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diff --git a/old/61122-0.txt b/old/61122-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a9875e7..0000000 --- a/old/61122-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6405 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters from England, Volume 1 (of 3), by -Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Letters from England, Volume 1 (of 3) - -Author: Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella - -Translator: Robert Southey - -Release Date: January 6, 2020 [EBook #61122] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS FROM ENGLAND, VOLUME 1 *** - - - - -Produced by MWS, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - - LETTERS - - FROM - - ENGLAND - - - BY - - DON MANUEL ALVAREZ ESPRIELLA. - - - TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH. - - - ------- - - IN THREE VOLUMES. - - VOL. I. - - ------- - - - THIRD EDITION. - - - ------- - - - LONDON: - - PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND - BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. - - --- - - 1814. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - --------------------- - - EDINBURGH: - Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE - - BY THE TRANSLATOR. - - -------------- - - -The remarks of Foreign Travellers upon our own country have always been -so well received by the Public, that no apology can be necessary for -offering to it the present Translation, The Author of this work seems to -have enjoyed more advantages than most of his predecessors, and to have -availed himself of them with remarkable diligence. He boasts also of his -impartiality: to this praise, in general, he is entitled; but there are -some things which he has seen with a jaundiced eye. It is manifest that -he is bigotted to the deplorable superstitions of his country; and we -may well suppose that those parts of the work in which this bigotry is -most apparent, have not been improved by the aid for which he thanks his -Father Confessor. The Translator has seldom thought it necessary to -offer any comments upon the palpable errors and mis-statements which -this spirit has sometimes occasioned: the few notes which he has annexed -are distinguished by the letters TR. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE. - - -------------- - - -A volume of Travels rarely or never, in our days, appears in Spain: in -England, on the contrary, scarcely any works are so numerous. If an -Englishman spends the summer in any of the mountainous provinces, or -runs over to Paris for six weeks, he publishes the history of his -travels; and if a work of this kind be announced in France, so great a -competition is excited among the London booksellers, that they import it -sheet by sheet as it comes from the press, and translate and print it -piece-meal. The greater number of such books must necessarily be of -little value: all, however, find readers, and the worst of them adds -something to the stock of general information. - -We seldom travel; and they among us who do, never give their journals to -the public. Is it because literature can hardly be said to have become a -trade among us, or because vanity is no part of our national character? -The present work, therefore, is safe from comparison, and will have the -advantage of novelty. If it subject me to the charge of vanity myself, I -shall be sorry for the imputation, but not conscious of deserving it. I -went to England under circumstances unusually favourable, and remained -there eighteen months, during the greater part of which I was -domesticated in an English family. They knew that it was my intention to -publish an account of what I saw, and aided me in my enquiries with a -kindness which I must ever remember. My remarks were communicated, as -they occurred, in letters to my own family, and to my Father Confessor; -and they from time to time suggested to me such objects of observation -as might otherwise perhaps have been overlooked. I have thought it -better to revise these letters, inserting such matter as further -research and more knowledge enabled me to add, rather than to methodize -the whole; having observed in England, that works of this kind wherein -the subjects are presented in the order wherein they occurred, are -always better received than those of a more systematical arrangement: -indeed, they are less likely to be erroneous, and their errors are more -excusable, in those letters which relate to the state of religion, I -have availed myself of the remarks with which my Father Confessor -instructed me in his correspondence. He has forbidden me to mention his -name; but it is my duty to state, that the most valuable observations -upon this important subject, and, in particular, those passages in which -the Fathers are so successfully quoted, would not have enriched these -volumes, but for his assistance. - -In thus delineating to my countrymen the domestic character and habits -of the English, and the real state of England, I have endeavoured to be -strictly impartial; and, if self-judgment may in such a case be trusted, -it is my belief that I have succeeded. Certainly, I am not conscious of -having either exaggerated or extenuated any thing in any the slightest -degree—of heightening the bright or the dark parts of the picture for -the sake of effect—of inventing what is false, nor of concealing what is -true, so as to lie by implication. Mistakes and misrepresentations there -may, and, perhaps, must be: I hope they will neither be found numerous -nor important, as I know they are not wilful; and I trust that whatever -may be the faults and errors of the work, nothing will appear in it -inconsistent with that love of my country, which I feel in common with -every Spaniard; and that submission, which, in common with every -Catholic, I owe to the Holy Church. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - OF THE - - FIRST VOLUME. - - -------------- - - LETTER I. - - Page - - Arrival at Falmouth.—Custom House.—Food 1 - of the English.—Noise and Bustle at - the Inn - - - LETTER II. - - Mode of 8 - Travelling.—Penryn.—Truro.—Dreariness - of the Country.—Bodmin.—Earth-Coal the - common Fuel.—Launceston.—Excellence of - the Inns and Roads.—Okehampton.—Exeter - - - LETTER III. - - Exeter Cathedral and public 24 - Walk.—Libraries.— Honiton.—Dangers of - English Travelling, and Cruelty with - which it is - attended.—Axminster.—Bridport - - - LETTER IV. - - Dorchester.—Gilbert Wakefield.—Inside of 37 - an English Church.—Attempt to rear - Silk-worms.—Down-country.—Blandford.—Salisbury.—Execrable - Alteration of the Cathedral.—Instance - of public Impiety - - - LETTER V. - - Old Sarum.—Country thinly 54 - peopled.—Basingstoke.—Ruins of a - Catholic Chapel.—Waste Land near - London.—Staines.—Iron Bridges.—Custom - of exposing the dead Bodies of - Criminals.—Hounslow - Brentford.—Approach to London.—Arrival - - - LETTER VI. - - Watchmen.—Noise in London Night and 65 - Morning.—An English Family.—Advice to - Travellers - - - LETTER VII. - - General Description of London.—Walk to 72 - the Palace.—Crowd in the - Streets.—Shops.—Cathedral of St - Paul.—Palace of the Prince of - Wales.—Oddities in the Shop Windows - - - LETTER VIII. - - Proclamation of Peace.—The English do 85 - not understand - Pageantry.—Illumination.—M. Otto’s - House.—Illuminations better managed at - Rome - - - LETTER IX. - - Execution of Governor Wall 97 - - - LETTER X. - - Martial Laws of England.—Limited Service 109 - advised.—Hints for Military Reform - - - LETTER XI. - - Shopmen, why preferred to Women in 119 - England.—Division of London into the - East and West Ends.—Low State of - domestic - Architecture.—Burlington-House - - - LETTER XII. - - Causes of the Change of Ministry not 127 - generally understood.—Catholic - Emancipation.—The Change acceptable to - the Nation.—State of Parties.—Strength - of the new Administration.—Its good - Effects.—Popularity of Mr Addington - - - LETTER XIII. - - Dress of the English without Variety.— 137 - Coal-heavers.—Post-men.—Art of - knocking at the Door.—Inscriptions - over the Shops.—Exhibitions in the - Shop-windows.—Chimney-sweepers.—May-day.—These - Sports originally religious - - - LETTER XIV. - - Description of the Inside, and of the 149 - Furniture, of an English House - - - LETTER XV. - - English Meals.—Clumsy Method of 164 - Butchery.—Lord Somerville.—Cruel - Manner of killing certain - Animals.—Luxuries of the - Table.—Liquors - - - LETTER XVI. - - Informers.—System upon which they 173 - act.—Anecdotes of their - Rascality.—Evil of encouraging - them.—English Character a Compound of - Contradictions - - - LETTER XVII. - - The Word _Home_ said to be peculiar to 180 - the English.—Propriety of the - Assertion questioned.—Comfort.—Curious - Conveniences.—Pocket-fender.—Hunting-razors - - - LETTER XVIII. - - Drury-Lane Theatre.—The Winter’s 187 - Tale.—Kemble.—Mrs Siddons.—Don Juan - - - LETTER XIX. - - English Church Service.—Banns of 200 - Marriage.—Inconvenience of having the - Sermon a regular Part.—Sermons an - Article of Trade.—Popular - Preachers.—Private Chapels - - - LETTER XX. - - Irreverence of English towards the 215 - Virgin Mary and the Saints.—Want of - Ceremonies in their Church.—Festival - Dainties.—Traces of Catholicism in - their Language and Oaths.—Disbelief of - Purgatory.—Fatal Consequences of this - Error.—Supposed Advantages of the - Schism examined.—Clergy not so - numerous as formerly - - - LETTER XXI. - - Show of Tulips.—Florists.—Passion for 228 - Rarities in England Queen Anne’s - Farthings.—Male Tortoise-shell - Cat.—Collectors.—The King of - Collectors - - - LETTER XXII. - - English Coins.—Paper Currency.—Frequent 241 - Executions for Forgery.—Doctor - Dodd.—Opinion that Prevention is the - End of Punishment.—This End not - answered by the Frequency of - Executions.—Plan for the Prevention of - Forgery rejected by the Bank - - - LETTER XXIII. - - Westminster Abbey.—Legend of its 256 - Consecration.—Its single Altar in bad - Taste.—Gothic or English - Architecture.—Monuments.—Banks the - Sculptor.—Wax-work.—Henry the - Seventh’s Chapel.—Mischievous - Propensity of the People to mutilate - the Monuments - - - LETTER XXIV. - - Complexion of the English contradictory 274 - to their historical - Theories.—Christian Names, and their - Diminutives.—System of Surnames.—Names - of the Months and Days.—Friday the - unlucky Day.—St Valentine.—Relics of - Catholicism - - - LETTER XXV. - - Vermin imported from all 285 - Parts.—Fox-Hunting.— - Shooting.—Destruction of the - Game.—Rural Sports - - - LETTER XXVI. - - Poor-Laws.—Work-Houses.—Sufferings of 294 - the Poor from the Climate.—Dangerous - State of England during the - Scarcity.—The Poor not bettered by the - Progress of Civilization - - - LETTER XXVII. - - Saint Paul’s.—Anecdote of a female 307 - Esquimaux.—Defect of Grecian - Architecture in cold - Climates.—Nakedness of the - Church.—Monuments.—Pictures offered by - Sir Joshua Reynolds, &c. and - refused.—Ascent.—View from the Summit - - - LETTER XXVIII. - - State of the English Catholics.—Their 322 - prudent Silence in the Days of - Jacobitism.—The Church of England - jealous of the Dissenters.—Riots in - 1780.—Effects of the French - Revolution.—The Re-establishment of - the Monastic Orders in England.—Number - of Nunneries and Catholic - Seminaries.—The Poor easily - converted.—Catholic Writers.—Dr Geddes - - - LETTER XXIX. - - Number of Sects in England, all 333 - appealing to the - Scriptures.—Puritans.—Nonjurors.—Rise - of Socinianism, and its probable - Downfall - - - LETTER XXX. - - Watering Places.—Taste for the 346 - Picturesque.—Encomiendas - - - LETTER XXXI. - - Journey to Oxford.—Stage-Coach 354 - Travelling and Company - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ESPRIELLA’S - - LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. - - --------------------- - - - - - LETTER I. - -_Arrival at Falmouth.—Custom House.—Food of the English.—Noise and - Bustle at the Inn._ - - - Wednesday, April 21, 1802. - -I write to you from English ground. On the twelfth morning after our -departure from Lisbon we came in sight of the Lizard, two light-houses -on the rocks near the Land’s End, which mark a dangerous shore. The day -was clear, and showed us the whole coast to advantage; but if these be -the white cliffs of England, they have been strangely magnified by -report: their forms are uninteresting, and their heights diminutive; if -a score such were piled under Cape Finisterre, they would look like a -flight of stairs to the Spanish mountains. I made this observation to -J—, who could not help acknowledging the truth, but he bade me look at -the green fields. The verdure was certainly very delightful, and that -not merely because our eyes were wearied with the gray sea: the -appearance was like green corn, though approaching nearer I perceived -that the colour never changed; for the herb, being kept short by cattle, -does not move with the wind. - -We passed in sight of St Maurs, a little fishing-town on the east of the -bay, and anchored about noon at Falmouth. There is a man always on the -look-out for the packets; he makes a signal as soon as one is seen, and -every woman who has a husband on board gives him a shilling for the -intelligence. I went through some troublesome forms upon landing, in -consequence of the inhospitable laws enacted at the beginning of the -war. There were then the vexatious ceremonies of the custom-house to be -performed, where double fees were exacted for passing our baggage at -extraordinary hours. J— bade me not judge of his countrymen by their -sea-ports: it is a proverb, said he, “that the people at these places -are all either birds of passage, or birds of prey”; it is their business -to fleece us, and ours to be silent.—Patience where there is no -remedy!—our own aphorism, I find, is as needful abroad as at home. But -if ever some new Cervantes should arise to write a mock heroic, let him -make his hero pass through a custom-house on his descent to the infernal -regions. - -The inn appeared magnificent to me; my friend complained that it was -dirty and uncomfortable. I cannot relish their food: they eat their meat -half raw; the vegetables are never boiled enough to be soft; and every -thing is insipid except the bread, which is salt, bitter, and -disagreeable. Their beer is far better in Spain, the voyage and the -climate ripen it. The cheese and butter were more to my taste; _manteca_ -indeed is not butter, and the Englishman[1] who wanted to call it so at -Cadiz was as inaccurate in his palate as in his ideas. Generous wines -are inordinately dear, and no others are to be procured; about a dollar -a bottle is the price. What you find at the inns is in general miserably -bad; they know this, and yet drink that the host may be satisfied with -their expences: our custom of paying for the house-room is more -economical, and better. - -Footnote 1: - - This blunder has been applied to the French word _eau_. Which ever may - be original, it certainly ought not to be palmed upon an - Englishman.—TR. - -Falmouth stands on the western side of the bay, and consists of one long -narrow street which exhibits no favourable specimen either of the -boasted cleanliness or wealth of the English towns. The wealthier -merchants dwell a little out of the town upon the shore, or on the -opposite side of the bay at a little place called Flushing. The harbour, -which is very fine, is commanded by the castle of Pendennis; near its -mouth there is a single rock, on which a pole is erected because it is -covered at high tide. A madman not many years ago carried his wife here -at low water, landed her on the rock, and rowed away in sport; nor did -he return till her danger as well as fear had become extreme. - -Some time since the priest of this place was applied to to bury a -certain person from the adjoining country. “Why, John,” said he to the -sexton, “we buried this man a dozen years ago:” and in fact it appeared -on referring to the books of the church that his funeral had been -registered ten years back. He had been bed-ridden and in a state of -dotage during all that time; and his heirs had made a mock burial, to -avoid certain legal forms and expenses which would else have been -necessary to enable them to receive and dispose of his rents. I was also -told another anecdote of an inhabitant of this town, not unworthy of a -stoic:—His house was on fire; it contained his whole property; and when -he found it was in vain to attempt saving any thing, he went upon the -nearest hill and made a drawing of the conflagration:—an admirable -instance of English phlegm! - -The perpetual stir and bustle in this inn is as surprising as it is -wearisome. Doors opening and shutting, bells ringing, voices calling to -the waiter from every quarter, while he cries “Coming,” to one room, and -hurries away to another. Every body is in a hurry here; either they are -going off in the packets, and are hastening their preparations to -embark; or they have just arrived, and are impatient to be on the road -homeward. Every now-and-then a carriage rattles up to the door with a -rapidity which makes the very house shake. The man who cleans the boots -is running in one direction, the barber with his powder-bag in another; -here goes the barber’s boy with his hot water and razors; there comes -the clean linen from the washer-woman; and the hall is full of porters -and sailors bringing in luggage, or bearing it away;—now you hear a horn -blow because the post is coming in, and in the middle of the night you -are awakened by another because it is going out. Nothing is done in -England without a noise, and yet noise is the only thing they forget in -the bill! - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER II. - -_Mode of Travelling.—Penryn.—Truro.—Dreariness of the - Country.—Bodmin.—Earth-Coal the common Fuel.—Launceston.—Excellence - of the Inns and Roads.—Okehampton.—Exeter._ - - - Thursday, April 22. - -Early in the morning our chaise was at the door, a four-wheeled carriage -which conveniently carries three persons. It has glass in front and at -the sides, instead of being closed with curtains, so that you at once -see the country and are sheltered from the weather. Two horses drew us -at the rate of a league and a half in the hour;—such is the rapidity -with which the English travel. Half a league from Falmouth is the little -town of Penryn, whose ill-built and narrow streets seem to have been -contrived to make as many acute angles in the road, and take the -traveller up and down as many steep declivities as possible in a given -distance. In two hours we reached Truro, where we breakfasted: this meal -is completely spoilt by the abominable bitterness of the bread, to which -I shall not soon be able to reconcile myself. The town is clean and -opulent; its main street broad, with superb shops, and a little gutter -stream running through it. All the shops have windows to them; the -climate is so inclement that it would be impossible to live without -them. J— showed me where some traveller had left the expression of his -impatience written upon the wainscot with a pencil—“Thanks to the Gods -another stage is past”—for all travellers are in haste here, either on -their way home, or to be in time for the packet. When we proceeded the -day had become dark and overclouded;—quite English weather:—I could -scarcely keep myself warm in my cloak: the trees have hardly a tinge of -green, though it is now so late in April. Every thing has a coarse and -cold appearance: the heath looks nipt in its growth, and the -hedge-plants are all mean and insignificant: nettles, and thistles, and -thorns, instead of the aloe, and the acanthus, and the arbutus, and the -vine. We soon entered upon a track as dreary as any in Estremadura; mile -after mile the road lay straight before us; up and down long hills, -whose heights only served to show how extensive was the waste. - -Mitchel-Dean, the next place to which we came, is as miserable as any of -our most decayed towns; it is what they call a rotten borough: that is, -it has the privilege of returning two members to parliament, who -purchase the votes of their constituents, and the place has no other -trade:—it has indeed a very rotten appearance. Even the poorest houses -in this country are glazed: this, however, proves rather the inclemency -of the climate than the wealth of the people. Our second stage was to a -single house called the Indian Queens, which is rather a post-house than -an inn. These places are not distinguished by a bush, though that was -once the custom here also, but by a large painting swung from a sort of -gallows before the door, or nailed above it, and the house takes its -name from the sign. Lambs, horses, bulls, and stags, are common; -sometimes they have red lions, green dragons, or blue boars, or the head -of the king or queen, or the arms of the nearest nobleman. One -inconvenience attends their mode of travelling, which is, that at every -stage the chaise is changed, and of course there is the trouble of -removing all the baggage. - -The same dreary country still lay before us; on the right there was a -wild rock rising at once from the plain, with a ruin upon its summit. -Nothing can be more desolate than the appearance of this province, where -most part of the inhabitants live in the mines. “I never see the greater -part of my parishioners,” said a clergyman here, “till they come up to -be buried.” We dined at Bodmin, an old town which was once the chief -seat of religion in the district, but has materially suffered since the -schism; ill-built, yet not worse built than situated, being shadowed by -a hill to the south; and to complete the list of ill contrivances, their -water is brought through the common burial-place. They burn earth-coal -every where; it is a black shining stone, very brittle, which kindles -slowly, making much smoke, and much ashes: but as all the houses are -built with chimneys, it is neither unwholesome nor disagreeable. An -Englishman’s delight is to stir the fire; and I believe I shall soon -acquire this part of their manners, as a means of self-defence against -their raw and chilly atmosphere. The hearth is furnished with a round -bar to move the coals, a sort of forceps to arrange them, and a small -shovel for the cinders; all of iron, and so shaped and polished as to be -ornamental. Besides these, there is what they call the fender, which is -a little moveable barrier, either of brass or polished steel, or -sometimes of wire painted green and capt with brass, to prevent the live -embers from falling upon the floor. The grates which confine the fire -are often very costly and beautiful, every thing being designed to -display the wealth of the people; even the bars, though they are -necessarily blackened every day by the smoke, are regularly brightened -in the morning, and this work is performed by women. In good houses the -chimneys have a marble frontal, upon the top of which vases of alabaster -or spar, mandarins from China, flower-stands, or other ornaments, are -arranged. - -After dinner we proceeded to Launceston; the country improved upon us, -and the situation of the place as we approached, standing upon a hill, -with the ruins of the castle which had once commanded it, reminded me of -our Moorish towns. We arrived just as the evening was closing; our -chaise wheeled under the gateway with a clangor that made the roof ring; -the waiter was at the door in an instant; by the time we could let down -the glass, he had opened the door and let the steps down. We were shown -into a comfortable room; lights were brought, the twilight shut out, the -curtains let down, the fire replenished. Instead of oil, they burn -candles made of tallow, which in this climate is not offensive; wax is -so dear that it is used by only the highest ranks. - -Here we have taken our tea; and in the interval between that and supper, -J— is reading the newspaper, and I am minuting down the recollections of -the day. What a country for travelling is this! such rapidity on the -road! such accommodations at the resting-places! We have advanced -fourteen leagues to-day without fatigue or exertion. When we arrive at -the inn there is no apprehension lest the apartments should be -pre-occupied; we are not liable to any unpleasant company; we have not -to send abroad to purchase wine and seek for provisions; every thing is -ready; the larder stored, the fire burning, the beds prepared; and the -people of the house, instead of idly looking on, or altogether -neglecting us, are asking our orders and solicitous to please. I no -longer wonder at the ill-humour and fastidiousness of Englishmen in -Spain. - - * * * * * - - Friday, April 23. - -Launceston castle was formerly used as a state prison. There were -lazar-houses here and at Bodmin when leprosy was common in England. They -attributed this disease to the habit of eating fish, and especially the -livers; the fresher they were the more unwholesome they were thought. -Whatever has been the cause, whether change of diet, or change of dress, -it has totally disappeared. - -The Tamar, a clear shallow and rapid stream, flows by Launceston, and -divides Cornwall from Devonshire. The mountainous character of the -river, the situation of the town rising behind it, its ancient -appearance, and its castle towering above all, made so Spanish a scene, -that perhaps it pleased me the more for the resemblance; and I would -willingly for a while have exchanged the chaise for a mule, that I might -have loitered to enjoy it at leisure. The English mode of travelling is -excellently adapted for every thing, except for seeing the country. - -We met a stage-waggon, the vehicle in which baggage is transported, for -sumpter-beasts are not in use. I could not imagine what this could be; a -huge carriage upon four wheels of prodigious breadth, very wide and very -long, and arched over with cloth, like a bower, at a considerable -height: this monstrous machine was drawn by eight large horses, whose -neck-bells were heard far off as they approached; the carrier walked -beside them, with a long whip upon his shoulder, as tall again as -himself, which he sometimes cracked in the air, seeming to have no -occasion to exercise it in any other manner; his dress was different -from any that I had yet seen, it was a sort of tunic of coarse linen, -and is peculiar to this class of men. Here would have been an adventure -for Don Quixote! Carrying is here a very considerable trade: these -waggons are day and night upon their way, and are oddly enough called -flying waggons, though of all machines they travel the slowest, slower -than even a travelling funeral. The breadth of the wheels is regulated -by law, on account of the roads, to which great attention is paid, and -which are deservedly esteemed objects of national importance. At certain -distances gates are erected and toll-houses beside them, where a regular -tax is paid for every kind of conveyance in proportion to the number of -horses and wheels; horsemen and cattle also are subject to this duty. -These gates are rented by auction; they are few or frequent, as the -nature of the soil occasions more or less expense in repairs: no tax can -be levied more fairly, and no public money is more fairly applied. -Another useful peculiarity here is, that where the roads cross or branch -off a directing post is set up, which might sometimes be mistaken for a -cross, were it in a Catholic country. The distances are measured by the -mile, which is the fourth of a league, and stones to mark them are set -by the way-side, though they are often too much defaced by time or by -mischievous travellers to be of any use. - -The dresses of the peasantry are far less interesting than they are in -our own land; they are neither gay in colour, nor graceful in shape; -that of the men differs little in make from what the higher orders wear. -I have seen no goats; they are not common, for neither their flesh nor -their milk is in use; the people seem not to know how excellent the milk -is, and how excellent a cheese may be made from it. All the sheep are -white, and these also are never milked. Here are no aqueducts, no -fountains by the way-side. - -Okehampton, which we next came to, stands in the county of Devonshire; -here also is a ruined castle on its hill, beautifully ivyed, and -standing above a delightful stream. There was in our room a series of -prints, which, as they represented a sport peculiar to England, -interested me much: it was the hunting the hare. The first displayed the -sportsmen assembled on horseback, and the dogs searching the cover: in -the second they were in chace, men and dogs full speed, horse and -horseman together leaping over a high gate,—a thing which I thought -impossible, but J— assured me that it was commonly practised in this -perilous amusement: in the third they were at fault, while the poor hare -was stealing away at a distance: the last was the death of the hare, the -huntsman holding her up and winding his horn, while the dogs are leaping -round him. - -This province appears far more fertile than the one we have quitted; the -wealth of which lies under ground. The beauty of the country is much -injured by inclosures, which intercept the view, or cut it into patches; -it is not, however, quite fair to judge of them in their present -leafless state. The road was very hilly, a thick small rain came on, and -prevented us from seeing any thing. Wet as is the climate of the whole -island, these two western provinces are particularly subject to rain; -for they run out between the English and Bristol channels, like a -peninsula; in other respects their climate is better, the temperature -being considerably warmer; so that sickly persons are sent to winter -here upon the south coast. Much cyder is made here: it is a far -pleasanter liquor than their beer, and may indeed be considered as an -excellent beverage by a people to whom nature has denied the grape. I -ought, perhaps, to say, that it is even better than our country wines; -but what we drank was generous cyder, and at a price exceeding that -which generous wine bears with us; so that the advantage is still ours. - -We only stopped to change chaises at our next stage; the inn was not -inviting in its appearance, and we had resolved to reach Exeter to a -late dinner. There were two busts in porcelain upon the chimney-piece, -one of Buonaparte, the other of John Wesley, the founder of a numerous -sect in this land of schismatics; and between them a whole-length figure -of Shakespeare, their famous dramatist. When J— had explained them to -me, I asked him which of the three worthies was the most popular. -“Perhaps,” said he, “the Corsican just at present; but his is a -transient popularity; he is only the first political actor of the day, -and, like all other stage-players, must one day give way to his -successors, as his predecessors have given way to him. Moreover, he is -rather notorious than popular; the king of Prussia was a favourite with -the people, and they hung up his picture as an alehouse sign, as they -had done prince Eugene before him, and many a fellow gets drunk under -them still; but no one will set up Buonaparte’s head as an invitation. -Wesley, on the contrary, is a saint with his followers, and indeed with -almost all the lower classes. As for Shakespeare, these people know -nothing of him but his name; he is famous in the strictest sense of the -word, and his fame will last as long as the English language; which by -God’s blessing will be as long as the habitable world itself.” “He is -your saint!” said I, smiling at the warmth with which he spake. - -At length we crossed the river Exe by a respectable bridge, and -immediately entered the city of Exeter, and drove up a long street to an -inn as large as a large convent. Is it possible, I asked, that this -immense house can ever be filled by travellers? He told me in reply, -that there were two other inns in the city nearly as large, besides many -smaller ones; and yet, that the last time he passed through Exeter, they -were obliged to procure a bed for him in a private dwelling, not having -one unoccupied in the house. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER III. - -_Exeter Cathedral and Public Walk.—Libraries.—Honiton.—Dangers - of English Travelling, and Cruelty with which it is - attended.—Axminster.—Bridport._ - - - Saturday, April 24. - -If the outside of this New London Inn, as it is called, surprised me, I -was far more surprised at the interior. Excellent as the houses appeared -at which we had already halted, they were mean and insignificant -compared with this. There was a sofa in our apartment, and the sideboard -was set forth with china and plate. Surely, however, these articles of -luxury are misplaced, as they are not in the slightest degree necessary -to the accommodation of a traveller, and must be considered in his bill. - -Exeter is an ancient city, and has been so slow in adopting modern -improvements that it has the unsavoury odour of Lisbon. One great street -runs through the city from east to west; the rest consists of dirty -lanes. As you cross the bridge, you look down upon a part of the town -below, intersected by little channels of water. The cathedral is a fine -object from those situations where both towers are seen, and only half -the body of the building, rising above the city. It cannot be compared -with Seville, or Cordova, or Burgos; yet certainly it is a noble pile. -Even the heretics confess that the arches, and arched windows, and -avenues of columns, the old monuments, the painted altar, and the -coloured glass, impress them with a feeling favourable to religion. For -myself, I felt that I stood upon ground, which, desecrated as it was, -had once been holy. - -Close to our inn is the entrance of the Norney or public walk. The trees -are elms, and have attained their full growth: indeed I have never seen -a finer walk; but every town has not its Norney[2] as with us its -_alameda_. I was shown a garden, unique in its kind, which has been made -in the old castle ditch. The banks rise steeply on each side; one of the -finest poplars in the country grows in the bottom, and scarcely overtops -the ruined wall. Jackson, one of the most accomplished men of his age, -directed these improvements; and never was accident more happily -improved. He was chiefly celebrated as a musician; but as a man of -letters, his reputation is considerable; and he was also a painter: few -men, if any, have succeeded so well in so many of the fine arts. Of the -castle itself there are but few remains; it was named Rougemont, from -the colour of the red sandy eminence on which it stands, and for the -same reason the city itself was called by the Britons The Red City. - -Footnote 2: - - The author seems to have mistaken this for a general name.—TR. - -In most of the English towns they have what they call circulating -libraries: the subscribers, for an annual or quarterly payment, have two -or more volumes at a time, according to the terms; and strangers may be -accommodated on depositing the value of the book they choose. There are -several of these in Exeter, one of which, I was told, was considered as -remarkably good, the bookseller being himself a man of considerable -learning and ability. Here was also a literary society of some -celebrity, till the French revolution, which seems to have disturbed -every town, village, and almost every family in the kingdom, broke it -up. The inhabitants in general are behindhand with their countrymen in -information and in refinement. The streets are not flagged, neither are -they regularly cleaned, as in other parts of the kingdom; the -corporation used to compel the townspeople to keep their doors clean, as -is usual in every English town; but some little while ago it was -discovered, that, by the laws of the city, they had no authority to -insist upon this; and now the people will not remove the dirt from their -own doors, because they say they cannot be forced to do it. Their -politics are as little progressive as their police: to this day, when -they speak of the Americans, they call them the rebels. Everywhere else, -this feeling is extinguished among the people, though it still remains -in another quarter. When Washington died, his will was published in the -newspapers; but in those which are immediately under ministerial -influence, it was suppressed by high authority. It was not thought -fitting that any respect should be paid to the memory of a man whom the -Sovereign considered as a rebel and a traitor. - -The celebrated Priestley met with a singular instance of popular hatred -in this place. A barber who was shaving him heard his name in the midst -of the operation;—he dropt his razor immediately, and ran out of the -room exclaiming, “that he had seen his cloven foot.” - -I bought here a map of England, folded for the pocket, with the roads -and distances all marked upon it. I purchased also a book of the roads, -in which not only the distance of every place in the kingdom from -London, and from each other, is set down, but also the best inn at each -place is pointed out, the name mentioned of every gentleman’s seat near -the road, and the objects which are most worthy a traveller’s notice. -Every thing that can possibly facilitate travelling seems to have been -produced by the commercial spirit of this people. - -As the chief trade of Exeter lies with Spain, few places have suffered -so much by the late war. We departed about noon the next day; and as we -ascended the first hill, looked down upon the city and its cathedral -towers to great advantage. Our stage was four leagues, along a road -which, a century ago, when there was little travelling, and no care -taken of the public ways, was remarkable as the best in the West of -England. The vale of Honiton, which we overlooked on the way, is -considered as one of the richest landscapes in the kingdom: it is indeed -a prodigious extent of highly cultivated country, set thickly with -hedges and hedge-row trees; and had we seen it either in its full summer -green, or with the richer colouring of autumn, perhaps I might not have -been disappointed. Yet I should think the English landscape can never -appear rich to a southern eye: the verdure is indeed beautiful and -refreshing, but green fields and timber trees have neither the variety -nor the luxuriance of happier climates. England seems to be the paradise -of sheep and cattle; Valencia of the human race. - -Honiton, the town where we changed chaises, has nothing either -interesting or remarkable in its appearance, except that here, as at -Truro, a little stream flows along the street, and little cisterns or -basons, for dipping places, are made before every door. Lace is -manufactured here in imitation of the Flanders lace, to which it is -inferior because it thickens in washing; the fault is in the thread. I -have reason to remember this town, as our lives were endangered here by -the misconduct of the innkeeper. There was a demur about procuring -horses for us; a pair were fetched from the field, as we afterwards -discovered, who had either never been in harness before, or so long out -of it as to have become completely unmanageable. As soon as we were shut -in, and the driver shook the reins, they ran off—a danger which had been -apprehended; for a number of persons had collected round the inn door to -see what would be the issue. The driver, who deserved whatever harm -could happen to him, for having exposed himself and us to so much -danger, had no command whatever over the frightened beasts; he lost his -seat presently, and was thrown upon the pole between the horses; still -he kept the reins, and almost miraculously prevented himself from -falling under the wheels, till the horses were stopped at a time when we -momently expected that he would be run over and the chaise overturned. -As I saw nothing but ill at this place, so have I heard nothing that is -good of it: the borough is notoriously venal; and since it has become so -the manners of the people have undergone a marked and correspondent -alteration. - -This adventure occasioned considerable delay. At length a chaise -arrived; and the poor horses, instead of being suffered to rest, weary -as they were, for they had just returned from Exeter, were immediately -put-to for another journey. One of them had been rubbed raw by the -harness. I was in pain the whole way, and could not but consider myself -as accessory to an act of cruelty: at every stroke of the whip my -conscience upbraided me, and the driver was not sparing of it. It was -luckily a short stage of only two leagues and a quarter. English -travelling, you see, has its evils and its dangers. The life of a -post-horse is truly wretched:—there will be cruel individuals in all -countries, but cruelty here is a matter of calculation: the post-masters -find it more profitable to overwork their beasts and kill them by hard -labour in two or three years, than to let them do half the work and live -out their natural length of life. In commerce, even more than in war, -both men and beasts are considered merely as machines, and sacrificed -with even less compunction. - -There is a great fabric of carpets at Axminster, which are woven in one -entire piece. We were not detained here many minutes, and here we left -the county of Devonshire, which in climate and fertility and beauty is -said to exceed most parts of England: if it be indeed so, England has -little to boast of. Both their famous pirates, the Drake and the -Raleigh, were natives of this province; so also was Oxenham, another of -these early Buccaneers, of whose family it is still reported, that -before any one dies a bird with a white breast flutters about the bed of -the sick person, and vanishes when he expires. - -We now entered upon Dorsetshire, a dreary country. Hitherto I had been -disposed to think that the English inclosures rather deformed than -beautified the landscape, but I now perceived how cheerless and naked -the cultivated country appears without them. The hills here are ribbed -with furrows, just as it is their fashion to score the skin of roast -pork. The soil is chalky and full of flints: night was setting-in, and -our horses struck fire at almost every step. This is one of the most -salubrious parts of the whole island: it has been ascertained by the -late census, that the proportion of deaths in the down-countries to the -other parts is as 65 to 80,—a certain proof that inclosures are -prejudicial to health.[3] After having travelled three leagues we -reached Bridport, a well-built and flourishing town. At one time all the -cordage for the English navy was manufactured here; and the -neighbourhood is so proverbially productive of hemp, that when a man is -hanged, they have a vulgar saying, that he has been stabbed with a -Bridport dagger. It is probable that both hemp and flax degenerate in -England, as seed is annually imported from Riga. - -Footnote 3: - - The dryness of soil is a more probable cause.—TR. - -Here ends our third day’s journey. The roads are better, the towns -nearer each other, more busy and more opulent as we advance into the -country; the inns more modern though perhaps not better, and travelling -more frequent. We are now in the track of the stage-coaches; one passed -us this morning, shaped like a trunk with a rounded lid placed -topsy-turvy. The passengers sit sideways; it carries sixteen persons -withinside, and as many on the roof as can find room; yet this -unmerciful weight, with the proportionate luggage of each person, is -dragged by four horses, at the rate of a league and a half within the -hour. The skill with which the driver guides them with long reins, and -directs these huge machines round the corners of the streets, where they -always go with increased velocity, and through the sharp turns of the -inn gateways, is truly surprising. Accidents, nevertheless, frequently -happen; and considering how little time this rapidity allows for -observing the country, and how cruelly it is purchased, I prefer the -slow and safe movements of the calessa. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER IV. - -_Dorchester.—Gilbert Wakefield.—Inside of an English Church.—Attempt to - rear Silkworms.—Down-country.—Blandford.—Salisbury.—Execrable - Alteration of the Cathedral.—Instance of public Impiety._ - - - Sunday, April 25. - -We started early, and hurried over four leagues of the same open and -uninteresting country, which brought us to Dorchester, the capital of -the province, or county town, as it is called, because the provincial -prison is here, and here the judges come twice a-year to decide all -causes civil and criminal. The prison is a modern building: the height -and strength of its walls, its iron-grated windows, and its strong -gateway, with fetters hanging over the entrance, sufficiently -characterise it as a place of punishment, and render it a good -representation of a giant’s castle in romance. - -When J— passed through this town on his way to Spain, he visited Gilbert -Wakefield, a celebrated scholar, who was confined here as a favourer of -the French Revolution. One of the bishops had written a book upon the -state of public affairs, just at the time when the minister proposed to -take from every man the tithe of his income: this the bishop did not -think sufficient; so he suggested instead, that a tenth should be levied -of all the capital in the kingdom; arguing, that as every person would -be affected in the same proportion, all would remain relatively as -before, and in fact no person be affected at all. This curious argument -he enforced by as curious an illustration; he said, “That if the -foundation of a great building were to sink equally in every part at the -same time, the whole pile, instead of suffering any injury, would become -the firmer.”—“True,” said Wakefield in his reply, “and you, my lord -bishop, who dwell in the upper apartments, might still enjoy the -prospect from your window;—but what would become of me and the good -people who live upon the ground floor?” - -Wakefield was particularly obnoxious to the government, because his -character stood very high among the Dissenters for learning and -integrity, and his opinions were proportionately of weight. They brought -him to trial for having in his answer to the bishop’s pamphlet applied -the fable of the Ass and his Panniers to existing circumstances. Had it -indeed been circulated among the poor, its tendency would certainly have -been mischievous; but in the form in which it appeared it was evidently -designed as a warning to the rulers, not as an address to the mob. He -was, however, condemned to two years confinement in this prison, this -place being chosen as out of reach of his friends, to make imprisonment -more painful. The public feeling upon this rigorous treatment of so -eminent a man was strongly expressed, and a subscription was publicly -raised for him which amounted to above fifteen hundred pieces-of-eight, -and which enabled his family to remove to Dorchester and settle there. -But the magistrates, whose business it was to oversee the prison, would -neither permit them to lodge with him in his confinement, nor even to -visit him daily. He was thus prevented from proceeding with the -education of his children, an occupation which he had ever regarded as a -duty, and which had been one of his highest enjoyments. But, in the -midst of vexations and insults, he steadily continued to pursue both his -literary and christian labours; affording to his fellow prisoners what -assistance was in his power, endeavouring to reclaim the vicious, and -preparing the condemned for death. His imprisonment eventually proved -fatal. He had been warned on its expiration to accustom himself slowly -to his former habits of exercise, or a fever would inevitably be the -consequence; a fact known by experience. In spite of all his precautions -it took place; and while his friends were rejoicing at his deliverance -he was cut off. As a polemical and political writer he indulged an -asperity of language which he had learnt from his favourite -philologists, but in private life no man was more generally or more -deservedly beloved, and he had a fearless and inflexible honesty which -made him utterly regardless of all danger, and would have enabled him to -exult in martyrdom. When J— had related this history to me, I could not -but observe how far more humane it was to prevent the publication of -obnoxious books than to permit them to be printed and then punish the -persons concerned. “This,” he said, “would be too open a violation of -the liberty of the press.” - -By the time we had breakfasted the bells for divine service were -ringing, and I took the opportunity to step into one of their churches. -The office is performed in a desk immediately under the pulpit, not at -the altar: there were no lights burning, nor any church vessels, nor -ornaments to be seen. Monuments are fixed against the walls and pillars, -and I thought there was a damp and unwholesome smell, perhaps because I -involuntarily expected the frankincense. They have an abominable custom -of partitioning their churches into divisions which they call pews, and -which are private property; so that the wealthy sit at their ease, or -kneel upon cushions, while the poor stand during the whole service in -the aisle. - -An attempt was made something more than a century ago to rear silkworms -in this neighbourhood by a Mr Newberry; a man of many whimsies he was -called, and whimsical indeed he must have been; for the different -buildings for his silkworms and his laboratories were so numerous that -his house looked like a village, and all his laundry and dairy work was -done by men, because he would suffer no women servants about him. - -The road still lay over the downs; this is a great sheep country, above -150,000 are annually sold from Dorsetshire to other parts of England; -they are larger than ours, and I think less beautiful, the wool being -more curled and less soft in its appearance. It was once supposed that -the thyme in these pastures was so nourishing as to make the ewes -produce twins, a story which may be classed with the tale of the -Lusitanian foals of the wind; it is however true that the ewes are -purchased by the farmers near the metropolis, for the sake of fattening -their lambs for the London market, because they yean earlier than any -others. The day was very fine, and the sight of this open and naked -country, where nothing was to be seen but an extent of short green turf -under a sky of cloudless blue, was singular and beautiful. There are -upon the downs many sepulchral hillocks, here called barrows, of -antiquity beyond the reach of history. We past by a village church as -the people were assembling for service, men and women all in their clean -Sunday clothes; the men standing in groups by the church-yard stile, or -before the porch, or sitting upon the tombstones, a hale and ruddy race. -The dresses seem every where the same, without the slightest provincial -difference: all the men wear hats, the least graceful and least -convenient covering for the head that ever was devised. I have not yet -seen a cocked hat except upon the officers. They bury the dead both in -town and country round the churches, and the church-yards are full of -upright stones, on which the name and age of the deceased is inscribed, -usually with some account of his good qualities, and not unfrequently -some rude religious rhyme. I observe that the oldest churches are always -the most beautiful, here as well as every where else; for as we think -more of ourselves and less of religion, more of this world and less of -the next, we build better houses and worse churches. There are no storks -here: the jackdaw, a social and noisy bird, commonly builds in the -steeples. Little reverence is shown either to the church or the -cemetery; the boys play with a ball against the tower, and the priest’s -horse is permitted to graze upon the graves. - -At Blandford we changed chaises; a wealthy and cheerful town. The -English cities have no open centre like our _plazas_; but, in amends for -this, the streets are far wider and more airy: indeed they have never -sun enough to make them desirous of shade. The prosperity of the kingdom -has been fatal to the antiquities, and consequently to the picturesque -beauty of the towns. Walls, gates, and castles have been demolished to -make room for the growth of streets. You are delighted with the -appearance of opulence in the houses, and the perfect cleanliness every -where when you are within the town; but without, there is nothing which -the painter would choose for his subject, nothing to call up the -recollections of old times, and those feelings with which we always -remember the age of the shield and the lance. - -This town and Dorchester, but this in particular, has suffered much from -fire; a tremendous calamity which is every day occurring in England, and -against which daily and dreadful experience has not yet taught them to -adopt any general means of prevention. There are large plantations about -Blandford:—I do not like the English method of planting in what they -call belts about their estates; nothing can be more formal or less -beautiful, especially as the fir is the favourite tree, which precludes -all variety of shape and colour. By some absurdity which I cannot -explain, they set the young trees so thick that unless three-fourths be -weeded out, the remainder cannot grow at all; and when they are weeded, -those which are left, if they do not wither and perish in consequence of -the exposure, rarely attain to any size or strength. - -Our next stage was to the episcopal city of Salisbury; here we left the -down-country, and once more entered upon cultivated fields and -inclosures. The trees in these hedge-rows, if they are at all lofty, -have all their boughs clipt to the very top; nothing can look more naked -and deplorable. When they grow by the way-side, this is enjoined by law, -because their droppings after rain injure the road, and their shade -prevents it from drying. The climate has so much rain and so little sun, -that over-hanging boughs have been found in like manner injurious to -pasture or arable lands, and the trees, therefore, are every where thus -deformed. The approach to Salisbury is very delightful;—little rivers or -rivulets are seen in every direction; houses extending into the country, -garden-trees within the city, and the spire of the cathedral -over-topping all; the highest and the most beautiful in the whole -kingdom. - -We visited this magnificent building while our dinner was getting ready: -like all such buildings, it has its traditional tales of absurdity and -exaggeration—that it has as many private chapels as months in a year, as -many doors as weeks, as many pillars as days, as many windows as hours, -and as many partitions in the windows as minutes: they say also, that it -is founded upon wool-packs, because nothing else could resist the -humidity of the soil. It has lately undergone, or, I should rather say, -suffered a thorough repair in the true spirit of reformation. Every -thing has been cleared away to give it the appearance of one huge room. -The little chapels, which its pious founders and benefactors had erected -in the hope of exciting piety in others, and profiting by their prayers, -are all swept away! but you may easily conceive what wild work a -protestant architect must make with a cathedral, when he fits it to his -own notions of architecture, without the slightest feeling or knowledge -of the design with which such buildings were originally erected. The -naked monuments are now ranged in rows between the pillars, one opposite -another, like couples for a dance, so as never monuments were placed -before, and, it is to be hoped, never will be placed hereafter. Here is -the tomb of a nobleman, who, in the reign of our Philip and Mary, was -executed for murder, like a common malefactor, with this difference -only, that he had the privilege of being hanged in a silken halter; a -singularity which, instead of rendering his death less ignominious, has -made the ignominy more notorious. The cloisters and the chapter-house -have escaped alteration. I have seen more beautiful cloisters in our own -country, but never a finer chapterhouse; it is supported, as usual, by -one central pillar, whose top arches off on all sides, like the head of -a spreading palm. The bishop’s palace was bought during the reign of the -presbyterians by a rich tailor, who demolished it and sold the -materials. - -The cemetery has suffered even more than the church, if more be -possible, from the abominable sacrilege, and abominable taste of the -late bishop and his chapter. They have destroyed all memorials of the -dead, for the sake of laying it down as a smooth well-shorn grass plat, -garnished with bright yellow gravel walks! This suits no feeling of the -mind connected with religious reverence, with death, or with the hope of -immortality; indeed it suits with nothing except a new painted window at -the altar, of truly English design, (for England is not the country of -the arts,) and an organ, bedecked with crocketed pinnacles, more than -ever was Gothic tower, and of stone colour, to imitate masonry! This, -however, it should be added, was given in a handsome manner by the King. -A subscription was raised through the diocese to repair the cathedral, -the King having enquired of the bishop how it succeeded, proceeded to -ask why he himself had not been applied to for a contribution. The -prelate, with courtly submission, disclaimed such presumption as highly -improper. I live at Windsor, said the King, in your diocese, and, though -I am not rich, can afford to give you an organ, which I know you want; -so order one in my name, and let it be suitable to so fine a cathedral. - -The soil here abounds so much with water, that there are no vaults in -the churches, nor cellars in the city; a spring will sometimes gush up -when they are digging a grave. Little streams flow through several of -the streets, so that the city has been called the English Venice; but -whoever gave it this appellation, either had never seen Venice, or -grossly flattered Salisbury. Indeed, till the resemblance was invented, -these streamlets were rather thought inconvenient than beautiful; and -travellers complained that they made the streets not so clean and not so -easy of passage, as they would have been otherwise. The place is famous -for the manufactory of knives and scissars, which are here brought to -the greatest possible perfection. I am sorry it happened to be Sunday; -for the shops, which form so lively a feature in English towns, are all -fastened up with shutters, which give the city a melancholy and mourning -appearance. I saw, however, a priest walking in his cassock from the -church,—the only time when the priests are distinguished in their dress -from the laity. - -A remarkable instance of insolent impiety occurred lately in a village -near this place. A man, in derision of religion, directed in his will, -that his horse should be caparisoned and led to his grave, and there -shot, and buried with him, that he might be ready to mount at the -resurrection, and start to advantage. To the disgrace of the country -this was actually performed; the executors and the legatees probably -thought themselves bound to obey the will; but it is unaccountable why -the clergyman did not interfere, and apply to the bishop. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER V. - -_Old Sarum.—Country thinly peopled,—Basingstoke.—Ruins of a Catholic - Chapel.—Waste Land near London.—Staines.—Iron Bridges.—Custom of - exposing the dead Bodies of Criminals.—Hounslow.—Brentford.—Approach - to London.—Arrival._ - - - Monday, April 26. - -Half a league from Salisbury, close on the left of the London road, is -Old Sarum, the Sorbiodunum of the Romans, famous for many reasons. It -covered the top of a round hill, which is still surrounded with a mound -of earth and a deep fosse. Under the Norman kings it was a flourishing -town, but subject to two evils; the want of water, and the oppression of -the castle soldiers. The townsmen, therefore, with one consent, removed -to New Sarum, the present Salisbury, where the first of these evils is -more than remedied; and the garrison was no longer maintained at Old -Sarum when there was nobody to be pillaged. So was the original city -deserted, except by its right of representation in parliament; not a -soul remaining there. Seven burgage tenures, in a village westward of -it, produce two burgesses to serve in parliament for Old Sarum; four of -these tenures (the majority) were sold very lately for a sum little -short of 200,000 _peso-duros_. - -From this place Salisbury Plain stretches to the north, but little of it -is visible from the road which we were travelling: much of this wide -waste has lately been inclosed and cultivated. I regretted that I could -not visit Stonehenge, the famous druidical monument, which was only a -league and a half distant: but as J— was on his way home, after so long -an absence, I could not even express a wish to delay him. - -Stockbridge and Basingstoke were our next stages: the country is mostly -down, recently enclosed, and of wonderfully thin population in -comparison of the culture. Indeed harvest here depends upon a temporary -emigration of the western clothiers, who come and work during the -harvest months. The few trees in this district grow about the villages -which are scattered in the vallies—beautiful objects in an open and -naked country. You see flints and chalk in the fields, if the soil be -not covered with corn or turnips. Basingstoke is a town which stands at -the junction of five great roads, and is of course a thriving place. At -the north side is a small but beautiful ruin of a chapel once belonging -to a brotherhood of the Holy Ghost. J— led me to see it as a beautiful -object, in which light only all Englishmen regard such monuments of the -piety of their forefathers and of their own lamentable apostasy. The -roof had once been adorned with the history of the prophets and the holy -apostles; but the more beautiful and the more celebrated these -decorations, the more zealously were they destroyed in the schism. I -felt deeply the profanation, and said a prayer in silence upon the spot -where the altar should have stood. One relic of better times is still -preserved at Basingstoke: in all parishes it is the custom, at stated -periods, to walk round the boundaries; but here, and here only, is the -procession connected with religion: they begin and conclude the ceremony -by singing a psalm under a great elm which grows before the -parsonage-house. - -Two leagues and a half of wooded country reach Hertford Bridge, a place -of nothing but inns for travellers: from hence, with short and casual -interruptions, Bagshot Heath extends to Egham, not less than fourteen -miles. We were within six leagues of London, a city twice during the -late war on the very brink of famine, and twice in hourly dread of -insurrection from that dreadful cause:—and yet so near it is this tract -of country utterly waste! Nothing but wild sheep, that run as fleet as -hounds, are scattered over this dreary desert: flesh there is none on -these wretched creatures; but those who are only half-starved on the -heath produce good meat when fatted: all the flesh and all the fat being -_laid on_, as graziers speak, anew, it is equivalent in tenderness to -lamb, and in flavour to mutton, and has fame accordingly in the -metropolis. - -At Staines we crost the Thames,—not by a new bridge, now for the third -time built, but over a crazy wooden one above a century old. We enquired -the reason, and heard a curious history. The river here divides the -counties of Middlesex and Surrey; and the magistrates of both counties, -having agreed upon the necessity of building a bridge, did not agree -exactly as to its situation; neither party would give way, and -accordingly each collected materials for building a half-bridge from its -respective bank, but not opposite to the other. Time at length showed -the unfitness of this, and convinced them that two half bridges would -not make a whole one: they then built three arches close to the old -bridge; when weight was laid on the middle piers, they sunk considerably -into an unremembered and untried quicksand, and all the work was to be -undone. In the meanwhile, an adventurous iron bridge had been built at -Sunderland, one arch of monstrous span over a river with high rocky -banks, so that large ships could sail under. The architect of this work, -which was much talked of, offered his services to throw a similar but -smaller bridge over the Thames. But, alas! his rocky abutments were not -there, and he did not believe enough in mathematics to know the mighty -lateral pressure of a wide flat arch. Stone abutments, however, were to -be made; but, from prudential considerations, the Middlesex abutment, of -seeming solidity, was hollow, having been intended for the wine-cellar -of a large inn; so as soon as the wooden frame-work was removed, the -flat arch took the liberty of pushing away the abutment—alias the -wine-cellar—and after carriages had passed over about a week, the fated -bridge was once more closed against passage. - -I know not how these iron bridges may appear to an English eye, but to a -Spaniard’s they are utterly detestable. The colour, where it is not -black, is rusty, and the hollow, open, spider work, which they so much -praise for its lightness, has no appearance of solidity. Of all the -works of man, there is not any one which unites so well with natural -scenery, and so heightens its beauty, as a bridge, if any taste, or -rather if no bad taste, be displayed in its structure. This is -exemplified in the rude as well as in the magnificent; by the stepping -stones or crossing plank of a village brook, as well as by the immortal -works of Trajan: but to look at these iron bridges which are bespoken at -the foundries, you would actually suppose that the architect had studied -at the confectioner’s, and borrowed his ornaments from the sugar temples -of a desert. It is curious that this execrable improvement, as every -novelty is called in England, should have been introduced by the -notorious politician, Paine, who came over from America, upon this -speculation, and exhibited one as a show upon dry ground in the -metropolis.[4] - -Footnote 4: - - The great Sunderland bridge has lately become liable to tremendous - vibrations, and thereby established the unfitness of building any more - such.—TR. - -Staines was so called, because the boundary stone which marked the -extent of the city of London’s jurisdiction up the river formerly stood -here. The country on the London side had once been a forest; but has now -no other wood remaining than a few gibbets; on one of which, according -to the barbarous custom of this country, a criminal was hanging in -chains. Some five-and-twenty years ago, about a hundred such were -exposed upon the heath; so that from whatever quarter the wind blew, it -brought with it a cadaverous and pestilential odour. The nation is -becoming more civilized; they now take the bodies down after reasonable -exposure; and it will probably not be long before a practice so -offensive to public feeling, and public decency, will be altogether -discontinued. This heath is infamous for the robberies which are -committed upon it, at all hours of the day and night, though travellers -and stage-coaches are continually passing: the banditti are chiefly -horsemen, who strike across with their booty into one of the roads, -which intersect it in every direction, and easily escape pursuit; an -additional reason for inclosing the waste. We passed close to some -powder-mills, which are either so ill-contrived, or so carelessly -managed, that they are blown up about once a-year: then we entered the -great Western road at Hounslow; from thence to the metropolis is only -two leagues and a half. - -Three miles further is Brentford, the county town of Middlesex, and of -all places the most famous in the electioneering history of England. It -was now almost one continued street to London. The number of travellers -perfectly astonished me, prepared as I had been by the gradual increase -along the road; horsemen and footmen, carriages of every description and -every shape, waggons and carts and covered carts, stage-coaches, long, -square, and double, coaches, chariots, chaises, gigs, buggies, -curricles, and phaetons; the sound of their wheels ploughing through the -wet gravel was as continuous and incessant as the roar of the waves on -the sea beach. Evening was now setting in, and it was dark before we -reached Hyde Park Corner, the entrance of the capital. We had travelled -for some time in silence; J—’s thoughts were upon his family, and I was -as naturally led to think on mine, from whom I was now separated by so -wide a tract of sea and land, among heretics and strangers, a people -notoriously inhospitable to foreigners, without a single friend or -acquaintance, except my companion. You will not wonder if my spirits -were depressed; in truth, I never felt more deeply dejected; and the -more I was surprised at the length of the streets, the lines of lamps, -and of illuminated shops, and the stream of population to which there -seemed to be no end,—the more I felt the solitariness of my own -situation. - -The chaise at last stopped at J—’s door in ——. I was welcomed as kindly -as I could wish: my apartment had been made ready: I pleaded fatigue, -and soon retired. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER VI. - -_Watchmen.—Noise in London Night and Morning.—An English Family.—Advice - to Travellers._ - - - Tuesday, April 27, 1802. - -The first night in a strange bed is seldom a night of sound rest;—one is -not intimate enough with the pillow to be quite at ease upon it. A -traveller, like myself, indeed, might be supposed to sleep soundly any -where; but the very feeling that my journey was over was a disquieting -one, and I should have lain awake thinking of the friends and parents -whom I had left, and the strangers with whom I was now domesticated, had -there been nothing else to disturb me. To sleep in London, however, is -an art which a foreigner must acquire by time and habit. Here was the -watchman, whose business it is, not merely to guard the streets and take -charge of the public security, but to inform the good people of London -every half hour of the state of the weather. For the three first hours I -was told it was a moonlight night, then it became cloudy, and at half -past three o’clock was a rainy morning; so that I was as well acquainted -with every variation of the atmosphere as if I had been looking from the -window all night long. A strange custom this, to pay men for telling -them what the weather is, every hour during the night, till they get so -accustomed to the noise, that they sleep on and cannot hear what is -said. - -Besides this regular annoyance, there is another cause of disturbance. -The inhabitants of this great city seem to be divided into two distinct -casts,—the Solar and the Lunar races,—those who live by day, and those -who live by night, antipodes to each other, the one rising just as the -others go to bed. The clatter of the night coaches had scarcely ceased, -before that of the morning carts began. The dustman with his bell, and -his chaunt of dust ho! succeeded to the watchman; then came the -porter-house boy for the pewter-pots which had been sent out for supper -the preceding night; the milkman next, and so on, a succession of cries, -each in a different tune, so numerous, that I could no longer follow -them in my enquiries. - -As the watchman had told me of the rain, I was neither surprised nor -sorry at finding it a wet morning: a day of rest after the voyage and so -long a journey is acceptable, and the leisure it allows for clearing my -memory, and settling accounts with my journal, is what I should have -chosen. More novelties will crowd upon me now than it will be easy to -keep pace with. Here I am in London, the most wonderful spot upon this -habitable earth. - -The inns had given me a taste of English manners; still the domestic -accommodations and luxuries surprised me. Would you could see our -breakfast scene! every utensil so beautiful, such order, such curiosity! -the whole furniture of the room so choice, and of such excellent -workmanship, and a fire of earth-coal enlivening every thing. But I must -minutely describe all this hereafter. To paint the family group is out -of my power; words may convey an adequate idea of deformity, and -describe with vivid accuracy what is grotesque in manner or costume; but -for gracefulness and beauty we have only general terms. Thus much, -however, may be said; there is an elegance and a propriety in the -domestic dress of English women, which is quite perfect, and children -here and with us seem almost like beings of different species. Their -dress here bears no resemblance to that of their parents; I could not -but feel the unfitness of our own manners, and acknowledge that our -children in full dress look like colts in harness. J—’s are fine, -healthy, happy-looking children; their mother educates them, and was -telling her husband with delightful pride how they had profited, how -John could spell, and Harriet tell her letters. She has shown me their -books, for in this country they have books for every gradation of the -growing intellect, and authors of the greatest celebrity have not -thought it beneath them to employ their talents in this useful -department. Their very playthings are made subservient to the purposes -of education; they have ivory alphabets with which they arrange words -upon the table, and dissected maps which they combine into a whole so -much faster than I can do, that I shall not be ashamed to play with -them, and acquire the same readiness. - -J— has a tolerable library; he has the best Spanish authors; but I must -not keep company here with my old friends. The advice which he has given -me, with respect to my studies, is very judicious. Of our best books, he -says, read none but such as are absolutely necessary to give you a -competent knowledge of the land you are in; you will take back with you -our great authors, and it is best to read them at leisure in your own -country, when you will more thoroughly understand them. Newspapers, -Reviews, and other temporary publications will make you best acquainted -with England in its present state; and we have bulky county histories, -not worth freight across the water, which you should consult for -information concerning what you have seen, and what you mean to see. But -reserve our classics for Spain, and read nothing which you buy.[5] - -Footnote 5: - - Having taken his advice, I recommend it to future - travellers.—_Author’s note._ - -The tailor and shoemaker have made their appearance. I fancied my figure -was quite English in my pantaloons of broad-striped fustian, and large -coat buttons of cut steel; but it seems that although they are certainly -of genuine English manufacture, they were manufactured only for foreign -sale. To-morrow my buttons will be covered, and my toes squared, and I -shall be in no danger of being called Frenchman in the streets. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER VII. - -_General Description of London.—Walk to the Palace.—Crowd in the - Streets.—Shops.—Cathedral of St Paul.—Palace of the Prince of - Wales.—Oddities in the Shop Windows._ - - - Wednesday, April 28. - -My first business was to acquire some knowledge of the place whereof I -am now become an inhabitant. I began to study the plan of London, though -dismayed at the sight of its prodigious extent,—a city a league and a -half from one extremity to the other, and about half as broad, standing -upon level ground. It is impossible ever to become thoroughly acquainted -with such an endless labyrinth of streets; and, as you may well suppose, -they who live at one end know little or nothing of the other. The river -is no assistance to a stranger in finding his way. There is no street -along its banks, and no eminence from whence you can look around and -take your bearings. - -London, properly so called, makes but a small part of this immense -capital, though the focus of business is there. Westminster is about the -same size. To the east and the north is a great population included in -neither of these cities, and probably equal to both. On the western side -the royal parks have prevented the growth of houses, and form a gap -between the metropolis and its suburb. All this is on the north side of -the river. Southwark, or the Borough, is on the other shore, and a town -has grown at Lambeth by the Primate’s palace, which has now joined it. -The extent of ground covered with houses on this bank is greater than -the area of Madrid. The population is now ascertained to exceed nine -hundred thousand persons, nearly a twelfth of the inhabitants of the -whole island. - -Having studied the way to the palace, I set off. The distance was -considerable: the way, after getting into the main streets, tolerably -straight. There were not many passers in the by-streets; but when I -reached Cheapside the crowd completely astonished me. On each side of -the way were two uninterrupted streams of people, one going east, the -other west. At first I thought some extraordinary occasion must have -collected such a concourse; but I soon perceived it was only the usual -course of business. They moved on in two regular counter currents, and -the rapidity with which they moved was as remarkable as their numbers. -It was easy to perceive that the English calculate the value of time. -Nobody was loitering to look at the beautiful things in the shop -windows; none were stopping to converse, every one was in haste, yet no -one in a hurry; the quickest possible step seemed to be the natural -pace. The carriages were numerous in proportion, and were driven with -answerable velocity. - -If possible, I was still more astonished at the opulence and splendour -of the shops: drapers, stationers, confectioners, pastry-cooks, -seal-cutters, silver-smiths, booksellers, print-sellers, hosiers, -fruiterers, china-sellers,—one close to another, without intermission, a -shop to every house, street after street, and mile after mile; the -articles themselves so beautiful, and so beautifully arranged, that if -they who passed by me had had leisure to observe any thing, they might -have known me to be a foreigner by the frequent stands which I made to -admire them. Nothing which I had seen in the country had prepared me for -such a display of splendour. - -My way lay by St Paul’s church. The sight of this truly noble building -rather provoked than pleased me. The English, after erecting so grand an -edifice, will not allow it an open space to stand in, and it is -impossible to get a full view of it in any situation. The value of -ground in this capital is too great to be sacrificed to beauty by a -commercial nation: unless, therefore, another conflagration should lay -London in ashes, the Londoners will never fairly see their own -cathedral. The street which leads to the grand front has just a -sufficient bend to destroy the effect which such a termination would -have given it, and to obstruct the view till you come too close to see -it. This is perfectly vexatious! Except St Peter’s, here is beyond -comparison the finest temple in Christendom, and it is even more -ridiculously misplaced than the bridge of Segovia appears, when the -mules have drank up the Manzanares. The houses come so close upon one -side, that carriages are not permitted to pass that way lest the -foot-passengers should be endangered. The site itself is well chosen on -a little rising near the river; and were it fairly opened as it ought to -be, no city could boast so magnificent a monument of modern times. - -In a direct line from hence is Temple Bar, a modern, ugly, useless gate, -which divides the two cities of London and Westminster. There were iron -spikes upon the top, on which the heads of traitors were formerly -exposed: J— remembers to have seen some in his childhood. On both sides -of this gate I had a paper thrust into my hand, which proved to be a -quack doctor’s notice of some never-failing pills. Before I reached home -I had a dozen of these. Tradesmen here lose no possible opportunity of -forcing their notices upon the public. Wherever there was a dead wall, a -vacant house, or a temporary scaffolding erected for repairs, the space -was covered with printed bills. Two rival blacking-makers were standing -in one of the streets, each carried a boot, completely varnished with -black, hanging from a pole, and on the other arm a basket with the balls -for sale. On the top of their poles was a sort of standard, with a -printed paper explaining the virtue of the wares;—the one said that his -blacking was the best blacking in the world; the other, that his was so -good you might eat it. - -The crowd in Westminster was not so great as in the busier city. From -Charing Cross, as it is still called, though an equestrian statue has -taken place of the cross, a great street opens toward Westminster Abbey, -and the Houses of Parliament. Most of the public buildings are here: it -is to be regretted that the end is not quite open to the abbey, for it -would then be one of the finest streets in Europe. Leaving this for my -return, I went on to the palaces of the Prince of Wales, and of the -King, which stand near each other in a street called Pall Mall. The game -from whence this name is derived is no longer known in England. - -The Prince of Wales’s palace is no favourable specimen of English -architecture. Before the house are thirty columns planted in a row, two -and two, supporting nothing but a common entablature, which connects -them. As they serve for neither ornament nor use, a stranger might be -puzzled to know by what accident they came there; but the truth is, that -these people have more money than taste, and are satisfied with any -absurdity if it has but the merit of being new. The same architect was -employed[6] to build a palace, not far distant, for the second prince of -the blood, and in the front towards the street he constructed a large -oven-like room completely obscuring the house to which it was to serve -as an entrance-hall. These two buildings being described to the late -Lord North, who was blind in the latter part of his life, he facetiously -remarked, Then the Duke of York, it should seem, has been sent to the -round-house, and the Prince of Wales is put into the pillory.[7] - -Footnote 6: - - The author must have been misinformed in this particular, for the Duke - of York’s house at Whitehall, now Lord Melbourne’s, was not built by - his Royal Highness; but altered, with some additions, of which the - room alluded to made a part.—TR. - -Footnote 7: - - There is an explanation of the jest in the text which the translator - has thought proper to omit, as, however necessary to foreign readers, - it must needs seem impertinent to an English one.—TR. - -I had now passed the trading district, and found little to excite -attention in large brick houses without uniformity, and without either -beauty or magnificence. The royal palace itself is an old brick -building, remarkable for nothing, except that the sovereign of Great -Britain should have no better a court; but it seems that the king never -resides there. A passage through the court-yard leads into St James’s -Park, the Prado of London. Its trees are not so fine as might be -expected in a country where water never fails, and the sun never -scorches; here is also a spacious piece of water; but the best ornament -of the park are the two towers of Westminster Abbey. Having now reached -the proposed limits of my walk, I passed through a public building of -some magnitude and little beauty, called the Horse Guards, and again -entered the public streets. Here, where the pavement was broad, and the -passengers not so numerous as to form a crowd, a beggar had taken his -seat, and written his petition upon the stones with chalks of various -colours, the letters formed with great skill, and ornamented with some -taste. I stopped to admire his work, and gave him a trifle as a payment -for the sight, rather than as alms. Immediately opposite the Horse -Guards is the Banqueting House at Whitehall; so fine a building, that if -the later architects had had eyes to see, or understandings to -comprehend its merit, they would never have disgraced the opposite side -of the way with buildings so utterly devoid of beauty. This fragment of -a great design by Inigo Jones is remarkable for many accounts; here is -the window through which Charles I. came out upon the scaffold; here -also, in the back court, the statue of James II. remains undisturbed, -with so few excesses was that great revolution accompanied; and here is -the weathercock which was set up by his command, that he might know -every shifting of the wind when the invasion from Holland was expected, -and the east wind was called Protestant by the people, and the west -Papist. - -My way home from Charing Cross was varied, in as much as I took the -other side of the street for the sake of the shop windows, and the -variety was greater than I had expected. It took me through a place -called Exeter Change, which is precisely a _Bazar_, a sort of street -under cover, or large long room, with a row of shops on either hand, and -a thoroughfare between them; the shops being furnished with such -articles as might tempt an idler, or remind a passenger of his -wants,—walking-sticks, implements for shaving, knives, scissars, -watch-chains, purses, &c. At the further end was a man in splendid -costume, who proved to belong to a menagerie above stairs, to which he -invited me to ascend; but I declined this for the present, being without -a companion. A maccaw was swinging on a perch above him, and the outside -of the building hung with enormous pictures of the animals which were -there to be seen. - -The oddest things which I saw in the whole walk were a pair of shoes in -one window floating in a vessel of water, to show that they were -water-proof; and a well-dressed leg in another, betokening that legs -were made there to the life. One purchase I ventured to make, that of a -travelling caissette; there were many at the shop-door, with the prices -marked upon them, so that I did not fear imposition. These things are -admirably made and exceedingly convenient. I was shown some which -contained the whole apparatus of a man’s toilet, but this seemed an ill -assortment, as when writing you do not want the shaving materials, and -when shaving as little do you want the writing desk. - -In looking over the quack’s notices after my return, I found a fine -specimen of English hyperbole. The doctor says that his pills always -perform, and even exceed whatever he promises, as if they were impatient -of immortal and universal fame. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER VIII. - -_Proclamation of Peace.—The English do not understand - Pageantry.—Illumination.—M. Otto’s House.—Illuminations better - managed at Rome._ - - - Friday, April 30. - -The definitive treaty has arrived at last; peace was proclaimed -yesterday, with the usual ceremonies, and the customary rejoicings have -taken place. My expectations were raised to the highest pitch. I looked -for a pomp and pageantry far surpassing whatever I had seen in my own -country. Indeed every body expected a superb spectacle. The newspaper -writers had filled their columns with magnificent descriptions of what -was to be, and rooms or single windows in the streets through which the -procession was to pass, were advertised to be let for the sight, and -hired at prices so extravagant, that I should be suspected of -exaggeration were I to say how preposterous. - -The theory of the ceremony, for this ceremony, like an English suit at -law, is founded upon a fiction, is, that the Lord Mayor of London, and -the people of London, good people! being wholly ignorant of what has -been going on, the king sends officially to acquaint them that he has -made peace: accordingly the gates at Temple Bar, which divide London and -Westminster, and which stand open day and night, are on this occasion -closed; and Garter king at arms, with all his heraldic peers, rides up -to them and knocks loudly for admittance. The Lord Mayor, mounted on a -charger, is ready on the other side to demand who is there. King Garter -then announces himself and his errand, and requires permission to pass -and proclaim the good news; upon which the gates are thrown open. This, -which is the main part of the ceremony, could be seen only by those -persons who were contiguous to the spot, and we were not among the -number. The apartment in which we were was on the Westminster side, and -we saw only the heraldic part of the procession. The heralds and the -trumpeters were certainly in splendid costume; but they were not above -twenty in number, nor was there any thing to precede or follow them. The -poorest brotherhood in Spain makes a better procession on its festival. -In fact, these functions are not understood in England. - -The crowd was prodigious. The windows, the leads, or unrailed balconies -which project over many of the shops, the house tops, were full, and the -streets below thronged. A very remarkable accident took place in our -sight. A man on the top of a church was leaning against one of the stone -urns which ornament the balustrade; it fell, and crushed a person below. -On examination it appeared that the workmen, instead of cramping it with -iron to the stone, or securing it with masonry, had fitted it on a -wooden peg, which having become rotten through, yielded to the slightest -touch. A Turk might relate this story in proof of predestination. - -If, however, the ceremony of the morning disappointed me, I was amply -rewarded by the illuminations at night. This token of national joy is -not, as with us, regulated by law; the people, or the mob, as they are -called, take the law into their own hands on these occasions, and when -they choose to have an illumination, the citizens must illuminate to -please them, or be content to have their windows broken; a violence -which is winked at by the police, as it falls only upon persons whose -politics are obnoxious. During many days, preparations had been making -for this festivity, so that it was already known what houses and what -public buildings would exhibit the most splendid appearance. M. Otto’s, -the French ambassador, surpassed all others, and the great object of -desire was to see this. Between eight and nine the lighting-up began, -and about ten we sallied out on our way to Portman Square, where M. Otto -resided. - -In the private streets there was nothing to be remarked, except the -singular effect of walking at night in as broad a light as that of -noon-day, every window being filled with candles, arranged either in -straight lines, or in arches, at the fancy of the owner, which nobody -stopped to admire. None indeed were walking in these streets except -persons whose way lay through them; yet had there been a single house -unlighted, a mob would have been collected in five minutes, at the first -outcry. When we drew near Pall Mall, the crowd, both of carriages and of -people, thickened; still there was no inconvenience, and no difficulty -in walking, or in crossing the carriage road. Greater expense had been -bestowed here. The gaming-houses in St James’s street were magnificent, -as they always are on such occasions; in one place you saw the crown and -the G. R. in coloured lamps; in another the word Peace in letters of -light; in another some transparent picture, emblematical of peace and -plenty. Some score years ago, a woman in the country asked a higher -price than she had used to do for a basket of mushrooms, and when she -was asked the reason, said, it was because of the American war. As war -thus advances the price of every thing, peace and plenty are supposed to -be inseparably connected; and well may the poor think them so. There was -a transparency exhibited this night at a pot-house in the city, which -represented a loaf of bread saying to a pot of porter, I am coming down; -to which the porter-pot made answer, So am I. - -The nearer we drew the greater was the throng. It was a sight truly -surprising to behold all the inhabitants of this immense city walking -abroad at midnight, and distinctly seen by the light of ten thousand -candles. This was particularly striking in Oxford-street, which is -nearly half a league in length;—as far as the eye could reach either way -the parallel lines of light were seen narrowing towards each other. -Here, however, we could still advance without difficulty, and the -carriages rattled along unobstructed. But in the immediate vicinity of -Portman square it was very different. Never before had I beheld such -multitudes assembled. The middle of the street was completely filled -with coaches, so immoveably locked together, that many persons who -wished to cross passed under the horses’ bellies without fear, and -without danger. The unfortunate persons within had no such means of -escape; they had no possible way of extricating themselves, unless they -could crawl out of the window of one coach into the window of another; -there was no room to open a door. There they were, and there they must -remain, patiently or impatiently; and there, in fact, they did remain -the greater part of the night, till the lights were burnt out, and the -crowd clearing away left them at liberty. - -We who were on foot had better fortune, but we laboured hard for it. -There were two ranks of people, one returning from the square, the other -pressing on to it. Exertion was quite needless; man was wedged to man, -he who was behind you pressed you against him who was before; I had -nothing to do but to work out elbow room that I might not be squeezed to -death, and to float on with the tide. But this tide was frequently at a -stop; some obstacle at the further end of the street checked it, and -still the crowd behind was increasing in depth. We tried the first -entrance to the square in vain; it was utterly impossible to get in, and -finding this we crossed into the counter current, and were carried out -by the stream. A second and a third entrance we tried with no better -fortune; at the fourth, the only remaining avenue, we were more -successful. To this, which is at the outskirts of the town, there was -one way inaccessible by carriages, and it was not crowded by walkers, -because the road was bad, there were no lamps, and the way was not -known. By this route, however, we entered the avenue immediately -opposite to M. Otto’s, and raising ourselves by the help of a garden -wall, overlooked the crowd, and thus obtained a full and uninterrupted -sight, of what thousands and tens of thousands were vainly struggling to -see. To describe it, splendid as it was, is impossible; the whole -building presented a front of light. The inscription was Peace and -Amity; it had been Peace and Concord, but a party of sailors in the -morning, whose honest patriotism did not regard trifling differences of -orthography, insisted upon it that they were not _conquered_, and that -no Frenchman should say so; and so the word Amity, which can hardly be -regarded as English, was substituted in its stead. - -Having effected our object, meaner sights had no temptation for us, and -we returned. It was three in the morning before we reached home; we -extinguished our lights and were retiring to bed, believing ourselves at -liberty so to do. But it did not please the mob to be of the same -opinion; they insisted that the house should be lit up again, and John -Bull was not to be disobeyed. Except a few such instances of -unreasonableness, it is surprising how peaceably the whole passed off. -The pickpockets have probably made a good harvest; but we saw no -quarrelling, no drunkenness, and, what is more extraordinary, prodigious -as the crowd was, have heard of no accident. - -So famous is this illumination of M. Otto, that one of the minor -theatres has given notice to all such persons as were not fortunate -enough to obtain sight of it, that it will be exactly represented upon -the stage for their accommodation, and that the same number of lamps -will be arranged precisely in the same manner, the same person being -employed to suspend them. Hundreds will go to see this, not recollecting -that it is as impossible to do it upon a stage of that size, as it is to -put a quart of water into a pint cup. - -Illuminations are better managed at Rome. Imagine the vast dome of St -Peter’s covered with large lamps so arranged as to display its fine -form; those lamps all kindled at the same minute, and the whole dome -emerging, as it were, from total darkness, in one blaze of light. After -this exhibition has lasted an hour, the dome as rapidly assumes the -shape of a huge tiara, a change produced by pots of fire so much more -powerful than the former light as at once to annihilate it. This, and -the fireworks from St Angelo, which, from the grandeur, admit of no -adequate description, as you may well conceive, effectually prevent -those persons who have beheld them from enjoying the twinkling light of -half-penny-candles scattered in the windows of London, or the crowns and -regal cyphers which here and there manifest the zeal, the interest, or -emulation of individuals. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER IX. - - _Execution of Governor Wall._ - - -Nothing is now talked of in London but the fate of Governor Wall, who -has just been executed for a crime committed twenty years ago. He -commanded at that time the English settlement at Goree, an inactive and -unwholsome station, little reputable for the officers, and considered as -a place of degradation for the men. The garrison became discontented at -some real or supposed mal-practices in the distribution of stores; and -Wall seizing those whom he conceived to be the ringleaders of the -disaffected, ordered them, by his own authority, to be so dreadfully -flogged, that three of them died in consequence; he himself standing by -during the execution, and urging the executioner not to spare, in terms -of the most brutal cruelty. An indictment for murder was preferred -against him on his return to England; he was apprehended, but made his -escape from the officers of justice, and got over to the Continent, -where he remained many years. Naples was at one time the place of his -residence, and the countenance which he received there from some of his -countrymen of high rank perhaps induced him to believe that the public -indignation against him had subsided. Partly, perhaps, induced by this -confidence, by the supposition that the few witnesses who could have -testified against him were dead, or so scattered about the world as to -be out of reach, and still more compelled by the pressure of his -circumstances, he at length resolved to venture back. - -It is said, that some years before his surrender he came to Calais with -this intent, and desired one of the king of England’s messengers to take -him into custody, as he wished to return and stand his trial. The -messenger replied, that he could not possibly take charge of him, but -advised him to signify his intention to the Secretary of State, and -offered to carry his letter to the office. Wall was still very -solicitous to go, though the sea was at that time so tempestuous that -the ordinary packets did not venture out; and the messenger, whose -dispatches would not admit of delay, had hired a vessel for himself: -finding, however, that this could not be, he wrote as had been -suggested; but when he came to subscribe his name, his heart failed him, -his countenance became pale and livid, and in an agony of fear or of -conscience he threw down the pen and rushed out of the room. The -messenger put to sea; the vessel was wrecked in clearing out of the -harbour, and not a soul on board escaped. - -This extraordinary story has been confidently related with every -circumstantial evidence; yet it seems to imply a consciousness of guilt, -and a feeling of remorse, noways according with his after conduct. He -came over to England about twelve months ago, and lived in London under -a fictitious name: here also a circumstance look place which touched him -to the heart. Some masons were employed about his house, and he took -notice to one of them that the lad who worked with him appeared very -sickly and delicate, and unfit for so laborious an employment. The man -confessed that it was true, but said that he had no other means of -supporting him, and that the poor lad had no other friend in the world, -“For his father and mother,” said he, “are dead, and his only brother -was flogged to death at Goree, by that barbarous villain Governor Wall.” - -It has never been ascertained what were his motives for surrendering -himself; the most probable cause which can be assigned is, that some -property had devolved to him, of which he stood greatly in need, but -which he could not claim till his outlawry had been reversed. He -therefore voluntarily gave himself up, and was brought to trial. One of -the persons whom he had summoned to give evidence in his favour dropped -down dead on the way to the court; it was, however, known that his -testimony would have borne against him. Witnesses appeared from the -remotest parts of the island whom he had supposed dead. One man who had -suffered under his barbarity and recovered, had been hanged for robbery -but six months before, and expressed his regret at going to the gallows -before Governor Wall, as the thing which most grieved him, “For,” said -he, “I know he will come to the gallows at last.” - -The question turned upon the point of law, whether the fact, for that -was admitted, was to be considered as an execution, or as a murder. The -evidence of a woman who appeared in his behalf, was that which weighed -most heavily against him: his attempt to prove that a mutiny actually -existed failed; and the jury pronounced him guilty. For this he was -utterly unprepared; and, when he heard the verdict, clasped his hands in -astonishment and agony. The Bench, as it is called, had no doubt -whatever of his guilt, but they certainly thought it doubtful how the -jury might decide; and as the case was so singular, after passing -sentence in the customary form, they respited him, that the -circumstances might be more fully considered. - -The Governor was well connected, and had powerful friends: it is said -also, that as the case turned upon a question of discipline, some -persons high in the military department exerted themselves warmly in his -favour. The length of time which had elapsed was no palliation, and it -was of consequence that it should not be considered as such; but his -self-surrender, it was urged, evidently implied that he believed himself -justifiable in what he had done. On the other hand, the circumstances -which had appeared on the trial were of the most aggravating nature; -they had been detailed in all the newspapers, and women were selling the -account about the streets at a half-penny each, vociferating aloud the -most shocking parts, the better to attract notice. Various editions of -the trial at length were published; and the publishers, most -unpardonably, while the question of his life or death was still under -the consideration of the privy council, stuck up their large notices all -over the walls of London, with prints of the transaction, and “Cut his -liver out,” the expression which he had used to the executioner, written -in large letters above. The popular indignation had never before been so -excited. On the days appointed for his execution (for he was repeatedly -respited) all the streets leading to the prison were crowded by soldiers -and sailors chiefly, every one of whom felt it as his own personal -cause: and as the execution of the mutineers in the fleet was so recent, -in which so little mercy had been shown, a feeling very generally -prevailed among the lower classes, that this case was to decide whether -or not there was law for the rich as well as for the poor. The -deliberations of the privy council continued for so many days that it -was evident great efforts were made to save his life; but there can be -little doubt, that had these efforts succeeded, either a riot would have -ensued, or a more dangerous and deeply-founded spirit of disaffection -would have gone through the people. - -Wall, meantime, was lying in the dungeon appointed for persons condemned -to death, where, in strict observance of the letter of the law, he was -allowed no other food than bread and water. Whether he felt compunction -may be doubted:—we easily deceive ourselves:—form only was wanting to -have rendered that a legal punishment which was now called murder, and -he may have regarded himself as a disciplinarian, not a criminal; but as -his hopes of pardon failed him, he was known to sit up in his bed during -the greater part of the night, singing psalms. His offence was indeed -heavy, but never did human being suffer more heavily! The dread of -death, the sense of the popular hatred, for it was feared that the mob -might prevent his execution and pull him to pieces; and the tormenting -reflection that his own vain confidence had been the cause,—that he had -voluntarily placed himself in this dreadful situation,—these formed a -punishment sufficient, even if remorse were not superadded. - -On the morning of his execution, the mob, as usual, assembled in -prodigious numbers, filling the whole space before the prison, and all -the wide avenues from whence the spot could be seen. Having repeatedly -been disappointed of their revenge, they were still apprehensive of -another respite, and their joy at seeing him appear upon the scaffold -was so great, that they set up three huzzas,—an instance of ferocity -which had never occurred before. The miserable man, quite overcome by -this, begged the hangman to hasten his work. When he was turned off they -began their huzzas again; but instead of proceeding to three distinct -shouts, as usual, they stopped at the first. This conduct of the mob has -been called inhuman and disgraceful; for my own part, I cannot but agree -with those who regard it in a very different light. The revengeful joy -which animated them, unchristian as that passion certainly is, and -whatever may have been its excess, was surely founded upon humanity; and -the sudden extinction of that joy, the feeling which at one moment -struck so many thousands, stopped their acclamations at once, and awed -them into a dead silence when they saw the object of their hatred in the -act and agony of death, is surely as honourable to the popular character -as any trait which I have seen recorded of any people in any age or -country. - -The body, according to custom, was suspended an hour: during this time -the Irish basket-women who sold fruit under the gallows were drinking -his damnation in mixture of gin and brimstone! The halter in which he -suffered was cut into the smallest pieces possible, which were sold to -the mob at a shilling each. According to the sentence, the body should -have been dissected; it was just opened as a matter of form, and then -given to his relations; for which indulgence they gave 100_l._ to one of -the public hospitals. One of the printed trials contains his portrait as -taken in the dungeon of the condemned; if it be true that an artist was -actually sent to take his likeness under such dreadful circumstances, -for the purpose of gain, this is the most disgraceful fact which has -taken place during the whole transaction. - -A print has since been published called The Balance of Justice. It -represents the mutineers hanging on one arm of a gallows, and Governor -Wall on the other. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER X. - -_Martial Laws of England.—Limited Service advised.—Hints for Military - Reform._ - - -The execution of Governor Wall is considered as a great triumph of -justice. Nobody seems to recollect that he has been hanged, not for -having flogged three men to death, but for an informality in the mode of -doing it.—Yet this is the true state of the case. Had he called a -drum-head court-martial, the same sentence might have been inflicted, -and the same consequences have ensued, with perfect impunity to himself. - -The martial laws of England are the most barbarous which at this day -exist in Europe. The offender is sometimes sentenced to receive a -thousand lashes;—a surgeon stands by to feel his pulse during the -execution, and determine how long the flogging can be continued without -killing him. When human nature can sustain no more, he is remanded to -prison; his wound, for from the shoulders to the loins it leaves him one -wound, is dressed, and as soon as it is sufficiently healed to be laid -open again in the same manner, he is brought out to undergo the -remainder of his sentence. And this is repeatedly and openly practised -in a country where they read in their churches, and in their houses, -that Bible, in their own language, which saith, “Forty stripes may the -judge inflict upon the offender, and not exceed.” - -All savages are cruel, and nations become humane only as they become -civilized. Half a century ago, the most atrocious punishments were used -in every part of Christendom;—such were the executions under Pombal in -Portugal, the tortures inflicted upon Damiens in France; and the -practice of opening men alive in England. Our own history is full of -shocking examples, but our manners[8] softened sooner than those of our -neighbours. These barbarities originated in barbarous ages, and are -easily accounted for; but how so cruel a system of martial law, which -certainly cannot be traced back to any distant age of antiquity, could -ever have been established is unaccountable; for when barbarians -established barbarous laws, the soldiers were the only people who were -free; in fact, they were the legislators, and of course would never make -laws to enslave themselves. - -Footnote 8: - - More truly it might be said, that the Spaniards had no traitors to - punish. In the foreign instances here stated, the judges made their - court to the crown by cruelty;—in our own case, the cruelty was of the - law, not of the individuals. Don Manuel also forgets the - Inquisition.—TR. - -Another grievous evil in their military system is, that there is no -limited time of service. Hence arises the difficulty which the English -find in recruiting their armies. The bounty money offered for a recruit -during the war amounted sometimes to as much as twenty pieces of eight, -a sum, burthensome indeed to the nation when paid to whole regiments, -but little enough if it be considered as the price for which a man sells -his liberty for life. There would be no lack of soldiers were they -enlisted for seven years. Half the peasantry in the country would like -to wear a fine coat from the age of eighteen till five-and-twenty, and -to see the world at the king’s expense. At present, mechanics who have -been thrown out of employ by the war, and run-away apprentices, enlist -in their senses, but the far greater number of recruits enter under the -influence of liquor. - -It has been inferred, that old Homer lived in an age when morality was -little understood, because he so often observes, that it is not right to -do wrong. Whether or not the same judgement is to be passed upon the -present age of England, posterity will decide; certain it is that her -legislators seem not unfrequently to have forgotten the commonest -truisms both of morals and politics. The love of a military life is so -general, that it may almost be considered as one of the animal passions; -yet such are the martial laws, and such the military system of England, -that this passion seems almost annihilated in the country. It is true, -that during the late war volunteer companies were raised in every part -of the kingdom; but, in raising these, the whole influence of the landed -and moneyed proprietors was exerted; it was considered as a test of -loyalty; and the greater part of these volunteers consisted of men who -had property at stake, and believed it to be in danger, and of their -dependants; and the very ease with which these companies were raised, -evinces how easy it would be to raise soldiers, if they who became -soldiers were still to be considered as men, and as freemen. - -The difficulty would be lessened if men were enlisted for a limited term -of years instead of for life. Yet that this alteration alone is not -sufficient, is proved by the state of their provincial troops, or -militia as they are called. Here the men are bound to a seven-years -service, and are not to be sent out of the kingdom; yet, unexceptionable -as this may appear, the militia is not easily raised, nor without some -degree of oppression. The men are chosen by ballot, and permitted to -serve by substitute, or exempted upon paying a fine. On those who can -afford either, it operates, therefore, as a tax by lottery; the poor man -has no alternative, he must serve, and, in consequence, the poor man -upon whom the lot falls considers himself as ruined: and ruined he is; -for, upon the happiest termination of his term of service, if he return -to his former place of abode, still willing, and still able, to resume -his former occupation, he finds his place in society filled up. But -seven years of military idleness usually incapacitate him for any other -trade, and he who has once been a soldier is commonly for ever after -unfit for every thing else. - -The evil consequences of the idle hours which hang upon the soldiers’ -hands are sufficiently understood, and their dress seems to have been -made as liable to dirt as possible, that as much time as possible may be -employed in cleaning it. This is one cause of the contempt which the -sailors feel for them, who say that soldiers have nothing to do but to -whiten their breeches with pipe-clay, and to make strumpets for the use -of the navy. Would it not be well to follow the example of the Romans, -and employ them in public works? This was done in Scotland, where they -have cut roads through the wildest part of the country; and it is said -that the soldiery in Ireland are now to be employed in the same manner. -In England, where no such labour is necessary, they might be occupied in -digging canals, or more permanently in bringing the waste[9] lands into -cultivation, which might the more conveniently be effected, as it is -becoming the system to lodge the troops in barracks apart from the -people, instead of quartering them in the towns. Military villages might -be built in place of these huge and ugly buildings, and at far less -expense; the adjoining lands cultivated by the men, who should, in -consequence, receive higher pay, and the produce be appropriated to the -military chest. Each hut should have its garden, which the tenant should -cultivate for his own private amusement or profit. Under such a system -the soldier might rear a family in time of peace, the wives of the -soldiery would be neither less domestic nor less estimable than other -women in their own rank of life, and the infants, who now die in a -proportion which it is shocking to think of, would have the common -chance for life. - -Footnote 9: - - In this and what follows, the author seems to be suggesting - improvements for his own country, and to mean Spain when he speaks of - England.—TR. - -But the sure and certain way to secure any nation for ever from alarm, -as well as from danger, is to train every school-boy to the use of arms: -boys would desire no better amusement, and thus, in the course of the -next generation, every man would be a soldier. England might then defy, -not France alone, but the whole continent leagued with France, even if -the impassable gulph between this happy island and its enemy were filled -up. This will be done sooner or later, for England must become an armed -nation. How long it will be before her legislators will discover this, -and how long when they have discovered it, before they will dare to act -upon it, that is, before they will consent to part with the power of -alarming the people, which they have found so convenient, it would be -idle to conjecture. Individuals profit slowly by experience, -associations still more slowly, and governments the most slowly of all -associated bodies. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XI. - -_Shopmen, why preferred to Women in England.—Division of - London into the East and West Ends.—Low State of domestic - Architecture.—Burlington-House._ - - -I have employed this morning in wandering about this huge metropolis -with an English gentleman, well acquainted with the manners and customs -of foreign countries, and therefore well qualified to point out to me -what is peculiar in his own. Of the imposing splendour of the shops I -have already spoken; but I have not told you that the finest gentlemen -to be seen in the streets of London are the men who serve at the -linen-drapers’ and mercers’. Early in the morning they are drest -cap-a-pied, the hair feathered and frosted with a delicacy which no hat -is to derange through the day; and as this is a leisure time with them, -they are to be seen after breakfast at their respective shop-doors, -paring their nails, and adjusting their cravats. That so many young men -should be employed in London to recommend laces and muslins to the -ladies, to assist them in the choice of a gown, to weigh out thread and -to measure ribbons, excited my surprise; but my friend soon explained -the reason. He told me, that in countries where women are the -shopkeepers, shops are only kept for the convenience of the people, and -not for their amusement. Persons there go into a shop because they want -the article which is sold there, and in that case a woman answers all -the purposes which are required; the shops themselves are mere -repositories of goods, and the time of year of little importance to the -receipts. But it is otherwise in London; luxury here fills every head -with caprice, from the servant-maid to the peeress, and shops are become -exhibitions of fashion. In the spring, when all persons of distinction -are in town, the usual morning employment of the ladies is to go -a-shopping, as it is called; that is, to see these curious exhibitions. -This they do without actually wanting to purchase any thing, and they -spend their money or not, according to the temptations which are held -out to gratify and amuse. Now female shopkeepers, it is said, have not -enough patience to indulge this idle and fastidious curiosity; whereas -young men are more assiduous, more engaging, and not at all querulous -about their loss of time. - -It must be confessed, that these exhibitions are very entertaining, nor -is there any thing wanting to set them off to the greatest advantage. -Many of the windows are even glazed with large panes of plate glass, at -a great expense; but this, I am told, is a refinement of a very late -date; indeed glass windows were seldom used in shops before the present -reign, and they who deal in woollen cloth have not yet universally come -into the fashion. - -London is more remarkable for the distribution of its inhabitants than -any city on the continent. It is at once the greatest port in the -kingdom, or in the world, a city of merchants and tradesmen, and the -seat of government, where the men of rank and fashion are to be found; -and though all these are united together by continuous streets, there is -an imaginary line of demarkation which divides them from each other. A -nobleman would not be found by any accident to live in that part which -is properly called the City, unless he should be confined for treason or -sedition in Newgate or the Tower. This is the Eastern side; and I -observe, whenever a person says that he lives at the West End of the -Town, there is some degree of consequence connected with the situation: -For instance, my tailor lives at the West End of the Town, and -consequently he is supposed to make my coat in a better style of -fashion: and this opinion is carried so far among the ladies, that, if a -cap was known to come from the City, it would be given to my lady’s -woman, who would give it to the cook, and she perhaps would think it -prudent not to enquire into its pedigree. A transit from the City to the -West End of the Town is the last step of the successful trader, when he -throws off his _exuviæ_ and emerges from his chrysalis state into the -butterfly world of high life. Here are the Hesperides whither the -commercial adventurers repair, not to gather but to enjoy their golden -fruits. - -Yet this metropolis of fashion, this capital of the capital itself, has -the most monotonous appearance imaginable.—The streets are perfectly -parallel and uniformly extended brick walls, about forty feet high, with -equally extended ranges of windows and doors, all precisely alike, and -without any appearance of being distinct houses. You would rather -suppose them to be hospitals, arsenals, or public granaries, were it not -for their great extent. Here is a fashion, lately introduced from better -climates, of making _varandas_;—_varandas_ in a country where physicians -recommend double doors and double windows as precautions against the -intolerable cold! I even saw several instances of green penthouses, to -protect the rooms from the heat or light of the sun, fixed against -houses in a northern aspect. At this I expressed some surprise to my -companion: he replied, that his countrymen were the most rational people -in the world when they thought proper to use their understandings, but -that when they lost sight of common sense they were more absurd than any -others, and less dexterous in giving plausibility to nonsense. In -confirmation of this opinion, he instanced another strange fashion which -happened to present itself on the opposite side of the street; a brick -wall up to the first story decorated with a range of Doric columns to -imitate the _façade_ of the Temple of Theseus at Athens, while the upper -part of the house remained as naked as it could be left by the mason’s -trowel. - -After walking a considerable time in these streets, I enquired for the -palaces of the nobility, and was told that their houses were such as I -had seen, with a few exceptions, which were shut up from public view by -high blank walls; but that none of them had any pretensions to -architecture, except one in Piccadilly, called Burlington-House, which -is inhabited by the Duke of Portland. Lord Burlington, who erected it, -was a man whose whole desire and fortune were devoted to improve the -national taste in architecture: and this building, though with many -defects, is considered by good judges to be one of the best specimens of -modern architecture in Europe, and even deserves to be ranked with the -works of Palladio, whom Lord Burlington made the particular object of -his imitation. W—— added, that this building, it is expected, will in a -few years be taken down, to make room for streets. From the very great -increase of ground-rent, it is supposed that the site of the house and -garden would produce 8,000_l._ a-year. Every thing here is reduced to -calculation. This sum will soon be considered as the actual rent; and -then, in the true commercial spirit of the country, it will be put to -sale. This has already been done in two or three instances; and in the -course of half a century, it is expected that the bank will be the only -building of consequence in this emporium of trade. - -The merchants of this modern Tyre, are indeed princes in their wealth, -and in their luxury; but it is to be wished that they had something more -of the spirit of princely magnificence, and that when they build palaces -they would cease to use the warehouse as their model. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XII. - -_Causes of the Change of Ministry not generally understood.—Catholic - Emancipation.—The Change acceptable to the Nation.—State of - Parties.—Strength of the new Administration.—Its good - Effects.—Popularity of Mr Addington._ - - -The change of ministry is considered as a national blessing. The system -of terror, of alarm, and of espionage, has been laid aside, the most -burthensome of the taxes repealed, and a sincere desire manifested on -the part of the new minister to meet the wishes of the nation. - -It must nevertheless be admitted, that, however unfortunately for their -country, and for the general interests of Europe, the late -administration may have employed their power, the motives which induced -them to withdraw, and the manner in which they retired, are highly -honourable to their personal characters. The immediate cause was -this:—They had held out the promise of emancipation to the Irish -Catholics as a means of reconciling them to the Union. While the two -countries were governed by separate legislatures, it was very possible, -if the catholics were admitted to their rights, that a majority in the -Irish House might think proper to restore the old religion of the -people, to which it is well known with what exemplary fidelity the great -majority of the Irish nation still adhere. But when once the -representatives of both countries should be united in one parliament, no -such consequence could be apprehended; for, though all the Irish members -should be catholics, they would still be a minority. The old ministry -had thus represented the Union as a measure which would remove the -objection to catholic emancipation, and pledged themselves to grant that -emancipation, after it should have been effected—this act of justice -being the price which they were to pay for it to the people of Ireland. -But they had not calculated upon the king’s character, whose zeal, as -the Defender of the Faith, makes it greatly to be lamented that he has -not a better faith to defend. He, as head of the Church of England, -conceives himself bound by his coronation oath to suffer no innovation -in favour of popery, as these schismatics contemptuously call the -religion of the Fathers and of the Apostles, and this scruple it was -impossible to overcome. The bishops, who might have had some influence -over him, were all, as may well be imagined, decidedly hostile to any -measure of favour or justice to the true faith, and the ministry had no -alternative but to break their pledged promise or to resign their -offices. That this is the real state of the case, I have been assured on -such authority that I cannot entertain the slightest doubt: it is, -however, by no means generally believed to be so by the people; but I -cannot find that they have any other reason for their disbelief, than a -settled opinion that statesmen always consider their own private -interest in preference to every thing else; in plain language, that -there is no such virtue in existence as political honesty. And they -persist in supposing that there is more in this resignation than has yet -been made public, though the change is now of so long standing, and -though they perceive that the late ministers have not accepted either -titles or pensions, as has been usual on such occasions, and thus -sufficiently proved that disinterestedness of which they will not -believe them capable. - -But it is commonly said, They went out because they could not decently -make peace with Buonaparte—Wait a little while and you will see them in -again. This is confuted by the conduct of the former cabinet, all the -leading members of which, except Mr Pitt, have violently declared -themselves against the peace. They cry out that it is the most foolish, -mischievous, and dishonourable treaty that ever was concluded: that it -cannot possibly be lasting, and that it will be the ruin of the nation. -The nation, however, is very well persuaded that no better was to be -had, very thankful for a respite from alarm, and a relief of taxation, -and very well convinced, by its own disposition to maintain the peace, -that it is in no danger of being broken.—And the nation is perfectly -right. Exhausted as France and England both are, it is equally necessary -to one country as to the other. France wants to make herself a -commercial country, to raise a navy, and to train up sailors; England -wants to recover from the expenses of a ten-years war, and they are -miserable politicians who suppose that any new grounds of dispute can -arise, important enough to overpower these considerations. - -Pitt, on the other hand, defends the peace; and many persons suppose -that he will soon make his appearance again in administration. This is -not very likely, on account of the catholic question, to which he is as -strongly pledged as the Grenville party; but the present difference -between him and that party seems to show that the inflexibility of the -former cabinet is not to be imputed to him. Peace, upon as good terms as -the present, might, beyond all doubt, have been made at any time during -the war; and as he is satisfied with it, it is reasonable to suppose -that he would have made it sooner if he could. His opinion has all the -weight that you would expect; and as the old opposition members are -equally favourable to the measures of the new administration, the -ministry may look upon themselves as secure. The war-faction can muster -only a very small minority, and they are as thoroughly unpopular as the -friends of peace and good order could wish them to be. - -I know not how I can give you a higher opinion of the present Premier -than by saying, that his enemies have nothing worse to object against -him than that his father was a physician. Even in Spain we have never -thought it necessary to examine the pedigree of a statesman, and in -England such a cause of complaint is indeed ridiculous. They call him -The Doctor on this account;—a minister of healing he has truly been; he -has poured balm and oil into the wounds of the country, and the country -is blessing him. The peace with France is regarded by the wiser persons -with whom I have conversed as a trifling good, compared to the internal -pacification which Mr Addington has effected. He immediately put a stop -to the system of irritation; there was an end of suspicion, and alarm, -and plots; conspiracies were no longer to be heard of, when spies were -no longer paid for forming them. The distinction of parties had been as -inveterately marked as that between new and old Christians a century ago -in Spain, and it was as effectually removed by this change of ministry, -as if an act of forgetfulness had been enforced by miracle. Parties are -completely dislocated by the peace; it has shaken things like an -earthquake, and they are not yet settled after the shock. I have heard -it called the great political thaw,—happily in Spain we do not know what -a great frost is sufficiently to understand the full force of the -expression. - -Thus much, however, may plainly be perceived. The whig party regard it -as a triumph to have any other minister than Pitt, and their antagonists -are equally glad to have any other minister than Fox. A still larger -part of the people, connected with government by the numberless hooks -and eyes of patronage and influence, are ready to support any minister -whatsoever, in any measures whatsoever: and others more respectable, -neither few in number, nor feeble in weight, act with the same blind -acquiescence from a sense of duty. All these persons agree in supporting -Mr Addington, who is attacked by none but the violent enemies of the -popular cause, now, of course, the objects of popular hatred and obloquy -themselves. Some people expect to see him take Fox into the -administration, others think he will prefer Pitt; it is not very likely -that he should venture to trust either, for he must know that if either -should[10] enter at the sleeve, he would get out at the collar. - -Footnote 10: - - Entraria por la manga, y saldria por el cabezon. - -To the eloquence of his predecessor, the present Premier makes no -pretensions, and he is liked the better for it. The English say they -have paid quite enough for fine speeches; he tells them a plain story, -and gains credit by fair dealing. His enemies naturally depreciate his -talents: as far as experience goes, it confutes them. He has shown -talents enough to save the country from the Northern confederacy, the -most serious danger to which it was exposed during the whole war; to -make a peace which has satisfied all the reasonable part of the nation, -and to restore unanimity at home, and that freedom of opinion which was -almost abrogated. From all that I can learn, Mr Addington is likely long -to retain his situation; and sure I am that were he to retire from it, -he would take with him the regret and the blessings of the people. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XIII. - -_Dress of the English without Variety.—Coal-heavers.—Post-men.—Art of - knocking at the Door.—Inscriptions over the Shops.—Exhibitions in - the Shop-windows.—Chimney-sweepers.—May-day.—These Sports originally - religious._ - - - Tuesday, May 4, 1802. - -The dress of Englishmen wants that variety which renders the figures of -our scenery so picturesque. You might think, from walking the streets of -London, that there were no ministers of religion in the country; J— -smiled at the remark, and told me that some of the dignified clergy wore -silk aprons; but these are rarely seen, and they are more generally -known by a huge and hideous wig, once considered to be as necessary a -covering for a learned head as an ivy bush is for an owl, but which even -physicians have now discarded, and left only to schoolmasters and -doctors in divinity. There is, too, this remarkable difference between -the costume of England and of Spain, that here the national dress is -altogether devoid of grace, and it is only modern fashions which have -improved it: in Spain, on the contrary, nothing can be more graceful -than the dresses both of the clergy and peasantry, which have from time -immemorial remained unchanged; while our better ranks clothe themselves -in a worse taste, because they imitate the apery of other nations. What -I say of their costume applies wholly to that of the men; the dress of -English women is perfect, as far as it goes; it leaves nothing to be -wished,—except that there should be a little more of it. - -The most singular figures in the streets of this metropolis are the men -who are employed in carrying the earth-coal, which they remove from the -barge to the waggon, and again from the waggon to the house, upon their -backs. The back of the coat, therefore, is as well quilted as the cotton -breastplate of our soldiers in America in old times: and to protect it -still more, the broad flap of the hat lies flat upon the shoulders. The -head consequently seems to bend unusually forward, and the whole figure -has the appearance of having been bowed beneath habitual burthens. The -lower classes, with this exception, if they do not wear the cast clothes -of the higher ranks, have them in the same form. The post-men all wear -the royal livery, which is scarlet and gold; they hurry through the -streets, and cross from side to side with indefatigable rapidity. The -English doors have knockers instead of bells, and there is an advantage -in this which you would not immediately perceive. The bell, by -whomsoever it be pulled, must always give the same sound, but the -knocker may be so handled as to explain who plays upon it, and -accordingly it has its systematic set of signals. The post-man comes -with two loud and rapid raps, such as no person but himself ever gives. -One very loud one marks the news-man. A single knock of less vehemence -denotes a servant or other messenger. Visitors give three or four. -Footmen or coachmen always more than their masters; and the master of -every family has usually his particular touch, which is immediately -recognised. - -Every shop has an inscription above it expressing the name of its owner, -and that of his predecessor, if the business has been so long -established as to derive a certain degree of respectability from time. -Cheap Warehouse is sometimes added; and if the tradesman has the honour -to serve any one of the royal family, this is also mentioned, and the -royal arms in a style of expensive carving are affixed over the door. -These inscriptions in large gilt letters, shaped with the greatest -nicety, form a peculiar feature in the streets of London. In former -times all the shops had large signs suspended before them, such as are -still used at inns in the country; these have long since disappeared; -but in a few instances, where the shop is of such long standing that it -is still known by the name of its old insignia, a small picture still -preserves the sign, placed instead of one of the window panes. - -If I were to pass the remainder of my life in London, I think the shops -would always continue to amuse me. Something extraordinary or beautiful -is for ever to be seen in them. I saw, the other day, a sturgeon, above -two _varas_ in length, hanging at a fishmonger’s. In one window you see -the most exquisite lamps of alabaster, to shed a pearly light in the -bedchamber; or formed of cut glass to glitter like diamonds in the -drawing-room; in another, a convex mirror reflects the whole picture of -the street, with all its moving swarms, or you start from your own face -magnified to the proportions of a giant’s. Here a painted piece of beef -swings in a roaster to exhibit the machine which turns it; here you have -a collection of worms from the human intestines, curiously bottled, and -every bottle with a label stating to whom the worm belonged, and -testifying that the party was relieved from it by virtue of the medicine -which is sold within. At one door stands a little Scotchman taking -snuff,—in one window a little gentleman with his coat puckered up in -folds, and the folds filled with water to show that it is proof against -wet. Here you have cages full of birds of every kind, and on the upper -story live peacocks are spreading their fans; another window displays -the rarest birds and beasts stuffed, and in glass cases; in another you -have every sort of artificial fly for the angler, and another is full of -busts painted to the life, with glass eyes, and dressed in full fashion -to exhibit the wigs which are made within, in the very newest and most -approved taste. And thus is there a perpetual exhibition of whatever is -curious in nature or art, exquisite in workmanship, or singular in -costume; and the display is perpetually varying as the ingenuity of -trade, and the absurdity of fashion, are ever producing something new. - -Yesterday, I was amused by a spectacle which you will think better -adapted to wild African negroes than to so refined a people as the -English. Three or four boys of different ages were dancing in the -street; their clothes seemed as if they had been dragged through the -chimney, as indeed had been the case, and these sooty habiliments were -bedecked with pieces of foil, and with ribbons of all gay colours, -flying like streamers in every direction as they whisked round. Their -sooty faces were reddened with rose-pink, and in the middle of each -cheek was a patch of gold leaf, the hair was frizzed out, and as white -as powder could make it, and they wore an old hat cocked for the -occasion, and in like manner ornamented with ribbons, and foil, and -flowers. In this array were they dancing through the streets, clapping a -wooden plate, frightening the horses by their noise, and still more by -their strange appearance, and soliciting money from all whom they met. - -The first days of May are the Saturnalia of these people,—a wretched -class of men, who exist in no other country than England, and it is -devoutly to be hoped, for the sake of humanity, will not long continue -to exist there. The soot of the earth-coal, which, though formerly used -by only the lower classes, is now the fuel of rich and poor alike, -accumulates rapidly in the chimneys: and instead of removing it by -firing a gun up, or dragging up a bush, as is sometimes practised in the -country, and must have been in former times the custom every where, they -send men up to sweep it away with a brush. These passages are not -unfrequently so crooked and so narrow, that none but little children can -crawl up them; and you may imagine that cruel threats and cruel usage -must both be employed before a child can be forced to ascend places so -dark, so frightful, and so dangerous. - -No objects can be more deplorable than these poor children. You meet -them with a brush in the hand, a bag upon the shoulders, and a sort of -woollen cap, or rather bandage swathed round the head; their skin, and -all their accoutrements, equally ingrained with soot, every part being -black except the white of the eyes and the teeth, which the soot keeps -beautifully clean. Their way of life produces another more remarkable -and more melancholy effect; they are subject to a dangerous species of -hydrocele, which is peculiar to them, and is therefore called the -chimney-sweeper’s disease. - -The festival of these poor people commences on May-day: it was perhaps -the day of their patron saint, in times of yore, before the whole -hierarchy of saints and angels were proscribed in England by the -levelling spirit of a diabolical heresy. They go about in parties of -four or five, in the grotesque manner which I have described. A more -extraordinary figure is sometimes in company, whom they call -_Jack-in-the-Bush_; as the name indicates, nothing but bush is to be -seen, except the feet which dance under it. The man stands in a -frame-work, which is supported upon his shoulders, and is completely -covered with the boughs of a thick and short-branched shrub: the heat -must be intolerable, but he gets paid for his day’s purgatory, and the -English will do any thing for money. The savages of Virginia had such a -personage in one of their religious dances, and indeed the custom is -quite in savage taste. - -May-day is one of the most general holydays in England. High poles, as -tall as the mast of a merchant ship, are erected in every village, and -hung with garlands composed of all field flowers, but chiefly of one -which is called the cowslip: each has its King and Queen of the May -chosen from among the children of the peasantry, who are tricked out as -fantastically as the London chimney-sweepers; but health and cleanliness -give them a very different appearance. Their table is spread under the -May-pole; their playmates beg with a plate, as our children for the -little altar which they have drest for their saint upon his festival, -and all dance round the pole hand in hand. - -Without doubt, these sports were once connected with religion. It is the -peculiar character of the true religion to sanctify what is innocent, -and make even merriment meritorious; and it is as peculiarly the -character of Calvinism to divest piety of all cheerfulness, and -cheerfulness of all piety, as if they could not co-exist; and to -introduce a graceless and joyless system of manners suitable to a faith -which makes the heresy of Manes appear reasonable. He admitted that the -Evil Principle was weaker than the Good one, but in the mythology of -Calvin there is no good one to be found. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XIV. - -_Description of the Inside, and of the Furniture, of an English House._ - - -One of the peculiarities in this country is, that every body lives upon -the ground floor, except the shopkeepers. The stable and coach-house -either adjoin the house, or more frequently are detached from it, and -the kitchen is either at the back of the house on the ground floor, or -underground, which is usually the case in large towns, but never, as -with us, above stairs. They wonder at our custom of living on the higher -floors, and call it troublesome: I, on my part, cannot be reconciled to -the inconvenience of living on a level with the street: the din is at -your very ear, the window cannot be thrown open for the dust which -showers in, and it is half darkened by blinds that the by-passers may -not look in upon your privacy. - -One room on the first floor is reserved for company, the rest are -bed-rooms, for the beds, instead of standing in recesses, are placed in -rooms as large as those in which we dwell. This occasions a great waste -of space, the more remarkable, as ground is exceedingly valuable in the -towns, and is rented by the square foot of front at a prodigious price. -Nothing surprised me more at first, than the excellent workmanship of -the doors and windows; no jarring with the wind, no currents of air, and -the windows, which are all suspended by pulleys, rise with a touch. This -is not entirely and exclusively owing to the skill of the English -workmen, but in great measure also to the climate. When the wood has -once been seasoned, neither the heat nor humidity of the atmosphere is -ever sufficient to affect it materially. In good houses the doors have a -strip of open brass work above the handle, that the servants may not -soil them with their fingers. - -An Englishman delights to show his wealth; every thing in his house, -therefore, is expensive: a whole dwelling in our country is furnished at -less cost than is bestowed here upon a single apartment. The description -of our common sitting-room may be considered as a fair specimen. The -whole floor is fitted with carpeting, not of the costliest kind, but -both in texture and design far superior to what is usually seen in -Spain. This remains down summer and winter, though in summer our matting -would be far more suitable, if the fashion were once introduced. Before -the fire is a small carpet of different fabric, and fleecy appearance, -about two _varas_ long, and not quite half as broad; a fashion of late -years, which has become universal, because it is at once ornamental, -comfortable, and useful, preserving the larger one, which would else -soon be worn out in that particular part. Of the fire-places I have -already spoken; here the frontal is marble, and above is a looking-glass -the whole length of the mantle-piece, divided into three compartments by -gilt pillars, which support a gilt architrave. On each side hang -bell-ropes of coloured worsted, about the thickness of a man’s wrist, -the work of Mrs J— and her sister, which suspend knobs of polished spar. -The fender is remarkable; it consists of a crescent basket work of wire -painted green, about a foot in height, topt with brass, and supporting -seven brazen pillars of nearly the same height, which also are -surmounted by a band of brass. This also is a late fashion, introduced -in consequence of the numberless accidents occasioned by fire. Almost -every newspaper contains an account that some woman has been burnt to -death, and they are at last beginning to take some means of precaution. - -The chairs and tables are of a wood brought from Honduras, which is in -great request here, of a fine close grain, and a reddish brown colour, -which becomes more beautiful as it grows darker with age. The history of -this wood, of which all the finer articles of furniture exclusively are -made, is rather singular. A West Indian captain, about a century ago, -brought over some planks as ballast, and gave them to his brother, Dr -Gibbons, a physician of great eminence, who was then building a house. -The workmen, however, found the wood too hard for their tools, and it -was thrown aside. Some time afterwards his wife wanted a box to hold -candles, the doctor thought of the West Indian wood, and, in spite of -the difficulty which was still found in working it, had the box made. He -admired its colour and polish so much, that he had a bureau made of it -also; and this was thought so beautiful, that it was shown to all his -friends. Among others, the Duchess of Buckingham came to see it, and -begged enough of the wood to make her a bureau also. From that moment -the demand was so great, that it became a regular article of trade, and -as long as the woods of Honduras last it is likely to continue so. There -is reason to believe that the tree would grow in England, as there are -some flourishing plants in the neighbourhood of London which have been -raised from seed. Formerly the tables were made of the solid plank; but -English ingenuity has now contrived to give the same appearance at a far -less cost of materials, by facing common deal with a layer of the fine -wood not half a barley-corn in thickness. To give you an idea of the -curiosity with which all these things are executed, is impossible; -nothing can be more perfect. - -Our breakfast table is oval, large enough for eight or nine persons, yet -supported upon one claw in the centre. This is the newest fashion, and -fashions change so often in these things, as well as in every thing -else, that it is easy to know how long it is since a house has been -fitted up, by the shape of the furniture. An upholder just now -advertises _Commodes_, _Console-tables_, _Ottomans_, _Chaiselongès_, and -_Chiffoniers_;—what are all these? you ask. I asked the same question, -and could find no person in the house who could answer me; but they are -all articles of the newest fashion, and no doubt all will soon be -thought indispensably necessary in every well-furnished house. Here is -also a nest of tables for the ladies, consisting of four, one less than -another, and each fitting into the one above it; you would take them for -play-things, from their slenderness and size, if you did not see how -useful they find them for their work. A harpsichord takes up the middle -of one side of the room, and in the corners are screens to protect the -face from the fire, of mahogany, with fans of green silk, which spread -like a flower, and may be raised or lowered at pleasure. A book-case, -standing on a chest of drawers, completes the heavy furniture; it has -glazed doors, and curtains of green silk within. - -But I should give you a very inadequate idea of an English room were I -to stop here. Each window has blinds to prevent the by-passers from -looking in; the plan is taken from the Venetian blinds, but made more -expensive, as the bars are fitted into a frame and move in grooves. The -shutters fit back by day, and are rendered ornamental by the gilt ring -by which they are drawn open: at night you perceive that you are in a -land of housebreakers by the contrivances for barring them, and the -bells which are fixed on to alarm the family, in case the house should -be attacked. On one side of the window the curtains hang in festoons, -they are of rich printed cotton, lined with a plain colour and fringed, -the quantity they contain is very great. Add to this a sconce of the -most graceful form, with six prints in gilt frames, and you have the -whole scene before you. Two of these are Noel’s views of Cadiz and -Lisbon; the others are from English history, and represent the battles -of the Boyne and of La Hogue, the death of General Wolfe at Quebec, and -William Penn treating with the Indians for his province of Pennsylvania. - -Let us proceed to the dining-room.—Here the table is circular, but -divides in half to receive a middle part which lengthens it, and this is -so contrived that it may be made to suit any number of persons from six -to twenty. The side-board is a massier piece of furniture; formerly a -single slab of marble was used for this purpose, but now this is become -one of the handsomest and most expensive articles. The glasses are -arranged on it ready for dinner, and the knives and forks in two little -chests or cabinets, the spoons are be tween them in a sort of urn; every -thing being made costly and ornamental. - -The drawing-room differs chiefly from the breakfast parlour in having -every thing more expensive, a carpet of richer fabric, sconces and -mirrors more highly ornamented, and curtains of damask like the sofas -and chairs. Two chandeliers with glass drops stand on the mantle-piece; -but in these we excel the English; they have not the brilliancy of those -from the royal fabric at St Ildefonso. In this room are the portraits of -J— and his wife, by one of the best living artists, so admirably -executed as to make me blush for the present state of the arts in Spain. - -Having proceeded thus far, I will go through the house. J— took me into -his kitchen one day to show me what is called the kitchen-range, which -has been constructed upon the philosophical principles of Count Rumford, -a German[11] philosopher, the first person who has applied scientific -discoveries to the ordinary purposes of life. The top of the fire is -covered with an iron plate, so that the flame and smoke, instead of -ascending, pass through bars on the one side, and there heat an iron -front, against the which food may be roasted as well as by the fire -itself; it passes on, heating stoves and boilers as it goes, and the -smoke is not suffered to pass up the chimney till it can no longer be of -any use. On the other side is an oven heated by the same fire, and -vessels for boiling may be placed on the plate over the fire. The smoke -finally sets a kind of wheel in motion in the chimney, which turns the -spit. I could not but admire the comfort and cleanliness of every thing -about the kitchen; a dresser as white as when the wood was new, the -copper and tin vessels bright and burnished, the chain in which the spit -plays, bright; the plates and dishes ranged in order along the shelves, -and I could not but wish our dirty Domingo were here to take a lesson of -English cleanliness. There is a back-kitchen in which all the dirty work -is done, into which water is conveyed by pipes. The order and -cleanliness of every thing made even this room cheerful, though -under-ground, where the light enters only from an area, and the face of -the sky is never seen. - -Footnote 11: - - This is a mistake of the author’s. Count Rumford is an American.—TR. - -And now for my own apartment, where I am now writing. It is on the -second floor, the more, therefore, to my liking, as it is less noisy, -and I breathe in a freer atmosphere. My bed, though neither covered with -silk nor satin, has as much ornament as is suitable; silk or satin would -not give that clean appearance which the English always require, and -which I have already learnt to delight in. Hence, the damask curtains -which were used in the last generation have given place to linens. These -are full enough to hang in folds; by day they are gathered round the -bed-posts, which are light pillars of mahogany supporting a frame-work, -covered with the same furniture as the curtains; and valances are -fastened round this frame, both withinside the curtains and without, and -again round the sides of the bedstead. The blankets are of the natural -colour of the wool, quite plain; the sheets plain also. I have never -seen them flounced nor laced, nor ever seen a striped or coloured -blanket. The counterpane is of all English manufactures the least -tasteful; it is of white cotton, ornamented with cotton knots, in shapes -as graceless as the cut box in a garden. My window-curtains are of the -same pattern as the bed; a mahogany press holds my clothes, an oval -looking-glass swung lengthways stands on the dressing-table. A compact -kind of chest holds the bason, the soap, the toothbrush, and -water-glass, each in a separate compartment; and a looking-glass, for -the purpose of shaving at (for Englishmen usually shave themselves,) -slips up and down behind, the water-jug and water-bottle stand below, -and the whole shuts down a-top, and closes in front, like a cabinet. The -room is carpeted; here I have my fire, my table, and my cassette; here I -study, and here minute down every thing which I see or learn—how -industriously you will perceive, and how faithfully, you who best know -me, will best know. - -My honoured father will say to all this, How many things are there here -which I do not want?—But you, my dear mother,—I think I see you looking -round the room while you say, How will Manuel like to leave these -luxuries and return to Spain? How anxiously I wish to leave them, you -will not easily conceive, as you have never felt that longing love for -your own country, which absence from it renders a passion, and almost a -disease. Fortunate as I am in having such rare advantages of society and -friendship, and happy as I am in the satisfaction wherewith I reflect -every night that no opportunity of enquiry or observation has been lost -during the day, still my greatest pleasure is to think how fast the days -and weeks are passing on, and that every day I am one day nearer the -time of my return. I never longed half so earnestly to return from -Alcalá, as I now do to enter my native place, to see the shield over the -door-way, to hear the sound of our own water-wheel, of the bells of St -Claras, of Domingo’s viola at evening, to fondle my own dogs, to hear my -own language, to kneel at mass in the church where I was baptized, and -to see once more around me the faces of all whom I have known from -infancy, and of all whom I love best. - - ¡Ay[12] Dios de mi alma! - ¡Saqueisme de aquí! - ¡Ay! que Inglaterra - Ya no es para mí. - -Footnote 12: - - Ah God of my soul, take me from hence! alas! England is not a country - for me.—TR. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XV. - -_English Meals.—Clumsy Method of Butchery.—Lord Somerville.—Cruel Manner - of killing certain Animals.—Luxuries of the Table.—Liquors._ - - -The English do not eat beef-steaks for breakfast, as lying travellers -have told us, nor can I find that it has ever been the custom. The -breakfast-table is a cheerful sight in this country: porcelain of their -own manufactory, which excels the Chinese in elegance of form and -ornament, is ranged on a Japan waiter, also of the country fabric; for -here they imitate every thing. The mistress sits at the head of the -board, and opposite to her the boiling water smokes and sings in an urn -of Etruscan shape. The coffee is contained in a smaller vase of the same -shape, or in a larger kind of tea-pot, wherein the grain is suspended in -a bag; but nothing is so detestable as an Englishman’s coffee. The -washing of our after-dinner cups would make a mixture as good; the -infusion is just strong enough to make the water brown and bitter. This -is not occasioned by œconomy, though coffee is enormously dear, for the -people are extravagant in the expences of the table: they know no -better; and if you tell them how it ought to be made, they reply, that -it must be very disagreeable, and even that if they could drink it so -strong, it would prevent them from sleeping. There is besides an act of -parliament to prevent the English from drinking good coffee: they are -not permitted to roast it themselves, and of course all the fresh and -finer flavour evaporates in the warehouse. They make amends however by -the excellence of their tea, which is still very cheap, though the -ministry, in violation of an explicit bargain, increased the tax upon it -four fold, during the last war. This is made in a vessel of silver, or -of a fine black porcelain: they do not use boiled milk with it, but -cream in its fresh state, which renders it a very delightful beverage. -They eat their bitter bread in various ways, either in thin slices, or -toasted, or in small hot loaves, always with butter, which is the best -thing in the country. - -The dinner hour is usually five: the labouring part of the community -dine at one, the highest ranks at six, seven, or even eight. The -quantity of meat which they consume is astonishing! I verily believe -that what is drest for one dinner here, would supply the same number of -persons in Spain for a week, even if no fast-days intervened. Every -where you find both meat and vegetables in the same crude and insipid -state. The potatoe appears at table all the year round: indeed the poor -subsist so generally upon this root, that it seems surprising how they -could have lived before it was introduced from America. Beer is the -common drink. They take less wine than we do at dinner, and more after -it; but the custom of sitting for hours over the bottle, which was so -prevalent of late years, has been gradually laid aside, as much from the -gradual progress of the taxes as of good sense. Tea is served between -seven and eight, in the same manner as at breakfast, except that we do -not assemble round the table. Supper is rather a ceremony than a meal; -but the hour afterwards, over our wine and water, or spirits, is the -pleasantest in the day. - -The old refinements of epicurean cruelty are no longer heard of, yet the -lower classes are cruel from mere insensibility, and the higher ones, -for want of thought, make no effort to amend them. The butchers and -drovers in particular are a savage race. The sheep which I have met on -their way to the slaughter-house, have frequently their faces smeared -with their own blood, and accidents from over-driven oxen are very -common. Cattle are slaughtered with the clumsiest barbarity: the butcher -hammers away at the forehead of the beast; blow after blow raises a -swelling which renders the following blows ineffectual, and the butchery -is completed by cutting the throat. Great pains have been taken by a -nobleman who has travelled in Spain, to introduce our humane method of -piercing the spine; the effect has been little, and I have heard that -the butchers have sometimes wantonly prolonged the sufferings of animals -in his sight, for the pleasure of tormenting a humanity which they think -ridiculous. Oysters are eaten alive here. You see women in the streets -skinning eels while the creature writhes on the fork. They are thought -delicacies here, and yet the English laugh at the French for eating -frogs! Lobsters and crabs are boiled alive, and sometimes roasted! and -carp, after having been scaled and gutted, will sometimes leap out of -the stew-pan. If humanity is in better natures an instinct, no instinct -is so easily deadened, and in the mass of mankind it seems not to exist. - -Roast beef has been heard of wherever the English are known. I have more -than once been asked at table my opinion of the roast beef of Old -England, with a sort of smile, and in a tone as if the national honour -were concerned in my reply. The loin of beef is always called Sir, which -is the same as Señor.[13] Neither drunkenness nor gluttony can fairly be -imputed as national vices to this people, and yet perhaps there is no -other country where so much nice and curious attention is paid to eating -and drinking, nor where the pleasures of the table are thought of such -serious importance, and gratified at so great an expense. All parts of -the world are ransacked for an Englishman’s table. Turtle are brought -alive from the West Indies, and their arrival is of so much consequence, -that notices are immediately sent to the newspapers, particularly -stating that they are in fine order, and lively. Whereever you dine -since peace has been concluded, you see a Perigord pye. India supplies -sauces and curry powder; they have hams from Portugal and Westphalia; -reindeers’ tongues from Lapland; caviar from Russia; sausages from -Bologna; maccaroni from Naples; oil from Florence; olives from France, -Italy, or Spain, at choice; cheese from Parma and Switzerland. Fish come -packed up in ice from Scotland for the London market, and the epicures -here will not eat any mutton but what is killed in Wales. There is in -this very morning’s newspaper, a notice from a shopkeeper in the Strand, -offering to contract with any person who will send him game regularly -from France, Norway, or Russia. - -Footnote 13: - - D. Manuel has mistaken the word, which is Surloin, quasi - _Super-Loin_,—the upper part of it.—TR. - -The choice of inferior liquors is great; but all are bad substitutes for -the pure juice of the grape. You have tasted their beer in its best -state, and cider you have drank in Biscay. They have a beverage made -from the buds of the fir-tree and treacle; necessity taught the American -settlers to brew this detestable mixture, which is introduced here as a -luxury. Factitious waters are now also become fashionable; soda-water -particularly, the fixed air of which hisses as it goes down your throat -as cutting as a razor, and draws tears as it comes up through the nose -as pungent as a pinch of snuff. The common water is abominable; it is -either from a vapid canal in which all the rabble of the outskirts wash -themselves in summer, or from the Thames, which receives all the filth -of the city. It is truly disgraceful that such a city should be without -an aqueduct. At great tables the wine stands in ice, and you keep your -glass inverted in water. In nothing are they so curious as in their -wines, though rather in the quality than the variety. They even send it -abroad to be ripened by the motion of the ship, and by warmer climates; -you see _superior, London, picked, particular, East India_ Madeira -advertised, every epithet of which must be paid for. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XVI. - -_Informers.—System upon which they act.—Anecdotes of their - Rascality.—Evil of encouraging them.—English Character a Compound of - Contradictions._ - - -They talk here of our Holy Office as a disgrace to the Spanish nation, -when their own government is ten times more inquisitorial, for the -paltry purposes of revenue. Shortly after his last return from Spain, J— -stept into a hosier’s to buy a pair of gloves; the day was warm, and he -laid his hat upon the counter: a well-drest man came in after him for -the same ostensible purpose, either learnt his name by enquiry, or -followed him till he had discovered it, and the next day my friend was -summoned before a magistrate to answer a charge for wearing his hat -without a stamp. It was in vain he pleaded that the hat had been -purchased abroad; he had been in England more than six weeks, and had -not bought a stamp to put into it, and therefore was fined in the full -penalty. - -This species of espionage has within these few years become a regular -trade; the laws are in some instances so perplexed, and in others so -vexatious, that matter for prosecution is never wanting, and many of -these familiars of the Tax Office are amassing fortunes by this infamous -business. The most lucrative method of practice is as follows: A fellow -surcharges half the people in the district; that is, he informs the -tax-commissioners, that such persons have given in a false account of -their window’s, dogs, horses, carriages, &c. an offence for which the -tax is trebled, and half the surplus given to the informer. A day of -appeal, however, is allowed for those who think they can justify -themselves; but so many have been aggrieved, that when they appear -together before the commissioners, there is not time to hear one in ten. -Some of these persons live two, four, or six, leagues from the place of -appeal: they go there a second, and perhaps a third time in the hope of -redress; the informer takes care, by new surcharges, to keep up the -crowd, and the injured persons find it at last less burthensome to pay -the unjust fine, than to be repeatedly at the trouble and expense of -seeking justice in vain. - -There is nothing, however dishonourable or villanous, to which these -wretches will not stoop. One of them, on his first settling in the -province which he had chosen for the scene of his campaigns, was invited -to dinner by a neighbouring gentleman, before his character was known; -the next day he surcharged his host for another servant, because one of -the men employed about his grounds had assisted in waiting at dinner. -Another happening to lame his horse, borrowed one of a farmer to ride -home: the farmer told him it was but an uneasy-going beast, as he was -kept wholly for the cart, but rather than that the gentleman should be -distressed he would put the saddle on him;—he was surcharged the next -day for keeping a saddle-horse, as his reward. Can there be a more -convincing proof of the excellent police of England, and, what is still -better, of the admirable effect of well-executed laws upon the people, -than that such pests of society as these walk abroad among the very -people whom they oppress and insult, with perfect safety both by day and -by night! - -Government do not seem to be aware that when they offer premiums for -treachery, they are corrupting the morals of the people, and thereby -weakening their own security. There is reason sufficient for pardoning a -criminal, who confesses his own guilt, and impeaches his accomplice; the -course of law could not go on without it, and such men are already -infamous. But no such plea can be alleged in this case: it is a -miserable excuse for encouraging informers, to say, that the taxes are -so clumsily laid on, that they can easily be eluded. A far worse -instance of this pernicious practice occurs in the system of pressing -men for the navy, which the English confess to be the opprobrium of -their country, while they regret it as inevitable. In the proclamation -issued upon these occasions, a reward is regularly offered to all -persons who will give information where a sailor has hidden himself. - -The whole system of England, from highest to lowest, is, and has been, -one series of antagonisms; struggle—struggle—in every thing. Check and -countercheck is the principle of their constitution, which is the result -of centuries of contention between the Crown and the People. The -struggle between the Clergy and the Lawyers unfettered their lands from -feudal tenures. Their church is a half-and-half mixture of Catholicism -and Puritanism. These contests being over, it is now a trial between the -Government and the Subject, how the one can lay on taxes, and how the -other can elude them. - -This spirit of contradiction is the character of the nation. They love -to be at war, but do not love to pay for their amusement; and now, that -they are at peace, they begin to complain that the newspapers are not -worth reading, and rail at the French as if they really wished to begin -again. There is not a people upon the earth who have a truer love for -their Royal Family than the English, yet they caricature them in the -most open and insolent manner. They boast of the freedom of the press, -yet as surely and systematically punish the author who publishes any -thing obnoxious, and the bookseller who sells it, as we in our country -should prevent the publication. They cry out against intolerance, and -burn down the houses of those whom they regard as heretics. They love -liberty; go to war with their neighbours, because they chose to become -republicans, and insist upon the right of enslaving the negroes. They -hate the French and ape all their fashions, ridicule their neologisms -and then naturalize them, laugh at their inventions and then adopt them, -cry out against their political measures and then imitate them; the levy -in mass, the telegraph, and the income-tax are all from France. And the -common people, not to be behind-hand with their betters in absurdity, -boast as heartily of the roast beef of Old England, as if they were not -obliged to be content themselves with bread and potatoes. Well may punch -be the favourite liquor of the English,—it is a truly emblematic -compound of contrarieties. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XVII. - -_The Word_ Home, _said to be peculiar to the English.—Propriety - of the Assertion questioned.—Comfort.—Curious - Conveniences.—Pocket-fender.—Hunting-razors._ - - -There are two words in their language on which these people pride -themselves, and which they say cannot be translated. _Home_ is the one, -by which an Englishman means his house. As the meaning is precisely the -same whether it be expressed by one word or by two, and the feeling -associated therewith is the same also, the advantage seems wholly -imaginary; for assuredly this meaning can be conveyed in any language -without any possible ambiguity. In general, when a remark of this kind -is made to me, if I do not perceive its truth, I rather attribute it to -my own imperfect conception than to any fallacy in the assertion; but -when this was said to me, I recollected the exquisite lines of Catullus, -and asked if they were improved in the English translation: - - O quid solutis est beatius curis, - Cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino - Labore fessi, venimus _larem ad nostrum_ - Desideratoque acquiescimus lecto? - -We may with truth say that our word _solar_[14] is untranslatable, for -the English have not merely no equivalent term, but no feeling -correspondent to it. That reverence for the seat of our ancestors, which -with us is almost a religion, is wholly unknown here. But how can it be -otherwise in a land where there is no pride of blood, and where men who -would be puzzled to trace the place of their grandfather’s birth, are -not unfrequently elevated to a level with the grandees! - -Footnote 14: - - _Solar_ is the floor of a house. _Hidalgo de solar conocido_, is the - phrase used for a man of old family.—TR. - -The other word is _comfort_; it means all the enjoyments and privileges -of _home_, or which, when abroad, makes us feel no want of _home_; and -here I must confess that these proud islanders have reason for their -pride. In their social intercourse and their modes of life they have -enjoyments which we never dream of. Saints and philosophers teach us -that they who have the fewest wants are the wisest and the happiest; but -neither philosophers nor saints are in fashion in England. It is -recorded of some old Eastern tyrant, that he offered a reward for the -discovery of a new pleasure;—in like manner this nation offers a -perpetual reward to those who will discover new wants for them, in the -readiness wherewith they purchase any thing, if the seller will but -assure them that it is exceedingly convenient. For instance, in the -common act of drawing a cork, a common screw was thought perfectly -sufficient for the purpose from the time when bottles were invented, -till within the last twenty years. It was then found somewhat -inconvenient to exert the arm, that the wine was spoilt by shaking, and -that the neck of the bottle might come off: to prevent these evils and -this danger, some ingenious fellow adapted the mechanical screw, and the -cork was extracted by the simple operation of turning a lever. Well, -this lasted for a generation, till another artificer discovered, with -equal ingenuity, that it was exceedingly unpleasant to dirt the fingers -by taking off the cork; a compound concave screw was therefore invented, -first to draw the cork and then to discharge it, and the profits of this -useful invention are secured to the inventor by a patent.—The royal arms -are affixed to this Patent Compound Concave Corkscrew; and the inventor, -in defiance to all future corkscrew-makers, has stamped upon it _Ne plus -ultra_, signifying that the art of making corkscrews can be carried no -further.—The tallow candles which they burn here frequently require -snuffing; but the common implement for this purpose had served time out -of mind, till within the present reign, the great epoch of the rise of -manufactures, and the decline of every thing else; a machine was then -invented to prevent the snuff from falling out upon the table; another -inventor supplanted this by using a revolving tube or cylinder, which -could never be so filled as to strain the spring; and now a still more -ingenious mechanic proposes to make snuffers which shall, by their own -act, snuff the candle whenever it is required, and to save all trouble -whatever.—One sort of knife is used for fish, another for butter, a -third for cheese. Penknives and scissars are not sufficient here; they -have an instrument to make pens, and an instrument to clip the nails. -They have a machine for slicing cucumbers; one instrument to pull on the -shoe, another to pull on the boot, another to button the knees of the -breeches. Pocket-toasting-forks have been invented, as if it were -possible to want a toasting-fork in the pocket; and even this has been -exceeded by the fertile genius of a celebrated projector, who ordered a -pocket-fender for his own use, which was to cost 200_l._ The article was -made, but as it did not please, payment was refused; an action was in -consequence brought, and the workman said upon the trial that he was -very sorry to disoblige so good a customer, and would willingly have -taken the thing back, if there could be any chance of selling it, but -that really nobody except the gentleman in question ever would want a -pocket-fender. This same gentleman has contrived to have the whole set -of fire-irons made hollow instead of solid; to be sure, the cost is more -than twenty-fold, but what is that to the convenience of holding a few -ounces in the hand, when you stir the fire, instead of a few pounds? -This curious projector is said to have taken out above seventy patents -for inventions equally ingenious, and equally useful; but a more -extraordinary invention than any of his threescore and ten, is that of -the hunting-razor, with which you may shave yourself while riding full -gallop. - -There is no end of these oddities; but the number of real conveniences -which have been created by this indiscriminate demand for novelty is -truly astonishing. These are the refinements of late years, the devices -of a people made wanton by prosperity. It is not for such superfluities -that the English are to be envied; it is for their domestic habits, and -for that unrestrained intercourse of the sexes, which, instead of -producing the consequences we should expect, gives birth not only to -their greatest enjoyments, but also to their best virtues. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XVIII. - -_Drury-Lane Theatre.—The Winter’s Tale.—Kemble.—Mrs Siddons.—Don Juan._ - - -There is nothing in a foreign land which a traveller is so little able -to enjoy as the national theatre: though he may read the language with -ease, and converse in it with little difficulty, still he cannot follow -the progress of a story upon the stage, nor catch the jests, which set -all around him in a roar, unless he has lived so long in the country, -that his ear has become perfectly naturalized. Fully aware of this, I -desired J— to take me there on some evening when the drama would be most -intelligible to the sense of sight; and we went accordingly yesternight -to see The Winter’s Tale, a play of the famous Shakespeare’s, which has -been lately revived for the purpose of displaying to advantage their two -most celebrated performers, Kemble, and his sister Mrs Siddons. - -In the reigns of Elizabeth and James, the golden age of the English -drama, London was not a tenth part of its present size, and it then -contained seventeen theatres. At present there are but two. More would -succeed, and indeed more are wanted, but these have obtained exclusive -privileges. Old people say the acting was better in their younger days, -because there were more schools for actors; and the theatres being -smaller, the natural voice could be heard, and the natural expression of -the features seen, and therefore rant and distortion were unnecessary. -They, however, who remember no other generation of actors than the -present, will not be persuaded that there has ever been one more -perfect. Be this as it may, all are agreed that the drama itself has -wofully degenerated, though it is the only species of literary labour -which is well paid. They are agreed also as to the cause of this -degeneracy, attributing it to the prodigious size of the theatres. The -finer tones of passion cannot be discriminated, nor the finer movements -of the countenance perceived from the front, hardly from the middle of -the house. Authors, therefore, substitute what is here called broad -farce for genuine comedy; their jests are made intelligible by grimace, -or by that sort of mechanical wit which can be seen; comedy is made up -of trick, and tragedy of processions, pageants, battles, and explosions. - -The two theatres are near each other, and tolerably well situated for -the more fashionable and more opulent parts of the town; but buildings -of such magnitude might have been made ornamental to the metropolis, and -both require a more open space before them. Soldiers were stationed at -the doors; and as we drew near we were importuned by women with oranges, -and by boys to purchase a bill of the play. We went into the pit that I -might have a better view of the house, which was that called Drury-lane, -from the place where it stands, the larger and more beautiful of the -two. The price here is three shillings and sixpence, about sixteen -reales. The benches are not divided into single seats, and men and women -here and in all parts of the house sit promiscuously. - -I had heard much of this theatre, and was prepared for wonder; still the -size, the height, the beauty, the splendour, astonished me. Imagine a -pit capable of holding a thousand persons, four tiers of boxes supported -by pillars scarcely thicker than a man’s arm, and two galleries in -front, the higher one at such a distance, that they who are in it must -be content to see the show, without hoping to hear the dialogue; the -colours blue and silver, and the whole illuminated with chandeliers of -cut glass, not partially nor parsimoniously; every part as distinctly -seen as if in the noon sunshine. After the first feeling of surprise and -delight, I began to wish that a massier style of architecture had been -adopted. The pillars, which are iron, are so slender as to give an idea -of insecurity; their lightness is much admired, but it is -disproportioned and out of place. There is a row of private boxes on -each side of the pit, on a level with it; convenient they must doubtless -be to those who occupy them, and profitable to the proprietors of the -house; but they deform the theatre. - -The people in the galleries were very noisy before the representation -began, whistling and calling to the musicians; and they amused -themselves by throwing orange-peel into the pit and upon the stage: -after the curtain drew up they were sufficiently silent. The pit was -soon filled; the lower side-boxes did not begin to fill till towards the -middle of the first act, because that part of the audience is too -fashionable to come in time; the back part of the front boxes not till -the half play; they were then filled with a swarm of prostitutes, and of -men who came to meet them. In the course of the evening there were two -or three quarrels there which disturbed the performance, and perhaps -ended in duels the next morning. The English say, and I believe they say -truly, that they are the most moral people in Europe; but were they to -be judged by their theatres,—I speak not of the representation, but of -the manners which are exhibited by this part of the audience,—it would -be thought that no people had so little sense of common decorum, or paid -so little respect to public decency. - -No prompter was to be seen; the actors were perfect, and stood in no -need of his awkward presence. The story of the drama was, with a little -assistance, easily intelligible to me; not, indeed, by the dialogue; for -of that I found myself quite unable to understand any two sentences -together, scarcely a single one: and when I looked afterwards at the -printed play, I perceived that the difficulty lay in the peculiarity of -Shakespeare’s language, which is so antiquated, and still more so -perplexed, that few even of the English themselve can thoroughly -understand their favourite author. The tale, however, is this. -Polixenes, king of Bohemia, is visiting his friend Leontes, king of -Sicily; he is about to take his departure; Leontes presses him to stay -awhile longer, but in vain—urges the request with warmth, and is still -refused; then sets his queen to persuade him; and, perceiving that she -succeeds, is seized with sudden jealousy, which, in the progress of the -scene, becomes so violent, that he orders one of his courtiers to murder -Polixenes. This courtier acquaints Polixenes with his danger, and flies -with him. Leontes throws the queen into prison, where she is delivered -of a daughter; he orders the child to be burnt; his attendants -remonstrate against this barbarous sentence, and he then sends one of -them to carry it out of his dominions, and expose it in some wild place. -He has sent messengers to Delphos to consult the oracle; but, instead of -waiting for their return to confirm his suspicions or disprove them, he -brings the queen to trial. During the trial the messengers arrive, the -answer of the god is opened, and found to be that the queen is innocent, -the child legitimate, and that Leontes will be without an heir, unless -this which is lost shall be found. Even this fails to convince him; but -immediately tidings come in that the prince, his only son, has died of -anxiety for his mother: the queen at this faints, and is carried off; -and her woman comes in presently to say that she is dead also. - -The courtier meantime lands with the child upon the coast of Bohemia, -and there leaves it: a bear pursues him across the stage, to the great -delight of the audience, and eats him out of their sight; which is -doubtless to their great disappointment. The ship is lost with all on -board in a storm, and thus no clue is left for discovering the princess. -Sixteen years are now supposed to elapse between the third and fourth -acts: the lost child, Perdita, has grown up a beautiful shepherdess, and -the son of Polixenes has promised marriage to her. He proceeds to -espouse her at a sheep-shearing feast; where a pedlar, who picks -pockets, excites much merriment. Polixenes, and Camillo the old courtier -who had preserved his life, are present in disguise and prevent the -contract. Camillo, longing to return to his own country, persuades the -prince to fly with his beloved to Sicily: he then goes with the king in -pursuit of them. The old shepherd, who has brought up Perdita as his own -child, goes in company with her; he produces the things which he had -found with her; she is thus discovered to be the lost daughter of -Leontes, and the oracle is accomplished. But the greatest wonder is yet -to come. As Leontes still continues to bewail the loss of his wife, -Paulina, the queen’s woman, promises to show him a statue of her, -painted to the life, the work of Julio Romano, that painter having -flourished in the days when Bohemia was a maritime country, and when the -kings thereof were used to consult the oracle of Apollo, being -idolaters. This statue proves to be the queen herself, who begins to -move to slow music, and comes down to her husband. And then to conclude -the play, as it was the husband of this woman who has been eaten by the -bear, old Camillo is given her that she may be no loser. - -Far be it from me to judge of Shakespeare by these absurdities, which -are all that I can understand of the play. While, however, the English -tolerate such, and are pleased not merely in spite of them, but with -them, it would become their travellers not to speak with quite so much -contempt of the Spanish theatre. That Shakespeare was a great dramatist, -notwithstanding his Winter’s Tale, I believe; just as I know Cervantes -to have been a great man, though he wrote _El Rufián Dichoso_. - -But you cannot imagine any thing more impressive than the finer parts of -this representation; the workings of the king’s jealousy, the dignified -grief and resentment of the queen, tempered with compassion for her -husband’s phrensy; and the last scene in particular, which surpassed -whatever I could have conceived of theatrical effect. The actress who -personated the queen is acknowledged lo be perfect in her art: she stood -leaning upon a pedestal with one arm, the other hanging down—the best -Grecian sculptor could not have adjusted her drapery with more grace, -nor have improved the attitude; and when she began to move, though this -was what the spectators were impatiently expecting, it gave every person -such a start of delight, as the dramatist himself would have wished, -though the whole merit must be ascribed to the actress. - -The regular entertainments on the English stage consist of a play of -three or five acts, and an afterpiece of two; interludes are added only -on benefit nights. The afterpiece this evening was Don Juan, our old -story of the reprobate cavalier and the statue, here represented wholly -in pantomime. Nothing could be more insipid than all the former part of -this drama, nothing more dreadful, and indeed unfit for scenic -representation, than the catastrophe: but either the furies of Æschylus -were more terrible than European devils, or our Christian ladies are -less easily frightened than the women of Greece, for this is a favourite -spectacle everywhere. I know not whether the invention be originally -ours or the Italians; be it whose it may, the story of the Statue is in -a high style of fancy, truly fine and terrific. The sound of his marble -footsteps upon the stage struck a dead silence through the house. It is -to this machinery that the popularity of the piece is owing; and in -spite of the dulness which precedes this incident, and the horror which -follows it, I do not wonder that it is popular. Still it would be -decorous in English writers to speak with a little less disrespect of -the Spanish stage, and of the taste of a Spanish audience, while their -own countrymen continue to represent and to delight in one of the most -monstrous of all our dramas. - -The representation began at seven; and the meals in London are so late, -that even this is complained of as inconveniently early. We did not -reach home till after midnight. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XIX. - -_English Church Service.—Banns of Marriage.—Inconvenience of having the - Sermon a regular Part.—Sermons an Article of Trade.—Popular - Preachers.—Private Chapels._ - - -The ceremonies of the English Church Service are soon described. Imagine -a church with one altar covered with crimson velvet, the Creed and the -Decalogue over it in golden letters, over these the Hebrew name of God, -or the I.H.S. at the pleasure of the painter, and half a dozen winged -heads about it, clumsily painted, or more clumsily carved: the nakedness -of the other walls concealed by a gallery; an organ over the door, and -below it, immediately fronting the priest, a clock. Here also in some -conspicuous place is a tablet to record in what year the church was -repaired or beautified, and to perpetuate the names of the -church-wardens at that time in letters of gold. Another tablet -enumerates, but in faded lettering, and less conspicuous situation, all -the benefactors to the parish; that is, all who have left alms to the -poor, or fees to the minister for an anniversary sermon. The gallery and -the area of the church are divided into pews, as they are called, by -handsome mahogany partitions, within which the rich sit on cushioned -seats, and kneel on hassocks, while the poor stand in the aisle, and -kneel upon the stones. These pews are usually freehold, attached to -houses in the parish. In towns a rent is exacted for them; and in -private chapels, of which I shall speak hereafter, the whole income is -derived from them, as in a theatre. The reading-desk of the priest is -under the pulpit, and under it that of the clerk; there are no other -assistants except the sexton and his wife, who open the pews, and expect -a fee for accommodating a stranger with a seat. The priest wears a -surplice; the clerk is no otherwise distinguished from the laity than as -he has a stronger voice than usual, reads worse than other people, that -is, more like a boy at a village school, and more frequently speaks -through the nose. The catholic church has no corresponding office; he is -to the congregation what the leader of the band is to an orchestra. - -Some part of the service is repeated by the clerk and the people after -the priest; with others, as the psalms, and all the hymns, they proceed -alternately verse by verse; the priest reads the scripture lessons and -many of the prayers alone; he also reads the Litany, and the clerk and -congregation make the petition at the end of every clause. There is -nothing in the Liturgy to which a Catholic must necessarily object, -except the absolution; and with respect to that, his objection would be -to the sense in which it is taken, not to that which it was intended to -convey. After the first lesson the organist relieves the priest by -playing a tune, good or bad according to his own fancy. This is an -interlude of modern interpolation, which would have shocked the -Protestants in those days when their priests were more zealous and -longer-winded. At the end of what is properly called the morning -service, though on the Sunday it is but the first part of three, a -portion of the Psalms in vile verse, is given out by the clerk, and sung -by the whole congregation: the organ seems to have been introduced in -all opulent churches to hide the hideous discord of so many untuned and -unmusical voices, and overpower it by a louder strain. A second part -follows, which is usually performed beside the altar, but this is at the -option of the officiating priest; in this the congregation and their -leader have little more to do than to cry Amen, except that they repeat -the Nicene Creed; this part also is terminated by psalm-singing, during -which the priest exchanges his white vestment for a black one, and -ascends the pulpit. He begins with a short prayer, of which the form is -left to himself; then proceeds to the sermon. In old times the sermon -was a serious thing, both for the preacher and the hearers; the more, -the better, was the maxim in the days of fanaticism, and when the sands -of one hour were run out the people heard with pleasure the invitation -of the preacher to take another glass with him. But times are changed; -the hour-glass has disappeared, the patience of a congregation is now -understood to last twenty minutes, and in this instance short measure is -preferred. Immediately after the valediction the organ strikes up a loud -peal, with much propriety, as it drowns the greetings and salutations -which pass from one person to another. The Litany and the whole of the -second part are omitted in the evening service. - -Thus you perceive, that having apostatized and given up the essentials -of religion, the schismatics have deprived divine service of its -specific meaning and motive. It is no longer a sacrifice for the people. -The congregation assemble to say prayers which might as well be said in -their oratories, and to hear sermons which might more conveniently be -read at home. Nothing is done which might not be done with the same -propriety in a chamber as in a church, and by a layman as by a priest. - -A curious legal form is observed in the midst of the service; the priest -reads a list of all the persons in the parish who are about to be -married. This is done three successive Sundays, that if any person -should be acquainted with any existing impediment to the marriage, he -may declare it in time. The better classes avoid this publicity by -obtaining a license at easy expense. Those of high rank choose to be -married at their own houses, a license for which can be obtained from -only the primate. In Scotland, where the schismatics succeeded in -abolishing all the decencies as well as the ornaments of religion, this -is the universal practice; the sacrament of marriage may be celebrated -in any place, and by any person, in that country, and the whole funeral -ceremony there consists in digging a hole, and putting the body into it! - -Of the service of this heretical church, such as it is, the sermon seems -to be regarded as the most important part; children are required to -remember the text, and it is as regular a thing for the English to -praise the discourse when they are going out of church, as it is to talk -of their health immediately before, and of the weather immediately -afterwards. The founders of the schism did not foresee the inconvenience -of always attaching this appendage to prayers and forms which the -Fathers of the church indited and enacted under the grace of the Holy -Spirit, and which even they had grace enough to leave uncorrupted, -though not unmutilated. To go through these forms and offer up these -petitions requires in the priest nothing more than the commonest -learning; it is, indeed, one of the manifold excellencies of the true -church, that the service can neither be made better nor worse by him who -performs it. But here, where a main part consists of composition merely -human, which is designed to edify and instruct the people, more -knowledge and more talents are necessary than it is reasonable to expect -in every priest, or indeed possible to find. You may suppose that this -inconvenience is easily remedied, that only those persons would be -licensed to preach whom the bishop had approved as well qualified, and -that all others would be enjoined to read the discourses of those -schismatical doctors whom their schismatical church had sanctioned. -Something like this was at first intended, and a book of homilies set -forth by authority. Happily these have become obsolete. I say happily, -because, having been composed in the first years of the schism, they -abound with calumnies against the faith. The people now expect original -composition from their priests, let their ability be what it may; it -would be regarded as a confession of incapacity to take a book into the -pulpit; and you may well suppose, if we in Spain have more preachers -than are good, what it must be in a country where every priest is one. - -The sermon is read, not recited, nor delivered extemporaneously; which -is one main difference between the regular English clergy and the -sectarians. It has become a branch of trade to supply the priests with -discourses, and sermons may be bespoken upon any subject, at prices -proportioned to the degree of merit required, which is according to the -rank of the congregation to whom they are to be addressed. One clergyman -of Cambridge has assisted his weaker brethren, by publishing outlines -which they may fill up, and which he calls skeletons of sermons; another -of higher rank, to accommodate them still further, prints discourses at -full, in the written alphabet, so as to appear like manuscript to such -of the congregation as may chance to see them. The manuscripts of a -deceased clergyman are often advertised for sale, and it is usually -added to the notice, that they are warranted original; that is, that no -other copies have been sold, which might betray the secret. These -shifts, however, are not resorted to by the more respectable clergy; it -is not uncommon for these to enter into a commercial treaty with their -friends of the profession, and exchange their compositions. But even -with this reinforcement, the regular stock is usually but scanty; and if -the memory of the parishioners be good enough to last two years, or -perhaps half the time, they recognise their old acquaintance at their -regular return. - -If, however, this custom be burthensome to one part of the clergy, they -who have enough talents to support more vanity fail not to profit by it, -and London is never without a certain number of popular preachers. I am -not now speaking of those who are popular among the sectarians, or -because they introduce sectarian doctrines into the church; but of that -specific character among the regular English clergy, which is here -denominated a popular preacher. You may well imagine, that, as the tree -is known by its fruits, I have not a Luis de Granada, nor an Antonio -Vieyra, to describe. Thread-bare garments of religious poverty, eyes -weakened by incessant tears of contrition, or of pious love, and cheeks -withered by fasting and penitence, would have few charms for that part -of the congregation for whom the popular preacher of London curls his -forelock, studies gestures at his looking-glass, takes lessons from some -stage-player in his chamber, and displays his white hand and white -handkerchief in the pulpit. The discourse is in character with the -orator; nothing to rouse a slumbering conscience, nothing to alarm the -soul at a sense of its danger, no difficulties expounded to confirm the -wavering, no mighty truths enforced to rejoice the faithful,—to look for -theology here would be[15] seeking pears from the elm;—only a little -smooth morality, such as Turk, Jew, or Infidel, may listen to without -offence, sparkling with metaphors and similes, and rounded off with a -text of scripture, a scrap of poetry, or, better than either, a -quotation from Ossian.—To have a clergy exempt from the frailties of -human nature is impossible; but the true church has effectually secured -hers from the vanities of the world: we may sometimes have to grieve, -because the wolf has put on the shepherd’s cloak, but never can have -need to blush at seeing the monkey in it. - -Footnote 15: - - Pedir peras al olmo. - -These gentlemen have two ends in view, the main one is to make a fortune -by marriage,—one of the evils this of a married clergy. It was formerly -a doubt whether the red coat or the black one, the soldier or the -priest, had the best chance with the ladies; if on the one side there -was valour, there was learning on the other; but since volunteering has -made scarlet so common, black carries the day;—_cedunt arma togæ_. The -customs of England do not exclude the clergyman from any species of -amusement; the popular preacher is to be seen at the theatre, and at the -horse-race, bearing his part at the concert and the ball, making his -court to old ladies at the card-table, and to young ones at the -harpsichord: and in this way, if he does but steer clear of any flagrant -crime or irregularity, (which is not always the case; for this order, in -the heretical hierarchy, has had more than one Lucifer,) he generally -succeeds in finding some widow, or waning spinster, with weightier -charms than youth and beauty. - -His other object is to obtain what is called a lectureship, in some -wealthy parish; that is, to preach an evening sermon on Sundays, at a -later hour than the regular service, for which the parishioners pay by -subscription. As this is an addition to the established service, at the -choice of the people, and supported by them at a voluntary expense, the -appointment is in their hands as a thing distinct from the cure; it is -decided by votes, and the election usually produces a contest, which is -carried on with the same ardour, and leaves behind it the same sort of -dissension among friends and neighbours, as a contested election for -parliament. But the height of the popular preacher’s ambition is to -obtain a chapel of his own, in which he rents out pews and single seats -by the year; and here he does not trust wholly to his own oratorical -accomplishments; he will have a finer-tuned organ than his neighbour, -singers better trained, double doors, and stoves of the newest -construction, to keep it comfortably warm. I met one of these -chapel-proprietors in company; self-complacency, good humour, and -habitual assentation to every body he met with, had wrinkled his face -into a perpetual smile. He said he had lately been expending all his -ready money in religious purposes; this he afterwards explained as -meaning that he had been fitting up his chapel; “and I shall think -myself very badly off,” he added, “if it does not bring me in fifty per -cent.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XX. - -_Irreverence of the English towards the Virgin Mary and the Saints.—Want - of Ceremonies in their Church.—Festival Dainties.—Traces of - Catholicism in their Language and Oaths.—Disbelief of - Purgatory.—Fatal Consequences of this Error.—Supposed Advantages of - the Schism examined.—Clergy not so numerous as formerly._ - - -The religion of the English approaches more nearly than I had supposed, -in its doctrines, to the true faith; so nearly indeed, in some -instances, that it would puzzle these heretics to explain the -difference, or to account for it where it exists. With respect to the -holiest sacrament, they admit that the body and blood of Christ is -verily and indeed taken, and yet they deny the real presence. They give -absolution regularly in their church service, upon a public and general -confession, which is equivalent to no confession at all. They accredit -the miracles of the first two or three centuries, and no others; as if -miracles were not just as well authenticated, and just as necessary, in -succeeding ages, or, as if it were possible to say. Thus far shalt thou -believe, and no further. They profess to believe in the communion of -saints, though in fact they believe not in the saints; and they say that -the Holy Catholic Church subsisted in the Waldenses and Albigenses, for -to these miserable wretches they trace the origin of the great schism. -It is as extraordinary as it is lamentable, to see how they have reduced -every thing to a mere _caput mortuum_. - -One of the things which most indicates their blindness, is their total -want of all reverence for Mary, the most pure. Believing her to be -indeed the immaculate mother of God, they honour her with no festivals, -no service, not a single prayer; nor have they the slightest feeling of -adoration or love for a being so infinitely lovely and adorable. The -most obscure saint in the calendar has more respect in Spain, than is -shown here to the most holy Virgin! St Joseph is never mentioned, nor -thought of; they scarcely seem to know that such a person ever existed. -The Apostles are just so far noticed that no business is transacted at -the public offices upon their festivals, and this is all; no procession -is made, nobody goes to church; in fact, nobody remembers that the day -is a festival, except the clerks, who find it a holyday; for these words -are not synonymous in England. Holyday means nothing more here than a -day of cessation from business, and a school-boy’s vacation. The very -meaning of the word is forgotten. - -Nothing can be conceived more cold and unimpassioned and uninteresting -than all the forms of this false Church. No vestments except the -surplice and the cassock, the one all white, the other all black, to -which the Bishops add nothing but lawn sleeves. Only a single altar, and -that almost naked, without one taper, and without the great and adorable -Mystery. Rarely a picture, no images, the few which the persecutors left -in the niches of the old cathedrals are mutilated; no lamps, no -crucifix, not even a cross to be seen. If it were not for the Creed and -the Ten Commandments which are usually written over the altar, one of -these heretical places of worship might as soon be taken for a mosque as -for a church. The service is equally bald; no genuflections, no -crossings, no incense, no elevation; and their music, when they have -any, is so monstrous, that it seems as if the Father of Heresy had -perverted their ears as well as their hearts. - -The Church festivals, however, are not entirely unobserved; though the -English will not pray, they will eat; and, accordingly, they have -particular dainties for all the great holydays. On Shrove Tuesday they -eat what they call pancakes, which are a sort of wafer fried or made -smaller and thicker with currants or apples, in which case they are -called fritters. For Mid Lent Sunday they have huge plum-cakes, crusted -with sugar like snow; for Good Friday, hot bunns marked with a cross for -breakfast; the only relic of religion remaining among all their customs. -These bunns will keep for ever without becoming mouldy, by virtue of the -holy sign impressed upon them. I have also been credibly informed, that -in the province of Herefordshire a pious woman annually makes two upon -this day, the crumbs of which are a sovereign remedy for diarrhœa. -People come far and near for this precious medicine, which has never -been known to fail; yet even miracles produce no effect. On the feast of -St Michael the Archangel, every body must eat goose for dinner; and on -the Nativity, turkey, with what they call Christmas pies. They have the -cakes again on the festival of the Kings. - -Some traces of Catholicism may occasionally be observed in their -language. Their words Christmas and Candlemas show that there was once a -time when they were in the right way. The five wounds are corrupted into -a passionate exclamation, of which, they who use it know not the awful -meaning. There is another instance so shocking as well as ridiculous -that I almost tremble to write it. The word for swine in this language -differs little in its pronunciation from the word _Pix_; it is well -known how infamous these people have at all times been for the practice -of swearing: they have retained an oath by this sacred vessel, and yet -so completely forgotten even the meaning of the word, that they say, -Please the Pigs, instead of the Pix. They also still preserve in their -oaths the names of some Pagan Divinities whom their fathers worshipped, -and of whom perhaps no other traces remain. The Deuce is one, the -Lord-Harry another: there is also the Living Jingo, Gor, and Goles. The -Pagan Goths had no such idols; so probably these were adored by the -Celtic inhabitants of the island. - -With us every thing is calculated to remind us of religion. We cannot go -abroad without seeing some representation of Purgatory, some cross which -marks a station, an image of Mary the most pure, or a crucifix,—without -meeting priest, or monk, or friar, a brotherhood busy in their work of -charity, or the most holy Sacrament under its canopy borne to redeem and -sanctify the dying sinner. In your chamber the bells of the church or -convent reach your ear, or the voice of one begging alms for the souls, -or the chaunt of the priests in procession. Your babe’s first plaything -is his nurse’s rosary. The festivals of the Church cannot pass -unnoticed, because they regulate the economy of your table; and they -cannot be neglected without reproof from the confessor, who is as a -father to every individual in the family. There is nothing of all this -in England. The clergy here are as little distinguished from the laity -in their dress as in their lives; they are confined to black, indeed, -but with no distinction of make, and black is a fashionable colour; the -only difference is, that they wear no tail, though their heads are -ornamented with as much care as if they had never been exhorted to -renounce the vanities of the world. Here are no vespers to unite a whole -kingdom at one time in one feeling of devotion; if the bells are heard, -it is because bell-ringing is the popular music. As for Purgatory, it is -well known that all the heretics reject it: by some inconceivable -absurdity they believe that sin may deserve eternal punishment, and yet -cannot deserve any thing short thereof,—as if there were no degrees of -criminality. In like manner they deny all degrees of merit, confining -the benefit of every man’s good works to himself; confounding thus all -distinctions of piety; or, to speak more truly, denying that there is -any merit in good works; that is, that good works can be good; and thus -they take away all motive for goodness. - -Oh how fatal is this error to the living and to the dead! An Englishman -has as little to do with religion in his death as in his life. No tapers -are lighted, no altar prepared, no sacrifice performed, no confession -made, no absolution given, no unction administered; the priest rarely -attends; it is sufficient to have the doctor and the nurse by the sick -bed; so the body be attended, the soul may shift for itself. Every thing -ends with the funeral; they think prayers for the dead of no avail: and -in this, alas! they are unwittingly right, for it is to be feared their -dead are in the place from whence there is no redemption. - -All the ties which connect us with the World of Spirits are cut off by -this tremendous heresy. If prayers for the dead were of no further avail -than as the consolation of the living, their advantage would even then -he incalculable; for, what consolation can be equal to the belief that -we are by our own earnest expressions of piety alleviating the -sufferings of our departed friends, and accelerating the commencement of -their eternal happiness! Such a belief rouses us from the languor of -sorrow to the performance of this active duty, the performance of which -brings with it its own reward: we know that they for whom we mourn and -intercede are sensible of these proofs of love, and that from every -separate prayer thus directed they derive more real and inestimable -benefit, than any services, however essential, could possibly impart to -the living. And what a motive is this for us to train up our children in -the ways of righteousness, that they in their turn may intercede for us -when we stand most in need of intercession! Alas! the accursed Luther -and his accomplices seem to have barred up every avenue to Heaven. - -They, however, boast of the advantages obtained by the Schism, which -they think proper to call the Reformation. The three points on which -they especially congratulate themselves are, the privilege of having the -Scriptures in their own tongue; of the cup for the congregation, and of -the marriage of the clergy. As for the first, it is altogether -imaginary: the church does not prohibit its members from translating the -Bible, it only enjoins that they translate from the approved version of -the Vulgate, lest any errors should creep in from ignorance of the -sacred language, or misconception, or misrepresentation; and the wisdom -of this injunction has been sufficiently evinced. The privilege of the -cup might be thought of little importance to a people who think so -lightly of the Eucharist; but as they have preserved so few sacraments, -they are right to make the most of what they have. The marriage of the -clergy has the effect of introducing poverty among them, and rendering -it, instead of a voluntary virtue, the punishment of an heretical -custom. Most of the inferior clergy are miserably poor: nothing, indeed, -can be conceived more deplorable than the situation of those among them -who have large families. They are debarred by their profession from -adding to their scanty stipends by any kind of labour; and the people, -knowing nothing of religious poverty, regard poverty at all times more -as a crime than a misfortune, and would despise an apostle if he came to -them in rags. - -During the last generation, it was the ambition of those persons in the -lower ranks of society who were just above the peasantry, to make one of -their sons a clergyman, if they fancied he had a talent for learning. -But times have changed, and the situation of a clergyman who has no -family interest is too unpromising to be any longer an object of envy. -They who would have adventured in the church formerly, now become -commercial adventurers: in consequence, commerce is now far more -overstocked with adventurers than ever the church has been, and men are -starving as clerks instead of as curates. I have heard that the master -of one of the free grammar-schools, who, twenty years ago, used to be -seeking what they call curacies for his scholars, and had always many -more expectants than he could supply with churches, has now applications -for five curates, and cannot find one to accept the situation. On the -contrary, a person in this great city advertised lately for a clerk; the -salary was by no means large, nor was the situation in other respects -particularly desirable, yet he had no fewer than ninety applicants. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXI. - -_Show of Tulips.—Florists.—Passion for Rarities in England.—Queen Anne’s - Farthings.—Male Tortoise-shell Cat.—Collectors.—The King of - Collectors._ - - -Yesterday I went to see a show of tulips, as it is called, about three -miles from town. The bed in which they were arranged, each in its -separate pot, was not less than fifty _varas_ in length, covered with a -linen awning the whole way, and with linen curtains at the sides, to be -let down if the wind should be violent, or the rain beat in. The first -sight of this long gallery of flowers was singular and striking; and -faint as the odour of the tulip is, the many thousands which were here -collected together, formed a very perceptible and sweet fragrance. The -few persons present were brother florists, or amateurs of the science, -and the exhibitor himself was a character quite new to me. Never before -had I seen such perfect and complete enjoyment as this man took in his -tulips; he did not seem to have a single wish, or thought, or idea -beyond them; his whole business from one end of the year to the other -was to nurse them up, and here they were in full bloom and beauty. The -price of one, he told us, was twenty guineas, another only ten; some -were forty, fifty, as high as a hundred; there was one on which no price -could be set,—he did not know its value,—indeed it was invaluable. We -saw Julius Cæsar, and the Great Mogul, and Bonaparte, and St George, and -the Duke of Marlborough. “This,” said he, “is poor Louis XVI.;—here’s -Pompey;—that’s Washington; he’s a grand fellow!” and he looked up in our -faces with a feeling so simple, and so serious, that it was evident his -praise was solely designed for the flower. I ventured to admire one, -and, as you may suppose, only betrayed my ignorance; it was a vulgar -flower, and had no name; they told me it was _streaky_, by which term -they meant that it was veined with colours which spread into the white -part of the leaf, and faded away;—the very thing for which I had admired -it. It seems, the perfection of a tulip consists in its form; the lips -of the cup should just incline inwards, and just be tipt with a colour -which does not diffuse itself. When I knew their standard of perfection, -I began to see with the eyes of a connoisseur, and certainly discovered -beauties which would never have been perceptible to me in my state of -ignorance. - -He and his man, he told us, sat up alternately to watch the garden; yet, -notwithstanding their vigilance, some thieves had got in a few nights -before:—“The fools!” said he, “they took about fifty yards of the cloth -before they were disturbed, but never touched one of the tulips.” His -man appeared to be as devoutly attached to the pursuit as himself. I -never saw such complete happiness, as both these men felt in beholding -the perfections of their year’s labour, such sober and deep delight as -was manifest in every word and gesture.—Never let me be told again that -the pursuit of happiness is vain. - -The tulip mania of the Dutch never raged in England, whatever you might -imagine from this specimen; yet I have heard of one old gentleman who -never was half a dozen leagues from his birth-place during his whole -life, except once, when he went to Holland to purchase roots. There may -be amateurs enough to make it not an expensive pursuit for the florist; -and perhaps the number of persons, who, like us, give a shilling to see -the exhibition, may be sufficient to pay for the awning; but I should -think it can never be pursued for profit. The carnation, the ranunculus, -and the auricula, have each their devotees, who have meetings to exhibit -their choice specimens, and prizes for the most beautiful. These bring -those flowers to a wonderful perfection, yet this perfection is less -wonderful than the pains by which it is procured. Akin to the florists -are the Columbarians or pigeon-fanciers, and the butterfly-breeders or -Aurelians.—Even as any thing may become the object of superstition, an -onion or a crocodile, an ape or an ape’s tooth, so also any thing does -for a pursuit; and all that is to be regretted is, that the ordinary -pursuits of mankind are not as innocent as that of these experimental -Minorites or Minims. - -There is, perhaps, no country in which the passion for collecting -rarities is so prevalent as in England. The wealth of the kingdom, the -rapidity with which intelligence is circulated, and the facility with -which things are conveyed from one end of the island to the other, are -instrumental causes; but the main cause must be the oddity of the people -themselves. There is a popular notion which has originated, Heaven knows -how, that, a Queen Anne’s farthing (the smallest coin they have) is -worth 500_l._; and some little while ago, an advertisement appeared in -the newspapers offering one for sale at this price. This at once excited -the hopes of every body who possessed one of these coins, for there are -really so many in existence that the fictitious value is little or -nothing. Other farthings were speedily announced to be sold by private -contract,—go where you would, this was the topic of conversation. The -strange part of the story is to come. A man was brought before the -magistrates charged by a soldier with having assaulted him on the -highway, and robbed him of eight pounds, some silver, and a Queen Anne’s -farthing. The man protested his innocence, and brought sufficient proof -of it. Upon further investigation it was discovered that some -pettifogging lawyer, as ignorant as he was villainous, had suborned the -soldier to bring this false accusation against an innocent man, in the -hopes of hanging him, and getting possession of the farthing. -Unbelievable as you may think this, I have the most positive testimony -of its truth. - -Another vulgar notion is, that there is no such thing as a male -tortoise-shell-coloured cat. Some fortunate person, however, has just -given notice that he is in possession of such a curiosity, and offers to -treat with the virtuosos for the sale of this _rara avis_, as he -literally calls it. They call the male cats in this country Thomas, and -the male asses either Edward or John. I cannot learn the reason of this -strange custom. - -The passion for old china is confined to old women, and indeed is almost -extinct. Medals are in less request since science has become -fashionable; or perhaps the pursuit is too expensive; or it requires -more knowledge than can be acquired easily enough by those who wish for -the reputation of knowledge without the trouble of acquiring it. -Minerals are now the most common objects of pursuit; engraved portraits -form another, since a clergyman some forty years ago published a -biographical account of all persons whose likenesses had been engraved -in England. This is a mischievous taste, for you rarely or never meet an -old book here with the author’s head in it; all are mutilated by the -collectors; and I have heard that still more mischievous collections of -engraved title-pages have been begun. The book-collectors are of a -higher order,—not that their pursuit necessarily implies knowledge; it -is the love of possessing rarities, or the pleasure of pursuit, which in -most cases actuates them;—one person who had spent many years in -collecting large paper copies, having obtained nearly all which had ever -been thus printed, sold the whole collection for the sake of beginning -to collect them again. I shall bring home an English bookseller’s -catalogue as a curiosity: every thing is specified that can tempt these -curious purchasers: the name of the printer, if he be at all famous; -even the binder, for in this art they certainly are unrivalled. The size -of the margin is of great importance. I could not conceive what was -meant by _a tall copy_, till this was explained to me. If the leaves of -an old book have never been cut smooth its value is greatly enhanced; -but if it should happen that they have never been cut open, the copy -becomes inestimable. - -The good which these collectors do is, that they preserve volumes which -would otherwise perish; and this out-balances the evil which they have -done in increasing the price of old books ten and twenty fold. One -person will collect English poetry, another Italian, a third classics, a -fourth romances; for the wiser sort go upon the maxim of having -something of every thing, and every thing of something. They are in -general sufficiently liberal in permitting men of letters to make use of -their collections: which are not only more complete in their kind than -could be found in the public libraries of England, but are more -particularly useful in a country where the public libraries are rendered -almost useless by absurd restrictions and bad management, and where -there are no convents. The want of convents is, if only in this respect, -a national misfortune. - -The species of minor collectors are very numerous. Some ten years ago -many tradesmen issued copper money of their own, which they called -tokens, and which bore the arms of their respective towns, or their own -heads, or any device which pleased them. How worthless these pieces must -in general have been, you may judge, when I tell you that their current -value was less than two _quartos_. They became very numerous; and as -soon as it was difficult to form a complete collection,—for while it was -easy nobody thought it worth while,—the collectors began the pursuit. -The very worst soon became the most valuable, precisely because no -person had ever preserved them for their beauty. Will you believe me -when I tell you that a series of engravings of these worthless coins was -actually begun, and that a cabinet of them sold for not less than fifty -pieces of eight? When the last new copper currency was issued, a -shopkeeper in the country sent for a hundred pounds worth from the mint, -on purpose that he might choose out a good specimen for himself. Some -few geniuses have struck out paths for themselves; one admits no work -into his library if it extends beyond a single volume; one is employed -in collecting play-bills, another in collecting tea-pots, another in -hunting for visiting cards, another in forming a list of remarkable -surnames, another more amusingly in getting specimens of every kind of -wig that has been worn within the memory of man. But the King of -Collectors is a gentleman in one of the provinces, who with great pains -and expense procures the halters which have been used at executions: -these he arranges round his museum in chronological order, labelling -each with the name of the criminal to whom it belonged, the history of -his offence, and the time and place of his execution. In the true spirit -of virtù, he ought to hang himself, and leave his own halter to complete -the collection. - -You will not wonder if mean vices should sometimes be found connected -with such mean pursuits. The collectors are said to acknowledge only -nine commandments of the ten, rejecting the eighth.[16] At the sale of a -virtuoso’s effects, a single shell was purchased at a very high price; -the buyer held it up to the company: “There are but two specimens of -this shell,” said he, “known to be in existence, and I have the -other;”—and he set his foot upon it and crushed it to pieces. - -Footnote 16: - - In the original it is said the seventh. The Catholics reject the - second commandment, and make up the number by dividing the tenth into - two. Their seventh therefore is our eighth, and has accordingly been - so translated.—TR. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXII. - -_English Coins.—Paper Currency.—Frequent Executions for Forgery.—Dr - Dodd.—Opinion that Prevention is the End of Punishment.—This End not - answered by the Frequency of Executions.—Plan for the Prevention of - Forgery rejected by the Bank._ - - -English money is calculated in pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings; -four farthings making one penny, twelve pence one shilling, twenty -shillings one pound. Four shillings and sixpence is the value of the -_peso-duro_ at _par_. It is in one respect better than our money, -because it is the same over the whole kingdom. - -As the value of money has gradually lessened, the smallest denominations -of coin have every where disappeared. The farthing is rarely seen; and -as the penny, which was formerly an imaginary coin, has within these few -years been issued, it will soon entirely disappear, just as the mite or -half farthing has disappeared before it. A coin of new denomination -always raises the price of those things which are just below its value; -the seller finding it profitable as well as convenient to avoid -fractions. The penny is a handsome piece of money, though of -uncomfortable weight, being exactly an English ounce; so that in -receiving change you have frequently a quarter of a pound of copper to -carry in your pocket:—the legend is indented on a raised rim; and by -this means both the legend and the stamp are less liable to be effaced. -For the same reason a slight concavity is given to the half-penny. In -other respects these pieces are alike, bearing the king’s head on one -side, and on the other a figure of Britannia sitting on the shore, and -holding out an olive branch. - -The silver coins are four: the crown, which is five shillings, and the -half-crown, the shilling, and the sixpence or half-shilling. The silver -groat, which is four pence, and silver penny, were once current; but -though these, with the silver three pence and half-groat, are still -coined, they never get into circulation. Those which get abroad are -given to children, and laid by for their rarity. The crown piece in like -manner, when met with, is usually laid aside; it is the size of our -dollar, and has, like it, on one side the head of the sovereign, on the -other the arms of the kingdom; but the die, though far from good, is -better than ours. Nothing, however, can be so bad as the other silver -coins; that is, all which are in use. The sixpence, though it should -happen not to be a counterfeit, is not worth one-fourth of its nominal -value; it is a thin piece of crooked silver, which seldom bears the -slightest remains of any impress. The shillings also are worn perfectly -smooth, though not otherwise defaced; they are worth about half their -current value. The coiners are not contented with cent. per cent. profit -for issuing good silver, for which the public would be much indebted to -them whatever the government might be, silver being inconveniently -scarce; they pour out base money in abundance, and it requires more -circumspection than I can boast to avoid the loss which is thus -occasioned. The half-crown approaches nearer its due weight; and it is -more frequently possible to trace upon it the head of Charles II., or -James, of William, or Queen Anne, the earliest and latest princes whose -silver is in general circulation. - -A new coinage of silver has been wanted and called for time out of mind. -The exceeding difficulty attending the measure still prevents it. For, -if the old silver were permitted to be current only for a week after the -new was issued, all the new would be ground smooth and re-issued in the -same state as the old, as indeed has been done with all the silver of -the two last reigns. And if any temporary medium were substituted till -the old money could be called in, that also would be immediately -counterfeited. You can have no conception of the ingenuity, the -activity, and the indefatigable watchfulness of roguery in England. - -There are three gold coins: the guinea, which is twenty-one shillings, -its half, and its third. The difference between the pound and guinea is -absurd, and occasioned some trouble at first to a foreigner when -accounts were calculated in the one and paid in the other; but paper has -now become so general that this is hardly to be complained of. Compared -to the piece of eight, the guinea is a mean and diminutive coin. There -are five-guinea pieces in existence, which are only to be seen in the -cabinets of the curious. The seven-shilling piece was first coined -during the present reign, and circulated but a few years ago: there were -such struck during the American war, and never issued. I know not why. -One of these I have seen, which had never been milled: the obverse was a -lion standing upon the crown, in this respect handsomer than the present -piece, which has the crown and nothing else; indeed the die was in every -respect better. Both the current gold and copper are almost exclusively -of the present reign. It may be remarked, that the newest gold is in the -worst taste; armorial bearings appear best upon a shield; they have -discarded the shield, and tied them round with the garter. Medallie, -that is, historical money, has often been recommended; but it implies -too much love for the arts, and too much attention to posterity, to be -adopted here. There has not been a good coin struck in England since the -days of Oliver Cromwell. - -There was no paper in circulation of less than five pounds value till -the stoppage of the Bank during the late war. Bills of one and two -pounds were then issued, and these have almost superseded guineas. Upon -the policy or impolicy of continuing this paper money after the -immediate urgency has ceased, volumes and volumes have been written. On -one side it is asserted, that the great increase of the circulating -medium, by lessening the value of money raises the price of provisions, -and thus virtually operates as a heavy tax upon all persons who do not -immediately profit by the banking trade. On the other hand, the -conveniences were detailed more speciously than truly, and one advocate -even went so far as to entitle his pamphlet, “Guineas an Incumbrance.” -Setting the political advantages or disadvantages aside, as a subject -upon which I am not qualified to offer an opinion, I can plainly see -that every person dislikes these small notes; they are less convenient -than guineas in the purse, and more liable to accidents. You are also -always in danger of receiving forged ones; and if you do, the loss lies -at your own door, for the Bank refuses to indemnify the holder. This -injustice the directors can safely commit: they know their own strength -with government, and care little for the people; but the country -bankers, whose credit depends upon fair dealing, pay their forged notes, -and therefore provincial bills are always preferred in the country to -those of the Bank of England. The inconvenience in travelling is -excessive: you receive nothing but these bills; and if you carry them a -stage beyond their sphere of circulation they become useless. - -The frequent executions for forgery in England are justly considered by -the humane and thinking part of the people as repugnant to justice, -shocking to humanity, and disgraceful to the nation. Death has been the -uniform punishment in every case, though it is scarcely possible to -conceive a crime capable of so many modifications of guilt in the -criminal. The most powerful intercessions have been made for mercy, and -the most powerful arguments urged in vain; no instance has ever yet been -known of pardon. A Doctor of Divinity was executed for it in the early -part of the present reign, who, though led by prodigality to the -commission of the deed for which he suffered, was the most useful as -well as the most popular of all their preachers. Any regard to his -clerical character was, as you may well suppose, out of the question in -this land of schism; yet earnest entreaties were made in his behalf. The -famous Dr Johnson, of whom the English boast as the great ornament of -his age, and as one of the best and wisest men whom their country has -ever produced, and of whose piety it will be sufficient praise to say -that he was almost a Catholic,—he strenuously exerted himself to procure -the pardon of this unfortunate man, on the ground that the punishment -exceeded the measure of the offence, and that the life of the offender -might usefully be passed in retirement and penitence. Thousands who had -been benefited by his preaching petitioned that mercy might be shown -him, and the Queen herself interceded, but in vain. During the interval -between his trial and his execution he wrote a long poem entitled Prison -Thoughts; a far more extraordinary effort of mind than the poem of -Villon, composed under similar circumstances, for which, in an age of -less humanity, the life of the author was spared. Had the punishment of -Dr Dodd been proportioned to his offence, he would have been no object -of pity; but when he suffered the same death as a felon or a murderer, -compassion overpowered the sense of his guilt, and the people -universally regarded him as the victim of a law inordinately rigorous. -It was long believed that his life had been preserved by connivance of -the executioner; that a waxen figure had been buried in his stead, and -that he had been conveyed over to the continent. - -More persons have suffered for this offence since the law has been -enacted than for any other crime. In all other cases palliative -circumstances are allowed their due weight; this alone is the sin for -which there is no remission. No allowance is made for the pressure of -want, for the temptation which the facility of the fraud holds out, nor -for the difference between offences against natural or against political -law. More merciless than Draco, or than those inquisitors who are never -mentioned in this country without an abhorrent expression of real or -affected humanity, the commercial legislators of England are satisfied -with nothing but the life of the offender who sins against the Bank, -which is their Holy of Holies. They sacrificed for this offence one of -the ablest engravers in the kingdom, the inventor of the dotted or chalk -engraving. A mechanic has lately suffered who had made a machine to go -without horses, and proved its success by travelling in it himself about -forty leagues. A man of respectable family and unblemished conduct has -just been executed in Ireland, because, when reduced by unavoidable -misfortunes to the utmost distress, he committed a forgery to relieve -his family from absolute want. - -There is an easy and effectual mode of preventing the repetition of this -offence, by amputating the thumb; it seems one of the few crimes for -which mutilation would be a fit punishment. But it is a part of the -English system to colonize with criminals. It is not the best mode of -colonizing; nor, having adopted it, do they manage it in the best -manner. Of all crimes, there should seem to be none for which change of -climate is so effectual a cure as for forgery; and as there is none -which involves in itself so little moral depravity, nor which is so -frequently committed, it is evident that these needless executions -deprive New South Wales of those who would be its most useful members, -men of ingenuity, less depraved, and better educated in general, than -any other convicts. - -I have seen it recorded of some English judge, that when he was about to -sentence a man to death for horse-stealing, the man observed it was hard -he should lose his life for only stealing a horse; to which the judge -replied, “You are not to be hanged for stealing a horse, but in order -that horses may not be stolen.” The reply was as unphilosophical as -unfeeling; but it is the fashion among the English to assert that -prevention is the end of punishment, and to disclaim any principle of -vengeance, though vengeance is the foundation of all penal law, divine -and human. Proceeding upon this fallacious principle, they necessarily -make no attempt at proportioning the punishment to the offence; and -offences are punished, not according to the degree of moral guilt which -they indicate in the offender, but according to the facility with which -they can be committed, and to their supposed danger in consequence to -the community. But even upon this principle it is no longer possible to -justify the frequent executions for forgery; the end of prevention is -not answered, and assuredly the experiment has been tried sufficiently -long, and sufficiently often. - -In other cases, offences are held more venial as the temptation -thereunto is stronger, man being frail by nature; in this the punishment -is made heavier in proportion to the strength of the temptation. Surely, -it is the duty of the Bank Directors to render the commission of forgery -as difficult as possible. This is not effected by adopting private marks -in their bills, which, as they are meant to be private, can never enable -the public to be upon their guard. Such means may render it impossible -that a false bill should pass undiscovered at the bank, but do not in -the slightest degree impede its general circulation. What is required is -something so obvious that a common and uninstructed eye shall -immediately perceive it; and nothing seems so likely to effect this as a -plan which they are said to have rejected,—that in every bill there -should be two engravings, the one in copper, the other in wood, each -executed by the best artists in his respective branch. It is obvious -that few persons would be able to imitate either, and highly improbable -that any single one could execute both, or that two persons sufficiently -skilful should combine together. As it now is, the engraving is such as -may be copied by the clumsiest apprentice to the trade. The additional -expense which this plan would cost the bank would be considerably less -than what it now expends in hanging men for an offence, which could not -be so frequent if it was not so easy. The bank directors say the -Pater-noster in their own language, but they seem to forget that one of -the petitions which He who best knew the heart of man enjoined us to -make is, that we may not be led into temptation. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXIII. - -_Westminster Abbey.—Legend of its Consecration.—Its single Altar in bad - Taste.—Gothic or English Architecture.—Monuments.— Banks the - Sculptor.—Wax-work.—Henry the Seventh’s Chapel.—Mischievous - Propensity of the People to mutilate the Monuments._ - - -All persons who come to London, from whatever part of the world they -may, whether English or foreigners, go to see Westminster Abbey, the -place of interment of all illustrious men; kings, admirals, statesmen, -poets, philosophers, and divines, even stage-players and musicians. -There is perhaps no other temple in the world where such practical -testimony is borne to the truth, that “Death levels all distinctions, -except those of desert.” - -They continue to call this church an Abbey, just as they continue to -profess their belief in the most holy Sacrament. Originally it was the -second religious establishment in the island; and, since Glastonbury has -been desecrated and destroyed, is now the first. Lucius, the first -Christian king of the Britons, founded it, to be the burial-place of -himself and his successors. During the persecution of Diocletian, it was -converted into a temple of Apollo, which Sebert, king of the East -Saxons, demolished, and built a church to the honour of God and St Peter -in its stead. The place where it stands was then called Thorney, and is -said in a charter of king Edgar’s to have been a dreadful place; not so -much, it is supposed, on account of its rudeness, as because the wicked -spirits who were there worshipped had dominion there. St Augustine, the -apostle of the Saxons, had baptized Sebert and his queen Ethelgoda; and, -being unable to remain with them himself, consigned the care of his -converts to St Mellitus, a Roman abbot, whom pope St Gregory the Great -had sent to his assistance, and whom he consecrated bishop of London. -This holy bishop was to consecrate the new building; but on the night -before the ceremony was to be performed, a fisherman, as he was about to -cast his nets in the river, which runs within a stone’s throw of the -Abbey, was called to by one upon the opposite bank, who desired to cross -in his boat. The fisherman accordingly wafted him over, little knowing, -sinful man, how highly he was favoured, for this was the blessed apostle -St Peter. As soon as the saint landed he entered the church, and -immediately a light brighter than the midday sun illuminated it, and the -fisherman, almost bereft of his senses by fear, saw a multitude of -angels enter, and heard heavenly music within, and perceived odours far -more delicious than any earthly fragrance. In this state of terror St -Peter found him when he came out of the church, and cheered him, and -desired to be taken back in the boat. When they were in the middle of -the river, the saint told him to cast his net. He did so, and the -draught of fish was prodigious. Among them was one large salmon: St -Peter bade him take this to St Mellitus, and keep the rest as his fare, -and added that he and his children after him should always be prosperous -in their employment, provided that they paid scrupulously the tithe of -what they took, and never attempted to fish upon the Sabbath day. He -bade him likewise tell the bishop all that he had seen, and that St -Peter himself had consecrated the church, and promised often to visit -it, and to be present there at the prayers of the faithful. In the -morning, as St Mellitus was going in procession to perform the ceremony, -the fisherman met him, presented the fish, and delivered the message. -The appearance of the church as soon as the doors were opened fully -verified his story. The pavement was marked with Greek and Latin -letters; the walls anointed in twelve places with holy oil; the twelve -tapers upon twelve crosses still burning, and the aspersions not yet -dry. That further testimony might not be wanting, the fisherman -described the person whom he had seen to St Mellitus, and the -description perfectly agreed with the authentic picture of the apostle -at Rome. - -I need not tell you that this miracle is suppressed by the heretical -historians who have written concerning this building. It is their custom -either to speak of such things with a sarcasm, or to omit them -altogether, taking it for granted, that whatever they in their wisdom do -not believe, must be false; as if it were not of importance to know what -has been believed, whether it be true or not, and as if individual -opinion was to be the standard of truth. - -During the ravages of the Danes the abbey fell to decay. King St Edward -the Confessor rebuilt it upon a singular occasion. This pious prince had -made a vow to God during his exile, that if ever he should be restored -to the kingdom of his forefathers, he would make a pilgrimage to Rome, -and return his thanks at the throne of St Peter. His subjects besought -him not to leave them in performance of this vow, but to beg a -dispensation from it; and this the pope granted on condition that he -should build a new monastery to St Peter’s honour, or rebuild an old -one. At the same time it was revealed to a holy man, that it was God’s -pleasure to have the abbey at Westminster rebuilt. The king obeyed this -divine intimation, and gave the full tithe of all his possessions to the -work. The tomb of this third founder still remains: having been a king, -he escaped some of the insults which were committed against the other -English saints at the time of the schism; and though his shrine was -plundered, his body was suffered to remain in peace. But though the -monument was thus spared from the general destruction, it has been -defaced by that spirit of barbarous curiosity, or wanton mischief, for -which these people are so remarkable. - -The high altar is of Grecian architecture. I ought to observe that in -these _reformed_ churches, there is but one altar; and if it had not -been for an archbishop whose head they cut off because they thought him -too superstitious, they would have been without any altar at all. The -mixture of these discordant styles of architecture has the worst effect -imaginable; and what is still more extraordinary, this mark of bad taste -is the production of one of the ablest architects that England ever -produced, the celebrated Sir Christopher Wren. But in his time it was so -much the fashion to speak with contempt of whatever was Gothic, and to -despise the architecture of their forefathers, that, if the nation could -have afforded money enough to have replaced these edifices, there would -not now have been one remaining in the kingdom.—Luckily the national -wealth was at that time employed in preserving the balance of power and -extending commerce, and this evil was avoided. Since that age, however, -the English have learned better than to treat the Gothic with contempt; -they have now discovered in it so much elegance and beauty, that they -are endeavouring to change the barbarous name, and, with feeling -partiality to themselves, claim the invention for their own countrymen: -it is therefore become here an established article of Antiquarian faith -to believe that this architecture is of native growth, and accordingly -it is denominated English architecture in all the publications of the -Antiquarian Society. This point I am neither bound to believe, nor -disposed at present to discuss. - -This Abbey is a curious repository of tombs, in which the progress of -sculpture during eight centuries may be traced. Here may be seen the -rude Saxon monument; the Gothic in all its stages, from its first -rudiments to that perfection of florid beauty which it had attained at -the Schism, and the monstrous combinations which prevailed in the time -of Elizabeth, equally a heretic in her heterogeneous taste and her -execrable religion. After the great rebellion, the change which had -taken place in society became as manifest in the number as in the style -of these memorials. In the early ages of Christianity, only saints and -kings, and the founders of churches were thought worthy of interment -within the walls of the house of God; nobles were satisfied with a place -in the Galilee, and the people never thought of monuments: it was enough -for them to rest in consecrated ground; and so their names were written -in the Book of Life, it mattered not how soon they were forgotten upon -earth. The privilege of burial within the church was gradually conceded -to rank and to literature; still, however, they who had no pretensions -to be remembered by posterity were content to be forgotten. The process -may satisfactorily be traced in the church whereof I am now writing, and -thus far it had reached at the time of the Great Rebellion; during that -struggle, few monuments were erected; they who would have been entitled -to them were mostly on the unsuccessful side, and the conquerors had no -respect for churches; instead of erecting new tombs, their delight was -to deface the old. After the Restoration the triumph of wealth began. -The iron age of England was over, and the golden one commenced. An -English author has written an ingenious book, to show that the true -order of the four ages is precisely the reverse of that in which the -poets have arranged them: the age in which riches are paramount to every -thing may well be denominated the golden, but it remains to be proved -whether such an age of gold be the best in the series. With the -Restoration, however, that golden age began. Money was the passport to -distinction during life, and they who enjoyed this distinction were -determined to be remembered after death, as long as inscriptions in -marble could secure remembrance. The church walls were then lined with -tablets; and vain as the hope of thus perpetuating an ignoble name may -appear, it has succeeded better than you would imagine; for every -county, city, and almost every town in England has its particular -history, and the epitaphs in the churches and church-yards form no -inconsiderable part of their contents. - -The numerous piles of marble which deface the Abbey are crowded -together, without any reference to the style of the building or the -situation in which they are placed; except two which flank the entrance -of the choir, and are made ornamental by a similarity of form and size, -which has not confined the artist in varying the design of each. One -bears the great name of Newton: he is represented reclining upon a -sarcophagus; above him is Astronomy seated in an attitude of meditation -on a celestial globe. This globe, which certainly occupies so large a -space as to give an idea of weight in the upper part of the monument, -seems principally placed there to show the track of the comet which -appeared, according to Newton’s calculation, in the year 1680. On a -tablet in the side of the sarcophagus is an emblematic representation, -in relief, of some of the purposes to which he applied his philosophy. -The inscription concludes curiously thus, - - Sibi gratulentur mortales - Talem tantumque extitisse - Humani Generis Decus. - -The corresponding monument is in memory of the Earl of Stanhope, as -eminent a warrior and statesman as Newton had been a philosopher. He is -represented in Roman armour, reposing on a sarcophagus also, and under a -tent; on the top of which a figure of Pallas seems at once to protect -him, and point him out as worthy of admiration. Both these were designed -by an English artist, and executed by Michael Rysbrack. - -England has produced few good sculptors; it would not be incorrect if I -should say none, with the exception of Mr Banks, a living artist, whose -best works are not by any means estimated according to their merit. I -saw at his house a female figure of Victory designed for the tomb of a -naval officer who fell in battle, as admirably executed as any thing -which has been produced since the revival of the art. There were also -two busts there, the one of Mr Hastings, late viceroy of India, the -other of the celebrated usurper Oliver Cromwell, which would have done -honour to the best age of sculpture. Most of the monuments in this -church are wholly worthless in design and execution, and the few which -have any merit are the work of foreigners. - -One of the vergers went round with us; a man whose lank stature and -solemn deportment would have suited the church in its best days. When -first I saw him in the shadow he looked like one of the Gothic figures -affixed to a pillar; and when he began to move, I could have fancied -that an embalmed corpse had risen from its cemetery to say mass in one -of the chauntries. He led us with much civility and solemnity to Edward -the Confessor’s chapel, and showed us there the tomb of that holy king; -the chairs in which the king and queen are crowned; the famous -coronation stone, brought hither from Scotland, and once regarded as the -Palladium of the royal line; and in the same chapel certain waxen -figures as large as life, and in full dress. You have heard J— mention -the representation of the Nativity at Belem; and exclaim against the -degenerate taste of the Portuguese, in erecting a puppet-show among the -tombs of their kings. It was not without satisfaction that I reminded -him of this on my return from Westminster Abbey, and told him I had seen -the wax-work. - -The most interesting part of the edifice is the chapel built by Henry -VII. and called by his name. At the upper end is the bronze tomb of the -founder, surrounded by a Gothic screen, which was once richly ornamented -with statues in its various niches and recesses, but most of these have -been destroyed. The whole is the work of Torregiano, an Italian artist, -who broke Michel Angelo’s nose, and died in Spain under a charge of -heresy. Since the reign of Elizabeth, no monument has been erected to -any of the English sovereigns: a proof of the coldness which their -baneful heresy has produced in the national feeling. A plain marble -pavement covers the royal dead in this splendid chapel, erected by one -of their ancestors. No one was here to be interred who was not of the -royal family: Cromwell, however, the great usurper, whose name is held -in higher estimation abroad than it seems to be in his own country, was -deposited here with more than royal pomp. It was easier to dispossess -him from the grave than from the throne; his bones were dug up by order -of Charles II. and gibbeted: poor vengeance for a father dethroned and -decapitated, for his own defeat at Worcester, and for twelve years of -exile! The body of Blake, which had been laid with merited honours in -the same vault, was also removed, and turned into the church-yard: if -the removal was thought necessary, English gratitude should at least -have raised a monument over the man who had raised the English name -higher than ever admiral before him. - -One thing struck me, in viewing this church, as very remarkable. The -monuments which are within reach of a walking-stick are all more or less -injured, by that barbarous habit which Englishmen have of seeing by the -sense of touch, if I may so express myself. They can never look at any -thing without having it in the hand, nor show it to another person -without touching it with a stick, if it is within reach; I have even -noticed in several collections of pictures exposed for sale, a large -printed inscription requesting the connoisseurs not to touch them. -Besides this odd habit, which is universal, there is prevalent among -these people a sort of mischievous manual wit, by which mile-stones are -commonly defaced, directing-posts broken, and the parapets of bridges -thrown into the river. Their dislike to a passage in a book is often -shewn by tearing the leaf, or scrawling over the page, which differs -from them in political opinion. Here is a monument to a Major André, who -was hanged by Washington as a spy: the story was related in relief: it -had not been erected a month before some person struck off Washington’s -head by way of retaliation; somebody of different sentiments requited -this by knocking off the head of the major: so the two principal figures -in the composition are both headless! From such depredations you might -naturally suppose that no care is taken of the church, that stalls are -set up in it, that old women sell gingerbread nuts there, and porters -make it a thoroughfare, as is done in Hamburgh. On the contrary, no -person is admitted to see the Abbey for less than two shillings; and -this money, which is collected by twopences and sixpences, makes part of -the revenue of the subordinate priests in this reformed church. There is -a strange mixture of greatness and littleness in every thing in this -country: for this, however, there is some excuse to be offered; from the -mischief which is even now committed, it is evident that, were the -public indiscriminately admitted, every thing valuable in the church -would soon be destroyed. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXIV. - -_Complexion of the English contradictory to their historical - Theories.—Christian Names, and their Diminutives.—System of - Surnames.—Names of the Months and Days.—Friday the unlucky Day.—St - Valentine.—Relics of Catholicism._ - - -The prevalence of dark hair and dark complexions among the English is a -remarkable fact in opposition to all established theories respecting the -peoplers of the Island. We know that the Celts were light or red-haired, -with blue eyes, by the evidence of history; and their descendants in -Wales, and Ireland, and Scotland, still continue so. The Saxons, and -Angles, and Danes, were of the same complexion. How is it then that the -dark eyes and dark hair of the south should predominate? Could the Roman -breed have been so generally extended, or, did the Spanish colony spread -further than has been supposed? Climate will not account for the fact; -there is not sun enough to ripen a grape; and if the climate could have -darkened the Danes and Saxons, it would also have affected the Welsh; -but they retain the marked character of their ancestors. - -The proper names afford no clue; they are mostly indigenous, and the -greater number of local derivation. Of the baptismal names the main -proportion are Saxon and Norman; John, Thomas, and James, are the only -common apostolical ones; others indeed occur, but it is rather unusual -to meet with them. The Old Testament has furnished a few; Hagiology -still fewer. Among the men, William and John predominate; Mary and Anne, -among the women. In the northern provinces I am told that the Catholic -names Agnes and Agatha are still frequent; and, what is more -extraordinary, our Spanish Isabel, instead of Elizabeth. - -Even these little things are affected by revolutions of state and the -change of manners, as the storm which wrecks an Armada turns the village -weathercock. Thus the partisans of the Stuarts preferred the names of -James and Charles for their sons; and in the democratic families you now -find young Alfreds and Hampdens, Algernons and Washingtons, growing up. -Grace and Prudence were common in old times among the English ladies; I -would not be taken literally when I say that they are no longer to be -found among them, and that Honour and Faith, Hope and Charity, have -disappeared as well. The continental wars introduced Eugene, and -Ferdinand, and Frederick, into the parish registers; and since the -accession of the present family you meet with Georges, Carolines, and -Charlottes, Augustuses and Augustas. The prevailing appetite for novels -has had a very general effect. The manufacturers of these precious -commodities, as their delicate ears could bear none but vocal -terminations, either rejected the plain names of their aunts and -grandmothers, or clipped or stretched them till they were shaped into -something like sentimental euphony. Under their improving hands, Lucy -was extended to Louisa, Mary to Marianne, Harriet to Henrietta, and -Elizabeth cut shorter into Eliza. Their readers followed their example -when they signed their names, and christened their children. Bridget and -Joan, and Dorothy and Alice, have been discarded; and while the more -fantastic went abroad for Cecilia, Amelia, and Wilhelmina, they of a -better taste recurred to their own history for such sweet names as Emma -and Emmeline. - -The manner in which the English abbreviate their baptismal names is -unaccountably irregular. If a boy be christened John, his mother calls -him Jacky, and his father Jack; William in like manner becomes Billy or -Bill; and Edward, Neddy or Ned, Teddy or Ted, according to the gender of -the person speaking: a whimsical rule not to be paralleled in any other -language. Mary is changed into Molly and Polly; Elizabeth into Bessy, -Bess, Betty, Tetty, Betsy, and Tetsy; Margaret into Madge, Peggy, and -Meggy; all which in vulgar language are clipt of their final vowel, and -shortened into monosyllables. Perhaps these last instances explain the -origin of these anomalous mutations. Pega and Tetta are old English -names long since disused, and only to be found in hagiological history; -it is evident that these must have been the originals of the diminutives -Peggy, and Tetty or Tetsy, which never by any process of capricious -alteration can be formed from Margaret and Elizabeth. The probable -solution is, in each case, that some person formerly bore both names, -who signed with the first, and was called at home by the second,—thus -the diminutive of one became associated with the other: in the next -generation one may have been dropt, yet the familiar diminutive -preserved; and this would go on like other family names, in all the -subsequent branchings from the original stock. In like manner, Jacques -would be the root of Jack; Theodore or Thaddeus, of Teddy; Apollonia of -Polly; and Beatrice of Betty. A copious nomenclature might explain the -whole. - -During the late war it became a fashion to call infants after the -successful admirals,—though it would have been more in character to have -named ships after them: the next generation will have Hoods and Nelsons -in abundance, who will never set foot in the navy. Sometimes an -irreverent species of wit, if wit it may be called, has been indulged -upon this subject; a man whose name is Ball has christened his three -sons, Pistol, Musket, and Cannon. I have heard of another, who, having -an illegitimate boy, baptized him Nebuchadnezzar, because, according to -a mode of speaking here, he was to be sent to grass, that is, nursed by -a poor woman in the country. - -The system of proper names is simple and convenient. There are no -patronymics, the surname never changes, and the wife loses hers for that -of her husband. This custom has but lately established itself in Wales, -where the people are still in a state of comparative barbarism. There -the son of John Thomas used to be Thomas Johns, and his son again John -Thomas; but this has given way to the English mode, which renders it -easy to trace a descent. The names in general, like the language, though -infinitely less barbarous than the German, are sufficiently uncouth to a -southern eye, and sufficiently cacophonous to a southern ear. - -The months are called after the Latin as with us, and differ rather less -from the original, as only the terminations are altered. But the days of -the week keep the names given them by the Saxon Pagans: _Lunes_ is -Monday or the day of the Moon; _Martes_, Tuesday or Tuisco’s day; -_Miércoles_, Wednesday or Woden’s day; _Jueves_, Thursday or Thor’s day; -_Viernes_, Friday or Frea’s day; _Sábado_, Saturday or Surtur’s day; -_Domingo_, Sunday or the day of the Sun. Saturday indeed is usually -deduced from _Dies Saturni_; but it is not likely that this Roman deity -should have maintained his post singly, when all the rest of his fellows -were displaced. - -Friday, instead of Tuesday, is the unlucky day of the English, who are -just as superstitious as we are, though in a different way. It is the -common day of execution, except in cases of murder; when, as the -sentence is by law to be executed the day after it is pronounced, it is -always passed on Saturday, that the criminal may have the Sabbath to -make his peace with Heaven. I could remark more freely upon the -inhumanity of allowing so short a respite, did I not remember the worse -inhumanity of withholding the sacrament from wretches in this dreadful -situation. No person here is ever married on a Friday; nor will the -sailors, if they can possibly avoid it, put to sea upon that day: these -follies are contagious; and the captains, as well as the crew, will -rather lose a fair wind than begin the voyage so unluckily. Sailors, we -know, are every where superstitious, and well may they be so. - -If it rains on St Swithin’s, they fancy it will rain every day for the -next forty days. On St Valentine’s it is believed that the birds choose -their mates; and the first person you see in the morning is to be your -lover, whom they call a Valentine, after the saint. Among the many odd -things which I shall take home, is one of the pieces of cut paper which -they send about on this day, with verses in the middle, usually -acrostics, to accord with the hearts, and darts, and billing doves -represented all round, either in colours or by the scissars. How a saint -and a bishop came to be the national Cupid, Heaven knows! Even one of -their own poets has thought it extraordinary. - - Bishop Valentine - Left us examples to do deeds of charity; - To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit - The weak and sick, to entertain the poor, - And give the dead a Christian funeral. - These were the works of piety he did practise, - And bade us imitate; not look for lovers - Or handsome images to please our senses. - -The heretics, you see, need not ridicule us for bleeding our horses on -St Stephen’s, and grafting our trees on the day of the Annunciation. - -Many other traces of the old religion remain in the calendar, and indeed -every where, but all to as little purpose. Christ_mas_, Candle_mas_, -Lady-day, Michael_mas_; they are become mere words, and the primary -signification utterly out of mind. In the map you see St Alban’s, St -Neot’s, St Columb’s, &c. The churches all over the country are dedicated -to saints whose legends are quite forgotten, even upon the spot. You -find a statue of King Charles in the place of Charing-Cross, one of the -bridges is called Black-Friars, one of the streets the Minories. There -is a place called the Sanctuary, a Pater-Noster-Row, and an -Ave-Maria-Lane. Every where I find these vestiges of Catholicism, which -give to a Catholic a feeling of deeper melancholy, than the scholar -feels amid the ruins of Rome or Athens. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXV. - -_Vermin imported from all Parts.—Fox-Hunting.—Shooting.—Destruction of - the Game.—Rural Sports._ - - -The king of England has a regular bug-destroyer in his household! a -relic no doubt of dirtier times; for the English are a truly clean -people, and have an abhorrence of all vermin. This loathsome insect -seems to have been imported from France. An English traveller of the -early part of the seventeenth century calls it the French _punaise_; -which should imply either that the bug was unknown in his time, or had -been so newly imported as to be still regarded as a Frenchman. It is -still confined to large cities, and is called in the country, where it -is known only by name, the London bug; a proof of foreign extraction. - -It seems to be the curse of this country to catch vermin from all -others: the Hessian fly devours their turnips; an insect from America -has fastened upon the apple-trees, and is destroying them; it travels -onward about a league in a year, and no means have yet been discovered -of checking its progress. The cockroach of the West Indies infests all -houses near the river in London, and all sea-port towns; and the Norway -rats have fairly extirpated the aboriginal ones, and taken possession of -the land by right of conquest. As they came in about the same time as -the reigning family, the partisans of the Stuarts used to call them -Hanoverians. They multiply prodigiously, and their boldness and ferocity -almost surpass belief: I have been told of men from whose heads they -have sucked the powder and pomatum during their sleep, and of children -whom they have attacked in the night and mangled. If the animals of the -North should migrate, like their country barbarians, in successive -shoals, each shoal fiercer than the last, it is the hamsters’ turn to -come after the rats, and the people of England must take care of -themselves. An invasion by rafts and gun-boats would be less dangerous. - -A lady of J—’s acquaintance was exceedingly desirous, when she was in -Andalusia, to bring a few live locusts home with her, that she might -introduce such beautiful creatures into England. Certainly, had she -succeeded, she ought to have applied to the board of agriculture for a -reward. - -Foxes are imported from France in time of peace, and turned loose upon -the south coast to keep up the breed for hunting. There is certainly no -race of people, not even the hunting tribes of savages, who delight so -passionately as the English in this sport. The fox-hunter of the last -generation was a character as utterly unlike any other in society, and -as totally absorbed in his own pursuits, as the alchemist. His whole -thoughts were respecting his hounds and horses; his whole anxiety, that -the weather might be favourable for the sport; his whole conversation -was of the kennel and stable, and of the history of his chases. One of -the last of this species, who died not many years ago, finding himself -seriously ill, rode off to the nearest town, and bade the waiter of the -inn bring him in some oysters and porter, and go for a physician. When -the physician arrived he said to him, “Doctor, I am devilish ill,—and -you must cure me by next month, that I may be ready for foxhunting.” -This, however, was beyond the doctor’s power. One of his acquaintance -called in upon him some little time after, and asked what was his -complaint. “They tell me,” said he, “’tis a dyspepsy. I don’t know what -that is, but some damn’d thing or other, I suppose!”—a definition of -which every sick man will feel the force. - -But this race is extinct, or exists only in a few families, in which the -passion has so long been handed down from father to son, that it is -become a sort of hereditary disease. The great alteration in society -which has taken place during the present reign, tends to make men more -like one another. The agriculturist has caught the spirit of commerce; -the merchant is educated like the nobleman; the sea-officer has the -polish of high life; and London is now so often visited, that the -manners of the metropolis are to be found in every country gentleman’s -house. But though hunting has ceased to be the exclusive business of any -person’s life, except a huntsman’s, it is still pursued with an ardour -and desperate perseverance beyond even that of savages: the prey is -their object, for which they set their snares or lie patiently in -wait:—here the pleasure is in the pursuit. It is no uncommon thing to -read in the newspapers of a chase of ten or twelve leagues,—remember, -all this at full speed, and without intermission,—dogs, men, and horses -equally eager and equally delighted, though not equally fatigued. Facts -are recorded in the annals of sporting, how the hunted animal, unable to -escape, has sprung from a precipice, and some of the hounds have -followed it; and of a stag, which, after one of these unmerciful -pursuits, returned to its own lair, and, leaping a high boundary with -its last effort, dropped down dead,—the only hound which had kept up -with it to the last, dying in like manner by its side. The present king, -who is remarkably fond of the sport, once followed a deer till the -creature died with pure fatigue. - -This was the only English custom which William of Nassau thoroughly and -heartily adopted, as if he had been an Englishman himself. He was as -passionately addicted to it as his present successor, and rode as -boldly, making it a point of honour never to be outdone in any leap, -however perilous. A certain Mr Cherry, who was devoted to the exiled -family, took occasion of this, to form perhaps the most pardonable -design which ever was laid against a king’s life. He regularly joined -the royal hounds, put himself foremost, and took the most desperate -leaps, in the hope that William might break his neck in following him. -One day, however, he accomplished one so imminently hazardous, that the -king, when he came to the spot, shook his head and drew back. - -Shooting is pursued with the same zeal. Many a man, who, if a walk of -three leagues were proposed to him, would shrink from it as an exertion -beyond his strength, will walk from sun-rise till a late dinner hour, -with a gun upon his shoulder, over heath and mountain, never thinking of -distance, and never feeling fatigue. A game book, as it is called, is -one of the regular publications, wherein the sportsman may keep an -account of all the game he kills, the time when, the place where, and -chronicle the whole history of his campaigns! The preservation of the -game becomes necessarily an object of peculiar interest to the gentry, -and the laws upon this subject are enforced with a rigour unknown in any -other part of Europe. In spite of this, it becomes scarcer every year: -poaching, that is, killing game without a privilege so to do, is made a -trade: the stage-coaches carry it from all parts of the kingdom to the -metropolis for sale, and the larders of all the great inns are regularly -supplied; they who would eagerly punish the poacher, never failing to -encourage him by purchasing from his employers. Another cause of -destruction arises from the resentment of the farmers, who think that, -as the animals are fed upon their grounds, it is hard that they should -be denied the privilege of profiting by them. At a public meeting of the -gentry in one of the northern provinces, a hamper came directed to the -president, containing two thousand partridges’ eggs carefully packed. -Some species by these continual persecutions have been quite rooted out, -others are nearly extinct, and others only to be found in remote parts -of the island. Sportsmen lament this, and naturalists lament it also -with better reason. - -One of the most costly works which I shall bring home is a complete -treatise upon rural sports, with the most beautiful decorations that I -have ever seen: it contains all possible information upon the subject, -the best instructions, and annals of these sciences, as they may be -termed in England. I have purchased it as an exquisite specimen of -English arts, and excellently characteristic of the country, more -especially as being the work of a clergyman. He might have seen in his -Bible that the mighty hunters there are not mentioned as examples; and -that, when Christ called the fishermen, he bade them leave the pursuit, -for from thenceforth they should catch men. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXVI. - -_Poor-Laws.—Work-Houses.—Sufferings of the Poor from the - Climate.—Dangerous State of England during the Scarcity.—The Poor - not bettered by the Progress of Civilization._ - - -With us charity is a religious duty, with the English it is an affair of -law. We support the poor by alms; in England a tax is levied to keep -them from starving, and, enormous as the amount of this tax is, it is -scarcely sufficient for the purpose. This evil began immediately upon -the dissolution of the monasteries. They who were accustomed to receive -food at the convent door, where they could ask it without shame because -it was given as an act of piety, had then none to look up to for bread. -A system of parish taxation was soon therefore established, and new laws -from time to time enacted to redress new grievances, the evil still -outgrowing the remedy, till the poor-laws have become the disgrace of -the statutes, and it is supposed that at this day a tenth part of the -whole population of England receive regular parish pay. - -The disposal of this money is vested in certain officers called -overseers. The office is so troublesome that the gentry rarely or never -undertake it, and it usually devolves upon people rather below the -middle rank, who are rigidly parsimonious in the distribution of their -trust. If they were uniformly thus frugal of the parish purse, it would -be laudable, or at least excusable; but where their own enjoyments are -concerned, they are inexcusably lavish of the money collected for better -purposes. On every pretext of parish business, however slight, a dinner -is ordered for the officers. While they indulge themselves they deal -hardly by the poor, and give reluctantly what they cannot withhold. The -beadsman at the convent door receives a blessing with his pittance, but -the poor man here is made to feel his poverty as a reproach; his scanty -relief is bestowed ungraciously, and ungraciously received; there is -neither charity in him that gives, nor gratitude in him that takes. Nor -is this the worst evil: as each parish is bound to provide for its own -poor, an endless source of oppression and litigation arises from the -necessity of keeping out all persons likely to become chargeable. We -talk of the liberty of the English, and they talk of their own liberty; -but there is no liberty in England for the poor. They are no longer sold -with the soil, it is true; but they cannot quit the soil, if there be -any probability or suspicion that age or infirmity may disable them. If -in such a case they endeavour to remove to some situation where they -hope more easily to maintain themselves, where work is more plentiful, -or provisions cheaper, the overseers are alarmed; the intruder is -apprehended as if he were a criminal, and sent back to his own parish. -Wherever a pauper dies, that parish must be at the cost of his funeral: -instances therefore have not been wanting, of wretches in the last stage -of disease having been hurried away in an open cart upon straw, and -dying upon the road. Nay, even women in the very pains of labour have -been driven out, and have perished by the way-side, because the -birth-place of the child would be its parish. Such acts do not pass -without reprehension; but no adequate punishment can be inflicted, and -the root of the evil lies in the laws. - -The principle upon which the poor-laws seem to have been framed is this: -The price of labour is conceived to be adequate to the support of the -labourer. If the season be unusually hard, or his family larger than he -can maintain, the parish then assists him; rather affording a specific -relief, than raising the price of labour, because if wages were -increased, it would injure the main part of the labouring poor instead -of benefiting them: a fact, however mortifying to the national -character, sufficiently proved by experience. They would spend more -money at the alehouse, working less and drinking more, till the habits -of idleness and drunkenness strengthening each other, would reduce them -to a state of helpless and burthensome poverty. Parish pay, therefore, -is a means devised for increasing the wages of those persons only to -whom the increase is really advantageous, and at times only when it is -really necessary. - -Plausible as this may at first appear, it is fallacious, as all -reasonings will be found which assume for their basis the depravity of -human nature. The industrious by this plan are made to suffer for the -spendthrift. They are prevented from laying by the surplus of their -earnings for the support of their declining years, lest others not so -provident should squander it. But the consequence is, that the parish is -at last obliged to support both; for, if the labourer in the prime of -his youth and strength cannot earn more than his subsistence, he must -necessarily in his old age earn less. - -When the poor are incapable of contributing any longer to their own -support, they are removed to what is called the workhouse. I cannot -express to you the feeling of hopelessness and dread with which all the -decent poor look on to this wretched termination of a life of labour. To -this place all vagrants are sent for punishment; unmarried women with -child go here to be delivered; and poor orphans and base-born children -are brought up here till they are of age to be apprenticed off; the -other inmates are those unhappy people who are utterly helpless, parish -idiots and madmen, the blind and the palsied, and the old who are fairly -worn out. It is not in the nature of things that the superintendants of -such institutions as these should be gentle-hearted, when the -superintendance is undertaken merely for the sake of the salary; and, in -this country, religion is out of the question. There are always enough -competitors for the management, among those people who can get no better -situation; but, whatever kindliness of disposition they may bring with -them to the task, it is soon perverted by the perpetual sight of -depravity and of suffering. The management of children who grow up -without one natural affection—where there is none to love them, and -consequently none whom they can love—would alone be sufficient to sour a -happier disposition than is usually brought to the government of a -workhouse. - -To this society of wretchedness the labouring poor of England look on, -as their last resting-place on this side the grave; and rather than -enter abodes so miserable, they endure the severest privations as long -as it is possible to exist. A feeling of honest pride makes them shrink -from a place where guilt and poverty are confounded; and it is -heart-breaking for those who have reared a family of their own, to be -subjected in their old age to the harsh and unfeeling authority of -persons younger than themselves, neither better born nor better bred. -They dread also the disrespectful and careless funeral which public -charity, or rather law, bestows; and many a wretch denies himself the -few sordid comforts within his reach, that he may hoard up enough to -purchase a more decent burial, a better shroud, or a firmer coffin, than -the parish will afford. - -The wealth of this nation is their own boast, and the envy of all the -rest of Europe; yet in no other country is there so much poverty—nor is -poverty any where else attended with such actual suffering. Poor as our -own country is, the poor Spaniard has resources and comforts which are -denied to the Englishman: above all, he enjoys a climate which rarely or -never subjects him to physical suffering. Perhaps the pain—the positive -bodily pain which the poor here endure from cold, may be esteemed the -worst evil of their poverty. Coal is every where dear, except in the -neighbourhood of the collieries; and especially so in London, where the -number of the poor is of course greatest. You see women raking the ashes -in the streets, for the sake of the half-burnt cinders. What a picture -does one of their houses present in the depth of winter! the old -cowering over a few embers—the children shivering in rags, pale and -livid—all the activity and joyousness natural to their time of life -chilled within them.—The numbers who perish from diseases produced by -exposure to cold and rain, by unwholesome food, and by the want of -enough even of that, would startle as well as shock you. Of the children -of the poor, hardly one-third are reared. - -During the late war the internal peace of the country was twice -endangered by scarcities. Many riots broke out, though fewer than were -apprehended, and though the people on the whole behaved with exemplary -patience. Nor were the rich deficient in charity. There is no country in -the world where money is so willingly given for public purposes of -acknowledged utility. Subscriptions were raised in all parts, and -associations formed, to supply the distressed with food, either -gratuitously, or at a cheaper rate than the market price. But though the -danger was felt and confessed, and though the military force of London -was called out to quell an incipient insurrection, no measures have been -taken to prevent a return of the evil. With all its boasted wealth and -prosperity, England is at the mercy of the seasons. One unfavourable -harvest occasions dearth: and what the consequences of famine would be -in a country where the poor are already so numerous and so wretched, is -a question which the boldest statesman dares not ask himself. When -volunteer forces were raised over the kingdom, the poor were excluded; -it was not thought safe to trust them with arms. But the peasantry are, -and ought to be, the strength of every country; and woe to that country -where the peasantry and the poor are the same! - -Many causes have contributed to the rapid increase of this evil. The -ruinous wars of the present reign, and the oppressive system of taxation -pursued by the late premier, are among the principal. But the -manufacturing system is the main cause; it is the inevitable tendency of -that system to multiply the number of the poor, and to make them -vicious, diseased, and miserable. - -To answer the question concerning the comparative advantages of the -savage and social states, as Rousseau has done, is to commit high -treason against human nature, and blasphemy against Omniscient Goodness; -but they who say that society ought to stop where it is, and that it has -no further amelioration to expect, do not less blaspheme the one, and -betray the other. The improvements of society never reach the poor: they -have been stationary, while the higher classes were progressive. The -gentry of the land are better lodged, better accommodated, better -educated than their ancestors; the poor man lives in as poor a dwelling -as his forefathers when they were slaves of the soil, works as hard, is -worse fed, and not better taught. His situation, therefore, is -relatively worse. There is, indeed, no insuperable bar to his rising -into a higher order—his children may be tradesmen, merchants, or even -nobles—but this political advantage is no amendment of his actual state. -The best conceivable state for man is that wherein he has the full -enjoyment of all his powers, bodily and intellectual. This is the lot of -the higher classes in Europe; the poor enjoys neither—the savage only -the former. If, therefore, religion were out of the question, it had -been happier for the poor man to have been born among savages, than in a -civilized country, where he is in fact the victim of civilization. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXVII. - -_Saint Paul’s.—Anecdote of a female Esquimaux.—Defect of - Grecian Architecture in cold Climates.—Nakedness of the - Church.—Monuments.—Pictures offered by Sir Joshua Reynolds, &c., and - refused.— Ascent.—View from the Summit._ - - -The cathedral church of St Paul’s is not more celebrated than it -deserves to be. No other nation in modern times has reared so -magnificent a monument of piety. I never behold it without regretting -that such a church should be appropriated to heretical worship;—that, -like a whited sepulchre, there should be death within. - -In the court before the grand entrance stands a statue of Queen Anne, -instead of a cross; a figure as ill-executed as it is ill-placed, which -has provoked some epigrams even in this country, indifferent as the -taste in sculpture is here, and little as is the sense of religious -decorum. On entering the church I was impressed by its magnitude. A fine -anecdote is related of the effect this produced upon a female -Esquimaux:—quite overpowered with wonder when she stood under the dome, -she leaned upon her conductor, as if sinking under the strong feeling of -awe, and fearfully asked him, “Did man make it? or was it put here?” My -own sensations were of the same character, yet it was wonder at human -power unmingled with any other kind of awe; not that feeling which a -temple should inspire; not so much a sense that the building in which I -stood was peculiarly suitable for worship, as that it could be suitable -for nothing else. Gothic architecture produces the effect of sublimity, -though always without simplicity, and often without magnitude; so -perhaps does the Saracenic; if the Grecian ever produce the same effect -it is by magnitude alone. But the architecture of the ancients is -altered, and materially injured by the alteration, when adapted to cold -climates, where it is necessary when the light is admitted to exclude -the air: the windows have always a littleness, always appear misplaced; -they are holes cut in the wall: not, as in the Gothic, natural and -essential parts of the general structure. - -The air in all the English churches which I have yet entered is damp, -cold, confined, and unwholesome, as if the graves beneath tainted it. No -better proof can be required of the wisdom of enjoining incense. I have -complained that the area in their ordinary churches is crowded; but the -opposite fault is perceivable in this great cathedral. The choir is but -a very small part of the church; service was going on there, being -hurried over as usual in week-days, and attended only by two or three -old women, whose piety deserved to meet with better instructors. The -vergers, however, paid so much respect to this service, such as it is, -that they would not show us the church till it was over. There are no -chapels, no other altar than that in the choir;—for what then can the -heretics have erected so huge an edifice? It is as purposeless as the -Pyramids. - -Here are suspended all the flags which were taken in the naval victories -of the late war. I do not think that the natural feeling which arose -within me at seeing the Spanish colours among them influences me, when I -say that they do not ornament the church, and that, even if they did, -the church is not the place for them. They might be appropriate -offerings in a temple of Mars; but certainly there is nothing in the -revealed will of God which teaches us that he should be better pleased -with the blood of man in battle, than with that of bulls and of goats in -sacrifice. The palace, the houses of legislature, the admiralty, and the -tower where the regalia are deposited, should be decorated with these -trophies; so also should Greenwich be, the noble asylum for their old -seamen; and even in the church a flag might perhaps fitly be hung over -the tomb of him who won it and fell in the victory. Monuments are -erecting here to all the naval captains who fell in these actions; some -of them are not finished; those which are do little honour to the -artists of England. The artists know not what to do with their -villainous costume, and, to avoid uniforms in marble, make their unhappy -statues half naked. One of these represents the dying captain as falling -into Neptune’s arms;—a dreadful situation for a dying captain it would -be—he would certainly take the old sea-god for the devil, and the -trident for the pitchfork with which he tosses about souls in the fire. -Will sculptors never perceive the absurdity of allegorizing in stone! - -There are but few of these monuments as yet, because the English never -thought of making St Paul’s the mausoleum of their great men, till they -had crowded Westminster Abbey with the illustrious and the obscure -indiscriminately. They now seem to have discovered the nakedness of this -huge edifice, and to vote parliamentary monuments to every sea captain -who falls in battle, for the sake of filling it as fast as possible. -This is making the honour too common. It is only the name of the -commander in chief which is always necessarily connected with that of -the victory; he, therefore, is the only individual to whom a national -monument ought to be erected. If he survives the action, and it be -thought expedient, as I willingly allow it to be, that every victory -should have its monument, let it be, like the stone at Thermopylæ, -inscribed to the memory of all who fell. The commander in chief may -deserve a separate commemoration: the responsibility of the engagement -rests upon him; and to him the merit of the victory, as far as -professional skill is entitled to it, will, whether justly or not, be -attributed, though assuredly in most cases with the strictest justice. -But whatever may have been the merit of the subordinate officers, the -rank which they hold is not sufficiently conspicuous. The historian will -mention them, but the reader will not remember them because they are -mentioned but once, and it is only to those who are remembered that -statues should be voted; only to those who live in the hearts and in the -mouths of the people. “Who is this?” is a question which will be asked -at every statue; but if after the verger has named the person -represented it is still necessary to ask, “Who is he?” the statue is -misplaced in a national mausoleum. - -These monuments are too few as yet to produce any other general effect -than a wish that there were more; and the nakedness of these wide walls -without altar, chapel, confessional, picture, or offering, is striking -and dolorous as you may suppose. Yet if such honours were awarded -without any immediate political motive, there are many for whom they -might justly be claimed; for Cook for instance, the first navigator, -without reproach; for Bruce, the most intrepid and successful of modern -travellers; for lady Wortley Montague, the best of all letter-writers, -and the benefactress of Europe. “I,” said W., who was with me, “should -demand one for Sir Walter Raleigh; and even you, Spaniard as you are, -would not, I think, contest the claim; it should be for introducing -tobacco into Christendom, for which he deserves a statue of pipe-makers’ -clay.” - -Some five-and-twenty or thirty years ago the best English artists -offered to paint pictures and give them to this cathedral;—England had -never greater painters to boast of than at that time. The thing, -however, was not so easy as you might imagine, and it was necessary to -obtain the consent of the bishop, the chapter, the lord mayor, and the -king. The king loves the arts, and willingly consented; the lord mayor -and the chapter made no objection; but the bishop positively refused; -for no other reason, it is said, than because the first application had -not been made to him. Perhaps some puritanical feeling may have been -mingled with this despicable pride, some leven of the old Iconoclastic -and Lutheran barbarism; but as long as the names of Barry and of Sir -Joshua Reynolds are remembered in this country, and remembered they will -be as long as the works and the fame of a painter can endure, so long -will the provoking absurdity of this refusal be execrated.[17] - -Footnote 17: - - A story, even less honourable than this to the dean and chapter of St - Paul’s is current at this present time, which if false should be - contradicted, and if true should be generally known. Upon the death of - Barry the painter it was wished to erect a tablet to his memory in - this cathedral, and the dean and chapter were applied to for - permission so to do: the answer was, that the fee was a thousand - pounds. In reply to this unexpected demand, it was represented that - Barry had been a poor man, and that the monument was designed by his - friends as a mark of respect to his genius: that it would not be - large, and consequently might stand in a situation where there was not - room for a larger. Upon this it was answered, that, in consideration - of these circumstances, perhaps five hundred pounds might be taken. A - second remonstrance was made, a chapter was convened to consider the - matter, and the final answer was, that nothing less than a thousand - pounds could be taken. - - If this be false it should be publicly contradicted, especially as any - thing dishonourable will be readily believed concerning St Paul’s, - since Lord Nelson’s coffin was shown there in the grave for a shilling - a head.—TR. - -The monuments and the body of the church may be seen gratuitously; a -price is required for admittance to any thing above stairs, and for -fourpenny, sixpenny, and shilling fees we were admitted to see the -curiosities of the building;—a model something differing from the -present structure, and the work of the same great architect; a -geometrical staircase, at the top of which the door closes with a -tremendous sound; the clock, whose huge bell in a calm day, when what -little wind is stirring is from the east, may be heard five leagues over -the plain at Windsor; and a whispering gallery, the great amusement of -children and wonder of women, and which is indeed at first sufficiently -startling. It is just below the dome; and when I was on the one side and -my guide on the other, the whole breadth of the dome being between us, -he shut-to the door, and the sound was like a peal of thunder rolling -among the mountains.—The scratch of a pin against the wall, and the -lowest whisper, were distinctly heard across. The inside of the cupola -is covered with pictures by a certain Sir James Thornhill: they are too -high to be seen distinctly from any place except the gallery immediately -under them, and if there were nothing else to repay the fatigue of the -ascent it would be labour in vain. - -Much as I had been impressed by the size of the building on first -entering it, my sense of its magnitude was heightened by the prodigious -length of the passages which we traversed, and the seeming endlessness -of the steps we mounted. We kept close to our conductor with a sense of -danger: that it is dangerous to do otherwise was exemplified not long -since by a person who lost himself here, and remained two days and -nights in this dismal solitude. At length he reached one of the towers -in the front; to make himself heard was impossible; he tied his -handkerchief to his stick, and hung it out as a signal of distress, -which at last was seen from below, and he was rescued. The best plan in -such cases would be to stop the clock, if the way to it could be found. - -In all other towers which I had ever ascended, the ascent was fatiguing, -but no ways frightful. Stone steps winding round and round a stone -pillar from the bottom up to the top, with just room to admit you -between the pillar and the wall, make the limbs ache and the head giddy, -but there is nothing to give a sense of danger. Here was a totally -different scene: the ascent was up the cupola, by stair-cases and stages -of wood, which had all the seeming insecurity of scaffolding. Projecting -beams hung with cobwebs and black with dust, the depth below, the extent -of the gloomy dome within which we were enclosed, and the light which -just served to show all this, sometimes dawning before us, sometimes -fading away behind, now slanting from one side, and now leaving us -almost in utter darkness: of such materials you may conceive how -terrifying a scene may be formed, and you know how delightful it is to -contemplate images of terror with a sense of security. - -Having at last reached the summit of the dome, I was contented. The way -up to the cross was by a ladder; and as we could already see as far as -the eye could reach, there was nothing above to reward me for a longer -and more laborious ascent. The old bird’s-eye views which are now -disused because they are out of fashion, were of more use than any thing -which supplies their place: half plain, half picture, they gave an idea -of the place which they represented more accurately than pictures, and -more vividly than plans. I would have climbed St Paul’s, if it had been -only to see London thus mapped below me, and though there had been -nothing beautiful or sublime in the view: few objects, however, are so -sublime, if by sublimity we understand that which completely fills the -imagination to the utmost measure of its powers, as the view of a huge -city thus seen at once:—house-roofs, the chimneys of which formed so -many turrets; towers and steeples; the trees and gardens of the inns of -court and the distant squares forming so many green spots in the map; -Westminster Abbey on the one hand with Westminster Hall, an object -scarcely less conspicuous; on the other the Monument, a prodigious -column worthy of a happier occasion and a less lying inscription; the -Tower and the masts of the shipping rising behind it; the river with its -three bridges and all its boats and barges; the streets immediately -within view blackened with moving swarms of men and lines of carriages. -To the north were Hampstead and Highgate on their eminences, southward -the Surrey hills. Where the city ended it was impossible to distinguish: -it would have been more beautiful if, as at Madrid, the capital had been -circumscribed within walls, and the open country had commenced -immediately without its limits. In every direction the lines of houses -ran out as far as the eye could follow them, only the patches of green -were more frequently interspersed towards the extremity of the prospect, -as the lines diverged further from each other. It was a sight which awed -me and made me melancholy. I was looking down upon the habitations of a -million of human beings; upon the single spot whereon were crowded -together more wealth, more splendour, more ingenuity, more worldly -wisdom, and, alas! more worldly blindness, poverty, depravity, -dishonesty, and wretchedness, than upon any other spot in the whole -habitable earth. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXVIII. - -_State of the English Catholics.—Their prudent Silence in the Days of - Jacobitism.—The Church of England jealous of the Dissenters.—Riots - in 1780.—Effects of the French Revolution.—The Re-establishment of - the Monastic Orders in England.—Number of Nunneries and Catholic - Seminaries.—The Poor easily converted.—Catholic Writers.—Dr Geddes._ - - -The situation of the Catholics in England is far more favourable at -present than it has been at any period since the unfortunate expulsion -of James II. There is an opinion prevalent among freethinkers and -schismatics that intolerance is bad policy, and that religious -principles hostile to an establishment will die away if they are not -persecuted. These reasoners have forgotten that Christianity was rooted -up in Japan, and that heresy was extirpated from Spain, by fire. The -impolicy is in half measures. - -So long as the Stuarts laid claim to the crown, the Catholics were -jealously regarded as a party connected with them; and even the large -class of Jacobites, as they were called, who adhered to the old family -merely from a principle of loyalty, being obstinate heretics, looked -suspiciously upon their Catholic coadjutors as men whose motives were -different, though they were engaged in the same cause. These men would -never have attempted to restore the Stuarts, if they had not believed -that the Protestant church establishment would remain undisturbed, they -believed this firmly—believed that a Catholic king would reign over a -nation of schismatics, and make no attempt at converting them; so -ignorant were they of the principles of Catholicism. But no sooner had -the Pretender ceased to be formidable than the Catholics were forgotten, -or considered only as a religious sect of less consequence in the state, -and therefore less obnoxious than any other, because neither numerous -nor noisy. In fact the persecuting laws, though never enforced, were -still in existence; and the Catholics themselves, as they had not -forgotten their bloody effects in former times, prudently persevered in -silence. - -Fortunately for them, as soon as they had ceased to be objects of -suspicion, the Presbyterians became so. This body of dissenters had been -uniformly attached to the Hanoverian succession; but when that house was -firmly established, and all danger from the Stuarts over, the old -feelings began to revive, both on the part of the Crown and of the -Nonconformists. What they call the connection between civil and -religious freedom, or, as their antagonists say, between schism and -rebellion, made the court jealous of their numbers and of their -principles. The clergy too, being no longer in danger from those whom -they had dispossessed, began to fear those who would dispossess them; -they laid aside their controversy with the Catholics, and directed their -harangues and writings against greater schismatics than themselves. -During such disputes our brethren had nothing to do but quietly look on, -and rejoice that the kingdom of Beelzebub was divided against itself. - -It is true, a violent insurrection broke out against them in the year -1780; but this was the work of the lowest rabble, led on by a madman. It -did not originate in any previous feelings, for probably nine-tenths of -the mob had never heard of popery till they rioted to suppress it, and -it left no rankling behind: on the contrary, as the Catholics had been -wantonly and cruelly attacked, a sentiment of compassion for them was -excited in the more respectable part of the community. - -The French Revolution materially assisted the true religion. The English -clergy, trembling for their own benefices, welcomed the emigrant priests -as brethren, and, forgetting all their former ravings about Antichrist, -and Babylon, and the Scarlet Whore, lamented the downfall of religion in -France. An outcry was raised against the more daring heretics at home, -and the tide of popular fury let loose upon them. While this dread of -atheism prevailed, the Catholic priests obtained access every where; and -the university of Oxford even supplied them with books from its own -press. These noble confessors did not let the happy opportunity pass by -unimproved; they sowed the seeds abundantly, and saw the first fruits of -the harvest. But the most important advantage which has ever been -obtained for the true religion since its subversion, is the -re-establishment of the monastic orders in this island, from whence they -had so long been proscribed. This great object has been effected with -admirable prudence. A few nuns who had escaped from the atheistical -persecution in France were permitted to live together, according to -their former mode of life. It would have been cruel to have separated -them, and their establishment was connived at as trifling in itself, and -which would die a natural death with its members. But the Catholic -families, rejoicing in this manifest interposition of Providence, made -use of the opportunity, and found no difficulty in introducing novices. -Thus is good always educed from evil; the irruption of the barbarous -nations led to their conversion; the overthrow of the Greek empire -occasioned the revival of letters in Europe; and the persecution of -Catholicism in France has been the cause of its establishment in -England: the storm which threatened to pluck up this Tree of Life by its -roots has only scattered abroad its seed. Not only have many conversions -been effected, but even in many instances the children of Protestants -have been inspired with such holy zeal, that, heroically abandoning the -world, in spite of all the efforts of their deluded parents, they have -entered and professed. Some of the wiser heretics have seen to what -these beginnings will lead; but the answer to their representations has -been, the vows may be taken at pleasure, and broken at pleasure, for by -the law of England such vows are not binding. As if any law could take -away the moral obligation of a vow, and neutralise perjury! May we not -indulge a hope that this blindness is the work of God? - -There are at this time five Catholic colleges in England and two in -Scotland, besides twelve schools and academies for the instruction of -boys: eleven schools for females, besides what separate ones are kept by -the English Benedictine nuns from Dunkirk; the nuns of the Ancient -English Community of Brussels; the nuns from Bruges; the nuns from -Liege; the Augustinian nuns from Louvain; the English Benedictine nuns -from Cambray; the Benedictine nuns from Ghent; those of the same order -from Montargis; and the Dominican nuns from Brussels: in all these -communities the rules of the respective orders are observed, and novices -are admitted; they are convents as well as schools. The Poor Clares have -four establishments, in which only novices are received, not scholars; -the Teresians three; the Benedictine nuns one. Convents of monks are not -so numerous; and indeed in the present state of things secular clergy -are better labourers in the vineyard; the Carthusians, however, have an -establishment in the full rigour of their rule. Who could have hoped to -live to see these things in England! - -The greater number of converts are made among the poor, who are always -more easily converted than the rich, because their inheritance is not in -this world, and they enjoy so little happiness here that they are more -disposed to think seriously of securing it for hereafter. It is no -difficult thing to make them set their hearts and their hopes upon -heaven. Their own clergy neglect them; and when they behold any one -solicitous for their salvation without any interested motive, an act of -love towards them is so unexpected and so unusual, that their gratitude -prepares the way for truth. The charity also which our holy religion so -particularly enjoins produces its good effect even on earth; proselytes -always abound in the neighbourhood of a wealthy Catholic family. Were -the seminaries as active as they were in the days of persecution, and as -liberally supplied with means, it would not be absurd to hope for the -conversion of this island, so long lost to the church. - -Another circumstance greatly in favour of the true religion is, that -there is no longer any difficulty or danger in publishing Catholic -writings. They were formerly proscribed and hunted out as vigilantly as -prohibited books in our own country; but now the press is open to them, -and able defenders of the truth have appeared. This also has been -managed skilfully. To have openly attacked the heretical establishment -might have attracted too much notice, and perhaps have excited alarm; -nor indeed would the heretics have perused a work avowedly written with -such a design. Accordingly the form of history has been used, a study of -which the English are particularly fond. An excellent life of Cardinal -Pole has been written, which exposes the enormities of Henry VIII. and -the character of the wretched Anna Boleyn. Another writer, in a history -of Henry II. has vindicated the memory of that blessed Saint Thomas of -Canterbury, who is so vilified by all the English historians; and Bishop -Milner, still more lately, in a work upon antiquities, has ventured to -defend those excellent prelates who attempted, under Philip and Mary, to -save their country from the abyss of heresy. - -A division for a short time among the Catholics themselves was -occasioned by Dr Geddes, a priest of great learning, but of the most -irascible disposition and perverse mind. This man began to translate the -scriptures anew; and, as he avowed opinions destructive of their -authority, as well as of revealed religion, his bishop very properly -interfered, forbade him to proceed, and on his persisting suspended him -for contumacy. He obstinately went on, and lived to publish two volumes -of the text and a third of notes: the notes consist wholly of verbal -criticism, and explain nothing, and the language of the translation is -such as almost to justify a suspicion that he intended to debase the -holy writings, and render them odious. As long as he lived he found a -patron in Lord Petre; but his books are now selling at their just value, -that is, as waste paper; and if his name was not inserted in the Index -Expurgatorius it would be forgotten. - -Pope and Dryden, the two greatest English poets, were both Catholics, -though the latter had been educated in the schism. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXIX. - -_Number of Sects in England, all appealing to the - Scriptures.—Puritans.—Nonjurors.—Rise of Socinianism, and its - probable Downfall._ - - -The heretical sects in this country are so numerous, that an explanatory -dictionary of their names has been published. They form a curious list! -Arminians, Socinians, Baxterians, Presbyterians, New Americans, -Sabellians, Lutherans, Moravians, Swedenborgians, Athanasians, -Episcopalians, Arians, Sabbatarians, Trinitarians, Unitarians, -Millenarians, Necessarians, Sublapsarians, Supralapsarians, Antinomians, -Hutchinsonians, Sandemonians, Muggletonians, Baptists, Anabaptists, -Pædobaptists, Methodists, Papists, Universalists, Calvinists, -Materialists, Destructionists, Brownists, Independants, Protestants, -Hugonots, Nonjurors, Seceders, Hernhutters, Dunkers, Jumpers, Shakers, -and Quakers, &c. &c. &c.[18] A precious nomenclature! only to be -paralleled by the catalogue of the Philistines in Sanson Nazarenzo,[19] -or the muster-roll of Anna de Santiago’s Devils,[19] under Aquias, Brum, -and Acatu, lieutenant-generals to Lucifer himself. - -Footnote 18: - - It must surely be superfluous to make any comment upon the ignorant or - insolent manner in which synonymous appellations are here classed as - different sects. The popish author seems to have aimed at something - like wit by arranging them in rhymes:—as this could not be preserved - in the translation, and it is a pity any wit should be lost, the - original, such as it is, follows: “_Arminianos, Socinianos, - Baxterianos, Presbiterianos, Nuevos Americanos, Sabellianos, - Luteranos, Moravianos, Swedenborgianos, Athanasianos, Episcopalianos, - Arianos, Sabbatarianos, Trinitarianos, Unitarianos, Millenarianos, - Necessarianos, Sublapsarianos, Supralapsarianos, Antinomianos, - Hutchinsonianos, Sandemonianos, Muggletonianos, Baptistas, - Anabaptistas, Pædobaptistas, Methodistas, Papistas, Universalistas, - Calvinistas, Materialistas, Destruicionistas, Brownistas, - Independantes, Protestantes, Hugonotos, Nonjureros, Secederos, - Hernhutteros, Dunkeros, Jumperos, Shakeros, y Quakeros._”—The author, - to make these names look as uncouth and portentous as possible, has - not translated several which he must have understood, and has retained - the _w_ and _k_.—TR. - -This endless confusion arises from the want of some surer standard of -faith than Reason and the Scriptures, to one or both of which all the -schismatics appeal, making it their boast that they allow no other -authority. Reason and the Scriptures! Even one of their own bishops -calls Reason a box of quicksilver, and says that it is like a pigeon’s -neck, or a shot-silk, appearing one colour to me, and another to you who -stand in a different light. - -Footnote 19: - - These allusions are probably well understood in Spain; but here, as in - many other instances, the translator must confess his ignorance, and - regret that he can give no explanation.—TR. - -And for the Scriptures, well have they been likened to a nose of wax, -which every finger and thumb may tweak to the fashion of their own -fancy. You may well suppose how perversely those heretics will wrest the -spirit, who have not scrupled to corrupt the letter of the Gospel. In -many editions of the English Bible _ye_ has been substituted for _we_; -Acts, vi. 3. the Presbyterians having bribed the printer thus to favour -their heresy. Were you to hear the stress which some of these Puritans -lay upon the necessity of perusing the Scriptures, you might suppose -they had adopted the Jewish notion, that the first thing which God -himself does every morning is to read three hours in the Bible. - -You said to me, Examine into the opinions of the different heretics, and -you will be in no danger of heresy; and you requested me to send you -full accounts of all that I should see, learn, and think during this -enquiry, as the main confession you should require. The result will -prove that your confidence was not misplaced; that nothing could leach -me so feelingly the blessing of health, as a course of studies in an -infirmary. - -Many of the names of this hydra brood need no explanation; the others I -shall explain as I understand them, and those which are left untouched -you may consider as too insignificant in their numbers, or in their -points of difference, to require more than the mere insertion of their -titles in the classification of heresies. The Dunkers and Sandemonians, -the Baxterians and Muggletonians, may be left in obscurity with the -Tascadrogiti and Ascodrogiti, the Perliconasati of old, the -Passalaronciti, and Artotyriti, of whom St Jerome might well say, _Magis -portenta quam nomina_. - -Some of these sects differ from the establishment in discipline only, -others both in doctrine and discipline; they are either political, or -fanatical, or both. In all cases it may be remarked, that the dissenting -ministers, as they are called, are more zealous than the regular clergy, -because they either choose their profession for conscience sake, or take -it up as a trade, influenced either by enthusiasm or knavery, which are -so near akin and so much alike, that it is generally difficult, and -sometimes impossible, to distinguish one from the other. - -When the schism was fairly established in this island by the accursed -Elizabeth, all sorts of heresies sprung up like weeds in a neglected -field. The new establishment paid its court to the new head of the -church by the most slavish doctrines; the more abject, the more were -they unlike the principles of the Catholic religion, and also to the -political tenets of the Nonconformists. The consequence was, a strict -union between the clergy and the crown; while, on the other hand, all -the fanatics, however at variance in other points, were connected by -their common hatred of this double tyranny. Elizabeth kept them down by -the Inquisition: she martyred the Catholic teachers, and put the -Puritans to a slower death, by throwing them into dungeons, and leaving -them to rot there amid their own excrement. They strengthened during the -reign of her timorous successor, and overthrew the monarchy and -hierarchy together under Charles, the martyr of the English schismatical -church. Then they quarrelled among themselves; and one party, -disappointed of effecting its own establishment, brought back Charles -II., who ruled them with a rod of iron. A little prudence in James would -have restored England to the bosom of the church; but he offended the -clergy by his precipitance, forced them to coalesce with the Dissenters, -and lost his crown. His father’s fate was before his eyes, and he feared -to lose his head also; but had he been bold enough to set it at stake, -and been as willing to be a martyr as he was to be a confessor, a -bloodier civil war might have been excited in England than in Ireland; -England might have been his by conquest as well as by birth, and the -religion of the conqueror imposed upon the people. - -This revolution occasioned a new schism. From the time of their first -establishment the clergy had been preaching the doctrines of absolute -power and passive obedience; that kings govern by a right divine, and, -therefore, are not amenable to man for their conduct. These principles -had taken deep root in consequence of the general fear and hatred -against the Calvinists. No inconsiderable portion of the clergy, -therefore, however heartily they dreaded the restoration of what they -called Popery by James, could not in conscience assent to the accession -of William: indeed, the more sincerely they had deprecated the former -danger, the less could they reconcile their really tender consciences to -the Revolution. They therefore resigned, or rather were displaced from, -their sees and benefices, and lingered about half a century as a -distinct sect, under the title of Nonjurors. These men were less -dangerous to the new government than they who, having the same opinions -without the same integrity, took the oaths of allegiance, and washed -them down with secret bumpers to King James. But great part of the -clergy sincerely acquiesced in the Whig principles; and this number was -continually increasing as long as such principles were the fashion of -the court. Of this the government were well aware: they let the -malcontents[20] alone, knowing that where the carcase is there will the -crows be gathered together; and in this case it so happened that the -common frailty and the common sense of mankind coincided. - -Footnote 20: - - Don Manuel seems not to recollect Dr Sacheverell, or not to have heard - of him.—TR. - -I have related in my last how the Dissenters, from the republican -tendency of their principles, became again obnoxious to government -during the present reign; the ascendancy of the old high church and tory -party, and the advantages which have resulted to the true religion. -Their internal state has undergone as great a change. One part of them -has insensibly lapsed into Socinianism, a heresy, till of late years, -almost unknown in England; and into this party all the indifferentists -from other sects, who do not choose, for political motives, to join the -establishment, naturally fall. The establishment itself furnishes a -supply by the falling off of those of its members, who, in the progress -of enquiry, discover that the church of England is neither one thing nor -another; that in matters of religion all must rest upon faith, or upon -reason; and have unhappily preferred the sandy foundation of human wit. -_Crede ut intelligas, noli intelligere ut credas_, is the wise precept -of St Augustine; but these heretics have discarded the fathers as well -as the saints! These become Socinians; and though many of them do not -stop here in the career of unbelief, they still frequent the -meeting-houses, and are numbered among the sect. With these all the -hydra brood of Arianism and Pelagianism, and all the anti-calvinist -Dissenters have united; each preserving its own peculiar tenets, but all -agreeing in their abhorrence of Calvinism, their love of unbounded -freedom of opinion, and in consequence their hostility to any church -establishment. All, however, by this union, and still more by the medley -of doctrines which are preached as the pulpit happens to be filled by a -minister of one persuasion or the other, are insensibly modified and -assimilated to each other; and this assimilation will probably become -complete, as the older members, who were more rigidly trained in the -orthodoxy of heterodoxy, drop off. A body will remain respectable for -riches, numbers, erudition, and talents, but without zeal and without -generosity; and they will fall asunder at no very remote period, because -they do not afford their ministers stipends sufficient for the decencies -of life. The church must be kept together by a golden chain; and this, -which is typically true of the true church, is literally applicable to -every false one. These sectarians call themselves the enlightened part -of the Dissenters; but the children of Mammon are wiser in their -generation than such children of light. - -From this party, therefore, the church of England has nothing to fear, -though of late years its hostility has been erringly directed against -them. They are rather its allies than its enemies, an advanced guard who -have pitched their camp upon the very frontiers of infidelity, and exert -themselves in combating the unbelievers on one hand, and the Calvinists -on the other. They have the fate of Servetus for their warning, which -the followers of Calvin justify, and are ready to make their precedent. -Should these sworn foes to the establishment succeed in overthrowing it, -a burnt-offering of anti-trinitarians would be the first illumination -for the victory. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXX. - -_Watering Places.—Taste for the Picturesque.—Encomiendas._ - - -The English migrate as regularly as rooks. Home-sickness is a disease -which has no existence in a certain state of civilization or of luxury, -and instead of it these islanders are subject to periodical fits, of -what I shall beg leave to call _oikophobia_, a disorder with which -physicians are perfectly well acquainted though it may not yet have been -catalogued in the nomenclature of nosology. - -In old times, that is to say, two generations ago, mineral springs were -the only places of resort. Now the Nereids have as many votaries as the -Naiads, and the tribes of wealth and fashion swarm down to the sea coast -as punctually as the land crabs in the West Indies march the same way. -These people, who have unquestionably the best houses of any people in -Europe, and more conveniences about them to render home comfortable, -crowd themselves into the narrow apartments and dark streets of a little -country town, just at that time of the year when instinct seems to make -us, like the lark, desirous of as much sky-room as possible. The price -they pay for these lodgings is exorbitant; the more expensive the place, -the more numerous are the visitors; for the pride of wealth is as -ostentatious in this country as ever the pride of birth has been -elsewhere. In their haunts, however, these visitors are capricious; they -frequent a coast some seasons in succession, like herrings, and then -desert it for some other, with as little apparent motive as the fish -have for varying their track. It is fashion which influences them, not -the beauty of the place, not the desirableness of the accommodations, -not the convenience of the shore for their ostensible purpose, bathing. -Wherever one of the queen-bees of fashion alights, a whole swarm follows -her. They go into the country for the sake of seeing company, not for -retirement; and in all this there is more reason than you perhaps have -yet imagined. - -The fact is, that in these heretical countries parents have but one way -of disposing of their daughters, and in that way it becomes less and -less easy to dispose of them every year, because the modes of living -become continually more expensive, the number of adventurers in every -profession yearly increases, and of course every adventurer’s chance of -success is proportionately diminished. They who have daughters take them -to these public places to look for husbands; and there is no indelicacy -in this, because others who have no such motive for frequenting them go -likewise, in consequence of the fashion,—or of habits which they have -acquired in their younger days. This is so general, that health has -almost ceased to be the pretext. Physicians, indeed, still send those -who have more complaints than they can cure, or so few that they can -discover none, to some of the fashionable spas, which are supposed to be -medicinal because they are nauseous; they still send the paralytic to -find relief at Bath or to look for it, and the consumptive to die at the -Hot-wells: yet even to these places more persons go in quest of pleasure -than of relief, and the parades and pump-rooms there exhibit something -more like the Dance of Death than has ever perhaps been represented -elsewhere in real life. - -There is another way of passing the summer which is equally, if not -more, fashionable. Within the last thirty years a taste for the -picturesque has sprung up,—and a course of summer travelling is now -looked upon to be as essential as ever a course of spring physic was in -old times. While one of the flocks of fashion migrates to the sea-coast, -another flies off to the mountains of Wales, to the lakes in the -northern provinces, or to Scotland; some to mineralogize, some to -botanize, some to take views of the country,—all to study the -picturesque, a new science for which a new language has been formed, and -for which the English have discovered a new sense in themselves, which -assuredly was not possessed by their fathers. This is one of the customs -to which it suits a stranger to conform. My business is to see the -country,—and, to confess the truth, I have myself caught something of -this passion for the picturesque, from conversation, from books, and -still more from the beautiful landscapes in water colours, in which the -English excel all other nations. - -To the lakes then I am preparing to set out. D. will be my companion. We -go by way of Oxford, Birmingham, and Liverpool, and return by York and -Cambridge, designing to travel by stage over the less interesting -provinces, and, when we reach the land of lakes, to go on foot, in true -picturesque costume, with a knapsack slung over the shoulder.—I am -smiling at the elevation of yours, and the astonishment in your arched -brows. Even so:—it is the custom in England. Young Englishmen have -discovered that they can walk as well as the well-girt Greeks in the -days of old, and they have taught me the use of my legs. - -I have packed up a box of _encomiendas_ to go during my absence by the -Sally, the captain of which has promised to deposit it safely with our -friend Baltazar. One case of razors is for my father; they are of the -very best fabric; my friend Benito has never wielded such instruments -since first he took man by the nose. I have added a case of lancets for -Benito himself at his own request, and in addition the newest instrument -for drawing teeth, remembering the last grinder which he dislocated for -me, and obeying the precept of returning good for evil. The cost stands -over to my own charity score, and I shall account for it with my -confessor. Padre Antonio will admit it as alms, it being manifestly -designed to save my neighbours from the pains of purgatory upon earth. -The lamp is infinitely superior to any thing you have ever seen in our -own country,—but England is the land of ingenuity. I have written such -particular instructions that there can be no difficulty in using it. The -smaller parcel is Dona Isabel’s commission. If she ask how I like the -English ladies, say to her, in the words of the Romance, - - Que no quiero amores - En Inglaterra, - Pues otros mejores - Tengo yo en mi tierra.[21] - -Footnote 21: - - _That I want no loves in England, because I have other better ones in - my own country._—TR. - -The case of sweetmeats is Mrs J—’s present to my mother. There is also a -hamper of cheese, the choicest which could be procured. One, with the -other case of razors, you will send to Padre Antonio, and tell him that -in this land of heresy I shall be as mindful of my faith as of my -friends. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - LETTER XXXI. - -_Journey to Oxford.—Stage-Coach Travelling and Company._ - - - Thursday, July 1. - -The stage-coach in which we had taken our places was to start at six. We -met at the inn, and saw our trunks safely stowed in the boot, as they -call a great receptacle for baggage, under the coachman’s feet: this is -a necessary precaution for travellers in a place where rogues of every -description swarm, and in a case where neglect would be as mischievous -as knavery.—There were two other passengers, who, with ourselves, filled -the coach. The one was evidently a member of the university; the other a -fat vulgar woman who had stored herself with cakes, oranges and cordials -for the journey. She had with her a large bundle which she would not -trust in the boot, and which was too big to go in the seat, so she -carried it upon her lap. A man and woman, who had accompanied her to the -inn, stood by the coach till it set off; relations they seemed to be, by -the familiar manner in which they spoke of those to whom she was -returning, sending their love to one, and requesting to hear of another, -and repeating ‘Be sure you let us know you are got safe,’ till the very -last minute. The machine started within a few minutes of the time -appointed; the coachman smacked his whip, as if proud of his dexterity, -and we rattled over the stones with a fearful velocity, for he was -driving four horses. In Piccadilly he stopped at another inn, where all -the western stages call as they enter or go out of town: here we took in -another cargo of parcels, two passengers mounted the roof, and we once -more proceeded. - -We left town by the great western road, the same way which I had -entered. It was a great relief when we exchanged the violent jolting -over the stones for steady motion on a gravel road; but the paved ways -were met with again in all the little towns and townlets;[22] and as -these for a considerable distance almost join each other, it was a full -hour before we felt ourselves fairly in the country. Several stages -passed us within a few miles of London, on their way up: they had been -travelling all night; yet such are their regularity and emulation, that -though they had come about thirty leagues, and stopped at different -places, not one was more than ten minutes distance apart from another. - -Footnote 22: - - _Lugares._ Villages would have been an improper name for such places - as Kensington, &c. - -Englishmen are not very social to strangers. Our fellow-traveller -composed himself to sleep in the corner of the coach; but women are more -communicative, and the good lady gave us her whole history before we -arrived at the end of the first stage;—how she had been to see her -sister who lived in the Borough, and was now returning home; that she -had been to both the play-houses; Astley’s Amphitheatre, and the Royal -Circus; had seen the crown and the lions at the Tower, and the elephants -at Exeter ’Change; and that on the night of the illumination she had -been out till half after two o’clock, but never could get within sight -of M. Otto’s house. I found that it raised me considerably in her -estimation when I assured her that I had been more fortunate, and had -actually seen it. She then execrated all who did not like the peace, -told me what the price of bread had been during the war and how it had -fallen, expressed a hope that Hollands and French brandy would fall -also; spoke with complacency of Bonniprat, as she called him, and asked -whether we loved him as well in our country as the people in England -loved King George. On my telling her that I was a Spaniard, not a -Frenchman, she accommodated her conversation accordingly, said it was a -good thing to be at peace with Spain, because Spanish annatto and jar -raisins came from that country, and enquired how Spanish liquorice was -made, and if the people wer’n’t papists and never read in the Bible. You -must not blame me for boasting of a lady’s favours, if I say my answers -were so satisfactory that I was pressed to partake of her cakes and -oranges. - -We breakfasted at Slough, the second stage; a little town which seems to -be chiefly supported by its inns. The room into which we were shown was -not so well furnished as those which were reserved for travellers in -chaises; in other respects we were quite as well served, and perhaps -more expeditiously. The breakfast service was on the table and the -kettle boiling. When we paid the reckoning, the woman’s share was -divided among us; it is the custom in stage-coaches, that if there be -but one woman in company the other passengers pay for her at the inns. - -We saw Windsor distinctly on the left, standing on a little eminence, a -flag upon the tower indicating that the royal family were there. Almost -under it were the pinnacles of Eton college, where most of the young -nobility are educated immediately under the sovereign’s eye. An inn was -pointed out to me by the road side, where a whole party, many years ago, -were poisoned, by eating food which had been prepared in a copper -vessel. The country is flat, or little diversified with risings, -beautifully verdant, though with far more uncultivated ground than you -would suppose could possibly be permitted so near to such a metropolis. -The frequent towns, the number of houses by the road side, and the -apparent comfort and cleanliness of all, the travellers whom we met, and -the gentlemen’s seats, as they are called, in sight, every one of which -was mentioned in my Book of the Roads, kept my attention perpetually -alive. All the houses are of brick; and I did not see one which appeared -to be above half a century old. - -We crossed the Thames over Maidenhead-bridge, so called from the near -town, where a head of one of the eleven thousand virgins was once -venerated. Here the river is rather beautiful than majestic; indeed -nothing larger than barges navigate it above London. The bridge is a -handsome stone pile, and the prospect on either hand delightful; but -chiefly up the river, where many fine seats are situated on the left -bank, amid hanging woods. As the day was very fine, D. proposed that we -should mount the roof; to which I assented, not without some little -secret perturbation; and, to confess the truth, for a few minutes I -repented my temerity. We sate upon the bare roof, immediately in front, -our feet resting upon a narrow shelf which was fastened behind the -coachman’s seat, and being further or closer as the body of the coach -was jolted, sometimes it swung from under us, and at others squeezed the -foot back. There was only a low iron rail on each side to secure us, or -rather to hold by, for otherwise it was no security. At first it was -fearful to look down over the driver upon four horses going with such -rapidity, or upon the rapid motion of the wheels immediately below us: -but I soon lost all sense of danger, or, to speak more truly, found that -no danger existed except in imagination; for if I sate freely, and -feared nothing, there was in reality nothing to fear. - -The Oxford road branches off here from the great Western one, in a -northerly direction. A piece of waste which we crossed, called -Maidenhead Thicket, (though now not woodland as the name implies,) was -formerly infamous for robberies: and our coachman observed that it would -recover its old reputation, as soon as the soldiers and sailors were -paid off. I have heard apprehensions of this kind very generally -expressed. The soldiers have little or no money when they are -discharged, and the sailors soon squander what they may have. There will -of course be many who cannot find employment, and some who will not seek -it. Indeed the sailors talk with the greatest composure of -land-privateering, as they call highway robbery: and it must be -confessed, that their habits of privateering by sea are very well -adapted to remove all scruples concerning _meum_ and _tuum_. - -At Henley we came in sight of the Thames again,—still the same quiet and -beautiful stream: the view as we descended a long hill was exceedingly -fine: the river was winding below, a fine stone bridge across it, and a -large and handsome town immediately on the other side; a town, indeed, -considerably larger than any which we had passed. These stage-coaches -are admirably managed: relays of horses are ready at every post: as soon -as the coach drives up they are brought out, and we are scarcely -detained ten minutes. The coachman seems to know every body along the -road; he drops a parcel at one door, nods to a woman at another, -delivers a message at a third, and stops at a fourth to receive a glass -of spirits or a cup of ale, which has been filled for him as soon as the -sound of his wheels was beard. In fact, he lives upon the road, and is -at home when upon his coach-box. - -The country improved after we left Henley; it became more broken with -hills, better cultivated, and better wooded. It is impossible not to -like the villas, so much opulence, and so much ornament is visible about -them; but it is also impossible not to wish that the domestic -architecture of England were in a better taste. Dinner was ready for us -at Nettlebed: it was a very good one; nor was there any thing to -complain of, except the strange custom of calling for wine which you -know to be bad, and paying an extravagant price for what you would -rather not drink. The coachman left us here, and received from each -person a shilling as a gratuity, which he had well deserved. We now -resumed our places in the inside: dinner had made our male companion -better acquainted with us, and he became conversable. When he knew what -countryman I was, he made many enquiries respecting Salamanca, the only -one of our universities with which the English seem to be acquainted, -and which, I believe, they know only from Gil Blas. I do not think he -had ever before heard of Alcala; but he listened very attentively to -what I told him, and politely offered me his services in Oxford, telling -us he was a fellow of Lincoln, and insisting that we should breakfast -with him the following morning. - -At Nettlebed we passed over what is said to be the highest ground in -England, I know not with what truth, but certainly with little apparent -probability. We could have ascended little upon the whole since we had -left London, and were travelling upon level ground. About five o’clock -we came in sight of Oxford, and I resumed my place on the roof. This was -by no means the best approach to the city, yet I never beheld any thing -more impressive, more in character, more what it should be, than these -pinnacles and spires, and towers, and domes, rising amid thick groves. -It stands on a plain, and the road in the immediate vicinity is through -open corn fields. We entered by a stately bridge over the Cherwell: -Magdalen tower, than which nothing can be more beautiful, stands at the -end, and we looked down upon the shady walks of Magdalen college. The -coach drove half way up the High-street, and stopped at the Angel-inn. - - - END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. - - - ——————— - EDINBURGH: - Printed by James Ballantyre and Co. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ● Transcriber’s Notes: - ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. - ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only - when a predominant form was found in this book. - ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters from England, Volume 1 (of 3), by -Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS FROM ENGLAND, VOLUME 1 *** - -***** This file should be named 61122-0.txt or 61122-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/1/2/61122/ - -Produced by MWS, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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