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FROM .A. LOCOMOTIVE;

on,

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE.

By the Author of "Belle Brittan's Letters."

" A moment bright, then gone for ever/

NEW YORK:
DERBY & JACKSON, 119 NASSAU STREET.
1859.

Ed. <fS"<|l-

Enter kd according to Act of Congress, in the yenr 1859, by
DERBY & JACKSON,
[a tho Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern Diatrict of New York.

W. II. Tinson, Stereotypes Geo. Rubbbll & Co., Printer:;,

MT BROTHER JOURNALISTS
OP
EUROPE AND AMERICA,
THIS
VOLUME OF NEWSPAPER LETTERS
IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED.

CONTENTS

LIFE AT SEA.
A Pleasant Party — Young America — Lord Bury — The "Asiatic
Lottery"— The "Leader"— An Original Song . . .11
A GLANCE AT LIVERPOOL.
First Glimpse of Europe — Green Erin — The Lazarus of Nations —
Old England — Liverpool — The Docks — The Streets — The Ladies
— Police — Hotels — Chambermaids — Old Virginia— -Jas. McHenry
—A Song for the Ship  22
THE WATER CURE.
English Railways — Great Malvern — Worcestershire and its Sauce —
Roman Remains — Classic Ground — Tewksbury — Stratford-on-
Avon — The Water Cure — Modus Operandi — Distinguished Visit-
' ors — New Sensations — An Ancient Water Hymn . . 31
THE BURNS FESTIVAL.
Merry Carlisle — Lancaster Castle — Poor Debtors' Prison — The Bor
der Castle — Mary's Walk — The Cathedral — Meg Merriles — The
Book of Job — Gretna Green — A Piquant Mystery — Dumfries —
The Burns Banquet — The Poet's Tomb — Leigh Hunt on Burns —
Isa Craig's Prize Poem — An Impromptu Speech . . 45

VI CONTENTS.

THE MEMORY OF BURNS.
Birthplace and Tomb — The Commemoration — Tributary Genius —
Burns Clubs in America — Dumfries — St. Michael's Church — The
Poet's Funeral — Celebrations — Highland Mary — Religion — Hospi
tality—The Brothers Maxwell  61
A VISIT TO ABBOTSFORD.
Under the Weather — " All full inside " — A sorrowful Companion —
Edinburgh — A Live Directory — The Scott Monument — Rare Auto
graphs — Madeline Smith — Abbotsford — Its Relics and Venerable
Cicerone — A Drive with a Butcher — Melrose Abbey . . f5
THE GREAT METROPOLIS.
The Approach by Night — Immortal Memories — From Edinburgh
to London — Berwick — Newcastle — York — Morley's Hotel — A
Heart-Luxury — The Handsome Thing — Mr. Dallas and Nautilus
Hallett — The Foreign Office — Opening of Parliament — The Queen
— A Beautiful Revelation — Prince Albert — Lord Derby — The
Duke of Cambridge — Rosy Peeresses — The Duchess of Malakoff
— England and Mexico  89
HAMPTON COURT.
The Magnificent Cardinal — Splendid Paintings — Nell Gwynn— Ben
jamin West — Heels and Soles for Dinner .... 103
THE GREAT EASTERN.
A Leviathan among Minnows — Herbert Ingram — Captain Harrison
— The first Steamboat — William Symington — Robert Fulton — Bet
ting on the Great Ship's speed — A Fish Dinner at Greenwich 111
A WORD ABOUT THE WOMEN.
English Hotels — Dress, Masculine and Feminine — Hats Off— Femi
nine Feet — The Veracity of Mother Goose — Buxom Beauty  A
Bonnie Lassie — English Hospitality — Sights of all Sorts . 117

CONTENTS. VU
ENGLISH CELEBRITIES.
Sir Bulwer Lytton — His Works — Personal Appearance — Dinner —
Bulwers Opinion of Prescott, Irving, Cooper — The Earl of
Malmesbury — Kind feelings toward America — Lord Lyons 125
MORE CELEBRITIES.
An Evening with Leigh Hunt — Abou Ben Adhem — Byron — Words
worth — Burns — The Cosmopolitan Club-r-Tom Taylor — Milnes —
Layard — Mrs. Norton — Stirling — Hughes .... 133
WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY.
A London Election — A London Jam — The American Association —
Mount Vernon Tomb — A Pleasant Incident — The Crown and the
Sovereign  142
WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
How Sleep the Brave — The Poet's Corner — Epitaphs — S. C. Hall's
Lecture — The Hopeless Author of " The Pleasures of Hope"—
His Funeral — A Voice from Heaven — Banishment of Childe
Harold's Dust— St. Paul's— The Tombs of Nelson and Welling
ton — Ruins  , . . 152
THE BRITISH MUSEUM, ETC.
Preserved Trifles — Literary Curiosities — Madame Tussaud's
Rooms — Startling Resemblances — Madame St. Amaranth — The
Chamber of Horrors — President Buchanan — American Pano
ramas — Albert Smith — A Political Prediction . . . 161
LIFE AND DEATH.
A Sad Bereavement — A Father's Sorrow — Christian Sympathy —
Covent Garden Theatre — " The Undying One " — The Queen and
Prince Consort — Royal Jealousy — Victoria as Wife — The Pynes
and Harrison — Mr. and- Mrs. Barney Williams — Albert Smith —
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Paul — Government Reform — Sir Samuel
Cunard  169

Vlll CONTENTS.

A WORD ABOUT THE FINE ARTS.
Princely Patronage — Beautiful Pictures — Costly Collections — The
Belle Jardiniere— A Fifty Thousand Dollar Raffaelle — The
Dusseldorf Gallery  1*78

METROPOLITAN MISERY.
The London Police — A Dark Picture — Eighty Thousand Traviatas —
The Sham Philanthropy of Exeter Hall — Something worse than
Slavery in America — The Theatre — Chippendale — Charles Kean —
Anna Bishop — Madame Pico — The Royal London Yacht Club —
Honorary Members  184
PARKS, PALACES, BANKS AND CLUBS.
The Antiquity of London — Babies and Ladies — The Marquis of
Lansdowne — Portrait of Sterne — Pork and Cheese — The Old
Lady of Threadneedle street — A Valuable Bit of Paper — Cords
of Bullion — Mint Drops — A good Word for American Credit —
The Reform Club — Au revoir  192
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF PARIS.
The Channel — Sea-sickness — An Orange Blossom Party— Cuddling
before Folks— Calais to Paris — Grand Hotel du Louvre  Mardi
Gras — Bal Masque — Bois du Boulogne — Such is Life . . 201
NAPOLEONISM.
The Tomb of the Emperor — The Religion of France — The Empress
Eugenie — The Prince Imperial — Louis Napoleon on Horse-back
— The Napoleon Circus — The Fashions — The Cafes — Priests 
American Spendthrifts in Paris  212
LIFE IN PARIS.
The Carnival— Lorettes and Pirouettes— Sunday Amusements 
Butterfly Philosophy— Parisian Women— The Benign Reign of
Napoleon— The Opera— A Grand Concert— The Emperor at the
Theatre — Grisi, Mario and Alboni  222

CONTENTS. IX
MATTERS AND THINGS IN PARIS,
The Sickles Tragedy — Jealousy — The Paris Verdict — Madame Gue-
rabella — Bogus Counts — Dr. Gaillardet — Count Sartiges — Ameri
cans in Paris — Judge Mason — Consul Spencer — A Grand Review
— A Monster Concert — Versailles — The Peace Congress . 230
PERE LA CHAISE.
The Romance of Death — The Commerce of the Grave — Devotion to
the Dead— The Pantheon of Paris— Abelard and Eloise — The Opera
— Tamberlik — Penco — Frezzolini — Meyerbeer's New Opera 23*7
FROM PARIS TO FLORENCE.
Adieu and au revoir — A Calypso Island — Unsophisticated Inno-
— cence — The Tree of Knowledge — Modesty of Parisian Vices —
A Pleasant Incident — Lady  French Railways — Forests of
Fontainebleau — Lyons — The Mediterranean — Marseilles — The
Steamer Pausillipe — English Nobs and Snobs — Americans Abroad
— Genoa — Its Odors and Black Spiders — Leghorn — Meeting of
the Sisters — Pisa — Florence  244
A GLANCE AT FLORENCE.
The Rainbow Hues of Poesy — The Etrurian Athens — The Cascine —
Santa Croce — More Black Spiders — The Boboli Gardens — Nature
and Art — Virgins, Original and Pictured — An Hour with Powers
— His Webster and Washington — Off for Rome . . . 257
THE ETERNAL CITY.
The Route to Rome — Boccacio — Siena — Piccolomini — Beggars —
The Dome in the distance— Entrance to the City — The Crowd of
Strangers — The Coliseum — St. Peter's — The new Venus — Ame
rican Artists and their Studios — The melodramatic spectacle of
St. Peter's— The Pope riding in a Chair — Contrasts— The Hon.
Mr. Stockton — Consul Glentworth — Americans in Rome — Ex-Pre
sident Pierce — A brief Biography  263
1*

X CONTENTS.
NAPLES AND ITS ENVIRONS.
Rome in Seven Days— Ruins— Religion— Black Spiders— The Pass
port Nuisance— A Casus Belli— A Hint for Congress— The Pontine
Marshes— St. Paul — Vesuvius in the Distance — Naples, its Rags,
and its Odors— Christ in the Tomb— The dying King— Pompeii
— Sir John and Lady James — A new Translation of Tasso . 276
PARIS REGAINED.
Paradise after Purgatory — A Neapolitan Swindle thwarted — The
Messagerie Imperiale — Civita Vecchia — Charlotte Cushman —
Her Sister's Death— Gathering for the War — Jolly Soldiers — Pop
ular Enthusiasm for the Emperor — His Programme-^The Pope
between two Fires — The Dream of Liberty — Departure of Louis
Napoleon — The War Loan — The Opera — Frezzolini — A Scene
at the "Italiens" — La Reine du Theatre — Madame Camille — Ris-
tori — Her proposed Visit to America — Adieus . . . 286
HOMEWARD BOUND.
London in its Glory — The Change of Ministry — The Great Battle
Begun — The Allies Victorious — The Deluge to Come — The Head
of the Church in a Tight Place — A Tonic for the Victims — Eng
land and America — Mother and Child — Gov. Seward Lionized in
London — Lord Napier — Morley's Hotel— rThe Steamer Fulton —
Priests and Prayers — Sandy Hook — The Last Spark . . 298

SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIYE.

Life at Sea.
A Pleasant Party — Young America — Lord Bury — The "Asiatic
Lottery " — The " Leader " — An Original Song.
Waterloo Hotel, Liveepool,
Tuesday, Jim. 18, 1859.
At 9f o'clock on the morning of the 5th of
January, the steamship "Asia" glided from her
dock in Jersey City ; and before the middle of the
afternoon we saw the last of American earth sink
below the horizon. With feelings that I shall not
attempt to analyze or describe, I bade " my native
land good-night," and descended to the dinner-table.
The sky was clear and the sea smooth; and the
seats that had been taken were nearly all occupied.
There were less than fifty passengers on board ; but
it required no extraordinary sagacity to perceive u

12 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OK,
that we had among us men, and women, too, of no
common order of character and talent. On the re
moval of the cloth, George Francis Train, Esq., one
of the liveliest, wittiest and best-tempered of men,
proposed that the company present should resolve
themselves into a mutual-admiration society; and
that each passenger should do all in his power to
make the voyage a pleasant one. The suggestion
was warmly responded to ; and from that moment,
np to the arrival of the ship in Liverpool, every
waking hour was winged with pleasure, — songs,
sentiments and speeches being the order of every
day ; and, although a majority of our party were
homeward bound, yet there seemed to be a prevail
ing feeling of regret at the shortness of the passage,
and the breaking up of our happy family. At 8
o'clock on Sunday morning, in something less than
eleven days, the Asia was lying in her stone-cradle
at Liverpool, and her passengers were scattering to
their various destinations.
Of our fellow-passengers whose names are familiar
to the public, I shall take the liberty of mentioning
Lord and Lady Bury, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. F. Train,
Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Kennard, Mr. R. S. Butter-
field, Mr. Nicholas Carter, M. R. Sands, and Mr.
Tipton Walker. These names by no means em
brace all the " talent of the company ;"' but they are

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 13
the names most accustomed to type, and may there
fore be used with less fear of giving offence to their
owners. Lord Bury is not only a man of mark, but
a " good fellow " in the best sense of the word. He
is the only son of the Earl of Albemarle, and a
nephew of Lord John Eussell. Although but 26
years of age, he has held high official positions in
every quarter of the globe, and is now a leading
member of Parliament, representing the ancient
city of Norwich. He has been an officer in the
Scots Fusileer Guards, Aid-de-Camp to Lord Fred
erick Fitzclarence, Commander-in-Chief of Bom
bay ; Secretary to Lord John Eussell when Premier,
Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs in Canada,
and is now Chief of the Three Indian Tribes. He
is about six feet in height, with light hair and blue
eyes, and is one of the best skaters and cricketers
in England. Thoroughly educated, highly accom
plished, with the head of a statesman and the heart
of a philanthropist, Lord Bury is already regarded as
one of the most popular legislators in Parliament ;
and no man of his years stands a better chance of
becoming Premier of England. He is the special
favorite of Lord John Eussell, Lord Palmerston,
Milnor Gibson, Mr. Gladstone, and other leading
lights of Liberalism. He succeeded in carrying
through the House of Commons the bill " legalizing

14 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OK,
marriage with a deceased wife's sister," by a large
majority, after it had been unsuccessfully urged for
twenty years ; and also distinguished himself on the
Hudson's Bay question. His recent visit to
America was for the purpose of effecting certain
contracts with railroad companies in Canada, in
connection with the Galway line of steamers, in
which his lordship takes a deep interest. Lady
Bury is the eldest daughter of Sir Allan McKab ;
and a more beautiful, affable, accomplished woman
I have rarely met. "With a sweet smile and a plea
sant word for all who approach her, not a passen
ger left the ship without a cordial " God bless her ;"
and so we all drank —
"Long life to Lord Bury's wife,
Sir Allan's lovely daughter."
At the dinner-table, on the first day out, Lady
Bury remarked that, as there was an editor on
board, we must start a newspaper, for the occupa
tion and amusement of the company. The proposi
tion was loudly applauded, and Train, who is a liv
ing pun, suggested that it should be called "The
Asiatic Lottery," in honor of the captain and his ship.
Lord Bury moved that, at the conclusion of the
voyage, the newspaper should be -disposed of by
raffle ; and that the proceeds of the tickets should

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 15
be given to the Society for the Belief of Ship
wrecked Sailors. All these suggestions were
adopted with great enthusiasm ; and the next morn
ing, and for several successive days, the pens of
the contributors were earnestly at work. The
articles were handed every day to Lady Bury ; and
published by being read aloud after dinner. And
here I may add that, notwithstanding there were
five regular meals daily, when the tables were
loaded with the most sumptuous and varied fare,
yet every dinner was a delightful pastime, as well
as a rich repast, occupying, at least, three hours.
The contributions to our improvised journal
swelled to some two hundred letter-sheet pages ;
and many of them were of a high order of talent.
It proved that not only was every man of our com
pany a singer, an orator, and a wit, but a poet and a
journalist as well. Lord Bury contributed a story,
entitled the " Posthumous Papers of Dr. Blanco,"
not surpassed by any similar production of Dickens.
Train gave us volumes of statistics, and poetry by
the yard; while a young man on board, by the
name of Burns, a clerk in the New York house of
Morton, Grinnell & Co., threw off gems in rhyme
worthy of his great namesake. Mr. Smith, of Staf
fordshire; Mr-. Coggill, of New York; Mr. Kennard,
of London ; and Mr. Carter, of the well-known firm

16 6PAEK8 FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OB,
of A. S. Henry & Co., also contributed liberally to
the columns of the " Lottery." A clever artist, Mr.
Burton, sketched the portraits of the contributors ;
and these, with the various articles, were made into
a large volume, which was put up at £21 — forty-
two tickets, at 10s. each. Mrs. Malcolm Graham,
of New York, won the prize ; but very kindly
placed the original copy in the hands of Lord Bury,
who will furnish each subscriber, who desires it,
with a copy, which is to be privately printed. The
money raised was also placed in the hands of Lord
Bury, to hand over to the above mentioned
charity. The following, as nearly as I can recollect, is the
Leader, which I may quote without quotation marks :
PLATFORM OF THE ASIATIC LOTTERY.
It is customary for editors in issuing a new journal
to occupy the leading column with a platform of
purposes and principles. "We begin with the frank
avowal that onr object is simply ready money and
future fame. "We believe in money, it is power ;
and man's chief end is to become a power on the
earth. For effecting an immediate object there is
no influence so potent. As society is now organ
ized money is better than blood, or beauty, or

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 17
genius. It makes gentlemen of clowns ; nobs of
snobs ; presidents of peasants ; and kings of clods.
But when it comes to the question of fame, which
the first Napoleon says is merely a great noise, the
Press is the only trumpet worth blowing. It makes
governors and chief magistrates in America ; and
if free in Europe, would unmake kings and empe
rors, and play shuttle-cock with diadems and
coronets. The "London Times," will outlive a
thousand Ministers, if not the government of Great
Britain. The Press not only makes and mars repu
tations, but it makes fortunes also. The " immortal
Bonner," of the " New York Ledger," who is yet
on the sunny side of thirty, is publishing 500,000
sheets a week, at a clear profit of $150,000, a year ;
the " New York Times," " Tribune " and "Herald,"
are each piling up, at least $100,000 per annum ;
while the proprietor of the " Blustrated London
News," who sends 30,000 copies a week of his
mammoth edition to the United States, is realizing
an annual income of $250,000. "We, too, hope to
make money by our enterprise, although we may
not reach the magnificent sums of the above named
journals. The Press is the fulcrum for which
Archimedes sighed. "Without its magic aid, no
great enterprise can succeed, while under its com
bined influence " there is no such word as fail."

18 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
It takes the thought of the individual around the
world, until the inspiration of one mind .becomes
the impulse and the guide of the masses. In the
United States our men of high ambition like to see
their names kindly mentioned in the English
newspapers ; and, we believe, that the most
eminent members of Parliament are both gratified
and benefited by transatlantic commendation. The
joy and the power of Fame increase in proportion
to the distance from which her trumpet tones are
echped. But we can only hint at the power of this mighty
engine, which even its ablest conductors do not yet
fully comprehend. Like the erratic forces of steam
and electricity, its power is greater than we know.
Our present purpose is a philanthropic as well as a
pecuniary one. "We want money ; but we want it
for a worthy cause. Never a wind blows upon the
broad ocean over which we are now so serenely
gliding, but proves an ill-wind to some poor sailor,
causing shipwreck, suffering and death. For these
brave-hearted heroes of the sea, whose lives are spent
in a perpetual struggle with the elements, our jour
nal lifts it pleading voice. Beneath the opal dome
of God's great temple, with the blue billows dancing
around us, peacefully; securely, and even joyously
floating over an untroubled ocean, with all the

Life and liberty in Europe. 19
winds and waves sleeping as tranquilly as the pas
sions in an infant's breast, we, too, can hear the
mingled voice of history and prophecy sighing:
" And ever more there is sadness on the sea." And
then the white-robed angel of Charity, more lovely
than the Venus in her cradle of pearl, and her veil
of foam, appears to us, and appeals to us, to shed a
few 'golden tear-drops from our pockets in behalf of
that great sorrow, whose perpetual moan is heard
in every wave that breaks on the shore ; and whose
sad music, lingering and echoing in the little shell,
. touches the heart of every child with a feeling of
vague and infinite pity for the innumerable multi
tude of the fair and the brave whose white bones
tessellate the floor of every sea.
The following poem was contributed by Lord
Bury, to whose facile and felicitous pen the " Asiatic
Lottery " is indebted for its most brilliant gems :

A FAREWELL.
Our ship speeds o'er the waters, outward bound.
Through loop-holes of innumerable stars
There streams down glory from the inner heaven.
'Tis night upon the ocean, clear and calm,
And onward, onward o'er the heaving seas,
There lies a silver pathway to" the moon.

20 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
Time was when such a scene was dear to me,
When quiet thoughts would nejtle at my heart,
And bear it homeward on their love-sped wings.
But now, lost love, oh never, never more
Mine ear shall drink the music of thy voice,
Nor linger spell-bound on thy sweet low tones.
The years since first I met thee had recast
Thy girlish form in woman's loveliest mold,
When once again I held thy hand in mine.
And thou wert still mine own ; thy sweet clear eyea
Looked up and blessed me, and thy soul met mine,
Trembling and quivering with a thrill of love !
I worshipped thee and lost thee — with thy name
The volume of my love is closed forever ;-
The place is vacant that thou mayest not fill.
Would God, oh dear one, we could pause and date
A new existence from our last farewell,
Nor let the future mingle with the past.
Bind up together memory, grief and love ;
Weight them with this intolerable care,
And sink them deep beneath the stream of time.
I have only time to add that on arriving at Liver
pool, we found that a "commercial panic" of five
days' duration had just shaken the financial world
of Europe to its centre, caused by a casual New
Year's Day remark of Louis Napoleon. But a

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 21
reaction has already taken place, and the fiscal
barometer is rising again. Nevertheless, Europe is
evidently volcanic.
Immense preparations are being made for the
"Burns Centennary " throughout the United King
dom. In Liverpool there is to be a grand concert
and ball ; but the great celebration will take place
at Dumfries in Scotland, whence you may look for
the next spark from your locomotive correspondent.

22 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,

A Glance at Liverpool.
First Glimpse of Europe — Green Erin — The Lazarus of Nations —
Old England— Liverpool— The Docks— The Streets— The Ladies
—Police — Hotels— Chambermaids— Old Virginia — Jas. McHenry
— A Song for the Ship. Waterloo Hotel,
Ja/mary VMh, 1859.
The first sight of European land may well excite a
new sensation. It is the land of our ancestors and
of our literature; and, next to the place of our
nativity, the dearest land on earth. It was on the
morning of the tenth day from New York that,
going on deck, I saw, for the first time, the green
hills of Erin, green, even in midwinter, within
half a mile from us. Cape Clear was some four
hours astern ; and the Asia was shooting past Skib-
bereen and the Skerries. And that, I remember, is
the fatherland of Moore and Emmet, of Lever and
Lover ; the land of poetry and poverty ; of melody
and misery ; as well as the dear " Ould Country "
of all the Paddies and Biddies who have made our
fires and scrubbed our floors ; dug our ditches and

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 23
washed our clothes since America declared her
independence and became the poor emigrant's
paradise. There she lies — the Lazarus of nations.
We pass the Cove of Cork, and meet a screw
steamer (a cork-screw ?) 'coming out. Just then, a
little cloud above us improvised a shower, and a
beautiful rainbow suddenly beamed like a smile of
hope upon the brow of that dearly
 " loved Island of Sorrow."
I have faith in the pleasant omen. There is " a
good time coming " for Ireland. Her exiled sons
afe returning by thousands from the golden West
with pockets full of money, and hearts full of filial
and fraternal affection to comfort the closing days
of aged parents, and to cheer and animate their
toiling countrymen and brothers. For Lazarus,
too, there is a glorious resurrection.
We speed on into the Channel — into the night.
Holyhead light flashes its bright pathway upon the
waters. That is the welcome ray from Old Eng
land. England, " whose morning drum beat, fol
lowing the sun in his rising," etc., etc. England,
the land of poets, philosophers, statesmen, soldiers,
and sailors ; the land of Alfred, and of Yictoria ;
the land of roast-beef and plum-pudding. Eng
land, " whose flag has braved," etc., etc. Another

24 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
beacon light comes " streaming o'er the sea." It is
the "Bock Light," on the Mersey — a great rosy
cone of light; and over the bows of the ship the
lamps of Liverpool gleam like parallel rows of
stars. At eight o'clock on* Sunday morning, in less
than eleven days from New York, the Asia is
backing into her dock, after making, what every
passenger pronounced it to be, a pleasure voyage
across the Atlantic. I will not linger over the
heartfelt regrets of our companions at parting with
the captain, the ship, and with one another. We
had been as members of one family; everybody
contributing to everybody's comfort and amuse
ment all the way over ; and even they who were to
pass from the ship into their own home, seemed
reluctant to leave a scene that had been, from
beginning to end, a perpetual festival.
The Liverpool' Docks are the first objects that
impress the stranger arriving from the ocean. They
are stupendous works, extending five miles in one
magnificent range of solid walls of rock, and nearly
all built within the last twelve years. The Colling-
wood Dock, one of the largest, is five hundred
yards long, one hundred and sixty yards wide, and
covers a space of thirteen and a half acres. These
docks are owned by the borough of Liverpool;
and the dues collected the past year amounted to

LDTE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 25
$1,800,000. These dues are assessed at a rate to
merely pay the interest on the cost, the docks being
self-supporting, and not yielding a revenue. When
shall we see the North and East rivers of New
York lined with shipping-berths like these? The
town of Liverpool (it is not a city, although it has
a population of half a million) strikes me favorably,
all but the cloudy skies and smoky atmosphere.
The public and private buildings are very hand
some, and the streets, although narrow, are exceed
ingly clean. The walks and crossings, even on
a rainy day, will scarcely soil the soles of the shoes.
And yet the ladies, whose dresses are never long
enough to drag, make a flaming display of red
petticoats, and often wear their heavy leather
gaiters laced up the centre of the foot and
ankle with red ties. Thus far I have not seen a
hoop in Liverpool ! Of the comparative beauty of
the women, I am not prepared to pronounce an
opinion. As yet I have had only confused glimpses
of red petticoats, ruddy cheeks, light hair, and
large soles / and, I may add, shocking ugly bon
nets, a sort of cross between a " wide-awake " and
a " Bloomer," with a piece of narrow lace around
the brim, and a feather or a ribbon in the crown.
The policemen on the dock are objects of interest.
They are exact likenesses of the conventional police-

26 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
men of the stage ; and look as if they were born for
the office. They are remarkably well dressed, good
sized men, wearing dark belts numbered, and iron-
grooved hats. A blow upon an English police
man's head is as harmless as a blow upon a negro's.
In personal efficiency and dignity of bearing they
are decidedly superior in appearance to any similar
body of officials in America; and, so far as my
limited observation has extended, I find them
more obliging to strangers and more carefully at
tentive to their duties. They are paid for being
civil, as well as watchful, as all policemen should
be ; and railway conductors, ditto.
Next to the police and the custom-house officers,
who proved to be not at all troublesome (only inquir
ing if I had any American reprints, or over a hundred
cigars), came the cabmeh, the " hansom " men, and
the " fly " men, with their various outlandish-look
ing vehicles, all of which were "one horse con
cerns." But the drivers were civil in their speech,
and moderate in their charges ; the latter item being
not only fixed but enforced by law, while both
vehicle and driver are conspicuously numbered;
and the fine for the violation of the rules is from
ten to twenty dollars. From the cab we step into
the hotel, and this, too, compared with our Ameri
can traveller's palaces, is a mere one horse concern.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 27
The " Waterloo," where I found rooms had been
engaged for me, is a famous and venerable in
stitution. Mr. Lynn, the proprietor, wears a ruffle
shirt, and is a very gentlemanly old gentleman;
but he spends his time in the coffee-room with his
carving knife in hand in a way that would astonish
our Cranstons, Stetsons and Hildreths, while the
landlady receives the guest, and the rosy-cheeked
chambermaid, with her well-combed hair and smart
little cap, escorts him to his room. These chamber
maids are charming institutions; attentive, talka
tive, intelligent ; and, as a general thing, very faith
fully represented in looks, dress and manners by
the same dapper little piece of loquacity inevitable
in every English farce. If one happens to fall sick
in their hands (and the temptation is rather
strong) they make the tenderest of nurses ; and will
come into your room at night and " tuck up the
bed " with as much simplicity and nonchalance as
they would fix a child in the cradle. They seem to
be as unconsciouslymodest as Nature herself. This
tucking up business is not an idle ceremony ; for,
instead of lying down to bed in England, we have
to climb top to the bed, which is as high and round
as a horse's back; and, to one who hasn't "the
hang of the thing," the covering slides off with
great facility. I confess to a preference for our

28 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
American beds, from which there is no danger of
falling out. The pillows of the English beds, so far
as I have tried them, are thin and skimpy. An
affectionate couple who should endeavor to adopt
the sentimental idea of two heads on one pillow
would find their noses very near neighbors. But
the towels, especially in the bathing-rooms, are of
the most liberal dimensions, being large enough for
table-cloths. For " drying up " purposes they are a
vast improvement upon the American pattern. The
fare at the " Waterloo " is excellent. In quantity,
variety, cooking and serving, nothing is omitted that
can be desired. Most of the guests take their
meals in the coffee-room, on the first floor ; but thus
far I have not been left to that solitary sort of enter
tainment, having been domesticated with a charm
ing and most hospitable family, who have the finest
parlor in the hotel, with a private table that is
always surrounded with a company of choice spirits.
The men-servants of the hotel wear black coats and
white cravats; and are exceedingly polite and
deferential in their manners. The cost of living
per diem is about the same as at the " New York
Hotel," or at the " St. Charles."
Of Liverpool society I have seen but little. At
a pleasant dinner party at the house of Mr. Tucker,
the American Consul (who is now in the United

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 29
Spates), I found myself in a familiar Old Virginia
family rather than an English home. Mr. Tucker
is very popular with the merchants here, both resi
dent and foreign ; and everybody is regretting that
his salary is not commensurate with his generous
hospitality. Among the distinguished men I have met here,
none has impressed me more as a man of intelli
gence, energy and influence, than James McHenry,
Esq., who for eighteen years has ranked as one of
the leading merchants of Liverpool ; and during
that period has handled more American produce
than any man living. He is now one of the largest
financial operators in Europe, and is engaged in
several colossal projects, involving millions of capi
tal whieh has been plaeecL at his control, and
embracing every quarter of the globe. In the*
midst of his more gigantic schemes Mr. McHenry
is projecting a mammoth hotel in Liverpool on the
American plan ; a Water Cure establishment in
Walest and has within a few days purchased the"
" London Spectator," (formerly edited by the great
Sam Johnson) and placed Mr. Thornton Hunt, son
of Leigh Hunt, in the editorial chair. Mr. McHenry
is one of the live men of the age, and of him I may
have more to say hereafter. To close with a sort
of dochs-ology, I will quote an impromptu song

30 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
which a friend of mine handed to Lady Bury before
entering the docks — to be sung by the "entire
strength of the company ;"
A SONG FOE THE SHIP.
(dedicated to lady bury.)
A song for the ship, the brave old ship
That has borne us so swiftly along,
Here's honor and fame, to the Cunard name
And his good old ship so strong.
Our brave Captain Lott shall ne'er be forgot,
For a right good fellow is he ;
With an eye fore and aft, he watches his craft
As she gaily glides over the sea.
Then for captain and ship here's a hearty hip-hip,
And another for the good ship's crew ;
For honor and worth come not of birth,
To be noble is nobly to do.

LD7E AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 31

The Water Cure.
English Railways — Great Malvern — Worcestershire and its Sauce —
Roman Remains — Classic Ground — Tewksbury — Stratford-on-
Avon — The Water Cure — Modus Operandi — Distinguished Visit
ors — New Sensations — An Ancient Water Hymn.
Great Malvern, Worcestershire, January 21, 1859.
My last letter closed with an intimation that the
next would be written at Dumfries ; but, consider
ing what I have gone through within the last three
days, I am prompted to report these unexpected
experiences. One travels mainly for the sake of
new sensations ; and I have had, at least, several
since leaving Liverpool. To start from the begin
ning : the railway station 6eems to have been built,
as Shakspeare's verse was written, " Not for a day,
but for all time." And the same may be said of
the road, also ; and of all the public works in Eng
land. The railway carriages, as they call them
here, are roomy and luxurious ; and only six seats
in a compartment. A delightful contrast to the
miscellaneous multitude one is compelled to en-

32 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
counter, even in the "ladies' car" in America.
The road on which I travelled (the London and
Northwestern) is perfectly smooth; and the car-
' riages roll along so evenly that one may write as he
runs, as well as read. They are comfortably
warmed by thin metallic boxes lying on the mats,
and serving as footstools; thereby entirely dispens
ing with those disgusting "Salamanders," which
make winter-travelling on the American railways,
not only unhealthy, but almost unendurable. I do
not wonder that Englishmen fret at the burnt
atmosphere of our cars, especially, as is often the
case, when jets of tobacco-juice are continually
played upon the red-hot stove.
On leaving the station, the train dives into the
bowels of the earth, and comes out on the other side
of Liverpool. The darkness of the tunnel is abso
lute and palpable. On emerging into daylight, we
find, ourselves dashing, as it were, through a garden
j*t the rate of forty or fifty miles' an hour, but so
smoothly, that this fearful rate of speed is not felt,
and only perceived by the kaleidoscopic flashing by
of fields, farm-houses, villages, manufactories, and
cities. At the principal stations, the polite conduc
tor unlocks the door, and informs us exactly how
long we may indulge in " refreshments," or in look
ing at the " neat-handed Phillis " who serves them

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 33
— pies, cakes, sandwiches, wine, beer, and spirits,
and also hot tea and coffee. At each stopping-
place policemen are vigilant, while the employees
of the road are active in attending to their duties.
Every wheel is tested by a stroke of the hammer,
and every part of the machinery examined. There
are no less than three thousand men in uniform
employed on the London and Great Western and
Northwestern roads, extending over an aggregate
distance of six hundred miles. With roads so
firmly constructed, and so carefully and efficiently
managed, accidents are of rare occurrence. The
tracks are all fenced, or rather, hedged and walled
in, so that there is no need of "cow-catchers;" and
notwithstanding the velocity at which the engines
are run, an English railway carriage is unquestion
ably the safest mechanical conveyance in the
world. My destination, on leaving Liverpool, was Great
Malvern. Being a little " out of repair," Mr.
James McHenry, a zealous hydropathist, insisted on
my repairing to this place ; and not only urged me
to come, but brought me along, and placed my
" case " bodily in the celebrated establishment of
Dr. Wilson, who has achieved immortality by cur
ing the most obstinate maladies of the most
eminent men and women in England; among
2*

34: SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
others, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, whose " Con
fessions of a Water Patient " have converted thou
sands to the pure faith, and made the fortunes of
the water doctors, not only of Great Malvern, but
throughout England.
THe place itself is beautiful beyond description.
It is situated in the very heart of England, over
looking the rich valley of the Severn ; and about
equi-distant from London and Liverpool. The
village is shelved upon the smooth sides of a moun
tain range that rises to a height of some fourteen
hundred feet ; and the views are varied, extensive,
and surpassingly lovely. The whole region round
about is classic and historic ground ; and the very
atmosphere redolent of poetic associations. We
approach it by passing through Stafford, Wolver
hampton, and what is generally known as the
" Black Country" — where the smoke of the manu
factories (and flames too) from myriads of tall
chimneys ascendeth up forever, blackening the
face of heaven, and blotting out the light of day.
Leaving the train at Worcester, a one horse fly,
with three inside, drags us slowly up a winding
road, a distance of about seven miles — when,
beneath the tender light of the full moon (whose
dear old face smiles on us everywhere), this lovely
little city, sitting on a hill whose light can not

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 35
be hid, and whose beauty can never fade from my
memory, breaks upon our eyes. The picture is per
fect, or rather the infinite series of pictures, blend
ing like beautiful mosaics into the grandest of
panoramas. We have passed through the narrow
streets of Worcester, whose quaint old houses and
ancient cathedral drive our thoughts back over a
period of a thousand years. The city is now cele
brated for pretty girls, the manufacture of kid
gloves, and Lee & Perrin's sauce. Our road runs
through the field where Cromwell fought Prince
Eupert, and won what he piously called his
" crowning mercy of Worcester." Not far distant
is the " Eoyal Oak," where the fugitive Charles
hid from his godly pursuers — an event celebrated
to this day by the loyal citizens of Worcestershire,
who, on the 19th of May (I think it is), decorate
their hats, their houses, and their horses with the
leaves of the royal oak.
Yonder are the remains of an encampment made
by the Eomans thirty-eight years before the birth
of Christ, and probably occupied by the Great
Caesar himself! Near the broad valley of the
Severn rise the lofty hills of Cheltenham, one of
the most famous watering-places in England, and
where crowds go to drink of the seven springs of
pure water that form the source of the Thames (as

36 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
unlike the river at its confluence with the sea, as
the infant in its cradle to the sinner in his grave ;)
not far thence is Stratford- on- Avon —
" Where sweetest Shakspeare, Fancy's child,
Warbled his native wood-notes wild."
And there, too, is Tewksbury, memorable in
history, and Warwick Castle, and Kenilworth, and
Old Coventry, a place avoided by men of ragged
coats and soiled reputations since the days of
Falstaff. But I am wandering from my subject, as
well as from my locality. To return to Malvern.
The place is celebrated for the mountain behind it,
the valley before it ; for its ancient Priory Abbey,
its pure water, which comes sparkling from St.
Anne's Well and the Holy Well, like liquid dia
monds ; for its exhilarating atmosphere ; and lastly,
for its numerous and famous Water Cure establish
ments. It has also been long a fashionable sum
mer resort. Victoria lived here before she was
Queen : and the exiled Adelaide, of France, finds a
solace for her griefs in the sweet air and beautiful
scenery of Malvern.
I have confessed myself a hydropathic patient.
I am more — a disciple. It is good, either for the
sick or the sound, to be here. But water, applied

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 37
internally and externally, is not the only element
to be credited in the account of cures. The air, the
diet, the exercise, the regular hours, the rest, and
the entire abstinence from all excitement — mental,
moral and physical ; it is all this that works those
marvellous cures — almost as miraculous as the
restorations effected at the Pool of Bethesda.
Before arriving in Liverpool, I took a severe cold
by sitting in a draft at the dinner table, in a vest,
on the back of which water had been spilled, and
this gave me a new sensation in a touch of the
rheumatics or lumbago. For this I am here — but
for four days only. Independently of this slight
local difficulty, which is rapidly vanishing, these
water courses have already made me feel like a
new-made being; and I can fully appreciate and
cordially indorse all that the most enthusiastic
beneficiaries of the system have written in praise
of it. At Dr. Wilson's establishment, which is
simply a hotel, liberally supplied with watering
accommodation, the parties are put through the
various operations of the sitz, the shower, the
torrent, the lamp, and the several other different
kinds of baths, three times a day ; at six o'clock,
A.M., at twelve o'clock, and at six in the evening ;
and after each process he is ordered to dress and go
out to walk as quickly as possible. In all the forms

38 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
of the bath administered to me thus far, there is a
sudden plunging from hot to cold, which, at first, is
"positively shocking;" but the violent rubbing
soon restores the equilibrium ; and by the time the
performance is over, the glow is perfectly delight
ful. The most agreeable and efficacious bath I
have taken is the lamp operation ; and, as this is
the most novel one, I will briefly describe the
modus operandi. The patient, in the original cos
tume of " our first parents," before they knew
enough to be ashamed of themselves, is " called to
the chair.'^ This chair has a wood bottom, with a
cushion on it, and a light frame around it. His
feet are put in a hot bath, a lighted lamp is placed
beneath the chair, when the bather begins to wrap
thick woollen blankets around the neck of his
patient, which, falling upon the floor, entirely
exclude the air. These blankets are piled on, until
the head of the sitter seems to be sticking out of a
huge stack of wool ; then, large linen sheets are
wrapped around the entire mass ; and, lo ! the dew
begins to fall. Cold water is drank copiously, and
the perspiration runs down the arms and sides of
the body in streams. Each of the three million pores
upon the surface of the skin is opened; and the
fluids in the little canals, extending in the aggregate
to a length of twenty miles (if the anatomists have

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 39
estimated them correctly), are particularly active.
The impurities upon the surface come off, and the
obstructions under the surface come out. The
rationale and the utility of the operation are pal
pably apparent. When the blankets are removed,
the patient steps into a cold bath, and a deluge of
cold water is poured over him. He is then rubbed
dry by the quick and vigorous hands of an expert,
and left to dress himself, feeling light and elastic
enough to jump over the moon.
The chair I sat in, while undergoing the glowing
perspiration, has been filled by many illustrious
predecessors ; among them, Sir Edward Bulwer
Lytton, Charles Dickens, the Marquis of Anglesea,
Lord Alfred Paget, Admiral Codrington, Sir Henry
Bulwer, Sir Hamilton Seymour, Mr. Tennyson, Mr.
Bright, Mr. Eoebuck, Sir Edwin Landseer, Admiral
Elliot, Lord Seaton, Sir John Barrow, the Bishop of
Oxford, the Count de Paris, etc., etc. Among the
Americans who have been here to recuperate are,
Miss Charlotte Cushman, Dr. Mutrie, and Bishop
Potter, of Philadelphia ; Mr. James Murdoch, and
Mr. W. H. Aspinwall, and P. B. Sweeny, of New
York. Dr. Wilson, the proprietor of the establish
ment, has made and married a fortune; and,
although independently rich, continues to practise
his profession con amove. He has published a

40 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
work on Hydropathy, which Messrs. Fowler &
Wells of New York, who have done so much for
the cause of human health in the United States,
might find it for their interest to republish.
In summer, like Newport and Saratoga, Great
Malvern overflows with visitors. The attractions
are, pure air, delicious water, delightful scenery,
pleasant drives, and charming society. To these
have been added several hydropathic institutions,
the most famous of which are Dr. Wilson's and Dr.
Johnson's. Mr. McHenry, my " guide, philosopher
and friend," who became an early convert to the
Water Cure system, and who attributes his own
physical energy and business success to the treat
ment he has received at Dr. Wilson's, introduced
us with what sounded more like a command than a
request that we should be put through the course,
and- restored toau state of perfect salubrity " in three
days ! Dr. Wilson was absent ; but Dr. Stummes,
his first assistant, examined our " cases," and pre
scribed accordingly. My companion in affliction,
" Young America Train" who had just returned
from a three months' land-buying, railroad con
tracting, speech-making, and book-writing trip to
America, had become a little feverish from over-
excitement and lack of sleep. My own ailment I
have already hinted at. The medicine for each and

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 41
for all, was simply water. But the mode of appli
cation varied with the different symptoms ; and in
this the healing efficacy evidently consists. It is
"water, water, everywhere, and not a drop (of any
thing else) to drink." We take it hot, and we take
it cold ; in the form of vapor, and in the form of rain.
It rains up, and it rains down ; it rains in front, and
it rains in the rear ; it rains on the right, and it
rains on the left ; it sprinkles, it showers, it pours,
it comes, as it were, from pepper-boxes; and it
comes from buckets. We drink it ; we sit in it ;
we lie in it ; and we are packed in it. Three times
a day — at six, at twelve, and at six again — the
water-demon takes possession of our mortal bodies,
and never leaves them until he has rubbed his
victim into the semblance of a crimson statue.
But, oh ! what a change — what a renovation ! In
the first place, there is the blessed sense of clean
ness — a feeling " akin to godliness ;" and then of
softness, suppleness, and strength. The yellow skin
turns white; the white tongue turns red; the
sunken eye dilates, and the hazy orbs grow bright.
Everything in nature looks more lovely; we can
almost see God, so translucent are the skies, so
clear are our perceptions, so divine our intuitions.
We almost -worship the pure element that has
given us a new sense ; and among our pleasantest

42 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
dreams of heaven are the " still waters," the " crys
tal streams," and the " rivers of life," which the
apostle saw in the vision of Eevelation flowing
from the throne of God.
If what I have written sounds extravagant, let
me refer the reader to the "Confessions" of Sir
Edward Bulwer Lytton, who has found in the pure
fountains of Great Malvern his best inspirations, as
well as a fountain of health and happiness. The
plain, but nutritious diet; the early retiring and
early rising ; the regular exercise, and the serenity
and joy induced by the sweet consciousness of recu
peration in every nerve, vein, muscle, bone and
sinew of the body — are a better and surer cure for
any form of disease than all the medicaments ever
invented for human ills, from the experiments of
Esculapius to the quackeries of Dr. Bennett.
Blessed be the Water-Cure, if it only inculcates
the luxury of physical cleanliness, and prevents
men from making apothecary shops of their sto
machs !
I have only time to add, that if any of our
wealthy valetudinarians feel a little tired of New
port and Saratoga, they will find something here at
Great Malvern wherewith to refresh themselves.
It costs less to cross the Atlantic than to live ten
days at a fashionable watering-place hotel ; and no

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 43
more, after they get here, than it doe6 to live at
home. Many poems, as well as letters, have been writ
ten in praise of Great Malvern. From an old song,
bearing date in the time of James I., I quote a few
stanzas : " Great Malverne, on a rock
Thou standest surely ;
Do not thyself forget,
Living securely ;
Thou hast of blessings store,
No country town hath more,
Do not forget, therefore,
To praise the Lord.
" Thou hast a famous Church,
And rarely builded ;
No country town hath such,
Most men have yielded,
For pillars stout and strong,
And windows large and long,
Remember in thy song
To praise the Lord.
" When western winds do rock
Both town and country,
Thy hill doth break the shock —
They cannot hurt thee ;
When waters great abound,
And many a country's drown'd,
Thou standest safe and sound,
Oh ! praise the Lord.

44 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
" Out of that famous hill
There daily springeth
A water passing still,
Which always bringeth
Great comfort to all them
That are diseased men,
And makes them well again
To praise the Lord.
" A thousand bottles there
Were filled weekly,
And many costrels rare
For stomachs sickly ;
Some of them into Kent,
Some were to London sent,
Others to Berwick went,
Oh ! praise the Lord."

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 45

The Burns Festival.
Merry Carlisle — Lancaster Castle — Poor Debtors' Prison — The Bor
der Castle — Mary's Walk — The Cathedral — Meg Merriles — The
Book of Job — Gretna Green — A Piquant Mystery — Dumfries —
The Burns Banquet — The Poet's Tomb — Leigh Hunt on Burns —
Isa Craig's Prize Poem — An Impromptu Speech.
Dumfries, Scotland,
Wednesday, Jam. 26, 1859.
Leaving Liverpool at half-past two o'clock on the
afternoon of the 24th, by the London and Caledonia
Eailroad, I arrived at the famous old border town of
" Merry Carlisle " at about half-past seven in the
evening, passing through Wigan, Lancaster, Win
dermere, and a picturesque portion of the celebrated
" Lake District." But why this sombre old city is
called " Merry Carlisle " I do not know, except for
the lively times it must have seen during the wars ;
or, it may be taken from the following lines, which
somebody has sung or written :
" King Arthur lives in merrie Carlisle,
And seemly is to see ;
And there with him Queene Guenever,
That bride so blithe of blee."

46 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
Catching a passing glimpse of the stern, round
towers of Lancaster Castle, my imagination began
to busy itself in picturing the stately halls within,
when a lady passenger spoiled the romance by in
forming me that it was now occupied as a " Poor
Debtors' Prison." In England, a poor man perils
his liberty by running in debt for a loaf of bread,
even though it is to save his family from starving.
These prisoners could, doubtless, a tale unfold quite
as harrowing as the fictitious horrors of "Uncle
Tom's Cabin."
I slept, or rather passed, the night in Carlisle — a
city founded one thousand years before Christ.
The sense of antiquity was oppressive ; and the
stirring scenes that have been enacted here might
well make one feel wakeful. There stands the grim
old castle, which for seven centuries has withstood
the battering of the elements, as well as a hundred
border sieges ; occupying, doubtless, the very site
of the fortifications built by the Eomans in the time
of Agricola. William the Conqueror commenced
erecting the present pile in 1072, and his son, Wil
liam Eufus, completed it. During the long wars
between England and Scotland the Castle of Carlisle
was taken and retaken more times than history
has patience to recount. Among its most famous
Governors were Eobert Bruce and Eichard HI. In

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 47
its dismal dungeons George Fox was tortured ; and
here, also, was imprisoned Scotland's beautiful
queen, whose sufferings call forth an eternal
anathema upon the memory of Elizabeth :
The loved in high and princely halls,
In low and lonely cots,
Stands Mary the illustrious,
But hapless Queen of Scots."
" Mary's Walk " awakens the saddest reflections ;
the very stones pressed by her weary feet have a
grief-worn look; and they have no doubt been
witnesses to other than Mary's tears. On one side
of the " Walk," which extends over a segment of
about one hundred feet, the wall is breast high ; on
the other, there is a low iron railing or balustrade.
Looking down into the Castle, nothing was to be
seen but the ensigns and engines of " grim-visaged
war;" but, looking abroad over the smiling coun
try, even the sad eyes of the beautiful prisoner must
have sometimes lighted up with gratitude and joy
at the loveliness of the landscape unrolled before
her. The Cathedral of Carlisle is as old as the Castle,
although the greater portion of it was destroyed by
fire in 1292. Before this time, Henry I., inconsol
able at the loss of his children, who were drowned

48 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
on their way from Normandy, erected Carlisle into
a distinct see, and from that day to this the Cathe
dral has been an object of great interest. The
Divine Fuller, writing of it in the seventeenth cen
tury, says : " It may pass for the emblem of the
militant chureh, black but comely, still bearing in
the complexion thereof the remaining signs of its
former burning." Beneath its aisles repose the
ashes of Paley, the moral philosopher ; of Eobert
Anderson, the Cumberland Bard ; and the heart of
Eichard the Lion. As I entered this venerable
sanctuary — at once a temple and a mausoleum — at
10 o'clock in the morning, there came a solemn
gust of music from the mighty organ, pealing
" through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,"
that seemed at once to make both the building and
myself tremble with awe. It was almost as grand
as the sighing of the wind through the veiled forest-
arches in the Cemetery of Buonaventura. My first
impulse was to fall on my knees and ask to be for
given ; but prayer is a strictly private and confi
dential matter between the soul and its God. " En
ter into thy closet; and — shut the door.'''' Before
leaving Carlisle I visited the house in which Sir
Walter Scott wooed and won his bride, which
now exhibits cakes and oranges for sale in the win
dows ; and tried to fix upon the identical spot in

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 49
the river where Jeannie Gordon, the Gipsy (Meg
Merriles), was ducked for witchcraft, until she
died, like a martyr, with the name of "Prince
Charlie" on her lips.
Possessed with the spirit of antiquity, before go
ing to bed I read the Book of Job, which Mr. Web
ster used to call the sublimest epic ever written ;
and, reflecting upon the fact that the city of Car
lisle had existed during one half of the period
which the literalists accord to the earth's duration,
the " History of the United States" seemed but as
the occurrences of yesterday ; and the life of man
as " a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and
then vanisheth away."
I cannot leave this moss-grown town without a
word in commendation of its excellent hotel, and
the very polite and intelligent proprietor thereof,
Mr. William Gosling. Thus far, he is the only
man in his business that I have seen in England
who comes up in appearance, manners and educa
tion, to the high standard of our first-class hotel
proprietors in America.
But here I am in Dumfries, the Mecca of my spe
cial pilgrimage, and my pen still loiters by the way.
This very irregular, and not very attractive-looking
little city, is about an hour's distance from Carlisle,
and some fifteen miles north of the English border.
3

50 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
The railway runs through Gretna-Green, where so
many thousands of fugitives have been welded to
gether by the village blacksmith, under the old
Scotch law ; but a recent Act of Parliament having
made these marriages, and the issues thereof, ille
gitimate, the blacksmith's occupation's gone; and
instead of forging hymenial chains, he must return
to the not less respectable if less profitable business
of forging horse-shoes. Just before the abrogation
of the old law, a dashing couple drove into Gretna
in desperate haste, to be tied, paying most liberally
for the performance ; but upon this condition : that
the certificate, copied into the Eegister, should be
sealed up between two leaves, and never opened
until so ordered by the parties to the contract.
A few days afterward, some Paul Pry of a news
paper reporter came along, whose curiosity was
greatly excited by the romantic mystery, and, on
holding the double leaf up to the light, the name of
Lord  was distinctly legible, as " the party of
the first part," but the name of the lady he could
not make out; so he published the name of his
lordship in full, which, of course, caused something
of a fluttering in certain domestic circles.
The only other town of any note on our way is
Annan, which is pointed out as the " place where
Thomas Carlyle went to school," Ecclefechen, not

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 51
far distant, being the place of his birth. On arriv
ing in Dumfries, although the day is dismal, blowy,
snowy, sleety, yet we find the whole town turned
inside out ; and the streets thronged with proces
sions of masons, farmers, tradesmen, etc., etc., car
rying gay banners with mottoes from the poems of
the great Bard, while all the
" Lads and lasses in their best
Are dressed frae top to toe."
Triumphal arches span the streets, covered with
holly-leaves and wreaths of evergreens ; the bands
and the pipers are playing the liveliest Caledonian
airs ; horses are proudly prancing, with their manes
and tails done up in rainbow-hued ribbons : while
pistols and fire-crackers contribute a sort of Fourth-
of-July confusion to the scene. The procession
pauses before the lowly dwelling from whose little
window the poet took his farewell look of the sun,
while the band wails a solemn dirge ; and it again
halts before another house, in which he, for a short
time, lived. The commemoration here seems to be
no idle ceremony, but a heartfelt homage of love,
in which all classes unite, from the highest to the
humblest. At 4 o'clock there is a grand dinner at
" the Mills," for which eleven hundred tickets are
sold; and, at the. same hour, the banquet of the

52 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
" Burns Club " at the Assembly Eooms, for which
not a ticket has been purchasable, for love nor
money, for many days. But the committee, on
learning that a couple of American enthusiasts had
come three thousand miles to see the sacred spot
that contains the ashes of Eobert Burns, and to
listen to the local legends of his life, held an im
promptu meeting, voted us tickets, and gave us
seats near the chairman at table. The eating part
of the dinner was very good, the " haggis " being
a conspicuous dish. The drinking part, which
lasted longest, was confined to sherry, ale and
whisky; the latter being evidently not only the
national but the natural drink of Scotchmen. They
are at it at all hours, and too much accustomed to
it to get easily tipsy. What leathery linings their
stomachs must have I and noses, too, for snuffing is
almost as universal as tippling.
The programme of toasts will be especially in
teresting to Scotchmen in America :
CENTENARY ON THE BIRTH OF ROBERT BURNS.
Jan. 25, 1859.
PUBLIC DINNER IN DUMFRIES.
Mark Napier, Esq. Chairman.
J. M. Leny, Esq., of Dalswinton; James Mackie, Esq., MP.;
W. A F. Browne, Esq. ; and Thomas Aird, Esq., Croupiers.
The Queen  Chairman

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 63
The Prince Consort and other members of the Royal
Family . . t  Chairman.
The Army and Navy  Chairman.
The Immortal Memory of Burns  Chairman
The Memory of the Widow of the Eldest Son of Burns. .Chairman.
The Health pf the Sons of Burns  Chairman.
Scottish Literature  N  Dr, Browne.
The Biographers of Burns  Dr. Ramage.
English Literature  Mr. Carruthers.
A Happy Meeting to all celebrating the Centenary of
Burns this evening the world over  Capt. Noake.
The Peasantry of Scotland  Mr. Mackie.
The Pine Arts  ,  Mr. Aird.
The Nameless Song and Ballad Writers of Scotland . Mr. McDonald.
American Literature  Mr. Strachan.
The Health of the Chairman  Mr. Leny.
The Health of the Croupiers  Chairman.
The only departure from the above was occasioned
by the absence of Mr. Napier, which placed Dr.
Browne in the chair; and the call upon "the
gentlemen from America " to respond to " Ameri
can Literature." On the right of the Chairman
was seated Col. William Nichol Burns, eldest son
of the poet ; and on the left the Provost of the City.
I was introduced to Col. Burns in the " Committee
Boom," and fancied I felt something of the glowing
blood pf the poet-father in the warm grasp of the
hand of his son. Col. Burns is about sixty-five years
of age, below the medium height, with rather a full

54 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
figure — his " lyart haffets wearing thin and bare,"
and a remarkably pleasant eye (said to be a little like
his father's) beaming through his spectacles. James
Glencairn, the younger brother, bears a greater
resemblance to his mother ; and, like her, sings the
immortal songs of the poet with peculiar feeling
and effect. The banquet-room was graced with an
admirable portrait of Burns ; and also a portrait of
his " Bonnie Jean," in her old age. She died, I
believe, in 1834, having been left a widow in 1796,
only twenty-eight years of age, and remarkably
handsome. She had many offers of marriage ; but
justly considered it a higher honor to remain the
widow of Burns than to wed the noblest in the
land. The speaking at the banquet was of the highest
order of dinner-table talk. There was an enthusi
asm pervading the assembly that amounted to an
inspiration. The Chairman was most felicitously
eloquent, and Mr. Carruthers, editor of the " Inver
ness Courier," and author of the best edition of
Pope extant ; Mr. Aird, editor of the " Dumfries
Herald," and a poet ; the Hon. Mr. Mackie M. P.,
and Mr. Strachan, a talented young banker of the
town, all spoke to the toasts assigned them elo
quently and effectively. Col. Burns made two or
three brief speeches in the course of the evening, in

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 55
which he stated that the poet used sometimes to
say in moments of despondency, "I'll be thought
more of a hundred years hereafter than I am now."
George Francis Train stirred up the enthusiasm of
the company to a high pitch by telHng them that
in all his roamings through various lands, from
Ballerat to Balaklava, he had found Scotchmen
occupying foremost positions everywhere ; and,
alluding to the fact that Patterson, the founder of
the Bank of England, was a native of Dumfries,
added, that the reason why no Scotch clerk was
ever employed in that institution was the fear of
the managers that in less than six months he would
have the entire control of the bank. [Uproarious
laughter and applause.] The songs that followed
the speeches were excellently sung, and the whole
entertainment passed off to the utmost delight of
everybody. At the early hour of ten o'clock the
company broke up, many gentlemen being engaged
to meet their " women folks " at the theatre, where
a grand concert of Burns' songs was given, and at
eleven o'clock Dumfries shut up for the night. But
everywhere, within doors, the jolly neighbors —
 " Sat bousing at the nappy,
An' getting fou and unco happy." _
The excitements of the day, the effort to appear

56 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OB,
respectable in the eyes of Scotchmen at table by
eating " haggis " and drinking whisky, the thrill
ing associations of the place, the consciousness of
the near presence of holy St. Michael's churchyard,
where repose " Ashes that make it holier ;
Dust which is, even in itself, an immortality,"
utterly banished " Sleep from mine eyes and slum
ber from mine eyelids."
So 1 lay listening to the wild, roaring wind
" which blew as 'twad blawn its last," until the
morning grew light enough to enable me to hunt
up the old sexton to take me to the tomb. In the
first place he unlocked the iron-gate of the church
yard, took me into the auld kirk, and showed me
the pew that Eobin sat in — a plain, square box —
the " lowest seat in the synagogue," and which was
occupied by the widow until her death. The sex
ton then called his " gude wife," who led me
through a crowd of gravestones to the mausoleutm,
which is erected nearly in the centre of the further
end of the inclosure. The back wall of the interior
contains a fine marble statue of the poet, leaning
on his plough (which is cutting through the daisies),
and gazing upward with a smile at the descend-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 57
ing Muse, Coila, who comes to hail the Bard of
Scotland and to bind the evergreen holly on his
brow, " I saw thy pulse's maddening play
Wild send thee Pleasure's devious way
Misled by Fancy's meteor ray,
By Passion driven ;
But yet the light that led astray
Was light from heaven.''
The beautiful marble brow of the poet was
crowned with a wreath of holly, and his marble
hand was holding a bunch of snow-drops, plaeed
there by a sonsie lassie as her poetic tribute to the
festival. Within the tomb there are tablets to the memo
ries of all the poet's descendants, including the
widows and children of his sons. From the mauso
leum we are taken to the little house in which he
died, which is situated at the end of a narrow,
dirty, crooked street, and the corner where he used
to sit, tipped back in his chair, is pointed out.
Among the inhabitants of Dumfries there are but
few who remember him. Colonel Burns was four
years old when his father died, and has a " distinct
recollection of the funeral." The old sexton was
ten years old at the time, but does not remember
3*

58 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OH,
him. Another old gentleman who was fourteen
years old when he died, " saw him often, and can
never forget his eye ;" an eye which Sir Walter
Scott says " literally glowed ;" and which the
Duchess of Gordon said " took her off her feet."
Another veteran describes the Bard as " marching
through the streets of Dumfries in the ranks of the
volunteers, dressed in nankeen pantaloons, his
coat turned up with red, and an old fur cap, look
ing equally unpoetical and nnmilitary."
But I am getting beyond my limits ; and have
scarcely space left to allude to the universality of
this centennial celebration, not only throughout
Scotland, but through all the cities, towns and ham
lets of England. The newspapers are almost
entirely filled with reports of the speeches and
doings called forth by the occasion. The veteran,
Leigh Hunt, who is nearly four score years of age,
has written a remarkably fresh and vigorous article
on the commemoration for the " Spectator," accom
panied by a lively and witty original song. The
following extract is in the best vein of the veteran
essayist :
"What is the reason of this difference between the fond
love of the memory of such a man as Burns, and the no love
at all for those other great men, Shakspeare himself not ex
cepted? For personal regard mixes little with our astonish-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 59
ment at Shakspeare's genius, perhaps because of the very
amount of the astonishment, and because we know little per
sonally about him. The reason is, that Burns we do know ;
that we are astonished at him, but not enough to be oppressed
.with the astonishment ; and that he fulfills all the other con
ditions necessary to universal regard. He is allied to the
greatest minds by his genius, to the gravest by his grave
thoughts, to the gayest by his gay ones, to the manliest by his
independence, to the frail by his frailties, to the conscientious
by his regrets, to the humblest ranks by his birth, to tho
poorest among them by his struggles with necessity ; above
all, to the social by his companionship, and to the whole
world by his being emphatically a human creature, 'relishing
all sharply, passioned as they,' excluding none from his sym
pathy but those who have no feeling for others, and having a
reserve of pity in his contempt even for those, because they
were not 'their own makers, and are but a sorry, losing kind
of devils after all. He even ventured, like good, brave, pious
Uncle Toby, to pity the very devil himself, and wish him
penitent, and out of his den ; which is what few Christians,
very few indeed, have ventured to do after him; though
assuredly it is an expression of the profoundest Christian
charity, and does him immortal honor."
The fifty-guinea prize poem, which was read at
the Crystal Palace celebration in London, is the
production of Miss Isa Craig, a native of Edinburg.
She is a poor girl, about twenty-five years of age,
and, until recently, supported herself and her
mother by sewing neck-ties. She is now Assistant-

60 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
Secretary of the " National Association of Social
Science," in London, got up by Lord Brougham.
The poem is good, not great, and bore off the palm
from six hundred and twenty-one competitors.
But guineas never inspire great compositions. It
is published in all the British journals.

[From the London Spectator.]
Last week we noticed a very curious literary gathering in
Madrid. This week, our attention is called to the report of
another encounter, at Dumfries, during the celebration of the
Burns festival. Amongst the guest3 present was Colonel
Puller, who is well known on both sides of the Atlantic as
the editor of the " New York Mirror," and author of the
" Belle Brittan Letters," the occasion of whose visit was told
by himself. He was called upon to answer to the toast of
"American Literature;" and, after the long and repeated
cheering which saluted the toast had subsided, Mr. Fuller
rose to return thanks, and was received by a new burst of
cheers. He said:
Mr. Chairman and Brither Scots :
" ' If there's a hole in a' your coats,
I rede ye tent it ;
A chiel's amang you takin' notes,
And. faith, he'll prent it.'
[Laughter and cheers.] I came not here to

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 61
make a speech, but rather to report speeches. The
instrument with which I am more accustomed to
speak is the quill, and I shall probably astonish
you by saying that my account of this day's pro
ceedings will reach, perhaps, five millions of
readers; for in our country we don't publish
editions of newspapers by the thousand or ten
thousand, but by the five hundred thousand. I am
here, gentlemen, a stranger in a strange land ; and
yet, strange as it may seem to you, I feel quite at
home. I have come 3,000 miles across the broad
Atlantic, a pilgrim to the tomb of Eobert Burns.
• [Cheers.] I do not come here to represent America,
although I have the honor to be a member of a
Burns Club in the city of New York ; but I come
here from my own volition — from a spontaneous
desire to bring, as it were, a wild-flower from the
far West to lay upon the shrine of the immortal
bard. [Loud cheers.] I slept last night in a city
which they told me was founded a thousand years
before Christ was born — the city of Carlisle — and
before retiring to rest, with the spirit of antiquity
upon me, I read the book of Job, and I thought as I
read — What is a hundred years ? What is the life
time of my own young republic, compared with
the duration of the temples, the castles, and the
cathedrals that I see around me? What is the

62 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
generation of man ? or in the sublime language of
the Hebrew bard, What is man that thou'art mind
ful of him ! Everything seemed, so far as human
existence is concerned, brief, transitory, flitting
away. Yet in my own land this day, there is
everywhere commemorated — from the snow-clad
forests of Maine, to the golden streams of Califor
nia; from the fir-fringed hills of Oregon to the
orange groves of Florida, the name of a poet whose
fame is immortal — the name of Eobert Burns.
[Cheers.] There is a Burns Club in almost every
city and town in the Union, and although you are
five hours in advance of them in point of time in
your celebration to-day, we can imagine that at about
this hour hundreds and thousands of people are
gathering in the far West around the festive board
to commemorate the memory, and to honor the
genius of Eobert Burns. Your poet was born in
Scotland: the sphere of his life was confined
almost within the horizon that lies around us. He
scarcely visited England. He never went out of
the island ; yet to-day he is one of the best-known
men that ever lived; and taught, as I was, to
love and revere his memory in childhood — for the
songs of Burns were the cradle hymns that my
mother used to sing to' me — studying him as I
have from my youth up, I have come to regard him

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 63
as the greatest lyric poet that ever lived ; and let
me say, Mr. Chairman, that your little city of Dum
fries stands this night upon the very top of the world.
Though invited to attend the celebrations in London
and Edinburgh, and having personal reasons to be in
Glasgow, or to remain in Liverpool to-night, I felt
that this was the place where every true lover and
admirer of Burns should assemble. It was here
that that glowing eye took its last farewell look of
the sun, and here his dust reposes. You have a
sacred trust, gentlemen, and many a pilgrim from
the New World will yet come to pay homage
at that shrine. I have been interested and de
lighted by all that I have seen and heard to-night.
If I were to say briefly to you what the people of
America think of Burns, I should say they think
and feel toward him precisely what your eloquent
chairman has expressed. We look upon him as
immeasurably above even the most brilliant of
English, Scotch, American, or European poets, and
we have neither sympathy nor patience with those
who borrow theological telescopes to descry spots
on the sunshine of his genius. I believe that
Eobert Burns was one of the most religious as well
as patriotic of poets. [Loud cheers.] He hated
and despised cant — he hated the God of the priest,
who is a mere tyrant — but the divine, the all-loving

64 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
Father of the universe he adored. He hated and
despised the religion of the fanatic, but the religion
of Christ, the grand religion of nature was in him.
As a specimen of his religious sentiment, let me
quote only one verse from his epistle to a young
friend : " When ranting round in pleasure's ring,
Religion may be blinded,
Or if she gie a random sting,
It may be little minded ;
But when on life we're tempest driven,
A conscience but a canker ;
A correspondence fix'd wi' Heaven
Is sure a noble anchor."
The poetry and songs of Burns have nerved the
soldier in the day of battle ; they have kindled the
heavenward flame of devotion in the house of God ;
and where is the young man who, in the blissful
rapture of " love's young dream," does not borrow
the golden chalice of Burns to carry the libation
of his heart to the lips that he loves ? Everything
he touches he has immortalized. Even Auld
Nance Tinnock, who is mentioned in his works but
once, is embalmed and preserved like a fly in
amber. [Great laughter and cheers.] Burns was
a lover, and that made him a poet : he worshipped
at the shrine of woman — woman,

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 65
" Whom God created with a smile of grace,
And left the smile that made her on her face."
The lowly maid whom he addressed as " Mary in
Heaven," will live forever, encircled by the bright
halo of his genius — the very Madonna of pas
sionate devotion. Where is the queen that will
outlive in story that sweet flower of Burns, com
memorated in such lines as these :
" Let Bourbon exult in his gay gilded lilies,
And England triumphant display her proud rose ;
A fairer than either adorns the green valleys,
Where Devon, sweet Devon, meandering flows."
After relating an anecdote of our soldiers in the Crimea
singing " Annie Laurie " in chorus on the eve of an engage
ment, in illustration of the power of song, Mr. Fuller quoted
a saying of Mackay the poet, that before we can estimate the
effect which that simple but noble song, " A man's a man for
a' that," has produced in raising the dignity, and patriotism,
and loyalty of Britons, and indeed all throughout the world,
wherever it was known, we must first try and estimate the
value of one day's sunshine in ripening the cotton and the
corn. "In conclusion," said Mr. Fuller, "I will simply
express my gratitude to the gentlemen who did me the honor
of mentioning my name in connection with this toast, and I
thank you all for the cordiality with which it was received.
Though I do not take the compliment to myself, yet I accept
it for my country. I can assure you, that Scotsmen are in
that country found to be a very intelligent, industrious, enter-

66 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
prising, thrifty people. I had the good-fortune to be born a
New Englander, my ancestors having gone over in the May
flower, and we have always considered it a great compli
ment, as New Englanders, to be called the Scotsmen of
America." There is no need to say that the applause was renewed most
vociferously as Colonel Fuller sat down. It is amongst the
traits of American character, that ought to command the sym
pathy of Englishmen, that they claim their fair share of a
property in British literature. A man does not part with the
character of his house and lineage because he emigrates to
Australia or America; but, on the contrary, the Americans
have shown that they carry with them the memory of their
ancestors. On the other hand, the man who rises in Australia
or America becomes the pride of his family ; and that which
is true of the individual and the family, must be, in the
long run, equally true of the nation, with interests and lan
guage identical. We all have memories and hopes which are
inseparable; and an aggregate of strength that, when once
thoroughly understood, will command the world.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 67

The Memory of Burns.
Birthplace and Tomb — The Commemoration — Tributary Genius —
Burns Clubs in America — Dumfries — St. Michael's Church — The
Poet's Funeral — Celebrations — Highland Mary — Religion — Hospi
tality — The Brothers Maxwell. Bumfriks, Scotland, Jan. 25, 1859.
One hundred years ago to-day in the little town of
Ayr, about seventy miles distant, a child was born
whose genius millions of enthusiastic admirers are
now striving to honor. The little city of Dumfries
holds in keeping the sacred dust of the poet ; and
all thoughts and hearts are turned toward his hal
lowed tomb. He was born in a little clay biggin ;
and died in an humble cottage in an obscure street
in the 37th year of his age. But he lived long
enough to make himself remembered and loved as
the greatest lyric poet the world has ever seen ; and
no man has ever lived whose birthday has been more
widely and more warmly commemorated. Not
only in his native Scotland, but throughout Eng
land, Ireland, Wales and all the vast and distant

68 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
British possessions the "immortal memory of
Burns " is affectionately recalled and reverently re
garded. In our own fair land the name of the bard
is lauded by millions of glowing lips, while his own
glorious songs add inspiration to a thousand festive
circles. In his bugle blast of "Scots wha hae,"
the soldier's tonic in the hour of battle ; in his brave
contempt of wealth and rank, which makes the poor
man sing even in the agony of his df^TS i(A
man's a man for a' that ;" in his immortal ^ent for
" Maryin Heaven," which finds an ans-Wp,^^ echo
in every heart that mourns for the " love that fate
forbids ;" and in his heaven-beating strains of praise
and prayer, Eobert Burns has touched the strongest
chords that vibrate in the bosom of man. A pure
patriot, a natural Christian, an intense lover, and
an honest man, the better he is known the more
he is loved. At the next centennial celebration the
poet's tomb will be visited by pilgrims from every
city in Christendom. But it is not my purpose to
write his eulogium. The silent admiration, the
heaving breast, and the flashing of the tearful eyes
of all who read his burning words' — these are the
fittest tribute to his memory. The most beautiful
writers, the most eloquent orators, and the most
sympathetic poets have exhausted the realms of
nature and fancy in gathering immortelles to lay

LIFE AND LD3ERTY IN EUROPE. 69
upon the poet's grave. Thomas Carlyle has devoted
his noblest essay to the Genius of Burns, and our
own Halleck has embalmed the "Wild Eose of
Alloway" in immortal verse. Professor Wilson
(Christopher North), in the frenzy of his enthusiasm,
rolled upon the ground which was the scene of
" Tarn O'Shanter ;" and among the choicest relics
at Abbotsford is a snuff-box made from a rafter
taken from " Alloway's Auld Haunted Kirk."
Just one year ago to-day I happened to be in
Cincinnati, where I participated in the pleasant an
niversary festivities of the " Burns Club." It was
then and there proposed to celebrate the centennial
birthday in the same place on a grand scale, and to
invite the attendance of delegation snot only from all
similar clubs in the United States and the Canadas,
but from all parts of the world. The idea was a
grand one and should have been carried out ; or,
failing in that, it would have been well for all the
clubs in America to have sent delegates to the
meetings at Dumfries and Ayr, if not to the other
great gatherings on this side of the water. But, as
far as I can yet learn, " Young America Train " and
myself are the only Americans in Dumfries ; at all
events, we were the only Americans present this
evening at the banquet of the Burns Club ; and, as
yet, I have not found the first man here who has

70 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
ever been in the United States ; although many of
the citizens have friends and relatives there, con
cerning whom they make many inquiries. It
strikes them as strange that a New Yorker does not
happen to know John Smith, doing business in Pine
street, or George Jones in the stationery trade.
This ancient town of Dumfries contains only
about 14,000 inhabitants, and of course everybody
is known to everybody else. It is nestled among
the Nithsdale hills ; and the little river Nith runs
prattling by its feet, emptying into the Solway
Frith not far distant. On the other side of the Nith
is shown the Ellangowan of Scott's " Guy Manner-
ing," and not far from it Dirk Hatteraick's cave.
Dumfries has the honor of being the birthplace of
Patterson, the founder of the Bank of England ; and
in its little theatre the great Kean made his first
appearance on the stage. The Church of St. Mich
ael's, whose holy precincts contain the mausoleum
to Burns, erected in 1815, is an old building of the
thirteenth century. The only point of interest about
it, is the plain, square pew, looking like a prisoner's
box, in which the Poet used to sit on Sunday, and
his widow after him until she died in 1830. Through
the graveyard, which is crowded with tombstones,
lies the well-beaten pathway to the Poet's tomb.
In the year 1796, on the 26th day of July, a day

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 71
without a cloud in the heavens, in the presence of
ten thousand weeping neighbors and friends, all
that was mortal of Eobert Burns was here laid to
rest. Against the poet's expressed wishes, " that
awkward squad," the Dumfries Volunteers, fired a
straggling shot over the lowered coffin, and the
weeping crowd " silently melted away." His lit
tle " Willie," then four years old, now Col. Burns,
tells me he has a distinct recollection of the funeral,
and the venerable citizens of Dumfries are full of
reminiscences of their great Poet, of whom it was
early predicted :
" He'll be a credit to us a',
And ye'll a' be proud o' Robin."
This pride in the memory of Burns seems to be
equally shared by the highest and the lowest ; all
classes, conditions and ranks are striving to do honor
to his memory. At the various celebrations
throughout England and Scotland, the most emi
nent orators, authors, statesmen, and noblemen
have taken conspicuous parts, and during a week's
travel in England, the portraits and the poetry of
Burns have met my eyes at every turn. The book
and picture trades must profit largely by the new
impulse given to the sale of his works ; while at the
theatres, " Burns Concerts," " Scenes from Tarn

72 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OB,
O'Shanter," and " Nights with Burns," are drawing
crowded houses. One of the finest pictures brought
out for the occasion is a beautiful engraving of
" Highland Mary," who is sketched in a sitting pos
ture, wrapped in her shawl, with her feet and head
bare — her face as lovely as a dream. This sweet
young girl, who has been made immortal by the
poet's song, around whose fair brow he has thrown
the bright aureole of love, was the humble dairy
maid of Col. Montgomery. But what queen will
live as long in history ? What beauty will dwell as
warmly in the memory of men, or in the envy of
women, as she who inspired those lings of sad devo
tion, that will be sung in tears as long as human
hearts can feel, and human tongues can utter, the
tender sorrows of buried love ?
" Oh, pale, pale now those rosy lips,
I aft hae kissed sae fondly ;
And closed for aye the sparkling glance
That dwelt on me sae kindly:
And mold'ring now in silent dust,
The heart that lo'ed me dearly ;
But still within my bosom's core,
Shall live my Highland Mary."
As a reformer, social, political and religious, I
know of no poet to be compared with Burns. He
has conferred a new dignity upon "honest poverty "

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 73
and made the toiling masses happier in their fields
and at their firesides. He has made hypocrisy
more hideous and wolves in sheep's clothing more
ashamed to show themselves in the church ; and
he has driven, by his scorching satire, .the orgies
of the " Holy Fairs " from Scotland. He hates
cant worse than the devil (for his heart was
touched with a pang of pity for poor " Auld
Nickie," and he even forces the " Unco guid " to
" see themselves as others see them." He has
made every daisy that blooms sweeter by singing
of the sweetness of
" The modest crimson tippit flower,"
and every lassie that lives is lovelier, since he has
sung so sweetly the charms of " the lovely dears."
And when it comes to religion where can we find
anything better or truer or heartier than this,
" The great Creator to revere
Must sure become the creature,
But still the preaching cant forbear,
And e'en the rigid feature.
Yet ne'er with wits profane to range,
Be complaisance extended
-An atheist's laugh's a poor exchange,
For Deity offended."
I cannot close this letter without expressing a
4

74 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
word of thanks to the citizens of Dumfries who
have extended so much kindness to a stranger, who
brought nothing to commend him to their regard
but his enthusiasm in the commemoration. To the
brothers Maxwell, a pair of venerable and wealthy
bachelors, who have lived together for over half a
century; and who might have served as a model
for the " Cheeryble Brothers," of Dickens, I am
under special obligations for their polite hospi
talities. To Mr. Kirkpatrick, who occupies the
Burns farm at Ellisland, seven miles out, and who
called to take me to his place in order that he
might " gie me a Hieland welcome," and to the
members of the " Banquet Committee," who held a
special meeting and voted me a ticket (after having
" refused applications for hundreds,") because I had
" come all the way from America," I also wish to
convey my grateful acknowledgments. And thus
with a general feeling of gratitude toward all
creation, especially for the peculiar privileges and
pleasures of this day, I will close my nodding letter
and my weary eyelids.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 75

A Visit to Abbotsford.
Under the Weather — " All full inside " — A sorrowful Companion —
Edinburgh — A Live Directory — The Scott Monument — Rare
Autographs — Madeleine Smith — Abbotsford — -Its Relic3 and
Venerable Cicerone — A Drive with a Butcher — Melrose Abbey.
Waterloo Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland, February, 1859.
The distance from Dumfries to Edinburgh is
about seventy miles, the first eighteen being done
by horse power. On the morning after the celebra
tion, I ordered a servant in the hotel to " book "
me for an inside first-class seat ; but on presenting
myself at the " Booking Office," at 2 o'clock, the
hour of departure, I was coolly informed that the
coach was full, inside and out, and that I could not
go on for any consideration. And so, there was no
alternative but to return to my hotel and remain in
Dumfries twenty-four hours longer than I had
intended. I improved the time, however, by being
sick — a regular Western chill having seized and
shaken me, until the little windows of the old hotel
(which was once occupied by Prince Charles

76

SPARK8 FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,

Edward, the Pretender), fairly rattled. Hot baths,
hot sheets, and cold napkins, applied to the head by
a gentle and devoted nurse, soon brought me to my
feet again ; and on the succeeding day I got the
landlord to attend to the " booking " business him
self. It struck me as a little singular, that a
Company who advertise to carry passengers to
Edinburgh, should not provide means of taking to
the railway station all who apply for tickets. In
America, the public would hardly submit to such a
restriction. One would as soon expect to be told
that the mail-bag was "full," and his letter couldn't
go, as to be told that there was no more room for
him in or on the coach ; and that, however urgent
his business or his wishes, he must " lie over " till
the next day.
Li driving out of Dumfries, just as the carriage
left the pavements, a well dressed woman sitting
opposite to me burst into a torrent of tears ; and
before reaching the station the wretched creature
must have wept her shawl full, for she used no
handkerchief. It made a sad and silent party of us
all to witness such an overflow of a breaking heart ;
and the mind of every passenger seemed occupied
in privately speculating upon the cause of her irre
pressible sorrow. An utter stranger to us all, no
one dared to intrude upon the sanctity of her grief;

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 77
and yet, who would not have deemed it the highest
possible happiness to have spoken the word of com
fort to that troubled soul ! There is nothing that
affords more exquisite pleasure than the relief of
human suffering. And yet, how seldom the best of
as venture to indulge in the heavenly luxury ! At
the station our sorrowful companion leaves us.
Her weeping form is lost in the dark and rainy
night ; and yet my thoughts linger with that lone
woman, in spite of all the varied attractions of the
brilliant city before me. And it is not until
"within a mile of Edinboro' town," when the sweet
face of a fair lady in Washington (who sang this
song to me so enchantingly but a few days ago)
rises before the eyes of my memory, that I can
cease to wonder whether it is death, or separation,
or sudden poverty, or, worse than all, the finding
of unkindness where love was looked for, which had
caused this deluge of heart-rain that had so sadly
overwhelmed us.
But yonder is the far-famed city of Edinburgh,
whose lights seem to twinkle among the stars,
affording a brilliant illustration of the Scripture :
" A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."
There is the grim old Castle; yonder is Calton
Hill; and Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat rise
gloomily and majestically in the background. The

78 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
train stops in a magnificent station; and in less
than five minutes I am flying through the very
" Heart of Mid-Lothian," trying to forget the clas
sic associations of the place ; and to be mindful only
of what I most needed — a supper, a bath, and a
, bed at the " Waterloo."
As I am not writing a guide-book, I shall not
undertake to describe the wild' and novel scenery
of this most picturesque of cities ; nor the quaint
antiquities which meet the eye at every turn.
After running up to the top of Calton Hill, the view
from which makes one hold his breath ; and visiting
" Nelson's Monument," which has been not inaptly
compared to a " Dutch churn," the " Burns Monu
ment," a tasteful granite structure, just now hung
with festive wreaths, etc., etc., I returned to the
" Waterloo," and ordered a cab with a driver well
posted in the localities. I found him a living
directory, who knew every spot of historical in
terest, and who could recite the legends of the place
with a fluency and a brogue almost' incomprehen
sible. He took me to Holyrood Palace, where
Queen Mary was married to Darnley in 1565 ; and
where her bed-room and cabinet are still shown, in
the condition in which she left them, with the stains
of Bizzio's blood on the floor ! Behind the Palace,
the famous hill known as ^Arthur's Seat rises to a

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 79
height of 822 feet above the level of the sea ; and
from the road winding around it, called the
" Queen's Drive," may be seen the cottage of
"Davie Dean," familiar to the readers of Scott's
"Heart of Mid-Lothian."
We drive past the '¦'¦Abbey" a sort of "city of
refuge," within whose sacred precincts the person
of the poor debtor is safe from arrest, pass the Old
Tolbooth prison, whose cells have been the scenes
of so many horrors; through the Canongate, in
which every mossy old mansion seems about to
topple down, and pause reverently before the vener
able house of John Knox, which the Corporation at
the City carefully preserve- from falling, without dis
guising the antiquity of its appearance. In the
grey Old Castle (which looks as ancient as the rock
on which it is built, and whose very stones look
weary of remaining so long piled one upon another),
we are shown Queen Mary's prison, in which 6he
gave birth to James YL, the Begalia Boom, con
taining Bruce's crown and sceptre, etc., etc. The
view from the Castle is beautiful beyond descrip
tion. We look down upon both the old and the
new portions of the city, connected by beautiful
bridges, with streets running under them, and take
in at a glance more monuments and splendid build
ings than I have time to describe, or even to men-

80 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
tion. But, among them all, none has impressed me
so pleasantly as the Monument to Sir Walter Scott.
This exquisite inspiration of art has afforded me a
new sensation. It leaps into the air like a flame,
and lifts the imagination up with it. The form is a
gothic pyramid, two hundred feet high, designed
by Kemp, a self-taught architect, and it covers, like
a pointed cap, a colossal statue, in a sitting posture,
of the King of Novelists. The likeness is admir
able, and the expression indicates all the noble
attributes of genius so happily blended in the char
acter and in the creations of Scott. It is a pleasant
fact to record that the last £1,500 required for the
completion of the Scott Monument was raised by
the efforts of the greatest living poet of Scotland —
Charles Mackay — who, when the work halted for
the lack of the above-named sum, addressed letters
to all the leading authors in Great Britain, soliciting
funds for the purpose ; and soon succeeded in raising
the amount. The letters received by Dr. Mackay in
answer to his appeal, have been carefully preserved
by him in a book, which is one of the rarest
volumes of autographs I have ever seen. The reply
of Sir E. Bulwer Lytton is particularly spicy.
But I have no time to linger around monu
ments, however beautiful the structures, or thrilling
the associations. Drive on, to the College of Jus-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 81
tice in Parliament Square, and gaze mutely and
intently at the venerable old pile. And what
says my red-haired guide ? Nothing of Jeffrey, of
Blair, of Forbes, of Dundas, or of Melville ; but —
" there, sir, is where Madeline Smith had her nine
days' trial !" In this little modern tragedy all the
ancient gloom and glory of the place is forgotten.
But I confess that the mention of the fact gave a
new interest to these ancient Halls. I had read
every word of that famous trial ; and had fully ac
quitted the fair and beautiful prisoner of murder ;
for if she did not kill the contemptible villain who
threatened to murder her reputation, by proclaim
ing his own shameful triumph over her frailty, she
hardly did her duty to herself or to her sex. Made
line Smith, it is reported, has left Scotland;
but whether she seeks oblivion of the past in the
wilds of Australia or America, rumor seems to be
undecided. The Dean of Faculty, who so ably de
fended her, expresses the strongest conviction of his
client's innocence ; and so strong was the feeling in
her favor, that had she been convicted, the chivalry
of the nation would have interposed between her
slender neck and the gallows.
Time flies, and Abbotsford, forty miles off, must
be " done" to-day. At 11 o'clock the train starts.
The morning had been clear and cold. But now
4*

82 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
thick clouds come flying over the Eildon Hills ; and
the rain begins to pour. The Braes of Yarrow are
white with snow ; and the swollen streams on every
hand are rushing into the Tweed. On arriving at
Abbotsford ferry, the old man at the station says —
" the stream is sae high, ye canna cross ; ye'd bet
ter gang to the neist Station" — and so I "ganged"
about three miles further on — only to fare worse.
No vehicle could be had ; and the cold rain — that
had a very narrow escape from being frozen in the
air — came down in streams. It was three miles to
Abbotsford ; and I was not in good condition for
the walk, not even properly booted. But I had
come too far to be baffled ; and my enthusiasm
would not allow me to retreat ; although still re
membering in every bone, the Dumfries " chill ;"
and recollecting the word " consequences," of which
a certain prudent little lady so often has to remind
me, yet I borrowed an umbrella, and started off on
a trot. The rain, and mud, and wind, gave me a
vivid understanding of Burns' " Lang Scots miles."
The road wound along the banks of the Tweed ; and,
ending at what I took for the " Lodge," I rang the
bell, and asked for Abbotsford. A grey-haired man
came to the door, and informed me that I had still
•mother mile to walk. On learning that I was from
A.merica, his face suddenly brightened ; and he be-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 83
gan to make eager inquiries after friends in " the
States," and seemed both disappointed and dis
pleased that I did not know anything about his
"particular friend, Mr. Porter, doing business in
Pine street !" Splashing on through the " Abbots
ford Woods," I find the right entrance at last, when
suddenly, the stately and beautiful palace of genius
rises before me like an enchanted castle. It is a
perfect romance in Architecture, a Waverley novel
done in freestone ! But the Gothic picture is
familiar to all eyes ; and no pen-sketch can equal
the numerous engravings of it that are scattered
over every land. The building is about one hun
dred and fifty feet in length; and the grounds
around are handsomely laid out and highly culti
vated. In front, it overlooks the wimpling Tweed ;
and beyond are the gentle Ettrick Hills, so famous
for their fleecy flocks. The surrounding scenery is
peaceful, pastoral, beautiful ; in perfect harmony
with that state of mental serenity so welcome in
the ripe autumn of life to the " Indian summer of
the soul." The interior of Abbotsford is a museum
of the rarest interest. The place is shown to visit
ors by Mr. John Swinston, an old man, seventy
years of age, who has lived forty-three years in Sir
Walter's family. He took me first to the " study,"
and invited me to sit in the large, leather-lined arm-

84 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
chair of the great "Wizard of the North." A very
easy chair, indeed, it is ; but who on earth can fill
it ! In a little room opening out of the study,
neatly folded in a glass case, is the last suit of
clothes worn by Sir Walter; the dark-blue coat,
checked pants, 6triped vest, and large, well-worn
white fur hat. The study walls are lined with
books ; and the writing-table occupies the centre of
the room. Passing into the library, one feels that
he is entering some public institution, so extensive
is the array of books. The volumes are elegantly
arranged, and protected by a brass wire netting.
On one side of the library there is a full-length por
trait of Sir Walter's only son, who is dressed in the
uniform of a colonel, and represented as leaning
against his horse. It is a remarkably handsome
picture, and was taken, I believe, when Col. Scott
was but nineteen years old. He died at the age of
forty, off the Cape of Good Hope, on his way home
from India.
In the central Library window, there stands a
round table, covered with glass, containing the
gems of Abbotsford. They are mostly presents to
Sir Walter, many of them from kings and emperors,
the intrinsic value of which would build another
Abbotsford. I cannot enumerate the costly gifts
and curious relics in this wonderful collection.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 85
There is a magnificent portfolio, in green and gold,
which was taken from Napoleon at Waterloo ; and
by its side, a silver scent-bottle that belonged to
Mary Queen of Scots. There are also snuff-boxes,
and daggers, and drinking-cups innumerable ; and,
amidst them all, towers a plain glass tumbler — the
whisky goblet of Bobert Burns. Then there is a
room filled with muskets, pistols, spears and lances ;
another with armor of every description. Some of
the suits kept brightly polished ; and in the draw
ing-room there are the elegant ebony cabinet and
chairs presented by George IV. ; with various
quaint articles. The walls are covered with family
portraits, including many of the ancestors as well
as the entire posterity of Sir Walter. A fine paint
ing of Lady Scott, in her youthful days, represents
her as a very handsome woman ; and the portraits
of Mrs. Lockhart, and Miss Scott, the two daughters,
both deceased, are also very pleasing pictures. And
there, too, is a capital painting of the Master's
favorite hound; while a fine statue of the same
" faithful animal " stands before the door in stone.
But the day wanes, and I must run. " This," says
the venerable Swinston, " is the heendmost room ;"
so, spreading my umbrella for a three-mile walk to
Melrose, I took a respectful farewell of Abbotsford
— a place that already ranks among

86 SPABKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
 " the Pilgrim shrines, the Delphian vales,
The Meccas of the mind."
Brief as my visit was, I would attempt a more
minute description, had not Washington Irving, the
best-loved American in England, been here before
me. But, before the last living chronicle of Abbots
ford shall pass away, some one should visit the
place, pen in hand, for the purpose of writing out a
descriptive catalogue of the pictures, the presents,
and the relics it contains. Many curious articles
here have a history, which will die with Swinston —
whose descriptions and reminiscences would make a
most interesting volume. The present proprietor,
Mr. Hope Scott, who married Miss Lockhart (and
who took the name of Scott after marriage), resides
in London. His wife is dead; and his little
daughter, seven years old, is the only descendant
of Sir Walter. In contemplating this beautiful
estate of fifteen hundred acres, with its magnificent
mansion, containing so many rich and rare gems of
antiquity and art, one cannot but remember, with a
feeling of sad regret, the painful embarrassments
which clouded the closing days of SirWalter in strug
gling to complete his ideal home. The demon, debt,
was the skeleton at his Abbotsford feast ; and yet,
scarcely was his great heart cold in the tomb, before
millions were ready to be expended in his monument]

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 87
My walk to Melrose was more than romantic. It
partook of the tragico-comic. The cold flood came
down in sheets ; and the wind had risen to a gale.
I was obliged to reef top-sail ; and, I was going to
say, scud under a bare pole; but a little Scotch cap
on the top of my head just served to strain the
water, and allow it to percolate and penetrate in
the finest possible form. But, under the double in
spiration of Abbotsford behind me, and old Melrose
before me, I panted on, spouting " Marmion " for
the sake of company. Coming in sight of a toll-
gate, an object one is seldom particularly glad to
see, like St. Paul, when he came in sight of the
" three taverns," I thanked God and took courage ;
for there I espied a butcher's cart, with a restive
little white pony, dripping in the rain. I found the
owner thereof hob-nobbing with the toll-keeper's
pretty wife, and asked him to drive me tb Melrose
Abbey. The sight of the " siller " seemed to glad
den his eye ; and put " fife and mettle in the heels "
of the little pony. We " skelpit on through mud
and mire," at a racking rate ; and thus, triumph
antly, I rode into Melrose; finding the butcher's
cart, in my weary plight, more luxurious than a
Spanish volante.
" Melrose Abbey " must be " done " before dark ;
and the daylight is already dim. So I hurried out

88 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
the keeper ; and, passing under the old arch-way,
stood upon the grassy floor of the roofless temple.
My venerable guide led me from point to point,
pausing before the various mortuary and biblical
inscriptions, which he declaimed in true Ciceronian
style, with his eyes raised to heaven, or rather to
the roof of his umbrella. Pausing at a flat stone,
not over a foot square, lying on the ground, he said
with solemn, almost startling emphasis : " Beneath
THIS STONE LIES THE HEART OF EoBERT BRUCE !"
Gathering a few leaves of ivy that came clamber
ing over the wall, to send home as leaves of remem
brance, I was glad to exchange the romance of the
Abbey, and the pitiless pelting of the rain, for a
blazing fire and a cup of tea at the little railway
inn. After being " wrung out and dried " for two
hours, I took the train for Edinburgh, whose wel
come lights again twinkled pleasantly ; and whose
excellent hotel, after the day's weariness, seemed
like a paradise regained.
To-morrow, I am off for " famous London town,"
four hundred miles distant, where I mean to see
dear little Grandmother Victoria " open the Parlia
ment in person."

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 89

The Great Metropolis.
The Approach by Night— Immortal Memories— From Edinburgh
to London — Berwick — Newcastle — York — Morley's Hotel — A
Heart-Luxury— The Handsome Thing — Mr. Dallas and Nautilus
Hallett — The Foreign Office— Opening of Parliament— The Queen
— A Beautiful Revelation — Prince Albert — Lord Derby — The
Duke of Cambridge — Rosy Peeresses — The Duchess of Malakoff
— England and Mexico. Moblbt's Hotel, London, February, 1859.
And this is London — the " Great Metropolis of
the World !" Like the ocean, it is too vast for com
prehension — too bewildering for description. I
approached the great human ant-Bill at 10 o'clock
in the evening, by railway from Edinburgh. The
multitudinous lamps twinkled along the horizon, as
far as the eye could see, like the nebulous stars in
the " milky way," mingling into a sort of fixed
aurora ; or, as Tennyson pictures it to the hero of
" Locksley Hall " (generally believed to be himself) :
" And at night along the dusky highway, near and nearer drawn,
Sees in heaven the light of London flaring like a dreary dawn."

90 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
But it was not the immensity of the city, with its
two and a half millions of human beings, that
most impressed me on finding myself in the streets
of London. It was the recollection of Shakspeare
and Sheridan ; of Milton and Mansfield ; of Gold
smith and Garrick ; and of the innumerable cata
logue of immortal names that rushed with electric
swiftness across the keys of memory, which made
London seem hke consecrated, almost enchanted
ground ; and my first drive into its " very heart," a
dreamy delirium of delight.
But, in the first place, a few words touching the
journey hither. The train left Edinburgh at ten
minutes before ten, in the morning, and arrived at
the King's Cross Station a little before ten in the
evening — distance, four hundred miles ; fare £4 7s.
or, $21 75, first class carriage. The day was
delightful, mild and clear ; and I had the good for
tune to find, in my only companion in the carriage,
a very agreeable and accomplished young gentle
man, Mr. Boss, son of a late Member of Parliament
from Scotland, and well known to many American
travellers in Europe. The road runs for some
twenty or thirty miles near the margin of the sea,
with beautiful farms on each side, cultivated like
gardens. In the meadows the grass was as green
as a New England May, and the farmers were

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 91
engaged in ploughing, always working fine looking
horses, sometimes two abreast; sometimes two,
or three, or four tandem. The furrows are as
straight as the " ruling " of a copy-book ; and the
soil is generally of a reddish hue, everywhere indi
cating the sandstone formation. [Query : Does
this peculiar complexion of the soil account for the
prevailing sandy colored hair of Scotsmen ?] We
pass the "Wolf's Crag," belonging once to the mas
ter of Eavenswood, in the "Bride of Lamnlermoor ;"
Halidon Hill, where the Scotch were defeated by
Edward HI., and there is old Norham, with its
ancient border castle :
" Day sets on Norham 's castled steep,
On Tweed's fair river, broad and deep,
And Cheviot's mountains lone.
Had the author of " Marmion " ever seen the
mighty rivers of America, he would hardly have
described the little Tweed as " broad and deep."
Berwick, (or Berrick, as they call it here,) lies
between England and Scotland, and belongs to
neither, having been made an " independency " by
Henry VLH. It contains only about 20,000 inhabi
tants, and yet it sends two members to Parliament.
In historical reminiscences, the place is somewhat
famous. It was here that Edward I. crowned his

92 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
servant Balliol, and barbarously exposed the limbs
of the patriot Wallace, after his execution. And
here, too, the celebrated Countess of Buchan was
confined in a wicker cage and tortured for six
years. Stephenson's Eoyal Eailway bridge over
the Tweed is a splendid piece of engineering. It is
216 feet long, on twenty-eight brick arches, 61 feet

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with a population of
nearly 100,000, is famous for its collieries, and its
" Boman remains," for here was the Pons JEUi of
Hadrian. The coal mines, which were discovered
in 1260, and which have been worked by steam
since 1714, are said to be inexhaustible. They are
estimated to cover five hundred square miles, and
have been worked to the depth of eighteen hundred
feet! Of the three million tons of coal annually
sent to London, over one million goes from New
castle. We dine at York, a city world-famous for its
Minster, of which the railway affords us but a pass
ing glimpse. Old as it is, York contains but about
50,000 inhabitants. It was the " head-quarters" of
Agricola, seventy years before Christ; here the
Emperor Severus died ; here Constantine, the first
Christian emperor, was born ; and here Paulinus
built the first Christian church in the north of Eng-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 93
land. Here, too, is Micklegate, upon whose bloody
battlements the head of Eichard, Duke of York,
and that of his son Eutland, a boy of nineteen, were
placed after the battle of Wakefield ; Queen Mar
garet says, in the play of Henry VI. :
" Off with his head, and set it on York gates,
So York may overlook the town of York."
I was sorry to leave the Cathedral unvisited ; but
consoled myself with the hope of making a special
pilgrimage to the place on some future day. The
"lightning express" speeds on, dashing through
Leeds, Doncaster, Sheffield, Derby, Newark, Eugby;
and before one has time to think of the specialties
of these well-known places, the conductor announces
— London ! I could only remember that Leeds is
famous for its cloths ; and for its excellent news
paper, the " Mercury," established more than a cen
tury and a quarter ago ; that Sheffield supplies the
world with its cutlery ; and there the poet Mont
gomery lived and lies buried :
" Grave, the guardian of his dust;
Grave, the treasury of the skies ;
Every atom of thy trust,
Bests in hope again to rise 1"
Derby, we remember for its silk-mills, and as the

94 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
birthplace of Eichardson, the novelist; Newark,
for its picturesque old castle and its extensive brew
eries ; and Eughy, for its famous school. In the
mere mention of these ancient historical towns, the
reader will readily imagine that one's memory in
flying through them, will be too busy for the way
to seem long between the capitals of Scotland and
England. The panorama of two thousand years
has flashed before the mind's eye in these brief
twelve hours ; and we reach London mentally fa
tigued by the exciting associations of the journey.
At " Morley's," in Trafalgar Square, a very nice
hotel (for England), much frequented by Ameri
cans of the better class, I find a pleasant room and
pleasanter letters awaiting my arrival. After indulg
ing freely in the three great luxuries of life — black
tea, a bath, and a bed — I woke up to the unexpected
pleasure of a clear and beautiful morning. No fog,
no clouds ; and not smoke enough to veil the bright
ness of the sun. A walk down the Strand to the
office of " The Blustrated London News," and
there a precious pile of letters from the unforget-
ting and unforgotten ones at home, makes the day
look lovelier still, and London a thousand times
more attractive. Blessings on the man who in
vented "letters"— -those dear little messengers
which carry sweet and secret tidings from heart to

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 95
heart ; " wafting a sigh from Indus to the Pole ;" and
" Flying, like flower-seeds on the breeze,
To sow the world with love 1"
How we read them ; devour them ; and read them
again and again ; even after every word is commit
ted to memory ! Ah, can that be a place of bliss
ful rest, where no precious assurances of remem
brance can come to us from home !
. " To live in hearts we leave behind,
Is not to die ;"
— but how shall we know it, when beyond the reach
of letters !
The delivery of "cards of introduction" is the
first thing in order ; and so, after preparing a list
like a catalogue of " New Year's Calls," I order a
"Hansom," and start out to do the "handsome
thing." The distances are truly magnificent ; and,
between such extremes as Peabody's Banking
House in " the city," and Lord Bury's mansion in
" Belgravia," one begins to get some idea of the
immensity of the town ; but it is not until after
driving through a continuous, compact street, or
series of streets, to the distance of sixteen miles,
that we have a " realizing sense" of the expansive
limits of London. My programme took me to the

96 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
residence of the American minister in Portland
Place — a very plain but respectable looking man
sion, where I found Mr. Dallas in excellent health
and spirits, although evidently annoyed by the
statements in some of the newspapers, in which his
name is mixed up with that of Nautilus Hallett,
whose recent remarkable financiering operations in
Europe have called forth some severe comments.
Mr. Dallas is indignant at the charge of his being
" a speculator." He says he " has never given a
note in his life ;" and never " speculated to the
amount of a single dollar." He endeavors to ren
der all the service he can to the Americans who call
upon him ; and, as about nine out of every ten have
an " axe to grind" — from a patent churn to a grand
railway scheme — Mr. Dallas sometimes finds it diffi
cult to avoid seeming to befriend some swindling
adventurer. At the British Foreign Office, and at the Colo
nial Office, the Secretaries — the Earl of Malmsbury,
and Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton — to whom I had
letters, were not in — half-past 12 o'clock. The
queen was to open Parliament the following day ;
and " Her Majesty's Ministers " were much engaged
in Cabinet meetings. To witness the spectacle of
the "Opening" was the principal motive that had
hurried me up to London ; and, on arriving, I found

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 97
that all admission tickets had been disposed of for
several days. But my friends went to work in my
behalf; and several gentlemen in influential posi
tions made personal application to the Lord Grand
Chamberlain for " one more ticket." It was in
vain ; his lordship addressed me a very polite note
expressing his "extreme regret." Mr. Moran,
the gentlemanly and obliging Assistant Secretary
of the American Legation, also exerted himself
without success. But there was still a power which
had not been appealed to ; a power " mightier than
the sword," a power which no popular government
can afford to disregard — the power of the press. A
line from Herbert Ingrain, Esq., M.P., the pro
prietor of " The Illustrated London News," carried
me through the long line of policemen, door
keepers, and other officials, into the " Eeporter's
Gallery " of the House of Lords — the very best pos
sible position for witnessing the august spectacle.
And what a pageant of splendor and of grandeur
was here presented ! The floor of the house was
packed with the wives and daughters and sisters of
the peers, in full dress, leaving only a narrow space
in the centre which was occupied by peers and
bishops in their brilliant scarlet robes. The entire
gallery which surrounds the House was filled with
a row of elegantly-dressed ladies, only broken by a
5

98 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
line of reporters, occupying seats directly opposite
the throne. Behind the reporters, the benches, one
rising above another, were filled with ladies. Pre
sently the trumpets sound — the signal that the
queen is approaching. She leaves the palace in
her magnificent state ' carriage, drawn by eight
cream-colored horses, attended by her ministers and
household officers, in carriages but a little less
sumptuous than her own; escorted by the Life
Guard, all mounted on noble black horses ; the
whole cortege forming a most magnificent spectacle.
In alighting from the carriage, Her Majesty's foot
.presses an electric wire, which fires a cannon in the
Park. The Usher of the Golden Eod gives a sig
nal; and, suddenly, every lady in the House
throws off her opera cloak, or shawl, or mantle ; and
a more beautiful revelation can hardly be imagined ;
surely not described. Flashed all their arms in air ;
Flashed all their bosoms bare,
Stunning the gazers there —
Lovely six hundred!
The officers of the court enter, and, bowing be
fore the throne, arrange themselves on either side ;
the Prime Minister, Lord Derby, standing on the
left, presenting the Sword of State. Now there is

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 99
a rising all over the House, but so quietly that only
*a slight rustle of dresses is heard. The queen en
ters, arrayed in her most royal robes, with a glitter
ing tiara of diamonds on her head ; while the Crown
of England is borne on a velvet cushion behind her.
She ascends the throne, which looks like a great
golden chair, elevated three or four steps ; and, as
soon as the two maids of honor have adjusted her
long train of crimson velvet, takes her seat, looking
every inch a queen. Another gentle silken sound,
and everybody is seated, while the silence is pro
found. Ten minutes elapse in waiting for the mem
bers of the House of Commons, who come tumbling
in at the opposite end of the Hall, and as soon as
silence is restored — and such silence I never before
heard (for it is almost audible) — the queen took
her speech from the hand of the Lord Chamberlain,
who stood by her side, and read it in a very delib
erate, distinct tone of voice — and, as Shakspeare
says, " with good emphasis and discretion." Not a
word was lost; and, when she had finished, she
appeared to me ten times as majestical as before
she began. Her voice is very pleasant, and her
intonation showed that she understood and meant
what she uttered. But it sounded odd to hear that
little woman talk" so supremely of her power, her
authority, her army, her navy, her ministers, her

100 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
people, etc., etc. And yet there was a touch of the
" moral sublime " in the dramatic situation of the
scene — in the palpable evidences of the surrounding
" divinity which doth hedge a queen." Victoria is
rather a good-looking, pleasant faced woman, her
eye being her best feature. She is a little below
the medium height, with a very full, but not dis
agreeably fat figure. Her movements are exceed
ingly graceful and dignified; and, although she
gave no signs of recognition while seated on the
throne, yet in passing out she bowed smilingly to
her friends on either side. Prince Albert led her to
and from the throne ; and during the ceremony, sat
at a little distance on the queen's left. He appeared
very stiff and stately ; and is not as good-looking as
artists have generally represented him. His head
is quite bald, on the top, and his whole appearance
indicates his subordinate position — reminding one of
the severe satire of the French picture of " the Prince
Consort in his Official Eobe " — Lis robe de nuit.
The great men of England, who were present on
the august occasion, did not particularly impress
me as men of great personal dignity and power.
I saw no head as massive as Webster's, as noble as
Clay's, or as striking as Calhoun's. Among the
peers, Lord Derby looked most like a leader ; but
among the bishops, I saw no very marked evidences

LIFE AND LIBERTY TN EUROPE. 101
of divine or human " authority ;" and, as for the
Duke of Cambridge, the military head of the army,
no phrenologist would select him from a crowd as
one " born to command." But the ladies of the
nobility are decidedly better looking than their
lords. I have never before seen so large a collec
tion of fine, fresh, rosy-looking women. The
majority have fair complexions, blue eyes, exuberant
busts and luxuriant heads of hair. On coming out
of the House of Lords, the crowd was very great, and
progress was very slow ; but it afforded a fine
opportunity of a daylight look into the faces and
eyes of the leading belles of England ; and although
there was danger of being smothered in a crowd of
peeresses, yet I suppose it would have been like the
" dying of a rose in aromatic pain." In the diplo
matic benches, none of the Ministers were more
conspicuous than Mr. Dallas in his plain black suit,
and 6now white -hair ; and the pompous looking
Duke of Malakoff, with his iron-grey beard and jet
black moustache. The Duchess of Malakoff, who
was seated next-fhe Duke of Cambridge, is not so
painfully beautiful as I had imagined her to be,
from newspaper reports. She would scarcely make
a sensation in the Fifth Avenue. But of particular
persons, I shall be able to speak more particularly
when I have seen more of them.

102 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
The Queen's Speech is generally regarded as a
very careful and judicious manifesto. The parts
read with the most emphasis were those relating to
the increased efficiency of the Navy, and the neces
sity of bringing Mexico up to the payment of her
English debt. But from all I can gather from the
leading statesmen and financiers of England, it is
the wish of the Government that the United States
should take possession of Mexico ; and, as a thing
of course, assume the Mexican debt. And if Vera
Cruz should be bombarded by a British fleet (an
event not unlikely to occur), it will be simply for
the purpose of driving Mexico into the Protectorate
of the United States. But I forbear discussing
questions which are just now filling the newspapers
— the prospects of a European war ; the Eeform Bill
before Parliament ; Mexico, Cuba, Spain, etc. etc.,
I will see something of life in London, high and
low ; and, in these hastily-written letters, deal more
in facts and observations than in theories and
speculations.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 103

Hampton C ourt.
The Magnificent Cardinal — Splendid Paintings — Nell Gwynn — Ben
jamin West — Heels and Soles for Dinner.
"Morley's Hotel," London,
February —, 1859.
A day at Hampton Court is a day not to be forgot
ten. It is quite easy to recall the spacious outlines
of the venerable Palace, with its numerous halls
and chambers lined with paintings; the beautiful
grounds, with their long avenues of chestnut-trees
and cedars of Lebanon ; the smoothly-rolled walks ;
the frolicking fountains; the mazy gardens, with
pleasant glimpses of the undefiled Thames. But it is
not so easy to reproduce all these enchanting views
" on paper," in lines that will convey a just impres
sion of the original pictures.
Hampton Court is situated at a distance of about
twelve miles west from London; or, rather from
Hyde Park. It is reached by steamboat, or rail
way ; or, better than either, by one of the most
delightful drives in England. The Palace is open
to the public, free, every day in the week, except

104

Friday, when it is closed for cleaning; and the
attractions of the place draw a daily crowd of
visitors. It was built, as all the world knows, by
Cardinal Wolsey, a man of unbounded ambition,
and most magnificent conception. His biography
is best given by the Satirist, who sums him up in a
single couplet :
"Begot by Butchers, but by Bishops bred ;
How high his Honor holds his haughty head."
(Cockneys make sad work in reading that last
line.) The building, begun in 1515, was not com
pleted until 1604, from designs by Sir Christopher
Wren. Its sumptuous grandeur eclipsing the
palace of Henry VIH., excited the envy of the king,
who questioned the Chancellor Cardinal on the
meaning of his extravagance. "Sire," said the
wily Wolsey, " I wished to erect a palace worthy
of your majesty. It is yours." The king accepted
the present ; but gave the Cardinal, in exchange for
his munificence, not only the royal manor of Eich-
mond, but the supreme power of England.
Wolsey was decidedly a " fast man," with sub
limely expansive ideas. Had he lived in these days
of steam and lightning, he would perhaps have been
a " Eailroad King," a magnificent Filibuster, or,
greater than either, a Napoleon of the Press ! Born

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 105
of " poor and honest parents " (as most great men
are, if history can be relied on), in the year 1471, at
Ipswich, in Suffolk, Thomas Wolsey graduated at
Oxford at the tender age of fourteen years, and was
known as " the boy Bachelor." " He began his
career by teaching school (like Daniel Webster and
many other distinguished men) and achieved his
first notoriety by getting drunk at a fair and being
placed in the stocks. But when he became Lord
Chancellor of England he paid the old knight who
inflicted the punishment by confining him for six
years in the Temple Prison. Wolsey managed the
king by advising the sensual old monarch to do
what was most agreeable to his inclinations; got
possession of the Great Seal and governed England
for twenty years without a parliament. He vainly
aspired to the Papal Chair on the deaths of Leo X.
and Adrian VI. ; fell under the displeasure of the
king in matters relating to his divorce from Queen
Catherine ; was obliged to give up the Great Seal,
and all his fortune ; was impeached by parliament,
arrested for high treason and finally ended his bril
liant but most miserable life by taking poison to
escape from the gallows.
All this sounds a little too much like history for
a rattling newspaper correspondence ; but one can-:
not visit Hampton Court without awaking some

106

reminiscences of the splendors of the past, or with
out a flitting allusion to the glory and the gloom
which alternately mantled and shrouded the most
adroit and powerful of ministers ; the most corrupt
and unscrupulous of prelates.
The Palace is filled with paintings, which would
require a volume to describe. We ascend the
"King's Grand Stair-case," and pass successively
through the " Guard Chamber," the " King's First
Presence Chamber," the " Second Presence Cham
ber," the " Audience ChamberJ^^Th^ " King's Draw
ing Eoom," the " Bed Boom of King William HI.,"
the " King's Dressing Eoom," the " King's Writing
Closet," " Queen Mary's Closet," " Her Majesty's
Gallery," the " Queen's Bed Eoom," the " Queen's
Drawing Eoom," the " Queen's Audience Cham
ber," the " Public Dining Eoom," the " Prince of
Wales' Presence Chamber," the " Prince of Wales'
Drawing Eoom," the " Prince of Wales' Bed
Eoom," the " Ante Eoom," the " Queen's Private
Chapel," the " Private Dining Eoom," the " Queen's
Private Chamber," the " King's Private Drawing
Eoom," the "Portrait Gallery," the "Queen's
Grand Chamber," the " Queen's Presence Cham
ber," the "Withdrawing Eoom," the "Great Hall,"
etc., etc., etc. Each and all of these apartments are
|illed with paintings mostly by the Old Masters ; and

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 107
many of them of world-wide celebrity. Among the
most famous are the seven Cartoons of Eaphael, re
presenting Scriptural scenes, and presented by Pope
Leo X. to the king. There are also many master
pieces by Guido, Titian, Giorgione, Correggio, Te-
niers, Vandyck, Tintoretto, Leonardo da Vinci, Hol
bein, Paul Veronese, Eomano, Eicci, etc., etc.
But the room in which I lingered longest and left
most reluctantly, was the one principally devoted
to Sir Peter Lely's beauties of the Court of Charles.
His women surpass anything I have ever seen on
canvas ; and his Nell Gwynn (as the Duchess of St.
Albans, bearing a remarkable resemblance to the
beautiful Mrs. L  , of New York), haunts me like
a dream. There is a light in her eye ; a sweetness
in her lip ; a smile on her face ; and a fountain of
inspiration in her fair, full bosom, to melt the iron
heart of an anchorite. I have never seen but one
lovelier vision, and that, blessed be the Divine Art
ist, is a breathing, living, loving " statue of flesh !"
The paintings of Benjamin West, which occupy
one entire room, have given me a much higher
opinion of that artist's merits, than I had formed
from the few unfavorable specimens of his works in
the United States. No American can see West's
great pictures — the " Death of Wolfe," the " Death
of Epaminondas," the '¦ Death of Bayard," the

108 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
"Oath of Hannibal," "Peter denying Christ,"
" Queen Charlotte and her Thirteen Children,"
without feeling a glow of pride in calling the artist
a countryman. It is disgraceful to pun on a name,
but these splendid works give one a new love for
the great West. I cannot pause even before these
soft Murillos, these bold Bassanos, these sumptuous
Knellers, these rich Romanos, and delicately-tinted
Tintorettos. The day wanes. Time flios fastest
when we are feasting highest. A dinner awaits us
at the " Mitre ;" and the Train will not wait even
for the pleasantest train of reflections. Some readers
may perhaps wish to know something of the pre
sent condition and occupancy of Hampton Court
Palace. It is no longer the residence or resort of
royalty. George II. was the last monarch who held
his Court here ; and although the palace is kept in
excellent condition, yet Victoria prefers the " mo
dern improvements" of Windsor to the antiquated
magnificence of Hampton. But its numerous
apartments are not all empty. The widows of dis
tinguished heroes, comfortably pensioned by the
government, here reside in a sort of regal retire
ment ; and, bound together by a common sympa
thy, form among themselves a society of peculiar
dignity and refinement. Their rooms are nicely
furnished ; every view from the window is a pic-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 109
ture ; every walk through the gallery, or gardens,
is an inspiration ; every memory of the Past is like
a battle hymn of glory. Over all the archways are
busts of Eoman emperors ; while the portraits of
kings, and queens, and saints, and heroes look ma
jestically down upon us at every turn. Here Ed
ward VI. was born; and here his mother, Jane
Seymour, died almost in the same hour ; here the
ravenous Henry married and murdered his beauti
ful wives ; and here, in " gloomy retirement,"
Philip of Spain and Mary passed their honeymoon.
Here that heartless spinster, Elizabeth, held her
grand Christmas festivals ; here, in the great dining
Hall, was first performed Shakspeare's play of Hemy
VHI. ; and here King James began his conferences
with the bishops, which led to the new translation
of the Bible. Here Charles I. and his queen, Hen
rietta, fled from the raging "plague" in 1625 ; and
here, twenty years afterward, he was held in splen
did imprisonment, until he escaped to the Isle of
Wight on his way to — the Scaffold !
We had an excellent dinner at the " Mitre ;"
although my appetite was a little upset by the land
lord — who, on being asked what kind of fish he
could give us, replied : " Heels and Soles, sir." But
the "Soles" were delicious, and the "heels,"
which I never touch, on account of their resem-

110

SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,

blance to snakes, were pronounced by my friends
to be equally fine. A few minutes, and we are
back to town, with memories overlaid with pictures
which, if the mind is immortal, can never be utterly
effaced. Eeserving other "sights" for future let
ters, I will close this with the benevolent wish that
each of my hundred thousand readers may live to
pass a pleasant day at Hampton Court; and bring
away as many interesting reminiscences as I have
endeavored, in this hasty communication, to sug
gest.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. Ill

The Great Eastern.
A Leviathan among Minnows — Herbert Ingram — Captain Harrison
— The first Steamboat — William Symington — Robert Fulton —
Betting on the Great Ship's speed — A Fish Dinner at Greenwich.
Morley's Hotel, London,February, 1859.
The " Great Eastern !" I have seen her, the archi
tectural wonder! the mechanical monster of the
age ! and wandered for hours over her prairie-like
decks, and through her mammoth cave-like com
partments. But her "vasty" dimensions baffle
description. Like the Falls of Niagara, neither
words nor pictures can do justice to the subject.
We can only give a few figures of fact, and a few
figures of rhetoric, and leave the imagination to
conceive and elaborate the sublime idea as best it
may. Comparisons may possibly help us a little in
attempting to convey some adequate estimate of
size and power. The largest ships of the line lying
alongside the Great Eastern, look like children's
toys. She seems like a continent among islands :
a leviathan among minnows ; a pyramid among

112 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
pins. She is more than an eighth of a mile long,
and over twelve thousand tons of iron have been
used in her construction. But will she ever be fin
ished, and when? And what then? These are
questions which everybody is asking, and these I
propose to answer, so far as I have been able to
gain information ; and, fortunately, I have had an
admirable opportunity for consulting " the authori
ties." The ship is now lying at Blackwall, opposite
Greenwich, lengthwise in the Thames, in the spot
where she was anchored on the day of launching.
She is not open to public inspection ; but Mr. Her
bert Ingram, M.P., the proprietor of "The Llus-
trated London News," who is one of the most active
directors in the new Great Eastern Company,
kindly proposed a visit to the ship, and made up a
pleasant party for the purpose. We found Captain
Harrison on board, who has lived in the ship for
the last three years, and who knows every rib and
joint in her anatomy. All the money requisite for
her completion is ready in bank ; and all the con
tracts for finishing and furnishing will be concluded
before the end of the present month. Only forty
mechanics are now at work; but on the 1st of
March there will be, at least, a thousand — carpen
ters, painters, riggers, upholsterers, etc. — employed ;

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 113
and the ship will be ready for sea on the 1st of July
next, when, after showing what .she can do in " a
grand excursion," she will point her mighty prow
toward Portland, U.S. The new directors are men
of great energy and practical talent. Mr. Ingram
and Mr. Campbell, both members of Parliament,
are investing large amounts of capital in the ship,
under the conviction that she will prove a great
commercial as well as mechanical success. Captain
Harrison, after eighteen years of experience as a
commander of steam-vessels, has unlimited faith in
the speed, safety, and profits of the Great Eastern ;
and stakes his hard-earned savings on the result.
Of course there are skeptics and croakers who pre
dict all sorts of disasters ; but there never was an
enterprise, a reform, or improvement, that did not
have to encounter in the outset the sneers of the
envious and the doubts of the incredulous. Frank
lin was laughed at for attempting to catch the
lightning ; and Morse for endeavoring to send it on
errands. Fifty-six years ago, when William Sym
ington made the first successful experiment in steam
navigation, by sending the little Charlotte Dundas
from the port of Dundas to Glasgow, a distance of
nineteen miles and a half, in six hours, all the world
wondered and doubted. Five years afterward,
when Eobert Fulton, who had made a trip on the

114 SPARES FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
canal in Symington's boat, launched the Clermont
on the North Eiver, all the old fogies of the city
assembled at the Battery to witness the grand
faikire, and to pronounce the oracular " I told you
so !" In the year 1819, when the Savannah, a sort
of mongrel, half steamer, half sailer, left New
York for Liverpool, many were the lugubrious pre
dictions that she would " blow up " before reaching
port ; and even as recently as 1838, when the Great
Western made her first passage across the Atlantic,
in spite of scientific theories and the skeptical
shrugs of veteran "Salts," the practicability of
ocean steam navigation could hardly be regarded as
one of the established facts and "received opin
ions " of the world. And now, behold the Great
Eastern — the giant oak from the little acorn — the
consummate product of half a century !
The Great Eastern will have large and elegant
state-rooms for eight hundred first-class passengers,
and ample accommodation for thousands of second-
class. The number of hands in all departments re
quired to " work her " will be five hundred. She
will have three propelling powers — the paddle, the
screw, and the sails. Her speed is a question of
lively speculation, and betting on her "time" is
likely to run as high as at the Epsom races. As
there may be no harm in venturing an opinion,

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 115
without risking a fortune to back it, I will bet a
bottle of Longworth's best " Catawba " that the Great
Eastern will "do" the Atlantic inside of eight
days ; and when the phenomenon reaches Portland
she will almost pay for herself by dividing profits
with the railroad companies, who will transport hun
dreds of thousands of passengers to see the show.
Parties are already organizing here to go out to the
States on the first trip ; and, if that is successful,
she will return crowded with Americans, who will
find life on board the Great Ship, at least more
novel, and certainly not more expensive, than at
Newport or Saratoga. She will carry a full cotillon
band, and a complete printing-office ; a livery-stable
has also been also suggested. The ship will be bril
liantly lighted with gas; orders will be conveyed
by electric telegraph; and her track across the
ocean should be distinctly marked on the charts, so
that all other craft may give her as wide a berth as
they would a rocky coast with a gale blowing in.
And I take the liberty of respectfully suggesting to
the British and to the United States' Governments
that the Great Eastern should be allowed to send
respectively a member to Congress and a member
to Parliament. Surely such an institution is as
much entitled to representation as the "Vander-

116 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
bilt" or the "Galway line," both of which have
carried their " members."
The day's journeyings and wonderings over the
mountainous, cavernous ship prepare us to relish a
dinner at the Trafalgar, Greenwich. And such a
dinner ! Fish, fish, fish, in course after course ; and
every dish so different from the preceding one as to
create a new appetite. How the palate loves
variety! And the art of tickling it is the great
secret of cookery. I thought I had done with fish,
and finished everything finny, when on came a sole
omelet. " O ye gods and little fishes !" how I
pitied poor Apicius ! The old Eoman gourmet, who
never tasted this : he lived and died too ' soon !
Sailors, astronomers, clockmakers, and mapmakers,
may remember Greenwich as the place from which
we " take time " and " reckon longitude ;" while
others may associate it with hospitals, pensioners,
Nell Gwynn, Jack Cade, Wat Tyler, the birth of
kings and queens, and other historical trifles ; but
in my fond memory that immortal sole alone shall
live, unmixed with baser matters. A pleasant drive
to town, and a nice supper at the Eeform Club ; but
no more eating. There are reminiscences of plea
sure too sacred to be disturbed.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 117

A Word about the Women.
English Hotels — Dress, Masculine and Feminine— Hats Off— Femi
nine Feet — The Veracity of Mother Goose — Buxom Beauty — A
Bonnie Lassie — English Hospitality — Sights of all Sorts.
Morley's Hotel, London,
February, 1859.
During my first two weeks in England, I have
gravelled over one thousand miles, and learned
something, not only of the topography of the coun
try, but of railway locomotion and hotel life, both
of which I find generally comfortable, and often
luxurious. The great difference between the
American and English hotel is the utter isolation
of the guest in the latter, and the entire absence of
ladies from the public apartments. Indeed, there
is no public apartment, no table d'hote, no drawing-
room — nothing but a coffee-room and smoking room
for gentlemen. Except the landlady, who keeps
the accounts, and the chambermaid, who makes the
fires as well as the beds, one never sees a female in
an English inn. The rooms are let by the day, and
every item is charged, from a candle to a foot-bath ;

118 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
and, at a first-class hotel, fifty cents a day for
" attendance." And yet the entire cost, without
wines, only averages about three dollars a day.
The expense of travelling in first-class carriages is
little less than a pound per hundred miles. The
hack fare is much lower than in the United States.
One can drive about in good style in London for
half a dollar an hour, and twenty-five cents will
carry you to almost any theatre in the city. From
" Morley's " to the leading club houses the fare is
only a sixpence ; and yet, if you do not hand the
driver a shilling, he is very apt to mumble some
thing about a "parliamentary customer;" for the
M.P.'s, it seems, stick very conscientiously to the
" legal rates."
I find it no uncommon thing in England to meet
" unprotected females " in the cars, and the higher
the social position of the ladies the greater is their
simplicity of dress and affability of manner. So far
as health, comfort and fitness are concerned, the
American ladies have much to learn from the Eng
lish, especially in their travelling costume. We
see no finery or frippery here in the railway car
riage ; and silks and satins in the street are apt to
excite rather uncomplimentary suspicions of the
wearers. The "Balmoral" is almost universally
worn ~and even fiery red stockings are by no means

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 119
uncommon. Long dresses are never seen out of
drawing-rooms, and there they are worn both long
and low. The English women have magnificently
exuberant busts ; and they " don't care who knows
it." Full dress, for dinner or for the theatre, con
sists in " low neck and short sleeves," and this is
observed de rigueur ; while all gentlemen are ex
pected to appear in black dress coats and unim
peachable gloves. At the Theatre Eoyal, in Liver
pool, the other evening, I was about entering the
boxes with a lady on my arm, who wore on the
back of her head a little " love of a bonnet," about
the size of a japonica flower, when she was arrested
by an usher, who politely informed her that the for
bidden bonnet must be left in the ante-room. Of
course, there was a sixpence to pay for its safe
keeping on coming out. Then the box keeper, who
handed us a bill of the play, held out his fingers for
a douceur, remarking that he had to " pay for hia
situation." These trifles strike Americans as annoy
ances, but it is never wise for travellers to fret
against established customs. When among the
Eomans, we must pay the tributes of the Eomans.
Thus far, I have seen but one pretty foot in
England. I used to think the old nursery story
about the " old woman who lived in a shoe,"
entirely fabulous ; but since I have seen the pedes-

120 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
tals of some of these lovely living female statues I
have formed a more favorable opinion of the
veracity of " Mother Goose." But it is very evi
dent that a large foot is not considered a detriment
to female beauty in England ; as the ladies make
no effort to diminish the size of their feet by wear
ing pinching slippers. On the contrary, they wear
clumsy gaiters, with heavy soles, which make their
steps anything but fairy-like. And in this they
show their good sense. One half of the consump
tion cases among the American women are owing to
wafer-soled shoes, which render walking both diffi
cult and dangerous. And so they sit pining in satin
chairs in their over-heated rooms, sucking cough
candy, and waiting for the doctor, and his shadow
the undertaker ; while these buxom English beauties
are tramping about in their water-proof boots, or
darting through lanes and parks in their saddles.
To appear delicate or lackadaisical is no part of an
English woman's ambition. Health and vigor of
body are considered of primary importance, not
only for comfort's sake, but as the most essential
qualifications for satisfactorily and successfully per
forming the duties of wives and mothers. And
they dress, and eat, and exercise accordingly. On
calling on Lady B  the other morning, one of
the most beautiful and accomplished ladies in Lon-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 121
don, I found her dressed in a plain, purple colored
woollen robe, made of cheap and coarse material,
and yet so tastefully fitting her fine figure that I
was struck with the elegance and the comfort of the
ensemble. An ultra fashionable belle of the Fifth
Avenue would hardly " come down " to her visitor
in so simple a costume ; or if she did, it would be
with a confusion of apologetic words and blushes.
Lady B  '¦ has a fine little boy baby, eight
months old, and she insisted on my waiting until
he returned from his morning walk in the Park.
When the little fellow, the. heir of a long list of
lofty titles, was brought in, I was struck with the
rich ruddiness of his cheeks, and the Hebe-like
healthiness of his complexion. But the secret was
soon explained. " He lives in the park," said the
proud and happy mother as she smothered the little
embryo Earl with her kisses. Among the aristo
cracy of New York, these budding specimens of
humanity are seldom brought from the nursery,
especially for exhibition by exulting mothers.
In a railway carriage the other day I chanced to
meet a bonnie looking Scotch lassie, who was
travelling alone, and not indisposed to conversation,
breaking the ice on starting from the station, by
asking if I " would be so kind as to remove my
traps from the seat " in front of me, and allow her

122 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
to occupy it. The " traps " alluded to, consisted
of a shawl and a travelling bag. Of course I was
only too happy to have such a pi'etty face for a vis-
a-vis. Finding in me " a foreigner " (it is sad to
be called a foreigner), my fair companion kindly
called my attention to the points of interest on the
road ; told me where she came from, whither she
was going, and very -pleasantly and gracefully
" defined her position," which was a very respect
able one, notwithstanding she had to travel over
two hundred miles, and not to reach her place of
destination until 11 o'clock at night. She had
been to Liverpool to see her sister off to America,
whose husband is a partner in the largest dry goods
house in England; and although but just out of
school, I have seldom met a woman who conversed
more fluently or intelligently. Among other
subjects she talked geology " like a book," having
evidently studied the science with great Hugh
Miller-ty ! And in Biblical matters she seemed to
have Scripture enough at her tongue's end to
match a " forty horse parson power." So far, my
experience inclines me to the opinion that if the
" English people are reserved," the habit does not
belong to the tongues of the ladies.
I have noted these little matters en passant, as
personal peculiarities. They are scarcely of suffi-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 123
cient importance to be called national character
istics. In accompanying this running record with
a few casual comments, I profess to be entirely free
from national prejudices. I came to Europe a cos
mopolitan, with none but the kindest feelings in
my heart, and, consequently, expecting everywhere
to meet the same spirit. In this I have not been
disappointed. The hospitality of the acquaintances
I have met and made is unbounded ; and the only
time, free from pleasant social engagements, which
I have to write for private or public eyes, is when
the eyes of my friends are asleep, and when my
own are heavy. I have already seen Abbotsford,
Sir Walter Scott's beautiful poem in stone ; old
Melrose Abbey — but not by " the pale moonlight ;"
have witnessed the grand pageant of the opening
of Parliament, and listened to the pleasant-voiced
Queen's beautiful reading of her admirable
" speech ;" have passed a day in feasting on the
pictorial riches of Hampton Court ; spent hours in
wandering over that mechanical iron wonder — the
Great Eastern — the epic of the nineteenth century ;
eaten a famous fish dinner with Captain Harrison
and Herbert Ingram, Esq., at Greenwich ; dined at
the Eeform Club with Charles Mackay and several
of the leading editors and members of Parliament ;
visited the Haymarket theatre, where old Chippen-

124 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
dale's familiar voice brought up pleasant reminis
cences of the Old Park ; the St. James, where
M'me Faure, the pretty prima donna, sang sweetly
in the French comedy opera of "Le Caid," and
looked so like  as to give me a touch of home
sickness; have heard Baron Nicholson deliver one
of his beastly charges to the " Jury ;" seen the fine
theatrical portraits at the Garrick Club, and some
still finer ones at Evan's ; have listened to the fine
bands of the Argyle Booms, and the Holborn
Casino ; witnessed their mad and melancholy
dances ; and the sad sight of a thousand Camilles in
real life, trying to be gay while feasting and fam
ishing on their seductive apples of ashes ; have
mounted the soaring dome of St. Paul's, and crossed
all the bridges of the Thames ; and — well I must
retain something for another steamer, and a more
leisure hour. London cannot be " done " at a sitting.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 125

English Celebrities.
Sir Bulwer Lytton — His Works— Personal Appearance — Dinner —
Bulwer'S Opinion of Prescott, Irving, Cooper — The Earl of
Malmsbury — Kind feelings toward America — Lord Lyons.
Morley's Hotel, London,
February 17, 1859.
Last evening I had the honor of dining with Sir
Edward Bulwer Lytton, at his magnificent mansion
No. 1 Park Lane, Piccadilly. Of all the living au
thors of England, Sir Edward was the one I most
wished to see. As a novelist, a poet, an orator and
a statesman — "take him for all in all" — where
shall we find his peer ? For the last thirty years
the reading world has fed upon his thoughts, and
an entire generation has been stimulated and edu
cated by his glowing poetry and his fine philosophy.
It was not as one of Her Majesty's Secretaries of
State, who has charge of her " sixty colonies," that
I desired to make the acquaintance of Bulwer (for,
dropping all titles, this is the name by which the
world knows him best) ; but, as a poet of the finest

126 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
fancies, and as an author of the richest and ripest-
productions of the age. The mere mention of his
works is like running over the keys of pleasant me
mories, awakening the most delightful reminis
cences of the times and places in which they were
originally read, and of the living acquaintances
ever associated with his ideal characters. Let me
see if I can recall them in the order of their appear
ance, without an overwhelming feeling of home
sickness for the youth and romance left behind.
E. L. Bulwer was born a poet and a politician in
the year 1805. At the age of fifteen he published
the first blossoms of his genius in a little volume of
verses entitled " Ismael." Five years later came
his noble " Prize Poem on Sculpture ;" then his
" Weeds and Wild Flowers," a bouquet of fugitive
poems privately printed in Paris. In 1827, he en
tered the Horse Guards, and struck his true vein of
authorship, and gave the world his brilliant maiden
fiction, the rhetorical, skeptical, aspiring and de
spairing " Falkland." This was speedily followed
by " O'Neill, or the Eebel ;" and in the midst of
his mental and moral effervescence, Bulwer commit
ted matrimony and retired from the army. In a
lonely and lovely part of Oxfordshire, the somewhat
subdued and disenchanted author gave himself up
to study and meditation, throwing off annually, at

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 127
least, a "three volume" novel: Pelham, or the Ad
ventures of a Gentleman ; The Disowned ; Deve-
reux ; Paul Clifford ; The Siamese Twins ; Eugene
Aram; The Pilgrims of the Ehine ; Godolphin;
The Student ; England and the English ; The Last
Days of Pompeii; Eienzi; Leila; Calderon, the
Courtier ; His maiden play— The Duchess de la Val-
liere ; Athens, its Eise and Fall ; Ernest Maltra-
vers ; Alice, or the Mysteries ; The Lady of Lyons,
or Love and Pride — one of the most popular dra
mas ever written ; Eichelieu, or the Conspiracy —
the greatest play since Shakspeare ; The Sea-Cap
tain, or the Birthright — which I have never read
nor seen acted ; Money — a brilliant satirical comedy;
Not so Bad as We Seem, or Many Sides to a Cha
racter — his latest theatrical production, written in
1851 ; Night and Morning ; Zanoni ; Eva, and the
El-Omened Marriage ; The Last of the Barons ; The
New Timon — an extraordinary poem, full of sarcas
tic hits at the times ; Lucretia, or the Children of
Night ; Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings ; King
Arthur : An Epic in Twelve Books ; The Caxtons :
A Family Picture ; My Novel, or Varieties of Eng
lish Life; and What will he Do with It — just
completed and published in four volumes. These,
with his numerous articles in "Blackwood," the
"New Monthly," the "Monthly Chronicle," the

128 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
"Westminster," the "Edinburgh," the "Foreign
Quarterly," etc., etc., comprise the literary labors
of the most prolific, the most powerful, and the most
successful author of the age. The appropriate motto
upon Sir Edward's crest is "Hoc virtutis opus."
And all this labor has been accomplished in the
midst of every possible temptation to idleness and
luxury ; under the depressing effects of physical
debility ; and, worse than all, of domestic infelicity !
Sir Edward is wealthy, independent of his salary
as minister, and his income as author. The Messrs.
Eoutledge pay him $100,000 for the copyright of a
cheap edition of his works for ten years. As the
lord of Knebworth Castle, with revenues equal to
the most expansive taste ; as a member of the
British Cabinet, and a leader of Parliament; but,
above all, as the best read romancist and writer of
the day, Sir Bulwer Lytton, at the age of fifty-three,
has achieved a fame, a fortune, and a position un
paralleled in the history of men of genius. In per
son, he is a little above the medium height, with a
figure slight, almost to frailty. His fine head
affords the most indubitable proof of the general
veracity of phrenology. It is a splendid dome of
intellect, widening in the region of " ideality," and
affording ample scope for all the superior faculties,
There is nothing of the appearance or manner of the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 129
Englishman about him ; but, on the contrary, he is
entirely cosmopolitan, in look, dress, and tone of
conversation. His hair, like his thin whiskers and
moustache, is of a lightish brown color. He wears
it cut close behind, and lifted up in front, giving
his head a look of distinguished loftiness.
The dinner party, yesterday, consisted of fifteen
persons, mostly noblemen and Members of Parlia
ment ; the hour, half-past seven o'clock. There was
no general talk at the table, each guest conversing
sotto voce with the gentlemen on either side of him.
The courses were numerous, and the viands and the
wines of the choicest qualities. The table was orna
mented with tasteful pyramids of flowers ; the ser
vice was of gold and silver ; and the servants, in
small-clothes, white cravats and powdered hair,
looked like the dramatis personce in the " School for
Scandal." After dinner the conversation became
more general and animated, but the topics were
usually of more or less public interest. Being the
only American present, and the only one who -had
even seen America, I had many questions to
answer. I suppose I could not have given the great
novelist any information that would have gratified
him more touching the Transatlantic appreciation
of his works, than the fact that his sweet and simple
little song : <5*

130 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
" When stars are in the quiet skies,
Then most I pine for thee," etc.
is found on almost every pianoforte in America.
Sir Edward greatly regrets that he had not visited
the United States in his "travelling days." He
expressed, as did several others, the most profound
sorrow at the death of Prescott, for whose works he
entertains the highest admiration, asked affection
ately after Washington Irving, and remarked that
he did not think the Americans had yet done justice
to Cooper, adding, " he may have offended a por
tion of his countrymen by his politics or his man
ners ; but what have these to do with an author's
works ? let them be judged by themselves." Know
ing that Bulwer was a good smoker, I had the
satisfaction of giving him, and seeing him enjoy,
perhaps one of the best cigars that ever regaled his
dainty senses. It was of the genuine New York
Hotel " No. One " brand, and the tapestried walls
of Sir Edward's parlors were never perfumed with
a more " fragrant Havana."
The Lytton titles and estates will be inherited by
Edward Eobert, Bulwer's sole son and heir, whose
matrimonial engagement to a Dutch lady is just
announced. He is a young man of fine literary
talents, and a poet of a high order. His latest pro-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 131
duction is just now receiving the universal com
mendation of the London critics. He left town a
fews days since to resume the duties of his post as
Secretary to the Embassy at Vienna.
The Earl of Malmesbury, who was not present at
the dinner yesterday, but with whom I have had
a very pleasant interview, is a man of about fifty
years of age, although scarcely above forty in appear
ance. He is a noble-looking man, with a serious,
substantial-looking face, quite the beau ideal of a
statesman. His cares are heavy and his labors
severe, occupying, on an average, as he told me,
eleven hours a day. Toward the United States he
expressed the kindest feelings, and an earnest wish
that the " Central American irritations," as he
termed them, might soon be pacified, remarking
that " the back-bone of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
was simply a guaranty of the neutrality of the
Isthmus." Lord Malmesbury very justly thinks
that the people of England and America are bound
together by common ties and common interests;
and he finds the government at Washington dis
posed to act in good faith to cement the bonds of '
amity and peace.
Lord Lyons, the new British Minister at Wash
ington, is a young, good-looking, pleasant-mannered
bachelor, and is spoken of very highly here as a

132 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
thoroughly-educated diplomatist. His Secretary,
the Hon. Mr. Monson, is also a highly accom
plished young gentleman. Lord Lyons sails direct
for Chesapeake Bay; and with these prevailing
westerly winds he is likely to have a rather long
passage. I might add personal sketches of Lord Derby and
other of the leading and ruling political powers
of England ; but perhaps I have already dwelt too
long on these weighty celebrities, and should select
some lighter themes to close a " sparkling " letter.
In the meantime there is a " budget " debate com
ing on in the House of Lords, and I will go and see
how it compares with the dignities, and indignities,
of the Senate of the United States.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 133

More Celebrities.
An Evening with Leigh Hunt — Abou Ben Adhem — Byron — Words
worth — Burns — The Cosmopolitan Club — Tom Taylor — Milnes —
Layard — Mrs. Norton — Stirling — Hughes. Morley's Hotel, London,
Friday, Feb. 25, 1859.
An evening with Leigh Hunt; — a night at the Cos
mopolitan Club — a breakfast with E. Moncton
Milnes — a dinner at the Eoyal London Yacht Club
— a dinner with the American Association — a din
ner at (the late) Crockford's — dinner at the Oxford
and Cambridge Club — and last and best of all, a
dinner at the Hon. Mrs. Norton's ; surely here are
" topics" enough to make a moderate letter without
any sprinkling in of the minor incidents of interest
that have occurred during the week. At either of
the several gatherings mentioned, I have met cele
brities worthy of full-length sketches ; and yet, in
this kaleidoscopic whirl of London life, a passing
glimpse is about all we can get, or give, of men fa
mous in the world of letters, of politics, and of art ;
of names that are destined to be preserved and per-

134 SPARK8 FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
petuated in the adamantine types of history, when,
but for their immortality, the very cities in which
they lived might be forgotten.
I found Leigh Hunt living in a pleasant little
cottage at Hammersmith, on the Cornwall Eoad, a
little beyond Kensington. The visit had been
arranged by his son, Thornton Hunt, Esq., the able
editor of the " Spectator," and the hour was seven
o'clock on Sunday evening. On entering the little
parlor, used as a " study," a tall figure, dressed in
a morning gown, with a large cape, came forward
and grasped my hand with a sort of feminine ten
derness and enthusiasm, and said, "I am glad to
welcome a gentleman who has spoken such hearty
words for Burns." Tea was soon ordered ; and for
two delightful hours I sat listening to the fluent and
unflagging talk of the contemporary, the companion
and the friend of Byron, Keats, Coleridge, Words
worth, Southey, Lamb, Moore, Campbell, and all
the men of wit and wisdom whose stars' have spar
kled and vanished in the literary galaxy of England
during the last fifty years. Leigh Hunt is now
nearly eighty years of age ; and yet his complexion
has the fairness and softness of youth. His hair is
as white as the bloom of the almond tree, and as
full and glossy as the head of a child. His brow is
broad and beautiful, and his eye as gentle and as

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 135
clear as 4;hat of a woman who has never seen a
cloudy day. His heart is as merry as a bird's, and
his look and manner alternately playful and pen
sive, but without a shadow of sadness. The dear
old man, with all his precious poetic memories —
with his venerable juvenility — this genial octogena
rian, this unfading rose in the snow — how like he
seemed to his own glorious " Abou Ben Adhem,"
that sweet essence of all Eehgion distilled into a
single drop ; and which, by the way, as the author
has kindly sent it to me, written in his own beauti
ful hand, I will here quote, although it may be
already familiar to every school-boy in America :
" Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase !)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and, like a lily in bloom,
An angel, writing in a book of gold.
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold ;
And to the presence in the room he said :
' What writest thou ?' The vision raised its head,
And, with a look, made of all sweet accord,
Answered, ' The names of those that love the Lord.'
' And is mine one ?' said Abou. ' Nay, not so,'
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still, and said, ' I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men.'
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,

136 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
And show'd the names whom love of God had bless'd,
And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest."
The poet has a copy of his favorite gem, exqui
sitely written and illuminated by Miss Proctor
(daughter of Barry Cornwall), handsomely framed,
and hung near his writing-table. I shall not
attempt to repeat the many wise words, admirable
criticisms, and pleasant personal anecdotes with
which he instructed and entertained me; but a
capital illustration of Wordsworth was too good to
be lost. " He was a fine lettuce, with too many
outside leaves /" Of Byron, he spoke with great
sympathy and admiration; of the unfavorable
maternal influences that warped his budding
genius ; and of the school-boy sneers at his lame
ness, which irritated his temper. But added that
he was neither habitually moody nor morose,
"usually humming about in the morning, and
reserving his more serious compositions for the
night." " In Byron," said Mr. Hunt, " there was a
conflict of jealousy which the world never fully
understood. The Lord was jealous of the Poet;
and the Poet was jealous of the Lord."
Of Burns and the old Scotch Poets, Mr. Hunt
talked in a strain of ardent and eloquent admira
tion, quoting with great glee :

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 137
" Our gude man cam' hame at e'en,
And hame cam' he."
The idea of " buttons on blankets " seemed to
amuse him infinitely.
On leaving, the good old Poet-Essayist presented
me with a copy of his latest work, "The Town : Its
Memorable Characters and Events," which ought to
be republished in the States for the author's benefit,
especially after the shabby treatment he received
from a literary adventurer, who, a few years since,
brought out an American edition of Leigh Hunt's
Poems, for which Messrs. Ticknor and Fields paid
pretty handsomely, but which has never reached the
pocket of the author ! Mr. Hunt's family consists
of himself and two daughters — both pretty and the
younger single.
From Leigh Hunt's to the Cosmopolitan Club,
whose rooms are only open on Wednesday and
Sunday evenings, and not then until 10 p.m.
There I find a choice collection of paintings, and
a still choicer collection of "Spirits" of various
brands. Among them Eichard Monckton Milnes,
the poet ; Tom Taylor, the dramatist ; Kinglake, the
author of "Eothen;"Mr. Layard, the Nineveh resur
rectionist ; Turkish pipes ; tolerable cigars ; fine
brandy; a few jolly lords, etc., etc., etc. The
" Cosmopolitans " are men of talent, of genius, of

138 sparks from a locomotive; or,
travel, who sink nationalities (at least twice a
week), and meet on the broad plane of universal
ideas ; as the disillusioned, disembodied spirits are
supposed to meet in another and-a better world.
What follows from such a "free interchange of
sentiments" may be more easily imagined than
described. These meetings are like a communion
of saints, without sects; of Christians, without
creeds; and of men without prejudice. A great
and glorious institution is the " Cosmopolitan."
Tom Taylor is tall, rather slender, young looking,
with a full black beard. He is the most successful
of the living dramatists, and holds a handsome
government office besides. He wishes to see the
United States, where he is already so well known ;
and I urged him strongly to go. He says Laura
Keene has treated him very handsomely, and that
she is entirely right in her controversy about " Our
American Cousin."
The author of "Eothen" is a short, slender, deli
cate-looking man, with pleasant manners, and an
easy talker. He is a member of Parliament for
Bridgewater, and is hard at work on the " History
of the Crimean War." Mr. Layard is a stoutish
man, with a bushy beard, slightly touched with
frost, decidedly jolly in look and manner, but a
little sore, it is said, at being ousted from Parlia-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN ECR0PE. 139
ment. He, also, is hoping soon to see the
United States, and explore, without excava
tions, the magnificent Ninevehs and Babylons of
the West.
The poet Milnes, whom I have since met at
breakfast in his own house (a pleasant mode of en
tertainment, after the fashion of the late poet
Eogers), is rather short, and slightly plethoric.
His face is round, ruddy and handsome ; while his
welcome presence and easy self-possession, in the
soirees of the most distinguished ladies and gentle
men, led the witty and cruelly-epithetical Sydney
Smith to say of Mr. Milnes' approach on a certain
occasion: "Here comes the cool of the evening."
Mr. Milnes is a man of large wealth and high posi
tion ; he has been a member of Parliament for some
twenty years ; and his late father was offered a seat
in the Cabinet and a peerage, both of which he
declined. It is presumed that the son, learning
wisdom by his father's modesty, will accept either
on the first opportunity. Mr. Milnes is the author
of some half a dozen volumes pf poems, of a high
order; and has written numerous essays for the
leading reviews and magazines.
Skipping over several interesting " engagements,"
I reserve the acquaintance of Mrs. Caroline Norton
—the grand-daughter of Eichard Brinsley Sheridan,

140 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
the sweetest poetess of the age, and one of the
handsomest women in England — as a sort of bonne
bouche, the first to be remembered and the last to
be forgotten among the pleasant reminiscences of
London — the " memorable events of the week."
Soon after arriving in town, I received a charm
ing note from Mrs. Norton (then on a visit to the
Duchess of Sutherland at Trentham), promising an
opportunity of a visit on her return to the city, in
the course of a few days ; and day before yesterday
the card of invitation came. She lives in a nice
house in Chesterfield street, May Fair, with a son
recently married to a pretty Neapolitan. (Her
other son, so beautifully described in " The Mother's
Heart," is Secretary of the British Embassy at
Paris). Mrs. Norton had been so often and so
minutely described to me, by one of her most
devoted friends, and her handsome face had been
made so familiar by paintings and engravings, that
I should have recognized her among a million.
Her form is tall, full and round; her complexion
rich and rose-like ; her teeth white ; her eye large,
lustrous and liquid ; her hair dark and massive; and
over all there plays a smile of the most bewitching
sweetness. Her conversation is brilliant and lively ;
and her laugh is a gush of musical inspiration.
"Time writes no wrinkles on her lovely brow!"

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 141
At the dinner, Mr. William Stirling, M.P., was the-
only other guest present; but Mr. Hughes, the
popular author of "The Scouring of the White
Horse," and "Tom Browne's School Days," who
could not come in time for soup, dropped in in time
for coffee. And then followed one of those charm
ing Nodes Ambrosianee to be recalled in pleasant
dreams — but not for the columns of the newspaper.
Mrs. Norton opened a casket of rare autographs;
among them several elegantly written notes and
letters from Louis Napoleon and the Duke of
Orleans; but what she justly prized most highly
was a curl of Byron's hair.
It will be gratifying to the multitudinous ad
mirers in America of the fair author of " Love
Not," "We have been Friends Together," "The
Dream," and many other popular poems and
romances, to know that she is living comfortably
and elegantly, not to say luxuriously; and sur
rounded by a devoted circle of friends in the high
est ranks of society, who rejoice in the prospect of
the rich, calm autumn now setting in, and succeed
ing to the stormy spring and tempestuous summer
that have darkened, yet deepened, the life of this
rare and radiant woman.

142

Washington's Birthday. >
A London Election — A London Jam — The American Association —
Mount Vernon Tomb — A Pleasant Incident — The Crown and the
Sovereign. London, February, 1859.
During the last three days there has been an ex
citing election going on for member of Parliament
for the borough of Mary-le-bone, a district of Lon
don, embracing about 400,000 inhabitants; and I
have had an opportunity of seeing " how the thing
was done." The candidates were Mr. Edwin James,
Q.C., a very eminent lawyer, and a popular mem
ber of the " Eeform Club," and Mr. Eomilly, a son
of the late well-known Law Eeformer. The latter
was supported by the aristocracy ; the former was the
favorite of the Liberals — the people ; and in a vote
of some 10,000, Mr. James has a majority of about
2,000. On the first day, the candidates appeared
together on a rostrum, surrounded by their respec
tive friends, and announced themselves — each mak
ing a speech " for himself." A show of hands was
then called for. A few gloved digits went up for

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. ' 143
Eomilly, a thousand naked hands for James. On
the second day the vote was gathered. Each voter
being numbered, called at his particular poll, and
declared or swore himself to be the identical man
bearing a certain name and number, mentioning at
the same time the name of his candidate. His vote
was recorded by a mark against his name — a very
simple and admirable system of registration, which,
or some other system, must be adopted in New
York, or we shall rue it worse and worse. On the
third day the result is declared, and the winner
takes his oath and his seat in Parliament.
There is great rejoicing at the Eeform Club over
the success of Mr. James, who, in the coming change
of the Ministry, will be very likely to find him
self in the Cabinet or on the Bench. He is a
decidedly clever man ; and, in personal appearance,
almost a twin-likeness of Chief Justice Ames of
Ehode Island.
The " Spectator" of this week announces the fact
that Prince Napoleon has been made " Grand Ad
miral of France," an office, I believe, that has not
been revived for some seventy years. It may have
some important bearing upon the future movements
of the Imperial Navy.
There is to be an excitement in the House of
Commons this evening. Lord Palmerston having

144 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
given notice that he will make inquiries of the
Ministry touching " the state of Europe," every seat
in the gallery has been at a premium for several days.
Last evening I had the honor of " assisting" (to
make a jam) in the sumptuous parlors of Mr. Swin-
ton, a fashionable artist, where there was a grand
exhibition of pictures, paintings and Sevres vases.
About 800 of the nobility were present in full ball
room dress ; and the show of living pictures and
celebrities was quite remarkable. Among the no
tabilities were Lord Lansdowne, Lord Stanley, Lord
Bury, Hon. Mrs. Norton, and other lordships and
ladyships, " too numerous to mention." It was odd
to see the eager crowd of men, and women, too,
lining the streets at midnight to catch glimpses of
nobility, as the aristocratic London " Brown " an
nounced in Stentorian voice — " Lady Derby's car
riage stops the way ; Lady Mary Stanley's servant
is here; Lady Colchester's coach is ready," etc., etc.
Of the Washington Birthday dinner (which Mr.
Dallas made a mistake by not attending), I have
not space for a full report. But the following con
densed notice taken from " The Blustrated London
News," is accurate and just :
Washington's Birthday.— The American Association, or
club, of London, loyal to the memory of their great and good
Washington, commemorated the one hundred and twenty-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 145
seventh anniversary of his birth by a banquet at Willis's
Rooms on the 22d inst. General Campbell, the American
Consul, and the newly elected president of the club, being de
tained at home by illness, the chair was filled by Mr. Oroskey,
late American Consul at Southampton. On his right was
seated the Hon. Mr. Ward, the recently appointed United
States Minister to China, who is now en route for his post,
and on his left the Hon. Eobert Dale Owen, late United States
Minister at Naples. The following toasts were drunk, and
responded to in reply :
" The memory of Washington," drunk standing in silence ;
" The President of the United States ;" " The Queen of Great
Britain;" "The day we celebrate, the one hundred and
twenty-seventh Anniversary of the Birth of Washington,"
responded to by E. B. Kimball, Esq. ; " The Diplomatic and
Consular Service of the United States," by the Hon. Robert
Dale Owen and the Hon. John E. Ward ; " The United States
and Great Britain — the lands of liberty — may peace between
them be eternal," by the Hon. J. Wethered ; " Our Country
and its citizens, by birth and choice," by Dr. G. Holland ;
" The Associates of the American Association in London,"
by A. Arcedeckne, Esq. ; " The Press at Home and Abroad,"
by Colonel H. Fuller and Ohas. Mackay, Esq., LL.D.
With one or two prolix and prosy exceptions, the speaking
was eloquent and appropriate. Dr. Mackay's remarks on the
identity of the two nations ; Colonel Fuller's description of
the Mount Vernon Tomb ; Mr. Kimball's and Mr. Ward's
eulogiums ; and Mr. Arcedeckne's and'Mr. Barney Williams's
" songs, sentiments, and speeches," were each and all much to
the purpose, and received with the greatest enthusiasm. We
give in to-day's "Illustrated London News" a correct View of
1

146 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
the Tomb of Washington, accompanied by the following de
scription by Colonel Fuller — an extract from his speech at the
dinner : THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON.
No spot in America is visited with greater inte
rest, or with feelings of more profound reverence
than Mount Yernon ; and no day is held more
sacred in the calendar of the Eepublic than the day
which gave birth to the " Father of his Country."
This day is always commemorated throughout the
United States by balls, banquets, and various other
festive demonstrations, and by American citizens
all over the world.
It is hardly necessary to state that George Wash
ington was born in the State of Yirginia, on the
22d of February, 1732; that he was the Com
mander-in-Chief of the American forces during the
Eevolutionary AVar; that he was the first Presi
dent of the United States (twice elected) ; that he
retired to Mount Yernon in 1796, and there died,
on the 14th day of December, 1799, at the age of
sixty-seven. With these facts in the great and good
man's history, everybody is familiar; while the
hallowed spot consecrated by his ashes is equally
familiar to the eyes of thousands of travellers from
all parts of the civilized world. But only the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 147
"privileged few" can visit those far-off "Meccas "
where the universal admiration of man loves to
pay its pilgrim homage, and so the imagination
of the million must be satisfied with pictures.
The faithful artist brings the Mountain to
Mahomet. To those unacquainted with the locality of Mount
Yernon, it may be necessary to state, that it is situ
ated on the banks of the Potomac, about sixteen
miles from Washington. Steamboats plying be
tween the capital of the nation and Aquia Creek,
on the great line of southern travel, constantly pass
it, but never without a solemn tolling of the bell,
when every passenger uncovers his head, and gazes
in silent, thoughtful, often tearful reverence, at the
venerable mansion and the modest tomb wherein
rest the remains of him " who died childless that
his country might call him Father."
" How sleep the brave who sink to rest,
By all their country's wishes blessed ;
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold,
Returns to deck their hallowed mold,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.
" By fairy hands their knell is rung,
By forms unseen their dirge is sung ;

148- SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
There Honor comes, a pilgrim grey,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay ;
And Freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell a weeping hermit there !"
The Washington mansion, although in rather a
dilapidated condition, is beautifully located on ele
vated ground ; and the tomb is at a little distance
from it, on the southern slope of the hill. It con
sists of an excavation, walled and arched with
bricks, and surrounded by a plain iron railing.
Over the door are engraved those blessed words of
immortal hope: "I am the Eesurrection and the
Life : he that believeth in me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live." Over the iron gate there
is a stone, with this inscription : " Within this in-
closure rest the remains of General George Wash
ington." There are two marble sarcophagi. The
larger one contains the ashes, and bears the name,
in large letters, of " Washington." It is formed from
a solid block of marble, eight feet in length by two
in height. Upon the lid there is a shield, beauti
fully chiselled, having thirteen longitudinal stripes
resting on the American flag, and surmounted by
an eagle, with outspread wings, grasping a sheaf of
arrows and an olive-branch. The smaller sar
cophagus contains the remains of Martha, the wife
of Washington. Until quite recently the Mount

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 149
Yernon estate, consisting of some twelve hundred
acres, has been the property of Mr. John A. Wash
ington ; but for many years there has been a grow
ing feeling in the United States that so sacred a
spot ought not to be the private possession of any
individual, subject to the fluctuations of fortune, or
to the degrading dispositions of necessity. Mr.
Washington, the inheritor of the sacred estate, has
been reluctant to part with any portion of it ; but
the increasing wants of a large family, whom he is
liberally educating, have compelled him to dispose
of about two hundred acres, including the mansion
and the tomb. The State of Yirginia, during the
past year, granted a charter to the Mount Yernon
Association enabling it to hold the property in per
petual trust; and, through the personal efforts of
Miss Cunningham, of Charleston; Madame Le
Yert, of Mobile ; Mrs. Anna Cora Eitchie, of Eich-
mond; and last, though by no means least, the
Hon. Edward Everett, of Boston, the greater part
of the required sum has been raised, and the balance
will soon be forthcoming. Mr. Everett, by giving
the entire proceeds of his eloquent "Lecture on
Washington," which he has delivered and re
delivered in all the principal towns and cities in
the Union, has already handed over to the treasury
of the Mount Yernon Association about 80,000

150 SPARKS FROM a locomotive; or,
dollars, including a check for 10,000 dollars, given
him by the proprietor of the " New York Ledger "
for a weekly contribution for one year to be called
the " Mount Yernon Papers," which are now regu
larly appearing in the columns of that marvellously-
successful newspaper, which has obtained a weekly
circulation of nearly half a million copies.
It is not my intention to indulge in eulogistic
strains to " the immortal memory of Washington,"
but simply point a reverent finger to his humble
tomb at Mount Yernon ; while the world proudly
points to his " country as his monument." He was
a soldier, a statesman, and a chief magistrate, of
whom his great political antagonist, Jefferson, said,
" He was a man incapable of fear, of integrity the
most pure, and of justice the most inflexible."
" It is a pleasant fact to mention in connection
with this subject that the venerable Washington
Irving, one of the finest writers of the English lan
guage in either hemisphere, and who, when an in
fant, was placed in the arms of General Washington
by his nurse for a blessing, has been for many years
engaged upon the life of the Pater Patriaa, and has
now nearly completed the fifth and last volume.
"Irving's Washington" will be a glorious monu
ment, both to the subject and to the author of it —
a thousand times better as an inspiration, and a

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 151
tributary memorial to greatness, than the colossal
marble shaft that still halts half completed in the
capital of the nation, to rebuke the sluggish patriot
ism of an ungrateful people.
A pleasant little incident occurred to me the
other afternoon, which, from its novelty to an
American reader, I may, perhaps, mention with
pardonable egotism. I was driving in the suburbs
of London. The weather was as lovely as April.
(There have been three entire, glorious and golden
days here this week! which must have strayed
over from America.) Before me, at a turn of the
road, I saw the scarlet outriders in advance of the
royal carriage. My driver pulled up, and, as the
open barouche and four passed, I instinctively lifted
my hat, and involuntarily, but respectfully inclined
my head — a token of instinctive homage, which Her
Majesty and the Prince Consort most graciously
acknowledged. At first I thought, perhaps, I had
been a little audacious in my politeness ; but after
all it was only the accidental exchange of the
"Sovereign" for the "Crown"- — or, somehow so,
etc. " The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gold for all that."

152 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,

Westminster Abbey.
How Sleep the Brave — The Poet's Corner — Epitaphs — S. C. Hall's
Lecture — The Hopeless Author of " The Pleasures of Hope" —
His Funeral — A Voice from Heaven — Banishment of Childe
Harold's Dust— St. Paul's— The Tombs of Nelson and Welling
ton — Ruins. Morlbt's Hotel, February, 1869.
Grand, gloomy, and sublimely sad are the awful
impressions of Westminster Abbey. The very at
mosphere of the. place is redolent of glory and the
grave. It literally smells of death ; and a damp,
cold sensation penetrates one's very bones on en
tering the sacred cloister. The building is vast and
sombre, at once a pantheon and a mausoleum. Here
the royal heads of England receive their crowns;
and here sleep the ashes of her heroes of the pen
and sword ; or, in the words of Waller, in his fine
description of the antique pile :
" It gives them crowns, and does their ashes keep ;
There, made like gods — like mortals there they sleep ;
Making the circle of their reign complete —
These suns of Empire, where they rise and set."

LIITE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 153
The monuments and their inscriptions awaken the
most bewildering associations. What a grand ga
thering of kings — from Edward the Confessor to
George the Second ! What a solemn convocation
of priests and poets ; of philosophers and statesmen ;
of soldiers, sculptors, actors, and orators! The
ghostly procession of a thousand years passes before
us in all its regal pomp and gloomy magnificence !
The glittering coronation chair, the velvet-covered
catafalque, move slowly by to the solemn music of
the pealing organ and the swelling choir.
Westminster Abbey was founded by the Saxon
King, Sebert, in the year 610. It was destroyed
by the Danes, and rebuilt by Edgar in 958. The
towers were added by Sir Christopher Wren. Dur
ing the civil wars the Yandal Puritans used the
Abbey for barracks, smashing windows and muti
lating statues, altars, tombs, etc., in the most icono
clastic manner. Henry YII.'s chapel is the most
curious and beautiful portion of the building ; but
the " Poet's Corner " is the most attractive. The
pavement here is worn with the feet of poet-loving
pilgrims; and at all hours of the day we find
men with uncovered heads and hushed voices
gazing on the marble memorials that mark the
spots where sleep the Great High Priests of
Song —

154 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
" Who sink to rest
By all the people's wishes blest."
Here are the remains of "rare Ben Jonson," of
John Milton, Thomas Gray, Matthew Prior, Geoffrey
Chaucer, the father of English poetry, and a Collec
tor of Customs ; Abraham Cowley, John Dryden,
John Gay, author of the " Beggar's Opera," who
wrote his own epitaph —
" Life is a jest, and all things show it —
I thought so once, but now I know it.
James Thomson, Oliver Goldsmith, Joseph Addi
son, Garrick, Sheridan, Southey, Congreve, Words
worth, Campbell, Shakspeare. The latter monu
ment presents an admirable statue of the poet lean
ing on a pillar, whereon rests a scroll, with an in
scription from the " Tempest " —
" The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces," etc.
The pedestal of the tomb is decorated with the
crowned heads of Henry Y., Eichard H., and
Queen Elizabeth. But these effigies of dead
royalty are poor tributes to the memory of the im
mortal bard compared with the undying lines of
Milton —

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 155
" Dear son of Memory, great heir of Fame ! —
What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name ?
Thou, in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thyself a life-long monument.
flf ifr rfc ffc t£ V flt
And so sepulchred, in such pomp dost lie,
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die."
The tomb of Thomas Campbell is also sur
mounted by an excellent statue of the noble
sleeper beneath ; and, like Shakspeare, the inscrip
tion upon the tablet is a quotation from his own
prophetic lines :
" His spirit shall return to Him
Who gave its heavenly spark," etc.
I had the pleasure, the other evening, of listening
to Mr. S. C. Hall's lecture on the " Authors of the
Age," and after giving sketches of Lamb, Hook,
Hood, Hogg, and others, he gave a very interesting
account of the life, death, and burial of Campbell,
with whom the lecturer was associated for a time,
as editor of the " Monthly Magazine." Mr. Hall,
I thought, was needlessly severe in his criticisms
upon the faults and foibles of the dead. He spoke
of Campbell as a habitually intemperate man,
and showed no mercy to Hook and Lamb. Camp-

156 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
bell wrote his " Pleasures of Hope " at the age of
twenty-two; but, according to 'Mr. Hall, he lived
and died a hopeless man, reminding one of the
anecdote of the celebrated clown who, while keep
ing all Paris in a roar of merriment, called on
a famous physician to get a prescription for the
cure of melancholy. The physician, not knowing
the name of the patient, recommended him to go
and see the wit Grimaldi (himself) play. So Camp
bell seems to have delighted the world with " plea
sures" that he never knew himself. His funeral
was one of the grandest ever witnessed in England.
The noblest of the nobility were proud to serve as
pall-bearers to him who sung the " Battle of the
Baltic" and the "Mariners of England." The
reverend poet Milman, read the service ; and when
the coffin was lowered to its last resting-place, a
Polish officer advanced from the crowd and
sprinkled upon its lid a handful of earth from
Kosciusko's grave. The effect was thrilling; but
just at that moment, when the venerable Dean had
pronounced the words: "I heard a voice from
heaven," a clap of thunder shook the old abbey,
and the sublime sentence could not be finished
until the " voice from heaven " had ceased echoing
through the lofty arches of the trembling minster.
From the long catalogue of names which mark the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 157
slumbers of poetic ashes, one misses the name of
Byron, as the statue of Brutus was missed from
the EonJan procession. The dust of " Childe
Harold " is not holy enough to rest in consecrated
ground, and so he may not lie down in unconscious
companionship with kings and queens for his final
bedfellows. It may indicate a great want of taste,
or a lamentable lack of posthumous ambition, but I
cannot help confessing that I would rather my own
worthless tegument should relapse into its original
elemental dust in the quiet obscurity of some
humble country churchyard; or, better yet, in
some still more secluded spot known only to the
few loving ones who would bring to it occasionally
the tribute of a votive flower or a forgiving tear,
than to repose beneath the pillared pomp of marble
monuments in the poets', or prelates', or princes'
corner of Westminster Abbey.
From the royal cemetery to the stately cathedral
the transition is not unnatural, although, perhaps,
the order should be reversed. The dome of St.
Paul's is a marvel of architectural symmetry and
size. It swells in the air so vastly and so lightly
that it seems to have been modelled on nothing less
than the " brave o'erhanging Armament " itself. It
is the work and the monument of Sir Christopher
Wren, who, in the year 1723, was buried in the

158 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
south aisle, aged 91. He was thirty-five years in
building it, and received for his services only £200
a year, which sum the Duchess of Marlborough
thought quite too little for being dragged up in a
basket three or four times a week. The crypt of St.
Paul's seems to have been consecrated as the tomb
of painters. Here are the ashes of Sir Joshua Eey-
nolds, of Opie, of Lawrence, of Barry, and of Yan
Dyke. And here, also, in adjoining chambers, are
the imposing sarcophagi of England's greatest he
roes, Wellington and Nelson. Gas lights are kept
burning on the four corners of the tombs ; but
there is no "Promethean spark" that can relume
the great lights that lie extinguished here. What
a terrible radical is Death ! A few years of silent
decay, of darkness and disintegration, and the
mightiest and the loveliest return to undistinguish-
able dust. For the last two days I have walked, as
it were, upon the graves of kings, and priests, and
poets, and heroes; and felt the utter frailty and
feebleness of man, even in his mightiest estate.
The ambition for power, for wealth, for fame — how
poor it appears in the presence of the unheeding
dead, who have exhausted all the honors and the
glories of the earth { Now, what does it all mean ?
Wherefore these

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 159
" Temples, palaces, and piles stupendous,
Of which the very ruins are tremendous !"
To this hour the human race cannot explain itself —
its origin, its object, or its destiny. I am here;
you are there. A few facts, a few phenomena, we
can discern and record ; and these we call history ;
and from this we weave a sort of phantom philoso
phy. A few years hence, and some musing " cor
respondent" from the new world will linger lov
ingly over the tomb of Yictoria, to recall the mani
fold virtues, private and public, which adorn her
life and decorate her reign. Or, it may be, that
the eloquent prophecy of Macaulay will yet be ful
filled — when some "lonely traveller from New
Zealand shall pause upon the broken arches of
London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's."
One can hardly realize the evanescent nature of
man until he has trodden in the footsteps of a thou
sand generations. In America everything is young
and new. There has not yet been time for the moss
to grow upon our gravestones. But here the world
is old ; and the cities of the dead are more crowded
than the cities of the living. The ruins of ancient
temples look like the milestones of Ages ; while
the Past is perpetually overshadowing the Present.
But I am unwittingly falling into grave reflections,

160 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
owing, I suppose, to the fact that I have been wan
dering among "the tombs and communing with the
dead. My next shall be a plunge into the varied
life of London, for I have already seen something
of it "up-stairs, down-stairs, and in my lady's
chamber."

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 161

The British Museum, Etc.
Preserved Trifles — Literary Curiosities — Madame Tussaud's
Rooms — Startling Resemblances — Madame St. Amaranth — The
Chamber of Horrors — President Buchanan — American Pano
ramas — Albert Smith — A Political Prediction. Morley's Hotel, London,
March — , 1859.
I saw, yesterday, among the marvellous collections
of the British Museum, full files of the leading
New York journals, elegantly bound, affording a
wonderful contrast to the little four by six inch
volumes of the first newspaper ever printed. Surely
an editor should be careful of what he writes;
for here, preserved in " everlasting remembrance,"
his "leaders" (too often misleaders) will stare a
blushing posterity in the face through all coming
time. I little dreamed when penning hasty para
graphs for the " Evening Mirror," in Ann street, at
the last minute before "going to press," that I might
some day see every word scrupulously preserved in
the archives of the British Museum. Such immor
tality of language should mafie us word-weavers

162 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
pause and consider. It is like a phantom memory
in the future world rising up to curse or bless us in
the great Museum of Souls. So let us be as wary
and as wise as we may.
The British Museum, with its five hundred and
sixty thousand volumes, is a stunning institution.
The great dome, one hundred and forty feet in
diameter, filled to the very apex with richly bound
books, soars over us like an intellectual heaven.
The " King's Library," three hundred feet in
length, is a perfect wilderness of magnificent
works ; but the " Autograph " and " Manuscript "
room is most wonderful of all. Every king, queen,
poet, statesman, artist, known in history, is repre
sented here in the original handwriting. Best of
all, and carefully kept in a curtained glass-case, is
the signature of William Shakspere ! (Henceforth
I shall always spell it as he wrote it.) The auto
graph is appended to the deed of a house and lot,
bought on one day and mortgaged the next, a
financiering operation, indicating that even the
king of poets was occasionally " hard up." The
Museum paid three hundred guineas for the signa
ture. Here is, also, the original contract between
John Milton and his publishers, in which they
stipulate to pay five pounds each for the first,
second and third editions of " Paradise Lost." But

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 163
the curiosities of the Museum are overwhelming to
think of — much more so is an attempt to describe
them. I dare not venture into the vast world of
wonders in nature, art and. science. Here is the
first specimen of the art of printing, the first
edition of the " King James " and the," Mazarine "
Bibles ; and the first and last of almost everything
the world has ever produced in the way of inven
tion, of discovery, and of philosophy.- And yet, in
all this infinity of thought and theory, of code and
creed, of science and psychology, what is there to
explain the meaning and the mystery of life?
What — except the beautiful balm distilled from the
sweet flower-words which fell from the lips of Love
in the Sermon on the Mount :
" To sooth a passion or a pang
Entailed on human hearts !"
The British Museum employs one hundred and
fifty men in its various departments ; and the gov
ernment is annually making liberal appropriations
for the enlargement of its accommodations, and the
increase of its collections. A recent order has been
given for a copy of every edition of " Uncle Tom's
Cabin," that has yet appeared, in all the various
languages of the world, which will form a curious
library of no inconsiderable dimensions.

164 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
With the " bump of wonder " still active, let us
leave the Museum for an exhibition scarcely less
extraordinary; and still more startling. Madame
Tussaud's Booms, in Portman Square, are among
the marvels of London. The rooms are spacious
and splendid ; and the lifelike figures and groups in
wax number nearly four hundred. So perfect are
these figures in form, expression and drapery, that
I felt for some time guilty of rudeness, in gazing at
eyes which almost seemed to look into mine, and
on lips that reflected an almost living smile. The
sensation is indescribable. The virtuous Yictoria,
and the beautiful Eugenie seem to invite some
palpable, or audible demonstration of admiration ;
while the respectable old gentleman who slowly
turns his head and stares through his spectacles
compels an involuntary motion and recognition.
But strangest, loveliest, and most fearful of all, is the
reclining form of the brave and beautiful Madame
St. Amaranth, who chose the safe alternative of the
grave rather than dishonor at the hands of Eobes-
pierre. After the death of her husband, a colonel
in the body-guard of Louis XYL, at the age of
twenty-two, the loveliest lady in France was hur
ried into eternity by the tyrant of the " Eeign of
Terror"— a martyr to the virtue which nothing
could overcome — faithful to a love which even

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 165
death could not discourage. There she lies on her
velvet covered couch, with a black lace veil partly
concealing her sweet face, the soft blonde ringlets
clustering like tendrils around her fair neck, and,
while gazing with emotions of tenderest admira
tion upon the angelic sleeper, we start with almost
breathless wonder to see the beautiful bosom rise
and fall as gently and as regularly as the breast of
a sleeping infant !
" Oh, it is fearful, thus to see,
A lady so richly clad as she —
Beautiful exceedingly !"
Among the relics shown are the original knife
and handle used in the decapitation of Marie An
toinette, Louis XYL, the Duke of Orleans, and
Eobespierre; the imperial carriage of Napoleon,
taken from the field of Waterloo ; and the carriage
used by the caged emperor at St. Helena ; the coat
worn by Nelson at the battle of the Nile ; a piece
of the Cloth of Gpld, from the field of that name ;
the shirt worn by Henry IY. of France when stab
bed by Eavaillac, with the blood stains still distinct
— a relic for which Charles X. offered two hundred
guineas ; etc., eta, etc.
The "Chamber of Horrors" contains life-like
effigies of all the. most celebrated murderers and

166 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
criminals, from Palmer the poisoner to Paul the
swindler. And here, too, are Orsini, Pierri,
Fieschi, Courvoisier, Maria Manning, etc., etc.
Madeline Smith was here for a time ; but, at the
very just remonstrance of her family, the figure has
been removed. This "chamber," where one may
" sup full of horrors," also contains a fac-simile of
the much abused "guillotine," a far less hideous
and inhuman instrument of death than our popular
Christian gallows !
On passing out, I was suddenly confronted by
His Excellency President Buchanan, who seemed
about to offer his hand and ask the " news from
Tammany Hall." But the artist has not done full
justice to the bachelor occupant of the " White
House." He has taken the artistic liberty of
placing the President's head erect upon his
shoulders. One misses that familiar and confiding
" crook of the neck," which the " Georgia Widow "
and other ambitious spinsters consider so particu
larly charming in Mr. Buchanan.
American Panoramas are now quite the rage in
London. The most attractive are the Mammoth
Cave, with views of the Natural Bridge and
Niagara Falls. A few evenings since, the famous
" Yictoria Bridge " across the St. Lawrence, at
Montreal, was added ; and a private view, followed

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 167
by a supper, given to the Press. The bridge, now
nearly finished, has cost nearly seven millions of
dollars, and is one of the architectural wonders of
the world. It contains the same amount of iron
(12,000 tons) that has been used in the construction
of the " Great Eastern." At the supper I had the
pleasure of meeting many of the leading lights of
the London Press, and of listening to some very
friendly and fraternal speeches. Among the guests
were Sir Cusack Eoney, one of the most active
Directors of the " Grand Trunk Eailway ;" Augus
tus Sala, of " Due North " notoriety ; the Brothers
Brough, of burlesque celebrity ; Mr. Holt, of the
" Morning News," etc., etc. The Queen was
toasted first ; then came, successively, the American
President and the American Press, which were
drank with all the honors. It was, altogether, a
glorious and a jolly gathering; and, of course, the
company wouldn't " go home till morning."
Albert Smith I have not yet seen, although we
have been playing " cards " into each other's hands
for the last three weeks. If seems as if some per
sons were doomed never to meet ; as others are
doomed never to part. But to-day I have received
the following characteristic note, from which I
venture to quote an extract as a specimen of the
witty writer's cordial hospitality, and pleasant bon-

168 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
homie, which will keep me a day or two longer from
Paris :
"You must give me the pleasure of your company at a din
ner & la Ghinoise, here, on Thursday next, at half-past 5
sharp. There will be two nice fellows and two pretty women
to meet you. I have had such trouble in getting them
together, that, having succeeded, I hope (if you can) you will
try and throw over any prior engagement. We ace all in the
literary line," etc.
As an evidence of the popularity of Mr. Smith's
Chinese entertainment, I may mention that after
giving it every night (Sunday excepted) and two
or three afternoons in each week, for months, it is
still necessary to engage seats a day or two in
advance. And so, both France and Austria are going to
evacuate Italy ! And what then ? There will be
an insurrection in Italy, when Louis Napoleon will
step in and settle the difficulty ! The great little
emperor is playing a deep game. He is the Paul
Morphy among the political chess-players of
Europe.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 169

Life and Death.
A Sad Bereavement — A Father's Sorrow — Christian Sympathy 
Covent Garden Theatre—" The Undying One "—The Queen and
Prince Consort — Royal Jealousy— Victoria as Wife — The Pynes
and Harrison — Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams — Albert Smith —
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Paul — Government Reform — Sir Samuel
Cunard. Morley's Hotel, London,
March, 1869.
The weather continues marvellously fine. Such a
week of golden days, at this season of the year, is
almost unprecedented in London. The grass is
growing ; the birds are singing ; the primroses are
gushing and blushing ; and Hyde Park is as gay as
a garden. But what a mockery seems all this ouf
ward splendor to one whose heart is darkened by
the shadow of death ! Among a pile of notes on
my breakfast-table, there is one with a black bor
der announcing the sudden departure from earth of
an intimate friend in America ; and, a little later in
the same day, another mournful letter informs me
that " Bosa, the beloved daughter of Charles Mac-
8

170 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
kay, died at Naples on the 26th of February." She
was one of the loveliest and most accomplished
girls in England ; thoroughly educated ; a fine lin
guist ; an exquisite musician, and of the rarest per
sonal beauty. A few months ago, she left home,
accompanied by her mother, to realize the dream
of her life— a winter in Italy. Beaching Naples,
she died, of a gastric fever, after a few days' illness,
at the age of nineteen. *
" So fades the lovely blooming flower,
Frail smiling solace of an hour ;
So soon our transient comforts fly ;
And pleasures only bloom to die."
Her father's grief can only be understood by
those who, with a parent's and a poet's sensibility,
have seen the warm, life-idols of their hearts sud
denly changed to cold, insensate clay, and hidden for
ever from their sight. In such a sorrow the sympa
thy of friends only aggravates the grief it seeks to
assuage ; and yet, it is beautiful to see how sin
cerely and universally these noble, Christian-hearted
English people obey, not only the injunctions of
Scripture, but the stronger promptings of nature,
" to weep with those who weep." Dr. Mackay's
table is filled with notes of condolence, which he
cannot yet read, from his brother poets, and jour-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 171
nalists, and from friends in all ranks of life, who
kindly, but vainly, endeavor to convey words of
comfort to his bleeding heart. He has two child
ren living; but she was his only daughter — the
light of his eye — the pet of his love ; and her death
is the first great sorrow that has darkened his
household and his heart.
To lighten the sombre and oppressive death-cloud
that had hung over me so heavily during the day,
I went to the Covent Garden Opera in the evening,
cheered by the sweet sunshine of "The Undying
One," the beautiful Byron in petticoats, the magni
ficent Mrs. Norton. The Opera was Wallace's
" Maritana." The immense theatre was nearly
filled. The queen, the Prince Consort, and suite,
were present, in the box directly opposite mine.
(And I should here add a word of thanks for the
hospitality of the managers of several of the leading
theatres, who have placed " at my disposition," as
they say in Spain, a " number one " private box,
during my stay in London.) On the entrance of
her majesty there was no demonstration on the
part of the audience or the artists. She was quite
plainly dressed, in modestly low-neck and short-
sleeves, with a couple of pink roses in her hair;
and she took her seat more quietly than most ladies
of fashion, who enter the opera house in a blaze of

172 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
jewelry, or jimcrackery. Prince Albert was seated
on the right, and next him the three Maids of
Honor filled the remaining front seats. The three
gentlemen attendants occupied positions directly
behind the royal party, but did not maintain the
tedious and absurd etiquette of standing during
the performance. The queen is decidedly fond of
theatrical entertainments, and almost every night
gives one of the theatres the benefit of her pre
sence; for the rumor that her majesty will appear
on any particular evening is quite sufficient to fill
the house to overflowing. She generally lets the .
manager know of her intention to honor him, in the
morning, sometimes a day or two previous ; and he
takes good care to let the fact be known. But it is
the queen's particular wish that her presence should
be unnoted by any signs of applause ; and her im
patience of lorgnettes is so well understood, that
few well-bred people ever level their glasses at the
royal box, which, by the way, at the Covent Gar
den, has not even the sign of the crown to distin
guish it from any other. It is simply double the
ordinary size, with a nice withdrawing-room in the
rear. The queen and the prince both seemed to
take a lively interest in the performance, follow
ing the singers through the libretto; but, at the
same time, scanning, not only the artists, but the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 173
occupants of the boxes pretty closely through their
lorgnettes. It is a poor rule that don't work both
ways; and why should not the cat look at the
queen, as well as the queen at the cat ! " They
say " that her majesty is a little jealous of Prince
Albert ; but it is probably the jealousy arising from
loye, not from fear, a distinction with a very great
difference. There can be no absolute and infinite
love without what is called jealousy. It is the
shadow accompanying the sunshine. But this feel
ing bears no relationship to that " green-eyed mon
ster," who feeds on suspicion and fear ; who " dotes
yet doubts ;" and whose very love is " as cruel as
the grave." But I am straying from the opera into
an essay. The queen has led me off; for I noticed
when the prince chatted and laughed with the
honorable, but by no means dangerously beautiful,
"Maid," who sat beside him, his wife invariably
leaned toward them, to catch the joke and join in
the laugh. Yictoria is, beyond all question, a
model wife and mother, as well as a most virtuous
and gracious queen. Her subjects love her so well
that no radical or republican wit dares to caricature
or satirize her. Quite different is it with Prince
Albert, who is often Punched, when the dear little
queen says, in her wife-like affectionateness — " Why
don't they ridizule me instead /"

174 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
The opera went smoothly; Misses Louisa and
Susan Pyne and Mr. Harrison being the stars, of the
evening. These artists have much improved, in
every respect, since their visit to America. They
are very popular. Miss Louisa Pyne is- a great
favorite of the queen, and is often invited to sing at
the Palace. The New Covent Garden Theatre
looks much larger, and is far better for seeing and
hearing than our New York Academy of Music.
It is principally lighted by an immense crystal
chandelier ; but the red background, the old tradi
tional, theatrical red, gives the interior a dingy,
gloomy appearance. The theory is, to throw all
the brightness on the stage, leaving the auditorium
in a sort of misty moonlight.
A word touching Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams,
and their success in England, will not be unaccept
able to their numerous friends and admirers in
America. They have this week opened the
" Lyceum ;" and, it is needless to add, are drawing
crowded houses. Mrs. Williams is unquestionably
the most attractive actress on the London stage.
She has grown stouter and handsome during her
three years of hard work in England ; and in her
remarkable little piece — " An Hour in Seville," in
which she displays extraordinary versatility, she is
generally considered as the most bewitching beauty

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 175
on the boards. As an English Lord, a French
Count, an Italian Prima Donna, a Yankee girl,
etc., etc., her dressing, dancing, acting, and singing
are inimitable. But a few years ago, we remember
her as " the little Miss Wray," of the Bowery
Theatre, living with her mother in Pearl street,
near Broadway, where she was born ; and now we
find her the mistress of a fine mansion in Picca
dilly, Hyde Park, making her thousand dollars a
week, by an hour's appearance on the stage ; while
her clever husband as " Eagged Pat," or some
other " broth of a boy," is bagging the dimes, and
investing largely in Fifth Avenue lots. Mr. and
Mrs. Williams will return to the States in August,
when, after " starring it " a while in the new bril
liancy of their European lustre, they will probably
retire to take their " O. cum dig." in a palace on
the Central Park. A long and pleasant evening to
the "Irish Boy" and his "Yankee Gal." The
queen has been to see them four times within the
month. Albert Smith's Chinese entertainment is, to use
his own phrase, one of the things to be " done." It
~is a panoramic view of the journey from South
ampton to Hong Kong, accompanied by a rattling
rat-a-plan sort of description which keeps the audi
ence in good humor, from beginning to end. With

176 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
the exception of some seven months these enter
tainments have been given with unabated success
for over eight years. The Egyptian Hall is now
converted into a Museum of Chinese curiosities;
and the side saloon in which we dined yesterday
" d la Chinoise " contains the two identical crosses,
upon which, during the late rebellion, seventy
thousand men were cut to pieces. Mr. Dickens
has just written a private letter to Mr. Smith, beg
ging him to remove the bloody symbols, but yester
day they served as "skeletons at the feast." I
ought to add that the dinner d la Chinoise did not
consist of rice and rats. It was entirely Christian
— soup, sole, beef-steak pie, and all. Of the men-
tionables present there were Mr. and Mrs. Edmond
Gates (the Gates vs. Thackeray), and pretty little
Miss Keely, fiancee of the host, and a daughter of
the Keeleys. From the dining saloon the company
" retired " to the Lecture Eoom, in which, as usual,
every seat was occupied. Mr. Smith intends to
visit the United States ; but not until his China has
exhausted London, a period most indefinitely re
mote. Mr. and Mrs. Howard Paul are still doing their
" Patchwork " at St. James' Hall, which has run
for over one thousand nights ! It is a clever med
ley of acting and singing ; and is filling the pockets

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 177
of the proprietor. Mrs. Paul's imitation of Sims
Beeves is more than admirable ; it is wonderful.
It is said by some to be better than the original.
Mr. Paul is a Philadelphia boy, and his talented
wife was Miss Featherstone of London. They, too,
are looking toward the United States, just for the
sake of a little variety, although they play to
crowded houses five evenings and two afternoons
in every week.
The Government Eeform Bill more than satisfies
the conservatives, but does not at all suit the radi
cals. But I will avoid politics. At a Eeform
meeting in Liverpool the other evening, " Young
America Train" made an admirable speech, in
which he created something of a sensation by stat
ing that the tariff on Atlantic letters amounted to
about eighteen thousand dollars per ton ! This is
taxing the luxury of correspondence with a ven
geance. Cheap ocean postage is to be one of the
rallying cries of the radical reformers in Great
Britain ; and it is hoped it will be heartily
responded to on the American side of the water.
Mr. Samuel Cunard, of the Cunard line, has just
been made a baronet, an honor eminently deserved,
and in which everybody rejoices.

178 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ? OR,

A Word about the Fine Arts.
Princely Patronage — Beautiful Pictures — Costly Collections — The
Belle Jardiniere— A Fifty Thousand Dollar Ranaelle— The
Dusseldorf Gallery. London, March, 1859.
Fondness for the Fine Arts, real or affected, is a
marked characteristic' of the higher circles of Eng
lish society. The millionaire nobleman does not
spend all his money on horses and hounds ; jnor on
the wines and viands of his sumptuous entertain
ments. The picture gallery is the glory of his
mansion, both in town and country ; and, as a gene
ral rule, the larger his income the more magnificent
are the paintings which adorn his walls, and the
costlier the statues which meet you at every turn
of the stairs. If England cannot claim peculiar
distinction as the birthplace of artists, her noble
men may justly claim to be ranked among the
most munificent patrons of the arts. The Eoyal
Academy of London may not be equal to the Im
perial Louvre of Paris ; but in England, the master-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 179
pieces of art, instead of being concentrated in a
gallery of a mile or two in length, are lining the
walls of every palace and castle in the kingdom.
This may not be as beneficial to the public ; but
the greater opportunity afforded for the study of
art in private collections, makes everybody, more
or less, a connoisseur, who has access to the best so
ciety. The dining-room of the English nobleman is a
museum of art. And not only noblemen, but every
gentleman of means considers it a sine qua non to
adorn his walls with pleasing pictures. It is a part
of the entertainment to which the guest is invited.
The breakfast-room of the poet Monckton Milnes ;
the dining-room of Mr. William Stirling, author of
the "History of Spanish Painting," and of the
" Cloister Life of Charles Y. ;" the parlors of the
Hon. Mrs. Norton ; the library of the Marquis of
Lansdowne, etc., etc., are all filled with rich and
rare paintings, affording a perpetual feast for the
eye, and a constant stimulus to conversation. The
subject may be a beautiful woman ; a handsome
horse ; an angelic child ; a poetic landscape, or the
portrait of some genius, or hero, or beauty, whose
very name unlocks the treasury of unending remi
niscences. There they are, to please at once the
eye, the imagination, and the memory. And, in
the midst of some of the most sumptuous dinners

180 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
here, in London, I have felt like Dr. Johnson, when,
seated opposite a beautiful woman at table, he de
clared that, "intead of feasting his stomach he
could only feast his eyes."
The prices paid in London for gems of art are
almost incredible. I do not propose, however, to
go into particulars touching these most pardonable
extravagances. But let me suggest to the numer
ous patrons of the American "Cosmopolitan Art
Association," that nothing commends a gentleman
more highly to the " distinguished consideration "
of the English haut ton than a knowledge and love
of art. It is taken as an evidence of a refined taste,
of a genial nature, and of general good manners.
For instance, a gentleman in London invites you to
breakfast or dine with him, and you are ushered
into a room full of choice paintings and statuary,
which have cost him, it may be, a hundred thousand
dollars ; or even five times that amount ! He ex
pects from his guest, at least, something of intelli
gent admiration. Imagine his very natural disgust
for the boor, who looks with an equal lack of emotion
upon a rich Eaffaelle, or a panel of picture paper !
If the " Cosmopolitan Art Journal," by its criti
cisms and illustrations of art, shall succeed in cre
ating in America a taste for fine paintings, fine
statuary, fine architecture, and for fine things gene-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 181
rally, it will accomplish a work of refinement that
cannot fail to be of great public benefit, as well as
a special blessing to the nascent art-genius of the
country. As an interesting item of art intelligence, I will
add the following description of a beautiful gem,
which I have been " making love to " in the studio
of our countryman, Mr. Minor K. Kellogg :
The picture of the "Belle Jardiniere," by Eaphael,
in Mr. Kellogg's possession, has attracted the seri
ous attention of connoisseurs ever since it came into
his hands, and is destined to create a greater sensa
tion as its merits become known. As there is
another picture of the same subject in the Museum
of the Louvre, the question is now being discussed
as to its originality, and the proofs called for. It
seems that there is no authentic history yet found
of Eaphael's having painted this subject. The only
knowledge we have is that he made drawings for
it, and that they exist. Mr. Kellogg has been
occupied, more or less, during the last four years, in
researches on this interesting subject, and has accu
mulated a mass of evidence of the most valuable
kind, which, I believe, he intends soon to publish.
The Jardiniere in Mr. Kellogg's collection, is so
different in many important points of design, color,
and accessories, from that in the Louvre, and its

182 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
merits are in all respects so much more hke those
peculiar to Eaphael, that they at once throw a
doubt on the authenticity of that in the Louvre
so long attributed to him. Whatever may be the
ultimate decision regarding these two pictures, Mr.
Kellogg has had the boldness to hold that the one
he has purchased is an original, and to keep it in
Paris, almost alongside that in the Louvre, for
nearly four years, open to the inspection of the
world. Thus far it has not been openly questioned
even by those connoisseurs who have long been
prejudiced in favor of the Louvre picture. Count
de Morny obtained the privilege of the Director of
the Louvre to exhibit it alongside the one in the
Museum, and to allow Mr. Kellogg a whole day to
himself for this purpose.
Mr. Kellogg has now taken up his residence in
London, and already his Jardiniere has beefl visited
by some of the most important critics and noble
amateurs of the Fine Arts, and we shall soon hear
what decision will be passed upon the judgment of
Mr. Kellogg, whose fearlessness seems justly to rest
upon long and sincere study of the old masters in
Italy, and his own practical experience in Art.
The price of the picture is fifty thousand dollars;
and already the Bishop of Oxford, and other emi
nent prelates and connoisseurs, have their eyes on

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 183
it. The face of the Yirgin, and the flesh of the
infants John and Jesus, are wonderfully fine — the
very quintessence of human dust.
But after seeing many of the best pictures in
England, I am constrained to assert that there are
comparatively few works, of the modern school,
superior to the gems of our New York " Dusseldorf
Gallery," which would bring more than its weight
in gold in London. I trust, however, that so rich
a collection of Art will never be permitted to leave
the country. What a pity that the city, instead of
wasting money on public " receptions," and other
swindling humbugs, would not buy it, and throw it
open to free exhibition. But a word to the unwise
is insufficient, and so the " Cosmopolitan Associa
tion " must persevere in its noble work.

184 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,

Metropolitan Misery.
The London Police — A Dark Picture — Eighty Thousand Traviatas —
The Sham Philanthropy of Exeter Hall — Something worse than
Slavery in America — The Theatre — Chippendale — Charles Kean —
Anna Bishop — Madame Pico — The Royal London Yacht Club —
Honorary Members. Morley's Hotel,
March — , 1859.
The present population of London is estimated at
nearly three million of inhabitants. It is only by
driving or, better still, by walking through streets
running in one direction for ten or fifteen miles that
we can form any just estimate of the numerical and
topographical vastness of this monstrous metropolis.
And yet it is a well-cleaned, well-regulated, and
well-governed city. The eight thousand policemen
scattered all over it are met at all hours of the day
and night, ready to give prompt and polite answers
to all proper questions. They are generally full-
sized men ; and, in their respectable uniform dress,
make a fine and formidable appearance. They
have their armories, where they are regularly

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 185
drilled in the use of arms; but, ordinarily, they
carry no sign of a weapon. The " police beat " ex
tends to a radius of about fifteen miles from Char
ing Cross, making a circumference of ninety miles,
and including an area- of seven hundred square
miles. The wages are from 2s. to 3s. (50 to 75
cents) a day; and this pittance commands the
severe services of young, robust, respectable men !
The professional thieves in London are estimated at
six thousand, the beggars at fifteen thousand (two-
thirds Irish) and the " women of the town" at eighty
thousand! Among the latter class of victims of
sin and society I believe there is more real suffering
in London in one week than in all the United
States in a year. And yet, the sham philanthropy
of " Exeter Hall " pours out a perpetual torrent of
lachrymose sympathy for the imaginary woes of
fictitious " Topsys " and fugitive " Uncle Toms ;"
while this awful array of wronged and wretched
women is parading nightly before its doors! In
the city of London the excess of females over males
is estimated at one hundred and sixty thousand. If
to this Ave add the number, say one hundred and
fifty thousand of men unmarried, we find an aggre
gate of three hundred and ten thousand of
nnwedded, unprotected, and generally unsupported
females! How can they live! What shall

186 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
be done for them, or with them ? Some will fight
starvation with the needle ; others will tend shop ;
some will " go out to service ;" others will find
work in manufactories; but still the city census
tells us that no less than eighty thousand women
are driven by passion or want of bread, into the
terrible traffic of prostitution. For a while, before
their freshness fades or their forms wither, these
sad " women of pleasure " (what a mockery to call
them so !) may glitter in tinsel gaiety in the mad
dance of the Argyle Eooms, or the Holborn Casinos ;
but, with the first week of sickness, or the first
wrinkle of age, they are driven to the streets, to the
pawnbrokers ; and then, alas ! from under the dark
arch of the Bridge of Sighs :
" One more unfortunate,
Weary of breath,
Rashly importunate
Leaps to her death.
* * * *
Oh, it was pitiful —
Near a whole city full ;
Home she had none !"
The "Haymarket," from twilight to daylight,
swarms with these miserable angels of darkness, in
all conditions of attire, from the gaudiest satins to
the wretchedest rags; assuming every variety of

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUKOPE. 187
manner, from the most bashful sentimentalisni to
the most brazen obscenity ; and in all stages of
tipsiness, from the loquacious exhilaration of " bit
ter beer." to the maudlin intoxication of " gin and
sugar." They will beg, weep, entreat, implore for
money, or a drink, in every possible tone of seduc
tion, and with the promise of every conceivable
blessing in return. Failing to extort either, they
will pray for the privilege of walking a block with
you, to tell you how they dare not, cannot go home
without money, to pay their daily or Aveekly rent.
Ah ! what terrible tales they relate ; what awful
tragedies they play, themselves being the heroines.
In the gaudy glare of the " Argyle Booms," or at
the more aristocratic " Mott's," one sees these poor
Traviatas of real life in both the earlier and later
scenes of the fatal drama. Here is the spring
chicken of fifteen, with a look of innocence still lin
gering about her — the faint blush of retreating virtue ;
and here, too, the carefully rouged cheek of the cour
tesan of forty, with death in her eye and contamina
tion in her touch. It is altogether a sad exhibition ;
the most melancholy spectacle the world can show,
exciting emotions of disgust and pity, the latter be
ing the prevailing, and, I doubt not, the proper one.
The evil cannot be eradicated in the present condi
tion of society. It must, be recognised and regu-

188 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
lated. It is no use to legislate or to preach against
the enormous sin of prostitution. These three
hundred thousand women in London, with no hand
to support them, must live ; and their necessities,
internal and external, will be obeyed; or, in the
popular parlance of the pulpit, they will yield to
temptations from within and from without. In the
meantime, let me remind the noisy negro sympa
thizers of " Exeter Hall " that these eighty thousand
white female slaves of Poverty and Passion, in the
city of London, must and will live; while "the
vengeance due for all their wrongs " will yet appear
in the shape of some terrible Nemesis that will
shako the social organism of the city to its centre.
Oh ! for one year's income of the Bishop of London
to pay a week's rent in advance for these eighty
thousand Magdalens, and thus afford the "poor
sinners " a holiday for rest, and a little leisure for
repentance! The theatres of London are numerous, and gene
rally well attended ; but I have seen nothing yet in
the shape of a playhouse that surpasses the New
York "Academy of Music." The " Princess" and
the " Haymarket " are not larger than " Wallack's,"
and they are far less brilliant ; and yet Charles Kean
manages to make money at the one, and Buckstone
at the other. The "Haymarket" seems to be

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 189
an especial favorite with the Queen, who pays £250
a year for her box ; and her Majesty is a frequent
attendant. Just now, Tom Taylor's "Unequal
Match" is having a great run at the " Haymarket,"
and old Chippendale's familiar face and excellent
acting make a New Yorker feel quite at home there.
Charles Kean draws crowded houses every night,
the present being his " farewell season." He gets
up historical pieces with great elaborateness, and
both himself and his much the "better-half"
(Ellen Tree) look and act as well as they did at the
" Old Park " fifteen years ago. The " Christmas
Pantomimes" are not yet withdrawn. They are
most magnificent, melo-dramatic exhibitions, full
of dancing fairies in very brief petticoats and most
delusive hose.
But there is, literally, no end to the public
amusements of London. Among the few that I am
sorry to have missed, was a concert given the other
evening by Madame Anna Bishop, who has recently
added Shultz to her name by marrying a gentleman
originally from New York, but for the last ten
years a resident of California. Madame looks quite
as well and handsome as she did before going
through with her trials in California, and her
triumphs in Australia and South America. Her
concert was crowded, and the press of London are

190 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
unanimous and enthusiastic in her praise. At her
neat little cottage the other evening in Camden
Town, I had the pleasure of hearing Madame
Bishop sing duets with Signora Pico, who has lost
none of ,her " pinguidity;" with-Herr Mengis, favo
rably known in America ; and with her own daugh
ter, a sweet girl of twenty — one of " the twins " that
we heard so much of at the time of the mother's
hegira. The other twin is a fine-looking young
man, who seems to be very fond of his mother.
The whole family intend going to the United States
to settle in the course of the coming summer.
Signora Pico sings better than ever ; and is very
anxious to see again her " dear New York." She
would still be a favorite star at the Academy, espe
cially in her great role of Orsini in the Borgia. This
evening I had the pleasure of dining with the
"Boyal London Yacht Club," of which Andrew
Arcedeckne, Esq., so well known in America, is
Commodore. The Club consists of some six hun
dred members of the right stamp, over a hundred
of whom are owners of yachts. The meeting to-day
was for the election of Yice-Commodore, which
resulted in the unanimous choice of Mr. Thomas
Broadwood, Sen., of the famous London pianoforte
manufactory. The dinner, plain and substantial,
was followed by " speeches, songs, and sentiments."

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 191
Among the "honorary members" of the Club, I
noticed the names of N. Bloodgood, E. A. Stevens,
Cornelius Grinnell, William Edgar, and J. Gordon
Bennett, Jun., of the New York Yacht Club. It is
just possible that some fine breezy summer morn
ing the London Eoyal Yacht Club may spread its
white wings for a friendly visit to the " birds of the
same feather in New York." And then, won't
therebe a time !

192 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,

Parks, Palaces, Banks and Clubs.
The Antiquity of London— Babies and Ladies — The Marquis of
Lansdowne— Portrait of Sterne — Pork and Cheese — The Old
Lady of Threadneedle street— A Valuable Bit of Paper— Cords
of Bullion — Mint Drops — A good Word for American Credit —
The Reform Club — Au revoir. Maech — , 1859.
London is like the whirlpool below Niagara — once
in, it is hard to get out of it. Intending to stop but
two weeks in the city, I see by the almanac -that
five have whirled round ; and I can only now get
away by consoling myself with the promise of
returning later in the season, when I hope to turn
over a few more leaves in this wonderful volume of
social life and human history. The more one
explores London the greater and grander it seems.
It is five times as large as New York in point of
population ; while its magnificent Parks and spa
cious palaces extend the area of the town over
about ten times the surface occupied by our own
" great Metropolis." And then its history, running
back beyond the authentic chronicles of the anti-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 193
quary; beyond the day when Tacitus wrote of
Londinium, until the very foundation of the city is
lost in the mist of mythology ; while the origin of
its name is still a matter of dispute among the
learned philologists of the Historical Societies.
They have discovered over twenty different varia
tions of the name of London ; but the derivation
still remains an undecided question.
The parks are the crowning glory of London.
Beautiful as green grass, noble trees, lovely lakes,
and smoothly rolled walks and drives can make
them, they afford a margin and a breathing place
for -the overflowing populace, and a luxurious airing
for the poor who promenade, and for the rich who
ride through their elegant avenues. In the middle
of a fine day, Hyde Park, Eegent's Park and St.
James's are thronged, not only with sumptuous
equipages, with ladies and gentlemen on horseback,
but with innumerable nurses and children. Eng
lish babies live out of doors — hence their ruddy
cheeks and robust frames. And English ladies live
on horseback — hence more physical benefits than I
can stop to enumerate. They usually ride in the
morning, followed by a groom ; but there are hun
dreds of beautiful equestriennes, superbly mounted,
who ride alone — an indication that they would not
Object to being joined by an agreeable gentleman.

194 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
Another pleasant peculiarity of London is the sud
denness with which one can leave the city and find
himself in a fine old palatial mansion surrounded
by trees, and apparently completely isolated from
metropolitan life. In visiting Lord Lansdowne, for
instance, we drive through a gateway in the very
heart of the town, and instantly every sight, and
almost every sound of the great city is lost. The
seclusion is quite magical. And then we are doubly
lost, and doubly delighted in the splendid library
and beautiful picture gallery of the venerable mar
quis. It is one of the choicest collections in Eng- .
land. Lord Lansdowne, who is now eighty years
of age, retains all his youthful enthusiasm for lite
rature and art ; and there is scarcely an author or
artist of merit living, who has not been aided and
encouraged by his lordship's munificent patronage.
Among his paintings, Sir Joshua Eeynolds' por
trait of Sterne is a work of extraordinary power. I
could not refrain from expressing the most enthu-
thiastic admiration of the life-likeness of the pic
ture ; at which the marquis remarked, that Sidney
Smith used to turn from all the rest and gaze most
intently upon this. There are many other gems
which I have not time to describe or mention even •
but there is nothing in all this rich and rare collec
tion half as interesting as the noble proprietor him-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 195
self, whose earnest conversation is like a living
stream of history.
Perhaps there can hardly be a more decided con
trast whereby to jolt the reader's sensibilities than a
plunge from the splendid palace of the Maecenas of
the nobility into the mammoth pork and cheese
establishment of Messrs. Lunham & Co. But, in
the expressive and philosophical language of the
lively and loquacious Walter, "Sich is life!"
Mr. James McHenry, of Liverpool, one of the livest
merchants and bankers in Europe, has just closed a
contract with the French government for sup
plying the Navy with provisions ; and so he calls
to take me to see the first lot packed off from the
immense establishment of Messrs. James Lunham &
Co., who handle five millions worth of pork and
cheese per annum, and whose name is well known
to the Hubbards and Yan Brunts of New York.
Such a wilderness of hams; such mountains of
cheese ; such piles of pork, in all shapes, and for all
markets ! "'Tis grease, but living grease no more."
The proprietors of this great pork shop have just
sent a "flitch of bacon" to the princess royal, pre
suming, on the birth of her baby, that the happy
wife and mother is entitled to such a present in

196 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
accordance with the good old English maxim, viz. :
" That if a married couple live together for the first
twelve months without quarrelling, they are worthy
to be presented with a flitch of bacon."
Next I am introduced to " the old lady of Thread-
needle street ;" and thanks to the kindness of the
managing governor, Mr. Elsey, and to Mr. Marshall,
who has been the cashier for over fifty years, I have
been permitted to visit every part of the Bank of
England, from vault to attic, a privilege seldom
granted to an outsider. Of course, everybody
knows that this is the greatest banking institution
in the world ; but, comparatively, few persons can
have an adequate conception of the vastness of the
establishment, or the extent of its operations. I
shall not undertake to describe it, externally or in
ternally ; a few facts only, may give the reader a
little "food for the imagination." The building
covers about three acres of ground. Many of its
rooms are copied from the classic models of Greece
and Borne. The employees number about one
thousand. Several of the officers reside in the
Bank. No note is ever issued the second time.
The notes redeemed each day, are checked, can
celled, and put away in boxes. After keeping
them ten years, they are burned. The accumula
tion of the last ten years, now in the vaults of the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 197
bank, amounts to three thousand million of pounds !
And yet any one of these notes can be referred to
in a minute, and the history of its issue and its
return given. The bank does all its own printing,
and several presses are kept busy. Everything is
done by machinery — the note is not touched by the
pen before it goes out. I held in my hand yes
terday, one note for one million of pounds, and two
little side-pocket packages of notes amounting to
two million of pounds. In the bullion-room, ingots
of gold were piled up like cords of wood, and
silver bars in vast heaps. The machines for detect
ing light coin, and for cutting thorn, are exceed
ingly curious and yet simple. Every banker's
deposit is weighed; and all the light pieces cut
nearly in two and returned to him next day. The
system of the bank is as perfect and as exact as
clock-work. And yet in spite , of all precaution,
some small forgery is almost daily detected. But
since the great forgery committed by Asttell for
£320,000, and by Fauntleroy for £360,000, the
bank has not lost any very heavy sums ; although,
in 1822, capital punishment for the crime was
abolished, when the old fogies predicted that every
body hard up wpuld turn forger.
In the specie department of the bank there were
bags and boxes of sovereigns and half-sovereigns

198 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; QR,
enough to make a miser mad. Mountains of " mint
drops," for which millions are sighing, and dying,
and perpetrating all conceivable crimes ! I was
asked to lift a big bag of sovereigns, and for once, I
must confess, I felt a sovereign disgust for money.
With half a dozen pieces of these little "conve
niences " in my pocket, I retired from the bank,
feeling a thousand times more comfortable than
some of the millionaires who had been shaking in
their boots, in the applicants' " Sweating Eoom,"
while the official dispenser of the golden blessings
had been so generously initiating me into the sub
lime mysteries of the " art of money making !"
After leaving the cashier's office, an official was
sent to me to inquire " which of the New York city
banks was considered soundest." I took great
pleasure in giving the names of several, with the
confident assurance that they were " as safe as the
Bank of England." ' There was one item which I
learned from the bank, decidedly gratifying to our
national pride. It was this : Not a single piece of
American paper which laid over dwing the late
panic now remains unpaid. This, said Mr. Elsey,
the Governor, cannot be said of any other nation
on the earth! Let the "bears" on American
securities put this in their pipe and smoke it. In
connection with this cheering and honorable fact, I

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 199
may add, that the bonds of the "Atlantic and
Great Western Eailroad" have just been put upon
the market, and are in good demand. I have just
been shown a dispatch from Salamanca, the great
Madrid banker, asking if he could have the whole
of them. The holders of " Erie," and " Ohio and
Mississippi," regard this new road as the salvation
of their stock : I merely mention these facts as I
have gathered them to-day from some of the lead
ing operators of Lombard street.
I am writing from the luxurious rooms of the
" Eeform Club," and ought to say a word in regard
to this admirable institution, where I have met and
made so many excellent acquaintances, and where
I have been made " quite at home," by being made
an " honorary member." It is the head-quartets of
the leading Liberals of the day — a powerful body
of men, numbering some fourteen hundred, and
among them many of the foremost members of Par
liament. Thackeray, Mackay, Ingram, Wyld,
Campbell, Jackson, James, Behan, Frazer, Parkes,
and a host of names that are " hosts in themselves,"
here daily meet to discuss the affairs of the world
in general, of reform in particular ; and above all,
Francatelli's good dinners. Signor Francatelli (I
believe he is a brother of the Count Francatelli of
New York) is the successor of the great Soyer, and,

200 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
as all admit, a much greater artist than his illustri
ous predecessor. His herb soup is superb ! The
wines and the " wittles" are the best that London
can produce (including " sparkling Catawba"), and
furnished at about half the hotel charges. The
Club House (one of the seven similar institutions
in Pall Mall) is a magnificent building, furnished
with every possible luxury, except beds. There
are bathing rooms, reading rooms, writing-rooms,
smoking-rooms, library^ etc., etc. ; and during the
sessions of Parliament, a telegraph bulletin contin
ually announces the progress of the debates. But
I must not longer linger, even among the intellect
ual, social and gastronomic luxuries of the " Ee
form Club." Time flies, and railways won't wait.
I leave London with more regret than I deemed it
possible to feel, when entering its unknown wilder
ness but a few weeks since ; albeit for " fresh fields
and pastures new." The hospitality of the people
here is inexhaustible ; and I part from many friends
with feelings of gratitude that I will not attempt
to coin into words. 7 Come again," is the cordial
good-bye of every one ; and " cut and come again,"
(Deo volenti) most assuredly I will.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 201

First Impressions of Paris.
The Channel — Sea-sickness — An Orange Blossom Party — Cuddling
before Folks — Calais to Paris — Grand Hotel du Louvre — Mardi
Gras — Bal Masqu<§ — Bois du Boulogne — Such is Life.
Hotel du Louvre, Paeis,
Morel). 9, 1859.
To jump from London into Paris, is a transition not
unlikely to produce a sort of mental paralysis, from
the effect of which it takes a little time to recover
one's equilibrium! From the low-voiced, gentle-
mannered tone of thorough-bred Englishmen, to
these garrulous, grotesque, grimacioiis Frenchmen !
A little strip of water, only twenty-four miles wide,
across which, on a clear day, from the shore of " the
tight little Island," we can see windmills playing
in France, and even the farmers in their fields —
and the nationalities of the two peoples are so
marked with peculiarities, as to convince the most
bigoted Adamite, that the human race has more
than one origin, if not more than one destiny. The
very earth wears a different aspect; and nothing
seemed familiar, and English, but the eternal stars

202 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
that twinkled a pleasant companionship on my way
from Calais to Paris. The dear old " Dipper," and
that darling little cluster of jewels, the "seven
stars," seemed to look lovingly down ; and their
unchanging light was like the eyes of an old friend
in a strange land. Beautiful types of the universal
ity of God ; blessed tokens of an omnipresent and
ever watchful Love ; how dark and dreary the poor
wanderer's path would be, on sea or land, but for
the gracious guidance and the sweet assurance of
those celestial, steadfast beams !
We left the London Station at half-past eight on
Monday morning, and arrived at the Hotel du
Louvre in Paris a little before twelve at night — the
distance being about three hundred and twenty
miles, the fare something less than sixteen dollars,
first class. To Dover, eighty miles, in two hours :
across the Channel, twenty-four miles, in a little
less than two hours (a favorable passage), and from
Calais through Lille, Amiens, and many places of
lesser note, the train, running punctually up to
time, reached Paris a little before eleven.
The Channel is the great bug-bear of Continental
travellers ; and, for churning up of that most dis
tressing, disgusting and unpardonable of maladies,
sea-sickness, I suppose the waters of the English
Channel are the most " effective " of any in the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 203
world. The moment the boat leaves the pier she
begins to pitch and toss, like a horse that starts on
a canter from the score, and the toughest stomachs
of the very saltest of the passengers are quite often
turned inside out before the boat has been five
minutes from the dock. There is a "short, uneasy
motion" of the vessel, which upsets even the
veterans of the sea, who for fifty years have found
in the rolls and swells of the Atlantic their most
delightful sensations. Perhaps I shall be charged
with a sort of ventral pride, as well as egotism,
when I add that I passed the ordeal without the
first disagreeable emotion. But then, as I have
said, we were highly favored. Only a few days
before, a New York party were eleven hours in
crossing ; and, on the very next trip, the same boat
was wrecked against her own pier at Boulogne, and
three lives lost. The boats are very small, and, as
the tide rises and falls some twenty-four feet, the
entrance to the harbors on both sides of the Chan
nel is often difficult. From Folkestone to Boulogne
the departure of the boats is governed by the tides ;
and the railway trains connecting with them, on
both sides, are tidal also in their time-tables. The
Boulogne route is half an hour longer in the boat ;
and about an hour less in the train, but, as the lat
ter waits for the Calais line, nothing is gained by

204 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
the former route, except a chance for a little more
protracted and thorough fit of sea-sickness. I
should, therefore, recommend the Dover and Calais
trip, simply because it gives seven miles less of
ventral agitation ; and, as there are fine hotels on
either side, the weak and the timid, who are not in
a hurry, had better wait for a fair wind and a
smooth sea.
It is a little remarkable that no stewardess is
employed on board of these boats, where sea-sick
ness is the specialty of female passengers. The
offices which the chamber men have to perform for
crowds of poor, prostrate women, retching with
sickness and trembling with fear, are of the most
unromantic, not to say indecent, sort. Why it is that
London brides run such terrible risks of disenchant
ing their husbands of an hour by a Channel trip to
Paris, is a fact that I have not the philosophy to
explain. We had one of these orange blossom
parties for our fellow-passengers. The moment I
saw them promenading and foolishly fondling on
the platform of the London station, I saw through
the " illusion " of the bridal veil ; and felt more
pity than envy for the groom, in the revelations
that were to come with the "breakers ahead."
The happy couple were utterly upset ; the bride lost
her breakfast and her bloom, while the bridegroom's
9*

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 205
shirt-bosom lost its purity, and his face no longer
wore that life assurance look of happiness which
shone so radiantly but an hour before. The party
did not fully recover their health and tenderness
before reaching Paris ; although in the omnibus, on
our way to the hotel, they had sufficiently revived
to renew the billing and cooing so very common on
the day, and sometimes, on the day after marriage.
Cuddling in public is a pretty sure evidence of love
that never lasts. It is one of those " flowers of the
affections" (mushrooms rather) that spring from
the passions and wilt early. Women who think by
" dearing " and kissing their husbands " before
folks " to excite envy in men who are forced to look
on, are greatly mistaken in the effect of these fond
demonstrations. The feeling is simply a mingled
emotion of pity and disgust. One never sees such
maudlin dalliance before the curtain, without a
holy horror of the " Caudle " behind it.
From Calais to Paris the road runs through a
country almost as level as a prairie — a sort of low
first step to the Continent of Europe. One striking
feature of the landscape is the willows, long rows
of which are running in all directions, as far as the
eye can see. These trees are usually amputated
every year or two, at about six feet from the
ground, when the shoots, looking like bushy wigs

206 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
on short bodies, lean their heads lovingly together
across the narrow ditches and streamlets which
drain the fields. Of these willow twigs an immense
quantity of baskets are made, and exported all over
the world. The windmills next arrest the eye. I
did not count them; but I believe we passed thou
sands ; and in the vicinity of Lille (a city of 70,000
inhabitants and famous for its thread), there are, at
the least calculation, five hundred of these awk
ward, four-spoked wheels vexing the eye, and dis
turbing the horizon. I felt a sort of Quixotic
disposition to attack them, especially on the score
of economy, as one good steam engine might do the
work of all. But old customs are hard to get rid
of. France has adopted the Eailway, and the
Telegraph ; but still persists in grinding with the
old mill. But worse than the monotonous wind
mill, whose arms never tire, is it to see the women at
work on the farms, ploughing, planting, hoeing and
harrowing. I saw two women dragging a harrow,
and have not had my feelings so " harrowed up "
for many a day. And then to see a pair of femi
nine legs, for which I have always cultivated the
most delicate and respectful reverence, desecrated
with mud and manure ! O France, is this your
boasted gallantry! To make field-hands of your
women, strapping them to harrows and working

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 207
them like oxen ! No wonder the crude fruit they
bear sits ill upon the national stomach, causing fits
of periodical nausea and revolution.
But I have been a day and a night in Paris, and
must hasten to mention the experiences thereof.
The magnificence of the " Grand Hotel du Louvre,"
quite eclipses everything in the hotel way I have
ever seen, even in America. I shall not yet attempt
to describe it. The word gorgeous is applicable
everywhere. The hotel is located in the Bue de
Eivoli, directly Opposite the Louvre, and but a short
distance from the Palace of the Tuileries. It was
finished four years ago, at a cost of seventeen
millions of francs, and is owned by the " Credit
Mobilier." It combines the American and
European system — the table d'hote and restaurant.
The dining hall is copied from the Palace of Ver
sailles, and far surpasses the crystal and gilded
splendors of the celebrated " Crockford's " in Lon
don. The rooms are richly and elegantly furnished,
and the beds the best I ever slept on.
On going into the street yesterday morning, I
found the Bue de Eivoli, the Place Yendome, and
the Place de la Concorde, thronged with a most
motley and merry crowd. It was the festival of the
Mardi Gras, and all Paris was out for a holiday. Sol
diers, in red pants, red epaulets, and brass helmets,

208 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
were everywhere, on horseback and on foot, under
arms, and with women hanging on their arms.
Masks and music mingled in the throng ; and, as if,
" for one day only," the sexes seemed to have ex
changed costume. It was noisy, gay, and good-
natured, and thoroughly Parisian in the heartiness
and abandon which the people give to any sort of
show, if only a fatted ox, mounted on a car and
decked with tri-eolored ribbons. The comic proces
sion passed through the Garden of the Tuileries, to
show themselves to the Emperor; and subsequently
dissolved and scattered all over the city. In the
evening there was a Bal Masque at the Grand Opera
House — which I entered at 12 and left at 4 — and
where I saw " things not lawful for man to utter."
No one has ever ventured to fully describe a Mask
Ball in Paris. It cannot be done. I shrink from
the attempt. The agony is too great ; so let me imi
tate the example of the despairing artist — and throw
over the picture the veil of — silence and charity.
The orchestra of two hundred and fifty performers,
under the baton of the famous Strauss, was enough
to take a sober man off his feet. No wonder that
it drove the dancers mad ; for surely " madness
ruled the house." At four o'clock this morning the
ball had not begun to break, while the fun was
growing "fast and furious." Eespectable ladies

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 209
(several Americans among them) sat masked in the
boxes, enjoying the exhibitions, and most provok-
ingly nodding and shaking their fans to some of us
modest fellows, of whom they evidently " had the
advantage." The Bois du Boulogne being one of the " Bois" to
know, I improved yesterday afternoon's sunshine
by driving through its beautiful groves. It is per
fectly lovely — to quote what every one exclaims a
thousand times, more or less, at every visit to this
wild, yet cultivated ; sequestered, yet most public,
enchanting forest of pleasure. The walks ; the car
riage roads ; the promenade " pour les Cavaliers ;"
the lovely lakes ; the miniature Niagaras ; and the
thousands of people one meets, riding, driving,
walking — all combine to make the Bois du Bou
logne one of the most attractive places in the
world ; and to Louis Napoleon belongs the glory of
making it a very paradise for the Parisians. It is
not strange that the people shout " Yive 1'Empe-
reur" with a very hearty emphasis, when one con
siders how much he has done to embellish Paris,
and to add to the health, comfort, and pleasure of
its citizens. Whatever history may say of the
Third Napoleon, as a man of unscrupulous ambi
tion, there can be no doubt that his will and his
acts toward France are benevolent and patriotic.

210 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
By appealing to the reminiscences of glory and the
Empire, he keeps alive the enthusiasm that keeps
him on the throne ; and, by constant material im
provements in and around the capital of the nation,
he appeals to the very senses of the masses in vin
dication of his philanthropy as a man, and his
wisdom as a ruler. It will be written upon the
tomb of Louis Napoleon, that he recreated Paris
and made the Bois du Boulogne — glory enough to
keep his memory green in the grateful hearts of
coming generations, long after the Napoleon dy
nasty shall have passed away.
No New Yorker can ever witness the beauties
and the blessings of the Bois du Boulogne without
feeling in a hurry to go home and do what he can
to push the " Central Park " on to completion. It is
one of those investments for which a draft on pos
terity will be most duly and most cheerfully hon
ored. To see these Parisians flocking to the " Bois "
for pleasure and for health ; for the dissipation of
of cares and of headaches ; for the show off of fine
equipages and elegant toilettes, affords, in itself, a
perpetual amusement, one of the many attractions
which render Paris the favorite resort of the plea
sure-seekers of the world. The line of carriages
yesterday reached from the Louvre to the lake, a
distance of nearly five miles. Some were filled

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 211
with nurses and children; others with ladies or
gentlemen exclusively ; and others with a pleasant
proportion of both. And the variety of faces and
expressions one meets in this long procession affords
a curious comment on human nature and everyday
life. There comes a lady weeping behind a black
veil ; the next is kissing behind a white one ; while
the occupants of the third, perhaps, may be ab
sorbed in their devotions, all the curtains being
closely drawn. Such is life ! But, for the morn
ing after " such a night," I have rattled off quite
enough; in the meantime, the "Louvre," Ver
sailles, St. Cloud, Pere la Chaise, and several other
places and things, are waiting to be visited.

212 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,

Nap oleonism.
The Tomb of the Emperor — The Religion of France — The Empress
Eugenie — The Prince Imperial — Louis Napoleon on Horse-back
—The Napoleon Circus— The Fashions— The Cafes— Priests-
American Spendthrifts in Paris. Grand Hotel du Louvre, Paris,
March — , 1859.
In the ashes of the Great Napoleon still live the
fires that feed the flame of patriotism in the heart
of France. The " Hotel des Invalides," which con
tains the dust of the mighty dead, is the very
"Holy of Holies" to a people whose prayer is
ambition, and whose religion is glory. In a small
circular chapel the imperial remains are still wait
ing to be deposited in their final resting-place be
neath the lofty and gorgeous dome which seems to
swell proudly and triumphantly in the air, as if
conscious of the sacred treasure beneath. The
colossal sarcophagus which is to receive the coffin,
cut from a solid block of porphyry, is now ready ;
and the final funeral ceremony will soon take place
with solemn pomp and stately splendor. Over the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 213
bronze door to the crypt, on a black marble slab,
are engraved the emperor's last words, which have
been most literally and devoutly fulfilled ; " I desire
that my ashes should repose on the banks of the
Seine, in the midst of the people of France whom I
have loved so well." Two of the columns of the
crypt are dedicated to Napoleon's friends in
adversity — Marshals Durve and Bertrand, and the
pavement is decorated with a crown of laurels in
mosaic. The gallery in which the body now lies
contains the sword worn at Austerlitz ; the colors
taken in different battles; the insignia worn on
State occasions; and the Crown of Gold voted to
the emperor by the town of Cherbourg.
Obedient to my own impulse, as well as to the
genius of France, the Tomb of Napoleon received
my first homage as a pilgrim to the " sacred places "
of Paris. The morning was mild and cloudless.
The placid Seine looked all unconscious of the
wretched suicides who nightly plunge into its
bosom : " Mad from life's history,
Glad to death's mystery.
Swift to be hurled —
Anywhere, anywhere
Out of the world."
The Carnival had just closed, and six damp

214 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
corpses were lying in the Morgue, waiting to be
recognized. The number of dead bodies daily
raised from the river always doubles during the
fete days. In the mad carousal some lose their
money, some their virtue, some their wits ; and so,
to make a shocking pun, on a shocking subject,
they rush va.-Seme. But this is a digression. We
cross the river (scarcely worthy of the name to an
American eye), which divides the city into the
" Eight " and " Left ;" pass through the Faubourg
St. Germain; and join the miscellaneous crowds,
who, with heads bare and voices hushed to silence,
are pressing in to look at the tomb. I have seldom,
perhaps never, seen so much reverence expressed in
the living human face as here, while the devout
procession intently gazes and slowly retires. The
sailor and the soldier ; the gamin and the grisette ;
the fine lady and the flaunting lorette, the high and
the low; the rich and the poor; the old and the
young; the citizen and the stranger — all pause
reverently, almost breathlessly, in the presence of
these cold and silent cinders, whose living spark is
still "the star of Empire and of destiny" to a whole
hemisphere of humanity. The souvenirs of -Napo
leon are the perpetual inspiration of France ; and
his name is the harbinger and the synonym of glory.
No other name among men awakens such fiery re-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 215
collections; and none can so arouse a nation to
" lofty deeds and daring high." Let them who will
cast stones on the Tomb of the Hero ; it is surely
more humane, and more Christian, to add a votive
flower of honest admiration, or even of regret, to
the unfading wreath of immortelles with which the
living love to crown the dead, who have stamped
their own individuality upon long ages of national
history and of human destiny. In Paris, the genius
of Napoleon is omnipresent ; in the monuments ; in
the arts; in the magnificent public works; and,
above all, in the grateful memory of the people.
It is difficult to associate such a mighty influence,
such a living principle with the idea of death.
But there is Napoleon's tomb ; there his coffin ;
there his sword ; there the last habiliments that he
wore. And here, in a bed of adamantine porphyry,
lined with thick sheets of granite —
" He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle,
No sound can awake him to glory again."
Eetuming from the Tomb, and passing the Tuil-
eries, I noticed an indiscriminate crowd gathering
upon the sidewalks, and gazing very earnestly at
the gateway of the Palace. Presently, drums were
beaten within the court; the guard, who were
" standing at ease " outside, rushed in and formed a

216 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
line ; then a couple of outriders in gold laced coats
shot out, followed by a magnificent open coach and
four, in which the Empress was seated, with a
Maid of Honor at her side. Eugenie is elegant,
rather than beautiful ; and her graceful manner of
bowing to the populace, is not only conciliating
but winning. She is exceedingly popular with all
classes of the Parisians ; and her tasteful toilette
regulates the feminine fashions of the world. She
is very fond of driving, and usually goes out in the
state I have described.
Driving yesterday in the Bois du Boulogne, where
the equipages might have been counted by thous
ands, the approach of postillions and a cavalcade of
cuirassiers, led me to look for the passing of the
Emperor ; when lo, the superb barouche rolled by,
with only the imperial baby and his noble nurse !
A great deal more show than substance. But that
" blessed baby," the Prince Imperial, is a fine little
three year old, who looks as if he were made of
good milk and blood, with a large, wondering sort
of an eye, that seems already to have a dreamy
vision of the "All hail hereafter !" The little fellow's
cradle is well watched, and his carriage closely
guarded. In about half an hour after his little
highness had disappeared, the Emperor himself
came trotting by on a very fine horse, accompanied

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 217
by a couple of grooms, and some half dozen gentle
men — quite an undistinguished party in appear
ance, except for the golden garniture of the grooms.
On arriving near the Triumphal Arch, the Emperor
dismounted, jumped into his New York wagon,
with a couple of footmen behind, took the ribbons
in his own hands, and let out his American trotters
at about a four minute pace, across the Champs
Elysees, and down the Eue de Eivoli, in a half
business-like, half sportsmanlike manner. Louis
Napoleon is an expert horseman, and a decided
horse fancier. His liberal patronage of blood and
speed has raised the price of horse flesh the world
over. As I have the most respectful admiration
for a beautiful horse (next to a beautiful woman
the finest creature alive), I am counting on a great
treat in a promised visit to the " Emperor's stables."
The stables of the "Napoleon Circus," which I have
already seen, contain about sixty horses, and
among them some remarkably fine animals. These
stables are lighted with gas, and are entirely
inodorous. But I must hold up on horses, only
adding that the carriage horses here are splendid
animals, large ahd showy ; and I am glad to notice
that there is not a " bob tail nag " in Paris. Such
barbarous curtailment is only tolerated by " outside
barbarians." Rosa Bonheur's horses — round, sleek,
10

218 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
dappled greys, with twisted tails are seen every
where. The Parisian ladies do not seem to be as
fond of riding as the English ; and they do not ride
as well. A thorough-bred English woman, mounted
on a thorough-bred horse, is one of the finest sights
in the world.
Perhaps the ladies would like a word or two
touching the fashions. Let me then assure them
that crinoline is subsiding. I do not believe that
the haut ton of Paris have ever worn hoops of such
vast rotundity as we have seen in New York ; and,
without being too curious on the subject, I haA^e
come to the conclusion that the Parisian skirt, as
now worn, is made of some more flexible material
than steel. At all events, it yields more easily and
gracefully in a crowd.
Bonnets are gradually coming over the face, par
ticularly over the middle of the forehead. The
grisettes are the orily bare headed women one sees
in the streets, and they all wear caps ! Trailing
dresses are never worn, except in carriages and
drawing-rooms; and street dresses are more subdued
in cut and color than we are accustomed to meet in
Broadway. Fondness of show is a middle-class
American weakness ; the moment a lady gets a
dashing new dress, she must out with it for exhibi
tion on the side walk. The Parisian ladies keep

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 219
their more stunning " habits " within doors. The
whole city of Paris seems to be one vast bazaar of
millinery, jewelry, and jimcrackery, and all the
goods are exposed in the windows. The Cafes, of
which there are no less than five hundred in the
space of a mile and a half on the Boulevards, seem
.to do all the business. They are thronged at all
hours, by women as well as men ; while hundreds,
day and night, are sitting on the sidewalk, sipping
their coffee and cogniac. France drinks about four
times as much coffee as tea ; while England drinks
about four times as much tea as coffee. There is
some significance in this, " if philosophy could find
it out."As the Irishman in Cincinnati said, " every other
man he met was a pig," so here in Paris, every
other man is a soldier or a priest. I don't know
why it is, but, as Topsey says, " I s'pose it's cause
Ise so wicked," but I never can meet one of these
black spiders in long robes without a feeling of
peculiar protestant irritation in the toes. They may
be a necessary part of the social machinery ; but
 well, I won't discuss the subject while on my
way to Borne, lest the Jesuits should mistake me
for Lola Montez in disguise. One can tolerate the
soldier, notwithstanding he is a tax upon the body
politic, for there is something downright and hearty

220 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
in his business. At all events, there is nothing
hypocritical or sneaking in it. But as for the sleek
and sanctimonious priest, who " shows me the steep
and thorny way to heaven, while himself the prim
rose path of dalliance treads " — but this will never
do ! There is coming an insurrection in Italy; and
an effort to strip the papal Papa of temporal power;
and I don't intend to be mixed up in the muss.
The best informed men here think " the Empire,"
just now, means " War ;" and, from all I can learn,
the masses are rather in favor of the game. The
army evidently wants it.
The Americans in Paris are not quite so plentiful
as usual, the tide having set southward during the
Carnival. And yet one meets them everywhere ;
and among other, not particularly creditable speci
mens, are the boys " in their teens," whose foolish
"governors" allow them to throw- away money
here at the rate of a hundred dollars a day. As
" extravagant as an American " has become a pro
verb in Paris ; and none of our national follies is
more laughed at than this. Every vulgar specu
lator who has blundered into a fortune, brings or
sends his uncouth cubs here to be "polished;" and
starting upon the fallacy that " money makes the
gentleman," they play the farce of the monkey
shinning up a pole, to the great delectation of the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 221
Parisians, and to the equal disgust of their country
men. To call the excesses Avhich they commit
beastly, would be a gross injustice to the brute
creation. If, sometimes, we are harshly judged by
men of high intelligence and refinement abroad, let
us remember the " hard specimens " we send them,
and be charitable.

222 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ', OR,

Life in Paris.
The Carnival— Lorettes and Pirouettes— Sunday Amusements-
Butterfly Philosophy— Parisian Women— The Benign Reign of
Napoleon— The Opera— A Grand Concert— The Emperor at the
Theatre — Grisi, Mario, and Alboni. Hotel du Louvre, Paris.
March IT, 1859.
The river of life in the city of Paris reminds one of
the rapids on the brink of Niagara; a merry,
sparkling, dancing rush, utterly careless, or bliss
fully unconscious of the inevitable abyss which suc
ceeds and swallows all. I arrived here on the last
day of the Carnival, when the revelry was at its
height, culminating and concluding in a grand bal
masque at the theatre of the Grand Opera. The
crowd was crushing ; and the feat of the evening
was rather shocking to one unaccustomed to the
saucy audacity of the Parisian lorette. The women
were required to appear in masks ; but the prettiest
of them showed their faces as well as their "paces"
before they had been long on the floor.
The "feat" above alluded to consisted in the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 223
daring attempt on the part of the dancing damsel,
in her startling pirouettes, to take off her partner's
hat by the tip of her toe ! And this was continually
done, no matter how tall the gentleman thus
honored. It seemed as if every woman on the floor
was a professional dancer, and as supple, if not as
graceful, as an Elssler, or a Taglioni. The ball
opened at midnight, and closed about seven in the
morning. Everybody seemed exhilarated, but no
body was intoxicated, except by the music, which
consisted of a band of two hundred and fifty per
formers, led by Strauss. Thus ended the Carnival
in Paris, and the next day, until evening, the city
was comparatively quiet ; but on the following
Sunday everybody was out for a holiday. All the
fancy shops and fancy saloons were1 open ; the Bois
du Boulogne was thronged with carriages, the
Champs Elys^es filled with pedestrians, the Gar
dens of the Tuileries covered with white-capped
bonnes as thick as daisies, each " minding a baby,"
while the Boulevards looked like a Fourth of July
without the flags and fire-crackers.
On retiring from the sanctuary, the Parisian
devotee is ready for any sort of amusement that
can be had " for love or money." In the evening
(Sunday) the theatres are thronged, and the cafes
and casinos crowded. The latter are public ball
rooms, where gentlemen pay three francs for admis-

224 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
sion, and the ladies, or lorettes, are admitted free.
In the " Latin Quarter," at a place called the
"Prado," the students and the grisettes flock to
gether, and make a night of night, dancing in hats,
overcoats, shawls, etc. The saloons are brilliantly
lighted, and the music is of the very best quality.
And thus passes Sunday, even during Lent, in this
city of Paris. It is one continued whirl of giddy
excitement, in which men and women, old and
young, seem to have no other thought than how to
extract the most exciting pleasure from the passing
hour. " Do you never think t" said a pensively-
philosophical gentleman to a gay and laughing
lorette who was showing him through the picture
palace of Yersailles. " Never beyond the night,"
was her naive reply. " But," added he, " do you
never reflect upon what must be the end of this life
of pleasure you are leading ?" " Oh, no," was the
light and lively answer ; " I may die ; I may marry ;
I may throw myself into the Seine ; n'importe !"
And this is the philosophy of Paris. Suffering and
sorrow there may he, must be, even here, but one
never sees a sad face in the street, while in all the
saloons and caKs of the city there is a fullness of
life, an exuberance of joyousness, which almost
makes one forget that a human heartache can exist
in the world.
As a general rule, the women of Paris are not

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 225
handsome — but there is something indescribably
neat, and trim, and fascinating, about them, which
more than compensates for any lack of Avhat is
usually regarded as purely personal beauty. They
are full of vivacity, of esprit ; and there is aje-ne-
sais-quoi-sity about them, in their manner, thought,
feeling and philosophy, that can only be described
as Parisian. They take much more pains to please
in httle things than either the American or English
women ; and, after all, it is these affectionate trifles
that fascinate and fix us. A Parisian woman seems
to study every whim of the man she loves. She
will bring his slippers, light the alumette for his
cigar, pour out his wine, sing to him, play to him,
dance for him — anything and everything to' delight
him ; and all with such a pleasant grace, and pretty
prattle, as to make the charm and the chain of love
complete. And then they always have a flower on
their tables, in their windows, in their hair, and in
their bosoms, which gives them a sort of rose-geran
ium look and odor, that is particularly agreeable.
Instead of finesseing in the cheating game of matri
mony, they are only anxious to find, and to retain,
a lover. Sufficient for the day are the pleasures
thereof, is the very religion of Paris. No wonder
that disciples to such a creed flock here, to indulge
in such an Epicurean worship, from all parts of the.
10*

226 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
world. And Louis Napoleon is certainly contribut
ing to the attraction, by making the entire city one
vast Palace of Pleasure. Every nuisance is being
abated ; every unsightly object removed, under
the imperial magic of " the one man power."
The Americans, and other foreigners, who arrive
here swearing at the Emperor, very soon come to
swear by him. Toward Paris, at least, all his
plans look benevolent. The streets are clean ; the
new buildings are uniform ; the police is omni
present ; the palaces of art are free to the public ;
the cabmen are civil and their rates are low ; beg
gars are banished; and the Bois du Boulogne,
where the imperial family daily mix with the
nobility and the masses, is the most enchanting
drive in the world. The Emperor and Empress are
frequent visitors at the theatres, and there are no
present indications of the fabrication of any more
" infernal machines." The most guarded person of
the palace is the pretty little Prince Imperial,
whose carriage is always surrounded by a corps of
cavalry. But the Emperor dashes about with his
fast trotters a V Americaine, without a guard, and
apparently without fear. A man whose carriage
has been pierced with forty-three fragments from
an exploding machine, aimed at his life, while- both
himself and the Empress are not even touched,

LLFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 227
may well have confidence in his destiny. Louis
Napoleon believes that he was not born to be assas
sinated, and cherishes, as every man should, im
plicit faith in his own presentiments.
Of the theatrical amusements in Paris, I, shall
have more to say hereafter. At the Opera Comique,
in the " Crown Diamonds," I have seen two charm
ing prima donnas — Bruille and Belia; both are
beautiful women, fine singers, and excellent artists.
Last evening, there was a very grand concert, under
the patronage of the Empress, for the benefit of
poor little girls, at which Frezzilini, Grisi, Mario,
Alboni, and other public artistes, assisted ; and also
M'me Conneau, a very beautiful and fashionable
amateur. The tickets were twenty francs ; and the
sum realized must have been very large, as the
"Imperial Italian Theatre" was crowded in every
part with, the " creme de la creme " of the Paris
aristocracy, who came out in full force and feather,
making a splendid show of brilliants and bare
necks, exhibiting at once their charms and their
charity. As it was altogether one of the choicest
and grandest concerts ever given in Paris, I give
the programme for the especial benefit of music-
loving readers :
Premiire Partie — Ouverture de " La Gazza Ladra," Bosini;
" La Oharite," K'mes Oonneau, Grisi et choeurs— Eosini ; aria

228 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
de " La Straniera," M. Oorsi — Bellini ; duo " Turco in Italia,"
M'me Oonneau, M. Zucchini — Eosini; "Noel," M. Eobin —
Adam; duo "Eoberto d'Evereux," M'me Grisi, M.Mario —
Donizetti. Deuxieme, Partie. — Duo " Mose," M. Miraglia, M. Oorsi —
Eossini; air "Puritani," M'me Frezzilini — Bellini; duo
" Gazza Ladra," M'me Oonneau, M'me Alboni — Eossini ;
"Otello," romanza, M'me Grisi — Eossini; arietta de " Ool-
lumella," Jt. Zucchini — Fioravanti ; " Eigoletto," quatuor,
M'mes Frezzolini, Alboni, MM. Mario, Corsi— -Verdi.
Troisieme Partie. — Bomance pour piano, " Jota Aragon-
ese," M'lle Marie Marchand — Mendelssohn ; " Trovatore,"
Miserere, M'me Cormeau, M. Mario, chceurs — Verdi; "Italini
in Algeri," trio, MM. Miraglia, Oorsi, Zucchini— Eossini ;
Oavatine de " Betly," M'me Alboni — Donizetti ; " Matrimo-
nio Segreto," trio, M'mes Oonneau, Grisi, Alboni — Oimarosa ;
"Mose," priere, M'mes Oonneau, Grisi, MM. Mario, Kobin—
Eossini. The Emperor was present, and applauded every
performance with discriminate enthusiasm. He
used his lorgnette with great freedom, scanning
with equal scrutiny the artistes and the audience.
Louis Napoleon does not impress one so much by
his personal presence as by his political position,
or, dramatically speaking, the majesty of his "situ
ation." He is short in stature, and not particu
larly remarkable in appearance. His forehead has
a retreating outline, owing to the fullness of the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 229
perceptive faculties. In the region of firmness and
self-esteem, his head is signally marked.
When his majesty entered his box, there was a
general clapping of hands, which he cordially
acknowledged by bowing to the audience before tak
ing his seat. He was plainly dressed in black, with
a white cravat, and accompanied by three gentle
men only. The artists all bowed first to the Empe
ror before leaving the stage. Grisi and Mario have
both grown a little stouter since leaving the United
States, while the fresh and riante Alboni remains
in statu quo. They all exerted themselves on this
occasion to their utmost ; and I never heard them, or
other artists, sing so well. Alboni, who lives in
an elegant palace of her own in the Champs Ely-
s^es, is engaged in Paris for four years, with Grisi
and Mario ; and they are now playing " Don Gio
vanni " at the Italian Opera House, with an im
mense cast. It is a great treat to be there.

230 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE;

Matters and Things in Paris.
The Sickles Tragedy — Jealousy — The Paris Verdict — Madame Gue-
rabella — Bogus Counts — Dr. Gaillardet — Count Sartiges — Ameri
cans in Paris — Judge Mason — Consul Spencer — A Grand Review
— A Monster Concert — Versailles — The Peace Congress.
Hotel du Louvre,
March — , 1859.
The Sickles tragedy is the prominent topic of
discussion in the cafes of Paris. The French theory
(and perhaps the correct one) is, that the really
guilty party in the sad affair is the writer of the
anonymous note, the meddlesome informer, who is
presumed to be a woman jealous of Mrs. Sickles.
" Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
There is a lady here who knows a certain widow in
Washington to whom Mr. Key had been for some
time very devoted, who has been made miserable
for a twelvemonth by the pangs of jealousy. Did
she play the part of lago in the bloody drama?
Perhaps. What is it that Shakspere says about
"him who is Avronged, not knowing that he is

231

SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,

wronged," etc., etc. " I found not Cassio's kisses on
her lips," says Othello ; and surely, if ever ignorance
is bliss, it is in a case like this. The London "Times,"
in an article on the Washington tragedy, attributes
the savage justice of Sickles to the savage condition
of American society. The "Times" should remem
ber that when a gentleman in England discovers a
poacher on his manor he shoots down the trespasser
with impunity. Is not a man's wife a more sacred
piece of private property than his sheep pasture ? '
The popular conclusion here, is, that the verdict in
the Sickles case will be, " served him right y" and
that the effect of such summary vengeance will tend
to a greater caution in the display of " signals."
The society of Washington seems to have a little of
the looseness of Paris, without the refinements ; the
temptations without the opportunities. Here the
old classic aphorism is reversed ; and only Hymen
is blind, while Love is particularly wide awake.
There has been some excitement in the musical
circles of Paris, especially among the Americans,
by the debut, at the Italian opera, of Madame
Guerabella as Elvira, in the opera of Don Gio
vanni. She is the daughter of Samuel Ward, Esq.,
of New York, now American Consul at Bristol,
England, and a grand-daughter of the late Gideon
Lee, and is somewhat celebrated for her personal

232 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
beauty. It was the possession of this " fatal gift"
that led her to marry a Eussian count, who soon
cruelly abandoned his fair young bride ; but mad-
ame, the injured Countess, in company with her in
dignant mother, pursued the faithless fugitive to
St. Petersburg, and made her complaint to the
Emperor, who compelled the Count to legalize the
marriage, and at the same instant to sign a docu
ment of divorce. Having accomplished her pur
pose, the Countess accomplishes herself for the
stage ; and her beauty and talent, particularly the
former, have secured her an engagement in Paris.
She has been singing a week, and every night the
house is densely crowded ; but, I am sorry to add,
that on one or two evenings she has been most un-
gallantly hissed. This, however, may be owing to
a claque, bribed by another prima donna, who is
jealous of the personal charms of the handsome
debutante. Such tricks are quite common in Paris.
But Madame Guerabella's handsome form and face,
with her pretty American hands and feet, will carry
her through in spite of any little vocal- deficiencies,
which time may enable her to overcome. It is a
most fortunate thing for our young American girls
who form " entangling alliances" Avith bogus barons
and courier counts, that they have a natural capital
of beauty and talent to fall back upon. If I might

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 233
venture to give a word of advice to our boarding-
school beauties who come out to Paris to fledge, it
would be simply a suggestion to refer to the police
records of the city, before accepting the matrimo
nial ring from the hands of any of those Continental
counts. There, for instance, they will find a minute
history of the dashing Count  , whose name is
known on both sides of the Atlantic, and whose
mother, still living, is a respectable fishwoman of
Marseilles. He is just now flourishing in the service
of a somewhat notorious New York " femme de
Paris," who keeps half a dozen carriages, and makes
a brilliant display in the Bois du Boulogne.
In a walk in the Boulevards yesterday I met the
notorious Gaillardet, the fugitive from justice and
Officer Baker, with the red ribbon of " honor " in
his button-hole ! The American papers contain the
rumor that the Count Sartiges has been recalled.
This is not true. It is understood that the Count, who
has had a fine house built in Paris during the past
year, would like to reside here, but on the con
dition of his being appointed senator, which I have
the best authority for stating cannot be done. The
senators are appointed for life, with the comfortable
salary of six thousand dollars a year. Among the
Americans in Paris, who are living in elegant style,
and whose hospitalities are proverbial and princely,

234 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
are James Phalen, Esq., Charles Astor Bristed,
Esq., Mr. Butterfield and the Hon. Hamilton Fish.
The latter is one of "nature's noblemen." He is
looking forward with great pleasure to the coming
summer to take him home to NeAV York. Bristed
trots the fastest horses on the Bois ; but  sits the
highest in his seat. Mr. Consul Spencer and Judge
Mason both entertain their countrymen, who come
with suitable social claims, handsomely and gener
ously ; and the latter is decidedly more popular
with the Americans in Paris than certain journals
at home would make us believe. Mr. Mason seems
to be in excellent health and spirits, and is con
stantly occupied in attending to the endless wants
of "the universal Yankee nation." His honest,
homely manners and frank and hearty way of talk
ing present a not unpleasant contrast to the ordin
ary stiffness of diplomacy, and render the judge a
decided favorite even at the Tuileries. Mr. Consul
Spencer, like Mr. Joseph E. Chandler, our minister
at Naples, is a zealous Catholic, who regards
Eomanism as a great and glorious institution. It
is a singular coincidence that both of these " repre
sentative men " should hail from the Quaker city
of Philadelphia.
On Sunday last I Avitnessed the review of sixty
thousand troops in the Champs de Mars. It was a

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 235
gay and glittering spectacle. When the Emperor
entered the field, mounted on his beautiful bay and
surrounded by his brilliant staff, the long lines
simultaneously presented arms, making a flash of
silver in the bright sunshine. The Empress
Eugenie looking as lovely as a lily in her white hat
and plumes, seated in an open barouche, followed
the imperial cavalcade; and, with her graceful,
comprehensive bows and sweet smiles, gleaned all
hearts not already harvested by the Emperor. The
field was surrounded by a deep fringe of the popu
lace, estimated at 400,000 ; and among them were
thinly sprinkled the veterans of the Old Guard in
cocked hats and surtouts, after the fashion of the
Great Napoleon, many of them minus a leg or .an
arm, and exhibiting the scars of many a well-fought
field. Although the crowd in the streets was im
mense, there was not the slightest disorder, neither
was there any cheering on the approach of the
Emperor. From the Champs de Mars we drove to the
Palais d'Industrie, where a concert was given by
six thousand singers, and to about thirty thousand
listeners. The building was packed full in every
part — acres of human heads, whose upturned faces
presented a sort of mosaic of the most extraordinary
character, blending in the dim distance into undis-

236 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
tinguishable surface. The singing was like the
" voice of many waters." On coming out of the
Palace, I found the Champs Elysees, the Garden of
the Tuileries and the Place de la Concorde also
thronged, making the whole city seem like one vast
ant-hill, and human life as cheap as flies. The
Palace of Yersailles converts my pen into a silent
exclamation point. Its grounds, its buildings, its
fountains, its paintings utterly overwhelm the eye,
the memory, and the imagination with their vast-
ness and richness, with their grandeur and their
glory. The Palace is not now inhabited, but is kept
in perfect order. It is about twelve miles from
Paris, and is reached by railroad. Of course, every
stranger visits it, and everybody struggles to wreak
his enthusiasm on paper, either for the public or
for some private eye. But there are dreams too
beautiful for words — memories so vaguely delicious
that it would be a profanation to attempt to articu
late them. And of such is the unimaginable beauty
of the Palace of Yersailles.
The proposal for a Peace Congress has made
buoyant the Bourses and the bosoms of all Europe.
Only the speculators in human blood seem de
pressed by the pacific turn of events.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 237

Pere La Chaise.
The Bomance of Death — The Commerce of the Grave — Devotion
to the Dead-v-The Pantheon of Paris — Abelard and Eloise — The
Opera — Tamberlik — Penco — Frezzolini — Meyerbeer's New Opera.
Hotel du Louvre, Paris, March 80, 1859.
The true Pantheon of Paris is to be found in the
beautiful necropolis of Pere La Chaise, for there
repose the ashes, and there are recorded the names
of the very divinities of France.
Egotism is not only pardonable — it is altogether
indispensable in letter- writing ; therefore, I will
simply relate an account of my visit to this beau
tiful cemetery, where one, perhaps for the first
time, feels the strange exhilaration of the romance
of death ! It was Sunday. The sky was cloudless.
All Paris was abroad. My companion was a lovely
woman, whose brilliant beauty was shaded and
softened by a recent touch of the death-angel's
wing. The mother's heart was broken ; and sym
pathy with her great sorrow was a fit preparation

238 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
for the mournful, yet beautiful de\*otions of Pere
La Chaise. We enter the city of the dead through
a street that seems to be entirely employed in the
sacred commerce of the grave. Not only monu
ments, obelisks, and all sorts of mortuary devices
line the way on either side ; but wreaths of
" immortelles," white and yellow ; and baskets and
bouquets of living flowers are hung in all the win
dows ; and offered for sale at every door. Leaving
the carriage at the gateway, we enter the paved
street which leads to the summit and the centre of
the cemetery. Eows of cypress and willow line the
avenues ; and the mansions of the dead are almost
as compactly built as the houses of the living on
the other side of the walls. Most of the large
tombs are in the form of a small chapel ; and all
are decorated with flowers, either fresh or withered,
natural or artificial. In some we see a crucifix ; in
others, a Christ on the Cross ; in others, a picture
of the Yirgin ; and in many there are seats, where
the mourners sit and read and pray ; nursing at
once the beautiful little forget-me-nots, Avhich
bloom so sweetly within the shadow of the tomb,
and the pale flowers of remembrance in their own
sad hearts.
Gay, bright, pleasure-seeking Paris never seems
so much in earnest as in its devotions to the dead.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 239
All ranks, ages and conditions unite here in paying
hearty homage to the tomb. Children are strewing
flowers on the graves of their parents ; and parents
are watering the rose-buds upon the graves of their
little ones. Husbands and wives, who never
deemed fidelity a duty in life, become suddenly
faithful to the remains of the departed, showing
more affection for the worthless casket that is left
than for the priceles jewel that is gone. In the
cypress groves of Pere la Chaise every mourner is a
lover, and at every tomb there seems to be a sacred
assignation, upon which the stranger fears to intrude.
One feels in walking about here as if he were guilty
of interrupting the secret amours of the dead! I
know not why; it may be, perhaps, because Ave
stand here in the eternal bridal chamber of Abelard
and Eloise, whose tomb not only makes Pere la
Chaise the classic graveground of the world, but
whose memories consecrate the passion and secure
the immortality of human love ; yet death seems
here more like a wedding than a funeral ; and a sen
timent too serene for sorrow fills the fragrant atmo
sphere of the place, and gushes out in strains of joy
ous melody from the throat of "ilka bird that sings o'
its love " in these blooming, nuptial bowers of death ;
while the white-robed ones so sweetly sleep in their
silent chambers " until the bridegroom cometh."

240 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
I have called Pere la Chaise the Pantheon of Paris.
Let us read a few of the names upon the doors of
these " narrow houses :" Moliere ; Eacine ; Lafon-
taine ; Casimir Delavigne ; Dupuytren ; Talma ; La
place ; Gay Lussac ; Macdonald ; St. Cyr ; Mas-
sena ; Ney ; Beauharnais ; Genlis ; Junot ; Boiel-
dieu ; Martignac ; Madame Cottin ; Bellini ; Che-
rubini; Eachel; Beranger, and his Judith Frere,
the poet's immortal " Lisette." What a gathering
of the great names of France ? What a mingling
of " dust, Avhich, even in itself, is immortality !"
And how calmly they sleep ! Ashes that once were
fire, are now cold and still. There is no more revo
lution here — until the final resurrection.
The cemetery of Pere la Chaise derives its name
from the Father Confessor of Louis XIY., and for
about a hundred and fifty years it was occupied by
the Jesuits, as a sort of palatial country seat, it hav
ing been presented to the order by a female devo
tee. It is beautifully situated on high ground, in
the northeastern part of Paris, overlooking the city
and a vast extent of country. It was opened as a
cemetery in 1804, and in its two hundred and
twelve acres there are probably not less than a
million of graves. A section of the ground is ap
propriated to " the poor," who have no gold to gild
their graves, but whose floral tributes seem none

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 241
the less abundant. The Jews and Mussulmans, as
well as " the Christians," have their sacred, secta
rian " inclosures." In the mosque of the Mohamme
dans lie the bodies of the Queen and the Prince of
Oude ; while the surviving prince is daily dashing
through the " Bois " in black plumes and glittering
vestments. But I must not linger longer in this
beautiful garden of the dead. It is a sweet and
fascinating place ; and I can no longer marvel at
the sentimentalism that covets the cypress shaded
street of Pere la Chaise as a " last, long home."
The dreary loneliness of the grave is banished from
the spot where the living never cease their loving
pigils ; and where the flowers of remembrance are
not only bedewed and renewed from day to day,
and from year to year, but from generation to gene
ration ; and from century to century. Fresh wreaths
are daily laid upon the tomb of Abelard and Eloise,
and the sweet offerings will never cease, so long as
a human heart lives to mourn " the love that fate
forbids ;" or to cherish the love that cannot die ; at
once the devotees and the victims of
 " That Faith,

Whose martyrs are the broken heart."
Almost every tombstone solicits a prayer for the
dead. My orthodoxy, or heterodoxy, I scarcely
11

242 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
know which, suggests that it is too late ; but if too
late for the dead, surely it is not too late for the
living. A prayer can only benefit him who prays.
So — " pries pour lui."
To return to the land of the living. On Saturday
evening last I heard the great tenor Tamberlik for
the first time. It was in the opera of " Trovatore ;"
and he sang gloriously. He is younger, stronger,
and, on the whole, better than Mario. M'me Penco
was the " Leonora," and M'lle Acs did the r61e of
the Gipsy ; the latter only so-so ; but Penco was
very good. She does not, however, compare favora
bly with Frezzolini in this part, who is considered
here as one of the most correct and artistic singers
in Paris. Her school is perfect ; and since her
return to Europe (or, as the critics here say, since
she is like a bottle of Madeira, " de retour de
l'Inde), she has grown stronger, handsomer, and in
every sense more attractive. M'me Frezzolini intends
going to the United States in June next. Her for
mer visit was interrupted; and as she "likes the
country and the people, she means to see more of
them." I understand she declines all engagements,
but will manage her own affairs. She is very
popular in Paris, among the higher classes, and is
much sought after to sing at the private concerts
and soirees of the rich bankers and notabilities.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 243
But all the musical circles of Paris are just now on
the qui vive for Meyerbeer's new opera, " Le Par
don de Ploermel," which will be brought out in a
few days with great splendor. All the seats have
been taken for the first night, for a month back.

244 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,

From Paris to Florence.
Adieu and au revoir — A Calypso Island — Unsophisticated Inno-
— cence — The Tree of Knowledge — Modesty of Parisian Vices —
A Pleasant Incident — Lady  French Railways — Forests of
Fontainebleau — Lyons — The Mediterranean — Marseilles — The
Steamer Pausillipe — English Nobs and Snobs — Americans Abroad
— Genoa — Its Odors and Black Spiders — Leghorn — Meeting of
the Sisters — Pisa — Florence. Hotel d'Europe, Florence, April, 1859.
It is not an easy thing to break away from Paris,
the very Paradise of social and intellectual plea
sures ; but there is a difference between the words
" adieu," and " au revoir ;" and I drove to the
Lyons Station with the promise of the latter in my
heart. To one whose senses are all ahve and
active, Paris is a sort of " Calypso Island," and
the longer we linger the stronger the charm — a
charm composed of many elements, which I cannot
now stop to analyze. At the risk of being con
sidered " green ;" or perhaps accused of a lack of
philosophical curiosity, I left Paris innocent of all
those disgusting "sights" and " scenes" so greedily

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 245
patronized by foreigners, and more especially by
Americans. It may have been a namby-pamby
vegetable sort of existence with " our first parents "
before " eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good
and Evil." Nevertheless, all Adam's posterity,
from that day to this, have been wishing they
"hadn't done it." I do not pretend to know
Paris, as I know little of its sins and its miseries.
Externally, all is fair and beautiful. The streets
exhibit no nuisances, no beggars, no drunkards ;
nothing to offend the eye or the ear (but too often
the nose) of the most fastidious. Every shop
window is a study in art; every vista a picture;
and almost every face one meets looks careless and
happy. The vices of Paris are not obtrusive. They
never pluck one by the sleeve, even in the ob
scurest portions of the city. However great the
deception may be, it is the religion of the Parisian
to seem gay, if not happy ; and many a face goes
masked in smiles with the pangs of hunger gnaw
ing at the heart. A " triste figure " is an intoler
able offence in Paris.
But I must awake from this epicurean dream.
Italy — Eome are before me. The angel Hope
stands ready to mitigate every parting regret by
whispering pleasant promises of " glories yet to be
revealed."

246 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
The morning was bright and balmy, the 5th of
April, and the air as mild as a New York June.
It was nearly a twelve hours' journey to Lyons,
and I had the prospect of enjoying the next very
best thing to the best of company — silent solitude,
and uninterrupted observation and reflection. But
in travelling one is always meeting " incidents by
the way," and I had the good fortune to encounter
a very agreeable one in the railway carriage from
Paris. Of course, it was in the shape of a woman,
and by no means an every-day one. Among the
crowd in the waiting-room at the station, I saw but
one person sufficiently remarkable in appearance to
arrest the eye, or to excite curiosity. A tall lady,
richly dressed in black, with an air of extraordinary
insouciance, and self-possession, stood talking with
a voluble Httle German, whose deferential manner,
and universal information touching all the ways
and means of continental travel, readily defined his
position as that of Courier,1 commencing every sen
tence he uttered, with " Yes, my lady ;" " No, my
lady ;" or, " If your ladyship please.'? By some
mysterious force of gravitation, explainable, per
haps, on " the principle of the apple," I soon found
myself in the same " voiture," and vis-d-vis to the
lovely Lady  , who proved to be too good a cos
mopolitan to require " a regular introduction " before

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 247
entering into conversation. The young widow of
a veteran English nobleman, with an ample for
tune, robust health, liberal education, a passionate
love of art, and who has suffered just enough to
ripen and mellow, without wilting and souring,
it will be admitted by all men, at least, possesses
rare elements for pleasant society. It is not neces
sary to add that the time and distance from Paris.
to Lyons, from Lyons to Marseilles, from Mar
seilles to Genoa, from Genoa to Leghorn, and from
Leghorn to Florence, have been very considerably
abridged by the charming conversation of my acci
dental companion.
The French railways are admirable in all respects.
The carriages are comfortable; the conductors
polite; the roads well made; the refreshment
stations sumptuously provided; and the way the
trains come up to time is really wonderful. I do
not recollect that, in all the distance from Paris to
Marseilles, we were either ahead of, or behind time
a single minute. So mechanically punctual are
the arrivals and departures, that all the time-pieces
in the neighborhood are regulated by the move
ments of the trains. On leaving Paris, we pass
through a rich, highly-cultivated, and exquisitely-
picturesque country. Of the far -famed Forest of
Fontainebleau, we catch but tantalizing glimpses.

248 SPAEKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
Enough, however, is revealed to give one a touch
of the enchantment, inspiring a dreamy hope of
future wanderings beneath the soft shadows, and by
the " still waters " of those royal groAres.
We passed the night at Lyons — a large and
thrifty city, famous, as all the world knows, for its
silk manufactories. A comfortable hotel; a good
supper ; a refreshing bath, and a nice bed, soon
won the " angel sleep," who came down with a pro
found blessing. Another crystal morning; an
early promenade among the flower-girls in the
Park ; a delicious roll and a bottle of claret, and we
are again en train for Marseilles. The day grows
warm ; the garrulous tongue of the courier grows
weary; Lady  exhausts her vocabulary of
superlatives in venting her admiration of the varied
and lovely panorama flashing by. Farms, gardens,
villages, cities, chateaus, ancient castles, "ruins
hoary," mountains, valleys, rivers, tunnels — all
mingle in kaleidoscopic confusion ; and —
" Like the Borealis race,
Flit ere you their forms can trace."
Now we roll for many miles over a prairie-like
level, covered with innumerable flocks of sheep;
when the blue horizon seems to approach nearer
and nearer. Startled at the phenomenon, we gaze

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 249
more intently ; and find that the blue curtain of the
skies has not fallen down ; only we see it reflected
in the bright mirror of the Mediterranean, spread
out so calmly before us.
Marseilles looks business-like. There is an
American activity about the wharves; while the
long rows of steamers and sailing vessels make a
New Yorker feel quite at home. It seems easy
from this point to compass the globe, as one can
embark here, at almost any hour, for any port in the
world. The city is flourishing under the new im
pulse given it by Louis Napoleon, who is every
where breathing the breath of life into France.
I have neither time nor taste for statistics. Be
sides, I have no desire to infringe upon the copyright
of "Murray," whose indispensable "guides" are in
the hands of every traveller.
I had only from 4 o'clock p.m. to 11 o'clock of
the following day, to devote to the commercial
metropolis of France ; scarcely time to take an im
pression ; much less, to form an opinion. The hotel
" Beauveau," on the quay, was the selection of the
courier. I will only say of it, that the views from
the windows were vastly more agreeable than the
odors. But it is necessary to habituate one's unso
phisticated olfactories to these continental smells,
" ancient and fish-like," which salute us on every

250 SPARKS from a locomotive; or,

tarn, from the sinks and sewers of the streets ; and
from the kitchens and coffee-rooms of the hotels.
Garlick and bad tobacco, combined with other un
mentionable and intolerable human odors, are enough
to make the man in the moon "hold his nose."
What a blessing to the race, if the world were
governed by one man, supreme in authority and
power, who should compel every human being on
the globe to " wash and be clean," at least, once a
week ! An evening at the opera house did not give
me a very favorable idea of the musical taste of the
Marseillaise. The performance of "La Dame
Blanche " was a very weak affair. It should have
been announced as La Dame Blanchisseuse.
Artists, orchestra, chorus, all unworthy of criticism.
Again en route. The fine steamer " Pausillipe,"
punctual to her announcement, glides gently from
her moorings. The city retreats and diminishes
like a vanishing picture ; the rugged, rocky coast
towers over us as we " hug " it ; and the " blue
Mediterranean" sparkles around us, like a mirror of
molten steel. The sky is cloudless ; the sea tran
quil; the passengers social and jolly. But what a
medley ! Almost every nation is represented ; while
the English and Americans predominate. Among
the more notable are the Earl of Sefton ; and Sir
George Wombwell ; the latter, though scarcely

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 251
twenty-five, one of the " noble six hundred "
who made the desperate charge at Balaklava.
The Earl of Sefton, still more juvenile, was also in
the Crimea ; but boyish as he seems, he is an im
portant member of the House of Lords ; the pro
prietor of a magnificent estate near Liverpool ; and
enjoys an income of $500,000 a year. Like all
English noblemen of high position, the Earl of
Sefton makes no display of wealth or rank. He
does not deem it necessary to stick a glass in his
eye, screw up his face, and turn up his nose at
everything he sees. On the contrary, your genu
ine nobleman is always affable, always natural ;
and as unlike the English snob, who " apes the
aristocracy," as a monkey is to a man. The
most agreeable and unaffected people I have thus
far met in travelling belong to the highest rank of
the English nobility ; while the most selfish, discon
tented, disagreeable specimens of humanity are of
that very large, and somewhat doubtful class of
Englishmen, who are forever assuming a position
to which they have neither the title, nor the pro
mise. Dainty, disdainful, dissatisfied with every
thing but themselves, they are everywhere the
bugbear of travellers, and detested even by the
publicans who deplete their purses by flattering.
their vanities. I cannot better illustrate the differ^
ence of the two classes alluded to, than by suggest*

252 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
ing (to those who know the parties) the name of
Lord Napier, and that of  the cockney editor
of the New York  . Voild tout !
Our American fellow-passengers were exceedingly
agreeable people, New Yorkers and Philadelphians.
The tie of nationality strengthens as the distance
from home increases. I cannot agree with a fair
country-woman whom I met in Paris, that " one
goes abroad to get rid of Americans." Of course,
there are men, and women too, whom we would
prefer not to' meet, even in heaven ; but as a gene
ral rule, I have been delighted to see the faces,
known or unkown, of my fellow-countrymen in
Europe. The men are gentlemanly and generous ;
the women intelligent and beautiful. And then
there is always an interchange of home sympathies,
a sort of fraternal fellowship, which makes the
stranger in a strange land feel less lonely and more
secure. Pleasant days and nights we passed on the
Mediterranean, which, although proverbially " ca
pricious as a beautiful woman," had only smiles for
the voyageurs of the " Pausillipe." The young moon
was with us, lingering, lover-like, later and later
every night ; while every star-eye in the heavens
seemed to open wider, and to beam brighter as we "
floated dreamily by the classic shores, and beneath
the poetic skies of Italy.
The morning was misty as we entered the beauti-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 253
ful harbor of Genoa; but the hazy veil rather
heightened than hid the effect of the lovely picture
before us ; a picture with a charming background of
hills, sprinkled with cottages and palaces. We had
six hours to drive about the town, taking hasty
views from the finest points, and visiting some of
the most famous palaces of art. It was my first
impression of an Italian city ; and, to confess the hon
est truth, the multitude of beggars, the " mauvaises
odeurs," and more intolerable than either, the multi-
tiplicity of black spiders, in long robes, preposterous
hats, and hypocritical faces, filled me with so great
and general a disgust, that I could hardly appreci
ate the wonders of art exhibited (for a considera
tion) in the private residences of the nobility of
Genoa, the far-famed city of "the adventurous
Genoese." In driving through the streets we (and
one of us was a lady !) were obliged to light our ciga
rettes, to mitigate the powerful and peculiar " odor
of nationality," which, in certain localities, was quite
too much for my lady's " gentle senses." So the
courier was posted with the driver, to keep a look
out, and to give warning of the approach of L'An-
glaise, when her ladyship would adroitly manage to
¦cover the tell-tale smoke with her veil. The pic
turesque views in the environs ; the beautiful bay,
around which the city is built; the sunset splen-

254

dors of ancient palaces ; the rich historical associa
tions ; and the innumerable works of the great
masters of painting, all these are not sufficient to
counterbalance the nuisances I have mentioned; and
one party, at least, returned to the " Pausillipe "
with the exclamation, " I would not live in GenoaJ
if you would give me the place !"
Another quiet night on the Mediterranean, and
at sunrise we are steaming into the harbor of Leg
horn. The morning is brilliant beyond description.
There is a diamond-like glitter on the sea, and the
sky, absolutely dazzling. And here, as bright and
as beaming as Aurora herself, we are met by Sig-
norina Alfieri, the charming English prima donna,
Italianized — the sister of my fair companion ; and
then there is such a meeting, and such kissing as
only long separated and much-loving sisters can un
derstand. A beautiful exhibition of an affection
without selfishness and without sensuality — some
thing akin to the " loves of the angels." At Leg
horn we are tormented for a couple of hours by
beggars, police, and custom-house officers ; to say
nothing more, just now, of the black spiders that
meet us at every turn, and watch us from every
corner. Of the city of Leghorn I have nothing to
say. It has, I believe, a considerable commerce, and
is famous for the manufacture of straw hats. I was

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 255
also assured that the place was thriving ; and seve
ral blocks of new buildings were proudly pointed
out as an evidence of the new growth. But my
only curiosity* was to find my way out of the place
at the earliest possible moment ; and so, after a cup
of turgid coffee, a miserable Italian imitation of a
French roll, and the smell of a couple of eggs that
might have been chickens, if I could have waited
an hour or two longer for my breakfast, I had
" done" (with) Leghorn, and was off by rail to
Florence. In thirty minutes we are at Pisa, where
we catch a glimpse of the " Leaning Tower." Like
the prudent English mother, who wouldn't let her
children go near it, for " fear it might fall," I also
avoided the danger of a too near approach. Here
most of the passengers left the cars ; because it is writ-
teninthe "guide-books" that Pisa is one of the places
to be visited. But my heart was yearning after
Florence. Like the lover hastening to his mistress, I
had no eyes for any object less lovely than the fair
idol of my life-long dream. At the same time I
approached it timidly, fearing that the reality might
prove less beautiful than the soft city of my imagi
nation — the "fair Florence" of Poets and Artists who
have sung and painted its beauties in strains and in
colors that have made the very name a spell— the
synonym of all that is enchanting in Nature and

256 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
glorious in Art. And this is Florence ! This th6
Arno that I have just crossed ; and yonder is Fie-
sole, where the " starry Galileo" drew from the
silent heavens the fearful heresy of thj3 earth's rota
tion ! A bath, a dinner, and a drive ; and then,
perhaps, I shall have something more to say of
Florence.

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 257

A Glance at Florence.
The Rainbow Hues of Poesy — The Etrurian Athens — The Cascine—
Santa Croce — More Black Spiders — The Boboli Gardens — Nature
and Art — Virgins, Original and Pictured — An Hour with Powers
— His Webster and Washington — Off for Rome.
Florence, Hotel d'Eurofe,
April, 1859.
Yes, I am disappointed, not to say disenchanted.
The poets have exaggerated the beauties of the
" smiling Arno," and the glories of the " Etrurian
Athens." The rainbow hues which " Childe Ha
rold " has thrown over Italy, rainbow like, recede
as we advance. Florence, " girt by her theatre of
hills," is, indeed, a beautiful city ; and the Arno a
very gentle and respectable little river ; but if the
traveller, especially from America, were to meet
with either, unconscious of the name it bore, the
rapture of his enthusiasm would doubtless be very
considerably abated. We reached Florence in
about three hours from Leghorn ; the road running
through a pleasant, well cultivated country — grain
and grapes being the principal products. The val-

258 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
ley of the Arno is a garden. Behind the city there
is a beautiful background of hills thickly sprinkled
with villas. In these upper tiers of the grand am
phitheatre are situated the elegant loges of the
Tuscan nobility; and also thoseof wealthy foreigners
from every land. The great out-door attraction of
Florence is the Cascine, one of the most charming
drives in the world. From four o'clock until dark
it is crowded with carriages, whose occupants sit
and look at each other with as much nonchalance
as they would gaze at pictures in a gallery. While
the band plays, the gentlemen usually " descend,"
and visit from carriage to carriage ; the flower-girls
tempting them at every step to " buy a sweet bou
quet for the most beautiful lady." The most aristo
cratic equipages here are English; but the most
stunning " turn-out " is, of course, American. Mr.
 sports six or eight-in hand ; while his dashing
fcmme often handles the ribbons. The famous
church of Santa Croce I visited on Sunday. It is
the Westminster Abbey of Italy :
 " Here repose

Angelo's, Alfieri's bones, and his,
The starry Galileo with his woes ; —
Here Machiavelli's earth returned to whence it rose."
Unintelligible priests were preaching to two or

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 25S
three indifferent congregations, and hundreds
were on their knees before the various altars ; some
apparently absorbed in devotion, but the great
majority, not excepting the black spiders, were
glancing furtively at the numerous strangers who,
as curious spectators, were ^comparing the inscrip
tions upon the tombs, with their descriptions in
"Murray," most heretically forgetful of the solemni
ties of the " divine service !" But a beggar, in the
shape of a whining priest, besieged us at every step ;
and we were glad to quit the sombre associations of
" Santa Croce's holy precincts," for the more cheer
ful scenes of the Boboli Gardens.
Ah! what beauty, what enchantment is here!
What magnificent views of the surrounding coun
try! what leafy arbors! 'what musical fountains!
what charming, labyrinthine walks! The Pitti
Palace is closed. What a pity ! But an hour in
these fairy-like gardens is worth more than all the
pictures and statues in Italy. Why seek the coun
terfeit in Art, when all the glory of living Nature
is spread out before us ! The Palace of the Grand
Duke of Tuscany contains no landscape as fine as
those which smile upon us at every turn, and in
ever-changing variety. And where is the Madonna
on canvas, or the Yenus in marble, as lovely, as
graceful, as enchanting, as the beautiful  , a

260 8PARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
very master-work of perfection, designed, and
molded, and finished by the Divine Artist Him
self! Bad taste though it may be, yet I must see
something in these galleries of ancient and modern
art, finer than the finest of living models, before I
can get up any stereotype raptures over the forms
and faces of painted or sculptured Beauty. Why
rave about the perfection of an infant " John " or
" Jesus," when a little boy baby may be found in
every city, more exquisite in " color and finish "
than the pictures of Eaphael or the sculptures of
Canova? And yet, we need not admire art the
less, for loving nature more. I do not understand
why it is so much more religious to adore the
" Yirgin " of the painter, hanging lifeless on the wall,
than the original, living, loving, breathing " thing
itself!" I do not believe that adoration of the sem
blance makes me a saint ; nor that devotion to the
veritable makes me a sinner. But this is heresy.
The church demands the vice versa.
An hour in Power's Studio has been the plea-
santest 'hour I have passed in Florence. I called
without an introduction, and felt, in a moment,
that none was necessary. It was Sunday, and the
artist was resting from his labors, although wearing
his working costume. He took me through all the
various apartments of his extensive laboratory, and

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 261
exhibited the models of all his grand and beautiful
works upon which he has been engaged for more
than twenty years. Among others, the " Webster,"
which has recently .been forwarded to the city of
Boston. Of this statue, Mr. Powers is justly
proud ; and I trust it will meet with due apprecia
tion in America. The likenesss, the costume, the
attitude are perfect. It is Websterian in every line
and feature — the most senatorial looking figure the
Avorld can show. A Statue of Washington, recently
finished for a Freemasons' Lodge in Yirginia, is
another great triumph of genius ; and, I may add,
a worthy tribute to the memory of the Pater
Patriae. It bears a strong resemblance to Houdon ;
with some nicer shades of characterization, which
careful connoisseurs will regard as the most delicate
touches of genius. The marble is so poetically pure,
and the expression of the face so gravely benignant,
yet so inflexibly firm, that I could have gazed on
it for hours, with a still increasing admiration for the
artist and his subject. The " Beauties " of Power's
Studio are both allegorical and real ; some of the lat
ter being scarcely inferior to the most exquisite of his
ideal creations. But I have not time even to
enumerate the " busts " of belles, the " heads " of
celebrities, or even the marble dreams of the great
sculptor, whose every-day thoughts are petrified

262 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
poems. Powers is still young; remarkably fine
looking, with an eye and a smile that linger plea
santly in the memory. He is anxious to " go home
on a visit;" and whenever he does, an ovation
awaits him.
A pleasant dinner-party at the magnificent
" Cafe Galileo," recently opened ; a charming
drive on the Cascine, and an evening at the opera,
finish the day; and with it ends my stay in
Florence. Why leave the fair city so soon? the
reader will ask ; and I, also, am asking the same
question of myself. Because, Pome is before me.
I cannot wait even here, to " inhale the ambrosial
aspects" of the Queen City of Art, while the
" Eternal City of the Soul " seems to beckon me
away with ghostly hand.  " Oh, Rome !

The orphans of the heart must turn to thee,
Lone mother of dead empires ! and control
In their shut breasts their petty misery."

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 263

The Eternal City.
The Route to Rome — Boccacio — Siena — Piccolomini — Beggars —
The Dome in the distance — Entrance to the City — The Crowd of
Strangers — The Coliseum — St. Peter's — The new Venus — Ame
rican Artists and their Studios— The melodramatic spectacle of
St. Peter's — The Pope riding in a Chair — Contrasts — The Hon.
Mr. Stockton — Consul Glentworth — Americans in Rome — Ex-Pre
sident Pierce — A brief Biography. Roue, Hotel d'Ahgleterre, April, 1859.
From Florence to Eome, the distance is about a
hundred and eighty miles ; and the " diligenzia "
performs the journey in thirty-four hours. The
fare in the coupe is a little over fourteen scudi, or
dollars. The early train took us to Siena, which we
reached before eleven. It was raining profusely,
but not violently, and the fair city, as I left it,
looked like a beauty bathed in tears. I confess to
a slight touch of sentimentalism in parting with a
vision so lovely, and yet so sad. And this feeling
was not a little aggravated by the necessity of
uttering that choking word that " must be spoken "
often — often, all along the wearisome journey of life.

264 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
Lady  remains in Florence  and the
fair city is no longer a dream, but a memory.
The road to Siena runs through the country of
Boccacio :
" Who formed the Tuscan's siren tongue,
That music in itself, whose sounds are song,
The poetry of speech."
The Arno accompanies us some distance from the
city. The famous valley through which it flows
abounds in corn and vines, and mulberry-trees. The
scenery is varied and beautiful; but the peculiar
enchantment consists in the rosy hues of poesy that
tinge every hill and vale in Italy. The train stops
a moment at Certaldo, just long enough for one to
repeat the anathema of Childe Harold against the
pious vandals who violated Boccacio's dust :
 " Even his tomb
Uptorn, must bear the hyena bigot's wrong,
No more amidst the meaner dead find room,
Nor claim a passing sigh, because it told for whom /"
Now every relic is held sacred, and in 1823 the
Marchioness Lenzoni Medici, with a zeal worthy
of her name, repaired the little house in which the
author of the " Decameron " lived, decorating the
rooms with his portraits and his works ; and even

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 265
gathering the fragments of the stones which, more
than four centuries ago, covered his grave. It is
pleasant to note even the tardy honors Avhich genius
never fails to win. The martyrs of one century
become the saints of the succeeding. The pro
phets are never understood in their " day and gene
ration." A cup of hemlock and a croAvn of thorns
to-day ; and to-morrow the victims shall be canon
ized and deified.
At the Siena station we leave the train; but the
" diligence " will not start for two hours. In the
meantime, I am dragged through the narrow,
dirty streets, by an officious, loquacious " commis-
sionnaire," who insists on exhibiting the cathedral,
and a thousand other things not worth seeing. The
city contains a population of two hundred thou
sand, and all the larger houses are called palaces,
among others that of the Piccolomini is proudly
pointed out ; but it looks much less palatial than
the commonest house in the Fifth Avenue ; while
the surroundings are anything but attractive. I am
inclined to think the bewitching little coquette,
after what she has seen in New York and London,
Avill never be contented to " settle down " in so
gloomy a "palace," or to breathe the atmosphere
of so filthy a city. But she is quite a pet with the
Sienese ; and my " commissionnaire " evidently re-
12

266 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
garded her as one of the freshest glories of the place.
In the railway carriage, from Leghorn to Florence,
I noticed the name, " Maria Piccolomini," written
on the glass window with a diamond ; but whether
it was the advertising " dodge " of some " enter
prising impresario," or the devotion of some more
ardent admirer, I will not pretend to decide. Siena
is ancient in its appearance, ancient in its history,
ancient in its arts, and also ancient in its smells. I
took my seat in the " diligence," for the first time,
with peculiar satisfaction; while the cracking of
the postillion's whip, and the jingling of the little
bells upon the bridles of the ugly little horses,
made very pleasant music.
The rain is over ; the clouds have disappeared ;
the roads are fine ; and the country air never
seemed so sweet and refreshing. With the coupe
all to myself and not a passenger with whom
I can converse— and only with the conductor, by
signs — I prepared to feast on the " charms of soli
tude " for thirty consecutive hours. But ah, there
is no peace for the traveller in Italy. At every
post, which recurred every hour, the police, the
postillions, the priests and the miscellaneous beggars
were an intolerable torment. I had melted down a
" Napoleon " into the smallest coin of the country,
calculating that, by a prudent dispensation, this

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 267
sum would prove sufficient to appease the more
troublesome of these mendicant highwaymen. But
what was one " Napoleon " to the innumerable
multitude of clamorous paupers who line all the
rpad to Eome, and at every stopping-place thrust
their lank fingers into the Avindows of the " dili
gence," accompanied by looks and signs, and proofs
of suffering that wring one's very heart out?
It was like a single drop of water upon the thirsty
desert of Sahara. And when that was gone,
I could only say " Niente," and receive in
reply some unintelligible anathema. The only
alternative was to fasten the carriage doors and
draw the curtains. And thus imprisoned I posted
on, occasionally catching " forty winks ;" but only
to dream of rags and wretchedness. The scenery,
the cities, and the sights by the way, are they not
all minutely described in " Murray ?" I shall not
attempt to embroider a thought upon themes so
threadbare ; and, as for personal incidents, they are
all included in the three great nuisances of Italy—
priests, passports, beggars. At two o'clock p.m. of
the second day, I saw the dome of St. Peter's,
twenty miles distant ; and from that moment all unea
siness, sleepiness, and disgust at wayside annoyances
vanished like a morning mist. With a feeling
amountting to a " new sensation," I sat gazing at the

268 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
" Eternal City," bathed in the purple splendors of
the declining sun ; while thoughts, memories, asso
ciations ; scraps of history, of poetry, of mythology ;
the names of men, of women and of gods rushed
tumultuously across my mind. Instead of attempt
ing to weave the fancies of the moment into words,
I will at once subside into matters of fact ; and find
my way as soon as possible to the Hotel d'Angleterre.
But I have already crossed the Tiber, entered the
Porta del Popolo ; driven through the Corso ;
caught a glimpse of the Pincian Hill in the soft
light of the setting sun ; glanced at innumerable
churches; and paused reverently before the por
tico of the Pantheon. And now, let me sleep in
peace. St. Peter's and the Coliseum can wait until
to-morrow. I find the city thronged with strangers ; Holy
Week is approaching ; and all the hotels are over
flowing. Thanks to my friend Butler of New
York, who arrived here some days before me, I am
provided with a room and a bed in one of the " sky
parlors " of the Angleterae. But I have no reason
to complain of the elevation ; the Hon. Augustus
Caesar Dodge and family occupy adjoining apart
ments ; and ex-President Pierce is only a little
lower than the angels (in the next room). After
the refreshment of a comfortable breakfast, and the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 269
contents of a package of letters from Paris, London
and New York, which I found awaiting me at the
American Consulate I drove to the Coliseum,
and thence to St. Peter's. The former is the grand
est,, and the latter the most splendid structure in
the world. At every visit the magnitude of both
apparently increases, until the Coliseum seems to be
the work of the Creator of the Universe ; and St.
Peter's looks more like a natural growth than a
mechanical fabrication ; or, in the beautiful Avords
of Emerson :
" The hand that rounded Peter's dome ;
And arched the aisles of Christian Rome,
Wrought in a sad sincerity :
Himself from God he could not free,
He builded better than he knew ;
The conscious stone to beauty grew !"
All the world here is just now greatly excited at
the discovery of a rare treasure of art. A Yenus,
which some enthusiastic connoisseurs insist is more
beautiful than the Yenus de Medici, was dug up
the other day in a . vineyard in the suburbs. Fol
lowing the crowd, I visited the .spot where this mar
vellous beauty had been so long buried ; but the
statue had been removed to the " curiosity shop" of
one of the most famous collectors of relics in Eome.

270 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
There we found a crowd gazing at the new wonder,
which is calling forth the most extravagant encomi
ums of the artists, whose admiration is not abated, as
usual, by any feeling of jealousy toward the sculp
tor. The statue is badly, but not irreparably,
mutilated. The head is off, but it can be easily
replaced ; and the broken arms may also be " set "
so as to restore all the original symmetry and effect.
Above the knees, the statue is marvellously beau
tiful ; below, it looks a little weak. Immense sums
are already bid for it; but the government will
probably secure it for the gallery of the Yatican.
Of the artists in Eome, and their works, volumes
might be written. In the studio of the lamented
Crawford, I could pass days in studying the beau
tiful works, finished and unfinished, of that eminent
poet of the chisel. And, at Eogers', also, whose
" Doors for the Capitol at Washington " are the
admiration of all Eome, one may feast on beauty
with an appetite ever growing by what it feeds on.
His " Euth " and his " Nidia" haunt us like a strain
®f sweet music, or the memory of a pleasant dream.
And Mosier's "Esther," "Pocahontas," "Indian
Girl," "Prodigal Son," "Eebecca," "Young Ame
rica," etc., etc., are well worth a visit to Eome.
Mr. Mosier goes to New York in the course of a
few months, and will take some of his works with

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 271
him. At Ives', there are admirable busts of Gen.
Scott, Gov. Seward, and other eminent Americans ;
and also a beautiful group called " Excelsior." At
Eeinhardt's, there are life-like heads of Senators
Benjamin and Mason ; a statue of " Hero waiting
for Leander ;" and a splendid bust of Harry Stone,
who is known here as the " American Prince ;"
and surely he merits the title by a dispensation of
the most elegant and princely hospitality. Story's
studio is also much visited, where the versatile
artist exhibits a " Cleopatra," a " Marguerite," a
" Hero," a " Bacchus," and an admirable bust of his
father, the late Chief Justice Story of Massachusetts.'
Miss Stebbins, of New York, a sister of Col. Steb-
bins, has made a great hit by modelling a " Sailor"
and a " Miner " for one of our Fifth Avenue mer
chants, who has made a fortune in coal and com
merce. Ahd last, but by no means least in genius
or fame, charming little Hattie Hosmer has de
lighted everybody with her " Captive Queen," her
" Cenci," and her " Puck on a Mushroom." The
artists I have named are all Americans; and of
them all, Americans have reason to be proud.
Among the American painters here, Page, and
Terry, and Whitridge, and Williams, and Thomp
son, are more than " promising" — they are fulfill
ing the promises and the predictions of earlier years

272 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
and of friends at home. Mr. Kid, of Albany,
although very young, is doing, exceedingly clever
things. Of the vast art-treasures of the Yatican,
the churches, and the palaces of Eome, I shall
refrain from speaking. Yolumes would.be required
to enumerate them, and Avhole libraries might be
filled with " notes of admiration." The " Apollo,"
the " Laocoon," the " Dying Gladiator," must be
seen — they cannot be described. I am writing
simply a newspaper letter, and can give only hasty
impressions. Take away its works of art, and ob
literate all associations of the past, and the city
would scarcely be attractive, as a residence. The
drives on the "Pincian," and in the charminp;
grounds of the " Yilla Borghese," are very delight
ful; but the streets of Eome are narrow and
crooked ; and the sights and smells repulsive to
northern senses. The beggars and the black spiders
are as numerous and intrusive as the frogs in
Egypt ; while the scarlet carriages of the cardinals,
and the pompous parades of the Pope, are continu
ally reminding one of the awful inequalities and
stupendous shams of a hollow, heartless and hypo
critical hierarchy. On "Palm Sunday," all the
world crowded into St. Peter's. All the women
were dressed in black, and with veils instead of
bonnets. I saw his august Holiness borne through

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 273
the church, seated in a gorgeous chair, supported
upon the shoulders of the "highest dignitaries,"
while two thousand soldiers fell on their knees and
presented arms as he passed ! The amiable-looking
old man " blessed the people " with one hand, and
took snuff with the other ! And all the pageantry
and splendor of the occasion was intended to com
memorate the entry of the " meek and lowly Jesus "
into Jerusalem, " sitting on an ass." Not even the
glorious music, chanted by the choir concealed in a
sort of golden cage, could make me forget, for a
moment, the miserable mockery of this melancholy
melo-drama; or regard the pomps and circum
stances of the day even with a feeling of patience.
All the foreign ministers approach the Pope to kiss
his holy toe, and to receive a tawdry piece of jim-
crackery representing the " palm branch," except
one ; and it is hardly necessary to add that he is an
American, worthy of the name — the Hon. Mr.
Stockton. Of the society in Eome, I have seen little, except
Englishmen and Americans ; the latter are largely
represented here. It is only necessary to mention
the names of H. A. Stone, M. H. Grinnell, Beach
-Lawrence, H. A. Coit, J. E. Cooley, J. Biggs, Prof.
Haldeman, Hawthorne the author, Motley the histo
rian, Bigelow the editor, Franklin Pierce the ex-Presi-
13*

274

OR,

dent, with the charming ladies who belong to them,
to prove that America is well represented. And I
must not omit to mention Mrs. General Scott, and
Miss Charlotte Cushman, who contribute so largely
to the pleasure of these social Eoman reunions.
Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband
are also here ; and hosts of other celebrities from
all parts of the world. Mr. Stockton, the Ameri
can Minister, seems to be exceedingly popular ;
while Mr. Glentworth, our "Eoman consul," devotes
himself most gallantly and assiduously to the enter
tainment of his fair countrywomen. He is1 a very
accomplished young gentleman ; speaks half a
dozen languages ; dresses better than any man in
Eome ; is a great favorite with the nobility ; dances
at the Queen of Spain's balls ; and take him for all
in all, he is a decided ornament to the diplomatic
corps. But of all the " strangers of distinction " in
Borne, none is more courted, or more respected,
than our much abused ex-President, Franklin
Pierce. Modest, affable, and courteous, everybody
is seeking his society with as much eagerness as he
avoids publicity. He refuses all invitations, except
it be to meet a few Americans ; and then — for in
stance, at a " codfish dinner" at Harry Stone's — we
find him the most entertaining and the most agree
able of companions. He will leave soon for Eng-

LIFE AND LIBHRTY IN'EUROPK. 275
land, which he has never visited, and where he will
find it difficult to avoid '-' all the honors" that await
him. 1 see some of the American papers are urging
Gen. Piercers name as a candidate for the next Pre
sidential, term ; but it is utterly useless. Nothing
can induce him to accept a second nomination ; nor
a public office of any grade. Notwithstanding my
own official " head" was one of the first to roll into
the basket, under Gen. Pierce's administration, yet
I cannot forbear saying, in all sincerity and truth,
that I would sum up his biography in these brief
words : He was a brave general, a patriotic Presi
dent, and an honest man. His enemies found it
easy to abuse, but impossible to impeach him.

276 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,

Naples and its Environs.
Rome in Seven Days — Ruins— Religion— Black Spiders— The Pass
port Nuisance— A Casus Belli— A Hint for Congress— The Pontine
Marshes— St. Paul— Vesuvius in the Distance— Naples, its Rags,
and its Odors— Christ in the Tomb — The dying King — Pompeii
— Sir John and Lady James — A new Translation of Tasso.
Naples, Hotel Grande Bretagne, April 22, 1859.
" Eome Seen in Ten Days," is the title of a little
volume thrust into the hands of every stranger. It
is a convenient guidebook to all the principal
places of interest, and he who faithfully follows its
directions, will be kept sufficiently busy for ten
days, at least. But as I am simply making " calls "
and not visits, I must see enough of Eome in seven
days, to satisfy, for the moment, the curiosity of a
lifetime. The Coliseum by moonlight, St. Peter's
on Palm Sunday, the Pincian at sunset, the ancient
Forum, the palace of the Oeesars, the endless gal
leries of the Yatican, the gorgeous frescoes of the
Sistine Chapel, the stupendous aqueducts, and
" ruins hoary " — all these I have visited again and

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 277
again, and. what were beautiful dreams on my way
to Eome, have accompanied me as more companion
able memories on my way to Naples. The ancient,
the solemn, the eternal city — whose streets have
been trod by the feet, and whose soil has been
watered by the blood of the apostles ! The mother
of arts, and arms, and nations ; the home of the
Caesars ; the glory and the grave of empires.
" Antiquity appears to have begun
Long after thy primeval race was run !"
The city contains about 180,000 inhabitants, of
whom 8,000 are priests, and probably 80,000 are
beggars, for it is not an exaggeration to state, that
every priest makes, at least, ten paupers. The
black spiders must live, and that too, on the fat
of the land. Alas for the poor flies Avhom they
devour ! But I have already said enough on this
subject to "make Borne howl," and the Jesuits will
of course be after me " with a sharp stick."
From Borne, to Naples by diligence, is a tedious
journey, of some thirty hours. Although the road
runs through classic ground, through the very
heart, as it were, of ancient history, yet the beg
gars, the police, and the passport nuisances are too
much even for the " patience of Job." This passport
imposition in Italy, is a flagrant casus belli. Why

278

OR,

should an American citizen be insulted by sus
picious investigations and impertinent questions at
every little one-horse town, in this miserable, priest-
ridden, tyrant-trodden, God-forsaken Italy, and a
tax levied at every little gate he passes ! Let a
foreign power touch one of our vessels on the high
seas, and war is at once declared. Is not the per
son and the purse of the traveller on the land as
sacred as his property on the ocean ? America
requires no passports of foreigners, even when flow
ing in upon us from the prisons and lazarettoes of
all the world ; and our government should demand
reciprocity, and not permit its humblest citizen to be
molested or even interrogated, except for good and
sufficient cause. I hope this matter of the " pass
port system " will be brought earnestly before Con
gress at its next session. Let our ministers at
Eome and at Naples demand absolute immunity
from so gross an outrage, and if refused, let them
be recalled, and non-intercourse proclaimed. It
costs one four or five dollars to get into Eome or
Naples, and as much more to get out, besides being
insolently questioned and taxed all along the road.
Shall these petty bigots of the Church and State,
whose tyranny intensifies in proportion to the
smallness of the territory over which it is exer
cised, be longer permitted to insult the great and

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 279
free republic of America, by thus taxing and
annoying its citizens ? I trust we shall- soon have a
Congress and a President, who will insist on the
protection of the rights and the persons of its
citizens in every land, and who will treat the pass
port persecutions of Italy as a veritable casus
belli. Our " diligence " makes but five miles an hour ;
and is drawn by two, four, six, or eight horses, ac
cording to the condition of the road ; and to them
is sometimes added a huge pair of white oxen.
Every hour, the team is changed, and with it the
postillions, who never leave us without exhausting
upon the passengers all the arts of mendicity. We
left Eome by the Porta San Giovanna, and were at
once on the new Yia Appia, the post road to
Albano. Then comes the desolate Campagna,
where, on every hand, the mighty ruins of aque
ducts, temples and palaces have almost relapsed
into the original formations of nature. The Pon
tine Marshes, stretching for thirty-six miles from
Nettuno to Terracina, are apparently much less
baneful than I had imagined. The plains are
covered with buffaloes and black cattle; and the
road, which is perfectly straight, is lined most of
the way with trees, forming a beautiful shady
canopy. A little further on is pointed out the spot

280 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
where Horace embarked on the canal ; and where
St. Paul met his friends from Eome : " And so we
went toward Eome. And from thence, when the
brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far
the Appii Forum, and the Three Taverns ; whom,
when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took cou
rage." And yonder is the monastery where
Thomas Aquinas was poisoned on his way to the
Council of Lyons, in 1274. Now we come to Terra
cina, the favorite city of Cicero and of Atticus ;
and upon the summit of yonder mountain are seen
the ruins of the famous Temple of the Sun. But I
cannot even enumerate the classic sites and cities
through which we pass ; nor linger either at Gaeta
or Capua. In the early dawn of the bright morn
ing, the smoke-wreath upon the brow of Yesuvius
is seen in the distance; but six impatient hours
must yet be endured before reaching the city of
Naples — my journey's end and aim. The country
is level and highly cultivated ; but the road, though
bad, seems to be made of ashes ; and the dust is in
tolerable. At length we enter the far-famed city, Avhose
streets swarm with the most miserable and motley
multitudes I have ever seen, and whose odors are
calculated to give one a new interpretation of the
proverb, " See Naples and die /" For surely one

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 281
must lose all respect for the delicacy of his nose, or
the sensibility of his stomach, who can live long in
so foul an atmosphere as this. Choked sewers, rotten
oranges, stale fish, stewed, garlic, bad tobacco,
filthy beggars, dirty priests, and the whole mass
of perspiring, unwashed humanity, make up a com
pound offence of the most pungent, penetrating, and
palpable description. One can almost cut it with a
knife. And this is the beautiful Naples of history,
of poetry, and of romance ! A city to be seen at a
distance, with the wind in the right direction ! A
very charming city to sail by, and to look at, but in
tolerable as a residence to senses refined, and to
noses "polite." The great commercial staple of
the place is rags ; but, judging from the quantities
one sees in the streets, it seems impossible that such
a commodity can ever be exported. After the rags,
the religion of Naples is, perhaps, the most notable
feature. For the last forty hours not a wheel has
been allowed to roll in the streets, nor even a don
key to be ridden. The bells of the churches and of
the hotels are not permitted to be rung ; and they
are even removed from the necks of goats and
poodle dogs ! And why ? Because Christ is in the
tomb ! This morning " he is risen ;" and the whole
day has been uproarious with cannon, and fire
crackers ; like the noisy nuisance of a Fourth of

282 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
July celebration. And all this, while the miserable
old king is dying the most loathsome of deaths, hav
ing just received " extreme unction " from Eome — ¦
by telegraph ! It renders one liable to arrest, even
to ask after the health of the dying sinner ; and so
strict is the espionage of the police, that a young
man, connected with one of the best families in
Naples, has been obliged to hide himself for five
weeks, for having simply said that he was " glad
the exiled Neapolitans were so well received in
England!" The drives in the suburbs of the city are very
beautiful ; and strangers visiting Naples pass most
of the time in excursions in the environs. Mount
Yesuvius comes first in the list of attractions ; and
everybody toils to the top, only to be disap
pointed, suffocated and fatigued. For one, I will
make an exception to the general rule. I have
heard of men, and women, too, who have found it
impossible to resist the fiery fascinations of the
crater, plunging headlong into its burning bosom ;
as there have been instances of persons who have
been made giddy by the mad rush of the Falls of
Niagara, leaping suddenly into the awful abyss.
And so I will avoid the terrible temptation. A
day in Pompeii, if less exciting, will be more satis
factory. Accompanied by a valet de place, I took

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUKOPE. 283
an early start in a one-horse vehicle for a sixteen
mile drive to the exhumed city. The morning was
very warm ; and soon after passing Herculaneum,
whose gloomy streets we had explored, our mulish
little animal made up his mind not to proceed
another step. After being beaten into a mass of
bruises by his brutal driver, we were compelled to
succumb to the obstinate donkey and find another
conveyance. The road is formed of pulverized lava,
and every puff of wind fills the air with ashes. To
protect our faces from the hot breath of the sirocco
and the clouds of dust, we were compelled to use our
handkerchiefs for * veils. But a day in Pompeii
more than compensates the traveller for all his
annoyances and sufferings by the Avay ; and without
attempting to give any impressions of the place, I
will simply say that nothing in Italy, not even
in Eome, has interested me half so much as the
streets, the houses, the palaces, the temples, the
baths and the theatres of this wonderful city,
whose silent revelations of the life, the history, the
habits, and the splendors of an almost forgotten peo
ple make one's heart beat audibly on entering its
ghostly streets. The antiquarians, the novelists
and the poets have left nothing new to be said of
Pompeii, either in the day of its glory, or in the
day of its resurrection. As yet, after a hundred

284 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
and ten years from the discovery, only a small por
tion of the city is uncovered ; but when Louis
Napoleon becomes supreme in Italy, as he most
assuredly will, if he lives a few years longer, he
will doubtless give the word for ten thousand men
to go to work and bring to light all the hidden
treasures of the long buried Etruscan Metropolis,
the home of Cicero, of Seneca, of Sallust, of
Claudius ; and, at the advent of the Christian Era,
one of the most magmficent and sumptuous cities of
the world. We returned to Naples by railroad ;
but in -consequence of the rigor of the Neapolitan
religion (?) we were compelled to walk from the
station, two miles at least, to the Hotel Grande
Bretagne. This was anything but a " Christian dis
pensation," to our weary party, and more especially
oppressive to an American lady, who had
already been some six hours on her little feet in
the wearisome streets of Pompeii. I will not ven
ture to record the emphatic " blessings " bestowed
upon the head of the church for this annoyance.
The " Borbonico," the great museum of Naples, con
taining most of the relics discovered in Hercu
laneum and Pompeii, is just now closed, for religious
reasons, and the San Carlo theatre also ; but there
is no edict that I have heard of, preventing a visit
to Castellamare, to Sorrento, t© Capri, to Psestum,

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 285
to Salerno, to Pozzuoli, to the famous grottoes, or
to Yirgil's Tomb. The mere mention of these
names is sufficient to suggest days and weeks of
pleasure — always to be found, not in, but around
the city, beyond the torment of its beggars and its
odors. The desagremens of the place have been
greatly mitigated during my brief sojourn hereby
the pleasant society of Sir John Kingston James
and his accomplished lady, whom I had the good
fortune to meet at the Hotel Grande Bretagne.
Sir John is enthilsia'stically engaged in translating
Tasso's " Jerusalem;" and judging from the cantos
which he has read to me, it will be far superior in
fidelity and melody to any previous translation.
He intends publishing the work in London, with
splendid illustrations (including an original portrait
of the poet) some of the designs for which are
exceedingly beautiful.
To-morrow, I promise myself the happiness of quit
ting Naples for Paris, where I may possibly have a
few words to say by way of review of my brief epi
sode in Italy.

286 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ', OR,

Paris Regained.
Paradise after Purgatory — A Neapolitan Swindle thwarted — The
Messagerie Imperiale — Civita Vecchia — Charlotte Cushman —
Her Sister's Death — Gathering for the War — Jolly Soldiers — Pop
ular Enthusiasm for the Emperor — His Programme — The Pope
between two Fires — The Dream of Liberty — Departure of Louis
Napoleon — The War Loan — The Opera — Frezzolini — A Scene
at the " Italiens " — La Reine du Theatre — Madame Camille — Ris-
tori — Her proposed Visit to America — Adieus.
Paris, Grand H6tel du Louvre,
May, 1359.
Paris, after Italy, is Paradise after Purgatory ;
especially when one has travelled by steamboat
and rail-car for seventy-five consecutive hours,
almost without pause or repose. The baths,
the beds, and the breakfasts of the Hotel du
Louvre are indeed luxuries ; and sitting here in
my quiet chamber, I find the reminiscences of Italy
more agreeable than the realities. And so, I trust,
it will be, as Ave look back from some pleasant ha
ven of the future upon all the painful experiences
of this mortal life. To return to Naples. I had

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 287
taken passage in the Neapolitan steamer "Mon- ?
ghibello," which was advertised to leave for Mar
seilles, direct, at four o'clock on Saturday, and had
paid the fare, about thirty-six scudi, or dollars.
At two o'clock, p.m., of the same day, I received
a line from the office informing me that the steamer
would not leave until Monday. Being determined
to get out of Naples that afternoon, and learning
that a French steamer would leave at the same
hour, I drove at once to the office of the " Monghi-
bello," presented my ticket and demanded the
money ; but was coolly told it could not be returned.
There was no time to waste in words. Calling on
Mr. Chandler, the American minister, I had the
good luck to find him at home, and ready to act
promptly in my behalf. " Drive instantly to the
office of the Police," was his emphatic order to the
coachman ; and there we obtained a command
which made the agent's fingers shake while he
counted out the amount of fare ; and not to me only,
but to several others, who had been subjected to
the same swindle, and who were about to depart
minus their money. I mention this act of petty
tyranny, and the mode of treating it, as a caution
to the proprietors of the Neapolitan steamers ; and
also for the benefit of travellers, who will often find
themselves the victims of similar attempts at rob-

288 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
bery in Italy. By Avay of memorandum I will add,
that the French steamers plying between Marseilles
and the Italian ports are vastly superior in every
respect to the Neapolitan — larger, safer, quicker,
cleaner and surer. They belong to the " Messa-
gerie Imperiale," and the vigilant government has
its eye on them. The tables are excellent, and the
price of passage not exorbitant.
Early on Sunday morning we entered the harbor
of Civita Yecchia ; and here a large accession of pas
sengers joined us, who had left Borne at six o'clock
by railroad, which performs the journey in about
two hours. The road was opened while I was in
Borne ; but not until some time after it was finished,
nor until the public had been repeatedly disap
pointed by false announcements from day to day.
Finally, the government bought all the shares of
the Diligence Company ; the Pope went out and
" blessed it ;" and now it runs regularly twice a
day, to the infinite relief of travellers, who were
formerly eight hours in travelling from Civita Yec
chia to Eome, with a tide of beggars besieging
them all the way. Among the pleasant passengers
who joined us at Civita, were Miss Charlotte Cush
man and Miss Stebbins, the sculptress — the former
hastening to England to visit a dying sister. There
was a heavy shadow on the broAv of the great tra-

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 289
ge"dienne ; and I have learned since arriving in
Paris that her saddest presentiment has been ful
filled. The beautiful and accomplished Mrs. Mus-
prat (" Charlotte's sister Susan"), is dead.
We had pleasant weather, with " the blue above,
and the blue below," all the way to Marseilles,
where we arrived a little before sunset, on Monday
evening. On entering the harbor, we met steamers
coming out, crowded with French soldiers, on their
way to the War, and apparently far more joyous
than the crowds that almost daily leave New York
to seek their fortunes in the gold-fields of Cali
fornia. Taking the night train, we arrived in
Lyons a little after sunrise, and thence, all the way
to Paris, there was an endless train of troops.
What shouting, cheering, singing, among these
hundred thousand boys, for none looked older than
twenty-five, that the Emperor is sending from Paris
to Sardinia. It would seem as if they were rush
ing to a festival rather than to a fight, while gaily
chanting the " Partir pour la Sarde." All Paris
is sharing in the martial enthusiasm of the army,
and notes of preparation are heard on every hand.
A battalion of a thousand men leave every hour,
after being reviewed and inspired by the Em
peror in the Court of the Tuileries. The mere
sight of Louis Napoleon, with a banner in his hand
13

290 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,
to present to the departing regiment, sets every
soldier's heart on fire; and so the troops leave
France, drunk with a sort of wild enthusiasn for —
what? — glory or the grave. This declaration of
War against Austria, has consolidated the Empire
of Napoleon, and disarmed his last enemy among
the political factions of France. Even the " Secret
Society of Assassins " have disbanded, and sent the
Emperor a manifesto, assuring him that his life is
no longer in danger from " infernal machines," or
the machinations of private malice. But Louis
Napoleon is incapable of fear. His faith in -his des
tiny and dynasty is absolute, and he will take the
field in person, in the most implicit belief "that
every bullet has its billet." He seems to be the
only ruler in Europe who has a well-defined pro
gramme before him ; in other words, the only
statesman or diplomatist of the age who knows
what he is about. He has managed to place
Austria in the wrong, to secure the alliance (active
when needed) of Eussia ; and England must either
remain neutral, cooperate with France, or revolu
tionize. The rights and wrongs of the "Italian
question," I do not propose to discuss. Whether
Italy will be in a condition for more "liberty,"
after the Austrians are driven out, is quite a doubt
ful matter. Unless the petty tyrants of Naples, and

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. ' 291
Eome, and Tuscany, and all the other miserable
" one-horse " principalities, are also dethroned,
" Italian independence " will still remain, like the
mirage of the desert, Avhich eArer flies before the
panting camel. It may be, however, that Napo
leon intends to consolidate Italy under the nominal
reign of the Prince Imperial of France. If so, the
expulsion of Austria will be but the beginning of
the revolution. The Pope, who is how between
two fires — " blessing " Austria and " blessing "
France — must, sooner or later, lay his temporal
crown at the feet of that power, which, for the last
ten years, has maintained both the spiritual and
political authority of the Yatican. The Church
regards Austria with peculiar favor; while at the
same time, five thousand French soldiers protect
the life, and sustain the government of his Holiness
in Eome ! Surely this is an anomalous state of
things, and one that cannot last. The Italians are
dreaming of liberty with about as much reason
as an infant cries for the moon. All the idle,
young nobility are rushing into the army, because
they have nothing else to do. In every little town
in Tuscany, drums are beating, bugles sounding,
and volunteers of all grades are gathering for the
war. The contest will be severe, and the sacrifice
of human life terrific. At the present moment, no

292 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
one ventures to predict whether the struggle will
be confined to Italy, or spread, like a conflagration,
throughout Europe. But that the Austrians will
ultimately be driven out, there can be no reason
able doubt. And what then ? Nous verrons.
The departure of the Emperor has made a day of
unusual excitement in Paris. The Eue de Eivoli
is choked with the crowd. The Empress accom
panies him to the station, looking most dramatically
pale and sad. The cries of " Yive l'Empereur !" —
" Yive l'Imperatrice !" — " Yive le Prince Im
perial !" rend the air as the brilliant cortege slowly
passes. Louis Napoleon looks as calm, and as
smiling, as when, a tew evenings since, I tried to
read his heart in his face, as he sat in his box
applauding Frezzolini at the opera, and looking as
if no thought of war, or of empire ever shadowed
his brow or agitated his heart. And yesterday,
he walked and talked in the Garden of the Tuile
ries, seemingly all unconscious of the fact that the
eyes of all Europe were upon him, and that he is to
day the one man of all the world " whose mandate
to millions is doom." The Emperor's parting
speeches and manifestoes are exceedingly eloquent,
laconic, Napoleonic. He stirs up all the martial
souvenirs of the past by allusions to names that
have been baptized in fire on fields of glory ; and

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 293
touches the tenderest sentiments of the people
by "confiding to their loving care his wife and
son," for whom all Paris is ready, if need be, to
die. He will send the beautiful Empress daily a
bouquet, whose language she alone can understand !
A little touch of romance with which all France is
delighted. It is not necessary to add that the war is popular
in Paris. All the world is rushing to subscribe to
the loan. The streets in which the books are
opened are thronged before daylight in the morn
ing. Every man or woman who invests a " Napo
leon " in the stock becomes a sort of partner with
the Government ; and already fioe hundred mil
lions of dollars are offered ! A few evenings since,
a performance was given at the " Italiens " for the
benefit of the Italian volunteers. The house was
jammed, and the enthusiasm unbounded. The
Opera, "Trovatore;" and the principal artists,
Tamberlik and Frezzolini. The latter, who had
been suffering for weeks from a severe illness, in
spired by the patriotic occasion, sang through three
acts with an enthusiasm and power that startled
and astonished even those most familiar with her
Avonderful talent. She was called out again and
again, and compelled to repeat several morceaus.
In the fourth and last act, after singing with Tarn-

294 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
berlik in the grand duet, with what the French
" Musical Journal" calls a "desperate perfection," the
beautiful prima donna suddenly fainted and fell
with a gasp that thrilled every heart and brought
the whole house to its feet. The last wailing note
of Leonore will long linger in the ears of all who
heard it. The human voiceJ never uttered a note
more sweet or sad. It was like the last cry wrung
from a heart crushed by love and sorrow. Or, like
an over-strained harp,
" Whose chord alone that breaks at night,
Its tale of ruin tells."
Madame Frezzolini is the most purely-perfect artist
as well as one of the most beautiful women I have
ever seen on the stage ; and all who know her well
esteem as highly the loveliness of her character, as
they admire the excellence of her talent, or the
beauty of her person. Her form is tall, full and
faultless in outline ; her voice, in its most colloquial
tones, marvellously sweet and musical; and her
eye, wonderful in its size, softness and versatility
of expression. Altogether, she is the very embodi
ment of musical tragedy, and in her great role of
Leonore, which Yerdi says is unapproachable,
every note seems laden with a tear, like a sweet
flower with a dewdrop sparkling in its eye. No

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 295
artist, however gifted, can utter such a tone, who
has not loved and suffered much. There are
touches of nature Avhich genius itself can never
simulate. Everywhere in Italy the name of Frezzo
lini awakens the most ardent expressions of admira
tion ; and I have seen enthusiasts in Eome drinking
the Orvietto wine simply " because La Frezzolini
is a native of that place," a little city, some fifty
miles from Eome. For the benefit of the ladies, I
may add, that " La Peine du Theatre" as the great
Maestro Eossini calls her, is almost as famous for
the perfection of her toilet as for the beauty of her
singing. Her taste, like that of the Empress, is con
sidered unimpeachable ; and her modiste — who can
she be but Madame Camille, the celebrated dress
maker for all the royal dames of Europe; and for
the beautiful Madame  of New York.
Since my return to Paris, I have indulged libe
rally in the new luxury of seeing and hearing the
great Eistori.; who is, beyond all question, the
grandest tragedienne now living ; and who, that is
gone, has ever surpassed her in voice, in look, in
action ? It is not necessary to understand the lan
guage to be thrilled by every word she utters. The
effect of her tones and gestures is wonderful— elec
trical. Every pose is a study for a sculptor ; and
every lightning glance conveys a meaning more

296 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
subtle than words. She is a little above the me-
dium size, and decidedly fine-looking. In private
conversation she is animated and playful ; by turns
comic and tragic ; and always overflowing with the
most intense enthusiasm, which sparkles in her fine
blue eye, and makes eloquent every intonation of
her voice. Madame Eistori intends visiting the
United States next year; but the "speculators"
might aswell give her up as a hopeless case, and cease
persecuting her with their preposterous propositions.
She is already rich, the wife of the Count del Grillo,
has her arms full of beautiful children, and is en
cumbered with a dramatic company for some years
on her hands. If she will compromise with her
employees, and go to the United States, and merely
give " readings," a la Fanny Kemble, she can make
more money in a twelvemonth than was ever pock
eted by any artist, except, perhaps, in the anoma
lous case of Jenny Lind.
But time flies ; and nowhere so quickly as in
Paris. Another drive in the beautiful "Bois;"
another dinner at Yoisin's ; another tour of the
Boulevards ; another  and another  and an
other  . No, no ; the day has come ; the adieu
must be spoken ; and — " I must leave thee, Paris!"
For all the kindness and comforts I have received
during a sojourn of seven weeks at the " Louvre,"

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 297
a parting word of thanks is due to M. Emile Pas-
quier, the director ; to M. Emile Brieker, chief of
the apartments ; to M. Auguste Schneehage, the
secretary ; and to M. Louis Ploffman, " chief of all
information and the posts," I am indebted for every
possible attention. How much a polite and atten
tive landlord, or hotel clerk, or even servant, can
do to make the guest feel at home, even in so vast
an establishment as the " Grand Hotel du Louvre,"
with all its six hundred and fifty rooms, occupied
by strangers from every land. They often remind
us of the somewhat sad lines of the poet, who
found " In all life's weary round,
His warmest welcome at an inn."

298 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE J OR,

Homeward Bound.
London in its Glory— The Change of Ministry — The Great Battle
Begun — The Allies Victorious — The Deluge to Come — The Head
of the Church in a Tight Place— A Tonic for the Victims — Eng
land and America — Mother and Child — Gov. Seward Lionized in
London — Lord Napier — Morley's Hotel— The Steamer Fulton —
Priests and Prayers — Sandy Hook — The Last Spark.
Steamer Fulton, Mm Ocean,
June, 1859.
London, at the end of May, when the parks and the
palaces are in all their glory ; when everybody and
everything is " in town ;" flower shows at Kensing
ton, at Sydenham ; and shows of still fairer flowers
at the " Covent Garden ;" pleasant drives and
tempting dinners in all directions ; races, regattas,
balls — what is there in all the world equal in splen
dor and attractiveness to London in its " season ?"
After the continent, England looks grander, and
richer, and more substantial than ever. The very
earth seems firmer, and the men and women look
more solid, more earnest, more worthy of im
mortality. If it is evening with the human race in

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 299
Italy, and morning in America, surely it is high
noon in England. With the sun on the meridian,
the shadows disappear. But I am homeward
bound, and all my thoughts have gone before me.
The last ten days in London have furnished topics
sufficient for volumes; and just at this moment,
when Parliament is only convening to revolutionize
the Ministry, I might venture to predict and to
describe at least some of the leaders of the in-com
ing Cabinet. But I forbear. It is always safer
and wiser to prophecy after events than before.
Lord Palmerston will doubtless succeed Lord
Derby; and Cobden and Gibson will be among the
elements of the composite Cabinet. The policy of
the government toward France will be changed ;
and Austria will receive neither aid nor comfort
from England. The German sympathies of the
Queen will be suppressed ; for Manchester hates the
Hapsburgs. The London " Times" will cease firing
at Napoleon, and a strict neutrality will be main
tained. All these things are easily foreseen. The
first encounters between the two great armies on
the Po, have resulted as all the world predicted, in
favor of the allies. The Austrians fight like ma
chines ; while the French and the Italians go at the
bloody work with the most desperate enthusiasm.
Besides, Austria, even in the Lombardo-Yenetian

300 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
provinces, is fighting in an enemy's country; while
the army of Napoleon is as much at home in Italy
as in France. But there are terrible battles yet to
be fought. Francis Joseph is about to take the
field, at the head of five hundred thousand men,
and we shall soon see, upon the banks of the Mincio,
one of "the bloodiest pictures in the book of Time."
It makes one shudder to think of the terrible slaugh
ter and sacrifice of human life ; and sadder still is
the fact that all this butchery is perpetrated in the
sacred names of Liberty and Christ !
The Church of Eome divides its prayers and its
blessings equally between the belligerent Powers ;
and the same " Te Deum " will be chanted for a
victory on either side ! The banners of both armies
bear the Eagle and the Cross ; and both are fighting
for the symbols rather than the substance. And
yet after the deluge a new and better life may suc
ceed. Only, so far as Italy is concerned, it must be
complete, and overwhelming. The tyrants of both
Church and State must be swept out together. As
for the poor people, the eternal victims of supersti
tion and oppression, let them find a tonic in the
burning words of the Poet, who hated both ; and
be alike patient and ready :
" Better, though each man's life-blood were a river,
That it should flow, and overflow, than creep

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 301
Through thousand lazy channels in our veins,
Dammed like the dull canal with locks and chains,
And moving, as a sick man in his sleep,
Three paces, and then faltering ; — be'tter be
Where the extinguished Spartans still are free,
In their proud charnel of Thermopylae,
Than stagnate in our marsh — or o'er the deep
Fly, and one current to the ocean add,
One spirit to the souls our fathers had,
One freeman more, America, to thee !"
Of parting visits and parting thoughts in
England, I lack heart as well as space to write.
When words seem too weak to express one's grati
tude, or regret, silence is not only more eloquent
but more satisfactory. I have found in the dear
old mother-land such hospitality and kindness as
only mothers know how to bestow; and hence
forth I can never think of England and America as
bearing toward each other any but the tender rela
tion of parent and child. Both have their faults,
their foibles and their prejudices ; for both nations
are made up of the common elements of fallible
humanity. The parent must look leniently at the
exuberances of the child ; while the child must not
be impatient with the established habits and con
servative opinions of the parent. England has an
aristocracy which has been built up by the blood,
the beauty and the bravery, of a thousand years.

302 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE; OR,
When our republican institutions shall become as
old and as mossy as England's; when our flag, too,
has " Braved a thousand years
The battle and the breeze,"
let us hope that our political inequalities and social
infelicities may be as few and as harmless as hers.
Among the Americans now in London, Governor
SeAvard is the leading "Lion." If he were a
" crowned head " he could hardly receive more atten
tion from the highest ranks of the nobility. He
will remain a month at " Fenton's," and then leave
for Yienna and St. Petersburg. He also hopes to
be able to visit Spain, and return in time for the
opening of Congress. Lord Napier is " on a fur
lough ;" he will soon leave London for his post at
the Hague. He is watching the prospect of a " min
isterial crisis," with peculiar interest. It is quite
possible, that after a year or two, he will again be
sent to Washington. The friendly demonstrations
made in America on the eve of his departure,
rather surprised the Derbyites. No British Min
ister abroad has ever received so flattering an ova
tion. The red-tape diplomacy of Downing street
is probably a little piqued at the republican popu
larity of Lord Napier ; but they still insist that the

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 303
transfer from Washington to the Hague is a step
upward in the scale of diplomatic honors ! This is
one of the whims of the Court. A more liberal
government will, ere long, raise the salary and the
grade of the American mission to that of Paris and
St. Petersburg ; and then, I trust, we shall again see
Lord and Lady Napier " decorating and cheering "
the social circles of Washington.
With a good word for " Morley's Hotel," where I
have passed two delightful months, without cause
for a single complaint, I must bid adieu to London.
At eight o'clock we are en route for Southampton,
where the steamer " Fulton " is expected at four.
The road runs through a most beautiful country,
cultivated like a garden. At eleven, we reach
the pleasant and flourishing port of debarkation,
and at half-past four depart in a little steamer for
Cowes. Here we have an hour to look through tho
little town, so Hke our own charming Newport,
catch a glimpse of " Osborne House," when the
" Fulton's " gun announces her arrival, and hurries
us away. In a few minutes we are alongside ; one
more change is made, and then with my wandering
feet on the deck of the noble steamer, I felt as if
standing on a bridge leading to New York. It was
home. We have over a hundred and thirty passengers ;

304 SPARKS FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ; OR,
and among them some very clever and agreeable
ladies and gentlemen. Captain Wotton is " a per
fect brick ;" and his ship one of the finest, cleanest,
easiest and safest vessels afloat. The tables and the
attendance are all that can be desired. Thus far,
we have had fine weather, and no accident or inci
dent worth recording, except the birth of an infant,
which has been christened " Fultona," in honor of
the ship ; and the magnificent but somewhat chill
ing and fearful spectacles of icebergs. Occasionally
it has been a little rough, when the women, as
usual, have been desperately sick and begged to be
thrown overboard. With one bishop, and two or
three priests on board, "religious services" have
been liberally dispensed ; and sermons, psalms, and
prayers have abounded. In the intervals, the more
profane portion of the passengers have enlivened us
with negro minstrelsy. Touching these public reli
gious " services " on board of ships filled with peo
ple of miscellaneous sects, I have only one thing
to say : — I could not help thinking that the saint
with the longest face, who so piously " partook of
the sacrament " yesterday, would be the first to rush
for the lifeboat in case of danger to-day ; while the
poor outside sinner, who dared not touch the " conse
crated cup," would never think of himself in the
hour of peril until all the women and children were

LIFE AND LIBERTY IN EUROPE. 305
saved. Selfishness is the religion of the hypocrite ;
but self-abnegation is the religion of nature. Upon
this text one may think sermons, if it is not prudent
to write them. But Sandy Hook Lights are twink
ling brightly in the distance ; and so, with my jour
ney ends my reverie. The ship is moored ; the
steam is exhausted ; the fires are extinguished ; and
 THE SPARKS ARE OUT.

Telle est la Vie !

ihSSilfiHi