arsenal, and Shell Factory. It 
 boasts a Theatre, for the display of the legitimate 
 drama; and to crowded houses nightly, shine 
 forth in all their glory, " Jack Sheppard," " Betsy 
 Baker," extracts from " Uncle Tom's Cabin," 
 and many other similarly instructive and enter- 
 taining tragedies. Admission to private boxes, 
 threepence, other parts of the house accordingly. 
 The principal, in fact, the only law of the house 
 is, " Boys cotched in the act of throwing horange 
 peal at the gentlemen solgers from the barracks, 
 shall be PUT HOUT." There are several public 
 gardens in Woolwich ; all of which are greatly 
 resorted to in the Summer, by the inhabitants of 
 the Mgtropolis, The Royal Military Academy, 
 forms one of the interesting features of Wool- 
 wich. There are hero, about two hundred cadets. 
 
THE BARRACKS. 293 
 
 These pass monthly examinations, and according 
 to the professor's report, are promoted to vacant 
 commissions. This building was established as 
 an Arsenal in 1719, and was chartered as an 
 Academy in 1741, by George II. 
 
 The Barracks are a tremendous pile of build- 
 ings, containing chapels, libraries, reading-rooms, 
 mess-rooms, parlors, and a tedious assortment of 
 apartments. The building is of stone, with a 
 front of about fifteen hundred feet. There is 
 ample accommodation in the building for about 
 five thousand men. 
 
 There are foundries for cannon, shells, and 
 other weapons of destruction, the details of which 
 would prove of great length. In the Arsenal are 
 all kinds of ancient and modern fire-arms, mail 
 armor, and camp equipage. 
 
 The Dock Yard is exceedingly interesting, but 
 to this, no foreigner is admitted. On entering the 
 gate, the police enquire and register the visitor's 
 name, residence, and occupation. Although a 
 foreigner, I succeeded in gaining admission, with- 
 out passing through the required forms. Every- 
 thing required for the use of a large Navy is at 
 at all times in readiness here. 
 
 25 
 
294 IIDE WAITERS. 
 
 Gravesend, several miles below Woolwich, 
 is a very pretty country town, and the general 
 terminus for the down-river steamboats. It is 
 well laid out, picturesquely built, but looks mise- 
 rable from the river. It should be turned around. 
 I have frequently walked about the town, but 
 never could see anything worth particular time 
 and attention, save only about a half dozen hand- 
 some young ladies. 
 
 The chief part of the population consists of 
 tide waiters. These are a kind of an embryo or 
 sub custom-house officers, whose duty it is to 
 attend at all times to the Custom House, and 
 when a ship is reported coming up, a certain 
 number are elected by lottery to go on board. 
 These go with the ship into whatever dock she 
 goes, and remain on board until the cargo is dis- 
 charged, at the ship's expense. 
 
 There has been quite a rush of the London- 
 ers to Gravesend for some time, owing to the fact 
 that two of the United States' Frigates of War 
 are anchored just off the piers. Speculation con- 
 cerning the why and wherefore of their being 
 here, runs pretty high among a certain class. 
 
SURMISES. 295 
 
 They are the Niagara and Susquehanna, which in 
 conjunction with several British steamers, are 
 going to lay (perhaps !) the Atlantic cable, between 
 the United States and Great Britain. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER, OR, THE 
 NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. — HISTORY. — 
 DESCRIPTION. — THE PRINCES' CHAMBER. — 
 THE HOUSE OF LORDS.— THE THRONE. — PAR- 
 LIAMENTARY ANECDOTES. — ST S STEPHENS' 
 AND WESTMINSTER HALLS. — THE HOUSE OF 
 COMMONS. — THE MEMBERS: — ELECTIVE COM- 
 PANIES. 
 
 Neak St. James' Park and Westminster 
 Abbey, stands an immense pile of buildings, 
 which, although commenced many years ago, and 
 now occupied, are not, and will not for a long 
 time be completed. The site of the new Houses 
 of Parliament, historians inform us, has been 
 occupied by some royal residence, since the days 
 of Edward the Confessor. To the first buildings 
 some additions were made by William the Con- 
 queror, and his successor, but were nearly all 
 
 (296) 
 
HISTORY. 297 
 
 destroyed by fire in 1299. Some years before the 
 fire, on New Year's day — it is said that Henry 
 III., feasted six thousand poor persons, and had 
 placed upon the tables, over thirty thousand 
 dishes of meat. The building remaining after 
 the fire of 1299, was again attacked by the de- 
 vouring element in 1512. This fire left only St. 
 Stephens' Chapel, and a large hall entire. A 
 third fire occurred in 1834. The ruins of the 
 three fires were not repaired, and soon, it was re- 
 solved to build a new palace. The fruits of that 
 resolution are the present buildings. The style 
 of architecture adopted, is a degenerated Gothic — 
 " Viewed as a composition, or creation of form, 
 the New Parliament Houses, grandiose in dimen- 
 sions and gorgeous in decorations, shows not one 
 ray of inventions, not one touch of original con- 
 ception, not one suggestion of sentiment, or one 
 breathing of life. It resembles a cast-iron stove 
 on a great scale, or a cast-iron railing, in which 
 a common-place form is repeated insipidly without 
 modification." The material employed is, for the 
 greater part, hard magnesian limestone. The build- 
 ings are fire-proof, and cover an area of about eight 
 acres. There are four fronts, of which the most 
 
298 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 unbroken is the Eastern or River Front, built 
 immediately on the edge of the Thames. This 
 front is about nine hundred and fifty feet long, 
 with large wings on each end, thus leaving in the 
 intervening space, a fine broad and paved terrace, 
 seven hundred feet long, and overlooking the 
 river. All the external spaces between the win- 
 dows are enriched with sculptures, all having 
 some immediate connection w r ith the country's 
 history op to the present Sovereign. The North 
 and South fronts have the same stvle of decora- 
 tions as the river front. The South front termi- 
 nates to the West, in the Victoria Tower. The 
 AVest front is broken more than the others, and 
 from its many entrances, arches, turrets, and the 
 clear view of its steep slate roofs, looks exceed- 
 ingly picturesque. The Victoria Tower, just 
 mentioned, is the largest square tower in the 
 world, being seventy-five feet square at the base, 
 and three hundred and forty-five feet high. 
 Another tower called the Clock Tower, is in course 
 of erection. There is still another tower, called 
 from its position, the Central Tower, differing in 
 form from both of the others. In addition to 
 these three principal towers, there are many small 
 
FIRST FLOOR. 299 
 
 ones rising up from different points along the 
 walls. On the first floor, besides many small 
 rooms, there are eleven large courts, several of 
 which are incomplete. The Speaker's Court, 
 (being the entrance to the Speaker's official resi- 
 dence.) The Commons Court. The Commons 
 Inner Court. The Peers' Inner Court. Peers' 
 Court, and the Royal Court, through which I 
 passed into the Victoria Tower. Then, I turned 
 to the left, ascended the Ro}<al staircase, and at 
 the top, entered the Norman Porch. In the Porch 
 are a number of pedestals on which is intended 
 to be placed statues of the Norman Kings. On 
 my right, I passed the Royal Robing Room, but 
 of this, I could catch only a passing glimpse, on 
 account of its imperfect condition. The present 
 appearance is quite dazzling, how much more so 
 it will be when finished, I could hardly imagine, 
 as about eight years of hard labor are yet to be 
 bestowed upon it. Hence, passing through a 
 large stone archway, I entered the Royal Gallery. 
 This is a magnificent room, one hundred and ten 
 feet long, forty-five broad, and forty-five high. 
 It is also incomplete. Hence, to the Princes' 
 Chamber. This is merely a vestibule to the 
 
300 princes' chamber. 
 
 House of Lords. Here, the Queen is received by 
 a deputation appointed, when she enters to attend 
 Parliament. The apartment, similar to all others 
 is highly decorated. All the windows, arches, 
 and doorways are surrounded with stone wreath- 
 ings of the rose and fleur-de-lis. On the north 
 wall, are curtains of damask, with deep gold 
 fringes, concealing a niche in which is to be 
 placed a statue of Queen Victoria. The windows 
 are of stained glass, each pane containing boquets 
 of the Shamrock, the rose, and the thistle, (the 
 flowers emblematic of Ireland, England, and 
 Scotland,) surmounted by crowns. Between and 
 under the windows, are sunken panels for wood 
 bassi relievi. The ceiling of the Princes' Cham- 
 ber, is an elaborate piece of workmanship. It is 
 divided into numerous compartments, each of 
 which is richly decorated. The groundwork of 
 the ceiling is dark-blue. The various compart- 
 ments contain shields, upon which are engraved 
 the arms of England, Ireland, and Scotland. 
 The borders are of fleur-de-lis, and crowns. The 
 fire-places in the chamber attract probably as 
 much attention as any other object. In London, 
 stoves and cellar-heaters are very seldom met 
 
EMBLEMATIC ORNAMENTS. 301 
 
 with. The old-fashioned grates are in general 
 use, even in the kitchens. In the fire-places of 
 the Princes' Chamber, the recess for fire, consists 
 of a low arched space, deeply set in the walls, the 
 sides and back covered with red and blue en- 
 caustic tiles, having on them the lions of England. 
 The spandrels of the arch are decorated with 
 Tudor roses, gilded, from which flow large en- 
 twined branches of shamrock and thistle. Over 
 the arch, in a panel, are three quatrefoils contain- 
 ing shields bearing the arms of England, Ireland 
 and Scotland with their respective mottoes, 
 " Dieu et mon Droit," " Quis Separabit," and 
 " Xemo me Impune Lacessit." Hence, I passed 
 to the chief room of the buildings, — the " House 
 of Lords." The apartment is ninety feet long, 
 forty-five wide, and forty-five high. By some, 
 this is said to be the finest specimen of Gothic 
 architecture in the world, others, equally able to 
 judge, say not. It is lighted by twelve tremen- 
 dous windows of stained glass, each window 
 divided into a number of compartments. Six 
 windows contain, stained in the glass, the por- 
 traits of the Sovereigns of England ; three, those 
 
 of Scotland, before the two crowns were united ; 
 
 26 
 
302 PAINTED WINDOWS. 
 
 and the remaining three, those of Great Britain, 
 In all, there are ninety-six life-size portraits. At 
 each end of the house are fresco paintings, simi- 
 lar in size and appearance to the windows. The 
 group over the throne, consists of Edward III. 
 conferring the Order of the Garter on the Black 
 Prince. The Baptism of St. Ethelbert. And 
 Prince Henry acknowledging the authority of 
 Judge Gascoigne. The group back of the strang- 
 ers' gallery, consists of the Spirit of Justice ; the 
 Spirit of Religion ; and the Spirit of Chivalry. 
 The window-sills are about ten feet above the 
 floor. There are panels and niches under and 
 betw r een the windows for statues and bassi relievi. 
 The ceiling of the house is divided into eighteen 
 large squares, and these in turn divided into four. 
 It is painted deep-blue, finely gilded and orna- 
 mented. Each point where the beams cross to 
 form the squares, is covered by a lozenge-shaped 
 ornament, containing crowns, falcons, dragons, 
 greyhounds, and other emblems of royalty. The 
 borders of the squares, contain roses, fleur-de-lis, 
 crosses and lions. I, as I suppose all republicans 
 would be, was greatly disappointed in the throne. 
 Compared with my imaginings, and the descrip- 
 
THE THRONE. 303 
 
 tions I have read of the English throne, it is no 
 throne at all. Instead of being a tremendous 
 chair of gold, set with precious stones, with pur- 
 ple and gold cushions, stuffed with diamond dust, 
 it is only a small chair of gilded brass, neatly 
 carved, cushions of plain velvet and stuffed with 
 rags, saw-dust, wool, or something similar. It is 
 so small that a woman the breadth of Victoria, 
 will be obliged to dispense with modern fashions, 
 when she occupies it. The chair rests upon four 
 couchant lions. The back is gabled, containing 
 a quatrefoil ornament, having in its centre V. R. 
 entwined with a cord. The cushions of the back 
 are embroidered with silk. Around these is a 
 narrow border composed of rock crystal and en- 
 ameled lions alternately. The chair resembles in 
 form the ornamental walnut chairs, now so fashi- 
 onable in American parlors. On each side of the 
 throne are chairs similarly formed, for the Prince 
 Albert, and the Prince of Wales. 
 
 In the House of Lords, like some other 
 legislative halls I have seen and heard of, many 
 singular scenes have taken place ; and it is not a 
 little strange that historians record very minutely 
 such scenes when very many important things are 
 
304 POPULAR OUTBREAK. 
 
 unnoted. The Parliamentary History is replete 
 with such scenes. For instance " when Lord 
 George Gordon presented the monster petition 
 from the Protestant association to the House of 
 Commons, an infuriated protestant mob had 
 taken possession of the Palace Yard and the 
 surrounding streets ; Lord Mansfield s carriage was 
 attacked, and his windows were broken ; Lords 
 Hillborough, Townshend, and Stourmount were 
 in danger of their lives ; the Duke of Northumber- 
 land was forced out of his carriage, robbed, and 
 his clothes torn to pieces. The Lords who had 
 met to consider, curiously enough, the Duke of 
 Richmond's scheme for annual parliaments and 
 universal suffrage, were in a terrible state of 
 perturbation. At first they resolved to play the 
 part of Roman Senators, and to be masacred at 
 their posts. But fear triumphed ; Lord Montfort, 
 looking ghastly, and covered all over with mud 
 and hair-powder, burst into the assembly, and 
 began to vociferate : the Duke of Richmond 
 appealed to the woolsack for protection ; Lord 
 Mansfield tried to restore order, but Lord Mont- 
 fort insisted on being heard in " an affair of life 
 and death ; for Lord Boston, coming to his duty 
 
LORD CHATHAM. 30o 
 
 as a peer of parliament had been dragged out of 
 his carriage by the mob, who would certainly 
 murder him if he were not immediately rescued 
 from their violence." "At this instant" says 
 the Parliamentary History " it is hardly possible 
 to conceive a more grotesque appearance than the 
 house exhibited. Some of their lordships with 
 their hair about their shoulders ; others smothered 
 with dirt ; most of them as pale as the ghost in 
 Hamlet; and all of them standing up in their 
 several places, and speaking at the same instant. 
 One lord proposed to send for the guards, another 
 for the justices or civil magistrates, another for 
 the coroner, and many crying out " adjourn, 
 adjourn," while the skies resounded with the 
 huzzas, shoutings, hootings, and hissings in 
 Palace Yard. This scene of unprecedented alarm 
 continued for about half an hour." 
 
 Decidedly the most interesting, and to 
 Americans, the most touching scene recorded is 
 the well known last day of Chatham. The 
 occasion was the recognition of American Inde- 
 pendence. Chatham had been very sick and the 
 rapidly increasing infirmities of age had made 
 
 the strong man weak. Pale and emaciated he 
 
 26* 
 
306 LAST SPEECH- 
 
 went to the house wrapt up in flannel, and sup- 
 ported by friends. " Within his large wig, little 
 more was to be seen than his aquiline nose and 
 penetrating eye, He looked like a dying man, 
 yet never was seen a picture of more dignity. He 
 rose slowly from his seat, leaning on his crutches 
 and supported under each arm by his two friends. 
 He took one hand from his crutch, and raising it, 
 cast his eyes towards Heaven, and said, " I thank 
 God, that I have been enabled to come here this 
 day, to perform my duty, and speak on a subject 
 which has so deeply impressed my mind. I am 
 old and infirm ; I have more than one foot in the 
 grave ; I am risen from my bed, to stand up in 
 the cause of my country ; perhaps, never again 
 to speak in this house." The reverence, the at- 
 tention, the stillness of the house were most 
 affecting. If any one had dropped his handker- 
 chief, it would have been heard. At first, he 
 spoke in a low and feeble tone ; but as he grew 
 warm, his voice rose, and was as harmonious as 
 ever ; once more the old flame burnt brightly, 
 and the feeble, tottering cripple was again the 
 mighty orator of his manhood's prime. As Chat- 
 ham was sitting down, his brother-in-law, Lord 
 
HIS DEATH, 307 
 
 Temple, said to him, " You forgot to mention 
 what we talked of; shall I get up ?" Chatham 
 said, " No, no, I will ; I will do it by and by," 
 This, by and by never came. After the Duke of 
 Richmond had spoken, Chatham again attempted 
 to rise, but his shattered frame, was unequal to 
 the feelings of the dying orator. He fell back in 
 a swoon. The whole house was agitated ; political 
 friends and political foes, were alike alarmed. 
 The scene was impressive. It needed not art to 
 commemorate the great man, struck down in the 
 scene of his ancient greatness. Art cannot 
 heighten the interest of that reality. From the 
 Chamber of Peers to Hayes, from Hayes to 
 Westminster Abbey, to mingle his ashes with 
 those of others of England's illustrious sons, were 
 steps thence easily taken — steps the immortal 
 Chatham speedily took. A few days, and Eng- 
 land mourned, — her greatest statesman dead." 
 
 Scenes like this are unprecedented. Scenes 
 arising from abusive words and ridicule are of 
 more frequent occurrence, although the House of 
 Lords is creditably exempt from these. An ex- 
 citement of this kind, said to be the greatest that 
 ever occurred among the lords, originated from 
 
308 OTHER SCENES. 
 
 certain explanations made by some lords concern- 
 ing the position of ministers relative to the Ire- 
 land Coercion Bill. The Duke of Buckingham 
 concluded a government attack by saying : — " The 
 noble and learned lord on the woolsack, (Lord 
 Brougham) and his colleagues think they have 
 buried the noble earl in his political sepul- 
 chre, and that he will never more disturb them ; 
 but they will find themselves mistaken ; the 
 spirit of the noble earl will burst its cerements, 
 and will haunt them in their festivities, and dis- 
 turb the noble and learned lord on the woolsack, 
 in the midst of his potations pottle deep." Of 
 course a tremendous uproar followed. Several 
 arose to speak, but the floor was yielded to the 
 " noble and learned lord on the woolsack," Lord 
 Brougham, who said, u As to the concluding 
 observations of the noble Duke, all I shall say is, 
 that I do not frequent the same cabaret, or ale- 
 house, as he does, (deafening cries of order,) at 
 all events, (continued Lord Brougham, with in- 
 creased energy.) I do not recollect having met 
 the noble Marquis (Londonderry,) at the noble 
 duke's ale-house potations ; — my lords, I have 
 not a slang dictionary at hand. "Here," says 
 
LORD BROUGHAM. 309 
 
 the History, " A whole host of noble lords rose, 
 amidst deafening uproar, to address the house. 
 Lord Brougham remained sometime on his legs 
 as if desirous of proceeding; but the confusion 
 and noise in all parts of the house, were so great 
 as to render any effort to obtain a hearing alto- 
 gether hopeless. The shout of 'order,' was 
 absolutely deafening, and Lord Brougham at last 
 resumed his seat without uttering another word." 
 From the House of Lords, I went to the 
 Peers' Lobby. The Lobby in richness of design 
 and decorations, is next to the house. Over the 
 doorways in the east and west end, are six arches, 
 within which are painted the arms of the six 
 lines of Sovereigns who have reigned in England 
 — Saxon, jNTorman, Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart, 
 and Hanover. Under the South arch, are two 
 gates of solid brass, "weighing over one and a half 
 tons each, and of splendid design. They resem- 
 ble somewhat, but are inferior to those previously 
 described, in the Chapel of Henry VII., Westmin- 
 ster Abbey. The floor, as is the case with that of 
 every hall, entry, and lobby in the building, is of 
 the finest colored marbles richly inlaid with brass. 
 In the w r alls around the lobby, are many gate- 
 
310 st. Stephen's. 
 
 ways leading to the dining, tea and refreshment 
 rooms and kitchens ; all of which are conveniently 
 arranged and nobly sustained for the advantage 
 and interior comfort of the members during 
 sessions. 
 
 Passing through several fine apartments, 
 including a large Central Hall, and a magnificent 
 but incomplete suite of rooms designed for the 
 Peers' Libraries, I started for the House of Com- 
 mons, by way of St. Stephen's and Westminster 
 Halls. There has been since the reign of King 
 Stephen, a hall dedicated to St. Stephen, occupy- 
 ing the site of the present hall. After being 
 several times destroyed, Edward II. built a mag- 
 nificent affair in 1330. This, the fire of 1834 
 did not entirely destroy, so that the present St. 
 Stephen's, may be said to be only the old one 
 repaired in its antique style. The windows are 
 filled with costly stained glass, representing scenes 
 in the life of St. Stephen. The ceiling is entirely 
 of stone, and on this is sculptured the martyr- 
 doms of St. Stephen, — St. Paul, — St. John and 
 others. Around the sides of the doorways in the 
 east and west ends are full length statues of 
 Richard L, Berengaria, John, Matilda, Henry, 
 
WESTMINSTER HALL. 311 
 
 Eleanor, William the Conqueror, two other Ma- 
 tildas, William II., Henry I., and Stephen. 
 Around the walls on large pedestals, are colossal 
 statues of many of England's greatest men. 
 Seldon, Lord Chatham, Lord Mansfield, Burke, 
 Fox, Pitt, Grattan. 
 
 Westminster Hall was built originally in 
 1097. Since then, on account of time's desolat- 
 ing hand, it has several times been almost rebuilt. 
 With Westminster, there is connected much that 
 is interesting. Here, for over seven of England's 
 most interesting centuries, assembled Kings, 
 Queens, Earls, Barons, Lords and Ladies, at 
 merry banquets, gorgeous ceremonies, and many 
 exciting State trials. Now, at every step, the 
 hall shows the encroachments made upon the 
 ancient building by modern reformists. If the 
 ghost of some " Old English gentleman," should 
 pay a visit to the hall, where once in the flesh he 
 spent many jovial hours, his ghostship would 
 hardly recognize the spot. 
 
 The Lobby of the House of Commons is 
 similar in appearance, but much smaller than 
 that of the House of Lords. The style of archi- 
 tecture in the House of Commons is designated 
 
312 HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
 
 an original composition. Its originality is rather 
 questionable; a composition it certainly is, and 
 a disproportional one at that. The apartment is 
 seventy-five feet long, forty-five wide, and forty- 
 one high. The members' seats are arranged 
 around the wall, each tier rising about one foot 
 above the next tier below. The arrangement is 
 the same as the House of Lords, with the excep- 
 tions of there being in the Commons no cross 
 seats, and a table occupying the place of the 
 woolsack. On the table lies the mace which 
 Oliver Cromwell used, or rather, from its appear- 
 ance, abused. The Speaker's chair is at the 
 north-end. On the right of this is the ministerial 
 bench, while directly opposite is the bench for the 
 opposition leaders. There are several galleries 
 for ladies, strangers, and peers who desire to 
 attend the debates in the Commons. The deco- 
 rations are very inferior to those of the upper 
 house. The members also have their libraries, 
 dining, tea and refreshment rooms. There is a 
 large smoking -room for all the members. The 
 style of this is very appropriate, decidedly " gay 
 but not gaudy." The floor is of colored encaustic 
 tiles ; the walls to the height of six feet, -are lined 
 
11 SCENES." 315 
 
 with china slabs; and the ceiling is of hard 
 cement, supported by stone columns. The furni- 
 ture and everything in the room is non-smoke- 
 absorbing. Along on one side are broad door- 
 ways, leading to a wide-covered terrace overlook- 
 ing the river. In the summer, the members use 
 the terrace as a smoking retreat. 
 
 Scenes in the House of Commons are of very 
 frequent occurrence, and partake of all characters 
 from boxing matches to simple absurdities. Of 
 the former named, quite a large number are 
 recorded, of the latter, the two instances following 
 are excellent specimens. " One morning as usual 
 the house met, but the speaker was not there. 
 The house was much alarmed, and very probably 
 went to prayers. A message was then received 
 from the speaker, 4 That he was extremely pained 
 in his stomach, insomuch, that he could not go 
 into the air without great peril, but that he 
 trusted in God to attend them next day.' All 
 the members being very sorry for Mr. Speaker's 
 illness, rested well satisfied, and so the house did 
 rise, and every man departed away." 
 
 "A young member by the name of Shep- 
 hard — we know nothing more of the mail — in a 
 
316 SUNDAY SPOETS. 
 
 speech for a bill for the better observance of the 
 Sabbath-day, says: — 'Every one knoweth that 
 Dies Sabbati is Saturday, so that you would forbid 
 dancing on Saturday ; but to forbid dancing on 
 Sunday, is in the face of the King's Book of 
 Sports, and King David said, " Let us praise God 
 in a dance." This being a point of Divinity, let 
 us leave it to divines ; and since King David and 
 King James did both bid us dance, let us not 
 make a statute against dancing. He that pre- 
 ferred this bill is a disturber of the peace, and a 
 puritan.' Sir Edward Coke delivers a severe 
 reply. The house becomes indignant, and poor 
 Shephard on his knees hears, " That the house 
 doth remove him from the service of this house, 
 as being unworthy to be a member thereof." 
 
 From the present appearances, externally 
 and internally, of the new Houses of Parliament, 
 it is a matter of but little difficulty to imagine 
 what degree of grandeur will pervade the whole 
 when it is finished. Ten or fifteen years will pass 
 before that time comes. Many statues and fres- 
 coes ; many square feet of painting, gilding and 
 carving, and many yards of paving will have to 
 
HEPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM. 317 
 
 be added before the architects can say, "it is 
 finished." 
 
 The present list of members of the House 
 of Peers, numbers four hundred and fifty-one; 
 of whom there are sixteen called Representative 
 Peers, for Scotland. These are elected every 
 parliament. There are also twenty-eight repre- 
 sentative Peers for Ireland, elected for life. The 
 officers of the House of Peers number about 
 seventy. 
 
 In the House of Commons, there are nearly 
 seven hundred members, and sixty officers. The 
 Members of the House of Peers hold their seats 
 on account of their titles, and like their titles 
 tiiey are hereditary. The members of the House 
 of Commons, are called the representatives of the 
 people ; but are elected in the different districts 
 in which they reside, by a stated number of per- 
 sons of every trade and profession. These persons 
 form companies — called elective companies. Of 
 these there are ninety-one. About sixty'of which 
 possess large public halls, in which their meet- 
 ings are held. Thus the members of the House 
 of Commons, may be more appropriately termed 
 the representatives of a class. 
 
 27* 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HOTELS. — COFFEE AND CHOP HOUSES.— 
 GIN PALACES— BOARDING HOUSES.— MISERIES 
 OF BOARDING. 
 
 The American definition of hotel is a build- 
 ing covering several acres of ground, in height, 
 any number of stories above six. The interior 
 of which is arranged and conducted with every 
 consideration for the comfort and convenience of 
 guests. Magnificent rooms for reading and writ- 
 ing, containing books and papers from every part 
 of the world. Bar-rooms, with marble floors and 
 counters, stained glass windows and costly furni- 
 ture. Dining and supper rooms, in which a 
 thousand persons can sit ; the tables covered with 
 as many dishes as ever appeared at a coronation 
 dinner. If in the North an awkward, stepping- 
 
 on-your-toes, officious Irish waiter behind every 
 
 (318) 
 
ENGLISH HOTELS. 319 
 
 chair ; if in the South a pleasant looking, fat, 
 merry, bowing and scraping used-to-the-business 
 darkey, occupying the same position. Bed-rooms 
 perfect ; sheets immaculate ; a place in which to 
 retire perfectly assured that you will not be 
 awakened by an invisible bed-fellow asserting 
 priority of possession, and that in a manner so 
 sharp as not to be disregarded. Everything all 
 over the house in perfect order ; not a particle of 
 dust, a broom, or a bucket to be seen, so that the 
 only wonder is, when is the work done ; who does 
 it ! and how ! 
 
 The English definition is as contrary to this 
 as it is possible to imagine. The building is not 
 higher than three stories, and not over twenty or 
 thirty feet broad by seventy-five deep. Gro to the 
 house at or after dark and it is as hard to gain 
 admission as it is to the pyramids of Egypt. Go 
 in the daytime, knock at the door ; an impudent 
 English youth in knee breeches, powdered hair 
 and white cravat opens it, and shows you 
 to the proprietor's room, allowing you to carry 
 your baggage until he is certain that you are 
 about to become an inmate of the house for a 
 time ; he is then as servilely polite as before he 
 
320 ANNOYANCES. 
 
 was impudent. Bar-rooms, reading rooms, dining 
 rooms and supper rooms are all combined in one 
 designated the "parlor." Established in the 
 parlor you find English papers in abundance. 
 If it is meal time order whatever you desire, 
 you can have it, provided it happens to be in 
 the house. They seem always to be "just out " of 
 everything called for, and a breakfast or supper 
 generally includes only "heggs hand bacon," 
 very good bread and butter, and generally miser- 
 able coffee. Pay for your meals as you get them — 
 even if you board in the house a month. At bed 
 time, shown to a wretchedly uncomfortable room ; 
 board partitions all around, cracks in them wide 
 enough to allow one, without his assistance or 
 desire, to see all the mysteries of his male or 
 female neighbor's dressing apparatus, and to hear 
 all secrets. Get into bed, sheets been used by 
 unknown visitors for at least a week before your 
 arrival, and presently discover the soul-harrowing 
 presence of " legions " — not of angels but — of 
 tormenting imps. Enter the parlor at nine o'clock 
 in the morning it is all shut up, not a paper 
 brought in, nor yet swept, and if it should be in 
 the winter time not a fire made. Of hotels 
 
QUEER NAMES. 321 
 
 making some pretensions to elegance there are 
 about fifteen. But of these, the best, in com- 
 parison with the American hotels is insignificant. 
 Lower class hotels — taverns — beer shops — and 
 gin palaces are numberless. Their names form a 
 curious item. There are seventy bearing the 
 " grapes " — sixty-five " ships " — eighty " crowns" 
 two hundred and fifty " white horses," " white 
 swans," " white lions," and other white animals— 
 in addition to these " king's arms," " queen's 
 arms," " feathers," " fountains " " anchors " and 
 " bells " flourish in great variety. Wealthy 
 gentlemen residing any length of time in London, 
 if unaccompanied by ladies and possessing an 
 influential friend, can find a comfortable altern- 
 ative by joining a club and making their abode at 
 the club house. These club houses are quite 
 celebrated and some of them comparatively 
 grand.* 
 
 Those not remaining long, or not being fortu- 
 nate enough to become a member of a club can 
 find without difficulty a very comfortable coffee 
 
 * Clubs originated in the time of Queen Elizabeth. At the old "Mermaid 
 Tavern " Shakspeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Beaumont and Fletcher with others 
 held a club meeting. There are now 40 clubs with 25,000 members. 
 
322 ENGLISH BEEF. 
 
 and chop house of which in every five minutes 
 walk can be seen a dozen. To strangers and 
 travellers these are certainly the most convenient 
 stopping places in London. The prices are all 
 about the same, although the better the appearance 
 of the house the better is found the quality of 
 the edibles. A good London chop house is a fine 
 school for the study of John Bull nature. Here 
 in one stall sits a wayworn traveller, in the next 
 a poor poet, in another a statesman, in another a 
 soldier, in another a tradesman, all intent on two 
 things, eating a steak or chop and reading the 
 23aper. A paper is of as much importance to an 
 English meal as knife and fork. 
 
 So much has been written and said concern- 
 ing English beef and mutton that these have 
 become celebrated in poetry, music, and prose. 
 I believe their only superiority consists in the 
 English manner of cooking. Certain it is that 
 the English meats I have eaten in America were 
 inferior to those of the American markets and 
 this inferiority originated in the different modes 
 of cooking. Nine hundred and ninety-nine in 
 every thousand of Americans cooks will take a 
 roast of beef or joint of mutton — put it in a pan — 
 
LIQUOR BUSINESS. 323 
 
 cover it up with water, salt, pepper, sage, and 
 numberless other things, place it altogether in a 
 hot oven, allow it to bake all the juice and natural 
 taste away, place it upon the table and call it 
 roast beef or roast mutton. Now an English 
 cook would take the same piece of meat, hang it 
 on the hook of a jack suspended from the mantle 
 in front of the grate, and there it turns and turns 
 until the whole is cooked and all sides alike. 
 The dripping is caught in a dish placed under 
 the meat. Perfectly respectable looking it makes 
 its appearance on the table. Those at the table 
 eat it in peace and goodwill to all mankind, 
 especially the cook and butler, and beyond this 
 feel profound respect for the remains of the 
 murdered animal. A noble institution is good 
 cooking. If those who have all their lives 
 been eating meat cooked in the American fashion 
 will just introduce grates and become converts to 
 the English mode, England's beef and mutton 
 reputation will soon die away. 
 
 The liquor business is carried on in London, 
 certainly to a greater extent than is any other. 
 There is a wall known London boast, that " ±$o 
 one drinks water." This is literally true. The 
 
324 DRINKING. 
 
 rich, with meat and vegetables, drink the best 
 ale and stout ; and wines, brandies and cordials, 
 with dessert. No beggar so poor but that he can 
 afford to spend threpencefor his pint of " af-naf," 
 or stout. 
 
 At wedding parties, baptisms, social gather- 
 ings, funerals, everywhere, every body drinks. 
 Men drink, women drink, and children drink. A 
 sideboard, with well-filled decanters and plenty 
 of glasses, is considered of almost as much neces- 
 sity in housekeeping, as is a table, bed, or chairs. 
 Respectable ladies drink to an incredible extent. 
 I have seen respectable looking women, occupying 
 the most expensive seats in the theatre, produce 
 from their pockets between the acts, a small 
 pocket bottle and glass, and pass them around 
 among their companions. It might have been 
 water; but "no one drinks water." The hired 
 mourners at funerals (mentioned in another 
 chapter,) I have seen standing or attempting to 
 stand on the door steps, beastly drunk. A table 
 with decanters and glasses is frequently placed in 
 the entry near the door for their use. 
 
 In the gin palaces, bars are pu£ up always 
 for ladies' use. The common girls of the city are 
 
ladies' bar. 325 
 
 by no means admitted to the ladies' bar ; they 
 must stand at the common bar among crowds of 
 men. The arrangement of London bars is very 
 different from the American mode. On a stout 
 shelf supported by columns of iron or wood, and 
 going entirely around the room, is placed a num- 
 ber of ornamental casks, containing each from 
 sixty to two hundred gallons. From these to the 
 bar, are pipes placed out of sight, and when a 
 liquor is called for, instead of handing down a 
 decanter and allowing each customer to help him- 
 self, the " tapster," ascertains whether "thre- 
 pence, fawpence, or sixpence 'orth," is desired, 
 and proceeds to measure it out of the cask 
 accordingly. 
 
 At a large establishment, I once enquired the 
 number of sales averaged at the ladies' bar. I 
 accidentally spoke to the proprietor ; he handed me 
 a w r ritten account which he had been keeping for 
 his own instruction and amusement. This was 
 an account of sales from two casks. From one 
 of the casks were drawn only the drinks ; from 
 the other, all liquor that was to be carried away 
 from the store by resectable women. From the 
 retail cask, or the ladies' drink cask, the small 
 
326 "recreation!" 
 
 drinks had averaged ior twenty-four days, sixty- 
 three gallons — the contents of the cask — every 
 four days. From the other cask, in pints and 
 quarts, had been drawn on an average for the 
 same length of time, thirty gallons a day. This 
 was all gin — that being the general drink of the 
 " ladies." The casks are filled by means of pumps, 
 as soon as emptied from the cellar — each cask 
 having a gauge, so that the amount of liquor in 
 each is always known. In this state of affairs no 
 one can wonder at the following quotation from a 
 by-no-means old English paper. M At Dervises, 
 in a case of slightly stabbing with a knife, during 
 a drunken affray after a fair, Lord Campbell said, 
 ' a little recreation was quite proper, and perhaps 
 a slight elevation was not to be found fault with ; 
 but persons should not have recourse to the knife.' 
 The prisoner was sentenced to three months im- 
 prisonment." This kind of "recreation," and 
 " elevation," is very common in London. Fre- 
 quently in broad daylight, and sometimes in the 
 most fashionable streets in the city, are the mirth 
 loving people, entertained with a general street 
 fight, among as many as a half dozen women. 
 Things in the shape and similitude of men, I hn^a 
 
THAMES' WATER. 327 
 
 seen standing by, sometimes holding the bonnets 
 or shawls of the fair combatants, and encourag- 
 ing them with slang terms of endearment learned 
 at Billingsgate. The show generally continued 
 until the police could collect in a sufficiently-for- 
 midable-looking-body, to frighten away the aspi- 
 rants to Jem Ward fame. The police system, 
 and force of London are probably the best in the 
 world, but as such scenes are considered by the 
 learned judges as only " little recreations," and the 
 result of " slight elevations," the police are not 
 particular about interfering, unless in a large 
 body. 
 
 Next to gin, the people drink ale and stout. 
 The breweries being exceedingly numerous, give 
 employment to a large number of men, and ren- 
 ders the prices unimaginably low. English ale 
 and stout are very fattening, and considered quite 
 healthy ; so much so, indeed, that physicians, 
 especially in America, recommend invalids to 
 drink it. When one knows of what this is made 
 he cannot wonder at its fattening qualities. The 
 water of the Thames river, is said to be the best 
 water in the world. Mariners have said that the 
 water taken from immediately around the wharves 
 
328 BOARDING HOUSES. 
 
 of London, will keep better than any other. This 
 has been known to have settled and become bad 
 in one month, and afterwards to recover its pu- 
 rity, and keep fresh and good for over thirty 
 years. All the filth from the streets and houses 
 of London, is carried by the sewers into the 
 Thames. All the water of the docks, which is 
 always more or less poisonous, from the coppered 
 vessels, and things thrown into it, empties into 
 the Thames. Consequently, the river is the 
 dirtiest and filthiest stream imaginable. The best 
 ale and stout, as far as the water is concerned, 
 are made from the unstrained water of the 
 Thames ! 
 
 Boarding-houses are very numerous. These 
 exist in every style, and are conducted on every 
 system. Very few men, except among the 
 wealthy classes, rent an entire house for their own 
 family. Every room, except those intended for 
 the family is " hired out." " Spare rooms," for 
 visitors, form no part of the consideration of a 
 house-holder. The arrival of visitors, always 
 brings with it, a bustling time of making up beds 
 on the floor, or on the parlor sofas. In these 
 boarding-houses, one can board himself in his 
 
PRIVATE BOARDING. 329 
 
 own room, board with the family, or procure his 
 meals at the chop-houses. There is in this vari- 
 ety, the advantage of trying whichever plan one 
 desires. All of them are attended with an indes- 
 cribable degree of misery. I had the good 
 fortune, through the introduction of a friend, to 
 take up my residence in a very good looking 
 house, in a pleasant street, and among a family 
 of a quiet, strict Church of England folks. The 
 house w r as very well furnished. The table was 
 as well provided for as could be expected. Every 
 thing went along fine for a few weeks. I became 
 intimately acquainted with the family. This was 
 my first attempt at boarding in a foreign land, or 
 I would have known that getting acquainted with 
 the family was the worst thing I could have done. 
 Boarders in a city, should only know one member 
 of the family from another ; should desire to 
 know nothing more; pay their bills regularly, 
 and let the family know nothing of them except 
 their names ; allowing the family the privilege of 
 thinking whatever it pleases. Anything beyond 
 this is productive of evil. I know this is a very 
 difficult course for boarders to pursue, especially 
 young gentleman boarders. Should there be one 
 
330 FAMILIARITIES. 
 
 or two good-looking feminine members in the 
 family, such calculations are annihilated. The 
 greatest portion of mankind, or rather of woman- 
 kind, finds out some how or other more of a 
 boarder's business, than the boarder himself 
 knows. 
 
 After the first week or two, I was fully con- 
 sidered a member of the family ; and as a mem- 
 ber of the family of course, I could put up with 
 little things a stranger could not. So thought 
 the family, so thought not I. The fare continued 
 good ; but at first, as is always the case, irregu- 
 larities in my room, introduced themselves. Hav- 
 ing introduced themselves, they became very 
 familiar. Three mornings in seven, I would finish 
 w r ashing and then discover no towels in the room. 
 Combs, brushes, handkerchiefs, w r ould myste- 
 riously disappear. The very book that I hap- 
 pened to be reading would " follow suit," and 
 when enquired for, found sometimes that " it was 
 so interesting, Mr. and Mrs., or Miss next door 
 had borrowed it." This coolness made the matter 
 considerably worse. Now, these in themselves 
 are comparatively small things ; but a mountain 
 is composed of grains of sand. You, that 
 
FELLOW BOARDERS. 331 
 
 never boarded, try the experiment for three or 
 six months. I endured this misery for some time, 
 and until patience ceased to be a virtue, and then 
 resolved on changing quarters. A resolution I 
 speedily executed. 
 
 Number two was considerably better, but 
 here, a new difficulty arose. My peace of mind 
 was almost destroyed by a lovely woman ; or 
 rather by the lovely woman's husband. She was 
 one of the finest looking, best educated, and 
 gentlest of women I ever met. But her husband 
 was a sour, churlish old man. He would com- 
 mence grumbling before breakfast, and keep it 
 up until bed time, everywhere, about everything, 
 and before everybody. His wife received about 
 nine-tenths of the stock. I am certain she looked 
 two shades paler every day. As " self-preserva- 
 tion is the first law of. nature," she should have 
 cut his throat. 
 
 There was another pair in the house j ust the 
 reverse. The male portion was a weak, pusilani- 
 mous man ; and the female portion, a strong 
 bodied, strong minded woman. The woman was 
 evidently the " better man." At least, everybody 
 said so, and with considerable truth. 
 
332 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 There was still a third pair. This consisted 
 of two single individuals. The first was, what is 
 called a pretty young man ; pretty face, pretty 
 features, and about twenty-one years old. The 
 second was a love-sick, romantic, and rather good 
 looking girl of about eighteen. This pair be- 
 longed to an extensive class denominated lovers. 
 Kow, love is a very good thing at a proper time, 
 and in a proper place. This pair smothered each 
 other with sweetness before breakfast, and, like 
 the grumbler, kept it up until bed time; and 
 often, how much longer, Omniscience only knows. 
 As the inmates here, all seemed paired, or going 
 to be, I concluded that two, four, six, or eight 
 might be company, but in spite of " Rory 
 O'Moore," there was no " Luck in odd numbers." 
 
 Number three was in a manner perfect. But 
 who that could " go to house-keeping,"' would 
 put up with the miseries of that purgatorial state 
 of existence called " boarding I? What a degree 
 of bliss unimaginable must exist in the mind of 
 a man who, possessing a latch-key, can say that 
 that unlocks the door of his undivided tenement. 
 Where is no bustling landlady and noisy board- 
 ers to disturb the peaceful flow of life ; but where 
 everything looks, feels, and is comfortable. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE BRITISH MUSEUM. — HISTORY AND 
 DESCRIPTION.— ROOM OF THE GODS.— THE LI- 
 BRARY.— MADAM TUSSAND'S EXHIBITION.— THE 
 MADAM AND GENERAL WASHINGTON. — THE 
 ROYAL FAMILY. — THE HALL OF KINGS. — THE 
 SHRINE OF NAPOLEON, OR THE GOLDEN CHAM- 
 BER—CLOTHING AND EQUIPAGE OF NAPOLEON. 
 — CHAMBER OF HORRORS. — GUILLOTINE. — 
 INTERESTING PREDICAMENT— THE BASTILE. 
 
 The British Museum, the greatest exhibition 
 of nature and ancient art in the world, originated 
 in 1753, with the will of Sir Hans Sloane, who 
 left to the city of London a large collection of 
 books, manuscripts, articles of natural history, 
 and of ancient art. These remained, and were 
 exhibited in a house in Great Russell Street, 
 near the present Museum until 1828, when the 
 present buildings were completed. The style of 
 
 (333) 
 
334 BEITISH MUSEUM. 
 
 architecture used, is called Grecian Ionic, but this 
 is so mixed with the modern English style, that 
 the true style may appropriately be termed an 
 original composition. 
 
 The building is of stone, perfectly fire- proof, 
 and having walls four feet thick. It consists of 
 a broad, deep main building with large wings on 
 each side : faced with stone Ionic columns finely 
 fluted : having a magnificent portico ; and is 
 supposed, like all literary institutions, to bear a 
 striking resemblance to the Parthenon. It stands 
 in the centre of a large square, having a splendid 
 green in front, divided in two parts by a broad 
 stone walk, and is surrounded by a low stone wall 
 on which is a costly iron railing about ten feet high. 
 The front is about four hundred feet long. The 
 Ionic columns are forty-five feet high each, and 
 five feet in diameter at the base. The height of 
 the building from the ground is seventy feet. 
 The chief entrance is reached by a flight of stairs 
 of stone, one hundred and twenty-five feet broad. 
 The portion of the portico between the capital of 
 the columns and the roof is enriched with sculp- 
 ture in marble representing the " Progress of 
 Civilization." This is rather allegorical, and has 
 
ALLEGORICAL SCULPTURE. 335 
 
 been explained by Sir Richard Westmacott as 
 follows. " Commencing at the western angle of the 
 pediment, Man is represented emerging from a 
 rude savage state through the influence of 
 Religion. He is next personified as a hunter and 
 a tiller of the earth, and laboring for his subsist- 
 ence. Patriarchal simplicity then becomes 
 invaded, and the worship of the true God defiled. 
 Paganism prevails and becomes diffused by 
 means of the arts. The worship of the heavenly 
 bodies and their supposed influence led the 
 Egyptians, Chaldeans and other nations to study 
 astronomy, typified by the centre statues, the 
 keystone of the composition. Civilization is now 
 presumed to have made considerable progress. 
 Descending towards the eastern angle of the 
 pediment is mathematics, in allusion to science 
 being pursued on known sound principles. The 
 Drama, Poetry, and Music balance the group of 
 the Fine Arts on the western side, the whole 
 composition terminating with natural history, in 
 w r hich such objects or specimens only are 
 represented as could be made most effective in 
 sculpture.'' 
 
 Under the sculpture is the principal entrance 
 
336 " CURIOSITY SHOPS." 
 
 to the museum. This consists of a large door of 
 finely carved oak, hung in a frame of stone about 
 twenty-five feet high and ten wide. The entrance 
 hall is a magnificent apartment sixty-two feet 
 long, fifty broad, and thirty high. The order is 
 Grecian Doric. The ceiling is enriched with 
 Greek frets and ornaments in many colors, all 
 painted in encaustic. All the statues and fres- 
 coes are beautifully designed and executed. On 
 the east of the Hall, are the MMS. departments. 
 On the west are the grand stairs, and a gallery 
 which forms the entrance to the " curiosity 
 shops." The suite of rooms appropriated to spe- 
 cimens of natural history, commences at the top 
 of the staircase. This collection is contained in 
 three galleries. In cases around the walls of the 
 galleries are the specimens of beasts, birds, fish, 
 and reptiles ; while the shells, corals, eggs and 
 insects are classified in table cases along the mid- 
 dle of the galleries. Among the specimens are 
 several of each sex of every kind of animal, bird, 
 fish, and insect ever heard of, seen or imagined 
 from mice to the leviathan, from humming birds 
 to ostriches, from sprats to whales, and from 
 wortleberry jiggers, and invisible fleas to South 
 
ZOOLOGICAL GALLERY. 337 
 
 American centipedes. Making altogether a 
 collection of several millions. Along the walls of 
 the eastern gallery are arranged one hundred 
 and twenty portraits. Many of them are old 
 and grotesque, but nevertheless very interesting. 
 They are mostly the portraits of England's 
 Kings, Queens, Lords and Ladies, from the 
 earliest times to the present, including some which 
 must have been painted centuries after the 
 original's death. More fanciful and ridiculous 
 pictures could not have been imagined. Some 
 of them bear date 1300. Leaving these galleries I 
 entered what is termed the Northern Zoological 
 Gallery. The wall cases here contain the nests of all 
 kinds of birds and insects, exhibiting the different 
 stages of construction. The table cases contain 
 plaster casts of the interior of shells ; also speci- 
 mens of diseased and deformed shell fish. In 
 the second room the wall cases contain reptiles 
 and the table cases sea eggs, sea stars, and 
 encrinites. The second room owing to the great 
 variety of the species it contains is the largest of 
 the department of natural history. Throughout 
 the entire collection every species has it separate 
 room. The third room is entirely devoted to 
 
 29 
 
338 BRITISH VARIETIES, 
 
 the British collection, consisting of flies, mice, 
 rats, cats, dogs, squirrels, horses, cows, sheep, hogs, 
 and everything else animated, found in Great 
 Britain, including a few snakes from Ireland, 
 brought hither before the entire race was perpetu- 
 ally banished by the good St. Patrick. The fourth 
 and fifth rooms contain whales, sharks, other 
 large " sea birds " and sponges. The collection 
 rooms throughout the entire suite are not 
 remarkable for beauty of design or workmanship ; 
 presenting but little beyond plain pine floors 
 white walls, and ceilings without ornaments. 
 
 In the north wing of the building, there are 
 six large rooms devoted to minerals. There are 
 in this collection many meteorites, which fell from 
 nobody knows exactly where, some weighing- 
 three hundred, and some four hundred pounds. 
 The United States is well represented in the 
 mineral department, there being specimens from 
 nearly every State in the Union. The ground 
 floor of the building is devoted to the depart- 
 ment of antiquities. The different rooms of this 
 department are built in the order of architecture 
 prevailing in the country whence their contents 
 were brought. They consist of Greek, Roman 
 
HALL OF THE GODS. 339 
 
 Egyptian, Chinese, and other styles, all of which 
 have been minutely mentioned in the " Courts 
 of the Crystal Palace." The contents consist of 
 specimens of ancient temples, temple furniture 
 and statuary. One of these rooms, next to the 
 Libraries, claims the greatest share of public at- 
 tention. This is the room devoted entirely to the 
 gods and goddesses of mythological creation. 
 The affected modesty of the American public 
 would rule this room into a state of annihilation. 
 European modesty, on the contrary being real, 
 the European ladies can look at a statue or paint- 
 ing of a man or woman, although perfectly nude, 
 and entertain no feeling of disgust for the inno- 
 cent object. They will also converse with gentle- 
 men concerning the object, its representation, its 
 author, and its merits, in a free, rational, and 
 perfectly modest manner. And this unaffected 
 modesty they carry with them into every position 
 in life. If a lady is engaged in needlework, for 
 instance, and is asked even by a gentleman 
 whom she had never before met, on what 
 she is intent, if she is making or embroidering a 
 petticoat or chemise, she says so. There is no 
 blushing, and stammering, and calling "things" 
 
340 FALSE MODESTY. 
 
 by singular names, in the case. I am alluding 
 to ladies in every sense of the word. Of course, 
 there are extremes. The ladies of the Courts of 
 many of England's Kings and Queens drank, 
 smoked, gambled, and swore, equal to any male 
 courtier. This is one extreme. The ladies of 
 America, blush at the mere mention of any arti- 
 cle of female apparel ; would not be seen at an 
 exhibition of the finest works of art in the world, 
 because the objects are not draped : and prefer 
 wearing into rottenness and rags a costly silk 
 dress and fine petticoats, rather than expose a few 
 inches of ankle while wading through city mud 
 and dust several inches deep. This is the other 
 extreme. A genuine English lady of the present 
 day, is a fine example of a proper medium. 
 Probably one great reason of this difference is, 
 that the American ladies are considered to possess 
 better education and more manufactured accom- 
 plishments than do the English ladies, and as 
 their education and accomplishments increase, so 
 do their ideas of refinement. If this is so, for the 
 sake of all that is pleasant in society, let us have 
 a little less education, fewer accomplishments and 
 a great deal more reality. 
 
THE LIBRARY. 341 
 
 In this apartment, from which I have strayed, 
 the collection embraces all the gods and goddesses 
 of which there is any record, and in every char- 
 acter ascribed to them. Passing by many saloons 
 containing bassi relievi, models, portions of the 
 mausoleum, and the remains of ancient temples, 
 excavated and sent hither by A. H. Layard Esq., 
 from Kouyunjik, JNTinevah, and Nimroud, all of 
 which are mentioned in a preceding chapter, I 
 arrived at the Library. The entrance to the 
 Library is through a large doorway, having a 
 pair of massive oak doors. These, not being 
 opened to the public, are the very doors, the pub- 
 lic think that ought to be opened. In the first 
 place, it is difficult to procure a ticket of admis- 
 sion. This is the labor of weeks and sometimes 
 of months. Having eventually procured a ticket, 
 the second difficulty to be encountered is, to get 
 the doors opened. After tearing the skin off of 
 one's knuckles, and kicking the toes or heels off 
 one's boots, the sooner the attempt is made to 
 kick a panel through the better. The last species 
 of knocking will result finally in admission. 
 Having personally experienced all the pleasure 
 there is in such a course, I can safely say that the 
 
 29* 
 
342 CURIOSITIES. 
 
 view presented when one enters, is not by any 
 means sufficiently fine to repay the preceding 
 trouble. It is true, there are a great many inter- 
 esting things to be seen and heard here. Here 
 are buried the manuscripts of all ages ; here are 
 copies of every book, pamphlet, paper and tract 
 published in Great Britain ; and here are the 
 " Headquarters of the British Standing Army 
 of civilization, " as some writer terms books. 
 Books from all other countries are also here in 
 abundance. All British authors are members of 
 the Library Company. Consequently, writers, 
 however poor, at all times have an excellent 
 library at their disposal. At these writers, I 
 spent some time in looking. One hurriedly 
 thumps, pushes, and kicks simultaneously at the 
 door, and as the applicant evidently understands 
 the modus, the door is opened immediately. In 
 he rushes — convulsively seizes a large volume 
 from an ancient looking pile — finds the place he 
 wanted — runs to a table — makes an extract — 
 violently closes the book, leaving it for the porter 
 to put away — and off he goes. Number two 
 comes humbly — is allowed to knock delicately for 
 half an hour — is then admitted because somebody 
 
authors. 343 
 
 happens to be going out — very politely asks a 
 porter where such a book, manuscript, or paper 
 can be found — porter impudently says he doesn't 
 know nor care — writer looks for several hours 
 around the room, and finally departs disappointed. 
 Number three, neither knocks violently or deli- 
 cately, but in stentorian voice calls out to interior 
 to open the door. Interior says, it is after the 
 hours, no one can come in. Number three swears 
 he will come in. The door opens suddenly, and 
 he does come in. He is a regular roaring, fat, 
 and fashionable John Bull. Administers a kick 
 to unfortunate interior, for not opening the door, 
 and proceeds to tumble down shelf after shelf of 
 books in search of one that he imagines ought to 
 have been written, although no one has ever been 
 able to write on that particular subject. 
 
 The variety and extent of the rooms in the 
 British Museum are really surprising. Rooms 
 for brass ware ; rooms for the coins of all ages 
 and countries ; rooms for the temple and house- 
 hold furniture of ancient times ; galleries for 
 paintings, statuary and marble remains ; besides 
 many other rooms, galleries and saloons, entirely 
 
344 MADAME TUSSAUD'S. 
 
 fill up a building four hundred feet long, three 
 hundred deep, and seventy high. 
 
 Madame Tussaud's. 
 
 After spending a day at the British Museum, 
 I do not know of a better evening entertainment 
 in the metropolis, than Madam Tussaud's. This 
 is an exhibition of wax statues, in addition to 
 relics of history, including many articles that be- 
 longed to Napoleon Bonaparte, The exhibition 
 originated in Paris, in 1772, and was removed to 
 London in 1802. The beauty and fine work of 
 the building and its decorations in which the ex- 
 hibition rooms are situated, contrasts strongly 
 with the majority of the public buildings in Lon- 
 don. Madam Tussaud, the originator, died only 
 a few years ago, and the establishment is now 
 managed by several of her sons. My attention 
 was first directed to a small room, serving as a 
 vestibule to the principal hall. The ceiling was 
 of plaster, richly ornamented, the walls covered 
 with large mirrors and velvet drapery, and the 
 
WELLINGTON KOOM. 345 
 
 floor of tessellated marble. To the left of this, 
 was an entrance to a beautiful room, appropriated 
 to the Duke of Wellington. 
 
 The representation is that of the Duke lying 
 in repose, under a S23lendid canopy of purple vel- 
 vet and gold cloth, on a tented couch, and covered 
 with the mantle of the Order of the Garter. 
 Around this, are many of the emblems of the 
 Duke, and rewards which he gained by his brav- 
 ery. There are several fine paintings in the 
 room, the best of which is " Wellington visiting 
 the relics of Napoleon." Entering the principal 
 hall, the first statue that I saw was that of Gene- 
 ral George Washington. He was dressed in 
 black velvet knee breeches, very long waistcoat, 
 and single breasted dress coat, with straight col- 
 lar, silk stockings, buckled shoes, and carried a 
 " Gentleman's sword." 
 
 Madam Tussaud, who was a French woman, 
 and a great republican, often boasted that she was 
 fortunate enough to have seen and conversed with 
 General Washington. She had his statue placed 
 in the most conspicuous position in the room, and 
 there it still stands. 
 
 Along the walls are beautifully arranged 
 
346 MADAME TUSSAUD'S. 
 
 statues of the good, great, bad and indifferent of 
 all countries, including in the motley group, 
 Kings, Queens, Statesmen, Poets, and Heroes, 
 Paul Pry, Jenny Lind, Tom Thumb, but no 
 Barnum. 
 
 In this style of exhibition, there is certainly 
 something superior to mere painting, or mere 
 sculpture in marble. The effect produced is of 
 course more natural. The objects represented 
 appear as they do in life ; the same size, the same 
 appearance, and the same manner of dressing. 
 The collection of statesmen, wants a Henry Clay, 
 and a Daniel Webster, to render it complete. 
 The centre of the room is occupied by the Royal 
 Family, life size, and quite natural, including 
 among the rest, the latest edition from the royal 
 press. This group presents rather a singular 
 view. The older members of the family were 
 finished sometime ago. Since they were finished 
 the princes and princesses have been added, as 
 they arrived on the stage of existence. The re- 
 sult is, that the Queen looks as she did years ago, 
 at the time she was married, although now sur- 
 rounded by a host of juvenile prattlers. The 
 statue of the Queen when made, was said to be a 
 
THE HALL OF KINGS. 347 
 
 perfect representation. The Queen Victoria of 
 1857, can be as well represented by a " snow 
 man," as by the statue here exhibited. This .is 
 so beautiful, it is very likely that no later statue 
 of Her Majesty will be added. By her side 
 stands Prince Albert, while the family is arranged 
 in the most naturally-domestic order imagin- 
 able. The group is surrounded by a body of the 
 officers of the British Army, of different dates. 
 The collection in this room numbers one hundred 
 and sixteen life-size figures. 
 
 The hall of Kings, so called from the por- 
 traits of the European monarchs which it contains, 
 exhibits in its architecture, a fine specimen of 
 modern English art. The Hall contains about 
 fifty life-size portraits in magnificent frames. In 
 my route, the " Shrine of Napoleon," or the 
 " Golden Chamber," came next. This I looked 
 upon as possessing peculiar interest, for here, 
 imitations were thrown aside, and everything 
 to be seen was real ; the original material, 
 the original work ; everything pertaining to 
 the articles original, and in exactly the 
 same state as when used by Napoleon. These 
 articles were procured by the Tussaud family, 
 
348 CURIOSITIES. 
 
 assisted by the British Government, from the 
 relatives of Napoleon, to whom they belonged. 
 Here is the very camp bedstead on which Napo- 
 leon was accustomed to repose during seven years 
 of his exile at St. Helena, with the mattrass and 
 pillow on which he died. On this, a model of 
 Napoleon in repose has been placed, covered with 
 the cloak he wore at Marengo. In a case, on the 
 right of this, is the Coronation Robe of Napoleon, 
 and also that of Josephine. There is also a large 
 collection of mantel ornaments; small clocks, 
 looking glasses, the flags of Elba, statuary and 
 portraits, all of which belonged to Napoleon. 
 One of the most interesting relics was the table 
 of the Marshalls. This is composed of a single 
 slab of porcelain, slightly over ten feet in circum- 
 ference, resting upon a branching pedestal. The 
 second apartment of the Oolden Chamber, con- 
 tains the military carriage in which Napoleon 
 made the campaign of Russia. This was captured 
 on the evening of the battle of Waterloo, and 
 sent to the Prince Regent, from whom it was 
 purchased by the authority of the British Gov- 
 ernment. The carriage is a cumbrous affair, and 
 contains many apartments for dressing cases, 
 
NAPOLEON. 349 
 
 clothing and arms. Altogether, it is a very com- 
 fortable moveable dwelling for the cold winters 
 of Russia. There was another carriage of Napo- 
 leon's, which was used by him while on St. 
 Helena. This room contains in small cases, arms, 
 clothing, dressing cases, camp equipage, all of 
 which he used during his life. 
 
 Who could repress a sign at Napoleon's fate, 
 when he looks upon the clothes he wore ; the arms 
 with which he often had fought for France; 
 the articles which he used in every-day life ; 
 the carriages in which he rode ; and the very 
 bed and pillow on which was drawn the last 
 breath of the mighty tragedian ! Standing be- 
 side the coronation robe of Josephine, we medi- 
 tate on Napoleon's hours of glory, of happiness, 
 and of love, but beside the arms and campaign 
 carriages, there arises thoughts of his years of 
 sorrow and untold solitude. We think of the 
 mighty thrones and brilliant crowns that like 
 toys were only trampled in the dust. We find 
 monuments of his labors erected in the smallest 
 countries in Europe. And see him eventually 
 doomed to spend his last days in solitude on the 
 ocean-bounded St. Helena. " The splendid works 
 
 30 
 
350 CURIOSITIES. 
 
 of Napoleon's genius will live when even his fame 
 like a phantom, shall be seen through the tele- 
 scope of time." 
 
 With very different feelings, I passed hence 
 to the Chamber of Horrors. This is, very ap- 
 propriately a cool, damp room ; the walls covered 
 with darkly painted rough boards, the ceiling of 
 tiles painted red, and the floor of heavy planks. 
 The room was dimly lighted with gas, the burn- 
 ers in imitation of wax candles, and placed in 
 irregular niches. Around are wax statues of all 
 the notorious murderers, robbers, conspirators 
 and highwaymen ever heard of; real human 
 skulls, original infernal machines, and all kinds 
 of clubs, swords, knives, guns and pistols used by 
 different murderers, together with the models of 
 the rooms and houses where the murders were 
 committed. The most murderous-respectable- 
 looking weapon, is the triangular knife and 
 lunette of the Guillotine. The very article that 
 decapitated Marie Antoinette, Robespierre, 
 Louis XVI., and many others, good and bad, of 
 French revolutionary times. There is here a 
 model of the Guillotine, the same size as the 
 original, and in working order. This consists of 
 
THE GUILLOTINE. 351 
 
 a heavy plank about seven feet long, placed in a 
 horizontal position, raised about two and a half 
 feet above the floor, and of sufficient breadth to 
 allow a man to lie in as comfortable a position as 
 one could lie when conscious that the next second 
 the descending knife would cut off his head. 
 There are on the plank a number of straps by 
 which the victim was bound to it. At one ex- 
 tremity of the plank are two uprights fifteen feet 
 high, leaving between the two a space of one foot. 
 Each upright has a smooth metalic groove facing 
 the other, and running the full length. Up and 
 down these grooves the knife slides, similar tg the 
 saw of a saw-mill. Almost under the knife, and 
 on a level with the horizontal plank are two 
 boards having a semicircle cut in each; one of 
 these is stationary, the other moveable, so that 
 when closed the two semicircles meet ; and in the 
 circle thus formed rests the neck of the prisoner 
 to be decapitated. The knife in shape is a right- 
 angled triangle. The apex and base being the 
 parts that set in the grooves ; the side being the 
 back of the knife and the hypothenuse forming 
 the edge. To render the descent of the knife 
 more rapid and forcible, it is backed heavily with 
 
352 THRILLING SCENE. 
 
 iron. When a prisoner was to be decapitated, 
 the knife was drawn to the top of the uprights, 
 he was adjusted properly on the plank, a spring 
 was touched, the knife with lightning speed de- 
 scended, the inclining edge of the knife sliced off 
 the head which fell into a basket, and the body 
 rolled off into a long trough prepared for it. Two 
 seconds is time sufficient for the entire operation. 
 A gentleman was recently placed in a very 
 awkward situation by the model guillotine. En- 
 tering the Chamber of Horrors, he thought he 
 would experience somewhat the feelings of a con- 
 demned prisoner, and consequently placed himself 
 in proper order on the plank, his head through 
 the neck-board, and while looking up at the knife 
 he discovered it slowly sliding down. The rope 
 being tangled caused the knife to move very 
 slowly, but he perceived that the weight of the 
 knife was slowly dragging the rope out of the 
 loose knot in which it had been tied. The rope 
 was used to draw the knife to the top, and con- 
 sequently moved with the knife. In adjusting 
 himself properly on the plank, he had accidentally 
 caught hold of the rope which moved also the 
 spring. Of course, as soon as he discovered the 
 
THE BASTILE. 353 
 
 descending knife he endeavored to rise, but the 
 rope had caught in the neck-board so that it could 
 not be moved. Utter a very articulate sound he 
 could not, owing to the pressure of the board. 
 From this unpleasant dilemma he was miracu- 
 lously rescued by a person connected with the 
 establishment, who fortunately happened to enter 
 at that moment. He was not clear of the plank 
 when the weight of the knife broke the cord, and 
 down it came with a harmless crash. The gen- 
 tleman stated that he had given himself up for 
 lost, had said all the prayers he could recollect, 
 and consoled himself with the idea of " Fol- 
 lowing in the footsteps of his illustrious pre- 
 decessors," Marie Antoinette and Robespierre. 
 
 Behind the guillotine, is a large model of the 
 condemned cell of the Bastile. This occupies the 
 same position and proximity to the guillotine as 
 did the original. Through the grated door can 
 be seen a wax representation of one of the con- 
 demned. This, by clock work is made moveable. 
 He is pouring over a book of masses, counting 
 his beads, and occasionally stealing a glance at 
 an hour glass of which the sand has almost run 
 out. On the table on which he leans is a dish of 
 
 30* 
 
354 MADAME TUSSAUD. 
 
 food by him untouched, but upon which two mice 
 are voraciously feeding, unheeded by the prisoner, 
 who is intent only on the book and beads. The 
 attitude, countenance, and dress of the poor fel- 
 low show perfectly what humanity is in misery. 
 There are several other models in the room of 
 the Bastile externally and internally. 
 
 At Madam Tussaud's, the ear as well as the 
 eye is gratified. One of the best bands in Lon- 
 don performs every evening, so that viewed as an 
 exhibition of amusement and instruction for every 
 person of every class, age, or sex, there is no 
 better evening entertainment afforded by any 
 exhibition in the metropolis. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A HETEROGENOUS MASS. 
 
 RAILROAD TRAVELLING.— CITY FUNERALS. 
 — THE BAXK OF ENGLAND. — THE ROYAL EX- 
 CHANGE. — PETTICOAT LANE. — TRAFALGAR 
 SQUARE. — THE TEMPLE. 
 
 RAILROAD TRAVELLING. 
 If speed is the motto of all American rail- 
 roads, safety is that of all English railroads. 
 Seldom does an accident of any kind occur on 
 them, and still more seldom, are more than one 
 or two persons killed. Should three persons lose 
 their lives, the whole country would be thrown 
 into a state of perfect excitement. Englishmen 
 also, always show a great deal of feeling for 
 Americans, when they hear of an accident on any 
 American road. Many "terrible railroad acci- 
 
 (355) 
 
356 EAILEOADS. 
 
 dents in America," are manufactured in the Lon- 
 don papers, and thence spread over Great Britain. 
 The difference between the two countries in re- 
 spect to railroads is as great as it is in every 
 other, but this time decidedly in England's favor. 
 Throughout the country, no public or private 
 road can cross a track. The carriage or foot-path 
 must be either built above the track or tunnelled 
 under. A track passing through a small town 
 or village is walled up on each side, having gates 
 placed at convenient distances, and a resident 
 watchman at each gate. In passing through a 
 city, the track must be laid upon heavy stone or 
 brick arches twenty-five feet high; each arch 
 built exactly over the street, so that no thorough- 
 fare will be obstructed. From London these tiers 
 of arches branch out in all directions. Riding in 
 a car, one is level with the upper windows of the 
 houses in the city, and up among chimnies and 
 coal smoke in the suburbs. All the roads are 
 finished with double tracks, thus collisions of 
 opposite trains are avoided. At every station the 
 track is above the ticket office. Persons must 
 procure tickets in advance ; a man is stationed at 
 every door leading from the ticket office, he ex- 
 
TRAVELLING. 357 
 
 amines the ticket, its color and date, if all right, 
 he punches a hole in it. The ticket holder then 
 ascends to the cars and takes a seat. Instead of 
 finding himself in a car with seats arranged up 
 and down a long aisle, among several hundred 
 persons, a comfortable stove if it should be winter, 
 and a finely-furnished apartment altogether, he 
 finds himself only in a large carriage made to 
 hold six persons, three of which carriages being 
 built together on a platform constitutes the car, 
 the doors all open on the sides, often, not a single 
 person to be seen, but remarkably comfortable 
 with all. The pleasure of travelling is greatly 
 enhanced by seeing a few human beings engaged 
 in the same pursuit, and consequently in this par- 
 ticular the American fashion is much the best. 
 One or two hundred persons who had never met 
 before and probably never would again, all talk- 
 ing, laughing, and joking together, make a long 
 journey seem short. Of course, this would be 
 contrary to John Bull's notions of propriety ; and 
 sooner than sacrifice a little opinion, he would 
 ride alone a thousand miles, staring at vacancy, 
 or half asleep. 
 
 Having arrived at a desired station, as the 
 
358 CONDUCTORS. 
 
 traveller gets out a conductor is visible for the 
 first time. An English conductor or guard at- 
 tends only to the starting and stopping of the 
 trains and the baggage. Tickets are given up as 
 the traveller goes down the stairs from the 
 station. 
 
 The locomotives are coal-burning entirely. 
 From each station there are telegraph wires con- 
 necting each other station, and the general office. 
 The semiphore system so generally used in Great 
 Britain, is an exceedingly simple yet useful ope- 
 ration. It consists of posts placed five hundred 
 yards from each station. At the top of the post 
 are red, white, and green arms. When one train 
 is at a station, the red arm signifying danger, is 
 raised by means of a stout wire running along 
 the ground from the station. The guard of any 
 following train, seeing the red arm stops at once. 
 For five minutes after a train departs, the green 
 arm signifying caution, is raised half-way up. 
 When the track is clear, nothing but the white 
 arm is seen. At night, red, green, and white 
 glass slides are raised before a bright light. In 
 very foggy weather when the semiphore signals 
 are not visible, percussion signals are used. These 
 
FUNERALS. 359 
 
 are placed on the track, so that the first wheel of 
 the engine sets them off, and the engineer pro- 
 ceeds according to the signal. With these rules 
 fully carried out, railroad accidents in England 
 are almost unheard of. 
 
 London Funerals. 
 
 Of all cold, formal, uncharitable, and un- 
 christian-like sights to be seen in London, a 
 funeral is certainly the greatest, combining as it 
 does all of these characters, in addition to several 
 others for which no expressive name can be 
 found. 
 
 Among the aristocracy when a person dies, 
 unless he is some great general or other public 
 character, no one attends the funeral except the 
 immediate family of the deceased. Friends of 
 the family send only their empty carriages. I 
 have frequently seen a magnificent hearse, attended 
 by many hired mourners and one carriage con- 
 taining the immediate family of the deceased 
 following the hearse, then a long train of empty 
 
360 MOURNERS. 
 
 carriages of all kinds and descriptions. Among 
 the lower classes funerals consist of a hearse and 
 one carriage, but always attended by hired 
 mourners. These mourners are composed of the 
 very lowest of the low ; they are generally as 
 drinking, gambling, and murderous a set of men, 
 or devils, as ever abode within the walls of a 
 jail. They dress in black with a long alpacca 
 gown trimmed with velvet thrown around them. 
 From their hats to their feet flow two long ends 
 of a bow of white Irish linen. Their duty 
 consists in standing at the door of the dwelling 
 wherein lies the deceased, for some hours before 
 the time of the funeral ; in drinking all the 
 liquor they can in the meantime, and in walking 
 beside the hearse at the funeral. Each one of 
 them carries in his hand a staff over the top of 
 which is folded a piece of linen similar to that 
 worn on the hat. Their chief duty is to mourn 
 the fate of the departed. 
 
 Every undertaker thinks it incumbent on 
 himself to outdo every other undertaker in 
 ridiculing the dead. The shops exhibit from the 
 ground to the roof all kinds, sizes, and shapes of 
 coffins; beautiful epitaphs for the tomb of the 
 
MOCKERIES. 363 
 
 dead; neat positions for " laying out;" and 
 pictures of funerals underwritten thus : — " fu- 
 nerals got up in this style for £10.," or plainer 
 funerals, for less money. 
 
 In every manner possible or imaginable, are 
 the dead made a mockery and a mere mercenary 
 affair. It is easy enough to talk of a person's 
 being insensible to everything done to his body 
 when his pulse shall have ceased forever to beat, 
 but I am led to doubt very much whether the best 
 christian of modern days would die in London as 
 easy as he would out of it. Custom is a great deal, 
 and Londoners must have got accustomed to 
 this manner of treating their dead. 
 
 If this, however, is the manner in which 
 London funerals are conducted, it is not so with 
 funerals in the country. In a small village many 
 miles from the noise and dust of the city, I at- 
 tended once a funeral. It was in the summer. 
 The departed was quite young, and well known 
 in the town. I was told by an acquaintance of 
 
 the person that during L 's sickness the 
 
 entire village seemed like a sick room. Everything 
 was still and solemn. All amusements were 
 suspended, and special prayer meetings were 
 
364 COUNTKY FUNEKALS. 
 
 held in private houses. Every one was interested, 
 and every one did all possible to add a mite to 
 
 L — *'s comfort and pleasure. But L 
 
 grew rapidly worse and at last, surrounded by 
 many friends, died. I entered the village the day 
 of the funeral and seeing the places of business 
 and the houses closed, and people in their best 
 walking about, I concluded that either they or I 
 had mistaken the day. I ascertained the cause at 
 the inn and resolved to attend the funeral at five 
 o'clock as appointed. Every one in and around 
 the village that could attend was there, and 
 the church yard was crowded. No hearse carried 
 the body to the grave yard, but it was borne by 
 friends. Mourners were there in crowds, but 
 they were not hired. The evening was the finest 
 I ever saw in England, and as the voice of all 
 that could joined in a hymn, and filled the air 
 with solemn melody, I contrasted the scene with 
 a London funeral. This was the first death that 
 had occurred in the village for years. Every one 
 knew of it. The bell tolled, and its solemn echo 
 rang along the valley and over the hill ; the de- 
 parted has left a vacant place which will 
 not be filled. In the morning L , will 
 
GRAVEYARDS. 365 
 
 be missed in the accustomed walks ; at noon will 
 not be seen, nor at night ; — yet will be remembered. 
 In London one dies and is buried. His com- 
 panions hear of it, say, " Poor fellow," and go to 
 a ball or the theatre. 
 
 How much it is to be regretted that in our 
 American cities, funerals are becoming daily more 
 formal. 
 
 It is said that at the present time in London, 
 it is more difficult to find room for the dead than 
 it is for the living. The city graveyards have 
 been dug out over and over again. They now 
 build vast catacombs near the city, and to these 
 hundreds are daily carried. " The number of the 
 dead long exceedeth all that shall live. The 
 night of time far surpasseth the day, and who 
 knows when was the equinox ? Every hour adds 
 unto that current arithmetic which scarce stands 
 one moment." 
 
 31 
 
366 BANK OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The Bank of England. 
 
 The first National Bank in England, was 
 incorporated by an act of Parliament in 1694. 
 At its inception it was properly characterized as 
 a "Whig Institution" — and the strong tories 
 loved to keep up the odious distinction for a hun- 
 dred years — at present it cannot be designated 
 as belonging to any political party — it is literally 
 the financial sun of the commercial world. 
 
 The style of architecture of the present 
 buildings is of no particular order ; for having 
 been erected at different periods, by persons of 
 different tastes, no one of the architects saw 
 proper to consult with his predecessor. The 
 Corinthian slightly predominates. The buildings 
 cover an area of eight acres. The exterior ap- 
 pears an ornamented high wall, with but one 
 entrance, and not a single window. Within the 
 walls, there are nine large open courts upon which 
 the windows all open. No American or other 
 foreigner is admitted to view the Bank without 
 an order from the American or other resident 
 minister. Having complied with the law, I en- 
 tered, and having shown my ticket was placed in 
 
BOOK ROOM. 367 
 
 the hands of a guide, who immediately com- 
 menced business by informing me who he was, 
 where he was born, how long he had been in the 
 bank, when he expected to leave, and many other 
 things equally important. Accompanied by this 
 loquacious specimen, I visited first the book-room. 
 Here, every size and kind of book used in the 
 establishment, and by the depositors is made. A 
 large number of persons mostly girls, were em- 
 ployed in binding and assorting. In the printing 
 office, all the notes are printed. The paper used 
 is made expressly for the bank, and consists of 
 small oblongs about seven inches long and four 
 broad. In each, is manufactured the water mark 
 which in a five pound note is the word " Five," 
 in a ten pound note H Ten," no note being issued 
 of less denomination than five pounds. After the 
 note is printed, it is taken into a private room 
 where the date and president or governor's sig- 
 nature are affixed, also by press. The day that 
 a bill is issued, its date and number are written 
 upon # a large card, so that when a note is pre- 
 sented, if it does not correspond as far as date 
 and number are concerned, something is imme- 
 diately known to be wrong. No bill is issued the 
 
368 BURNING NOTES. 
 
 second time. When a bill returns to the bank, 
 it is placed in a drawer where it remains a cer- 
 tain length of time ; the signature is then torn 
 off; the note is sent into the vaults where it is 
 safely deposited in a case with all notes bearing 
 the same date, and at the expiration of ten years 
 it is burned. While I was in the vaults, they 
 were preparing for an extensive conflagration. 
 Bills that were once worth millions, were piled 
 up to the very ceilings, now good for nothing. 
 
 One object in this course is, that if a bill is 
 out of bank an unaccountably long time (one 
 year is considered a long time) and is then pre- 
 sented at the counter, it is compared with the 
 bills in the case of that date in the vaults. To 
 avoid counterfeits, another precaution is taken by 
 the merchants. No merchant receives from 
 another a bill unless it bears on the back the sig- 
 nature of the person from whom he receives it ; 
 and at the bank no bill will be cashed unless it 
 bears the signature of some responsible person 
 or unless the one presenting the bill i§ well 
 known. 
 
 As a result of all these precautions, gold, 
 
coins. 369 
 
 silver, and copper form the general currency of 
 the country* 
 
 In addition to the book and printing rooms, 
 there are many public and private offices, libra- 
 ries, an armory, governor's residence, and porter's 
 lodges within the walls. Viewed as a whole, it 
 seems like a small town. The direction of its 
 affairs is vested in a Governor, Deputy Governor, 
 and twenty-four directors, thirteen of whom with 
 the Governor constitute a quorum. The clerks 
 employed number twelve hundred, in addition to 
 guides, messengers, and porters. 
 
 In the City of London there are about one 
 hundred banking institutions. The majority 
 being private concerns. 
 
 The gold coins of England consist of sov- 
 ereigns and half sovereigns. The guinea has 
 passed away. A sovereign — or one pound — is 
 about the size of the American five dollar coin — is 
 somewhat thinner, and its American value is about 
 four dollars and eighty cents. There are six silver 
 coins. The crown — a coin about the size of a sil- 
 ver dollar — is in English money worth five 
 shillings, or one dollar and twenty cents. Then 
 there are half-crowns, shilling, sixpence, four- 
 
370 KOYAL EXCHANGE. 
 
 pence, and threpence pieces. The penny is a 
 cumbrous copper coin — as large as an American 
 silver dollar — and weighs one ounce. The other 
 copper coins consist only of half-pence and farth- 
 ings. 
 
 The Royal Exchange. 
 
 South-east from the Bank of England stands 
 one of the finest public buildings in London— 
 the Royal Exchange. The original establishment 
 was founded during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 
 and opened in 1567. She called the building, the 
 " Royal Exchange," and though several times 
 destroyed and rebuilt — it is still known through- 
 out the world by that name. 
 
 The present building was opened in 1844. 
 It is a Grecian edifice, of granite and built upon 
 the four sides of a square, leaving in the centre a 
 magnificent open court, paved with valuable stone 
 from Turkey. Around the court is a fine broad 
 terrace connected by archways with the court, 
 and by heavy iron gates with the streets. This 
 
" LLOYD'S LIST." 371 
 
 terrace is greatly resorted to during the day as 
 affording a line promenade. Comfortable seats 
 line the sides, the ceiling is beautifully decorated, 
 and many statues ornament the walls. In the 
 centre of the court stands a colossal statue of 
 Britannia. The lower rooms of the building are 
 occupied entirely as stores, while all the merchant 
 business is carried on in large and appropriate 
 rooms above. From one of these rooms issues 
 daily a little paper which is well known in all 
 parts of the world, " Lloyd's List." The paper 
 is devoted entirely to shipping. Every ship that 
 arrives in and sails from Great Britain is accu- 
 rately noticed. Every accident or unusual event 
 occurring to ships throughout the world, that is 
 heard of at all, is here fully described. West of 
 the Exchange there is another monument, erected 
 to the memory of the Duke of Wellington. This 
 is an equestrian statue of the Duke, cast from the 
 guns taken at Waterloo. The pedestal is of 
 granite. The cost of the monument was about 
 forty-five thousand dollars. Fortunes seem to have 
 been expended by the government to keep before 
 the people the mementoes of the " Iron Duke." 
 
372 LOW LIFE. 
 
 Petticoat Lane. 
 
 The picture of low-life presented by Petticoat 
 Lane, or, as it is often called, the Houndsditch 
 Exchange is unsurpassed by any in London. 
 This is the grand rendezvous of Jews. Here assem- 
 ble lame, blind, sick, sore, and well Jews. French 
 Jews, German Jews, Irish Jews, Dutch Jews, 
 English Jews, Scotch Jews, American Jews, 
 African Jews, Jew Jews from Jewry or Jerusalem, 
 and every other kind of Jews. They meet here 
 to buy, sell and steal. They buy hareskins, 
 bones, rags, broken glass, bottles, books, furniture, 
 jewelry and even houses and lands. They sell 
 everything they buy, and sometimes a great deal 
 more. They steal everything they can get their 
 hands on. In addition to these wandering Jews 
 there are permanent stalls for the mending of 
 umbrellas, for the sale of old clothes, boots, and bon- 
 nets, and for the temporary hiding of stolen goods. 
 The greatest degree of bustle and anxiety is 
 always manifested on Sunday morning before 
 eleven o'clock, from which time until one, accord- 
 ing to law, every store and species of business in 
 
PETTICOAT LANE. 373 
 
 London must be suspended. One Sunday morn- 
 ing having received all necessary warnings and 
 advice concerning the motley assemblage, I stow- 
 ed away gloves, papers, and handkerchief into 
 inside pockets ; buttoned my coat up to the neck, 
 and proceeded to reconnoitre the premises. The 
 " lane " properly is only one short alley, but the 
 business extends through four or five small streets, 
 meeting each other at different angles. Imme- 
 diately I entered the lane I was surrounded by 
 Jews of all countries and saluted in a half dozen 
 different languages. Some wanted to buy the 
 clothes I had on, others desired me to see if I 
 had any clothes at home to dispose of, others 
 wanted me to purchase pictures, books and every 
 imaginable article, and it was not until I had 
 several times walked through the entire establish- 
 ment and demonstrated by my irreproachable 
 conduct that I was not a Jew, and did not intend 
 to break the fourth commandment, that I was left 
 in peace. Finally I found a seat commanding an 
 extensive view of the exchange. From this spot 
 I could see without being seen, all that was going 
 on in different portions of the lane. In one spot 
 among an immense pile of crockery-ware was 
 
 32 
 
374 SQUALID WftfcfeftfJiX&ESS. 
 
 a being dressed in such a manner that it tvag 
 extremely difficult to tell to what sex it belonged. 
 Long boots, a man's hat, a man's coat with skirts 
 torn off, and short skirts that looked like woman's 
 apparel. The features were masculine but from 
 the skirts of calico, and voice, I eventully concluded 
 it was a woman. Satisfied with this conclusion 
 I watched the noisy crowd around her. Some of 
 the crowd desired to purchase, while the majority 
 were very anxious to call her attention to some 
 damaged piece of crockery which they had for 
 sale. In another spot was a wandering boot 
 maker or mender. He carried his bench with 
 him, and every one that employed him sat down 
 on one end of the bench, took off his boots or shoes, 
 and waited until the heeler and mender of soles* 
 had acomplished his task. 
 
 Although there are many evils resulting from 
 a place like Petticoat Lane, yet there is one thing 
 about it of great use to a large class of persons. 
 The poorer class of persons can here purchase 
 good clothing, good furniture, and good books, for 
 a mere nothing. These things in many cases have 
 been but little used, they are often bought by the 
 Jews for trifling sums, and still oftener stolen. 
 
JEWISH PRACTICES. 375 
 
 There is one department devoted to silk goods, 
 always made up. Here I saw many costly and 
 beautiful silk dresses sold for an incredibly small 
 sum. These had evidently, if worn at all, been 
 worn only on one or two occasions. The " ladies " 
 that live on the smiles of the public are good 
 customers here. The venders of the silk goods 
 consist generally of the best looking Jewesses, 
 and I could not resist the temptation of indulging 
 in a little harmless conversation with the dark- 
 skinned, black-eyed Hebrew maidens. 
 
 The business carried on in the exchange is 
 one of the most profitable in London ; and many 
 rich fashionable Jews, residing in pomp in the 
 finest part of London, resort to the lane, and in dis- 
 guise sell and buy old clothes, bones and rags. 
 
 Trafalgar Square. 
 
 One of the finest ornamental spots in London 
 is Trafalgar Square. This is not an enclosed piece 
 of ground with trees and flowers growing in it, 
 and gravel walks, as Americans understand the 
 
376 TRAFALGAR SQUARE. 
 
 word " square," but is paved entirely with tessel- 
 lated marble, has raised terraces for promenading, 
 splendid fountains always playing, and great 
 numbers of costly statues and monuments. On 
 one side of the square is a fine building of stone 
 used as the National Gallery of Paintings. The 
 collection embraces the finest works of the best 
 painters, for several centuries past. These are 
 contained in a number of large galleries comfort- 
 ably furnished and well lighted. The collection 
 is daily increased by the paintings sent to it from 
 gentlemen employed in travelling over Europe to 
 procure all the finest ancient and modern works. 
 The present collection is valued at about six- 
 hundred thousand dollars. It would be impossible 
 to describe the many paintings exhibited here ; 
 those representing scenes in the life of Christ, 
 scenes from the plays of Shakspeare, and certain 
 historical pictures are decidedly the best. Among 
 the latter the " Abduction of Sabine Women" 
 ranks highest. 
 
 The Church of St. Martin's in the Fields with 
 its celebrated colonnade, faces the square. In 
 front of the church is a fine equestrian statue of 
 George IV. Not far from this is a similar statue 
 
STATUES. 377 
 
 of George III. In the middle of the south front 
 stands a beautiful column, considerably over a 
 hundred feet high, erected to the memory of 
 Nelson. The column is surmounted by a colossal 
 statue of Nelson, and the pedestal is ornamented 
 with bronze bas reliefs. Facing the column is 
 another equestrian statue. This is of Charles I., 
 in bronze. From this monument the Heralds of 
 the court proclaim the accession of a new 
 sovereign. 
 
 Trafalgar Square is the second centre of 
 Lndon, the city being elliptical, and the Mansion 
 House, the first centre. Consequently the neigh- 
 borhood is a scene of life, noise and confusion, in 
 this respect but little dissimilar to every part of 
 the great metropolis. 
 
 32 ' 
 
378 LAWYEBS. 
 
 The Temple. 
 
 The Temple consists of a large number of 
 buildings, courts, and gardens, devoted entirely 
 to the use of lawyers and law students. Here 
 they can eat, drink, sleep, study and practice 
 Without leaving the building in which their apart- 
 ments are situated. The establishment is divided 
 into the Inner and Middle Temples. Each oc- 
 cupied and regulated by a different society. The 
 gardens overlook the Thames. They are beau- 
 tifully laid out and always in perfect order. They 
 are surrounded by the dwellings of the barristers. 
 In one of these dwellings, formerly resided 
 Oliver Goldsmith. In addition to the dwellings 
 are two large halls, two libraries, and a magnifi- 
 cent church. The " Church," is very ancient, 
 having been founded by the Knights' Templars. 
 It is built on the model of the Church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. This is said to be the 
 best specimen of fine Gothic architecture in exist- 
 ence, although very small. Service is regularly 
 performed here, the pews being engaged entirely 
 
THE CHURCH. 379 
 
 by lawyers and their families, and the public ad- 
 mitted only by tickets, signed by a member of the 
 Temple. The service is that of the Church of 
 England, but owing to the amount of ceremony 
 everywhere introduced, this fact would hardly be 
 detected. The officiating clergyman chaunts all 
 the prayers, the choir chaunting the Aniens. The 
 responses are all chaunted, as is also the creed, 
 and even the sermon is preached in a kind of 
 sing-song manner, resembling somewhat a school- 
 boy reading poetry. 
 
 The wood- work of the church is of oak finely 
 carved, and constructed in the Gothic style. The 
 windows are filled with costly stained glass. The 
 floor is of finely inlaid marbles and brass. The 
 ceiling is of stone, so constructed that one stone 
 removed, the whole ceiling and roof falls. The 
 borders of the ceiling and roof are supported by 
 tier upoii tier of Gothic rounded and pointed 
 arches. The sculptures, although executed many 
 years ago, are as fresh looking as if done but 
 yesterday, and the whole arrangement of desks, 
 pulpits, communion tables, and font is as con- 
 venient as possibly could be. This is the very 
 
380 OLD AECHITECTURE. 
 
 oldest building of any kind in the metropolis — 
 and this fact alone renders it a matter of deep 
 interest. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HAMPTON COURT PALACE. — HISTORY AND 
 DESCRIPTION. — ROYAL RELICS. — THE CAR- 
 TOONS OF RAPHAEL— WOLSEY'S HALL. — THE 
 PALACE GARDENS. — CARDINAL WOLSEY.— IITS 
 PRIVATE LIFE.— HIS DESERTION AND DEATH. 
 
 -" Close by those meads, forever crowned with flowers, 
 Where Thames with pride surveys his rising towers, 
 There stands a structure of majestic frame, 
 Which from the neighboring Hampton takes its name. 
 Here Britain's statesmen oft the fall foredoom, 
 Of foreign tyrants, and of nymphs at home. 
 Here thou, great Anna ! whom three realms obey, 
 Dost sometimes counsel take— and sometimes tea." 
 
 As far back as the days of the Doomsday 
 Boole^ can be traced Hampton Manor. After be- 
 ing mentioned in that book, it passed through 
 several hands until Cardinal Wolsey, at the sum- 
 mit of his power, desirous of building the most 
 regal residence in Europe, and at the same time 
 
 381 
 
382 HAMPTON COURT. 
 
 wishing to enjoy a long life of health, by the ad- 
 vice of learned doctors of Padua, purchased the 
 manor. This step taken, one after another, rose 
 the towers and walls of Hampton Court Palace. 
 It at present consists of three large courts. The 
 Western Court is one hundred and sixty-seven 
 feet long, and one hundred and sixty- two feet 
 wide. This is divided into several apartments, 
 and is private, owing to several families having 
 their residences in it. The Clock Court is per- 
 fectly square, being one hundred and thirty-four 
 feet each way. The buildings are entirely of 
 brick, having marble window-sills and door- 
 frames. They form three sides of a square ; the 
 interior having several open courts, and the 
 fourth side enclosed by a high wall. In this wall 
 is a splendid gateway leading to the interior de- 
 partments. Over the gates are the arms and 
 private motto of Cardinal Wolsey. The towers 
 on each side of the gateway are ornamented with 
 terra cotta busts of Roman Emperors: on the 
 east tower are Titus, Otho, Gralba, and Julius : 
 on the west Vitellius and Augustus. Within the 
 gateway are busts of Trajan and Adrian. At a 
 
STAIRCASE. 383 
 
 Small gate are Tiberius and Nero, which were 
 sent from Rome by Pope Leo X., to the Cardinal, 
 1 entered the Palace through the South gate, 
 passing through a magnificent colonnade of Ionic 
 columns, into a small hall from which ascended 
 the " King's grand stairs." The staircase was 
 painted by Verrio. All the representations are 
 in the brightest colors, and the positions given of 
 the various objects are exceedingly graceful. On 
 one side are the Muses, who, assisted by Apollo, 
 are engaged in a musical festival. Under them 
 is Pan playing upon reeds, and under Pan is 
 Ceres carrying a wheat-sheaf, and pointing to 
 several loaves of bread. Near Ceres are Thame, 
 Isis, Pomona, and Flora, at a table covered with 
 rich plate, fruit, flowers, and wine. The scene 
 on the ceiling represents Jupiter and Juno seated 
 at a table supported by lions. Ganymede on an 
 eagle, handing a cup to Jupiter. In front of the 
 table is the peacock of Juno. Near Jupiter is 
 one of the Fates in attendance. At another part 
 of the table are seated Time and Cybele. The 
 corners of the ceiling are filled with flowers. The 
 other sides of the staircase are covered with Cu- 
 pids, Yenus, Mars, and other deities. From the 
 
384 STATE APARTMENTS. 
 
 staircase I entered the Guard Chamber. This is 
 a splendid room about sixty feet long, about forty 
 wide, and thirty high. The walls of the room 
 are covered with dark panels, consisting of an 
 upper and lower row. The upper row is orna- 
 mented with muskets, swords, pistols, daggers, 
 and coats of mail, all in perfect order, and ar- 
 ranged in many curious ways. There are enongh 
 arms in the chamber to equip about twelve hun- 
 dred men. The lower panels contain in all twenty 
 portraits of naval heroes, a painting of the Colos- 
 seum at Rome, and several battles. The ceiling 
 is finely decorated with roses and fleur-de-lis. 
 Leaving the Guard Chamber, I passed succes- 
 sively through the King's Presence Chamber, — 
 Second Presence Chamber, — Audience Chamber, 
 — King's Drawing Room, — King William III.'s 
 Bed Room, — King's Dressing Room, — King's 
 Writing Closet, — Queen Mary's Closet, — Her 
 Majesty's Gallery, — Queen's Bed Room, — Queen's 
 Drawing Room, — Queen's Audience Chamber, — 
 Prince of Wales' Bed Room, and about twenty 
 other large State apartments, the names of which 
 I did not note, as they were all the rooms of dif- 
 ferent Kings and Queens at various periods. On 
 
FINE PAINTINGS. 385 
 
 the walls in these rooms are hung one thousand 
 and ninety-three large paintings. An idea of the 
 vast extent and magnificence of the original pal- 
 ace may be obtained from the fact that Wolsey 
 had two hundred and eighty costly silk beds in 
 the building for the accommodation of his visitors, 
 and exclusive of his own household, which always 
 numbered several hundreds. The ceilings in all 
 of the rooms are finely painted, representing 
 scenes in the history of England, and the alle- 
 gories of mythology. None of the furniture of 
 Wolsey's establishment is in the Palace. In the 
 Audience Chamber, is the canopy of rich damask 
 silk embroidered with gold, under which the 
 Pope's nuncio was received by James II. In 
 King William III.'s Bed Room is the State Bed 
 of Queen Charlotte. The bed furniture consists 
 of beautiful specimens of needlework, richly 
 embroidered ; made by the pupils of an Asylum 
 founded by Queen Charlotte, for the orphan 
 daughters of clergymen. At the head of the 
 bed is an ancient clock, which goes twelve months 
 without winding. In the Queen's Bed Room is 
 the state bed of Queen Anne. The bed furniture 
 
 and curtains are of worked velvet ; there are also 
 
 33 
 
386 CARTOONS. 
 
 a number of chairs and stools covered with velvet 
 to correspond. In the Queen's Audience Cham- 
 ber, is the State Canopy of Queen Mary. This 
 is of rich damask silk. The Public Dining 
 Room contains the State Canopy prepared for the 
 lying-in-state of the Duke of Wellington, at 
 Chelsea Hospital in 1852. The Canopy is very 
 large, surmounted by black plumes and flags, 
 richly decorated with silver, and lined entirely 
 with silver tissue. In front of this are the 
 Duke's arms and motto, " Virtutis fortuna 
 comes" All the hangings are of black vel- 
 vet, also lined with silver, and bordered with sil- 
 ver fringes and tassels. On each side of the 
 canopy are columns formed by binding a number 
 of spears in black velvet. On these are shields, 
 arms, and mottoes. The funeral car is under the 
 canopy. 
 
 A gallery in another part of the Palace con- 
 tains the celebrated cartoons of Raphael. These 
 have attracted the attention of artists for many 
 years. They were designed about 1520 — by 
 Raphael, according to orders received from Pope 
 Leo X. The scenes are taken from the life of 
 Christ, and the apostles. They are called car- 
 
TAPESTRY. 387 
 
 toons from being finely painted on large sheets of 
 paper. Their history has been but little beyond 
 a scene of constant changing of places and 
 owners. 
 
 The Great Hall is the finest built and largest 
 apartment in the Palace. It was designed by 
 Cardinal Wolsey, and was finished by Henry 
 VIII., after Wolsey's fall from royal favor, and 
 when Anne Boleyn reigned monarch of the king's 
 heart. The Hall is one hundred and six feet long, 
 forty wide and sixty high. The roof of the Hall 
 is exceedingly grand, its proportions perfect, and 
 its ornaments appropriate. It is said that James I., 
 as well as Elizabeth, had a theatre in the Hall, 
 and that here Shakspeare's plays were acted for 
 the first time. The lower parts of the walls are 
 hung with tapestry in eight portions, in each of 
 which is a scene in the history of Abraham. 
 
 The first — Grod appearing to Abraham and 
 blessing him. 
 
 The second — The birth of Isaac, his circum- 
 cision, and the expulsion of Hagar and Ish- 
 mael. 
 
 The third — Abraham sending his servant to 
 seek a wife for Isaac. 
 
388 HAMPTON COURT. 
 
 The fourth — The Egyptians sending away 
 Abraham and Sarah with gifts. 
 
 The fifth — Abraham giving entertainment to 
 three angels. 
 
 The sixth — Abraham purchasing, for a burial 
 place, the cave of Machpelah. 
 
 The seventh — Abraham and Lot parting. 
 
 The eighth — Abraham offering up Isaac. 
 
 There are other tapestries at the entrance 
 The largest one of which represents the pleading 
 of Justice and Mercy. There is a latin inscrip- 
 tion under it. " Lewdness or wickedness, before it 
 acquires a character from habit, merits the inter- 
 ference of justice or mercy. By Justice guilt is 
 menaced with punishment, but by mercy it is 
 made intercession. When blessed fortitude ap- 
 pears in the field, sin always is vanquished. Sin 
 is everlastingly punished in torment by the vir- 
 tues, and it never dies. Sin was the enemy of the 
 first man, it became deadly and unpardonable. 
 The seven deadly sins, as they are licentiously 
 produced in the world are here allegorically por- 
 trayed." 
 
 Between every window are stags' heads 
 carved in wood, and to which are joined gen- 
 
GARDENS. 389 
 
 nine antlers. Above the heads are banners 
 having embroidered on them the emblems and 
 arms of Wolsey. Over the entrance there is a 
 pile of swords, spears, and mail armor. The 
 windows of the Hall are of fine stained glass 
 containing portraits in full length, arms, mottoes, 
 and battle representations. Adjoining the Hall 
 is a small " withdrawing room." It is finely decor- 
 ated, and in one window is a full length portrait 
 of Wolsev. 
 
 The gardens around the Palace cover an 
 extent of three miles, splendidly laid out in 
 terraces, lakes, ornamental walks, and containing 
 many statues, fountains and rural buildings. 
 
 These are the grounds and this the Palace 
 purchased, designed, and built by the ambitious 
 cardinal, to surpass every regal residence in 
 England and be a fit present from him to 
 England's king. How striking the story of the 
 cardinal's life! How great and numerous its 
 vicissitudes ! A child, the son of a poor butcher. 
 A youth, attracting the attention of a prince by 
 his appearance and intellect. A man of few years, 
 rising into eminence at court. The middle aged 
 man, neglecting his duties as a bishop ; planting, 
 
390 WOLSEY. 
 
 silently and effectually, discord between a weak 
 minded king and loving wife ; sentencing to 
 death every one that dares disagree with his opin- 
 ions ; and putting forth every energy to secure to 
 himself the papal throne. Then the presenting 
 to his king such an unheard of palace as Hamp- 
 ton Court. The opening eventually of the king's 
 eyes ; the Cardinal's fall, sudden and humiliating ; 
 his finally appreciating the fact that if he had 
 only " served Grod as faithfully as he had served 
 his king, he would not have given him over in 
 his orev hairs," all teach a solemn and true lesson 
 of the mutability of every earthly position, 
 however low, however high, and however grand ! 
 Tracing Wolsey's life from his birth, we find 
 him at the summit of power, though not of his 
 ambition when Anne Boleyn was received into 
 the full favor of Henry VIII., he having in order 
 to accomplish this divorced from Queen Catharine 
 at the suggestions of the Cardinal. The Cardinal 
 was in turn disliked by Anne Boleyn, who thus 
 becoming Queen, incensed the King against 
 him. The height of Wolsey's ambition was to fill 
 the papal throne. This gained he would have 
 felt himself secure against all enemies. Before 
 
HIS FALL. 391 
 
 this was gained the " cloud no larger than a man's 
 hand " arose. This momentarily increased. He 
 fell. Shakspeare in King Henry VIII. , lays the 
 plan of Wolsey's fall in his having presented to 
 the king some state papers for perusal, by acci- 
 dent he included among them. 
 
 " The account 
 Of all that world of wealth I have drawn together, 
 For mine o*rn ends ; indeed to gain the popedom, 
 And fee my friends in Rome. Oh negligence ! 
 Fit for a fool to fall by." 
 
 He also included a letter which he had 
 written to the Pope. The papers having been 
 returned to Wolsey by the king with a frown, 
 Wolsey examined them, and ascertained the cause 
 of the frown. 
 
 " What's this-To the Pope ? 
 The letter, as I live, with all the business 
 I writ to his holiness. Nay, then, farewell ! 
 I have touched the highest point of all my greatness ; 
 And from that full meridian of my glory, 
 I haste now to my setting : I shall fall 
 Like a bright exhalation in the evening, 
 And no man see me more." 
 
 While the Cardinal was in favor he lived in 
 a state of splendor far surpassing the king. He 
 retained in his suite eight hundred persons, 
 
392 WOLSEY. 
 
 among these were numbered the sons of the 
 nobility, many of whom thought it a distinguished 
 favor to be servants of so mighty a man. His 
 dress was of velvet and gold, and all the trap- 
 pings of his horses were highly ornamented with 
 gold. " In his hall he maintained three boards, 
 with three several officers ; a steward, who was a 
 priest ; a treasurer who was a knight ; and a con- 
 troller who was an esquire; also a confessor, a 
 doctor, three marshals, three ushers of the halls, 
 and two almoners and grooms. In the hall 
 kitchen were two clerks, a clerk controller, and 
 surveyor of the dresser, a clerk of the spicery, 
 also two cooks with assistant laborers and children 
 turnspits — twelve persons ; four men of the 
 scullery, two yeomen of the pastry, and two 
 paste layers under them. In his own kitchen 
 was a master cook, who was attired daily in vel- 
 vet or satin, and wore a gold chain , under whom 
 were two cooks, and six assistants." In addition 
 to all these, he had several yeomen in the larder ; 
 several in the scullery; several in the buttery; 
 more in the cellar, in the ewry, in the laundry 
 thirteen pages; in the bake house, wood-yards, 
 barns, boats, stables, every place was crowded with 
 
WOLSEY. 398 
 
 servants. In attendance on him at all times 
 he had twelve doctors and chaplains, four lawyers, 
 a long list of secretaries, a musical society, 
 heralds, messengers, gentlemen-waiters and every 
 other kind of attendant imaginable. Many of 
 his attendants kept four horses, with trappings as 
 rich as those of the cardinal's favorite. 
 
 It was at this point in his greatness he dis- 
 covered, 
 
 " How wretched 
 Is that poor man, that hangs on princes' favors. 
 There is betwixt that smile we would aspire to, 
 That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, 
 More pangs and fears than wars or women have." 
 
 Hence his descent was rapid. He was 
 ordered to retire to a small country seat, from 
 which could be distinctly seen the place where he 
 spent the days of splendor. The world, even the 
 best friends he had, who paid him such servile 
 court during his bright career now deserted him. 
 This though not natural was perfectly human. 
 He was soon notified that he was out of all pro- 
 tection of the king or law; his vast estates were 
 confiscated; and on foot, unattended, he started 
 for Leicester Abbey ; but growing sick and faint he 
 
394 WOLSEY. 
 
 was finally taken charge by Sir William King- 
 ston. He was shortly afterwards placed upon a 
 mule, and escorted by a few persons, started for 
 Leicester Abbey the second time. Here he 
 arrived; — the gate was opened, and the heart- 
 broken Wolsey exclaimed, 
 
 " Oh ! Father Abbot, 
 An old man, broken with the storms of state, 
 Is come to lay his weary bones among ye, 
 Give him a little earth for charity." 
 
 The Abbot received him kindly, and attended 
 him until his death. Kingston also remained 
 with him. The last scene of his life was thus 
 recorded by the Abbot. 
 
 "Nov. 28.— At last Wolsey died, < Master 
 Kingston, farewell, I can no more ; but wish all 
 things to have good success. My time draweth 
 on fast, I may not tarry with you. And forget 
 not, I pray you, what I have said and charged 
 you withal; for when I am dead ye shall per- 
 ad venture remember my words much better.' 
 And even with these words he began to draw his 
 speech at length, and his tongue to fail, his 
 eyes being set in his head, whose sight failed 
 him." * * * * "The clock struck eight at 
 
HIS DEATH. 396 
 
 which time he gave up the ghost, and thus 
 departed he this life." * * * * "Here is 
 the end and fall of pride and arrogancy of such 
 men, exalted by fortune to honors and high 
 dignity; for I assure you, in the time of his 
 authority and glory, he was then the haughtiest 
 man in all his proceedings that then lived, having 
 more respect to the worldly honor of his person, 
 than he had to his spiritual profession — wherein 
 should be all meekness, humility, and charity; 
 the process of which I leave to them, that be 
 learned and seen in divine laws." 
 
 How truly could Wolsey say the words 
 ascribed to him by Shakspeare. 
 
 " I hare ventured 
 Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, 
 This many summers on a sea of glory ; 
 But far beyond my depth ; my high blown prido 
 At length broke under me; and now has left me, 
 Weary, and old with service, to the mercy 
 Of a rude stream, that must forever hide me." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 [l 23 J> 
 
F t>33 
 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 019 826 558 5 
 
 1IHM1 
 
 11 111 
 
 iHfifllHsfifli