VN-T^' v ■ i " V *»•' •*£*'**, ."V^r^ ■: <"■ -5...: fe^'o - X--' n v, • ■-■ "•W .... i- V 'c£:*' •i-v- *k»: :***■■.'..' i$v *%% '$#:''- ' c * , ..■■** & •*&£■ '■'3 r* ,-' * , ■ff^' j > ,-.-■< JW" J Almira Williston. V \f^^;.J- NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE Bethesda, Maryland r,, £<%. *# ~ A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND, AND OF TWO PASSAGES OVER THE ATLANTIC, IN THE YEARS 1805 AND 1806; VflTH UONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS, PRINCIPALLY FROM THE ORI- GINAL MANUSCRIPTS OF THE AUTHOR. THIRD EDITION, IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. NEW-HAVEN: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY S. CONVERGE. 1820. DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT, ss. BE it remembered, That on the nineteenth day of January, in the forty-fourth year of the In- dependence of the United States of America, Benjamin Silliman, of the said District, hath de- posited in this Office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit:— " A Journal of Travels in England, Holland and Scotland, and of two passages over the Atlantic, in the years 1805 and 1806; with considerable additions, principally from the original Manu- scripts of the author. Third edition, in three volumes." In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, " An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the authors and propri- etors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." C1IAS. A i:\GERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me, CHAS. A. INGERSOLL, Cletk of the District of Connecticut. PREFACE 10 THE FIRST EDITION—181©. THE Trustees of Yale College, in the autumn ot 1804, appropriated a sum of money, for the enlargement of their library, and philosophical and chemical appara- tus ; and, they determined on sending an agent to Europe, for the purpose of making the contemplated collections. I was commissioned to execute this trust, and was allowed to avail myself of such opportunities as might occur, for acquir- ing information, especially in chemistry, which it was my duty to teach, in the institution with which I amconnected. Such were my principal objects, in Europe, and, to these the greater part of my time was necessarily devoted. At the request of the brother to whom the following pages are addressed, I commenced a journal, which was continued, from the first, without a single day's omission, till my return. Instead of filling my letters with descrip- tions of what I saw, I constantly made my journal the de- pository of my observations and thoughts, and it was trans- mitted to America, in numbers, at convenient intervals. I wrote at the time, and on the spot, and was rarely a day behind my date; my information was derived almost wholly from personal observation, and conversation. Be- yond the itineraries and guides of the country, I had little leisure to consult books, and none at all to copy or amend what I had written : and I felt the less disposition to do it as I was writing to a brother, who, in the communication of the journal, was restricted to a small circle of friends. Of course, I wrote with a degree of freedom which made it unpleasant to me to learn, that it had been found impossible to confine the manuscripts within the limits prescribed, and when I returned, I was informed that they had been perused by many of my acquaintance, and their friends. It now became impossible for me to refuse the loan of them to others, and, in this way, their existence be- 4 PREFACE. came so generally known, that their publication was talked of as a matter of course. I uniformly declined to listen to any proposition on the subject, as it had been my determin- ation, from the nrst, to withhold the work from the press. Cut, a good while after my return, an application was made to me, under circumstances so peculiar, that I was compelled to take it into consideration. After perusing the manuscripts, with reference to this object, consulting literary friends, and deliberating, a long time, I consented, not without much anxiety, to attempt the difficult task of prepa-ing them for publication. It was difficult, because the public, not my friends, were now to be my judges, and because it was scarcely possible to preserve the spirit and freedom which had interested the latter, without violating the decorum which was due to the former, and to many re- spectable individuals, whose names appeared in my journal. With a design to preserve this medium, the whole has been written anew. Additions, omissions, and alterations have been made, but they have been as few as possible, and it has undergone so little mutation, either in form or substance, that the spirit and character of the work remain essentially unchanged ; how far it has been rendered more fit for the public eye, those, who have perused the original volumes, during a period of more than three years that have elapsed, since their completion, will be best able to judge. Perhaps, I ought to apologize for interweaving in the journal, so much of my own personal history, and for in- troducing so many of my own remarks and reflections, but, tlit:nl« things were so combined with the very tissue of the work, that it would have been impossible to with- draw them, without destroying, completely, the texture of the fabric. The apology implied, in this simple unvarnished tale, I am sensible, is cr.ry trite, and by many will be regarded as inadmissible. However this may be, I have discharged a duty by tel- ling the truth; what I have said will be believed in my native State, where the principal facts are well known. BENJAMIN SILL1MAN. Vale College, (Connecticut) August 28, 1809. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION—1820 TEN years have elapsed since the first edition of this book appeared; eight since the second; four since that edition was so far exhausted, that a third was called for, and three since the present was determined on. The reason of this delay is to be found in the fact, that I could never, before a very recent period, command the time which was requisite, to revise and enlarge the work.— Those who have done me the honour to purchase the former editions, will, of course, demand a reason, for the enlargement of this. It may well be supposed, that a book of travels, (unlike one of science, where discoveries and improvements may be made,) is, in its very nature, incapable of improvement, unless the author, has indeed travelled again, over the same ground. There is, howev- er, one other supposition. The author may not have com- municated all the observations which he actually made and recorded, or mustered all the recollections which he actually possessed. This was, precisely my condition. The original manuscript journal was more extensive, than the copy which was written off for the press, and even that copy was considerably fuller than what was actually published. The reason of the first retrenchment was, diffidence of the success of the work, especially of one so much in detail, and so constantly blended with personal narrative; of the second, that the publisher, who had a pecuniary interest in the undertaking, (influenced by I know not whose opinion of the manuscript,) shrunk from the publication of it, even as then prepared, and urged me to reduce it, so that it might appear in one volume. Very much in opposition to my own wishes, I complied, to a certain extent, and cut out entire subjects, and parts of 1* 6 PREFACE. subjects, wherever it appeared they could best be spared. After all, the production, thus compressed and curtailed. appeared (without my privity, and contrary to my ex- pectations,) in two volumes. The reception which it met with, from my countrymen (which I beg leave to ac- knowledge with gratitude) caused me to regret, that any part of the prepared manuscript had been suppressed, and evinced, that the fears of my publisher, and the opinion of his adviser were, equally, groundless. Indeed, if au- thority were to be the criterion, I conceived myself to have passed that ordeal with sufficient solemnity, for, the manuscript was submitted to the successive criticisms of a number of literary friends, among whom were accomplish- ed scholars, and persons of much delicacy of taste, and it is no more than truth to say, that their suggestions were, almost invariably, respected; for I assumed it as a general principle, that what has struck an intelligent and candid adviser as wrong, will of course strike many others in the same manner. An illustrious literary friend, (now no more) originally advised me strongly, to the publication of the ichole Jour- nal, as written in Europe and on the ocean, (with only a very few omissions and alterations,) and this advice he strenuously renewed, when the second edition was pub- lished. It was not however till the present edition was determined on, that I made up my mind to revise the work, with a view to its enlargement. With this view, I have re-inserted the matter which was prepared for the first edition, and afterwards suppressed : I have carefully re-perused the original manuscripts, and have drawn from them a variety of facts and remarks, which have not ap- peared in the former editions ; and from my own recol- lections, which are generally very distinct, regarding the incidents of this tour, I have derived not a few things, of which my manuscripts contained only slight notices, or none at all; but, many of which, I have been accustomed to state in conversation with my friends. I have, in fact, during the weeks that this revival has occupied me, trav- elled the tour anew ; the thread of association has aided memory, in bringing up numerous events and circumstan- PPtEFACE. ces, fresh and vivid, as if they had happened yesterday; interesting conversations have lecurred, in the very style and spirit in which they were uttered, and, although the task has been somewhat laborious, I have renewed the pleasures of the tour, and lived this period of my life over again. The extent of the additions, is, from single senten- ces and paragraphs, up to entire subjects and sections. In making them, it has been necessary to dissect the work more or less completely, and to blend the additional mat- ter, in proper order of time, into a harmonious connexion with the pages already printed. How far the work is ren- dered more interesting, or, whether improved at all, the public will judge. Although much has been added, the stock of materials is not exhausted. I wrote, also, during my absence, numerous manuscripts on scientific and pro- fessional subjects, but generally refrained from introducing them into my Journal. In the present edition I have, in a few instances, deviated from this course; but those to whom the remarks are uninteresting, can pass them by. The anecdotes concerning Mr. Hume, the celebrated historian, have been suppressed. I received them from the most respectable authority, (an authority to which I cannot now appeal, as the venerable man is no longer an inhabitant of our world.) I believed them true, and as Mr. Hume had made his religious principles no secret, and their influence had been great, 1 thought the publication of the anecdotes in question was justifiable. As, however, through the medium of the Quarterly Review, their truth has been denied by Mr. Hume's nephew, and as the evi- dence is, in the opinion of the Editors of that work, satis- factory, it becomes me to enter into no discussion of the subject. I am the more bound to submit to the authority of the Quarterly Review, because it has treated my book with candor. I do not say this, because they have com- mended the work, but because the spirit of their observa- tions is gentlemanly and decorous : there is in their remarks no sneer, or contempt, or levity, and while Reviewers write with such a spirit, an author would be very unrea- sonable if he could not submit with good humour even to merited censure. It is not proper for me to quote their 8 PREFACE. remarks, any farther than they go to establish the fidelity of this work, for, truth is the first qualification of a travel- ler, as well as of a witness, or of an historian; and, even on the topic of veracity, the following short remark is all that I shall cite: " His Journal represents England to the A- mericans as it is."* On this point I may perhaps be al- lowed to add, that 1 have often, by direct personal com- munications, received the thanks of natives of Britain, for what they have been pleased to call fair treatment of their country ; and, except the anecdotes relating to Mr. Hume, I have never learned, that any important part of the state- ments in the book has been seriously questioned. On the contrary, numbers of my countrymen, who have visited Britain since this Journal was first published, have assured me, that they have kept it by them, as a guide in their ob- servations and travels, so far as their routes have corres- ponded with mine, and that they have not discovered any material errors. I now commit the work, for the third time, to the can- dor of my countrymen, trusting that they will pardon the explanations which appeared to isne, necessary, on the present occasion. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. Yale College, January 18th, 1820. * Quarterly Review, July 1816. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. Page No. I.—PASSAGE TO ENGLAND, 13 No. II.—LIVERPOOL. Circus—Pantomime, If- ab urdily—CiMoin-House—Dou- ceurs—American Hotel—An Eiurh Banks' con- versatione—Sir Joseph—Major Rennell - His opinion of the changes of the English language in America—Dr. Wol- laston—Dr. Tooke—Dabymple—Windham, he.—No cer-. emony—Sir Joseph's public breakfast—Anecdote «#■' a Frenchman. ..... 289 No. XXV—LONDON. Brompton Garden—Chelsea Garden—Ci elsea Hospital— Beauty of the grounds—Veterans—Smugglers of C;>mbric —Strangers easily distinguished in London—Mendicant* very numerous in London—Refuge for the deslitute—In- adequacy of the relief afforded by public and private char- ity—A successful beggar—Soldiers and sailors. 296 No. XXVI—LONDON. Illumination with inflammable gas—Its beauty—Nature of the contrivance—The royal society—A picture gallery— Denner's daughter—A hunting piece—Joseph vni Poti- phar's wife—Attempt to delineate Jehovah—Environs of London. ...... 304 JOURNAL OF TRAVELS, «$c. No. I__PASSAGE TO ENGLAND. 1805....Tuesday, April 6th, on board the Ontario, at sea. To Gold S. Silliman, of Newport, Rhode Island. MY DEAR BROTHER, VJk the 4th, at one in the afternoon, we sailed from New York, with a wind so strong and fair, that the spires of the city lessened every moment as we passed down the bay, and we had hardly time to admire the beauty of the retiring landscape. In the morning no land was visible, and we found that we had made a rapid transition from smooth water and fine weather, to tempestuous seas and angry skies. To me who had never been at sea before, it was but an unpromising beginning; distressing sea sickness immediately followed, and this day has been, throughout, dark, stormy, and dismal. Towards evening, however, I became better, and was able to enjoy a scene of much grandeur and beauty, produced by the setting sun, which suddenly shone out from the clouds with great splendour. The circle of the horizon was nubroken by any inequality, except that of the waves, whose snow-* white tops were rendered doubly resplendent, by the re- flection of the sun beams, while a fair wind and the pros- pect of serene weather made ample amends for the gloom of the day. I spent the early part of the night on deck, wrapped in my cloak, with a bag of cotton for my bed. vol. i. 2 14 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN April 7.—The morning was pleasant and the wind fuii, circumstances which attended us through the whole day, and made it the delightful contrast of the preceding. A little schooner for Wiscasset, from the West Indies, passed almost under our bowsprit, and I endeavoured, in vain, to throw a letter on board addressed to you. There was no other incident to give variety to a fine day, and a charm- ing moon light evening, which succeeded, till sleep, almost as refreshing as on shore, obliterated the consciousness of our situation, and made us insensible to our rapid progress. April 8.—Light returned, with every circumstance to render it welcome, and the entire recovery of my health, appetite and spirits, has put a new face on the ocean. This morning, a large hawk, that had strayed beyond his reckoning, hovered over the ship, and settled upon the peak of our fore-top mast, where he poised himself with his wings, as the motion threw him off from his centre. He seemed much fatigued and very happy to find this lesting place;—more fortunate he, than the winged mes- senger that went from the ark, but found no mast or shrub, rising from that " shoreless ocean." When the hawk first alighted, an English gentleman on board remarked, that the American Eagle had come to preside over our pas- sage ; but the omen seems unpropitious, for our tutelary genius has already taken his flight, perhaps, distrusting our friendship, and indeed, with some reason, for our pas- sengers had been regretting the want of a gun to bring him down. In the evening, the sky was clear and serene, and the moon shone with uncommon brightness; our ship, with all her canvass filled by a stiff breeze, moved gracefully and majestically through the water; the sea, for marry ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 15 yards around, was all in a foam from the rapidity of her motion, which was so regular, that I was able to walk the deck with a firm step, and to enjoy the conversation of an intelligent fellow passenger. April 9.—In the evening, I observed for the first time, the interesting phenomenon of the lunar bow, which was distinctly visible in about 60° of the upper part of the circle. April 10.—Even during the short period that I have been at sea, there has been abundant evidence that sudden reverses are the common course of things upon this stormy element. We had no longer the fine vernal sun and mild breezes of yesterday, but a gale from the south-east, with a heavy sea, flying clouds, dashes of rain, and violent . squalls. At twilight, the heavens and the ocean presented ^ a scene of great grandeur. The waves ran very high, and the ship danced over their tops like a feather. The sky became suddenly black; darkness, almost like that of night, hung over the deep;—it was, if I may so say, a darkness shed from the clouds, attended with a portentous gloom, unlike the serenity which night produces;—the white tops of the waves, as they dashed against each other, and crowned the vast black billows with a seeming ridge of snow, presented a striking contrast to the sable hue of the sea and sky ; and the dexterity of the sailors, who, in the midst of this uproar, climbed the shrouds, and went out to the very ends of the yards to lash the sails, was well adapted to excite my astonishment. I had no fears, but enjoyed in a high degree the majesty of a scene, for my impressions of which I had hitherto been indebted to painters and poets. 16 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS JN Early in the evening, the wind declined; the clouds began to disperse, and the beautiful constellation Orion, was the first that appeared to cheer our spirits, after so dismal a day. In the evening a sudden jerk of one of the sails knock- ed my hat overboard. I saw it, at a considerable distance, floating with the crown downwards, and felt a little solici- tude, lest as my name was in it, it might be picked up by some returning American ship, and my friends should be unnecessarily alarmed for my safety. I had no cap to substitute for my hat, but, fortunately Captain T. of the British army, a fellow-passenger, relieved my embarrass- ment by lending me an old artillery hat, which had seen much hard service in the East Indies ; but, with the ad- dition of a string, to keep* it on in windy weather, it an- swered the main purpose of protection very well. April 11,3 o'clock, P. M.—We have no longer the strong wind that so lately drove us rapidly towards a lee shore, but, in its place a light breeze from the same point, which has been too feeble either to give us much head- way, or to prevent the uncomfortable motion produced by a deep, hollow rolling sea, raised by the wind which sub- sided last night. At noon to day, our latitude was 43° 42', and we suppose ourselves at least seven hundred miles from New-York. Finding that we were very near Sable Island, we tacked this evening, and stood for a short time, towards America, but, the wind becoming more favour- able, we soon resumed our old course. April 12, 3 o'clock, P. M.—Last night the ship rolled very much, and, as there has been thus far to-day, almost a perfect calm, the same distressing motion has continued. A little wind is now springing up, with the appearance of ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 17 aa approaching storm. Three grampus's are spouting around the ship, and frequently raising their fins and backs out of the water. April 13.—With fine weather, and a fair wind we made tolerable progress, and the next day, with circumstances still more agreeable, we sailed very rapidly. April 14, 9 o'clock, P. M.—Just before-dark, this eve- ning, we had the pleasure to descry a fishing vessel lying at anchor, on the celebrated banks of Newfoundland. This enables us to decide that we have sailed twelve hun- dred miles, and have accomplished one third of our pas- sage in ten days. We promise ourselves some pleasure to-morrow, in fishing for cod, as we shall probably reach the best fishing ground by morning. April 15.—Accordingly, after breakfast, the wind being very light, and the weather fine, the Captain ordered ^he vessel to lie to, and we prepared with much eagerness to fish. A fowl was killed, which served for bait, and in a few minutes, the Captain hooked a fish which three or four men were hardly able to bring to the surface of the water; it proved to be a halibut, of so large a size, that the line was insufficient to raise it; accordingly the har- poon was used, and we were hoisting our prize in, with exultation, when it dropped off, midway between the gun- wale and the water. A few minutes after, the sailors on i:the fore-castle, brought up two fine codfish, one of which fell from the hook into the sea, and the other was safely laid on the deck. After fishing sometime longer without success, wc resumed our course—sailed eight or ten miles, and there lay to, and fished again, but without taking any thing. 18 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN In the mean time, we had the pleasure of seeing one of the greatest wonders of the great deep. Two whales played about the ship for some time, frequently spouting and raising their " broad bare backs" out of the water. The banks of Newfoundland are one extensive shoal, I believe the most extensive of any hitherto discovered. They lie in the main, east and south east of the island, and are from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles broail, and from three to four hundred miles long. 5 o'clock, P. M.—We are still upon them, but there is nothiug to distinguish the prospect from any other part of the ocean, except the numerous sea fowl, and a degree of turbidness in the water. The lead however decides the point. The soundings are generally from thirty five to sixty fathoms. Our lead being greased, brought up sand and small shells. No land is visible ; the nearest is the Island of Newfoundland, which is probably several hun- dred miles from us. After our last attempt at fishing, we stood on our course, and, in a few minutes, discovered what we imagined to be two vessels ; the mate, going up to the round top, saw four more, and presently after, we descried a whole fleet. We concluded that they must be fishing vessels, and steer- ed for them ; having already formed a plan to board them with our boat, for purpose of purchasing fish, since we had failed in taking,aoy. There was something, however, ex- tremely, singular, in the appearance of these vessels. They were apparently without masts or sails;—their hulls were of a brilliant white, and, as the sea caused them to roll, they gave a copious reflection, from a very bright sun, and seemed all darling:. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 19 We were employing oilrselves in forming various con- jectures on the subject, without once suspecting the real fact, when the mate going aloft with a prospect glass, soon put to flight all our surmises, by crying out, Islands of Ice ! ! I felt a mixed emotion, of pleasure and apprehen- sion, from the expected contemplation of objects so splen- did and magnificent, and still, so dangerous to our safety. Very soon, the progress of the ship brought other islands into view, and rendered those more distinct which we had first discovered. The subject occupied all the eyes, and engrossed all the thoughts and conversation of our little family. The weather, from being mild in the morning, although still clear, had become much colder, in conse- quence, no doubt, of the vicinity of such masses of ice. That which we had discovered, was, happily, not of the most dangerous form; it was altogether, in conspicuous masses, rising in some instances, one hundred feet out of the water; that which is most dangerous, is the field ice, which lies on the surface, often to a great extent, and, not being visible at any considerable distance, ships are in dan- ger of running upon it, unobserved. Having still several hours of day light, we flattered our- selves that we should get clear of such a dangerous neigh- bourhood before night. But the hope seemed as vain as that of passing the horizon itself, for new masses were continually coming into view, and we could perceive them appearing like white spots, in the very verge of the heavens, just in the line where the sky and water seemed to unite, so that, instead of getting clear, as we had hoped, we found ourselves, towards evening, surrounded by numerous ice- islands, on every side. 20 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN Their appearance was, to me, extremely interesting and gratifying, and I wish it were in my power to convey to you an adequate idea of these formidable productions of polar frost. They were all of a very pure and splendid white, with a peculiar brilliancy, arising from the situation of the sun, which was declining; while the Ice-islands constantly came into view from the east and north, and thus threw back a flood of light upon us, which rendered them more conspi- cuous as they came nearer, and aftbrded the pleasure of continued discovery. Few of them were larger than a house or a church, but there were two which might well be dignified with the name of floating mountains. They all rolled much with the waves, with a ponderous motion, that alternately immersed an additional portion of the mass, and then, by the returning movement, brought a great bulk into view, which had been invisible before, while streams of water, taken up by the inequalities of surface, ran down their sides like cataracts. It is not easy to give a correct estimation of the magnitude of the largest islands. Their appearance was very magnificent. They covered many acres on the water, and towered above our top-gal- lant masts. So peculiar was their appearance, that it is not easy to compare them to any thing but themselves ; yet, they resembled most, some ancient venerable ruin, while the beauty and splendour of the materials made them look like a recent, highly polished work of art, which some convulsion had thrown into vast disorder. Conceive of some very extensive and lofty palace, of white marble, whose walls have been here and there, broken down, al- most to the ground, but still rise in numerous and lofty turrets, and whose sides appear, every where, furrow ed by ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 21 the tempests of ages;—conceive further, of this great pile of ruin as emerging from the ocean, where the heavens alone terminate the view on every side, and that the waves are dashing continually against it, and surrounding its base with foam, and its sides with spray; and you will then have some idea of the object which I am aiming to describe. Sun-setting.—I have this moment been on deck, and find that we are immediately abreast of another ice-moun- tain, while new ones are momently coming into view in the eastern edge of the horizon. Those which we have passed now present their shaded sides, and have lost their splendor ; while the most remote, in the same direction, appear like dark clouds, with their tops gilded by the last rays of the sun. The air is very keen for the season. Night is now closing fast upon us, and we must pass it among these floating masses ; it will certainly be an anx- ious night, and heaven grant it may be a safe one. We have the advantage of serene weather, with a fair though small breeze, and we shall have the moon before midnight. 12 o'clock at night.—Two men are stationed in the bow to look out for the ice;—one mass has grazed our side, but without doing any harm, and as the moon has risen, and the weather continues fine, I shall retire to rest. I have not, however, forgotten the interesting history of the Lady Hobart British Packet, which perished last year in these seas, by the same accident to which we are now exposed.* T After our arrival in England we became acquainted with the still more tragical fate of the American ship Jupiter, Capt. Law, which was lost here, with a great number of people, only a few days before our arrival on the banks. She encountered the field- ice, and went down within a few minutes after she struck. 22 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN April 16.—Happily we received no injury, being fa- voured with every circumstance which might give us a safe passage. Had these circumstances, however, been rever- sed;—had the night been dark—the sea high, and the weather tempestuous, we could scarcely have escaped; for, what obstacle would the sides of a ship oppose to the mighty momentum of such masses, impelled by the winds and waves of a tempest! Between two, she would be crushed, and even the collision with one, if the ship were under full way, would cause the same resistance as a rock, and the ragged e'dges of the ice would pierce her instantly. In order to a correct conception of the vast moving power of these bodies, it must not be forgotten that only a very small portion of their bulk appears above the water. It is well known that this is the case with cakes of ice floating in a river, and, where it is perfectly solid and well formed, only one eighth or one ninth part of its bulk rises above the surface. These masses are, however, far from having this density ; they seem to be principally an accu- mulation of snow, hardened by degrees upon a bed of ice and increased by the dashing of the water, which constant- ly freezes upon them in successive layers. The sailors say that one third of the bulk of these islands appears above water. This estimation is undoubtedly much too high, but were even this considered as correct, it will be evident that such islands as the largest we saw, must be bodies of pro- digious magnitude. But, every allowance being made, there is reason to believe that not more than one fifth or sixth part of the ice-islands is visible; of course an ice mountain of one hundred feet high, would really have a perpendicular altitude of five or six hundred feet. While contemplating these magnificent bodies, Dr. Darwin's whimsical project of employing the navies of ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 23 Europe to navigate them to the tropical regions for the sake of cooling those climates, struck me with peculiar in- terest ; what project or hypothesis has been too ridiculous to be proposed and defended by philosophy or to be em- bellished by poetry and fiction !* " " There Nymphs ! alight, array your dazzling powers With sudden march, alarm the torpid hours ; On ice-built isles expand a thousand sails, Hinge the strong helms, and catch the frozen gales ; The winged rocks to feverish climates guide, Where fainting Zephyrs pant upon the tide ; Pass, where to Ceuta Calpe's thunder roars, And answering echoes shake the kindred shores ; Pass, where with palmy plumes Canary smiles, And in her silver girdle binds the isles ; Onward, where Niger's dusky Naiad laves A thousand kingdoms with prolific waves, Or leads o'er golden sands her threefold train In steamy channels to the fervid main, While swarthy nations crowd the sultry coast, Drink the fresh breeze, and hail the floating frost, Nymphs ! veil'd in mist, the melting treasure steer, And cool with arctic snows the tropic year." [Botanic Garden—Part 1, p. 53, 4to, 1791. This, however is poetry, and we might have supposed Dr. Dar- win not to have been really in earnest, had he not added the fol- lowing remarks in sober prose : " If the nations who inhabit this hemisphere of the globe, instead of destroying their seamen, and exhausting their wealth in unnecessary wars, could be induced to unite their labours to navigate these immense masses of ice into the more southern oceans, two great advantages would result to mankind, the tropic countries would be much cooled by their so- lution, and our winters in this latitude would be rendered much milder, for perhaps a century or two, till the masses of ice become again enormous." [Note to Botanic Garden* 21 A JOURNAL ©F TRAVEL9 IN April 17.—No islands of ice were to be seen to-day,J and it was probably owing principally to this fact, that the temperature of the air had become sensibly milder.— The last night was very tempestuous ;—the wind, espe- cially towards morning, blew hard, and raised a very heavy sea; the sky was covered with ragged, angry clouds, which gave us frequent squalls, with rain, hail and snow, and the ship rolled so violently, that I slept very little ; but, to compensate for all this, the wind was per- fectly fair, and sent us forward eight and ten miles an hour. We have had the same weather, and have made the same progress through the day; but the motions of the ship have been so violent, that it has been impossible to sit at the table. We have been compelled to place our food on the floor, and to sit down around it, with all the simpli- Note to the 3d edition, July, 1818.—During a period of several years, since the preceding note was written, this subject, (I mean that of the ice islands) has assumed a new and unexpected degree of interest. Masses of ice, unexampled both for size and number, have continued to float from the Northern Polar seas into the At- lantic ocean, and if we may trust the accounts of navigators, they have been seen even within a few degrees of the tropic. Thus Dr. Darwin's project seems on the point of being realized—only the ice comes without convoy, and spontaneously, brings its stores of cold, to refresh the glowing regions of the south. It seems generally agreed that the vast barrier of ice which, for several centuries, had been accumulating upon the coast of East Greenland,*extending many miles into the ocean, and effectually preventing the access of ships to the coast, is now broken.—For several centuries, no communication had taken place with that country, but the shore is now again accessible ; the ice had proba- bly extended into the ocean till the fluctuation of the water, act- ing like a lever, broke it in consequence of its own extension ; the ruins of this mighty barrier have in a great measure atforded Uie ice-bergs and fields of ice which, particularly during the la?1 ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 25 city, although not with the quiet and security, of pastoral life. You would have been much amused could you have witnessed our grotesque appearance;—one might have been seen bracing a foot against a pannel, and another against a trunk;—a second and a third, not equally fortu- nate in their position, aided each other, by extending their limbs, and placing foot to foot, in opposite directions, while the walls of the cabin supported them behind.— Thus situated with our plates between our knees, we at- tempted the arduous business of dining. At every roll oftlie ship, thei'e was a kind of manual exercise to be performed. Besides his own plate, each one had to ele- vate some vessel to prevent its being overthrown; one two or three years, have excited so much attention. It remains to be seen, whether, according to the ideas of some, their destruc- tion will be productive of an amelioration of the climates of the northern hemisptiere, and particularly of Britain, Iceland and Greenland itself If the mere existence of tracts of ice, extend- ing hundreds of miles, must excite a prodigious cooling effect on the winds which pass over them ; it is certain that their solution in more southern regions must demand a vast quantity of heat, or, in other words, produce a great deal of cold ; for it is a well ascer- tained fact that although water, recently formed from ice, is to our senses and instruments, just as cold as the melting ice itself, still, during its solution it has absorbed 140° of heat, that is to say, nearly as much as constitutes the entire range of climate on our globe, or the difference between the polar winter and the tropical summer. It is true also, that when this same ice was originally congealed from water, it gave out precisely this some quantity of heat, and, without doubt, must have exerted, to this extent, a warming influence on the air ; but the mitigation would be small. compared with the rigors of a polar winter. It is true still, that tins mere fact of water's freezing, produces a considerable allevi- ation of cold on our globe. VOL. I. 3 '26 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN held up a decanter of wine, another a gravy-dish, and a third the soup-bowl; and it was only in Hie critical mo- ment between one roll and another, that the knife and fork could be used with safety. Notwithstanding our caution, it has happened more than once to-day, that a sudden and violent motion of the ship has thrown us all, with the loose furniture, and table utensils, into a promiscuous heap, while more solicitude has been manifested for the preservation of the food than of our limbs. As no seri- ous injury has been sustained, we have been very merry on the occasion, and have enjoyed our tumultuous repasts quite as well as on some occasions we should have relish- ed a sumptuous entertainment. The face of the ocean has exhibited a scene of great grandeur through the whole day. The wind continuing to blow very hard, the captain ordered the dead lights to be lashed in, and this, as well as other movements on board, indicate an expectation of weather still more tem- pestuous. The night came on dark and stormy, and we thought ourselves very happy to have escaped the ice before the commencement of this tempestuous weather. At the same time we were not a little solicitous for the safety of a ship which passed us just at dark under a great press of sail; she was going towards the banks, and would proba- bly, in the midst of darkness and tempest, be in a few hours entangled in the ice; as the two ships passed in op- posite directions, within a few yards of each other, and with a wind serving both very well, the motion of course appeared to be doubled, and both seemed to flv. The people of both ships uttered a sudden and simultaneous shriek of terror, for we came so near as to excite a mo- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 27 mentary apprehension of striking, and never before was I so sensible of the force of the shock which must, in such a case be received. The darkness and the roughness of the ocean gave me an opportunity of observing the beautiful phenomenon of the phosphorescence of the sea. The water, for many yards around the sides, and under the bow of the ship, sparkled and flashed in a very distinct and pleasing man- ner. April 18.—The wind, which during the night veered to the south, but without subsiding at all, in the progress of the morning increased to a gale ; and before noon this gale became a violent tempest, with dashes of rain.— There was a very heavy sea, and the motions of the ship were so sudden and violent, that it was hazardous to at- tempt moving without constantly holding fast by some fixed object. No food could be prepared in the caboose, and such refreshment as we had, was received, as yester- day, on the cabin floor, and even in this humble posture, we were not unfrequently thrown from one side of the cabin to the other. The storm increased in violence through the day, so that it far exceeded every thing which I had hitherto seen; and in the afternoon, besides the general vehemence of the wind, there were frequent • squalls. Just before evening, while the captain was a sleep in his state room, the ship being laid close to the wind, with nothing standing but a double reefed fore-sail, and the tiller in the hands of a common sailor, a sudden and violent squall struck us, which threw the helmsman from his station, so that the ship was no longer under com- mand of the rudder;—accordingly she lurched, as the sailors say; that is, she fell into the trough of the sea, *8 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN and t^e next wave, although she was a tall ship of moiit than 400 tons, threw her down upon her side with tre- mendous violence, so that a part of her deck was under water ; the people, and every moveable thing, were thrown to leeward, and for a moment, dismay was paint- ed in the faces of the most experienced men on board. The violence of the shock roused our sleeping captain, who was upon deck in an instant;—forced the helm up, with a volley of oaths, and put the ship before the wind, when she righted. The danger was imminent, though transient, for had the ship remained in the same position, die next sea would, without doubt, have laid her flat up- on the water. Night, at length set in, dark and dismal;—the tempest raged with more violence than ever, and the fury of the sea was wonderful. To an old sailor it might doubtless have appeared no very uncommon thing; but to me, to whom these incidents were novel, the scene was awfully grand; and one who has never witnessed a tempest at sea, has not enjoyed one of the highest exhibitions of sub- limity. I have no particular dread of the water, and, except- ing this crisis, I had not supposed our situation to be, at any time, iuwninently dangerous; yet I could not but be astonished that any machine, constructed of such frail materials as those of a ship, could withstand such shocks as those which we received every moment from the waves, and which caused every timber to tremble, while the creacking of the ship's joints, and the roaring of the winds and waves, rendered it almost impossible to hear any one speak. It was not the consequence of weakness or of fear, but a natural, and I trust pardonable, effect of the ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 29 scene before me, that induced me to descend into the cabin to read a letter of our mother, received immediately be- fore I sailed, in which she had inserted an interesting production of Addison, who had drunk inspiration at fountains more noble than Helicon. It is entitled The Traveller's Hymn, and might well be adopted as the com- panion of every adventurer, whose mind does not despise the idea of protection from on high.* 1. * How are thy servants bless'd 0 Lord, How sure is their defence ;— Eternal wisdom is their guide, Their help Omnipotence. 2, In foreign realms and lands remote, Supported by thy care : Through burning climes they pass unhurt, And breathe untainted air. 3. When by the dreadful tempest borne High on the broken wave, They know thou art not slow to hear, Nor impotent to save. 4. The storm is laid, the winds retire, Obedient to thy will; The sea that roars at thy command, At thy command is still. 5. In midst of dangers, fears and death, Thy goodness we'll adore ;— Will praise thee for thy mercies past And humbly hope for more. 6. Our life, whilst thou preserv'st that life, Thy sacrifice shall be ; And death, when death shall be our lot Shall join our souls to thee. 3* 30 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN About 10 o'clock at night the wind abated, and gradu- ally died away to a still small breeze , but our situation was more uncomfortable than ever, for the ship, being now without wind to steady her, rolled dreadfully;—sleep was unattainable, and I could only brace myself in my birth, and wait for morning. I spent an hour in the eve- ning in viewing the phosphorescence of the waves. It was indeed a beautiful sight. The ocean was covered all over with luminous spots, occasioned by the foam of the waves, while around the ship, the water glowed and sparkled almost with the brilliancy of burning coals.— When we shipped a sea, the spray appeared like a show- er of fire, falling among the shrouds, and the deck seem- ed to be covered with glowing embers. How comes it that the poets, so much celebrated for cppropriating every brilliant image of natural scenery, should have made so little use of this ? They have not of- ten alluded to this phenomenon, which is certainly beau- tiful in itself, and eminently so from its occurring, most remarkably, in tempest and darkness, when beauty is con- trasted with grandeur. April iy.—This day has afforded the perfect contrast of yesterday. It has been serene and mild, with a bright sun, and a fair and gentle breeze ; it is a most delightful reverse. But, the deep hollow roll of the ocean still con- tinues, and creates no small difficulty in writing. The carpenter and all hands are at work in repairing the spafts and rigging, broken by the storm of yesterday. April 20.—And it seems now that these were not the most serious injuries sustained; the pumps have been going frequently to-day, in consequence of our having ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 31 sprung a leak in the late gale, for the ship was perfectly tight before. The leak is not however dangerous; we make only about two feet of water in twenty-four hours, and, with the light breezes and serene weather which attend us now, this quantity of water is easily removed, but, another heavy gale of wind might render our situation dangerous, as our pumps are very bad. April 21.—The wind increased during the night and blew a fine breeze. Early this morning, one of the watch came down and roused the Captain to inform him that, a vessel, apparently armed, was bearing down upon us ; the report of a gun, fired to windward, as a signal for us to come to, confirmed this information. Going on deck, I distinctly perceived her boarding nettings, and guns point- ed out of her port holes. We were very soon within one hundred yards of her;—she fired another gun and hoisted English colours, but those on board who were versed in nautical deceptions, declared that she was a French ship in disguise. This impression was so strong, that I went down and hid my money, bills, and watch ; and Captain T-----put on a great coat to hide his British uniform.— Our fears were however entirely groundless, for she proved to be a British brig, of 18 guns, dispatched from Barba- docs, to carry home news of the ravages committed, and committing, in the West Indies, by the celebrated Roch- fort squadron. They informed us of many interesting particulars, and, after a very civil conversation carried on by means of our trumpets, we parted with mutual good wishes. This was a very agreeable termination of an affair which had no 32 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN very auspicious beginning, for we expected a domiciliary visit. The wind increasing, we soon left the armed brig fat- astern, for, with a very strong breeze, and a considerable sea, she was not able to carry much sail; while, our ship, under a crowd of canvass, pressed forward so rapidly, that, before noon, our late companion was out of sight. We sailed more than one hundred miles between 6 o'clock in the morning and the same hour in the afternoon, and the evening and night were equally propitious to our wishes. April 22.—But, this morning, the wind has changed to south-south-west, and blows hard;—a whale has this moment passed almost under our bowsprit; the sky is covered with those black ragged clouds, which indicate inconstant and violent winds, and it is highly probable that we shall have another gale, especially as we are now in the longitude of the Azores, which portion of the sea is, at this season of the year, a region of storms. Our leak still continues, and excites some apprehension, especially as our pumps are very bad, and our carpenter is stupid and inactive. The wind now comes in puffs and squalls, and we are taking in sail. This is the eighteenth day of our passage—we are now one thousand two hundred miles from the banks of Newfoundland, where we were a week since, and we suppose ourselves within seven hundred miles of Ireland. 9 o'clock at night.—Our apprehensions have been re- alized, for, we have sailed all day under a gale, with rain from the south, but we have made ten miles an hour which has fully compensated for circumstances otherwise very unpleasant. We are happy in having a ship which ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 33 is remarkably capable of carrying sail in heavy winds, and of making rapid progress, when close hauled; cir- cumstances, under which many other ships would be compelled to lie to, or to shorten sail. In the afternoon we had a very heavy sea which expos- ed me to serious injury. Having just risen from my birth, I was standing by it, and in the act of throwing my cloak over my shoulders, with a view of going on deck, when a sudden roll threw me headlong with great violence into the birth on the opposite side of the ship. Happily my head was saved, by my shoulder's striking against the board which parted the birth from the cabin ; this was broken in two, by the shock. In this manner an English naval commander, a few years since, was thrown through a port-hole in his cabin, and was never seen any more. Towards evening the wind shifted to the west, and the sun, breaking out in full splendor, gilded the clouds and the waves, while the storm subsided into a fine breeze with a clear sky. April 23.—The morning commenced with squalls from N. N. E. and rain ; we anticipated a disagreeable day, but our apprehensions have been in some measure disappointed. 11 o'clock, A. M.—The wind is now N. W.—the sun shines, and the sky is covered, here and there, with those fleecy clouds which indicate light breezes and fair weather. All-is activity and cheerfulness on board, while every effort is stimulated by the confident expectation of making the land within two or three days. All our can- vass is set, and we have the pleasure of seeing it com- pletely filled. The indications of fine weather were how- 34 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ever speedily reversed—the wind soon became heavy, and we have sailed, all this day, under the pressure of a gale, which has sent us forward ten miles an hour. About 4 oxlock this afternoon, I went on deck to view the tumult of the ocean; the ship was pressed down so much to leeward by the wind, that her deck was inclined like a roof, and I clambered to the windward railing, and found a situation where I could hold fast by the ropes. The sea often dashed over the ship, and involved us in such copious showers, that I found it necessary to go be- low. I had scarcely descended ino the cabin, when we shipped a tremendous sea ; the wave, as the mate inform- ed me, took the ship sideways through her whole length; its top curled as high as the mainyard-arm, and it fell up- on the deck with astonishing violence, a universal crash, and an instantaneous suspension of the motion of the ship, as when an ox is knocked down dead at the slaugh- ter. The sea made a full breach over us, and, for a mo- ment, we were buried beneath it, as if we had been sunk; the decks were swept, and the water came pouring down into the cabin through the sky-light. April 23.—The weather has continued extremely vari- able, and the transitions from clouds to sunshine, and from sunshine to rain and violent winds, have been so rapid and frequent, that it has not been easy to say which have pre- vailed, but, in all the bad weather and gales which have attended our passage, we have had the satisfaction of being rapidly impelled towards England. The phenomenon which the sailors call the sun-dog appeared this afternoon in the N. E. It resembles the rainbow, and is doubtless produced on the same principles. While we were at tea this evening, the clouds became suddenly very black in ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 35 the S. W. and presently a squall struck us, which broke one of our studding sail yards. We immediately took in all our light sails, without farther mischief, although the same varying weather continued through the evening. April 24.—There was a brilliant rainbow this morning in the west, and as we were now contending with a head sea, the spray constantly broke over the ships' bow, and presented a rainbow whenever the sun shone. At eve- ning, the captain, being confident that the Irish coast could not be far distant, ordered most of our canvass to be taken in, lest we should run upon it in the dark. During the succeeding night, the wind blew furiously, and squalls at- tended us the next day, till towards evening, when the sea suddenly went down and became comparatively smooth ; the gulls had become very numerous, and we had no doubt that land was near. April 25.—The wind blew furiously through a part of last night; and, this day has not been wholly free from those squalls which have annoyed us so much of late. The wind has blown from N. N. E. which has prevented our making much progress, although we have been able to keep our course. No Irish coast appears as yet, but our reckoning and celestial observations induce us to believe that it cannot be far distant, and this impression is strengthened by our having had the gulls constantly with us since yesterday morning, and we have not seen any before, since we left the banks of Newfoundland. In the afternoon the sea, which had been running high, suddenly went down, and the ocean became comparatively smooth. This doubtless arose from our having got under the lee of Ireland, which, with the wind that then prevailed, would of course dimin- 5(5 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN ish the swell. We sounded at 8 o'clock, P. M. for the first time; but without finding bottom. April 26.—We were more successful at midnight, when we sounded again, and found bottom, and we are still on soundings with a smooth sea and wind blowing fresh from N. E. We have not the smallest doubt that we are now immediately south of Ireland, although no land is visible this morning. The w'nds have prevailed so much from the North, for a few days past, that we have been prevent- ed from making cape Clear, and the southern coast of Ireland as we intended. The sky is now cloudy and the weather cold. I trust that our passage is drawing to a conclusion. It has, thus far, been prosperous, but you, who have been at sea, will not find it very difficult to be- lieve, that I have contracted no great partiality for this mode of life. The objects which I have in view, have made me endure its many privations and dangers, with cheerfulness, and when my business is finished in Europe, the delightful prospect of returning to my friends and country will make me encounter the same things again with alacrity. We have a large and convenient ship, with a spacious and handsome cabin, genteelly furnished. My fellow passengers are two English, two Scotch, and one American. There are a few circumstances respecting some of them which propriety does not forbid me to mention, and which may perhaps interest you. Dr. R. is an Englishman, and I have' derived much pleasure from his conversation. He went out to India eight years ago, and has, I believe, been connected with the British armies there, in a medical capacity. During the late short interval of peace between France and Great Britain, he went to the Isle of France for his health., ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 37 While there, war broke out again, and the French, with the same treacherous policy which they adopted in Eu- rope, put him into prison, where he was detained fourteen months. He is considerably versed in Chemistry, and has a handsome share of general information, and of polite literature. Mr. S. is a Scotchman, who has been in the service of the English East India Company. He was captured on his homeward bound passage, and carried a prisoner to the Isle of France, whence he now proceeds by the way of America to England to be exchanged. Every circum- stance of this description applies equally to Captain T. except that the latter was in the land and the former in the sea service. Mr. S. is possessed of that strong na- tional partiality which usually flourishes, with great vigor, in the breast of a Scotchman, and I am often amused with his fervent eulogies on Scotch manners, men and things. He has the full brogue, and plumes himself not a little on the elevation of his countryman Horry (Harry) Dundas. Captain T. I believe, loves his country as well as his friend, but often joins us in the laugh which is excited by the enthusiasm of his companion. He bears the commis- sion of his Majesty, as a captain in the tenth regiment of British infantry. He is full of good humour, and native gaiety of disposition, and diverts me much, by the manner in which he marches the deck. This he does, for hours together, in a way perfectly mechanical. His step is measured, as if to music, (such is the force of habit) and he marches, halts and wheels, even in his most careless moments, just as he would do at the head of his company. And indeed he has more claims to the character of a sol- dier than what belong to his gait and uniform. He has vol. i. 4 3S A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS been extensively concerned in the English wars in India and was present at the famous assault on Seringapatam. He saw the carnage, not only of the soldiers of Tippoo but of his people, great numbers of whom had taken re- fuge in the city as a place of safety. They refused all quarter, and rushed desperately on the bayonets of their enemies. I have never before conversed with one who had been a spectator of the voluntary immolation of a wife at the funeral of her husband. In one instance the female was only eighteen years old, and very interesting in her ap- pearance. The horrible rite was performed in a grove. Troops were drawn up to keep order, the Brahmins at- tended to fortify the mind of the young devotee, and a promiscuous throng of Hindus and Europeans crowded around, to witness this sacrifice to superstition and mista- ken conjugal affection. The young woman, with the heroism of a martyr, plac- ed herself in the midst of the combustibles destined for her funeral pile, and having laid the head of her deceased husband on her arm, with her own hand lighted tlit* fire. The Brahmins, without delay, projected a powder into the flames, which they said would destroy all sensation, and the fire soon enveloped both the dying and the dead. The same gentleman assures me that he has often wit- nessed the adoration paid to the Cow. They prostrate themselves before her image which is placed in all their pagodas, and when passing the living animal, they wave their hands in token of obeisance, and manifest their de- votion even by acts of the most extraordinary and dis- gusting character. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. $9 My other companions are amiable men, and all have manifested an obliging, accommodating temper. By this time, as you may well suppose, we have become familiar- ized to each other's society, and feel something like a sen- timent of family attachment. Through the remainder of the day, we had light and contrary winds and made but little progress. April 27.—The last night was very quiet; this morn- ing the sun shines, the weather is mild, the surface of the channel is smooth, and, although the wind is contrary, we are cheered with the idea that we must be within seventy miles of the English coast. We looked in vain till 5 o'clock in the afternoon of this day, when a man from the mast-head exclaimed—land ! land ! on the weather bow '***** # # # #####** I went up the shrouds, and saw a mountain in Ireland which appeared like a well defined cloud in the edge of the horizon. This more than welcome object occupied our eyes till evening veiled it from our view. The wind which, a little before, had been favourable, then came back to the N. E. and we made very little headway through the night. Indeed our progress has been very slow for the last two or three days, and had I not found some amusement in writing, they would have been extremely tedious. April 28.—In the morning the hills of Ireland became more and more distinct. We saw successively, the heights of Waterford—the lofty mountains of Wicklow, at a great distance over land—the Saltee Islands, near and very dis- tinct, and lastly, Carnsore point and the Tuscar rock, constituting the south-eastern extremity of Ireland, which 4tt A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN it was necessary to double in order to enter the Irish chan? ael. It was now past noon, when the wind increased and came more ahead, and the sky assumed a very threatening aspect. After dinner it began to rain and to blow hard, and we feared that we should not be able to double the point. It soon grew dark, and the night came on, very tempestuous, with a rocky lee shore, within three leagues, and the wind which was increasing, blowing directly upon it. The captain thought that under these circumstances, the attempt to double the point, would be extremely haz- ardous, but, as the wind would be a free one, the moment we should pass the Tuscar Rock, which was now not more than seven miles from us, and the alternative was either to do this, with a fair prospect of running the length of St. George's Channel before morning, or to tack and stand out to sea again, to avoid being driven on to the reefs, we felt the temptation very strong to attempt what was really rash, if not impracticable, Thus situated the Captain called the passengers together to know whether they would risk their personal safety in the attempt; it was unanimously decided in the affirmative. Accordingly we tacked, and stood for the north, but the storm soon increasing to a furious tempest, attended with ihe most impenetrable darkness, and the wind driving us directly and rapidly towardp the Tuscar rock, we were reduced to the mortifying necessity of standing away from the land, towards the ocean. The gale soon became ex- tremely violent, but we rode it out in safety. During the storm I took my station along with the master in the com- panion way. We split our fore-top-sail, and such was the fury of the winds and waves, that the captain was obliged ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 41 to give his commands through the speaking trumpet, and his oaths, which were now more frequent and impious than usual, were thundered out from this brazen throat, with 8 voice that spoke " Louder than the tempest." The scene was very sublime ; the sea was covered all over with luminous ridges, and the spray, as it dashed over the gunwale, fell in showers of fire, while the waves shed a dismal light on the " darkness visible," and formed a small horizon of illuminated water around the ship. About 1 o'clock in the morning, the wind began to abate; a heav} rain deluged the decks, and at 2 the wind shifted; the storm was lulled almost to a calm; the sky became sud- denly clear, and appeared of an uncommonly deep azure, while the stars shone with wonderful brilliancy. What a contrast! One hour before, all was darkness, tempest and fury! April 29.—This morning the weather was mild, with a clear sky and very little wind; no land in si^lit. The appearances of fine weather proved however very delu- sive. About 9 o'clock A. M. the wind came back to the old point, viz. N. E. and soon began to blow hard; in a few minutes the sky was covered with dark clouds and the wind increased to a gale, which continued all day and raised a heavy sea. But, just before evening, the clouds dispersed, and the sun shone out, with great brilliancy. Half-past 9 o'clock, P. M.—Under easy sail we are now standing on towards point Carnsore. When the storm cleared away, we discovered the same land which we saw yesterday and were happy to find that we had not lost much. The sky is clear and we hope to hold our course. 4* 4i A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN During most of the day several ships were in sight witti close-reefed sails and borne down on one side with the force of the wind ; fine objects for the eye and for the pencil. £ April 30.—We had light winds all last night, and be- ing close hauled, we made but little progress. To-day we have doubled point Carnsore, and with light and contrary winds, are beating slowly towards Liverpool. 2 o'clock, P. M.—The weather is mild, the sun shines bright, the surface of the water is smooth as a mill pond,, and it is impossible to imagine a more delightful day. Hero we are my dear brother in the midst of the Irish Channel, perfectly becalmed, but, I console myself during the detention, by recalling you to my recollection. On the left we have the mountains of Wicklow, and on the right those of Wales. St. David's Head in Wales, and ♦he little cluster of islands, called the Bishop and his Clerks, are in full view. The land on either side has much the same appearance as Long Island used to have from Holland Hill,* except that it is much higher. The mountains of Wicklow are composed in part of whitish sand, which appears in the sun like dirty snow. With the glass I can distinctly see the channels worn in the hills by the rain. The mountains of Wicklow afford pure gold; they were the principal seat of the late Irish rebellion, and it is said that the government are now em- ploying five hundred men to clear them of woods, that they may not again afford an asylum to banditti. Half-past 6 o'clock, P. M.—We have just returned from an excursion to a fishing boat, lying about a mile off, and becalmed like ourselves. We were induced by idle* * \n eminence near Fairfield, in Connecticut ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 43 »ess, fine weather and a wish to learn the news, as we had, as yet, opened no communication with the shore. Accor- dingly, we lowered down the yawl, and rowed to the fish- • ing boat. There were three people on board, who appear- ed much terrified at our approach, doubtless supposing that we were revenue officers or a press gang. This lat- ter impression might well have arisen from their seeing Captain T. in British uniform, and the rest of us in blue short jackets and pantaloons. We found that the little boat was from Ilfracomb in Cornwall and bound to Liver- pool. They had no news, but they gave us two fine pol- lock, a kind of fish resembling cod, and we presented them with two bottles of brandy. To this compliment they seemed very indifferent, and we left them with a strong impression that they were really smugglers. They told hs that the Cornish miners were about rising, from under ground, to oppose the execution of some late laws enacted against smuggling. May 1.—Last evening a breeze sprung up, which, al- though nearly ahead, enabled us to stand slowly across the mouth of Cardigan Bay. At sunrise this morning, we were abreast of Bardsey Isle, and Bracy Head, a part of Caernarvonshire in Wales. Ireland is this moment in view, at a great distance, and we are beating across the channel back and forward, disputing with an adverse wind and opposing currents, every inch of our progress. It is tedious to be detained in this manner so near our port, for, with a fair wind, we should have been at Liver- pool within two days from our coming upon soundings, whereas this is the sixth day since that event. To com- pensate for our delay, we have fine weather; we are now 44 V JOritNAL OF TRAVELS IN* standing across the mouth of Caernarvon Bay, with the hills of Caernarvonshire in full view.-------------------- While we are still at sea, and before my impressions of this mode of life are sensibly weakened, I will give you my views of it. In the regular American ships, which are fitted expressly for the purpose of carrying passengers, there is more comfort than one would naturally expect at sea. We have had a very good table, nor have we been de- ficient in the articles necessary to furnish a genteel desert. and in the usual inducements to protract an afternoon sit- ting. At sea, when time hangs heavily upon one's hands, and where the appetite, after a recovery from sea sickness, becomes very keen, the temptation to indulge in the plea- sures of the table is very strong. Dinner is expected with great impatience;—it is the most interesting event of the day, and the motions of the Cook and'Steward are, during fine weather, watched with more solicitude than those of the Captain. But, the culinary department of our ship is very deficient in neatness. The vessels are not clean,— the Steward is good natured, fat and dirty; and the cook, a ragged, forlorn negro, is scarcely less covered with soot and smoke than his own caboose, the little empire over which he presides. His station is regarded by the sailors as a degraded one, nor, are even the Carpenter and Stew- ard, although elevated above the Cook, considered as on a level with the common sailors. They have a professional pride which disdains to consider any one of the crew on a footing with themselves except those who are actually en- grossed by the care of navigating the ship. The rest they regard as " lubbers," and never fail to make them the ob- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 45 jects of ridicule, when, through stress of weather, they are ordered up the shrouds to do duty aloft. The cabin, being at once bed room, parlour and dining room for so large a number of people, and, being liable, when there is a fire, to smoke with every high wind, has usually an offensive sickening atmosphere, which is not at all corrected by the currents from the hold below, into which the Steward must often descend, to bring up the cabin provisions, and in our case, the evil is augmented by the smell from a quantity of hides moistened by the bilge water, which has been abundant since we sprung a leak. Sleep is much disturbed by the inevitable circumstances of a sea life. One roust repose in a narrow space, where the limbs can be extended in only one direction; the roll- ing of the ship throws him from one side to the other of his narrow bjrth ;^-the creaking of the boards and timbers —the roaring of the winds and the dashing of the waves— the snoring of some of the passengers^-the talking of oth- ers asleep, and awake-i—the retching of those who are affected with sea sickness—the flapping of the sails and ropes, and the trampling and vociferations of the sailors, in managing the ship, all concur to put to flight agreeable dreams, and refreshing slumbers. And not unfrequently, on waking, when consciousness is just returning, the thought that you are afloat in the midst of a desert of water, where the leak, the broken pump, the sudden gust, the midnight collision, the confla- gration and the tempest may soon send you to the other world, will steal across the mind with melancholy forebo- ding. Neither is it possible to have any rational and profitable disposal of time. One cannot read, except something 46 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN very light and amusing, and that in a very desultory way. You can have no retirement, and you have no heart to take hold seriously of any important volume. You must be confined to the society of those on board, and if they offend you, by conversation which violates equally the laws of morality and religion, and those of delicacy and decorum, there is no remedy but to bear it. Thus surrounded and encumbered, you will saunter from the quarter deck to the cabin, and from the cabin to the quarter deck ; and in the morning, you will wish it were evening, and in the eve- ning you will wish it were morning. The only exercise consists in walking the deck, and this is so often interrupted by the weather, that both health and spirits lie at the mercy of the elements. The sabbath is out of the question, and if any attention is paid to it, or indeed to any religious duty, it must be within one's own breast. Add to all this, the constant and real dangers of the sea, which, it is true, in the present improved state of naval architecture, and of navigation, are wonderfully reduced in number, but which the columns of every newspaper evince to be still very serious. These being my impressions, you will not wonder that I have contracted no peculiar partiality to this mode of life. But there certainly are agreeable things attending it. No doubt the greatest alleviation would be found in select and interesting society. I fear I may have become tedious while I have gone on from day to day, recording the changes of wind and weather, and endeavouring to sketch the ever-changing aspect of sea and sky. But, at sea, dependant as our comfort, nay, our very ex- istence always is, upon the most mutable of all things, the ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 47 aspect of the sky, the force and direction of the wind, and the motion of the waves, these topics assume an importance which they can never have on land, and, an apology for their frequent introduction is certainly unnecessary. Still, there is such a degree of sameness in the incidents of a sea life, that it is difficult to give the narration of them any considerable deg: ee of interest. Exiled completely from the rest of mankind, and con- fined to a floating prison, every thing interesting in the characters of the few around one, is speedily exhausted, and the scenery of the ocean soon grows too familiar to excite anew the pleasure which it at first produced. In fine weather, (if I may borrow a trite allusion,) the old monarch of the deep is so placid, that his smiles are insipid; and when he rises in his might, and crowns himself with all the terrors of his stormy domain, his countenance is so fierce, that astonishrrent and dismay exclude every perception of beauty, and leave only an impression of a kind of horrible grandeur. The traveller on land is constantly entertained with the varying beauties of landscape; and if the scene of his travels be among civilized men, conversation affords him a never failing source of agreeable incident; if in a coun- try, renowned in ancient story, and abounding with the beauties of cultivation and the productions of the arts, he must be very unfortunate indeed, if, with sufficient leisure, he cannot find something to enliven the tedious detail of dates, pi;ices, and distances. In such a country I hope soon to be, when I trust I may find matter which will afford the subject of more entertaining narrative than that which has now occupied twenty seven days. 48 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS TN 5 o'clock, P. M.—The wind enabled us in the morning to pass nearly across Caernarvon bay, and to bring Holy- head, in the isle of Anglesea, into full view. For some hours we have had a flat calm, and the current has set us over towards the southern side of Caernarvon bay. We are not more than eight miles from the shore, and I have been taking a view of the sublime scenery of this part of the Welsh coast. Some of the mountains which line the shore, are lofty, and their tops are covered with snow. With an excellent glass I can see the slopes of the hills and mountains, co- vered, to the very feet of the cliffs, with green fields, cotta- ges, and cattle. Most of the mountains are very rude and ragged, consisting of bare rocks, rising in some instances, into obtuse cones, and in others projecting, with perpendi- cular cliffs, into the very water. The inland mountains appear still more lofty. There is one, whose summit is covered with snow, and enveloped by clouds, rolled up around it like curtains; I wish to recognize it, as the fa- mous Snowdon, but there is no one on board sufficiently versed in the geography of Wales to inform me. A beautiful, and to me, novel contrast, is now before us. It is formed by the deep verdure which covers the feet and declivities of some of the mountains, and the snow which crowns their tops ; the transition appears, in many instances, perfectly abrupt; the most vivid green termina- ting in the purest white. Were I a painter I would arrest these transient images of beauty and grandeur, that I might renew with you and H—, the pleasure which I now enjoy, but you must except the humbler efforts of descrip- tion, instead of the magical effects of the pencil. . ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 4 . Q night, on account of the tides, but we are all preparing to disembark to-morrow. Three quarters past 9 o'clock, P. M.—This moment we have dropped our anchor, and our sails are all furled for the first time since we left New-York. We are only ten miles from Liverpool, and may fairly consider our pas- sage as achieved, since we are sure of going up with the next tide. The night is very pleasant, with moon and star light, and the water is so smooth that our cabin is quiet as a bed room. Four brilliant lights, in as many light-houses, are in view. May 3, 9 o'clock, A. M.—The morning is very plea- sant, and we shall weigh anchor within a few minutes. The fleet of transports anchored close to us last night; they are full of soldiers, who have been quartered in Ire- land, but are now going over to England to exchange duty with other regiments which will take the place of these in Ireland ; for, since the rebellion, it is the policy of the gov- ernment, to prevent their troops from forming connections, and strong local attachments in a country, whose loyalty to England has always been dubious For, in the event of another rebellion, a defection in the army might turn the scale against the government. Liverpool now shows its distant spires, and we discover, on the shores around us, a cultivated and thickly peopled country. We proceeded up the river Mersey, on which Liverpool stands, but the wind being very light we were unable to bring the ship up to town, and were obliged to drop anchor just within the rock. We were immediately visited by the custom house officers, and by some merchants, one of whom 02 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS LN politely oflered to convey the passengers up to town in ms % boat. This offer we gladly accepted, and a little after one o'clock, P. M. we left the Ontario. As we approached the town, the country back of it presented a very pleasing view of green fields, wind-mills, villas and other interesting objects, and the noise of commerce, " Thundering loud with her ten thousand wheels," indicated our approach to the busy haunts of men. A little before 2 o'clock, we leaped ashore and realized with n« small emotion that we had arrived in England. No. II.—LIVERPOOL. Circus—Pantomime, its absurdity—Custom House—douceurs— American Hotel—An English Church—Cavalry—Army of Egypt—Literary Institutions—Official Formalities—A break- fast—Museum—Asylum of the Blind—A Slave ship. May 3.—With my fellow passengers I took lodgings at a splendid hotel, the Liverpool Arms.* * You will remember that my hat was knocked overboard on the 10th of April at sea. I was subjected to some embarrassment m getting on shore, because the old artillery hat which I wore dur- ing the rest of the passage was very shabby. In this dilemma, I borrowed a hat of a sailor, and the first purchase which I made in England, was of course, a hat. It cost me $4 94, and one of the same quality would have cost $8 at home. With my fellow passengers I dined at the hotel on roast veal and boiled salmon, both excellent in their kind. The cleanliness —the quiet—the order—the excellent cookery, and the prompt attention of the servants f^well dressed white men of very respect- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 53 CIRCUS. In ihe evening we went to the Circus, where equestrian feats, rope dancing, tumbling, and pantomime formed the entertainment. I shall occasionly attend the theatres, for public amuse- ments furnish the most decisive criterion of national taste, and no contemptible one of the state of public morals, and of the dignity or degradation of the public mind; for when men go to be amused, they will demand such things as they really delight in. The Circus was crowded; we were late, and being perfectly unknown, went into the gallery, as every other part of the house was full. We were surrounded by those, whose deportment suffi- ciently indicated to what class of society they belonged, while they exhibited a spectacle of effrontery to which it would not be easy to find a parallel. The feats performed were truly astonishing, and demon- strated the wonderful force and accuracy of muscular movement of which the human frame is capable. There were two pantomimes. The subject of the first was rustic love;—of the second, the story of Oscar and Malvina, from Ossian. But pan- tomime is altogether unnatural. In real life men never converse in this way, unless they are deaf and dumb, and such people are certainly the best actors in pantomime. It may be said that it affords room for the display of much in- able appearance) gave us the most favourable impression of the comfort to be enjoyed in England, and I need not say that the ef- fect was more powerfully felt from the striking contrast to a sea life to which we bad been for a month confined 5* 54 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN genuity, in expressing a whole narration or drama without wor Is; this is true ; but the drama would be far more in- ten t.ng if expressed in words, and every one who has seen a pantomime, must have felt a degree of impatience, and even anger, at the very incompetent, although ingen- ious efforts, which a performer in pantomime makes, to bring forth an idea, which a little plain talking would at once express, with force and beauty. A man may learn to walk on his head, and every one will pronounce it wonderful, while all the world will still agree, that it is much better to walk on the feet. It would seem therefore that no one who has the use of his tongue would choose to converse by motions, any more than a man who has feet, would prefer to walk on his head. CUSTOM-HOUSE. May 4.—The embarrassments created by revenue laws, and the formalities which most civilized nations observe, on admitting a stranger to enter their dominions, are among the unpleasant things which a traveller must encounter. Our share of vexation has not been very great, and yet some things have occurred, which one would wish to avoid. After our baggage had been landed, under the eye of a custom-house officer, and deposited in the public ware- houses, it became necessary for us to reclaim it, that is to say, in plain English, to pay a douceur to the examining officer, to expedite its liberation, and not to molest us by a rigorous examination of our parcels. Being confident that I had no articles which could justly be charged with a duty, I felt strongly disposed to resist the oppressive demand of a contribution, for a mere efts- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 55 charge, or rather for a neglect of official duty. But, being informed that the thing was indispensable, unless I would submit to have my baggage delayed several days, with ev- ery circumstance of vexation and embarrassment, which experienced ingenuity could invent, I at length concluded to pay the tribute. But, I remarked to the person who had given me this information, (an Englishman) that 1 supposed the money must be offered to some of those rag- ged fellows who act as tide waiters, and not to those well- dressed men about the custom-house. He replied, with a smile, that those were the men who ultimately received the money. Accordingly, among all the passengers of the Ontario, a sum was made up which, we supposed, would cause Justice (a power whom allegory has ever represent- ed as blind,) to become still blinder than before. Nor were we disappointed; you can hardly imagine the effect of our douceur, for it would be harsh to call it a bribe. The well-dressed man, who ought to have inspected every thing in person, stood aloof, affecting to be engaged in conversation with other people, while a beggarly fellow received the money. We surrendered our keys, when he opened our trunks, and without taking up a single article, said that we had behaved like gentlemen, and that every thing was perfectly correct. He then closed our trunks, and returned the keys. Had they searched effectually, they would have found a quantity of costly goods, which, as they had not been entered, it was their duty to seize, and indeed, their suspicions might well have been excit- ed by the uncommon size of some of the trunks. A young Englishman, a friend of one of the passengers, being present at the examination, remonstrated with the examining officer against his receiving money, and told 56 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN him that it was a disgrace to an officer paid by the king The reply was :—" Sir, I have a family to support, and receive but thirty pounds per annum ;—this is all I have to urge." I have no reason to suppose that the collector has any concern in this business ; but it is impossible that the thing should be unknown to him, since it occurs every day, and is done without even the appearance of secrecy. Undoubtedly he winks at the practice. But, it is certainly a disgrace to the government to starve their petty officers, and then connive at their receiv- ing bribes to shut their eyes on smuggled articles, to the detriment of the revenue, and the corruption of public morals. As this part of the business of the custom-house is now managed, the primary object of inspection is com- pletely lost, while individuals are subjected to a vexatious and oppressive interference, the only effect of which is to put money into the hands of the petty officers, who ought to be severely punished for receiving it. With skilful packing, and a douceur so large as to be considered gene- rous, and yet not so great as to excite violent suspicions, there can be no doubt that goods whose value is great in proportion to their bulk might be smuggled to a conside- rable amount, and still pass through every formality of in- spection. My baggage being cleared, I next presented myself to the collector in person, who made out duplicate manifests of my name, age, place of birth and residence, profession, and business in England, together with a description of my person, and a list of those to whom I am known in Liver- pool. I wrote my name on both papers, and he retains one, and I keep the other. With this instrument I am next to wait on the Mayor, to take further steps, to evvitrc ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 5T the safety of his Majesty's person and government, dur- ing my residence in England. AMERICAN HOTEL. I dined to-day at a house erected and kept for the ac- commodation of the multitude of Americans who resort to this port. The words American hotel are written over the door, which is ornamented with the American Eagle, and the national motto, "e pluribus unum." This parade of American insignia is not addressed, without effect, to the national vanity of our countrymen. They crowd to this house in great numbers. The inscrip- tion over the door arrests every American eye;—the na- tional Eagle excites patriotic sympathies, and those who cannot construe the motto, hope it means good living. And it must be confessed that this construction, although not very literal, is, in point of fact, substantially correct. The table is abundant and cheap, and although the house is not, perhaps, the most genteel, the strong temptation of national society, when held out to beings so gregarious as our countrymen, is generally successful; and, at the daily ordinary, a kind of Congress of the American States is convened, where, if they choose, they may rail with impu- nity at the country on whose productions they are feasting, nor fear a military arrest, before the next dinner.* * It requires no inconsiderable effort, to resist the impulse which is so natural and apparently so reasonable, to associate, when one is in a foreign land, principally with one's own countrymen. A select companion, or two, of this kind, with a congenial spirit, may be very useful, and very grateful to one's feelings, while ardently engaged in the prosecution of knowledge, and it would be perhaps too severe to proscribe an occasional indulgence in the social en- joyments, to be found in entiie circles of our own countrymen, 58 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN AN ENGLISH CHURCH May 5.—Our host, this morning, conducted me with an American companion to church. It was a beautiful octagon, neatly fitted up, but its empty seats formed a melancholy contrast to the overflowing numbers of the circus. The preacher, Dr. M---------, gave a very good discourse, and delivered it with much solemnity; but it dwelt entirely on morality and the decencies of life, and contained almost a declaration in so many words that the sum of religion consists in the exercise of humanity and of the social virtues. Cicero or Socrates would hardly have said less, and except the exordium and peroration, the sermon might have heen embodied with their writings, without exciting a suspicion that its author had drawn wisdom from any other than Greek and Roman fountains. ENGLISH CAVALRY. The French horn and other martial instruments are now sounding before the door of the hotel and make one's. blood move with a quicker pace through his veins.—I but there can be no doubt, that if a traveller would study the cha- racter of the people among whom he is, he should immerse him- self completely, and in general exclusively, in their society. He will thus see them constantly, in new and interesting relations; he will not feed his own prejudices, and confirm his own errors, by a constant and invidious comparison, sustained by conversation with his own countrymen, and what is of no small importance, he will be in far less danger of being allured into haunts, from which he can scarcely escape with innocence. Certain it is, that some persons return from foreign countries, with less knowledge of all which it is desirable to know concerning them, than is possessed by many intelligent people at homo ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 59 was writing in my chamber, when a full burst of warlike music drew me irresistibly to the door, where I enjoyed a high degree of pleasure, from the united efforts of a large band mounted on horse back. Educated as I had been, in a peaceful country, and in a peaceful period, you will not wonder that such a swell of harmony, principally from a great number of deep toned wind instruments, should affect me in a very interesting manner, not only as music, but by summoning up the awful associations of real war. I certainly never felt an effect of the kind which was so overwhelming. Thus, (one naturally says to himself) thus, they animate the brave and impel the timid, to the sanguinary charge;—thus they drown the groans of the dying, and array the field of slaughter, with circumstances of pomp and fascination. The band belongs to a corps of light horse which is reviewed every day in front of this house, where Colonel Lmnley, their commander, resides. For this reason two centiuels are constantly walking before the door, and the rooms are crowded with military men. You will not sus- pect me of a parade of emotions in the remarks made upon their music, when I inform you that this corps, with their colonel, were a part of the brave army of Egypt, which conquered Bonaparte's boasted invincibles, and terminated the war in the East. The surviving officers, as an honorable mark of distinction, wear a yellow ribbon on their breasts. Poor fellows, most of them to )k up their long abode in Egypt, and few, very few remain to shew with what hazard and suffering, the toy was purchased. —We have one officer in the house who lost a leg in the campaign, but he wears a cork substitute with a boot so nicely fitted, that, but for his limping, his loss would not 66 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN be perceived. The English light horse, judging from this specimen, must be admirably calculated for celerity of movement. The horses have slender limbs, with great muscular activity, and are very quick and high spirited ;— their colour is a light bay. The men are also rath- er slender, and very active, and most of them young.— Their dress is blue, exactly fitted to the body and limbs; it is composed of tight pantaloons, and a close buttoned short jacket, reaching only to the hips, and without the smallest portion of a skirt, or any appendage whatever, except several rows of white buttons, interlaced with white cord, crossing the breast in a fanciful manner.— They have high helmets, and their broad swords, which are sheathed in bright steel scabbards, are of such enor- mous length, that they drag behind them on the pave- ment as they wain, unless they carry them in their hands, which they often do.* Besides the light horse, there is in Liverpool at present, a regiment or two of heavy cav- alry. If the former are eminently fitted for quickness of movement, these are equally adapted, by their weight and firmness, to make a tremendous charge. The horses are all very large and heavy, and by no means so quick in their movements as the others ; their colour is black.— * July ISIS.—I am not quite certain whether it was at Liver- pool or elsewhere that I saw cavalry, with steel helmets and steel chains, falling from the helmet down the shoulders,—with steel chains passing down the whole length oftlie thigh and leg on the outer seam of the pantaloons, and attached to a projecting edge of cloth—with steel chains fastening the steel scabbard to the bo- dy, and with a kind of box of steel surrounding the hilt of the sword and covering the hand ; the object of all these defences being obviously to render harmless the stroke of an enemy's sword. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 61 The men are also large and bony, and many of them look like veterans. Their dress is nearly white, with short coats. Their armour is heavy, and besides the broad sword and pistols, each soldier carries a carabine. The muzzle is fixed in a sheath in the side of the holsters, and the breech passes over the horseman's thigh. 1 suppose the principal use of this weapon, is to ena- ble the soldier to act on foot, when his horse has been dis- abled, or killed in battle. LITERARY INSTITUTIONS. The politeness of Mr. Maury, the American Consul, procured us access to the Athen.el'm and Lyceuem, two literary institutions of very recent origin; and another gentleman introduced us at a third, called the Union, whose plan is extremely similar to that oftlie other two. During my stay in Liverpool, I have the liberty of vis- iting these institutions, under certain very reasonable re- strictions. In a city so commercial as Liverpool, these establish- ments must be considered as highly honorable to the in- telligence and taste of the individuals who have created and patronised them. Each of them has an elegant structure of free stone, containing a library of various literature and science, and a large coffee room, where all the newspapers and litera- ry journals of note, are placed daily upon the tables, for the free perusal of subscribers, and of such friends as they introduce. To a stranger, these places are highly interesting, as af- fording at a glance, a view of the most important occur- rences of the country, and to the citizens they are not vol. i. 6 02 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN less useful and agreeable ; for, the mere man of business finds here the best means of information, and the man of literature can retire in quiet to the library, where the li- brarian attends to hand down any volume that is wanted. Between institutions so similar, it is very natural and doubtless it is best, that there should be a spirit of rivalry. I know not how much is to be imputed to this, but I heard it contended that the library of the Athenaeum is much superior to those of the other two. This appears not improbable, for the library of the Athenaeum was se- lected by Mr. Roscoe and Dr. Currie. Such institutions as these would be highly useful in A- merica, and most of our large commercial towns are rich enough to found and sustain them.* Independently of the rational amusement which they afford, they give a useful direction to the public taste, and allure it from objects which are either frivolous or noxious. OFFICIAL FORMALITIES. May 6.—With an American, a fellow passenger, who, like myself, wished to go through every formality requir- ed by the laws of the country, that we jnight be fully en- titled to its protection, while we did not wish to shun any reasonable responsibility for the correctness of our con- duct, I waited on the Mayor of the city, whose duty it was to countersign the collector's certificate, that we might have permission to go up to the alien office at Lon- * Boston, in the establishment of an Athenaeum upon the plan of that at Liverpool, has had the honor of creating the first institu- tion of this kind in America, and from the acquisitions already made, as well as from the well-known intelligence and liberality of the people of Boston, there is reason to expect that it will do much credit to this country. (1809.) ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 63 don. It seems that we ought to have gone first to the town clerk, who would have endorsed our certificates, as a preliminary step to obtaining the sanction of the chief magistrate of the city. But, of this circumstance we were ignorant, as every man, on his first arrival in a foreign country, must necessarily be, of many very common things. Our error was certainly venial, and demanded every indulgence and aid which official information could have so easily afforded. But we met a reception so rude and imperious, that we should have retained no very fa- vourable idea of the good manners of English magistrates, had not our impressions been immediately counteracted by the uncommon politeness of the town clerk Mr. Stath- am, to whose office we now resorted under the auspices of Mr. Maury the American Consul. Mr. Maury is the active and useful friend of Americans, who visit Liver- pool, and he does us much honor, by his good sense, in- telligence and probity, while the simplicity and mildness of his manners render him equally acceptable to the Eng- lish, as to his own countrymen. Mr. Statham informed us that we must be in London within fourteen days from the date of his and the May- or's endorsement, and therefore advised us to have it done, when we should be on the point of leaving Liver- pool. As we intended to remain several days, and to travel slowly to London, we gladly complied with this advice. AN ENGLISH BREAKFAST. May 7-—I have been present this morning at an Eng- lish breakfast. The lady of the house had been several years in America, and -till retained so much partiality 64 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN for the country, that my reception was such as to make me feel that I was at home in England. Mrs.-------pleasantly remarked that I had not been used to such frugal breakfasts in America, and indeed it must be confessed, that to a northern American, who is accustomed to see animal food on the table in the morn- ing, an English breakfast presents no very promising prospect. It usually consists of tea and a little bread and butter. A boiled egg is sometimes added after morning exercise, and, very rarely, a thin slice of ham. If an American is surprised at the frugality of an English break- fast, an Englishman is astonished at seeing beef steaks, or Jish, and perhaps bottled cider on an American table at the same meal.* MUSEUM. Liverpool has a small museum, which I visited this morning. It is not extensive, but is well worth seeing, es- pecially on account of a collection of ancient armour, such as was worn from the time of the conqueror down to the period of Elizabeth. This is a remnant of an age, which though barbarous, and, on the whole, wretched, is connected with so much heroic grandeur, that every au- thentic vestige of it must excite a strong interest, espe- cially in one whose country has never been the theatre of ;i similar state of things. The knights, when equipped for battle, were so completely incased in iron, that it is not easy to conceive how they could move joint or limb, or even sustain the enormous weight of their armour, nor 'lam sensible, however, that these habits are wearing away in our larger towns, and it is becoming unpolite to eat much animal food in the morning ;. but they are still unimpaired in the country ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 65 can one be surprised that an overthrow was so much dreaded, since it must have been an arduous task to rise under the rigidness of such a prison. But these were men whose limbs had not been enervated by luxury; and the elegant decorations and effeminate softness of many modern soldiers would have been their jest and scorn. There was one singular suit of armour; or, perhaps, it should rather be called a robe, for it was such in fact, being a complete net work of small chains, so linked in every di- rection, that it formed an iron vesture, which might be put on and made to enclose the person completely, while it would leave the limbs the liberty of free motion, and de- fend them from the effect of cutting instruments, although not from contusions. A fine panorama of Ramsgate with the embarkation of troops, gave me a few minutes of pleasant entertainment. on my way to visit THE ASVLUM OF THE BLIND. In this institution the incurably blind are received, pro- tected and instructed in such arts as they are capable of learning. The object is to afford them the means of sub- sistence by personal industry, and of amusement under the gloom of perpetual darkness. The arts, in the practice of which I saw them engaged, were of course such as require no uncommon accuracy, and whose operations can be conducted by the touch ; such as knitting, weaving, and winding thread, among the women, and making baskets and cords among the men. Their productions were much better than one would imagine it possible they should be. did not experience prove that the loss of one sense causes 6* 06 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN so active a cult'■ rtiou of the rest, that they become more perfect uan oHore. How else can we account for the acuteness of hearing which enabled a particular blind man, by means of the echo produced by his whistling, to decide when he was approaching any object of some magnitude; or, for the delicacy of touch which led the blind Mr. Jay* to discover, by feeling, the place where the two pieces of an ancient mahogany table were joined, which multitudes for a succession of years, although in possession of all their senses, had sought in vain to detect. In the institution of which I am speaking, those who have a taste for it, learn music both instrumental and vocal, that they may be able to obtain their bread by performing in churches. When I entered, two blind boys were playing on the or- gan and piano, and at my request, a choir of both sexes performed a piece—the dying Christian's address to his soul,—which they sung to the organ. This production, in itself very solemn and interesting, was rendered doubly so, by the associated effect produced by the sightless choir who performed it, with much apparent feeling. Printed papers were distributed about the rooms, containing reli- gious songs appropriate to the situation of the blind, and holding forth to them such consolations as must be pecu- liarly dear to those for whom the sun rises in vain. There was, however, in most of them, an air of cheerfulness, which served to enliven a scene otherwise very gloomy. The charity urn at the door contained this simple inscrip- Brother of John Jay Esq. late Governor of New-York, and rnvrty extraordinary to England in the year 1794. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 67 tiofi, which must produce a stronger effect on every mind than the most laboured address to the feelings : " Remember the poor blind !" These are the institutions which do honour to mankind, and shew the active efficacy of Christian benevolence. A SLAVE SHIP. The friend who had brought me to this interesting place, went with me to a large Guinea ship, a thing which I had always wished to see, with a curiosity like that which would have led me to the Bastile. We descended into the hold, and examined the cells where human beings are confined under circumstances which equally disgust decen- cy and shock humanity. But I will not enlarge on a sub- ject which, though trite, is awfully involved in guilt and infamy. Our country, so nobly jealous of its own liber- ties, stands disgraced in the eyes of mankind, and con- demned at the bar of Heaven, for being at once active in carrying on this monstrous traffic, and prompt to receive every cargo of imported Africans.* I did not come to Eng- laud to see Guinea ships because there were none in Amer- ica, but accident had never thrown one in my way before. Liverpool is deep, very deep in the guilt of the slave trade. It is now pursued with more eagerness than ever, and mul- titudes are, at this moment, rioting on the wealth which lias been gained by the stripes, the groans, the tears, and the blood of Africans. There will be a day when these things shall be told in heaven! * 1819.—This is now illegal by our laws, but there is reason to believe th« censure is still in a degree deserved. 68 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN No. III.—LIVERPOOL. Sketch of the town—the Exchange—Streets—Public buildings- Population—Pursuits—American trade—Difficulties of the port—Guard ship—Press gangs—Impressment grossly inconsis- tent with English liberty—Docks—Mode of admitting ships- Anecdote— Dry docks—Hackney coaches—Anecdote—General appearance of the people. SKETCH OF LIVERPOOL. May 8.—Mrs. -------, at whose house I have met a degree of frankness and hospitality, which, if a fair sam- ple of English domestic manners, does much credit to the country, informs me that there is an interesting circle of literary people here; but, to a stranger, Liverpool ap- pears almost exclusively a commercial town. Under the guidance of Mr. Wells, an English gentleman who had visited America, I have been to the Exchange, the great scene of the commercial transactions of the second tra- ding town in the 1-ritis!; dominions. The Exchange stands at the head of the handsomest street in Liverpool, and has strong claims to be considered an elegant build- ing. It is, however, much too small for the commerce of the place, and for this reason they are now making an ex- tensive addition to it. We ascended to the top of the building, where we had a good view of the town. It extends between two and three miles along the eastern bank of the Mersey. The country rises as it recedes from the river, so that a part of the town is built on the declivity of the hill. The streets contiguous to the river which are principally on level ground, are narrow and dirty; they are crowded with carts and people, and in ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 69 some of them the ware-houses are carried up to a very great height. The streets on the slope of the hill are suf- ficiently wide, clean, and handsome, but the houses, al- though substantial and highly comfortable, are generally inelegant in their exterior appearance. They are con- structed with bricks of a dusky yellow colour, obscured by the dust and smoke of coal; the bricks are not polish- ed, but have a degree of roughness, which makes the town appear somewhat rude, and we look in vain for the highly finished surface which is presented by the finest houses of New-York, Philadelphia, and Boston, to which towns Liv- erpool is inferior in the beauty of its private buildings. The public buildings are, however, with few exceptions, elegant. They are constructed of hewn sand stone, fur- nished by a quarry immediately contiguous to the town. There are several handsome churches, some of which have lofty spires of stone, and there is a magnificent one, with a vast dome, modelled and named after St. Paul's at London. Liverpool is said to contain about eighty thousand in- habitants,* who are almost exclusively employed iu com- merce, and the various businesses immediately connected with it; for, although the town is not destitute of manu- facturers, most of those articles which are sold in America under the general name of Liverpool wares, are brought to this port from Staffordshire, and other interior counties. On the hill back of the town are a number of beautiful situations. There is, on the highest part of the hill, a place called the Mount, where there is a public garden, with serpentine gravel walks, and in front of the garden is v The population is said to be now considerably larger, 1818. 70 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS fN a wide gravelled area, used as a promenade, which com- mands a fine view of the city, the river, the opposite coun- ty of Cheshire, and the distant mountains of Wales. The city is surrounded by lofty wind-mills, which are among the first objects that strike a stranger coming in from sea. On the hills are a multitude of signal poles ;—each prin- cipal merchant has one,by which a ship's name is announc- ed some hours before she arrives in the river. There is a very great number of vessels, and among these the Ameri- can flag is very frequent. The American trade to this port is probably greater than to all the other ports of Britain: it has become highly important to the merchants of Liverpool, and of this they are sufficiently aware. The port is difficult of arress. The tides rise from 12 to 30 feet, and, at low water, a great part of the road is bare. The currents are therefore very rapid, and it is on- ly at rising water that ships can get in; there are, besides, so many shoals and sand banks, that, even then, it requires all the skill of the pilots to bring a vessel up to the town. When a ship comes round Holyhead, and a gale imme- diately succeeds, blowing in towards the shore, she is in danger of being lost. These circumstances form the prin- cipal defence of the town against an attack by sea, and are much more important to its security, than a battery of heavy cannon at the lower part of the town, and a large guard ship which is moored in the channel. Although stationed there ostensibly for the defence of the town, the most interesting object of the government is to afford a floating prison for the reception of impressed seamen. There are press gangs now about Liverpool, and impress- ments daily happen. I saw a sailor dragged off a few evenings since ; he was walking with one who appeared to ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. M be a woman of the town, and he of course was considered as a proper object of impressment; for it is the uniform practice of the press gangs to take all whom they find in such society, and all who are engaged in night brawls and drunken revels, not that the press gangs have any peculiar solicitude for the preservation of good morals, but because such things afford somewhat of a pretext for a practice which violates equally the laws of natural liberty, and the principles of English freedom. I grant it is necessa- ry, but it is still grossly unjust, and were consistency re- garded when it interferes with national policy, the English courts of justice would grant prompt and full redress. No doubt every country has a full right to the services of its citizens, but this right should be enforced according to some principle of impartial selection, which would place every man under the same degree of liability. England would rise in arms, should the military impress for the ar- my, citizens of every rank, from the fields, the streets, and the public roads; but, one particular class of men seem to be abandoned by society, and relinquished to perpetual imprisonment, and a slavery, which, though honourable, cuts them off from most things which men hold dear. In Liverpool, as might be expected, American sailors are often impressed, but they usually get clear if they have protections, which are here more regarded than at sea. The press gangs have a rendezvous on shore, to which they bring their victims, as fast as they find them; they have no secrecy about the matter, for the place is render- ed conspicuous by a large naval flag hung out at a win- dow. One would suppose that popular vengeance would be excited by this triumphant display of the effrontery of power trampling on personal liberty, but, I believe the 72 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN rendezvous is not often attacked, although it probably would be, were it not for the strong protection of govern- ment. THE DOCKS. The ships are not here, as with us, stationed along the wharves, for at low water, the foundations of these struc- tures are in view, and ships moored by their sides, would be left on the bare sand twice in twenty-four hours, with no small exposure to injury from the rapid influx and re-- treat of the water, and the great rise and fall which the ship must sustain by such powerful tides as flow in this channel. To obviate these, and other inconveniences, the ships are hauled into docks, where they lie in perfect security. These docks, of which there are six wet, besides several dry ones, are among the principal curiosities of the place. In order to their construction, a large area on the bank of the river is excavated to a sufficient depth, by digging. It has a rectangular form, and is enclosed by very deep, wide, and strong walls of massy hewn stone, sunk below the bottom of the cavity, and rising to the surface of the groun!. There is an opening at the bason sufficiently wide to admit one ship at a time. This opening is closed by gates, which are hinged upon opposite sides of the ca- nal, and, when shut, they meet at an angle sufficiently acute to enable them to sustain the pressure of the water in the bason. In short, they are constructed just as locks are in canals. They open inward, and their operation is very intelligible. When the tide rises so as to bring the water in the riv- er to the same level with that in the bason, the gates either ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 73 open of their own accord, or easily yield to a moderate power exerted upon them. The water then flows indis- criminately in the river and bason, and it is at that time, or near it, that ships must pass in or out; for when the tide turns, the current, now setting outwards, closes the gates;—the water in the bason is retained, and the chan- nel leading to it becomes entirely dry. The ships in the dock remain afloat, and the gates sustain the enormous weight of twenty feet of water. Great firmness is there- fore necessary in the structure of the walls and of every part. When there is too much water in the docks, the excess is let out by means of vent holes, and it is obvious that the whole can be drawn off in this manner when it is necessary. The top of the gates is formed into a foot bridge, and a bridge for carts is thrown over the canal, somewhat nearer the outer bason. By means of machine- ry this last bridge is swung off to one side, when ships are to pass. No small inconvenience is sustained by ships in getting into or out of dock; they are sometimes obliged to wait several days either for the spring tides or for their turns. The Ontario will have to wait ten days from the time of her arrival, as she draws too much water for the ordinary tides, and must therefore wait for the next spring tide. Common ships can enter now, but the Ontario* is the larg- est American ship in the Liverpool trade Much delay is * The Ontario never returned to America. In getting out of dock, she struck the ground ; the tide left her on thTe sand, and be- ing heavily laden, she broke by her own weight, and the tide (lowed into her. After being detained several months, and repair- ed at an enormous expense, she put to sea, and was never heard of any more. vol. I. 7 74 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN said to be occasioned at the king's and queen's doci*s, by the captious and tyrannical disposition of the dock mas- ter. Last winter, an American captain, pretending to shake hands with this dock master, and, at the same time, aflecting to stumble over something, pulled him off, along with himself, into the water. He did not value a fall of ten feet, with some chance of drowning, compared with the pleasure of taking this kind of vengeance on a man who was cordially hated by all the American masters of ships. The dry docks are intended solely for the purpose of repairing the ship's bottom. They are nothing more than long and deep canals, whose sides are formed into sloping steps, like stairs, and as the object is to exclude the water, tiic gates open outwards. When a ship is to be admitted, the gates are thrown open at low water, and she comes in with the flood. The dock is wide enough to hold only one ship in its breadth, but it is so long, that several can come in, in succession. After they have arrived at their places, they are moored, and when the tide retires, they are left dry, resting upon the bottom of the dock, and sus- tained in a perpendicular position by means of props. The dates being closed at low water, the next tide is excluded, and thus the workmen are admitted with safety and con- venience quite down to the keel. The same bridges are used here as across the entrance of the wet docks. The channel of the river Mersey affords safe anchorage for ships of any burden. In Liverpool the proportion of women is much greater than of men, especially in the lower orders of society. The men of this description are usually in the army or navv, ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 70 and multitudes of the females are maintained by their vices. Liverpool is well provided with hackney coaches. This is an accommodation which is eminently useful to a stran- ger, but for which he will commonly pay higher than the citizens. The first time that I had occasion to use a coach, suspecting that the charge was excessive, I took down in my pocket book, the number of the coach and the owner's name, and then, without making any objection to the price, presented the coachman a handful of shillings, and told him to take what he thought proper. He declined taking any thing, but said he would go and consult his master ; he returned in a few minutes, and took two shillings in- stead of three which he had asked at first. The former sum was the legal fee, and the extra shilling was a tax which he was levying on me as a stranger in the country. This trifling anecdote is of no other importance than tis an. instance oftlie common disposition to impose on strangers and of the sense of responsibility to the laws and fear of punishment manifested in the present case. The general appearance of the population of Liverpool, is extremely like that of our own countrymen in our large cities. Every body here talks, dresses and acts, and every thing looks, so much like America, that I can hardly be- lieve I have actually crossed the ocean. Most of those with whom I have hitherto conversed, have been extreme- ly civil and kind, and there is scarcely an appreciable dif- ference between us and the people here, either in the man- ner or matter of conversation. Indeed Liverpool is in a sense identified with America. so constant and intimate is the intercourse, and such multi- tudes of Americans resort to this port. 76 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN The American trade is very important to Liverpool, and scarcely a week elapses without communication with N kets; the apples were hard and insipid, having some- what the taste of raw turnips, and there was no article better than the correspondent productions of America, except the ale. The manners of the gentlemen were substantially the same with those of similar American circles. Most of the subjects of conversation were so personal and local, that a stranger could not be supposed to be informed concerning them, and could scarcely speak upon them without indelicacy, had he chanced to possess sufficient information. The only topics which could be considered as at all general, were the alleged peculation of Lord Melville, and the best method of ripening wine. To a country needing, at this crisis, all its resources for the defence of its liberties, it is not strange that the former topic should appear highly important. If I may judge from the frequency and earnestness with which 1 hear this topic mentioned, the charges against Lord Melville excite a high degree of interest at the present moment. One gentleman, in particular, I have heard declaim on this subject with such overwhtlm- * I never observed this practice at any other place in England*, Mid therefore presume it was a local custom 7* 78 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ing vehemence, and with such an appearance of the deepest concern for the safety of the public resources. and the condign punishment of the deadly sin of pecula- tion, that I was on the point of setting him down for a patriot of the first order, but, unfortunately I soon learned that he was at that time a candidate for a seat in par- liament. As to the ripening of wine, this is a subject of univer- sal interest among convivial men, and forms a standing topic of discussion, on both sides of the Atlantic, in those circles where abundant drinking gives brilliancy to wit, and ardor to patriotism ; and while the faculties are thus sharpened, it is no doubt very natural to descant on the properties of this great cheerer of the heart of man. The bottle went round rapidly, and continued its circuit for several hours. Port, Claret, and Madeira, were the wines ; the two latter are very expensive in this country, and Port costs nearly as much in England as Madeira does with us. The Madeira is not so good as that which has been ripened in our warmer climates, but the Port is better, and is the only wine generally used in Great- Britain. Their intimate connection with Portugal gives it to them in greater purity than we commonly obtain it, for it is not difficult to imitate the astringent taste and purple colour of this wine, so that it is adulterated and even manufactured with considerable facility. Before dismissing this dinner, I ought to observe that the reserve and coldness which marked the manners of most of the gentlemen were strongly contrasted with the polite and attentive hospitality of our host, (a Scotchman,) who suffered no one of his guests to remain unnoticed. The hour of dinner was five o'clock, and 1 took French leave- at half past nine. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 79 May 10.—I had the honour of an introduction to Mr. Roscoe on my first arrival in Liverpool, and his son had the goodness to conduct me to-day to Allerton-Hall, his father's seat, five or six miles from town. On our way we visited the Botanical Garden, an institution which Mr. Roscoe and Dr. Currie set on foot about three years since. Under their patronage it has flourished rapidly, and is now a fine establishment. It occupies five statute acres; the ground appears to be well adapted to the purpose, there is a pond and a portion of marshy land in the middle of the garden for such plants as require a wet soil or constant immersion; the hot-houses are ex- tensive and handsome, and exhibit a great variety of exotics, while the whole garden is a place of great beauty. Our road to Allerton-Hall was through a most delight- ful country. The river Mersey was on our right, and the fields sloped with gentle declivity to its banks. The county of Cheshire was extensively in view over the river, and beyond that, Wales with its rude moun- tains. Allerton-Hall is a stone building which has an air of grandeur; it stands at ?. considerable distance from the road, in the midst of beautiful grounds, and appears every way fitted to be the residence of its present dis- tinguished possessor. Mr. Roscoe was, (as I am inform- ed,) bred to the bar, but being disgusted with the pro- fession, he turned his attention to literature. He is now connected in business with an extensive banking-house in Liverpool, and retired to this place that he might have more leisure for indulging in his favourite pursuits, His house is filled with statues, busts, and pictures, r:^ 80 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN cipally Italian, and in his study, he is surrounded by the figures of the men, who are the subjects of his History of Lorenzo, and of Leo X. Of the latter work, not yet given to the world, he shewed me a copy, and point- ed out the beauty of the plates executed from designs on wood. Mr. Roscoe's person is tall, his figure is graceful, his countenance intelligent, his expression mild, and his fea- tures what would generally be called handsome. He is now in middle life, and is possessed of a private charac- ter of distinguished excellence. His manners are those of a polished gentleman. I had seen him in various situations before I was at his house, and perhaps it is not improper to mention as an instance of his peculiar politeness, that, when he called at the Liverpool Arms and introduced himself, which he did with the greatest ease, he invited some of my fellow passengers to dine, although they had no introduction to him, and no other connection with me, than the accidental one of having been on board the same ship. From Mr. R. I received every attention which was consistent with the obligations of politeness to a consid- erable number of gentlemen assembled at his table. Some of them were men of literature, and one in particular was said to be engaged in a biographical work upon one of the distinguished literary men of the period of Lorenzo, for, Mr. Roscoe has diffused around him a general taste for Ital- ian literature. In such a circle it was unpleasant to find literature excluded in favour of those personal and local topics, which, as only neighbours and friends can under- stand, such only should participate. I was particularly solicitous to hear Mr. R. speak upon his favourite subject, ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 81 the revival of arts and literature in Italy, but the con- versation took a turn which precluded every thing of this nature, till a call to the drawing room cut it short and left Mr. Roscoe at liberty, for a few minutes, to satisfy my curiosity. At an early hour in the evening I return- ed to Liverpool. If you enquire as to the dress and manners of gentle- men at these dinners, and as to the arrangements of the table, I answer, that they are much the same as prevail in our cities among opulent people. Three tined silver forks, besides the fork which accompanies the knife— a wine glass inverted in a handsome glass vessel contain- ing water to keep the wine glass cool, each guest being furnished with this accommodation, and elegantly figured and coloured napkins, one being folded by every plate: these conveniences are now to be seen on both sides of the water. The English servants are extremely assiduous and adroit; they are generally handsome well dressed men, and they ply the guest with such watchful attention, that, if for any reason he lays down his knife and fork, his plate is instantly caught away, and a clean one substituted. The manners of the gentlemen I think are marked by less suavity, than with us, and there is less gentleness in the tones of voice and in the turn of deportment. As to dress perhaps they are more punc- tilious. At Mr. Ewart's every gentleman was in full dress with shoes and silk hose, and thinking this punc- tiliousness necessary, I went full dressed, and in a car- riage, to Mr. Roscoe's, but there I met some gentlemen who had come on horseback, and wore boots bespattered with mud. A liberty seemed in this instance to be al- 82 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN lowed in a rural situation, which probably would havt been deemed incorrect in a town. A TRANSPORT SHIP. I found some amusement yesterday in witnessing the em- barkation of a regiment of cavalry. The horses were hoisted in by means of a canvas bag which was made to surround the body of the animal, and tied with ropes over the back. To these ropes a tackle was fastened, and the horses were thus raised from the ground. When they first felt the lifting, they flounced and kicked violently, but, the instant their feet were cleared of the ground, they became perfectly still, as if dead, and hung dangling in the air, till they were gently lowered into the hold next the keel. There they stand in double rows, with their heads to a common manger, erected over the keel. In such a situa- tion they must suffer greatly from the confined air. The soldiers, with their wives and children (for usually, some of them have families) are all crowded together between decks, immediately above the horses, and only a limited number are allowed to come on deck at once. A QUARRY. After enjoying with a companion the fine views from the mount, and the delightful retreat in the gardens behind it, I was forcibly struck yesterday, with the sight of a vast quarry on the hill contiguous to Liverpool. By constant hewing, it has now become a regular pit, probably sixty or seventy feet deep, and it may be fifty rods long and thir- ty rods wide. Its walls are formed as if it had been design- ed for some vast cellar, they are very smooth and perpen- dicular. Carts go to the very bottom of this quarry by ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 83 means of an easy descent cut through the solid rock; this passage is arched, for a considerable distance, and there- fore carts coming out of it seem as if emerging from the ground. The rock is a yellow sand-stone, and, when first obtain- ed, is very soft, so as readily to yield to iron tools, and is thus easily wrought into any form; but after a short expo- sure to the air, or immersion in the water, it hardens and continues to acquire firmness. This makes it peculiarly fit for the construction of wharves and docks, which, with many of the public buildings here, are formed of it. In the quarry the stone lies in strata, which are much broken and crumbled, for ten or twelve feet from the surface, but become very regular at greater depths. This quarry is said to be the Hoboken* of Liverpool, where the young men of spirit come to partake in the fashionable pastime of shooting at each other; for, duel- ling, the opprobrium of America, is also the disgrace of England. After coming up from the quarry, we walked six or seven miles in the country around Liverpool. We were delight- ed with many beautiful country retreats at Edge Hill and Everton, eminences lying northeast of Liverpool. The grounds are universally laid out with great neatness, and amidst the bright verdure of groves and grass, the eye is agreeably relieved by the smoothness and light colour of serpentine gravel walks. The western side of Everton Hill, sloping to the river, presented us with green fields of great beauty, surrounded * A celebrated duelling ground on the Jersey shore, opposite to New-York. 84 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN by green hedges, and exhibiting all that neatness for which English grounds are so much celebrated. I expect much gratification from the picturesque scenery of England, as I am about to travel through the couniry at a season when it is beginning to assume its most beauti- ful appearance. St. Domingo, a seat of the Prince of Gloucester, the King's nephew, limited our excursion. It has an appear- ance of grandeur and rural magnificence. The Prince of Gloucester is much a favourite in Liverpool. I saw an image of him as large as the life, placed beneath the bow- sprit of a slave ship, by way of honouring his highness. AN ENGLISH HOTEL. The Liverpool Arms is the resort of the nobility and gentry, as well as of men of business, and is, I presume, a fair specimen of this kind of establishments in England. The house is very extensive, and its apartments are fur- nished in a superior style. Over the door are the arms of the city of Liverpool, and the hotel certainly does not dis- honour these insignia. One room is considered as common, and, for occupying that, no particular charge is made. Besides this, there are several parlours, where any one who chooses it may be as completely retired as in a private house, his food being served up for him without the danger of intrusion. Such a parlour our little party from the Ontario has occupied since we have been in Liverpool. But a separate charge at the rate of a guinea a week is made for this room. Even the bed rooms are elegantly furnished, and the beds nre perfectly clean, as is the whole house ; all the ac- -pmrnodations necessary for dressing completely are fur- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 85 mshed in the bed room, and a system of bells, extending to every part of this vast house, brings a servant instantly even to the third or fourth story. Indeed every possible accommodation is furnished at the shortest notice, and with the utmost civility of manners on the part of the servants. A stranger may select from a very ample bill of fare, such articles as he chooses, and he may have, in every instance, a separate table for him- self. It is always expected that he will call for wine at dinner;—no complaints will be made if he omits it, but, the oblique looks of the waiter, when he carries away the unsoiled wine glass, sufficiently indicate in what estimation the gentility of the guest is held. In short, in such a hotel as that which I am now describing, almost every comfort of domestic life may be obtained. But for all this there is a price. I cannot say however that the charges are very extravagant, considering the im- mense taxation of this country. The bed is one shilling and sixpence a night. A common breakfast of tea or coffee, with toast and an egg, will not exceed one shilling and eight pence,*—tea at evening is about the same, but the dinner is much more expensive. If it consists of two dishes, it will cost five shillings, with a frugal desert. A separate charge is made for almost every thing; a glass of beer will cost eight pence, and a bottle of Sherry wine six or seven shillings; a bottle of Port five shillings, and one of Madeira nine or ten. In England the breakfast, and tea at evening, are considered as trivial meals, while dinner is a matter of great import, and therefore it is much more * The, money denominatious mentioned in this work are always sterling, unless it is otherwise mentioned. vol. I. 8 SG A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN expensive than both the other meals, for supper is perfectly optional; it is very genteel to eat it, although it is not un- genteel to go without. But this list of charges by no means comprehends all. The servants at the public houses in England are paid by the guests, and not by their employ- ers. They not only receive no wages, but many of them pay a premium for their places ; that is, the masters of the hotels farm out to their servants the privilege of levying contributions, and the consideration is, their service. At our hotel the chief waiter assured us that he paid one hundred pounds per annum for his place, besides paying two under waiters, and finding all the clothes' brushes, and some other et ceteras of tkie house. He had, more- over, if we might credit his story, a wife and five children to support. The head waiters are commonly young men of a genteel appearance, and often dress as well as gentle- men. The servants whom it is indispensable to pay in every public-house are, the waiter, who has three pence a meal; the chamber-maid, who has six pence for every night that you lodge in the house ; and the shoe-black, who is very appropriately called boots, receives two pence or three pence for every pair of shoes and boots which he brushes. Besides these, the stranger who comes with horses pays six pence a night to the ostler, and the porter demands six pence for carrying in the baggage, and the same sum for bringing it out. The rates which I have stated are the lowest which one can possibly pay with decency. It is usual to go a little beyond them, and the man who pays most liberally is, you know, in all countries, considered by this class of people as the most of a gentleman. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 87 These demands it is impossible to evade or repel; they are as regularly brought forward as the bill itself, and a departing guest is attended by the whole retinue of ser-- vants, who are officious to render services which he does not want, and should he be in a fit of mental absence, he will certainly be reminded that the waiter, the chamber- maid, the boots, and perhaps the ostler and porter, are not to be forgotten.* These customs, while they cannot be considered as honourable to the national manners, and are very trouble- some to travellers, who are every where pestered with a swarm of expectants, are however productive of some very useful consequences. The servants looking for their reward from the guest, are attentive to all his wishes, and assiduous to promote his comfort; their service is cheer- fully rendered and not with that sullen salvo for personal dignity, which we so often see in America. In England, the servant is contented with his condition; he does not aim at any thing higher, while in America a person of this description will usually behave in such a manner as to evince that he regards you as being no better than himself. This inconvenience arises, however, from the multiplied resources and superior condition of the lower orders in America, and although one would wish to alter their de- portment, still, as a patriot, he would not choose to re- move the cause. ' The language is—'< please to remember the waiter sir— " please to remember the chamber-maid sir," and so on, to the boots, and th* deputy boots—the ostler—the porter, fee. some- times all vociferating at once, and if any one of them should be for- gotten or neglected, the departing traveller will be followed by murmurs, and his physiognomy well marked, for future recollec- tion. •J8 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN Being about to leave Liverpool, I have paid my biO, and after giving the waiter his due, I asked him whether that was as much as he usually received ?—he replied, that it was what mere travellers paid him, but that jimerican gentlemen usually paid very liberally. There was a French servant in the house, who, from the first, manifested designs upon our pockets. With the characteristic obsequiousness of his country, he was all bows, smiles, and flourishes, with most abundant declara- tions of the pleasure it would give him to consult our wish- es; and he professed a peculiar sympathy for our situations, as being himself a stranger. He had fought for his king, and lost his estate; he had been in battles and sieges from Dunkirk to Toulon, and enumerated a list of illustrious commanders under whom he had served. Being amused with his harmless vanity, we listened with some attention to his story, and this gave him such spirits, that, " thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain." I called for a candle to go to bed ;—the Frenchman bounded through the long entry, with the elasticity of an antelope, and brought me one in less time than I have taken to relate the circumstance, and as he presented it, with a profound bow, begged my pardon. I told my companion, Mr. R-----, that unless we repressed this man's obsequiousness, we should be obliged not only to pay him for his services, but for the loss of his nobility, for no one ever saw a Frenchman in a servile situation, in a foreign country, who was not, in his own account of the matter, very much out of his proper place in society, and who had not been a marquis, or at least a gentleman. We treated our Monsieur coldly for a day or two, and his bows. smiles, and flourishes all vanished. FSOLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 89 Xo. V__MANCHESTER. A iVeath^pimposition on strangers—Views of the author in wrlr ting—Ride to Manchester—Gilead House—Prescot—Warring- ton—Beautiful scenery—Affability of stage companions'—Man- chester—Sunday—English hospitality—A family scene—Col* lege—Roman camp—Gothic church—Prince Charles—Rebell- ion of 1745—Barbarities—A philosophical lecture—Volunteers —Sunday drilling—Duke of Bridgewater's canal—Ancient ty- pography—Cotton manufactories—Method of stamping chintzes —Of cutting velvets—Of singeing the shag—New process of bleaching—American sumac—Sketch of Manchester— Manners, morals, and condition of the artists. *• May 11.—This morning we had clouds, rain, sunshine, snow, hail and wind, all pursuing each other in rapid suc- cession, but, as most of the days since my arrival have been fine, I could not consider it as a fair specimen of English weather. RIDE TO MANCHESTER. In the afternoon I left Liverpool for Manchester, in company with my fellow-passenger, Mr. Riggs, of the city of Washington. We learned from two Englishmen who lodged with us, in the hotel at Liverpool, that we paid nearly twice as much for our dinners as they had done, and one oftlie waiters expressly told one of these Englishmen, that " when strangers came there they put it on well." This however, we have no doubt, is a business of the waiters only, and that the extra money thus obtained is put into their own pockets. This, obviously, is an evil arising in a great measure, from their receiving no wages; they are thus induced to prey upon strangers. 8* 9D A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN Coming as we did immediately from our ship, we could not well conceal our being Americans ; but having learned the manners of the public houses, we may hereajter stand a betur chance to pass for Englishmen, while- v^^sume the confident knowing air of natives, instead of th^mnidity and doubtful address of strangers. As I am now commencing my travels in England, I would remark that you must not expect too much from my vapid observations. Very minute information respecting a foreign country is, without doubt, best obtained from writers who confine themselves to particular topics. But to you, and my other friends, I trust that a faithful picture of some portion of*real life, actually led in a foreign coun- try, interspersed with a reasonable number of remarks, will be more interesting and useful than a collection of mere dissertations or general accounts. One who sits at home and reads concerning another country, wishes to know how that country icould appear to him, were he travelling or residing in it. He therefore lakes a degree of interest in the narrations of a traveller- which he will not feel in the laboured dissertations of the professed essayist, because he goes along with the former, in every step of his progress, is a party to all his feelings and adventures, and ultimately becomes himself in imagi- nation. *he traveller whose work he ig perusing, and thus his curiosity, his taste for adventure, and his self love are all enlisted, while the dissertation in form is read like a lesson. Mr. Riggs and I took two seats in the coach one on the outside :\.v\ one on the inside, intending to occupy them alternately. You have heard that people ride on the roofs of the Li.gli&h stage coaches. This situation affords firfe ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 91 views of the country, and is often a convenient refuge when the inside places are all taken. Tlfe cpst of the outside seat is but little more than half as much as that of the inside. This is a great accommoda- tion to the poorer orders of people. The society on the top of the coach is certainly rather gregarious, but a traveller who is bent on seeing the face of the country in the best of all possible situations, will not be deterred from this very important advantage, by the fear of plebian contact.* I first mounted the top of the coach with my head at least fifteen feet from the ground. There was nothing to secure one, except a little iron loop shaped like the handle of a pail; my feet hung down unsupported. Unaccustom- ed to such elevated situations, when the crack of the coach- man's whip put the horses into full motion, over the rough pavements, and we darted rapidly around one corner and another, you will not be surprised, that at first, I felt some- what giddy, and involuntarily grasped the iron guard with great care. I soon learned, however, to fold my arms in security, trusting to the balance of position. The first interesting object which attracted our notice, as we proceeded into the country, was Gilead House, the seat of the celebrated Dr. Solomon. I need not inform you that the Doctor is well known in America, for every man who has learning enough to read a newspaper, and ryes enough to peruse double pica letters on an apotheca- ry's door, must have become acquainted with the merits and modesty of Dr. Solomon. In Liverpool he is univer- sally called a quack and an impostor, but you know where * The price in the inside of the coach is not charged by the mile, but a gross sum for a certain distance. I think it amounts to about mx pence sterling on an average by the mile. [August, 181R 92 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN it is that the prophet is usually without honour, and if the Doctor has missed of obtaining this reward, he has gained a more substantial retribution—an ample fortune. Dr. Solomon is by birth a Jew and it may well be sup- posed that this circumstance does not diminish the odium which his pretensions and success have created. The first eight or ten miles we travelled on a paved way, and our progress was much embarrassed by the great number of carls going into Liverpool.* Our first stage was Prescot, an ancient town built of brick. The appearance of that street through which we rode was disagreeable. Here the rain compelled me to leave the roof for the inside. If the traveller would be secure of this retreat, it is ne- cessary to pay for an inside seat, and then he can ride in- side or out as he chooses. If he has paid for the top only, he may come in, on paying the difference, provided there is room. But the windows of the stage coaches usually form so small a part of the sides, that the opportunity for seeing the country from the inside is often very limited. Eight or ten miles more brought us to Warrington, an- other ancient town, with very narrow streets and houses of a ruinous aspect. The country in its vicinity is ex- tremely beautiful, and through the next stage of eighteen miles, to Manchester, we had a continued succession of green fields, neat hedge-rows, rivulets, and country seats; ■■ When carts meet on the road the custom is just the opposite of ours : here they keep to the left that the drivers may go on the side walks ; with us in consequence of keeping to the right, the drivers are brought into the middle of the road, but as we rarely have side walks upon our roads, this is, as regards us of no mo- ment. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 93 scenes peculiarly delightful to us who had so recently been en the ocean. The vegetation, refreshed and brightened by recent rains, was of the purest and deepest green, and the finished neatness of the plantations and fields, evinced a high de- gree of skill and care in the agriculture. Many of the hedge rows were trimmed with the greatest exactness; they are the most perfect fence that can be imagined, being at once impervious to small animals and impassable by large ones—incapable of being pulled up- overthrown or disordered, and, for many years needing no repair; they also form a most beautiful feature in the scenery of the country, especially when they are filled by flowers which is more or less the fact very generally; the fields are a rich garment, and the hedge rows form the em- broidered edge or border. In some instances, the hedge rows are placed on mounds or dykes of earth, which in general, would form a competent enclosure of themselves, especially as they are accompanied by ditches out of which the earth which formed them has been taken. In many instances, and especially in the vicinity of gentlemen's houses, these mounds or dykes are sodded with great ex- actness, so that the verdure is as perfect on their almost perpendicular sides as in the fields, and when upon the top of these rural parapets, the fine hedge row rises, trimmed with perfect precision, and forming the most elegant green fringe, it is scarcely possible to imagine any thing of the kind more gratifying. Around some plantations, the mound and hedge row together, estimating from the bot- tom of the ditch, form a fence of ten or twelve feet in height. Li A A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN Our companions were social, and we found that the cir- cumstance of being shut up in the same coach, enabled us to dispense with the formalities of introduction. As we now had no reasons for concealing our origin, we avowed ourselves to be Americans and made the circumstance of our being strangers in the country, the reason for asking numerous questions; they were answered with readiness and*civility, anil conversation flowed without interruption. Lancashire is a fine country for grass and cattle. Its dray-horses are animals of stupendous size; they are per- fectly black, very fat, and rarely move faster than a walk. The carts in Liverpool are drawn by horses of this de- scription, and one of them was imported into Connecticut a few years ago, for the sake of improving our own dray breed, but I believe the experiment did not succeed, as our climate appears not well adapted to so corpulent an animal. MANCHESTER. May 12.—It being the Sabbath, we wandered out to find a church, and by chance came to the old Cathedral, where an attendant, an old man, dressed in a kind of uni- form of blue and red, conducted us to a seat in the gallery, as we were strangers, and had no claim to any more hon- ourable place. The preacher was a young man, who seemed very intent on exhibiting "his own fair form and just propor- tion." His sermon was a kind of discursive historical essay on the temporary apostacy of St. Peter; it had very little the- ology in it of any kind. He had, however, one merit which his appearance would not have led one to expect, that of ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 95 being superior to the desire of flattering at least one half of his audience ; for he remarked, that St. Peter, was con- founded by the question of a maid servant, nay intimidated by a look from a woman. This church was well filled, and the greater part appeared to be poor people. ENGLISH HOSPITALITY. Having as yet been in England only a few days, my curiosity, as you may well suppose is active, and constant- ly employed, in comparing the manners of this old coun- try with those of the very young one of which we are na- tives. The comparisons of travellers, and their general conclusions, are however always liable to error, because they judge from a limited view of the subject; the present instance furnishes the hint, and is too apt to form the basis of the conclusion. General inductions are always danger- ous unless drawn from a great number of particulars.— For instance, I experienced a great degree of rudeness from the Mayor of Liverpool, which produced an impres- sion unfavourable to the good manners of the magistracy of England, but the very next magistrate with whom I be- came conversant, effaced this impression, and produced the opposite ; it is highly probable that both impressions were erroneous, and that English magistrates are much like those of other countries, rude, indifferent, or polite, according to the particular character and humour of the man. In recording a. fact, however, there cannot be any danger of error, and it gives me pleasure to relate an in- stance of frank hospitality received by my companion and myself, without the smallest claim to it, and with the haz- ard which always attends the bestowing of confidence, in advance, upon a stranger. Mr. T-----, a respectable 96 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN" merchant of Manchester, was our stage coach companion from Liverpool, and soon discovered himself to be so in- telligent a man that we were prompted to make such in- quiries as proved us to be foreigners. On our arrival at Manchester, Mr. T-----gave us his address, requested us to call upon him, and promised to show us the curiosities of the town. Accordingly we called, and were introduced into an intelligent and agreeable family, whose cordial manners gave us confidence to accept the offer of their hospitality. We took tea with them, and would have withdrawn at an early hour, had not their kindness exceed- ed our diffidence, and induced us to spend the evening.— We found that our newly acquired friend was not merely a man of business. He had a literary turn, which was evinced by a judicious collection of ancient coins, maps and books, principally historical. He had an atlas of American maps, and made me point out the very spot of my residence when at home. Among his coins were sev- eral of the Roman emperors, and of the republic. On one of the coins of the republic, was the story of Romulus and Remus, sucking the wolf; the boldness of the relief was very little impaired by time. He had also some Saxon coins which, although rude, were interesting. In the mean time, Dr. T-----, the father of the gentle- man to whose politeness we had been so much indebted, returned from a tour of professional duty, (for he was a physician) and insisted on our staying to supper. Our host entertained us with all the kindness of friendship, and in the midst of convivial freedom, we forgot that we were strangers. The glass circulated cheerfully but moderately, and we felt grateful to the country whose inhabitants treated us with such gratuitous hospitality. We found ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 97 that Dr. T-----was a North Briton, and had been a warm friend to the American revolution. The conversation turned upon its most interesting scenes, and the whole fam- ily were warm in their praises of Washington. In such so- ciety it was no difficult thing to detain us till a late hour. and when we took our leave, it was with warm solicitations that we would repeat our visit. ANTIQUITIES, INSTITUTIONS, he. May 13.—Under the guidance of Mr. T-----we have visited the college of Manchester. The building is an an- cient monastery, now appropriated to the education of eighty poor boys, who remain here only till they are four- teen years old, and are then apprenticed to various useful employments. The college contains a valuable library of fifteen thou- sand volumes ; we were not however permitted to take any books down, as they were all defended by a lattice of wire. There is also a small collection of curiosities, and among these, they shewed us Cromwell's shot-bag and sword; the protector was doubtless well furnished with swords, for I have seen one in America which was shewn as his. The boys of this institution are dressed in the garb of the sixteenth century, which is a kind of petticoat of blue coarse cloth with a leather belt, around the waist. They wear also a cap, and a short jacket of the same materials. The venerable edifice which they inhabit, was once the abode of those deluded beings who mistake seclusion for innocence and austerity for piety. It is situated on the very place where the Romans had a summer station. On die other side of the town are the remains of a formidable camp belonging to the same warlike people ; the walls are VOL. I. 9 93 A JOURNAL OF TRAVEL* IN in some places tolerably entire, and every where they are sufficiently distinct to mark the extent of the camp, which enclosed about twelve acres. I broke off a piece of the cement, which at a future day I may have the pleasure of shewing you, for we have no Roman ruins in America. Near the college is the old collegiate church. It was erected in the fifteenth century, and is a very venerable remnant of Gothic architecture. I shall not trouble you with a particular account of the tombs which it contains of ancient nobility; of its rude carvings and statues, which set all gravity at defiance; nor of its grotesque tapestry, nor of the ludicrous exhibition of seraphs playing on fid- dles. The effect of the whole is nevertheless very solemn, and it needs no great effort of the imagination to fancy ones-self transported back to the period of the seventh Henry. Over the altar are suspended the colours of the seventy-second regiment, a part of the army that so bravely and successfully defended Gibraltar, under General Elliot. The regiment was raised in Manchester, and on their re- turn, they deposited in this church, the banners under which they fought. It suffered much during the civil wars, being then in the centre of a fortress, which was besieged by the Earl of Derby; for Manchester was on the popular side. Mr. T---- pointed out the house in which Prince Charles, the Pretender, lodged in 1745, when he shook the throne of the house of Hanover. Manchester was warmly in his interest, and I saw the place in the public square, where the heads of some of the first gentlemen of the town, who had held commissions in the pretender's army, were stuck on poles, and their quarters suspended on hooks. For these and other similar barbarities, (for it ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 99 is mockery to call them wholesome examples of severity,) all North Britain, to this day, execrates the memory of the Duke of Cumberland, under whose orders these exhibi- tions were made. Treason is, undoubtedly, an enormous crime, but death is a sufficient punishment for any offence against society; and there is a dignity in justice that is dis- graced, by violations of a human form, which are equally atrocious and puerile. SCIENCE. It is no small gratification to find a taste for science in a great manufacturing town, where the acquisition of prop- erty is the very business of life. The philosophical soci- ety of Manchester has favored the world with several vol- umes of transactions, containing many important and in- teresting papers. Two philosophical men of considerable distinction reside here, Mr. William Henry, and Mr. John Dalton. I have had the pl*«urnd there, on the hills, but they were generally very rude and barren, cover- ed, for the most part, with a kind of brown heath, so thick and dark, that they appeared as if the fire had passed over them;—you can conceive of nothing more desolate than the aspect of these hills for miles. ''It is to be presuun ed that Dr. Johnson never travelled here, or he would not have discovered so much spleen at the nakedness of the Scottivli mountains. The vallies among these hills were, with few excep- tions, fertile, and, in many places, the heights were all white with heaps of lime, placed on them as a manure.— The roads were generally good, but, for a few miles along the canal, they were indiffhent. Between eight and nine o'clock, we arrived at Buxton, which is just within the limits of Derbyshire, at the the distance of twenty two and a half miles from Manchester. r EXCURSION TO THE PF.AK. Finding that Buxton would be an advantageous point of departure, in my contemplated excursion to the Peak of Derbyshire, I deposited my baggage at the inn, relinquish- ed my seat in the stage, which was going forward to Derby, mounted a horse at ten o'clock in the moraine, and set for- ward, on a little journey from which I expected much grat- ification. I had long wished to explore some of those dark recesses, where the Creator has hidden the treasures of ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 113 the mineral kingdom, and to see, with my own eyes, the arrangement of strata, the position of spars and crystals, and the natural state of the metallic veins. I had the advantage of a delightful day, and with an empty portmanteau, to bring back any interesting things which I might find in the mines, I commenced my solitary journey. My road was over a very hilly country, and af- ter passing the hamlet of Fairfield, the hills became more frequent, steep and lofty. The way was circuitous, wind- ing in spirals, around the hills, most of which were too steep to admit of a direct ascent. In one place the path led me along the edge of a precipice, which formed one side of a deep gulf between two mountains;—a fence sep- arated me from the verge of this abrupt valley, which was one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet deep, and wound its way along between the mountains, to a great distance. I soon reached Tideswell, a considerable village in a charming vale. I was astonished to see, in this secluded spot, a magnificent Gothic church, in fine preservation.— It was built in the middle of the fourteenth century, and promises to survive many more modern structures. This church, with all the houses in the town, and in- deed, all the houses for many miles around, is constructed of limestone. At Tideswell, the country people were assembled at a fair;—a multitude of swine were collected in a particular part of the village, and, on inquiry, I found that they were the object of the meeting. As I advanced beyond Tides- well, I met numerous parties of the country people, dress- ed in their Sunday clothes, and going to attend the fair.__ 1 made a little conversation with several of them, and found them civil and obliging. They speak the language with 10* 114 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS J>N many peculiarities of pronunciation, and with a consideiar ble number of words which we never hear in America.—- Their dress was quite as decent as that worn on similar occasions by the same class of people with us, and their manners indicated cheerfulness and contentment. I had never seen any thing in my own country resembling the scenery which now surrounded me. Lofty hills, or rather mountains, appeared on every side, sloping with an ascent rather gentle than steep. They were barren, rude, and dreary, without a single shrub or tree, and divi- ded to the very summits by enclosures. They were free from rocks,—no hedges were to be seen,—but, every where, stone walls precisely like those which are so com- mon in New-England. Limestone is universally the ma- terial of the fences and houses ; it is dug out of these hills, which, with a vast tract of country around, appear to be founded upon this basis. After being burned, it is used as a manure, and many of the hills which I passed, were covered with it. On examining the fences, rocks and stones of the road, the limestone appeared universally fil- led with shells of marine origin. These shells are perfect- ly distinct, and lie imbedded in the solid lime stone, so that when one is knocked out, a perfect copy of its form is left in the cavity. Near the Peak the hills were every where pierced with pits, which, as I was informed by a man who was digging limestone, were lead mines. I dismounted to examine one. No person was there. The opening of the mine was down a perpendicular cavi- ty, walled up like a well, through which the people, imple- ments, and ore are conveyed in buckets, worked bv ma- chinery. A vast heap of rubbish was lying around the mouth cf the mine. Mounting my horse again, I soon ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 115 arrived at the summit of a hill, down which, as I descend- ed, an extensive valley, all green and fertile, formed a sur- prising and interesting contrast to the rude scenery on which I had now turned my back. I entered the valley not by the usual road, but by one farther east; this gave me a view of the village of Hope on my right, while Cas- tleton, the great object of my journey, appeared on my left. One of the first objects which struck me, on entering the valley, was an ancient castle, half broken down, and apparently tott.ringto its fall. It stands on one of the mountains, upon the very edge of a rock, of more than two hundred and fifty feet in perpendicular height.— There is no certain account of its origin. It is said to have been known to the Romans, under the name of Arx Diaboli, and among its ruins, Roman coins and utensils have been found. Its walls are of free stone, and as there is no stone of this description on the moun- tains, the castle must have been constructed with vast labour and expense, by raising the materials up the moun- tains from the valley below. The castle is now a venera- ble ruin, and gives a name to the village of Castleton, 116 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN No. VII—THE PEAK OF DERBYSHIRE. Castleton—The winding gate—Valley of Castleton and the sur- rounding mountains—Ancient fosse—Castle—Mam Tor—Its ruins—Anecdote—Peculiarity of language—Guides—Peak's Hole—Description of, and adventures in it—Humour of the guide—Owdin Mine—Miners—Their cheerfulness, hardships and dangers—Speedwell Mine—Subterraneous voyage—Won- derful cavern—Spar Mine—Descent into it—Return to Buxton —Geological remarks on the Peak of Derbyshire—Ebbing and flowing well—Contrivance to save labour—Singular want of curiosity. CASTLETON. The usual approach to Castleton is through a narrow passage between the mountains, called the winnetts or the winding gate. Although I did not enter the valley through this defile, I visited it during my stay in Castleton. When a traveller approaches the valley through the Winnetts, he finds himself, the moment before he discovers the vil- lage, winding down the hills, through a gap, where rude and broken rocks overhang the road, and a little way ahead, seem to cross the path, and bar it up, completely. While he is engaged in contemplating a scene where every thing is wild, rude and forbidding, and affords no plea- sure, except from the contemplation of grandeur, all of a sudden, the valley breaks upon his view, like a fine scene at the rising of the curtain. In the nearest part of the picture, Castleton appears at the foot of a mountain, which Is one of a great number thaf surround the valley. The form of the vallej is that of an obtuse ellipse, and its diameter is three or four miles. Some of the moun- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 117" tains are barren, but most of them are verdant to the very top, and fences slope from their summits down their sides, and are continued across the valley, dividing it into rec- tangular fields. The appearance of these fields is the most eminently beautiful, just where the steepness of the mountain declines into a rapid slope, immediately before they terminate in the plain. In those places the fields seem as if rising up to meet you. Excepting the craggy passage at the Winnetts, and a few other similar openings, the surfa^ of the mountains is almost free from rocks, and equally destitute of trees.— The collection of mountains of which I am now speaking, with all the rest in this northern part of Derbyshire, is called the Peak of Derbyshire. It is a common mistake to suppose that there is some one high mountain, bearing this name, by way of distinction. Running along the sides, and on and near the tops of the mountains, is a deep fosse with a rampart, extending sev- eral miles; it is said even to cross the valley, and it may be distinctly perceived, going on to the castle ; it is inter- rupted by chasms in the mountains, and its origin remains to this time uncertain : in all probability it was a military work. Another thing which strikes one very agreeably in this general survey, is'the number of sheep, horses and black cattle, which are seen grazing on the sides of the moun- tains, even whore they are so steep that the animals seem rather to adhere to the hills by their sides, than to be standing on their feet. The sheep are the most adventur- ous and persevereing, in graziag upon these steep declivi- ties, and it was curious to obsen^: how, in the long pro- gress of time, they had by constant treading, formed a sue- 118 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS EN cession of parallel paths, running round the hills in the manner of a belt, and continued at the distance of two or three feet, quite to their tops; so as, on the whole, to form a tolerably regular succession of steps. The same thing had been effected by the larger cattle, where the hills were less steep. Immediately after you have discovered the valley when entering it by the Winnetts, you perceive Mam Tor, very near on the left. This appellation is|pf Saxon origin. This mountain has a singular appearance. It is sup- posed, that at some period of remote antiquity, it divided, probably all on a sudden, with a fissure, beginning at the summit, and proceeding to the bottom, in a direction near- ly perpendicular, and that thus, the front of the mountain fell down into the valley, overwhelming every thing below in its ruins. This conclusion is founded on the fact that the side of the mountain next to the valley exhibits a per- pendicular section of bare rock and earth, exposing all the strata, with great regularity, and, for a long way below the mountains, its ruins are to be seen lying in vast heaps. Under these ruins, at the depth of three hundred leet, trees, in a perfect state of preservation, have been dug up by the miners : there can be little doubt that they were bmied at the time when the side of the mountain fell. And to this moment, whenever severe frosts, heavy rains and violent winds occur, the mountain, in the forcible lan- guage of the village miners, shivers; and new quantities of decomposed rock and earth fall into the valley. Hence its very expressive appellation of the shivering mountain. An old man, belonging to the village, told me that as a party of gentlemen were coursing, one day, on Mam Tor,. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 119 the hare which they were pursuing, being closely urged by the dogs, leaped down the tremendous precipice; the dogs had too much spirit not to follow, and all were dash- ed to pieces. " I had a pair of gloves," (said the old man) " made of the skin of that hare." The top of Mam Tor is asserted to be thirteen hundred feet above the level of the valley. The other mountains as well as Mam Tor are known by particular names. The old man whom I have just mentioned, had one pe- culiarity of expression which I heard frequently in Castle- ton. Instead of saying lord such an one owns this field, he would say lord such an one belongs this field. This is one instance among very many peculiarities of language which I observed among the peasantry of Derbyshire. I had however no serious difficulty in understanding them, although they used many words perfectly local and pro- vincial. Castleton is an inconsiderable village, but the great number of strangers who constantly resort to it, attracted by the curiosities of the Peak, enable it to maintain a very good inn, known by the name of the Castle-Inn. At this house I obtained every refreshment, rendered necessary by a ride of twelve miles from Buxton, and after dinner, pre- pared to survey the wonders of the valley. It is not the happy valley of Abyssinia, where ingenuity strives to add fresh charms to gaiety, and to renew the at- tractions of repeated pleasures; but the contest here is, who shall most enhance the horrors of frightful caverns, and magnify the wonders which are found amidst the trick- ling of incessant subterranean showers, and the gloom of ■everlasting darkness. 5^20 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN There are guides who make it their business to conduct strangers into these scenes ; and there is a distinct guide for each curiosity. THE PEAK'S HOLE. Having procured the proper guide, I went first to see the famous Peak's hole. As we approached this wonder- ful cavern, we crossed a bridge over a rivulet, which is- sues from the mouth of the cave ; this mouth is at the bot- tom of a perpendicular rock, that forms part of the front of the mountain. The form of this part of the mountain is like that of a book set on end, and half opened, the back oftlie book being from the observer. Near the angle is the mouth of the cavern. As we proceeded into the fis- sure, I looked up these rocky walls, and saw the old castle at a giddy height, apparently threatening to fall. The guide pointed out several veins of lead. The entrance into the cavern passes close under the right side of the two precipices, which meeting at an acute angle, form the fis- sure in the mountain. Impressions of sublimity are pro- duced by looking up this precipice of two hundred and fif- ty feet, perpendicular height, and a kind of horror is ad- ded to the place by numerous jackdaws, which build their nests in the crevices, and find in these inaccessible cliffs a secure retreat; they were continually flying, in a black cloud, around the rocks, and disturbing the air with their croaking. These rocks are lime stone, filled with marine exuviae. We now entered the cavern. It opens with a grand arch, almost mathematically regular, but the abut- ment on the left is considerably lower than that on the right. This arch is one hundred and twenty feet wide, and seventy feet high, reckoning from the level of the abut- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 121 ment on the left. Under this magnificent portico, we en- tered the first cavern, which is one hundred and eighty feet long, the arch falling a little towards the farther end. I was surprised to find the cavern inhabited. A number of poor women and children carry on here a manufacture of cord and twine, and some of them live here permanent- ly in small huts, sheltered by the impending mountain. Having arrived at the end of this first cavern, I looked back with feelings of awe and solemnity, not unmixed with something very much like dread. This cavern is only a continuation of the great arch at the entrance, falling as it recedes from the light, of which there is however, enough to enable one to see the whole of it, and to make him re- alize that a mountain is over his head. This arched roof, being of lime stone, abounds with calcareous concretions, and a remarkable one was pointed out, which, from its form, and the manner in which it depends from the roof, is called the Flitch of Bacon. The end of the cavern is so much contracted in its di- mensions, that it has been completely closed up, by an ar- tificial wall, where there is a door, of which the guide has the key. The wall and door are intended to exclude im- pertinent visitors, and to secure to the guide the exclusive privilege of conducting strangers through the place. My guide now took several lighted candles in his hands, and gave me one. He then disclosed the entrance of his infernal dominion; not with all that "impetuous recoil and jarring sound," which once " grated harsh thunder" to " the lowest bottom of Erebus," but with as much pomp as might be supposed to attend the opening of a door of rough boards, moving, reluctantly, on creaking hinges. VOL. I. '11 122 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN After entering the door, the passage became narrow and low, and we proceeded, stooping, till we arrived in a place called the Bell House, from some resemblance be- tween its form and that of a bell. Beyond this, the cavern became again low and narrow, till it was almost closed, leaving only a small orifice of about three feet diameter. Here the rivulet, which we had followed up from the mouth of the cave, spread into a lit- tle lake, occupying the whole of the bottom of the cavern. But we were not stopped ; there was a ferry boat all ready. The bottom of it was spread with clean straw, and by the direction of my guide I got into it, and lay down flat on my back. My guide stepped into the water up to his knees, and pushed the boat before him through the narrow aper- ture, which was merely high enough to permit the boat to pass, and the guide to crawl after it. It would be impos- sible for one to pass if sitting up in the boat. It required no very vivid imagination, nor much familiarity with clas- sical literature, to find in this adventure the Charon, Styx, and Avernus of poetical fable. We had now arrived in a new cavern, much larger and more majestic than any which we had yet seen. A flood of light was necessary to render it all visible, for it was one hundred and twenty feet high, two hundred broad, and two hundred and fifty feet long. Its walls were lime stone, filled as before with shells. Crossing the rivulet on step- ping stones, we next found ourselves in a smaller cavern, which, on account of the constant exudation of water from the roof, is called Roger Rain's House. A large cavern, called the Chancel, came next. Its ap- pearance was broken and rude, and the lights discovered some stalactites. When the guide has notice that a party ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 123 is coming to view the cavern, he causes a piece of decep- tion to be played off in the Chancel, which I, being a sol- itary stranger, had not the pleasure of witnessing. When the party arrive in this cavern, they are, all on a sudden, astonished and confounded, at hearing from the roof of this solitary mansion, which, a moment before, was dark as midnight, and silent as the tombs, an instantaneous • burst of human voices, multiplied by a thousand echoes. While they are, in vain, looking for the cause of this seem- ing enchantment, a blaze of light from the roof of the cav- ern discovers a number of figures in white, singing and bearing torches in their hands. Those who are not in the secret, are almost persuaded that they are in an enchant- ed cave, where the scenes of romance and fable have real existence. The delusion vanishes, however, when they are informed, that a number of people from the village, equipped on purpose, have gone up a secret passage-to the roof of the Chancel, with concealed lights, which, at the concerted moment, they suddenly produce. We travelled on to a fissure in the rock, called the Dev- il's Cellar, and, after descending gradually one hundred and fifty feet, we came to the half way house. The roof now assumed greater regularity; three parallel arches were in view, and, beyond these, a cavern like a bell, call- ed Tom of Lincoln. Proceeding, we found the cavern very various both in height and breadth; the rivulet ap- peared perfectly transparent, and its bed was white with calcareous spar, brought down and rounded by the wa- ter. At length we reached the end of this grand subterranean wonder; its whole length is two thousand two hundred and fifty feet, or nearly half a mile. 124 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN My guide assured me that he had put pieces of bark into a particular water four miles from this place, and had found them afterwards floating down this rivulet, whence he concluded that there was a subterranean connection. He was very intelligent, extremely attentive to my safety, and although an unlettered man, had no small share of humour. He entertained me with an account of distinguished per- sons who had visited the cavern in his time, among whom he named Dr. Solander, Sir Joseph Banks, and the Prince «f Wales. I inquired whether ladies ever visited the cave ? He replied, " O yes ! two ladies to one gentleman !" " Ah, how is that ?—Have the ladies more curiosity, or more courage than the gentlemen ?" " I don't know; the ladies have a deal of curiosity /" I then asked him whether he was afraid the French would come ? He answered, " No ; but I wish I had Bo- naparte in my power." " What would you do with him ?" "I would chain him at the end of my cavern, and keep him for a sight: I should then have visitors enough." We now retraced our steps. I was again laid in the lit- tle boat, and ferried through the narrow passage;—we travelled back as fast as we could with safety, and with candles burnt down to our fingers, again reached the wood- en door, and opening it, I beheld the light, with a little se- cret joy, which, had I been questioned, I might have been too stout-hearted to acknowledge. We returned to the village ; and, having procured an- other guide, I went, in a heavy rain, nearly a mile on foot, to see the most ancient and productive lead mine in Great Britain. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 12J THE OWDIN MINE, to which I allude, is believed to have been wrought by the Romans and Saxons. However this may be, the enor- mous mass of rubbish, collected near its mouth, demon- strates that it has been worked for a very long period. It is situated near the foot of Mam Tor. The first thing that attracted my attention on entering the small huts around the mine, was the beating of the ore. This is performed by women ; they break it to pieces with a kind of mallet; it is then sifted, washed, and sent away to be smelted. My guide conducted me into his ward-robe, where I put on a miner's dress. It consisted of an old tow-cloth pair of breeches, coarse and dirty; a woollen short jacket in the same condition, and an old hat, with the brim all cut off, except three or four inches, and that turned behind. With a lighted candle stuck into a piece of clay, I now followed my guide into these dark, damp and solitary re- gions. He carried a lighted candle in his hand, and two more were suspended from his neck. The mine opens into the side of the mountain, between two walls of lime stone ; the entrance is about two feet wide and five feet high. Of course we went in, stooping, and with very little room to spare on either side. In this maimer we proceeded through a passage always narrow, and varying in breadth according to the breadth of the vein. The descent was gradual, and the bottom of the passage being every where deep, with mud and water, was rendered somewhat more practicable, by boards and timber, which were, however, generally buried in the mire. 11* 120 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN We went forward, stooping ;—sometimes almost creep- ing, and often through passages so narrow, that it was ne- cessary to go sideways. Over our heads was a flooring of boards laid on wooden rafters, to support the loose earth and stones : from this roof the water was every where dropping and trickling down the walls, so that we were kept constantly wet. Our path frequently led us over pits sunk forty or fifty feet, like wells, down to another gallery, similar to that in which we now were. Through this lower gallery the wa- ter of the mine runs off. Some care was of course neces- sary, in passing by these shafts, lest we should step into them ; but they are generally in some measure covered with boards. In this manner we travelled on half a mile into the bowels of a mountain. VV n. u we had reached the end of our journey, we as- cended into a great cavern, which they had excavated to the distance of forty feet above our heads. The ascent ris by means of timbers fixed in the crevices of the rock, „Ke the rounds of a ladder. Here 1 took hold of the pick axe. >aid that these articles are worth from eight to ten mill- 16* 186 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ions of dollars, independently of several particular jewels whose value is very great. It is not easy perhaps to form a correct idea of the appearance of the regalia, without seeing them, but when it is considered that the gems are set in gold, not of the pale colour of the trinkets of the jewellers, which are half copper, but of the deep yellow hue which is characteristic of gold, it will easily be conceived that the resplendent white of the pearl, the fine blue of the sapphire, the beau- tiful grass green of the emerald, the rich yellow of the topaz, the deep red of the ruby, and above all the clear transparency and unrivalled splendor of the diamond, must afford an exhibition of magnificence and beauty not to be surpassed by any object of nature or art. Since the famous attempt of Colonel Blood, to carry off the imperial crown in the reign of king Charles II. in which attempt he was frustrated by the courage and ac- tivity of Mr. Edwards, keeper oftlie regalia, a very old but intrepid man, I believe the crowns and other articles of the regalia which are occasionally wanted at Westmin- ster, are carried thither privately, in a common hackney coach, without any parade, or any circumstance whatever which may serve to distinguish the transaction. The king and prince of Wales array themselves in the palace of Whitehall before proceeding to the parliament house, and when they return, the crowns are carried back to the tow- er in the same private manner as they were brought thith- er, the distance is about three miles. The mint, which, with the liouses for its officers, oc- cupies one third of the tower, we were not permitted to see. England, Holland and Scotland. 187 You will wonder perhaps that I have said nothing of the wild beasts, for, from our infancy, in America we hear so much of the lions confined in the tower that we never think of it without this association. We did not pass them over. They are confined in dens in an open yard; an image of a lion is over the entrance, and a bell calls the keeper. The dens are furnished with strong iron gratings; they are spacious and cleanly ; each den is di- vided into two apartments, one beneath, in which the ani- mals sleep at night, and the other above, where they re- main during the day. The beasts are generally healthy, notwithstanding their confinement, and appear more active and lively than one would expect to find them. The principal animals which we saw were lions and lionesses, leopards, panthers, tygers, bears, wolves, hyenas, and racoons. There was a white polar bear of astonish- ing size, and untameable ferocity. When the keeper pointed a stick at him, he flew at the bars with incredible fierceness, rose upon his hind legs (for the dens are lofty) and threw open such a mouth as made me shudder. He had very large and strong teeth, and might have embrac- ed the body of a middle sized man within his fangs. A beautiful black leopardess attracted my particular atten- tion. Her form was exceedingly delicate and elegant, and although black, her skin was distinguished by spots of a still deeper black. She was from the coast of Mala- bar. Some of the animals were very tame, particularly a fine tyger which had contracted an intimate friendship with a little dog. There was one old liou whose mane was full grown; his appearance was truly majestic, but, it is a remarkable fact that two lionesses which were whelped in the tower, 188 A journal ok travels in are the fiercest animals there, while most of the lions which were taken wild are quite tame. The most beautiful and at the same time maje. tic ani- mal which we saw, was the royal tyger of Bengal. His skin is superbly variegated, with yellow and black, and his form is more graceful and majestic, and better adapted to strength and activity than that of the lion. The palm, I am sensible, has been usually, but 1 think unjustly, given to the lion. Perhaps it is not easy to say why a menagerie should be considered as an indispensable appendage of royalty. One can discern, it is true, a kind of allegorical allusion to dominion, in the character of the monarch oftlie forest, but it will not do to follow up the similitude, for here he is ingloriously caged, deprived of all liberty, as well as dominion, and even exhibited as a show; a miserable plight for a monarch. Still less can one see why inferior animals, distinguished only for ferocity, cunning or ludi- crous feats, should be included in the catalogue, for, till lately, even a number of monkeys, those disgusting cari- catures of the human form, were kept in the yard, and suf- fered to go at large, till they were removed by his majes- ty's command, one of them having attacked and lacerated a boy. Such collections are however so gratifying to cu- riosity, and so instructive to those who study natural his- tory, that every one must approve of the practice of form- ing them. On leaving the tower, one of us was required to write his name and address in a book, for the obvious reason of creating a responsibility in case any thing should be mis- sing. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 189 INCIDENTS. Ever since I arrived in London, I have been occupied more or less, from day to day, in delivering my remaining letters of introduction, and in receiving and making the consequent calls. Details of this kind cannot be very gratifying to you, I therefore pass them lightly over, re- serving the mention of any interesting circumstances which they may produce for the period when they shall occur. In delivering a particular letter of introduction to- day, at Paddington Green, a village in the vicinity of Lon- don, on the North-west, 1 met with a little embarrass- ment. I had come all the way, more than two miles, on purpose, and was duly admitted by the porter, when lo ! on putting my hand into my pocket, I could not find any letter. It was in vain that I examined every part of my dress, no letter was to be found. There I was, in the hall of a great man's house, while the porter stood waiting my commands, and I had none to offer. To go in was im- possible, and to retreat was not easy, but I left my card and an apology, with the servant, and made the best of my way home, regretting that imperfection of our natures, which, while we are bent on accomplishing an interesting object, suffers us to forget the necessary means of attain- ing it. On the road to Paddington, Hyde Park came in my way and 1 stopped a few moments, to see the volunteer regiments which were passing under review. I should imagine there were about two thousand men; the day was fine, their arms glittered in the sun, and their whole appearance was splendid. These are a part of the men who are pledged to meet Napoleon whenever he may arrive. 190 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS iS May 26, Sunday.—Not having as yet formed an ac- quaintance with any one, by whose means I might be con- ducted to church, I went alone, at the hour of morning service, to St. Margaret's Chapel. Being aware that London Churches are not famous for civility to strangers, I entered with a sixpence in my hand, intending to give it to the door keeper to procure me a seat should none be offered. I could find no attendant, and stood for some time in the alley, looking for some one to offer me a seat in one of the numerous pews which were either partially jor wholly empty; numbers saw me, but no one troubled himself about the stranger, and after standing among the footmen and servants, till I was tired, I withdrew. At Oxford I was similarly situated, and finally went and sat, through the service, among the servants under the pulpit. The pews, at least in London, are generally locked when unoccupied, so that a stranger cannot intrude, if he would. I attempted to obtain a seat at another church this morn- ing, but with no better success. I fell in with a regiment of soldiers marching out of the park, fully equipped and dressed, and with martial music. Indeed this seems to be a favourite day for military exercise; for, wherever I have been on this day in England, I have not failed to see mili- tary spectacles. A HOSPITAL. May 27-—There are a number of fine hospital estab- lishments in London, and although they are interesting prin- cipally to medical men, I shall occasionally visit them among the various objects of interest and curiosity which this vast metropolis presents. KNGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 191 I have been this morning to one of the minor hos- pitals under the auspicies of a physician, of great note, both at home and abroad. Through his civility, I saw every part of the establishment, which however, I think decidedly inferior, to the hospitals of Philadelphia and New-York, both in extent of accommodations, and in cleanliness. Dr. -------was so polite as to request me to walk around with him to hear his prescriptions.— They were, no doubt, wise and proper, because they were given by a man of experience, talent, and skill, but they were wonderfully rapid and peremptory. If the Dr. pre- scribed melted lead, melted lead, it must be. Why, cried the Dr. (calling aloud to the head nurse,) " why is not that man's head shaved ?—(the man had an eruptive com- plaint.) " Because sir he does not choose to have it."— " I tell you to have his head shaved immediately—and I tell you, (turning to the patient) if I see you about to- morrow, without your head shaved, I will have you put into strait jacket." It was receiving and prescribing day for the poor, and the genius of Crabbe* alone could do justice to the un- feeling precipitancy with which these poor sufferers were disposed of. The Dr. was seated at a table, in a large hall, with the house apothecary in attendance. The door was opened, and an attendant ushered in, a crowd of un- happy people, bowing under many forms of decrepitude and disease. The Dr. called them to him, one by one, and demanded their names and complaints; the former were taken down, but, the latter, I am persuaded could * See his poem on the country poor house ; like most of his poems it lacks refinement but presents a wonderful likeness te real life. 1818. 192 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN hardly have been heard at all; for the miserable speaker had scarcely begun, (with that minuteness and fidelity, which all observe, when their bodily sufferings are the sub- ject of narration) to relate his complaints, when the Dr. sometimes inspecting the tongue and feeling the pulse, and sometimes not, would cut them short with a prescrip- tion, and the apothecary received the irrevocable mandate to sweat or vomit, bleed or blister, starve or stimulate as the case might be, and it was in vain, that the patient sometimes protested against the treatment, as not adapted to his case, because he could not bear it, or the Dr. had not understood him; the remonstrance was ended by a loud call for " the next," and thus, in half an hour, a score or two of people were done up, and the Dr. hastened to his coach to perform the tour of London, and prescribe for patients of a higher order. I do not say that he did not do all that the case admitted of; his dispatch was truly admirable, and with such rapid firing, no doubt he must sometimes have hit the mark, but, who, putting it to his own case, would not prefer the kind considerate prescription of any experienced person, even an old woman, if you please, to such giddy haste, however scientific and learned. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. It is not many years since a missionary society was formed in London, for the conversion of the heathen to Christianity. Amid the confusion and distractions of war and politics, and the engagements of commerce and business and pleasure, there are men in this hurried capital, who find time to think of the heathen, and are willing for their good to contribute both of their time and money.— ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 193 Through th institution—Restrictions imposed on foreigners there—Rude- ness of some of its officers—YYeslminster Abbey—Its solemnity and grandeur—Monuments and inscriptions—Difference of the ancient and modern taste—Incidents—Pidcock's .Menagerie. ADELPHI. May 28.—By the attention of a friend I received a tick- et entitling me to attend the distribution of prizes at the rooms of the Adelphi. At 11 o'clock I repaired to the splendid apartment, where every year they make a public distribution of prizes to those who have distinguished them- selves most, in the cultivation oftlie fine or useful arts, for the encouragement of which their society was instituted. Their rewards are not confined to the elegant arts of paint- ing and sculpture, but are conferred equally on the in- ventors and improvers of the most humble machines and contrivances for facilitating the most common operations of life. For instance, I saw a machine at'the Adelphi, for enabling shoemakers to stand at their work, by which means they may be relieved from the painful and in- jurious confinement in which they are now compelled to sit. I derived very little satisfaction from my visit, for the apartments were already so thronged with fashionable people, and with strangers of all ranks, from the Russian ambassador down, that after struggling a long time in mak- ing my way into a crowded passage, and after being there pushed, elbowed and pressed, on every side, for an hour, 1 196 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN found that I was still no nearer to entering the door than at first. I obtained only a very imperfect view of the fine paintings which adorned the walls, and witnessed abso- lutely nothing of the ceremonies of the day, except the pleasure of a fashionable squeeze, from which, although I had the honor of being shoved by lord and lady, I was sincerely glad to make my escape. I saw more beautiful women here than I had seen any where else in England. ALIEN OFFICE. Two or three days after my arrival in London, I went lo the alien office, and presented the credentials with which I was furnished at Liverpool. The alien office is of recent establishment, and was instituted in consequence oftlie abuse of the almost unrestrained liberty which for- eigners had, till then enjoyed in England. It is said that some French emissaries were detected in surveying the principal ports, and in other machinations against the safety of the country. In consequence of this, foreigners of every description are now registered at the alien office in Crown-street, Westminster, and the government pos- sesses a history of them from the moment of their arrival till their departure out of the kingdom. On making my appearance at the office, I was reprimanded in the first instance, for having remained several days in London without reporting myself. I made such excuses however as were accepted ; and after writing in a book which they gave me, my name, profession, age, place of nativity and residence in America, business and views in England, and in short, every circumstance which was necessary to ex- hibit a succinct history of myself, I was next directed, for ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 197 ensuring my good behaviour, to name sponsors residing in London. I was then dismissed on sufferance only, and directed to call or send within two or three days, when I was promised a permission to reside. Accordingly, it be- ing inconvenient for me to go, I despatched a servant at the appointed time, who was sent back empty, and with a message that I must come myself. I have been there to- day, and found an angry endorsement upon the note which I had sent by the servant, the purport of which was, that I must not presume to send, but must come in person. I remonstrated on the impropriety of the censure, as they had themselves offered me the alternative, but I received only a very short answer, and indeed I might think my- self very fortunate in obtaining so soon my written permis- sion to reside, for persons are sometimes subjected to vex- atious delays at the alien office, and no class of people is so impatient of these delays, or of the rough treatment which sometimes attends them, as Americans. An Ame- rican gentleman of the first respectability, and of high standing in his own country, not long ago applied to the alien office for his license. He was kept for a long time, standing in a lobby, among a crowd of coarse people, till his patience was quite exhausted, and he remonstrated with one of the petty officers, alledging with much point and spirit, that he was a gentleman, and had not been ac- customed to usage of this kind. The officer heard him with much sang froid, and then very coolly ordered an attendant to turn him out of doors, which sentence was executed accordingly. The adventure was a subject of some mirth among the gentleman's American friends in London. It was only a strong instance of the kind of 17* 198 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN treatment which is too often experienced from the petty servants of the alien office. I am restricted to London and the country within thir- teen miles of it, for three months, with directions to com- municate every change of lodgings, and to apply for a re- newal of my license at the proper time, and for a permis- sion to travel whenever I shall go beyond my prescribed limits. Were it not however, for the inconvenience which might attend leaving the country, an American might, without danger, disregard all these petty regulations, be- cause, if he chooses to keep his own secret, he will never be known from an Englishman, and should he be found to be an American, nothing but the grossest indiscretion on his part, would induce any one to trouble him. Such are the mildest restrictions imposed on every for- eigner; it must be confessed they are not unreasonable, but strangers are not treated at the alien office with that mildness and lenity which becomes the character of the nation. There is a set of inferior officers who behave with rudeness, and exercise a sort of petty tyranny over those who are waiting for their favours. But so far as I have seen the superior officers, they have conducted with digni- ty and politeness, and although they ought not to be cen- sured for the rudeness of their substitutes, they ought to teach them better manners. The irritation of mind produced by the petty vexations of the alien office, was effectually removed by a visit to Westminster Abbey. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. In this venerated sanctuary of heroes, poets, orators and kings, I lingered nearly two hours among the monu- 1"\(.LAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 199 inents of princes and illustrious men, whose virtues and talents relieve the painful gloom of history with here and there a luminous spot. Do not suspect me of affectation in this matter, when I declare to you, that I never was in so solemn a place. The combined effect of this master piece of Gothic architecture, and of the numerous monu- ments of the great, the celebrated and the good, whose ashes moulder here, fills the mind with melancholy, sublime, and awful, yet grateful and serene. Of this grand remnant of Gothic architecture, I shall not attempt a description. It would be useless without the aid of drawings, and there are prints of Westminster Abbey,* from which one may obtain a very correct idea of its external appearance, but nothing short of actual inspection can raise in the mind those con- ceptions of solemnity and grandeur, which it is impossible not to feel on entering this great asylum of the illustrious dead. When a boy, I was strongly impressed, by some of the papers of Addison, with a wish to behold Westmin- ster Abbey, and it was no small addition to my pleasure hpre, that I was contemplating the same objects which had long before excited in him, those reflections with which he has instructed and delighted mankind. Wesminster Ab- bey contains too many interesting things to admit of ade- quate description, within any moderate limits. I shall, without doubt, visit it again, but, in the mean time, I shall mention a few objects. The monument erected to the memory of Major Andre, although a small one, naturally attracted the attention of # Arkerman's (I think this is the aulhor's name) magnificent work on Westminster Abbey, will now supply every thin;; that can be desired, both in prints and description, and the same re- mark will apply equally to his no less splendid works on the two univerities. 1820. 200 A .JOURNAL OF TRA\ELS IN an American. I was gratified to see that the inscription contained no reflection on General Washington, notwith- standing the injurious aspersions which were so liberally thrown on his character at the time. Mow, I believe, he is universally allowed to have done only his duty. The monument, which is of white marble, exhibits an histori- cal sketch of the last scene of Andre's life. They are leading him to execution, and General Washington is rep- resented as refusing to receive a message which is at that moment brought him by a flag of truce from the English general. The countenances of the surrounding American officers are expressive oftlie deepest sympathy in the suf- ferings of the gallant victim; but it is well known that General Washington was not present at tin; execution. The mob have knocked off the heads of Andre, Wash- ington, and another American officer, which gives the monument a deformed appearance. In the Poet's Corner, among many other monuments, are those of Gay and Ben. Jonson.' I was much displeas- ed with the inscriptions upon them. On the latter is : " 0 rare Ben. Jonson !" On the former— " Life is a joke, and all things show it; I thought so once, but now I know it." Surely a sepulchral monument is the last place on which a witticism ought to appear. The chapel of King Henry VII. is a splendid piece of Gothic architecture. In 01 e niche of this chapel lie the coffins of a Spanis!) and a Savoyard ambassador, whose bodies, after death, were seized for debt, and having never ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 201 been redeemed by their friends, have lain here, uoburied ever since the reign of James II. For some purpose of state, the coffin of Edward I. was opened, about thirty years ago, and his body was found undecayed, retaining its form. The coffin has not been again deposited in the vault, but remains above ground. It is now however, closed. The exterior coffin is of stone. The ancient monuments, I mean chiefly those which are at least two or three centuries old, generally exhibit an image of the person whom they commemorate, lying at full length. Many of them are clad in suits of armour, with boots, helmets, and swords : they lie on their backs, and frequently the brave knight is attended by his faithful consort, who reposes by his side in all the stiff drapery of the age, rendered stiffer still by unskilful sculpture in mar- ble. Nothing can be more precise and gravely ludicrous than such an exhibition, and it required all the solemnity and pathos of the inscriptions to induce a proper gravity of thought. Indeed, it seems that the taste was altogether an erroneous one. Had they placed the knights on their feet, all armed cap-a-pie, it would have been a representa- tion of life, and the impression would have been a natural one. But what has the knight in armour to do on his back ? He cannot be supposed to be slain in combat, or reposing in the field of battle; still less in the bosom of his own castle, or even in the tomb, for knights are neither buried, nor do they go to bed in armour. The same kind of affectation is occasionally exhibited in the monuments of others, not distinguished by military appendages. There was a maid of honour who lost her life, in a former reign, by the puncture of a pin in her fin- ger. She is represented in marble, sitting upon her own 202 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN tomb, and raising her bleeding finger, as if to excite coin- passion, while she is looking at it, with a dismal expres- sion of pain and fear. The modern monuments are much more dignified ; they represent living men in natural attitudes and situations, and excite interest, sympathy, and impressions of solem- nity. Among these I was particularly pleased with the monu- ments of Lord Mansfield, Lord Chatham, General Wolfe, and Captain Montague. From these scenes 1 returned home, meditating on the vanity of human pursuits, the emptiness of sepulchral glory, and the poor rewards of fame, even when its object is enshrined in Westminster Abbey. London already begins to grow to a considerable de- gree familiar, and I now find my way from one part of the town to another without difficulty. But the place is huge- ly overgrown. If one has concerns of business, or engage- ments of civility of any considerable extent, the probabili- ty is, that he must travel eight or ten miles a day, and of- ten more. May 30.—London is justly renowned, all the world over, for its charitable institutions. As I was passing by St. Paul's this morning, I found no small difficulty in winding my way through an immense crowd, assembled around the church, to see the procession of the charity children, who, to the number of six or seven thousand, as- semble annually at St. Paul's, on the last Thursday of May. I met several companies of them dressed in uniform; they appeared neat, healthy, and cheerful, and were of both sexes, and generally under twelve years of age. I regretted that I had no means of procuring admission m ENGLAND, HOLL VND AND SCOTLAND. 203 the religious exercises of the day. It was a thing which money would not buy, and which 1 had no one to procure for me. On my way back, I stopped an hour at Pidcock's Me- nage in the Strand. This is by far the most extensive and interesting collection of living animals that I have ev- er seen. It exceeds that in the Tower. But it is impos- sible for me, my dear brother, to give any thing like a complete description oftlie various collections and curios- ities which every day brings to my notice. You would not have patience to read, nor have / time to write such long details. All that I can do is to connect with the his- tory of my life in this country, general notices of the inter- esting things which I see, with descriptions of such par- ticulars as strike me most forcibly. Even this will per- haps be tedious, but my apology must be, that my princi- pal motive for writing this journal, was to comply with your wishes, and to gratify a few other friends, whose af- fectionate partiality will induce them to overlook the una- voidable egotism of a performance, in which the writer must constantly speak of himself, if he would be faithful to the truth. One may, it is true, like Caesar, substitute the third person for the first, but this is a mere parade of modesty, and, in any man less famous than Caesar, would be justly considered as evincing the very thing which it would seek to hide. Among the large animals at Pidcock's, are two royal ti- gers from Bengal; a lion and a lioness; two large and fierce panthers from South America, elegantly spotted like the leopard; a hunting leopard or tiger from the East-Indies, a small but beautiful animal which is used by the Asiatic princes in hunting; it is said that they carry 204 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN them on the pommel of the saddle, from which they spring upon their prey, particularly the antelope. There were two hyenas, animals which no degree of kindness or fa- miliarity with man can at all soften from their native fero- city ; a nhyl-ghaw, a large animal resembling the elk in form, but having a head like that of a horse, except that it is crowned with horns. The elephant held the first rank in size. This animal was nearly nine feet high, and looks more like a huge rock than a living animal. It is wonderful with what ease he " wields his lithe proboscis." It answers him all the pur- poses of a hand, and as Buffon remarks, he carries his nose in the same organ, and thus unites touch, smell, and the power of grasping, all in one member. Without it he certainly could not subsist. I threw a small key among the straw on the floor, when, by the direction of his keep- er, he found it with his proboscis, and gave it to me. Being asked how many gentlemen there were in the room, he gave as many short breathings as corresponded to the number, and the same for the ladies ; in the same manner he told the ages of two children that were present;—he bolted and unbolted the doors, picked up my cane and gave it to me, took off the keeper's hat and put it on, thrust his proboscis into my waistcoat pocket, and took out a piece of money that was there, &c. Well might Mr. Pope call him " half reasoning elephant." Among the smaller animals were several kangaroos; they ha.e very short fore legs and very long hind ones, on which they stand erect, and one of them had been taught to box with his keeper, while in this attitude, and might have made a very tolerable pupil of Mendoza, with at least as much that was human about him. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. J05 There was a very great collection of monkeys and bab- oons ; but with this burlesque on the human form, I am always disgusted, and feel disposed to say, as the king of England, under the title of king oftlie Brobdinags, is rep- resented in a late caricature print, as saying of Bonaparte, under the character of Gulliver. The king, with an opera glass at his eye, looks intently at the little invader, whom he holds up between his thumb and finger, while he petu- lantly exclaims, " I am of opinion that it is a most odious little animal!" I must not omit to mention the little bull taken from the menagerie of Tippoo Saib, at Seringapatam. He is only two feet seven inches high, and is kept in a garret, around which he runs like a cat. No. XIV.—LONDON. Air. West—His sentiments on the progress of the fine arts—Anec- dote of the King and Mr. West—An excursion into the country —Singular whim of a Dutchman. Mil. WEST. May 31.—I dined to-day at the house of Mr. West. \t his table I unexpectedly met the author oftlie Vision of Columbus. Air. West is a venerable old man of 70. His head is white as snow, but he exhibits no other marks of age. He has much ease, affability, and simplicity of manners, with a kindness of deportment which enables one to be immediately unembarrassed in his society. His house is vol. i. 18 200 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN adorned with a profusion of fine pictures, but I did not take the liberty of inquiring which were his. I endeav- oured to draw hiin into conversation upon the subject of the fine arts, in one department of which, that of histori- cal painting, you know he has gained the first rank. He very obligingly yielded to my wishes, and gave me an in- teresting and instructive historical sketch of the rise and progress of the fine arts in England. With this subject he seemed to be perfectly acquainted. He dates their ori- gin from the time oftlie third Edward, and he enumerated the painters, architects, and sculptors, who had flourished in the different reigns. But, so little progress had these things made, even at the close of the reign of George II. when Mr. West came to England, that he declared the country was at that time almost destitute of the cultiva- tors of the fine arts;—more destitute in his opinion than \merica now is. But, he added, that England could now boast of more than three hundred distinguished paint- ers and sculptors. Along with this progress in the fine arts, he had traced a growing refinement and humanity in the manners of the people. Formerly, every young gen- tleman was obliged to learn boxing, to defend himself against the insults of the mob, which he was sure to re- ceive in walking the streets ; but now, there is universal decorum and civility in the manners of the lower ranks. He inquired concerning the state of society in America, and particularly of the progress of the fine arts. He thought that they had already attained a great degree of attention, considering the age of the country, and seemed very much gratified with the introduction of the plaster casts of the celebrated statues of antiquity, into New- York. He said he would not relinquish the idea of revis- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 20? iting his country, from which he had now been absent more than forty years, as he was prepared to be very much gratified in witnessing its improvement. He spoke very highly of young Mr. Malbonc of your town, and pronounced him to be, in his opinion, a first-rate minia- ture painter. Mr. West, you know, has long held a high rank in the favour and patronage of the king. As this patronage be- gan before the American war, it was natural to expect either that it would have been withdrawn when that crisis came on, or, that at least, all sympathy with his country- men must have been studiously concealed on the part of Mr. West. But, much to the credit of this gentleman and of his royal patron, no such disgraceful compliances were either conceded or required. I have heard an anec- dote on this subject, which ought to be mentioned for the honour of both parties. During the American war, Mr. West was employed at Windsor Castle, in painting an historical piece for his Majesty, who often attended in person to observe the pro- gress of the work. The etiquette of the court is, it seems. that no man speaks loud in his Majesty's presence, unless first spoken to by him;—all other conversation is con- ducted in whispers. The King was in the painting room, one morning, as usual, and a number of the courtiers were present, among whom was a particular nobleman, who had long been envious of Mr. West's high standing with the King, and was using every artifice to wound his fame. It happened that a gazette extraordinary had, that morn- ing, been sent down from London, giving an account of the battle of Cambden, in South Carolina. This, the no- bleman thought, would be a good opportunity to attack 203 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN Mr. West in presence of the King. Accordingly, with- out paying any regard to the propriety of the occasion, he addressed Mr. West in a loud voice, and a short dialogue ensued, in nearly the following terms. Mr. West, have you heard the news from town this morning ? No, sir. F have not seen the papers of to-day. Then, sir, let me inform you, that his Majesty's troops in South Carolina have gained a splendid victory over the rebels, your countrymen. This, I suppose, cannot be very pleasant news to you, Mr. West! Mr. WTest saw the snare that was laid for him, and de- termined that if he must die, he would/die like a man. He therefore replied—no, sir, this is not pleasant news to me, for I never can rejoire at the misfortunes of my coun- trymen. The King, who, till this moment, had not appeared to regard the conversation, now turned, and said to Mr. West —sir, that answer does you honour! and then immediate- ly addressing himself to the Lord, added—sir, let me tell you, that, in my opinion, any man who is capable of re- joicing in the calamities of his country, can never make a good subject of any government! Such sentiments as these are characteristic of a mag- nanimous and superior man, and must certainly go far to- wards invalidating unfavourable popular impressions con- cerning the present King of England. an p:xct RSION June I.—London, you know, is surrounded by villas and country seats, where the opulent citizens reside a greater or less part of the year. I have dined, to-dav, at ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 209 one of these beautiful places, about three miles from town, on the Kent road. It is the seat of Mr. Hardcastle, a wealthy merchant, the particular friend of our celebrated countryman Dr. Mason. I found Mr. Hardcastle walking in the grounds back of his house, in company with a young clergyman from Ireland. We had a large party at dinner. Among the ladies were several who were young and pret- ty, and whose features had much softness and delicacy of expression. Our circle, besides being distinguished for that elegance of manners and cultivation of mind which the first people of every polished country exhibit, was re- markable also as being composed principally of religious people. There were several clergymen at table, and among the rest Mr. Burder, the author of the Village Sermons, an intelligent and pleasing man. But the young clergyman from Ireland annoyed us very much by his extreme loquacity. Forgetting what was due. to older men, to strangers, and to ladies, he talked almost inces- santly, and that notwithstanding the fears kindly expres- sed by some of the ladies, lest his exertions to entertain the company-should injure his health, which, it seems, is bad ; but hints would not do, for, with the utmost self- possession and assurance, he continued to pour down " the wordy shower" till every one was heartily tired. Mr. H. is a man of very mild pleasing manners, of a sound and cultivated mind, and apparently a warm Chris- tian. He is distinguished in England, and not m.known in other countries, as an active friend of religion, in sup- port of which he contributes not only his time and exer- tions, but very liberally from his income ; for the religious people of England make greater exertions than those of any other country in support of the cause which they es- 18* 210 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN pouse. You have heard, perhaps, that during the late short peace with France, a committee of English gentle- men went over to Ptiris, for the purpose of taking steps to supply the French with the Bible in their own language. Of this committee Mr. Hardcastle was one, and he assur- ed me that the fact which was published, was literally true, that they searched Paris for several days, before a single Bible could be found. The seat of this gentleman was built by a Dutchman, who manifested the strong effect of national habit on pri- vate taste, by surrounding the house with a very broad and deep ditch filled with water, like the canals of Hol- land, and furnished with a draw-bridge like a fortification. I know not whether he really intended to fortify the house, like an ancient castle, or to make the scene somewhat re- semble Holland, for the country was such as to render a ditch perfectly unnecessary. This place is a delightful retreat, in the midst of green fields, groves, and flowering shrubs, and every thing bears the marks of opulence and ease. But, great opulence is so common here, and all the works of utility, beauty and magnificence, which result from it, that one would be ready to conclude, as did Rasselas, when he entered Cairo, that every body is happy; did not the numerous wretches in the streets, from whose pressing solicitations for relief, enforced by rags, sickness, blindness, maimed limbs, and the emaciation of hunger, it is scarcely possible to escape, convince him that even England has its full share of hu- man misery, and that it no where exhibits more distressing spectacles than id London. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 211 No. XV__LONDON. Mr. Barlow—Mr. Fulton—Sub-marine explosions—French Flo- tilla—Earl Stanhope—His republican sentiments—His mechan- ical ingenuity—An invention of his—His sentiments on the state of the country—A dinner—Reserve of the English. INCIDENTS. June 2.—Among my introductory letters addressed to Paris, I carried one to our celebrated countryman, Mr. Barlow. In the mean time he had ner. In the evening I went with Mr. G---to the Covent-Gar- den Theatre, and witnessed the masterly powers of Cooke in Richard III. This play is too well known to need a recital, and the talents of Cooke in doing justice to its prin- cipal character are scarcely less known in England than the play itself. In this instance, the night scene, in which the slumbers of Richard are disturbed by death groans, was admirably performed, and even the trite exclamation : " my kingdom for a horse," produced its full effect on the audience. Between the play and afterpiece, I wandered through the house, and was convinced that European theatres have not been defamed on the other side of the At- lantic. There can be no doubt that they are frequented by mul- titudes, not so much for the pleasure of being present at the performances, as because they afford the most conven- ient of all possible rendezvous, for engagements which it is unnecessary to name. FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. Sabbath, June 9, 1805.—Among the many charitable institutions of London, there is a fine hospital for the edu- cation and support of foundlings. I attended divine ser- vice to-day at the church of this institution, and had a good view of the children reared by the charity. There were about five hundred of both sexes, neatly dressed in a de- cent uniform, and apparently very healthy and cheerful. They were seated in a gallery, where the rising of the seats exhibited them to great advantage. The preacher ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 227 gave a superior discourse, in which the excellency of the Christian religion was inferred from the existence of charitable institutions in Christian countries and in no other. He alluded in a very pathetic and interesting manner to the children before us, and they, with one accord rose, as he feelingly asked, what would have been their situation, but for this institution, since they were deserted by their parents—without a name—without a habitation, and with no ligament to connect them with society. There was no illiberality in this gentleman's discourse towards other denominations ; not long ago, I heard an anathema from the same desk, against all those who dis- sent from the established church of England ; the preach- er was not, however, Mr. More, the one of whom I have now spoken so advantageously. The church of the Foundling Hospital is elegant—the altar piece is ornamented with an appropriate painting by Mr. West, which he gave to the charity ; no subject could be better adapted to the place ; it is our Saviour receiving the little children that are presented to him. This church is much frequented by the nobility and peo- ple of fashion; every one contributes something at the door, and he is sure that it will be applied to the best pur- poses only, while his gratuity procures him a seat, t© which he is very civilly conducted by an attendant. INCIDENTS. June 10.—I have been favored to-day with an intro- duction to Dr. Thornton, well known by his work entitled Medical Extracts, and better still by his recent production the Temple of Flora. I was at his house, and he was so 228 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN obliging as to show me the superb picturesque coloured engravings, which have been executed for this work. It is a botanical production, intended to illustrate the princi- pal classes of Linna-us, but more perhaps, to exhibit a splendid proof of the state of the arts in England. In the latter point of view the work is admirable, as it is undoubt- edly unrivalled in the beauty of its engravings and the richness of its colours, but it has probably contributed ve- ry little to the advancement of science, and still less to the fortune of its author, for it costs, I believe, about fifty guin- eas, and there is not as much reading as in a common half guinea book. The work is accompanied by engraved heads of the principal naturalists, and by poetical quota- tions adapted to the different botanical subjects. It is in a very large folio, and the printing is diffused over a vast extent of hot-pressed and wire-wove paper; I need not therefore inform you that it meets with only a very heavy sale. Posterity will probably wonder that a work so splendid and beautiful could ever have been executed, and still more perhaps that one so unprofitable should ever have been undertaken. The author is a man of frank and pleasing manners, and hardly arrived at middle life. An introductory note gained me access also to Dr. Shaw, of the British Museum. As my object was merely to make a few enquiries of him as a professional man, I can say little more of him, than that his manners, like those of most of the men of literature and science, whom I have seen in this country, are affable and polite. He is distinguished for an extensive and accurate knowledge of Zoology, on which branch he is now publishing a great work, illustrated by very fine engravings, taken principal- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. -29 Iy from original subjects preserved in the great Museums of London. The kindness of my friends Mr. and Mrs. Guest, has procured for me to-day an introduction to a celebrated literary lady, Mrs. Knowles. They are on terms of famil- iarity at her house, and took me there to dine. Mrs. Knowles is a venerable old lady of seventy, who has all the simplicity of manners and dress which characterize the society of Friends, of which she is a member, without any thing of their peculiarities. She has been long celebrated in England for her literary accomplishments and her attainments in the fine arts, not less than for the masculine vigor of her understanding. Of the latter, Dr. Johnson is said to have had a proof, which must have been somewhat mortifying, to one accus- tomed to dictate with dogmatical decision, and to triumph in every contest. I allude to a dispute which the Dr. held with this lady, upon t he principles and habits of the Quakers, in which he is said to have been fairly worsted by her, and driven from the field. Mrs. Knowles gratified us with a sight of the numerous productions of her pencil and her needle, with which her apartments are adorned. Many of them are exquisite in their kind, and do equal honour to her industry and inge- nuity. The productions of her needle are particularly in- teresting. Those which I saw, consisted principally of representations of objects of natural history, such as vari- ous animals, flowers, fruits, &c. In this branch of the im- itative arts she has attained such excellence as almost to rival the pencil itself, for some of the animals represented. seemed absolutely alive, as if ready to spring forward. vol. t. 20 230 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN In the same style, Mrs. Knowles has executed the best likeness oftlie King that has ever been taken, and his Ma- jesty has paid her very particular marks of respect. No. XVIII__LONDON. British Museum—Egyptian and other antiques—Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great—Roman arms and relics—Likeness of Chaucer—Magna Charta—Pope's Homer—Drury Lane—Strong curiosity to see the Royal Family—Their reception at the thea- tre—Appearance of the King and of the Family—The play and entertainment—Opinions concerning the King—Anecdotes of him—An incident. BRITISH MUSEUM. June 12.—In order to see the British Museum it is ne- cessary to make application on a previous day. I made the necessary arrangements yesterday, and was this morn- ing admitted to see this celebrated repository of curios- ities. In this instance, as in most former ones, it will be my object, my dear brother, to notice only a few of those things which interested me most. Indeed, if the principal purpose of this Journal were description, I might as well spare myself the trouble of doing that which will be found in many instances, to have been better executed by others. But, I write chiefly because it is myself that have seen, and you and a few other of my most particular friends that will read. I cannot doubt that you will be warmly interested in every occurrence of my travels and residen- ces abroad, and therefore what I have seen, thought, and ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 231 felt, will form to you and the other friends for whom I write, not the least interesting circumstance of the story. In the yard before the Museum, beneath temporary sheds constructed to defend them from the weather, till they can be removed into a building now erecting for their reception, are the celebrated antiques, taken from General Menou at Alexandria. The French had brought them from Cairo and other places, with the intention of transporting them to France, but the catastrophe of the late war in Egypt placed them in the power of the Eng- lish. Among them are several Roman statues, a pillar of porphyry of extreme hardness, an ancient obelisk and sev- eral images, supposed to have been intended to represent the Egyptian goddess Isis ; but a number of sarcophagi are justly reckoned among the greatest curiosities. They are made of stone, and were used as the exterior coffins of the Egyptians. The mummy was first wrapped in cloth ; it was then enclosed in a wooden coffin, open- ing with hinges, like a case for spectacles, and those mum- mies which I saw in the Museum, as well as their coffins, were richly ornamented ; last of all, the wood coffin was deposited in the sarcophagus. The latter are covered with inscriptions and designs of various kinds, which J leave the antiquaries to explain. The largest and most ornamented of these sarcophagi is believed to have been the exterior coffin in which the body of Alexander the Great was deposited.* Giving way to the impression which I strongly felt to believe the fact, 1 was forcibly struck with the humiliating lesson which ii 'Although Alexander died at Babylon, it is well known that his body was afterwards removed to Alexandria 232 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN reads to human ambition, and especially to the thirst for martial glory. Say, mighty chief, was this the boasted end Of triumphs and of toils like thine renown'd 1 Did he, who sway'd from Indus to the Mle, Vnd claim'd, presumptuous, to be call'd a god- Did this dread hero find his last abode Within this narrow house ! Thy very tomb, (ireat conq'ror of the world, derides thy claims. And shews its marble sides by time unhurt, While winds have blown thy ashes o'er the world ! With similar emotions I beheld a collection of arms found on the place where the great battle of Cannae was fought, and supposed to have belonged to the parties who contended on that memorable spot. There is also a col- lection of rings and of other ornaments for the fingers and ears, which are believed to have been worn by the com- batants at Cannce. In spite of the disposition which is so naturally felt to ridicule an enthusiastic and extrava- gant admiration of antiquity, one cannot remain unaffect- ed when he realizes that these rings have been worn on Roman fingers;—this helmet covered a Carthaginian head, and that spear was thrown by a Roman hand in the presence of the victorious Hannibal. Similar emotions were excited by the numerous Roman vases;—the am- phora' in which their wines were kept, and especially by the relics of the unfortunate Herculaneum. These con- sist of utensils, vases, gods, &c. and among other things are the very hinges of their doors. By the si«ht of these authentic remnants of this illustrious nation, a powerful impulse is excited towards the study of their antiquities. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 233 Among the numerous and highly interesting mineral spe- cimens, there is an Egyptian pebble, which, being acci- dentally broken, discovered, on both faces of the fracture, a striking likeness of the poet Chaucer. It is a most sin- gular lusus naturae.* They shewed me Oliver Cromwell's watch, and a horn which grew on a woman's head; her portrait with this singular appendage was also preserved there. The zoological department was not so extensive as I should have expected. The principal glory of the muse- um is the vast collection of manuscripts, ancient and mod- ern ; but the rapid manner in which they hurried us through the different apartments did not allow me time to examine many of these. I had however the satisfaction of seeing the renowned original Magna Charta, the very instrument which the inflexible barons extorted from king John. It is considerably mutilated and defaced, but still, in the main, legible. I was delighted with a sight of the original copy of Pope's Homer, in his own hand writing. Although the sheets are now bound together in the form of a book, the work appears to have been written on loose bits of paper, often on the blank pages and covers of the letters of his *.1ug. 1818.—Mr. Stoughton, Spanish consul at Boston, has been so obliging as to shew me a sim-lar lusus naturae. It is a flint pebble obtained among ballast stone thrown from a vessel at an eastern port. When broken, it presented two complete half heads in profile ; all the outlines of the features, and hair, were perfectly distinct, and the heads were of a darker colour than the test of the stone. What i= most surprising is, that one face was male and the other female; and even the putling up of the hair was appropriate to the sexes ; they were situated in the stone, fact to face. *20 234 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN friends ; not unfrequently the lines run across the super- scription, and Alexander Pope, Esq. Twickenham, is seen glimmering through some of Homer's finest strains. There are those who impute this to the poet's parsimony, while others consider it as a proof that he made the best use of his time, by writing down his thoughts at the mo- ment when they occurred, on whatever scrap of paper happened to come first. Pope's hand-writing was stiff but legible, and the nume- rous erasures evince that his first thoughts were not al- ways in his own view, the best. I read as much of the book as possible in the short space allowed me, and left it with regret. I hope to visit this museum again. DRURY-LANE AND THE ROYAL FAMILY. At five o'clock this evening, I went to the Drury-Lane theatre, with the double view of seeing this celebrated house, and their majesties, who were expected to attend that evening. It is known when the king and queen are to be at the play by the style of the bill for the evening, which, in such case always begins thus: By command, their majesties' servants will perform, this evening, such a play. This title always excites great interest, and it becomes necessary to go to the house at a very early hour, if one ivould obtain a seat, for there seems to be as much curi- osity in the people of this country to see the king and queen and royal family, as if they were newly arrived, and were the first of their kind ever exhibited. This cu- riosity was evinced, this evening, by a very full house, and by a great crowd collected around the door, waiting the moment when it should open. When this took place, ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 235 the people poured in like a flood ; the passage was nar- row, and such was the strife and violence, that with the screaming and fainting of females, it was somewhat of a serious affair. I took my seat in the pit, that I might be certain of seeing the king, for this curiosity was surely pardonable in one who had never before seen any sovereign but the people. Every thing remained quiet, for a time, while they were waiting the arrival of the king and queen. During this interval, I had leisure to survey this spacious and magnificent theatre, of which I shall not however attempt a description, for mere descriptions of fine edifices without drawings, are of all attempts the least successful. At length his majesty arrived, and, in an instant, the house rang with huzza! huzza! with loud clapping of hands and waving of hats; the applause was reiterated and reiterated, till they seemed as if they would never have done. The king bowed to the different parts of the house and took his seat. He is a noble looking old man, fleshy, yet not oppressively corpulent, and his countenance is so highly coloured that on the whole I think he appears younger than almost any man of his age whom I have ever seen. The outline of his countenance is very cor- rectly delineated on the English guinea, and in many of the prints. He was dressed in a blue uniform, faced with red, with gold lace, epaulets, &c. The royal box is directly over the left side of the stage, as one sits facing it, and is adorned with scarlet velvet, embellished with gold; over it is a canopy supporting a crown, and two yeomen of the guards stand below on the stage supporting spears. 236 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN Next came the queen at a short distance from the king: again the theatre rang with applauses, and her majesty having graciously acknowledged them by the usual civil- ity, was seated at the king's left hand. She is an old lady of a pleasant countenance, but bears the marks of age in a much greater degree than the king. Immediately behind the king and queen stood the lords and ladies in waiting. They do not sit in presence of their majesties, and, whatever might be the honour, I did, not envy them the pleasure of standing five hours in that situation, for honour will not ke >p limbs from aching. Next came the princesses, Augusta, Elizabeth, Mar}-, Sophia, and Amelia. They were received with applauses, but less ardent than those bestowed on their majesties; they returned the compliment \ery graciously, and took their seats, the lords and ladies in waiting taking their stations behind them as behind the king and queen. Their box is at the right hand of the royal box, and is richly ornamented with blue silk and silver lace. In a box immediately at the right of that, a number of female attendants were seated—T believe they were maids of hon- our ; they wore those formidable hoop petticoats which 1 mentioned on the birth-day. Above the maids of honour were other royal attendants, lords, gentlemen, &-c. The princesses are not beautiful women ; they are how- ever, with one exception, ladies of fine stature and com- manding presence, and have much dignity in their appear- ance. Last of all, appeared one of the king's sons, the Duke of Cumberland, but he came into the box below the prin- cesses, on purpose, I presume, to avoid applause, for it was not given till some time in the evening, when he rose ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 237 from behind a screen and shewed himself. He is a hand- some man of about thirty-three or thirty-four years of age, us I should suppose from his countenance. Having finished the arduous business of introducing and seating their majesties and the royal family, we will pro- ceed to the play. First of all, the curtain rose, and discovered a throng of actors and actresses, on the stage, who sung " God save great George our king." The whole assembly, not ex- cepting the princesses themselves, joined in singing the chorus, with a degree of zeal and animation, which could hardly be surpassed. The play, which was the School for Scandal, was per- formed in a very admirable manner. Mrs. Jordan and Miss Pope among the women, and Elliston, among the men, particularly excelled. If you have read the play, you will remember that Charles Surface, being reduced to extreme embarrassment by his own extravagance, as his last resource to raise mon- ey, brings the family pictures to the hammer, with the same gay levity which had plunged him into distress. He asks with whom one may make free, if not with his own relations, and as the pictures are a going, he relates who the originals were, and how they distinguished them- selves. Here gentlemen, said he, here are two of the fam- ily that were members of Parliament, and this is the first time that they were ever bought or sold. Such is the temper of the public mind, produced by the pending charges of peculation against Lord Melville, which, whether true or false, have excited great jealousy and indignation against the noble Lord, that this senti- ment produced the loudest applauses, again and again re- 238 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN iterated, from every side. I thought from the king's countenance that he was not much gratified with this very distinct expression of the feelings of the house, for Lord Melville is a favourite with his majesty, wht>, in this busi- ness, has taken an active interest in his behalf. The School for Scandal abounds with point, wit, and humour, for which the king seemed to have a high relish, for he laughed frequently and heartily. After the play, Rule Brittania was sung by the whole house, with great enthusiasm, and the princesses joined in this chorus also. There was a poetical prologue to the interlude, all the lines of which ended in ation, and Bonaparte, under the nick-name of Bony, by which appellation he is contempt- uously and jocosely called in England, was severely sat- irized, as well as his long threatened invasion. The king seemed more delighted with this than with any thing; he laughed, almost continually, and the queen even exceeded him. The after-piece was youth, love and folly, three per- sonages which, it must be allowed, are usually found in company. A leading circumstance in this play is, that a lady, fal- ling in love with a youth who is required by a stern uncle, on whom he is dependent, to marry another, equips her- self in the dress of a post-boy, and, under this disguise, at- tends her lover, on pretence of being his servant. In the beginning of the scene, the lady appears on the stage in her proper dress, and has an interview with her lover. The uncle, being announced by a servant, she precipitate- ly retires into an adjoining apartment, and, to elude dis- covery, in a few minutes returns to the stage in a frock- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 239 coat, jockey-cap, pantaloons, and boots, with whip and spurs, and the strut, stride and smart air of an equestrian; but although her delicate face and feminine voice betrayed the woman, she seemed perfectly at ease. This transfor- mation is so common that it is hardly ever reprehended, but, if a modest woman can so far overcome the reluctance which she ought to feel to such an indecorum, as to ap- pear on a public stage iu masculine attire, she must at least belong to that class of virtuous women whom Addi- son calls Salamanders. She is, in the language of this acute discerner of human characters : " a kind of heroine in chastity, that treads upon fire, and lives iu the midst of flames without being hurt." The performances this evening were however tolerably correct with respect to delicacy, but there were still many things which a lady ought not to hear without a frown or a blush. The truth is, the theatre is not a school for morals; it is idle to pretend any such thing ; it is a splendid fascina- ting amusement to those who have no worse views in at- tending it, but to multitudes the theatrical entertainment is only a secondary object. At the conclusion of the performances, the king, queen and royal family retired, with applauses, ardent as when they entered. The theatres always have soldiers in at- tendance to preserve order; a few sentinels with fixed bayonets walk constantly around the doors. I did not observe however that their number was increased, on the present occasion. As to the opinions of the English concerning their own monarch, the most opposite impressions are conveyed by different persons. Some directly say, that he is in his 240 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN dotage, and without hesitation repeat his remarks with an air of ridicule, and laugh at his oddities. These things depend very much on the political prejudices of the indi- vidual. The truth is, however, that most persons in En- gland have little knowledge on this subject, because they have few opportunities of knowing an}' thing, of the royal family. Peter Pindar's scurrilous muse has furnished ev- ery low witling with ridiculous anecdotes of the king, and they are retailed with as little knowledge and as little so- licitude regarding their truth, as is felt in America. Some persons in the opposition make no secret of their ardent wishes for the elevation of the Prince of Wales, and ear- nestly look forward to that day. A stranger will not be in haste to ally himself to the prejudices of any description of party politicians, or of their followers, but will attentively consider the evidence on both sides of the question. The following anecdotes concerning the king will illus- trate his firmness, his magnanimity, and his discernment. When the king was shot at, a few years ago, in the the- atre, instead of manifesting any weakness or fear, he mere- ly turned to a lord in waiting, and said: " Sir, please to go back and tell the ladies* not to come in yet, for there may be another," and then quietly took his seat. Towards the latter part of the American war, Col. Trumbull, who had borne arms, in a distinguished station, against the king, and whose father, the first Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, was well known in England, for his very active and efficient support of the American *The queen and princesses who, according to custom were waiting iu an adjoining room, and would as a matter of course, have come in within a few minutes. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. J4J revolution, came to London, to devote himself to painting. Through the indiscretion of a companion, he fell under suspicion of being a spy, and was thrown into the tower, where he underwent a confinement of eight months, and much anxiety was felt for his life. Under these painful circumstances, Mr. West generously interceded with the king in person, for his young friend. But the anecdote is so interesting, that I will give it to you in Col. Trumbull's own words, he having obligingly furnished me at my request with the following statement: '• I was arrested at 12 o'clock at night of the 19th No- vember, 1780, in London, on suspicion of treason—I was then principally occupied in studying the art of paint- ing under Mr. West. " He (Mr. West) well knew that his attachment to his native country gave offence to some individuals who were about the king's person. " He therefore went the next morning early, to Buck- ingham house, and requested an audience of the king; it was granted, and he proceeded to state the origin and nature of his acquaintance with me, concluding that what- ever might have been my conduct in America, he could conscientiously state to his majesty, that since my arrival in London, the principal part of almost every day had been passed under his roof, and indeed under his eye, in the assiduous study of his profession, leaving little or no lime for any pursuit, hostile to the interests of Great Brit- ain. " The king after a moment's hesitation, made this an- swer : " Mr. West—1 have known you long ; I have confided ■'in you; I have never known you to mislead me; I vol. i. 21 A JOURNAL ©F TRAVELS IN " therefore repose implicit confidence in this representa- tion. " This young gentleman must in the mean time suffer "great anxiety; he is in the power of the law, and I can- " not at present interfere. But go to him, and assure him " from me, that in the worst possible legal result, he has " my royal word, that his life is safe." " Mr. West came to me with this message immediately, and you may well believe that it softened essentially the rigours of an imprisonment of eight months." If you consider who was the king's prisoner, that he was, in his view, a rebel, and had just come from fighting in an elevated station against him; that his father was a most active and efficient head of one of the most actively and inveterately rebellious states, I think you will allow that the king's answer, which amounted to this—" should the courts of law condemn him to death, I will save his life by a pardon," constitutes one of the finest passages of kingly history, and could never have proceeded from a little mind. Another anecdote which I have from a source equally entitled to confidence, illustrates the king's sagacity and presence of mind. Whatever may be the merits of the Irish question of Catholic.emancipation, it is well known, that the king has always stated conscientious scruples as the ground of refusing his countenance to the various pro- jects which have been started for effecting this object. After he had in a great measure lost his eye sight, but before his mental powers were at all impaired, a new pro- ject was submitted to him, regarding Irish emancipation. A paper was read to him professedly containing this state- ment, and his royal signature was requested and expected, ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 243 but the document really contained very different things. The king immediately suspected that it was an attempt to impose upon him in consequence of his blindness ; but, without discovering any suspicion, requested the person who had read the paper, to go to a certain office, and ob- tain another paper which was wanted. In the mean time having got rid of this man, he requested a third person, who had accidentally come in, to be so good as to read to him again the paper which the first person had professed to read, stating that he did not quite understand it. He did so, and it was found to be a very different thing from what it was stated to be, and directly contrary to the king's views. He immediately declared that as he found he could not trust his servants, he would no longer employ them, and without delay turned out the whole ministry and ordered a new one to be organized. AN INCIDENT As I was walking, the other day, near the Royal Ex- change, I accidentally met an old acquaintance whom I had known several years ago, in America. I was passing rapidly through a crowd, and he also, but in the opposite direction. We caught each others features—both halted —looked—hesitated—went on—again looked back, and finally spoke. An unexpected incident of this kind iu a foreign country electrifies one, and a higher degree of in- terest is excited than what would have been induced by a greater degree of intimacy at home. I dined with this gentleman to-day, and met there an English party.— Among them was an English physician, who was with lord Cornwallis' army, when it vyas captured at York 244 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN Town. This incident, of course, excited some interest and produced conversation. The gentleman to whom I allude spoke in the highest possible terms of General Washington ; and indeed, concerning him, there appears to be but one sentiment in England. Even the king, who is said to have declared, during the whole of the American war, that if the Americans prevailed, Washing- ton would finally prove the tyrant of his country, when he voluntarily relinquished his command of the army, pronounced that he was a great and good man. The King is said also, when getting into his carriage at Kew, to have been overheard by two Americans, while he expressed himself thus, to one of his ministers : " We must persevere—we must persevere—it was by perse- verance that Washington and Franklin carried their points." The subject of conversation was not understood by the gentleman who overheard this remark. No. XIX.—LONDON. Panorama of the battle of Agincourt—An interesting piece of private history—Du Bourg's Cork models of ancient temples, &c.—Representation of an eruption of Yesuvius—St. Paul's— Statues—Trophies of Blenheim—Prospect from the gallery around the dome—The whispering gallery—The great bell. PANORAMA OF THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT. June 14.—I spent some time to-day in viewing the panorama oftlie battle of Agincourt, painted by Porter. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 245 Those of the battle of Alexandria and of the passage of the bridge of Lodi, by the same artist, were exhibited last winter in the city of New-York. The latter I saw there in January. It was a very grand painting, and so is this of the battle of Agincourt. The time of the battle is that in which Henry V. dismounts to defend his brother the Duke of Gloucester, who has fallen down wounded. There is one delightful effect produced by this painting. From the confusion, splendor, and dreadful carnage of the battle, you turn to the right side of the picture, where the river Somme, winding through a charming country, presents all the mild beauties of landscape, on which, the eye, turning with horror from scenes of blood, delights to repose.— This battle was judiciously selected by the painter, for it was one of the most splendid which the English annals afford. It was fought by Henry against immense odds; the French lost ten thousand men slain, among whom was the flower of their nobility, while the English lost only a few hundreds. Their prisoners, after the battle, amounted to more than their whole army. The painter has introduced one very interesting piece of private history. An English nobleman was followed into these wars by his wife, who, actuated by affection, accompanied him, in the character of an attendant; this she did, dressed in masculine attire, and clad in armour. After going through the campaign to that time with safety, the nobleman fell in this battle, and his wife is exhibited in the first paroxysms of grief, stooping over her dying lord, and directing the soldiers who support him to bear huu away from the field. This battle was fought in Oc- 21* 246 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN tober, 1415; the picture covers between two and three thousand feet. I am fond of panoramas, especially of battles. Their magnitude, the consequent distinctness of the objects, and the circular position of the canvass, corresponding with the real horizon, all tend to give one the strongest impres- sion of the reality of the scene. They are, at present, much in vogue in England. I have already mentioned a very fine one of the rock, fortifications, and bay of Gibral- tar, with a portion of the adjacent parts of Spain and of the opposite coast of Africa. They are exhibited in buil- dings constructed on purpose for their reception; they are circular, like an amphi-theatre, and lighted only from above. DU BOURG'S CORK MODELS. June 18.—Since my arrival in London, I have met with some of my fellow-passengers in the Ontario. Prob- ably there are a few accidental meetings which excite more interest than those produced by being fellow-passen- gers on board a ship, and I have not often been more gratified with any similar incident than in finding, in this immense wilderness of men, Dr. R-----and Capt. T----. . They breakfasted with me this morning, and we went soon after, to see Du Bourg's cork models of ancient tem- ples, theatres, mausoleums, &c. principally Roman. This very ingenious man, Du Bourg, a Frenchman, from an actual residence of nine years in Italy, gained the infor- mation necessary for the execution of his wonderful work. It would be doing him great injustice to consider his exhi- bition merely as a display of ingenuity. In this view alone it must excite admiration; but, from the very effec- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 247 tual aid which it affords in understanding the subject of Roman antiquities, it communicates much delight and in- struction. He has contrived by the aid of cork alone, with a little cement and paint, to give perfect copies of some of the most admired ruins of antiquity.* Among these are, Part of the sepulchral vaults belonging to the Aruntia family, under a vineyard near Rome. The sepulchre of the Scipio family, near the Appian Way, three miles from Rome. That of the Horatii and Curiatii, at Albano, twelve miles from Rome. Virgil's tomb, at Pausilipo, near Naples. The amphitheatre at Verona, said to be the most per- fect now remaining. This is a most interesting model; it gives one a complete idea of a Roman amphitheatre.— It was capable of giving seats to more than twenty two thousand people, besides a gallery for twenty thousand more, and when crowded, it would hold fifty thousand. In such places the ancient Romans assembled, to see those contests of wild beasts with gladiators, and of gladi- ators with each other, which disgraced the manners of that sanguinary although polished people. The grotto and fountain of Egeria, and the Temple of Janus, I can merely mention, and I cannot entirely omit the celebrated Temple of the Sybils, exquisitely done on a scale of one inch to the foot; this is a most beautiful exhibition of architectural elegance. * I was afterwards assured by an intelligent American, who has seen both these models and the originals, that they were very <;orrect copies. 248 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN The great cascade of Tivoli, with the town and adjoin- ing country, presents a very interesting scene. Here the artist has contrived not only to give correct copies of all the fixed objects, but he has represented the fall and roar- ing of the water in such a manner, that the allusion is complete. The water seems, to the eye, actually to pour down the precipice, with copious foam and spray; that is, machinery gives motion to something which has the appearance of water in violent agitation. The last thing which I will mention is Mount Vesuvius, as it appeared in the eruption of 1771- We were con- ducted behind a curtain where all was dark, and through a door or window, opened for the purpose, we perceived Mount Vesuvius throwing out fire, red hot stones, smoke and flame, attended with a roaring noise like thunder; the crater glowed with heat, and, near it, the lava had burst through the side of the mount/in, and poured down a torrent of liquid fire, which was tending toward the town of Portici, at the foot of the mountain, and toward the sea, on the margin of which this town stands. The waves of the sea are in motion—the lava is a real flood of glowing and burning matter, which this ingenious artist contrives to manage in such a manner as not to set fire to his cork mountain. The flames, cinders, fiery stones, &c. are all real, and it is only conceiving the scene to be at such a distance as greatly to reduce the scale of the mountain, and one will thus obtain not only a very im- pressive but probably a correct idea of its presence. In the eruption of 1771? the lava ran down a precipice of seventy or eighty feet, and presented the awful view of a cataract of fire. This, also, by shifting his machinery, Du Bourg has contrived to exhibit in a very striking man- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 249 ner. He has not forgotten to appeal to the sense of smell as well'as to those of sight and hearing, for, the spectator is assailed by the odour of burning sulphur, and such other effluvia as volcanoes usually emit: I suppose they are set on fire by some one behind the scene, for the double pur- pose of producing the smell and the fiery eruptions. The cork models are all very firm, and will bear a hard blow with the fist. ST. PAUL'S. From this instructive and interesting scene I went with Dr. R-----to St. Paul's, and took a view of this vast structure. From entire despair of doing justice to one of the finest and most sublime productions of modern archi- tecture, I shall not attempt a description of St. Paul's.— There is an excellent one in the picture of London, and, so far as I can judge, it is extremely correct. In that ac- count it is mentioned as a singular circumstance, that al- though it took thirty five years to erect this church, it was " built by one architect, Sir Christopher Wren ; and one mason, Mr. Strong ; while one prelate, Dr. Henry Comp- ton, filled the see; whereas " St. Peter's at Rome was one hundred and thirty five years in building; a succes- sion of twelve architects being employed on the work, un- der a succession of nineteen Popes." St. Paul's is five hundred feet long, two hundred and fifty broad, and three hundred and forty high. It cost nearly 750,000 pounds sterling. They are beginning to erect statues to illustrious men within St. Paul's. As yet there are but a few, and among thein is that of Howard, so well known for his active and real philanthropy. Burke speaks of his travels as a grand 250 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN circumnavigation of charity, in which it was not his ob- ject to survey the grandeur of temples and palaces, but to take the guage and dimensions of human depression, misery, sorrow, and contempt.* Here is also a statue to Johnson, to Sir William Jones, and to Captains Burges and Falconer, who fell in battle. All these statues are executed in the finest style of modern sculpture, and are very ornamental to the church. Within the dome of St. Paul's are suspended a consider- able number of flags taken at different times from the ene- mies of England, at the price of blood. Among these I viewed with strong emotions those which were won by General Wolfe on the plains of Abra- ham, in the decisive battle which gave him victory in the moment of death. Here also hang the tattered trophies of the sanguinary field of Blenheim ; they are six or seven in number;— now very much mutilated by time, but still serving to ex- cite many a heroic and melancholy emotion. With these interesting remnants of the dreadful conflict at Blenheim, one naturally associates the recollection of * " He has visited all Europe, not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces, nor the stateliness of temples ; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosities of modern art; not to collect medals, nor to collate manuscripts ; but to dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge into the infection of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain ; to take guage and dimensions of misery, de- pression and contempt ; to remember the forgotten ; to attend to the neglected; to visit Jhe forsaken ; and to compare and collate the distresses of all men in all countries. His plan is original, and it is as full of genius as it is of humanity. It b a voyage of philan- ihropy—a circumnavigation of charity '" ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 251 the ambitious, vain, and frivolous Louis, and of his illus- trious scourge, the Duke of Marlborough. We ascended to the gallery which surrounds the exte- rior of the dome, and took a view of this amazing structure, and of the immense city in which it is situated. London is too great for distinct comprehension at a single view; it is a world ! The objects most distinctly seen from this elevation are the church-yard of St. Paul's, immediately below ;—Li. 1- gate-hill;—Cheapside ;—the river with its bridges;—all around, a confused wilderness of houses, whose tiled roofs present a rude and barren prospect for many a furlong; spires, cupolas, and turrets without number, and among these the Tower and Westminster Abbey, marking the two extremes of London, and, more remote, the hills of Kent on one side, and those of Hamstead and Highgate on the other, with a whole horizon of various intervening country. From the roof of St. Paul's one cannot see much of the bustle of the city, because the houses hide most of the streets. The whole, however, seems like a beautiful re- duced picture, and the carriages and people in Ludgate- hill, Cheapside, the church-yard, and other places which are visible, have an appearance of minuteness, and yet of distinctness and activity, which gives it all the air of a show. Descending, we visited the whispering gallery. This is situated within the dome, at the distance of about one third of the way from the bottom to the top, and is an ex- act circle of one hundred and forty feet in diameter. If you lay your mouth close to the wall, and whisper in ever so low a voice, even so that the person who stands 252 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN within a single yard cannot hear, such is the reverbera- tion, that any one on the opposite side, one numbed <;nd forty feet off, will on laying his ear to the wall, hear every word distinctly, as if some one weie speaking in a loud and audible whisper, and it is not easy to be persuaded that some one is not concealed behind the walls, for the purpose of imposition. I could hardly banish this impres- sion till Dr. R----- and I placed ourselves in opposite points of the gallery, and actually carried on a conversa- tion of some minutes, although in very low whispers.— When the door of this gallery is forcibly shut, it sounds, to a person on the opposite side, like thunder. Prayers are said publicly in St. Paul's, three times every day, and then any body may go in without paying a fee, which is demanded on all other occasions. The whole church is parcelled out into departments, for the sight of each one of which the visitor pays separately. There is a library in the church, but it is not very ex- tensive. The great bell weighs more than eleven thousand pounds. It is tolled only on occasion of the death of one of the royal family, or of the dean of St. Paul's, or the bishop of London. There is preserved in the church a beautiful model of the building which Sir Christopher Wren intended to have erected, for he was not permitted to follow his own plan entirely. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 23:'< No. XX.—LONDON. A painting room—PhaHon and Ihe solar chariot—Our Saviour at the last supper, Sec.—An incident—Leverian mu«eum—Birds— Monkeys—Whimsical arrangement of them—Minerals, he — A pastry-cook's shop—India-House. A PAINTING ROOM. June 19-—I have this morning called on Mr. West. 1 found this indefatigable man in his painting-room, with his pallet on his thumb, and his pencil in his fingers. 1 was conducted to this apartment through a long gallery of statues and paintings, the very appropriate decoiations of the hall of a great master. In the room where Mr. West was, were many fine paintings. I was particularly struck with one which represented Pluu'ton as soliciting the reins of the solar chariot; the hours, in the form of beautiful women, are leading out the impetuous coursers, to harness thorn to the chariot of the glorious luminary, while he is pouring out a flood of light on the opening heavens, and on the gods, who are assembled to witness this enterprise of youthful temerity. There was another, representing our Saviour at the last supper. In the mild resignation of hh countenance you may read, " not my will, but thine be done." A third exhibited Cicero, with the magistrates of Syracuse, order- ing the tomb of Archimedes to be cleared of the shrubs and trees with which it was overgrown. Cut I may be tedious while I give only a fiint impression of beauties. which must have thjir access to the heart through the eye. vol. i. 22 254 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS ES At Mr. Wests', it was certainly pardonable in me to indulge a patriotic feeling while contemplating a native American, who, by the mere force of talent and industry, aided by the the most estimable social and moral quali- ties, had elevated himself to the highest eminence in his art—to distinguished royal favour, and to the most envia- ble honour which rival artists could bestow ;* an honour which was enjoyed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, whom John- son pronounced *; the most invulnerable man of his age," and to whom Mr. West affords the fairest parallel in pri- vate worth, professional eminence, and public favour. Mr. West received me with much kindness, and con- versed with the most engaging freedom. He seems to be engrossed by his profession, and it is easy to see that the state of the fine arts makes a very conspicuous figure in all his estimates of national improvement. He spoke in the highest terms of Trumbull. " His sor- tie of Gibraltar (said he) was done in this room ; it is a great production—it is one of the great things of modern times. Trumbull has fine talents for painting, and he adorns them by the most finished manners." As I retired from this interview, I lingered a while as I was passing through the gallery, to glance at its numerous paintings, prints, and statues. What think you brother ? Do not these painters and sculptors take rather too great liberties ? A God, or goddess, or deified hero or heroine, without mortal veil, now, even in private houses, often meets one Mr. West is president of the Royal Academy of painting, sculp- ture, &,c. a station probably inferior in honour only to the presi- dency of the Royal Society. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 25j in the hall, salutes him as he ascends the stair-case, or sits with him in the parlour. There was a time when the heaven-born dignity of the human mind, as yet unconscious of sin in any thing which God had made, saw only images of purity and elevated con- templation, wherever it turned; but those days are no more, and while we have retained all our sin, the painters and sculptors have not always left us even our fig leaf. I am aware that painters, sculptors, surgeons and anat- omists, have all a similar claim to familiarity with topics which, as being strictly professional, must be contemplated without reserve. As to the painters and sculptors, in their academies and painting rooms, we cannot object to their availing them- selves of every aid, afforded them either by nature or art, and it is proper that the subjects which they study should be fully before them, without the intervention of " these light incumberances which we wear." I would not pass for a barbarian, but, really, the exhi- bition of Venus de Medicis, of Apollo of Belvidere, and of other unveiled statues, as well as paintings,has ever struck me as a little incorrect, where mixed parties are to be the spectators; of such parties I have often been one in this country, but fashion affords the veil which the painter and sculptor have withheld, and the all conquering taste for the fine arts sanctions some petty deviations from that correct- ness, which public opinion would sooner give up, than abandon the claim to the possession of taste. These things are now to be found in all collections of pictures and statues, and a real enthusiasm for the fine arts, or the affectation of it, has brought down the whole rabble of heathen gods and goddesses, with all thetrumpr- 25(5 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ry of Roman and Grecian fable, into the halls of the nobili- ty and gentry of England. I dined at my lodgings to-day, and just as I was finishing my repast, a coach stopped at the door, and 1 discovered through the window .Mr. T-----, a neighbour and old ac- quaintance of mine, at home in America. One who has never resided in a foreign country can hardly estimate the value of such an incident. I had hardly given him a seat before I overwhelmed him with questions concerning my country and friends. He gave me the most pleasing of all answers, a packet of letters, the first which I have received in England. I soon recognized the hands of several of my friends; but— what shall I say to you ! yours was not there; nor that of any of our family; the rich present from my other friends has however put me into so good humour, that 1 for- give you for this time, but you must not presume too far on my clemency, for, while I am every day writing to you, I feel as if I had some claims to a return. Mr. T----being an entire stranger in London, I spent the remainder of the afternoon in conducting him to dif- ferent parts of the town, for a month's residence has made it somewhat familiar to me. THE LEVERIAN MUSE LAI. June 20.—1 have been with two companions over Black- friar's Bridge, to see the Leverian Museum. This justly celebrated collection, which is one of the first in the world, was originally formed by Mr.—afterwards Sir Ashton Lever of Alkerington-Hall, near Manchester, at an expense of £50,000 sterling. Consequent pecuniary embarrassments obliged him to dispose of it by a lottery of thirty-six thou- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 257 sand tickets, and while twenty-eight thousand still remain- ed his own, the revolutions of the wheel threw the prize in- to the hands of Mr. Parkinson, the owner of only two, who, in this way, for a couple of guineas, became the pro- prietor of this noble museum. One room is devoted to the memory of Captain Cook, which is here effectually preserved by a collection of arms, dresses, utensils, idols, &c. which he made«in his third and last voyage. There is a grand collection of birds in fine preservation. and beautifully, although not scientifically, arranged, in a Rotunda, with an interior gallery. In this, the cases are placed, and the whole is illuminated by a fine sky light. Here is the bird of paradise, among a multitude of the most splendid of the feathered tribe. There is an apartment very gravely devoted to the mom keys. Not satisfied with what the Creator has done, in making these animals so very ludicrous in their appear- ance and manners ; so much like a man that we must ac- knowledge the resemblance; and so much like a brute that we cannot but be disgusted at? it; the artist has exhibited them as busied about various human employments. The taylor monkey sits, crossed legged, threading his needle, with his work in his lap, and his goose, scissors, and bodkin by his side. The watchman stands at a corner, with his cane and lanthorn in his hands. The house carpenter monkey is driving the plane over the bench. The ballad singer, w ith his ballad in his hand, is very gravely composing his muscles to sing. The clerk oftlie monkey room sits writing at a desk. 258 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN The shaver has one of his own species seated in a chair j his beard lathered, and the razor just beginning to slide i»(er his face. The dentist holds his patient by the chops, while he strains the turnkey, and produces all the grimace and con- tortion of features, which tooth-drawing can extort. Crispin is pushing the awl and pointing the bristle to the shoe, and thus we have our rivals in form actually placed erect, and emulating human employments. No- thing is wanting but Lord Monboddoe's aid to free them from an appendage which this philosopher says our spe- Gies have been so fortunate as to drop, and they might perhaps aspire even to the wool sack. The mineral room contains a collection of superb spe- cimens; they are large and wonderfully brilliant. Among them are specimens which once crowned the summits of sub-marine mountains, or shot in coral groves beneath the waves of the ocean ; others selected from the treasures which the earth contains in her dark veins and caverns ; crystals which in the exactness and finish of their lines and angles, rival the skill of the mathematician, and col- ours which in their intenseness and beauty surpass the ef- forts of art. As usual the crystals of quartz excelled every thing else in size ; there was a specimen from the Swiss Alps or from Madagascar (I am not certain which) as large as the thigh of a man of common size. The native crystals of many other substances were very perfect and beautiful, and the specimens of branched coral were singularly fine. The specimens of branched coral are so fine, and the native crystals of other substances are so perfect and beau- tiful. :i* almost to justify the poetical descriptions of sub- ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 259 terranean grottoes and coral groves. I promise myself the pleasure of another visit to the Leverian Museum, and therefore leave it for the present.* As Dr. R-----and I were returning into the city, on our way to the India-House, repeated showers drove us under the porticoes of the Royal Exchange, and into a pastry cook's shop. We partook of some of his sickly dainties, and found them, like flattery, delicious but un- substantial. These shops are very numerous in London and very lucrative. A pastry cook has recently become a Colonel of volunteers, and will doubtless have the hon- our of preparing Bonaparte's desert, whenever he conquers England. We went through several apartments of the India-house, where are transacted the most momentous concerns of the commercial world, and where is exhibited the singular spectacle of a trading company swaying the sceptre of a great empire, and deciding on the fate of Asiatic princes. * Aug. 1818. Since my return to this country, I have seen in New-York a quartz crystal from Brazil far surpassing in size the one mentioned in the text. That presented by the States of the Vallais to the National Convention, during the French Revolu- tion, is probably the largest known. It weighed about eight hun- dred pounds and was above three feet in diameter. As to the London Cabinets, the public ones were in 1805 infe- rior both in extent and value to that of Col. Gibbs, which has now been some years deposited in the Museum of Tale College. Since the addition of the great Cabinet of the late Mr. Greville, to that of the British Museum, the above remark ceases to be cor- rect, as it was in 1805, 260 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN No. XXI.—LONDON. Another visit to Westminster Abbey—Tomb of Henry V. he.— Westminster Hall—Lord Ellenborough—Lord Eldon—Sir James Mansfield—Costume and dignity of the Courts—A bal- loon—To be transformed into a temple—Anecdote—Tower Hill—Memorable for state executions—Rag Fair—Jews— Clothes' shops—Anglo-Asiatics and Africans—Their condition and treatment in England—Slavery unknown in England. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. June 21.—I spent a little while this morning, with a friend, in Westminster Abbey. It was the hour of morning service, and the religious officers of the church were present in their appropriate robes ; a number of boys, dressed in white were chanting to rhe organ, which by its deep majestic tones, added to those impressions of awe, which it is impossible that a stranger should not feel, on entering this venerable Abbey.* It is in vain that the moralist tells me royal ashes are no better than mine will be, and that poets, nobles, kings, and heroes are but common dust. Still, I feel an elevated * I say the tones of the organ added to the impressions of awe ; not so the boys, and the ecclesiastics, who were performing, what I believe, it is not uncharitable to call a solemn farce ; it is rather painful than otherwise, to see this kind of prescribed worshipper- formed in Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, and other similar pla- ces on secular days. It is gone over (like any other task or lesson of frequent recurrence) by a dozen or twenty people within the chancel, which occupies but a speck in these vast houses while crowds of loungers are strolling about, in all other parts of the building, looking at the statues, and reckless of the worship as those who perform it. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 2(5l melancholy when I say to myself—here slumber the Ed* wards and the Henrys of England ; beneath this marble lies Queen Elizabeth, and here, her royal victim, Mary Queen of Scots. History calls up, with powerful association, the actions of the illustrious dead. On one side, the monument of Newton fills you with impressions of the noble claims which science, intellect, and piety like his, have on the ad- miration of posterity; while on the other, the tomb of Henry V. recalls powerfully to one's recollection the con- queror of France. Over this tomb are suspended the shield which he bore, and the saddle which he rode at the memorable battle of Agincourt. This is one of those dreadful, brilliant, sanguinary con- flicts, which took complete possession of my imagination when I first heard the English history, and I cannot tell how it made me feel, to behold these remnants of the bat- tle of Agincourt. On the mind of an American, such things produce their full effect, and such an one may be allowed to feel an enthusiasm almost puerile.* There is * The Quarterly Review (July, 1816,) remarking upon this Journal observes; "The American is indebted to England for every thing that has humanized, every thing which may adorn, every thing which can ennoble the character, and that the old Americans, the genuine people of the country, feel this, is evinced by the volumes before us. England is to them what Italy and Greece are to the classical scholar, what Rome is to ihe Catholic and Jerusalem to the Christian world. Almost every hamlet, says .Mr. S------, has been the scene of some memorable action, or the birth place of some distinguished person. It is interesting to observe this feeling and to trace its manifestation. An American who remembers that he is English by descent, language and re- ligion—that is to say by every tie of moral and intellectual re- lationship, may be envied for his sensations in England. Greece 262 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN no object that I have seen in England of which I am s4 desirous to give you a correct impression as of Westmin- ster Abbey, nor is there any task of the kind to which 1 find myself so inadequate. WESTMINSTER HALL. From the Abbey we went across the street into West- minster Hall to see some of the living oracles of the law. While we were at this great fountain head not only of English but of American jurisprudence, I often thought of you, my dear brother, and wished that you could have been with me to gratify that strong professional curiosity, which every lawyer must feel to see Westminster Hall, and its courts of justice. Although the books of reports, which have now become so numerous and copious, afford you a better idea of what is done here than can be ob- tained from a few short visits, it is still some gratification to behold the place and the men. In the Court of King's and Italy, however interesting the recollections which they awaken, and however sublime the thoughts and feelings which they may call forth, give almost a melancholy sense of earthly in- stability, and force upon us a humiliating contrast between elder and latter times. But England in the full glory of her arts and arms, in the plenitude of her strength and the exuberance of her wealth, in her free government and pure faith, just laws and un- corrupted manners, public prosperity and private happiness,— England in each and all of these respects, presents an object not to be paralleled in this or other countries—an object which fills with astonishment the understanding mind, and which the philo- sopher and the Christian may contemplate not only with compla- cency, but with exultation, with the deepest gratitude to the Al- mighty giver of all good, and the most animating hopes for the further prospects and progress of mankind. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLANb. ..'63 Bench Lord Ellenborough was giving judgment in a cause; his manner is perspicuous, simple, and unostentatious.— The judges in this court wear those full flowing wigs, which we see in their portraits; the effect is rather ludi- crous than solemn, especially when the face is small and diminutive. Across the hall, is the Court of Chancery. We saw the chancellor Lord Eldon. He is a man of a noble ap- pearance, and, if his countenance be a true index of his mind, well deserves his elevated station. In his person and features, he is not unlike Judge Ellsworth of Con- necticut. Sir James Mansfield is the chief Judge of the court of common pleas. The costume of this court is a purple silk robe with a white wig, close curled, not flowing over the shoulders. I have visited Westminster Hall a number of times, with the hope of hearing Erskine, Gibbs, Garrow, or some other of their distinguished advocates, but I have not been so fortunate as to be present when they were speakin°', nor have T heard any eloquent man in these courts. They are all crowded with lawyers, who, as you know, wear flowing black gowns, and wigs curled and powdered. As these gentlemen are generally florid and fat, they have commonly an appearance which exhibits an odd contrast with this solemn dress. The courts of Westminster are miserably cramped in consequence of the smallness of the apartments, which are hardly compe- tent to contain the courts and their officers, without leav- ing room for suitors and spectators. \mong the lawyers they pointed out one of the name of Best. It seems the dignity of the place does not pre- 264 A JOURNAL OF*TRAVELS IN elude punning, for, this gentleman has u brother, also a lawyer, whom, from his being both younger and inferior, they call second Best. There is a great deal of dignity in these courts of jus- tice. No indecorum of manners is permitted, and the law- yers are, as they ought every where to be, so much under the influence and control of the courts, that they dare not trifle, but always adhere strictly to the point. Westminster Hall is said to be the largest room in Eu- rope, whose roof is unsupported by pillars; it is a vast area of two hundred and seventy five feet in length by seventy five in breadth, without divisions, benches, or any obstruction whatever. Over head, the frame work which supports the roof in the form of what is called geometry work, is in full view. It is of English oak, and seems per- fectly undecayed. The hall was originally built by Wil- liam Rufus, was re-erected by Richard II, and is said to have been used by that monarch, for a dining room for the immense retinue, which drew their subsistence from his royal bounty, or rather profusion. You will remember, Hume mentions that ten thousand persons hung about his court and were fed from his table. Westminster Hall is now merely a promenade for the lawyers and their suit- ors, and generally for all persons who are attending upon the courts of law, or upon parliament. It is usual to see great numbers walking up and down through this hall, and indulging freely in conversation. The judicial and deliberate bodies hold their sessions contiguously to the hall but not in it; still you pass through it to arrive at them. For example, entering the hall, you turn to the right and ascend a few steps the court of exchequer, and about halfway up on the right, you come to the common ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 263 pleas : to find the chancery, you go quite through the length of the hall, and enter this court at the end opposite the entrance door, and on the right hand : the king's bench has the same situation on the left, and of course opposite to the chancery, there being only an entry between them. To come to the house of lords, you go on through this en- try, ascend a flight of stairs, and turn to the right; for the house of commons, turn to the left, and in fact you make several turns before you come to St. Stephen's Chapel, which stands at right angles, with Westminster Hall, and yet separated from it by lobbies, stair cases, passages, &c. Still, after entering the door of Westminster Hall, you find access to all these bodies without going into the weather. Seen from the outside, what is properly called West- minster Hall, has the appearance of an ancient time-worn sombre Gothic building, of regular figure, viz. a parallelo- gram ; but there are so many buildings connected with it, to accommodate the various public bodies; they are in such different styles of architecture; of such different ages; so disproportionate in size, and so irregularly placed, or rather jumbled info contact, that what with the coffee- houses and other appendages, which grow to these build- ings, as it were, like wens or warts :—the whole has an appearance of rudeness, confusion, and incompetency to the object, which fills a stranger with astonishment, that the judicial and legislative concerns of the greatest empire which the world ever saw, should not, e'er this, have been accommodated with a princely establishment, equal to the grandeur and resources of the nation. Probably a venera- tion for antiquity goes far towards preserving the present establishment. vol. i. 23 266 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN Indeed it would be a painful thing to any stranger, visit- ing England, not to see Westminster Hall. The great State trials have been held in it for centuries. The kings anciently dispensed justice here in person : Charles I. was tried and condemned to death in this room ; here was held the famous trial of Warren Hastings ; and now whenever a peer is tried, it is fitted up with carpets, seats, &c.— Within the walls of few buildings, it is presumed, have so many memorable things been said and clone. A BALLOON. On my way home from Westminster Hall, I stopped at the Pantheon, to view a magnificent balloon which is now getting ready there. Lunardi, a well known aero- naut, is to ascend in it, with a party of a dozen ladies and gentlemen. They pay a high premium for the privilege of breathing among the clouds, and the chance of being killed philosophically. This balloon is ornamented, in a very expensive style, and will probably cost enough to buy the finest equipage in Europe ; minds of a less ambi- tious cast would perhaps prefer the wheels and horses on the ground, to varnished silk, and inflammable gas, among the whirlwinds of heaven. This party are even more ambitious than aeronauts usually are; for they are not contented with building castles in the air, they must even raise a Grecian temple there, as if by magic; for, it is a part of the scheme of this balloon that, after it has ascend- ed to a certain height, a festoon of curtains which has been suspended all around it, will suddenly unfold and hang in such a manner as to hide the balloon completely, and to represent a Grecian temple with all its porticoes and columns. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLANjD. 26,7 The car of this balloon is a circular platform, furnished with a dozen elegant chairs, secured in their places by an iron ring, which passes through their backs, and is itself supported by iron posts. In the middle is a table, in which is a door that opens into convenient places for re- freshments, philosophical instruments, and other things necessary for the voyage. The car will be suspended as usual by a net-work of cords passing over the balloon, and fastened to the platform. A day in September is fixed on for the ascent, and, if I am at that time in London, you may expect to hear more of this great bubble, should it actually rise. You are aware that there are two methods of raising balloons, both however depending on the same principle. The earliest, that tried by the Montgolfiers, at Lyons, and subsequently by others, was by inflating the balloon by common air, rarefied by a fire placed beneath the mouth of the balloon ; this was effectual, but dangerous, on account oftlie vicinity of fire to oiled silk, or other highly combustible materials of which balloons are made. This was soon laid aside, and the balloon inflated with hidrogen gas, obtained from the solution of zinc or iron, in diluted sulphuric acid. This gas being only one tenth or twelfth, or even if pure, one fifteenth part of the weight of common air, gave of course a high degree of buoyancy to the balloon. The balloon in the Pantheon, of which I have been speaking, is to be inflated with hidrogen gas. Some years ago, when balloons were first let off in Eng- land, one, which had been filled with hidrogen gas, flew away, and fell in a province remote from the capital.— The rustics were alarmed at the descent of this strange 268 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN non-descript, and were at first too much terrified to ap- proach it; at length, however,gathering courage, they be- gan to examine, and finding it to be a great bag partly collapsed, they wisely concluded that it must be again blown up, in order that they might enter to examine its in- ferior. Accordingly, taking it into a house, by vigorous working of large bellows fixed in its mouth, they succeed- ed in swelling the great bubble to its former dimensions ; but the hidrogen gas which had been left in the balloon, was now rendered highly explosive, by the mixture of the common air, which they had blown in, and it needed nothing but an ignited body to touch it off. Accordingly the over curious, but not over philosophical countrymen, deputed one of their number to enter with a lighted can- dle, to see what was within. No sooner had the ill-fated messenger applied his candle to the door of this dark cav- ity, filed with gloomy fiends of which he was little aware, than the whole blew up with a loud explosion, threw the astounded spectators flat upon the floor, and shattered the glass windows of the house to atoms; but happily the quantity of gas remaining in the balloon was so small, that no life was lost. Early in the revolution the French are said to have gain- ed a great battle in Flanders, by reconnoitering the ene- my's position, from a balloon, and subsequently they insti- tuted an aeronautic academy ; an anchored balloon was kept constantly on flight, and a Colonel, with a select corps of young men, was employed in practising in these new rerial tactics. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 269 TOWER HILL. June 23.—I took a walk this morning to Tower-Hill, Which is situated near the Tower itself. It is not much of an eminence, but it has been rendered very conspicuous in English history, as the place where much noble blood has been spilt, under the hand of the executioner. The Earl of Essex, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth, Lord Russell, Lord Lovet, Ann Boleyu, and the great Sir Wil- liam Wallace, the asserter of the liberties of his country against the tyranny of Edward the first, will occur to you among the multitude of other distinguished persons, whose blood has, at different periods, enriched this memorable spot. It is now a beautiful square, covered with verdure, and enclosed by an iron railing. It has ceased to be a place of execution, and, if my recollection does not de- ceive me, Lord Lovet and his associates were the last victims that suffered there. Few places in England, or even in the world, are asso- ciated with more interesting and painful recollections, than the Tower of London, and its celebrated Hill. So com- mon has it been to imprison State criminals here, that the particular gate by which they pass out, in order to go by water to Westminster for trial, is to this day called Trai- tor's Gate. Real treason is, without doubt, an enor- mous crime, and worthy of the severest punishment. But any thing has been called treason, which those in power have chosen to name such, and an awful list of murders, perpetrated under the solemnities of law, remains yet to be accounted for. How many tyrants, stained with blood, will meet in another state of existence, the comparatively 23* 2/0 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN spotless spirits of those whom they have consigned to an infamous death. Who can think without indignation of Ann Boleyn, the innocent victim of royal jealousy and licentiousness; of Sir Thomas More, the just and wise, yielding his life to the same gloomy tyrant; of Sir Walter Raleigh, the orna- ment of his age ; and of the Earl of Stafford, whose only crime was his high-minded loyalty—both of these sacrifi- ced to popular resentment; and more than all, of Sir Wil- liam Wallace, arrayed in all the splendor of heroic chival- ry and devoted patriotism, the Washington of his age and country—but bowing to the cruel policy of an able but wicked monarch. . RAG FAIR. June 24.—As I was going to the London Dock, this rvening, with some companions, we passed through a great crowd of dirty ragged people, to the number of some hun- dreds. They appeared to be very busy in displaying and examining old clothes which they were pulling out from bags in which they were contained. This, I was inform- ed, is rag fair. It is held here every evening for the sale of old clothes which are collected all over London, prin- cipally by Jews, who go about with bags on their shoul- ders, crying, with a peculiarly harsh guttural sound, clothes, clothes, eld clothes. You will meet them in every street and alley in London, and at evening they repair to Wap- ping, where a grand display is made of every species of apparel in every stage of decay. Sometimes they are in latters, and at other times merely soiled. Here people of the lower ranks may make a selection which is to them ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 271 really very useful, and a poor coxcomb may deck himself in the cast-off finery of the London cockneys. This is only one instance of a great system of similar transactions. There are shops in every part of London, where a man may furnish himself with the most important articles of dress for a few shillings ; for instance, there are hundreds of boot and shoe stores, where these articles are sold of such rude workmanship and of such inferior mate- rials, that there are few who cannot buy, at least among those articles which are second hand. There is probably no place in the world where people of all conditions may consult their circumstances so effectually as in London. ANGLO ASIATICS AND AFRICANS. From the rag fair we went on board an American ship lying iu the London docks. There we saw several chil- dren which have been sent, by the way of America, from India to England, to receive an education. They are the descendants of European fathers and of Bengalee mothers, and are of course the medium between the two, in colour, features and form. I mention this circumstance because the fact has become extremely common. You will occa- sionally meet in the streets of London genteel young la- dies, born in England, walking with their half-brothers, or more commonly with their nephews, born in India, who possess, in a very strong degree, the black hair, small fea- tures, delicate form, and brown complexion of the native Hindus. These young men are received into society, and take the rank of their fathers. I confess the fact struck me rather unpleasantly. It would seem that the preju- dice against colour is less strong in England than in Ame- rica ; for, the few negroes found in this country, are in a 272 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN condition, much superior to that of their countrymen any where else. A black footman is considered as a great ac- quisition, and consequently, negro servants are sought for and caressed. An ill dressed or starving negro is never seen in England, and in some instances even alliances are formed between them and white girls of the lower orders of society. A few days since, I met in Oxford-street a well dressed white girl, who was of a ruddy complexion, and even handsome, walking arm in arm, and conversing very sociably, with a negro man, who was as well dressed as she, and so black that his skin had a kind of ebony lus- tre. As there are no slaves in England, perhaps the En- glish have not learned to regard negroes as a degraded class of men, as we do in the United States, where wc have never seen them in any other condition. It is true, that in our eastern and middle states, and in all north of the river Ohio, there are few or no slaves, and the emancipated blacks, in many instances, rise to the possession of property, and of some personal respectabil- ity, but probably, it will never be possible to blend them by intermarriage with the whites. After all that we say, and with much truth, of the superiority of our country over others in civil liberty, it is a foul dishonour, it is a trying iniquity, it is a most glaring inconsistency, that we tolerate slavery. Other nations throw back into our faces this dreadful opprobrium, to which we must submit, in the silence of conscious guilt and disgrace: while England deeply guilty, in having first introduced slavery amon" us when we were her colonies—in still sustaining it in the West Indies, and in having so long sustained the slave trade, which she has at last prohibited—formerly oppres- sive in her attempts to subjugate us—still oppressive in ENCLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 273 her sway over the devoted millions of Asia—but proudly consistent at home, suffers no slave to contaminate her own European domain ; the slave no sooner touches her shores, and breathes her atmosphere, than his chains fail from his limbs, and he exults in the consciousness of lib- erty. No. XXII__LONDON. Vauxhall Gardens—Situation and extent—Splendidly illuminated —Description—Amusements of the place—Music—A mechan- ical panorama—Fire works—Dancing of courtezans. VAUXHALL GARDENS. In the evening, I went with a party of Americans to Vauxhall gardens. They are situated about a mile and a half from London, on the south of Lambeth, on the Surry side of the river. The gardens cover a number of acres, the whole surface is perfectly smooth, free from grass, and rolled hard. A venues of lofty trees are planted every where, and the confines are filled with shrubs. I came to the gardens with the impression that I was about to see something excelling all other splendid objects which I had hitherto beheld. Nor was I disappointed. For, as we entered, a scene presented itself splendid beyond descrip- tion, and almost beyond conception, exceeding all that poets have told of fairy lands and Elysian fields. From the trees, even to their very tops and extremities, from the long arched passages, open at the sides, and crossing each other iu geometrical figures, from the alcoves 274 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN and recesses which surround the whole, and from the oi> ehestra and pavilions, such a flood of brightness was pour- ed out from ten thousand lamps, whose flames were ting- ed with every hue of light, and which were disposed in figures, exhibiting at once all that is beautiful in regularity, and all that is fascinating in the arrangements of taste and fancy—that one might almost have doubted whether it were not a splendid illusion which imagination was play- ing off upon his senses. Do not suspect me of exaggera- tion, for, what I have now written can give you but a faint idea of this abode of pleasure. The arched passages to which I just now alluded, cross the gardens at right angles with each other, and yet, not in such a manner as to obscure the trees. In the recesses which bound the gardens on several sides, and also be- neath the trees, tables are placed, furnished with cold col- lations, confectionaries, and other refreshments. Trans- parent paintings rendered conspicuous by lights behind them, terminate several of the avenues, and all the arbours and walks are painted in a splendid manner. The rotunda is a magnificent room ; it is finely painted, its walls are covered with mirrors and gilding, and two of the principal arched passages cross each other here. The flags of several nations are suspended within, accompani- ed by paintings characteristic of the several countries. The orchestra is erected nearly in the centre of the gardens. It is in the form of a Grecian temple ; the sec- ond story is open in front, and there the musicians are placed. About 10 o'clock, thousands of well dressed people thronged the gardens. The first entertainment consisted of vocal and instrumental music from the orchestra, and ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 273 then a noble company of musicians, in number about thir- ty, most splendidly dressed, and known by the name of the Cuke of York's band, performed in a very superior style. The orchestra itself is one of the most beautiful objects that can be imagined. It is a Grecian temple of no mean size, and it is illuminated with such a profusion of lamps arranged in the lines of the building that its ap- pearance is extremely splendid. These lamps are simple in their form but very beautiful in their effect. They are somewhat spherical, open at the top and suspended by a wire. The wick floats in the oil, and the whole forms a little illuminated ball. The entrance to the gardens presents you with double rows of these lamps arranged in perpendicular lines on the pillars, and then with other rows, corresponding with the form of the roof of the arched passage under which you enter. Along the concave of this roof, extend- ing a great way into the gardens, other lamps are suspend- ed so as to represent the starry heavens. Conceive far- ther, that these lamps are thus disposed in every part of the garden, in very various and beautiful forms, among the trees and green leaves, in the alcoves, recesses, and or- chestra, and that some are green, others red, others blue, &c. thus transmitting rays of these colours only, and you may then form some idea of the gardens of Vauxhall. Our little party in the gardens was under the direction of an American captain, who was familiar with the place. As soon as the band had finished performing, he told us to run after him, which we did with all possible speed, as we saw every body running that way, although we knew not why. I laving reached the end of one of the arched passages, the captain, in language perfectly professional 276 A JOURNAL OP TRAVELS IN told us to haul our wind and lay our course for the fence. This we did, and the mystery was soon explained. For, down in a dark wood, we perceived a curtain rise, which discovered London bridge, and the water-works under it nearly as large as the original. The scene was produced by a combination of painting and mechanism. An old woman was sitting and spinning at the foot of the bridge ; the mail and heavy coach passed over into town, and a fierce bull followed driving before him an ass. The thing was very well done, and it was at once so odd, unexpect- ed and puerile, that it afforded us more diversion than a fine strain of wit could have done. A fter this exhibition there was music again from the orchestra. It was now past eleven o'clock, and the bell rung for the fire-works. These were exhibited from the bottom of a long dark avenue, terminated by a grove. They were very splendid, and, as the night was uncommonly dark, they produced their full effect. It is impossible to give any adequate idea of them by description. After the fire-works there was an intermission, while every body that was disposed sat down to the cold colla- tion. Our party had engaged a table in one oftlie boxes, as they are called. They are, in fact, little apartments, without doors, closed on three sides, and opening into the gardens. I was now no longer at a loss for the meaning or propriety of the proverbial expression, a Vauxhall slice; for the ham was shaved so thin, that it served rather to excite than to allay the appetite. We sat, until the music, beginning again, animated the company to new feats. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 27? Beside the musicians in the orchestra, several other bands now appeared in different parts of the gardens, seated on elevated platforms, railed in, and covered with splendid canopies.* Music now broke out from various quarters, and a new entertainment was opened to the com- pany. The assemblies in these gardens always include a crowd of genteel people, among whom are, frequently, some of the nobility, and, occasionally, even the king and queen and royal family appear at Vauxhall. But, in addition to these, no small part of the crowd is composed of courtezans. They are of that class who dress genteelly, and whose manners are less indecorous than is usual with persons of their character. The re- newal of the music was, it seems, a signal for them to commence dancing. This they did in several groups in various parts of the gardens, and the young men readily joined them. There was among these dancing females a large share of beauty and elegance, and some of them could not have been more than fifteen or sixteen years of age. Their manners and modes of dancing, while they were not so gross as necessarily to excite disgust, were such as I ought not to describe. I can hardly believe what I heard asserted, that some respectable ladies, of more than common vivacity, and less than common reflec- tion, occasionally, in a frolic, mix in these dances. IIow- * Among the performers in these places, were a great number of little boys dressed in a sky blue uniform ; they struck the tam- bourine, the cymbals, the triangle, he.; but before the feats were through, several of them were so overcome by sleep that they gaped incessantly, their eyelids kept dropping, and their fingers would almost stop on the instruments : it was a hard service for such children, under the open sky, and at one o'clock in the morning. VOL. I. 21 278 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ever this may be, it is certain that both ladies and gentle- men, and little misses and masters, are always spectators of these scenes, and I saw numerous instances where young men would leave ladies who were under their care, and join the dances, and then return to their friends again. This scene continued till half after one o'clock in the morning, when our party came away, and I was told that it would probably continue till three o'clock. The new day had dawned when I reached home; I was much fatigued, and went to bed with a violent head- ache, and completely disgusted with a place, which, al- though superlatively elegant, is, I am convinced, a most successful school of corruption. No. XXIII.—LONDON. House of Commons—Inconveniences to which spectators are subjected—Conversation with a member—Rotten boroughs— Debate on the army—Col. Crawford—Mr. Pitt—Lord Castle- reagh—Windham's retort courteous—Mr. Fox—Sheridan—As- sociation of ideas—Ceremonies and customs—Weather and winds. HOUSE OF COMMON'S At a dinner, a few days since, I was introduced to Sir Christopher Hawkins and Davies Giddy, Esq. two mem- bers of the House of Commons, who were so kind as to mention this day to me as one that would probably pro- duce debates in their body with which a stranger would be gratified. One of these gentlemen gave me a good seat ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 2~*J in the gallery, as he had offered to do when I saw him before. Strangers are not admitted on the floor of the house, unless they are foreign ministers, or, are specially permitted, and the gallery therefore affords the only op- portunity of seeing the House of Commons. The intro- duction of a member secures you a seat gratis ; otherwise a douceur is paid to the door-keeper, from half a crown to half a guinea, according as the occasion is more or less interesting. The gallery is so small that it will not hold more than one hundred and fifty or two hundred people, and I should think not even so many. Whenever an im- portant debate is expected, it becomes necessary therefore to go to the House very early in order to secure a seat; the gallery is sometimes occupied by seven o'clock A. M. and the House does not open till four o'clock P. M. All this tedious while the spectators may be obliged to wait, and then, in all probability, the greater part of the night will be engrossed by the debate. After you have once taken your seat, you must actually occupy it all the time, or you are considered as relinquishing it. The hat how- ever is allowed to be an adequate representative of its own- er, and by leaving this in your place, you may reclaim it after having been out. As the House was not yet assembled, the member who had given me a place in the gallery, was so obliging as to sit down and entertain me with his remarks upon parlia- mentary affairs. In the course of his observations, he took notice of the old subject of rotten boroughs. He thought that they were by no means so bad a part of the body politic as had been imagined, for, through them, generals, admirals, merchants, and, in short, men of almost every profession, could gain admittance to the ~5U A JOURNAL #F TRAVELS IN House of Commons, and thus bring their professional knowledge to aplace where it is much wanted, not to men- tion that an opportunity was thus afforded them, by their personal vigilance, to take effectual care of the rights of their respective professions. In the elections by counties and towns, it seems that it is usual to send up some person locally settled among those who elect him, but, in the bo- rough elections, any man, residing even in the remotest part of the kingdom, may set himself up, or, (which is the more common course,) his friends may do it for him. As the election is generally under the control of a few men, who have become possessed of the freeholds, to which the right of election was, by the charters of kings, originally granted, it is not a very difficult thing to become, through them, a member of the House of Commons. The gentle- man with whom I was conversing, was a member from Cornwall. It was not quite four o'clock, when Mr. Abbot, the Speaker, came in. After a short religious service, the Speaker counted the members present, and when forty had appeared, he took the chair. I was informed that if forty do not appear at four, o'clock, the Speaker instantly adjourns the House till the next day. The House of Commons sit in St. Stephen's Chapel, which they have occupied ever since the reign of Henry VI. This apartment, as before observed, is connected with Westminster Hall, so that, in passing from the one to the other, there is no necessity of going out of doors. The room occupied by the House of Commons is mere- ly neat; it has no appearance of splendor, and is really unequal to the dignity of this great nation. The principal objection to it is in point of size, for it is much too small ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 2S1 for the accommodation of more than six hundred members. But, they are never all present. The "side galleries are fitted up for the use of the members, and it is only the gal- lery at the end of the House which is devoted to strangers. The floors are covered with carpets, and the seats with green cloth, besides a matting or cushions. I shall not, on this occasion, act as stenographer to the House. I will mention only a few facts. Many topics of little importance occupied the earlier hours of the night. That which had been expressly assigned for discussion at this time, and which excited the most lively interest, was brought forward by a celebrated military man, Col. Craw- ford, under the form of a motion to inquire into the state of the army. It was said that he had been a long time preparing for this attack on Mr. Pitt, and he now made it in form, in two laboured speeches, supported by minutes, statements, and documents. He spoke about two hours and a half. His remarks were pointed against the minis- ter personally, and he attributed the embarrassments of the country to his maladministration. Many other members spoke on the occasion, and most of them with no great abil- ity. Col. Crawford is said to be a brave man and an ex- cellent soldier, but he is a very incompetent person to at- tack the Chancellor of the Exchequer. At the very mo- ment when you are prepared, by a formal exordium, to expect at least a formal conclusion, in which the burden of the complaint shall be brought forth, he hesitates, stut- ters, and repeats; he fails in the very crisis of the sen- tence, and leaves you only to wonder how one who per- forms so little should have promised so much. I hoped that Mr. Pitt would have spoken on this sub- ject, but he did not deign to reply. When Col. Crawford 24* 282 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN alluded to him personally, which he often did, he only shook his head occasionally, or smiled contemptuously. This irritated the orator, who even noticed in his speech, that the honourable gentleman smiled. Lord Castlereagh, from Ireland, replied to Col. Craw- ford with much perspicuity, correctness, and ability, and proved himself a superior man. He was answered by Windham, who, with great fluen- cy and wit, made the noble lord blush and the House laugh. It had been urged by the opposition, that the regular army ought to be increased, so as to be com- petent to meet the invasion, without relying upon the vol- unteers, who, they asserted, could not be depended upon. To this, Lord Castlereagh replied, that the experiment had not been pursued far enough; they could not as yet say it would not answer;—they ought to try the volunteer system longer. Windham retorted, that the noble lord's argument was like that of the apothecary, who, when his patients came and complained that his quack medicine did no good, us- ed to tell them—try it again ! try it again ! Although Mr. Pitt remained silent with respect to the motion on the state of the army, I had the pleasure of hearing this great man speak a few minutes on a petition which he handed in. There was nothing in the subject which called for a display of eloquence ; he made simply a statement of facts, but this served to identify bis voice and manner. In his person he is tall and spare; he has small limbs, with large knees and feet; his features are sharp; his nose large, pointed, and turning up ; his com- plexion sanguine; his voice deep-toned and commanding, yet sweet and perfectly well modulated, and his whole ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 283 presence, notwithstanding the want of symmetry in his limbs, is, when he rises to speak, full of superiority and conscious dignity. I had a distinct view of him for six hours, during which time he sat directly before me. His dress was a blue coat with metallic buttons, a white vest, black satin breeches, and white silk stockings, with large buckles in his shoes. His hair was powdered. Notwith- standing the violence of the opposition, and their having been so long accustomed to his voice, when he rose, the House became so quiet, that a whisper might have been heard from any part. He was very deliberate, so that not a word was lost; still energy was his most striking char- acteristic. Mr. Fox was also present. His person is very lusty. His neck is short,—his head large, round, and now quite grey,—his chest is broad and prominent, and his body and limbs vast and corpulent, even for England. His complexion is dark,—his features large,—eyes blue, close together, and of uncommon size, and his whole appearance peculiar, noble, and commanding. His hair was not pow dered;—he wore a blue coat, with buff cassimere under dress, and white silk stockings. I saw hi in in numerous situations, for he seemed very uneasy, and changed his place many times : he walked about—went out and came in—went up gallery and down, and was almost constantly in motion. He spoke a few minutes on a petition from a person imprisoned in Ireland for treason. His remarks were very pertinent to the case; his manner flowing, easy, and natural, but without the dignity and impressiveness of Pitt. He stood leaning forward, as if going up hill, and his fists were clenched and thrust into his waistcoat pockets. The caricatures 284 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN both of him and Mr. Pitt are very correct, with the usual allowance for the extravagance of this kind of prints. Sheridan, so celebrated for his speech at the trial of Warren Hastings, was in the house, and spoke on a ques- tion connected with the whale fishery. His language"flows with great facility. While present within these walls, which have heard so often the thunder of the elder Pitt and of Burke, I associa- ted the memory of these great men with the very seats and pannels, and it was no unnatural employment for an American to revert to that period when, in this place, were voted the supplies for those armies, which ravaged our country, and when, on this floor, a general of one of those armies made his eloquent defence for surrendering his sword to rebels* The general appearance of the House was very similar to that of American legislative assemblies. They have a custom of crying out hear ! hear ! when any thing is said to which they wish to call the attention of the House: sometimes this word is vociferated from so many at once as entirely to drown the orator's voice. The Speaker takes the opinion of the House in this form—" as many as are of this opinion say aye !"—" con- trary opinions say no!"—and then the result is declared thus : " the ayes have it, or the noes have it," according as one or the other party prevails. The members all wear their hats. They have no pay for their attendance; the inducement is derived from the honor and the in- fluence which a seat in Parliament confers. It follows * General Burgoync. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 285 almost necessarily that the members must be men of for- tune.t The Speaker directs the galleries to be cleared, by say- ing " strangers withdraw!" This he utters with a very loud voice, and the first time I heard the mandate I was disposed to obey it instantly. But I was surprised to see with what indifference it was received. Sometimes it was totally disregarded, and the spectators retained their seats, and they were never cleared till it was vehemently repeat- ed. We were driven out a number of times in the course of the debate, and it was always extremely unpleasant, because the stairs and doors leading to the gallery were very narrow, and a violent contest invariably ensued for precedency the moment the doors were opened. There are coffee-rooms under the same roof with the House of Commons, and private passages leading into them, through which the members often retire to refresh themselves. Some of the members prefer these lounging places to the hot air of the House, and are often found here over a comfortable supper, while patriots are spend- ing their breath in vain, to convince those who are more attracted by coffee and beef steaks, than by the charms of eloquence. It was now between midnight and one o'clock in the morning ;—the fatigue and bad air had given me a vi- olent headache, and I retired to get a cup of tea ; not know- ing that the coffee rooms were reserved for the members alone, I was going into one, when I was stopped by an in- quiry whether I was a member of Parliament. As I could \ In general the appearance of the members was more coarse, as regards their dress, fee. than I expected: they did not generally appear so gentlemanly. 286 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS W not answer in the affirmative, I was obliged to take my tea in the lobby. I walked home alone without meeting any adventure, and indeed, if I may judge from my own observation dur- ing the short period that I have been here, London is as safe by night as a village. THE WEATHER AND WINDS. June 28.—The fickleness of the weather in this island is proverbial. It is a standing topic of complaint with all valetudinarians, and is a considerable inconvenience to those who are well. I was caught yesterday in a shower, a mile from home, without an umbrella, and in a street where there were no hackney coaches; before I could reach one of the stands for coaches they were all engaged, and I was thoroughly wet. The number of hackney coaches in London is very great. They are strictly regulated by law, and it is gen- erally not difficult to obtain a coach, but when a hard shower comes on, they are often put in requisition so sud- denly, that it is impossible to procure one. In this country it is not wise to go far from home with- out an umbrella ; for showers and sunshine tread so rapid- ly in each others steps, that the most flattering aspect of the skies cannot be trusted. As 1 was going to the par- liament house to-day, I was overtaken by a violent tem- pest, attended with thunder, lightning, rain arid hail; some of the hail stones were of the size of a large hazlenut, and for a few minutes they completely covered the streets; the rain descended in torrents, and the water deluged the streets, overflowing the side walks in many places. I ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 287 took refuge in a shop till the storm was over, and then re- sumed my walk. If I may be allowed to judge from so little experience, I should think that there had been a good deal of peevish complaining with respect to English weather, although the climate, it is true, is very changeable ; but all climates are fickle, and that of New England is certainly so in an emi- nent degree. The insular situation of Britain no doubt con* tributes to the mutability of their weather especially to changes from wet to dry, but the transitions from heat to cold are by no means as sudden and great as in New-Eng- land, and it may be doubted whether this climate is not on the whole better adapted to human comfort and lon- gevity than ours, in which we are tried with such fierce extremes of heat and cold. It is observed that Americans who settle in England before the decline of life, enjoy excellent health and live eo a good old age. Hence it has been remarked, that the best constitution for health and long life is one with au American basis and an English superstructure. The breaking out of the American war, in 1775, brought con- siderable numbers of American loyalists to England, and some of them remained after the peace and still survive. You occasionally meet them in London and most of them confirm the truth of this observation. On the 22d, I found it so cold, that while writing at home with windows and doors shut, I was compelled to put on additional clothes, and finally to wrap myself ia flannel. The next day I was obliged to call for a fire.— This is however, I presume, an uncommon case. The humidity of this climate, without doubt, contributes very much to its fine vegetation. The green is so intense and 288 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN pure that the eye delights to dwell upon it. If the cli- mate of this island be contrasted with that of the neigh- bouring continent, the effect of its insular situation be- comes most manifest. In Holland the rivers and canals are ice-locked for weeks every winter : here it is a won- der if the Thames freezes tolerably firm, once in half a century. I am very much struck although not surprised, with the different character of the winds here and with us in the Eastern American States. With us the East and North-east wind brings clouds and rain, and in the winter snow, and dismal melancholy weather, often of long continuance: here these winds are dry, with clear skies and fine weather, often of some endurance; here the west winds are what the north and north eiist are with us, and with us the west winds are what the north and north east winds are here. These facts appear to admit of an easy solution. In Britain the western winds come charged with the vapours of the great Atlantic Ocean; hence they are sure to bring cloudy weather and rain.— Indeed at Liverpool, (and I understood it to be a fact generally, on the western side of the island) the preva- lence of westerly winds is so great that the trees in many instances, obviously lean to the east, and are covered on the windward, that is the western side, with moss. On the contrary, the east and north-east winds arrive in Brit- ain after running over immense tracts of continent with very little intervening water, they ought therefore to be dry winds and to bring fair weather. This reasoning is all applicable to America, only reversing the facts, and of course the order of the conclusions, for the east and north- east winds obviously arrive there after traversing the ocean and the western winds after traversing the land. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 289 Nothing can be better adapted to activity and comfort than the temperature of an English summer; the ther- mometer rarely indicates more than summer heat, and generally less, and it is very rare indeed that the mercury rises higher than 80°. Although dashes of rain are fre- quent, there is also much more of fine bright skies, than I had imagined, and there are summer days, with those buoyant fleecy clouds, and the strong contrast of them with the deep azure canopy, which constitute so fine a fea - ture in our climate. No. XXIV—LONDON. A private party—Mr. Greville—Descended from Lord Brook- Lord Brook's death—Mr. Watt—Sir Joseph Banks' conversa- tione—Sir Joseph—Major Rennel—His opinion of the changes of the English language in America—Dr. Wollaston—Dr. Tooke—Dalrymple—Windham, &.c.—No ceremony—Sir Jo- seph's public breakfast—Anecdote of a Frenchman. A PRIVATE PARTY June 30.—I dined to-day at Paddington Green, with Mr. Greville, at six o'clock, the latest hour that I have ever been invited to dine in England.* Mr. Greville is a son of the late and brother of the present Earl of Warwick ; he is the nephew and heir of * Labourers and trades people in England, dine from twelve to two o'clock. Genteel people in the family or with a few friends. at four o'clock—if there is much company, at five, and some peo- ple dine at six, and even later. vol. T. 25 290 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN the late Sir William Hamilton, so well known by his long residence in Italy, and by the collection of Etruscan vases with which he enriched the British Museum. It was at Mr. Greville's that I found, myself sometime since,so awkward- ly situated, in consequence of having come without my let- ter of introduction. But, I could not have fallen into bet- ter hands, for Mr. Greville's politeness and kindness made the thing perfectly easy. Mr. Greville is one of the King's Privy Council, and is well known to the scientific world by his exertions to promote the study of mineralogy, in which department of natural knowledge he possesses perhaps the best private collection in Europe.* He informed me that he is descen- ded from Lord Brook, who, with Lord Say, founded Say- brook at the mouth of Connecticut river. This Lord Brook was slain in a singular manner, at the battle of Litchfield during the civil wars, by one Dyot, a dumb man, who was remarkably skilled in shooting. Lord Brook was standing at a great distance with his vizor thrown up ; I think it was said that he was standing in the door of a house, when some one pointed him out to Dyot, and the latter aimed with such fatal accuracy, that he shot him through one eye. His armour is still shewn in Warwick Castle. At Mr. Greville's, among several gentlemen of science, I had the pleasure of meeting a man whom I have long contemplated with admiration. I mean Mr. Watt of Birmingham, one of the greatest philosophers of the pres- ent day, the particular friend and associate of Dr. Black, and the great improver, I had almost said inventor, of the * Since Mr. Greville's death, it has been purchased by the Brit- ish Government, and placed in the British Museum. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 2&1 steam engine and of its most important applications. He is a venerable man of seventy or more, but perfectly erect in his person and dignified in his manners. He was very affable, and appeared to be almost equally at home on every subject, whether it were mineralogy, chemistry, his- tory, antiquities, or the fine arts. Among men of accom- plished minds and the most amiable and polished manners, it was impossible that time should not pass pleasantly and usefully. Dr. Townsend, author of travels in Spain, &c. was there. We returned into London on foot, and Mr. Watt, hav- ing learned my views in visiting England, was good enough to direct my attention to a number of interesting objects in different parts of the kingdom; as we passed along through the environs, and the more recent streets of West- minster, he pointed out some of the remarkable changes which London has undergone within his own recollection. I was surprised to learn from him that so large a part of Westminster is newly built; indeed it looks like a com- paratively recent town; the houses are in the modern style; the streets are spacious and clean, and it is free from any appearance of decay and ruin. As there are few or no shops in Westminster, it has little of the stir of commerce, for the trades people all live iu the city; but many fine equipages are to be seen passing in every direction, and principally occupied by ladies making calls, &c. The hours of making calls are from eleven to three or four; but few very fashionable people would call before one or two. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the London coach horses, employed on these occasions; they are, almost without exception, of a bright hay—very large—perfectly trained, and so glossy, as to ?92 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN look almost like changeable silk. Opulent families have different horses for night service and hard work, and stormy weather, these beautiful animals being kept as a mere pageant, and maintained in luxury and indolence. SIR JOSEPH BANKS' CONVERSATIONE. There are a number of literary assemblies in London, for the purpose of conversation, where a stranger has a better opportunity than he can enjoy in any other way, of seeing the distinguished men of the metropolis, and of forming an estimate of the English character in its most improved, intelligent, and polished form. The most dis- tinguished of these meetings is held at Sir Joseph Banks', and I found that the gentlemen with whom I was walking, were going to attend it. When Mr. Watt inquired wheth- er I had been introduced at this meeting, I informed him that I had supposed myself precluded from calling on Sir Joseph Banks, as I had left a letter of introduction with my card, on my first arrival in London, and had never heard any thing farther on the subject. He assured me that it would be perfectly in order to call agaiu, as Sir Jo- seph, in consequence of the numerous demands on his tiny5, was, by the universal consent of society, excused from the common obligations of civility with respect to returning visits and sending invitations, and every stranger who had been introduced to him, was expected to call again as a matter of course. I had learned the same thing, a day or two before, from Mr. Greville, and had acciden- tally heard that inquiry had been made by Sir Joseph whether I had called. I was therefore very happy to put myself under Mr. Watt's patronage, and to accept the of- fer which he kindly made to introduce me. ENGLAND,HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 293 My reception was such as to make me regret that my mistake had not been sooner corrected, and every embar- rassment was removed by the courteous behaviour of this celebrated man. Sir Joseph Banks is verging toward old age ; he is now afflicted with the gout, and from this cause, is so lame as to walk stooping, with the aid of a staff. His head is per- fectly white, his person tall and large, and his whole ap- pearance commanding though mild and conciliating.— From his being President of the Royal Society, and from his having been long distinguished by active and zealous exertions to promote the cause of science, especially in the various departments of natural history, he has become, by common consent, a kind of monarch over these intel- lectual dominions. We found Sir Joseph in his library, surrounded by a crowd of the literati, politicians, and phi- losophers of London. These constitute his court, and they would not dishonour the King himself. Mr. Watt was so good as to make me easy in this assembly, by in- troducing me to such of the gentlemen present as I had a curiosity to converse with. Major Rennel is probably the first geographer living. In Asiatic geography particularly he has distinguished himself very much, and has given the world an excellent map of Hindustan. The geographical illustrations at the end of Park's Travels in Africa were written by him. Although few men have equally well founded claims to superiority, no man indicates less disposition to arrogate it than Major Rennel. His manners are perfectly modest, and so mild and gentle, that he makes even a stranger his friend. He thought that notwithstanding the efforts of 25* ~94 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN the French to make their language, the polite tongue of Europe, the English would ultimately become the most prevalent language in the world. This he inferred from the immense countries in Asia and America which were already settled or fast settling with English people. While conversing on this subject, he uttered the following extra- ordinary sentiment. He said, that the Americans had improved the English language, by the introduction of some toords and phrases very energetic and concise, in- stead of diffuse circumlocution. To my remark that his sentiments were much more favorable to us than those of the English reviewers, he replied that they were not al- ways the most candid men. Among other distinguished men who were present, was Dr. Wollaston, a chemical philosopher of eminence, and Secretary of the Royal Society; Dr. Tooke, the historian of Catharine of Russia ; Mr. Cavendish, who has done as much towards establishing the modern chemistry as any man living ; Dalrymple, the marine geographer ; Wind- ham, the Parliamentary orator; and Lord Macartney, fa- mous for his embassy to China. Beside these there were many others among those who have distinguished themselves in science, politics, or lite- rature, and whom it was gratifying to a stranger to see. In this assembly the most perfect ease of manners pre- vailed ; there was no ceremony of any kind. They came and departed when they pleased, without disturbing any body, and those present sat or stood, or walked or read, or conversed or remained silent, at pleasure. Eating and drinking formed no part of the entertainment, nor was any thing provided for this purpose. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 293 Every person who has been introduced to Sir Joseph Banks, is at liberty to breakfast at his house at 10 o'clock, and to frequeut his library and museum at any time be- tween that hour and 4 o'clock P. M. every day in the week except Sunday. I shall doubtless avail myself of the privilege of the library frequently, although I may not perhaps make so much use of the breakfasts as a French loyalist is said to have done. This man, having fled from the guillotine in France, found access at Sir Joseph Banks', and met that liberal reception which is known to characterize the house. Hav- ing understood that a public breakfast was ready every morning, at which Sir Joseph was always happy to see his friends, he construed the invitation in the most literal and extensive sense, and actually took up his board there for one meal a day, and came to breakfast regularly, till the sly looks and meaning shrugs of the servants taught him that in England, as well as in France, more is often said than is meant.* Sir Joseph Banks'library is very extensive, for a private one, and is freely consulted by all persons who have been properly introduced. Sir Joseph lives in all the dignity of science; he has a librarian constantly attending in the library: he is a Swede and himself a man of learning. There are also, I believe, two secretaries. Sir Joseph can well afford all this, for his income is seven thousand pounds sterling, or nearly thirty-three thousand dollars; a sum * This was Sir Joseph's last levee while I was in London. I called repeatedly in the morning, and always found interesting men and ample means of information from books, &.c. One morning I asked Sir Joseph in what way I Blight get admission at Kew Palace and Gardens ; he replied with characteristic point— " a silver key, sir, is the best means of unlocking all such places.' 29G A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS ZN much larger than the salary of the President of the United States. Sir Joseph Banks' efforts in favour of science, have not been those of a mere student. You will remember he ac- companied the celebrated Captain Cook in one of his voy- ages, and in the narrative is mentioned under the name of Mr. Banks. Dr. Solander, a learned Swede, was also with him. The same gentlemen also visited the Island of Iceland, and we have an account of their observations in the let- ters on Iceland, drawn up by Van Troil, who was also of the party, more than thirty years since. On the whole, there is no man in England better enti- tled to lead in science, than this eminent veteran, and I imagine the august assembly at his levees, would give a stranger a more favourable idea of the intelligence and ur- banity of the English than any other which he could fre- quent. No. XXV.—LONDON. Brompton Garden—Chelsea Garden—Chelsea Hospital—Beauty of the grounds—Veterans—Smugglers of Cambric—Strangers easily distinguished in London—Mendicants very numerous in London—Refuge for the destitute—Inadequacy of the relief afforded by public and private charity—A successful beggar— Soldiers and sailors. BROMPTON AND CHELSEA GARDENS. July 1.—With a companion I walked out this morn- ing, to the Botanical Gardens at Brompton, a mile and a half from Hyde Park corner. These are the gardens ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 297 which were cultivated by the late Mr. Curtiss, a man dis- tinguished for his botanical knowledge, and well known to the public by the Botanical Magazine which he conducted, adorned with very beautiful coloured engravings. His Lectures are now published, with botanical prints, so per- fectly done, that they look absolutely like living flowers and plants. I visited the gardens with a particular view to ascertain whether they would be of use to me in look- ing a little into the elements of botany, to which 1 wish to devote some attention this summer. I find that by pay- ing one guinea, I shall be entitled to visit them at pleas- ure, and to make use of a botanical library which is kept in the garden, and of the conveniences for study which it affords. I think I shall sometimes make it an afternoon's retreat during the warm weather, for, what can be a more grateful refreshment than to exchange the dreary walls and pavements—the steams—the noise, and the universal scramble of London, for the quiet, the fragrance, the beau- ty, and the instruction of the Gardens of Brompton. Wishing to compare these gardens with those at Chel- sea, we walked half a mile farther to them. We found that they belong to a company of apothecaries in London, and are confined to the promotion of their particular views, and are of course less accessible than those at Brompton. They are said to be arranged upon scientific principles and to be more correct in this particular than the other gardcu. A botanical garden scarcely admits of interesting description. It ought to be seen and examined in order to be understood. We saw here a cork tree in actual growth, the appearance oftlie surface is extremely rough. Here were also the tea plant of China, and two fine cedars of Lebanon, one hundred and fifty years old. 298 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN CHELSEA HOSPITAL. In this excursion we visited Chelsea hospital, erected by Charles II. for the reception of soldiers worn out, or disa- bled, in the service of their country. The number of pen- sioners at this time is about five hundred ; the out pension- ers are ten thousand, and they receive each twelve pounds a year. The grounds connected with Chelsea hospital cover about forty acres. The front of this hospital extends about eight hundred feet, it is constructed of brick, and makes a handsome appearance. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the grounds about this hospital. It stands on the Thames, and every rural beau- ty, formed by avenues of trees and green fields, is height- ened by gravelled walks and appropriate statues. I mean to describe merely the impressions which I received, for, I am well aware that the gardens are considered as being laid out in bad taste, because the lines are straight, yet av- enues of trees and verdant fields will ever be beautiful. We were in the dining-hall when they were laying the tables for the veterans of Chelsea hospital. Many of them are hoary and bowed down with years. Here they re- pose, till the king of terrors shall steal silently to their beds, without the pomp and noise of battle, and the mur- derous weapons of war. My time did not permit me to gratify the strong curiosity which I felt to inquire into the private history of individuals; to learn what " hair breadth escapes" each one had met with, " in the immi- nent deadly breach," and to lead him, insensibly, to for- get the decrepitude of age and wouods—kindle with the ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 299 recollection of former deeds, and " shoulder his crutch and show how fields were won." But the life of a common soldier is, in every part of it, deplorable. His pay is a song, his service is severe, his privations great, his dangers frequent and imminent, his death undistinguished and unlamented, and, if he survive, his old age is dependant, vacant and miserable. SMUGGLERS OF CAMBRIC. July 2.—About a week since, as I was returning home from the Strand, a short fat man, in a scarlet waistcoat, ad- dressed me in this style : " young gentleman—sir—your honour !" So many titles, in such rapid succession, made me stop short, when he put his mouth to my ear, and said in a low voice : " I have got some nice French cambric, will you buy i" I answered no ! and walked on. To-day, while I was passing rapidly along Holborn, a fellow singled me out with his eye, and after following me a few paces through the crowd, said, with alow, cautious voice: "shj sir, will you buy a little French cambric ? I have some ve- ry fine." I trust you will not wonder if I answered no ! very petulantly ; for, what, thought I, is there in my ap- pearance, which makes these fellows teaze me to buy French cambric. They were undoubtedly smugglers of that article, and had either evaded or defied the laws of the country, for both are constantly practised. It is surprising how soon rogues of all descriptions will distinguish a stranger in London. Concerning the multi- tudes who, on their first arrival in this metropolis, saunter through the streets, staring at every red lion and golden eagle over a shop door, there is indeed no wonder that all should mark them for strangers. But, let even a man who 500 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS tN has been accustomed to large towns in other countries, come to London, and dress himself in the strictest fashion of the day, and from the shops of English tailors, let him walk fast through the streets, as if he neither saw any body, nor cared for anything, let him even strut and look brave and knowing, like a Londoner, still the rogues and beg- gars will find him out. The former will track him in crowds and assail his pockets, and the latter will pursue him in the streets, and supplicate his compassion till they have received a six-pence, and then pour blessings upon his head till he is out of hearing. MENDICANTS. July 3.—As I was reading in my apartment this after- noon, I heard a female voice in the street, saying, in a tone of anguish, " O ! for heaven's sake, have compassion on a poor distressed woman !" This petition for charity was addressed to a servant of the house, who happened to be at the door. The number of beggars in the streets of London is very great; in some streets they occur every few steps, and among them is a very large proportion of old women, and a considerable number of young women with infants in their arms. When I have bestowed a trifle upon them, I have sometimes heard Englishmen say, " O these people are impostors—don't mind them, they make a trade of it." This may be, in some instances, true, and probably is ; but, when one sees age, decrepitude, rags, emaciation and extreme dejection, and that in a woman, compassion will be awakened, especially when a wretched mother carries her starving infant in her arms. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 301 It is said that the institutions of the country are suffi- cient to provide for these people. Why then, arc they not provided for; and if, as is asserted, they prefer a life of vagrancy, to the wholesome provisions of a public char- ity, why does not the police take them up, and oblige! them to receive relief in a regular way, and to make what remuneration they can by their labour. But, there is reason to believe, that most of them are re- ally the wretches whom they appear to be, and that the charge of imposture, so constantly urged against them, is too frequently a refuge of selfishness, which is penurious when poverty and suffering plead, but profuse when pleas- ure calls. Street charity is undoubtedly injurious, when it is fie- quent, because it encourages vagrancy ; but the truth seems to be, that the high price of provisions, want of character and friends, and the very incompetent wages of people who have no trade, make much real suffering in London. As a proof that these are not the erroneous impressions of a stranger, whose opportunities for observation have been necessarily limited, I will mention a fact in point. I was present, not long ago, at a dinner in London, where were some of the most active promoters of a new humane institution called THE REFUGE OF THE DESTITUTE. They gave me their prospectus, from which the follow- ing is an extract. " The object which this society have in view, is to pro- vide places of refuge, for persons discharged from prison, or the hulks, unfortunate and deserted females, and others, vol. i. 26 302 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IS who, from loss of character, or extreme indigence, can- not procure an honest maintenance though willing to work." " When it is considered that thousands in this metropo- lis subsist by dishonest practices, whilst some, it is much to be feared, perish from want, before parochial relief can be obtained; an undertaking, tending to remove such evils, cannot fail to receive the most general patronage and support," &c. That thousands do suffer here, " though willing to work," and that some do " perish from want," there can be no doubt. You will see these wretched beings sunk down in the streets—under the eves of the houses—on the steps of doors, or against the corners, apparently asleep, but there is much reason to believe, that they are, in some instan- ces, finding a refuge for ever, from hunger, and the re- pulse of pride, pleasure and affluence ; that refuge where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. I am not insensible of the glorious pre-eminence which this country holds above all others, in the number and magnitude of its charitable institutions, nor am I ignorant of the unparalleled extent of private munificence; but, still, there is something wrong where things are thus, and these humane Englishmen who are founding the refuge for the destitute, have proved that they think so too. Another considerable class of beggars in London, con- sists of those who have lost some of their organs. There is an unfortunate man whom I pass frequently in Holborn, whose lower limbs have been amputated, close to his body, so that he has neither legs nor thighs. He site ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 305 upon a little sled, to which he is fastened by straps, and moves himself by crutches, raising the sled with himself at every effort. But he is the most successful beggar in Lon- don, and that because he never begs. He merely sits upon his sled, with his hat in his hand, but never solicits chari- ty even by a look. His case however speaks eloquently, and such has been his success that (as report says) he has lately given a daughter in marriage with a portion of sev- eral hundred pounds. His case is altogether singular, and has no analogy with those which are the subjects of these remarks. It is a very common thing here to meet those who have lost a leg or an arm, and, at present, considerable numbers of soldiers who lost their eyes in the Egyptian expedition are begging their bread in the streets of London. This misfortune befel multitudes of them, in the burning deserts of Egypt and Syria, from the reflection of heat and light, and the blowing of the fine sand into their eyes by the hot winds; or from the Egyptian opthalmia. I know not why they are suffered to beg, for, surely, government ought to take care of them. Sailors frequently hobble through the middle of the streets on crutches, singing in concert, to old England's glory, and soliciting, too often in vain, old England's charity. There is a fellow who has taken his station in the street leading to the parliament house, and attracts attention by drawing curious figures on the flat stones, with red and white chalk, and inscribing there the story of his misfor- tunes, or some moving sentiment. These things strike me with double force, when con- trasted with the splendor, the voluptuousness, the in«en- 304 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN ious luxury, and the unbounded profusion of the fashiona- ble world, who might find nobler pleasures in relieving distress and providing for honest but suffering poverty. July 4.—The thermometer stood to-day at 8^°, which is high in this climate ; the heat was the more oppressive, because the prevailing weather this summer has been thus far, very cold, even for England. No. XXVI__LONDON. Illumination with inflammable gas—Its beauty—Nature of the contrivance—The royal society—A picture gallery—Denner's daughter—A hunting piece—Joseph and Potiphar's wife—At- tempt to delineate Jehovah—Environs of London. ILLUMINATION WITH GAS. I had been with a companion into Hyde Park, to see ihe serpentine canal, and the flock of swans which are suffered to swim unmolested upon it, when, on our return, through Picadilly, we were induced to stop, near Albany house, by an object of some curiosity. An ingenious apothecary and chemist has contrived to light his shop in a very beautiful manner, by means oftlie inflammable gas obtained from fossil coal. It is the same thing with the thermo-lamp of which you have heard much in America. Lvery new thing by which money can be made, is of course kept secret in London, as well as every where else; I took the liberty however, of asking the owner of the shop to permit me to see his apparatus. He refused at lirst. but, on my assuring him that I was not a commercial ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 305 or trading man, and was actuated solely by curiosity, he consented, and took me down cellar. The inflammable gas is extricated, simply by heating common fossil coal in a furnace, with a proper apparatus to prevent the escape of the gas, and to conduct it into a large vessel of water, which condenses the bituminous mat- ter resembling tar, and several other products of the distil- lation, that are foreign to the principal object. The gas being thus washed and purified, is allowed to ascend through a main tube, and is then distributed, by means of other tubes concealed in the structure of the room, and branching off in every desired direction, till, at last, they communicate with sconces along the walls, and with chan- deliers, depending from the roof, in such a manner that the gas issues in streams, from orifices situated where the candles are commonly placed. There it is set on fire, and forms very beautiful jets of flame, of great brilliancy, and from their being numerous, long, and pointed, and waving with every breath of air, they have an effect almost magic- al, and seem as if endowed with a kind of animation. The gas is sometimes made to escape in revolving jets, when it forms circles of flame ; and, in short, there is no end to the variety of forms which ingenuity and fancy may give to this brilliant invention. I was assured that they found this mode of lighting the shop more economical than the common one with oil or candles. But, it is not well adapted to small and confined apartments, as there is an odour resembling that which arises from burning coal; this odour may be prevented by peculiar precautions, but it is apt to exist, and this render ventilation necessary. 26* jtJ0 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN The expense of the apparatus, and its liability to acci- dents, forms another obstacle of magnitude, and, en the whole it is probable that it will not be generally adopted.* THE ROYAL SOCIETY. I was introduced here by the kindness of Sir Charles Blagden, to whom I had been indebted for other attentions and who had left my name with the door keeper, with proper directions for my admission. Sir Joseph Banks was in the chair; he woie a cocked hat and a star on his breast, and his seat was considerably elevated above the general level of the room. It appeared to be a full meet- ing. The apartment was ornamented with portraits of men distinguished as cultivators or patrons of science. The Secretary, Dr. Wollaston, was reading a paper con- taining an account of the analysis of a new variety of the stone called zeolite. It was, of course, merely a recapitu- lation of chemical processes, no part of which would be interesting to you. This was the whole business of the evening, except the admission of some new members.— The President then adjourned the Society, till the 7th of November next. Although one may learn from their transactions every important and interesting fact which occurs in the royal society, still, it is a source of rational satisfaction to be •* Aug. 1818. The instance mentioned in the text proved but the beginning in London. It is well known that that city is now extensively lighted by gas, and probably fifty miles of pipe have been laid down in London. It remains yet to be seen whether tlie thing will pay its way in the long run ; probably it will, but there is no reason to believe it will ever answer to introduce it into private houses, unless they are so situated as to be supplied from a main establishment. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 307 present in one of the first scientific bodies in the world ; a Society which has been honoured by the presidency of a Newton, and whose papers present a mass of science which has probably not been surpassed by the exertions of any body of learned men. The Academy of Sciences at Paris, under the old gov- ernment, and the National Institute, under the new, have, it is true, held a long continued rivalry with the Royal So- ciety of London. It is not necessary to adjust their con- tending claims; both have done much, and if national prejudices interweave themselves in matters of science, it is a weakness of human nature which ought to be for- given. A PICTURE GALLERY. July 5.—A disposition to be thought connoisseurs in the elegant arts, and particularly in painting, is probably one of the most general traits of travellers in polished coun- tries. As I utterly disclaim all pretensions to the real possession of this character, I will certainly not be guilty of affecting it. In speaking of my visit this morning to the Truehess Gallery, which is said to be one oftlie finest collections of paintings in England, I shall therefore give you only the genuine impressions of one unpractised in fashionable admiration. This gallery contains about nine hundred pictures of the Dutch, Flemish, French, German, Spanish, and Ital- ian masters, arranged in eight large rooms, lighted from above,and so connected, that every successive room seems a capital discovery, as one is impressed with the idea that every new apartment is the last. This collection was brought from Vienna at a vast expense ; it is asserted that 303 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN the duties of importation alone amounted to four thousand pounds, and that the total expense of removing it from Vi- enna, including that of the building in which they are ex- hibited, was twelve thousand guineas. Description can do but little in conveying an idea of the beauties of painting; I will mention only a few pieces which gave me particular pleasure. There is a portrait of his own daughter, by Denner, which you would pronounce to be life itself, and not a painting ; so perfect is the very living tint of the skin, the soft moisture of the eye, and the colour of the veins and lips. Denner had been distinguished for painting the heads of old people with wonderful accuracy, and he drew this, the only portrait of a young face, which he ever took, to silence those who said he could paint none but old faces. In the third apartment are two large hunting pieces, the one, of a wild boar, and the other, of two stags, attack- ed by dogs. The wild boar, after having made great hav- oc among his canine enemies, is at length overpowered by numbers, and surely, if ever swine had any thing of expres- sion in his face, his is marked by violent indignation, grief, and despair. The stags too are in the same desperate situation with the boar, and while they are fastened upon, on every side, by their furious foes, they have a seeming dignity in suffer- ing, which is enough to disgust one with the cruel pleas- ures of the chase. In the next room are two pieces, representing domestic fowls attacked by hawks ; while they are seizing on their defenceless prey, the consternation of " The crested cock with all his female train." ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 309 and the trepidation of the farmer's boy, running to succour the barn yard, are expressed in a manner which nothing but nature can equal. There is a picture of a woman carrying a candle in the dark, and holding her hand before it to screen it from the wind, where the partial transparency of the fingers, and the full reflection of light from her face, are most surprisingly accurate. The painters seem to have been very fond of one par- ticular subject, I mean the story of Joseph and his mas- ter's wife. There were in this gallery no fewer than three paintings of this story by different artists. The images delineated by sacred writ are sufficiently distinct, without the aid of the pencil, and you may easily imagine, that the morality of the scene has not gained much in the hands of the painters. There seems to be a licentia pictoris, as well as a licentia poetae. As I entered the seventh room, the first picture which caught my eye, was a portrait of his own daughter, by G. Passeri. I could not have conceived that a picture could have interested me so much; but this was one of the very finest faces. I believe the lady would not have been called a great beauty, but she had something in her countenance above the power of beauty. It was supe- riority and dignity of understanding—mildness and seren- ity of temper, but attended by warmth and expansion of the affections—with a large black eye, penetrating, but not severe, and an accordance between a brunette com- plexion, and her dark brown hair, which some how or oth- er affected me more than any picture I ever beheld. I returned again and again to gaze at it, and while I write, 310 A JOURNAL OF TRAVELS IN a most distinct and lively impression of this delightful countenance is present to my view.* I will notice one painting more, and that shall be the last. It was a very feeble, perhaps a very improper attempt, to reach the awful sublimity of its subject. This was no other than God the Father in his glory. Although it was a por- trait of a figure resembling man, the artist had attempted to shed around it the fearful radiance, shrouded with the im- penetrable obscurity of the throne of Jehovah ; hut on this subject the pencil is impotent—the strongest lines are fee- ble—the most glaring colours are faint. Let the painter forbear, nor attempt to delineate the God of glory. ENVIRONS OF LONDON. At the close of a very warm day for this climate, feeling a strong impulse to enjoy, for a little while, the fine air and scenery of the country, I walked with a companion up Holborn, to Gray's Inns, and thence to the very out-skirts of the town, and into the country. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the environs of London, in many directions. Gardens with every esculent production in perfection : flowers and plants of ornament, as well as utility, either growing in the open air, or in green houses, which are nu- merous and extensive:—fine fields, cultivated as if they were gardens, and without an inch of waste ground ; pas- tures of great luxuriance, grazed upon by the innumerable cows, of a large and beautiful breed, which supply Lon- * Some days after, I visited this gallery again with a friend, a man of taste and sense. Without describing the countenance, I told him I had been much interested by a face, in the seventh room, and requested him to point out the finest countenance there. He had scarcely time to castTns eyes around among a multitude of pictures, before he selected the very one which I had admired. ENGLAND, HOLLAND AND SCOTLAND. 311 don with milk, and a bustling population hurrying to and from the metropolis ;—all these things combine to give the vicinity of London the air of a fine picture, with the addi- tional interest excited by so much life and motion. You will understand these remarks to apply to the immediate neighbourhood of London. Within a very few miles you find those famous deserts, Hounslow-heath, Black-heath, Waudsworth common, and many others ; presenting ma- ny square miles of dreary uncultivated territory, seeming however to shew us how much England owes to cultiva- tion ; for these places, and others of the kind in different parts of England, are not neglected because they are pe- culiarly barren, for we often find in the midst of them an oasis,—a fertile spot in the desert—and apparently as pro- ductive as any of the best cultivated parts of the country. Between nine and ten o'clock we returned to town. A Journal of Travels, vols. 1,2, & 3 Silliman, Benjamin New Haven, 1820 National Library of Medicine Bethesda, MD CONDITION ON RECEIPT: The three full tree-calf leather bindings were worn, particularly at the comers, edges, and joints. The leather on the spines was split from head to tail. Some 'leather was missing including most of two leather labels. The front board of volume 1 was detached. The internal hinges were broken. The text blocks were sewn two on. The sewing was weak in all volumes. Most of the pages were in relatively flexible condition even though they were dirty, discolored, and acidic. Some pages were foxed. A few pages were torn. A few gatherings extended beyond the text block. Provenance notations and book plates appeared on the . exterior leaves. TREATMENT PERFORMED: The pH was recorded before and after treatment: before 4.0, after 8.5. The volumes were collated and disbound retaining the original sewing. The head, tail, and pages were dry cleaned where necessary; the pages were ' nonaqueously buffered (deacidified) with methoxy- I magnesium methyl carbonate solution. Tears were '{l. H/f** mended and folds guarded where necessary with ,y Japanese kozo paper and wheat starch paste. The V/^- sewing was reinforced. The bindings were repaired by , ryq rebacking using calf leather which was colored with * / , acrylic pigment. Title information and lines were Z % Z) \ tooled in gold leaf onto the spines. Northeast Document Conservation Center May 2001