A 
 
 
 
 
 
 r- 
 
 A 
 
 
 o 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 7 
 
 
 J> 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 '— 
 
 
 33 
 > 
 
 
 -< 
 
 J> 
 O 
 
 6 
 
 
 ^
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 ^ ^^z <
 
 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS; 
 
 FAMILIAR LETTERS TO FRIENDS. 
 
 VOL. 1.
 
 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS; 
 
 FAMILIAR LETTERS TO FRIENDS. 
 
 By henry COLMAN, 
 
 AUTHOR OF EUROPEAN AGRrCULTURE, AND THE AGRICULTURE OF FRANCE, 
 BELGIUM, HOLLAND, AND SWITZERLAND. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN PETHERHAM, 94, HIGH HOLBORN. 
 
 1849.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, 
 
 By Henry Colman, 
 
 as Author, in the office of the Clerk of the District Court of the District of 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 CAMBKIDGE : 
 PRINTED BY BOLLES AND HOUGHTON.
 
 XI 
 v./ 
 
 THESE VOLUMES 
 ARE KESPECTFUI.LY INSCRIBED TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE LADY A. NOEL BYRON, 
 
 AS A MEAIORIAL OF THE PUREST ESTEEM AND REVERENCE 
 
 FOR THAT WHICH IS MOST EXCELLENT IN MIND AND CHARACTER, 
 
 MOST CLEAR IN ITS PERCEPTIONS OF TRUTH, 
 
 AND MOST ACTIVE AND FAITHFUL IN THE PERFORMANCE OF DUTY ; 
 
 AND OF A FRIENDSHIP, 
 
 WTIICH HE DEEMS AJIONG THE HIGHEST HONORS 
 
 AND FELICITIES OF HIS LIFE, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 iS9C15
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 The person who introduces another into respectable 
 society, is answerable, in a high degree, for the character of 
 the individual whom he thus presents. The same respon- 
 sibleness applies to an author, who presumes to offer 
 his productions to the pubhc. In the present crowded 
 state of literary society, when authors and pubhshers 
 are daily becoming more numerous, and Avhen the com- 
 petition for pubUc hearmg and favor is full to excess, 
 there is not likely to be that exact discrimination, which 
 would take place in a more sparse condition, and among 
 fewer candidates. But this does not absolve an author 
 from his obhgation to do his best, nor from his responsi- 
 bleness to an improved taste, to the cause of public 
 improvement and gratification, and of good morals. 
 
 Under a sense of this obligation, I have great diffidence 
 in presenting these volumes to the public. I have no 
 anxiety as to their moral tendency. Indeed, I Avould not
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 have published them, had I not had the most entire con- 
 fidence that they will be not merely innocuous, but 
 salutary ; whether they will meet the refined taste of 
 the community, and aiford them a gratification which 
 will repay the trouble of a perusal — of this, I am not 
 so certain ; and an author is, perhaps, as incompetent to 
 form a correct opinion of his own productions, as a partial 
 parent is to form a just judgment of the characters of 
 his children. The vision may be bhnded or perverted 
 by parental fondness and natural affection, and, under 
 such circumstances, the standard of right or excellence 
 is often affected. Not only defects become tolerable, but 
 faults are converted into virtues. Having heretofore 
 experienced much kind indulgence from the public, I do 
 not approach them uncheered by hope ; and, while my 
 work makes no claims to applause, it will, I trust, be found 
 as little obnoxious to censure ; and, while it may not be 
 thought even worthy of the severity of critics, it will, at 
 least, be sure of the partiality of friends. To this par- 
 tiality these volumes owe their birth, and, if they give 
 pleasure to my friends, I shall be fully satisfied. 
 
 A cursory glance at them, will satisfy any one, that 
 these Letters were not designed for pubhcation. Until my 
 return from Europe, I did not even know that they had 
 been preserved. Many friends expressed a strong wish 
 to possess them, and that is the reason of their publication. 
 
 I had proposed, from the beginning, after the comple- 
 tion of my European Agriculture, a graver work than
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 this, upon European society, embracing larger views of 
 its politics, religion, education, manners, and morals. I 
 have begun such a work. I have collected for this pur- 
 pose large stores of materials ; and, if my life and health 
 are spared, I design presently to give it to the public. 
 In the meantime, I pul)lish these two volumes, m order 
 to give a picture of private and domestic life. They 
 relate to and embrace many topics that could not be 
 properly introduced into the work wliich I design. They 
 may be said to form a personal narrative of my residence 
 abroad, and further, to give what may be called proof 
 impressions of scenes, objects, persons, and places, as 
 they passed before my mind. I am quite aware that first 
 impressions are not always to be trusted, but, m gen- 
 eral, if they are more vivid, they are also more exact. 
 If, in the end, there should be found, in any case, a wide 
 discrepancy between the first judgments and the truth, it 
 will not, I believe be found oftener to occur, than where 
 we attempt to modify and alter these impressions by much 
 after-study and care. I would not be thought in any way 
 to recommend hasty and premature conclusions, but I have 
 great respect, in most cases, excepting where scientific 
 inquiry is directly involved, for first impressions. The 
 mind is then more wakeful ; its observations are more 
 'distmct ; and it has no prejudices or false impressions to 
 obstruct, pervert, or cloud its perceptions. An enthusi- 
 astic painter, when first he attempts to sketch from 
 nature, w^th the objects full before him, is hkely to give a
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 trae portrait ; but when, afterwards, in another situation, 
 removed from the objects, he undertakes to correct this 
 picture, he draws generally, not from Avhat it is, but from 
 what he wishes it should, or tliinks it ought to be ; and, 
 though the hncs may be much more artistical, and the 
 coloring more skilful and brilliant, yet the likeness is 
 very sure to be gone. 
 
 The greatest difficulty in the publication of these Let^ 
 ters, has been, that they may be deemed too personal ; 
 and my anxiety has been, lest they should be thought to 
 approach a violation of private confidence. I know few 
 things that could give me more pain, than to be justly 
 obnoxious to such a charge. I hope it will not, in any 
 degree, be found so. 
 
 I, at first, determined not to pubhsh a single name, but 
 I found tliis an idle attempt, and that individuals would 
 be traced by circumstances, as certainly as if distinctly 
 announced. I have reported no conversations, and passed 
 no free opinions upon any persons or characters, except 
 public characters; and upon these only in their pubHc 
 relations and acts; and though, in speaking of private 
 individuals, I have spoken m the language of respect or 
 praise, I can only say that the terms are most general ; 
 I had constantly to restrain the grateful utterance of my 
 convictions, and it is not a tithe o'f the eulogy which I 
 might have honestly pronounced. As to the accounts 
 which I have given of the style of living, in particular 
 places, and among particular classes, I have only to say
 
 TREFACE. XI 
 
 that pains were most kindly taken to initiate mc into 
 these particulars ; that this information was, though en- 
 tirely without ostentation, most kindly given ; that written 
 lists of servants, and written and pruited rules of domestic 
 management, were repeatedly placed in my hands, with. 
 a full and expressed liberty to use them as I pleased ; 
 and that the style of living, though wholly diflFerent 
 from that wliich prevails among us, is everywhere of a 
 common type, so that the description of one of these estab- 
 lishments is, in the main, a description of all. I know my 
 English friends wUl smile at the simplicity Avith which I 
 have detailed some small matters ; but they must live in 
 a condition and organization of society, totally different 
 from then' o-vvti, in order to understand the interest 
 which is taken on this side of the water, in these minute 
 details. 
 
 But, after all, my great reason for the various details 
 of persons and places which I have given, was, as seemed 
 'only just, to record my most grateful and cndurmg sense 
 of the extraordinary and most exemplary kindness and 
 hospitality which I everywhere experienced. This hos- 
 pitality presents, in English life and society, the most 
 beautiful traits of character, and makes one proud of his 
 descent from a race of men so truly noble, so generous, 
 so kind, so poUshcd, and so enlightened ; and, with every 
 liberal mind, it cannot fail to command esteem and 
 respect. It must excite to reciprocity, and to a generous 
 emulation in land offices, as well of a public as of an indi-
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 vitlual character ; and this is the golden chain, by which 
 two great nations, sharing the same blood, speaking the 
 same language, and allied by innvmierable common inter- 
 ests, can be bound indissolubly together. 
 
 I make no apology for inserting some few letters in the 
 volume, which may be deemed strictly personal and pri- 
 vate. I claim for them, and they are not many, the 
 indulgence of every kind reader, as marking events of 
 the deepest interest to myself, and hkely, as I am assured 
 by many impartial friends, to have, under the same cir- 
 cumstances in which they were Avritten, — circumstances, 
 alas ! painfully common to all, — an interest with others. 
 
 P. S. In apology for many imperfections in the work, 
 it is only proper to state, that during its preparation 
 and passage through the press, the state of my eyes has 
 been such, that I have not been able to read a single line ; 
 and painful experience alone can teach us how incon- 
 venient it is, even under the best circumstances, to be 
 obliged to use another's eyes for one's own. It has 
 brought with it, however, one alleviation, in the most 
 generous and exemplary kindness of friends, in proffering 
 and rendering every practical aid ; a kindness which I 
 desire most gratefully to acknowledge. 
 
 Salem, Mass., April, 1849.
 
 SECOND roSTSCRTPJ". 
 
 Since the foregoing Avas printed, it has occuncHl to 
 me that, in order to avoid a very false impression, the 
 reader shoukl understand this is not intended as a 
 full or continuous narrative of my residence abroad. 
 Very far from it. It n-cords only a small portion of 
 the kindness shown me. It contains, in fact, mere 
 sketches of particular incidents, circumstances, and 
 objects, and these selected from a large mass of letters, 
 under gi-eat disadvantage, on account of the imperfect 
 state of my sight. 
 
 I hope, also, that the reader will not fail to bear in 
 mind that these letters were wholly private, and never 
 expected in this way to see the light. Nothing is said 
 in them for the sake of effect ; and their character, as 
 private letters, must serve as an apology for many im- 
 perfections. 
 
 I have been most anxious not to offend any rule of 
 propriety. To have omitted ovorything personal would
 
 SECOND POSTSCKIl'l'. 
 
 liave destroyed the peculiar interest wliich tliey might 
 otherwise have; and, as nothing is said in them which 
 the most scrupulous would have hesitated to express 
 in any company, and in the freest conversation, I 
 cannot think any just cause of offence will be given by 
 their appearance in this incidental form. Few things 
 would give me more pain than to have forfeited, in this 
 respect, in any degree, the good will of my friends. 
 
 I might have honoured and adorned my pages with 
 innumei'able other names, of persons both titled and 
 untitled ; but they will not infer from this omission 
 that their kindness is not recollected, or the less grate- 
 fully appreciated. There are grateful hearts on both 
 sides of the Atlantic, who will feel that every act of 
 kindness shown to a friend, or fellow-countryman, is 
 in no inferior sense shown to themselves. 
 
 II. C. 
 
 J.oildn],, M(tii. lSl,i).
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 (Page 1.) 
 
 London ; its extent and vastness ; its population and public buildings ; 
 Visit to the House of Lords ; English courtesy. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 (Page 7.) 
 
 Visit at Barton ; Funeral of the Duke of Sussex ; Lodgings in London ; 
 Contrasts in human condition ; Civilities ; Agricultural visits. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 (Page 12.) 
 Windsor Castle ; Squares and parks in London ; Hampton Court. 
 
 LETTER rv. 
 
 (Page 14.) 
 Agricultural Society ; Smithfield and Corn Market ; Visits. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 (Page 17.) 
 
 Environs of London ; Epsom races. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 (Page 18.) 
 
 Human miseries ; Conservatism ; Neatness of English women ; Manners 
 in society. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 (Page 21.) 
 
 Windsor Terrace ; the Queen ; the Princess Augusta ; Charity cluldren 
 at St. Paul's. 
 
 b
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 (Page 23.) 
 
 St. George's Cliapel ; Eton School ; Donkeys and ponies. 
 
 • 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 (Page 25.) 
 
 London breakfasts ; American repudiation ; Sir Robert Peel. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 (Page 27.) 
 Visit at Althorpe ; Visit at Ingesu-^; ; Visit at Goodwood ; Style of living. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 (Page 33.) 
 
 London season ; Dress, milliner)', and jewelry shops in London ; Wedding- 
 dress of Princess Augusta, 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 (Page 35.) 
 Post-office arrangements ; Visit to Horsham ; Pentonville pr'.son. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 (Page 38.) 
 Visit to Doncaster ; Picture and sculpture gaUeries ; Rural scenery. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 (Page 40.) 
 
 General condition of society. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 (Page 42.) 
 Chatsworth ; Haddon Hall. 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 (Page 45.) 
 
 Value of letters ; Visit at Belper ; Agreeable interview ; Matlock ; Shef- 
 field. 
 
 LETTER XVn. 
 
 (Page 50.) 
 Chatsworth; English ladies.
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 (Page 52.) 
 
 Agricultural Excursion at Doncaster ; Remarkable unprovements. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 (Page 55.) 
 
 Agricultural Show at Dundee ; Lodgings at Dundee and Edinburgh ; 
 Grouse shooting ; Sunday in Edinburgli ; Condition of the people. 
 
 LETTER XX, 
 (Page 62.) 
 
 Sunday in the rural districts in Scotland ; Arthur's Seat ; Roslin Castle 
 and Chapel ; Auchternuchty ; Agricultural excursion ; Church mili- 
 tant ; Markets in Edinburgh. 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 (Page 66.) 
 Farms and farmers in Scotland. 
 
 LETTER XXn. 
 
 (Page 68.) 
 
 European scenery compared with that of New England ; Railroad trav- 
 elling ; Climate. 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 (Page 71.) 
 
 Melrose Abbey ; Abbotsford ; Farms and farming near Edinburgh ; 
 Farm laborers. 
 
 LETTER XXrV. 
 (Page 73.) 
 
 Melrose Abbey ; Village to Melrose ; Cowdin Kuowse ; Dryburgh Ab- 
 bey ; Tomb of Scott ; Abbotsford ; Galashiels ; Stirling Castle. 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 (Page 83.) 
 Scott's Monument ; Monuments at Edinburgh. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 (Page 84.) 
 
 Lambton Castle ; Servants and arrangements at large establishments ; 
 Breakfasts in London ; Manners at tlic Palace ; Reception of tlie Queen 
 at Brighton ; Snuff-taking ; Manners ; Foot-race at Duckingfield.
 
 XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 (Page 92.) 
 
 Agricultural Society at Manchester ; Newspaper accuracy ; Visits con- 
 templated ; Manchester at night ; Lancashire dialect. 
 
 LETTER XXVIU. 
 
 (Page 95.) 
 
 Manchester ; its trade and population. 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 (Page 97.) 
 York Minster ; Went worth House. 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 (Page 102.) 
 Visit at a Rectory in Nottiughamsliire ; Luxury in England. 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 (Page 105.) 
 Donkeys ; Dog-carts ; Goat-carriages ; Fox hounds. 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 (Page 108.) 
 
 Incomes and wealth of individuals ; the Duke of Portland's improve- 
 ments ; Earl of Yarborough's plantations. 
 
 LETTER XXXin. 
 
 (Page 112.) 
 Education of Young Ladies ; its importance. 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 (Page 114.) 
 
 Visit atWelbeck Abbey; Ruins of Hardwick Castle and Hard wick Hall ; 
 Style of living. 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 (Page 118.) 
 
 Importance of good hand-writing ; Characteristics of a merchant ; Visit 
 at Bransby ; Shops in Loudon, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Glasgow ; 
 Regent Street in the evening.
 
 CONTENTS. XVII 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 (Page 121.) 
 
 Visit at Stamford ; Agricultural excursions ; Boston ; Lynn ; SwafTham ; 
 English hospitality ; Dinner at Swafi'ham ; Queen's entrance at Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
 LETTER XXXVII. 
 
 (Page 125.) 
 Reception of the Queen at Cambridge. 
 
 LETTER XXXVm. 
 
 (Page 128.) 
 
 Reading Rooms ; Arrangement at Edinburgh ; Visits contemplated ; 
 American politics. 
 
 LETTER XXXLX. 
 
 (Page 131.) 
 
 Intelligence of the death of friends ; Lodgings in London ; Bills ; Duties 
 of the Maid of all work ; Expenses of travelling ; Fees of servants. 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 (Page 135.) 
 
 Strawberries at Dundee ; Other fruits ; Holkam ; Babrahani ; Mr. 
 Webb's sheep ; Ball at Wirapule ; Royal state beds. 
 
 LETTER XLI. 
 
 (Page 137.) 
 
 Goodwood ; Style of living ; Chichester ; Union House ; Agricultural 
 excursions to Manhood and Boguor; Extent of Goodwood and Gordon 
 Castle. 
 
 LETTER XLII. 
 
 (Page 143.) 
 
 Sunday at Cambridge ; University Church ; Chapel of King's College ; 
 Chapel of Trinity College ; Hare-coursing at Babraham ; Sporting 
 season ; Toll-House on the Newmarket road ; Neatness of English 
 servants ; Dress and manners of ladies. 
 
 LETTER XLTII. 
 
 (Page 148.) 
 Solitude in London ; Fruit-.sellers ; Out of season in London ; Religious 
 observances. 
 b*
 
 XVlll CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER XLIV. 
 
 (Pag-e 151.) 
 
 London ; ils populousness ; its vastness ; Security in London ; Public 
 order and decency ; Contrasts in condition. 
 
 LETTER XLV. 
 
 (Page 156.) 
 
 Death of fiiends ; Christmas at Camberwdl ; Miss Edgewortli ; Mr. 
 Carlyle. 
 
 LETTER XLVL 
 
 (Page 158.) 
 
 New Year's congi-atulations ; Scenery and objects of interest in Eng- 
 land ; Cambridge ; Services at King's Chapel and Trinity College 
 Chapel. 
 
 LETTER XLVIL 
 (Page 162.) 
 
 Tweiftii-Night; Visits at East Sheen ; Sundry visits ; Opening of Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 LETTER XLVin. 
 
 (Page 165.) 
 Fox-hunting; Jock of the Hunt ; Game. 
 
 LETTER XLIX. 
 (Page 169.) 
 
 Feelings of the English in regard to the United States ; Political parties ; 
 Labor ; Opening of Parliament ; English conservatism. 
 
 LETTER L. 
 
 (Page 171.) 
 Opening of Parliament ; its magnificence ; The Queen's speech. 
 
 LETTER LL 
 
 (Page 174.) 
 
 Time ; how passed ; Visit at Teddesley Park ; Marquis of Northampton's 
 soiree ; .'rupper of the pupils at Christ's Hospital.
 
 CONTENTS. XUC 
 
 LETTER LII. 
 
 (Page 179.) 
 
 Landseer's engravings ; Visiting parties iu London ; Education in Eng- 
 land ; Political aspects of society ; American reputation ; American 
 politics ; Irish agitation ; Dress of gentlemen ; Mr. Everett's degree 
 at Oxford. 
 
 LETTER LIIl. 
 
 (Page 1S5.) 
 
 Landseer's engravings ; English ladies ; Observance of the Lord's Day ; 
 Tlieatres. 
 
 LETTER LIV. 
 
 (Page 1S9.) 
 
 Visit of the Queen to the Exhibition of the Royal Academy ; Queen's 
 Drawing-room on her Birth-day ; Dress of English ladies. 
 
 LETTER LV. 
 
 (Page 192.) 
 
 Regimen for invalids ; Speech of Lord Brougham ; Speech of Sir Robert 
 Peel ; Character of Sir Robert Peel ; House of Commons. 
 
 LETTER LVI. 
 
 (Page IGf).) 
 
 Value of character; Mercantile character; Regatta at Oxford; Gym- 
 nastic games. 
 
 . LETTER LVn. 
 
 (Page 197.) 
 Visit to Oxford ; Bodleian Library. 
 
 LETTER LVIII. 
 
 (Page 199.) 
 
 Travelling in stage coaches ; Visit to Blenheim ; Visitors and fees at 
 such establislimeuts ; Exliibitioa of the Royal Academy. 
 
 LETTER LIX. 
 
 (Page 204.) 
 Climate ; Culture of Flowers; F^te at Chiswick; American politics. 
 
 LETTER LX. 
 
 (Page 207.) 
 Martyr Monument in Oxford ; Monuments in London ; Scott's Monu-
 
 XX CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER LXI. 
 
 (Page 208.) 
 Fox's Head ; Blenheim Castle ; Study of Natural science. 
 
 LETTER LXIL 
 
 (Page 210.) 
 London Brewery ; Military Review ; Fete at Clii.swick. 
 
 LETTER LXIII. 
 
 (Page 213.) 
 Observance of the Sabbath. 
 
 LETTER LXIV. 
 
 (Page 215.) 
 Edinburgh ; Agriculture in Scotland ; Language ; Scotch Church secession. 
 
 LETTER LXV. 
 
 (Page 218.) 
 
 Visit at West Stratton ; Agricultural Show at Southampton ; Visit at 
 Sydney Lodge ; Sunday in the country. 
 
 LETTER LXVI. 
 
 (Page 223.) 
 
 American politics; Condition of England; Sunday in the country; 
 Preaching in London ; Unitarians. 
 
 LETTER LXVn. 
 
 (Page 227.) 
 Agricultural Show at Southampton ; Season ; Farming at West Stratton. 
 
 LETTER LXVin. 
 
 (Page 230.) 
 Isle of Wight ; The Grange ; Autograplis. 
 
 LETTER LXIX. 
 
 (Page 232.) 
 
 Winchester Cathedral ; Isle of Wight ; Portsmouth ; Foreign exclusive- 
 ness ; Apprehensions of farmers.
 
 CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 LETTER LXX. 
 
 (Page 234.) 
 
 Visit at Eastbourne ; American Friends in London ; London Newspapers ; 
 Tiie Times; Voyage to Dublin; Dublin; Irish Royal Agricultural 
 Society meeting. 
 
 LETTER LXXI. 
 
 (Page 239.) 
 
 Chantry's monumental statue in Litclilield Cathedral; Landseer's en- 
 gravings ; English politics ; Misery in Ireland ; O'Connell. 
 
 LETTER LXXII. 
 
 (Page 241.) 
 Irish hospitality ; Donny Brook Fair ; Tt22p>'''""^f plpr[p-p 
 
 LETTER LXXIII. 
 
 (Page 242.) 
 
 Limerick gloves ; Agricultural excm'sions in Ii-eland ; Lake of Kiliarney 
 and Gap of Dunlop ; Mode of Living in Ireland ; Classical education 
 in Ireland. 
 
 LETTER LXXIV. 
 (Page 245.) 
 
 Travelling excursions ; Kindness of IrLsh friends at Dublin and at Cork ; 
 Father Matthew ; Blarney Castle ; Killamey ; Pony ride ; Visit at 
 Ardfry; SUgo ; Templemoyle ; Giant's Causeway ; Belfast; Visit at 
 Dun-Murry ; Visit at Armagh ; Sunday at Duu-Murry ; Wretchedness 
 among the Irish. 
 
 LETTER LXXV. 
 (Page 255.) 
 
 Agricultural inquiries ; Belfast; Its manufactures ; Political condition of 
 Ireland ; Irish bishops. 
 
 LETTER LXXVI. 
 
 (Page 2.58.) 
 Ayr; Glasgow; Scotch farming ; Sunday in Edinburgh. 
 
 LETTER LXXVII. 
 
 (Page 260.) 
 
 Visit at Stirling ; Visit at Argety ; Falkirk Trysle ; Scotch farming in llie 
 Lothians; Visits at Tynemouth and Biddick.
 
 XXll CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER LXXVII. 
 
 (Page 2G3.) 
 
 Tyneraouth ; Bathing at Tynemoutli ; Miss M 's residence ; Public 
 
 conveyances ; Carlisle. 
 
 , LETTER LXXIX. 
 
 (Page 266.) 
 Visit of the Queen at Blair Athol ; Loyalty of the English. 
 
 LETTER LXXX. 
 
 (Page 268.) 
 
 Visit at Audley-end ; Agricultural meeting at Saffron Walden ; Visit 
 
 at Babrahani ; Sundry excursions. 
 
 LETTER LXXXI. 
 
 (Page 271.) 
 Visit at Pendarves. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIL 
 
 (Page 273.) 
 Visits at Torquay, Plymouth, Truro, Pendarves, and Canibron. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIII. 
 
 (Page 277.) 
 Cornwall ; Descent into a copper mine. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIV. 
 
 (Page 284.) 
 Climate of England ; Fruits and flowers. 
 
 LETTER LXXXV. 
 
 (Page 285.) 
 
 Visit to Penzance ; Excursion to Land's End ; Visit at King's Western ; 
 Visit at Tortworth ; Visit at Painswick. 
 
 LETTER LXXXVL 
 
 (Page 291.) 
 
 Invitations ; Death of Judge Prescott. 
 
 LETTER LXXXVIL 
 
 (Page 292.) 
 Visit at Tredegar ; Modes of living at a large establishment ; Manners.
 
 CONTENTS. XXm 
 
 LETTER LXXXVIU. 
 
 (Page 299.) 
 The Lavvrencia Villa. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIX. 
 
 (Page 302.) 
 
 Woburn Abbey ; Agriculture at Wobum. 
 
 LETTER XC. 
 
 (Page 304.) 
 
 Visits ; Twelfth-night near Pusey ; Visit at ; Shooting party ; Dress 
 
 and manners ; Visit at "Woburn Abbey ; Description ; Domestic arrange- 
 ments ; Opening of Parliament. 
 
 LETTER XCI. 
 
 (Page 315.) 
 Sunday at Home ; Charms of moral beauty. 
 
 LETTER XCn. 
 
 (Page 317.) 
 Climate ; Excessive cold ; Miss Cushman ; Theatres. 
 
 LETTER XCm. 
 
 (Page 320.) 
 Crowds in London streets ; Vehicles ; Shops ; Appearance and dress. 
 
 LETTER XCrV. 
 
 (Page 323.) 
 
 Parliament ; Theatre ; Weather. 
 
 LETTER XCV. 
 
 (Page 324.) 
 
 Controversies about religion ; Crowded state of London ; Steamboats ; 
 Late hours in London. 
 
 LETTER XCVI. 
 
 (Page 328.) 
 Count Rzewuski ; Letters. 
 
 LETTER XCVII. 
 
 (Page 329.) 
 Bal Costume at tiie Palace.
 
 XXIV CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER XCVIII. 
 
 (Page 330.) 
 
 Electric Telegraph ; Present to Mohammed Ali ; Greek Slave, by Mr. 
 Powers ; Queen's Bed Costume ; Polisli Fancy Dress Ball ; Visit to 
 Northamptonshire. 
 
 LETTER XCIX. 
 
 (Page 337.) 
 Finsbury Chapel ; Music ; Mr. Fox. 
 
 LETTER C. 
 
 (Page 338.) 
 
 Lodgings ; Invitations ; Adventure ; Death of Mr. Saltonstall ; Private 
 tutors ; Opera in London ; Dinners of the Cordwainer's Company. 
 
 LETTER CI. 
 
 (Page 343.) 
 Weather ; Prorogation of Parliament ; The Queen. 
 
 LETTER CII. 
 
 (Page 345.) 
 
 Death of a friend ; Illness of a friend ; Power of religion ; Visit to the 
 Old Bailey; True Christianity. 
 
 LETTER cm. 
 
 (Page 348.) 
 
 Weather ; School at Norwood ; Dinner ; Farming at Croydon ; Excur- 
 sions in London ; Sunday in the country ; Letter from an unknown 
 friend. 
 
 LETTER CrV. 
 
 (Page 353.) 
 Wenham Lake ice ; Religious controversy ; " A Live Apostle." 
 
 LETTER CV. 
 
 (Page 355.) 
 Personal independence ; Growth of London ; Visit to the Old Bailey. 
 
 LETTER CVI. 
 
 (Page 359.) 
 
 Remembrances of home ; Peril of late marriages.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Many mistakes have beyond doubt occurred through 
 my incapacity of revising the press. A friend has pointed 
 out a few, which appear worthy of notice : 
 
 PAGE LINE 
 
 Vol. I. 29 3 ybr home-farm rearf home-estate 
 
 39 5 — Sevre's read Sevres 
 
 — — 19 — games read game 
 
 Vol. II. V 19 — Calefornia read Caledonia 
 
 — vi 39 — Smith read Swift 
 
 — 133 13 — have reac? brave 
 
 — 140 10 & 16 after divine and affords read •,fcir . — 
 
 — — 19 ybr prayers read progress 
 
 — 154 — for exjnatiore read expiatoire 
 
 — 160 18 — feme read /ewwe 
 
 • — 162 16 for conjugality read conjugiality 
 
 — 164 IS — contribute read contrive 
 
 — 183 29 iorfemexea-iiifemme 
 
 — 235 27 for approval read arrival 
 
 — 386 31 — fourth reat? forth 
 
 — 387 7 — hinderance read hindrance 
 
 For others, my blindness must claim indulgence.
 
 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNEKS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 London, 15tli May, 1S43. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 I HAVE been here now about ten days, have seen every 
 thing, and yet in truth have seen nothing. I liave stu- 
 died the maps over and over again ; I have thumbed my 
 guide-books until they look as if they had served half a 
 dozen classes at a country school, where they live by 
 borrowing and there is not more than one book to a 
 class ; and yet so sure as I leave the great thoroughfares 
 I am lost. It is a perfect wilderness of houses and 
 streets, and lanes, and courts, and kennels, and I was 
 two hours the other evening in finding my lodgings at a 
 distance of half a mile from where I had been visiting. 
 The people are not wanting in civility, but they seem to 
 me to appreciate very imperfectly the difficulties of a 
 stranger. Frequently when they tell you to go straight 
 along, you will have half a dozen corners to turn, when, 
 as to-day, it happened to me, there were seven streets, 
 all radiating from one centre, and when you reached 
 that centre there were four to choose from, all " straight 
 ahead ;" and you will frequently have to follow one as 
 crooked as a cork-screw, and then dodge into some 
 1
 
 'Z EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 court, where the passage is so narrow and obscure you 
 would scarcely think it led anywhere, and then you 
 become involved in a perfect labyrinth, and after various 
 turnings and processions, and recessions, you have the 
 felicity of coming out exactly where you entered. Some 
 of the streets, lined with shops full of the most brilliant 
 collections and varieties of goods, and others stretching 
 through long ranges of stalls and shops full of meats, 
 vegetables, fruits and groceries, are actually, by my own 
 measurement, not in width more than a foot beyond 
 what I could reach with my outstretched arms ; and 
 these places so thronged with people that it requires 
 considerable skill, and a constant movement onward to 
 avoid running other people down or being run down 
 yourself. A street twice as wide as Theatre Alley in 
 Boston, at its entrance from Milk Street, with a gutter 
 in the middle, and lined with stores as thick as they can 
 stand, and a torrent of people pressing through them in 
 opposite currents side by side, is a specimen of some 
 of the busiest thoroughfares in this modern Babylon. 
 But this is one side of the picture. If London has its 
 narrow streets, it has likewise its broad and magnificent 
 passages, of a width a third greater than Broadway in 
 New York, in its widest parts, running for miles, with 
 stores and shops of almost unimaginable splendor, and 
 in their richness and magnificence realizing the brightest 
 fictions of poetry. 
 
 Then again, the extent of London : It is absolutely 
 impossible to communicate to one who has not seen it 
 any just idea of it. I have said to myself several times, 
 "well, now, I have seen the whole," yet I soon find out 
 that I have seen nothing. You can travel eighteen
 
 LETTER I. 3 
 
 miles from Brentford to Strafford, through an unhiter- 
 rupted succession of thickly-planted houses. I have 
 walked until I have had to sit down on some door-steps 
 out of pure weariness, and yet have not got at all out 
 of the rushing tide of population. I have rode on the 
 driver's seat on omnibuses, and there has been a con- 
 stant succession of squares, parks, terraces, and long lines 
 of single houses for miles, and continuous blocks and single 
 palaces in the very heart of London, occupying acres of 
 ground. I do not speak of course of the large parks, 
 which for their trees, their verdure, their neatness, their 
 embellishments, their lakes and cascades, their waters 
 swarming with fish, and covered with a great variety of 
 water-fowl which they have been able to domesticate, 
 and their grazing flocks of sheep and cattle, and their 
 national monuments, and the multitudes of well-dressed 
 pedestrians, and of elegantly mounted horsemen and 
 horsewomen, and of carriages and equipages as splendid 
 as gold and silver can make them, are beautiful beyond 
 even my most romantic dreams. I do not exaggerate, 
 I cannot go beyond the reality. 
 
 Then again the crowded state of the streets in the 
 great thoroughfares, the main arteries of this mighty 
 body, beating continually with tremendous pulsations : 
 I have stood two or three times in situations where I had 
 an opportunity of looking up a long line of street, and 
 the carriages and the people seemed absolutely piled one 
 upon the other. If you want your ease in such cases, 
 get into a carriage, but if you want to make despatcii 
 then go on foot, for the carriages on both sides are com- 
 pelled to keep in line, and can advance only as their 
 predecessors go on. Yet with all this there is no
 
 4 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 incivility and no rudeness ; and though I have been a 
 great deal in the streets and in crowds without number, 
 and have seen vexation enough in passing, I do not 
 think I have heard a single oath since I have been in 
 the city. 
 
 Then come the palaces and the public buildings. I 
 cannot describe them. It is idle to attempt it, and the 
 guide-books give you very imperfect accounts of them. 
 One would think you could see all the public buildings 
 in London in a week. I do not believe they could all 
 be gone over, by working every day, in six months, so as 
 to have any adequate idea of them. Some of the pub- 
 lic buildings are of very inferior appearance, but elegant 
 in the interior, and all of them are more or less discolored 
 by the weather and smoke, which upon the whole does 
 not really injure their looks. Everybody has heard of 
 St. Paul's, and Westminster Abbey, and Westminster 
 Hall, and grand indeed they are, but they are only one 
 item in the long list. Every one has heard of the mon- 
 ument, designed to commemorate the great fire in Lon- 
 don, but London is full of monuments, some a single 
 fluted column, others a simple shaft, and others adorned 
 with an equestrian or a civic statue. Some people talk 
 of seeing London in a week. I verily believe its objects 
 of curiosity could not be gone over by an intelligent and 
 observing individual, so as to obtain a just idea of them, 
 in a year. I confess, notwithstanding my raised, and I 
 had supposed, my exaggerated expectations, the vast- 
 ness of London, its population, its immense wealth, its 
 palaces, its monuments, its bridges, its parks, over- 
 whelm me. But I have not yet seen the Tower, nor 
 the National Gallery, nor the Museum, nor the Zoolo-
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 gical Garden, nor the &;c. he. Yesterday I went to 
 church at Westminster Abhey in the forenoon ; at noon 
 at St. Margaret's Church, where the Lord Bishop of 
 St. David's preached, and in the afternoon at the Temple, 
 one of the oldest churches in town, and built by the 
 Knights Templars, after the model of the Church at 
 Jerusalem. It was with a good deal of difficulty in the 
 former and the latter place I could get admission. In 
 the morning I had to stand through the whole service. 
 To give you some idea of the latter church, it has been 
 undergoing repairs for the last thirteen months, at an 
 expense of only £100,000 sterling. Its magnificence 
 is extraordinary. The service in both these churches 
 is chanted, not read ; and there is a formality in 
 regard to beadles, and constables in waiting, with gowns 
 and bands on, and others with gold-laced coats and 
 epaulets, and officers carrying the mace, and all that, 
 which is in itself all beautiful, and operates powerfully 
 upon the veneration, but which is very foreign from the 
 naked simplicity to which we are accustomed. The 
 Church here, however, is altogether a political establish- 
 ment, and as much an integral part of the government 
 as the House of Commons. 
 
 I have had very poor success in getting into the House 
 of Commons, from the crowd waiting for admission. I 
 merely got a peep at the close of one evening session 
 about twelve o'clock. Many persons wait five and six 
 hours with exemplary patience, and then are perhaps 
 disappointed. I had my name entered this afternoon 
 for admission, possibly, next Monday ; and then only pro- 
 vided all the seats engaged are not taken. This after- 
 noon, in the House of Lords. I hari the pleasure to hear 
 I*
 
 O EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Lord Brougham, Lord Wharncliffe, the Duke of Wel- 
 lington, Lord Londonderry, and others, I could scarcely 
 have been more fortunate. The debate was incidental, 
 and on the condition of Ireland. Lord Brougham speaks 
 extremely well, and is by no means so homely as the 
 pictures of him represent. The Duke of Wellington is 
 bent, and appears like an infirm old man, his teeth gone 
 and his voice tremulous. His speech was short, broken, 
 and decisive. Everybody listens to him. The House of 
 Lords appears less dignified than our Senate of the 
 L^nited States. Many of the Lords wear their hats, 
 and many of them are lounging on the seats. There 
 was great decomm, however, in their manner of speaking 
 and addressing each other. The Lord Chancellor pre- 
 sides in the House, but he has no authority to command 
 order, and can only put a question. The speakers do 
 not address him, but the Peers, as "my Lords." 
 
 Good manners here are evidently a universal study, 
 and this renders your intercourse most agreeable. Per- 
 sons talk of English coldness and hauteur. Three of 
 
 us Americans, Mr. M , Mr. T , and myself, 
 
 agree that, as far as we have seen, no charge was ever 
 less founded — that we never met with persons more 
 accessible and communicative ; that we have found them 
 universally polite ; and that in every case where they 
 have recognized us as strangers, in public places and in 
 the streets, without an exception, they have gone out of 
 their way to answer and gratify our curiosity. A gentle- 
 man, whom I found out afterwards was of the House of 
 Commons, volunteered to point out to me the most dis- 
 tinguished members of the House of Lords, and to give 
 me various information.
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 The letters which I have dehvered have been duly 
 honored. I have not yet delivered a quarter of those I 
 had. I cannot leave London until probably the middle 
 of June. 
 
 LETTER IL 
 
 London, IfMli May, 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I WROTE to you a long letter from Liverpool by 
 steamer ; and by a vessel which sailed about the same time 
 I sent you the journal of my voyage. I have written this 
 evening to Mr. M., and propose, if I have time, to write 
 to other friends : If I have time ; that is well added, for 
 never before in my life has time so much been wanting, 
 and have I found so little. It is now one o'clock at night. 
 My room is in a court near one of the great thoroughfares, 
 and the carriages are driving as flist almost as they have 
 been any time in the day, and the streets are alive with 
 people. The business shops close at ten, in general, but 
 the ale and wine shops, the saloons, and the dmggists' 
 shops, I believe, are open all night ; and the fire of 
 intemperance, I should infer, was nourished as faithfully 
 as the vestal fire at Rome, and never permitted to go out 
 or to slacken. When the cabmen, or when the poor horses 
 get any rest, it would be difficult for me to imagine. 
 
 You would like to know something of my where- 
 abouts. After leaving Liverpool, I proceeded to London 
 by the way of Barton-under-Needwood, where Mr. M.'s 
 letter directed me, and where Mr. Birch, who had 
 received notice of my coming, was, with his carriage,
 
 8 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 waiting to take me to his house. It was impossible 
 for me to receive a more friendly welcome. Mr. B. 
 is an eminent surgeon ; his patients averaging from forty 
 to fifty per day, and his circuit extending many miles 
 round, so that he has constant occupation for five 
 horses for his own personal use. I remained and went 
 to church with them on Sunday. On Monday, they 
 invited company to dine with me, and he gave me a 
 long drive over the country ; and on Tuesday, against 
 their persuasion, I left for London, being anxious to see 
 the state funeral of the Duke of Sussex, which took 
 place on Thursday. I was successful in getting a good 
 situation, having walked seven miles out of town before 
 breakfast, as the tickets would not admit persons to the 
 cemetery after eight o'clock. It was fortunate for me 
 that I went on foot, for, on account of the long line 
 of carriages, many of those who rode had to get out 
 and walk two miles to the gate, and then, after it was 
 over, the public carriages were compelled to wait some 
 hours for the procession to return, as none were suffered 
 to move from the place where they stood, until all that 
 was done. Kensal Green Cemetery, about seven miles 
 from town, covers an extent of ground larger than Bos- 
 ton Common ; is tastefully laid out and decorated ; has 
 a handsome chapel, where the burial-service is per- 
 formed, and is full of elegant monuments. The Duke 
 was always the friend and favorite of the people, and 
 for that reason was not looked upon with so much favor 
 by the royal family ; but he preferred being buried 
 among the people, rather than to repose in the royal 
 vaults at Windsor. The concourse of people was 
 immense. The sides of the road, for the whole distance
 
 LETTER II. 9 
 
 from TiOndon, where it was possible, were covered with 
 stagings, all crowded with people, and where the canal 
 skirted the road, as it did for some distance, boats were 
 stationed, which were also crowded. No person was 
 admitted to the cemetery without a ticket, nor unless 
 in mourning. My situation gave me a favorable oppor- 
 tunity of seeing many distinguished persons, Prince 
 Albert, Prince George, the Dukes of Wellington, Cam- 
 bridge and Devonshire, and other eminent individuals. 
 The parade A\as matter of curiosity, and must, of course, 
 be pronounced magnificent, but it was not altogether to 
 my taste. The coffin was covered with crimson velvet 
 and golden or gilt mountings as ornaments ; but, after 
 all, it contained what the meanest beggar would not 
 accept as a gift, and that which, however brilliant in life 
 or decorated in death, could not be distinguished from 
 the remains of the poor wretch who was never covered 
 but with tatters, and died upon a bed of straw. Such 
 are the contrasts in human condition. I was glad, how- 
 ever, to witness this great parade. It flatters the vanity 
 and pride of the higher classes, and for the others, as 
 they say, makes trade brisk. The hearse, with its 
 various decorations, drawn by six black horses, with 
 waving plumes on their heads and mantles of rich black 
 velvet, and led by grooms, in black, with staves, pre- 
 ceded by mutes with their staves covered with weeds, 
 surrounded and followed by the military and the state 
 carriages, was really a superb affair. 
 
 But I will quit this subject, and come to something 
 more personal. On my arrival in London, I went to a 
 hotel, where I remained five days, and then souglit pri- 
 vate lodgings. I went to various ])lac(\s where I had
 
 10 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 been recommended to go, and at last took the matter 
 into my own hands, and have got one of the best places 
 in the town for its central and convenient situation, and 
 for its airiness and quiet, and, I will add, for its neatness 
 and comfort. I have a parlor and bed-room, neatly and 
 handsomely furnished, and for these I pay thirty shil- 
 lings per week, or about six dollars sixty-seven cents, 
 and for this sum they also provide my breakfast and tea, 
 when, and as I want them, and my dinner, if I choose, 
 charging me the cost of the articles. Fire and candles 
 are an extra charge, at cost, and one shilling for boots, 
 and errands, and such douceur as I please to the cham- 
 bermaid. It is impossible, anywhere, to have a nicer 
 establishment, though I could have had one, quite as 
 good, for twenty shillings per week, but over the river, 
 which would not have been convenient for me. I shall 
 remain here certainly until June. My course afterwards 
 is not quite determined, but I am promised the best 
 advice and assistance. 
 
 London altogether exceeds my expectations in extent, 
 in population, in magnificence. In neatness, excepting 
 undoubtedly some of the most wretched parts of the old 
 city, it is most remarkable. In rainy weather, of course, 
 there is mud in the streets, but the crossings are swept, 
 and all the courts and by-places, which are innumera- 
 ble, and great thoroughfares, even where the butchers' 
 and market shops and stables are, are very clean. I 
 hardly know how it is effected. There is wretchedness 
 enough, beyond all question, and you meet constantly 
 with the most pitiable objects of charity. The most 
 melancholy sight in London and Liverpool, and one 
 which is heart-rending to a benevolent mind, is the
 
 LETTER II. 11 
 
 number of women of the town ; poor, miserable, pitiable 
 victims of vice, abuse, treacliory and ignominy. In the 
 principal streets, I verily believe, during the evening, if 
 you stand still, you will be passed by one every minute. 
 The wretchedness to which such poor creatures are 
 doomed, must be beyond all expression, and what is the 
 remedy or preventive, if any is to be found. Heaven only 
 knows. The extreme of degradation I saw in Liver- 
 pool ; where, I believe I mentioned to you, I saw repeat- 
 edly women collecting manure at the horse-stands, with 
 their hands, in their aprons or in baskets. The extremes 
 in human life, from that of one of the noblesse to that of 
 one of these poor women, are certainly very striking. 
 
 Tell I have little chance of obtaining for her a 
 
 King Charles' poodle. The lady of , who 
 
 had a well-educated one, told me the price was thirty 
 guineas ; and it had no doubt been stolen from her, a 
 very common trick, by the man who sold it to her, and 
 she had to pay him eight guineas more {oy finding it. 
 
 There are in London a great many things connected 
 with my objects which I must see : The Smithfield 
 cattle-market, the milk establishments, the horticultural 
 establishments and the markets. You can have no idea 
 of the consumption of time in London. 
 
 Mr. Everett is very civil. Earl Spencer promises to 
 mark out a route for me, and told me that it was not 
 necessary to have brought any credentials. Lord Ash- 
 burton invites me to dine on Thursday, at a quarter 
 past seven, and writes a civil note, saying he is anxious 
 to serve me in any practicable way. Lord Morpeth has 
 been very attentive. Mr. Bates took me to his beauti- 
 ful villa, six miles from London, to pass Sunday with
 
 12 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 him. The Earl of Hardwicke desires me to inform 
 him when I will go to his place, as he shall he anxious 
 to render me every attention. The Agricultural Society 
 meet every Wednesday, and have invited me to attend. 
 Several other gentlemen, members of Parliament and 
 others, have been polite to me. Mr. Dickens has called 
 twice without my seeing him. Dr. Outram has called, but 
 I was out. I have a pile of letters as yet undelivered. 
 Mr. Everett says, the great difficulty here is the want of 
 time and the constant occupation of everybody ; so that 
 there are no idlers, for even the mere pleasure-hunters 
 have their hands more than full. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 TO A YOUNG FRIEND. 
 
 London, IGtli May, 1843. 
 My Dear C : 
 
 The head of my sheet presents one view of Wind- 
 sor Castle, and this, I think, you would like to see. I 
 went there a few days since with Mr. T., of Boston. Un- 
 fortunately for us it was on Friday, and as this is 
 the cleaning day of the state apartments, we could not 
 be admitted to view the palace inside, but had the 
 pleasure of looking at its exterior, and walking in its 
 courts and terraces. The situation is elevated, and 
 commands a view of the country to a great extent, cm- 
 bracing cultivated fields, plantations and forests, cities and 
 villages, and the River Thames and the Eton School, — a 
 view of the beauty of which it would be quite impossible
 
 LETTEH 111. 13 
 
 for me to convey to you an adequate idea. Tlie rail-cai-s 
 took us there in half an hour, and brought us back as 
 speedily, about eighteen miles from London ; and though 
 I like despatch, I should have been glad of a little 
 longer delay in passing through the beautiful country, 
 which surrounds this ^reat city. 
 
 But the parks here have impressed me as much as 
 any thing. In every part of the city, both the old and 
 the newer parts, there are large squares, some as large, 
 and some much larger than Salem Common, enclosed in 
 handsome iron fences, and filled with trees and flowers, 
 besides being adorned with monuments of some great 
 event or some distinguished individual ; but, besides 
 these, there are several great parks, containing three 
 and four hundred acres, each kept in the neatest man- 
 ner, with lawns and gravel walks, full of trees and 
 shrubs of the most beautiful description ; and what per- 
 haps will more surprise you, large herds of sheep and 
 cattle grazing. 
 
 The parks and squares in London embrace, I have 
 no doubt, full fifteen hundred acres. Lincoln's Inn 
 Fields is said to be of the size of the base of the great 
 pyramid of Egypt, being at least several acres. 
 
 I have visited likewise Hampton Court Palace, of 
 which I shall be glad to send your father some engravings 
 which I obtained for him. 
 
 The grounds here, I think, are more beautiful than in 
 any other place I have seen. Here I saw large herds 
 of deer quite tame, at least a hundred in a herd. Here 
 likewise, I saw a vine more than seventy feet long, which 
 produced last year two thousand pounds of grapes. But 
 it would be quite idle for me to undertake to describe 
 o
 
 14 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 all that I have seen that has interested me and would 
 interest you ; and yet, I can scarcely be said to have 
 begun to see London. This will furnish matter for 
 some long Peter Parley stories, when I get home, an 
 event which seems to me at present very distant, though 
 time moves on with inconceivable rapidity. 
 
 What has particularly delighted me here, is, that 
 which cannot be too strongly impressed upon your mind 
 as matter of duty, and that is the universal attention to 
 good manners and the courtesy which everywhere pre- 
 vails. It seems to me impossible that persons should be 
 more civil, especially if they see you are a stranger. 
 Above all, the decency and neatness of the better classes 
 of people delight me. I have scarcely seen a smoker, 
 and as to a tobacco-chewer, not one. You can hardly 
 tell what a delightful change this is to me after leaving 
 Western New York. I am not surprised at any com- 
 plaint or disgust which Englishmen, well-bred English- 
 men, manifest or suffer in this matter, while travelling in 
 our country. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 London, 29th May, 1843. 
 My Deak M : 
 
 I HAVE just received and read with delight, your letter 
 
 of the 13th of May ; and it certainly establishes one most 
 
 agreeable point, that although we are a great way, we 
 
 are not a great while apart. The steamer, I am told, 
 
 had only nine days from Halifax, and eleven and a half
 
 LETTER TV. 15 
 
 from Boston, which seems httle short of flying. I can- 
 not express the pleasure I have had in seeing the myr- 
 iads of objects, that are continually arresting attention ; 
 and not a day nor an hour passes that something new 
 does not present itself. 
 
 The parks, the churches, the gardens, the theatres, 
 the markets, the people, the streets, the carriages, the 
 bridges, the exhibitions, the fairs, the bazars, the cus- 
 toms, the manners, all are full of interest, and keep one's 
 senses and imagination continually upon the stretch ; 
 and yet I have scarcely begun to see what is to be seen. 
 It has rained every day, and I have been caught in the 
 wet again and again, but having become amphibious, 
 have not had a cold. 
 
 You will want to know where my business is; well, 
 all I have to say, is, that I have not yet made much 
 progress in it. Though I have not been idle, I have not 
 yet arranged my plans. I have sought an acquaint- 
 ance with several gentlemen interested in agriculture ; 
 and this I have accomplished. I have attended several 
 meetings of the Agricultural Society, and on Monday 
 last Lord Spencer called me up, when I barely acknow- 
 ledged the honor the Society had conferred upon me in 
 enrolling me among their members, and stated the objects 
 of my mission, and this has procured me several invita- 
 tions. The Earl of Hardwicke has invited me to visit him. 
 The Marquis of Devonshire, in Ireland, desires I would 
 come to see him. The Bishop of Exeter invites me to 
 make him a visit. Lord Morpeth offers me any aid in his 
 power, and has been very kind. Mr. Pusey, member of 
 Parliament, proposes that I should make him several visits, 
 and that I should go on an agricultural excursion with him
 
 16 ETTROPEAN LIFE ANB MANNERS. 
 
 in his county. Earl Spencer has invited nie to make a 
 visit to his place at Althorpe, next Monday, and see his 
 farm, and attend a Cattle-Show near it, on Wednesday of 
 next week. He offers to introduce me to several farmers 
 in the neighborhood. But this is only a part. To-day I 
 spent my morning, from seven o'clock until two, in the 
 cattle market and the corn market. The cattle market is 
 held in the very middle of London, in a public square 
 where John Rogers was burnt at the stake ; and there 
 were there, this morning, more than three thousand oxen 
 and thirty-six thousand sheep and hogs, &c., enough to 
 make up forty thousand animals. The Corn Exchange 
 is a very large market for the sale of all sorts of grain 
 by samples. 
 
 I have dined with Mr. Dickens ; a most agreeable din- 
 ner with Mrs. Reid ; a dinner as agreeable with Mr. 
 Teschemacher ; and with Lord Ashburton, with a party 
 of gentlemen and ladies. Here were splendor and ele- 
 gance enough. I have made a good many other visits 
 equally agreeable, and declined several invitations. I 
 have drank tea with Mr. Carlyle, in a most pleasant 
 manner, and I am to dine on Saturday next with Mr. 
 
 Colquhoun, a particular friend of Mr. G , of Canan- 
 
 daigua. I have not delivered a third of my letters, 
 for I find if I do my time will be wholly used up. 
 
 I continue to think my accommodations as good as a 
 man could ask for. The family are trades-people, but 
 keep my rooms in the best possible order, and do every 
 thing they can for my comfort. As to sending you 
 my journal, as was proposed, you know, it is entirely 
 out of the question. After this, as I shall probably be 
 in the country, I shall find it more difficult to write. 
 However, I shall not let a steamer go without a letter.
 
 LETTER V. 17 
 
 Mr. M and Dr. H are at housekeeping^ ; 
 
 that is, they hire five furnished rooms witli attendance, 
 and then pay all expenses. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Lonilon, 1st June, 1843. 
 My Dear S : 
 
 Time never seemed so scarce with me as just now ; 
 but I am not willing to let this opportunity pass without 
 writing to you. 
 
 I have seen so much that is interesting, and curious, 
 and beautiful, that I hardly know where to begin 
 and where to end. London, in all respects, alto- 
 gether surpasses my expectations. It is far more 
 beautiful than I expected to find it ; and as to the coun- 
 try in its neighborhood, and the cottages and fields, I 
 greatly admire them. They are so tasteful, they are so 
 green, the lawns are so smooth, the hedges are so neat, 
 and now in full flower, the flowers are so abundant and 
 so gracefully arranged, the trees are here and there scat- 
 tered about with so much negligee, if I may use the 
 expression, and are so beautiful, that a ride or a walk in 
 the country, is a perfect scene of enchantment. Yes- 
 terday I went to the races at Epsom, about eighteen 
 miles from London. I was much urged to see them, 
 and had a strong inclination. I found I could ride nine 
 miles on a railroad, and walk the remaining distance 
 with a gratification much more than a compensation for 
 the fatigue. Such a concourse of people I never saw, 
 2*
 
 18 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 nor, indeed, half as many at a time. The horses that 
 contended for the prizes were more than twenty. The 
 purse run for, was twenty thousand dollars. The sums 
 which actually changed hands on the occasion, were, 
 probably, full one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, 
 or more than seven hundred thousand dollars. I stood 
 directly under the judges' stand, and the excitement, as 
 the horses came up and passed the stand, was beyond 
 any thing you can think, and would be likened to nothing 
 but the breaking of the waves in a violent storm along 
 the whole line of a beach of several miles. But one 
 race is enough for me. I got home in good season, and 
 was glad to have witnessed the spectacle. I saw no 
 great disorder on the occasion, but the whole distance 
 from London, on the road, seemed to be only one con- 
 tinuous line of carriages and horsemen of every possible 
 description. 
 
 LETTER VL 
 
 London, l.st June, 1S43. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I MUST confess myself delighted with England, and 
 
 altogether agreeably surprised. There is misery enough 
 
 no doubt, and instances of distress that make your 
 
 heart ache. Here are sixteen millions of people in this 
 
 little island, and two millions in this single city. Now, 
 
 that there must be a great deal of misery, and poverty, 
 
 and vice, and sin, and untold suffering, there can be no 
 
 question, I wish to Heaven it was not so ; but how is 
 
 it to be cured ? I know not. Things are not ordered
 
 LKTTER Vr. 
 
 19 
 
 exactly as I could wish they were ; for then I would 
 have no suftermg ; hut instead of complaining of what 
 I cannot help, I feel bound to admire what deserves to 
 be admired, delight myself with what is agreeable and 
 charming, and take pleasure in seeing such a vast 
 amount of improvement, knowledge, enterprise, skill, 
 wisdom and goodness as is here congregated, and in 
 witnessing the progress of society in the humane arts, and 
 in all that makes life agreeable. I cannot estimate how 
 much I have lost in not seeing England before ; and I 
 have certainly had more pleasure compressed in the last 
 three weeks, than in any three years of my life. 
 
 Some things would strike you as very remarkable. 
 In our country, every thing is new and every thing is 
 changing. Here the spirit is conservative, and things 
 are altered with great difficulty. The judges, for ex- 
 ample, and the lawyers wear wigs, as they did centuries 
 ago. The liveried coachmen wear wigs, and the charity 
 boys wear leather breeches, blue or yellow yam stock- 
 ings, shoes with buckles, long coats and bands, which I 
 presume was the dress of two hundred years ago. So 
 the court dress, in which you are to be presented at the 
 levees, is the same that was worn in the days of Queen 
 EHzabeth. 
 
 The neatness of the better clfisses of women is quite 
 striking. The majority of them wear white cotton stock- 
 ings, without those dirty pantalets which you see bob- 
 bing about the ancles of our women, and they have too 
 much good sense under an affected modesty to let their 
 clothes draggle in the mud ; but they raise their skirts a 
 little, and you will see them elegantly dressed, and walk- 
 ing throutrh, and crossino; the muddiest streets in the
 
 20 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 rain, and not a speck of dirt upon their shoes or stock- 
 ings. I wish our ladies at home could take some les- 
 sons from them. Another thing shows their good sense. 
 They all, in walking, wear pattens or thick-soled shoes, 
 as thick as cork shoes, or else galoshes. India rubbers 
 are not seen. They have another practice which I 
 greatly admire. They seldom wear false curls ; but 
 women whose hair is gray wear it gray, and seem to 
 take as much pains with, and as much pride in their 
 silver locks as the younger ones do in their auburn 
 tresses. I have met a good many ladies in company, 
 but I do not find them to differ greatly from those I left 
 at home, among the well-educated classes. Manners, 
 however, are certainly much more a study than with us, 
 and, upon the whole, make society much more agreeable ; 
 for they are not put on for the occasion, but grow up 
 with them as matter of course. Every thing in society 
 proceeds much more quietly than with us. From what 
 I can see, the English women must be excellent house- 
 wives, as nothing can exceed the neatness and comfort 
 of their establishments. I do wish I could show you 
 my bed-room and parlor, and let you see how neatly I 
 am served. 
 
 P. S. Tell Miss D Dr. Outram has been very 
 
 polite to me.
 
 LETTER Vir. 21 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 London, Ist June, 1843. 
 
 I THINK very often of you, my dear E and G , 
 
 and think how much pleasure I should have in seeing 
 both of you ; but it is quite idle to wish that which 
 is impossible, and at present I must be content with 
 writing to you, and hearing from you. There is no end 
 to sight-seeing in this great city, and I believe several 
 years might be fully occupied in observing its various 
 objects of curiosity and interest. I sent one view of 
 
 Windsor to C , and now I send another to you, but 
 
 it is impossible to depict on paper the extraordinary 
 beauty of the landscape from the terrace at Windsor, 
 which runs round the palace. The inhabitants of this 
 celebrated mansion I have not yet seen. I mean the little 
 Queen. Prince Albert, I have seen several times ; but 
 the Queen is rather shy since she has been twice shot 
 at in the crowd ; what but utter and deplorable madness 
 could induce any one to attempt her life, I cannot con- 
 ceive, as she is quite inoffensive in her manners, is very 
 much beloved by the people, and is one of the best 
 sovereigns that has ever sat upon the throne of England. 
 I am told to-day, by a member of Parliament, that she 
 rises early, walks in the garden, takes care of her child- 
 ren, attends punctually to the important state business 
 which every day devolves upon her, and is a well-in- 
 formed, intelligent woman. Her cousin, the Princess 
 Augusta, who is to be married to a German Prince, I 
 have seen several times. She is about as larce as Miss
 
 22 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 D , and not unlike her, though younger. She 
 
 dresses, at least in public, as plainly as almost any 
 young lady. 
 
 The most interesting sight which I have yet seen in 
 England, was the meeting of the charity children in 
 London and its vicinity in St. Paul's church. They 
 were from about eight to ten years old ; the girls all 
 dressed in neat white caps, the boys all in dark long 
 coats and shirts of different colors, according to the 
 school to which they belonged ; the girls, some with 
 their caps trimmed with red ribbons, some with white, 
 and some with blue ; and here were from seven to ten 
 thousand of them, all arranged in the centre of the cathe- 
 dral, on seats rising one above another on three sides 
 of an oval, with the audience in the centre, and stretch- 
 ing along through the great aisle. During the service, 
 I went into the whispering gallery, which is at the bot- 
 tom of the dome, extending all round it, and directly 
 over their heads, about two hundred feet from them. 
 We could hear them distinctly, and saw them to the 
 greatest advantage. They resembled a beautiful bed of 
 variegated flowers, and indeed it seems to me nothing on 
 this earth ever appeared one half so beautiful. I was 
 greatly excited, and was half tempted, in a state of deli- 
 rium, to throw myself over the railing. How much I 
 wished that you and your mother could have seen it. 
 After the service, the schools went out in different pro- 
 cessions and directions, it requiring a long time to clear 
 the chapel ; and I went up to the cupola of the church, 
 from which we could see them winding off in different 
 directions, and threading the different streets like so many 
 beautiful ribands. These children, by the benevolence
 
 LETTER VIII. . 23 
 
 of good christian men and women, are taken from home- 
 lessness, and poverty, and destitution, and all the expo- 
 sures to vice and misery which attend them, and receive 
 a good and useful education to fit them for respectable 
 conditions in society. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 TO A BOY. 
 
 London, 1st June, 1S43. 
 My Dear N : 
 
 Here is another picture from Windsor. This is St. 
 George's Chapel, near the palace, in which the royal 
 family are buried, when they die ; for kings and queens 
 and princes die as well as the rest of mankind. 
 
 St. George's Chapel is built in exquisite taste, is very 
 curious in its construction, and most extraordinary for 
 the work which has been done upon it ; particularly its 
 beautifully groined arches, which support the ceiling, 
 and its carved stalls in the choir. The banners of the 
 Knights of the Garter were suspended from the walls, and 
 under them, over their respective stalls, are placed their 
 helmets, caps and arms. The painted glass windows 
 are from subjects given by West, and executed by some 
 other person. The Lord's Supper, the Visit of the 
 Magi, are among the subjects, and the pictures want 
 nothing but antiquity to give them a high value. Here 
 is a monument to the memory of the Princess Charlotte, 
 who died at the birth of her first child, in the very 
 flower of her youth. She is represented in full size, in 
 the act of ascending to heaven, lifted up by angels.
 
 2A EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Her infant child is also represented. Several figures with 
 their faces veiled are weeping at the foot of the monu- 
 ment. The ascension, in every rational view, would 
 seem rather matter of rejoicing or congratulation, than of 
 grief. Who would think it cause of lamentation to go 
 directly to heaven, even from a throne ? Several of the 
 kings are buried in this chapel. We were shown the 
 queen's pew, or stall, and the door at which her majesty 
 usually enters the church. She now seldom attends, 
 preferring her private chapel, to avoid publicity. 
 
 Cathedral service is performed here twice a day. 
 There are eight canons and one dean. Six knigfit pen- 
 sioners, in their military dress, are required to attend 
 the daily service or lose their bread. This considera- 
 tion, no doubt, has some influence on their piety. 
 
 A short distance from Windsor is the Eton School, 
 where the sons of the nobility and gentry are educated, 
 and where from time immemorial they have been made 
 good scholars by frequent floggings, a system of disci- 
 pline that I cannot think would be much to your taste. 
 Their play-grounds consist of hundreds of acres of 
 park, with a turf as smooth as if it had been cut with a 
 pair of scissors, and then combed with a fine-tooth comb, 
 without any fences in sight, except by the road. Here 
 there were a good many of the scholars practising at 
 their favorite game of cricket. 
 
 I have seen a good many sights which I think v>'ould 
 amuse you. On Monday, I saw at Smithfield market a 
 cow giving milk, and from appearances as much as most 
 cows, well formed and handsome, over which I could, 
 without any difficulty, have put my leg. She would do 
 very well to bring into the kitchen over at Elfin-glen.
 
 LETTER IX. 25 
 
 But one of the most amusing sights is the donkeys in tiie 
 carts. They are many of them not larger than u calf a 
 year old, and they are tackled into small carts and 
 driven about by men and women, who carry vegetables 
 and fruits and flowers to sell, and indeed other and 
 pretty heavy burdens. They cost from five to ten or 
 fifteen dollars apiece, and are kept for a very small sum. 
 But besides these there are a great many ponies, some sin- 
 gle and some driven in pairs, not higher than for you to rest 
 your chin upon if you stood by them, and many of them 
 extremely beautiful and docile. I think if your mother 
 had a little pony phaeton, with a handsome pair of well- 
 broke ponies, she would enjoy riding out with G. and 
 driving herself, very much. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 London, 2il June, lS-13. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 To your care I entrust several letters, which will pro- 
 bably come under your notice in part, and acquaint you 
 with my whereabouts. 
 
 I have a great deal to add, but no time now. I have 
 every attention which I could desire, and the offer of a 
 great deal more than I can avail myself of. On Monday, 
 I start on my explorations in the country, though I think 
 I shall return to London for a week. If my health con- 
 tinues, of which there is a fair prospect, I have the best 
 hopes of accomplishing my objects ; but it will be no 
 sinecure. I have met a good many gcnilcmcii of the 
 3
 
 26 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 highest distinction, who promise me every aid and 
 kindness. 
 
 Mr. M seems to me disposed to look a Httle too 
 
 much on the dark side of things, but he is, I beheve, 
 much gratified with his visit. How can it be otherwise ? 
 Never, it seems to me, were so many interesting objects 
 congregated in one place before. 
 
 This morning I breakfasted with a large party of gen- 
 tlemen, members of parliament and others. This is a 
 charming mode of visiting and very common. You go 
 at ten and usually sit until twelve. Three days since I 
 was at a splendid breakfast at Mr. Pusey's, M. P., with 
 a " topping off" with delicious strawberries and grapes. 
 This morning an agreeable party and a very substan- 
 tial meal, at Mr. Kenrick's. American repudiation 
 often comes up to my annoyance, but I do my best to 
 make them understand the difference between Amer- 
 ican and State repudiation. They say the American 
 government ought to maintain and vindicate the honor 
 of the States. I wish they would. It would be worth 
 infinitely more to the country than the cost. 
 
 Night before last, I had a great treat at the House of 
 Commons, in hearing Sir Robert Peel. He is capital 
 in point of talents and dignity of address. 
 
 I have this moment got a very kind invitation from 
 Earl Talbot, whom I have not seen, to visit him in 
 Staffordshire, one of the best agricultural districts. I 
 have a hundred things I want to say to you, but must 
 spare you as well as myself.
 
 LETTER X. 27 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 London, ICth June, 1S43. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 By the invitation of Earl Spencer, to which I have 
 already referred, to visit him at Althorpe, about sixty 
 miles from London, and attend a Cattle-Show, I 
 went there and received every polite attention. His 
 home-place consists of ten thousand acres, all lying 
 together, in wood, meadow, pasture, gardens, parks, and 
 every thing in a style of superior beauty and order. 
 There is, first, a very large house, forming three sides of 
 a quadrangle, and furnishing sleeping-rooms for seventy 
 guests, with extensive halls for servants ; the entries and 
 rooms are filled with pictures and statues ; a gallery of 
 pictures one hundred feet in length, containing many of 
 the works of the first masters, and a library of most val- 
 uable books -in elegant binding, covering the high walls 
 of eight large rooms and halls, and making together 
 more than fifty thousand volumes ; said to be the finest 
 private library in the world. Then, besides that, there 
 are extensive ranges of stables as elegant as private 
 dwellings, and equally neat ; and greenhouses and con- 
 servatories, and the gamekeeper's house, and the dairy- 
 house, and the dog-kennels, and the porter's lodge at 
 the entrance of the park, and how many farm-houses I 
 cannot say. No fences are to be seen from the house, 
 excepting a light " invisible " iron fence to keep the 
 parterres of flowers from the cattle ; and there are hun- 
 dreds of sheep and cattle of the finest description graz-
 
 28 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 ing round the house and park. Several gentlemen, 
 members of parliament, were of the party, and were 
 all furnished with horses to go over the country and 
 to examine the farms and stock, in which excursion 
 we spent Tuesday ; and on Wednesday, was the Cat- 
 tle-Show and the Ploughing-match at Northampton, 
 a beautiful town larger than Charlestown, about three 
 miles from Althorpe, where, after the show, a large party 
 of gentlemen sat down to an elegant entertainment. 
 I was obliged to leave on Thursday morning, to 
 proceed to Ingestre, to visit Earl Talbot, one of the 
 first noblemen in England, and for several years Lord- 
 Lieutenant, or Viceroy of Ireland, who had previously 
 sent me an invitation. This was likewise to be 
 an agricultural show and festival. Here, too, I was 
 received as kindly as possible, and after the show we 
 had a most agreeable dinner with more than a hundred 
 farmers and the neighboring gentry in the palace hall. 
 The next day, his son took me about six miles to spend 
 the day on one of his best-managed farms, and to show 
 me every thing about the place ; and on Saturday, when 
 I returned to town, his lordship himself took me six 
 miles to the railroad station (not called depot,) to show 
 me the Asylum for the Insane, (a most admirable and 
 well-conducted institution,) and many other things which 
 he knew would gratify me. While at Lord Spencer's, I 
 received a note from the Duke of Richmond, addressed to 
 Lord Spencer, giving me an invitation to accompany him 
 on Monday to his place at Goodwood, sixty miles from 
 London, and see his farm and the farmers, and attend a 
 sheep-shearing and a meeting of an association for the 
 reward and encouragement of honest and industrious
 
 LETTER X. 29 
 
 laborers. On Monday, at 10 o'clock, he called for me 
 in his carriage, and we went to his place through a most 
 delightful country. His home farm consists of 23,000 
 acres, and besides various other farms, he has between 
 two and three hundred thousand acres of land in Scot- 
 land, where he goes in the summer, and where he has 
 invited me to make him a visit. Of the beauty and 
 magnificence of this establishment I cannot give you 
 any adequate idea. It is beyond any expectations 
 which I had formed. He himself was kind enough to 
 show me over his whole house. He was bred a soldier, 
 has been wounded in the breast, of which he still feels 
 the effects, and has been in thirteen pitched battles, 
 finishing off with the battle of Waterloo. Few men in 
 the kingdom rank higher than he, and no man, in his 
 manners, can show less hauteur or pride, be his rank 
 what it may. 
 
 Here, too, we had a public dinner ; one hundred and 
 five meritorious laborers, who were to receive premiums 
 for good conduct, dining with us, and a very large party 
 of noblemen, gentlemen, farmers, and at least sixteen 
 clergymen, with the Lord Bishop at their head. Here, 
 too, were toasts and speeches, which I lived through, in 
 spite of the cheering, three times three and one more. 
 The dinner at Goodwood was given in the Tennis-court, 
 a spacious room ; a part of which, at the end of the 
 room was separated by a wooden grating, behind which, 
 scarcely visible, a party of ladies were assembled to 
 hear the speeches. In reference to this circumstance, a 
 gentleman, I cannot say with how much gallantry, but 
 with no little cheering, gave as a toast, " The hens in 
 the coop." This was on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, 
 3*
 
 30 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 the Duke, after carrying me to several farmers, and two 
 poor-houses and houses of correction, brought me back 
 to London, and tendered me, in the kindest manner, 
 every service in his power. Now, it is impossible to 
 convey to you on paper a just idea of the magnificence 
 and beauty of this palace and residence, filled with 
 books, pictures, statues, curiosities, conveniences and 
 elegancies. One of the large halls is covered with yel- 
 low silk, and with pictures in tapestry of the most ex- 
 quisite workmanship, and splendid furniture. Then, the 
 extensive parks, through which you literally ride for 
 miles and miles, and, what was singularly beautiful, the 
 herds of deer, of sheep, of cattle, and twenty-five race- 
 horses in the stable, with a groom for each of them ; 
 together with an aviary, an enclosure of six acres, with a 
 high wall, a pond, a grove, a grotto, which the ladies of 
 the house were seven years in adorning with varied shells, 
 a keeper's house, and places for the parrots, canary birds, 
 gold and silver fish, peacocks, and above all, the beautiful 
 golden and silver pheasants, making one of the most roman- 
 tic and delightful spots that can be imagined. I told him, 
 as soon as there should be a vacancy, I should certainly 
 apply for the situation of the keeper. The distance to 
 Goodwood is sixty rniles, which we easily accomplished 
 in six hours, having rode post, as it is called here, chang- 
 ing horses every ten miles, in about three minutes, and 
 never getting off our seats until we reached the end of 
 our journey. 
 
 You will be glad to know something about the man- 
 ner of living in these places, and in this rambling letter 
 I will tell you, that in respect to convenience, comfort 
 and ease, it is near perfection. As soon as you an'ive
 
 LKTTKR X. 31 
 
 at the house, your name is announced, your portman- 
 teau is immediately taken into your chamber, which tlie 
 servant shows you, with every requisite convenience and 
 comfort. At Lord Spencer's the watch opens your door 
 iii the night to see if all is safe, as his house was once 
 endangered by a gentleman's reading in bed, and if he 
 should find your light burning after you had retired, 
 excepting the night taper, or you reading in bed, without 
 a single word, he would stretch out a long extinguisher, 
 and put it out. In the morning, a servant comes in to 
 let you know the time in season for you to dress for 
 breakfast. At half past nine you go in to family prayers, 
 if you find out the time. They are happy to have the 
 guests attend, but they are never asked. The servants 
 are all assembled in the room fitted for a chapel. -They 
 all kneel, and the master of the house, or a chaplain, 
 reads the morning service. As soon as it is over they 
 all wait until he and his guests retire, and then the 
 breakfast is served. At breakfast there is no ceremony 
 whatever. You are asked by the servant what you will 
 have, tea or coffee, or you get up and help yourself. 
 Dry toast, boiled eggs, and bread and butter are on tlu^ 
 table, and on the side-table you will find cold ham, 
 tongue, beef, he, to which you carry your own plate 
 and help yourself, and come back to the breakfast-table 
 and sit as long as you please. All letters or notes ad- 
 dressed to you are laid by your plate, and letters to be 
 sent by mail are put in the post-box in the entry, and 
 are sure to go. The arrangements for the day are then 
 made, and parties are formed ; horses and carriages for 
 all the guests are found at the stables, and each one fol- 
 lows the bent of his inclination. When Ik^ returns, if sit
 
 32 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 noon, he finds a side-table with an abundant lunch upon 
 it if he chooses, and when he goes to his chamber for 
 preparation for dinner, he finds his dress-clothes brushed 
 and folded in the nicest manner, and cold water, and 
 hot water, and clean napkins in the greatest abundance. 
 At Lord Spencer's, Lord Ashburton's, Earl Talbot's, 
 there was a good deal of gold plate on the table, and the 
 dishes and plates, excepting the dessert plates, were all 
 of silver ; at the Duke of Richmond's they were of porce- 
 lain, the dishes of silver. Servants are without number. 
 I have never dined out yet, even in a private untitled 
 family, with less than three or four, and at several places 
 eight or nine even, for a party hardly as numerous ; but 
 each knows his place ; all are in full dress, the liveried 
 servants in livery, and the upper servants in plain gen- 
 tlemanly dress, but all with white cravats, which are 
 likewise mostly worn by the gentlemen in dress. The 
 servants not in livery are a higher rank than those in 
 livery, never even associating with them. The livery is 
 of such a description as the master chooses ; the Duke of 
 Richmond's were all in black, on account of mourning 
 in the family ; the others various, of the most grotesque 
 description, sometimes with, and sometimes without wigs, 
 and always in shorts and white silk or white cotton 
 stockings. Many persons request you not to give any 
 gratuity to the servants. Others forbid them accepting 
 any under pain of dismissal ; and at the house of a noble- 
 man of high rank, I found a printed notice on my dress- 
 ing-table to this effect : " The guests are particularly 
 requested to give no gratuities to the servants."
 
 T.KTTER XI. :V^ 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 London, 27lli June, 1S43. 
 My Deae M : 
 
 A FELLOW-PASSENGER, Mr. C , of Baltimore, lias 
 
 just called, and promises to deliver this in Boston. T 
 hope you will see him. I have nothing in particular to 
 inform you. Some person, whom I do not know, scnit 
 me a report of the meeting of fanners, at Northampton ; 
 so I send it to you. Every thing of that sort is here 
 taken down by reporters, and published, so that one 
 must be careful what he says. I am more than full of 
 engagements and occupation, and my great difficulty is 
 to find time for any thing. This is what is called the 
 season when London is full of people; it is always full, 
 but now I believe it runs over. Where all the peo- 
 ple get bread and lodging. Heaven only knows. No- 
 thing like the msh of human life which I see here, ever 
 before met my eyes, or even entered my imagination. 
 Li a few weeks Parliament adjourns, and tlien I am 
 told the West End of London, at least, is quite still. 
 It has been altogether important to remain here, with a 
 view of forming acquaintances, and getting instructions. 
 I leave to-morrow morning, in acceptance of several invi- 
 tations from country gentlemen, and shall be so constantly 
 cruising about until winter sets in, that I shall hardly 
 know how to communicate with you ; but I shall do it. 
 I go to-morrow to visit a gentleman in Horsham. Mr. 
 Dickens, to whom the Duke 'of Richmond introduced nic 
 as a private friend of his, and, as they say in England, a
 
 34 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 very clever man. After that, I go into Hertfordshire, to 
 visit a Mr. Antony ; then I go to Barton, to visit Mr. 
 Birch ; then to the great Derby Cattle-Show ; then with 
 Lord Spencer to Mr. Childer's in Yorkshire ; then to the 
 North of England, to Edinburgh, and farther on ; then in 
 Staffordshire a week with Lord Hatherton ; then into 
 Cornwall with Mr. Pendarves, M. P., and lady, among the 
 most agreeable and kindest people I ever saw ; then into 
 Cambridgeshire, to see Lord Hardwicke's property and 
 family ; then into Norfolk and Wiltshire, to fulfil engage- 
 ments ; then into Ireland, to be at the Belfast agricultural 
 show, and so, and so on, engagement after engagement, 
 with gentlemen who have invited me, whose names I do 
 not remember, but who have promised to settle the 
 arrangements at the Derby Cattle-Show, where I expect 
 to meet the largest assembly of the kind ever held in 
 England. They provide for more than fifteen hundred 
 at the public dinner. My objects continually occupy 
 me, but what success will follow the execution of them, 
 remains to be seen. I shall try to do my best. 
 
 I made yesterday some visits which were quite unex- 
 pected. Mrs. P made me promise to go with her, 
 
 and called for me in her carriage, at 2 o'clock, with a 
 young lady, to show me the most fashionable millinery 
 and fancy store, and the largest jewelry store in the 
 world. The capital in one of the stores is £200,000 
 sterling, or one million of dollars ; in the other, £300,000 
 sterling, or a million and a half of dollars. I saw a 
 mere envelope case, price sixty-five guineas ; a blotting 
 book for a lady's table, ninety guineas ; and one single 
 set of jewels, necklace, broach and earrings, £37,000 
 sterling, or ^'185,000. We sober people in America
 
 LETTER XII. 35 
 
 can have no idea of such extravagance, and yet here, 
 they say they will soon find a purchaser for these thinnjs. 
 I concluded, after considerable self-restraint, not to buy 
 
 the earrings to send to S , as I believe she does not 
 
 wear them. 
 
 I have talked so much of writing in haste, that I will 
 make no apology. I fear I shall have no time to 
 write to any other person. I depend on hearing from 
 you by every steamer while I am in England. I shall 
 become homesick presently, I know ; but there is nothing 
 to be said. I have nothing in the world to complain of 
 but my separation from my family and friends. God 
 bless you, and pray for me. 
 
 P. S. I forgot to mention that Mrs. P took me, 
 
 yesterday, to see the wedding gown of the Princess 
 Augusta, the Queen's cousin, who is to be married 
 to-morrow. The gown alone, cost only 200 guineas, or 
 more than a thousand dollars. It is of silver and silk, 
 interwoven and covered with Brussels lace. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 London, 2d July, 1843. 
 My Deae M : 
 
 The post-office arrangements here are capital. Your 
 letters are brought to you six times a day, and you can 
 send to any part of the city six times a day, a letter less 
 than half an ounce, for one penny. There are post-offices 
 in every principal street. Invitations are sometimes
 
 36 EUROPEAN LIFE AND BIANNERS. 
 
 received and answered by post ; but it is not considered 
 quite polite, unless you arc on a footing of great intimacy. 
 
 I have such a variety of adventures that I hardly know 
 where to begin, and do not feel certain that I shall not 
 tell my story over more than once. 
 
 I believe I gave you in former letters an account of 
 the style in which they live in the best houses, and of 
 some jewelry shops I had seen, and likewise the wedding 
 dress of the Princess Augusta. These I know are very 
 small matters, but I dare say such little details have an 
 interest with you. I am, you see, again in London, having 
 returned here last evening, from a delightful visit in the 
 
 country. M may set down what she pleases to my 
 
 enthusiasm, but I assure you I color nothing, and things 
 are really as beautiful, as tasteful and charming, and the 
 people as intelligent and polite, and agreeable and kind, 
 as I describe them to be ; only I feel I cannot do the 
 things or the people half justice. 
 
 I went on a visit to Mr. Dickens, whom I met at the 
 Duke of Richmond's. He married the sister of the Mar- 
 quis of Northampton, and occupies a family seat of Lady 
 N., the wife of the former Marquis. He has a large for- 
 tune, gives himself to agriculture, horticulture, literature, 
 the fine arts, and all that constitutes the highest and most 
 refined delights of life. There were eight or ten persons, 
 gentlemen, lords and ladies, staying in the house at the 
 same time. The courts were in session, in the village, 
 and we had the lawyers to dine one day, and I dined 
 with the court and bar another day ; and you may be 
 sure all that could be done, to make my visit agreeable 
 and instmctive, was done. 
 
 The ride between Horsham, the village near his resi-
 
 LETTER XII. 37 
 
 dence, about thirty-three miles from London, wliich I 
 took on the outside of a stage coach, was but a succession, 
 for the whole distance, of fine gardens, magnificent parks, 
 neat villages, beautiful villas, and country houses, in the 
 irrimediate vicinity of each other, with trees scattered 
 around them in the most tasteful manner, with gardens 
 as pretty as they could be made, with porticos, windows, 
 and fences and yards, filled and adorned to overflowing 
 with flowering shrubs, and geraniums, kalmias, rhodo- 
 dendrons, roses perfuming the air almost to satiety and 
 filling the eye with delight. 
 
 Now you may think how beautiful they are, and how 
 much pains is taken to adorn even the humblest cottage 
 of the humblest laborer. 
 
 We had some ladies staying in the house, though the 
 lady of the house was too much indisposed to go out, who 
 invited me to accompany them to lunch at a gentleman's 
 seat a few miles off. Here my imagination would be 
 widely at fault, to conceive of grounds laid out with more 
 taste and beauty, a house better filled with the most 
 elegant books, the most exquisite drawings, more striking 
 pieces of sculpture, and prettier gems of souvenirs and 
 bijouterie, or a lady more fitted to adorn all this by the 
 cultivation of her mind and the elegance of her manners. 
 
 From this, after an agreeable visit at Mr. Dickens's, I 
 returned to London, and to-day has been passed in a 
 most interesting manner. The Duke of Richmond, who 
 has been most kind in his attentions, took me to visit 
 Pentonville model prison, three miles out of town, and 
 of which he is one of the principal governors. The great 
 object of this prison is to see what can be done for the 
 reformation of the unfortunate persons who are subjected 
 4
 
 38 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 to its penalties. There are about three hundred of them. 
 We attended service in the chapel where they were all 
 assembled and were arranged so that not one of them 
 could see another, though they could all see and hear 
 the minister. The sermon was upon Lying, was full of 
 practical good sense, and given in the most affectionate 
 manner. Being so situated that I could see every pris- 
 oner, I was much stnack with, as I thought, the evident 
 emotion discovered when the prayer of the litany was 
 offered that God would have mercy upon " all prisoners 
 and captives." I could not help observing the starting 
 tear in several eyes. Most of them are young men, and 
 are to be transported to Australia, after being confined 
 here a year or eighteen months in learning some profit- 
 able trade. 
 
 LETTER XIIL 
 
 Doncaster, 30th July, 1843. Cantley Hall, Yorkshire. 
 D^AR J : 
 
 I CAME here yesterday to visit Mr. Childers, M. P. He 
 is largely engaged in agriculture. He is a man of wealth, 
 and his establishment quite princely. Several noblemen 
 and gentlemen, members of parliament, are here, and 
 others are expected to-morrow. We are to remain here 
 until Thursday, to attend the cattle-show and agricul- 
 tural fair, which lasts from Tuesday until Thursday night. 
 To-morrow a party of a dozen gentlemen are to go on 
 horseback to visit some extensive agricultural improve- 
 ments about twenty miles off. Mr. Childers mounts us 
 all. It is difficult to exceed the luxury and elegant
 
 LETTER XIII. 39 
 
 comfort in which these people live, at the same time 
 leaving their guests to adopt their own arrangements, 
 which are generally fixed at breakfast for the day, or if 
 those do not suit, to make their own. There are horses 
 for those who choose to ride ; pleasure-grounds for those 
 who choose to walk ; books for those who like to 
 read ; ladies for such as prefer the luxury of agree- 
 able manners and elegant conversation, and your own 
 chamber always furnished with writing apparatus and 
 books for such as, like me, prefer to spend to-day, as nearly 
 as I can, with my own friends over the watej . I have felt 
 that keeping house to-day, — as to-morrow is the last 
 mail, — was more of a duty than going to church ; so 
 here I am in as much quiet and solitude as if I were on 
 an island in Lake Superior. 
 
 I got your letter by Mr. Snyder. It was of an early 
 date, and much shorter than I like, but very welcome. 
 I have seen many things, of which I wish I could 
 communicate the impressions that I have had while 
 fresh ; but I have not looked upon a charming landscape, 
 a fine picture, and an exquisite piece of sculpture, without 
 having you in my mind and thinking that I would even 
 cheerfully resign all the delight which they have given me, 
 to you, if I could by any possibility put you in my place. 
 
 The picture galleries at Hampton Court, but above 
 all, at Chatsworth, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, 
 and still more the sculpture gallery at the latter place, 
 so much transcend my humble notions as to leave me 
 without words to express my admiration. Indeed, 
 I might string together all the superlatives in my vocab- 
 ulary, and they would do no more than justice to 
 the beautiful sculpture. The sculptured wainscoting,
 
 40 KUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 made of cedar, and the paintings on the walls and ceil- 
 ings, are most splendid. One or two statues of Venus 
 and some Cupids, with others which I cannot particular- 
 ize, and the painting of the Capuchin Chapel, a copy of 
 which I believe you saw in Boston, are triumphs of 
 human genius and taste. I had only a half day, 
 whereas a month would hardly afford sufficient time to 
 examine all. I saw the place under some disadvan- 
 tages, but with admiration and delight. 
 
 The scenery in many parts of this country, picturesque 
 and beautiful as it is, is, after all, inferior to a great deal 
 we have seen together in our own country ; but here you 
 see what art and taste, with the most ample wealth at 
 their control, are able to accomplish. The income of 
 the Duke of Devonshii-e is said to be two hundred 
 thousand pounds sterling, or one million dollars per year, 
 and he wishes to spend the whole. There were fourteen 
 hundred deer and four hundred head of cattle in the 
 open park round the house. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Doncaster, 30lh July, 1S43. Cantley Hall. 
 My Dear Friend: 
 
 I RECEIVED your letter of the 14th inst. this evening. 
 It is an exceedingly impudent letter, in your usual style, 
 and just like you, and as I know what it means, I sin- 
 cerely thank you for it. 
 
 I have not said of England any thing more than it 
 deserves. I like my own country and its institutions 
 better than England ; but I do not know, therefore, that
 
 LETTER XIV. 41 
 
 it is at all necessary to undervalue the institutions of this 
 country, to deny the excellent qualities of persons whom I 
 see here, or ungratefully to disdain the kindness and hos- 
 pitality with which I have been treated. There is here a 
 vast amount of poverty and vice and misery. Wherever 
 extreme poverty exists, vice is its natural concomitant, 
 and where vice is there must be misery. I do not at 
 present see the remedy. Would you recommend an 
 entire and bloody revolution ? This would be a fright- 
 ful prescription. I am not certain that that w^ould cure ; 
 it might kill the patient, or leave him in a much worse 
 condition than before. Most persons here are Malthusians, 
 and presume to say that the human race is propagated 
 too fast. I have no faith in these unnatural, miserable 
 doctrines, but I do most certainly wish and pray that 
 some means could be devised by which a more just divi- 
 sion of the products of industry could be made, and 
 that those who grow the bread could have their proper 
 share of it. I do not think they have it here, and 
 hardly in any other country. In the opinion of many 
 persons, there is little chance for the elevation of the 
 lower and laboring classes until the rights of entail are 
 broken up, and lands are brought freely into the market 
 as other property. On our side of the water we think 
 that the aristocracy should be abolished, and a new aris- 
 tocracy, not of rank or wealth, but of talent and virtue, 
 created. Tliis is a mere dream ; and until human nature 
 is greatly altered and improved, such a result is not tp 
 be hoped for, even under the most favorable circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The great consolation in the case is that philanthropy 
 is everywhere most active, and nowhere more active thai^ 
 4#
 
 42 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 in some of the higher classes here to devise means for 
 improving the condition of the humble and friendless, 
 for educating them, and multiplying their comforts and 
 lessening the evils under which they suffer. 
 
 But I shall not undertake to give you a lesson on 
 political economy. It is very late, and, as you see, I am 
 very sleepy. I hope you will write me often. You 
 know how much pleasure you can give me if you will. 
 I am thankful for a while to be free from the political 
 squabbles which prevail in America, and the constant 
 excitements which leave no man at rest. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Doncaster, Yorkshire, 30lh July, 1843. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 I THANK you for your kind letter. In my letters to 
 
 A I have mentioned my visit to Chatsworth, the 
 
 seat of the Duke of Devonshire. I have a book which 
 gives prints and an account of the place, but I cannot 
 send it to you as I should be glad to do. The place 
 probably exceeds any other in the kingdom for its splen- 
 dors within, and above all, its beauties without. There 
 is a kitchen-garden of twelve acres, filled with fmits and 
 vegetables in the greatest abundance and perfection. 
 There is an arboretum of a great many acres in which it 
 is designed to place a sample of every tree which grows 
 and can be naturalized to this climate. Then there 
 is a conservatory of glass, with a passage large enough to 
 drive a carriage through, three hundred and eighty-seven
 
 LETTER XV. 43 
 
 feet in length, one hundred and seventeen feet in breadth 
 and sixty-seven feet in height, with seventy-six thousand 
 square feet of glass covering, and seven miles of pipes for 
 water with which to heat it. There is an aquarium in it, 
 where water plants are raised in perfection, and there is a 
 gallery running round the building from which you get a fine 
 view of the whole. The plants are among the most rare and 
 beautiful which can be found, and the Duke has one 
 plant merely a flowering shnib, for which he sent a spe- 
 cial messenger to India, and which he values at £2000. 
 This value of course must be fictitious. 
 
 A peach tree in the green-house measures seventy feet 
 in extent, and produced this year eighty dozen peaches. 
 The vine Wisteria, on the back of the stable, extends 
 forty-four yards. 
 
 There are two oak trees, one planted by Victoria before 
 she came to the throne, and one by Prince Albert, which 
 are watched over with great care and are in a flourishing 
 condition, — a happy augury, I tmst, for a union so pro- 
 pitious to the best interests of England. 
 
 The water is thrown by the great fountain two hundred 
 and seventy-six feet, considered the highest jet d'eau in 
 the world. 
 
 Chatsworth embraces thirty -five hundred acres. The 
 Duke owns in the county of Derbyshire ninety-six thou- 
 sand acres. 
 
 The grounds are laid out with surpassing taste ; in one 
 part you see a Dutch garden, formed in square lines and 
 alleys, even the trees shorn and shaped to a particular 
 form ; in other places the natural form is adopted and 
 presents every variety. He is now bringing rocks from 
 a considerable distance, some of them said to weigh ten
 
 44 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 or twelve tons, with a view to make an extensive fonnation 
 of grotto-work, having the appearance of nature, as an 
 entrance into his conservatory. The grounds round the 
 several houses embrace six or seven thousand acres, and 
 the park is as beautiful as can be imagined. There are 
 several fountains near the house, a river flowing in 
 front, some artificial ponds set like mirrors in frames of 
 living green, and besides these, some waterfalls, where the 
 water descends from a very high hill, first down a preci- 
 pice of perhaps twenty feet, then it is hidden in the trees 
 and you see it coming down another about thirty feet in 
 a different direction ; then it is seen pouring over the top 
 of a high tower, in a single large sheet of sixty feet descent ; 
 then it boils up over a grotto in several beautiful jets d'eau ; 
 then it comes down in a rushing cascade over a broken 
 inclined plane of two hundred or three hundred feet in 
 length, and sinks into the ground at your feet and dis- 
 appears. 
 
 The interior of the house is exceedingly splendid ; the 
 windows, (most of them of only two panes,) of perhaps 
 six feet in length by four in width. The glass is of such 
 perfect clearness and transparency, that you can scarcely 
 believe that there is any thing to intercept your sight until 
 you put your hand against it and find the resistance. 
 Indeed the long galleries of most beautiful designs in 
 painting and sculpture, the magnificent vases of the most 
 brilliant spar, the exquisite statues, which do every thing 
 but speak and breathe, and the various and superlatively 
 beautiful bijouterie and souvenirs, together with the 
 mosaic pavement, the carved wainscoting, the inlaid 
 oaken floors, and the splendidly-painted ceilings, form 
 altogether such a combination of the productions of genius.
 
 LETTER XVI. 45 
 
 taste and skill, as is quite overpowering. The library at 
 Chatsworth contains thirty-one thousand volumes. 
 
 I went after this to see Haddon Hall, an ancient castle, 
 once the seat of elegance and luxury, of revelry and ban- 
 queting, now in ruins, its halls empty, its tapestry defaced 
 and hanging in shreds, its turrets overhung with ivy, its 
 paved courts overgrown with weeds, and all its magnifi- 
 cence and glory departed, a most striking contrast to the 
 other scene. So human pride rises and sets and the 
 fashion of the world passes away. I dare say there is as 
 much happiness at Elfin Glen as ever was in these gay 
 halls, when illuminated with all the splendors of art and 
 honored even by the presence of majesty itself. 
 
 I shall not go into winter-quarters until November ; 
 although we have had but one warm night, more than 
 sixty days of rain since I have been in England, and 
 weather as sombre and cold as October. As to sun and 
 moon they have quite cut my acquaintance. 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Doncaster, Yorlcshire, 30th July, 1843. Cantley Hall. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I REACHED this place, about one hundred and seventy 
 
 miles from London, and had the delight of finding your 
 
 joint letter and others waiting my arrival. No one, who 
 
 has not been from home some time, can appreciate the 
 
 value of such documents for the intelligence which they 
 
 communicate, the assurance which they give us that we 
 
 are not forgotten by those by whom of all others in this
 
 46 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 world we would most wish to be remembered, and for 
 the interchange of kind affections and sympathies, of 
 which they are the medium. While I am occupied in the 
 immediate observation of what is new and curious, I get 
 along well enough ; but there are some hours of solitude 
 and homesickness, which I confess in many cases more 
 than balance all the pleasure which one at other times 
 enjoys. However, there is no use in this sort of moral- 
 izing, and I should be most ungrateful if I gave in any 
 way an indication of disregard or indifference towards 
 the extraordinary hospitality and kindness which I have 
 received, and am constantly receiving. My last letters 
 
 to I think were dated about the 16th inst. at Barton, 
 
 where I remained until Monday last, bringing up my 
 journal and getting a little recruited from the fatigue 
 which I had had the week previous. On Monday I left 
 for Derby, fifteen miles, and after visiting the friends 
 with whom I had lodged the week previous, found a 
 gentleman waiting for me to visit him at Belper, about 
 ten miles from Derby, the seat of extensive cotton 
 manufacture, and where the famous Arkwright laid the 
 foundation of his immense fortune. I went on and 
 passed the night at my friend's house, in the midst of a 
 populous village, and yet surrounded on every side with 
 green lawns, with shade trees of the most beautiful de-* 
 scription, with parterres of flowers in all their pferfection, 
 and green-houses and conservatories and other channing 
 embellishments, with a house filled with books, pictures, 
 works of art, and some other works of a divine art, far 
 higher than human skill can reach, and far surpassing 
 all the splendid triumphs of genius with which the 
 grounds and the house abounded ; I mean, of course, some
 
 LETTER XVI. 47 
 
 very agreeable, intelligent and accomplished women. 
 My adventures with two of them, if it is proper to call 
 them adventures, have been rather amusing. One of 
 them, about thirty, exceedingly pleasing and gentle in 
 her manners, and in the perfect neatness of her person 
 
 and dress, not unlike our friend M. R. ; the other 
 
 about twenty-eight, pretty and extremely shrewd, and 
 what is certainly very rare in English women, with a 
 great deal of fun about her. We had staid a week 
 together at Mr. Fox's, in Derby ; I then took, as I 
 supposed, a final leave of them, not, I will assure you, 
 without a good deal of regret ; but on going to Mr. 
 Strutt's at Belper, lo ! there I found them again. The 
 next morning, however, they were leaving, and so was 
 I, in opposite directions ; and I said to myself this must 
 be the last time ; but two days after, when I was wait- 
 ing the train for Rotherham, who should make their 
 appearance in the coupe, that is, the forward car, with 
 only room for three, but these two agreeable ladies again, 
 with one spare place, which I occupied for about an hour, 
 when we again separated. Three days after that we 
 met again in Gainesboro', where one of them resides, and 
 yesterday, on my return from Bransby, I had again the 
 pleasure of crossing their path, and another most agreea- 
 able hour with them. Now there was neither design nor 
 arrangement in all this ; and when you recollect, in a 
 country full of strangers, how glad you are to see an 
 agreeable and kind face which you have seen before, 
 you may congratulate me upon my good luck. 
 
 After leaving Belper, I proceeded by train and coach 
 to Matlock. This is a seat of mineral springs and 
 baths, and a place of great resort for the pleasure-hunt-
 
 48 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 ing world. The county of Derbyshire is regarded as 
 presenting the most picturesque scenery of any portion 
 of England, and Matlock the centre of that which is 
 most beautiful. It is indeed extremely beautiful, and, 
 excepting in its populousness, and the buildings and 
 churches and improvements which it contains, not alto- 
 gether unlike the scenery between Deerfield and the 
 Hoosic Mountain, which, I dare say, you have not 
 forgotten, but at the same time in other respects inferior 
 to a great deal of the scenery in our own country. 
 
 Besides the natural scenery here to be seen, there 
 were many other objects of curiosity, such as a lead 
 mine, where I followed the excavation more than 
 seventy yards under ground ; and two other caves and 
 quarries of much larger dimensions, exceedingly disagree- 
 able from the cold and dampness and blackness and 
 holes, and caverns, which occasionally indistinctly pre- 
 sent themselves before you, and exceedingly beautiful in 
 many cases from the brilhancy of the rock crystals, which 
 often presented clusters of diamonds in one splendid and 
 radiating point, and from many curious stalactites which 
 were foraied in different parts of the caverns. In the 
 Devonshire cave the guide brings you by gradual steps 
 into a large room, which is lighted, to your great sur- 
 prise, by several clusters of candles arranged in different 
 parts of it ; in another place you fumble your way along 
 with your own torch and your head inclined, if you mean 
 to save your brains, until you are at last ushered into a 
 large apartment, where you see indistinctly a girl moving 
 about in a high gallery several feet above you, when pre- 
 sently she kindles some Bengal lights, lasting for a few 
 moments, illuminating every part of the cavern, and pro- 
 ducing; a striking scene.
 
 LETTER XVI. 49 
 
 I remained at Matlock through the day, and went 
 over to a village called Bonsai, where they were holding 
 a wake. Many of the principal villages have this kind 
 of holiday, which begins commonly on Sunday, and 
 lasts through the whole week. The villagers give them- 
 selves up to frolicking ; the neighborhood turns out ; the 
 tramps and vagabonds come from the country round ; the 
 gipsies, have an encampment near ; and in general the 
 lowest class of people, for no others attend, devote 
 themselves to play, and frolic, and drunkenness. There 
 is nothing very inviting about these wakes, and there 
 can be no doubt that they lead to a great deal of immo- 
 rality ; but every thing here is conservative, and the 
 people would reject any proposition to abandon these 
 customs. 
 
 From Matlock I came on to Chatsworth by private 
 conveyance, one of the seats of the Duke of Devon- 
 sliire, and one of the wonders of England, if not of the 
 world ; but of this I have already given an account in an- 
 other letter. From Chatsworth I went on to Chesterfield, a 
 dismal manufacturing town, or rather one of coal quarries, 
 and thence to Sheffield. Sheffield is next to Manchester 
 in point of populousness, and is among the largest towns 
 in the kingdom. The town is exceedingly dirty, and it 
 seems to be peopled almost exclusively with men engaged 
 in manufactures, and seldom washed, and with women 
 the fit companions of such men, I of course give you 
 only the impression which the streets presented. There 
 are in the suburbs some few elegant residences, and a 
 public botanical garden of more than twenty acres, ex- 
 tremely beautiful, well arranged and well stocked ; and 
 I found some very kind people, who offered me every 
 5
 
 50 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 attention. I had no letters to Sheffield, but in coming 
 from Springfield to Boston last spring, I met with a 
 Mr. Moss and lady, belonging to Sheffield, whom 
 I found agreeable and intelligent people, and with 
 whom I exchanged cards. I aftei-wards called upon 
 them in Boston, and offered them all the attention in 
 my power, which was not much, as I myself was just 
 then preparing to leave. I promised to call upon them 
 in Sheffield, and found that they had two days before 
 arrived from America. They gave me a kind welcome, 
 and pressed a great many more attentions upon me than 
 I could accept, waiting upon me often, showing me the 
 factories, wishing to introduce me to several people in 
 the town, carrying me to the college, the botanical gar- 
 den, &c., he. So it is, that an attention paid to stran- 
 gers is never lost ; and much time as I have devoted to 
 others, as you know, whom I have met with, I have been 
 much more than compensated in the kindness shown to 
 me. I was somewhat amused at the college with a 
 marble bust of Whitfield, in which two glass eyes were 
 inserted, so as to exhibit his well-known squint. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Doncaster, 30th July, 1843. 
 My Dear S : 
 
 You have not yet favored me with a letter, but I hope 
 
 it will come soon, if it is not already on its way. You see 
 
 your mother's letters, and what is addressed to her you 
 
 know is joint stock ; but on the contrary, you will remember
 
 LETTER XVII. 51 
 
 that what she writes is not to be considered as your 
 contribution. 
 
 I keej3 no copies of my letters ; indeed, 1 have 
 scarcely time to write, much less transcribe. I am here 
 to attend an agricultural show, which lasts from Tuesday 
 until Thursday night. My host is a member of Parlia- 
 ment, and the house is, and is to be, full of gentlemen of 
 rank and character. Here agriculture is regarded as the 
 prominent interest of the country, and gentlemen of the 
 highest standing in education, political influence and 
 wealth, take a direct and personal interest in it, even 
 in its minutest details, and not a few ladies likewise. 
 At the Duke of Devonshire's place a Mr. Paxton is his 
 principal agent — a man of learning, taste, and stand- 
 ing. He was absent when I was there, but his wife, a 
 very energetic woman, was about going out to look after 
 the hay, as she said she had a great many men at work, 
 and a good many loads cut, and she was going to see if 
 it were fit, and if so, to order it got in. She takes the 
 whole superintendence in the absence of her husband. 
 
 Col. Perkins advised me, by all means, to see Chats- 
 worth. Should you see him, do not fail to tell him how 
 much I have been gratified. I had letters to the Duke 
 of Devonshire, who called upon me in Derby, and 
 invited me to visit him. Lord Morpeth likewise obtained 
 for me letters and introduction to the place. The Duke 
 was absent, but I received every civility from Mrs. Pax- 
 ton, who put a man at my disposal through the day. You 
 can have no idea of the beauty and improvements of 
 the place outside, and the splendor and magnificence 
 inside. But I must find some other means or opportu- 
 nity to give you an account.
 
 5^ EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 After the cattle fair and festival here, I go to Dundee 
 to attend the Hij^hland Show. I had determined to go 
 thence to the north extremity of Scotland, but I hesi- 
 tate, lest, by spreading over too much ground, I may 
 fail to effect my purpose. I now, therefore, leave my 
 route undetermined until I reach Edinburgh, and shall 
 be then governed by circumstances. We have rain 
 almost every day, cold as October. We have had only 
 one warm night this season. They say here the weather 
 is very variable, but I tell them it is quite constant. 
 
 I have met with a good many Americans abroad, who 
 in general seem as much pleased with the country as I 
 have been. Those persons, however, who merely travel 
 in railroad cars through the country, can see it to very 
 little advantage. 
 
 The English ladies impress me very agreeably. I do 
 not think they are better informed than the same class 
 of people among ourselves, but if I may use an Hibern- 
 ianism, which I think you will understand, they seem to 
 me much more manly than most of our women, and far 
 more independent. They have quite as much delicacy 
 and modesty, but no affectation or fastidiousness. 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Doncaster, 31st July, 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I FEAR you will think it extraordinary, after having 
 
 sent off a large packet of letters, one for yourself among
 
 LETTER XVII I. 53 
 
 the number, that I should write to you again to-day ; 
 but what pleasure in this world have I so great as com- 
 municating with a friend of forty years standing ? and 
 in our separation, what substitute can I find for personal 
 intercourse, but communi(;ation by letter ? 
 
 Though I wrote to you last evening, a good deal has 
 transpired torday to interest me, but, in any event, you 
 are not obliged to read it. I will give you an account 
 of one of the pleasantest days I ever passed ; and though 
 I have been rather fatigued with a ride on horseback of 
 about thirty-five miles, which to me, so unaccustomed 
 as I have been, for the last three years, is no small effort ; 
 yet the enjoyment, upon the whole, has predominated 
 over all fatigue, and I find myself, just having left the 
 dinner-table, at 11 o'clock, quite fresh. 
 
 The arrangement was made last evening, to breakfast 
 at eight o'clock, and to start as soon after as practicable on 
 our tour of observation. Eight of us were mounted by 
 our host at half past eight o'clock, and off we galloped, a 
 sort of steeple chase, with all the exhilaration of a fine 
 day, and with capital objects in view ; our excursion 
 was altogether agricultural ; and our first visit was to a 
 meadow, where, by a movable railway, large amounts 
 of loam were to be removed on to peat or bog land, and 
 the meadow brought into cultivation. The result of 
 what had been done exhibited this as a successful and 
 beautiful experiment. The next object was, an experi- 
 ment on a very bold scale, no other than the redemp- 
 tion of four thousand acres, in one body of peat and 
 bog meadow, into arable land, and this all undertaken by 
 the capital and energy of one individual. On this place 
 is the dry bed of an old river, filled with rich alhn ial
 
 54 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 deposites. He has undertaken to excavate this bed of 
 mud to the extent of eleven hundred feet in length, 
 three hundred and sixty feet in width, and twenty-eight 
 feet in depth, all of which is to be dug out and carried by 
 railroads and cars the necessary distance, and spread upon 
 his meadows at the rate of eight inches in depth. He 
 accomplishes four acres per day. This is an astonishing 
 work and will surely succeed, because many acres, which 
 have been already redeemed, present the appearance of 
 very fine crops. The next object was several miles 
 further off, to see a process by which the waters of a 
 very muddy river were made, by dikes, &;c., to overflow 
 extensive tracts of land, in which there is left a deposit 
 of eighteen inches of mud a year. This is called 
 warping. These were, you may be sure, most interest- 
 ing and valuable experiments, and prove what may be 
 done for land, otherwise worthless, by skill, labor and 
 capital, and show an extraordinary expenditure, which, 
 in the end, fully remunerates the proprietor. 
 
 We returned through a beautiful country, to dine at 
 seven o'clock, which means eight, the time at which we 
 actually sat down. The house is quite full of noblemen 
 and gentlemen. Lord Morpeth is here ; Earl Spencer is 
 here ; several members of parliament ; and several more 
 are expected ; and the party being highly intellectual 
 and educated, and all as much interested in my objects 
 as if they were tenant farmers, you may be sure there is 
 no want of instruction and gratification. There are only 
 three ladies present. As direct introductions seldom 
 take place, you are expected, in such visits, to put your- 
 self in polite communication with those who are near you. 
 There are some gentlemen here with whom I have had
 
 LETTER XIX. 55 
 
 long conversations, and who have asked me repeatedly 
 to visit them, whose names I do not know. We have 
 had three sumptuous dinners at the house ; what is to 
 come to-morrow at the public dinner, and the next day 
 at another public dinner, where plates are provided for 
 seven hundred, I must wait to see. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Edinburgh, 15th August, 1843. 
 My Deae M : 
 
 I SEE by this morning's papers that the Caledonia has 
 arrived in about thirteen days' passage ; and I wait with 
 impatience for my letters. I hope this will find you well, 
 and safely returned from Niagara. You see where I now 
 am, I was here two days last week on my way to Dundee to 
 attend the great Cattle-Show and meeting of the Scotch 
 Agricultural Society, about sixty miles from this place. 
 I reached there a week ago on Tuesday afternoon and re- 
 mained until Monday noon, when I went on to Perth and 
 thence to this place yesterday. While at Dundee, after 
 the show I really wanted rest, and having excellent 
 lodgings with a very neat and kind widow woman, I 
 thought it best to take that time to bring up my writing, 
 which keeps far behind in spite of my utmost exertions. 
 Excepting being a good deal indisposed at Dundee, I 
 enjoyed myself very much, and obtained information 
 which will be of much use to me. I am now much 
 better, and intending, with the exception of a trip to 
 Glasgow, to remain here a week, am satisfied I shall be
 
 Ob EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 quite well again. I have had a good deal more fatigue 
 and excitement than even I can get along with, and an 
 almost total change in my hahits of living has done me 
 no service. At lodgings I live as I please, because I 
 order only what I want, and having a quiet home and 
 my old simple dinner, I have been much better for it. 
 You will be amused, perhaps, in the absence of something 
 better, to know how I manage. At Dundee, as they 
 expected an immense crowd, at many .houses they de- 
 manded a guinea a night for lodging merely, and I know 
 some persons who paid it. At others ten shillings (more 
 than two dollars,) at others five. The hotel-keeper said 
 he was overflowing, having already forty out, but would 
 find me lodgings for ten shillings per night, and meals 
 were to be extra, at least ten shillings more, besides two 
 shillings per day for servants. I told him I would look 
 out for myself, and by mere chance stumbled upon this 
 good place ; the lady, a woman of education and excel- 
 lent manners, who had seen better days, the widow of a 
 lawyer, who asked me for bedroom and parlor in a 
 pleasant situation, two shillings six pence per night, and 
 charged me with what she purchased, so that my bill for 
 the week amounted to only £ 1 6s. sterling, a little more 
 than six dollars, instead of a guinea a day. She said 
 she was not willing to be an extortioner, and was amply 
 paid. I am quite as fortunate here, where I have, after 
 two hours search yesterday, got into excellent quarters 
 at nine shillings per week for my lodgings, and they get 
 my food, I paying simply the cost of what I choose to 
 order, whereas I could not live at a fashionable hotel 
 here under a guinea a day ; I am in Princess street, the 
 best part of the town, more comfortable, and quite as
 
 LETTER XIX. 57 
 
 respectable. So much comes of a little pains-taking, and 
 I hope after a little more experience I may become an 
 economist. Travelling in coaches, however, is very ex- 
 pensive, and though I never ride inside when I can ride 
 out, yet one gets to the bottom of one's purse constantly 
 
 much sooner than you expect it. I send Mr. M the 
 
 Dundee paper which contained my remarks at the Dinner. 
 I desired the Duke of Richmond, as I had now become 
 introduced to the agricultural public, and as my object is 
 not to make speeches, that this might be my last appear- 
 ance in this way. I was invited to the council dinner, 
 which consisted of about three hundred persons, but as 
 I knew I should have to speak I declined. At the pa- 
 vilion dinner there were more than 1200, and the ar- 
 rangements were beautiful and elegant. I had designed, 
 after the Dundee show, to have gone north to the ex- 
 tremity of Scotland, and had engaged to visit the Duke 
 of Richmond, at Gordon Castle, the finest establishment in 
 the North, and to go to the Duke of Sutherland's, still far- 
 ther north, embracing, as he says, a territory so large that 
 he hardly dares say how much ; in fact about three million 
 acres. But I find that in this way I should be spreading 
 over too much ground, and so have concluded, after visit- 
 ing some of the best farms in this vicinity, perhaps the best 
 cultivated in the world, to go into the south of England, 
 and go through Scotland next season, making its husband- 
 ry and that of Ireland, a distinct subject of inquiry. I 
 shall, therefore, remain in Scotland until the last of August, 
 and spend the remainder of the season in England, where 
 I have already engagements, extending far into the win- 
 ter, though November must be exclusively appropriated 
 to writing, as I shall do all I can to send my first num-
 
 58 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 ber out by the first packet in December, and my second 
 as soon after as practicable. I do not see how I can 
 effect it sooner. I have several letters to deliver here, 
 but several persons to whom I am addressed, are absent 
 on the Continent, or in the country, as this is the season 
 for travelling, and for grouse shooting. The shooting 
 season is not allowed by law until the 12th of August. 
 Before that time. Parliament, if possible, always rises, 
 or the attendance becomes very thin, members of the 
 opposite parties pairing off, as it is termed, and you would 
 be astonished at the number of persons who go into the 
 country shooting. The coach office was yesterday lite- 
 rally piled up with boxes of game, directed to friends in 
 London, as the fruits of the first few days' sport. The 
 hunting season does not begin until much later, and un- 
 til the crops are off the ground. 
 
 I have already talked too much of myself. Now let 
 me say something of this city. I reached here last week 
 on Saturday evening, or rather Sunday morning about 
 half past one o'clock — we went to several hotels, but 
 all were filled, and did not succeed in getting housed 
 until about two, when the first thing that arrested our 
 attention (for it was a bright moonlight night) was a fight 
 between two well-dressed women, under the window, 
 with fists, scratching faces, pulUng hair, and plenty of 
 oaths thrown in by way of variety, and a considerable 
 party of men and women, well-dressed, but of what 
 wretched class is easily surmised, to witness the affray, 
 without attempting to separate the combatants. No po- 
 lice appeared on the ground, though we cried out for 
 them, and this, you may be assured, was not a favorable 
 impression of Edinburgh to begin with. In the morn-
 
 LETTER XIX. 59 
 
 ing, I strolled out for church and was led by curiosity 
 into the Canongate, where John Knox was accustomed 
 to preach, and to look into the Cow-gate (gate means 
 way or road) where was the Grass Market referred to in 
 Scott's Heart of Mid Lothian. Here, indeed, was such 
 a population as I had never seen before, and human 
 beings in a degree of degradation and lower than any in 
 which I had supposed it possible for human beings to 
 subsist. The filth, the nastiness, the nakedness, the drunk- 
 enness, the horrible condition of the streets, and yards, the 
 narrow wynds, the dark closes, the loftiness of the houses 
 (some seven and some eleven stories in height,) with 
 family piled over family, without a foot of yard room, 
 or even the most common conveniences of life, staircases 
 without a single window, or any light, excepting what 
 was admitted by the opening at the foot of the passage, 
 (for no outer door is ever hung here,) presented a hide- 
 ous spectacle ; and the street crowded with people, bare- 
 headed and bare-footed, exhibited an assemblage of 
 thousands of miserable, starving, drunken, ignorant, disso- 
 lute, poor, forlorn, vvretched beings, in the midst of what 
 is called a Christian community. After this sight, I went to 
 church, and with what heart I leave you to conjecture — 
 and here I found churches crowded with people full of 
 rancor, breathing anathemas against those who do not 
 agree with them in opinion, and contending with each 
 other with all the fury of the ancient clans, about church 
 government. What a commentary suggests itself to a re- 
 flecting mind ! It seemed to me to resemble nothinf 
 more than a contention between the Priest and the Le- 
 vite about sacrifices over the body of a wounded, robbed, 
 and bleeding traveller by the wayside. These people,
 
 60 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 too, will spend their thousands and thousands for mis- 
 sions to the Heathen, many of whom are really more of 
 Christians than they are themselves, and neglect their 
 poor, suffering brethren, wallowing in wretchedness and 
 destitution, and vice, at their own doors. I went into the 
 Hospital or Almshouse, where they have provision for 
 giving relief to all the poor wretches who apply for lodg- 
 ings in the night ; and they told me they had received 
 eighty-one on Saturday night, and that they frequently 
 had more numerous applications. I had supposed I had 
 now got to the bottom, but to the lowest deep it seems 
 there is always a lower depth, and when I went to Dun- 
 dee, I literally found it. The wretchedness here is ex- 
 treme, absolutely extreme. These people are many of 
 them engaged in linen manufactories ; the wages of 
 many of them do not exceed four shilhngs per week, out 
 of which they pay three shillings and six pence for board, 
 and the rest goes for incidentals and clothing, of which 
 indeed, they have precious little. Their living consists 
 of oatmeal porridge and a little milk in the morning, 
 potatoes and sometimes bread at noon, and porridge 
 again in the evening, and they work fourteen hours in 
 the mills, including an hour and a half for meals. Here, 
 too, the condition of their habitations is most frightful. 
 As they have no yards, and cannot have a single com- 
 fort in their dark, stone dungeons, they all come into the 
 street in the evening, so that it is quite difficult to get along. 
 Hardly one woman or child in twenty, I might, perhaps, 
 more properly say one in fifty, has either shoe, stocking, 
 bonnet, or shawl on, and I have some doubts whether 
 petticoat either, and probably are not washed once in a 
 month. The ofFensiveness of the place is beyond endur-
 
 LETTER XIX. 61 
 
 ance. I was in the streets half a dozen times, as they 
 were directly contiguous to my lodgings, w hicli were in 
 a court yard, near the most public streets in the town. 
 Here, too, the Christians are engaged heart and soul in 
 fighting against heresy, and contending about church 
 government. Away with such controversies, miscalled 
 religious, from the earth. They spring only from the 
 grossest selfishness and pride. Whether I am to see 
 any thing worse or not I cannot say ; but I assure you 
 I had no pleasure, but actual misery, in joining in a great 
 public dinner, with all the wit and cheers and huzzaing 
 connected with it, with twelve hundred gentlemen, while 
 there were twelve thousand of those poor wretches out- 
 side, who did not get a good meal once a year, and 
 many of whom were actually dying of slow starvation. 
 It is no wonder that such people have no morals, and 
 as you may see in passing through the crowd, are utterly 
 dissolute and vagabond — worse than all, there seems 
 no hope of mending their condition. Directly along 
 side these places you see shops filled with gold and silver 
 plate and the most expensive jewelry, and shop windows 
 crowded with silks, muslins, ginghams and cloths of the 
 most elegant description, many of which were, no doubt, 
 made by the very hands of these people, and yet they 
 are scarcely suffered to look at them. There, too, in 
 the midst of all this wretchedness, these poor creatures 
 are thrust one side lest they should be run over by the 
 carriage of the rich man, who comes lolling in his chariot, 
 with a postilion, a driver, and perhaps two footmen, 
 with their powdered heads and gold-headed canes, to 
 serve his pleasure or his pride. I am quite satisfied that 
 there is no place on earth which I have yet seen or 
 6
 
 62 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 read of, where the people are so happy as in New Eng- 
 land. 
 
 I intend to write several more letters by this packet, 
 but doubt my time and ability. Remember me affec- 
 tionately to all, and don't fail to write by every steamer, 
 for I am constantly homesick, from the time I send one 
 letter until I get another. 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Edinburgh, 31st August, 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I AM somewhat concerned lest you should think my 
 letters come quite too often, but as I should be very 
 sorry that a steamboat should arrive without letters 
 from you, it seems only proper that I should do my 
 part. As I keep no copy 'of my letters, I am not quite 
 certain where I left off, and there is not a little danger 
 of repetition. 
 
 I gave you an account of my visit to Dundee, and 
 my return to Edinburgh. This was on the 15th inst. 
 On Wednesday, the 16th, I wrote to you. On Friday, 
 I went by railroad to Glasgow, and returned at night. 
 On Sunday attended meeting all day, and it is, I assure 
 you, no small affair to get through a Scotch service ; in 
 this case, the prayer was more than three-fourths of an 
 hour long, and the sermon two hours. 
 
 In the ruraJ districts in Scotland, the two services 
 occur, with only the intermission of a few minutes, 
 when the second service commences with singing, prayers, 
 and sermon as before. This is done, that the people
 
 LETTER XX. 63 
 
 may get home in time to take care of their cattle, and 
 that the minister may not escape without giving them 
 the worth of their money. In the Highlands the second 
 service is usually in the Gaelic language, and the first is 
 of the length of two ordinary services. The preaching 
 in Gaelic, accompanied when I heard it with the greatest 
 vehemence of gesticulation, seemed the most extraordi- 
 nary splutter you could listen to. The congregation, 
 however, sat very quietly, and many of them went to 
 sleep under all this hurricane of thunder and lightning ; 
 and this satisfied me that it was mere powder without 
 balls. 
 
 On Monday, I went with the Rev. Dr. Richie to the 
 top of Arthur's Seat, and some other interesting locali- 
 ties ; on Tuesday, 22d, visited Mr. Oliver, a very large 
 farmer in the vicinity, and dined in the evening with 
 Mr. Rankin, the brother of our friend at Canandaigua, 
 who has been exceedingly civil to me ; on Wednesday, 
 23d, visited the ruins of Roslin Castle, about seven miles 
 from the city. The ruins of Roslin Castle present a 
 very dilapidated and broken appearance. A portion of 
 the walls are fitted up as the summer residence of some 
 gentleman's family ; the parts shown to strangers present 
 what were once halls, kitchens with immense fire-places, 
 guard-rooms used as barracks for the soldiers or armed 
 men of the castle, and dungeons for prisoners, which 
 must have been gloomy enough. The picturesque beauty 
 of the situation is remarkable. You enter the yard of 
 the castle by a very high bridge crossing a deep ravine 
 or gully, over which was formerly a draw-bridge, raised 
 at pleasure for the protection of the castle. The ruins 
 of the castle stand upon the side of rather a high and
 
 64' EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Steep hill, the side of which is principally covered with 
 trees and shrubbery, and overlooking a deep glen, at the 
 bottom of which runs a gurgling and gushing stream, 
 the murmurings of which you hear, and of whose waters, 
 sparkling in the sun, you sometimes catch a glimpse. 
 On certain days of the week you are permitted to follow 
 this stream on foot through the charming grounds, full 
 of rural beauty, of Hawthornden, being the very improved 
 residence of a gentleman of fortune. The castle over- 
 looks a country distinguished by many forms and objects 
 of rural and sylvan beauty. 
 
 But what is worth seeing far more than the castle is 
 Roslin Chapel, very near by, a ruin, but much of it in 
 fine preservation. I have seen no min in England pre- 
 senting so much architectural beauty and taste. Its 
 size is moderate, though actually much larger than it ap- 
 pears to the eye. Its arches and columns are wrought 
 with exquisite skill ; so is the window over the altar, 
 which has been restored. Almost every part of it is 
 crowded with carving in stone, somewhat rude and some- 
 what defaced by time, but most elaborate and curious ; 
 representing, under allegorical figures and forms, the 
 great acts of mercy in the 25th chapter of Matthew, 
 and the fate of the vices of avarice, dissoluteness, and 
 pride. What always attracts attention here is what is 
 called the apprentice's column : it is said that when in 
 building, the architect desired to form a fluted and 
 twisted column of peculiar construction, he was unable 
 to accomplish it, and went into Italy to get instruction. 
 On his return he found his design admirably executed 
 by one of his apprentices, whose success so much irri- 
 tated him that he killed him on the spot. The head of
 
 LETTER XX. 65 
 
 the apprentice is carved in a niche of the wall and tlie 
 head of his mother with a tear dropping from her eye 
 for his loss. 
 
 Over a confessional, adjoining the chapel, a roof is 
 formed of flat stones interlocking and supporting each 
 other, the firmness and ingenuity of which fill one with 
 admiration. 
 
 Not one of the least curiosities of the place is the 
 guide, who in a most peculiar tone and manner gives 
 you the history of the place and fully explains all the 
 columns, arches, figures and allegories. It is given in a 
 sort of recitative in the most grave manner ; and be sure 
 you don't disturb the poor man in his lessons ; it is fatal 
 to him if he drops a stitch, and he must begin and do 
 his work all over again. 
 
 On Thursday I left Edinburgh for Auchternuchty, to 
 visit Myer's Castle, the seat of the brother of our good 
 friend Mr. Greig at Canandaigua. On Friday, took an 
 agricultural excursion with Mr. Greig. On Saturday 
 took a second with Col. Miller, a very large farmer. 
 On Sunday walked three miles to church all day. On 
 Monday, 28th, returned to Edinburgh by coach. On 
 Tuesday, 29th, dined with a party of farmers with Mr. 
 Oliver at Lochend, and spent the day on horseback 
 riding over his and some of the neighboring farms, and 
 seeing the best cultivation that has ever as yet come 
 under my observation. On Wednesday, 30th, at six 
 o'clock, went to the lamb-market ; at eight o'clock to 
 the cattle-market ; at eleven o'clock to the oat and bar- 
 ley-market ; at twelve o'clock to the wheat-market ; at 
 two o'clock to the corn-market ; afterwards I accompanied 
 some American friends to different parts of the city. 
 (5#
 
 66 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Now my arrangements for the next few days, are to 
 go to Dalkeith to-morrow by raih'oad, with Mr. Rankin, 
 and to return and dine with him with some gentlemen 
 in the evening ; to go to Drummore, about seven miles, 
 to visit Mr. Aichison, a highly intelligent and extensive 
 farmer. My further plans, however, I need not detail. 
 My visit at Auchternuchty was most delightful. Mr. 
 Greig is a well-educated lawyer, and his lady full of 
 good deeds among her poorer neighbors, as I myself 
 witnessed. There are three sons in America and four 
 daughters at home, and exactly such people as I like, 
 caring not for show, but for substance ; highly accom- 
 plished, with great taste for music, full of curiosity and 
 intelligence, with not a little enthusiasm in their religion. 
 In the great division, which has recently taken place in 
 the Scotch church, when four hundred ministers all re- 
 signed their livings in one day, the daughters go, as 
 women are apt to do, with the anti-government party. 
 The whole party at present belong to the church mili- 
 tant. May they be so happy as to join the church tri- 
 umphant ! How far such controversies will conduce to 
 that end, I must leave others to judge. I think there 
 must be in that case some qualification. 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 Edinburgh, 31st August, 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I AM quite satisfied, that, in many matters, the people 
 here are much in advance of us. In expense and lux- 
 ury, in style and furniture, we, of course, cannot
 
 LETTER XXI. 67 
 
 approach them ; but, in the condition of their general 
 population, they are behind us in New England, and in 
 the information and improvement of the better classes, 
 they are not such a great way in advance as has been 
 sometimes assumed. In the elegancies of life, in ar- 
 rangements for domestic, or rather household comfort, 
 in works of art, in the substantial character and expen- 
 siveness of their structures and palaces, in their gardens, 
 parks, and hunting-grounds, we cannot, of course, come 
 into comparison with them. You would be surprised at 
 the extent of their farming. Mr. Oliver, the farmer 
 with whom I dined on Wednesday, pays an annual 
 rent of more than five thousand dollars for his farm, 
 which he has on a lease of nineteen years ; and Mr. 
 Finnic, whom I mentioned, has this year six hundred 
 acres under the plough ; both of them, though rich men, 
 are only tenants. The tables of some tenant farmers, 
 who are men of wealth, are covered with silver, and 
 furnished with wines of the most costly character. 
 They took me to visit the farm of a Mr. Hope, in 
 their neighborhood, who also is a tenant, and who has 
 made a fortune of sixty thousand pounds, or about three 
 hundred thousand dollars, by farming. I never saw cul- 
 tivation so fine as his farm, and the extent of his cultiva- 
 tion is absolutely immense. The farmers here are what 
 we should call gentlemen-farmers. They never do the 
 slightest work of any kind themselves, but, then, they 
 are thoroughly acquainted with their business, and make 
 it as much matter of study and calculation as any pro- 
 fessional man, or merchant does his business. They 
 have none of their laborers in their houses, and, in most 
 cases, the laborers provide for themselves. You woujd
 
 68 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 be surprised to find how poorly they hve ; at least, we 
 should think it so. They have oat-meal pomdge and 
 skim milk for breakfast, bread and potatoes for dinner, 
 with beer, and porridge again at night. They cook 
 their porridge for themselves, and I was going to add, 
 do their own washing, but I am inclined to believe that a 
 Scotch laborer never sees any washing, either for his 
 person or his clothes. The degree of dirt in which they 
 live in a Scotch bothie is unsurpassed. I have forgotten 
 to tell you how fine the small fruits are here — goose- 
 berries, currants, strawberries, and raspberries. Straw- 
 berries were in the market when I arrived, or rather in 
 May, and are still to be had. They are sold now for 
 about twelve and a half cents a pint, and the best rasp- 
 berries for less. I saw strawberries in Dundee of which 
 ten weighed a pound, and one I measured was nearly as 
 long as my little finger. 
 
 I have seen with delight that the Acadia has arrived, 
 and I have sent to London for my letters. 
 
 LETTER XXn. 
 
 Derby, 2cl September, 1845. 
 My Dear J——: 
 
 I AM not willing to postpone longer writing to you, 
 
 though, as I am under marching orders this morning, it 
 
 must be a hasty and indifferent letter. I was delighted 
 
 to find you had once more reached the blessed land of 
 
 New England, after various perils of life and health 
 
 by land and sea, and to learn, by your mother's last let-
 
 LETTER XXII. 69 
 
 ters, that your imperfect liealth is fast being improved, 
 and that you have been re-creating yourself on the 
 charming banks of the Connecticut, and among the pic- 
 turesque mountains and valleys of New Hampshire. In 
 point of scenery, within my knowledge, there is nothing 
 more varied and beautiful than the whole course of the 
 Connecticut River, which I have followed, as few others 
 have done, from its mouth to its very source ; and I 
 may almost say, with a continually increasing admiration 
 of its beauty. Few travellers go higher than Lancaster 
 or Littleton ; but there is the Maidstone valley and 
 meadows, several miles above, where the windings of 
 the river, the rich intervals, the green and rugged banks, 
 and the bold mountain scenery in the background, com- 
 bine to present a landscape or coup cVceil, on a smaller 
 scale, and exhibiting far less indications of civilization 
 and improvement, but in luxuriance, variety and pictur- 
 esqueness, not surpassed by all the gorgeousness and 
 splendor of the view from Mount Holyoke. The whole 
 of that region, and indeed the whole of the eastern and 
 northern parts of Vermont, in the progress of luxury 
 and wealth in the United States, are destined to become 
 as classical to tourists as the lochs and glens of Scot- 
 land, and some of the most admii-ed parts of Switzer- 
 land, if railroad despatch does not destroy all taste for 
 the delicious recreations of other modes of travelling ; 
 and men do not lose all patience for any other way of 
 transition or locomotion, than riding upon the back of 
 a flying dragon, soaring in a balloon in a hurricane, or 
 being shot out of a cannon's mouth. For my part, 
 excepting the despatch and the convenience, I hold rail- 
 road travelling in detestation ; and the rattling of iron
 
 70 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 wheels, and the whizzing of steam-engines, and, above 
 all things, that unearthly shriek, a railroad whistle, are 
 become perfect objects of distress to me ; and I regard 
 them with deep aversion, compared with a seat, in a 
 fine day, on the box of a stage-coach, behind four well- 
 caparisoned and well-trained and fleet horses, up hill 
 and down dale ; or, what is even better still, an easy sad- 
 dle, on the back of a kind and sure-footed pony, as I 
 once went through the Notch of the White Hills. In- 
 deed, many parts of Vermont and the mountainous 
 regions of New Hampshire, and the northern parts of 
 Maine, as far as picturesque scenery is concerned, are 
 full of romantic beauty and sublimity to the man of 
 taste, though unsignalized, as in Scotland, by the remi- 
 niscences of freebooters and buccaneers, or, as in Swit- 
 zerland, by the daring deeds of an heroic patriotism. 
 This country is now much cut up by railroads, and is 
 destined soon to be completely webbed over like net- 
 work, and, for aught I see, a stage-coach will presently 
 be a curiosity to be looked at in a museum of anti- 
 quities. 
 
 I confess, though I used to think the climate of New 
 England was such as a reasonable man might be very 
 well satisfied with, yet, when I hear at one time of the 
 mercury twelve degrees below zero, and, at another 
 time, one hundred and one above, in the even tempera- 
 ture of this climate I begin to feel some little concern 
 about the freezing or the broiling state of my friends at 
 home. Adieu.
 
 LETTER XXIII. 71 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 Galashiels, 15th September, 1843. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I LEFT Edinburgh yesterday noon on my return south, 
 and stopped at this place to enjoy a view of what we 
 deemed the most remarkable ruins in the whole country, 
 the mins of Melrose Abbey, and another sight, of even 
 more interest, the house of Walter Scott, at Abbotsford. 
 This is in truth almost the only day since I have left 
 London, that I have given to objects having no direct 
 connection with my great purpose ; but for me to have 
 omitted a sight of these, would be like a traveller going 
 from Rochester to Buffalo without turning aside to look 
 at Niagara. These places are interesting as showing 
 the perfection to which architecture and sculpture have 
 attained in ages, which, with good reason, we pronounce 
 the dark ages. They excite amazement at the enor- 
 mous power which superstition wielded in these periods, 
 so as to accomplish works, which, at present, the 
 wealth of a kingdom could hardly effect ; and they pre- 
 sent in every pillar, and arch, and altar, a study for the 
 philosophical mind ; and reminiscences of bygone days 
 and years that are mingled in the vast ocean of eternity, 
 cluster and hang about tli«m, like the leaves of ivy which 
 cover their walls. My visit to Abbotsford was deeply 
 interesting ; I cannot now stay to describe it. The house 
 is a curious structure, but by no means so spacious as 
 the pictures represent, and in its dimensions far from 
 being extravagant for a private gentleman of fortune.
 
 tS EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 But its great interest consists in the multiplied mementos 
 associated with every part of it, with that mighty mind, 
 which has wielded, and will continue to wield so despotic 
 an empire over the imagination, the thoughts and affec- 
 tions, I may say of the whole civilized world. Several 
 strangers were at the gate as I entered, several had been 
 and gone that morning. The register showed a long 
 list of names for every day, for a long time back. This 
 is the unbought homage to genius. Here is a man 
 occupying comparatively an humble position in society, 
 without, in the beginning, title or wealth, solely by the 
 splendor of his talents, illuminating as it were the whole 
 hemisphere of thought, and commanding the homage of 
 pilgrims from all parts of the world. The coach brought 
 me to this place, and I have walked to-day about twelve 
 miles, and to save two miles had to ford the Tweed, 
 with my trousers and shoes in my hands, not a very 
 pleasant operation, upon stones of all angles and shapes, 
 which the water, though constantly flowing over them, 
 had done little to soften. 
 
 I was some time in Edinburgh and its vicinity. I made 
 several visits to farms in its neighborhood, which within a 
 circuit of twenty or thirty miles embraces probably the 
 best cultivated district in Great Britain, probably in the 
 world. On Friday, I went to a farm where the farmer 
 pays about ^'10,000 a year rent, or about £2000, and he 
 and his two brothers in the immediate neighborhood of 
 each other, had more than four hundred people engaged 
 in harvesting and threshing. I went into a cottage, where 
 one of the laborers told me he had lived on the fann 
 more than fifty years, and another said he had been there 
 sixty years. I wonder what our laborers would say to
 
 LKTTER XXIV. 73 
 
 such keeping as the Scotcli laborers have, oat porridge and 
 skim milk, or butter-milk for breakfast, a pound of bread 
 and a bottle of small beer at noon, and supper like 
 breakfast, at night, without lunch or any thing else of 
 any kind, and a shilling per day for their labor. 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 Galashiels, Sept. 15, 1843. 
 Mv Dear M : 
 
 I HAVE been very glad to hear you have had the 
 recreation of a visit into the country. 
 
 On the head of this sheet, you will see a picture of 
 the ruins of Melrose Abbey, which I have recently 
 visited. This picture does not at all exaggerate their 
 beauty, and indeed it is very difficult to form a just idea 
 of them without inspection. The Abbey dates back as 
 far as 1176, and was destroyed in the sixteenth century. 
 
 The ruins are of a large building ; many of the 
 columns and arches of doors and windows are entire ; 
 they are of a reddish sand-stone, and exhibit great finish 
 and beauty of construction, without any profusion of 
 ornament. 
 
 The ornamented parts of the Abbey are of a simple 
 character, being principally single flowers, and wreaths 
 of flowers, though on the chimneys or roofs there are 
 some grotesque images. The tomb of one of the early 
 kings is pointed out within the walls, and that of Michael 
 Bruce, the celebrated wizard. These ruins are indeed 
 an object of great interest. A new roof, composed with 
 7
 
 74 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 great skill of flat stones taken from a former roof, was 
 built over the entrance aisle, in order to use that portion 
 of the building for a parish church. It is now given up 
 for that purpose. The marks of the balls from Crom- 
 well's guns, the first Cromwell, who destroyed the 
 Abbeys in England, are shown upon the walls, and their 
 appearance would lead you to infer that they were very 
 hard knocks, and the dilapidated and overturned statues, 
 and broken ornaments, are witnesses of the ferocity 
 of the Scotch Reformers. The Presbyterians seem to 
 have had a particular spite against everything orna- 
 mental, and the seceding churches which they are 
 now putting up all over Scotland, the most awkward 
 and ugly erections you can think of, show that in this 
 respect they have made no advances. The Cath- 
 olics and Episcopalians have always been distin- 
 guished for their architectural taste, and the exquisite 
 embellishments of their churches. The Presbyterians 
 and Covenanters seem to abjure all taste ; and it cannot 
 be denied, that in this respect they still faithfully adhere 
 to their principles. 
 
 The ruins of Melrose Abbey are seen to great advan- 
 tage. The guide recognized me as an American, and I 
 am very sorry to say, she complained that many Amer- 
 icans who had been there had broken off and plundered 
 some of the ornaments. The only authority on which 
 she could be justified in casting this reproach upon the 
 Americans, appears to be from the fact, that one Amer- 
 ican lady had boasted that she had done it. What 
 American lady it could have been, it would be rather 
 difficult to discover. 
 
 The village of Melrose is most picturesquely situated
 
 LETTER XXIV. 75 
 
 in the midst of a romantic country. At half past six 
 o'clock I went about five miles to dine at Cowdin Knowse, 
 with Mr. Gilfellan. We crossed the Tweed and reached 
 the Leda, crossing which, above its junction with the 
 Tweed, we followed up its banks until we reached the 
 residence of Mr. Gilfellan, an old mansion of the thir- 
 teenth century, with two large watch-towers still stand- 
 ing. One of the former owners was a baron or 
 magistrate, who had what was called the power of " pit 
 and gallows," that is, of life and death over his vassals. 
 The pit, or place for the confinement of his prisoners, 
 still remains in one of the towers, by the river side, and 
 a few years ago, the tree was blown down, which served 
 as the gallows for the execution of his prisoners. What 
 a state of society do such facts disclose ! 
 
 It would be difficult to imagine a more beautiful situa- 
 tion for rural retirement than this place presents ; raised 
 high upon a bank above the gurgling and dashing river, 
 and catching a prospect of a fine meadow or rich lawn, 
 formed by a bend in the river some short distance below 
 the house. The grounds are laid out with much taste, 
 with shrubs and ornamental trees, and green banks ; and 
 the road from Melrose to Cowdin Knowse, crossing the 
 Tweed and the Leda, is delightful ; presenting, besides 
 green hedges and extended avenues of trees, much of the 
 richest cultivation which can be found in Scotland, and 
 opening upon an extensive view of the valley of the 
 Tweed. 
 
 Our dinner was very agreeable ; several well-informed 
 and most sociable persons being of the party. From 
 Melrose I walked to Dryburgh Abbey,, five miles, and 
 mistook the road on returning, which made the distance 
 seven miles.
 
 76 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 The ruins of Dryburgh Abbey are situated near the 
 banks of the Tweed, where it makes, in its passage, a 
 most beautiful curve. These ruins date back to 1150. 
 They appear to cover a larger space than Melrose, but 
 are more fragmentary, and in no case so perfect. 
 
 There remain still columns, arches, windows, and a 
 chapter-house, which is nearly entire. A modern statue 
 of Sir Isaac Newton is placed in the chapter-house, but 
 with what propriety it is not easy to discern. The 
 remains of cellars, larders, and dungeons for the confine- 
 ment of refractory monks, are shown by the guide, who 
 seemed disposed to get us out of them as soon as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 A yew tree of beautiful proportions, healthy and full 
 in its foliage, is shown, which is said to be of the same 
 age as the Abbey. The ivy, creeping all over the walls 
 and climbing the tops of the highest portions of the ruins, 
 and covering them with the thickest matting of shining 
 foliage, and hanging from every angle in graceful fes- 
 toons, presented an unsurpassed richness of vegetation. 
 
 But what gives to Dryburgh its peculiar interest is, 
 that in a part of its ruins, called St. Mary's aisle, 
 enclosed by an iron railing, lie the remains of Sir Walter 
 Scott, a name destined to all the immortality which this 
 world can promise. His wife was first deposited here 
 by himself; and his own remains were laid by her side 
 in 1832 ; the place is wholly unadorned ; a simple slab, 
 raised two feet from the ground, with his name and the 
 date of his death, is placed over his grave. Yet, the ruin 
 itself forms, perhaps of all others, the most appropriate 
 burial-place for one, whose genius has given life to all 
 these memorials of departed centuries ; who wielded a
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 77 
 
 pen, perhaps, more graphic tlian that of any other, Hving 
 or dead ; and who, so far as verbal description is con- 
 cerned, for expression, for vigor, above all, for combining 
 images in all their variety of forms, and presenting them 
 to the imagination, as though they were actually present, 
 may be pronounced the most successful of all painters. 
 
 We were also shown a most interesting relic, which 
 was an ornament of the high altar, and consists of a 
 stone pedestal about four feet in height, on the top of 
 which, surrounded by a wreath of flowers, carved in 
 stone, lies the figure of a dead lamb, stretched out for a 
 holocaust, with the initials I. H. S. (Jesus Hominum 
 Salvator) carved at the foot of it. The carving of the 
 whole is now somewhat worn by time, but must have 
 been executed with no inferior skill. 
 
 I returned to Melrose, and visited Abbotsford, which 
 is now open to the inspection of strangers only two days 
 in a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 2 to 5 o'clock. 
 Abbotsford, so named because near the fording place of 
 the river, is three and a half miles from Melrose, situated 
 on the banks of the Tweed ; but is now so surrounded 
 and embosomed in trees that the river is scarcely visible 
 from the liouse. This plantation, which seems quite 
 extensive, was stated to have been made by Sir Walter 
 Scott ; yet the size of many of the trees would indicate 
 an earlier origin. The house is of stone ; of a castel- 
 lated form, and of very moderate dimensions. A crowd 
 of carriages was at the gate, and we were obliged to wait 
 until some of the visiters came out, as only one party is 
 admitted at a time. 
 
 At the gate hangs by a short chain, a coarse iron ring 
 called a jug. which was formerly used at the church 
 7= 
 
 -7*
 
 78 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS, 
 
 door, when offenders were collared at the entrance, so 
 that the congregation might spit upon them as they went 
 in ; quite likely to call out a temper, which certainly was 
 not in very good keeping with the service in which they 
 were about to be engaged. Whoever looks at such 
 objects as these ; at the instruments of torture in the 
 tower of London, and above all in the arsenal at Venice, 
 reflects with the deepest depression and humiliation of 
 heart, how human ingenuity and skill have been prosti- 
 tuted to invent instruments of torture, and to gratify, 
 under the professed name of religion, some of the worst 
 passions which can swell the human breast. A marble 
 statue of Scott's favorite dog, Maida, is placed before 
 the study window, to mark the burial place of this hum- 
 ble but faithful friend. 
 
 The hall into which we enter is hung with various 
 pieces and suits of armor, and instruments of war. Two 
 statues, one representing a knight in full armor, with a 
 sword so long and heavy, that it would seem only suita- 
 ble for show, and the other a knight in full tilting armor, 
 are placed at the end of the room ; and there are like- 
 wise shown the keys of the old Tolbooth, or prison in 
 Edinburgh, celebrated in the Heart of Mid Lothian. 
 The fireplace has a grate, which belonged to Archbishop 
 Sharp, and a Roman kettle said to be 2000 years old, 
 quite like our modern cast iron pots. This age struck 
 me as apocryphal. The next room shown was the 
 arniory, filled with small arms of a great variety, among 
 others a sword of Celtic origin, of curious workmanship, 
 presented to Sir Walter by the city of Edinburgh. Into 
 this room we were allowed to look, but not to enter. I 
 should have said that the suit of armor on one of ihe
 
 LFTTFR XXIV. 
 
 79 
 
 knights in the entrance hall was reported to have been 
 found on the field of Bosworth. 
 
 The fireplace in the entrance hall was modelled after 
 the arches in the ruins of Melrose Abbey ; and a part of 
 the ceiling in a recess of the dining room is ornamented 
 with carved work, called the Star of Bethlehem and 
 copied from the beautiful chapel at Roslin Castle. We 
 were shown, afterwards, the dining room in which are 
 several most valuable pictures ; one of Oliver Cromwell, 
 admirable and very rare; one of Charles XII. of Swe-* 
 den ; one of General Fairfax ; and a most touching one 
 of the head of Mary Queen of Scots after her execu- 
 tion — it is an original, and Sir Walter Scott would 
 never suffer a copy to be taken. One cannot help exe- 
 crating the memory of Queen Elizabeth. In another 
 room we were shown several pictures of the Scott fam- 
 ily ; Lady Scott, Scott's second daughter, Anne Scott, 
 and an admirable portrait of Scott himself, by Leslie. 
 
 The next room shown us was the library, containing 
 some thousand volumes, carefully guarded from removal 
 by a wire-grating. Here was a fine bust of Wordsworth, 
 one of Shakspeare, taken from his tomb at Stratford, and 
 above all, of Scott himself, by Chantry, full of life and 
 expression. In this room was a set of ebony chairs and 
 an ebony writing-desk of most curious and exquisite 
 workmanship, said to have belonged to George II, and 
 presented to Sir Walter by George IV. The next room 
 shown to us was the sanctuary of Scott, his private-room 
 or study, with the chair remaining in the position in 
 which he sat, the desk at which he wrote, and in an 
 adjoining closet the clothes which he last wore. The 
 walls of the room are lined with hooks, with a small
 
 80 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 gallery running round the whole, and a private stair- 
 case, by which he came from his bed or dressing-room 
 at pleasure. 
 
 He told the Duchess of Saint Albans that he could 
 come into his room by this private way, and work and 
 write as much as he pleased " without any one's being 
 the wiser for it ; " — "That," she replied, " is impossi- 
 ble " — certainly a most graceful compliment, and 
 appreciated by Sir Walter. The room has a double- 
 window to prevent both cold and noise. This apart- 
 ment is full of interesting associations. Everybody, the 
 guide says, sits down in Sir Walter's chair ; as if, perhaps, 
 in some way they might catch some of his inspiration. 
 There is a melancholy gratification in sitting where he 
 sat, and in contemplating the books he handled and the 
 desk on which he penned many of his immortal works. 
 
 The amount of manual labor performed by this great 
 man seems gigantic and almost to have surpassed the 
 powers of an individual, and especially one who dis- 
 charged the duties of some public offices, and gave of 
 necessity so much time to his family and to general 
 society. 
 
 Large numbers of persons were flocking to the house 
 when we were leaving it, and so for years, perhaps for 
 centuries to come, it must continue to be visited by pil- 
 grims to the shrine of that rare genius, which has 
 achieved for itself an earthly immortality. 
 
 Scott was a most eminent benefactor, not to the world at 
 large merely, in the amount of pleasure which he diffused, 
 and the curiosity which he gratified, but to Scotland, 
 especially, in a more humble and pecuniary sense. He 
 may be said to have illuminated every place which he
 
 LETTER XXIV. 81 
 
 touched, and to have thrown an interest around, in a 
 word, to have made ahve, every object which he 
 described. Interesting and dehghtful associations are • 
 now connected with innumerable places and spots, lochs 
 and glens, crags and caves, castles and mins, churches 
 and abbeys, before scarcely known, but now eagerly 
 sought after by the admirers of his works ; and now 
 Scotland actually swarms with tourists, attracted by his 
 descriptions, beautiful and enchanting as they are, with 
 all the eagerness and enthusiasm of the most impatient 
 curiosity. Their disbursements in the country must 
 amount to a very large sum. It is stated that Cadell, 
 the bookseller and publisher of his works, in Edinburgh, 
 has realized from them no less a sum than £170,000 
 sterling. 
 
 At one time the autograph manuscripts of Sir Walter, 
 were to be seen at this person's place of business. He 
 has since removed them all to his house in the country, 
 it is said, to avoid the trouble of showing them. He is 
 deserving of severe censure, if for no better reason than 
 this, after making so splendid a fortune from them, he 
 denies the public this reasonable gratification of seeing 
 them, though it might have cost the entire attention of 
 a man devoted to exhibiting them, whose services the 
 public would have most cheerfully and liberally com- 
 pensated. 
 
 From Abbotsford I returned to Galashiels. On my 
 way I had a great desire to see the plaid manufactory 
 for which this place has long been distinguished. An 
 extensive manufacturer, in a most gentlemanly and cour- 
 teous manner, showed me his whole establishment, and 
 then led me into the village library, of two thousand vol-
 
 OSS EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 umes, well thumbed, of which he was the curator. His 
 kindness did not end here. He asked me in the most 
 polite manner, if I wished an autograph of Sir Walter, 
 a prize of course greatly to be desired, and gave me half 
 a sheet of the manuscript copy of his French Revolu- 
 tion, and added to this a walking stick cut by Sir 
 Walter's gardener in his grounds, while the owner was 
 living. This certainly was most extraordinary courtesy 
 to a stranger, and will not soon be forgotten. 
 
 The season of late has been beautiful, the temper- 
 ature mild to me, though complained of here as very 
 cold, and the sky perfectly cloudless, which is of rare 
 occurrence. The crops are most abundant, and few 
 things present a more striking spectacle to the traveller, 
 than to see an extensive field of grain with a hundred 
 persons, principally women, engaged in reaping and 
 harvesting. 
 
 I was a few days ago at Stirling, the seat of many 
 historical recollections. The view from the Castle, the 
 great object of attraction, resembles very much, and can 
 not be pronounced inferior to the view from Mount 
 Holyoke. The windings of the Frith of Forth are 
 much more serpentine and remarkable than the course 
 of the Connecticut. The facility with which engravings 
 are multiplied in this country, is quite observable; and 
 the shop windows in Edinburgh are embellished with 
 most admirable prints. The book-stores in Edinburgh 
 are more extensive than in Boston, and much superior 
 in their fixtures and appearance to those in London. 
 Adieu.
 
 LETTKR XXV. 83 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Manchester, 25th Sept., 1843. 
 My Dear Sik; 
 
 I HAD very great pleasure in receiving per last packet 
 
 a kind letter from A , much too short to be sure, 
 
 but half a loaf is so much better than no bread, that I 
 was exceedingly glad to get it. I think, at home you 
 are much more likely to complain of my too frequent, 
 than of my too spare letters ; and in future I must hold 
 in the reins. 
 
 Next to the pleasure of receiving letters from home I 
 have none greater than that of communicating with you 
 even at this distance, but my time will less and less 
 admit of it, and I find, whenever I have to prepare 
 a parcel of letters, sad deficiencies in my journal, 
 and I have hard work to get up again. Nearly a fort- 
 night ago I left Edinburgh, and of course took Abbots- 
 ford in my way. Of this I have already given an 
 account, but it has occurred to me that you would like 
 to see a representation of what Scott's- monument is to 
 be, so I send you the picture. The foundation is laid, 
 and indeed, the principal story is completed, and they 
 are only waiting an addition to their funds to proceed 
 with it. As such things are usually managed, they 
 began with insufficient means, and they extended their 
 plan, and rendered it much more expensive than they 
 had originally designed ; and so they have got com- 
 pletely aground, and are crying for help to set them 
 afloat again. It will come presently without doubt, but
 
 84 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 people here as in our own country, have heard so often 
 the cry of the wolf, that they listen to the most pathetic 
 appeals in such cases with no little indifference. I think 
 with your taste, you will admire the design ; I have 
 seen nothing in England or Scotland so handsome, 
 abating the monument to the children in Lichfield Ca- 
 thedral. The monument to Nelson here is in bad 
 taste; that to Burns is a Grecian temple, with his 
 statue by Flaxman placed in the interior, to which you 
 are admitted by a fee ; that of Dugald Stewart has no 
 beauty, that of Lord Melville, Wm. Pitt, and that of 
 George IV., are all of a different character, but very 
 handsome in their way. This of Scott will be a great 
 ornament to a city, in its new parts, pronounced by those 
 competent to judge, among the most beautiful and splen- 
 did in Europe. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XXVL 
 
 Manchester, 25th September, 1843. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 Many thanks for your kind letter, my only regret is 
 that I can give you nothing interesting in return. You 
 say you want trifling details ; so I will try my hand at 
 them. Last week I was at Lambton Castle, the seat of 
 the late Lord Durham. The beauty of the situation on 
 the river Wear is extraordinary, though the furniture and 
 bijouterie, in the house, by no means equal several other 
 places where I have been. I staid with H. Morton, Esq., 
 who took his gig, and gave me the whole of two days.
 
 LRTTER XXVI. 85 
 
 and urged me to spend a week, and by all means to 
 come there for some time whenever I should return 
 from Scotland ; this was certainly great kindness. 
 
 They carried me over the Castle, and kindly showed 
 me everything that was interesting, even to the stable, 
 the beautiful dairy, and the servants' rooms. In houses 
 of this kind it is usual to have from forty to fifty servants. 
 
 The servants' establishment is quite an affair by itself. 
 The steward is at the head ; he provides everything, and 
 purchases all the supplies, he oversees all the other 
 servants, and puts on, and where the party is not large, 
 takes everything off from the table, the other servants 
 standing by and waiting upon him. He has a room to 
 himself, well fitted up, and has a large salary. Next to 
 him comes the butler, who takes care of all the wines, 
 fruit, glasses, candle-sticks, lamps and plate, and has an 
 under butler for his adjunct. Next in equal authority 
 with the steward, and having also an elegant parlor, is 
 the housekeeper ; she has all the care of the chambers, 
 the linen, and the female servants. Then comes next 
 in authority, and perfectly despotic in his own domain, 
 the cook, who is generally French or Italian, and his 
 subalterns. Then come the coachman, the footman, 
 and the hostlers, who, the last, I believe, seldom come into 
 the house. Then there is the porter, who in London 
 houses always sits in the entry, and there either has an 
 office by the door, or else a table, with pen, ink, paper, 
 &c., who receives and delivers messages, but does not 
 leave his place, having always servants at hand to wait 
 upon him. Then each gentleman in the house has his 
 own private valet, and each lady her own maid, who has 
 all the cast-off clothes of the lady. The ladies, it is 
 8
 
 86 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 reported, never wear a pair of white satin shoes, or 
 white gloves more than once ; and some of them, if 
 they find, on going into society, another person of infe- 
 rior rank wearing the same dress as themselves, the 
 dress upon being taken off, is at once thrown aside, and 
 the lady's maid perfectly understands her perquisite. 
 Then there are the servants to attend upon the guests, 
 one of whom is sure to attach himself to you, rendering 
 the most constant service. But of these I have spoken 
 in another place. 
 
 In most families the hour of breakfast is announced 
 to you before retiring, and the breakfast is entirely with- 
 out ceremony. Your letters are brought to you in the 
 morning, and the mail goes out every day. The postage 
 of letters is always pre-paid by those who write them, 
 who paste double or single stamps upon them ; and it is 
 considered an indecorum to send a letter unpaid, or 
 sealed with a wafer. Any expense incurred for you, if 
 it be only a penny upon a letter, is at once mentioned 
 to you, and you of course pay it. At breakfast the 
 arrangements are made for the day ; you are generally 
 left to choose what you will do, and horses and carriages 
 are always at the service of the guests, or guns and 
 implements for sporting, if those are their habits. There 
 is your chamber, or the library, the billiard-room, or the 
 garden, the park, or the village. You are not looked 
 for again, unless you make one of some party, until din- 
 ner time, which is generally in a nobleman's house, 7 
 o'clock. Breakfast from 9 to 10. Lunch, to which 
 you go if you choose, which in truth is a dinner, though 
 most things are cold, at half past one ; coffee immedi- 
 ately after dinner, and tea and cake immediately after
 
 LETTER XXVI. 87 
 
 coffee. At eleven o'clock there is always a candle for 
 each guest, placed on the side-board or in the entry, 
 with allumettes along side of them, and at your pleasure 
 you light your own candle, and bid good night. In a 
 Scotch family you are expected to shake hands on retir- 
 ing, with all the party, and on meeting in the morning. 
 The English are a little more reserved, though, in general, 
 the master of the house shakes hands with you. On a 
 fii'St introduction, no gentlemen shake hands, but simply 
 bow to each other. In the morning you come down in 
 undress, with boots, trowsers of any color, frock-coat, 
 &,c. At dinner, you are always expected to be in full 
 dress ; straight coat, black satin, or white waistcoat, silk 
 stockings and pumps, but not gloves ; and if you dine 
 abroad in London, you keep your hat in your hand until 
 you go in to dinner, when you give it to a servant, or 
 leave it in an anti-room. The lady of the house gener- 
 ally claims the arm of the principal stranger, or the 
 gentleman of the highest rank ; she then assigns the 
 other ladies and gentlemen by name, and commonly 
 waits until all her guests precede her into dinner, though 
 this is not invariable. The gentleman is expected to sit 
 near the lady whom he hands in. Grace is almost always 
 said by the master, and it is done in the shortest possible 
 way. Sometimes no dishes are put upon the table until 
 the soup is done with, but at other times there are two 
 covers besides the soup. The soup is various ; in Scot- 
 land it is usually what they call hodge-podge, a mixture 
 of vegetables with some meat. After soup, the fish 
 cover is removed, and this is commonly served round 
 without any vegetables, but certainly not more than one 
 kind. After fish, come the plain joints, roast or boiled.
 
 OS EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS, 
 
 with potatoes, peas or beans, and cauliflowers. Then 
 sherry wine is handed by the servant to every one. 
 German wine is offered to those who prefer it ; this is 
 always drank in green glasses ; then come the entrees, 
 which are a variety of French dishes, and hashes ; then 
 champagne is offered ; after this remove, come ducks, or 
 partridges, or other game ; after this the bons bons, pud- 
 dings, tarts, sweetmeats, blanc mange ; then cheese and 
 bread, and a glass of strong ale is handed round ; then 
 the removal of the upper cloth, and oftentimes the most 
 delicious fruits and confectionary follow, such as grapes, 
 peaches, melons, apples, dried fruits, &£c., &;c. After 
 this is put upon the table a small bottle of Constantia 
 wine, which is deemed very precious, and handed round 
 in small wine glasses, or noyeau, or some other cordial. 
 Finger glasses are always furnished, though m some 
 cases I have seen a deep silver plate filled with rose 
 water presented to each guest, in which he dips the 
 corner of his napkin, to wipe his lips or his fingers. No 
 cigars or pipes are ever offered, and soon after the 
 removal of the cloth, the ladies retire to the drawing- 
 room, the gentlemen close up at the table, and after 
 sitting as long as you please, you go into the drawing- 
 room to have coffee and then tea. The wines at table 
 are generally of the most expensive quality ; port, sherry, 
 claret, seldom madeira ; but I have never heard any 
 discussion about the character of wines, excepting that I 
 have been repeatedly asked what wine we usually drank 
 in America. The style of living is elegant and luxuri- 
 ous ; I dined in company one week seven times ; and 
 excepting twice at public tables, in no other of the times 
 did I fail to find the tables covered with silver, — all the
 
 LETTER XXVI. 89 
 
 covers, vegetable dishes, and many others. The wealth 
 of many of these persons is enormous. 
 
 Now I hope I have given you small details enough, 
 but remember, this letter is for your private amusement. 
 The formal breakfasts to which one is sometimes invited, 
 in London, generally at ten, sometimes at eleven o'clock, 
 are often most elegant. There you have tea, coffee, &tc., 
 cold meats on the side-board, and generally most delicious 
 fruits when in season, such as raspberi'ies, strawben-ies, 
 grapes, &:c. There is no formality here whatever, and 
 conversation is very free, and generally much more 
 agreeable than at dinner. Here, likewise, you see often- 
 times the most elegant silver and china services. The 
 fruits which are grown here, with great care and expense, 
 are most delicious — the best pine-apples I ever tasted. 
 
 Of the manners of the palace I am not able to speak ; 
 but it is said no one ever sits in the presence of the 
 Queen while she stands, nor speaks to her unless she 
 first addresses them. 
 
 It is reported that the Emperor of Russia, when on a 
 visit at Buckingham palace, gave a silent reproof to 
 Prince Albert, in not pemiitting the ladies in waiting, 
 to open doors for him, as they had been accustomed to 
 do for the Prince. 
 
 I have no comments to make upon all these matters, 
 but you wished such a letter, and I have done my best ; 
 I finish with one anecdote. The other day when the 
 Queen was embarking at Brighton, the usual carpet was 
 not laid upon the wharf; and the Mayor and Aldermen 
 pulled off their scarlet robes of office, and laid them 
 down for the royal lady to walk upon. The caricatu- 
 8*
 
 '^ EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 rists now have them drawn vip in full array, with asses 
 ears. 
 
 I think you will never ask me to write another gos- 
 siping letter ; I forgot to say to you that I have scarcely 
 staid in a family where they have not had family prayers. 
 Generally the master of the house, oftentimes the lady 
 of the house reads prayers, sometimes some one of the 
 children, and children are often called upon to give 
 thanks, or ask a blessing at table. I have scarcely 
 heard a profane word since I have been in England, 
 not even with the lowest classes, though I have seen 
 ignorance and \ailgarity enough, as I shall give you 
 some instances.* I have not seen a single instance of 
 tobacco chewing, though the taking of snufF is very 
 common in Scotland. I have seen some persons in 
 Scotland who kept a small ivory spoon in their pockets, 
 one of which, given me, by a friend I send you, to shove 
 their snufF up their noses ; and at the hotels you often 
 find an ox-horn elegantly mounted with silver, which con- 
 tains snufF for general use, with a brush attached. Some 
 persons carry a small brush in their pockets to wipe 
 their noses and upper lip after they have taken their 
 snufF. Charming refinements these ! 
 
 A lady going to a shop never takes up her own pur- 
 chase, though it should be merely a riband, or a piece 
 of tape, but the shop-keeper always uncovered, brings it 
 to her carnage ; at church the footman always carries 
 and brings home the lady's prayer-book, and opens the 
 pew-door before and after service, which she is never 
 
 * I will add in this place, that during my long residence in England, even 
 in the freest conversation in parties of gentlemen, I have nev^er heard an 
 obscene story, or indecent allusion, nor even a doitUe enlendre.
 
 LETTER XXVT. 91 
 
 expected to do of herself. If the lady has not her own 
 servant, there is a pew-opener, generally a woman, who 
 opens the pew-door for any principal person, either 
 noble or gentle, and likewise for strangers. In the 
 Scotch Presbyterian churches, none of these decorums 
 are observed. Men cover their heads even before they 
 leave the church. 
 
 I have been 9t a wake to-day at Duckingfield, in this 
 neighborhood, ^here there were thousands of people. 
 Among other entertainments, was a foot-race for a hat, 
 which was hung out of the window, covered with rib- 
 ands. The street was as public as the centre of Essex 
 street, in Salem ; I saw a public house full of men and 
 well-dressed women. I waited a few minutes, until four 
 stout young men who had run once, came out of this 
 house (where the people were,) with nothing on but 
 their shirts and shoes, cutting all sorts of pranks. They 
 then went into a room, took off their shirts, and put- 
 ting merely a handkerchief round their loins, came out 
 and run the race, a quarter of a mile up the street, and 
 back again. The street, all along the sidewalks, was 
 filled with men and well-dressed women, young and old, 
 cheering the racers as they passed. As I should have 
 missed the train, I did not wait to see the prize awarded. 
 This is certainly a curious specimen of manners, but may 
 be regarded as an index of the condition of some of the 
 lower classes.
 
 ^ EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 Manchester, 26th Sept., 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I received with the usual delight, your letter by the 
 
 packet of the 1st inst. Your announcTfement of 's 
 
 determination surprised me. I cannot, and, if I could, 
 would not, give any advice on the subject. No person 
 should undertake the profession of the Christian ministry 
 but under a fimi persuasion of the truth of Christianity, 
 sober convictions of duty, and a belief that he will find its 
 services and duties agreeable and pleasant, and be ena- 
 bled to render substantial benefits to his fellow-men. If 
 he enters the profession from motives of avarice or am- 
 bition, or with any feeling of reluctance or indifference, 
 or merely as a resource to procure a livelihood, he will not 
 be happy, and he will experience continually mortification 
 
 and disappointment. does not need that I should tell 
 
 him that ; and he must settle the whole matter with his 
 own heart and conscience. 
 
 I have been spending two days with Mr. Bates, the 
 great cattle-breeder in England, and the greatest talker I 
 ever met with ; exceedingly hospitable and kind, but I 
 told him he would quite destroy me, if I staid two days 
 longer. I then went to Leeds, stopping a few hours, 
 and came here on Saturday evening, to attend, by invi- 
 tation of the Agricultural Society, their anniversary 
 meeting. That took place to-day ; and without my 
 knowledge or consent, I was announced in the printed 
 bills to speak. I accordingly did what I could, and.
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 98 
 
 I believe, said nothing to be regretted. By the way, 
 a friend sent me last week some Genesee Farmers, 
 and one in which my speech at a meeting in Sus- 
 sex, at the Duke of Richmond's, is given. I did not 
 myself know that it had ever been reported, but they 
 copiied it from an English paper, and I cannot say that 
 I have not been amused with their mode of printing 
 a quotation, which I used on the occasion. I quoted the 
 lines 
 
 " Maa is the nobler growlli our realms supply, 
 And souls are ripened in a norlhem sky." 
 
 which they print as follows ; 
 
 Man is the noblest wheel your realms supply, 
 And souls are ripened in another sky. 
 
 This is exquisitely ridiculous. While at Mr. Bates's, 
 I got a letter from Earl Fitzwilliam, particularly inviting 
 me to pass a few days at Wentworth House ; so I pro- 
 pose to go there day after to-morrow. After that I go to 
 Lord Hatherton's to pass a week, which I had promised in 
 September, and then on to several farmers, in the southern 
 counties, until I make a harbor in London for the winter, 
 and give myself up entirely to my work, except pass- 
 ing some days at the Duke of Richmond's about Christ- 
 mas. I was to have visited Lord Morpeth, at Castle 
 Howard, but on account of a death in the family, and 
 the illness of his father, I declined going until some 
 other time. 
 
 I have written a very long letter to A by this 
 
 conveyance, and told her that I must, I fear, reduce my 
 letters to once a month, instead of once a fortnight. I 
 do not know that I can bring my mind to it for fear you 
 will do the same.
 
 94 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 It is now eleven o'clock. Dr. Playfair, a most intel- 
 ligent man, is the commissioner of the government to 
 look into the sanitary condition of the poor in the coun- 
 try and in cities, and has invited me to go with him to 
 night, after twelve o'clock, into the most miserable hov- 
 els and dens and holes of this crowded place, to see 
 how the inmates are lodged when they are not expect- 
 ing to be visited. The government have ordered the 
 police and city authorities to render him every aid, and 
 two policemen are to go with us. I expect an adventure 
 such as I never before had. He says I can form no 
 conception of the condition of many of the poor. I 
 thought I had seen enough. He says a great many of 
 them who keep asses, keep them in the same room with 
 themselves, and often their hogs, too, in order to con- 
 ceal them from the authorities. But I will report to you 
 what I see, if I dare do it. I have seen enough already 
 in Edinburgh to chill one's blood, and make one's hair 
 stand on end. Manchester is said to be as bad as 
 Edinburgh, and Liverpool still worse. Wretched, de- 
 frauded, oppressed, crushed human nature, lying in 
 bleeding fragments all over the face of society. Every 
 day I live I thank Heaven that I am not a poor man 
 with a family in England. 
 
 I attended the large church here on Sunday ; the 
 largest congregation I ever saw ; I should think more 
 than two thousand, perhaps nearer to three thousand. 
 The preaching was dull, and barren of all useful ideas. 
 In the afternoon I went to Duckingfield, a great manufac- 
 turing place, six miles from this, to see the Wake, which 
 I understood had commenced that day. I strolled into 
 church, fearing I should find no improvement on the morn-
 
 LETTKK XXVIII, 95 
 
 ing, but I heard most excellent preaching ; and found, to 
 my surprise, that the minister was the son of an eminent 
 dissenting minister in London, to whom I had letters of 
 introduction, which I had not delivered. I introduced 
 myself to him after service and went with him to 
 drink tea with one of his parishioners, one of the 
 most eminent manufacturers in the vicinity. It was 
 really a perfect cordial to me to hear such preaching. 
 
 The dialect here is the most " gawky,'' for I do not 
 know what other word to apply to it, which you can im- 
 agine. They are Lancashire people, and it requires quite 
 as much attention as with the broad Scotch to make 
 English of it. But it would be a much more difficult 
 matter, even if you understood it, to make sense of it. 
 We have no people so ignorant and vulgar as the lower 
 classes of the people are here. They seem to me scarcely 
 to know their right hand from the left. It is believed, 
 however, by some, and openly maintained, that it is much 
 better to keep them in ignorance, lest they should be 
 discontented with their condition. 
 
 Do write constantly. My great consolation and dei 
 light are in your letters. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 Manchester, 27th Sept. 1843. 
 My Dear Sir, 
 
 Manchester is really the busiest place in appearance, 
 
 I have yet seen. In size it is not to be compared witii 
 
 London, but in the business streets it appears equally
 
 96 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 crowded, or as they here say, thronged. The atmos- 
 phere is very uncomfortable from smoke, and many of 
 the houses discolored, but the city is well built, and some 
 of the public edifices are on a grand scale. Trade is 
 here said to be reviving, and great activity prevails among 
 the works. What occasions this I do not know so well 
 as you, but it puts them in good spirits, as very great 
 depression has prevailed in the town. I avoid as much 
 as possible, the vexed questions of politics, as the par- 
 ties are so strong against each other, it would very much 
 interfere with my objects ; but a large portion of the 
 anti-com-law people of England are acting under the 
 strong impression, or at least, saying, that they would 
 open their ports to our bread stuffs, if we should abolish 
 our tariff and receive their manufactured goods duty free. 
 They seem to have no conception of the extent of the 
 manufacturing interest in our country. 
 
 The knowledge and information of a large portion of 
 the English people respecting the United States is very 
 limited, and the ignorance of the lower classes is quite 
 remarkable. 
 
 My letter to A will give you a curious specimen 
 
 of their manners at their wakes and fairs, of which, I 
 believe, many of the higher classes of Englishmen are 
 as ignorant as we are in America ; but determined as I 
 am to see all that is to be seen, without compromitting my 
 own honor and self respect, I shall better be able to 
 compare England with America. So far, in all that ap- 
 pertains to the condition of the lower classes, who con- 
 stitute the mass of the people, it would be greatly in 
 favor not of the United States indiscriminately, but of 
 New England most decidedly. I shall hold my conclu-
 
 LETTER XXrX. 97 
 
 sions, however, open to revision when my arqiiaintanre 
 here becomes more extensive and thorough. . My walk 
 with Dr. Playfair and two police officers last night, from 
 
 twelve to four, which I mentioned in my letter to 
 
 I was about to take, introduced me to exhibitions of the 
 most disgusting and loathsome forms of destitution, and 
 utter vice and profligacy. We went into thirty or 
 more different houses, from the most squalid to those 
 which would not be inaptly termed elegant ; and march- 
 ed directly into parlors, chambers, garrets, and cellars, 
 crowded, in many cases, like the cells of a bee hive, 
 but only in fulness, and beyond this I must abjure the 
 comparison, and say rather like a putrid carcass filled 
 with vermin. But I cannot describe my visits here, the 
 paper would, I fear, be absolutely ofiensive to the touch 
 if I should send the details. It made me very sad ; it 
 shocked me with horror, and it will make my life here- 
 after an incessant thanksgiving that my children have 
 not in the inscrutable dispensation of Heaven been cast 
 destitute, helpless, and orphans in such a country as this. 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 Wenlwortli House, 29lh September, 1843. 
 
 My Dear A : 
 
 The above vignette is an exact sketch of the exterior 
 
 of York-minster, a church which, I believe I have before 
 
 described, and which, for the magnitude and grandeur and 
 
 beauty of its architecture, both within and without, is 
 
 9
 
 98 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 considered superior to all others in England, St. Paul's 
 and Westminster Abbey even not excepted. 
 
 You see the date of my letter. This is the seat of 
 Earl Fitzwilliam. He wrote to me some weeks since, 
 while in Scotland, in a very friendly manner, to make him 
 a visit of a few days, and I came here yesterday, from 
 Manchester, to remain until Tuesday morning. 
 
 The house is one of the most magnificent and ancient 
 in the country, having been long in the possession of the 
 family. It was once the property of the Marquis of 
 Rockingham, one of the most distinguished ministers of the 
 crown in the war of the revolution, and always an ardent 
 friend of America. I think, upon the whole, it is upon 
 the largest scale of anything I have^ yet seen. The 
 house itself is six hundred and ten feet in length, and the 
 width proportionate. I was forewarned that I should 
 lose my way in it, and so I have done two or three times, 
 until, at last, I have made sure of my own bed-room. 
 The house is elegantly furnished, parts of it superbly, 
 and the style of living is in keeping. I arrived about 
 six, and after a short walk with my noble host, the 
 dressing-bell rung, and I was shown at once to my 
 chamber. This chamber is a large and superb room, 
 called the blue-room, because papered with elegant blue 
 satin paper, and the bed and the windows hung with 
 superb blue silk curtains. My portmanteau had already 
 been carried there, and the straps untied for opening ; 
 a large coal fire was blazing ; candles were burning on 
 the table, and water and everything else necessary for 
 ablution and comfort. There was, likewise, what is 
 always to be found in an English house, a writing-table, 
 letter-paper, note-paper, new pens, ink, seaHng-wax, and
 
 LETTER XXIX. 99 
 
 wax-taper, and a letter-box is kept in the house, and 
 notice given to the guests always at what hour the 
 post will leave. 
 
 Precisely at seven o'clock, after being fully dressed, I 
 met in the drawing-room the family for dinner. I found 
 there, to my great delight, Mr. and Mrs. Childers, of Don- 
 caster, at whose house I had staid several days, and 
 most agreeable people. There was a large family, and 
 several noblemen and gentlemen, guests at the time. A 
 few minutes after seven, dinner was announced, and the 
 ladies were assigned to the different gentlemen. I had 
 the honor of a companion to wait upon at dinner, who 
 proved a most intelligent and agreeable person, and 
 though of high rank, without ostentation. The hall 
 in which we dined was magnificent, and splendidly 
 lighted ; the company extremely brilliant ; about twelve 
 persons at table, and eleven men-servants, some in 
 livery and others in plain gentlemanly apparel, but all 
 neat and elegant. The table was covered with several 
 urns and vases of the richest plate ; and the three first 
 courses were all served on silver ; and the last, the fmit 
 and confectionary, upon China, of the richest description. 
 At the dessert we had delicious peaches and nectarines, 
 though so late in the season. Dinner occupies about 
 two hours, when the ladies retire, and the gentlemen 
 soon after go to the drawing-room for coffee. After 
 coffee, we assembled for prayers, in the chapel, the ladies 
 into the gallery, the gentlemen on the lower-floor, into 
 some elevated side pews. Thirty or forty servants were 
 in their places when we went in. All kneel, and as 
 soon as evening service is read by the chaplain, we 
 return to the drawing-room, and tea is served. Soon
 
 100 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 after ten o'clock, the candles are brought in and quietly 
 placed upon the side-board. After returning to the 
 drawing-room, the ladies took their needle work, some 
 of the gentlemen engaged in reading, some of the party 
 in chess, and some in conversation. At eleven, the 
 ladies retire, and the gentlemen soon follow suit. I rise, 
 myself, soon after six, and sit in my dressing-gown. At 
 eight, the servant brings your clothes, and announces the 
 time for breakfast. Immediately after breakfast, horses 
 were ordered and carriages, according to your choice ; 
 and after a ride of two hours over the farm, with the 
 Earl, I returned to my room. At hcdf-past one, lunch 
 is served. At four, I was sent for to go again and 
 explore the farm, on horseback, and after visiting all the 
 establishment, the stables, the cow-yards, the dairy, the 
 saw-mill, the smithy, the carpenter's shop, the farm-house, 
 the stack-yard, the pastures, the fields, the woods, the 
 parks, we returned again to prepare for dinner, at half- 
 past six. The other matters much as yesterday, and the 
 evening has been passed most agreeably. Now I have 
 given you an account of one day ; and if splendor, 
 elegance, luxury, and magnificence, could make one 
 happy, there could here be no want. But I am not 
 going to speculate upon this subject. 
 
 The park around the house, and the farm and gardens, 
 connected with it, contain sixteen hundred acres ; be- 
 sides that, the whole tract of country, belonging to Lord 
 Fitzwilliam, occupied by tenants and others, yet adjoining 
 this, extends a distance of several miles and in various 
 directions, presenting a landscape of hill and valley, of 
 copse and lawn, of wood and open fields, of most 
 remarkably beautiful and picturesque scenery. His
 
 LETTER XXIX. 101 
 
 lordship has another place in Northamptonshire, where 
 he farms more extensively than here, hesides immense 
 estates in Ireland. 
 
 To-day, I receiv^ed a letter from Lord Worsley, remind- 
 ing me of my promise, first to visit his father. Lord 
 Yarborough, who, I believe, has a larger estate than that 
 where I now am ; and then to visit his own place, in 
 company with a considerable party of gentlemen, and 
 he desires that I would remain over a week, as he has 
 many things to show me. His residence is on the Hum- 
 ber, and I expect to pass a night with my old friend 
 Spencer, on the way. I begin to be quite tired of loco- 
 motion, and shall be glad to go into winter quarters. 
 A very respectable young clergyman here has kindly 
 offered me his rooms at Cambridge University this win- 
 ter, he being a fellow of the College, but not resident ; 
 and if I will go there, desires me to occupy them as long 
 as I please. This is certainly very kind. He says they 
 are all in order for immediate occupation. I have promised 
 to go to Cambridge to visit Lord Hardwicke, who has 
 written to me to claim my promise to make him a ^•isit. 
 If I think I can do my writing as well at Cambridge as 
 in London, I do not know that I shall not avail myself 
 of so courteous an offer, as it was volunteered in a most 
 friendly manner. I will, at least, go and see. 
 
 9*
 
 102 KTTROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 Nottinghamshire, 8th Oct., 1843. 
 
 
 My Deak S : 
 
 V'*^ I BEGIN early and will first thank you for your kind 
 letter, which did not contain much news, but was heartily 
 welcome, as a token of your affectionate remembrance. 
 As the sands in my glass diminish, every token of good 
 will acquires an increased value. A parent, worthy of 
 the name, would desire, above all things, to find a re- 
 sponse to his feelings in the hearts of his children ; and 
 much as I have seen of the world, of its triumphs, of its 
 gaieties, and of its luxury and magnificence, I have never 
 been for a moment shaken in the conviction that the 
 best thing this side heaven, the delight of life, its chief 
 consolation, indeed, the very charm of existence, is in 
 kind affections. 
 
 You see the date of my letter, and I have seldom in 
 my life passed a more agreeable Sunday. I have been 
 twice at church, and am staying with the clergyman. 
 He is a gentleman of fortune, and though without title 
 himself, he married a lady of rank, and his family are 
 allied by blood or marriage to some of the highest aris- 
 tocracy in the kingdom. He specially invited me to 
 come and pass a few days with him ; and I came by ap- 
 pointment yesterday, and shall leave to-morrow, as my 
 engagements do not admit of longer delay, though he 
 V has urged me to remain. He has a small church ; a 
 parish, with the exception of a few families, composed 
 principally of tenant farmers and laborers. His salary is
 
 LETTER XXX. 103 
 
 £900, that is about ^4,500, and a house and glebe of 
 about forty acres. His father, a man of great wealth, 
 lives directly in his neighborhood. Imagine a beautiful 
 country, not naturally fertile, but made one of the most 
 productive by cultivation, and everywhere covered with 
 a luxuriant vegetation ; imagine roads as fine as can be 
 trodden, without a pebble to impede the carriage, and 
 bounded with green and neatly-trimmed hedges ; imagine 
 here and there a substantial farm-house, suiTOunded with 
 acres and acres of green crops, and many of them with 
 stacks of wheat and barley made in the most finished 
 and beautiful manner, in some cases twenty, thirty, and 
 even forty in number, containing, by estimate, two hun- 
 dred and three hundred bushels of grain each (I am only 
 stating facts ;) imagine your approach to a large cluster 
 of ornamental trees, through which you see the turrets of 
 the house rising and occasionally appearing and disap- 
 pearing as you approach ; imagine several smooth 
 avenues, bordered with shiTibs and flowers of the richest 
 description ; imagine an extensive lawn, stretching far 
 away in front of one side of the house, as smooth as Milton 
 describes it, with the sheep and cattle grazing upon it ; 
 imagine a beautiful mirrored lake of half a mile in length 
 and con-esponding width, glistening and sparkling at the 
 foot of the lawn ; imagine a grove of magnificent forest 
 trees, in the rear of the parsonage, with the tower of the 
 old church mantled with ivy, showing its gray and ven- 
 erable image among these trees, with its church-yard, and 
 marble and moss-grown monuments, where Old Mortality 
 inight find congenial employment for days and months, 
 and you will have some little notion of the exterior of 
 my transient resting-place. Now enter the house, and
 
 104 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 find the libraries stored with books, and the drawing-rooms, 
 elegant in their plainest attire, but crowded with the 
 most beautiful objects of ornament and curiosity, and 
 fitted up with every possible appendage of luxury and 
 comfort ; imagine an elegant dining-room, the table 
 covered with the richest plate, and this plate filled with 
 the richest viands which the culinary art and the vintage 
 and the fruit-garden can supply ; imagine a horse at your 
 disposal, a servant at your command to anticipate every 
 want ; imagine an elegant bed-chamber, a bright coal- 
 fire, fresh water in basins, in goblets, in tubs, napkins 
 without stint as white as snow, a double mattress, a 
 French bed, sheets of the finest linen, a canopy of the 
 richest silk, a table portfolio, writing apparatus and sta- 
 tionery, allumettes, a night-lamp, candles and silver candle- 
 sticks, and beautiful paintings and exquisite statuary, and 
 every kind of chair or sofa but a rocking-chair, and then 
 you will have some little notion of the place where 
 I now am, and indeed a pretty accurate and not 
 exaggerated description of my residences for the last 
 three weeks — four weeks — five weeks — three months 
 — I cannot say how long, and then judge whether it 
 is not likely entirely to spoil me. For the last fortnight, 
 for example, with the exception of one day, I have dined 
 off of nothing but silver and porcelain, and have sat 
 down each day to a table as sumptuous and abundant, 
 and various and elegant as I ever saw at any dinner- 
 party in Boston, indeed, more so, and much of the time 
 with a large party of ladies and gentlemen, as elegant in 
 dress and manners as you can meet with ; never with less 
 than four men-servants, many times with eight or ten, 
 and in one case I counted eleven, eight of whom were
 
 LETTER XXXI. 105 
 
 in elegant livery, trimmed with silver anjj with silver 
 epaulettes, &.C., k,c. What do you think is to become 
 of me, for here I have got a month before me of the 
 same engagements, and six months, indeed, if I would only 
 accept my invitations. Many of these, too, are from 
 gentlemen whom I have never seen, and all of them are 
 volunteers. Lord Yarborough, where I go to-morrow, I 
 have never seen, though I have seen his son, who is a 
 Member of Parliament, and my invitation is to be there 
 on the 10th, and by all means to stay to theii- cattle- 
 show, on the 17th. 
 
 But I have not told you, after all, the best things I 
 have found here — a gentleman and lady of the highest 
 refinement and cultivation ; he a clergyman, lovmg his 
 duties and his people loving him, and doing what he can 
 to make them happier and better ; and his wife a 
 gentle, courteous lady, entering into his tastes, and with 
 ample means, the benefactor of her neighborhood. The 
 premonitory dinner-bell rings, seven o'clock. 
 
 Monday morning. 1 leave this forenoon. Some gen- 
 tlemen are invited to breakfast with me, and I must close 
 — so says the paper also. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XXXL 
 
 TO A BOY. 
 
 Bransby, 14tli Oct., 1843. 
 
 Well, my dear E , how has the summer gone 
 
 with you ? Have you studied hard and worked hard and 
 played hard ? Do you know more than you did in the
 
 i06 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 spring ? Have you grown fond of your books ? Is your 
 attic story tenanted now by such occupants as you like 
 to keep there, or is it empty, and the walls covered with 
 cobwebs ; or has it a tenantry that ought never to have 
 been admitted, and ought as soon as possible to be turned 
 out : I mean idle, useless, frivolous thoughts and plans 
 and notions ? Think of these things, and determine 
 that you will not live and die a blockhead or an ignora- 
 mus. 
 
 I should like to have you see some things which I have 
 seen, because many of them would be quite to your taste. 
 I think you would like to ride a jackass or donkey, pa- 
 tient, humble creatures, with ears long enough for reins 
 — poor things ! never but one of them, that I ever heard 
 of, was ever known to say a word, whatever burden was 
 laid upon him. They are very much used here, some- 
 times boys, sometimes women, often men riding them, 
 with their feet almost touching the ground ; most com- 
 monly they are harnessed to small carts and draw heavy 
 loads, and I have seen them repeatedly with two large 
 kegs of milk slung on their sides and a boy riding at the 
 same time, with a quart pot, selling milk in the towns. 
 Yesterday I saw another sight, four dog carts, two dogs 
 in each, trotting off in grand style. They had been at 
 some market-town, probably with loads of fish, and were 
 now returning ; one of these carts will frequently have 
 three persons on it, which seems to me a great cruelty. 
 In the parks in London, you find carriages for riding 
 with goats attached to them, for the amusement of chil- 
 dren ; I have frequently seen these carriages elegantly 
 constructed, drawn by four goats well harnessed and
 
 l.KTTEK XXXI. 107 
 
 trained. At all the public corners and places of resort 
 near, you find donkeys saddled and prepared for young 
 people to ride, with boys in attendance to let and manage. 
 The day before yesterday I was introduced to a ken- 
 nel of fox-hounds, eighty in number. The huntsman 
 was with me, or I should have been afraid they might 
 have mistaken me for a fox, then woe be to me ! It 
 was their feeding hour. Their provision is oat-meal 
 scalded, and soup made of horse-beef, several quarters of 
 which were hung up in the larder. They kill an old 
 horse for them about twice in a week. Professor Buckland 
 tasted the soup and the cooked horse, for which, though 
 invited, I had no inclination. Much good may it do him. 
 It was fimny to see the dogs called out, every one by his 
 own name, and all of them knowing their places and 
 afraid to come until they were called. They have a 
 bell hung over their bed ; they all sleep together, so that 
 if they quarrel or have any angry discussions after bed 
 time, the keeper rings the bell, and they know the whip 
 will follow the bell immediately if they are not still. 
 Lord Worsley kindly invited me to stay and hunt on 
 Saturday. But what a figure your old friend would 
 have cut, leaping over the fences and ditches upon a 
 hunter, and perhaps tumbling head foremost, so as to 
 give the horse a chance of jumping over his back. This 
 would have furnished a better subject for a picture than 
 even a journey with your father to the White Hills.
 
 108 EUROPEAN LIVE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 Bransby, Lincolnsliire, 14th Oct., 1843. 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 I BEGIN with wishing most earnestly that you would 
 take care of your health ; if you do not value it your- 
 self, remember how much your friends do. The weather 
 was never finer than it has been for the last three months ; 
 there has not been a single day to confine me ; two days 
 this week were partially rainy, but I rode on horseback 
 each day thirty miles without inconvenience. 
 
 You will see by my letters to Mrs. C where I 
 
 have been. The last four weeks has been a season of 
 unceasing festivity, at least to a novice like me, familiar 
 as it may be to those whom I have been visiting ; and 
 yesterday, at Spital Inn, was the first instance, for this 
 time, when I have sat down to a plain dinner, or indeed 
 when I have been at a table otherwise than sumptuous 
 and elegant. 
 
 The incomes of many noblemen and gentlemen here 
 
 are indeed enormous. Earl is stated to have an 
 
 annual income of upwards of £100,000 sterling. The 
 
 Duke of has actually spent more than £40,000 
 
 sterling in draining and irrigating his property, so you 
 may infer firom that what possibly may be his posses- 
 sions. That expenditure is not even felt by him. And 
 
 Earl is estimated at least at £150,000 sterling per 
 
 year. The accumulation of property here is in some 
 cases amazing, and entirely beyond my arithmetic. Now, 
 let me state some other facts. Earl has at least
 
 LETTER XXXII. ' 109 
 
 eighty house servants. The Duke of has eighty 
 
 horses in liis stables — say nothing of his farm-hoi-ses — 
 forty of which are hunters, besides a very large number 
 of race-horses at other stables. Earl has pro- 
 bably fifty race-horses. Lord Yarborough has an inde- 
 finite number of hunters, Stc, &c., and what amused me 
 very much, was a pack of fox hounds, of forty couples. 
 Lord VVorsley, his son, kindly wished me to stay until 
 Saturday, to go out upon a fox-chase. Good Heavens ! 
 only think of that — what was to become of my wife's old 
 husband, mounted upon a fleet hunter, leaping hedge 
 and ditch, with a pack of yelping hounds at his heels, 
 the huntsman's horn making the woods ring again, after 
 a poor trembling fox, and bringing home the tail in his 
 hat in triumph, that is, if his neck were not broken at 
 the first leap. The very idea electrified me, and my 
 blood still boils at the thought. It was the custom at 
 this place for his Lordship, and his guests were always 
 invited to accompany him, at nine o'clock precisely, 
 in the evening, to visit the stables, where the hunting 
 and riding horses were kept, which were reached by a 
 covered passage-way from the house. The stables 
 presented all the neatness of a house parlor ; and the 
 grooms were more than a dozen in number, all drawn up 
 in line, to receive the company. His Lordship examined 
 every stall, and looked at every horse. This regulation 
 was certainly conducive to the faithful management of 
 this department of the household, and it had another 
 indirect advantage of taking the gentlemen away from 
 the table, where, at that hour, they had sat long enough. 
 The Duke of Portland has drained, and by turning 
 the course of a river, now irrigates at his pleasure, 
 10
 
 110 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 between three and four hundred acres of land, covered 
 by this means with the richest vegetation, and yielding 
 three crops per year. Lord Yarborough has more than 
 sixty thousand acres of land in his plantation. He has 
 one hundred and fifty tenant farmers — he has six 
 hundred tenants in all ; and you can ride upon his land 
 in a direct line, thirty miles — so his steward told me. 
 What an immense property ! He and his father have 
 planted more than thirteen millions of trees of various 
 descriptions. One of his tenants told me that in one 
 year he (the tenant) grew eighteen thousand bushels of 
 wheat ; and I saw a great many stacks of grain which 
 were estimated to contain one hundred quarters of grain, 
 that is, eight hundred bushels ; and one barley-stack 
 fifty-four yards long, and several forty-eight feet in 
 height, and width proportional. This is farming with a 
 witness. It is stated further that the Duke of Portland 
 has made seven thousand miles of drains, which I think 
 must be a mistake for seven hundred, though I am 
 assured not ; I will not assert, however, what seems to 
 me so incredible. 
 
 I thought some of these facts might amuse, if they did 
 not, as they do me, surprise you. Many of the tenants 
 of Lord Yarborough pay one thousand and fourteen 
 hundred guineas a year rent, and several of them whom 
 I visited, live like noblemen, keeping their dogs, horses, 
 carriages, and servants in livery. Farming here is a 
 profession, and one of the highest that can be pursued. 
 I want to say a thousand things to you, but I cannot — 
 I have stolen this day, and have called upon my old friend 
 Spencer, formerly of Salem, and begged a day's retire- 
 ment in his house, that I might write by the steamer.
 
 LETTER XXXII. 1 1 1 
 
 I was in Manchester a fortnii^ht since. I never saw 
 a place of more activity ; but the appearance of the 
 operatives, and of the factories, presents a sad contrast 
 to Lowell and Chicopee. The agricultural population 
 of England, in their houses, are remarkable for their 
 neatness ; the manufacturing population, as far as I 
 have yet seen, have not a shadow of a claim to this 
 reputation. I am constantly inquired of, whether a 
 repeal of the corn laws of Great Britain, would not 
 be followed by an immediate abandonment of the 
 tariff' of the United States. To which I can only 
 answer, why should it ? The manufacturing interest 
 in the United States, is one of its largest interests, 
 and the tariff I presume will remain untouched. I 
 am obliged to keep as clear as possible of politics, 
 though often baited on the subject, as it would present 
 a serious impediment to my success if I committed 
 myself to either party ; and what good would come of 
 it if I did ? 
 
 I met several agreeable gentlemen, members of Par- 
 liament, at Lord Yarborough's, and the learned Geologist, 
 
 Dr. Buckland. We were engaged to go to Mr. C 's, 
 
 a member of Parliament, to-day, to spend two or three 
 days, but I wanted rest, and declined the invitation. On 
 Tuesday, we meet again for a few days at Sir John 
 Trollope's, and again in November, for a week, at Lord 
 Hatherton's. Excepting an engagement at the Duke 
 of Richmond's, at Christmas, and one other at Mr. 
 Hasler's, near him, I think I must abandon all others 
 until the spring. Adieu.
 
 112 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNER!^ 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 Bransby, 14lh October, 1843. 
 
 TO A YOUNG FRIEND. 
 
 My Dear E : 
 
 Suppose that you and I have a few words with each 
 other ; they will be words of kindness and love, and I 
 dare say we shall both be the happier for it. I begin 
 then, by saying that I hope the souvenir suited you. I 
 cannot guess whether the gloves, or the bag, fell to your 
 lot, but be it which it might, I hope it reminded you of 
 my constant and most affectionate remembrance. I am 
 thinking often, what a tall young lady I shall see, when 
 I get home, if Heaven ever grants me that blessing ; 
 good, I know she will be, and I hope as intelligent and 
 accomplished, as such a young lady should be. I have 
 not met with many young ladies of your age since I 
 have been here. At most of the houses there is such a 
 constant round and multitude of visiters, that they are 
 kept quite in retirement ; but when I have seen any of 
 them, I have found them full of their studies, and 
 obtaining an education in all the ornamental and sub- 
 stantial accomplishments. Indeed, what is a young lady 
 without a good education worth, unless it should be 
 merely as a well-dressed image, or piece of statuary, to 
 be set up in a comer or a glass case. But education 
 is valuable, not merely nor principally that we may 
 command respect and attention from others, but as a 
 resource of pleasure within ourselves, a storehouse from 
 which we may gather the elements of the highest kind of
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 113 
 
 enjoyment and happiness, that which is intehcctual and 
 moral, from within ourselves, and independent of the 
 changes and caprices of fortune. I hope, my dear 
 
 E , while acquiring the common branches of learning, 
 
 tiiat is, the means of educating yourself, you will remem- 
 ber, that at school, education is only begun ; that at 
 school you are only learning to learn ; that the principal 
 work is to be done by yourself, and that you will not 
 fail to give a good deal of time to reading at home. 
 History and Biography should especially attract your 
 attention ; and as you advance, the philosophy of the 
 mind, and of morals, should be made particular subjects 
 of study. You are now getting to be old enough for 
 this, and though at first such studies may seem dry, yet 
 application will make them interesting, and they will do 
 much to enlarge and strengthen the mind. I am quite 
 tired of the current opinion that the education of women 
 should be limited to studies merely superficial ; of all 
 studies, that of the constitution of their minds is among 
 the most important, and that of their moral character 
 and obligations, a matter of the highest duty. But I am 
 afraid this is very dry to you, and if so, lay it aside and 
 read it again a year hence. 
 
 I wish I had something pretty to tell you, but my 
 well is dry ; I have been at the pump all day, and 
 whether any more supply will ever come in, remains to 
 be seen. Besides my letters to America, I have had 
 several others to write. Adieu. 
 
 P. S. I must tell you a process in education, which 
 
 I witnessed a few days since in a nobleman's family. 
 
 A number of young ladies were in the family, the oldest 
 
 perhaps sixteen ; an old soldier, who had been many 
 
 10*
 
 114 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 years an orderly-sergeant in the army, was employed 
 daily to drill them in marching,, walking, " looking well 
 to the right," and various other military manoeuvres, 
 which seemed to me to conduce not a little to their 
 erectness, the expansion of their chests, and the proper 
 management of their arms, not always an easy matter, 
 and likewise to the grace and dignity of their whole 
 movement. One brother was drilled with them. 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 Bransby, 14th October, 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 From Earl Fitzwilliam's, I went to the Duke of 
 Portland's, at Welbeck Abbey. I believe I told you 
 that he was kind enough to send a special messenger 
 twenty miles, to invite me, and to determine the time of 
 my visit, that he might be sure to be at home, so that 
 he might show me, in person, all his improvements. It 
 would be impossible to be received with more kindness 
 than I had, both from the Duke and the Duchess. He 
 is a perfect gentleman of the old school, seventy-five 
 years old, and she an exceedingly attentive and sensible 
 person. They live with an elegance and splendor you 
 can have very little idea of, and at the same time a 
 simplicity, negligee, or make-yourself-at-home treatment, 
 the most agreeable possible. The Duke himself, devot- 
 ed two whole days exclusively to me ; one day, riding 
 thirty miles on horseback ; another day he sent me on 
 horseback, with a servant, to see the ruins of Hardwick
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 115 
 
 Castle and Hardwick Hall, about fifteen miles. This took 
 four nights, all the time which I could spare ; and then he 
 sent me in his chariot several miles, to meet the coach ; 
 think of poor me in a chariot, with four horses, a 
 postilion and footman, travelling alone through those noble 
 parks and roads. I dare say I scared half the geese in 
 the country, and it would have been quite an amusement 
 to you, to have seen how the innkeeper and the land- 
 lady, and the landlady's maids, and the footmen, and the 
 grooms, came running to the door, when I drove up to 
 the hotel, and how many hands were ready to help me 
 out of the carriage, and take care of my baggage, and 
 show me in, and show me up. Poor things ! how I pitied 
 them, when, as I foresaw, they must soon find me out, 
 a plain, simple republican. However, I paid my postil- 
 ion, and footman, and porter, in a very proper style, and 
 I believe we parted friends, without any serious doubts 
 of my real aristocracy, as far as that went. 
 
 I had supposed I had seen, several times before, the 
 summit of luxurious and elegant living, but this I confess 
 went beyond what I had met with, and the beauty of 
 the whole was, that though there \\ ere so many parts, 
 wheel within wheel, and one spring depending for its 
 tehsion and its movements upon another, yet there was 
 not the slightest jarring or creaking, and although, for 
 aught I know, there were one hundred servants about, 
 and I do not believe there were many less, you would 
 scarcely have supposed, from any noise by night or day, 
 that there was one within a mile. 
 
 I asked, when I retired, what time do you breakfast ? 
 The Duke replied, "just what time you please, from nine 
 to twelve." I always came down at nine precisely, and
 
 116 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 found the Duchess at her breakfast. About half-past nine 
 the Duke would come in, and the ladies, one by one, 
 soon after. At breakfast, the side-table would have on 
 it, cold ham, cold chicken, cold pheasant or partridge, 
 which you ask for, or to which, as is most common, 
 you get up and help yourself. On the breakfast table 
 were several kinds of the best bread possible, butter 
 always fresh, made that morning, as I have found at all 
 these houses ; and if you asked for coffee, or chocolate, 
 it would be brought to you in a silver cofFee-pot, and you 
 helped yourself; if for tea, you would have a silver um 
 to each guest, heated by alcohol, placed by you, a 
 small teapot, and a small caddie of black and green tea 
 to make for yourself, or the servant for you. The 
 papers of the morning, from London, (for a country 
 paper is rarely seen,) were then brought to you, and 
 your letters, if any. At breakfast, the arrangements 
 were made for the day, and if you were to ride, choose 
 your mode, and at the minute, the horses and servants 
 would be at the door. 
 
 At two o'clock is the lunch, which I was not at home 
 to take, and very rarely do take. A lunch at such 
 houses, is in fact a dinner ; the table is set at half-past 
 one, not quite so large as for dinner. Commonly, there 
 is roast meat warm, birds, warm or cold, cold chicken, 
 cold beef, cold ham, bread, butter, cheese, fruit, beer, 
 ale and wines, and every one takes it as he pleases, 
 standing, sitting, waiting for the rest, or not, and going 
 away when he pleases ; dinner at seven, sometimes at 
 eight, when all are congregated in the drawing-room, five 
 minutes before the hour, in full dress. I have already 
 told you the course at dinner, but at many houses, there
 
 .LETTER XXXIV. 117 
 
 is always a bill of fare — in this case written, I had 
 almost said engraved, on the most elegant embossed and 
 colored paper ; always in French, and passed round to 
 the guests. Three days in succession, we had different 
 kinds of excellent fish, taken from ponds directly in the 
 neighborhood of the house, on the Duke's own grounds. 
 After dinner, we had, every day, peaches, nectarines, 
 grapes, and pine-apples in abundance. There were 
 six of us at dinner, daily, and eleven servants, most of 
 them in livery ; the livery here; consists of light yellow 
 shorts and waistcoat, with white cotton or silk stockings, 
 and pumps, a long blue coat trimmed with silver lace 
 and buttons, and silver epaulets on each shoulder, and 
 white cravats ; those out of livery, were in full suits of 
 black, and if you meet the female servants of the upper 
 class, you must take care not to mistake them for the 
 ladies of the house, as there is little to distinguish them 
 in point of elegance of dress. After dinner, in half an 
 hour, the ladies retire, and in another half hour the 
 gentlemen meet them in the drawing-room. Then do 
 what you please ; read, play, talk, look at pictures and 
 books, wait the retiring of others, or, at your pleasure, 
 you may find a candle in the passage, and go to your 
 chamber, where you find a good fire, and every thing 
 requisite for your comfort and convenience, in perfect 
 readiness and order. If you want a servant, there is one 
 at your elbow ; if you require a laundress, your valet 
 will take your clothes, and they will be returned as soon 
 as possible, in the best order, with the bill. Now adieu. 
 P. S. I forgot to say, if you leave your chamb(;r 
 twenty times a day, after using your basin, you would 
 find it clean, and the pitcher replenished on your return ;
 
 118 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 and that you cannot take your clothes off, but they are 
 taken away, brushed, folded, pressed, and placed in the 
 bureau, and at the dressing hour, before dinner, you find 
 your candles lighted, your clothes laid out, your shoes 
 cleaned, and every thing arranged for use. I never saw 
 more attention. I can hardly conceive of more perfect 
 house-keeping, for you scarcely ever see or hear anybody, 
 unless you ring a bell, when a servant suddenly appears 
 before you, as if from the wainscoting. I hope these 
 details, as they are all designed for your personal gratifi- 
 cation, will be to your taste. 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 Bransby, Lincolnsliire, 15th October, 1843. 
 TO A YOUNG FRIEND. 
 
 I HAVE been considering whether I should write to 
 you or your father ; but as both he and your mother are 
 a good deal in my debt, and I am in yours, I have con- 
 cluded to set them the example of discharging my own 
 obligations, that they may be prompted to do likewise. 
 
 Your letter pleased me greatly ; it was elegantly 
 written. To a merchant, a good hand-writing, I may 
 say an elegant hand-writing, is of much importance, and 
 more especially to an accountant. I believe, too, that 
 by careful practice, one may acquire the power of writing 
 always without erasures, corrections, omissions or inter- 
 lineations, all of which very much disfigure a letter or a 
 manuscript ; and this is quite desirable. Several gentle-
 
 LETTER XXXV. 119 
 
 men whom I have known, write elegantly, and without 
 error or blot ; as Governor Everett, for example, whose 
 manuscript looks almost like engraving. This I always 
 greatly admire. I am much better able to advise in this 
 matter, than to practise, not knowing early the importance 
 of this care ; the opportunity of acquiring the habit being 
 lost, and a contrary habit being established, it is idle for an 
 old marh to attempt a refomiation. You have an oppor- 
 tunity in this matter, to do as you please ; deteniiine 
 therefore, that whatever you undertake to do, you will 
 do as well as it can be done. Exactness in small 
 matters, will give you immense advantages in great 
 matters. I am very glad you are in the place you are. 
 
 For I have a great regard ; for your success and good 
 
 conduct I shall always feel the most affectionate soli- 
 citude. Whenever you grow remiss, which I hope will 
 never be ; whenever you are tempted to omit any duty 
 whatever, or do any wrong whatever, remember your 
 dear mother, and that you have her happiness and that 
 of many others in your keeping. I am persuaded you 
 will do well, and in order to this, your business and the 
 interests and just claims of your employer, must be your 
 first object. The character of an upright and intelligent 
 merchant, is among the most honorable in our commu- 
 nity ; and this, I hope and trust you will fully attain, 
 
 and always maintain. Your uncle , who will have 
 
 great power to assist you, will always be your friend, if 
 you show yourself worthy of his esteem. 
 
 You recollect Mr. Spencer, of Gibraltar memory. He 
 is now a large and wealthy farmer in England, an estate 
 having been left him by a relative. He wrote me a 
 most kind and pressing letter to visit him, offering me his
 
 120 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 hand, and his house, and his heart, and to complete the 
 Hst, his horse, to travel where I pleased. This was very 
 friendly, and I have turned out of my way twenty miles, 
 to pass three days with him. I think he still loves New 
 England a great deal better than Old England ; but he is 
 doing well here. One of the most beautiful ornaments 
 of his place, and some of the handsomest objects I have 
 seen in the country, are three Mountain Ash trees, full 
 of clusters of red berries, given him by your father, from 
 the garden at Elfin-glen ; I have had great pleasure in 
 looking at these trees, but I should have had a good deal 
 more in looking at some things of another kind, which 
 belong to Elfin-glen, and which I should like to see, in 
 their proper place. 
 
 The merchants here are many of them men of great 
 wealth ; and the shops in London, Edinburgh, Manches- 
 ter, and Glasgow, are extraordinarily elegant, and the 
 windows are indescribably brilliant with the productions 
 of the most exquisite and improved art. One is never 
 tired of looking at them, and of admiring the wonderful 
 skill displayed in the manufacture, the brilliancy of their 
 colors, and the magnificence which a mixed collection, 
 tastefully arranged, displays by gas light. Indeed, I 
 think one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in 
 London, has been on a ride down Regent Street, on the 
 box-seat of an omnibus, in the evening, when the streets 
 are crowded with people elegantly dressed, and the shops 
 in long ranges, with their illuminated windows of immense 
 length, and their interior, exhibiting an almost indefinite 
 perspective, are in all their glory. It appears absolutely 
 like fairy land, and the whole of this most magnificent 
 street seems converted into the hall of an oriental 
 palace on a Court Gala.
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 121 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 Wareham, Norfolk Co. 1st November, 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I AM not willing that the steamer should go without a 
 letter to you. My letters will have brought down my 
 history to the middle of last month, and my last letter 
 was dated at Bransby, Lincolnshire. I left Bransby on 
 Monday, on an appointment at Sir John Trollope's, near 
 Stamford, still in Lincolnshire, where I had a most 
 agreeable and useful visit. I there met again my most re- 
 spected friends, Mr. Pusey, M. P., and Dr. Buckland, and 
 we made an excursion into the fens of Lincolnshire. Here 
 is some of the richest and best cultivated land in Eng- 
 land, and, indeed, I never saw any superior to it. Here 
 is a tract of more than a hundred thousand acres re- 
 deemed from the sea by artificial embankments, and the 
 surface water of a large portion of this enclosure — for 
 some considerable rivers run into it — is emptied by two 
 large steam engines, one of sixty and one of eighty horse 
 power. 
 
 Here, likewise, I saw the cultivation and preparation of 
 several valuable plants, which I had never seen growing 
 before ; among others, woad, a mordant used by dyers 
 and calico-printers ; chicory, used for adulteration of 
 coffee, and white mustard-seed. 
 
 We had a most interesting tour, having passed one 
 
 night at Boston ! and at the same time visited Lynn ! ! 
 
 Lynn, here, at a distance, precisely resembles Lynn at 
 
 home ; I say precisely, for had I been set down three 
 
 11
 
 122 EUROPEAN l'iFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 miles from it at one position, and blindfolded, I should have 
 said, on being uncovered, if I had not known my situa- 
 tion, " this is three miles from Lynn, on the Salem turn- 
 pike ;" excepting that in place of the salt-marshes, here 
 the marshes have been rescued from the sea and tide, and 
 converted into meadows as fine as Connecticut river 
 alluvions. Boston very much, in parts, resembles what 
 our Boston was forty years ago ; and I saw on the signs 
 and in the church-yard, the names of Sewall, Parker, 
 Ward, Smith, &;c., &ic. I should have been glad to 
 have looked a little more into the antiquities of the two 
 places, but my other objects did not admit of delay. At 
 Boston, however, I saw the most magnificent parish- 
 church which I have seen in England, with a tower of 
 extraordinary grandeur, three hundred feet in height, 
 though from its clumsy appearance, at a distance of 
 several miles, where its beautiful architecture cannot be 
 observed, it is called the Boston Stump, and is a cele- 
 brated landmark for sailors. I have found my own 
 name in several places ; and in Lincoln and one or two 
 other places, have found streets by this name ; but as I 
 have no taste for heraldry, and should probably find that 
 my family arms were nothing more than a shoemaker's 
 block or last (quite, however, as respectable as any jieur 
 de lys or lions couchant,) I have not taken the trouble 
 of looking after the bones of my ancestors, though, I con- 
 fess, if I had the time, I should take some little pains in 
 the inquiry. 
 
 We passed Monday night and Thursday night at Sir 
 John Trollope's, most agreeably, I assure you, enjoying 
 every possible luxury and the society of a large party of 
 ladies and gentlemen.
 
 LETTER XXXVr. 123 
 
 From tlience I proceeded to Swaff liam, on my way to 
 Holkham, a great agricultural point, and there put up 
 Saturday evening, to remain until Monday. I called at 
 
 Swaff ham on a Miss N , whom I had met, as I told 
 
 you, at Derby, a most intelligent and agreeable young 
 lady. I had taken my supper at the hotel, so that I 
 might not be thought to intrude upon them in any way ; 
 but when I rose to go, after sitting half an hour, they 
 told me that I should stay with them, and that they had 
 already sent to the hotel for my luggage, which was now 
 in my chamber. The parents are dead, and there are 
 three sisters and two brothers composing the family, one 
 sister being confined to her chamber and her chair, night 
 and day, by an incurable disorder, which she bears with 
 eminent fortitude and resignation, making her sick cham- 
 ber radiant with cheerfulness. Nothing could exceed 
 the kindness of these people. I staid over Monday to 
 go and see some excellent famimg with Mr. Morse, 
 and then dined out in the evening with a large party of 
 doctoi-s, lawyers, and clergymen, where, after they had 
 made speeches and drank the health of the American 
 friend present, I was obliged, after telling them that I 
 lived under the same kind of government at home, to 
 give the health of the Queen, and then they very politely 
 insisted upon drinking the health of my queen at home, 
 in which, after a good deal of very proper blushing and 
 all proper acknowledgments, I joined most heartily. 
 
 On Tuesday, after urgent invitations to stay, and a 
 pressing one to come again, I left them, having occasion, 
 as I was in the neighborhood, to reverse my steps a few 
 miles, and go and see the Queen enter Cambridge, a 
 display I should probably never have it in my power to
 
 124 ET^ROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 witness again, 1 had written to a friend in the neighbor- 
 hood that I might be there, but was in some respects 
 singularly unfortunate. Such was the crowd, that the 
 rooms, for which I had an order, had been taken up, and 
 though he was willing to leave, I was not willing to displace 
 the gentlemen who had possession. I got, however, by 
 a mere chance, very good lodgings. I was unfortunate, 
 too, in not being able to get into the chapel and into the 
 senate-room, to see the ceremonies and hear the address, 
 as no one could get admission without a ticket, and the 
 professor, to whom I had letters, assured me that it was 
 impossible to procure one ; but what was my regret to 
 learn, after it was all over, that my friend, whom I could 
 not find, had procured me tickets for admission to both, 
 but was unable to find me. The occasion was one of 
 very great splendor and interest ; about as magnificent 
 a piece of idolatry as one could witness. However, I 
 have already described it in another letter. I have 
 only room to thank Heaven, that I was not crowded 
 to death in the general rush, where one man actually 
 jumped upon my back in an agony of terror, and would 
 have thrown me down had I not been wedged in too 
 closely to fall. 
 
 On Friday I left Cambridge and came here by invi- 
 tation received some time since, and am staying with 
 one of the best farmers in England, and in a most kind 
 and hospitable family. This farmer was the principal 
 tenant of Lord Leicester, formerly Mr. Coke, the most 
 distinguished farmer in Great Britain ; and he was the in- 
 ventor of what is termed "inoculating" land, a process by 
 which setting or planting small pieces of grass at some 
 little distance from each other, over a piece of land, the 
 whole is soon converted into a close sward.
 
 LETTER XXXVII. 125 
 
 I have had three days of incessant agricukurul talk 
 and observation, and leave here to-morrow. I then go 
 to visit Mr. Jonas Webb, a large farmer and shepherd 
 in Cambridgeshire, and hope on Monday to reach Lon- 
 don for winter quarters. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XXXVn. 
 
 Wareham, 1st November, 1843. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 You will, I suppose, be surprised, after my long de- 
 spatches by the last steamer, to hear from me again, 
 but I shall throw myself upon your indulgence. 
 
 In my letter of this afternoon to , I mentioned 
 
 that I was at Cambridge, to witness the visit of the 
 Queen to that ancient and distinguished place. They 
 have not had the visit of Majesty for more than a cen- 
 tury, and as soon as the intention was announced, the 
 whole town and vicinity were devoted to making prepara- 
 tions. I reached the town on Tuesday evening, and 
 alio-hted from the coach amidst an immense crowd, 
 stmggling for admission into the inn. In perfect despair, 
 I got a porter to take my luggage into an office near by, 
 and then went, I knew not whither, in search of lodg- 
 ings. I was fortunate enough to find such as were com- 
 fortable for the occasion. On Wednesday morning the 
 whole town was routed quite early by the chiming and 
 ringing of bells ; the streets were soon full of well-dressed 
 people ; the houses festooned with evergreens, flowisrs, 
 and flags ; triumphal arches erected at the entrance of 
 11*
 
 126 EUROPEAN LIFE ANT> MANNERS. 
 
 the city ; curious devices and pictures presented at vari- 
 ous places ; stages and windows filled with a well-dressed 
 population, hungry with expectation, and waiting with 
 intense enthusiasm the arrival of the sovereign of the 
 nation. 
 
 She came at last in a carnage with the Prince, attended 
 by several of the grandees of the empire, and with great 
 eclat. After comfortably resting at her lodgings, it was 
 announced that she was to proceed in state to the chapel. 
 She had arrived in her travelling-carriage ; now she had 
 changed her dress and appeared in her state-carriages, 
 which are as splendid as gold and varnish can make them. 
 In the evening the town was most magnificently illumi- 
 nated with various devices, and the population crowded 
 the streets to excess. The next morning she proceeded in 
 state to the Senate-House, where the degree of LL. D. 
 was conferred upon Prince Albert. I could not get in, 
 but at a distance across the street I was able, being 
 higher than the rest, to see her upon her throne. After 
 this I got admission into St. John's College yard, and 
 there formed part of a line where she passed on foot 
 within a yard's length of me. I had, therefore, repeated 
 and full views of this great object of interest. Carpets 
 of crimson-cloth were laid through all the passages and 
 yards where the foot of majesty was to tread ; and in 
 one spot, where, by some mischance, the carpeting was 
 deficient, the students pulled off their gowns and spread 
 them for her to step on. She is a very small person, 
 not very handsome, but pleasing, with a bright blue eye, 
 and dressed quite modestly. Indeed, if you had met her 
 in the street, you would merely have said, there is a 
 pretty genteel little woman. I cannot quite enter into 
 the feelings of persons who have been brought up in a
 
 LETTER XXXVir. 127 
 
 State of society so entirely different from what exists 
 among us ; but it is a remarkable and distinguished bless- 
 ing to the nation, that her domestic character is exemplary 
 and beautiful, and she has a husband worthy of her, and 
 so far as private character goes, is deserving of all re- 
 spect. This is remarkable ; for some of their monarchs 
 have been a disgrace to human nature, and their cele- 
 brated Queen Elizabeth was an odious character. 
 
 In 's letter I have told you why I am here. To- 
 day they were disposed I should see a little coursing. I 
 went out an hour with the hounds to see them rout and 
 kill five hares — an exciting, but a cruel sport. 
 
 I forgot to say that one of the most striking features 
 in the processions and displays at Cambridge, were the 
 dresses of the students and scholars. The members of 
 the University all wear gowns and flat caps, and such as 
 to designate their different academic degrees. The doc- 
 tors all wear scarlet robes ; the noble commoners of Trin- 
 ity College, appear with gowns and caps triumied with 
 gold lace and gold tassels ; the noble commoners of St. 
 John's College, with gowns and caps trimmed with silver 
 lace and tassels. The dresses were extremely splendid 
 and beautiful, and as a mere spectator, I was highly 
 entertained with it. 
 
 In the evening there were tremendous crowds in the 
 street, and late in the evening fire-works and squibs in 
 abundance. I was disposed to see the whole ; and it was 
 rather an amusing sight, to say nothing else of it, to see 
 hundreds of students with gowns and caps and bands on, 
 running about with squibs and crackers and scaring the 
 girls of the town (of whose character there could be no 
 doubt,) and who seemed to form no small portion of the 
 crowd. Adieu.
 
 I'^S EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER XXXVIII. 
 
 London, 16th November, 1843. 
 My Deak Sir : 
 
 I THANK you for your letter by the Hibernia. I wish 
 during winter, or until I leave London again, you would 
 occasionally send me some Boston newspapers by mail. 
 Otherwise I can only see them by going two miles from 
 my lodgings, to the reading-room of the American Cof- 
 fee House, and can be admitted there only by courtesy. 
 At Edinburgh they had an excellent arrangement, which 
 for strangers, I think might be adopted with advantage 
 in other places. Their reading-room was large, splen- 
 did, and exceedingly well furnished with papers and pe- 
 riodicals, and any person not a subscriber might go in at 
 any time by dropping a penny into a box on the table 
 at entrance, or paying it to the servant. Here a friend 
 can't enter your name except for a month ; but the 
 above arrangement saves troubling any one, and relieves 
 the feeling that you go by sufferance ; and undoubtedly 
 a great deal is collected in this way. Two cents might 
 be safely charged in Boston. 
 
 I have now resumed my quarters in London. The 
 weather, since I returned, has been extremely capricious, 
 and a good deal of rain has fallen ; the weather is very 
 chilly and uncomfortable, and the days are cut off at 
 each end. The fog and smoke much of the time are 
 quite dense, and on Tuesday forenoon last, it was so 
 dark and thick that candles were lighted in all the 
 houses and shops, and I actually missed my way and lost
 
 LKTTER XXXVIII. 129 
 
 myself twice in going to my old lodgings through streets, 
 with which I am as familiar almost as with Washington 
 Street, Boston. I do not complain, however, of the wea- 
 ther — my health is quite good, and it is not worth 
 while to make oneself unhappy in a matter over which 
 we have no control. 
 
 I had hoped that I was quietly fixed in London for 
 the winter, but I have made an arrangement with Mr. 
 Pusey, member of Parliament, Dr. Buckland, and 
 several agricultural gentlemen, to pass a week, next 
 week, at Lord Atherton's, one hundred miles from Lon- 
 don by rail. Mr. Pusey says it is of the highest impor- 
 tance to me to see the winter farming in England, and 
 Lord Hatherton has made some of the greatest im- 
 provements in the country. He farms himself two thou- 
 sand acres. When in his neighborhood, I propose to go 
 and see Earl Ducie's pattern farm, and some agricultu- 
 ral establishments near Birmingham. This takes up 
 time which I wanted for the completion of my first re- 
 port, and will delay me accordingly ; but I don't know 
 how to avoid it. 
 
 Just now we have a good deal of American politics 
 in the English papers. General Duff Green has been 
 writing a long letter about repudiation, in which he 
 recommends to the English at once to repeal their pro- 
 hibitory duties on American corn. Congress, under the 
 change of administration, which he thinks certain to 
 take place, will alter their tariff so as to admit British 
 manufactures ; and he gravely warns them to make hay 
 while the sun shines, as otherwise there are occasions of 
 difference and difficulty which may, lead to a war, if not 
 now settled. The style of his letter is extremely ob-
 
 130 ETTROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 jectionable. It grew out of a letter by the Rev. Syd- 
 ney Smith, which, no doubt, you have seen, inveighing 
 against the Americans, and especially against Pennsyl- 
 vania, in no measured terms, and with the most pungent 
 satire. So far as Pennsylvania is concerned, I think no 
 severity would be misplaced. But the writer, like other 
 men of extraordinary wit, deals out his jokes with little 
 regard to candor and justice. 
 
 Mr. A likewise, over signature of " American in 
 
 London," has favored the public with one or two letters. 
 I have read one, which I thought quite well written for 
 a lawyer, though I told him that I regretted he should 
 use any expression which would aggravate the already 
 too heated, excited, and embittered feelings of the losing 
 parties, by implying that the purchasers in American 
 funds, knew the risk they were taking, and were induced 
 to lake the risk by the prospect of a very exorbitant 
 return, making it merely a gambling speculation. This, I 
 think, should not be said in the way of taunt or reflection, 
 first, because there was really no wrong in their purchas- 
 ing stock with a prospect of a large return, unless that 
 return was to be brought about by dishonest means ; and 
 next, this cannot apply to many of the purchasers, who 
 were retired persons, not at all connected with business, 
 and seeking only a safe investment for their money, many 
 of whom, as I know, were induced to make their invest- 
 ment from their friendliness towards, and confidence in, 
 a republican form of government. I shall send you 
 some papers, but I fear I cannot obtain these, as it is here 
 almost hopeless to expect to get a paper two days after 
 its publication, and a paper a week old is never taken 
 by mail.
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 131 
 
 I sliall be quite desirous of hearing how your election 
 turns out ; but you cannot conceive how small the elec- 
 tioneering personalities in the American papers appear 
 to a person on this side of the water, after getting out of 
 the whirl for a little time, qnd looking from a far higher 
 position at the great interests of society now at stake 
 upon the political chess-board. 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 London, 16tli November, 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I CAN hardly express the pleasure with which I re- 
 ceived my packet of letters yesterday by the Hibernia. 
 It seems not a long time to wait for letters from the 
 first to the fourteenth of the month, but if you were 
 in a foreign land you would count even the hours. 
 
 Your letters are continually bringing me intelligence 
 of the decease of friends ; Dr. Greenwood, Dr. Ware, 
 Mr. Prince, and I hear likewise, Mr. Alden Bradford, 
 and probably that most excellent man, Judge Prescott. 
 I really seem to have outlived a world. Mr. Prince and 
 Mr. Bradford were men of high integrity and excellence. 
 For Dr. Greenwood, I had very great regard. Dr. 
 Henry Ware, jr., for perfect worth of character has not 
 left his superior behind him. In disinterestedness, and 
 generosity, and nobleness of soul, he was a rare man. 
 I am delighted to hear that my good old friend, and as 
 good a man as lives, Dr. Pierce, received my remem- 
 brance kindly. The best statue of Sir Walter Scott
 
 132 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 known, and of which some one said, it is not a statue, 
 but the petrifaction of a man, is almost a fac simile of 
 
 Dr. Pierce. So I beheve Mrs. L thought when 
 
 I earned her to see it. I hope Sir Waher's autograph 
 was received and passed to its address. 
 
 I have succeeded in getting such lodgings as are com- 
 fortable, with the exception of a dirty servant girl, who 
 tends upon me, a maid of all work.* The situation is 
 
 * The duties of one of these poor creatures in some of the lodging 
 houses in London, are thus detailed in the written directions given to one by 
 a house-keeper, and produced on a trial at a police court. Of its authen- 
 ticity there can be no doubt. 
 
 General Ritles — Daily Duty. To be up at six o'clock ; light kitchen 
 fire ; kitchen to be swept ; light drawing-room fire, grate to be thoroughly 
 cleaned, fire-irons rubbed ; drugget and rug to be taken up and shaken ; car- 
 pet swept and every thing removed and thoroughly dusted ; hot water taken 
 up to the bed rooms ; breakfast to be laid ; knives and boots to be cleaned ; 
 brealdast at eight o'clock, during which time passages, &c., to be cleaned 
 and bell-handle rubbed, breakfast things to be washed up ; kitchen fire made 
 up ; step of the door hearth-stoned ; beds to be made, and bed rooms to be 
 swept and dusted ; slops to be emptied and wash-hand stands, &c. to be 
 thoroughly wiped ; stairs swept down and staircase dusted ; lamp to be 
 trimmed and cleaned, candlesticks cleaned ; dinner to be prepared, dinner to 
 be on table by one o'clock ; during dinner to begin cleaning kitchen ; every 
 thing to be washed up and put it its place ; yourself to be cleaned to take 
 out baby ; tea to be ready by five o'clock, after tea, slops to be emptied, and 
 beds turned down ; baby to be washed and put to bed ; supper at nine 
 o'clock ; eveiy thing to be washed up and put away before going to bed. 
 
 Ditty on Special Days in each Week. — Monday — Two bedrooms 
 to be swept and scoured, walls dusted, and every thing to be well dusted ; 
 grates and fire-irons to be cleaned. Tuesday — Water-closet to be well 
 washed out ; all the washing to be done. Wednesday — Clean one bed- 
 room ; passage and stairs cleaned, .scoured, and dusted. Thursday — Draw- 
 ing room to be well swept, with tea leaves ; walls dusted ; gi-ate and fire- 
 irons well cleaned ; marble and table covers and outside of windows to be 
 well wa.shed with soap and water, and every thing removed and well dusted ; 
 ironing to be done ; water-closet cleaned out. Friday — Tins, coppers, and 
 all kitchen utensils to be cleaned ; drawing-room stairs to be cleaned. Sat- 
 urday — Kitchen and back kitchen to be thoroughly cleaned ; passages and 
 water-closets to be scoured, &c. &c.
 
 LETTER XXXIX, 13.} 
 
 very central, respectable and convenient ; and besides 
 that, light, as it opens upon a public square. 
 
 It may amuse you to see my week's bill, which has 
 just come in. You will recollect that the currency is 
 sterling, and £1 is about equal to five dollars, and one 
 shilling to twenty-five cents. 
 
 Nov. 9th, 1843. 5. d. 
 
 Apartments* to 16lh, 18 
 
 Boots, l5. Wax candles, 2s. 3 
 
 Coals, 3s. Wood, 3d. 3 
 
 Paid washing bill, 3 10 
 
 Mending clothes, 3 
 
 Tea, 2s. 3d. Sugar, 10^. 3 1 
 
 Butter, 1 10 
 
 Bread, Is. Muffins, 9rf. 1 9 
 Milk and cream, 6s. News, 6d. 1 
 
 Blotting paper 5d. 5 
 
 £l 16 5 
 My dinner is ordinarily taken at a chop-house or res- 
 taurant from one shilling six pence to two shillings, with- 
 out wine. The charges at one of the principal eating 
 houses in Piccadilly ,where the cooking is good, and where, 
 I am told, they sometimes dine a thousand persons a day, 
 are as follows : A plate of roast beef, 8^. ; potatoes, 1^/. ; 
 celery, 2d.; turnipor cabbage, 2d.; bread, Id.; pud- 
 ding or apple pie, 4d. ; pint of ale, 4td. ; servant, 1^. In 
 houses where you cut from the joint, the dinner, without 
 wine, usually amounts to half a crown, or two shillings 
 six pence ; and the servant's fee is 3c?. or a penny for 
 each shilling, and a penny usually for the boy who brings 
 the beer. 
 
 * The same apartments in the season would rent for twenty-five or thirty 
 shillings. 
 
 12
 
 134 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 I have tried having my dinner in my room, but it is 
 unsocial and attended with many inconveniences ; and 
 it is no saving of expense. It is positively melancholy 
 to be eating my dinner alone, and often, when it is half 
 finished, I drop my knife and fork in silent amazement, 
 and try if I cannot think of something besides home, 
 and wish myself anywhere but in this Robinson Crusoe 
 cabin. 
 
 Nameless unavoidable incidentals in London make 
 constant and heavy drains upon one's purse. Travel- 
 ling expenses are enormous. At hotels the servants' fees, 
 if you go into the commercial room, are sixpence or nme- 
 pence per night to chambermaid, six pence or three 
 pence per meal to the waiter, and three pence per day 
 to boots, and three pence more to him or the porter, who 
 puts on or takes off your baggage. If you have a por- 
 ter to yourself, or travel post or with a servant, the fees 
 are always more than doubled. To a coachman, whether 
 he drives you ten or tWrty miles, you give one shilling ; 
 to the guard, if there is one, which is not always the 
 case, excepting on mail coaches, the same ; if you ride 
 inside the coach the fee is doubled. There is no law 
 for this, but custom determines it, and the vexation of 
 refusing, and the ill humor or contest you must get into 
 if you refuse, are a much greater evil than paying the 
 money. Commercial men pay the^ coachmen one far- 
 thing a mile, making the fraction always in his favor ; 
 and the guard, if there is one, the same.
 
 LF.TTFR XL. 135 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 London, ICth November, 1843. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I AM indebted to you for an agreeable letter by the 
 Hibernia, the more welcome as it was from D &l Co. 
 
 Your husband seems to imply a doubt about the Dun- 
 dee strawberries, ten weighing a pound. He need have 
 none. I saw them ; and one of them measured the 
 length of my little finger, abating about half the nail. 
 The name by which they are known is the Pine Alpine. 
 I could not learn any thing peculiar in their cultivation, 
 but I will inquire again. Pine apples are raised here in 
 great perfection. I never eat them so good. I found 
 them daily at table in the houses of the nobility. In 
 the market-shops, a good one brings from twenty to 
 thirty shillings, or from five to seven dollars and a half. 
 Peaches, nectarines, and apricots were also plentiful at 
 all such tables, and grapes likewise, though these were 
 not finer than at Elfin glen, indeed, how could they be ? 
 Pears, likewise, are now abundant in the market, and 
 very fine, at about two cents apiece, but they seem to 
 have wanted sun. Voltaire says, " The only ripe fruit 
 in England is a baked-apple." As to the names, I 
 have inquired until I despair of learning any thing more 
 than that "they are a very good pear, try them, sir." I 
 wish very much your husband could see Chatsworth and 
 its grounds, which I have already described to you. 
 There is no more happiness there than in his own litllo
 
 136 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 domain, but the taste displayed, and the multiplied forms 
 of beauty presented, would, I think, oblige him to wipe 
 his spectacles often. 
 
 My last was dated at Wareham, from the farm-house 
 of one of the principal tenants of the Earl of Leicester, 
 Mr. Bloomfield, a most comfortable establishment indeed. 
 He is about seventy-five years old, a widower, and his 
 daughter, about twenty-two, keeps house for him. His 
 son and son's wife live in the family, and they did every 
 thing they could for my comfort. This was in Norfolk. 
 If you look at the map, you will find Holkham on the 
 seashore at the north-east of England — and this farm 
 reminded me of the Lynn establishment, as it was 
 entirely open to the German Ocean. From Wareham 
 I returned to Cambridge, to visit a large farmer, Mr. 
 Jonas Webb, a great raiser of South Down sheep, who 
 sold one sheep the week before for sixty-five guineas, 
 and had some for which he had refused two hundred 
 guineas. I wrote to you that when I was at Cambridge 
 to see the entree of the Queen, I was unfortunate enough 
 to miss my tickets of admission to the Chapel and the 
 Senate Chamber, where I should have seen her on the 
 throne, and heard her speech. I learnt now that I was 
 even still more unfortunate, for I found in the office at 
 Cambridge a letter from the Earl of Hardwicke, express- 
 ing his hope that I had received the invitation, which he 
 had sent me, for the ball given to the Queen at Wimpole, 
 his palace, where she passed two nights. Wimpole is 
 eight miles from Cambridge, and I unluckily missed it, 
 though my name was announced among the invitees. 
 This only made matters worse. The company at the 
 ball was announced to be of the " most select character,
 
 • LKTTRR xr,r. 137 
 
 and the rules of dress extremely strict." I confess I 
 should like to have seen the Queen, and most certainly I 
 am greatly indebted to Lord Hardwicke's politeness. He 
 is one of the Lords in waiting on Her Majesty, and a 
 nobleman of the highest distinction. The royal state 
 beds, which I saw at Burleigh House, where I was the 
 other day, were said to have cost £4,000 sterling — that 
 is, about ^'20,000. The mattress and pillow-cases of one 
 of the state beds which I saw at the Duke of Buccleuch's, 
 were covered with white satin, and the hangings were 
 blue satin, figured and magnificently worked, rising in a 
 high tower or canopy, with the British arms and crown 
 worked in the centre. I suppose none of these would 
 keep the head or the heart from aching, if either the 
 stomach or the conscience were disordered. The Queen 
 is extremely neat and pleasing in her appearance. When 
 I saw her receiving the homage of the tens of thousands 
 that blocked up the street through which her- carriage 
 passed and made the air echo with their thundering 
 shouts, I could not help thinking of the picture of the 
 head of Mary, Queen of Scots, taken after her death, 
 which I saw hanging up at Abbotsford, and of the axe 
 with which Anne Boleyn was executed, which 1 saw in 
 the Tower of London. Alas ! what is human applause 
 worth ! 
 
 LETTER XLL 
 
 London, 17th November, 1843. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 Goodwood, from which I have recently returned, is 
 sixty-four miles south-east from London, antl in the book 
 12*
 
 138 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. • 
 
 which I hav^e sent, you will have a description and history 
 of it more exact and full than I can give. The Duke 
 of Richmond, one of the highest peers in the kingdom, 
 who, from the time of my arrival, has treated me in the 
 most courteous manner, kindly invited me, some time 
 since, to make him a second visit and pass Christmas 
 holidays : but I could not. He has several times re- 
 peated his invitations, and sent to me particularly to 
 come down during the Easter vacation. I determined, 
 therefore, to accept this invitation, and left by coach a 
 week ago last Thursday. I reached Lavant, a stopping- 
 place about three miles from Goodwood, at five, and 
 found the Duke's coach waiting my arrival. On reach- 
 ing Goodwood, the Duke and Duchess met me in the 
 park and gave me a hearty welcome. They had just 
 returned from a long ride on horseback. It is enough 
 here, however, to say ride, which always means on 
 horseback : when in a carriage, it is always called a drive. 
 
 I shall not undertake to detail to you all the particu- 
 lars of this delightful visit, for, in truth, in comfort and 
 splendor, the living at all these houses is upon a common 
 type, but there may be some circumstances, perhaps of 
 trifling import, which may gratify your nice eye, not to 
 say your ever-awake curiosity in all matters of taste and 
 refinement. ....... 
 
 The service at dinner was always silver or gold 
 throughout, plates and dishes, excepting for the jellies 
 and puddings, and those the most beautiful china. At 
 breakfast, every article, cups and saucers, plates, Sic, 
 Sic, were all of the most splendid china, and every one 
 differed in its pattern from another, that is, one cup and 
 saucer was different from another cup and saucer ; one
 
 LETTER XLI. 139 
 
 plate differed from another. I sliould not have observed 
 this had not the lady who sat next mo, asked me, one 
 morning, if I did not admire the painting on some of the 
 cups. There was an immense amovmt, not only of por- 
 celain, but of Sevre's china ; and to give you some idea 
 of the value of the latter, which is of the finest descrip- 
 tion, the price of a single cup and saucer, now on sale 
 in Oxford street, is thirty-five dollars. 
 
 On Friday, being Good Friday, I attended with the 
 family at the parish church, where the Duke's pew is a 
 little building about six feet long and four feet wide, 
 completely enclosed, excepting towards the pulpit, with 
 roof and glass windows, and standing near the centre of 
 the church, with the roof and sides very much orna- 
 mented. 
 
 After church we returned, and at half-past one is 
 always lunch ; the table remains until three o'clock, and 
 for those who choose to take it, the lunch may be con- 
 sidered a regular dinner, consisting of hot meats, games, 
 pies, bread, cheese, butter, wines, and porter, only taken 
 without so much formality as dinner. 
 
 After dinner the Duke and myself rode over his farms, 
 visited his dog-kennel, and on our return saw the race- 
 horses cleaned and fed. There were more than forty race- 
 horses, of the finest character, in his stables, and sixty 
 grooms and hostlers. So passed off the first day. 
 
 The second day I went with him to visit the Union, 
 or Work House, and see some of his farms and allot- 
 ments, and I was delighted to see the Duke every- 
 where recognized by his laborers and servants, with the 
 most grateful respect and attention, the sincerity of which 
 could not be doubted.
 
 140 EUROPEAN LIEE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Tn tlie afternoon we look a long ride, exploring the 
 country, which is very interesting on many accounts. 
 On Sunday, Lord Arthur Lennox went with me in a 
 carriage to Chichester, to attend the Cathedral service, 
 about three miles, and returned to lunch. In the after- 
 noon the Duke showed me every room in his house, and 
 described many of the pictures and statues. The boudoir 
 of the Duchess, her little private sitting-room, to which 
 I was afterwards admitted, was most splendid and full of 
 every thing to delight you in the way of articles of curi- 
 osity and bijouterie. 
 
 On Monday I attended, with the Duke, the meeting 
 of the Guardians of the Work House, who are, most of 
 them, farmers, and in the afternoon he put me under the 
 care of one of the most intelligent of them, to show me 
 his stock and over several of his farms, and give me all 
 the information he could. The evening passed off de- 
 lightfully. The ladies were much engaged in working 
 embroidery, or rather tapestry work for ottomans, of ele- 
 gant samples, of which the house is full. 
 
 Tuesday the Duchess was kind enough to say she 
 must take me under her care, so that she might show me 
 her conservatory, her orangery, her pheasantry, contain- 
 ing, among other things, a most splendid peacock, per- 
 fectly white, and several gold and silver pheasants, and 
 then her dairy-room. After this I went on an exploring 
 expedition among the grounds, and at two o'clock the 
 several gentlemen and Lady Caroline Lennox started for 
 a ride ; and traversing hill and dale, exploring farms and 
 lands, and seeing all that was interesting in our tour, we 
 returned after a ride, in all, of more than twenty miles, to 
 dress for dinner.
 
 LETTER XLI. 141 
 
 Wednesday, the Duke took nie to Chichester, about 
 three miles, to see the Corn INIarket, and introduce me to 
 several farmers, and was then to take me to Petworth, 
 where he was to attend the Assizes, but I begged off, and 
 explored the city of Chichester, which is an old walled 
 city, and full of objects of curiosity, and then walked 
 to Goodwood. I was to have left to-day, but he kindly 
 invited me to stay until Saturday, as he had made arrange- 
 ments with several farmers to see me. He was obliged 
 to attend his court but the Duchess expressed her wish 
 that I would remain ; and I was happy to stay. 
 
 Thursday, Mr. Rusbridger, the Duke's steward, at ten 
 o'clock took me in his gig to Manhood, about twelve 
 miles from Goodwood, on the seashore opposite the Isle 
 of Wight, to show me a highly cultivated and beautiful 
 district of country known by that name. I found, when 
 I got there, two most respectable gentlemen farmers, 
 waiting for me, and a servant with a horse sent by the 
 Duke, that we might ride over several of the farms 
 where the carriage could not go. So we all four mount- 
 ed, taking a servant to open gates, and spent several 
 hours in exploring the country and getting all the infor- 
 mation I could. We lunched at Mr. Gorham's, an excel- 
 lent and elegant farm-house, where Mrs. Gorham and one 
 of the gentlemen told me they were much obliged to me 
 for asking for a cup of tea instead of wine, as they had 
 never tried it before and considered it a great discovery, 
 of which they should avail themselves hereafter. I 
 returned to Goodwood in season for dinner, having had a 
 most interesting day. 
 
 Friday, I spent the forenoon until twelve reading and 
 writing, and then went with Mr. Rusbridger to Bognor,
 
 142 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 about twelve miles, a famous watering place by the sea- 
 side, to see several other of the Duke's farms. No 
 place can be neater than this. It is situated much as 
 Swampscott, in Lynn, but the difference in the appear- 
 ance of the two places, is all the difference between a 
 gentleman's parlor and a common pigsty. I returned 
 to dine, and took leave of the ladies in the evening, 
 thinking, as I was to leave by half-past nine, I might 
 not see them again ; but they were kind enough to be 
 down at breakfast, and my eyes were again delighted by 
 their cheerful countenances, and my heart was refreshed 
 by their kindness. 
 
 I never met with people where there was less of 
 assumption of any kind. The style of living is, indeed, 
 wholly different from any thing to which we are accus- 
 tomed ; and familiar as it has always been to them, they 
 would, perhaps, be amused at my account of it to you 
 as in any degree extraordinary. You are not allowed 
 to feel for a moment that you are not entirely at home, 
 and they do not permit you to name your wants, because 
 they are all anticipated. Prayers are had every morning 
 at ten o'clock in the chapel, when the Duke himself 
 officiates, or some clergyman, if there should be one 
 present. 
 
 The Duke has invited me to visit him this summer at 
 Gordon Castle, in Scotland, where he says he will intro- 
 duce me to a great many gentlemen, and put me in the 
 way of seeing all that is interesting. At Goodwood the 
 estate consists of 40,000 acres, at Gordon Castle, of 
 300,000 ! The salmon fishery at Gordon Castle is let 
 annually for £7000 sterling, and, before the alteration 
 of the tariff, used to be let for £10,000 sterling.
 
 LETTER XLII. 143 
 
 Mr. Pusey has sent ine the head of the fox whicli I 
 hunted, and was in at the death of, carefully preserved, 
 and I have it in a box to send to N , 
 
 Lord Bathurst has kindly promised to get me tickets 
 to see the drawing-room of the Queen next week ; if I 
 succeed, I will give you an account. He and several 
 others wish me to be presented, and has offered me his 
 sword and knee and shoe buckles, and bag wig, &lc., 
 but for several reasons, I must decline the honor.* 
 
 LETTER XLIL 
 
 London, 17th November, 1843. 
 My Dear S : 
 
 I AM not quite willing that the packet should go 
 without a letter to you, although I believe you are very 
 much in my debt, unless I am to consider one of yours 
 as equivalent to five of mine, which I assure you I am 
 quite willing to do, if I can make no better bargain 
 with you. 
 
 I have neglected in my letters to give you any account 
 
 * I have been often asked whether, in such visits as above described, fees 
 are given to servants. Usually a gentleman is happy to present some small 
 douceur to the valet, and to leave siomething on ins table for the femme de 
 chambre. In one case, however, in speaking of this custom, a nobleman of 
 high rank remarked that he should consider it an insult for any gentleman to 
 fee a servant in his house. Sometimes you are requested not to do it. 
 Others forbid their .servants to accept any thing, under pain of dismi,s.sal. At 
 the house of a nobleman of high rank I (bund a printed notice on my dress- 
 ing table to this effect, " The guests are particularly requested to give no gra- 
 tuities to the servants." In most cases, however, something is expected for 
 your valet.
 
 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 of two affairs, which had so much interest for me, that 
 I flatter myself they may have some for you. Sunday 
 before the last, I went seven miles with Mr. Webb, to 
 attend service at Cambridge. In the morning, we 
 attended the usual parish church, and had a political 
 sermon, it being the fifth of November, the anniversary 
 of the Gunpowder Plot, when the Papists prepared to 
 blow up the Parliament. At two o'clock I went to the 
 University Church, where all the officers and members 
 of the University attend, merely to hear a short prayer 
 and a sermon. The prayer in this case, is what is called 
 the Bidding Prayer, being a supplication for all classes 
 and conditions of men, mentioning most of them in 
 particular. The Liturgy in such case is not used ; such 
 prayers are not much to my taste, and seem greatly 
 wanting in dignity and reverence. I quarrel, however, 
 with the religious institutions of no country. The 
 scholars were all in their robes ; the rectors, in their 
 scarlet robes and flat caps ; the noblemen sitting with 
 the Vice-Chancellor and Doctors, distinguished by a pro- 
 fusion of gold and silver lace and tassels ; and the others, 
 two thousand of them, in their black gowns, and flat 
 caps, and capes, silk and woollen, with different trimmings 
 and badges, according to their respective colleges and 
 degrees. The Vice-Chancellor went in state, with the 
 mace-bearer and other officers in attendance. The 
 preaching was almost the best that I have heard in 
 England. It was a highly devout, practical, and useful 
 sermon, and written with great elegance, delivered 
 in a simple, earnest, and unaffected manner. There 
 was no music, but it was a grand show. At four o'clock 
 I attended the Chapel service of King's College. The
 
 l.ETTKK XLII. 145 
 
 scholars here are only seventy, and are the elite of Eton 
 school, being all head-scholars, whose education is lVe(>, 
 as a reward of merit. The room is of the most magnifi- 
 cent description, and the chanting exquisite ; you can 
 only get admission into these private chapels, by special 
 favor. At six o'clock, I went to the Chapel of Trinity 
 College, and here was a very grand display ; I had a 
 situation in the organ gallery, from whence I had a full 
 view of the whole assembly. The room is not elegant ; 
 it is a good deal larger than King's Chapel in Boston, 
 with seats running lengthwise, and rising from the centre 
 aisle. The room was lighted by about two hundred wax 
 candles, and the whole assembly below, were dressed in 
 white surplices, with their black square caps in their hands. 
 I counted more than five hundred of them ; and their 
 movements, and the whole service, was a most impressive 
 scenic exhibition. The greater part of the service was 
 chanted, and so harmoniously, that when, for example, 
 Amen was pronounced, it seemed actually to proceed 
 from but a single mouth ; I have never witnessed a sight 
 so splendid and august. But I have given a more par- 
 ticular account of it in another letter to a mutual friend. 
 No student is allowed to go without his University dress, 
 at any time, out of his own room ; and at prayers, they 
 appear in white surplices. 
 
 I will give you now an account of another day's 
 adventures. When at Brocklesby, Lord Worsley was 
 kindly solicitous that I should stay two or three days 
 over my time, in order to go out with the hounds, upon 
 a fox-hunt. I was sorry to leave, but could not afford 
 the time. When at Babraham, however, Mr. Webb 
 insisted that I should go out one day, coursing for 
 13
 
 146 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS, 
 
 hares, with the Newmarket Club, which were then 
 holding a course, where the principal stakes among the 
 sporting gentlemen, were five hundred guineas for the best 
 dog, after a trial among fifty for a week, besides an immense 
 amount of private betting. He himself belongs to the 
 club, who pay seven hundred guineas annual rent, for their 
 preserve. So I was fairly mounted, and proceeded to 
 the field, at eleven o'clock, just as the first couple of 
 hounds were unleashed, and spent the day in witnessing 
 and participating in what I could not deny, was a most 
 exciting, and equally a most cruel amusement. There 
 were about seventy gentlemen on the field, and a num- 
 ber of ladies on horseback, and the game was most 
 abundant. My friends insisted upon it, that I should see 
 the whole sport, and I was several times in at the death, 
 being exceedingly well mounted ; and, if you will believe 
 it, (O tempora ! O mores !) actually leapt, full tilt, over 
 one hedge, and a wide ditch, where a great many of the 
 horsemen turned back. I got over, to my own admira- 
 tion, at least, and was much complimented ; but I took 
 very good care not to go back the same way, but went 
 round by the bridge. Why I did not break my neck, I 
 do not know, unless I am destined to have it broken in 
 some other way. Here ends my hare-coursing, though 
 I really hope to see a fox-hunt or deer-chase, when I visit 
 Lord Hardwicke ; but I shall go merely as a spectator. 
 
 This is the season for sporting. Grouse-shooting begins 
 about the twelfth of August ; partridge, about the fourth 
 of September ; and after that, in October, hare-coursing, 
 and fox and deer-hunting. From the first of August 
 until Parliament meet in February, the noblemen and 
 gentlemen are in the country, engaged in field sports,
 
 LETTER XLII. 147 
 
 or visiting euch other, in large parties, of sometimes ten, 
 twenty, thirty, and ahnost always with ladies. 
 
 In one of my rides with Mr. Webb, on the great 
 road to Newmarket, the place more distinguished than 
 almost any other for horse-racing, and possibly, some 
 other kinds of gambling, we passed a toll-house with an 
 inscription, which at first quite startled me, and which I 
 will quote for your amusement. " Whoever pays toll 
 here, will pass free at the Devil's Ditch." I make no 
 application of it ; but the true explanation is, that 
 between that place and Newmarket, there Is an exten- 
 sive rampart, supposed to have been erected at a very 
 early period of English History, perhaps at the time 
 of the Roman Conquest ; and a ditch, which here goes 
 by that very remarkable name, which I almost fear to 
 quote to " ears polite," called the " Devil's Ditch." I 
 shall not tell you whether I paid toll or not. 
 
 My lodgings, I hope, will improve, as the people seem 
 extremely anxious to please, and the " poor maid of all 
 work," has this morning, a clean cap, a clean face, and 
 a clean apron ; all encouraging symptoms. In general, 
 the English servants are proverbial for their cleanliness ; 
 in the best houses — private houses — they are, in dress, 
 ladies and gentlemen ; and distinguished, the women 
 especially, for good looks and good manners. There 
 is a surpassing elegance, although not always the best 
 taste, in the style of dress of ladies in the higher classes. 
 The dress and appearance of the middle classes, with 
 many exceptions, are much inferior to ours. A lady 
 proper, is seldom seen walking in the street, without a 
 gentleman or a servant. Adieu.
 
 148 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER XLIII. 
 
 London, 1st December, 1843. 
 My Dear R : 
 
 Many thanks for your kind letter, and yet I cannot 
 say that I deserve all the blame which you are pleased 
 to bestow upon me. Indeed, you do not mean any such 
 thing ; and it is only a trick which some people have, 
 when they know themselves guilty, to begin blustering 
 about the sins and faults of other people, so that the 
 attention may be diverted from its proper object, and they 
 escape with impunity. I have certainly written to you 
 twice since I left home, and yet, excepting some post- 
 scripts, which were agreeable enough — for from your 
 fair hands " the smallest favors are gratefully received " — 
 this is the first regular communication with which you 
 have honored me. This is truly welcome, and you see 
 it is no sooner read than acknowledged. 
 
 You, of course know my progress ; all my " witty 
 sayings, all my wise saws, and all my grave sentences ; " 
 what I do, where I am, and where I go — for vanity 
 does not grow less as one grows older ; and, for want of 
 something better, I am prone to fill up the " million 
 reams of paper," which you are pleased to give me 
 the credit of inditing, with my own renowned adven- 
 tures.
 
 LETTER XLIII. 149 
 
 I was absent from London about five months, chiefly 
 in the north of England and the low countries of Scot- 
 land. I returned, therefore, with a feeling that I was 
 approaching home ; and really a good many of the 
 streets and comers and shops had such an air of famili- 
 arity, that I began to think myself among old friends 
 again. But in London " nobody knows nobody " nor 
 anybody ; and you may go down the great thoroughfares 
 — Holborn, the Strand, Piccadilly, Regent Street, Ox- 
 ford Street — and no one person ever seems to know 
 another. There are never any salutations in the street, 
 unless here and there a couple of washerwomen, old 
 cronies, happen to meet to drink a glass of gin together ; 
 and you'll never see the same faces, unless it be some 
 stationary objects, such as an applewoman, who stands 
 the whole live-long day at the same corner, with her 
 load of apples and nuts swinging from her neck ; or some 
 beggar, blind or halt, or with a thousand other miseries 
 hanging about him as thick as leaves upon a tree, who 
 has his regular begging-place, and may always be found, 
 like a police-officer, on his accustomed beat. Some of 
 these poor wretches I always recognize. I know them 
 and they know me, especially certain fruit-women at 
 certain comers, who always courtesy when " your 
 honor" passes, and expect you to take a penny's worth 
 of apples and get sixpence or a shilling for it, and give 
 you all the change your heart can desire in " God 
 Almighty bless your honor," and " Long life to your 
 honor," and '' May your dear honor never want a bit of 
 bread as long as you live," and as many more of their 
 benedictions as you can carry away. I believe they 
 ?Tiean it all. 
 
 13*
 
 150 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 There is everything in London to admire ; its popu- 
 lousness, its wealth, its gorgeousness, its dazzUng 
 splendor ; but there is the other extreme, and you can- 
 not walk a rod, especially at this season, without meeting 
 objects which fill you with anguish, and make you won- 
 der how human beings can live under such wretchedness 
 and destitution. Here, in the midst of plenty, men and 
 women and children are dying of absolute starvation ; 
 and when you see these poor shivering, hungry creatures 
 looking into the window of a cook-shop, redolent with 
 every savory perfume and crowded with viands, cooked 
 and uncooked, of every description to tempt and pamper 
 the Epicurean appetite, you are amazed that a thin, 
 transparent plate of glass keeps them back from an 
 actual onslaught. Whether there is any remedy — 
 whether any can by human ingenuity be invented or 
 found, is too difficult a problem for me to solve. The 
 tide of human life here that rolls along the great streets 
 is beyond all description ; where they all come from, 
 where they are going to, how half of them are fed, 
 how half of them are lodged, is inconceivable. 
 
 At present, London is said to be dull. Some of the 
 houses at the West End are shut up, and not so many 
 splendid equipages are seen in the street ; but dull it 
 cannot be called, for there is one continual stream of 
 life, human and brute life, rushing, bubbling, gushing, 
 spreading along the whole time, pouring into every ave- 
 nue, filling every crevice, by night and by day. 
 
 What revolutions seem to be going on in Salem ! If 
 religion were a thing altogether external, then all the 
 appliances and means of operation which are set in 
 motion would be of some avail ; if it consisted wholly
 
 -LETTER XLIV. 151 
 
 in going to meeting, in preaching or praying, or any sort 
 of " excitement,'' commonly so called, why then it 
 would be well to multiply services without number ; 
 but, I fear that the tendency of such things is, in general, 
 to abstract the attention of mankind from its essential 
 character, its vital principles and habits, and fix it upon 
 a substitute which is comparatively of little value. After 
 not a short experience, 1 am strongly convmced, that all 
 extraordinary means of promoting religion, vulgarly so 
 called, are useless ; that the tendency of extraordinary 
 professions is to make men hypocrites, and that any- 
 thing external, beyond the regular observance of the 
 Lord's day, and the serious and punctual support of reli- 
 gious instmction and worship, is of doubtful expediency. 
 The sight of England has delighted me ; but, I assure 
 you, I love my own friends and my own country better 
 than ever, abatmg always the noisy and turbid politics, 
 which seem to be the meat and drink of the American 
 people. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XLIV. 
 
 Loudon, 1st December, 1S43. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 I DATE my letter to you from London — a world 
 
 within itself, as every one says : I shoidd rather say, the 
 
 heart of the great world, where gather, and are sent out, 
 
 and then returned again, all the mighty circulations of 
 
 the social and political body, and whose pulsations are 
 
 felt in every extremity. This, then, is London, the ob-
 
 152 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 ject of my curiosity and wonder in my childhood ; and, 
 I '11 assure you, in my manhood, surpassing all my curi- 
 osity and all my wonder. When I first alighted from 
 a close carriage in the very centre of London, I had 
 scarcely taken time on my arrival to order my luggage to 
 my domicil for the night, than I said to the servant, 
 " Tell me, where is the Strand : Tell me, where is 
 Temple-Bar ; " and without giving him time to answer, 
 down I went into the Strand, and hurried on to Temple- 
 Bar, to behold the entrance into this mighty city, where 
 even monarchs are not admitted without asking leave. 
 Here I found a crowded street, hardly wider than Wash- 
 ington Street, in Boston, and a stone arch and gateway 
 which would scarcely admit two carriages abreast ; an 
 erection itself by no means the brilliant object which had 
 fired my imagination. " And this," said I to myself, 
 this is London, is it ? Well, this is not much." But, 
 how wofully was I mistaken. I recollect the same kind 
 of hnpression, when I first saw Niagara : " Very beau- 
 tiful," said I, " very beautiful." What conceit — what 
 insolence on my part ! Soon, however, I came to my 
 senses ; soon I saw the depth of the flood and the height 
 of the cataract ; soon I saw the vast inland oceans of 
 the unexplored West pouring down their mighty volumes 
 of water in one immense and irresistible torrent ; soon 
 I saw the tumultuous waves, miles beyond me, con- 
 tending for supremacy and hurrying on in foaming and 
 broken masses to make the fearful plunge ; soon I con- 
 sidered the Almighty Power, which could take up this 
 ton-ent in the palm of his hand, and had fashioned every 
 drop which formed this commingled mass, and smoothed 
 every glittering orb which poured itself along without
 
 LETTER XLIV. I 5' J 
 
 jostling its neighbor, and painted every beautiful beam 
 of glory reflected from this mighty aggregate of jewels ; 
 and soon I gathered strange ideas of the duration of its 
 flood, and my bosom swelled more and more with con- 
 victions, too vast for utterance, of God's eternity, of 
 which I here saw an humble emblem. 
 
 Not at all unlike have been my impressions of Lon- 
 don ; they have grown larger and larger every day and 
 hour. I had been absent from it four months, and I 
 came back with new wonder at its extent. I have just 
 returned to it again, after a fortnight's absence, and it 
 seemed to me, on my way to my lodgings, as if the 
 population had quadrupled in that time. Here are two 
 millions of human beings — to say nothing of other living 
 things — crowded into one place, from one extremity of 
 which to the other a man may ride in two hours. Go 
 through the Strand and Fleet Street at noonday, and 
 Threadneedle Street and Bishopsgate Street, and there 
 seems to be an uninterrupted interlockage of carriages 
 and vehicles of every description, and the sidewalks are 
 thronged with people as if they had just rushed out of 
 some crowded assembly. Mount the top of an omnibus, 
 and look down the whole length of Fleet Street and 
 the Strand, and nothing can bear any likeness to the 
 view but the breaking up of one of our great rivers in 
 the spring by some sudden flood, when the ice comes 
 down in fearful and tumbling masses, bringing with it 
 trees and uprooted stumps, and logs and boards, and 
 broken fences and remnants of cottages, here moving in 
 a swift torrent, there circling in some rapid eddy, and 
 presenting only a picture of indescribable confusion, and 
 yet all hastening on, with a steady and certain progress
 
 154 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 to their destination, save only, that in the streets of 
 London there are counter-streams, passing each other 
 without obstruction and without interference. 
 
 Then again the vastness of London. Go into what 
 quarter you will, and you will find some thing, some 
 place, some square, you have not seen before. Turn 
 into any by-passage, court-yard, close, or wynd, where 
 scarcely a wheelbarrow can be driven, and you will find 
 every place occupied, from the cellar to the attic. The 
 subterranean apartments of the houses are as much 
 tenanted as the celestial ; and you may literally find 
 many a humble tailor and cobbler occupying portions of 
 cellar-doorways or halves of shop-windows, where the 
 cobbler cannot stand erect, and where the tailor, if he 
 did not sit cross-legged, could not sit at all. The squares, 
 the streets, the rows and blocks of buildings, the terraces, 
 the crescents, the public edifices, the monuments, the 
 private palaces, above all, the parks and pleasure- 
 grounds, are numerous and extensive beyond descrip- 
 tion. I thought I had seen all the markets some time 
 ago ; to-day I stumbled upon one covering several acres, 
 of which I had never heard, filled with fruits, and vege- 
 tables, and meats. One's astonishment is increased, 
 when you observe the perfect order prevailing in this 
 vast multitude. By day or night, you may walk as 
 securely in most of the streets of I^ondon as in your own 
 yard. I have strolled into all parts of the city — into 
 the most public and the most profligate — and I have 
 seldom seen a quarrel ; and I have seen carriages, again 
 and again, by hundreds, passing each other in the nar- 
 rowest passages, and oftentimes hindered when they 
 were evidently most impatient to get on, and yet I have
 
 LETTKR XlilV. 155 
 
 seen no passion displayed, and heard no harsh language 
 uttered ; hut I have heard more profane swearing in one 
 hour among the boatmen on the New York Canal, than 
 I have heard during my seven months' residence in 
 England. 
 
 The extremes of human condition here are most affect- 
 ing ; and the cases of beggary, and wretchedness, and 
 destitution, especially at this season, make one's heart 
 bleed with anguish. In the midst of the most extra- 
 ordinary abundance, here are men, women, and children 
 dying of starvation ; and running along side of the splen- 
 did chariot, with its gilded equipages, its silken linings, 
 and its liveried footmen, are poor, forlorn, friendless, 
 almost naked wretches, looking like the mere fragments 
 of humanity. Is there any remedy for this evil ? I 
 know of no panacea. You must not think, because 
 this misery exists, that all men's hearts are steeled against 
 it. I do not believe there exists a country fuller than 
 this of kind hearts or of charitable establishments for 
 the relief of the distressed. A •great problem is to be 
 solved, and the heart of humanity is everywhere 
 burning with an intense and aching desire for its 
 solution. 
 
 I am often asked, if I like England ? Yes ; much, 
 very much ; but the inhabitants of New England, I 
 fear, very imperfectly appreciate their own blessings.
 
 156 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER XLV. 
 
 London, 1st January, 1844. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 Your most grateful letter of the 16th ult. reached 
 me this morning, nor could I have had a more welcome 
 New Year's present. I watch the arrival of the steamer 
 with great eagerness. Your letters are full of inter- 
 esting matter to me. The death of Mr. O quite 
 
 afflicts me. It was of course wholly unexpected, and 
 is an irreparable loss to his wife and children, as well as 
 to his friends. You alarm me, too, at what you say of 
 
 Mrs. B 's health. I pray that it may be restored, 
 
 and that after so many years of toil and travel and trou- 
 ble, she may enjoy a little while the comforts of her own 
 
 home. Mr. G , whose death you report, I have 
 
 known almost as long as I have known anybody, and 
 he really seemed to me* one of the fixtures of Boston. 
 If I remain much longer absent, I shall return to a land 
 of comparative strangers. It amazes me when I think 
 how many friends we have survived, and in truth how 
 long we have lived. 
 
 My Christmas-day was passed at Mr. Phillips's, about 
 four miles from town, to whose kindness I have been 
 constantly indebted. He is a man full of humor 
 and practical good sense, with a touch of sarcasm, 
 which makes those quiver upon whom his burning arrows 
 alight. His wife is a most gentle and affectionate person. 
 The party on this occasion was wholly domestic. He 
 is the father of my most valued friend, Mrs. T ,
 
 LETTER XLV. 157 
 
 who, with her liusband, was present. There was like- 
 wise a widowed daughter, full of all Christian excellen- 
 cies, and two unmarried daughters, inheriting not a little 
 of their father's wit, the whole circle sparkling continually 
 with brilliant scintillations. More intelligent, agreeable, 
 and kind people, it would be difficult to find. I was 
 obliged to be grave, and put myself upon my good be- 
 havior ; but I never wanted more to abandon myself to 
 the delicious excitement of such charming society. There 
 was no constraint, no ostentation, no grandeur. It was 
 almost the only day I had felt well and been able to 
 walk erect, for several weeks. But there was one abate- 
 ment of all this pleasure ; for in the midst of all of it, my 
 mind was constantly reverting homeA\'ards, and I was 
 wishing so much that I could have had all of you around 
 me, if only for half an hour. Then, after all, to return 
 to my own solitary chamber was not an agreeable cir- 
 cumstance. 
 
 On Friday, I go to Mr. Pusey's, Member of Parlia- 
 ment, in Berkshire, about seventy miles from London, to 
 pass a few days. He is probably the best informed 
 agriculturist in England, and has repeatedly invited me 
 to visit him. I got a kind letter from Lady Hatherton 
 to-day, inviting me to visit them again, and from Lord 
 Talbot, to repeat my visit there. 
 
 To-day I visited Miss Edgeworth, who is now in 
 London, and sent me a polite* note desiring me to call 
 on her. She is small in stature, and appears about 
 seventy years old, wearing her own gray hair. She 
 must have been very good looking when young. She 
 is now in poor health, but is full of animation, and told 
 me several stories with the highest spirit and a great 
 14
 
 158 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS, 
 
 deal of action. She remains here until April, and I 
 have promised to visit her again. She spoke with 
 great pleasure of Miss Quincy's letter, which I had for- 
 warded to her. 
 
 I had an invitation to go down into Herefordshire, 
 about thirty miles, to spend Christmas ; but, though I 
 greatly wished it, my engagements would not permit 
 me to spare the time. I have taken tea once at Mr. 
 Carlyle's since my return — a most agreeable man, and 
 his wife full of intelligence, sprightliness, and wit. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XLVI. 
 
 London, 1st January, 1844. 
 2 Spring Gardens, Chai-ing-Cross. 
 
 TO MISS E. S. Q. 
 
 What shall I say to *my dear friends, the Quincys, 
 at the opening of a New Year? What shall I wish 
 you ? Wealth, and health, and honor heaven has poured 
 into your lap for years. Virtue is an heir-loom in your 
 family, and with that, peace of conscience, that most 
 precious of all earthly goods, comes of course. To be 
 useful, to be respected, to be beloved, these, too, are all 
 yours ; and these, too, among the best goods of life, 
 are those, which, by the blessing of heaven, you can 
 command. The poor sailor, who did not know how 
 to frame his petitions, but who knew the letters of 
 the alphabet, was heard repeating them over and over 
 again in his devotions, and then desiring that heaven 
 would put them in such a form as would best suit his 
 necessities, and regard that as his prayer. Now, put all
 
 LETTER XLVI. 
 
 159 
 
 the alphabets of all the languages they teach at Cam- 
 bridge, which will stand together, into such a form as 
 shall comprehend all of good which you desire for your- 
 selves, be it physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, celes- 
 tial, and understand that as my prayer to heaven on this 
 blessed day for you all, whom I love and respect with 
 my whole heart. Take that for all the New Year's 
 gifts which I have to offer you. 
 
 Now what shall I say to you ? I know not ^\ here to 
 begin. I have seen England — a sight for which my 
 imagination and my heart burned with an insatiable de- 
 sire. My expectations have been surpassed. I like 
 it vastly better than I expected ; and I like my own 
 country better than I did before I came here. I have 
 not yet seen the most picturesque part of England, 
 so I am told. The scenery, compared with many parts 
 of New England, is tame ; but the embellishments and 
 triumphs of art every where present themselves in 
 forms of beauty and splendor and magnificence which 
 are transcendent. Flowers and shrubs, parks and plan- 
 tations, artificial rivers running for miles in the path 
 made for them, lakes excavated by the human hand, 
 and cascades in every variety of jets d'eau pouring 
 down the sides of mountains. Immense gardens and 
 pleasure-grounds, emulating the wildness of nature, 
 with some of the triumphs of art in beautiful statues, 
 concealing themselves in recesses among the fountains 
 or in the shades, like our first parents among the trees 
 of Eden. Palaces, pictures, sculpture, bridges, castles, 
 fortresses, ruins, memorials of days gone by, moss-cov- 
 ered monuments of departed centuries, fallen walls and 
 towers hoary with ringlets and tresses of ivy, as if nature
 
 160 ETTROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 sought to hide the ghasthness of decay, and to make even 
 death beautiful. Here are halls which have rung with 
 midnight revelry, and reflected all the splendors of regal 
 luxury — dungeons, whose walls seem still to be vocal 
 with the sighing of the wretched victims of despotic power 
 — and the proud and tapestried and gilded couches, 
 where princes have sought repose, and the executioner's 
 axe, and the iron beds where princes have laid them down 
 to rise no more. In how few months have all these 
 things, and thousands of objects as interesting, passed 
 before me, like a kind of Roman triumph, when the con- 
 queror returned from the sacking of an Eastern city. 
 
 How idle it would be for me to attempt to describe 
 all these, who have come here to look at cows, and 
 sheep, and pigs, and men in frocks, and women in wooden- 
 shoes, and to study the picturesque in barn-yards, sheep- 
 folds, and hay-ricks. Do not, then, expect it of me. 
 
 But what is this at the head of my letter ? the King's 
 Chapel, at Cambridge, beyond all question the most 
 beautiful hall in England, and full of miracles of archi- 
 tectural skill and taste.* Cambridge at first disap- 
 pointed me. I went there to see the Queen. The 
 town is irregularly built, and the public buildings, though 
 grand, seem to be crowded up in narrow streets. But 
 pass through the gates, and you enter upon grounds, 
 open, ornamented, rich in verdure, offering magnificent 
 walks full of trees, with the river Cam running through 
 the centre of them, and the buildings themselves then 
 showing their large extent and grandeur. 
 
 * The ceiling of King's Chapel is composed of pieces of stone, so nicely 
 adjusted that the slightest enlargement of the walls, by spreading, would 
 bring the whole down. It is deemed a wonderful structure.
 
 LKTTKR XT.VT. 161 
 
 By an unfortunate accident, as I could not fj;et into 
 the hotels, but was oblif^ed to seek private lo(lt:;infijs, I 
 could not be found, and missed the tickets provided for 
 me to see Her Majesty in King's Chapel and the Senate 
 House. However, a lady altered the name from Mr. 
 
 C to Mrs. C , and used them, so they were 
 
 not lost. I had a great curiosity to see the good lady 
 who thus voluntarily assumed my name, but my curiosity 
 was disappointed. This was not all ; Lord Hardwicke 
 kindly sent me an invitation to attend the ball given to 
 Her Majesty at his palace ; this, too, I unfortunately 
 missed. 
 
 The next Sunday I attended evening prayers in the 
 great Chapel of Trinity College, and in King's Chapel 
 likewise. At Trinity there were six hundred students, 
 every one in white robes. In the evening the Chapel 
 was illuminated. I sat in the organ-gallery, from whence 
 I had a perfect coup d'ceil. The organ was played by 
 the first master in England, the greater part of the ser- 
 vice chanted, the whole body rising and kneeling to- 
 gether, as if moved by a single impulse — all young 
 men, on whom so many destinies repose — the service a 
 solemn invocation for heaven's blessing, ascending like a 
 single cloud of incense, filling the whole temple, and 
 every groin and every arch sending back the deep echoes 
 of this evening sacrifice. It was beautiful, pathetic, 
 sublime, and so waked up my veneration, my marvel- 
 lousness and my ideality, that I could almost with my 
 hand feel their pulsations. 
 
 Here am I, at the end of the road, and the journey not 
 
 half completed ; but I'll spare you. I sent S 's letter 
 
 to Miss Edgeworth,in Ireland, and have seen her to-day 
 14#
 
 162 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 for two hours, in London, where she is to pass the winter, 
 for the renovating of her infirm lieahh. She is quite 
 advanced, but retains her vivacity in an eminent degree. 
 She was much gratified with your letter. 
 
 Do, some of you, write to me. If you call this im- 
 pudent, do your worst. I am three thousand miles off; 
 but why did I say that when it gives me such a twinge 
 at the heart. I want to know all about you ; begin at 
 the beginning and so down, or rather run along the whole 
 line, touching every key and sounding every note. . . . 
 
 My dear friends, let me assure you, in sober earnest, 
 of my unabated and hearty affection and respect. 
 
 LETTER XLVIL 
 
 London, SOtli January, 1S44. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I 'll assure you I was very much obliged by your kind- 
 ness in sending me the autograph of Washington, which 
 was immediately despatched to its destination. I deemed 
 it a great personal favor, as there was really no way in 
 which I could so well acknowledge their particular 
 attention to me. 
 
 Three weeks ago I passed a week at Mr. Pusey's, in 
 Berkshire, and was at a large dinner party every day 
 for six days, besides keeping Twelfth Night, as it is 
 called, at a large supper party of nobility and gentry, 
 with some agreeable tableaux and a dance, in which 
 I did not take out any lady. I returned on Sat- 
 urday, and went to Sheen, to Mr. Bates's, whose kind-
 
 LETTER XLVII. 163 
 
 ness is most exemplary, to a largo dinner party, at eight 
 o'clock, and Sunday evening to another large dinner 
 party, at eight o'clock, with the Belgian and Danish Am- 
 bassadors and their ladies, the Vice Chancellor, and 
 several other persons of distinction, with their ladies and 
 daughters, forming an elegant and agreeable party. 
 
 I met with Admiral Sir Ogle, a very entertaining 
 
 companion, who sat next to me at dinner. He had 
 been a good deal in Canada. I returned home, and 
 got on quietly except dining with a party at Dr. 
 Lister's, until Friday evening, when I attended the 
 philosophical lectures at the Royal Institution ; on 
 Saturday a course of Agricultural lectures by Profes- 
 sor Brande, which are interesting and instructive ; on 
 Saturday evening, I drank tea at Mr. Carlyle's ; Sun- 
 day, I attended the French Church, where the service 
 is always serious and excellent, and dined and teaed at 
 Mr. Teschemacher's, Highbury, with a few friends, where 
 I am always made welcome and happy. Monday I spent 
 at home ; Tuesday, Mrs. Reid and Mrs. Jameson called, 
 and left their absolute command for me to dine at Mrs. 
 Reid's in the evening, — for a private family one of the 
 most elegant places in London — and met a brilliant party 
 of ladies and gentlemen at dinner, and in the evening some 
 of the elite of the town, more of literary than political 
 rank. Wednesday, I went to Dulwich, five miles from 
 town, to dine and pass the nigiit at Mr. Courage's, whose 
 lady herself called on me to invite me ; — a large party 
 of ladies and gentlemen, and a splendid entertainment. 
 On Thursday I dined with a party of noblemen and gen- 
 tlemen of the Anti-com-law-league, at their club-house. 
 On Friday, I was glad to get released from a ])arty at
 
 164 ETTROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 tea and attended the lecture. On Saturday, I dined 
 with a small party at Mr. Everett's. On Sunday, I 
 attended the French Church, and in the evening dined 
 with a party at Mr. Atkinson's, whose kindness to me 
 has been uniform and constant. 
 
 On Monday, I dined and passed the evening with a 
 very large party at Mr. M 's, at Hackney, an Eng- 
 lish banker, with three or four charming grown up 
 daughters, who play and sing delightfully. Yesterday 
 had an invitation to lunch, i. e. a two o'clock dinner, 
 with Lady Byron — but declined for want of time. 
 After the tenth of February, I shall have the pleasure 
 to go to her place in the country, and she is to take me 
 to her son-in-law's, Lord Lovelace, who has sent me a 
 kind message to visit him and see his farming. He 
 has made great improvements. The Duke of Richmond 
 sent to me last week expressing a wish to see me when 
 he came to London, that I might fix a time when I 
 would go to Goodwood, where his family are now staying. 
 
 Mr. H , from Chichester, has written to me to claim 
 
 a week at his place. These invitations I must at present 
 decline, as I cannot spare my days for anything but agri- 
 culture, excepting my home letters, and the sight of the 
 Queen to-morrow. She goes in state to open Parlia- 
 ment, and through the kindness of the Duke of Rich- 
 mond, the Lord Chamberlain has this morning sent me 
 a ticket to the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords. 
 It is difficult to get admission. Even the Peeresses are 
 required to give notice of their intention to attend some 
 time before hand, and to appear in full dress; so that I 
 expect to see a great display of jewels, both mineral and 
 animal. It is impossible to conceive without seeing it.
 
 LETTER XLVTIl. 165 
 
 the luxury and magnificence in which many of these 
 people live. I have dined so often, sometimes week 
 after week in succession, at tables covered with gold and 
 silver service, excepting the dessert, and that the most 
 superb Sevres porcelain, that now my surprise is not at 
 seeing it, but at not seeing it. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XLVIII. 
 
 TO A BOY. 
 
 London, 31st January, 1844. 
 Dear E : 
 
 I WAS very much pleased with your letter ; and if 1 
 do not send you a neat one in return, you will mider- 
 stand that I am quite too busy to take much pains with 
 it. Since I wrote you I have been one day coursing 
 and one day hunting — coursing is riding after hares with 
 a couple of dogs, and the object is to see which dog is 
 best. Bets are laid upon the dogs, who are slipped 
 or let loose as soon as the hare is found ; a judge is 
 always appointed, and he rides forward and determines 
 which dog runs best and first catches the hare. Several 
 couples of dogs are tried ; every one that is beaten is 
 put out of the list ; then at the last two dogs are select- 
 ed, who run for the highest prize ; the highest prize, 
 where I was, was understood to be five hundred guineas 
 or twenty-six hundred dollars ; and the coursing was 
 continued every day for a week. Ladies are often on 
 the ground, and join in the sport, which is too cruel
 
 166 EUROPEAN LIEE AND MANNERS. 
 
 for my taste. In hunting, there are a pack of hounds ; 
 where I was, there were about fifty in the pack, and 
 about two hundred persons, gentlemen and others on 
 horseback, and well mounted. There were several boys 
 a little older than yourself upon ponies. The gentlemen, 
 who are really sportsmen, are dressed in bright scarlet 
 coats, white leather breeches and waistcoats, and white- 
 top-boots, and silver-mounted spurs, and round hats ; other 
 persons, gentlemen who go merely as spectators, or occa- 
 sionally, and the farmers, appear in their common dress ; 
 but are well mounted and spurred. The master of the 
 Hunt is a gentleman. The huntsman and the whipper- 
 in wear short red coats, or red frock coats, and jockey 
 caps, and the huntsman carries a horn upon his saddle. 
 The master of the Hunt likewise carries a horn to call off 
 the hunt as he chooses. In this case we met at ten 
 o'clock, about five miles from Mr. Pusey's ; and what 
 with two hundred horsemen well mounted, several ladies 
 in carriages waiting to see the start, fifty fine dogs per- 
 fectly crazy with excitement, and sticking close to the 
 huntsman, watching his every motion, and a large assem- 
 blage of laboring people and cottagers on foot, you may be 
 sure the scene was very exhilarating and intensely exciting. 
 Among other things I was very much amused with the 
 Jock of the Hunt. This is a lad, a tall, gaunt fellow in 
 this case, with an old red coat on, and a jockey cap, and 
 barefooted, who attends all the hunts in the neighbor- 
 hood and contrives to get a few shillings by opening 
 gates, and holding horses, &;c., and what is remarkable, 
 by knowing the country well, and cutting across fences 
 and fields, always keeps up with the hunt. He came 
 on foot to-day, twenty miles, and sometimes, it is said,
 
 LETTKK XLVllI. 167 
 
 mns sixty miles in a day. In one case, I am told, 
 where there was a steeple-chase, that is, running sev- 
 eral miles, and seeing who would get first to a church 
 seen at a distance, he reached the place first, having 
 gone strait and swum the river Thames, which the horse- 
 men did not dare do. 
 
 When every thing was ready, at a given signal, the 
 cavalcade started ; we went to several places, where 
 the bushes were thick, and into several swamps, the 
 huntsmen beating about with their whips in various 
 directions to start a fox, but were disappointed ; till 
 at last, after riding three or four miles, the cry was 
 sounded — I saw the fox start from his cover, and the 
 race began over hedge and ditch, and fence and field. 
 I agreed to go only upon condition that I would leap no 
 fences. Mr. Pusey told me to keep after him, and he 
 knowing the country well, would, by occasional doubling, 
 go through the gaps, and meet the hounds in various direc- 
 tions. Sometimes he leapt the fences, but I dismounted, 
 and got my horse over as well as I could. It was really 
 an amusing sight to see the hounds in full cry, and to 
 see more than a hundred persons well mounted, and 
 minding no more going over a fence, a wall, a hedge, a 
 ditch, than you would springiiig out of bed. The fox 
 played a great many tricks, frequently changing his 
 course ; the country was quite flat ; sometimes the dogs 
 would lose the scent, and the whole party were obliged 
 to pull up ; but at last, after a chase of five or six miles, 
 we came up with the poor creature, and the dogs seized 
 him; the huntsman immediately took him from them, 
 cut off his bnash, that is his tail, and stuck it in his hat, 
 and then cut off his head, and gave the body of the poor
 
 168 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 creature to the dogs, which they dcnoured, hones, skin, 
 and all, in no time. They did not wait to have it cook- 
 ed, I '11 assure you ; and it was quite amusing to see 
 them pulling the pieces from each other's mouths. The 
 gentlemen ordered the head to be presented to me ; but 
 as I told them that I should know just as well what to 
 do with a baby, as I should with a raw and bloody fox's 
 head, I declined the present ; but I believe they have 
 sent to have it preserved for me, in which case, I shall 
 transfer it to your museum. The Jock of the Hunt 
 was in at the death, as I was. I pitied the poor fox, 
 whose character as a notorious thief does not, in general, 
 secure him much compassion. The ride was a most 
 invigorating and healthful one. We left the party at 
 three o'clock, and they went on after more game, though 
 the horses seemed to me a good deal distressed. 
 
 The gentlemen here are universally sportsmen. Mr, 
 Pusey, the day after my arrival, took me out according 
 to custom, to show me the game he had himself killed 
 the day before. It consisted of eighty hares and rabbits, 
 and thirty-two pheasants, which was enough for himself 
 and his friends. 
 
 Now, I have given you a pretty full account of my 
 sporting : and as I have seen the show, this, I think, 
 will end my practice in that line. Adieu. 
 
 P. S. Several persons were thrown, and one poor 
 fellow, horse and all, tumbled into a ditch, but no one 
 minded him, only to see that he was not killed, and left 
 him to get out as he could.
 
 LETTER XLIX. 169 
 
 LETTER XLIX. 
 
 Loiuioii, Ist February, 1844. 
 
 Deak Sir : 
 
 The state of feeling here, in regard to America, is on 
 many accounts, extremely unpleasant. They will not 
 discriminate among the different States, and choose to 
 involve the whole, in the disgrace of repudiation. It 
 seems to me, nothing will set this right, but Pennsylva- 
 nia's payment of her bonds. The speech of Governor 
 Porter is a most remarkable document — remarkable for 
 its assumption that the honor of the State has not been 
 tarnished, and for the cool indifference with which he 
 speaks of their pecuniary obligations — most disgraceful 
 to the State, likewise, in showing that they have no 
 power to collect their taxes ; and that taxes levied for 
 the payment of the debts of the State, are, when collect- 
 ed, applied to other and different purposes. I have 
 read Mr. Gary's pamphlet with pleasure, although it is 
 too gentlemanly, and too much in the kid-glove style, to 
 have much effect. Gurtis's article is written with much 
 ability and power, but gentlemen here complain that he 
 is in an error in many of his statements, which I am not 
 able now to particularize, as I had only an opportunity 
 of a cursory reading of it. 
 
 Political parties, here, are growing very warm. The 
 
 pro-corn-law, and the anti-corn-law party, the restrictive, 
 
 the protective, and the free-trade parties, are coming into 
 
 tremendous collision. There is little prospect that 
 
 15
 
 170 EUROPEAN L.IFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 universal free-trade principles will soon be adopted ; 
 but it is generally conceded that the abolition of all 
 duty upon foreign wheat, must take place in a year or 
 two — if not on the ground of public interest, on the 
 ground of common humanity, — there is such an immense 
 amount of suffering and destitution among the poor. I 
 do not think there would be any exaggeration in saying, 
 that thousands in this city are actually dying a slow 
 death by starvation. This, however, may not be 
 deemed by the Malthusians a large proportion, where 
 the enormous amount of the population is considered. 
 Mechanical and professional labor of every description, 
 (excepting female labor) commands a very high price ; 
 but common labor is superabundant, and its returns are 
 altogether inadequate to the comfortable support of the 
 laborer, especially if he has a dependent family, as most 
 of them have ; for, really, it would seem that marriage, or 
 illegitimate connections, increase, as the means of support 
 are diminished. 
 
 The Parliament is now in session, and I see by the 
 morning papers, they had long debates in both houses, 
 last evening. I had the high gratification of seeing, and 
 hearing the Queen, from the throne ; having been favored 
 with a ticket to the House of Lords. So far as parade 
 goes, robes and coronets, gold and silver, velvet and silk, 
 plumes and diamonds, it was a most gorgeous and 
 magnificent display, as the house was crowded not only 
 with peers, but peeresses, and the very elite of the 
 aristocracy. When w^e looked upon this young girl, 
 with a crown of diamonds upon her brow, and regarded 
 her as the sovereign of 150,000,000 of people, sur- 
 rounded by men of the highest character in the world,
 
 LETTKR L. 171 
 
 who held such immense destinies within their con- 
 trol, the spectacle was in a high degree, moral and 
 sublime. I was very fortunate in getting a ticket, as 
 several persons, I was told, applied to Mr. Everett, whom 
 he could not serve. The Duke of Richmond sent me 
 two tickets to the Royal Gallery, where I could see, but 
 not hear ; and the Belgian Minister, a most kind and 
 courteous gentleman, sent me one to the Royal Gallery, 
 where the Queen passed, and repassed, on entering, and 
 returning from the chamber ; and another, to the House 
 of Lords, itself; so that I had the pleasure of obliging 
 three American friends here, who had tried in vain to get 
 
 admission. Mrs. M , went under my escort, and 
 
 I was most happy to serve her. Tell my friend, Mr. 
 
 A , her father, it would have been difficult to have 
 
 found a prettier woman in the house. The dresses of 
 most of the ladies, were splendid indeed, and the heads 
 and necks of several of them, a perfect galaxy of jewels. 
 The English hold on, with extreme pertinacity, to 
 ancient forms and customs ; and it is a curious circum- 
 stance, that when, at the close of Parliament, the 
 Queen's assent from the throne, to laws which have 
 been passed, is signified, it is always announced in 
 Norman French. 
 
 LETTER L. 
 
 London, 2d February, 1844. 
 My Dear E : 
 
 I PROMISED myself the pleasure of giving you a 
 long letter, but the time has been taken from me.
 
 172 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 I saw, yesterday, the Queen, upon her throne, in 
 the House of Lords, and heard her speech. The 
 house, excepting the seats occupied by the peers, 
 were filled with ladies of rank and distinction, dressed 
 in a manner much too splendid for your old grand- 
 father to describe. Such an array of crowns and coro- 
 nets, swords and epaulets, silks and velvets, gold and 
 silver, stars and diamonds, long trains, embroidered 
 shawls of velvet and gold, lace veils, plumes of the 
 most splendid description, and diamonds enough to put 
 your eyes out, I had hardly imagined. The Queen's ap- 
 proach was announced by cannon and trumpets, and she 
 entered and took her throne, precisely at two o'clock. 
 On her brow, she wore a circlet of brilliant diamonds, 
 extending completely round her head, and two beautiful 
 ladies, superbly dressed, stood behind, or rather at the 
 side of her chair, and behind them, were the maids in 
 waiting, with the pages, who bear her train. These 
 pages, were boys, of perhaps fourteen years of age, sons 
 of noblemen, with long single-breasted coats, silk stock- 
 ings, buckles, and bag wigs, and dressed in the style of 
 two centuries ago. The crown was borne on a velvet 
 cushion, by one of the great officers of the kingdom. 
 The sword of state, was carried by the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, and the bag, or purse of maintenance, by another 
 great officer. When the Queen was seated, the Lord- 
 Chancellor, falling upon one knee, at the foot of the 
 throne, presented her the speech, which she was to read ; 
 and received it, after she had done. The ladies in 
 waiting, one of whom, on this occasion, was the Duch- 
 ess of Buccleuch, assisted in bearing her train, which 
 appeared to be of crimson velvet, trimmed with ermine.
 
 LETTER L. 173 
 
 Her enunciation was clear and her voice cliarniing. 
 Some of the peeresses, and ladies, in front of the bar, 
 stood upon the benches, so as to interrupt the view of 
 several gentlemen. I saw them forward a piece of 
 paper to them, on which they had written, certainly 
 in no very complimentary style, " Ladies, you are not 
 transparent," which induced them at once to get down. 
 The ladies, as is too often the case at such times, were 
 not considerate of those behind them. The whole 
 assembly stand, until the Queen desires the peers to be 
 seated, and takes her own seat. The gentlemen of the 
 House of Commons, are then sent for, and come rushing 
 in, with their speaker at their head, and stand uncovered 
 at the bar, the speaker making three very low bows, to 
 her majesty, on the throne. 
 
 After reading her speech, the Queen retired, in the 
 same style as she came in. It was a magnificent spec- 
 tacle, and the scenic effect was very imposing. Her 
 coach is glazed on three sides, is very large, covered with 
 gilding, and drawn by eight cream-colored horses, with 
 the most brilliant silk, gilt, and morocco harnesses. She 
 appeared extremely well, and was received with great 
 enthusiasm, by thousands of people, \\ ho thronged the 
 street, where the procession passed. She was escorted 
 to and from the Houses of Parliament, through St. James's 
 Park, by a large body of mounted troops and guards, 
 superbly equipped. Adieu. 
 
 15*
 
 174 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER LI. 
 
 Loudon, 4lli March, 1844. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 Let me thank you for your kind letter. Please thank 
 
 M for her letter ; but do beg her, when she next 
 
 writes, to put a little ink in the water, otherwise I shall 
 never be able to decipher her hieroglyphics. 
 
 The winter here has been extremely pleasant ; fog 
 and smoke enough in London, but no cold, and scarcely 
 a night of freezing, and the temperature of the days often 
 most delightful ; but what a time you must have had 
 with your terrific cold ! My time here is more than 
 occupied, and I am obliged to decline many engage- 
 ments. 
 
 I rise always as soon as seven, and am now, as 
 the mornings grow lighter, getting up at six. I do 
 not leave my room, unless in particular cases, until 
 two, nor generally until three o'clock. I breakfast at 
 nine, and dine, when I dine at my own place, at half- 
 past four. I get two or three hours' walk, which I find 
 indispensable to me before or^ after dinner. If I dine 
 abroad, which is two or three times a week, the hour is 
 half-past seven ; and I get to bed about one, not a very 
 rational hour, I '11 assure you. If I go to a party, the 
 hour is ten, and the return not much before half-past 
 one. On Wednesdays I meet the Agricultural Society 
 at noon, for two hours ; on Friday evenings I attend a 
 lecture on natural science at the Royal Institution ; on 
 Saturdays, at three, a lecture on agricultural chemistry ;
 
 LETTER LI, J 75 
 
 two nights, lately, 1 hav^e been until long after niidnigin 
 at the House of Commons to hear the debates ; calls, I 
 am obliged to abjure when possible without giving 
 offence. There is in general but one service in the day- 
 time at church on Sundays, and in the evening I never 
 go. Three Sundays now, in succession, I have walked 
 out of town to dine ; after church yesterday, five miles 
 and back, and have now two engagements to dine out 
 of town, the two next Sundays, I never ride where I 
 can walk ; and I believe to this and my daily cold bath 
 I owe my health, which, as I sleep well and eat well, 
 I must say is good. 
 
 Since I wrote you, I have been again into the country. 
 Lord Hatherton wrote me a kind and pressing invitation 
 to meet a party at his house to whom he wished to intro- 
 duce me, and desiring me to pass a week with him. I 
 could not go on Monday, but went on Thursday, and staid 
 until Monday, and met there some most agreeable peo- 
 ple. Earl Dartmouth and lady. Lord and Lady Prudhoe, 
 and some others whose names have escaped me, and Mr. 
 and Mrs. M , &;c., &;c. The visit was in every re- 
 spect most agreeable, but I should not have left town 
 were it not that my agricultural objects could not be 
 more advanced than by a visit to his farm, where, proba- 
 bly, some of the best improvements in England have 
 been made. On my former visit, my accident prevented 
 ray seeing them. 
 
 I have been likewise on a visit to Lady Byron, in the 
 country, a most excellent person, who has under her 
 management considerable landed property, and takes the 
 greatest interest in the rural population, and especially 
 in the comfort and improvement of the condition of those
 
 176 EUROPEAN" LIFE AND MAXNERS. 
 
 who are dependent upon her. My time did not admit 
 of an extended visit, and she wrote me again last week, 
 to go into the country with her to see her allotments and 
 agricultural schools, but I was compelled to decline her 
 kindness for the present. Her life and wealth seem de- 
 voted to doing good, and her beneficence is always 
 active, wide, and energetic. 
 
 Mr. Stimpson,likewise, whom I mentioned in a former 
 
 letter to S , has begged me to pass the Easter holidays 
 
 at East Retford. It is impossible for me to make a more 
 agreeable visit than that would be, but I must decline 
 until my second report is completed. I have this morn- 
 ing just received a letter from the family of Mr. Morse, 
 most kind and agreeable people, begging me to come 
 down at once and make them another visit, but I cannot 
 do it. Saturday evening I passed at the Marquis of 
 Northampton's, the President of the Royal Society, at one 
 of his conversations and soirees, where were to be seen 
 many of the learned and wise heads of London, several 
 of them in their court dresses, swords, and shorts, bag 
 wigs, and straight-breasted coats, with stars and garters, 
 Stc, &£c., a fashion which may suit those who like it. 
 
 London is full of excitement — clubs and societies of 
 every description ; theatres, operas, balls, concerts, pre- 
 sentations, meetings, parties, large and small. I dined 
 last week at Mr. Littleton's, whose lady, distinguished 
 for her good sense, is a most agreeable woman, and as 
 friendly as possible. I have dined and passed the 
 
 evening repeatedly at Mrs. R 's, a woman of large 
 
 fortune, living in great elegance, and a heart as large as 
 her fortune. Here I cannot go half as often as I should 
 like to. nor half as often as, T am asked. Dr. Lister's
 
 LETTER LI. 177 
 
 family, too, are most kind and agreeable people. 1 am 
 often there, and was at a large party there last week. 
 I have dined twice at Mr. T 's, whose wife pos- 
 sesses a most brilliant mind, and whose most friendly 
 conduct always makes me feel like an integral member 
 of the family. 1 have dined three times recently at Mr. 
 
 P 's, five miles out of town, exactly the kind of 
 
 people, inquisitive and intelligent, full of humor and 
 heartiness, whom I like. 
 
 To-night I go to a party at Mr. Lyell's, who was in 
 America. Mrs. L 's father-in-law was the Presi- 
 dent of the Geological Society, and at a meeting of that 
 society, at a dinner which I had the honor to attend, 
 said, in the most pleasant way possible, by way of show- 
 ing the encouragement which he had given to geology, 
 
 his favorite pursuit, that he had allowed Mr. L to 
 
 take one of the fairest specimens from his private cabinet. 
 I fully agreed with him in his estimate of his daugh- 
 ter's attractions, and the beauty and brilliancy of this 
 specimen. Here I expect to meet Miss Edgeworth 
 again, whom I have met several times, and always with 
 the greatest interest. Miss Edgeworth is full of years, 
 but with intelligence sparkling and bright, and a youth- 
 ful vivacity un quenched. 
 
 Last Sunday evening, a week since, I went to the 
 Blue Coat School, at Christ's Hospital, to see the boys 
 take their supper. There were eight hundred and fifty 
 of them ; they supped in one large hall, and the sight, I 
 assure you, was exceedingly interesting. During Lent, 
 their suppers are public to those who, through their 
 friends, can obtain tickets, and the galleries were 
 filled with well-dressed people. The boys were from
 
 178 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 eight to fourteen years old, all dressed uniformly — 
 healthy, clean, and well-behaved, consisting of charity 
 scholars and noblemen and gentlemen's sons. The 
 course of instruction is of a high •character. After re- 
 ligious services, singing and reading prayers, in which 
 one of the pupils led, they sat down quietly to supper, 
 which consisted of about half a pound of bread, a piece 
 of butter and a drink of beer out of a wooden piggin, 
 and nothing more and nothing else ; rather a frugal diet, 
 but their appearance spoke well for their health, and 
 they certainly seemed to enjoy their plain meal. 
 
 Tea and coffee are wholly excluded from these places, 
 and the meat used in this, as well as some other such 
 schools in England, is almost exclusively mutton, which 
 I believe, is served to them for dinner, here, five days out 
 of seven. This is certainly an encouragement to sheep- 
 raising ; whether it has a tendency to make mutton- 
 heads, I cannot say ; it did not appear on this occasion. 
 The dress of these boys, is quite peculiar ; a long, blue, 
 single-breasted coat, reaching down to their feet, yellow 
 buck-skin breeches, yellow woollen stockings, and shoes 
 with buckles. They have caps, but seldom in the street, 
 or anywhere else, wear any thing on their heads. The 
 board and education of the boys are wholly gratuitous, 
 their funds being very great, and certain persons, or cor- 
 porations, having the right of presentation. Why the 
 sons of noblemen and men of wealth, should be found 
 in an establishment purely charitable, is a question 
 which I cannot solve. Adieu.
 
 LETTKU Lll. 179 
 
 LETTER Lll. 
 
 London, 28tli March, 1844. 
 My Dear S : 
 
 Many thanks for your kind letter ; it has made ine 
 very happy to think that the engraving suited you. I 
 send you, according to your request, another — " The 
 Scotch lassie tending sheep," by Landseer. I must 
 say, I never saw any thing prettier, and I hope you will 
 agree with me. It has not been long published, and is 
 universally admired. I did not get, as you suggested, 
 but will now, if you desire it, " Dignity and Impiu- 
 dence." It is a fine picture, and a very common one. 
 Landseer's favorite subjects seem to be a dog and a 
 horse. There are several of his : such as " The 
 Queen's hounds," " The dog in suspense," " The 
 dog who seems to say, ' There is no place like 
 home,' " " The bloodhound watching his master's hat 
 and horse," " The dog in office," and several others, 
 all in themselves beautiful, but not one of them to bear 
 comparison with " The Lord Chancellor laying down 
 the law," which, indeed, may be pronounced a complete 
 grouping of all his excellencies. I therefore got you 
 what I think as pretty as any thing, " The Scotch lassie," 
 which the more you look at, you will, I think, the more 
 admire. 
 
 I shall go to Edinburgh and the extremity of Scot- 
 land this summer. I have been at several parties lately. 
 To-night I go to two others. The dresses of the ladies, 
 at their evening parties, are most splendid and almost
 
 180 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 wholly of silk, of a superior description. The refresh- 
 ments are of a very simple character. The invitations 
 specify, in general, half-past eight to nine, — half-past 
 nine to ten is about the hour to go. Tea and coffee are 
 seldom handed round. Sometimes you find it in the 
 ante-room, where you disrobe, and the servants hand it 
 to you before you are announced in the drawing-room. 
 You are announced always by the servant at the 
 foot of the staircase to the servant at the head, and 
 by the servant at the head to the company. It is 
 very rare that you are introduced to any person on any 
 occasion, either dinner or evening, unless you go to stay, 
 or the party is small ; but it is not deemed improper that 
 you enter into conversation with your neighbors. The 
 hair is generally dressed entirely plain, without jewels or 
 flowers, frequently a la Madonna, but often with ringlets 
 in front. Elderly ladies wear their gowns very low in 
 front ; young ladies wear their gowns rather high in 
 front, but very low behind, so as to show the bust to 
 advantage. Short kid mittens or gloves are worn up to 
 the wrist ; then the arm is bare to the elbow, with short 
 sleeves and a good deal of lace round the elbows and 
 bosom. The gowns are worn very long, with white 
 kid shoes. 
 
 In detailing these fashions, I cannot promise that 
 they will not have changed before this reaches you, for 
 English and French fashions of dress are not permanent, 
 like many of the continental costumes. 
 
 Sometimes you find tea at a side table in the room, 
 and the lady of the house, when you come in, invites
 
 LETTER Lll. 181 
 
 you to go to the table and help yourself. Sometimes a 
 table with wines, jellies, blanc mange, &;c., he, is set 
 out in a side room, where the company help themselves, 
 and the gentlemen serve the ladies, or there are servants 
 to serve them. At some elegant parties where I have 
 been, nothing but cake has been handed round. 1 
 have as yet seen no card-playing at parties, though this 
 sometimes is done in a side-room. Conversation and 
 music, with singing and sometimes waltzing, have consti- 
 tuted the evening's entertainment. The late hours are dis- 
 agreeable to me. I was the first to leave a large party 
 the evening before the last, and that was at half-past 
 twelve. Going to bed at one, and getting up at six in 
 the morning, does not agree very well with me, but makes 
 me look so pale, that I get a little disturbed when I see 
 myself in the glass. Society here, however, is on a 
 very agreeable footing. I do not think the ladies par- 
 ticularly beautiful, though there are some remarkable 
 exceptions. 
 
 I have changed my lodgings since I wrote last, and 
 ray window now embraces, besides a large open square, 
 a long perspective of the Strand, one of the busiest parts 
 of London. Mr. Derby compares it to Washington 
 Street, — but it is Washington Street many times multi- 
 plied, and presenting a variety of costume, character, 
 vehicle, national peculiarities, Sec, &z,c., which beggar 
 
 all description. S seemed to think that everybody 
 
 must know that the streets of London were full, and 
 what kind of people were in them. The truth is, no 
 one, who has not seen some of the great thoroughfares, 
 can have any just conception of their appearance in the 
 busiest hours of the day. If I had the time, the pros- 
 16
 
 182 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 pect from my window would be a source of infinite 
 entertainment, and present ample subjects for wise 
 moral reflection. 
 
 The extracts in the papers from Mr. Mann's reflec- 
 tions upon the educational condition of society here, 
 have made me desirous to see more. The upper 
 classes here are certainly very highly cultivated ; the 
 lowest are in an extremely forlorn and degraded condi- 
 tion. What are called the national schools, present a 
 very low standard of attainment. In truth, some in the 
 higher classes, so far from valuing education for the 
 poor as it is valued among us, appear to think any thing 
 more than reading, writing, the four first rules of arith- 
 metic, and the church catechism, as a positive evil to 
 the laboring classes, and, therefore, discourage every 
 thing which would waken in their minds a thirst for 
 knowledge, and make them desire it as they desire their 
 daily bread. 
 
 Society, regarded in its political aspects, is here in a 
 peculiar condition, and cannot be looked upon without a 
 degree of anxiety. The elements are in a state of vio- 
 lent fermentation, and it is quite plain to me that the 
 government is at present maintained mainly by military 
 force. The disturbances in Ireland, the divisions in the 
 church in Scotland, the condition of the poor throughout 
 the country, the agitation on the subject of the corn 
 laws, the movements of the High Church party, the 
 Pusey controversy, the hatred of the Established Church, 
 not uncommon among the dissenters, and which sets 
 continually in a strong undercurrent, threatening to 
 undermine this cumbrous and mighty fabric, present 
 altogether a jumble of noxious elements, whose chem-
 
 LETTER LU. 183 
 
 ical operation, if I may use the expression, thrown 
 together in the same retort, no one can foresee. 
 
 The American reputation is still at a very low ebb. 
 I scarcely go into any company that I am not absolutely 
 compelled to do battle for the country. The mere sug- 
 gestion of repudiation, which, I believe, has never been 
 contemplated by any but the state of Mississippi, has done 
 us an immense injury. It was quite a relief to me this 
 week, to see the payment of the dividends on Massa- 
 chusetts stock advertised as ready for the stockholders. 
 
 In some respects, the American papers are absolutely 
 without excuse ; and in nothing more, than their ill- 
 natured remarks concerning this country, and their 
 attempts to kindle a war spirit. I believe the great 
 mass of the British nation are kindly disposed towards 
 America ; and such a tone and such remarks seem pre- 
 eminently out of place, immediately after the amicable 
 adjustment of the difficulties and points of controversy 
 which so long threatened an open rupture. 
 
 A war between these two countries would be as 
 unnatural as any family quarrel which ever occurred ; and 
 could possibly end in no way but to the disadvantage of 
 both, after an incalculable amount of suffering and mis- 
 chief. America seems really to be cursed with some 
 selfish, mean politicians, who, to gross ignorance and 
 entire recklessness of moral principle, add only views of 
 the most narrow and sordid character, and are incapable 
 of understanding or acting upon any large and compre- 
 hensive principles of right and justice, and of regarding 
 with a single eye the great interests of humanity. 
 
 I hope it will not be many years before you visit this 
 country, and enjoy all that I have enjoyed. I am
 
 184 EUROPEAN LIKE AND MANNERS. 
 
 almost tired of saying, I cannot express my admiration 
 of wliat is constantly presenting itself to my observation. 
 The magnificence, substantialness, and large scale upon 
 which every thing is conducted here, impress the mind, 
 in the deepest measure, with the greatness of the people. 
 A person has only to look at the five bridges, which, 
 within sight of each other, cross the Thames, three of 
 which are of solid granite, and the other two of iron, to 
 be most forcibly struck with the substantial character of 
 every public undertaking. These bridges, however, in 
 their solidity, seem to be only an emblem of the firmness 
 of the government. However rapid and perturbed the 
 current which flows under them, they remain unaffected 
 above it. 
 
 To persons at a distance, it would seem, that the 
 Irish agitation was portentous of destruction and outrage ; 
 but the government have no serious apprehensions. It 
 cannot succeed ; it must die away after its violence has 
 expended itself in a few more crowded meetings, noisy 
 speeches, and inflammatory resolutions. The refractory 
 child will cry itself to sleep. I have no confidence in 
 the patriotism of O'Connell. With hun, it seems a 
 mere matter of religious bigotry and personal emolu- 
 ment. He realizes immense sums from the credulity and 
 weakness of the poor Irish. Nothing has surprised me 
 more, than to learn, from one of the late American 
 
 papers, that Governor S has recently made a 
 
 speech in one of the repeal meetings. What can he 
 have to do with Irish politics ? 
 
 The expense of living here, is much more than with 
 us. Gentlemen dress more, and are very attentive to 
 appearance. Foppishness is always ridiculous, but one
 
 LETTER LIII. 185 
 
 would be sorry, from any neglect of himself, to be 
 wanting in proper respect to the society into which one 
 is invited, and to the gentlemen of whom one may be 
 the guest. We have a number of Americans here, who 
 seem to be enjoying themselves very much. 
 
 I send you a paper, which will give you some little 
 account of the excitement at Oxford, on occasion of 
 conferring a degree of LL.D. on Mr. Everett. It was 
 openly opposed by the Puseyites, because he had been 
 a Unitarian preacher. Religious bigotry seems rather to 
 be gaining than losing ground ; but it would appear, 
 according to the constitution of the University, that they 
 had a right, before conferring its honors, to demand a 
 conformity to their established faith. They are not, 
 therefore, to be charged with inconsistency. 
 
 The clock near me strikes the quarter : it is one. 
 The streets are full, and the stream of carriages incessant. 
 There is no night in London. 
 
 LETTER LIII, 
 
 TO MISS E, Q. 
 
 London, 2d April, 1844. 56 Charing Cross. 
 My Dear Friend : 
 
 It is a very easy matter, most certainly, for some per- 
 sons to do good ; and if you knew how much pleasure 
 your letters give me, I am afraid you would be a little 
 proud of your own power of beneficence. It was "read 
 and conned by rote," and like poor Oliver, I take the 
 liberty of " asking for more." I hardly know what to 
 16*
 
 186 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 tell you that would most interest your curiosity ; but I 
 join in your wish that you could see with your own, and 
 not merely through the eyes of another, many objects 
 here, which I know would deeply interest you. I have 
 been this week to turn over the engravings of, perhaps, 
 the largest picture-shop in the world, for the sake of exe- 
 cuting a commission from America ; and I was constantly 
 thinking how much, with your fine taste, you would have 
 enjoyed these treasures of art. Landseer's pictures 
 and engravings seem here to take the lead ; his subjects 
 are somewhat limited, but beholds an exquisite pencil, and 
 can hardly be too much admired. I have sent home by 
 this packet, several of his engravings which I hope you 
 will see, that I may have your opinion of the selection. 
 I have been much in society here this winter, in 
 large and small parties, at dinners and balls, and soirees, 
 and as you would like my honest impressions, I am free 
 to say that my respect for the English ladies has con- 
 stantly been increasing. They seem to me extremely well 
 educated, with great self-respect, without any painful 
 reserve, and in the middle classes especially, and among 
 the dissenters, are found strong politicians and very liberal 
 thinkers in religion. There is much less freedom of discus- 
 sion and opinion in the highest classes, where the religion is 
 established, and every thing taken for granted ; and where 
 so many considerations of state mingle with all the obser- 
 vances, that the mind is somewhat fettered, and dares not 
 look out of its cell. French is a universal accomplishment ; 
 Italian is much studied, and German will soon be as regu- 
 lar a part of education as English grammar. Among the 
 higher class, education is wholly domestic, and a private 
 governess or tutor is an essential part of the establish-
 
 LETTF.R MM. 187 
 
 merit. There are numerous boarding schools for young 
 ladies, but they are not for the higher classes. There are 
 some things in English manners, which have impressed 
 me very favorably. I have scarcely been in a family 
 either of the middle or the highest rank, where domestic 
 worship has not been seriously maintained ; and it is as 
 often conducted by the lady or the children of the house- 
 hold as by the master. 
 
 Children, even quite young, are often called upon to 
 say grace at table ; and I dined three days ago in a large 
 and elegant party where the lady of the house asked a 
 blessing and returned thanks. I was a week at one 
 house where the eldest daughter of the family, about 
 twenty-two, led in the family worship every morning, 
 and constantly said grace at table, and so in several 
 other instances. The Lord's day is in most parts of 
 London as well observed as in Boston, making an allow- 
 ance for the difference in the size of the two cities. 
 
 The better class of theatres, likewise, are managed 
 with decorum, and seldom is any thing seen within their 
 walls offensive to propriety or good manners. No strong 
 drinks, I believe, are publicly sold, although there are 
 always drinking places in their neighborhood, to which 
 resort is had by those whose taste so inclines them, but 
 which I believe, does not, in general, take place until 
 after the close of the performance. The police are 
 always in strong force at the theatres and all public 
 places to preserve order. 
 
 At the principal theatres — the Italian Opera, St. 
 James's Theatre (for even the saints here you see have 
 their play houses,) and the Hay Market, the most punc- 
 tilious and elegant manners are expected. At the Italian
 
 188 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Opera, every person in the pit, as well as in the boxes, is 
 not merely expected, but required, to go in full dress ; and 
 the conduct of the audience is corresponding. This rule of 
 dress is, of course, absolute, as indeed, it should be, and as 
 all rules in such cases should be ; but I must amuse you 
 with the determination, brave I suppose he would call it, of 
 an American gentleman recently here, a genuine republi- 
 can, of course. Having purchased a stall-ticket for the 
 opera, for which he paid a guinea, he went at the proper 
 time, but was refused admission because he had on a 
 frock-coat. He expressed his dissatisfaction in strong 
 terms. The ticket-taker coolly told him that he might 
 go home, change his dress, and return. But he de- 
 clared the rule an imposition, and declined absolutely to 
 attend, very much, of course, to the chagrin and dis- 
 comfort of the manager, who had received his guinea ! 
 As large a proportion of ladies is found in the pit as 
 in the boxes. The ballets are got up in a style of sur- 
 passing magnificence and splendor ; the music is of the 
 most recherche description ; and the dancing as elastic 
 and sylph-like as can be imagined. I cannot speak of 
 it with unqualified approval. Within certain limits it 
 presents all the charms of the most wonderful cultivation 
 and grace ; but beyond certain limits, the passing of which 
 every modest mind at once recognizes, it becomes offen- 
 sive and immoral. Every allowance, however, is to be 
 made for the effect of habit and for the established 
 customs of a country. Things, which present them- 
 selves to a stranger, educated under a different regime 
 and standard of public manners, as gross and im- 
 proper, to persons familiar with such exhibitions they 
 lose their offensiveness, and are regarded with indiffer-
 
 LETTER LIV. 189 
 
 ence. I passed an hour one evening, as a spectator, at 
 a masked ball given in Covent-Garden Theatre, where 
 the pit of this great building was floored over and devo- 
 ted to dancing and display. The show was, as far as 
 dress was concerned, most grotesque and amusing ; but 
 there was a great deal to disgust and ofiend ; and the 
 condition of things, at the close of the evening, left one 
 at no loss as to the character and description of people 
 who attended, and showed but too strongly, to what 
 shameful license and excess persons may be carried, when, 
 by their disguise, they avoid all fear of recognition. 
 
 Accept this only as an apology for a letter and sort of 
 bribe upon your kindness. Ask my agreeable friend 
 
 A why I may not expect the honor of hearing from 
 
 her by fair hand. Fail not, at your peril, as the lawyers 
 say, to make my most dutiful and kind remembrance to 
 all the saints, and in the plenitude of your kindness have 
 more mercy upon a poor exile who sighs for his native 
 land, and regards the handwriting of a friend as a special 
 deodand. Yours ever. 
 
 LETTER LIV. 
 
 London, 3d May, 1844. 
 My Dear S : 
 
 I WROTE yesterday a huiTied letter, because I was 
 
 under the erroneous impression that yesterday was the 
 
 last day for the steamer. I really have little to add, but 
 
 think another letter will not be unacceptable. Where 
 
 my heart goes, my pen is very apt to follow.
 
 190 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 To-day is one of the finest that ever shone. The 
 spring is very far advanced, and the town perfectly 
 swarms with human Hfe. Directly in front of my win- 
 dow, where I now sit writing, and in front of the gallery 
 of the Royal Academy, an immense crowd is assem- 
 bled to witness the visit of the Queen, who goes in state 
 to have the first look at the pictures of the gallery, which 
 is to be opened to the public next week. You cannot 
 conceive the interest which is felt to see this little lady ; 
 whenever she goes abroad, whether to ride in the park, 
 to attend the theatre, or to get into a railroad car. In all 
 such cases a covered passage-way, carpeted with red 
 cloth, is made for her, extending to her carriage, so that 
 under any circumstances, it is only a peep that any one 
 can get ; and yet for this, thousands upon thousands of 
 people are always to be found, ready to go and stand 
 patiently waiting for hours. I have seen her repeatedly. 
 Her appearance is extremely pleasing, with occasional 
 indications, as I have fancied, of anxiety and timidity. 
 
 On her birth-day, last Thursday, she held a drawing- 
 room, which was considered as extraordinarily brilliant. 
 Indeed, the dresses went very far beyond any imagina- 
 tion which I had before had of elegance and splendor. 
 I stood where I had an opportunity of seeing the company 
 pass in, and of speaking to many of them whom I knew. 
 It would be idle for me to attempt any description of 
 them. Some of the silks were exceedingly magnificent, 
 and when I saw these birds of paradise, decked out in 
 these elegancies, I could not help thinking what an im- 
 portant part in human affairs is played by the little silk- 
 worm, and how much he contributes to human vanity 
 and pride. The profusion of jewels and diamonds worn
 
 LETTER HV. 191 
 
 by some persons rendered them quite dazzlinjf ; but to 
 my taste, the ladies who appeared best, and who really 
 attracted most admiration, were those who were dressed 
 with the greatest simplicity and the fewest colors. 
 
 The scene was quite a gay one. On this day the sol- 
 diers always appear in new uniforms, the servants in full 
 livery with large bouquets, and the postmen likewise 
 through -the town, of whom I presume there are several 
 hundreds, are also furnished with new suits of clothes, 
 such as bright red coats, &f c, he. Where, in this case, 
 all the money comes from, and all the jewels come from, 
 it is rather difficult to imagine. The trains of the ladies' 
 dresses were gorgeously long, but not borne by pages, as 
 was formerly the case ; this privilege being, I believe, at 
 present, exclusive to royalty. The dresses of the ladies 
 advanced in life, seemed to my unpractised eye in very 
 bad taste. The dresses of the young women seemed 
 more appropriate to their age, showing the bust or figure 
 to great advantage. 
 
 It has always appeared to me among the greatest of 
 inconsistencies, that a style of undress, which would not 
 be tolerated for a moment in a private parlor, is yet not 
 deemed extravagant or improper in a public drawing- 
 room. However, custom seems to settle the propriety 
 of every thing of that nature, and the standard is evi- 
 dently somewhat different here, from what it is with us. 
 I bow to fashion as the proper arbiter in these matters. 
 
 The dress of the ladies here, in general society, is 
 altogether more elegant than with us, and to me it is 
 matter of constant and increasing admiration ; and I 
 must add that a longer acquaintance convinces me that 
 they are better educated than the majority of the same 
 class amongst ourselves.
 
 192 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 The publication of my book here will give me great 
 advantages in visiting the country, as several gentle- 
 men, now seeing what I want, say they shall be most 
 happy to assist me ; and especially, I am persuaded, 
 feeling that I do not come as a spy, and shall not deal 
 in miserable personalities, they will assist me so much 
 the more readily. 
 
 Mrs. P goes home by the steamer of the 19th. 
 
 By her I shall write as many letters as I can, but I cannot 
 
 promise to write once a fortnight to any but , as my 
 
 correspondence here is not small. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LV. 
 
 London, 16th May, 1844. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 I AM very sorry to learn from that you have 
 
 been ill ; but really from the account we have had of 
 
 your winter, I somewhat wonder that anybody can 
 
 be well. I have lately had given to me a small medical 
 
 work, which I design to send you, the first opportunity, 
 
 on the importance of always keeping warm, and not 
 
 suffering the temperature of the body to get low. The 
 
 writer professes himself to have been an invalid, and to 
 
 speak from experience of the advantages of the system, 
 
 which he recommends, and I am inclined to receive 
 
 his notions as most valuable. He does not recommend 
 
 very hot rooms, but the necessity of avoiding cold, and 
 
 always, as far as possible, maintaining the natural heat 
 
 of the body. The recommendation is certainly reason-
 
 LETTER LV. 193 
 
 able, and from the way in which you suffer so often from 
 colds, let me recommend it to your attention. 
 
 By this packet I send you the Times of the 14th inst., 
 because it contains two speeches in which I know you 
 will be much interested. The first is that of Lord 
 Brougham on the reformation or modification of the 
 criminal law of England, which is full of most surpris- 
 ing information, and shows in a remarkable manner the 
 confusion in which this subject is involved, and how 
 difficult, nay, impossible it is for a man always to know 
 whether he is doing right or wrong. He says that there 
 are many cases in which neither he nor his noble friend, 
 Lord Lyndhurst, the Lord Chancellor of the kingdom, 
 can know whether they are committing an offence or 
 not. Such is the glorious uncertainty of the law. The 
 other is the speech of Sir Robert Peel on the reduction 
 of the hours of labor in the factories, which I am per- 
 suaded you will read with interest. Indeed, when either 
 of these gentlemen speak, they are always wqrth hear- 
 ing. Lord Brougham is rather out of favor with all par- 
 ties, and is so constantly the subject of ridicule and car- 
 icature in Punch, that he has very little of the respect 
 or rather of the reverence of the public ; but his immense 
 ability and various learning are universally acknow- 
 ledged and command attention. Sir Robert Peel is cer- 
 tainly a most accomplished statesman. His private char- 
 acter is above all reproach, and though he is extremely 
 obnoxious to his political opponents, yet no man is 
 listened to by all parties with more respect for his 
 extraordinary talents and his knowledge and sagacity. 
 I wished to have sent you at the same time his profound 
 speech upon the currency, but, unfortunately, the paper 
 17
 
 194 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 is not now attainable ; and if I could get it I could not 
 now send it, for, by a singular and unaccountable rule, 
 no paper over a week old is allowed to be sent by post ; 
 though, if it is put in before a week from its publication, 
 it will be forwarded. 
 
 I was last week in the House of Commons during the 
 debate on the factory question until very early in the 
 morning. By great courtesy I had a seat in the Peers' 
 Gallery, and this gave me a most favorable opportunity 
 of hearing the speakers. There is, of course, in point 
 of talent, or, in what is here called cleverness, the same 
 variety that you find among individuals everywhere ; but 
 if is quite evident that the members are picked men and 
 gentlemen ; and the decorum which they manifest in 
 their deportment towards each other is very striking, and 
 would be worthy of imitation in other places. 
 
 I was quite disturbed when I learnt that a treaty for 
 the annexation of Texas was actually concluded. No 
 event could I think more certainly endanger the Union, 
 and I am sorry to say that few events would more gratify 
 many people here than the dissolution of the American 
 Republic, and the defeat of the great experiment of an 
 elective government. 
 
 I should be anxious to return home, if there were any 
 use in being so ; yet I should be most ungrateful not to 
 be happy in the unvaried and constantly increasing kind- 
 ness which I receive here.
 
 LETTER LVI. 19' 
 
 LETTER LVI. 
 
 TO A YOUNG FRIEND. 
 
 London, 16th May, 1844. 
 My Dear C : 
 
 I SHOULD find it very difficult to make you understand 
 how much pleasure it gives me to hear of your good 
 
 conduct, and the satisfaction which Mr. B expresses 
 
 in your character, manners, and attention to business. 
 Suffer nothing, my dear child, to divert you from this 
 course, and remember that nothing is to be put in com- 
 parison with a good character. No money can represent 
 its value, and no man can take it from you without your 
 consent ; the highest blessing and the best power which 
 a good mind can covet, or possess in this world, is 
 that of making others happy. You have that power 
 in your hands, to be used at your pleasure ; for how 
 happy can you make your friends by continuing to be, 
 what they desire you should be, and by maintaining always 
 a character above reproach. 
 
 I had wished to have given you a long letter, but it is 
 now nearly two o'clock in the morning, and a short one 
 will be as much as a long one, what I mainly wish it 
 should be, an assurance of my strong affection for you, 
 and my deep interest in your welfare. Remember that 
 the highest characteristics of a good merchant, are honor, 
 honesty, and punctuality ; and though wealth has its 
 value, and the object of mercantile life is the acquisition 
 of wealth, that it is infinitely more important to be honest, 
 than to be rich, and to maintain the integrity and satisfac-
 
 196 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 tion of your own heart and conscience, than to have the 
 riches of the Indies. 
 
 The picture, at the head of my sheet, shows an exam- 
 ple of some of the amusements which prevail here. It 
 is designed to represent a rowing match, among the 
 students at Oxford. I have seen more than one of these 
 rowing matches on the Thames, called here a regatta, 
 and they are quite as exciting as a horse-race, and 
 vastly more agreeable, because the latter is too often a 
 severe cruelty to a noble animal, and generally accom- 
 panied with corrupting dissipations. 
 
 I wish gymnastic games and exercises were much 
 more in use in our own country than they are ; but in 
 this respect we are quite prosaic and dull. Here there 
 are cricket matches, bowling matches, wrestling matches, 
 foot-races and a variety of other athletic sports, which 
 are extremely conducive to animal vigor and health, and 
 in almost a corresponding degree to mental energy. 
 
 Do write me occasionally, and tell me if there is any 
 thing you want here, which I can send you. Remem- 
 ber that you are my son as well as your father's ; that 
 every thing which concerns you concerns me ; and that 
 you cannot make me more happy than by being a good 
 man and maintaining a high character for integrity, 
 truth, punctuality, and every generous and manly virtue. 
 May God bless you.
 
 LETTER LVIl. 197 
 
 LETTER LVII. 
 
 London, IGtli May, IS-M. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 Many thanks for your kind letter received by the 
 steamer, and many thanks to Heaven that it assures me 
 of your heahh, and the continued health and happiness 
 of your husband and children. Do keep young, and do 
 
 you and E be girls together as long as you can. 
 
 N before this, has, I suppose, received his fox's 
 
 head ; and if the eyes look as sharply at him, as they 
 did at me, I hope he will not be frightened. I felt a 
 good deal troubled when I looked him in the face, to 
 think that I had been accessory to his murder, and that 
 I found any pleasure in that which was only fear and 
 misery and death to him. 
 
 I have been this week to Oxford, and send you a 
 view of the main street, considered the most elegant 
 street in England, lined though it is, with the rear side 
 of several of the Colleges, which front toward the 
 quadrangle or inner court. The buildings are very 
 dark, and the stones of which they are built greatly 
 corroded by time ; they are likewise extremely grand 
 and venerable ; too much crowded together ; but two or 
 three of them have large gardens and play-grounds 
 attached. The town itself is remarkably clean and 
 well built, and its appearance better than that of 
 Cambridge, although the grounds are not so well laid 
 out, nor so extensive. 
 
 I went on Monday, and returned on Wednesday, by 
 17*
 
 198 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS, 
 
 invitation from Drs. Daubeny and Buckland, the former, 
 the professor of Botany and Agriculture, the latter, of 
 Geology. The former delivered two agricultural lectures 
 while I was there, in which I was much interested. 
 The libraries are immense. The Bodleian Library, by 
 much the largest in England, contains more than four 
 hundred thousand volumes ; and there are a great many 
 other libraries connected with the colleges, containing 
 very large collections of books. Nothing ever humbled 
 me more than such an amount of books. Here are the 
 products of toiling hands and aching heads, of indefati- 
 gable labor, and of many a watchful and painful night. 
 Here are the labors of the most brilliant and learned 
 minds, who, when they gave their productions to the 
 world, felt, beyond a doubt, an extreme solicitude as 
 to the reception they should meet with, and thought 
 that their works were at once to affect the great 
 interests of society and the destinies of mankind ; and 
 who, if the poor printer made a slight typographical 
 error, were rendered uneasy and miserable. Here now 
 are their labors stowed away on shelves, never again to 
 be touched, and covered with cobwebs and dust, their 
 names even having escaped the recollection of men. 
 How foolish, then, how exquisitely silly, is all human 
 vanity and self-conceit ! 
 
 At Oxford I dined on Monday evening, with Professor 
 Daubeny, and a large and elegant party of ladies and 
 gentlemen ; and on Tuesday, with another large party, 
 at Doctor Buckland's ; every thing in the most elegant 
 style ; all the gentlemen connected with the University 
 appearing in their caps and gowns and bands, which 
 some of them took off as thev went to dine, but which
 
 LETTER LViri. 199 
 
 several of them retained. Where 1 dined last even- 
 ing, (at eight o'clock ! ) was the Lord Bishop of 
 Exeter, who appeared, as is usual, not in his gown, 
 but with a long black silk apron extending from his 
 chin down below his knees, and a three-cornered hat, 
 which he keeps in his hand, and puts under the table 
 while at dinner. 
 
 LETTER LVIIL 
 
 London, IGth May, 1841. 
 My Dear S : 
 
 So you are going to live at Lynn this summer ; but 
 why did you not tell me in what part of the town, and in 
 what house ? Now let me know, especially as you 
 seem to be going largely into the agricultural line. 
 
 I returned yesterday from Oxford, where I N\ent on 
 Monday — fifty-four miles from London. I went by 
 coach, because no railroad goes nearer than ten miles ; 
 and, after all, a seat upon the top of an English stage- 
 coach, especially near the driver, is a most agreeable mode 
 of getting along. The country is, for the greater part of 
 the distance, perfectly level, with the exception of a range 
 of chalk hills, which here are called high, but of which we 
 certainly should think nothing. It is really amusing to 
 find the driver always getting off, at even such a hill as 
 that from South Salem into town, and locking the 
 wheels ; but their caution in this respect is extreme, and 
 
 certainly would be very comfortable to . Our 
 
 road, for a long way, was through very neat villages,
 
 200 EUROPRAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 examples of the most extraordinary cleanliness, and by- 
 cottages highly picturesque, and covered with ivy, 
 or roses, or honeysuckles. The season was never 
 finer, though the country is now beginning to suffer from 
 want of rain, as we have had nothing but sunshine since 
 the first of April, not even a single rainy day. On 
 Tuesday, a gentleman of Oxford, Mr. Warne, kindly 
 took me to see Blenheim, the seat of the Duke of Marl- 
 borough, about seven miles from Oxford, and quite a 
 show place. I have seen nothing in England upon such 
 a scale of magnificence ; as it was, in fact, built by the 
 nation, as a present to the great warrior, the Duke of 
 Marlborough. What would have most pleased you was 
 the picture gallery, or rather rooms, filled with the 
 original works of some of the great masters — Rubens, 
 Titian, Vandyck, and Carlo Dolce — said to be among 
 the richest known. Indeed, you may form some idea of 
 the estimation in which the pictures are held, when I 
 tell you, that for one of them twelve thousand guineas 
 have been offered by a picture dealer, and for another. 
 Napoleon offered thirty thousand guineas, and yet 
 neither of these is the most valuable picture in the col- 
 lection. The gem of the M'hole is a picture of the 
 Virgin, a Madonna, by Carlo Dolce, than which, in 
 truth, (excepting the Ma7i of Sorrows, which I saw 
 at the Marquis of Exeter's, and which I before de- 
 scribed to you,) I can conceive of no higher perfection 
 to which the art can be carried. The hand of the 
 Virgin, which is open and extended, seems indeed as 
 though it could be clasped. I confess I had no idea of 
 the power of the art, until I saw the works of these 
 great masters, Rubens's coloring is exquisite ; Titian's,
 
 LETTER LVIir. 201 
 
 is equally beautiful and extraordinary, but his sub- 
 jects, with many persons, would be deemed exception- 
 able, though, in this respect, fashion, on this side of 
 the water, seems to make no subjects exceptionable. 
 The library consists here of thirty thousand volumes, 
 arid the room is one hundred and eighty-three feet in 
 length. I returned to Oxford highly gratified with ray 
 visit, and only wish I could give you a satisfactory 
 account of it. 
 
 It would be very difficult to exaggerate the beauty of 
 this place, and the friend who was with me, and was 
 always, after an Irish fashion, complimenting me on the 
 enthusiasm of my admiration, found the mercury in his 
 own tube at the boiling point. The expenditure here was, 
 no doubt, enormous. The splendid and most elaborate 
 monument to the great Duke in the chapel of the 
 palace, the small but beautiful stone bridge in front of 
 the house, and the fluted column, surmounted with a 
 colossal statue of the Duke, which stands at the distance 
 of a mile in front of the house, are said to have cost his 
 Duchess, who caused them to be erected, no less a sum 
 than £78,000 sterling, or three hundred and ninety 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 But, when we consider the amount of gratification 
 which such productions and works of art afford, and for 
 centuries to come will continue to impart ; the stimulus 
 which they give to inventive genius ; and their use and 
 influence in refining the public taste, hardly any expendi- 
 ture — since the money is not thrown away, but only 
 distributed — will be deemed excessive. 
 
 The park embraces twenty-seven hundred acres, and is 
 open to the public. The private gardens embrace sixty
 
 202 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 acres, though they seemed to me to be much larger. 
 After visiting many of the finest places in England, I 
 have seen, as yet, nothing v/hich surpasses these in 
 beauty. An artificial lake of large size bounds them on 
 one side, through their whole length. The grounds which 
 form them are undulating and pleasingly varied. The 
 whole formation and laying out of the grounds are the 
 work of consummate art ; and yet this art is concealed, 
 and natural objects of transcendent beauty appear to 
 rise before you in a perfectly natural order ; here a 
 smooth-shaven knoll, there a tufted summit covered with 
 trees of the richest foliage ; here an open velvet lawn, 
 and there a matted copse or thicket ; winding paths, 
 secluded grottoes, bubbling springs, and cascades glitter- 
 ing in the sun, and fountains sending their waters into 
 the air, and coming down in showers of brilliants ; rustic 
 bridges, and seats covered with moss, with backs made 
 of intertwined and fantastic roots ; an almost infinite 
 variety of trees, and plants, and shrubs, furnishing a 
 variety as diversified of foliage and flowers, — all com- 
 bine to form another Eden, and to give substance and 
 life to the richest visions of poetry. 
 
 When I speak of the gratification and pleasure which 
 such places impart, I beg to state a fact which will 
 strongly illustrate it. In a petition to Parliament, show- 
 ing the necessity or public utility of a railroad in the 
 neighborhood of Chatsworth, the celebrated seat of the 
 Duke of Devonshire, it was stated, as an ascertained 
 fact, that not less than eighty thousand persons visited 
 it in the course of the year. Perhaps scarcely a less 
 number visit Blenheim, though the terms of admission 
 here are rather more difficult and stringent.
 
 LETTKH LVm. 203 
 
 I have often heard it complained of, that fees are to be 
 given for visiting these places, but, in my opinion, wholly 
 without reason. At Blenheim and Studley Parks the 
 fees are fixed ; at Chatsworth, and at most places, they 
 are left optional with the visiter, though as confidently 
 expected as in the former cases. To public places, such 
 as Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's, in my opinion, 
 visiters should be freely admitted, under certain regula- 
 tions, as is the case at the British Museum. But I see 
 no reason why the public should claim to be admitted 
 to the private residence of any gentleman, and it seems 
 to me an act of great courtesy, on his part, to admit 
 them upon any terms. The public have so long enjoyed 
 the privilege of admission, that they seem to claim it as 
 a right ; but, obviously, the permission must be wholly 
 gi-atuitous on the part of the proprietor. 
 
 It seems indispensable that some fee should be re- 
 quired, or, otherwise, in many cases, he would be wholly 
 overrun, and could have no quiet. What fee shall 
 be demanded, and what use he will make of the money 
 when received, are his own affair, and, certainly, no 
 affair of the public. However large the amount received 
 in any instance may be, it does not affect the individual 
 visiter, upon whom the assessment is always compara- 
 tively small, and for which, as far as my experience 
 goes, he receives a most abundant equivalent. I can- 
 not help thinking, likewise, that, in this case, a liberal 
 and just mind will feel grateful that he is permitted to 
 see these things, even upon these terms, and happy in 
 some measure to compensate the civilities of those who 
 wait upon him. 
 
 The exhibition of the Royal Academy is now open.
 
 204 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNEBS. 
 
 but the pictures, amounting to many hundreds, are so 
 numerous as absolutely to confound you. As a portrait 
 painter, Healey, a Bostonian, is greatly esteemed, in the 
 exhibition, for the truth of his likenesses ; but Landseer 
 seems acknowledged by all to bear the palm, and, in his 
 "Shoeing of a Horse," has given life to the canvass. 
 He paints animals vastly better than men. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LIX. 
 
 London, 17th May, 1844. 
 My Deae R : 
 
 A SHORT letter will, I trust, be better than none, and 
 if it merely conveys an assurance of my constant regard, 
 will not, I hope, be unacceptable. First of all then, I 
 hope you, poor icicle as you are, have survived the 
 winter, which, from the reports that have reached this 
 side of the water, must have been of unexampled severity. 
 Here, scarcely a cold day has been felt. It is admitted 
 here, that the mildness of this winter has been extraor- 
 dinary ; but Mr. Everett, who has now passed three 
 winters here, speaks of the remarkable comfort of this 
 climate. The spring, too, has been beautiful. April has 
 been uninterruptedly good weather, and while, during the 
 last spring, my umbrella and great coat were in constant 
 requisition, this season I have scarcely had an occasion 
 to use them. There is another circumstance here, which 
 gives to this season of the year a peculiar brilliancy, and 
 that is, the almost universal cultivation of flowers. 
 Wherever the condition is raised above the very lowest,
 
 LETTER LIX. 205 
 
 there you see displayed a taste for floral culture ; and 
 so strong is this passion; that you see persons of all 
 conditions sticking flowers in their button-holes, or wear- 
 ing them in their hats, or carrying them in their hands. 
 On the day of the Queen's drawing-room, very few of 
 the ladies appeared without a magnificent bouquet, and 
 all the coachmen and footmen of the nobility, wore 
 splendid favors in their bosoms. I like this. I like to 
 see the world beautiful, and by every appliance of art and 
 taste I would render it more beautiful. I would not have 
 life a dull, black, turbid stream, winding its slow and 
 silent way along, but I would have the waters glittering 
 with sunshine by day, and reflecting from their clear 
 bosom the stars of night, and pursuing their course some- 
 times quickly, at other times more slowly, now whirl- 
 ing in eddies, now dashing in beautiful cascades, pre- 
 senting that variety which awakens and stimulates all 
 the faculties, keeps the imagination continually upon the 
 stretch, and thus directly and essentially conduces to 
 the vigor and health of the mind and heart. Now take 
 breath, and perhaps you had better take something else, 
 after such a flourish of mine upon stilts, especially, so 
 early in the morning as seven o'clock. 
 
 I suppose now, you are full of occupation, in fitting 
 up your new-old house. There you have a spacious 
 garden, which was once, I know, in fine order, but 
 which, I suppose, has been suffered to fall into decay. 
 You must put it in prime order once more, against I 
 have the pleasure of seeing it, if ever such a felicity is 
 to fall to my lot again. 
 
 To-morrow is the grand fete at Chiswick, where all 
 the world of fashion goes to the exhibition of fruits and 
 J8
 
 206 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 flowers ; and the lilies and birds of the air, " who toil not, 
 neither do they spin" appear in all their glory. It is 
 considered a great occasion for dress, and I am sure my 
 eyes have hardly recovered from the dazzling brilliancy 
 of last year's display, when, in truth, I never saw dresses 
 so splendid. 
 
 I am imagining now, that in America you are full of 
 politics, and that after the Baltimore Convention, nothing 
 will be heard but Tippecanoe. Pray get in honest men, 
 who do not want to extend your already far too wide 
 territory, and especially, to spread wider and wider the 
 dreadful institution of human slavery. Above all things, 
 if you have any regard for the reputation of the country, 
 do not send any more men to Congress, who choose to 
 settle their quarrels by fisticuffs instead of arguments, 
 upon the floor of the house. I can hardly tell you how 
 much mortification we peaceable Americans suffer, when 
 such displays are paraded and emblazoned in all the 
 English papers. Let me hear from you a little oftener 
 if you please, and give me a little more gossip of the 
 town, for I have always considered you as a sort of 
 Village Gazette, knowing every thing that is going on, 
 and presenting it always in a manner most animated and 
 agreeable, and in the highest style of poetical embellish- 
 ment. Adieu.
 
 LETTER r.x. 207 
 
 LETTER LX. 
 
 London,- 17t!i May, 1844. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 I THOUGHT, it not impossible that you would like to 
 adorn some vacant page in your Historical Work, with 
 the picture of the monument erected a few years ago in 
 Oxford, in honor of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, who 
 were burnt at the stake in what is called, (what a 
 frightful and sad misnomer ! ) religious persecution. It 
 has been recently built, of a white, or rather light 
 colored stone, and is eminently beautiful. I cannot 
 tell you its exact dimensions, but I have seen nothing 
 in England more tasteful or handsomer, and when look- 
 ing at it, I could not help wishing the erectors of the 
 Bunker Hill obelisk could have had more wisdom in the 
 design which they adopted, and then they would not 
 have been compelled to sell the land around the base of 
 their structure for house lots, instead of leaving it for 
 a distant posterity, as consecrated ground. The two 
 great monuments in London, that to the Duke of York 
 in Waterloo Place, and that to Lord Nelson, now 
 before my eyes, in Trafalgar Square, are in the same 
 bad taste as the Bunker Hill monument, and are by no 
 means, especially the former, pleasing objects. In this 
 respect, the Scotch have been much wiser, and the 
 monument to Sir Weaker Scott, of which I think I sent 
 you a print, is remarkably beautiful. So it must he, for 
 everybody says so, and I believe in spite of all the 
 refinements and fastidiousness of criticism, what the
 
 208 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 public taste, of the ignorant as well as the learned, the 
 vulgar and the cultivated, pronounce well-proportioned 
 and beautiful, must be considered as conformed to 
 a true standard. 
 
 I am happy to hear you like my present, and please 
 
 tell A , that the comparison of the poor man's 
 
 fare with the feast at Derby, has not, I believe, given 
 offence, but with most persons has been thought to 
 afford a useful, moral lesson. This is exactly the 
 object for which I designed it. 
 
 I have not yet visited Mrs. L 's garden, nor have 
 
 I been able to learn much about it. Chiswick is the 
 great place of resort, and the Horticultural Society give 
 a grand fete there on Saturday, to-morrow. You may 
 judge how select they choose to have the company, 
 when I tell you that five shillings, more than a dollar, 
 are required for a ticket of admission before the day of 
 the show, and seven-and-sixpence on that day, if you 
 purchase your ticket at the gate, and no free tickets are 
 given to anybody, nor can a ticket be purchased without 
 the recommendation of a member. 
 
 LETTER LXI. 
 
 London, 17tli May, 1S44. 
 
 TO A BOY. 
 Dear E : 
 
 I HOPE the fox's head reached you in safety, and that 
 you was not frightened, when you opened the box, to see 
 him staring you in the face, as I have no doubt he would
 
 LKTTER lAI. 
 
 209 
 
 with his eyes wide open if you stood in front of liim. 
 He quite startled me, when one day I returned from the 
 country, to see his glaring eyes looking me out of counte- 
 nance, at the tea-table. Poor fellow ! he had a very good 
 right to look hardly at me and all others who were accessory 
 to his cruel murder, which seemed to be aggravated by 
 being perpetrated in wanton sport. In some points of 
 view man is not a very respectable animal, since he makes 
 war continually upon the animals below him, tormenting 
 them in a great variety of ways, stripping off their skins for 
 his clothing, tearing the muscles from their bones for his 
 food, killing them from mere wantonness and pleasure, 
 and more than that, training some of them to prey upon 
 each other, and making it a particular art and business 
 to stimulate the passions and naturally ferocious appetites 
 of some of them to worry and destroy others. Then, 
 after all this, he has the presumption to call himself a 
 man, as though he would be thought humane. Out ! I 
 say upon such impudence — certainly he must have a 
 long account to settle in the end with many of the brute 
 creation. 
 
 I am delighted to hear of the progress of your muse- 
 um, and I send you a picture of Blenheim Castle to 
 
 adorn its walls. Show it to to whom I gave some 
 
 account of my visit there. It was erected at the ex- 
 pense of the nation as a present to the great Duke of 
 Marlborough, a distinguished soldier, who was an extraor- 
 dinary beast of prey, and killed and destroyed as many 
 human beings as common hunters do foxes and rabbits, 
 and pheasants and partridges ; and there was scarcely a 
 limit to the cottages which he burnt down, the towns he 
 made desolate, and the women whom he made widows. 
 18*
 
 210 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 and the children whom lie made fatherless, and the 
 floods of tears he caused to flow, and the human hearts 
 he crushed with unutterable agony. And this, men call 
 glory, and this. Christians, professing a religion of peace, 
 honor and applaud, and in praise of it, erect splendid 
 monuments, and in reward of it, build and endow palaces. 
 I pray to God that the world may presently learn better, 
 and abjure war as an unmitigated curse and crime, and 
 cultivate only the arts of peace, and study how they 
 can make each other happier. 
 
 As a work of art, however, the palace is most mag- 
 nificent, and is crowded with pictures and statues, of the 
 beauty of which, and the genius displayed in them, no 
 language of praise seems to me would be an exaggera- 
 tion. 
 
 Now my dear N , tell me if there is any thing I can 
 
 get for you here. I '11 do my best. In making a museum, 
 seek more than any thing else for natural curiosities, and 
 study the history and properties of them, so that when 
 you show them and are asked any questions, you may 
 be able fully to explain them. 
 
 LETTER LXII. 
 
 London, ISth June, 1844. 56 Charing Cross. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I WROTE this morning, but did not know then that I 
 should have another opportunity, but I have got two 
 or three hours' reprieve, and surely I will not fail to 
 acknowledge your two kind letters. I will not say how
 
 LETTER LXII. 211 
 
 much they are worth to me ; that would not be so easy. 
 Even a scrap of paper, traced with the name of one I love, 
 is precious to me ; but a letter coming so many thousand 
 miles, full of grateful intelligence, and beaming with affec- 
 tion, is an affair not to be estimated by any pecuniary 
 
 standard. I have likewise to thank INIr. D for his 
 
 kind letters, I am often thinking of the beauties of Elfin- 
 glen, and if I could get hold of what I know you think 
 
 the prettiest flower in it, little G , I am afraid I 
 
 should break the stem or the leaves, or do some other 
 grievous harm. 
 
 I hardly know what to say to you about England. I 
 have not certainly said all I might, but then it is difficult 
 to make a selection of such topics as would be interest- 
 ing to you. Last week, then, I went to one of the great 
 breweries, the long famous establishment of Whitbread, 
 which has been known all the world over. A gentleman, 
 one of the largest maltsters in England, agreed to show me 
 the brew-house, and explain the whole process ; so I 
 gave notice to some American friends, and they to some 
 others, and lo ! twenty Americans, gentlemen and ladies, 
 met at my room, and on we went to the very great ad- 
 miration of the people at the brewery. The place was 
 well worth visiting. It covers several acres. It has 
 eight steam boilers, and vats and casks innumera- 
 ble ; but what most surprised us was eight large vats 
 made to hold two thousand barrels apiece. The over- 
 seer told us that they could make one thousand barrels of 
 beer per day when in full work. There is one brewery 
 still larger than this, which I am to see before I leave 
 England. 
 
 A few days since I went to see the great review given
 
 212 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 at Windsor to the Emperor of Russia. The review was 
 a splendid affair. There were seven thousand troops, 
 and as to the carriages and conveyances, and people of 
 all descriptions, they were altogether past enumeration. 
 Military reviews are not much to my taste. I abhor war 
 and don't at all like the trade of a soldier, the trade of 
 human butchery. However, a holiday muster is a very 
 pretty affair. You will be surprised when I tell you 
 there was not a booth upon the ground, nor near it, and 
 the only place of refreshment which I saw, was that of 
 one man selling soda-water, oranges, and ginger-beer. 
 At horse-racings things are differently managed ; but the 
 police are in such numbers that there is no confusion, or 
 disturbance, or quarrelling. 
 
 On Saturday last I went to the fete of the Royal 
 Horticultural Society at Chiswick. The terms of ad- 
 mission here are made difficult, so that the company may 
 be select. Chiswick is seven miles from London. It is 
 a matter of etiquette for the ladies to go in full and 
 elegant dress. There were more than fifteen thousand 
 people in the gardens, and four bands of music, and as 
 to the carriages, there were not only acres, but miles of 
 them. I went in a public conveyance, and when we 
 reached the first carriage in the line, waiting for its turn 
 to drive up and set down its company, at the gate, we 
 were then nearly three miles from the place. But they 
 must all wait their turn, as the police would not let one 
 go before the other. It is impossible for me to tell you 
 how beautiful the flowers and fruits were, and still more 
 how beautiful the ladies were. Adieu.
 
 LETTER LXIII. 213 
 
 LETTER LXIII. 
 
 Camberwell, near London, 30th June, 1844. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I SHALL not get my letters till to-mon'o\v, as no letters 
 are ever delivered here on Sunday. I think well, upon 
 the whole, of this arrangement. I do not believe that the 
 people here are in truth more religious than with us ; but, 
 unless in cases of war, or some dreadful epidemic, or 
 other great emergency, it is certainly well, well for the 
 physical and moral health of the community, that there 
 should be a suspension of labor, a pause in that tre- 
 mendous, rushing, and tumbling current of business, 
 toil, and pleasure, by which the great mass of the com- 
 munity are hurried on, especially in commercial and 
 luxurious cities, with an impetuosity, scarcely conceiv- 
 able to those who have not actually witnessed it, and 
 which leaves little or no time for men to commune with 
 themselves, and settle their accounts with their own con- 
 sciences and souls. Into what disorder and confusion 
 these accounts, without such occasional settlement, are 
 liable to get, and how often, and how near, under such 
 circumstances, men approach insolvency and moral 
 bankruptcy, it does not require much observation or 
 experience to determine. Sunday is, upon the whole, 
 well observed in London, and, considering that its popu- 
 lation reaches two millions, and embraces every grade 
 and kind of person, character, and condition, its observ- 
 ance would not lose in comparison with that in Boston.
 
 '214 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 This is particularly the case in the forenoon, when the 
 churches are well filled. No shops are open, excepting 
 here and there a few Jews' shops. Some confectioners' 
 shops and cigar shops are half open, and there are always 
 butchers' stalls, in the market-places of those parts of the 
 town where the poor principally reside, open until church 
 time. The beer and drinking shops are not open until after 
 church is out, and then they mainly serve to supply fami- 
 lies, who depend on them for their beer for dinner, as 
 scarcely any family ever keeps a supply of its own. There 
 is not a great deal of riding about the town, excepting the 
 omnibuses, which carry people to and from church ; but 
 after church, in the afternoon, vast numbers of people 
 take long walks out of town, to the tea-gardens and 
 taverns, or go different excursions in the innumerable 
 boats, which ply continually upon the Thames ; and 
 between five and seven, Hyde Park is thronged with the 
 nobility, in splendid equipages, and hundreds of gentle- 
 men and ladies on horseback, and thousands of well- 
 dressed people on foot, in the gardens, and walks, and 
 parks ; but there is nowhere any disorder or offensive 
 conduct, and the Sunday passes ofT as quietly as it 
 would in one of the towns on Connecticut River. I 
 hold, as you know, to no Jewish sabbath, and to no 
 peculiar sacredness in one day above another, but in the 
 suspension of the business and hurry of life, in the 
 habits of cleanliness which it induces, in the relaxation 
 of toil, which it brings with it, to the laboring classes, 
 in the simple pleasures, which, where rationally observed, 
 in my opinion, it should both permit and encourage, and 
 in its religious instructions and observances, I consider it 
 an institution in the highest measure conducive to com-
 
 LETTER LXIV. 215 
 
 fort, good order, private and public morals, and the 
 general maintenance of a sense of religion in the world, 
 which, I fear, without these external observances, would 
 become absolutely extinct Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXIV. 
 
 Edinburgh, 1st August, 1843. 
 My Deak Sik: 
 
 This city has not quite met my expectations, and yet 
 I can scarcely say why. It is certainly far less of a 
 business place than I expected. I looked for a place of 
 considerable commerce and trade, but it really has none, 
 and Leith, the harbor, is a very small concern, with the 
 exception of the improvements of the Duke of Buc- 
 cleuch, which are of the most expensive, substantial, 
 and, I may add, magnificent description. The new 
 city is built with great elegance, but a great many of 
 the houses are marked " To let," and " Lodgings " 
 appears in a very large proportion of the houses in the 
 best parts of the city, which certainly indicates any 
 thing but wealth. The old city, especially the lowest 
 streets, which, as you cross the bridges in the old town, 
 present a very odd appearance, at least a hundred feet 
 below where you stand, is perfectly odious and detest- 
 able, a compound of degradation and nastiness — for no 
 other word in the English language will meet the case 
 — which I think cannot be surpassed ; but the new town 
 is clean and most elegant. The hills in the vicinity are 
 remarkably picturesque, and the views from the Castle
 
 216 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 and the monuments are eminently striking and splendid. 
 The inhabitants seem to me to be mainly professional 
 men or retired gentlemen, and in no place in the 
 country, scarcely in London, have I seen so many and so 
 well-filled bookstores. I shall remain here, at least, a 
 week, making a day's trip to Glasgow in that time, for 
 recreation, writing, and inquiry, and shall quit Scotland 
 for this year with the current month. I shall then go 
 into the southern counties until winter, as Scotland 
 demands a tour by itself. 
 
 The agriculture, in this part of Scotland, seems to me 
 in a much higher condition than in England, though I 
 am told that, in the north, the country and the cultivation 
 are alike poor. You will be surprised, when I tell you that 
 I find very great difficulty in understanding the language, 
 but not more than the English themselves. The sound 
 of broad Scotch very much resembles the French, and 
 it is spoken with equal rapidity. " I dinna ken " has 
 become quite familiar ; sair, and muckle, and puir, are 
 likewise intelligible ; gate means way ; and when 1 
 inquired, in Dundee, for Scouring-Burn, and further 
 asked the young girl, who informed me the way, what 
 Burn meant, she replied, " Tut, mun ! Tut, mun ! " I 
 naturally inferred this was the same as to say, " You are 
 a goose for asking ; " and when I inquired of a child, who 
 was carrying along a pailful of potatoe skins, what they 
 were for, and she told me it was " weans' mate," I was 
 quite at a loss, until another person told me it was 
 " weans' meat," that is, food for children. So I get 
 along, and am not certain that I shall not speak toler- 
 able Scotch myself, in the course of a week, for I find 
 among these people I am quite forgetting my English 
 and my grammar.
 
 LETTKR LXIV. 217 
 
 The great matter of excitement here, at this time, is 
 the church rebelHon, or rather secession. The courts of 
 law have decided in the main, with certain exceptions, 
 that where the right of presentation to a society is held, 
 the patron may present whom he pleases as their 
 minister, and the church has no right to object, excepting 
 " for life, literature, or learning." The church claim the 
 right of objecting and rejecting in any case, without an 
 appeal to the Presbytery. The government refusing to 
 budge in this case, four hundred ministers at once 
 renounced their livings, and the established churches are 
 comparatively deserted, and new houses for the seceding 
 ministers are springing up in all directions. In the 
 meantime, societies worship in halls, schoolhouses, mills, 
 and in the open air. I think they would be doing a 
 much more noble act of religion, if, instead of venting 
 their passion in this way, they would spend much of 
 their zeal, and some of their money, in providing for 
 their poor, and giving them decent places to live in ; 
 and tear down, by hundreds, the most filthy and odious 
 habitations, into which human beings were ever crowded. 
 But to talk to a fanatic, or a sectarian, is like talking to 
 the wind. 
 
 What with the Scotch Church, and the Irish question, 
 and the Turn-out at Ashton, and the Rebecca riots in 
 Wales, and the corn law agitation, and the distresses at 
 the collieries, the labors of the government are not 
 without their perplexities, and the prospects are some- 
 what threatening. The government are safe while they 
 are secure of the army, but any disaffection here, and it 
 would all be over with them. 
 
 I shall impatiently expect my letters to-morrow, 
 19
 
 218 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS, 
 
 hoping they will bring me favorable accounts from the 
 places and objects over which, though the broad and 
 deep ocean rolls between us, my heart and my imagina- 
 tion are continually hovering. 
 
 LETTER LXV. 
 
 West Slratton, Hampshire County, 28th July, 1844. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I do n't owe you a letter, but I want to owe you 
 one as soon as possible. I anticipate the packet day, 
 for I shall be on the wing to-morrow, and shall not 
 ahght again before the packet is off. 
 
 Here I am, upon a visit to my old pupil, Mrs. 
 Mackintosh, who certainly had no faults when a child, 
 and does not appear to have acquired any since she 
 became a woman and a wife, with two little blue-eyed, 
 flaxen-haired children — I am not certain there are not 
 three. This is about fifty miles from London, and two 
 hours' ride thence by rail ; for here they talk of riding 
 upon rails, a matter which, in the United States, is 
 understood in a very different sense. Her house is a 
 mile and a half from the station, where I found a 
 conveyance waiting for me on my arrival. They live 
 in what is here called a cottage, that is, a good sized 
 house, with a piazza or verandah on three sides, covered 
 with vines and flowers, and embosomed in trees, with a 
 good garden and six acres of land, adjoining a village 
 consisting of about six thatched cottages, and one farm-
 
 LETTER LXV. 219 
 
 house. The whole style of the place is neat and 
 pretty, with very little show or expense, but much 
 of comfort. They knew I was about to attend the 
 great agricultural meeting at Southampton, so they 
 were kind enough to invite me to visit them on my 
 way. I remain here over to-day, and shall proceed 
 to-morrow to the Isle of Wight, where, I am in- 
 formed, there is much to interest me ; thence to East- 
 bourne, near Brighton, to see four hundred allotment 
 tenants ; thence to Tunbridge and Seven Oaks, to see 
 the hop cultivation in Kent ; thence to London, to finish 
 the printing of my Second Report ; thence to Dublin, 
 to attend a meeting of the Irish Agricultural Society, at 
 the invitation of the Marquis of Downshire, and after- 
 wards to his place ; but, beyond that, I cannot now 
 write you my destination. My gratifications increase as 
 I go on, and new objects of curiosity and instruction are 
 constantly presenting themselves. My great regret is, 
 that I have not more time, more powers of observing, 
 and more leisure and ability to record my observations, 
 and to fix the impressions, as they pass before my eye 
 and over my mind. I am certain that, in order to 
 travel to the best advantage, a man ought to devote 
 twenty years, at least, to an almost exclusive preparation 
 for this object. However, I will do what I can. Some 
 little experience, some practical knowledge, and some 
 habits of observation may assist me, and I beg of you 
 not to be discouraged about what appears the slow 
 progress of my work. As no person, who has not been on 
 the field of battle, can always judge correctly of the move- 
 ments of an army, nor understand why they do not 
 advance in this direction, and deploy in that, and why
 
 220 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 they bivouac here or attack there, and why, especially, 
 by some desperate effort, they do not bring the contest 
 to a conclusion, so it is equally difficult for you to see 
 and understand all the circumstances which either accel- 
 erate, retard, or modify the execution of my enterprise. 
 
 I left London on Tuesday for Southampton, where I 
 have been attending the great agricultural meeting, I 
 may say, of the world ; and the show of implements, 
 and the pens of cattle, horses, sheep, and swine, and the 
 crowd of men and women, gentlemen and ladies, and 
 the show inside the yard, and the fair, and the strolling 
 theatres outside, have altogether presented a most extra- 
 ordinary spectacle. I met Dr. Howe on the ground one 
 day, and several other Americans. Indeed, I think that 
 there is not a civilized nation on the globe which was 
 not represented there. We had two great dinners ; one 
 on Wednesday, of seven hundred ; one on Thursday, of 
 twelve or fourteen hundred, and a great many speeches, 
 in which I took good care, by a previous letter to the 
 Duke of Richmond, 7iot to be called upon to participate. 
 My voice is too low ; and I have always found that as 
 soon as one concerns himself about the difficulty of be- 
 ing heard, and is compelled to raise his voice above the 
 natural pitch, he loses the recollection of his subject, and 
 fails always of satisfying himself, and consequently of sat- 
 isfying others. I received every attention I could ask for. 
 Lord Hatherton came to me in the most cordial manner, 
 and desired me on my return to London to go directly 
 to his house and take possession as long as I pleased. I 
 should find servants and every thing I wanted ; and, 
 should I visit Staffordshire, he wished I would go to 
 Teddesly Park and make my home there as long as
 
 LETTER LXV. 221 
 
 suited my convenience ; he only regretted that he and 
 Lady Hatherton would be necessarily absent, trav^elling 
 with a sick daughter. Was not that very kind ? But 
 this is only a sample of the kindness which is. constantly 
 shown me. I have now at least twenty, and I believe 
 much nearer fifty invitations to visit in the country, and not 
 to call, but to stay. But I think the visit of Friday evening 
 was the most agreeable circumstance of this occasion. 
 Earl Hardwicke, whom I met at Southampton, near 
 which he has a marine villa and a yacht, one of the 
 prettiest spots I have yet seen, directly upon the shore 
 opposite the Isle of Wight, came kindly to invite me to 
 dine with him on Friday evening, and promised to intro- 
 duce me to Col. Le Couteur, from the Island of Jersey, 
 of which he is, I believe, the governor. He is one of 
 the most eminent agriculturists in the country. Accord- 
 ingly, I staid over Friday night ; Friday was the last 
 day of the show. I went with Col. Le Couteur to Syd- 
 ney Lodge. Lord Hardwicke had been detained beyond 
 the hour, owing to the wind, but his Lady came in as 
 soon as we arrived, with five elegantly dressed and as 
 pretty children as I ever saw — one in the nurse's arms 
 — and the four showing, as she made them stand up in 
 line, a beautiful gradation of age. 
 
 It is impossible to have had a more elegant and agree- 
 able visit. We met several intelligent and interesting 
 people ; the conversation was full of wit and humor, 
 upon miscellaneous topics, many of a practical nature, 
 upon which the ladies seemed to be quite as much at 
 home as the gentlemen. For here, to their honor, many 
 ladies of the highest rank take a deep interest both in 
 19*
 
 222 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 agriculture and politics. I shall not speak more particu- 
 larly of my noble host and hostess, but I have never in 
 my life been more impressed with the charm which the 
 highest elegance of manners, joined with the most unaf- 
 fected good humor and desire to make those around you 
 happy, throws over the intercourse of refined life. 
 
 I walked two miles to church this morning with Mr. 
 Mackintosh. This county is one of the most agreeable 
 parts of England, and I have nowhere seen the dwell- 
 ings of the laborers looking half so well, with the excep- 
 tion of Chatsworth and one or two other places. The 
 three villages in the neighborhood belong to Sir Thomas 
 Baring, a man of immense wealth, who has done all he 
 could to make his people comfortable. The church and 
 congregation were among the neatest which I have 
 seen ; and you would be surprised to see all the farm 
 laborers in the congregation wearing their long frocks, as 
 white as snow, and occupying the centre of the church, 
 the gentry being at the side. The minister seemed a 
 man of good sense, and adapted his discourse, which 
 was quite practical, to his hearers. 
 
 I have not much to say to you about London, where 
 I shall not return to stay, for some time. I believe, 
 since I wrote you, I have been at an elegant party at Mr. 
 Everett's, of seventy Americans. We were not expected 
 until ten o'clock. I went about a quarter-to-eleven and 
 left at half-past-twelve, and then had to walk six miles, 
 which took me until two o'clock in the morning. I did 
 not get back to Southampton from Sydney Lodge, the 
 other evening, until one o'clock, which was quite too late 
 either for my health or comfort. These late hours do not
 
 LKTTKR LXVI. 22^3 
 
 suit me. Col. Le Couteur urges me to visit him on my 
 way to France, and promises me an Alderney heifer to 
 take home. I do not know what better present he could 
 make me. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXVI. 
 
 London, 29lli July, 1844. 
 My Dear R : 
 
 You are so fastidious that I scarcely know how I am 
 to weave any thing out of my poor brains that shall find 
 favor in your eyes ; and it seems strange to me, that as 
 you grow older, you do not grow better. Of that, how- 
 ever, I suppose one may well despair, and perhaps I 
 am bound to think that, having reached the zenith, 
 there is no rising higher for you ; so then, dear lady, 
 remain as you are until some poor soul has the felicity 
 of taking you " for better or for worse " — for worse, 
 probably. 
 
 I must confess I should like once more, with you, 
 to gather up a few of the reminiscences of days 
 gone by. I should like to learn likewise what now 
 occupies your care. I suppose you are full of poli- 
 tics, and sure of your candidate's election. I am 
 content. Doubtless the opposite party will rally for 
 a death-struggle, and while there is life there is of 
 course hope. For my part, I am glad for a while 
 to be out of the vortex, and am sure that nothing 
 will again induce me to approach the maelstrom. 
 There is not always a great choice among politi-
 
 224 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 cians ; as it respects most of them, they are gener- 
 ally for themselves, and hut little for the country. 
 An honest, disinterested, and just man stands out like 
 many of the patriots of the revolution, a full head 
 and shoulders above other men. This race seems 
 almost extinct, and perhaps appear only in times of 
 difficulty and danger. I was glad to learn that Con- 
 gress had adjom-ned. They seem at this distance to 
 have done little for the country ; and, by their personal 
 quarrels, very much to have dishonored it. Many of the 
 politicians now in fashion seem to me among the very 
 smallest fish that swim, and particularly to delight in 
 muddy water. What, with American slavery, Missis- 
 sippi repudiation, the unjustifiable course of Pennsylvania 
 in regard to her debts, and some of the other bankrupt 
 states, the riots in Philadelphia, and the brawls in Con- 
 gress, American reputation is, and I cannot say, undeserv- 
 edly, at a low ebb in Europe ; and one young lady had 
 the impudence to tell me that Yankee had got to be the 
 synonyme for rogue. To be sure, she chose to qualify 
 her condemnation and to make exceptions, but I cannot 
 say she mended the matter much ; yet it is very difficult 
 to stand up against some facts that are brought out in 
 array against us. I can truly say of my country, as in 
 some other cases, " with all thy faults I love thee still ; " 
 but I do not love her faults, and wish I could see 
 even a gleam of hope that she would amend them. 
 This country has faults, enormous faults, Heaven knows ; 
 and while her rich and upper classes are rolling in a 
 luxury and abundance almost without a parallel in his- 
 tory, the poor are suffering from a poverty and destitu- 
 tion equally unsurpassed. Will matters ever come right
 
 LETTER LXVI. 225 
 
 of themselves ? This, of course, cannot be hoped ; but 
 in the poverty and destitution and wretchedness of the 
 lower classes, and in the constant increase of these 
 classes, Great Britain must look to the future with 
 fearful apprehension. It seems a great evil that no 
 government has ever existed, or for ought I see, is ever 
 likely to be found, which will make not conquest, not 
 wealth, not glory its object, but the improvement of the 
 condition of the powerless, and the advancement and 
 difRision of general comfort and happiness, and above all 
 the moral elevation of the people. 
 
 I was at church yesterday, at a village about sixty 
 miles from London. For a rarity, the preaching was 
 plain, sensible, and practical. This is a rarity. The 
 preaching too often is far from being either interesting 
 or instructive. In the Episcopal Church, the sermon is 
 considered no part of the service of divine worship, as 
 indeed it is not. Every thing in this church is matter of 
 prescription and regulation. The ministers are not left 
 at liberty to speculate, and in all matters of faith and 
 doctrine have only to ask what the church decrees. 
 They dare not go out of their bounds, even look over the 
 high fence by which they are shut in. A respectable 
 clergyman of Oxford, sixty years of age, the principal 
 of one of the colleges at Oxford, and a doctor of divinity, 
 told me that he was never at any other than an Episco- 
 pal church, but once, in his life. He must be an emi- 
 nently wcll-infomied man for a teacher of youth. 
 
 In London I more frequently, than at any other place, 
 attend the French Church, at St. Martins Le Grand. It 
 has an excellent liturgy, and the preaching is sensible, 
 serious, and practical. I sometimes attend Mr. Fox's
 
 226 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 service. He has cut adrift from all sects, and pretty 
 nigh from Christianity itself, as it is commonly under- 
 stood. It is not for me, however, to judge of any man's 
 Christianity. It is as much as I can do, to take care of 
 my own. He takes no text, but discourses upon sub- 
 jects previously announced. He has lately been giving 
 a course of lectures upon the Passions. He is a man of 
 extraordinary talent, and full of knowledge and of thought. 
 He instantly sets your own mind to work, and it is im- 
 possible not to attend to him. His personal appearance 
 and manner are thought to be against him ; and he some- 
 times seasons his discourse with jokes or satire, which 
 are not to my taste ; but with all these abatements, he 
 is usually eloquent, interesting, and instructive ; and as 
 to the music and singing, at this place of worship, it has 
 been superior, on some occasions, to any thing which I 
 have heard, and is in itself worth a voyage across the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 The Unitarians here are a respectable body, but the 
 prejudices which exist against them are bitter and unre- 
 lenting. They have lately had, however, a noble tri- 
 umph in Parliament. In the case of a legacy left by 
 Lady Hewley, many years ago, which they have long 
 enjoyed, their right was disputed. Unitarianism was 
 decided by the highest courts to be no form of Christian- 
 ity, and the legacy was taken away from them, on the 
 ground that it was left for the support of the ministers 
 of the Gospel, and they did not come under that denom- 
 ination. Having succeeded in this, the Orthodox dis- 
 senters next made an attempt to get away all their chap- 
 els on much the same ground. By a bill passed this 
 session, which has been most pertinaciously opposed and
 
 LETTER LXVII. 227 
 
 disputed by the bigots of all parties, the Unitarians have 
 succeeded in having the possession of their chapels made 
 secure to them. This is considered here a great move- 
 ment in Catholicism. 
 
 I wish you would write me oftener. You can do it 
 as Svell as not, and your letters, though often dreadfully 
 malignant and severe, which I know you don't intend, 
 are always welcome. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXVII. 
 
 West Stratton, Andover Road, Hampshire, 
 29Ui July, 1S44 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I AM now at Mr. Mackintosh's, fifty-six miles from 
 London, where I came to pass Sunday, and I shall leave 
 to-day, or certainly, if the rain does not prevent me, to- 
 morrow morning, for the Isle of Wight. I shall not 
 make a long stay there. 
 
 I hardly know what to communicate, as I seem to 
 
 have exhausted my whole stock in my letter to A . 
 
 The Agricultural Show at Southampton was a remarka- 
 ble occasion. I met a number of Americans on the 
 ground, and was told that there were several others 
 lookuag for me, but it was exceedingly difficult to find 
 one, unless by mere accident. There were a great many 
 farmers' wives and daughters, as well as a great many of 
 the noblesse, in the yards, inspecting the implements and 
 the cattle, with catalogues in their hands, and showing 
 the remarkable points of the animals with as much skill 
 and sagacity as if they had been experienced breeders
 
 2:28 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 of live stock ; some of them are, and also competitors 
 for the premiums. One of the largest exhibitors of 
 farming implements, was a woman who had succeeded 
 to her deceased husband's concerns, and manages a large 
 establishment with much success. The Enghsh women 
 and ladies, to their praise be it spoken, while they are as 
 far from any thing indelicate as any persons I have seen, 
 have no sickly affectation of modesty, and do not die 
 at once at the sight either of a cow or a bull. The 
 show occupied four days. On Tuesday, was the trial of 
 implements ; on Wednesday, was the exhibition of im- 
 plements and machinery ; on Thursday, the exhibition 
 of cattle and implements ; and on Friday, the public 
 sale. Half a crown was required for admission to the 
 yards from Wednesday to Thursday noon, and after that 
 a shilling ; and the sum received for admission during 
 those days, was £3,000, or about ,^'15,000. 
 
 The great dinners on Wednesday and Thursday, to 
 which I was invited as an honorary guest, were on a 
 large scale. After the toasts come on, and the speech- 
 es, an English assembly at such public dinners becomes 
 extremely uproarious, and the cheering, or " hip I hip ! 
 ha ! and three times three cheers, and one cheer more," 
 is very disagreeable, and is really the most unpleasant 
 feature in English manners. Custom, however, estab- 
 lishes it, and any alteration is not to be soon expected ; 
 though I believe it is quite as offensive to many of the 
 English gentlemen, as to a foreigner. 
 
 I am sorry to tell S that there were no dogs 
 
 shown for exhibition or premium, though many of the 
 English are as proud of their dogs as of their children. 
 They are not considered as agricultural stock, though
 
 LETTER LXVII, 229 
 
 they are sometimes used in carts for drauglit. Two 
 things I have wished very much to do, since I have been 
 
 in England — one, was to be able to send S a httle 
 
 pony and pony-carriage, of which I have seen some of 
 the prettiest estabUshments that can be imagined, fitted 
 to carry two people ; and, indeed, a great many of the 
 nobility have them in their places in the country, and 
 are often seen driving them in Hyde Park ; another, is 
 
 to send E an Alderney cow, looking like a gazelle, 
 
 giving the richest cream, and making eight or ten pounds 
 of the most delicious butter a week, and just fit to make 
 a pet of round the house. I should like to add to this 
 a donkey for N and G ; for at Hyde Park cor- 
 ner, and at all the principal places of rural resort in the 
 neighborhood of London, you find half a dozen, and 
 sometimes twenty or thirty of these animals, standing 
 with side-saddles and chairs on their backs, for ladies 
 and children to ride upon, a mile for threepence, and with 
 perfect safety. Their knitting-needle gait is always 
 amusing, and sometimes quite swift. These are not 
 
 very extravagant desires, you will admit. If S had 
 
 her pony and carriage, and Carlo to go in livery as 
 footman, I am afraid she would be quite as difficult of 
 approach as the Queen. 
 
 The summer here, they say, has been almost unpar- 
 alleled for extreme heat, and quite equal, I think, to an 
 American summer. I myself have actually suffered from 
 the heat, both in mind and body, though I now think 
 the worst is over. There is one circumstance greatly in 
 favor of England, and that is the almost entire absence 
 of mosquitoes and flies. I have not seen nor heard a 
 mosquito since I have been here, and flies are almost as 
 20
 
 230 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 little to be found, though there have been more of them 
 than the last year. They constitute no troublesome 
 annoyance ; and do not, as with us, cover the food before 
 you can come to the table. 
 
 This is a very fine farming district where I now am, 
 and Mr. Mackintosh invited a respectable farmer, who 
 manages seventeen hundred acres, to visit me last even- 
 ing, and I am to look over his farm this morning. This 
 farmer, though he manages so large an estate and is 
 himself a man of large property, — for the capital required 
 to manage such an estate, is at least £5 an acre, which 
 would be above $40,000, — told me that he never was 
 in London but once, though he can go there m two and a 
 half hours. He certainly must have inhabitiveness 
 large. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXVm. 
 
 Portsmouth, 1st August, 1844. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 To-DAY brought me your ever welcome letters. I re- 
 ceived them at Newport in the Isle of Wight. I bless 
 the mail every day of my life, and thought myself am- 
 ply compensated in stopping a day on my journey to get 
 them. 
 
 The Isle of Wight is perfectly delightful. In its 
 general features it resembles Rhode Island, though it is 
 much more picturesque. I wished to have made the tour 
 of the island, but it would have cost me more time than 
 I could afford ; and as I went, not for the picturesque, 
 but the useful, I staid only two nights and two days.
 
 LETTER LXVIII. 231 
 
 One of them was unfortunately taken up by vain at- 
 tempts to find gentlemen to whom I had letters, 
 and getting misinformation as to the residence of another. 
 Of one thing I am quite sure, that in regard to localities, 
 distances, and roads, the lower classes of English are 
 much less informed than people of the same condition 
 among us ; for the reason, I suppose, that there are 
 many more people and places here to be known and 
 talked about. Some of the people seem to me in con- 
 dition of the boy, who, being inquired of where the road, 
 on which the inquirer was passing, went to, replied, that, 
 for his part, he did not know where it went to. It was 
 always there at night when he went to bed, and he found 
 it in the same place when he got up in the morning. 
 
 The villages and cottages on the Isle of Wight are 
 the pleasantest I have yet seen in England, and the 
 harbor was filled with gentlemen's yachts, on board 
 which, they and their wives and daughters spend several 
 weeks in summer. With some classes here, pleasure 
 in various forms seems the business of life, and never, I 
 believe, was there such an accumulation of wealth as 
 in this country, and such profusion in the expenditure 
 of it in all the forms of luxury and elegant indulgence. 
 That is one side of the picture. I will not now present 
 the contrast. 
 
 Mr. Mackintosh took me over Lord Ashburton's place. 
 He had invited me to visit him, but was not at the 
 Grange, but at his marine villa. We rode eight miles 
 through his pleasure grounds in a direct line, and I think 
 I have seen nothing more beautiful. 
 
 This morning's mail brought me ten letters which re- 
 quire to be answered, and some of them with a good
 
 232 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 deal of care, and I have about fifty more which I ought 
 to write, if I could possibly find the time ; so you must 
 make allowance for my hurry. I have received a friendly 
 letter from Miss Martineau, wishing me to come and see 
 her if possible ; desiring an affectionate remembrance 
 to you, and wishing me to tell you how grateful she felt 
 for your kindness when she visited you. Miss Jeffrey is 
 well married to a respectable clergyman. 
 
 The Duke of Richmond has kindly sent me to-day 
 an autograph of the late Duke of Sussex and of the 
 Duke of Wellington ; and Lord Hatherton has enclosed 
 me letters to Lord Eliot and others in Ireland, whose 
 services he says he has bespoken in my behalf. 
 
 LETTER LXIX. 
 
 Portsmouth, 1st August, 1844. 
 My Deae S : 
 
 To-day brought me your welcome letter of the 15th, 
 and you shall see how much I value it, by paying for 
 it at once. At the same time with your letter came 
 one from the Duke of Richmond, kindly informing me 
 that an engraving of the Duchess waited my acceptance 
 in London. It is a full length portrait, and beautifully 
 done. Now this shall be yours if you will accept so 
 elegant a present in return for your letter. 
 
 After leaving West Stratton, Mr. Mackintosh was 
 kind enough to bring me to Winchester to see the Ca- 
 thedral. This is a magnificent structure, and full of inter- 
 esting recollections, I embarked at Southampton for
 
 LETTER LXIX. 233 
 
 Cowes, to see the Isle of Wight, reputed, and I think 
 with considerable pretensions, the garden of England. 
 On landing, I went immediately to Newport, the centre 
 of the Island ; but, unfortunately, some of the persons 
 to whom I had letters were absent, and others lived so 
 rehiote, that I could not conveniently reach them. I 
 made, therefore, the best use of yesterday in looking 
 about me, and as it was market-day, I met several 
 farmers, from whom I got some information, and saw 
 samples of all the stock of the island, and concluded to 
 leave this morning. I arrived here at eleven, expecting 
 to proceed immediately to Eastbourne, by way of Brigh- 
 ton ; but all the coaches have gone to Goodwood races, 
 so here I am embargoed until to-morrow morning. Here 
 is the great dock-yard of England, and I hoped to have 
 got sight of it, and of the victualling establishment, where 
 biscuit are made by steam, and of the machinery for 
 cutting ship-blocks ; but on presenting my name at the 
 gate as an American, I was informed I could not be ad- 
 mitted without a special order from the Board of Admi- 
 rality in London. How mean and silly all such arrange- 
 ments ! as though in time of peace there was any neces- 
 sity for such exclusions, and as though in time of war 
 they could possibly keep any extraordinary inventions 
 to themselves. But the order was absolute, and I was 
 obliged to separate, alone, from a large party who were 
 about to be admitted. 
 
 Portsmouth seems to me one of the most disagreeable 
 towns in England, though I am not certain this very 
 circumstance has not served to prejudice me against it. 
 It is fortified with amazing expense and strength, and is 
 full of military men, to whom, abating personal rharar- 
 •20*
 
 234 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 ter, I have always a strong dislike ; the profession 
 in its very nature seems to me so inconsistent with 
 Christianity, and yet I am not prepared to give up the 
 right and duty of self-defence. 
 
 I believe I wrote that I am on my way to 
 
 Eastbourne, to see four hundred allotments, and to Kent 
 to see the cultivation of hops. I then go to Dublin to 
 attend the Great Cattle Show, to see the small farms at 
 Armagh, and visit the agricultural schools. Since the 
 publication of my report in the magazine, the farmers 
 begin to know me, and seem disposed to communicate 
 with me, though it is not to be concealed that they have 
 a strong prejudice against the United States, and are 
 dreadfully concerned lest the introduction of our agricul- 
 tural produce should prejudice their interests. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXX. 
 
 Dublin, 15th August, 1844. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 You will not be surprised at any address to my let- 
 ters, knowing that I am now in a state of locomotion. 
 My difficulty is to preserve my own personal conscious- 
 ness ; and, among so many changes, transitions, lodgings, 
 persons, places, and objects, to remember my own name 
 and self. Be sure, however, that my mind and heart 
 constantly revert to that which has been so many years 
 the object of affectionate attraction. 
 
 My last was dated, I think, at Brighton. After leaving 
 Brighton. I went on to Eastbourne to see some interest-
 
 LETTER LXX. 235 
 
 ing agricultural experiments of Mrs. Gilbert, a benevo- 
 lent woman, full of active plans for doing good, of which 
 my Reports will contain an account. From Brighton I 
 went back to London, and from London I came to this 
 place last Tuesday, to attend the great meeting of the 
 Irish Royal Agricultural Society. In London I saw, in 
 
 the first place, Mrs. R and Miss G , whom I 
 
 was most happy to meet. Mrs. R gave me to 
 
 understand that she had a present from you to me, but 
 as she seemed not disposed to give it, (altogether a piece 
 of affected coyness on her part,) I concluded to wait 
 patiently for the payment, as she was kind enough to say 
 it would be upon interest. In the end, however, I 
 found she was ready to pay both principal and interest, 
 which I have 'duly received, and was quite thankful 
 you sent it by so handsome and agreeable a lady. I 
 inferred you sent the same by that many years' fa- 
 vorite of mine. Miss G , with her sunshiny face, 
 
 so I took that without inquiring ; to which the good 
 
 soul made no very serious objection. By Mrs. P , 
 
 my old pupil, I send you a return compliment, which 
 she promises to deliver, only regretting that I cannot 
 have this matter at first hands without passing through 
 any intermediate stage, however fragrant it might be 
 rendered on the passage. — But an end of nonsense. 
 
 Mrs. gave me some letters from several of the 
 
 family, all of which were most heartily welcome. 
 
 E 's purse was very handsome, and will reach 
 
 its destination as soon as the lady returns from Paris. 
 I thought the embroidery of the handkerchief, which 
 I sent, was beautiful. I have wished very much to 
 send S a pattern for an ottoman, of two dogs.
 
 236 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 London now is almost as familiar to me as Boston, but 
 its immensity is absolutely overwhelming, and can never 
 cease to amaze me. 
 
 The only great cause of embarrassment is, that there 
 is so much to be seen and observed, and such an immense 
 field to go over, that I day by day go on discovering how 
 little I know, and how much ought to be seen ; but I 
 must do what I can in as short a time as possible, as 
 there seems to be the work of a life before me. My 
 Report, I learn, has been published, not in the Magazine 
 only, but almost the whole of it in several of the provin- 
 cial papers, in the Bristol papers, Norwich papers, Dub- 
 lin papers, k,c., he. ; but, as I never see any thing but 
 one or two London papers, I only know this from report. 
 Papers here are not as accessible as with us. The coun- 
 try and provincial papers have all a limited circulation 
 in their own districts ; the two leading London papers, 
 the Times and the Chronicle, opposite in politics, go over 
 the whole country. They are altogether political. 
 
 While on this subject, let me say a word of " The 
 Times." I should like, on some more convenient occa- 
 sion, to give you a full account of this extraordinary 
 publication, probably the most extraordinary of the kind 
 in the world. It is edited with unsurpassed ability. It 
 is reputed to have a circulation of more than thirty 
 thousand, the greater portion of which arc sold at the 
 counter of their publishing office to the news-venders, an 
 entirely separate class of men, at four and a half pence, 
 or nine cents apiece, always in cash. No subscriptions are 
 ever taken at the office. Out of this sum a penny is 
 paid to the government, for the stamp. 
 
 It is published daily, at an early hour, and though
 
 LETTER LXX. 237 
 
 Parliament, on some occasions, does not adjourn until 
 two o'clock in the morning, the entire proceedings, and 
 every speech, will be found reported at full length, and 
 with an exactness almost literal. By mid-day, therefore, 
 the inhabitants of many of the country towns, a hundred 
 miles distant from London, and of Liverpool and Bristol, 
 more than two hundred miles distant, get the whole of 
 this information of the proceedings of the preceding 
 night. 
 
 The advertising in the Times is a source of immense 
 income, as an advertisement is paid for at the same price 
 for every insertion^ and not as with us by a gradually 
 diminished scale, on repetition. 
 
 Eight times out of nine, the Times publishes a supple- 
 ment, and very frequently two supplements, almost 
 exclusively devoted to advertisements. The charge for 
 advertising is always considerable, though there is includ- 
 ed a heavy duty to the government. Each column of 
 advertisements, after the duty to the government is de- 
 ducted, may be expected to pay at least twelve pounds 
 sterling, or say sixty dollars. Now, in counting the 
 columns in the Times, with its two supplements, which 
 lays before me, I find seventy-six columns of advertise- 
 ments. This would be £ 912, or .f 4,560, for the ad- 
 vertisements in this single paper ; now two-thirds of this 
 sum, say for three hundred days, would be ^ 912,000. 
 Add to this, the proceeds of twenty-five thousand papers 
 sold, after allowing the government tax, which would be 
 $1,750 per day, and would be, by the year, $ .546,000, 
 making a total of the receipts for a single newspaper estab- 
 lishment, of $1,458,000. What do you say to this? 
 
 The expenses are of course enormous, and the estab-
 
 238 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 lishment is kept up in a suitable style, maintaining cor- 
 respondents in all parts of the world, and several editors 
 upon the most liberal scale ; sparing no expense what- 
 ever to secure the earliest, the fullest, and the most 
 authentic information, on every interesting and important 
 subject, relating to any country and every part of the 
 world ; and commanding always, in their editors and 
 correspondents, the talents of men of the highest ability 
 and education, and rejecting always, without perusal, 
 every communication which has not a responsible name. 
 I came from London to Liverpool in a day, twelve 
 hours ; entered on board the Dublin steamer at nine o'clock 
 in the evening, and reached Dublin the next day at half- 
 past two. The passage was very rough, and sick enough 
 was I, with many miserable souls to keep me company. 
 I detest the very sight and smell of a vessel, and really 
 begin to look forward with a good many misgivings to 
 the recrossing of the Atlantic. I have found a great many 
 persons here disposed to pay me every attention. I have 
 had two very pressing invitations to make my home with 
 persons to whom I brought letters, but having engaged 
 excellent lodgings, I thought best not to remove, but 
 with one exception have engaged to breakfast and dine 
 out every day while I remain. The Irish are a very 
 hearty people, full of humor and generosity. Dublin is 
 a magnificent city in respect to its public buildings ; but 
 desolation and solitude mark all its public places. A 
 thick cloud of superstition hangs over the minds of the 
 people, and the objects of misery that constantly meet 
 you, are frightful in the extreme. The contrasts here, as 
 in London, are most painful. I did not attend the two 
 public dinners ; the Marquis of Downshire, the Presi-
 
 LETTEK LXXI. 5239 
 
 dent of the Council, invited nie, but I had no wish to go. 
 I was afraid they would call on me to speak ; so I chose 
 to dine with a private party of gentlemen on the second 
 day, and the first day satisfied myself with a mere lunch. 
 The dinners I am told were uncommonly splendid. Tlien 
 in the present state of feeling and excitement in Ireland, 
 especially since the Philadelphia riots, I was afraid I might 
 unfortunately say something which might be misunder- 
 stood or perverted, and which I should regret. 
 
 I have now several invitations in the country. I think 
 there is much to interest me here. I go to-morrow a 
 few miles out of town, to see an agricultural school, on 
 an improved plan, which, it is said, is worth a visit to 
 Ireland. I must close, or miss the mail. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXI. 
 
 Dublin, I61I1 August, 1844. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 By Mr. Parker, I send to your care a small box con- 
 taining a little present for Mrs. C . Mr. C 
 
 has been so kind to me, that I felt anxious to make some 
 little acknowledgment in this form ; and this box con- 
 tains a copy of Chantry's celebrated monumental statue, 
 in Litchfield Cathedral, in memory of two sisters. The 
 original, which is of the size of life, is considered as 
 his great work, and indeed is much admired. I have, as 
 yet, seen few things more beautiful. 
 
 There is just published a very fine engraving of 
 Landseer's, called the watch-dog, which represents a
 
 240 EUROPKAN LIFE AND MANNEKS. 
 
 large mastiff laying down with an intent expression of 
 countenance, and a small dog near him. They are 
 much thought of, and the engraving is admirable. I do 
 not myself consider it nearly as handsome as the " Chan- 
 cellor laying down the law." I found, likewise, a new 
 engraving, presenting a Neapolitan scene called Harvest 
 Home, which has just come out, and which is extremely 
 beautiful. 
 
 The extracts which I have seen from the American 
 papers, indicate an extraordinary degree of prosperity in 
 the United States. The English still seem confident 
 that if they would relax their com laws, or rather abolish 
 them, the United States would at once abandon their 
 tariff. I tell them there is no chance whatever of any 
 such result. The Government, I think, fully understand 
 it ; and there is no present prospect of any change in 
 their policy. The government here was never stronger, 
 nor upon the whole, the nation more prosperous. Mis- 
 ery, indeed, there is enough ; there has always been a 
 great deal ; but the whole constitution of things must 
 be changed here, before any thing like a remedy can be 
 found. I see nothing left for them to do, horrible as is 
 the alternative, but to suffer on and die. Much is 
 done for its alleviation, yet it would appear that, let 
 them build alms-houses and work-houses ever so exten- 
 sively, and fill them to repletion, the floating mass of 
 misery and destitution does not seem to be diminished. 
 Here it presents itself in the most squalid and frightful 
 forms, yet the beggars in Dublin are not so numerous as 
 I expected to see. Heaven knows there are enough of 
 them. Temperance, or rather total-abstinence, has done 
 an immense work for the Irish ; but it reaches only to
 
 LETTER L.XX1I. 241 
 
 the lower classes, excepting as it may seem indirectly 
 to affect the upper strata. Father INlatthew is expected 
 here on Sunday, and I hope to see him. I have not yet 
 called on O'Connell, but design to do it, before I 
 leave, as I have letters to him, and why should I not see 
 all the great objects of interest ? O'Connell is at present 
 confined in one of the prisons, but holds a levee daily, 
 between one and two o'clock, when visitors are admit- 
 ted. A friend here has promised to introduce me, and 
 I shall therefore see the Lion in his cage. There is 
 attached to the prison or keeper's house, a spacious 
 garden, in which he and his companions are allowed at 
 pleasure to recreate themselves. He has likewise a 
 chapel fitted up in the prison, for his own particular 
 accommodation, (so that this republican does not worship 
 with the vulgar herd,) and a priest for his own personal 
 service. What use he has for a confessor, must be be'st 
 known to himself. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXIL 
 
 Dublin, 26lh August, 1844. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I LEAVE this to-morrow morning, on my tour through 
 the Island, a place of the deepest interest and full of 
 various instruction. I have been here ten days, and 
 every moment fully occupied. I never found more hos- 
 pitality. I took lodgings, but have taken only four 
 meals at home, and if I could eat six times a day inst ead 
 of three, there would be a demand upon my time, I 
 21
 
 242 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 have been urged by three most respectable and agreeable 
 Quaker femilies, to come at once with my luggage to 
 their houses, but have thought best to decline, because 
 I could not command my time ; they press me when 
 I return to Liverpool to come again to Dublin, and they 
 insist that I shall never go again to a public house or 
 lodgings. 
 
 You can have no conception of the wretchedness of 
 parts of this country, and I never saw human nature in 
 such a state of degradation as in this city. It never 
 entered my thoughts that people could exist in so forlorn 
 and wretched a condition. I saw thousands of people 
 at the Donny Brooke Fair yesterday, which was called 
 the Walking Sunday, and thousands came up and 
 kneeled round the platform where I stood, to take the 
 Temperance Pledge from Dr. Sprat, who succeeds 
 Father Matthew, — old and young, ragged and whole, 
 clean and squalid, fair and sunken and miserable. I 
 never witnessed a scene more affecting, but I cannot tell 
 you now more about it. My best love to all. 
 
 LETTER LXXIIL 
 
 Lunerick, Ireland, 31st August, 1844. 
 My Dear S ; 
 
 I AM here only for the night. As I thought you 
 
 would like them, I beg your acceptance of a pair of 
 
 "Limerick" gloves, from the Queen's glover. This 
 
 kind is to be obtained at no other shop in the kingdom ;
 
 LETTER LXXni. 243 
 
 and could I have sent the nut by mail, they would have 
 gone to you in a walnut shell, as I saw others put up. 
 I am told the quality is extraordinary, and that they will 
 last a long time and bear cleaning. I hope the deed 
 will suit, if the gloves do not. They are one dollar per 
 pair. They can be sent to any part of the kingdom per 
 mail for a penny — is not that convenient ? 
 
 I was anxious to see the best and the worst of Ireland, 
 and for that reason have taken a route of three days 
 circuit more than were indispensable. I was desirous to 
 see, first, the redemption of the bogs of Ireland ; second, 
 the experimental small farms at Armagh ; and third, the 
 agricultural school at Templemoyle, and some others. 
 I am not sorry that I came. I spent yesterday at the 
 Lake of Killarney, and at the Gap of Dunlop, which, with 
 the exception of the ancient ruins of castles and abbeys 
 and churches, and the purple heath which everywhere 
 covers the hills and gives them at this season a singular 
 beauty, is much like the White Mountains, the Notch, 
 and Winnipiseogee Lake, though on a smaller scale. I 
 have not now time to give you a description, further than 
 to say that I ate as good a dinner at the summit of the 
 notch or gap of the mountains as I could desire, of bread 
 and goat's milk ; of goats the woman keeps a herd of 
 thirty. Her cottage, which is the resort of travellers, was 
 singularly neat. The daughter goes three times a week 
 to Killarney, ten miles, on foot and barefoot, making a 
 jaunt of twenty miles each time, to obtain bread for the 
 guests who may visit them. She was a civil person, of 
 about eighteen years old, and the picture of health and 
 strength, and seemed not at all to regard her walk, from 
 which she had just returned, having started at four
 
 244 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 o'clock and reached home at noon, ready for another 
 excursion upon the mountains after the goats, of which 
 she had the principal care. 
 
 In strolling out upon the mountains with a son of this 
 family as a guide, we met in one of the most solitary 
 places a poor, forlorn, half-clad woman, leading about 
 two very pretty children with clean faces, but less than 
 half-dressed, who, in a language of which I did not un- 
 derstand a word, offered to sell us some tobacco, which 
 no doubt had been obtained by smuggling. I gave her 
 a small piece of money and kissed the two children, for 
 which her gratitude seemed unbounded, and the tears 
 filled her eyes ; after I had got half or quarter of a 
 mile from her, I turned back and saw her and her two 
 children upon their knees, evidently, by her gestures, in- 
 voking blessings upon my head. Though humble, these 
 seem certainly a most grateful people ; and if half their 
 blessings were obtained in full, all life and happiness 
 would be attainable upon easy terms. 
 
 I shall give you hereafter, in a different form, a full 
 account of my tour. I have, I am almost ready to 
 say, never seen a more beautiful country than Ireland, 
 yet I have explored only a part of it ; but all and any 
 language is inadequate to describe the condition of the 
 people. It is poor, filthy, squalid, ragged, wretched, 
 wretched, wretched, in a physical point of view, beyond 
 all conception to those who have not seen it. The family 
 where I dined yesterday never have any bread or meat 
 excepting a small quantity at Christmas, and they have 
 nothing whatever but potatoes and milk, generally sour 
 milk, for three hundred and sixty-four days out of the 
 three hundred and sixty-five, yet they are on the whole
 
 LETTER LXXIV. '245 
 
 an agreeable people, full of life and humor, of brilliant 
 imagination, and dealing a good deal in fiction ; ready to 
 serve you with any thing they have ; grateful to an ex- 
 cess for any kindness, and making no whining nor com- 
 plaints. The women, if they had the advantages of 
 dress, would be uncommonly beautiful ; but, poor things ! 
 I have no doubt, as Saturday is a great market-day, I 
 passed a thousand, perhaps many more, and will venture 
 to say not fifty of them had on either stockings or shoes. 
 Strange as it may seem, the common people, I mean 
 the men, are in some respects well educated. I was 
 in a school yesterday of one hundred and twenty 
 scholars ; they appeared, as far as improvement went, 
 extremely well. Last night the inn-keeper called in 
 a ragged boy of ten years old out of the street of 
 Killarney, the son of a shoemaker, living only upon 
 potatoes and milk, and he bore a good examination in 
 the Greek* and Latin grammars and recited well in 
 Virgil and the Greek Testament. This morning, as I 
 was waiting for the coach to start, a school boy passed 
 me on his way to school with his books under his arm, 
 and I asked him to let me see them. He was fifteen 
 years old, and was going to recite Homer in Greek, which 
 he had in his hand. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXIV. 
 
 Belfast, 16th Septcmljor, 1S44. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I WROTE to you last from Dublin, from which I went to 
 Cork, then to Killarney, thence to Limerick, thence to 
 21*
 
 246 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Galway, thence to Sligo, Deny, the Giant's Causeway, to 
 Belfast ; from this place, where I arrived last Monday, 
 I went to Armagh, and returned on Saturday evening. 
 Yesterday I spent Sunday with the Rev. Dr. Montgomery 
 at Dun-Murry, about four miles from town. To-day is to 
 be given to letters for home. To-morrow I go to the 
 Marquis of Downshire's, at Hillsboro, where I do not mean 
 to be persuaded to stay, though he has been very kind in 
 his attentions to me ; and on Wednesday I quit for Ayr in 
 Scotland, in the steam-boat. I see by this morning's 
 paper, the arrival of the steamer, and shall hope to meet 
 my letters at Ayr. I thank Heaven daily and hourly, 
 for the power of keeping the chain of communication 
 and affection whole and bright, though so many thousand 
 miles of deep ocean separate us. 
 
 Yesterday morning, on going down to breakfast, I had 
 the agreeable surprise of meeting Mr. Ticknor of Boston, 
 bookseller, who will take my letters ; and if you will 
 give yourself the trouble of calling on him, he will be able 
 to tell you all about me. 
 
 My visit to Ireland has been on many accounts 
 highly agreeable and instructive. At Dublin, a party of 
 kind Quakers, the Webbs and others, were unremitted 
 in their attentions. I certainly never saw kinder, and 
 seldom ever saw so kind people ; and the only thing that 
 seemed to give them any trouble was, that I would not 
 quarter myself upon them. They would not consent 
 that I should breakfast, dine, or tea, but with them ; and 
 if I delayed in the morning, a deputation was sure to 
 come after me. They have their reward in the pleasure 
 of doing good and making others happy. The good 
 souls, however, seemed to be sadly afflicted when I told
 
 LETTER LXXIV. 247 
 
 them that in all physical and political comforts, the 
 condition of the American slaves was infinitely better 
 than that of the lower Irish. From Dublin I proceeded 
 by Clonmel to Cork, and here my Quaker friends had 
 written to their friends, to anticipate my coming. I 
 arrived at three o'clock, and as I proposed only to remain 
 one night, I had not been there fifteen minutes, when 
 my wish was complied with to see Father Matthew. On 
 my return, a dinner was prepared for me, in spite of my 
 protestations ; a carriage was at the door with the 
 charming lady of the house for my guide, to take me to 
 Blarney Castle, and to show me all within and without 
 the city that was interesting, and to bring me back to 
 pass a most agreeable evening, stretched out beyond 
 midnight, and then to overwhelm me with invitations to 
 stay longer, and kind wishes for the successful prosecu- 
 tion of my journey. From Cork, however, next morning 
 I proceeded to Killarney, stealing one day, and going 
 out of my way about twenty miles, in search of the 
 picturesque. The scenery was chamiing, and my labor 
 amply repaid. In two respects the lakes of Killarney 
 and their neighborhood differ from the New Hampshire 
 scenery ; first, in several old ruins of castles and abbeys, 
 which are exceedingly picturesque ; and second, in the 
 swarms of beggars which beset your carnage, and almost 
 threaten to take your purse and pockets by force. I 
 never saw the like. Several of the coach passengers on 
 our amval, " wished them all to the devil," in which 
 pious ejaculation I am not certain that I should not have 
 joined, if I had believed there was any worse devil, than 
 had already got hold of them ; but I certainly wished 
 them in the lakes of Killarney until they could at least
 
 248 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 have been washed clean from a dirt and squalidness, and 
 raggedness and fihh, of which I am certain you never 
 saw an example. 
 
 The tour of the lakes and the Gap of Dunlop, includes 
 about ten miles, and may be accomplished either by a 
 car, a pony, or a boat. To enjoy my independence, I 
 determined to take a pony, and let my own tongue 
 serve the purpose of a guide. Alas, for my unfortunate 
 decision. At eight o'clock in the morning, a red pony 
 came to the door, brought by a woman with a large 
 shelalah in her hand, sharp pointed at one end, in the 
 most public street of Killarney, crowded with market- 
 women, vagabonds, pony-letters, importunate guides, 
 beggars, and every offensive description of biped and 
 quadruped, to the amount at least of a thousand. Lo ! 
 I descended to mount, (which by the way is good Irish.) 
 It was not necessary for me to put my foot in the stirrup, 
 but only to throw my leg over the saddle, upon the 
 back of a most forlorn-looking animal ; and with my legs 
 dangling within an inch of the ground, and two ragged 
 boys pulling at the bridle, and two bare-footed wenches 
 with only the semblance of a petticoat on, beating and 
 punching the animal behind, I essayed to move ; but my 
 horse would not budge an inch, any more than Balaam's 
 ass ; and after not swearing a word, or in any way 
 breaking the Queen's peace, though I am quite certain 
 my looks must have indicated a terrible ferocity, I dis- 
 mounted, or rather stepped off, throwing the reins over 
 the creature's head, and sneaked into my lodgings, 
 amid a tumultuous shout of derision, of which I fancy I 
 still hear the shrill and guttural notes. The next thing 
 was to get a car and a guide, and the day ended far 
 more auspiciously than it began.
 
 LETTER LXXIV. 249 
 
 The succeeding morning I started for Tjimerick, where 
 I passed the night ; and as I found none of the gentle- 
 men at home to whom I iiad letters, I started early- 
 next morning for Galway, and at night reached Lord 
 Wallscourt's, at Ardfry, where I had been invited, and 
 where I was made heartily welcome. Dr. Howe had 
 visited him, and left a most agreeable impression. No 
 pains were spared by land or water to show me every 
 thing interesting. A fortnight it seems would not have 
 satisfied them, but I could stay only three nights. I 
 went to Galway to attend the great Cattle Fair, at 
 Fair Mount, where four thousand ponies were brought 
 for sale ; and at eleven o'clock, Wednesday evening, 
 after I had engaged my passage in the coach, Lord 
 Wallscourt came to tell me he should not leave me yet, 
 but should take the coach with me in the morning, and 
 go on a day and a half's journey, which he did with a 
 view to show me some important agricultural improve- 
 ments at Glenash, about fifty miles from his house. 
 Here we separated, he with a thousand kind wishes, and 
 I with as many sincere thanks for his attentions. I 
 reached Shgo at night ; — you will easily follow me on the 
 map. The town of Sligo is vile enough in itself, but the 
 hills in its vicinity are beautiful, embracing a landscape 
 of surpassing richness, variegated by lake, river, moun- 
 tain, and ocean scenery, and presenting a view upon the 
 whole, I think, more varied than, and as pleasing as 
 Mount Holyoke in Northampton. My journey next 
 day to Derry was dreary enough, from a pouring rain to 
 which I was exposed on the outside of the coach. 
 Derry has many objects of interest, but my chief aim 
 was to visit the Agricultural School at Templemoyle, in
 
 250 EUROPEAN LTFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 its vicinity. Here I went on Sunday afternoon, after 
 church, and then at eight o'clock in the evening left for 
 Coleraine, twenty-six miles ; I reached a stopping place 
 at twenty minutes past twelve, at night. I had then ten 
 miles to go to the Giant's Causeway, and eleven miles 
 back, to meet the coach on its way to Belfast, at half-past 
 nine o'clock the next morning, which the inn-keeper said 
 it was impossible to do. I could not afford another day. 
 I wanted to see this great curiosity, and I determined it 
 was possible. Ten Irish miles are about thirteen English 
 miles, so I ordered a car at a quarter before three, rolled 
 over half a dozen times on the bed, and at the time 
 appointed was on my way — reached the Causeway soon 
 after five, staid nearly two hours, got my breakfast, and 
 was back in season, waiting for the coach on its arrival 
 at the usual hour — left for Belfast, and reached the 
 Imperial Hotel here, the best and cheapest tavern I have 
 almost ever found, at five o'clock. On Wednesday, I 
 took the cars for Dun-Murry and Lisburne to deliver 
 letters, and passed the day with the Rev. Dr. Mont- 
 gomery, his wife, two grown up daughters, and a little 
 sweet girl of about fourteen. I never met more intelli- 
 gent and agreeable people, and his situation realized to 
 my mind the beau ideal of a country clergyman's life. 
 He is one of the best preachers in the country, or in any 
 country. I knew his reputation, and heard him yester- 
 day. He is one of the best farmers in the country, and 
 withal one of the most liberal men. He is about my 
 age ; — I wish I was half as wise. His wife is a very 
 pleasing woman, of charming manners, and his daugh- 
 ters are highly cultivated and refined. I had seen 
 one of them in London, I had visited Dr. Mont-
 
 LETTER l.XXIV. 251 
 
 gomery there repeatedly, during an illness with which 
 he was attacked last winter. In five minutes thoy 
 put me entirely at home. Their cottage resembles 
 Elfin-glen. The railroad has cut off their fi"ont yard, 
 but what remains is most tastefully adorned with flow- 
 ers, and shrubs, and their church is in the rear of the 
 manse, beautifully embowered among the trees. Noth- 
 ing can be prettier. I left at night, literally carried 
 off by two agreeable ladies, who had come out there to 
 tea, and who insisted upon my taking a seat alongside of 
 them on an Irish car, to the town. It was dark, or 
 perhaps they would have been ashamed to be seen with 
 such an old fellow, and have dropped me before we 
 reached the town. 
 
 Thursday I went to Armagh, to see Mr. Blacker, tlie 
 most distinguished agriculturist perhaps in Ireland, agent 
 for Lord Gosford, to whom I had letters, but who is on 
 the continent. Mr. Blacker has the care of twenty-five 
 hundred small tenants ! He devoted himself to my ser- 
 vice, took me about the country many miles, and showed 
 me various farms, and various specimens of cultivation ; 
 then I dined with the Precentor of the Cathedral, Rev. 
 Dr. Allot, with a large party of gentlemen, an elegant 
 entertainment at eight o'clock ; where I, poor soul, after 
 travelling many miles and having had no lunch, unfortu- 
 nately was obliged to yield to malign influences, after the 
 cloth was removed, and was jogged at the elbow at half- 
 past ten, to remind me that coffee was ready in the 
 other room. How long or how deeply I slept, I cannot 
 say. It was idle to plead not guilty ; so the only way 
 was to laugh it off, taking all their jokes in good part, 
 and show off, after the coffee, with as much brilliancy as 
 I could bring out.
 
 252 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 The next day, Mr. Blacker again took me under his 
 protection ; first, to breakfast at ten o'clock. He had 
 sent for my baggage to the tavern, but as my clothes were 
 wet by the rain of Saturday, and needed repacking and 
 drying, I thought it best to lodge at the tavern. In the 
 evening I dined with him and a most agreeable party 
 of intelligent gentlemen ; and I beg to assure you, did 
 not get to sleep. But how is a man to go to bed at 
 welve at night, rise soon after five, drive about the 
 whole day, get no lunch but an apple, eat a hearty 
 dinner at eight o'clock in the evening, sit comfortably 
 down in a warm room, and not be quite disposed to 
 shut his shop-windows ? 
 
 Saturday afternoon, in a soaking rain, I returned to 
 Belfast. Yesterday, I spent the day at Dr. Montgom- 
 ery's, and heard him preach a capital sermon. I have 
 not passed a Sunday so entirely to my mind, since I 
 crossed the Atlantic. My former impressions were 
 strengthened, though one of the young ladies was absent. 
 The walk five miles in the morning, after the whole 
 country had been refreshed by rain, and all was still and 
 calm, people in their best dresses gathering in all direct- 
 ions for public worship, was most delightful ; and when 
 I got out of the town, " the busy haunts of men," and 
 following the road lined with beautifully clipped hedges, 
 and the wide spread fields stretching out far before the 
 eye, and the bold mountains bounding the distant pros- 
 pect, and the flill river marking its silver line through 
 the meadows, and occasionally spreading out its broad 
 surface like a mirror encased in a frame of living green, 
 my heart bounded towards home with an elasticity which 
 wholly unmanned me, because I wished that other hearts
 
 LETTKR LXXIV. 253 
 
 could share in my delights, and my whole soul went up 
 to heaven in a spontaneous and irreprcssihlc hymn of 
 thanksgiving. God be praised for his goodness, and for 
 the million of undeserved blessings which he has poured 
 out upon me. 
 
 I shall quit Ireland on Wednesday, having travelled 
 in it many hundreds of miles. I never saw a more 
 beautiftd country, though art has done little for it. I 
 never met with a more hospitable, generous, witty people. 
 But the wretchedness of the great mass of the population 
 is utterly beyond all description. I have been into cabins 
 dug out of the bog, with no walls but the peat mud in 
 which they have been excavated, with the roof covered 
 with turf and straw, and the water standing in puddles 
 on the outside, without chimney, window, door, floor, 
 bed, chair, table, knife, or fork ; the whole furniture con- 
 sisting of some straw to lay down upon, a pot to boil the 
 potatoes in, a tin cup to drink out of, and a wicker- 
 basket to take up the potatoes in after they are boiled, 
 which is set down in the middle of the floor, and parents 
 and children squat down like Hottentots, on the ground, 
 and eat their food with their fingers, sometimes with salt, 
 and often without ; and this is literally the whole of their 
 living, day after day, and year after year, excepting that 
 on Christmas day they contrive to get a little piece of 
 meat and a bit of bread. You will be curious to know 
 if I have seen many living so — Yes, hundreds — hun- 
 dreds ? yes, thousands — thousands? yes, a million. I 
 could hardly credit my own senses until I went into the 
 cabins, and felt my way in the smoke and darkness, and 
 actually put my hand upon the turf sides. Here they 
 all lie down, parents and children, brothers and sisters, 
 •22
 
 254 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNEKS. 
 
 on the straw at night, huddled together, literally naked, 
 (because, the Irish coachman said, if they wore their 
 shirts they were afraid they would be stolen,) with the 
 pigs, and oftentimes the ass or the horse, and sometimes 
 the cow in the same room. In one cabin I found a woman 
 and six young children in a room not much larger than 
 a small parlor, with a sow, and nine pigs a month old, 
 which had been farrowed and reared there, and a large 
 flock of poultry roosting over head ; and they brought 
 the ass in at night, or rather he came in and out, as he 
 pleased. Then as to the clothing of these people. I 
 went into one cabin ; the parents were at work in the 
 bog ; three little children almost naked were nestling 
 around the turf fire, which was made upon the floor, 
 for there was no chimney or fire place ; and there was 
 a beautiful little girl about fourteen, o^ sweet address 
 and manners, with nothing on but a rag covering 
 the upper part of her person, and a piece of flannel 
 reaching not quite down to the knees, for a petticoat ; 
 and she told us she had no other clothes. There are 
 thousands of similar cases. The women are universally 
 barefoot, a large portion of them, I am assured, having no 
 stockings or shoes to wear, even in winter, when snow is 
 on the ground ; and this in a country belonging to the 
 richest and most refined people on the globe, not forty - 
 eight hours' journey form London ; not one-fourth part 
 of which is cultivated, and containing millions of untilled 
 acres of as rich land as the sun shines upon. But I will 
 not go further now ; you must be tired. I thought I 
 would make one general letter for all. 
 
 After visiting Ayrshire, I am going north, to see the 
 Duke of Richmond, who promises to show me the
 
 LETTER LXXV. 255 
 
 country in his neighborhood, and if time admits, to tlie 
 Duke of Sutherland's, at the extremity of Scotland. Of 
 this, however, I am doubtful. 
 
 It makes me quite miserable to see one friend after 
 another sailing for home ; but my time will come pres- 
 ently, and that not far distant ; for how fast the wheel 
 goes round ; I find myself quite advanced, and yet it 
 seems to me T have hardly begun to live. Love to all. 
 I do not foro-et a single one : mind that. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXV. 
 
 Belfast, IGth September, 1844. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 There is still another chance of writing you by the 
 mail of to-morrow, and I will not forego the pleasure of 
 acknowledging your last letter. I have been much 
 gratified by my visit to Ireland, obliged by the most kind 
 and friendly attentions, and, as much as possible, inter- 
 ested in the country, and the condition of the people. 
 My main objects were, to see the agricultural schools, of 
 which I have visited three ; the model farms, of which 
 I have seen two ; the management of small farms in 
 one of the counties, of which much has been said ; 
 and the cultivation of flax, to which an extraordinary im- 
 petus has been given in this part of the country, the great 
 centre of the linen manufacture, which is conducted 
 here under circumstances of great success and improve- 
 ment. In all these respects, my visit has been most 
 satisfactory, the evidences of which will be, I hope, duly 
 given to the public, and I will not now anticipate them.
 
 256 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 This seems to be a remarkably thrifty town, and well 
 built and laid out. I may add, for an Irish town, 
 very clean, which is, however, after all, only an equivocal 
 compliment. The tall chimneys of the linen manufac- 
 tories rise in every direction, within and around the town, 
 and the fields in the vicinity are white with the beautiful 
 fabrics of their looms — for the bleaching of the linen is 
 done upon the grass. There is comparatively little idle- 
 ness or vagabondage in the town ; and, after passing 
 through many of the other towns of Ireland, it is an 
 unspeakable relief to find one, where you are not 
 grossly offended by the sight of the half-clad and filthy 
 inhabitants, or by the comfortlessness and wretchedness 
 of their habitations, compared to which, many a pig-sty 
 which I have seen, must be considered as almost a palace. 
 
 The condition of Ireland is now everywhere arresting 
 the attention of the world, and the liberation of O'Con- 
 nell, effected, it would seem, almost by an accident, has 
 produced here the most intense excitement. What is 
 the next move he will make on the board, it is not so 
 easy to conjecture ; but it is quite certain there will be no 
 want of caution, on his part, to escape falling again into 
 the clutches of the government, between whom and 
 himself there is certainly no love lost. His promise 
 of effecting a repeal of the union of the two coun- 
 tries, is as likely to be executed, as that we shall have 
 snow in summer ; and the whole will probably evaporate, 
 like Miller's prophecy about the end of the world. The 
 repeal of the union would work nothing but ill to Ire- 
 land ; and Ireland being left to herself, there would be 
 war to the hilt, of the most dreadful kind, between 
 the Catholics and the Protestants, for which, it is but 
 too obvious, that the mastiffs and bull-dogs, on both
 
 LETTKR LXXV. 257 
 
 sides, are panting to be let loose. The condition of a 
 large portion of the Irish people involves an amount 
 of destitution and wretchedness, which admits of no 
 description, and, in comparison with which, the physical 
 condition of the southern slaves is almost a condition of 
 felicity. It is idle to expect that any legislative enact- 
 ments can remedy this, or that, by any process whatever, 
 a thorough, or even a considerable change can be speed- 
 ily effected. Much is doing for the improvement of 
 the country ; but, in my opinion, one of its greatest 
 curses is its clergy, all parties of which are full of hate 
 to each other, and are uniting to oppose and crush all 
 systems of education and improvement, which injuriously 
 affect their power, and do not involve the teaching 
 and direct extension of their peculiar tenets.* 
 
 * I subjoin a curious document, showing: the immense fortunes accumu- 
 lated by the Episcopal bishops in Ireland, in the discharge of their pastoral 
 duties. Out of whom this money comes, it is not difficult to say. The use 
 of these bishops, and the value of their services, we leave it to those who 
 enjoy such luxiu-ies, to calculate. Perhaps it is only just, as Dr. Jortin says, 
 that they who feed the sheep should llecce the sheep : — 
 
 Sums accumulated by Irish Bisliops of the EiigUsh Protestant Episcopal 
 Church. 
 Extract from probates of fortunes left by Irish Bishops, laid before the 
 House of Commons, 1832. 
 
 Stopf(}rd, 
 
 Bishop of 
 
 Cork, 
 
 £25,000 
 
 Percy, 
 
 
 Dromore, 
 
 40,000 
 
 Cleaver, 
 
 
 Ferns, 
 
 50,000 
 
 Bernard, 
 
 
 Limerick, 
 
 60,000 
 
 Knox, 
 
 
 KiUaloe, 
 
 100,000 
 
 Fowler, 
 
 
 Dublin, 
 
 150,000 
 
 Beresford, 
 
 
 Tuam, 
 
 250.000 
 
 Hawkins, 
 
 
 Raphoe, 
 
 250,000 
 
 Stewart, 
 
 
 Armagh, 
 
 300,000 
 
 Porter, 
 
 
 Clogher, 
 
 250,000 
 
 Agar, 
 
 
 Cashel, 
 
 400,000 
 
 
 
 Total, 
 
 £1,875,000 
 
 tliis was will 
 
 n'n a period of forty or fiftv years 
 
 
 
 22* 
 

 
 258 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER LXXVI. 
 
 Edinburgh, 29th September, 1844. 
 Sunday Evening. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I WILL give you some account of my recent pere- 
 grinations. My last was from Belfast, Ireland, by Mr. 
 Ticknor. He left on Monday morning, and I came 
 to Ayr on the Thursday following. Ayr is the princi- 
 pal town in Ayrshire, Scotland, one of the best culti- 
 vated districts in this highly cultivated country. It 
 is the birthplace of Mr. Rankin, of Canandaigua, who 
 had given me letters to several of his friends, which 
 were duly honored, and they gave me letters to others. 
 Besides, Alexander Bickett, whom you will remember 
 as having lived with me in the United States, was from 
 Ayr, and had been home the last summer to get a 
 Scotch lassie to go back with him. He had made me 
 known to several of the farmers, who had expressed a 
 wish that I should visit them. He was much respected 
 in his situation, and had married a very nice young 
 woman. I went to see the family. Two sisters were 
 left behind, who, with the mother, told me, " that Alex. 
 had not taken the best of the family, but that there was 
 mickle good corn in the crib yet." I saw there some of 
 the" best farming that I have ever seen, and certainly I 
 never met with more hospitable people. I called on 
 Mr. Tennant, a large farmer, who sent at once to 
 town, four miles, for my luggage, and kept me three
 
 LETTER LXXVI. 259 
 
 days, carrying me to see all the farms in his neighbor- 
 hood. In the meantime, Mr. Barnett, a large pro- 
 prietor, sent for mc, and I staid with him three days, 
 visiting the principal places in his neighborhood. Mr. 
 Campbell, in the meantime, who has an elegant and 
 extensive house and farm, would hardly allow me to 
 leave without visiting him, and insisted that I should see 
 him on my return ; but this I fear I cannot do. Other 
 gentlemen were equally kind, and I could have staid a 
 month, if my time had permitted. My time at Ayr and 
 in L'eland has, I think, been very profitably spent. I 
 left Ayr on Friday morning for Glasgow, intending to 
 stay two or three days at G., to get refitted. But Glas- 
 gow is not at all to my taste. It actually swarms with 
 people ; much of it is excessively dirty, and I determined 
 to come to this beautiful, I may say splendid city. 
 Yesterday, being a heavy rain, I kept house, for I needed 
 rest. To-day the weather is fine ; the city was last 
 night washed thoroughly clean ; and I have attended 
 meeting, in the morning at Dr. Candlish's, who passes 
 for a Dr. Channing, and in the afternoon at Dr. 
 Ritchie's, to whom I had been fonnerly introduced. 
 The latter is a canny and hearty Scotchman, a learned, 
 sensible, and very acute man, whose sermon was quite 
 too long, though practical and excellent. 
 
 To-morrow, at one, I leave for the north, to go to 
 Inverness, thence to Gordon Castle. Adieu.
 
 260 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER LXXVII. 
 
 Tynemoutli, near Newcastle, 14th October, 1844- 
 My Dear M : 
 
 My last was dated at Edinburgh, which I left, intend- 
 ing to go to Gordon Castle, by invitation of the Duke of 
 Richmond, and to Dun-Robin, by invitation of the 
 Duke of Sutherland. In order to do this, I returned to 
 Glasgow, that I might go by the lakes, and proceed up 
 the Caledonian Canal — a route easily traced on the 
 map. I had been suffering, however, for several days, 
 from a severe pain in my side, — a remnant, I believe, 
 of my fall last autumn. The weather had become 
 changeable and tempestuous ; I had been thoroughly wet 
 three times, and I deemed it, after getting to the end of 
 Loch Lomond in a hurricane, expedient to beat a retreat, 
 and give up penetrating any further into the highlands of 
 Scotland, which, at this season of the year, are notori- 
 ously the region of winds, fogs, and storms. I returned, 
 therefore, to Glasgow, and went to visit the Messrs. 
 Druminond, at Stirling, who have a very large and justly 
 celebrated agricultural museum. I saw, likewise, their 
 extensive nursery. 
 
 The country around Stirling is one of the most beau- 
 tiful and most highly interesting in Scotland, and the view 
 from the Castle one of picturesqueness and richness of 
 scenery scarcely surpassed by any prospect which I ever 
 looked upon. The view from Mount Holyoke presents a 
 similar picture, but is not to be preferred to it ; and the
 
 LETTER LXXVII. 261 
 
 many historical associations connected with tiiis part of 
 the country give it a pecuhar interest. 
 
 From Stirhng I went to a place called Argety, to 
 visit Mr. Homes, to whom I had letters. He is a 
 proprietor, or Laird, and a very enterprising farmer, con- 
 nected hy blood with some of the highest nobility of 
 Scotland ; his wife, too, is a highly educated person, and 
 they gave me a warm welcome. I remained here from 
 Friday until jNIonday, and was strongly urged to prolong 
 my visit. In this neighborhood are some of the most 
 important agricultural improvements in the world, and 
 my visit was as instructive as agreeable. On Monday 
 noon, Mr. Homes took me in his carriage again to Stir- 
 ling, and I proceeded to a place called Glenburnie, 
 about seven miles, with letters to a very large proprietor, 
 Mr. Stirling. The farm under his own management 
 consisted of seven hundred acres, and his improvements 
 were very remarkable. 
 
 On Tuesday morning, I went with him to Falkirk 
 Tryst, a market. This was a particular object of my 
 curiosity, as it is deemed the largest market in the world. 
 It is held three times a year, and cattle are brought to it 
 several hundred miles. On this occasion, there were 
 between sixty and seventy thousand sheep, and from 
 forty to fifty thousand head of cattle, with horses innu- 
 merable. I never saw a third of that number of brutes 
 at one time, and the field looked like a great encamp- 
 ment. Besides the extiaordinary numbers, I had an 
 opportunity of seeing and comparing the different 
 breeds of cattle, as here were specimens of all kinds. 
 From this I returned to Edinburgh, where I found, 
 waiting for me at the hotel, an invitation to dine with
 
 262 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Mr. Robert White, a friend of Mr. Greig's, who had 
 invited a number of farmers to meet me. I visited also 
 Mr. Combe, and breakfasted at Professor Gregory's, 
 with Liebig, the great agricultural chemist, whom I had 
 a strong desire to see, as his name and fame are as far 
 extended as those of almost any man living. I was 
 urged much to attend a public dinner, which was to be 
 given to him at Glasgow, but I was obliged to decline it. 
 From Edinburgh, I took the coach, and came on by the 
 railroad, which follows the sea-coast, by Dunbar, Had- 
 dington, Berwick on the Tweed, to Newcastle on the 
 Tyne. A more beautiful ride I never took, and a more 
 highly cultivated country I have never seen. Around 
 some of the farms, I counted seventy or eighty large 
 stacks of wheat and oats ; and several of them, it is 
 said, have three hundred acres of turnips or nita-baga ; 
 and one farmer had paid a rent of £7,000, or ^35,000 
 per year. The farmers here are extremely rich and 
 intelligent in all that concerns their profession. I had 
 letters to many of them, and invitations, but could not 
 stay. One of the farms on this route recently sold for 
 £63,000, or ,$315,000, cash. I believe it contains not 
 over five or six hundred acres. I reached Newcastle; on 
 Thursday evening ; dined on Friday with a very kind 
 Quaker family — to whom I had letters from my Irish 
 friends — the lady of which insisted upon accompanying 
 me to Tynemouth, about seven miles, by railroad, where 
 I was going to visit Miss Martineau. Miss M. is greatly 
 improved, and to a considerable degree restored ; all of 
 which, she believes, is due to the abandonment of medi- 
 cine, and the influence of Mesmerism. She seemed 
 extremely glad to see me, and sent many kind messages
 
 LETTER LXXVllI. 263 
 
 to you. I spent a deliglitful evening with her, and the 
 next day, at her urgent request, staid until late in the 
 afternoon, that we might take a long walk together. 
 We sat two hours on a cliff on the sea-shore, she all the 
 time pouring out a stream of agreeable talk, like a run- 
 ning, gushing, bubbling brook. I left her, with a 
 promise to return, if possible, after visiting some kind 
 friends near Lambton Castle, Mr. H. Morton and family, 
 he the agent to Lord Durham, — a better, kinder family, 
 I do not think is to be found in any country. I had a 
 hearty welcome. They would not listen to my leaving 
 them yesterday, and would hardly let me go at all, 
 without a promise, if possible, to give them a week 
 before I returned to the United States. I was there two 
 or three days last autumn, and it surely is delightful to 
 find such warm affections. They live in a most comfort- 
 able style, and the house is as nice as possible. 
 
 To-morrow I leave for Carlisle, and thence south, to 
 fulfil several engagements, hoping to get into winter 
 quarters by the first of November. I am obliged to 
 decline many invitations, but have engaged to spend 
 a few days with Lord Braybrooke, in Essex, and to 
 visit my excellent friends, the Pendarveses, in Corn- 
 wall. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXVIIL 
 
 Carlisle, 17th October, 1844. 
 My Dear S : 
 
 The coach does not leave until eleven o'clock, and, 
 
 therefore, I have the pleasure of writing to you. I wrote
 
 264 EUROPEAN LIFE ANJ) MANNERS. 
 
 to your mother the night before last from Tynemouth, 
 where I had been a second time, to see Miss Martineau. 
 Her situation, in regard to all its localities, is one of 
 the pleasantest which can be desired. She declined, 
 from principle, a pension from the government, and her 
 friends, by a generous subscription, have placed her be- 
 yond want, and she has purchased an annuity. The 
 house in which she lives is at the mouth of the river 
 Tyne, and the windows afford a view of a wide expanse 
 of ocean. In point of scenery the situation resembles, 
 but is far more beautiful, than Nahant, excepting only 
 the Nahant Beach. The trade of Newcastle, seven 
 miles above Tynemouth, is very great, and the constant 
 entrance and departure of vessels, and the numerous 
 steamboats which ply upon the river give great anima- 
 tion to the prospect. There is a jutting point of land 
 on which is a fort, occupied by troops, and within its 
 walls are enclosed the ruins of a priory of great anti- 
 quity, said to be a thousand years old. These ruins 
 are remarkable for the preservation of some of their most 
 prominent features, and the beautiflil architectural con- 
 struction of the windows, arches, and doors. There 
 are on the shores several fine cliffs, and some exten- 
 sive beaches, which are hard enough for a drive when 
 the tide is out. It is much resorted to as a bathing 
 place ; for the English and Scotch indulge in this 
 luxury much more than our northern people. They 
 have a custom at which, perhaps, you may smile. 
 They disrobe themselves either in boxes or in some nook 
 on the shore, and then the ladies, and sometimes the men, 
 in their bathing robes, are carried into the water by two 
 women, and suddenly dropped, from an idea that to
 
 LETTKR LXXVni. 265 
 
 go in, walking, is apt to produce a nish of blood to the 
 head, which may be injurious. Is not this an amusing 
 conceit ? While sitting with Miss M. on the cliff, I saw 
 several women carried in and dipped. I did not try the 
 experiment. 
 
 Miss. M.'s rooms are delightful ; two drawing-rooms, 
 opening by folding-doors into each other, filled with books, 
 pictures, and busts of Homer, Newton, and others, and one 
 of her brother James, who is her idol, and who deserves, 
 without doubt, a place among the sages. He is minister 
 at Liverpool. Then she has a variety of bijouterie on 
 her tables, with all the necessary apparatus for lounging, 
 reading, or writing, all in elegant style. She has an en- 
 graving which, when I have a good opportunity, I design 
 to send to you. It is the Jesus Consolator, our Saviour 
 surrounded by the sick and afflicted in body and mind, 
 to whom he is imparting relief. The variety of figures 
 and of expression makes it extremely interesting, and 
 one which I think you would highly value. I am told 
 she refers to it in her book of " Consolations for a Sick 
 Chamber " — I believe that is the title. She had given 
 up all expectation of writing any more, but if her health 
 is restored, there is no probability that her pen will be 
 idle. Her tongue certainly will not, for her powers of 
 conversation are extraordinary. She is very agreeable, 
 full of information, and little personal matters and anec- 
 dotes, which are quite interesting. These, however, I 
 shall never commit to paper. When I have the hap- 
 piness of seeing you all again, I shall open my budget, 
 where they are safely stored. Public persons in their 
 speeches and political acts, distinguished authors and 
 writers in their works, preachers and actors in their 
 23
 
 266 EUROPEAN LIKE AND MANNERS. 
 
 performances, may be freely spoken of and criticized, 
 but any approach to a violation of private confidence 
 is without excuse. Americans have here, on this 
 account, been a suspected class ; but I am far from 
 thinking them more liable to reproach in this matter than 
 others. 
 
 I came from Newcastle to Carlisle yesterday, hoping 
 to have gone on fifty miles further, but here the convey- 
 ance was interrupted, and I have been detained nearly 
 a day. The conveyances by public coaches in England 
 are really not so convenient as ours. You can always 
 post from one place to another, but this, with tolls and 
 fees, costs half a dollar per mile. 
 
 The town here is now crowded with people to attend 
 the races and wrestling matches, which last two days, 
 and bring in their train all sorts of profligacy. I went 
 last evening to a strolling theatre, two pence admission. 
 The audience were of the very lowest class, but behaved 
 decently, and parts of the performance were in toler- 
 able style. Though there was a great deal of vul- 
 garity, such as smoking and cracking of low jokes, yet 
 there was neither indecency nor profaneness to offend 
 any one. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXIX. 
 
 Liverpool, 18th October, 1844. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I WROTE you a note this morning with a conditional 
 
 promise that 1 would write a longer letter this evening.
 
 LETTER LXXIX. 267 
 
 The great objects of interest have of late been the 
 visit of the Queen to Blair Athol, Tjord Glenlyon's seat 
 in Scotland, and the visit of Louis Philippe to the English 
 Court. The papers have been full of them. It is im- 
 possible not to be amused with the idolatry of the Eng- 
 lish people towards the royal family, though T believe 
 much more appears in the papers than is really felt by 
 the people, certainly by the sensible part of them. As 
 matters now are, the Prince of Wales does not sneeze 
 without its being fully recorded ; and even the track of 
 the Queen's foot on the sand, at Kirkcaldie, has been 
 carefully measured, the length and breadth recorded, 
 and a cast taken of it. It is to be understood, however, 
 that what is called the Court Circular, detailing all the 
 movements of the royal family, and the nobility in their 
 train, is regularly made out at the Palace, and paid for 
 as an advertisement, and so likewise are the movements 
 of any of the aristocracy, which are so frequently inserted 
 in the newspapers. 
 
 The Queen is a constantly improving character, and 
 daily gains upon the affections of her people. Her visit 
 to Scotland was not at the expense of Lord Glenlyon. 
 She accepted the offer of his castle and provided for 
 herself; he went into a house in the neighborhood, and 
 was himself occasionally the guest of the Queen in his 
 own house. 
 
 I go to London to-morrow, and am to attend an Ag- 
 ricultural meeting in Essex county on Wednesday, and 
 make a visit of two or three days at Lord Braybrooke's ; 
 thence I go south, and get back to London by middle of 
 November. Adieu.
 
 268 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER LXXX. 
 
 London, 31st October, 1844. 
 56 Charing Cross. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I HAVE here a thousand things to interest me ; but, 
 then, place the magnet which way you will, the moment 
 it is free, it returns again to the same point ; and where 
 my affections centre, there I wish to be. 
 
 It may be well said of England, or rather of Lon- 
 don, that a man who goes abroad, to make a call, on 
 business or pleasure, must calculate generally to lose a 
 day and spend a sovereign. However, one month more 
 finishes all my travelling in England. After my present 
 engagements are fulfilled, I make no more, though hun- 
 dreds are offered me. 
 
 On Monday evening I came to London, about ten 
 o'clock, and left the next day at noon for Saffron-Wal- 
 den, on a visit to Lord Braybrooke, to meet an agri- 
 cultural society on Wednesday. I hesitated about 
 accepting the invitation, which was sent to me in 
 Scotland, because I did not know Lord Braybrooke — 
 but most happy was I that I went. I met a large party 
 of gentlemen and ladies in the house, several of whom I 
 know, and almost all persons of rank and distinction. I 
 never have had a more pleasant visit. This is among 
 the oldest families in the kingdom, and goes back to the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century. T^je castle called 
 Audley End, is of great antiquity. The entrance hall is 
 filled with antique objects of curiosity ; and two rooms
 
 LETTER LXXX. 269 
 
 form a museum of natiu'al history, especially rich in 
 ornithology, made up in general by collections of his 
 lordship's oldest son. The birds are finely preserved, 
 and the collection of humming-birds numerous and vari- 
 ous beyond what I could have imagined, and of exquisite 
 beauty. The party consisted of about twenty gentlemen 
 and ladies, and every thing about and in the house was 
 most sumptuous and elegant. The tables embraced 
 every luxury in profusion, and the adornments with 
 flowers, &c., &;c., were tasteful and beautiful. But I 
 have not time to describe them. Occasionally my mind 
 and heart were full of the striking contrast which I had 
 so recently passed through, of the Irish cabin, and the 
 splendors and refinements with which I was then sur- 
 rounded. 
 
 On Wednesday we attended a large agricultural meet- 
 ing and dinner, where, contrary to my wishes and hopes, 
 I was compelled to respond to the toast — " Mr. Col- 
 man's health, and prosperity to the United States," with 
 three times three cheers and one more. My remarks are 
 in a paper which I send you. They are not very well 
 reported, but they might have been worse, and I hope 
 will not displease you. I have refused several invita- 
 tions lest I should be called up. On Friday afternoon 
 Mr. Pym, one of the most respectable men in the coun- 
 try, took me in his carriage to pass the night with Mr. 
 Adeane, a large proprietor, whose estate consists of 
 about two thousand five hundred acres. He has no title, 
 but is a highly educated gentleman. I have seen sev- 
 eral large establishments, but as to order and arrangement, 
 I think I have never seen so complete a place. I do 
 not believe there ever was more perfect housekeepincr, in
 
 270 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 elegance, neatness, and good taste ; but good house- 
 keeping is characteristic of all England. I wish I could 
 have given you a peep into my bed-chamber ; but I 
 must tell you about it when I return. I expected 
 nothing less than three or four servants to put me into 
 bed, and see that my bed clothes were smooth and in 
 order. There is a large family of children, — the two eld- 
 est girls, of fifteen years, twins — my heart was touched 
 at sight of their bright and cheerful faces. Besides the 
 family, there were at morning prayers, twenty servants ; 
 eleven servant maids, dressed alike, in a style of the most 
 simple, and I may say, elegant neatness — exclusive of 
 governess, housekeeper, music-teacher, &;c. Prayers 
 here, once a day, are universal. At Audley End, we 
 attended in a chapel, one of the handsomest rooms of its 
 size I have seen, with altar, organ, chaplain in his robes, 
 — the servants in livery, by themselves, — the servants 
 out of livery, by themselves — the ladies and guests in 
 a high pew, which would conveniently seat fifty persons. 
 On Saturday night I came to town, wishing to see the 
 Queen open the Exchange on Monday. It was a most 
 ostentatious and gorgeous exhibition. Sunday I went 
 with my friends, the Peabodys, to Greenwich, to attend 
 church, but neglecting to carry an order we could not 
 obtain admittance ; in the morning to Rag Fair, and on 
 our return we stopped at the Thames Tunnel. On Mon- 
 day we all went to the grand procession ; the people in the 
 street were almost as thick as the wooden pavements, 
 but no quarrelling or disorder. Wednesday, I showed 
 my friends Westminster Abbey, Covent Garden market, 
 the Arcades, and went to Dulwich to see the Gallery of 
 Paintings. Thursday afternoon, I went with them to
 
 LETTER LXXXI. 271 
 
 see Mrs. Lawrence's beautiful villa and grounds, having 
 previously procured a ticket of admission. 
 
 To-morrow I leave at seven for Cornwall, to visit my 
 excellent friends, the Pendarvescs, who have done every 
 thing for me that people could do. I go to see Lord 
 Ducie's pattern farm. I go into Gloucester to leam 
 something about cheese, the very thing you say Mr. 
 Bryant wishes to know. I have to visit a great agricul- 
 tural implement-maker ; and I have been honored with 
 an invitation to visit the Duke of Bedford, at Woburn 
 Abbey, where, of all places, I most wished to go. I 
 have had some invitations for Christmas holidays, but I 
 fear I cannot accept them. Mr. Pusey wishes me to 
 come there to meet the Chevalier Bunsen, one of the 
 first scholars in Europe, and a party. 
 
 I am sorry you did not like the Limerick gloves. 
 You must be very difficult, since they are deemed 
 the very finest that can grace the hands of royalty — 
 nothing of the kind is to be compared with them for 
 fineness. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXXL 
 
 Pendarves, near Truro, 
 West Cornwall, IGth Novoiuber, ISll. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 As I go this afternoon to Penzance, near Land's End, 
 (see the map.) I am afraid if I do not write from here I 
 may miss the mail. 
 
 I write in a state of great excitement, and ran
 
 272 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 scarcely hold my pen. First let me thank God that I 
 am well, certainly in body ; of the mind, I am not so 
 confident. This morning at ten o'clock I went down 
 into a copper mine, six hundred feet below the surface, 
 and have been for several hours travelling miles under 
 ground. The descent and ascent were by ladders, and 
 the fatigue excessive ; but I have never had such sights 
 and such sensations before. My head is full, my heart 
 is full. I was awake two or three nights, thinking 
 of the adventure — no small enterprise to a novice. 
 This morning I would have abandoned it, but that I was 
 ashamed to go back. I have seen the whole. You can 
 travel seven miles in a direct line, that is, in extent, 
 under ground. But I have no time to add any thing 
 
 now. Say to E I shall send him by the first good 
 
 chance, a piece of copper ore dug by myself, six 
 or seven hundred feet below the surface, that is, 
 four times the length of Park Street steeple below 
 ground. 
 
 Never were kinder people than where I have been stay- 
 ing — the Pendarveses. Two nights I have been at 
 Lady Bassett's. They wished me to stay until Christmas, 
 and urge me to promise them another visit, but I cannot 
 do it. I am tired of saying how elegantly, how mag- 
 nificently people live. It seems to me I am never to 
 reach the end. I go to Penzance, to Col. Scobell's, 
 to-night. Monday I visit the Land's End. Tuesday I 
 take the steamer, if the weather is favorable, for Bristol. 
 From Bristol I go to Lord Ducie's, the Hon. Rev. Mr. 
 Talbot's, Mr. Holland's, the Duke of Bedford's, and then 
 to London. This ends my English visits, for there must 
 be an end. I have fifty most desirable invitations that
 
 LETTER LXXXII. '273 
 
 I must refuse, because they would bring with liieiu fifty 
 more, I will write aiiain this eveninf^. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXXII. 
 
 Pendarves, Cornwall, 17th November, 1S44. 
 My Deab. a : 
 
 No church for me to-day. I have no joints, and my 
 muscles, after yesterday's adventures, seem to be made 
 of oak, and the skin is scraped off my feet, with the 
 wooden shoes they made me wear, without stockings, 
 in my descent into the mine, — so that I propose a little 
 talk with you, which, after all, may be quite as edifying, 
 and perhaps more agreeable, than a sermon. 
 
 I wrote you that I had seen , and his chamiing 
 
 family. What a sweet woman she is, and what lovely 
 girls are the daughters ! I left him in London a week 
 ago last Friday, and went on that morning to Corn- 
 wall, about three hundred miles. I reached Bristol 
 by rail the first night, Exeter the second day at twelve, 
 and then found, do my best, I could not reach Truro, 
 until two o'clock in the morning, nor Pendarves, 
 where my friends lived, to whom my visit was intended, 
 until Monday ; therefore, I concluded to alter my 
 route, and visit Lord Hatherton and family, then 
 staying at Torquay, near Torbay, (see map,) a cel- 
 ebrated watering place, on account of his daughter's 
 health. He knew I was going to Cornwall, and had 
 written to me to come there, without fail, either
 
 274 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 going or returning. I arrived there Saturday afternoon, 
 and put up at the hotel, but that would not do, so they 
 sent immediately for my luggage, and told me I must 
 stay the week, and give up my visit to Cornwall, and 
 let them have the time. That, however, could not be 
 done, but I determined to stay until Tuesday, and then 
 they said it must be Thursday ; but I compromised the 
 matter, and decided to leave on Wednesday. It is 
 impossible persons should be kinder than they were, and 
 from the manner in which they treat me, you might 
 infer that I was one of the family. Sunday, after 
 church, as Lord Hatherton was indisposed. Lady Hath- 
 erton offered to be my cicerone, and walked with me 
 several miles, about these most beautiful and picturesque 
 shores. On Sunday night, the Bishop of Exeter, whose 
 country residence is here, and whom I had met at several 
 places in London, and who begged me to visit him 
 when I came this way, sent for Lord and Lady Hather- 
 ton and myself, to dine with him on Monday. On 
 Monday forenoon. Lord Hatherton, the Bishop, and 
 myself, took a walk of four hours, and on Tuesday, of 
 six hours, around these beautiful shores. The gen- 
 tlemen were full of anecdote and interesting reminis- 
 cences, making the time pass most agreeably. On 
 Wednesday morning, as I was to start very early, Lord 
 Hatherton sent for me into his dressing-room, to urge me 
 to come back that way, on my return from Cornwall, 
 and make them another visit, but that I cannot do. I 
 mention it to show their kindness. 
 
 On Wednesday, I rode to Plymouth, thirty-six miles, 
 through a most picturesque country, but could go no 
 farther, on account of the aiTangement of the coaches.
 
 LETTER LXXXII. 275 
 
 until the next day at ten. Plymouth, however, in its 
 docks, forts, and breakwater, he, he, was exceedingly 
 interesting. On Thursday, I proceeded to Truro, fifty 
 miles, through a pelting rain. I never knew it rain 
 harder. I was outside the coach, and supposed I was 
 tolerably well sheltered. When, however, I got off the 
 coach at Truro, I found myself wet entirely through 
 and dripping. A comfortable fire and supper, however, 
 presently restored me. It was a most rainy and tem- 
 pestuous night. On Friday, the weather was still 
 cloudy, but not wet, and I went on, by one conveyance 
 and another, fourteen miles, to Pendarves, the name of 
 the residence of my friends. They had sent their car- 
 riage two days to the station, for me, and had nearly 
 given me up. Nothing could be more hearty than the 
 welcome I received. The house was full of company, 
 — gentlemen and ladies invited to meet me. Never were 
 kinder people, and the house contained every provision 
 for comfort of the body and the recreation and gratifica- 
 tion of the mind. I told them they must give me a few 
 hours to myself in the morning, and I would be at their 
 service, after lunch, at two o'clock. The woman came 
 in every morning, at half-past six, to make my fire, and 
 the servant to bring my clothes, neatly bmshed, soon 
 after, so that I had some time for reading and writing 
 before breakfast at half-past nine. There was no want 
 of books, had I not been supplied, for Mr. Pendarves's 
 private library contains more than six thousand volumes, 
 all catalogued. I passed from Friday until Thursday 
 evening with them. They invited me to stay until 
 Christmas ; but that could not be. On Thursday eve- 
 ning, I went to dine at Lady Bassett's, (a peeress in her
 
 276 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 own right,) living in the neighborhood, whose invitation 
 to visit I had received sometime before in London, and 
 who I found had waylaid me at Mr. Pendarves's. I wish 
 I could give you an account of my visit here, but I fear 
 my letters will tire you. I left them on Saturday 
 morning, with a promise that, if it should storm on 
 Tuesday, so that I could not take the boat for Bristol, I 
 would return there, they kindly expressing the hope that 
 it would certainly storm, so as to drive me back. Every 
 thing here was elegant. Many persons were staying 
 in the house, and, among others, a most accomplished 
 woman and her daughter, Mrs. Abel, formerly resident 
 at St. Helena. Bonaparte lodged at her house three 
 months, while his own residence was in preparation, 
 and she, a little gay girl, was his special favorite. She 
 has published an account of her intimacy with Napo- 
 leon, in a journal, which is interesting and well written. 
 She and her daughter played and sung together — I have 
 heard nothing of the kind superior. There were sev- 
 eral other persons present — among others, an agree- 
 able and intelligent Episcopal clergyman. I have already 
 
 recounted my visit to the mine, in my letter to Mr. 
 
 and your mother. In the afternoon, I came here, on a 
 visit to Col. Scobell, formerly in the army, but for several 
 years an extensive farmer in this vicinity — a man of 
 great urbanity and intelligence, and with a most kind 
 family. I found a party invited to meet me at dinner, 
 at seven o'clock last evening, but owing to some negli- 
 gence of the coaches, I did not reach here until eight. 
 Their carriage had been waiting an hour for me in the 
 town. To-moiTOw he carries me to Land's End, to see 
 all that is to be seen ; and in order to accomplish all that
 
 LETTER LXXXIII, 277 
 
 can be done in a single day, he has arranged to have 
 three relays of post-horses on the route. Is not this 
 attention with a witness ? I cannot be grateful enough 
 for the kindness I have received everywhere. Nothing 
 seems possible to exceed it. As to the elegancies with 
 which this class of people here are surrounded, I need 
 say nothing farther. Lady Bassett, though a single 
 lady, provides a dinner for fifty people in the house 
 every day, or rather, including servants, has that number 
 to dine, upon an average, the whole year. She and 
 Mrs. Pendarves have, both of them, large waiting-rooms 
 fitted up for the poor, who come to them for charity, 
 which they dispense most liberally. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIIL 
 
 Penzance, Cornwall, 17tli November, 1844. 
 My Deak Sir: 
 
 I WROTE to Mrs. C a hurried line yesterday. I 
 
 send this for the purpose of giving you some account 
 of my visit yesterday to one of the mines of Corn- 
 wall. This county is in the district of mines, and its 
 whole territory seems to be underlaid with copper and 
 tin, much of it of the richest kind, as you may infer 
 from the fact that a cubic fathom of the ore upon which 
 I saw the miners at work yesterday, would, it was 
 judged, yield £100 in value. For miles and miles 
 after you enter the country, the surface is broken, 
 presenting the appearance of immense piles of gravel 
 and sand ; it is studded all over with water-wheels 
 24
 
 278 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 and immense steam-engines, which are constantly ele- 
 vating and depressing their gigantic arms in pumping 
 the mines ; and the streams of water pouring out in 
 different directions from the " adits " of the mines, are 
 colored with the ore, like blood. 
 
 I came here to visit my friends Mr. and Mrs. Pendarves. 
 Mr. P. is a large proprietor. One of his mines within 
 the last twenty years has yielded him £80,000. He has 
 been a member of Parliament for many years. They 
 were anxious that I should see the mining district ; 
 and since I have been in England they have treated me 
 with such extraordinary kindness, that I felt it would 
 be hardly right for me to quit England without visiting 
 them, and I had likewise a great desire to do it. I 
 came here about ten days since ; and have found 
 much to be seen interesting in an agricultural view, as 
 well as in other respects. After seeing the mining 
 country generally, it was proposed a week ago, that I 
 should explore one of the richest copper mines, and 
 rather incautiously I agreed to the project, which was to 
 be carried into execution on the coming Saturday. After 
 engaging to do it, I had a dozen minds to abandon the 
 project, and for two or three nights I got very little sleep, 
 from the apprehension of what I was to go through ; I 
 felt, indeed, very much like a condemned criminal, who 
 was looking forward to his execution. I dare say you 
 will smile at this ; and the idea that I should think so 
 much of what hundreds of men do every day of their 
 lives without thinking at all of it, may amuse you ; but 
 to a novice and a landsman, it was no small affair to 
 descend by a ladder in utter darkness, into the bowels of 
 the earth six or seven hundred feet below the surface.
 
 LETTER LXXXin. 
 
 279 
 
 The morning however came, and after having said my 
 prayers and eaten a very imperfect and hurried breakfast, 
 I left for the mine, and reached there at half-past nine 
 with my heart in my mouth, wishing that almost any 
 thing could happen, that I should not be obliged to go 
 down. But there was no alternative, and I proceeded 
 to prepare myself. First, every article of clothing was 
 to be taken off, and I must put on a flannel shirt, flannel 
 drawei-s, canvass trousers, canvass jacket, cow-hide 
 shoes without any stockings, a white, flat hat, which 
 seemed to me to be made of board, and resembled a 
 barber's washbasin inverted, and above all, a white 
 nightcap. The white nightcap, which came down to 
 my eyes, with the exception of the black bows, seemed to 
 me so much like the cap which was to be drawn over the 
 eyes before the poor fellows were swung off, that I really 
 felt very much like one being led to execution. A candle 
 was then put into my hands stuck in a piece of clay, which 
 we lighted at the mouth of the shaft, and with one man 
 with a candle before, and another after, we proceeded to 
 descend. " Hold on," was the cry ; " take care of your 
 candle ; " " mind your steps ; " " grasp the round of the 
 ladder; " " put your foot on the round before you let go 
 your hand," were the exhortations continually given, and 
 sufficiently startling, when you felt that a single mis-step 
 or the breaking of a single round, might send you down 
 into unfathomable darkness, from whence there would be 
 no ascent. There were occasional platforms on which 
 the different ladders rested, where we took breath, but 
 the greatest care was requisite in order to reach the 
 next ladder in safety ; and at repeated intervals, we saw 
 immense caverns or drifts, ofl^ at the sides, and penetrating
 
 280 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 to unknown depths. At last, when we had descended 
 between six and seven hundred feet, the guide said here 
 we would quit the shaft, and commence our horizontal 
 explorations. We left the ladders and then took a side 
 cut by a passage which we traversed — so low that we 
 were obliged to keep our heads as low as our hips — dark, 
 damp, and dismal, sometimes crossing a pile of broken 
 stones; at others, crossing on planks over holes of 
 unknown depth, with many cautions to " look out," 
 when there was nothing to look at but those deep pits 
 and caverns ; occasionally coming to open chambers, 
 where we could stand erect ; at other times, to crevices, 
 where only a man of moderate dimensions could wrig- 
 gle through plank-fashion ; at other times, to holes 
 where you could only pass upon your hands and knees, 
 sometimes stumbling among rubbish, sometimes going 
 over shoes in water. When at last, in a sort of lofty 
 chamber, we sat ourselves down to rest, we soon heard 
 at a distance, the rumbling of a carriage, like far off 
 thunder, and a loaded rail-car was driven by us by men 
 with torches in their hands, half clad, and so black, 
 with their eyes shining like cats' eyes in the dark, that 
 they looked like children who had never known any 
 other home than these infernal regions. So we pursued 
 our way through one crevice and another, one dark 
 chamber and another, over one frightful hole and another ; 
 sometimes ascending and descending wooden ladders ; 
 sometimes upon rope ladders which could not be held 
 still, and which left you swinging over these fright- 
 ful abysses, occasionally hearing at vast distances the 
 pecking of the miners, occasionally seeing far off in the 
 extended and dark galleries, sometimes fifty feet above
 
 LETTER LXXXIII. 281 
 
 you and sometimes as far below you, parties of miners 
 with their candles stuck upon the walls, beatin<>; and 
 breaking and drilling the hard stones, and looking I can 
 hardly tell you like what ; and sometimes in our long 
 walks passing several parties of these inhabitants of the 
 lower regions ; sometimes meeting a single one, so black 
 and looking so different from any thing you see above, 
 that you start back from him with a sort of instinctive 
 shudder ; when, after awhile, we were ordered to stand 
 still. Then began a discharge of successive and temfic 
 explosions, (the charges for which, had been ordered to 
 be kept until I was near enough to hear them, and at the 
 same time secure from injury.) At first the cry ran 
 through the mines, " take care, take care," which, with- 
 out seeing any person, you heard repeated from one to 
 the other, until the sound seemed to die away at an 
 almost immeasurable distance, and you heard the miners 
 everywhere dropping their tools and preparing for the 
 blast ; then came a tremendous explosion, which seemed 
 directly under our feet ; then another and another in 
 quick succession ; then several at once, which you heard 
 echoed and re-echoed, as the reverberation passed along 
 through the deep and distant galleries ; and then the 
 whole seemed to be answered by a general discharge so 
 far off that the sound appeared scarcely audible. The 
 mine now became full of smoke ; the heat below was 
 very great, certainly as high as eighty degrees, and it 
 had grown hotter and hotter. My breathing now was 
 very difficult, and I felt quite faint, but did not dare 
 complain. After having traversed, for aught I know, 
 miles under ground in this way, and seen the whole 
 process of getting out the ore, it was determined to 
 24*
 
 282 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 return to the sliaft and coinmence the ascent. This we 
 reached after awhile — how found by the guides, heaven 
 only knows, for I myself had no more idea in what 
 direction we were going, than if I had been utterly blind. 
 The ascent was extremely laborious, and had it not 
 been for the successive rests, I believe I should have 
 given up in despair, and taken the fatal plunge. I 
 cannot tell you how grateful I was when it was 
 announced that day-light could nov/ be seen ; and still 
 more so when I stepped from the top round of the ladder 
 in broad day light, and felt myself once more upon the 
 surface of the earth. My first impulse was to thank 
 God for my safety ; never was any poor wretch who had 
 been reprieved at the foot of the scaffold, more thankful ; 
 my second was to look at myself, and admire my own 
 appearance ; my third was to enjoy the shouts of laugh- 
 ter of the workmen, men and women above ground, who 
 saw me emerge, looking like the very d — I himself, and 
 of Mr. Pendarves, who had been waiting until he had 
 almost given us up in despair, to see me come out. A 
 good warm bath, a thorough ablution in a warm room, 
 and some clean clothes, soon made " Richard himself 
 again." I would not have missed the enterprise upon 
 any account, had I known previously what it was ; but 
 I hardly know what would induce me to repeat it, and 
 thus ends my mining experience. There are seven 
 hundred people at work in this mine, and there is a 
 population of eighty thousand miners in the neighbor- 
 hood. The life which these poor fellows lead, is 
 certainly hard enough ; and yet they prefer it " to 
 going to grass," as they term working upon the land. 
 The time employed in actual mining, is about eight hours
 
 LETTER LXXXiri. 
 
 283 
 
 in twenty-four ; but including the time taken up in 
 ascending and descending, in dressing and washing, and 
 in taking care of their tools, they are occupied about 
 twelve hours. Their regular wages are about ten shil- 
 lings per week ; but as they often take jobs or work upon 
 tribute, as it is called, having a certain per centage upon 
 the sales of their ore, they sometimes make several 
 pounds per week, if they happen to get a good '' pitch," 
 as they tenn it. This, ho\\'ever, is of course wholly 
 uncertain. Their lives are shortened by their labor, and 
 they seldom live beyond forty-five years. Many of them 
 are destroyed by various accidents. On coming out, 
 they have always a warm bath and clean clothes to put 
 on ; but as they have families to provide for, on their 
 small wages, they are compelled to live very meanly, 
 seldom getting meat, and no tea, or coffee, or butter. 
 Many of them are tee-totalers ; but the state of morals 
 here in some other respects, is said to be most deplorable. 
 England and Scotland in every part, among the lower 
 classes, (L-eland is an exception,) must be said, in respect 
 to dissoluteness, to be rotten to the core. 
 
 I thought you would feel an interest in my mining 
 adventures, but I am afraid I have made them tedious to 
 you. This is an interesting country, and from what I 
 have seen of the people, they seem from their dialect and 
 many of their customs to be clear Marbleheaders. Thus 
 they say born, for bam ; cort, for cart ; shaw, for show ; 
 and their grammar is a protracted murder of the King's 
 English by inches. 
 
 I came on here last evening, to visit by particular 
 invitation of Col. Scobell, some extraordinary agricultural 
 improvements. To-morrow I go to Land's End, and
 
 284 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 as it will be economical both of time and money, I 
 shall, unless the weather is tempestuous on Tuesday, 
 take the steamer to Bristol, where I expect to arrive on 
 Wednesday morning. My expectation is to return to 
 London by the first of December, and not leave it for any 
 length of time until my Reports of English Agriculture 
 are completed. Yours truly. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIV. 
 
 EXTRACT. 
 
 Painswick, Gloucestershire, 2nd December, 1844. 
 
 I AM now on my way from Bristol and Clifton. The 
 fields in many places are as green as in summer, and the 
 flowers, the roses, the laurels, and many other shrubs are 
 in perfection. Last Friday week I picked ripe strawber- 
 ries from the vines in the open air, and we had ripe 
 currants and strawberries for dessert at dinner, and ripe 
 raspberries also, all gathered that day. I cannot say 
 they were very good, for at this advanced season they 
 become tasteless. One of the most beautiful shrubs 
 which I have seen is the arbutus, a long lane of which I 
 was shown the other day, covered with its crimson and 
 white fruit ; I never saw any thing of the kind hand- 
 somer.
 
 LETTER LXXXV. 285 
 
 LETTER LXXXV. 
 
 Paiiiswiok, near Gloucester, 2iid December, 1S44. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I HAVE not yet received my letters by the steamer, 
 but I must not let a boat go without writing ; though let 
 me forewarn you not to give yourself anxiety, should such 
 an event occur, as it might happen for twenty reasons 
 beyond my control. 
 
 My last was dated at Pendarves, just as I had emerged 
 from a deep mine. I look back upon the expedition 
 with great satisfaction, now that it is accomplished ; but 
 there must be very strong inducements to lead me to a 
 repetition of the adventure. I still in truth feel the 
 effects of it ; the skin is not yet mended on my feet ; my 
 muscles are somewhat stiffened, and I fancy that my 
 breathing is not quite so free as formerly ; but a short 
 time will put all things right. It was, however, no 
 small affair to go up and down ladders more than six hun- 
 dred feet in length, holding on by one hand and carrying 
 a torch in the other, and then to walk and clamber and 
 creep and crawl two miles or more under ground after 
 we got down. But what do the poor fellows do, to 
 whom much more than this is a daily task, and seven 
 hundred of whom belong to this single mine, some of 
 whom, it is said, have to descend daily more than twelve 
 hundred feet to their work, and I have heard it stated 
 in some cases eighteen hundred. 
 
 After leaving the mine I took the railroad for Pen- 
 zance, to visit Col. Scobell. His carriage was awaiting
 
 286 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 my arrival, and I soon found myself in a most agreeable 
 and polite circle of friends. He himself is a large farmer 
 and improver, has seen much of the world, and is full of 
 information, and kinder people I never knew. They 
 did every thing for me in their power, and would have 
 done twice as much if they could. 
 
 I reached there on Saturday evening, and on Sunday 
 I was suffering too much from my mining expedition to 
 go to church. On Monday I rode to Land's End, and 
 took a complete tour of the coast. I went to what is 
 designated the first and last house in England. It was 
 a most interesting excursion. I went to one of the 
 largest copper mines, which is dug a long way under 
 the sea, and where the miners hear the waves dashing 
 and the stones rolling over their heads, but did not de- 
 scend into it. Land's End, the extremity of the 
 island of Great Britain, is a remarkable spot ; and as 
 I stood upon the very point of the cliff, and knew that 
 the breezes which I drank in came fresh from my own 
 home, I imagined that they came freighted with all kind 
 affections, and my heart was touched and my eyes were 
 flooded. How much I wished that my arm could reach 
 you, and that my ear could once more hear your gentle 
 and affectionate welcome. 
 
 We returned at night to another dinner party, for 
 each day Col. Scobell invited company to meet me. 
 On Tuesday I left after breakfast, and after a drive of 
 six miles, took the steamboat for Bristol. This was 
 contrary to my custom, to go by water when I could go 
 by land, but as I should save two days time, I pre- 
 ferred it rather than return over a country which I had 
 already passed. The steamboat lay near St. Iv^es, a
 
 LETTER LXXXV. 287 
 
 fishing village. The coast here is occasionally frequent- 
 ed by large schools of pilchards, a small fish, which, 
 when dried, forms a considerable part of the subsistence 
 of the poor during the winter. On this day a large body 
 of these fish swarmed in the harbor, and the inhabitants 
 were out with every species of boat and every kind of 
 net for the purpose of taking them. I was assured that 
 the value of the fish sometimes taken in such an event, 
 in one day, frequently amounts to £5,000 sterling, and 
 has sometimes amounted to £8,000 sterling. The scene 
 was highly animated, and there were few idle or unoc- 
 cupied hands in St. Ives on that day. 
 
 I reached Bristol on Wednesday morning, went to 
 Clifton, three miles, to deliver some letters, dined in a 
 large party, and rested at a comfortable inn. On Thurs- 
 day I went by appointment to visit W. Miles, Esq. M. P., 
 at King's Western, and there having pitched my tent, de- 
 termined, by his kind invitation, to wait for my letters from 
 London. Mr. Miles's place is magnificent ; in situation 
 and elegance I have seen nothing to surpass it. We 
 had a very large dinner party of gentlemen and ladies in 
 the evening, and more or less company every day while 
 I remained there, staying in the house. 
 
 On Monday morning I returned to Bristol from King's 
 Western, on the coach, at an early hour, and to give 
 you some idea of the density of an English fog, I have 
 only to say that for a considerable part of the way it 
 was so thick that we could not discern the houses by 
 the road-side, and were obliged to keep ringing a bell 
 to give notice of our approach, and to avoid collision 
 with other carriages. 
 
 I went to Bath, one of the pleasantest towns in Eng- 
 land, and returned again to Bristol, and took the rail for
 
 288 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 Tortworth, Lord Ducie's place, where I had been ex- 
 pected some days, and where I was received in the most 
 cordial manner. There was much to be seen here to in- 
 terest me. I went to stay one night and they kindly 
 induced me to stay four, and exacted a promise of me 
 to repeat my visit. Lord Ducie's conversation is distin- 
 guished by good humor and sparkling wit. He is full of 
 agricultural information ; knows every thing about a 
 farm ; can shear a sheep or hold a plough, and without 
 ostentation or affectation, can adorn the highest society. 
 He carried me over his extensive establishment, and to 
 several of the principal dairies in the neighborhood, and 
 when I left on Friday morning, would not allow me to 
 take a public conveyance, but sent me on seven miles to 
 meet another gentleman, who had appointed to take me 
 up there. I never left a house with a more grateful sense 
 of kindness ; and there was no abatement whatever to 
 my enjoyment, but that I could not impart some of it to 
 you at home. After all I have said, it is very difficult to 
 give you any just idea of the elegance, combined with 
 perfect ease and freedom of these houses, and the com- 
 forts with which they are filled. If I were a younger 
 man I believe it would have spoilt me ; but I shall re- 
 turn to my humble home, if so Heaven in mercy blesses 
 me, with a satisfaction not lessened, but even increased 
 by what I have here seen others enjoy. I know how 
 " sweet is even a dinner of herbs where love is." Ought 
 it not even to make me happier, to see any good and 
 kind people enjoying all the luxuries and elegancies 
 which wealth and taste can supply, though I myself can 
 aspire to no such indulgences ? Their enjoyment of 
 these things certainly does not in any way take from 
 mine.
 
 LETTER LXXXV. 289 
 
 At the place of the great agricultural establishment 
 for the manufacture of farming implements, Mr. Hyett, 
 formerly member of Parliament, met me by appointment. 
 He had written to me, inviting me to come and see how 
 a retired English gentleman lived. He had engaged 
 me to dine at Stroud, with a large party of ladies and 
 
 gentlemen, on my way to his house, at Mr. S 's, 
 
 a retired manufacturer, and had provided a place for 
 me to dress at a friend's house on the way. To go to 
 dinner here, without being in full dress, would be a 
 sad mistake. I long since learned that; and though 
 in staying at a nobleman's or gentleman's house, he 
 will often say to you, " you need not dress much," I 
 have found the only safe way is to be perfectly well 
 dressed, for so always you are sure to find your host and 
 his company. I came near, in one case, making a mis- 
 take in this matter which would have been mortifying. 
 I had supposed myself invited to dine only with two or 
 three gentlemen in London, and thought at first I would 
 go without much alteration, having an impression that 
 my host was living at bachelor's quarters. My good 
 fortune, however, saved me, and I went as well prepared 
 as / could be. I found, on going, one of the most elegant 
 houses in London, and a brilliant party of ladies and 
 gentlemen of the highest rank. The gentleman was 
 the son of the Archbishop of York, and there I met 
 the Rev. Sydney Smith, whom the Pennsylvanians 
 love so well. My rule, therefore, is invariably to put 
 myself daily in the best condition, humble on my 
 part as it must be, to meet any and everybody. I like 
 the practice. You may dress yourself as you please 
 in the morning, wear the coarsest clothes and the 
 25
 
 290 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 thickest shoes — a checkered shirt and a tarpauHn cap ; 
 but at dinner, which is seldom before seven o'clock, 
 every one appears full dressed, which is, upon the whole, 
 as much a matter of comfort and satisfaction to the 
 individual himself, as it is of proper respect to the com- 
 pany whom you meet. 
 
 We had six miles to ride after dinner, and reached 
 Painswick, Mr. Hyett's, at 12 o'clock. Nothing need 
 be more tasteful than this whole establishment. The 
 gentleman is of high education, long accustomed to 
 travel, full of philanthropic and public matters, living at 
 ease upon his fortune, his house filled with fine books, 
 pictures, statues, and works of art, and himself a man 
 of elegant conversation and great kindness. I hope 
 to-morrow before I leave, to get my American letters. 
 I wish sometimes that they came rather accidentally than 
 regularly, as I get into a fever and sometimes an ague 
 of anxiety, when I hear that they have arrived and I must 
 wait a week to get them. After this I go to Woburn 
 Abbey, to the Duke of Bedford's. This must finish my 
 travels in England, though I have two letters from Sir 
 Charles Morgan, in Wales, to attend his cattle-show on 
 the 18th, reminding me that 1 promised to do it last 
 year. Adieu.
 
 LETTER LXXXVI. 291 
 
 LETTER LXXXVI. 
 
 Londun, 56 Charing Cross, 
 31st December, 1844. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I RECEIVED, two days ago, your letter of the 15th. I 
 have not advanced here so well as I could have wished ; 
 that is, so fast as I could have wished. I have three 
 visits more to make, which will take me from London un- 
 til the 16th. Mr. Pusey, M. P., has invited me to meet 
 a party of agricultural gentlemen at his house on the 4th. 
 Lord Hardwicke has invited me to visit him in Cambridge- 
 shire on the 7th, and as it is a repeated and most agree- 
 able appointment, I am unwilling to decline. The Duke 
 of Bedford has honored me with another invitation, and 
 my visit is fixed there for the 12th. These are all agri- 
 cultural visits and opportunities, which I do not feel it 
 right to forego. Indeed, Woburn Abbey, the residence 
 of the Duke of Bedford, is said to be the place in Eng- 
 land, of all others, most worth my visiting. Earl Fitz- 
 william, Earl Talbot, the Earl of Dartmouth, Lord De 
 Morley, Lord Ducie, Lord Aboyne, Sir John Boileau, 
 Sir Harvey Verney, Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Hobbes, Mr. 
 Ransome, Mr. Tonge, Mr. Holland, Mr. Arkwright, Pro- 
 fessor Henslow, Mr. Adeane, Mr. Pym, and several of 
 the clergy have invited me to visit them, and not only 
 to visit but to pass several days, and in some cases, 
 even a month, promising me every accommodation for 
 reading or writing, or amusing myself; but I am obliged to
 
 292 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 come to an end, or I should never get through my work. 
 The Duke of Richmond, Hkewise, in the most friendly 
 manner, desires me to pass a few days with him again, 
 whenever I will. Indeed, 1 could fill a sheet with invita- 
 tions ; a year would not suffice to meet them all. You 
 see what reason I have to be grateful. And what infinite 
 reason have I to be grateful to God for his goodness, 
 who has mercifully preserved my life and health through 
 many perils ; has crowded into so short a space of time 
 so much enjoyment ; and has given me, I hope, if my 
 life is spared, the means of rendering the information 
 which I have acquired, and the scenes which I have 
 passed through, a source of pleasure and advantage to 
 others. 
 
 I hear of Judge Prescott's death with great regret, 
 and yet how enviable are such a life and death. I never 
 knew a more estimable man. I had become much 
 acquainted with him, and every interview only the 
 more strengthened my respect, esteem, and veneration. 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXXVII. 
 
 Loudon, 31st December, 1844. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I BELIEVE I am not at all in your debt, in the way of 
 letter-writing, but I am quite willing to extend your 
 credit, as I know, in due time, I shall get my pay. 
 
 Last week, on Monday, I returned from Wales, and 
 the papers which I send to your mother, and the silk
 
 LETTER LXXXVII. 293 
 
 printed bills of the show, for the children, will, in a 
 measure, explain the object of my visit. I left for Bris- 
 tol, on Tuesday morning, the 17th instant, by rail, and 
 arrived at eleven o'clock, and then took steamboat, 
 crossing the Severn to Newport, and putting my bag- 
 gage on a van, walked three miles to Tredegar, the 
 seat of Sir Charles Morgan ; this estate has been in the 
 family for more than two centuries. I was expected 
 at the time, and was cordially welcomed. The house 
 is an enormous pile, I should think more than two 
 hundred feet square, with a large court in the centre ; 
 and the finishing and furnishing are all comfortable as 
 possible, and elegant. The park, in which the house 
 stands, embraces about thirteen hundred acres, with 
 lakes, and noble trees, and water-falls, with gardens and 
 conservatories, and shrubberies and greenhouses, and 
 besides all this, the princely owner has five hundred ten- 
 ants on his different farms. He was kind enough to 
 show me every part of his establishment. In his beer- 
 cellar there were only thirty-seven large tierces and hogs- 
 heads, each of them containing several barrels apiece, 
 and the large vats containing hogsheads. His wine cel- 
 lars were almost equally spacious. In his slaughter- 
 house there were hanging up eight sheep, four large 
 hogs, and one large ox, and they brought in another to 
 be killed the next day ; to say nothing of the salted 
 meats in the dry-meat-house, and the game, pheasants, 
 hares, rabbits, venison, &.c. He has a herd of four hun- 
 dred deer in his park, and kindly gave me a side of veni- 
 son for the ladies where I lodge, half of which I gave to 
 them on Christmas day, and the other half I sent to the 
 minister of the French Protestant Church, where I usu- 
 25*
 
 294 EUROPEAN LIFE aIID MANNERS. 
 
 ally attend in London. As he was disposed to show 
 me every thing, he was also kind enough to give me a 
 list of his house servants, in the order of their rank, for 
 they are quite as tenacious and observant of their rank 
 as their superiors, and they numbered one hundred and 
 eleven, to be dined in the servants' hall daily. Be- 
 sides that, they expected at Christmas, when their guests 
 arrived, an addition from the servants they would bring, 
 which might carry them up to a much larger number, a 
 lady seldom going without her maid, and a gentleman 
 without his valet, besides their coachman, and often- 
 tunes a postilion. The party staying in the house 
 while I was there, and exclusive of guests expressly in- 
 vited to dinner, amounted to about twenty in the parlor, 
 besides children and young ladies not come out, who 
 dined at the lunch, at two o'clock ; and the party at 
 Christmas would probably be increased to sixty, many 
 of whom are relatives of the family, and were expected 
 to stay six weeks. One of the invited guests who was 
 coming with his family, had sent word he must bring 
 eight horses ; and Sir Charles wrote him to bring as 
 many as he pleased. He could not come without his 
 hunting stud with him. I could not stay over Christ- 
 mas, as I had other engagements ; but they urged me, 
 if I was in the country another season, to repeat my visit. 
 Sir Charles took me over his farms, and did every thing 
 he could to make my visit agreeable ; indeed, the whole 
 household were as kind, as attentive, and as warm- 
 hearted people as I have ever met with, and it was im- 
 possible, abating a dreadful ague, that my visit should 
 have been more agreeable. We breakfasted at ten 
 o'clock and dined at seven ; for those who took lunch.
 
 LETTER LXXXVII. - 295 
 
 (a hot dinner it should be called,) it was always 
 on table at two. I had the mornings to myself, 
 until twelve or one o'clock, without interruption ; the 
 servant-woman came into my chamber at half-past six 
 to make my fii-e, and the valet soon after to bring my 
 clothes and shoes. Though there were so many persons 
 in the house, there was not the slightest noise to be heard ; 
 if, you perchance met a servant in the halls or pas- 
 sages, they would be sure to get out of your way, unless 
 you wanted them ; and if any thing was required, you 
 had only to touch your bell, and it was immediately re- 
 sponded to. We had eight men servants at dinner con- 
 stantly, seven of them in livery, with their heads fully 
 powdered, and one in black, looking like a grave old 
 clergyman, who was the butler, who handed the wine, 
 and put every dish on the table. At table no one helps 
 himself to any thing, I had almost said, even if it is 
 directly before him, but a servant always interferes. 
 Even the person sitting at your side, does not hand his 
 own plate to be helped. Water-cups are placed by your 
 plate, and oftentimes with perfumed water, to wash your 
 hands and lips after dinner, and these are taken away, 
 and others are put on with the dessert. You are never 
 urged to eat, and seldom asked what you will have, 
 excepting by the servant. In most cases, an elegantly 
 written bill of fare, sometimes on embossed silk paper, 
 is passed quietly round the table, and you whisper to the 
 servant and tell him what you will have. The vegeta- 
 bles are never put upon the plate by the person who 
 helps, but are always passed round by the servants. 
 Each guest is of course furnished with a clean napkin, 
 which, after dinner, is never left on the table but either
 
 296 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 thrown into your chair or upon the floor, under the table. 
 The ladies leave soon after the wine has passed twice 
 round. After the gentlemen have drawn together and 
 finished their confab, in half an hour coffee is announced 
 in the drawing room, when the gentlemen go in to meet 
 the ladies. One servant then comes with the cups, and 
 cream, and sugar, on a waiter, and is followed by another 
 servant with a coffeepot of coffee, to fill up your cup 
 after you have prepared it. In about half an hour 
 after coffee, the tea furniture is brought in, and one of 
 the ladies makes the tea, which is then handed round, 
 or left to stand for any one to go and help himself to a 
 cup or to hand one to the ladies. With tea, generally 
 a few transparent slices of bread and butter are handed 
 round or stand upon the table for any one to help him- 
 self. The party then form little coteries — those to 
 whist, who choose ; the ladies generally to their embroi- 
 dery or Berlin work ; others to their books or the news- 
 papers of the day, which are always on the table ; and 
 sometimes the young ladies are at the piano, but every 
 thing is perfectly sans souci, and the rooms are so large, 
 sixty feet long or more, with all sorts of conveniences 
 for sitting or lounging, or forming a little exclusive con- 
 versational party, that twenty different things may be 
 going on without one interfering with the other. At 
 eleven the servants bring in the decanters of wine, Selzer 
 water, and whiskey, with sugar and hot water, for every 
 one to help himself; and the bed-candles are placed 
 upon the sideboard, or in the outer hall. The ladies 
 then generally retire in a body, giving a pleasant good- 
 night ; the young girls always kissing their father and 
 mother; and soon after that the gentlemen retire, —
 
 LETTER LXXXVII. 297 
 
 or you may go at any time, only bidding your next 
 neighbor good-night, and quietly taking your own 
 candle. 
 
 In your chamber, every thing is always in the best 
 order, — a blazing fire, and a rush-light to burn all night, 
 in . a safe, so that no danger can come from it. Your 
 window and bed-curtains are always closely drawn, 
 your night-clothes hung by the fire to be aired, the 
 bootjack and slippers placed by the side of your bed, 
 and spare blankets folded near you. A bell-rope is 
 always within reach, and not, unfrequently, a worked 
 night-cap, to be used if you choose it. In most houses, 
 prayers are had half an hour before breakfast, but these, 
 you are left at entire liberty to attend or not. There is 
 always a dressing-bell for breakfast and dinner, half an 
 hour before each. At breakfast you come down dressed 
 as you please. Before dinner, you go into your cham- 
 ber, and you find, without having given any orders 
 whatever, your dress-clothes, brushed and folded, and 
 with your shoes, laid out for use. A pitcher of hot 
 water is put upon your table, or a little, bright copper 
 tea-kettle is boiling over the fire. Five minutes before 
 the dinner hour, you are expected in the drawing-room, 
 where the company are assembled, and, at the proper 
 call, the lady or master of the house, always assigns you 
 a partner. 
 
 After breakfast, or at breakfast, your tea and coffee 
 will be turned out for you, or you help yourself. There 
 is seldom any servant in waiting. Ham and eggs are on 
 the table ; the cold meats, cold beef, cold fowl, cold par- 
 tridge, are on the sideboard ; and you get up and help 
 yourself or any lady whom you may be desirous to serve.
 
 298 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 If the post arrives in the morning, your letters are 
 always handed to you at breakfast, or laid by your plate. 
 You will find, likewise, always in some principal passage, 
 a mail-box, with a notice upon it, at what time, every 
 day, the mail leaves, where, if you deposite your letters, 
 they are sure to be sent. Each of these great houses 
 has a separate mail-bag for itself. 
 
 At breakfast, the arrangements for the day are gene- 
 rally made, and in all the houses where I have been, the 
 appointments are expected to be kept with the most 
 exact punctuality, so that if you are engaged to walk or 
 ride, or drive, at a particular hour, precisely at that hour 
 you will find the party in the hall, and the horse or 
 carriage at the door. Your greatcoat, which you leave 
 in the hall, you will find neatly folded, your hat brushed, 
 your gloves laid out upon your hat, and your umbrella 
 in its place. Indeed, it would be impossible to get 
 along in such establishments without the most exact 
 system and punctuality, and where these are observed, 
 every thing goes on like clockwork. 
 
 Now have I not given you a pretty piece of gossip ? 
 I hope you will be edified, and if it gives you any pleas- 
 ure, I shall be glad. You have desired to know the 
 particulars of manners and management in these spendid 
 establishments ; and as one may be considered as a type 
 of others, and all are upon the same model, I shall vio- 
 late no confidence, by giving you these details of modes 
 of living, wholly different from those which prevail with 
 us. Each of these great houses has an extensive brewery, 
 laundry, and meat-house, of its own ; and these, with the 
 home dairy, where fresh butter is furnished every morn- 
 ing, are always of the best description, and well worthy
 
 LETTER LXXXVIll. 299 
 
 of inspection. The steward's department in such an 
 estabUshment is Uke the commissariat of a small army. 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER LXXXVIll. 
 
 London, 2d January, 184.'). 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 I DO NOT recollect having ever seen Loudon's account 
 of the Lawrencian Villa, and cannot now refer to it ; 
 but I derive an impression, from what you say, that he 
 considered it the handsomest establishftient in England, 
 and a model of what such a place should be. I have, 
 in the first place, not an exalted opinion of Loudon's 
 taste. I visited the Aboretum, at Derby, where Lou- 
 don had all the means and money to make the place as 
 handsome as art and taste could make it, but I think 
 there never was a more egregious failure. Mrs. Law- 
 rence's place is transferred from where it was first 
 made; but every thing has been transplanted that 
 could be removed, and I am told the natural advantages 
 of the new situation are much superior to tliose of the 
 old. I went there with Mr. Peabody and family, 
 but we saw it under great disadvantages, as the air was 
 raw and chilly, and the afternoon wet and foggy. The 
 place is extremely beautiful, but very far from being the 
 handsomest place I have seen in England. We entered 
 the park gate, and after a drive of some extent, perhaps 
 a quarter of a mile, we came in sight of the house, with
 
 300 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 an open lawn in front, stretching down to a large artifi- 
 cial pond, where some swans were disporting themselves, 
 and at the upper part of which was a bridge, with sev- 
 eral arches, forming a very picturesque object. The 
 house is of two stories, rather long, with windows reach- 
 ing nearly to the ground, and an open piazza and colon- 
 nade in front, showing an elegant entrance. I pre- 
 sented our card of admission, which the servant see- 
 ing, immediately asked us in, and sent for the gar- 
 dener to show us the premises. The room to which we 
 were introduced, was a sort of vestibule or hall, adorned 
 with several marble statues of Apollo, Diana, Venus, 
 and others, which you see everywhere here, and was, 
 upon the whole, fitted up in a tasteful and elegant man- 
 ner. This room, I should think, might be thirty feet 
 long, and of a proportional depth ; and attached to it, on 
 each side, were extensive and elegant rooms — library, 
 drawing rooms, dining rooms, &;c., &;c. — which we 
 were not shown. The gardener then took us over the 
 grounds, full of beautiful shrubbery and flowers, in a 
 sort of negligee order, and around various labyrinths and 
 by-paths, where every once in a while you would 
 come across a small grotto of shells, and archways made 
 of pieces of slag, found at brick-yards, where several 
 bricks have melted together and become very hard-baked, 
 with occasional statues of Ceres, and Flora, &.C., &:c., 
 in the grounds, placed with great taste. He then 
 showed us the dairy room, which, I think, was an octa- 
 gon building among the trees, with doors opening oppo- 
 site to each other, the shelves running around the 
 sides, made of China tiles, the walls hung with exqui- 
 site China plates, and the milk pans of glass shin-
 
 LETTER LXXXVIII. 301 
 
 ing upon the shelves. Our next visit was to the 
 green houses and conservatories, which were distinct 
 buildings, I think, four or five of them, with span roofs, 
 and running back and parallel with each other, perhaps 
 sixty feet each, and the different ones appropriated to 
 fruit, and flowers, and rare plants, and large numbers, 
 especially of the orchidaceous plants, of great value. The 
 whole, indeed, displayed very great taste. The situation 
 of the place somewhat resembles the elegant residence 
 of Mr. George Lyman, at Waltham. Mrs. Lawrence's 
 improvements are not completed, and she is extending 
 her shrubbery and walks. She is undoubtedly one of 
 the most successful and skilful cultivators and florists 
 in the country, and carries off more prizes at the horti- 
 cultural exhibitions than almost any one else. I am told 
 Mr. Lawrence is an eminent surgeon in London, and the 
 whole of the country place is under Mrs. Lawrence's 
 management. I had not the honor of an introduction 
 to the lady, but we saw her on tlie grounds, giving 
 instructions to her laborers or gardeners. The country 
 is full of such beautiful places, made as elegant as taste, 
 and art, and skill, and science, can make them, with no 
 limit to expense. 
 
 I wish I had taste enough to have given you a more 
 just account of this beautiful place, but it is out of my 
 line to do so. If it had been a stercorary, or a stable, 
 or a farm-steading, as they call it in Scotland, perhaps I 
 should have done much better. Adieu. 
 
 26
 
 302 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER LXXXIX. 
 
 London, 7th February, 1845. 
 56 Charing Cross. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 A WEEK ago, I finished all my travelling and visits in 
 England. Had I not gone into Wales, and had I given up 
 my last visits in England, I should have lost a great deal 
 which is to be important to my objects. Indeed, to say 
 nothing of the kindness, which has been literally poured 
 upon me in a full stream, I have seen several individuals, 
 whose acquaintance it was worth a voyage across the 
 Atlantic to make, and, much of grandeur and luxury 
 and splendor as I had seen before, a style of living and 
 a magnificence of which, I confess, I had but an imper- 
 fect idea. Lord Hatherton told me it would be so, and 
 advised me, by all' means, to see Woburn Abbey ; and 
 Lord Auckland told me I should find there what he 
 considered the best house in England. I had been 
 honored with several invitations to go there, and to the 
 Earl of Hardwicke's, and I could not persuade myself to 
 forego the opportunity of so much pleasure and instruc- 
 tion. These visits were all in the line of my pursuits. 
 Each one of them, in addition to other circumstances, 
 presented as many advantages for acquiring agricultural 
 information as any places which I have visited. Sir 
 Charles Morgan is the largest farmer in Wales. Mr. 
 Pusey, M. P., in point of practical science, stands at 
 the head of the agricultural community in England. 
 Lord Hardwicke farms most extensively, and his farming
 
 LETTER LXXXIX. 303 
 
 operations are more exact and systematical than almost 
 any which I have seen. The Duke of Bedford is, next 
 to the Duke of Portland, the largest improver in Eng- 
 land; his estates at Woburn Abbey being no less than 
 twenty thousand acres in one body, and his redeemed 
 land in the Bedford Level, all cultivated land, exceeding 
 eighteen thousand acres. His farm establishment at 
 Woburn Abbey is deemed the most extensive and com- 
 plete of any in the kingdom. So that my visit there, 
 besides affording me the pleasures of the most refined 
 society, in the house, and all the delights of pictures, 
 statuary, and books, gave me, out of doors, in his gardens 
 and cultivated grounds, workshops and plantations, the 
 highest gratification and improvement. Indeed, when I 
 am to get over my astonishment, or reduce my eyes 
 to their ordinary dimensions, I don't know. To give 
 you some idea of his operations, upon his own farm, 
 under his own management, he pays more than four 
 hundred laborers weekly, through the year ; and in his 
 home park, which, to be sure, is thirteen miles in cir- 
 cumference, he has laid pipe drains, for several years 
 past, to the extent of fifty miles each year ; and upon 
 his other estates he makes about two hundred miles of 
 drains every year — drains dug three feet deep, and laid 
 with pipe tiles. I design to give an account of this agri- 
 cultural visit in another place, and therefore add nothing 
 more. Adieu.
 
 304 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER XC. 
 
 London, 3d February, 1845. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 You are a lady who wants particulars, and I should 
 like to know if there is any thing I would not do for you 
 if I could. Under these circumstances, I suppose I 
 must give you some account of my three recent visits, 
 hut mind you, they are for you and not for the public. 
 I have already been greatly disturbed by hearing that 
 some of my letters have been shown, which does not 
 seem at all fair, and makes me half inclined to write 
 only in the most formal way, and to put down my chron- 
 icles as if I were writing for the newspaper. This, I 
 think, destroys all the charm of letters, and puts an ex- 
 tinguisher upon that freedom of communication and those 
 outpourings of the heart which make letters often so 
 charming. 
 
 I gave you some account of my delightful visit to 
 Sir Charles Morgan's, in Wales, and besides that sent 
 you a printed account of the cattle-show, and to my 
 
 friend E , a bill of prizes on satin, which I hope 
 
 was duly received. I believe, likewise, I wrote you of 
 my most agreeable visit at Lord Ducie's, where I met 
 with people of the highest intelligence and refinement, 
 and of the most delightful manners, and in the midst of 
 the greatest luxury, with an unaffected simplicity which 
 would have been charming in childhood. After that I 
 went to Mr. Hyett's, in Gloucestershire, and to the Hon. 
 and Rev. Mr. Talbot's, in Worcestershire, and to Mr.
 
 LETTER XC. 305 
 
 Spooner's, M. P., in his neighborhood, and then returned 
 to London. My visits were all of them most agreeable, 
 for how could they be otherwise, when every possible 
 arrangement is made for your comfort and gratification, 
 by persons having not only the disposition but the ability. 
 I then passed a week in London, putting my lodgings to 
 rights, and arranging my letters and papers, which had got 
 into a state of accumulated confusion ; and after passing 
 Christmas at Sheen, with Mr. and Mrs. Bates and Mr. 
 Everett's family, and New Year's evening with a large 
 party of American ladies and gentlemen at Mr. Putnam's, 
 and refusing several invitations, I left on the 4th January 
 for Mr. Pusey's, in Berkshire. Here the house is full 
 of books and statuary, and what is still better, the most 
 kind and intelligent people, with the addition, on this 
 occasion, of several distinguished visiters ; the Chevalier 
 Bunsen, one of the most learned and accomplished men 
 in Europe, ambassador from Prussia, his lady and daugh- 
 ter and two sons ; Mr. Sidney Herbert, M. P. ; Dr. Play- 
 fair, Professor of Chemistry to the Agricultural Society, 
 Dr. Buckland, the learned geologist, and several other 
 persons. Mr. Miles, M. P., lady and daughter. Mon- 
 day, the 7th, was Twelfth Night, and we went with a 
 large party to the house of a neighboring gentleman, 
 where the Christmas gambols and the Christmas cake 
 were to be brought out ; the children, young and old, 
 were all mustered, and the evening passed off with great 
 gaiety. I was expected to stay at Mr. Pusey's until the 
 end of the week, and a host of visiters were looked for 
 the next day, some of whom I wished very much to see, 
 the Earl Radnor in particular, but I was obliged to leave 
 these kind people on Tuesday forenoon, by i\w railroad, 
 26*
 
 306 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 for London, where I took coach for . I was 
 
 expected to be there at dinner at seven o'clock, but had 
 written that I feared it would be impossible, as I must 
 take a private conveyance some miles, and, in conse- 
 quence, I did not arrive until nine. Dinner was then 
 provided for me with as much elegance and variety as 
 if I had been a party. This is a magnificent place ; 
 the house is about four hundred and twenty feet long ; 
 the park most extensive and beautiful, and every thing 
 within of corresponding elegance and grandeur. The 
 house was full of company — noblemen and gentlemen, 
 members of Parliament and others, with their ladies. In 
 the morning the Earl and the other gentlemen went out 
 shooting and returned with three hundred and fourteen 
 head of game. I went with them merely as a spectator, 
 taking good care not to be shot at, and returned in about 
 three hours ; they did not return until night ; the lady 
 was waiting for me to walk with her a mile or two, to 
 see some of the finest trees in the park. The evening, 
 after dinner, at half-past seven, passed off most agreea- 
 bly, the lady of the house playing and singing with a 
 taste and skill not surpassed in my experience, and the 
 gentlemen in conversation, at cards, or at their papers 
 and books. The next morning the gentlemen arranged 
 for another battue, or shooting party. A battue means 
 beating the bush. In these cases, a large party of men, 
 laborers and servants, are employed to go round a copse 
 or thicket where the game is plenty, and, beating the 
 bushes with poles and sticks, compel the game to run or 
 fly towards the centre, where the sportsmen stand await- 
 ing their ari'ival. The birds are always shot upon the 
 wing, and being large, and generally flying near, it does
 
 LETTER XC. 307 
 
 not require much skill to bring them down. Upon the 
 whole, I thought this sport admitted but of one improve- 
 ment, and that was, to have an arm chair placed in the 
 poultry-yard, and the hens and chickens tied by the legs, 
 and shot at at leisure. In this case, few of the gentlemen 
 were without two guns, and a servant to load for them. 
 The sport certainly lacked all the vivacity and vigor 
 and elasticity which attend a long \\ alk over hill and 
 dale, mountain and forest, in search of game wherever 
 it is to be found, bringing the results of our day's work 
 home upon our shoulders, and with appetites sharpened 
 by fresh air and exercise, sitting down in the evening to 
 enjoy the rest for which fatigue only can prepare us, 
 and to recount the various adventures of the day. 
 
 The next day the lady said she should take me under 
 her special care, to which, I assure you, I was not at 
 all averse. At twelve, then, we sallied forth, on a walk of 
 three miles, through the mud, and while she visited some 
 sick persons, I went into some of the laborer's cottages. 
 The carriage overtook us after walking four or five 
 miles, and then she was kind enough to take me through 
 the farm offices ; the stables, the cow-houses, the pig- 
 styes, the barn-yards, almost over shoes in mud, which she 
 minded no more than she would a walk on her drawing- 
 room carpet, only taking care, as most of the English 
 women have good sense enough to do, not to let her 
 clothes draggle in the mud ; she showed me the cows, 
 the calves, the harness-rooms, the implement-rooms, the 
 fatting-rooms, and the dairy, exquisitely neat as it was. 
 She explained to me all the modes of management, 
 and then took me to the bailiff's house, that he might 
 tell me the course of cropping and management, with
 
 308 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 which she seemed to be as fully acquainted as he was. 
 They have no London house, as she prefers being at 
 home in the country with her children, of which she has 
 a most beautiful family, who were regularly brought at 
 breakfast and before dinner into the drawing-room. 
 
 After our excursion over the fann, she gave me, in 
 the house, proofs of an equal familiarity with the details 
 of her domestic management, nothing connected with 
 the family escaping her particular superintendence and 
 care. Her boudoir is as beautiful in its furniture and 
 arrangements as art and taste can make it. The ex- 
 terior of the house is quite plain and antique, but the 
 interior is superb, and the apartments occupied by the 
 Queen on her visit here, where she staid several days, 
 magnificent. The library is a fine room, more than sixty 
 feet long, crossed by another room full forty feet long, and 
 crowded with books and works of art. The chapel, too, 
 where we had prayers every morning at half-past nine, 
 is an elegant room, capable of seating one or two hun- 
 dred people comfortably. Soon after our return, the 
 dressing bell announced the hour of preparation for din- 
 ner, and at seven we assembled in the drawing-room. 
 She and the other ladies were every evening attired in a 
 different style. I am no milliner, and not well skilled in 
 describing a lady's dress, but I remarked it once or 
 twice, because I thought you would like even an imper- 
 fect sketch of it. Her hair then was combed back, 
 dropping down on each side of a face, of which I shall 
 not presume to speak, and bound at the top with a cir- 
 clet of brilliants. Her dress, which was worn low, to 
 show the bust to advantage — a universal custom here — 
 was of crimson velvet, with short sleeves, trimmed round
 
 LETTER XC. 309 
 
 the bosom and back with the finest lace, about six inches 
 deep, and trimmed from the bottom up above the knees 
 witli the same kind of lace. The arms were bare, 
 excepting most splendid bracelets on the wrist, and 
 with short kid gloves, trimmed with lace, which, when 
 removed to assist at dinner, which she chose to do, 
 showed on tlie hand several splendid diamond rings. 
 Another evening, she was dressed in white muslin, with 
 a red sash, her head dressed with a crimson turban, a 
 circlet of brilliants, and a small white plume gracefully 
 pendant on one side. Another evening, she wore a 
 splendid silk dress, and a circlet of pearls ; white satin 
 shoes, of course, rich lace pocket-handkerchiefs, &z;c., 
 &£c., &;c. But beyond all this, there was herself, so 
 unaffected, so well educated, so ready to discuss politics, 
 agriculture, literature, or fashions, and so gentle and 
 bland in her temper and manners, that it was impossible 
 for me even, old and plebeian as I am, not to feel the 
 highest admiration. The other ladies were dressed with 
 equal elegance ; the table covered with gold and silver, 
 and every thing recherche and luxurious, with the richest 
 pineapples, grapes, asparagus, fcc, Stc, from their own 
 gardens. I was to have left on Thursday morning, but 
 they were kind enough to insist upon my staying until 
 Saturday, and then coming again before I should leave 
 the country. I left on Saturday. They sent me on 
 seven miles, that I might take the coach for London, 
 after loading me with rabbits, and hares, and pheasants, 
 for the ladies where I live. Sir Charles Morgan had in 
 a former case put up for me a whole side of venison, 
 and Lord Ducie had given me braces of pheasants and 
 hares, while I was with him. This is the way these 
 people do things.
 
 310 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 My next visit was to a place of equal interest, and 
 where I had much to see and enjoy. Wobum Abbey, 
 in its magnificence, distances any thing I have yet seen, 
 and, next to the royal palace, may be considered as the 
 acme of elegance and grandeur. I had engaged to be 
 at the Duke of Bedford's on Saturday, but wrote, asking 
 a postponement until Monday, as the friends before 
 described were not willing I should leave them until 
 Saturday. I took the rail on Monday for Wobum 
 Abbey, and was obliged to post seven miles. I reached 
 there at five o'clock. The Duke was absent, but I was 
 expected, and was immediately shown into my room — 
 a room of an elegant description — and, as soon as I 
 was ready, was introduced into the tea-room, where the 
 Duchess and a large party were helping themselves to 
 tea, over a large table, which was always ready at five 
 o'clock, for those who desired this refreshment at that 
 time. Here was a crowd of ladies and gentlemen full 
 of wit and gaiety. The Duchess received me with 
 great kindness, and apologized for the necessary absence 
 of the Duke, who would return to dinner at half-past 
 seven, and introduced me to several of the company. 
 After an hour here, I retired to my room, where I found 
 a good fire, plenty of water — a tea-kettle of hot water, 
 and a tub of cold — writing apparatus, and every possi- 
 ble convenience and luxury. The servant soon came to 
 announce the hour for dressing and take my orders. 
 The house is very large, consisting of four sides, three 
 stories high on three sides, and two stories on the other, 
 each of the sides more than two hundred feet long, 
 enclosing a court-yard of great extent, and having three 
 long galleries, the length of the whole sides, full of pic-
 
 LETTER XC. 
 
 311 
 
 tures and works of art. At the dinner bell, 1 found the 
 usher of the hall, with the appearance of a gentleman, 
 di-essed in a suit of black, with black shorts and knee 
 buckles, silk stockings and shoe buckles, waiting in the 
 entry, to show me into the drawing-room, where the 
 Duke met me, and where I found a very large party of 
 elegantes. The Duchess Dowager ; the Marquis and 
 Marchioness of Normanby, he the late Lord Lieutenant 
 of Ireland, and she the sister of Lady Hardwicke, 
 which brought us at once into acquaintance ; the Mar- 
 quis of Landsdowne, who knew Dr. Howe, and inquired 
 for him, speaking of him in the highest terms ; Lord 
 Auckland, with, whom I had staid before at a friend's 
 house ; Lord George William Russell ; Lord and Lady 
 
 Russell ; Mr. Sanford and Lady Caroline ; Lady 
 
 Rachel Russell ; and Baron De Taille, a Major General 
 in the British army ; and other persons of distinction. 
 At half-past seven, we went into dinner. I have never 
 seen any thing so splendid. The service was all of 
 gold and silver, except the dessert plates, which were 
 of Sevres porcelain, and presented to one of the former 
 Dukes, by Louis the Fifteenth. I observed many large 
 massive pieces of gold plate in the centre of the table, 
 and a silver waiter or tray, to support them, more than 
 eight feet long and nearly two wide. There were two 
 large gold tureens, one at each end of the table. Be- 
 sides the gold service on the table, there were, among 
 other plate, two large gold waiters, on the side-board, 
 presented to the former Duke, as agricultural premiums. 
 The arms of the family are a deer ; and there were four 
 salts in my sight, being a deer, about five inches high, of 
 silver, with antlers, and two panniers slung over his back.
 
 312 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 one containing coarse, and the other fine salt. The 
 servants, in livery and out of livery, were numerous, and 
 the dinner, of course, comprising every possible delicacy 
 and luxury in meats, wines, fruits, &;c., he. The eve- 
 ning was passed in the drawing-room, some of the party 
 at cards, some at billiards, some reading the papers, 
 some at work, until eleven o'clock, when the party take 
 their wine and water, or seltzer, or soda water, and their 
 candles, and retire. The dress of the ladies was more 
 splendid than I can describe, and the jewels and diamonds 
 on the head, and neck, and wrists, and fingers, as bril- 
 liant as their own bright eyes. At ten, we met for 
 breakfast, sans ceremonie, and every one ordered what 
 he wanted. The plates and cups were all of Sevres 
 porcelain, and every one of a different pattern from the 
 others ; each guest had tea or coffee, as he chose to 
 order. At one elegant mansion, in which I staid several 
 days, each guest, at breakfast, was furnished with his 
 own silver urn, with boiling water, and a spirit lamp 
 under it, with his own silver cofFee-pot, if he preferred 
 coffee ; or, if tea, with a separate tea-caddy, with two 
 kinds of tea, a separate tea-pot, cream-pot, and sugar- 
 bowl, all of silver ; his cup, saucer, and plate, of course, 
 — making a complete and most elegant establishment 
 for this purpose. At breakfast the arrangements were 
 made for the day. The first day the rain was consider- 
 able, and the Duchess undertook to show us the house. 
 It is full of every thing magnificent in the way of pic- 
 tures, and works of art, and furniture, and the apartments 
 occupied by the Queen and Prince, on their visit here, 
 were extremely splendid. The library contained twenty- 
 one thousand volumes. The gallery for statuary, which
 
 LETTER XC. 313 
 
 is a separate building, was full of works of art of the 
 chief masters, which almost compelled my adoration. 
 The original group of " The Three Graces," in mar- 
 ble, by Canova himself, is here, and is surpassingly 
 beautiful. Then I was shown the theatre, for private 
 theatricals ; the aviary, full of bii'ds and three black 
 swans ; the grassarium, where grasses alone are culti- 
 vated for experiment ; the Chinese dairy, full of every 
 thing exquisite ; the heathery, containing heaths only ; 
 the house for tropical plants; the pinetum, for pines 
 only ; the lakes ; the shrubberies ; the statues in the 
 open grounds ; the kitchen and fruit garden, a wonder 
 in itself; the Temple of Liberty, containing the busts 
 and statues of some of the most distinguished friends of 
 the Duke's father; then the horses and stables, which 
 were, in fact, almost palaces in their way ; then the 
 saddle-room, where there were certainly fifty saddles, 
 all in order for use ; then the carriage-house, where 
 were twenty-seven four-wheeled carriages ; then the 
 tennis-court ; then the riding-school. The women, too, 
 in this place, at the different lodges, who opened and 
 shut the gates of the park, were in livery, being dressed 
 in bright scarlet gowns, with white caps and aprons, 
 presenting a gay and pleasing costume. 
 
 The second evening was equally splendid with the 
 first ; much company arrived, so that our party was 
 quite large ; and so was the third and fourth evening ; 
 and on Friday morning I took my departure for London, 
 and here completes, for the present, my visiting excur- 
 sions in the country in England, certainly with a rich 
 experience of the most extraordinary hospitality and 
 kindness. The Duke and Duchess took leave of me 
 27
 
 314 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 with many expressions of regard, and a hope that I 
 should see them again, and they should see me in Lon- 
 don, when they came for the session of Parliament. I 
 shall describe the agricultural department of Woburn 
 Abbey in another way, and therefore say nothing on 
 that subject. They make up one hundred beds in the 
 house constantly, for their regular family, and the Duke 
 has three other places to keep up. I am not exaggera- 
 ting at all, for there is no occasion for that. I have 
 enjoyed myself as much as possible, but not more than I 
 know I shall, if Heaven ever permits me once more to sit 
 down at your little quiet table at Elfin-glen. 
 
 There were some arrangements at Woburn Abbey 
 which I did not mention, and which are not universal. 
 First, an usher of the hall, and a groom of the cham- 
 bers, besides the steward, and under butler, and house- 
 keeper. The housekeeper's room was as elegant, and 
 furnished as elegantly as drawing-rooms usually are with 
 us, and full of pictures and bijouterie. Next, there was 
 a professional musician employed, from London, for the 
 piano, every evening. Next, the Duchess has a page, 
 a lad, who constantly attends on her, dressed in green, 
 trimmed with gold lace, with Suwarrow boots and tassels, 
 gold epaulets, and a sword by his side. He is called 
 on the Continent, a chasseur ; here, a page. 
 
 To-morrow, the Queen opens Parliament in person. 
 The Duke of Richmond has kindly written to me this 
 morning that he shall obtain tickets for me, so I propose 
 to take Mrs. Clark with me, though she can only go 
 into the corridor, as she is not prepared to go into the 
 House of Lords ; as no ladies can appear there but in 
 full dress, with plumes, &-c. She will see the Queen
 
 LETTER XCI. 315 
 
 and officers of state pass in, but not hear her majesty 
 from the throne. The young Prince of Wales, it is said, 
 is to make his first appearance there. 
 
 We have had a fortnight of most severe cold, in 
 December. Since that, the weather has been temper- 
 ate ; and I have not seen an inch of snow this winter, 
 excepting on the Welch Mountains. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XCI. 
 
 London, 1st March, 1845. 
 My Deab M : 
 
 I HAVE darkened the walls of no church to-day ; but 
 I have remembered in my chamber that beautiful and 
 divine lesson, " They that worship Him, worship him in 
 spirit and in truth ; the Father seeketh such to worship 
 him." And I have adored with my whole soul, through- 
 out the day, the goodness of God in the remembrance 
 of friends living and departed, with whom he has blessed 
 me — I will not say above eveiy otiier man ; but with as 
 many, and as worthy, and as true as my heart could 
 desire, and infinitely beyond my deserts. These friends 
 have been my spiritual companions through the day — 
 my heart has been melted ; my eyes have been flooded 
 with tears ; my dear mother has been at my side, and 
 put her arm about my neck. The eyes of your mother 
 whom I loved so well, have beamed upon me with their 
 accustomed kindness ; my sweet departed child has 
 been once more in my arms, and the lovely bird has 
 again nestled in my bosom ; I have seen you all ; I
 
 316 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 have spoken to you all ; I have embraced you all ; I 
 could not bear many such days — it is now past mid- 
 night and I must retire, actually exhausted with the 
 mingled excitements and emotions of a day passed in 
 the solitude of my own chamber. But I will not retire 
 until my prayers go up to Heaven for you, my dear and 
 faithful friend, as dear and as faithful as man ever had, 
 and for the loved ones that are round you. The deep 
 ocean divides us ; but as the same sun shines upon us, 
 so the same guardian care protects us ; the same kind eye 
 pities our sorrows ; the same patient and merciful ear 
 receives our prayers — the same final and blessed home, 
 through his goodness, I trust awaits us all. 
 
 The last packet was full freighted with the tokens of 
 your kindness ; it was a perfect epicurean feast that I 
 
 enjoyed. Letters from yourself, S , C , E , 
 
 Mr. W , Miss Q , and the previous day from 
 
 J , were but too welcome ; and for awhile I ceased 
 
 to feel the pressure of the chain that fastens me here, 
 and the privations of my long exile. I '11 try to show 
 myself worthy of your kindness, and you shall see that 
 none of it is lost upon me ; and that not even a cup 
 of cold water given in the spirit of love, shall lose its 
 reward. 
 
 I have little to write to you. I was for several days 
 very ill with a cold and a cough ; but they are gone, 
 and like ungracious visiters will not, I hope, return. 
 
 I have not told you of a most agreeable visit which I 
 have recently made, nor shall I now do any thing more 
 than refer to it, in the most cursory manner. There 
 were two young ladies in the family, examples of every 
 thing that is dutiful and courteous. One of them is very
 
 LETTER XCII. 317 
 
 pretty, who gratifies and relieves her philoprogenitiveness 
 by taking care of other people's children ; so she is the 
 teacher and almoner of a large Sunday School. The other 
 young lady is as homely as she can be, without being 
 deformed, but whhal so intelligent, so agreeable, and 
 so unaffectedly kind, that in truth, I took leave of her, 
 thinking that she was not merely good-looking, but posi- 
 tively handsome ; such is the charm of a sweet temper and 
 amiable manners ! When you see an angel's goodness 
 peeping out of the windows of the countenance, with a 
 radiance which spreads over even the homeliest features, 
 you cannot help admiring and feeling, that moral beauty 
 is, after all, the highest order of beauty. Such too, is 
 the danger of trusting wholly to first impressions ! In 
 the beginning, she appeared inaccessible, and almost 
 repulsive, but on acquaintance, soon brought out the 
 brilliant powers of her intellect and the charming dispo- 
 sitions of her heart, and disclosed the embodiment of 
 what is most admirable in mind and character. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XCII. 
 
 London, 1st April, 1S45. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 Your kind letter was very acceptable to me, and above 
 
 all, its charming accompaniment, the Daguerreotype ; 
 
 complete the good work by adding the Mother's and 
 
 E 's, and be assured they shall stand upon my table 
 
 like the ancient Lares, or household divinities, to receive 
 
 my daily homage. Nothing could be prettier than the 
 
 •27*
 
 318 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 picture of the little lady , sitting so prim, and 
 
 looking so grave. You never told me whether she got 
 the little articles of furniture which 1 sent her by Mr. 
 
 B , to begin housekeeping with. I begin to feel that 
 
 I shall be quite in the background, when I return home. 
 
 C , full six feet in height, E , quite matronly, and 
 
 it would not surprise me if there should presently be a 
 few straggling gray hairs under your cap. But now don't 
 be alarmed about them, and don't put on a cap too soon, 
 and don't ever think of wearing false curls, which here 
 are considered quite outre, unless the head is bald ; and 
 you see as many plain, gray, and silvered locks smoothly 
 combed down over the forehead of the women, ^s you 
 see gray heads among the men. 
 
 The last month I have been rather quiet, in London. 
 The early part of March was cold enough for New 
 England ; the wind strong, and the air charged with 
 dust, which was less comfortable than snow, if we must 
 have one or the other. They say here, however, that it 
 has been the coldest winter and spring remembered for 
 many years. I went by engagement, to meet a party at 
 Lady Byron's ; and as the rest of the party were all 
 mated, they put me of necessity into the Bachelor's 
 chamber, where, to be sure, I had a fire and every prac- 
 ticable comfort, but where, with a northern aspect and a 
 situation swept by all the winds from the north pole, I 
 verily thought I should be frozen stiff. Indeed, I had 
 some doubts of my personal identity, in the morning, 
 and had to feel sometime in order to determine that I 
 was not quite an icicle. The next day, I went upon a 
 visit to the Earl Lovelace's, intending to have spent some 
 days ; but it was in truth, so cold, and I myself had
 
 LETTER XCir. 319 
 
 taken so severe a cold, that I was compelled to ask an 
 excuse, and return to town after one night. The English 
 houses are not very well contrived for such severe 
 weather ; and the habit here is not to keep the houses 
 very warm. The English do not appear to me half so 
 sensitive to the cold as wc are. I believe they are right 
 in the main in this matter, and that we, in the United 
 States, keep our houses far too hot for health. 
 
 We have now two Americans here, who make some 
 little talk in the fashionable world. One of them, the 
 lady, has called on me just as I had finished the last 
 sentence. I refer to Miss Cushman and Mr. Fon'est. 
 Mr. Forrest I have not seen ; but I have seen Miss 
 Cushman twice. I met with her first at the Rev. Mr. 
 Walker's, at Brixton, about five miles from London ; and 
 understanding that she brought letters from Mr. Furness 
 and Mr. Giles, I have been anxious to render her every 
 civility ; which seems nothing more than right to a young 
 countrywoman alone in a foreign land, who is entitled by 
 her character to respect. I have seen her play twice ; 
 once I went with Mr. Bates and family, and once 
 alone. I saw her first as Mrs. Haller, in the Stranger, 
 a play which is very far from being to my taste. The 
 next time I saw her, was as Rosalind, in " As You Like 
 It." In both of them, she performed to admiration, 
 and with great applause. As they say here, she is 
 an exceedingly cleve?' woman ; and the applause she 
 commands, evinces her distinguished histrionic talent. 
 Some people call her a second Mrs. Siddons ; but it 
 is full enough for me to judge of cows and heifers, 
 without assuming to be a theatrical critic. I go occa- 
 sionally to the theatre, but not often. When I get
 
 320 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 solitary, or tired and sleepy in the evening, I run out at 
 nine o'clock and crowd into the pit, and get about half 
 of the play, and the whole of the after-piece. The 
 theatres are all around me ; six of them within three 
 minutes' walk ; but my theatre bill will not be enormous. 
 I have been at a great many, from a half-penny admis- 
 sion in Ireland and Glasgow, to tickets at two guineas 
 at the Italian Opera. I cannot say that I have much 
 taste for the Opera music, especially as it is in a lan- 
 guage which I do not understand. But the scenery 
 and dresses are most magnificent, and gratify my ideality 
 in the highest degree. 
 
 I believe, likewise, no person living can enjoy good 
 acting more than I do. The comedy at the Haymarket 
 is of the finest description, and I am only sorry that I 
 cannot afford the time and money to enjoy it frequently. 
 At the other theatres, however, with one or two excep- 
 tions, the acting is excessively vulgar and offensive ; and 
 it amazes me that persons of intelligence, or even child- 
 ren, can be gratified with the extravaganzas which are 
 sometimes exhibited, and especially in the holidays. 
 
 LETTER XCIII. 
 
 London, 2d April, 1S45. 
 56 Charing Cross. 
 JVTy Dear S : 
 
 You could hardly have given me more pleasure, than 
 by telling me how much you like the Scotch Las- 
 sie. We all agree here there is nothing prettier in the
 
 LETTER XCIIl. 321 
 
 shops, and your silence led me to apprehend that my 
 taste must be at fauh. I have told you where I live in 
 London — no place could be more central, and you can 
 have no conception of the number of people, carriages, 
 &c., that pass continually under my window. I am 
 obliged to shut out the view entirely, or I could do 
 nothing. After eleven o'clock in the forenoon, until ten 
 o'clock at night, I do not believe there is a time when a 
 thousand people cannot be counted from my window ; 
 and I have frequently counted the lamps, in sight in the 
 evening, and they amount to one hundred. I have sev- 
 eral times asked Londoners how many omnibuses they 
 supposed were in daily use in London : they have said, 
 in reply, they should think nearly one thousand, whereas, 
 I am assured that the amount registered, some little time 
 ago, was six thousand and fifty, plying daily in and about 
 London. You think you have some idea of the number 
 of people in the streets, but you can form no idea of the 
 condition of some of the great thoroughfares, from twelve 
 o'clock until seven. I was curious enough one day, 
 standing in Hyde Park, a pleasant afternoon, to count 
 the carriages of the nobility and gentry, which passed 
 me in a given time. In eighteen minutes there passed 
 me two hundred of superb four-wheeled carriages and 
 equipages, and these were all different, and taking the 
 circuit of the Park. This very minute I have been to 
 the window and counted ten omnibuses at once, to say 
 nothing of cabs, broughams, chariots, wagons, handcarts, 
 wheelbarrows, donkey carts, stage-coaches, iic, &;c., &;c. 
 The miracle is, where all these people find food and 
 lodging, and clothing. In a pleasant day the sight 
 is quite as amusing on the river, where the steam-
 
 322 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 boats, loaded with passengers, are passing every minute ; 
 and on London Bridge the people seem as thick as flies 
 on a plate of molasses in summer. The shops, likewise, 
 are most magnificent, full of every thing, and full of 
 nothing ; and at night, the illuminations in the principal 
 streets are among the most beautiful displays of art that 
 the eye can look upon, and seem to present a sort of 
 enchanted land. The well-fed English people differ 
 widely from the New Englanders, in robustness and ful- 
 ness of health, but the poor and laboring people are ex- 
 tremely squalid and filthy in their appearance. The 
 higher classes are eminently neat and elegant, without 
 being fine. If you should meet a very fine gentleman, 
 you may set him down as one of the swell mob ; and if 
 you meet a very fine lady, you may take it for granted, 
 she is a lady with whom you would desire no further ac- 
 quaintance. In company, however, it is not so, and 
 here they dress in the richest and most elegant manner. 
 The contrasts in human condition, which here constantly 
 meet you, are most painful. There are a great many 
 professional beggars, many of whom I know perfectly 
 well, because I meet them in their daily haunts, and they 
 likewise know me, and now never solicit charity of me ; 
 but there are others whose wants and distresses are all 
 real, and as bitter as bitter can be. Things are not 
 ordered here exactly as we should like to have them, 
 and property is most unequally distributed ; but by what 
 rule a new distribution is to be made, so that every man, 
 woman, and child, shall receive their just proportion, 
 requires an infinitely wiser head than mine to determine. 
 Adieu,
 
 l.ETTER XCIV. 323 
 
 LETTER XCIV. 
 
 London, 3d April, 1845. 
 My Dear M . 
 
 I SELDOM go to Parliament, but the night before the 
 last I attended the debates, having, by the kindness of 
 some friends, a seat in the Peer's gallery, which is com- 
 fortable, and gives a fine opportunity of hearing to ad- 
 vantage. The subjects in general debated in Parliament 
 are of great public interest, the empire embracing a pop- 
 ulation of one hundred and fifty millions, extending its 
 power and authority into all quarters of the globe, and 
 connected by direct interests and intercourse with every 
 nation of the civilized world. I was much interested, as 
 I always am, and only wish I could afford the time to 
 attend every night. 
 
 To-night I am going to the theatre. Don 't be alamied. 
 I am not very dissipated, but Miss Cushman is very de- 
 sirous I should see her in " Much Ado About Nothing," 
 that she may have the benefit of my criticism, and I 
 have promised to attend. Only think of my being pro- 
 posed as a theatrical critic — an occupation which I 
 never anticipated, and an honor to which I really did 
 not aspire. However, she comes here with excellent 
 letters. I shall be glad to render her any service in my 
 power. I know what it is to be from home, and how 
 valuable is any expression of a kind interest in your 
 welfare. 
 
 The weather here now has become delightful, and 
 while I look out occasionally from my window upon the
 
 324 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 busy and active thousands, literally thousands, and the 
 bright sunshine, I feel very much like a prisoner in 
 confinement, for here am I, fast to the table, without the 
 power of locomotion. I sometimes get dreadfully hypoed ; 
 but what is the use ? my work must be done ; if I 
 go into the street, the sight of the hundred wretched, 
 squalid, friendless, miserable beggars that constantly 
 solicits your charity, soon reconciles me and silences all 
 complaint. 
 
 The Hardwickes have come to town, and I have re- 
 ceived a note from Lord Hardwicke to breakfast with 
 them to-morrow morning before he goes to the palace, 
 where he is now lord in waiting, so I shall have the 
 
 pleasure of seeing these kind friends again. A 
 
 asks why have I not been at the palace ? The reason 
 is, I have not been presented. Several persons of rank 
 have urged me, and kindly proffered their services, but 
 from various private and personal reasons, I have de- 
 clined. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XCV. 
 
 London, 17th April, 1845. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 This morning my old friend. Dr. Codman, brought 
 
 me a very short letter from you, in which the very last 
 
 thing in the world I expected from you, was an evident 
 
 attempt at deception, to make it appear much longer 
 
 than it really was, by spreading it over a very wide 
 
 surface. This, however, I '11 say, short or long, it was
 
 LETTKR XCV. 396 
 
 tmly welcome ; and if it had contained nothing more 
 than your signature it would have been worth some- 
 thing. But why don't you give me more news ? One 
 would think that nothing ever happened in Salem ; 
 and yet in the commonest affairs I should take an in- 
 terest. 
 
 I was extremely sorry to learn that indisposition pre- 
 vented Mr. Saltonstall's coming to England. I have 
 no doubt he would have enjoyed it, and it would, per- 
 haps, have added ten years to his life. Whether it 
 would have actually increased the number of his years, 
 I cannot say, but with his enthusiastic attachment to 
 England, as the land of his ancestors, and the very focus 
 of ci\nlization and refinement, abounding in objects to 
 gratify his taste and to delight him, he would, as I have 
 done, have lived five years in one. You did not choose, 
 either, to let me have any clerical news. I hear there 
 is a great noise among the clergy in Boston and vicinity, 
 and that the infallible Unitarian body is divided. Here 
 continual contests are going on among members of the 
 same church, but the different sects keep quite distinct 
 from each other, the Unitarians being looked upon by 
 all the others with a pious abhorrence. I am myself 
 merely a calm philosophical observer, and look down upon 
 these contests with amusement often, but much oftener 
 with chagrin and disgust. I wonder, for my part, that 
 with all their quarrels, the clergy have not long since 
 thoroughly extinguished all religion. If it were not a 
 native element of the human mind, and really a part of 
 our nature and constitution, it would long ago have been 
 put out. 
 
 I wish you could see London at this gay season. In 
 -28
 
 326 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 the principal thoroughfares it requires great skill to pre- 
 vent being loin down or running other people down, and 
 so sure as you turn your head or stop, you are certain of 
 some one's running against you. At the great crossings 
 you have often to wait minutes before you can get over, 
 and I have seen actually fifty people collected, waiting 
 for a passage, or an interval between the carriages, when 
 they may run across as if for their lives. The grocer 
 who keeps next to my lodgings says it is judged that 
 twenty-five thousand horses pass under my window 
 daily ; the account has sometimes been kept as accu- 
 rately as it could be, and I have no doubt of it. On a 
 pleasant day the river is covered almost as thickly with 
 boats, steamboats, rowboats, &£c., &;c., as the streets 
 with carriages. The names of some of the steamboats 
 are amusing — Starlight, Daylight, Twilight, Maid, Bach- 
 elor, Matrimony, Bride, Bridegroom ; and they put in and 
 take off passengers continually, at all the different land- 
 ings, where you see people waiting in crowds, present- 
 ing quite a picturesque scene. The day in London can 
 scarcely be said to close until about two o'clock in 
 the morning ; cabs are to be found at all hours every 
 night, and the coal carts and market carts begin to move 
 about five o'clock. The great rush is from about twelve 
 o'clock to six. Parliament adjourns about half-past 
 twelve, though in an excited debate they sit much later. 
 Parties never separate until twelve, and balls continue 
 usually until four ; and I have seen persons going home 
 after daylight. The police are always about at the dif- 
 ferent corners, and the wretched women abound in the 
 streets all night. After midnight they are always to be 
 found intoxicated — in my opinion the most pitiable ob-
 
 LETTER XCV. 327 
 
 jects in human existence ; poor, poor, poor, despised, 
 abused, degraded creatures ; many of them beautiful in 
 their persons, splendidly dressed, and of amiable disposi- 
 tions ; and many of them, I have no doubt, well educated 
 and of respectable parentage, but betrayed and aban- 
 doned. 
 
 The theatres close soon after twelve. Most of them 
 are crowded ; and in all the superior ones the manners 
 are as correct as in a drawing room, and nothing offen- 
 sive presents itself. The billiard rooms, the gin palaces, 
 and the beer shops professedly close at twelve, but they 
 have always a crack of the door open, or some back 
 passage, where the knowing ones can enter, and as you 
 pass you can hear the evidences of a collection inside. 
 I have frequently been into them in the evening, and 
 taking no notice of anybody, asked for a glass of beer, 
 that I might, unobserv^ed, see what was going on ; and 
 you may find in these places almost as many women as 
 men, the wives of mechanics and laborers. But I have 
 given you enough of London for this time. We are en- 
 tertained with a frightful murder once a week, and for 
 the last three weeks with an execution. Two more 
 wretches are on hand waiting their turn. I think we 
 need another flood to purify the earth. Adieu.
 
 3'28 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 LETTER XCVI. 
 
 EXTRACT. 
 
 London, 2d May, 1845. 
 
 I HAD written so far, when I was again interrupted 
 by one of those acts of kindness which are meeting me 
 at every step. Count Rzewuski, (pronounced Javuski,) 
 one of the distinguished men of Austrian Poland, who 
 brought a letter of introduction to me, and to whom I 
 have had it in my power to render some attentions, 
 which he has been kind enough to estimate more highly 
 than they deserve, has just sent me some letters to Vienna, 
 Trieste, and Rome, which will give me, he says, access 
 to the first people in those countries, and to see every 
 thing which I may wish to see. The first is to Count 
 Alfred Potochi, Vienna, the largest land owner in Prus- 
 sian Poland, and an intimate friend of Prince Metter- 
 nich, the Prime Minister. His daughter married Prince 
 Liechtenstein. 
 
 The second to Baron Joscha, Vienna, one of the 
 most distinguished men of the Hungarian nobility, and a 
 government officer, intimate with the Schwarzenburg 
 family, who own half of Bohemia. 
 
 The third is to Count Francois Stadion, Trieste, a 
 large land owner, in Austrian Poland, and a man of 
 great knowledge and influence. 
 
 The fourth is to his own brother, a cardinal at Rome, 
 a friend of all the distinguished men at Rome, and who
 
 LETTER XCVn. 
 
 will introduce me to the Borghese family, and to every 
 distinguished person and place I may wish to visit. I 
 am not certain of spelling these names correctly. The 
 next question is, shall I avail myself of such splendid 
 opportunities for information and the gratification of a 
 reasonable curiosity ? In any event, the kindness and 
 politeness are the same. The Danish Ambassador, the 
 Belgian Ambassador, and the Prussian Ambassador, 
 have all kindly offered me letters of introduction to the 
 continent. 
 
 LETTER XCVII. 
 
 London, June 3, 1845. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 The fashionable world is here all awake, to attend 
 the Queen's ball — a hal costume, to be given at the 
 palace. The dresses are to be of the time of George II. 
 — ridiculous enough — powdered heads and wigs, tight 
 waists, shorts, and shoe buckles, &;c., &;c. The lowest 
 sum at which a gentleman's dress can be had, is sixty 
 guineas ; a lady's dress, thirty guineas. This, of course, 
 does not include diamonds, &ic., &;c. A lady, who is 
 going, told me that the charge of the barber for dressing a 
 lady's hair, is £5, or twenty-five dollars. Only four hun- 
 dred invitations are given out, and of these, fifty were de- 
 clined at once, on account of the expense. The foreign 
 ambassadors wished to go in their usual dresses, for this 
 reason. The Queen said they might decline, but if they 
 came, they must conrre in the appointed costume. The 
 28*
 
 330 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 fancy and full dress ball, for the benefit of the Polish 
 exiles, follows the week after, when the same dresses are 
 expected to be worn by many. For that, the Duchess 
 of Bedford has been kind enough to send me a voucher, 
 and I shall attend, but certainly not in a fancy dress. 
 
 Lord Hatherton urges me to go to his country-house, 
 and stay as long as I choose. He says he should really 
 like it. I should find servants, horses, and every thing I 
 want, at my service. This is very kind, and I believe 
 he means what he says. I have half a dozen similar 
 invitations. Adieu, 
 
 LETTER XCVin. 
 
 London, 16th June, 1845. 
 56 Charing Cross. 
 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I HAVE your kind letter by the last steamer, only 
 thirteen days old, which in other times than these, would 
 have been deemed an impossibility ; now, however, when 
 the communication between distant places is by the elec- 
 tric telegraph rendered absolutely instantaneous, nothing 
 of this sort surprises us ; and even clairvoyance and mes- 
 merism are set at defiance. Mr. and Mrs. Pendarves, 
 who spare no pains to show me whatever is interest- 
 ing and curious, took me to see the working of this 
 wonderful apparatus ; the transmission of information, a 
 distance of twenty miles, and the return of an answer, 
 did not occupy one minute ; and a distance as great as 
 the diameter of the earth would have scarcely made any
 
 LETTER XCVIII. 331 
 
 perceptible difference. Indeed, intelligence in tins way 
 may be said to travel faster than time ; for if you should 
 undertake to inform the people in Liverpool that it is now 
 twelve o'clock in London, the information would reach 
 there sometime before the revolution of the earth would 
 bring that place to the meridian. I should like to be 
 sent along this line to your side, though I am afraid at 
 that rate, I should be too much out of breath to say all 
 that I should want to say. 
 
 They took me, likewise, on another occasion, (calling 
 at my lodgings in their carriage,) to see the silver foun- 
 tain to be sent to the Turkish Pacha, Mohammed Ali, as 
 a present for his kindness to the English, even when at 
 war with them, in allowing them to pass the Isthmus of 
 Suez, on their way to India ; an act of forbearance and 
 kindness, which it would be quite idle to look for, ordi- 
 narily, in a Christian nation. The vase is magnificent 
 in the extreme, but not tasteful. Tiie workmanship is 
 wonderfully elaborate. Its weight is ten thousand, four 
 hundred ounces, or upwards of eight hundred and sixty- 
 six pounds, and its cost, about £7,000, or ^35,000. 
 
 The third great object of interest, now on exhibition 
 here, is the marble statue of the Greek Slave by Mr. Pow- 
 ers, the sculptor, formerly of Cincinnati. It is the statue 
 of a young girl, entirely nude, with a chain upon her hands, 
 and expressive of grief and shame for her captivity and ex- 
 posure. He had, it is said, several models to work from. 
 At first I was disposed to think that his model was not 
 so good as that of either of the Three Graces selected by 
 Canova ; but I am inclined to believe that it is as true 
 to nature ; and certainly it is preeminently beautiful. 
 Sculpture seems to me ahiiost a divine art, and the sue-
 
 332 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 cess of Powers in this case is triumphant ; for he has 
 disarmed prejudice and silenced ill-natured criticism, and 
 his work receives, with scarcely an exception, universal 
 admiration. 
 
 The next subject of public interest, which has en- 
 grossed everybody's conversation, has been the Queen's 
 dress ball, at which the guests were expected to appear 
 in the costumes of a hundred years ago, and consequently 
 to personate the manners of the Court at that time. I 
 think I mentioned this to you in my last letter. If I 
 repeat my accounts you must excuse me, for I am unable 
 to preserve any thing like copies of my letters, and 
 hardly a recollection of their contents. I have sent to 
 
 E a pictorial paper, which will give you some 
 
 notion of the show. I dined that day with Lord and 
 
 Lady , and waited until they were dressed for 
 
 the occasion. The room was filled with friends before 
 they left, and there was a perfect crowd in the streets 
 to see them get into their carriage. It was rather difficult 
 to understand how she would manage with her hoop in 
 getting through the door ; but she does every thing 
 gracefully, and would have gone through a key-hole, for 
 aught I know, had it been required. Powder was gen- 
 erally worn by the ladies; wigs by all the gentlemen, 
 and by many of the ladies. I saw her the next day by 
 appointment, and I could not help feeling that, when 
 " unadorned she was adorned the most," and that she 
 needed neither powder nor paste, nor any external em- 
 bellishments, to make her as handsome and agreeable as 
 it is safe for one to look upon. Mr. Everett appeared 
 as Benjamin Franklin, and, as I was told, "showed off 
 to great advantage."
 
 LETTER XCVIII. 333 
 
 I did not attend the ball of course, an invitation being 
 impossible, as I have never been presented at Court, 
 and I should not have been certain of it, if I had. 13ut 
 I have seen, since that time, with the exception of roy- 
 alty itself, a repetition of the same show. I attended 
 the Polish full and fancy dress ball, given on Friday last, 
 for the benefit of the Polish exiles, in which all the prin- 
 cipal ladies and gentlemen, who were at the Queen's 
 ball, appeared in the same dresses which they wore on 
 that occasion. I went, as matter of curiosity, at ten 
 o'clock, and left for home at three in the morning ; and 
 I '11 assure you, grand as the occasion was, felt rather 
 disturbed to be walking home after such an evening's dis- 
 sipation, by broad day Ught ; for in this latitude, at this 
 season, the day dawns at two o'clock. I left two-thirds 
 of the party, when I came away ; and whether they got 
 home by Saturday night or before Sunday, I cannot say. 
 I myself, of course, went in no other fancy dress than a 
 plain suit of black ; and I had a very fair support, 
 though tRe great majority, indeed nearly the whole of 
 the company, were in court or fancy dresses. The rooms 
 were excessively crowded, and the heat intense. No 
 supper was provided excepting tea and coffee, and lemon- 
 ade, bread and butter, and small cakes, and ices ; but no 
 wine or spirits, or meats. The dresses were exceedingly 
 brilliant, and such an array of glittering diamonds as 
 were worn by some of the ladies, surpassed any thing 
 which I have before seen. The ball was given at Al- 
 mack's, or Willis's rooms, and the company was of the 
 highest rank and fashion. Minuets were danced, quad- 
 rilles and waltzes, Highland reels, k,c., <kc. Two very 
 large rooms for dancing were opened, besides the side
 
 334 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 rooms, and yet they were greatly crowded. It is said, for 
 elegance never, on any public occasion, to have been sur- 
 passed. I am very glad to have seen it, but once is 
 enough for me, and I have no desire for a repetition. 
 Five guineas were given by some persons to obtain a 
 ticket. At the court ball, it is said, that the dresses of 
 some of the gentlemen, without diamonds, cost five hun- 
 dred guineas, or more than ^'2,500, and one lady wore 
 £60,000, or f 300,000 worth of diamonds. Lord Mor- 
 peth was one of the most elegantly and expensively 
 dressed gentlemen, and seemed himself not a little amused 
 with his wig and appearance. I should at once have 
 recognized him. The Duchess of Bedford presided, and 
 was extremely well dressed. The Duchess of Suther- 
 land was most magnificently apparelled, but she is so 
 handsome that nothing appears amiss with her ; she 
 wore powder, but no wig. The Duchess of Roxburgh, 
 whom I do not know, appeared most splendidly ; and 
 well she might, as the annual income of the Duke is 
 stated to be £300,000. There was a large party of 
 young ladies, who were appointed to dance in a certain 
 quadrille, dressed in plain white muslin and satin skirts, 
 with a simple rosette on the front of their gowns and on 
 their side, and a plain cincture of diamonds round the 
 head ; with the hair combed plain, and without powder ; 
 who were much to my taste, and were universally ad- 
 mired. One of them, with whom I am much acquainted, 
 appeared extremely well, and I could not help telling 
 her that I saw no one in the room dressed in better taste 
 than herself; I did not add, as I might in good faith have 
 done, that I saw no one by any means so handsome as 
 herself. The handsomest dresses in the room were I
 
 L,KTTt:K xcvm. 335 
 
 think, upon the wliole, several of plain pink lace, over a 
 satin skirt and plain pink silk dresses. Two or three 
 ladies appeared as Night, wearing dark velvet hahits, 
 with black lace veils, reaching almost to the ground, 
 which were covered with stars, and velvet jockey hats 
 or bonnets, with stars of diamonds, and the new moon 
 appearing among the stars, carrying in their hands a sil- 
 ver wand, surmounted with a crescent, as well as I could 
 make it out. These dresses attracted great attention, but 
 I thought were not much admired. The Highland gen- 
 tlemen, in their country costume, with their legs bare above 
 the gaiters, and extending some ways above the knees, 
 especially when they sat down, were perfectly disgusting. 
 The dresses of the ladies were without exception extreme- 
 ly modest ; I think I may say more so than I have seen 
 at many evening and dinner parties. The dancing was 
 graceful and elegant, and the old figure dances were 
 very pleasing. I remember perfectly well, when a boy, 
 to have seen ladies in powder, and the minuets danced 
 with great elegance and grace. There must have been 
 a great deal of practice here, to have prepared themselves 
 so well. The minuet, I hope, will come in fashion again ; 
 it is very pleasing and full of grace. But I cannot, under 
 any circumstances, be reconciled to the waltz, which 
 seems to me, except among brothers and sisters, or mem- 
 bers of the same family, to border upon indelicacy. 
 
 So much for the ball. I have seen it once ; that quite 
 satisfies me. I am not going to philosophize or moralize 
 upon it. I am happy to see people enjoy themselves in any 
 way by which they and others are not injured. I admire 
 elegance of dress, grace of manner, splendor of decoration 
 and embellishment, and all that ; and I am glad to see
 
 336 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 money collected for useful and benevolent purposes. 
 If persons cannot be induced to give money for the sake 
 of charity, let them give it for their own gratification, 
 that it may be applied to purposes of charity. But, 
 in this case, there are many things to be said for and 
 against, which require to be considered, in order to make 
 up a just judgment, and which I have not time now 
 to discuss. The elegance, the magnificence, the splen- 
 dor, the costliness, were much beyond what I have been 
 accustomed to see. I should have said that many of the 
 ladies, who wore powder, were a good deal rouged, and 
 several of them wore patches of court plaster, which 
 certainly did not improve them. 
 
 I was very glad, a week since, to get a little relief in the 
 country. Mr. Wake, who goes out in this boat to the 
 United States, and to whom I have given introductions to 
 several gentlemen, invited me to make a visit at his father's, 
 about sixty miles from London, and attend a large agri- 
 cultural meeting in the neighborhood. The father is a 
 venerable clergyman, and the mother a daughter of the 
 celebrated lawyer, Mr. Grattan, formerly of Ireland. 
 His uncle. Sir William Wake, lives directly in the neigh- 
 borhood, in great elegance and comfort. In these two 
 fannilies I passed three or four most agreeable days, and re- 
 turned to town greatly benefited by the excursion ; before 
 I went I was worth nothing. The parish of this gen- 
 tleman contains about twenty-five families ; the church, 
 a venerable building only two steps from the door of the 
 rectory, would contain, perhaps, a hundred people ; the 
 living, besides the garden and field, is about two thousand 
 dollars ; and here, in the midst of every thing tasteful 
 and elegant, remote from the public roads, and in
 
 LETTKK XtlX. 337 
 
 a park of several hundred acres, with gardens and forests, 
 and cultivated fields around them, these people are lead- 
 ing a most quiet and philosophical life. I told them 
 they need not claim any merit for being good, for really 
 there was no chance for a temptation to do wrong. 
 
 I have not yet been able to obtain such lodgings as I 
 wish in the country, but I hope to shortly, as the weather 
 for a few days, in London, has been excessively hot and 
 disagreeable. I am going to-morrow down into Hamp- 
 shire, to pass a few days at Mr. Nightingale's, where I 
 anticipate a quiet and useful, and most agreeable visit. 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XCIX. 
 
 London, 16tli July, 1843. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I SEND you a little volume of Hymns, used at Finsbury 
 Chapel, which I hope you will read with the same 
 delight and rapture with which I often hear them sung. 
 The music at the Chapel where they are used, is cer- 
 tainly the best I ever heard in any place ; and the 
 hearing of it quite worth a voyage across the Atlantic. 
 In many cases it is absolutely overpowering. I often go 
 there for the sake of hearing it, and of hearing likewise 
 the most original preacher that has ever come under my 
 notice, (Mr. Fox) ; not always to my taste, not always 
 in accordance with my opinions, but his discourses are 
 full of thought, and bright with the treasures of the 
 imagination. Yours truly. 
 
 29
 
 338 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. - 
 
 LETTER C. 
 
 London, 17th July, 1845. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I AM delighted to hear you are going to recreate 
 yourself in the country. I dare say you will be glad to 
 learn that I have escaped the distracting bustle and din 
 of London, for quiet lodgings at Islington. My new 
 lodgings, where I have been now three days, promise 
 well. They are four miles from Charing Cross, in a 
 quiet, clean street, and every thing seems agreeable. It 
 is not difficult to find lodgings in London, but it is very 
 difficult to find exactly such as one would desire. I 
 certainly applied at fifty places, and excepting where I 
 am, I could find none that were even decent, under 
 eighteen, twenty, or thirty shillings and more, per week, 
 and this " out of season." But here, with small, though 
 neat accommodations, I am to pay only ten shillings, 
 without any extras whatever. It can hardly be called 
 out of London, though it is quite removed from its bustle 
 and interruptions. 
 
 I have been invited to go to Shrewsbury and Chester, 
 to make a visit, but have declined. Lady Byron, whose 
 kindness has been unintermitted, wrote to me that she had 
 procured quiet lodgings for me at Leicester, which I was 
 compelled to decline. Lord Hatherton desires me to 
 come to Teddesley, and meet several distinguished per- 
 sons, and spend some time there ; but that I must decline, 
 as I do not mean by any inducement to be taken off my 
 work.
 
 LETTER C. 339 
 
 I have seen hosts of Americans ; and to IMiss C- 
 
 I have had the pleasure of paying many attentions ; and 
 when I look hack upon the course of kindness which that 
 family has shown to me for nearly forty years, beginning 
 with the grandparents on both sides, father, mother, he, 
 &LC., I feel that any thing which I can do for her, would 
 be a very imperfect return. I went sight-seeing with her, 
 shopping with her, to the theatre, and to the opera twice 
 with her. Indeed, I never passed so dissipated a week. 
 She had her carnage all the time, and the horses, I believe, 
 had little rest. But I must tell you my adventures with 
 
 another young lady. Miss D . She came out here 
 
 on her way to visit a sister, who resides in Paris. I saw 
 a note of hers on Monday, requesting the gentleman to 
 
 whom it was addressed, Mr. C , to come to her at 
 
 the Colonnade Hotel, as she was in great distress. As 
 he could not go, I immediately volunteered to go, know- 
 ing as I did her father and friends very well. I intro- 
 duced myself to her, and she soon recognized me. 
 
 I found her weeping bitterly, and insisted upon her 
 telling me the cause of her trouble. She had never 
 
 known Mr. C except on board the boat ; and it was 
 
 by mere accident that the servant had found him, (for 
 she did not know his hotel,) a thing which could 
 scarcely be done in London, once in a thousand times. 
 She at last told me that she had been placed, at the 
 commencement of her voyage, under the care of a Dr. 
 
 K , and arrived at the hotel on Saturday evening, at 
 
 ten o'clock. On Sunday, after breakfast, he left her 
 alone in the hotel ; and when in the evening hearing a 
 noise in his chamber, she sent to inquire for him, a 
 servant brought her word that he had paid his bill, taken
 
 340 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 away his luggage, and gone to private lodgings. In the 
 morning he came back, and giving her a railroad and 
 steamboat bill of times and distances, he told her he was 
 not going to Paris, and she could find her way alone. 
 
 For a young lady to be thus left alone all night, in a 
 strange hotel in the midst of London, not having a single 
 acquaintance in the town, and to be expected without 
 any knowledge of the language, or country, to find her 
 own way to Paris, a thing which I even could not do 
 without a good deal of trouble, is a most extraordinary 
 affair. I never heard of such conduct. 
 
 She expressed the greatest anxiety to get on, as her 
 sister was ill, and would be unhappy at her delay. I 
 then told her I would take her under my care, and if I 
 could find no other proper person to go with her, I 
 would go myself, if for no other purpose than to see her 
 safely landed. I then found lodgings for her with some 
 friends, who I knew were acquainted with her family, 
 and for whom I had obtained comfortable apartments 
 near myself, and told them they must take her into their 
 family. As I went afterwards to have her passport pre- 
 pared, I met accidentally with Mr. Fleischman, of the 
 Patent Office at Washington, whom I knew very well, 
 and who was on his way to Paris ; and who promised 
 he would see her safe to her friends. 
 
 On Thursday morning, I put her into the cars for 
 Southampton to Paris, as happy a creature as you ever 
 saw ; and have since had a most grateful letter from her, 
 informing me that Mr. F. did not leave her until she 
 shook hands with her sister. 
 
 My good friend, Dr. Parkman, has returned here, 
 full now of sunshine, with his face, as he would say,
 
 LETTER C. 341 
 
 Zionward. I expect my head will be nothing but one 
 mass of phosphorus, when my face is turned homewards. 
 Mr. Saltonstall's death I greatly dejjlore. I con- 
 sidered him a man of uncommon worth, and a blessing 
 and honor to the town. He was a man of cultivated 
 mind and refined taste, and a remarkable exception to 
 those narrow views, which eminence in any one of the 
 learned professions is too apt to produce. He was dis- 
 tinguished by his conscientiousness and his enlarged 
 sentiments, and there was no man, in whose sense of 
 right and justice, I should have more strongly confided. 
 To his family, his loss is perfectly irreparable. 
 
 I am not disposed to quarrel with the institutions or 
 customs of any foreign country, but here, they are in 
 many respects, very different from those in which I have 
 been educated. With us, you know, education takes 
 precedence of every thing else, but here rank is always 
 in the ascendant. A private tutor in general, though 
 he may be a graduate from Oxford or Cambridge, yet 
 occupies a- comparatively humble position ; and so, also, 
 with a governess, even of finished education. As a man 
 of education and proper self-respect, I could never con- 
 sent, as I have seen it done, to be called in to prayers 
 when the servants came in, and not introduced to any of 
 the company present, and, after prayers, sent, or rather 
 expected to retire to my own room, where I was to 
 take my breakfast by myself, or with the children, though 
 that breakfast or dinner might be served on gold or silver 
 plate. It is, however, quite remarkable to witness the 
 29*
 
 342 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 idolatry with which rank is here regarded ; and most of the 
 lower classes seem to me to take more pleasure and pride 
 in admiring it, than the possessors do in its enjoyment. 
 
 I told you I had been at the opera twice with Miss 
 
 C , but I could not but feel there might have been 
 
 a better use for the four guineas which were paid for our 
 two tickets. In the course of the afternoon, three 
 guineas apiece were offered for a ticket. Mr. Wetmore 
 was kind enough to offer me a seat the same evening in 
 his box. For his box, which would only admit three 
 persons, he paid, I think, about seven guineas, or thirty- 
 six dollars. I will not deny, however, that I enjoyed 
 the entertainment exceedingly. The scenery and dresses 
 are splendid beyond description. The tout ensemble of 
 the house, crowded with persons in full dress, and with 
 all the rank and fashion of England, is extremely mag- 
 nificent. The music, excepting the choruses, which 
 are not to my taste, is, I suppose, as good as the world 
 affords. But the dancing of Taglioni, whom I have for 
 years desired to see, far exceeded my expectations. I 
 never saw so sylph-like and fairy a being. I never, 
 indeed, before saw a person who could walk upon air. 
 The singing, however, exquisite as it is, does -not equal 
 that which I hear whenever I go to Finsbury Chapel. 
 
 Since I wrote to you, I have dined with a large party 
 of gentlemen at Greenwich. There are several London 
 companies, who dine together frequently. This was the 
 Cordwainers' Company, one of the oldest in London, 
 and now embraces many persons of education, who 
 come in by hereditary descent. These dinners, at which 
 I have several times been present, are always of the 
 most luxurious description, the viands most choice, and
 
 LETTER CI. 343 
 
 the wines the most costly. They are paid for out of the 
 funds of the company, which, in some cases, have accu- 
 mulated to an immense amount. Each of the compa- 
 nies provides for its poor and decayed members. I 
 confess I had some distrust as to the use of the money, 
 which afforded such means of doing good, in such 
 frequent and splendid entertainments ; but my distrust 
 was quieted, under the acknowledged and proper right 
 of every man, or body of men, to judge for themselves, 
 in the disposal of property which has fallen into their 
 hands. They are responsible, they only, to their own 
 consciences ; and the community have no other right 
 than to see that no illegal or immoral appropriation is 
 made of it. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER CI. 
 
 London, IStli August, 1845. 
 My Dear A : 
 
 I HAVE a few spare moments in a shop in Regent 
 Street, and these shall be given to you. Now, that my 
 despatches are actually on their way, I begin to respire 
 a little more freely. 
 
 You have been roasting in America ; we have been 
 freezing here. I wish you would bottle up a little of 
 your caloric and transmit it with all haste, that we may 
 have some bread to eat, and feel that it is really August 
 instead of November, as it would seem. We have had 
 but one fortnight of wami weather, and I sleep under as 
 many blankets as I did in January. How my heart
 
 344 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 burns with desire to see you and yours. My spirits 
 often sink far below zero at the thought of how long it 
 may yet be before I have that happiness. 
 
 I do not remember what I last wrote to you, but I think 
 that since the last packet I have witnessed the proroga- 
 tion of Parliament, seen the sovereign, the great officers 
 of state, the assembled nobles and princes, peers and 
 peeresses of the kingdom, in all of earthly glory which 
 wealth and art and taste can command, and heard the 
 speech from the throne. If I should speak of it as 
 many do, I should pronounce it all mere child's play 
 — the Parliament house a large baby house — the 
 Queen a doll, and the peers and peeresses, in their 
 feathers and jewels, at a child's ball. But there is a 
 different view to be taken of it. The show was ex- 
 tremely beautiful, and there was a moral sublimity about 
 it, which much affected me. This little woman holds 
 the sovereignty of one hundred and fifty millions of 
 human beings ; extends her power into all parts of the 
 civilized globe ; the sun never sets upon her dominions ; 
 her ships, as birds of the ocean, dot the equatorial 
 regions all over like flakes of snow on a green field, 
 and penetrate into the terrific regions of perpetual frost, 
 where animal life is all but extinct. She holds the 
 power of life and death, the great questions of war and 
 peace, is the most active instrument in the civilization 
 of the world, and embodies in her own person a domin- 
 ion, perhaps more extensive and brilliant than was ever 
 swayed before by human hands. Here were learned 
 and grave judges doing homage to this sovereignty, peers 
 and nobles kneeling before her in token of obedience, 
 and much of the wealth and talent and activity and 
 
 I
 
 LETTER CII. 345 
 
 power and learning of the kingdom crowding around the 
 bar, which kept them at a respectful distance, and list- 
 ening in breathless silence to the words of this personi- 
 fication of political grandeur and power. But I have 
 no time to moralize. I was fortunate enough to get a 
 lady's ticket, as well as one for myself, and of gratifying 
 Miss Joy with the opportunity of being present under 
 my escort. 
 
 I have been at the opera four times this winter, by 
 invitation, for I have no guineas to throw away, and last 
 week went with Lady Molesworth, whose daughter holds 
 a very high place in my regard for her agreeable man- 
 ners and her bright mind. The music, the scenery, the 
 singing, the dancing, within certain limits, were mag- 
 nificent and delightful. I have a large ideality, you 
 know, and therefore enjoyed it. 
 
 You are very coy about writing. I wish this letter 
 was worth one farthing, but I know it is not, excepting 
 as it assures you that I am — Yours ever. 
 
 LETTER CII; 
 
 London, 18th August, 1845. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 I DO not know that I have now much to tell you that 
 would interest you. A family, in which I have been 
 very intimate, have just lost a daughter, one of the most 
 accomplished and delightful young women I ever saw, 
 and for whom I had contracted a strong friendship. She 
 was about thirty-three years old, and has departed, to the
 
 346 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. . 
 
 universal grief of the circle in which she moved. Miss 
 
 L , an intimate friend both of hers and mine, agreed 
 
 with me, in speaking of her some time since, before her 
 illness, that she was a model of a woman, and, within 
 our knowledge, had scarcely her superior. Her name 
 
 was R , the daughter of a merchant, and she has 
 
 died of some internal derangement, after severe suffer- 
 ing. It is not customary here to call until some time 
 after the death ; therefore, though I have left my card, I 
 have not yet seen the family. There is another case 
 which interests me greatly. One of the young women 
 who lived as an apprentice in the house where I 
 lodged, is now in a lingering consumption, and I visit 
 her as often as I can, as she seems always most happy 
 to see me. She is a Catholic by religion, and about 
 twenty-five years old. I scarcely ever saw a more lovely 
 person ; and as her strength fails, her countenance be- 
 comes more radiant, and her eyes seem to have a celes- 
 tial brightness. She is entirely destitute ; and a gentle- 
 man who has heard of her case, but does not choose to 
 be known, has sent her five pounds, and directed a friend 
 not to let her want for any thing. Is not this beautiful ! 
 I have never seen a brighter example of the power 
 of religious faith in supporting the soul in the near pros- 
 pect of death, and under its certain apprehension. Her 
 sister devotes herself to the care of her, and the good 
 creature told me, the other day, that they had but one 
 wish ungratified, and that was that I could be of the 
 true church. She should then, she said, die happy. I 
 could only tell her not to make herself unhappy. I had 
 no doubt that she would go to Heaven, and if for no 
 other reason, I should do my best to meet her there.
 
 LETTER ClI. 347 
 
 But what narrow conceptions of the goodness and wide 
 providence of God sometijnes overcloud the best minds. 
 Her sick chamber was a beautiful school of patience, 
 resignation, faith, and hope ; and homely and meanly 
 furnished as it was, shone with a moral radiance far 
 brighter than that which glitters in many a princely 
 saloon. 
 
 I was much interested last week in having dropped 
 in, as I accidentally passed by, at the Old Bailey, 
 (where, whenever I choose to go, I have a seat on the 
 bench by the side of the judges,) at the time of the trial 
 of a poor woman, about thirty years old, who, a few 
 days since, threw her three children into the Thames, 
 two of whom were drowned, and was about to plunge 
 in herself, when she was prevented. She was driven 
 to desperation by the brutal conduct of a profligate 
 and drunken husband, who had beaten and abused 
 her. The jury, to every body's satisfaction, brought 
 her in not guilty, on the ground of insanity at the time 
 of committing the act. She was quite a pleasing look- 
 ing person, but seemed entirely stunned with her sit- 
 uation. 
 
 The records of crime, most frightful and enormous in 
 their character, which the papers daily present, are heart- 
 sickening, and make one shudder. They insist here 
 that they are not out of proportion to the population. I 
 am afraid it is far otherwise, and society seems to me 
 much out of -joint, and where our Christianity is, it would 
 be difficult to answer. There are certainly not wanting 
 the forms of religion, all its external decencies and pro- 
 fessions, on all occasions loud enough. These are very 
 little to my taste. The value of the tree is to be known,
 
 348 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 not by the smoothness of the bark and the abundance 
 of its leaves, nor the beauty of its flowering, but by its 
 actual and full-ripened fruit. 
 
 I confess I have no great complacency in what the 
 world commonly calls religious people, or, I should say, 
 in people who call themselves religious. The last thing 
 I wish a friend of mine to do, is to make any extrava- 
 gant profession of religion. I like that men, above all 
 things, should have religion, and practise rehgion, and 
 live up to their religion, and evince its supreme influence 
 over their tempers, words, manners, and whole lives and 
 characters, but the moment a man begins to profess re- 
 ligion, I begin but I won't say what. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER cm. 
 
 Matlock, Derbyshire, 31st August, 1845. 
 My Dear M : 
 
 It makes me very happy to find you enjoying your- 
 self so much in the countr}% But I think by this time 
 you must be roasted quite brown, from all I hear of the 
 extraordinary and intense heat of the summer. Here it 
 has been the reverse. Many persons speak of it as the 
 coldest summer remembered. I think their memories 
 must be short, for I am not willing to call it cold, but 
 temperate, healthful, and agreeable. We had, for a long 
 time, rain every day, but for the last week it has been 
 clear and warm, and what is almost as unusual as snow 
 in summer, we have had moonlight and starlight nights,
 
 LETTER cm. 349 
 
 and these blessed objects showing their sparkling coun- 
 tenances to us, like the bright faces of long absent 
 fi'iends. ...... 
 
 I have lately made a visit to the school at Norwood, 
 of a thousand pauper children. My most kind and in- 
 defatigable friend, Mrs. Courage, desired that the first 
 leisure I had, I should let her show me that institution, 
 and, above all, the beautiful and highly cultivated coun- 
 try in its neighborhood. The school at Norwood is de- 
 signed for the reception of children from some of the 
 poor-houses in the city, and as much is done for them, 
 as, perhaps, can be done for children whose term is vari- 
 able ; but it was sad to witness the melancholy results 
 of ill-usage or neglect, growing out of poverty or vice, 
 in the deformities, the stinted growth, and the diseased 
 eyes of the children. 
 
 My next engagement, a most agreeable one, was at din- 
 ner, at Mr. Harcourt's, M. P. Here I had the pleasure to 
 meet several members of the government, several mem- 
 bers of parliament, and several noblemen. Our invita- 
 tions were for eight o'clock ; we sat down about half- 
 past eight. Nothing could be more splendid than the 
 entertainment. 
 
 The party on this occasion, as I have said, embraced 
 several gentlemen of distinction, and the conversation 
 was in a high degree instructive and brilliant. One of 
 the gentlemen near me chose to rally me, in perfect 
 good humor, upon my religious opinions, and demanded 
 what religion I was of. My reply was, that I was of 
 no religion, which seemed to create some surprise in my 
 neighborhood. I reminded him, however, that because 
 I said I was of no religion, it did not imply that I had 
 30
 
 350 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 no religion, but in this matter I should answer nothing, 
 holding myself accountable only to a far higher than a 
 human tribunal, and that religion, in my opinion, was 
 much too lofty and sacred a subject to be mixed up 
 with party distinctions and sectarian prejudices, or any 
 mere forms of faith or ceremonies of worship. 
 
 On Wednesday I went to Croydon to see a farm, 
 cultivated in a peculiar manner, about which much has 
 been said and written. I missed seeing the owner, but 
 saw the farm, and to great advantage. I was amused 
 when I got home, late in the evening, in recalling the 
 different conveyances by which I had accomplished my 
 journey. I went four miles in a steamboat ; five miles 
 in an omnibus ; twenty-two miles by railroad ; and I 
 walked fourteen miles, besides walking over the farm. 
 This might be called getting along " by hook and by 
 crook." 
 
 An old and highly respected friend. Dr. Robbins, 
 from Boston, has just arrived, and I have had the pleas- 
 ure of showing him something of London ; and, know- 
 ing his taste, I took him to see the new buildings, the 
 princely squares, the terraces, unrivalled for their beauty 
 and magnificence, and then over the busiest parts of the 
 city, through Hyde Park, round St. James's Park, over 
 the principal bridges, and returned to his lodgings to 
 dine at half-past eight o'clock. I never saw any one 
 more astonished and delighted. Indeed, I showed him 
 what not one American in a thousand ever sees, and I 
 was amply repaid by the pleasure which he expressed. 
 He said that such a day would repay many times 
 the expense and trouble of crossing the ocean. I left 
 him about eleven o'clock ; but did not get away with-
 
 LETTER Clir. 351 
 
 out his entreaty that I would go on witli him, as his 
 guest, to this place and Chatsworth, on his way to 
 Scotland. I promised to think of it, and yester- 
 day morning determined that I would join him at 
 the Euston station, and visit Chatsworth, deemed the 
 most magnificent establishment in England, stopping 
 on the way at this beautiful watering place, which, 
 excepting that it has had its face washed and its hair 
 combed, resembles very much the ride to Colerain 
 and Charlemont, on the Dcerfield river. Mr. and Miss 
 Joy were of our party, and we four had the coach or 
 car to ourselves, and it seemed to me like getting home 
 again. We rode by rail and coach one hundred and 
 forty-eight miles. 
 
 To-day I have attended a dissenting congregation, 
 where I heard very good singing, saw a humble, but 
 very decent people, exceedingly well-behaved, and heard 
 a very flourishing preacher, delivering himself in a style 
 which I do not choose to designate. After that I strolled 
 off to see my friends, the Nightingales, who have a de- 
 lightful summer residence in this neighborhood, I was 
 told about three miles distant, but quite five, and much 
 of it up hill. They are some of the best and most cul- 
 tivated people in England. They gave me a hearty 
 welcome, and begged me on my return to make them a 
 visit, but I cannot do it. The walk was perfectly charm- 
 ing, the scenery in the highest degree picturesque. I 
 could not help thanking God all the way that he had 
 made this world so beautiful, and given me sense to en- 
 joy it. 
 
 I go from here to-morrow with our party fifteen miles
 
 352 EUftOPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 to see Chatsworth ; thence to reach the rail, where we 
 separate, he for Scotland, and I return to my home. I 
 think, as I am in the neighborhood, I shall take one day 
 to see Lady Byron's allotments, in Leicestershire, on 
 my way, as she has kindly invited me to see them, and 
 provided lodgings for me two months ago, to occupy as 
 long as I would stay. She devotes much of her time 
 and wealth to the improvement of the condition of her 
 poor dependents, and no one can be more benevolently 
 interested in their welfare. 
 
 I came home one day last week and found a letter 
 from a lady, a Quaker, I infer from its style. She says 
 she has a great desire to see me ; has been at 56 Char- 
 ing Cross, and came out to Islington ; and if I will fix 
 a time she will come to London from Chelmsford, which, 
 I understand, is thirty or forty miles, for that purpose ; 
 and that she has vacant apartments in Paris at my ser- 
 vice, which she wishes me to occupy when I go there. 
 She says she has known me through my friend, Eliza- 
 beth Pease, of Darlington, a most excellent person. 
 What is the object of this good lady ? People here are 
 not quite so flill of projects as with us. It does not at 
 all belong to the English character. But, as the French 
 say, we shall see, and I promise you an account of the 
 denouement. Adieu.
 
 LETTER CIV. 353 
 
 LETTER CIV. 
 
 London, Isl September, 1845. 
 My Dear R : 
 
 You know, so far as numbers go, you are quite in my 
 debt, and I hope you won't bind me to the hard rule of 
 receiving quahty for number. But now put on your 
 usual kindness, and don't be so very sparing of your 
 letters when it costs you nothing to write, and your let- 
 ters always give me so much pleasure. 
 
 I should like to know what you are about now in 
 Salem. I am reminded of Salem whenever I go down 
 the Strand, by the sign of the VVenham Lake Ice Com- 
 pany, and a large block of ice which appears at the 
 window. In passing the shop, the other day, on the 
 box of an omnibus, I heard a very well-dressed person, 
 who sat on the other side of the driver, gravely inform 
 him that this ice came from the West Indies ; very mar- 
 vellous geographical knowledge 1 This block of ice is 
 about eighteen inches square, and about twelve thick. 
 The Londoners look upon it with amazement. I am 
 told they sometimes go into the shop after gazing through 
 the window, and put their hands on it, to be sure that it 
 is not glass. Many consider it, likewise, a sort of stand- 
 ing miracle, for they don't see that it diminishes, not 
 having a suspicion that the cunning Connecticut Yankee 
 who exhibits it, takes a new piece out of the refrigerator 
 every morning. But enough of this. I think it would 
 be of service to put some of your ministers in a refrige- 
 rator or an ice house. What has kindled all this new 
 30*
 
 354 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 heat and set them to devouring each other, and aroused 
 a spirit of persecution towards some of their brethren 
 which seems to me wholly irreconcilable with Christian- 
 ity ? If a man is a heretic let him go, or you will be 
 sure to give influence to him and currency to his opinions. 
 They think to stop the progress of free opinions and 
 free inquiry by crying mad dog, when the whole effect 
 is to send everybody to the windows and doors to see 
 which way the mad dog went ; and to inquire whose 
 dog he is and what made him mad, and, above all, 
 whether he was really mad, or whether people only said so. 
 These people seem to think if they only hold up their 
 umbrella before the sun, they keep its light from every- 
 body else, whereas, the only effect is, to keep themselves 
 in the dark. I was much amused, the other Sunday, 
 on hearing what we Englishmen call one of the clever- 
 est men in London, say, in his sermon, what a capital 
 thing it would be if we could now " catch a live apos- 
 tle ; " and what a variety of sects would come to him to 
 settle their controversies. There would be the Baptists, 
 the Anabaptists, the Pedobaptists, the Antipedobap- 
 tists, those who baptized by sprinkling, those who bap- 
 tized by immersion, those who hold it necessary to im- 
 merse three times, those who hold that holy oil must be 
 used as well as water, and those who hold that no bap- 
 tism is valid unless performed with the sign of the cross, 
 Stc, &£c. ; and then if the apostle gave his decision, they 
 would get into a dispute about the meaning of his lan- 
 guage ; and if his language was so direct and explicit 
 that it could not be misunderstood, then those against 
 whose opinions he decided would insist upon it that they 
 had got the wrong apostle. What a true picture of the
 
 LETTER CV. 355 
 
 frivolous disputes which continually prevail among peo- 
 ple who ought to know that they know nothing, or at 
 least far too little for them to undertake the control of 
 other people's reason and consciences. Adieu. 
 
 LETTER CV. 
 
 London, 17Ui September, 1845. 
 My Dear R : 
 
 In spite of all your silence and neglect, I do not mean 
 to be moved ; and, therefore, venture once more to have 
 a few words with you. What are you doing ? How 
 many children have you now under your patronage ? and 
 how do the religious affairs of Salem go on under your 
 active superintendence ? How is hydropathy ; how is 
 mesmerism ; how is your favorite subject, abolitionism ? 
 Here we have every thing, and here we have nothing. 
 A man here believes what he pleases ; says what he 
 has to say ; does what he chooses to do ; and has all 
 the liberty, without censure, without surveillance, which 
 a rational man can desire, provided he keeps out of the 
 hands of the police. Here nobody is of any importance ; 
 and the proudest man only floats upon society like a 
 cork upon the rapids of Niagara, sure to be hurried along ; 
 sure, presently, to go over, and as sure not to be thought 
 of or cared for after he has gone over. Every man is 
 for himself, and if he does not take care of himself, there 
 is nobody will take- care of him. It is not that persons 
 here are more selfish than others ; but, really, no one has 
 any time to spend upon the affairs of other men. In
 
 356 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 the busy season the streets of London present a sort of 
 Waterloo rout — "save himself who can ;" — saunter, 
 and you '11 be run down ; fall down, and you '11 be run 
 over. Sometimes I have thought that a man might walk 
 from the Exchange to Charing Cross, two miles, through 
 the busiest and most crowded part of London, and at the 
 busiest time of day, with nothing else on than Adam's 
 cast-off paradisaical suit, and he would not be noticed 
 farther than that some hasty passenger might venture to 
 remark, en passant, " that is a queer fellow ; what tailor 
 made his dress ? " So, too, the Queen might die to- 
 morrow ; her body would not be cold before her succes- 
 sor must be found ; and a few tolling bells, a few muf- 
 fled drums, and a few glittering swords and nodding 
 plumes, and the world would go on precisely as it was 
 going before. This is a humiliating but an instructive 
 lesson, and a most wholesome extinguisher of all pride, 
 if pride in man can be extinguished unless the candle of 
 life be snuffed out at the same time. What comes of all 
 this ? What composes this mighty, moving mass ? Many 
 aching limbs ; many heated and burning brains ; many 
 agonized hearts ; wealth beyond the dreams of the Ara- 
 bian Nights ; luxury as brilliant as gold and silver and 
 diamonds, and human art and labor can make it ; indul- 
 gence without restraint ; destitution complete ; poverty 
 extreme ; wretchedness, vice, and suffering unmitigated, 
 and absolutely hopeless. What a picture of life ! Who 
 can unravel this web and draw the threads straight ? 
 What shall settle this turbid cauldron, and cause the 
 waters to become clear ? Alas ! no human power or 
 sagacity can even approach the task ; and man, standing 
 upon the shore of the mighty ocean, may think as well
 
 LETTER CV. 357 
 
 to assuage its tempests by his breath, and stay its rising 
 tides at his command, and sniooth its broken surface 
 with the palm of his hand. Yet what is to come of this 
 great city ? It is growing at this very hour much faster 
 than ever. Thousands and thousands of houses are in 
 the process of erection, and thousands and thousands are 
 being born to fill them. Rome had her six millions of 
 inhabitants ; London has as yet but two. What is to 
 prevent her having twenty, unless, as it was the last 
 feather that broke the camel's back, so, presently, it 
 would seem, that she must be crushed by her own weight. 
 Yesterday, by invitation, I attended the sessions at 
 the Old Bailey, took my seat on the Bench of Justice, 
 (so called,) and watched the affecting sight of hundreds 
 of prisoners being arraigned and tried, and saw many of 
 them sentenced — children, women, and men — some 
 to a month's imprisonment, with hard labor, some twelve 
 months', some two years', many to be transported for 
 seven years, and many for life ; and all this was done with 
 as much indifference and sang froid as a butcher in Cin- 
 cinnati would get into his pen of swine and knock down 
 his victims by dozens. My feelings were much too big 
 for utterance, and I could not but think that the poisoned 
 chalice must presently come to some lips, who now so 
 harshly force it upon others, and that the curse cannot 
 be light, which must, sooner or later, fall upon a heart 
 steeled against all compassion, and pitiless and indifferent 
 to the temptations and sufferings of the poor, friendless, 
 injured, and often betrayed, as well as unfortunate. The 
 judge, again and again, passed dreadful and heart-rending 
 sentences upon some wretched boy, or some poor, miser- 
 able, affrighted woman ; and, after telling them, in the
 
 358 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 harshest manner, that they might congratulate themselves 
 upon escaping so lightly, turn round and laugh heartily 
 at the concern of the compassionate aldemian, who sat 
 at his side and did what he could to stay his violence, 
 and at the surprise and anguish of the poor convicts.* 
 I wish I had something pleasanter to write about. 
 
 Do give me the news What 
 
 have you to say about ecclesiastical matters ? What 
 is the last new doctrine broached ? How stands Par- 
 kerism ? Now put, as we say, the best foot forward, 
 if one foot is better than another, and let me know 
 the whole course of things in S . Adieu. 
 
 * " A girl of thirteen years brought to receive judgment for theft. She 
 had been prosecuted upon the complaint of her father. 
 
 " Sergeant Adams ordered the girl to recognize for her appearance at a 
 future Mme." — Times, March 2dth, 1847. 
 
 Experience had taught him to know how often it happened, that parents 
 contrived to induce their children to commit crimes, in order to throw them 
 upon the state for support, and thus relieve themselves from the cost of their 
 maintenance, and from the care of their bringing up, and eventual introduc- 
 tion to well doing in life. 
 
 A few days since, he had four cases, where the parents had endeavored 
 to rid themselves of the natural burden of their children, by prosecuting 
 them, and, at the last .«es.sion, there had been clear ground for suspicion, 
 that, in one case, money had been intentionally placed in the way of the lad 
 by his parents. Thus the parents were relieved from the care of their 
 children.
 
 LETTER CVI. 359 
 
 LETTER CVI. 
 
 Loiulon, 14th October, 1S45. 
 My Dkar M : 
 
 I WRITE you SO often, that really my materiel is quite 
 scarce, and you must often put up with very short com- 
 mons. I have lately been reading the life of Blanco 
 White, in which I have been much interested ; but I 
 refer to it principally, at this time, for the sake of quot- 
 ing a passage from a letter addressed to him by Mrs. 
 Hemans, which I have read more than once, I'll assure 
 you, and with no small sympathy : 
 
 " I have now been settled about six months near 
 Liverpool, and though I meet with much kindness, and 
 have even attached myself to some individuals, whose 
 society interests me, still, you will understand all those 
 undefined longings for the streams and the mountains of 
 my childhood ; sudden pictures, flashing before the 
 mind's eye — remembered sounds, that come and go, and 
 waken the heart to gushings of painful tenderness, — 
 all these exile feelings, in short, by which I am but too 
 frequently visited. Such things, I suppose, must be, in 
 all deep and severed hearts, until the ' better country, 
 even the heavenly,' shall be reached, where there is ' no 
 variableness, neither shadow of change.' " 
 
 I long to return home. I long to see you, the children, 
 other friends, oftentimes and constantly, with an intensity 
 for which I have no words. But I think, at present, I 
 am in the way of my duty, and must rest content.
 
 360 EUROPEAN LIFE AND MANNERS. 
 
 P. S. There is another passage, in one of Blanco 
 White's own letters to a friend, which, I think, will 
 amuse you, — so I 'II quote that, also, as I have a little 
 spare room : 
 
 " So Campbell is again in the heyday of youth. I 
 never doubted he would marry, a second wife. The 
 expected house-warming must be preparatory to that 
 event. But I much doubt whether, at his time of life, 
 a new wife can make a man happy. An old one, I hold 
 to be a great comfort ; and it is a subject of regret to me, 
 that I have not had the pleasure of growing a sexagena- 
 rian in company. But to take up a blooming partner 
 at fifty, or to form a partnership of rheumatism, cough, 
 and hobbling, with a ripe beauty, are follies of nearly 
 equal absurdity." 
 
 END OF VOLUME I.
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 
 
 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed 
 
 iiT 
 
 APR O i-j 
 
 QUAR i t-r^ 
 
 u^^'"^ 
 
 .4
 
 y^y European life 
 
 ^7Ie — and jmanneirs. 
 v.l 
 
 ^ f ac h/ a^ Ada Nl5;hfi+ ^^ 
 
 D 
 
 919 
 C71e 
 v.l 
 
 SUPPLIED BY 
 
 THE SEVEN BOOKHUNTERS 
 
 OLD CHELSEA STATION, BOX 22 
 
 NEW YORK U, N. Y 
 
 Out -of- Prim Rooks
 
 mm r 
 
 inr 
 
 ' 1| 
 
 
 ■'! 
 
 
 
 
 •i' 
 
 
 
 ,1 i 
 
 ;i' 'i 
 i ' 
 ii 
 
 ■■ 1 
 
 '■ n 
 
 ;ii 
 ' .11 
 :ii ■ 
 
 11 
 
 ! i 
 
 ■i ? 
 t 
 
 i 
 
 I. ..I