Young Americans Abroad
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At less than a mile from this place is the Chapel of St. Ferdinand,
built on the spot where the Duke of Orleans died, by a fall from his
carriage, in 1842. It is a small building of stone, fifty feet long, and
is of Gothic style. Here are many interesting objects--the marble group
descriptive of the dying prince, and at his head an angel in
supplication; this angel was the sculpture of his sister, the Princess
Marie. The painted windows are exquisite representations of the patron
saints of the royal family. Behind the altar is the room in which the
duke died, now used as the sacristy of the chapel. Here, too, is a
picture of the death bed. I am glad that I saw this, as the rest of the
party were not able to be there.
The great National Library is in the Rue Vivienne. The building is a
dark-looking affair, five hundred and forty feet long and one hundred
and thirty feet wide. Inside is a court three hundred feet by ninety,
and that is flanked with buildings. The library is in five sections:
first, manuscripts; second, printed books; third, engravings; fourth;
medals, &c.; fifth, marbles. Perhaps the best collection of early
printing that Europe can show is in this place. You will be surprised
when I tell you that there are here one million five hundred thousand
works. I cannot attempt to tell you the curiosities that are to be seen
here--gems, cameos, antiques, swords, armors, models, portraits, busts;
and then, as for autographs, why, a collector could not fail to break
the tenth commandment when he looked at the letters of this collection
in glass cases. The engravings alone are a study for months.
I have to see my tailor, Mr. Woodman, who is a capital one; and then I
must go to Forr, the boot-maker, of whom let me tell you a story. The
doctor went to be measured, when we first arrived, and the man told him
it was not necessary, as he had his measure. "How so?" he inquired.
"Why, sir," replied the man, "I remember you fifteen years ago, at the
Hotel Windsor;" and taking down his book, showed him his name, number of
his room, &c. This I think a pretty considerable proof of memory, and
equal to what we are told of some of our American landlords, who are
said never to forget a face.
These engagements discharged, and I am ready to pack up. We all feel sad
at leaving George, who has been a kind and amiable companion; but we
hope soon to see him again.
Let me tell you that we are to have a new teacher. Dr. C. has engaged M.
Oudin, a graduate of the University of Paris, to return with us. This
gentleman is married; and we are all pleased with him and expect, of
course, to profit under his instructions.
M. Oudin has taken us to see a very curious manufactory of fruits,
fishes, &c. They certainly are lifelike. Then, too, there is a branch
of this establishment devoted to the preparation of medical
representations of disease, and the skill exhibited is very great. Our
next letter will, I fancy, be from Old England. I feel sad at leaving
France, for I do like her capital; and then I cannot help a fear that
she has dark days not very far off. She talks of liberty at all her
corners, but she seems to have none in her conduct of the daily press.
There are too many soldiers here to please an American. At home we have
all the blessings of government, and do not see the machinery. We have
no soldiers to keep us moving along. I shall always think with pleasure
of our month in this city; and if I ever come again, I have work chalked
out for three months, at least.
Yours affectionately,
JAMES.
Letter 50.
LONDON.
DEAR CHARLEY:--
We had a pleasant time from Paris to Calais; and here we determined to
pass a day, and look at a city which has been so celebrated both in the
history of France and England. We put up at Quillac's. The population is
about thirteen thousand. The town is strongly fortified, and has very
few external attractions. The gate built by Richelieu in 1685, and
delineated by Hogarth, still stands. You know that England held this
town from 1347 to 1558; and, as a result, you can find several specimens
of English Tudor architecture, especially the Hotel de Guise. The walks
upon the fortifications are fine, and afford commanding views of the
cliffs of the south coast of England. The place generally has some three
or four thousand English, many of whom are refugees on account of debt.
At eleven at night we went on board a French steamer for Dover; and the
_instant_ that she got outside the pier, she jumped like a mad thing. O,
Charley, that was a horrid night! We were all sick, very sick indeed. It
took us about three hours to get over, and we were thankful to land and
take refuge for three or four hours in the quiet of our bedrooms. At
eight we took the cars for London, and were at the Golden Cross, quietly
settled down in our old quarters, by twelve o'clock. I ought to tell you
that we hurried over in order to be here at the great entertainment
which Mr. George Peabody gives to his excellency Abbott Lawrence and his
lady, on the evening of the 4th of July. We were invited, and felt
anxious to be there; as, in addition to the other notable characters,
"the duke" was to be present. All that day the subject of the evening
was the great topic with Americans; and as more than nine hundred
acceptances were received to invitations issued, it was expected that
the party would be interesting, and that many, who failed to obtain
tickets, would be disappointed. The entertainment was given at Almack's,
Willis's Room, St. James's, and upon a scale of great magnificence. It
consisted of a concert at half past nine, a ball at eleven, and supper
at one. The idea of celebrating our national independence in London,
under the peculiar circumstances which London presents at this moment,
was a happy one; and though some wise men doubted the wisdom of the
measure, yet the result proved the prudence and practical good sense of
its originator; and perhaps few men possess more of this admirable
quality than Mr. Peabody. The rooms at Almack's are very spacious, so
that there was ample space for the one thousand who proved to be
present. At one end of the room were seen the portraits of the queen and
Washington, surrounded by the flags of England and the United States;
and around were placed busts of her majesty, Washington, Prince Albert,
Franklin, Webster, and other celebrated men of both countries. Each lady
was presented, on her entrance, with a fine bouquet. At half past nine
the seats for the concert were entirely filled. The _programme de
concert_ was as follows:--
CONDUCTOR, SIGNOR ALARY.
PARTE PRIMA.
GLEE, Messrs. Lee, Geuge, Hill, Smith, and Howe.
DUO, "Al perigli." {Signor Gardoni, }
{Signor F. Lablache,} _Donizetti_.
SOLO, Violin. Signor Sivori, _Sivori_.
MELODIE, "Jusqu'a toi." Signor Gardoni _Schubert_.
ARIA, "Non piu audrai." Signor Lablache, _Mozart_.
ROMANCE, "Ah, mon fils." Miss C. Hayes, _Meyerbeer_.
DUO, "Ah t inebria nell' {Ma'mselle Cruvelli,}
amplesso." {Signor Gardoni, } _Verdi_.
PARTE SECUNDA.
TRIO, "Qual volutta." {Miss Hayes, }
{Signor Gardoni, }
{Signor Lablache,} _Verdi_.
ARIA, "Nel dolce incanto." Mademoiselle Cruveli _De Beriot_.
SOLO, Violin. Signor Sivori, _Sivori_.
SERENADE, "Qual Suon." {Miss C. Hayes, }
{Signor Gardoni,} _Alary_.
DUO, "Un Segreta." {Signor Lablache,}
{F. Lablache,} _Rossini_.
TRIO, "Zitti, Zitti." {Miss C. Hayes, }
{Signor Gardoni, }
{Signor Lablache,} _Rossini_.
PIANO FORTE, Signor Alary.
The glees and madrigals were by the first-named artists; and the pieces
were, "Spring's Delight," "Come, let us join the Roundelay," "Foresters
sound the cheerful Horn," and "The Winds whistle cold."
The band for the ball was Coote & Tinney's. The concert was very fine. I
was most pleased with Miss Hayes,--and next with Lablache, whose voice
is the finest I ever heard. The duke came just at the close of the
concert, as the seats were being removed for the dancing. Mr. Peabody
met him in the reception-room, and led him to the upper end of the
ball-room, where he was cordially greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence. The
band struck up, "See, the conquering hero comes," and I really felt that
such a reception to such a man, and under such circumstances, was
something for an American boy to see; and, if I live thirty or forty
years, it will be something to tell about. There were but few
comparatively who danced. The company were in groups, in the different
rooms, taking refreshments. At one, supper was announced on the ground
floor of the house; and here the press was felt to be greater than up
stairs. The tables were most gorgeously laid out with every delicacy
that unlimited outlay of expense could secure. Perhaps you would like to
know some of the company who were present, belonging to England, and who
certainly were present for the first time to celebrate the anniversary
of American independence. There were the Duke of Wellington, Marquises
of Ely and Clanricarde, Lord Glenelg, Lord Charles Manners, Lord Charles
Russell, Lord Mayor of London and Lady Mayoress, Viscount Canning, Lord
and Lady Dormer, Lord Hill, Lord Stuart, Baron and Lady Alderson, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lady Mary Wood; Mr. Justice and Lady
Coleridge, the Governor of the Bank of England, Joseph Hume, M.P., and
family, Lady Morgan, Miss Burdett Coutts, Admiral Watkins, the Countess
of Eglinton, Countess Powlett, Lady Talbot Mala hide, and a very long
_et cetera_. Mr. Peabody could not have served his country better than
by affording an opportunity for the great and distinguished of England
to meet a large party of his countrymen on an occasion dear to
Americans, and especially dear when they are far away from their
country, and feel that, under the broad flag of the stars and stripes
they are every where as safe as if they were in New York or Boston. It
was very clear that hostile feeling had ceased, and that the great
Anglo-Saxon family can now meet any where and display the brotherhood
which they ought ever to feel. Such a meeting could not have taken place
twenty years ago; and perhaps this beautiful demonstration would never
have been afforded, if the thought had not presented itself to our host,
who had the means to carry out the idea with a nobleness that did honor
to himself and his country. We left the rooms on a bright, starlight
morning, just as day was opening her eye, and were soon comfortably
housed at our pleasant home. I write in haste, for we have much to do
before we leave London.
Yours affectionately,
JAMES.
Letter 51.
LONDON.
DEAR CHARLEY:--
We have had one of the most agreeable days that I have spent in England.
We received a kind invitation from his excellency Baron Vanderweyer, the
Belgian minister, to attend a party given by his lady to the young
nobility. The invitations were for five o'clock. We found the finest
collection of children and young people, from about four years old up to
sixteen, that I ever saw gathered together. I should think there were
two hundred and fifty. More beautiful children cannot probably be found;
and they were dressed in fine taste, and some very richly. One little
fellow, about six years old, was, I think, the noblest-looking boy my
eyes ever rested upon. Dr. C. inquired of two or three persons whom he
knew, who the lad was; and just then an elegant and fashionable-looking
lady expressed how much she felt flattered by the kind things said of
the little fellow, and told him that it was her son, the eldest son of
the Marquis of O----d, and then called him out of the dance, and
introduced the little Lord Ossory to him. Among the illustrious
juveniles was the future Duke of Wellington, and grandson of the Iron
Duke. He is now about four or five years old. I think the sight was one
of the prettiest I ever had the pleasure to witness. A few of the
parents and older friends of the children were present; and in the
company was Mr. Bates, whose kindness to us has been very great.
One evening this week Dr. Choules preached at Craven Chapel, near Regent
Street, where he had been requested to speak about America, and he took
up Education--the voluntary principle--and Slavery. On the last topic he
gave some truths that were probably very unpalatable. He stated that the
good people here knew next to nothing of the subject; that its treatment
amongst us could not be suffered by strangers; and that all interference
with it by this nation was as impolitic, and in as bad taste, as it
would be for an American to visit England and commence a crusade against
the expenditures of the royal household, as a crying sin, while there
was misery among the masses in many parts of the kingdom. He spoke of
the extreme prejudice which he had met upon the subject, and the
rudeness's into which he had found men fall, who seemed to have
forgotten every courtesy of life. He gave them many facts, which, though
perfectly correct, yet he said he supposed would be interpreted as a
special plea on behalf of slavery--although nothing could be more
untrue. The prejudice existing here is amusing. They seem to take it for
granted that every American raises cotton, sugar, and tobacco, and,
therefore, is a slaveholder. However, I find most persons of candor
ready to acknowledge that it is questionable whether any good can
possibly result from sending English agents to agitate the slavery
question in the United States.
There are a great many things which we have seen in London that are less
worthy of note than those we have written you about, and yet in
themselves are very useful and interesting; and we hope the remembrance
of them will be of service to us hereafter. I have been much struck with
the prevalence of the same names in the streets as those which are so
familiar to me on our signs and boards. We have most clearly a common
origin, and there are no two nations in the world between whom there is
of necessity so much sympathy on all great questions.
We have visited the exhibition several times since our return, with
fresh pleasure on every occasion. In point of show and splendor, we are
doing little in competition with the English, French and Belgian
exhibitors; but we have a wonderful deal here that proves Jonathan to be
a smart chap at invention, and no slouch at labor-saving operations. We
cannot afford to spend the labor of freemen, who own their houses and
farms and gardens, upon single pieces of furniture that would take six
months to complete. Our time is too valuable for this. The pauper labor
of Europe will, I hope, long continue to be cheaper, than the toil of
American mechanics. I do not want to see a man working for thirty cents
a day. The people of England must laugh in their sleeves when they see
every steamer bringing out our specie from America, and when they see us
sacrificing our true interests to aid the destructive policy of free
trade. I have never thought so much about the tariff as since I have
been here, and I am now convinced that we ought to give suitable
encouragement to all kinds of manufactures in our country, and so afford
a regular market for the products of the agriculturist. The English
agents that flood our country are placing the land under a constant
drain; and our specie must go abroad, instead of circulating at home. It
is only in times of great scarcity that England will want much of our
wheat or corn; and the English very freely avow that they hope to be
able, ere long, to get their cotton from the East. It seems to me that
our Southern States will need their New England constant market, and
that our true policy is to take care of ourselves. Certainly there is a
great variety of opinion here about free trade, and I hear gentlemen
debate strongly against it. The reciprocity of England is a queer thing.
All this yarn, Charley, grows naturally out of my starting-point about
the exhibition.
We go to-night to Bristol, to visit our kind friends once more; thence
we run into South Wales, and afterwards set our faces homeward.
Yours, &c.,
WELD.
Letter 52.
BRISTOL
DEAR CHARLEY:--
We have been here with the doctor's friends for several days, and had a
most delightful time. Nothing can be more kind than their attentions to
us; and the young men--I wish you knew them--have been constantly doing
every thing in their power to make our visit here agreeable.
We were glad to find Mr. W---- recovering from his accident; and as the
family were at Western Super Mare, a watering-place about seven miles
off, for his health, we went and passed a couple of days with them. This
place is on the banks of the Bristol Channel; the air is thought to be
the finest on the western coast of England, and is, we thought, very
much like our Newport air. When the tide is in the scenery is pretty,
and the Welsh hills; at sunset are beautiful. Off in the Bristol Channel
are two islands, called the Flat and Steep Holmes.
The houses here are neat, and the best are lodging-houses. Some of the
rows are very pretty, and are sufficiently cosy to accommodate small
families.
The true way to enjoy the seaside is to have your own snug quarters.
Here the people are wise enough to build close to the sea, and rows of
houses are found all round the bay.
We had a charming ride to a lofty hill, about two miles off, and the
prospect was very fine.
Here, as on the continent, we found large numbers of donkeys, with
drivers, and ladies use them in their little excursions; and many of
them are attached to Bath chairs, a small gig, and a very comfortable
conveyance, too, as we proved. The vehicle is made for one person.
I cannot say much for the bathing, which is greatly admired here, but
was far too muddy for our taste, after an acquaintance with the noble
beach at home.
The museum of the Baptist College in Bristol is very fine, and the
library is large and one of great value. The collection of Bibles is the
best in the kingdom, and here is the only copy of Tindal's New
Testament. The miniature of Oliver Cromwell, by Cooper, is valuable, and
has been often engraved.
We have several times attended worship at a very beautiful Gothic chapel
at Bristol, called Highbury Chapel. It is a perfect gem, built in the
Gothic style of the fifteenth century. The edifice is of stone, the
roof and wood-work of oak, the pulpit freestone, and over it is a fine
painted window. It is one of the prettiest churches we have seen in
England; and what gives great interest to the building is the fact that
it stands upon the spot where five martyrs were burnt, in the days of
Popery, when Queen Mary was on the throne. This burning of Protestants
only happens when Catholics have power; they do not advocate the measure
in America, although their boast is that their system knows no change.
Inquisitions and martyrs' fires are the adult growth of Popery. If I
wanted to know how liberal institutions worked, I would look at them
where they were established and flourished without hinderance; and if I
wanted to know what Popery is, I would go and look at it in its proper
territories--Spain, Italy, and Austria. There Popery is intolerant. In
France the wings of Romanism are clipped; and if the patronage of the
state were withdrawn, as very likely it may before long, the crumbling
edifice would fall.
The Rev. Mr. Thomas, the pastor of Highbury Chapel, is a man of superior
intellect, and we heard a very fine sermon from him.
I never was in a place where there are so many local charities as I find
at Bristol. Every ailment of man seems here to be provided with its
needed cure; and as for orphan asylums and refuges for the aged, blind,
strangers, &c., they are every where to be found. The Infirmary is a
noble institution, and always has two hundred patients in the wards; two
thousand were received last year, and eight thousand out-door cases
received treatment. A refuge for the houseless poor, opened in winter at
eight o'clock, and supported by subscription, has been very useful. I
think there are at least thirty different almshouses for the aged and
indigent of both sexes; and some of these places are as neat as any
thing can be, as to their accommodation.
We like Bristol--its fine old houses, its streets, that tell so plainly
of other days, its beautiful environs, and its generous citizens. I wish
you could see the prospect from the drawing-room window at a house where
we have often visited, and always with pleasure. The house stands on a
very high hill; the drawing-room has a large bay window, and outside a
balcony. You look down into a charming garden, with fine trees and
fountains,--the ground being on a great declivity, I should think a
slope of fifty degrees,--and then from the balcony you have the entire
city laid out before you, down, down in the valley; while before you,
and on either hand, stretch away the hills which adorn this noble city.
The towers and steeples of the glorious old churches make the prospect,
of a fine, clear summer evening, one never to be forgotten. Go where I
may, that room, and the kind faces of those who meet in it will often
rise in memory.
I have never had my feelings so enlisted by strangers as at Bristol; and
we all feel quite at home here.
We are to go off to-morrow on an excursion to Monmouthshire, and see
Chepstow, Tintern Abbey, and Ragland Castle, and expect that this last
of our wanderings will be very gratifying.
I have not told you how much we have enjoyed the fruit in England and on
the continent. Cherries and strawberries have been daily on our tables,
and of the best kinds. I do not think we ever enjoyed a fruit season so
much as this summer. In this humid climate the strawberry grows to an
immense size; and the gooseberry, which is here in high favor, is a far
finer fruit than with us.
Yours affectionately,
JAMES.
Letter 53.
BRISTOL.
DEAR CHARLEY:--
Let me tell you of a charming trip which we have had this week to
Chepstow Castle and its neighborhood. We have told you all about the
beautiful scenery of Clifton, and the Hot Wells at this place, and the
fine old rooks. Well, now we took passage in a little steamer, and went
down the Avon between these lofty rocks, and had a new and enlarged view
of this wondrous formation. The boat was well filled with tourists, as
this is a fashionable trip. The Avon for four miles is quite Rhenish in
its aspect; and one or two old castled towers on its crags afford a sort
of reminiscence of what we lately saw on the river of rivers.
We soon got out of the Avon into King Road, and there met the tide
setting strongly from the Severn--a large river, which divides
Monmouthshire from Gloucestershire. We then stretched across the
estuary, and were in the Wye--one of the most romantic rivers in the
country, the scenery of which will occupy much of this letter.
After going up the river a little way, we saw a town upon the left bank
and a noble castle. This is Chepstow. It is finely ensconced in a
hollow. The town is irregular, and depends for its prosperity on its
commerce. The castle is really a noble ruin and crowns a high bluff
which rises from the river. I do not know how any one can ask for a
lovelier landscape than is opened to the view off the bridge which spans
the river.
The castle was built by a relation of William the Conqueror. Its style
is Norman, with more modern additions. The tide rises here to an
elevation of from fifty to sixty feet. This is owing to rooks which
stretch into the Severn near the mouth of the Wye, and, by hindering the
tide, turn it into this small river.
On landing, we engaged a carriage and pair of horses for the excursion,
and were soon off. We stopped for lunch at St. Arvan's, a village one
mile off, and a beautiful place it is--a perfect gem of a country
street. But the glorious scenery of the region calls off attention from
the modest hamlet. How I should like, as in my boyish days, to make
head-quarters here for a week, and then strike out for daily
explorations.
We passed by the fine mansion at Piercefield, and devoted our time to
the glorious points of natural scenery on the banks of this most
charming stream--for Americans can hardly call it a river. We walked now
about two miles through an oak wood, in which is a sprinkling of ash and
elm, till we came to the very edge of a cliff called the "Lover's Leap."
It overhangs an awful abyss, the depth of which is softened down by the
woods which cover the neighboring rooks. A little off from this we came
to the famous Wynd Cliff. Its summit is fringed with wood, and covers
its declivities down to the river. To describe the scenery, my dear boy,
from this spot, is quite beyond my ability. I wish that Sir Walter Scott
had attempted it, and made this region the scene of one of his
beautiful creations. From this spot you see all the course of the Wye,
with its numerous sinuosities--in one place cutting out a few acres into
a horse-shoe peninsula. As the eye follows down the river, you gaze on
perpendicular, rocky cliffs, and can hardly persuade yourself that you
do not look at the immense fortifications of a town. But that peaceful
little peninsula at my feet; it is called Llanicut. Such a farm! such
elms! all forming a landscape unrivalled. But look beyond the Wye, and,
just away there, is the noble Severn. Ay, that is a river. There it
rolls and foams down through the rich county of Gloucestershire, and
empties into the Bristol Channel. Then away, beyond to the right are the
bold, swelling hills of Somersetshire. I cannot but wish that Claude had
seen the Wye and Severn; the noblest of his pictures would have been
illustrative of this region.
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