Young Americans Abroad Part 6

Letter 17.

LONDON.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

One evening this week we spent very pleasantly at the Royal Polytechnic Inst.i.tution for the advancement of the arts and sciences in connection with agriculture and manufactures. There is a large theatre, where all sorts of lectures are delivered, at various hours, upon philosophical and other subjects. Lecturers occupy the theatre in succession, and take up about half an hour. These are generally men of respectable abilities.

The building is full of curiosities. We saw the model of the human ear, about one hundred and forty times larger than the natural organ. We saw a diving bell in the great hall, which is frequently put into action, and visitors are allowed to descend. That evening several made the experiment. The interior of the bell is lighted by thick plate gla.s.s. A very large number of models are to be seen, and there is much to interest the spectator. We heard a fine lecture respecting the experiment of Foucault, by which the diurnal rotation of the earth is said to be rendered visible to the eye. Foucault is a young Parisian, who, whilst engaged in some investigations with a pendulum in his mother's cellar, made this discovery, as he claims it to be. We saw the experiment repeated here on the same scale as it has recently been shown at the Pantheon at Paris. A bra.s.s sphere, weighing about five pounds, was suspended from the lofty ceiling by a piece of music wire, and made to vibrate in one plane over a table graduated into degrees. After a few vibrations, the direction of the pendulum appeared to be changed, as though the table had moved round on its owns axis.

We pa.s.sed an hour at the Egyptian Hall to see the opening of the American Panorama of the Overland Route to California. It bids fair to make a hit in London. Last Sunday, "great exhibition" sermons were abundant in London. Exeter Hal, the largest place in London, holding about five thousand persons, is to be used for three months for the performance of divine service, to accommodate the strangers who crowd the city. We all went, Sunday evening, and heard the Rev. Thomas Binney, who has quite a reputation. The hall was as full as it could be, but we did not think the discourse as good as it might be. It was rather declamatory.

You no doubt remember how much our curiosity was excited by hearing that Mr. Wyld was about to place a model of the globe, of gigantic dimensions, in the great exhibition. Well, he was unable to obtain the s.p.a.ce required, and so he has erected a s.p.a.cious building in Leicester Square. This building is circular, with projecting entrances at the four cardinal points of the compa.s.s. From the centre rises a graceful dome.

Here is placed the model of the earth, fifty-six feet in diameter. The scale is about ten miles to an inch. The arrangement before used in the construction of globes is reversed in this case, and the continents, islands, and seas are seen on the _inner_ surface. This seems like turning the world, not upside down, but inside out. The mountains and land are elevated to a scale. The spectators travel round the globe on winding staircases, at the distance of a few feet from the surface. I went the other morning to the model, but was far less interested than I expected. The rest of the party were not present, and are willing to take my report. I heard that Mr. Wyld has spent twelve thousand pounds upon his undertaking.

We selected a fine afternoon to visit the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park, and, of course, had a treat. I did not think much of the gardens as far as the horticulture was concerned; but the collection of animals was far beyond any thing I had before witnessed. There are more than sixteen hundred specimens. The animals are finely housed, and their habits consulted in the arrangements of their homes. We had the pleasure to see the young elephant, only six months old, which had just been received. It was about the size of a donkey. A hippopotamus had recently been added to the collection, and we were sadly vexed not to see it. It was shut up at six o'clock, just as we reached its house. George had his luck, and obtained a glimpse of the retiring quadruped. We have been greatly amused with the sight of hundreds of boys about town, dressed in blue gowns, or long coats with belts, short knee breeches, yellow stockings, and shoes with tackles, but wear no caps or hats. In all weathers they are bareheaded. I find that they are the boys belonging to Christ's Hospital, a school founded by Edward VI., in 1553, and generally known in London as the Blue Coat School. The scholars generally range from one thousand to twelve hundred. The education, is said to be of the best character, and many of the boys belong to families of high respectability, and it is quite a matter of desire to obtain scholarship here. They look very funny in their old-fashioned rig. Each boy wears bands like a clergyman. The school is in Newgate Street, and is a fine modern edifice in the Tudor style. The front is flanked by towers, and has eight n.o.ble windows, which are separated by b.u.t.tresses. Over one of the galleries of the hall is a fine picture, by Holbein, of Edward VI. granting the charter to the Hospital, as it was then called. Some of the best scholars of England were educated here; and we remembered particularly Coleridge and our special favorite, Charles Lamb.

To-morrow we are to have a treat of the highest kind. We are to spend the day at Windsor. I feel pretty well acquainted with its history and a.s.sociations, but I shall spend the evening with George in brushing up my information. There is nothing more unpleasant than to find yourself in the presence of things and places of which you painfully feel an entire ignorance. If ever we meet again, how much we shall have to chat over on our favorite topics!

Yours always,

JAMES.

Letter 18.

LONDON.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

It was a fine, clear morning when we started for Windsor by railroad, a distance of twenty-one miles. The country is fine; but our thoughts were on the castle. At Slough we took an omnibus, and rode into the town. It is a pretty, quiet place, of about ten thousand inhabitants. There are some six or seven streets, and they present but few attractions. The castle is every thing. You know this has been the favorite residence of most of the English monarchs, and the scene of many a tournament in the days of chivalry. The castle was the work of William the Conqueror. John lived at Windsor while Magna Charta was extorted from him by his barons at Runnymede. Henry III. did a great deal to the castle, but Edward III.

invested it with its great glory. This was his native place. The architect he employed was the famous William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, a man of great genius. He built the n.o.ble round tower. This was in 1315. Wykeham built him a palace worthy of the hero and his n.o.ble son, the Black Prince. Edward IV. built St. George's Chapel, and Henry VII. and Henry VIII. both made important additions to the fortress.

Young Edward VI. resided here, and did not like its retirement and gloom. Elizabeth made the terrace and other improvements. When Charles II. was restored, he brought a foreign taste to the improvement of the castle, and a great deal of elegancy was attempted, but which poorly harmonized with the Gothic, baronial style of Wykeham's works.

George IV. was a man of exquisite taste, and he employed Sir Jeffry Wyatville to carry out the plans of Edward III. and his architect. This was in 1824, and his immense labors have been successful. These improvements cost two million pounds sterling. I ought to say that Windsor Castle was the favorite home of George III., who died here. This palace stands on a lofty chalk hill, and commands the valley of the Thames. Around it is the finest, terrace in the world, the descent from which is faced with a rampart of freestone extending about seventeen hundred feet. The whole building occupies about twelve acres.

I shall not describe all the towers, for there are some dozen or fifteen. The round tower of Edward III. is the chief one. Here he revived the round table of King Arthur, and established the Order of the Garter. From the battlements of this strong fortress you gaze upon no less than twelve counties. Prince Albert is constable of this tower.

This was the old prison, or donjon of the castle. Here James I. of Scotland was a prisoner, and here he wrote his sweet verses and celebrated Nature's beauties and the praises of his lady-love, Jane Beaufort. Here, too, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, long suffered, and sung the sweetest lays. We had a ticket to see the state apartments.

Suffice it to say that we went through the Queen's Audience Chamber, the Vand.y.k.e Room, the Queen's State Drawing Boom or Zuccharelle Room, the State Ante-Room, the Grand Staircase and Vestibule, the Waterloo Chamber, the Grand Ball Room, St. George's Hall, the Guard Chamber, the Queen's Presence Chamber. All these are very, very beautiful. I was delighted with the Vand.y.k.e Room. Here are twenty-two undoubted productions of this greatest of portrait painters. Charles I. and Henrietta were favorite subjects with the artist. Here are several of them and their children, and they are to be found elsewhere. The equestrian portrait of Charles I. is a truly grand picture. You know the beautiful old copy, of a cabinet size, which we have in the study at home: it will please me more than ever, since I know how faithful it is.

That queen of Charles's who made him so much trouble with her Popery and temper was a wonderfully beautiful woman. I should not soon be weary looking at her portrait. She was daughter of Henry IV. of France. Her fortune was hard, to lose a father by an a.s.sa.s.sin, and a husband by the executioner. The Gobelin tapestry, ill.u.s.trating the life of Esther, in the Audience Room, is very rich. In the State Ante-Room are the most wonderful carvings of fowl, fish, fruit, and flowers, by Grinling Gibbons. They are thought to be unsurpa.s.sed in this department of art.

On the Great Staircase is a n.o.ble colossal marble statue, of that excellent sovereign, but bad man, George IV. It is by Chantrey. The Waterloo Chamber is adorned with thirty-eight portraits of men connected with Waterloo, and twenty-nine of them are by Sir Thomas Lawrence. St.

George's Hall is two hundred feet long, thirty-four wide, thirty-two high, and contains some fine portraits of sovereigns by Vand.y.k.e, Lely, Kneller, Gainsborough, and Lawrence. On twenty-four shields are the arms of each sovereign of the Order of the Garter, from Edward III. to William IV. The Guard Chamber is a n.o.ble room, eighty feet in length.

Immediately on entering, we were struck with the colossal bust of Nelson by Chantrey, A piece of the mast of the Victory, shot through by a cannon ball, forms its fitting pedestal. Here, too, we saw the busts of the great Duke of Marlborough by Rysbach, and the Duke of Wellington by Chantrey, and their two banners, by the annual presentation of which to the reigning sovereign, on the anniversaries of Blenheim and Waterloo, they hold the estates of Blenheim and Strathfieldsaye. There are figures in armor representing the Duke of Brunswick, 1530; Lord Howard, 1588; Earl of Ess.e.x, 1596; Charles I., when Prince of Wales, 1620; and Prince Rupert, 1635. These suits of armor are the genuine ones which were worn by these characters in their lifetime. One thing greatly delighted me--it was the gorgeous shield, executed by Benvenuto Cellini, and presented by Francis I. to Henry VIII. at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The workmanship is entirely beyond anything I had imagined possible for delicacy of finish. I hardly wonder that kings used to quarrel for the residence of this artist.

I know, Charley, you are impatient to hear about St. George's Chapel, of which you have so often expressed your admiration, when we have looked at the beautiful engravings of its interior, at home. It is very fine, and should be seen to be comprehended. It is of what is called the perpendicular Gothic style. The interior is divided by a screen and organ gallery, into the body of the church, and the choir. These have side aisles, and in these are five separate little chapels. Two of these make up the place of transepts, and the other three, and the chapter house, form abutments at each angle of the chapel. Now, I think, you can't fail to get an idea of the building.

The choir is filled with the stalls and banners of the knights of the garter. Each knight has his banner, helmet, crest, and sword.

The great pointed window was _designed_ by our countryman, Benjamin West. The altar-piece was painted by West. Here is the tomb of Edward IV., 1483. He lies under a slab of black marble. In 1789, some workmen discovered his lead coffin, and it was opened, and the skeleton was in good preservation, and measured seven feet in length. Horace Walpole obtained a lock of his hair at this time. Here are the graves of Henry VI., and of Henry VIII. and his queen, Jane Seymour. Also of Charles I.

Lord Byron says of Henry VIII.'s tomb,

"Famed for contemptuous breach of sacred ties, By headless Charles, see heartless Henry lies"

On the 1st of April, 1813, the coffin of Charles I. was found in Henry VIII.'s tomb; and I think you will be pleased with an account of what, transpired. I shall, therefore, copy a paper which is authentic:

"On completing the mausoleum which his present majesty has built in the Tomb House, as it is called, it was necessary to form a pa.s.sage to it from under the choir of St George's Chapel. In constructing this pa.s.sage, an aperture was made accidentally, in one of the walls of the vault of King Henry VIII., through which the workmen were enabled to see, not only the two coffins which were supposed to contain the bodies of King Henry VIII. and Queen Jane Seymour, but a third also, covered with a black velvet pall, which, from Mr. Herbert's narrative, might fairly be presumed to hold the remains of King Charles I.

"On representing the circ.u.mstance to the Prince Regent, his Royal Highness perceived at once that a doubtful point in history might be cleared up by opening this vault; and, accordingly, his Royal Highness ordered an examination to be made on the first convenient opportunity.

This was done on the 1st of April last, 1813,--the day after the funeral of the d.u.c.h.ess of Brunswick,--in the presence of his Royal Highness himself; who guarantied, thereby, the most respectful care and attention to the remains of the dead during the inquiry. His Royal Highness was accompanied by his Royal Highness the Duke of c.u.mberland, Count Munster, the Dean of Windsor, Benjamin Charles Stevenson, Esq., and Sir Henry Halford.

"The vault is covered by an arch half a breadth in thickness; is seven feet two inches in width, nine feet six inches in length, and four feet ten inches in height, and _is situated in the centre of the choir, opposite the eleventh knight's stall, on the sovereign's side_.

"On removing the pall, a plain leaden coffin, with no appearance of ever having been enclosed in wood, and bearing an inscription, 'King Charles, 1648,' in large, legible characters, on a scroll of lead encircling it, immediately presented itself to the view. A square opening was then made in the upper part of the lid, of such dimensions as to admit a clear insight into its contents. These were an internal wooden coffin, very much decayed, and the body carefully wrapped up in cerecloth, into the folds of which a quant.i.ty of unctuous or greasy matter, mixed with resin, as it seemed, had been melted, so as to exclude, as effectually as possible, the external air. The coffin was completely full, and, from-the tenacity of the cerecloth, great difficulty was experienced in detaching it successfully from the parts which it developed. Wherever the unctuous matter had insinuated itself, the separation of the cerecloth was easy; and when it came off, a correct impression of the features to which it had been applied was observed in the unctuous substance. At length the whole face was disengaged from its covering. The complexion of the skin of it was dark and discolored. The forehead and temples had lost little or nothing of their muscular substance. The cartilage of the nose was gone, but the left eye, in the first moment of exposure, was open and full, though it vanished almost immediately; and the pointed beard, so characteristic of the reign of King Charles, was perfect The shape of the face was a long oval. Many of the teeth remained, and the left ear, in consequence of the interposition of some unctuous matter between it and the cerecloth, was found entire. It was difficult at this moment to withhold a declaration, that, notwithstanding its disfigurement, the countenance did bear a strong resemblance to the coins, the busts, and especially to the picture of King Charles I. by Vand.y.k.e, by which it had been made familiar to us. It is true that the minds of the spectators of this interesting sight were well prepared to receive this impression; but it is also certain that such a facility of belief had been occasioned by the simplicity and truth of Mr. Herbert's narrative, every part of which had been confirmed by the investigation, so far as it had advanced; and it will not be denied that the shape of the face, the forehead, an eye, and the beard, are the most important features by which resemblance is determined. When the head had been entirely disengaged from the attachments which confined it; it was found to be loose, and without any difficulty was taken up and held to view. It was quite _wet_, and gave a greenish-red tinge to paper and linen which touched it. The back part of the scalp was entirely perfect, and had a remarkably fresh appearance--the pores of the skin being more distinct, as they usually are when soaked in moisture, and the tendons and ligaments of the neck were of considerable substance and firmness. The hair was thick at the back part of the head, and, in appearance, nearly black. A portion of it, which has since been cleaned and dried, is of a beautiful dark-brown color. That of the beard was of a redder brown. On the back part of the head it was about an inch in length, and had probably been cut so short for the convenience of the executioner, or, perhaps, in order to furnish memorials of the unhappy king. On holding up the head to examine the place of separation from the body, the muscles of the neck had evidently retracted themselves considerably, and the fourth cervical vertebra was found to be cut through its substance transversely, leaving the surfaces of the divided portions perfectly smooth and even; an appearance which could only have been produced by a heavy blow, inflicted with a very sharp instrument, and which furnished the last proof wanting to identify Charles I. After this examination, which served every purpose in view, and without examining the body below the neck; it was immediately restored to its situation, the coffin was soldered up again, and the vault closed."

This state of things precisely tallied with the account which Herbert, the faithful servant of Charles, had given as to the place of his sepulture.

In this chapel, too, is the cenotaph of the late Princess Charlotte, who was wife to Leopold, now King of Belgium. I do not much admire it.

The exquisite beauty of the windows, and the gorgeous splendor of the roof, will always make this place live in my memory. The terraces are very beautiful walks; and from Queen Elizabeth's terrace you have a n.o.ble view of Eton College. Of course, we were pleased to see "the distant spires and antique towers" which are so celebrated in the lines of Gray. The college looms up finely, and greatly adds to the prospect.

Eton was founded in 1440, by Henry VI. The number of scholars is about eight hundred and fifty. This college has produced some of the greatest men in England, and the young n.o.bility are generally educated here. The college has two quadrangles, and the chapel is a fine Gothic building.

All this region is beautified by the Thames winding through the valley.

Here is the gem of villages, Datchett, where Sir Henry Wotton and Izaak Walton used to enjoy the rod and line. No one who has any taste can come to Windsor and not think of the immortal bard who has made so much capital out of this place. At all events, we wanted to see Herne's Oak.

We took a carriage and pa.s.sed the day in riding through the great park, and took our way through the well-known avenue, called the Long Walk.

This is three miles in length, and has a double row of magnificent elms. It is directly in front of the south side of the castle, and terminates in a colossal equestrian statue of George III., standing on an immense pedestal of blocks of granite. Nothing can exceed in beauty the beeches of this park, which contains three thousand acres. Immense herds of deer are seen under the trees. Nowhere have I seen such fine old trees. Here is a beech-tree thirty-six feet round, seven feet from the ground! One oak of similar size is called William the Conqueror's Oak. We went to Virginia Water, the largest sheet of water--that is, artificial--in Great Britain. We saw the little cottage where George IV.

pa.s.sed so much of his time. It is a pretty place, but it only shows that the mind is more likely to be pleased with the simple than the grand.

The gardener at the cottage--which I think is called c.u.mberland Lodge--showed us through the conservatory. We did not much admire the Fishing Temple, or the floating miniature navy. The scenery is charming, and worthy of Poussin. The walk by the water, to the tavern, cannot be surpa.s.sed. On our return we pa.s.sed Frogmore, the residence of the d.u.c.h.ess of Kent; it seems a pretty, unpretending place.

Nothing would repay the tourist better than to pa.s.s three or four days, in this vicinity. Village after village, and villa after villa, claims the admiration of the traveller; and perhaps England has no more beautiful rural scenery than may here be found. We had seven or eight hours of perfect delight upon our ride; and when we reached the White Hart, at Windsor, we were well prepared for doing justice to an excellent dinner. Our pleasure at Windsor was much increased by the company of a gentleman of high literary reputation, and who is distinguished as the author of several successful works.

Affectionately yours,

WELD

Letter 19.

LONDON