initial commit of ebook 39790HEADmain

1 files changed, 9246 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/39790.txt b/39790.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99638f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/39790.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9246 @@
+Project Gutenberg's An American Four-In-Hand in Britain, by Andrew Carnegie
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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
+
+
+Title: An American Four-In-Hand in Britain
+
+Author: Andrew Carnegie
+
+Release Date: May 25, 2012 [EBook #39790]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AMERICAN FOUR-IN-HAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charlene Taylor, Melissa McDaniel and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved.  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal
+  signs=.
+
+  Page 51:  "_Aa_leck not El-eck" might have a diacritical mark over
+            the a.
+  Page 63:  "I've 'earn tell" possibly should be "I've 'eard tell".
+  Page 261:  The frontispiece cited was not included in this printing.
+  Page 318:  "caller" possibly should be "calmer".
+  Page 326:  "Frith" possibly should be "Firth".
+
+
+      AN
+      AMERICAN FOUR-IN-HAND
+      IN BRITAIN
+
+      BY
+      ANDREW CARNEGIE
+
+      NEW YORK
+      CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+      1899.
+
+
+
+
+      COPYRIGHT, 1883, 1886, BY
+      CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
+
+      Press of J. J. Little & Co.
+      Astor Place, New York
+
+
+
+
+      I DEDICATE THESE PAGES
+      TO
+      MY FAVORITE HEROINE,
+      My Mother.
+
+
+
+
+_PREFACE._
+
+
+_The publication of this book renders necessary a few words of
+explanation. It was originally printed for private circulation among a
+few dear friends--those who were not as well as those who were of the
+coaching party--to be treasured as a souvenir of happy days. The house
+which has undertaken the responsibility of giving it a wider circulation
+believed that its publication might give pleasure to some who would not
+otherwise see it. It is not difficult to persuade one that his work
+which has met with the approval of his immediate circle may be worthy of
+a larger audience; and the author was the more easily induced to consent
+to its reprint because, the first edition being exhausted, he was no
+longer able to fill many requests for copies._
+
+_The original intent of the book must be the excuse for the highly
+personal nature of the narrative, which could scarcely be changed
+without an entire remodelling, a task for which the writer had neither
+time nor inclination; so, with the exception of a few suppressions and
+some additions which seemed necessary under its new conditions, its
+character has not been materially altered. Trusting that his readers may
+derive from a perusal of its pages a tithe of the pleasure which the Gay
+Charioteers experienced in performing the journey, and wishing that all
+may live to see their "ships come home" and then enjoy a similar
+excursion for themselves, he subscribes himself,_
+
+      _Very Sincerely,_
+      _THE AUTHOR_
+      _New York, May 1, 1883._
+
+
+
+
+      AN AMERICAN FOUR-IN-HAND
+      IN BRITAIN.
+
+
+Long enough ago to permit us to sing, "For we are boys, merry, merry
+boys, Merry, merry boys together," and the world lay all before us where
+to choose, Dod, Vandy, Harry, and I walked through Southern England with
+knapsacks on our backs. What pranks we played! Those were the happy days
+when we heard the chimes at midnight and laughed Sir Prudence out of
+countenance. "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be
+no more cakes and ale?" Nay, verily, Sir Gray Beard, and ginger shall be
+hot i' the mouth too! Then indeed
+
+                  "The sounding cataract
+      Haunted me like a passion; the tall rock,
+      The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,
+      Their colors and their forms, were then to me
+      An appetite; a feeling and a love
+      That had no need of a remoter charm,
+      By thought supplied, or any interest
+      Unborrowed from the eye."
+
+It was during this pedestrian excursion that I announced that some day,
+when my "ships came home," I should drive a party of my dearest friends
+from Brighton to Inverness. Black's "Adventures of a Phaeton" came not
+long after this to prove that another Scot had divined how idyllic the
+journey could be made. It was something of an air-castle--of a
+dream--those far-off days, but see how it has come to pass!
+
+  [Sidenote: _Air-Castles._]
+
+The world, in my opinion, is all wrong on the subject of air-castles.
+People are forever complaining that their chateaux en Espagne are never
+realized. But the trouble is with them--they fail to recognize them when
+they come. "To-day," says Carlyle, "is a king in disguise," and most
+people are in possession of their air-castles, but lack the trick to
+see 't.
+
+Look around you! see Vandy, for instance. When we were thus doing Merrie
+England on foot, he with a very modest letter of credit stowed away in a
+belt round his sacred person--for Vandy it was who always carried the
+bag (and a faithful treasurer and a careful one too--good boy, Vandy!);
+he was a poor student then, and you should have heard him philosophize
+and lord it over us two, who had been somewhat fortunate in rolling
+mills, and were devoted to business. "Great Caesar! boys, if I ever get
+fifteen hundred dollars a year income!" (This was the fortune I was
+vaguely figured up to be worth under ordinary conditions.) "Great Caesar!
+boys"--and here the fist would come down on the hard deal table,
+spilling a few drops of beer--"fifteen hundred dollars a year! Catch me
+working any more like a slave, as you and Harry do!" Well, well, Vandy's
+air-castle was fifteen hundred dollars a year; yet see him now when
+thousands roll in upon him every month. Hard at it still--and see the
+goddess laughing in her sleeve at the good joke on Vandy. He has his
+air-castle, but doesn't recognize the structure.
+
+There is Miss Fashion. How fascinating she was when she descanted on her
+air-castle--then a pretty cottage with white and red roses clustering
+beside the door and twining over it in a true-lover's knot, symbolizing
+the lover's ideal of mutual help and dependence--the white upon the red.
+No large establishment for her, nor many servants! One horse (I admit it
+was always to be a big one), and an elegant little vehicle; plenty of
+garden and enough of pin money. On this point there was never to be the
+slightest doubt, so that she could really get the best magazines and one
+new book every month--any one she chose. A young hard-working husband,
+without too much income, so that she might experience the pleasure of
+planning to make their little go far. Behold her now! her husband a
+millionaire, a brown-stone front, half a dozen horses, a country place,
+and a box at the opera! But, bless your heart! she is as unconscious of
+the arrival of her castle as she is that years creep upon her apace.
+
+The Goddess Fortune, my friends, rarely fails to give to mortals all
+they pray for and more; but how she must stand amazed at the blindness
+of her idolators, who continue to offer up their prayers at her shrine,
+wholly unconscious that their first requests have been granted! It takes
+Fortune a little time to prepare the gifts for so many supplicants--the
+toys each one specially wants; and lo and behold! before they can be
+delivered (though she works with speed betimes) the unreasonable mortals
+have lost conceit of their prizes, and their coming is a mockery; they
+are crying for something else. If the Fates be malignant, as old
+religions teach, how they must enjoy the folly of man!
+
+Imagine a good spirit taking Fortune to task for the misery and
+discontent of mortals, as she gazes with piteous eyes upon our
+disappointments, our troubles, and, saddest of all, our regrets,
+charging her with producing such unhappiness. "Why have you done this?"
+would be the inquiry. Listen to the sardonic chuckle of the Fate: "Hush!
+I've only given them what they asked (chuckle--chuckle--chuckle)! Not my
+fault! See that unhappy wretch, sleeplessly and feverishly tossing on
+his pillow, and in his waking hours absorbing all his lofty faculties in
+gambling at the Stock Exchange--wife, children, home, music, art,
+culture, all forgotten. He was once a bright, promising, ingenuous
+youth. He was born among trees and green fields, spent the morn of life
+in the country, sensitive and responsive to all nature's whisperings;
+lay in cool, leafy shades, wandered in forest glades, and paddled in
+the 'complaining brooks which make the meadow green.' Nay, not many
+years ago he returned at intervals to these scenes, and found their
+charm had still power over him--felt the truth of the poet's words, that
+
+      "'To him who in the love of nature holds
+      Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
+      A various language; for his gayer hours
+      She has a voice of gladness, and a smile
+      And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
+      Into his darker musings, with a mild
+      And healing sympathy, that steals away
+      Their sharpness, ere he is aware.'
+
+"He asked for enough to live honorably upon among his fellows,"
+continues the Fate, "and to keep his parents comfortable in their old
+age--a matter of a few hundreds a year--and I gave him this and
+thousands more. Ha, ha, ha! Silence! Look at him; he doesn't see the
+joke. Oh yes, you may try to tell it to him, if you like. He has no time
+to listen, nor ears to hear, nor eyes to see; no, nor soul to understand
+your language. He's 'short' on New Jersey Central or 'long' on Reading,
+and, bless you! he must strain every fibre if he would save himself from
+ruin.
+
+"He could commune with you in your youth, you say; he had your language
+then. No doubt! no doubt! so did he then know his Latin and whisper his
+prayers at his mother's knee. The Latin has gone; his praying
+continues--nay has increased, for his fears and selfish wants have
+multiplied since he was an innocent, ignorant child, and he has much
+more to ask from God for his own ends, now that he is a wise man and is
+supposed to know much (chuckle--chuckle--chuckle).
+
+"There is another mortal," we hear the Fate saying to the Good Fairy.
+"Look at her, decked out in all the vagaries of changeable Fashion; note
+her fixed-up look, her conventional air, her nervous, unmeaning,
+simpering smile--the same to-day, yesterday, and forever--something to
+all men, much to none. See her at home in her chamber! Why mopes she,
+looking so haggard, with features expressionless and inane? What worm
+gnaws at her heart and makes her life so petty? She, too, came into the
+world a bright and happy thing, and grew up fond of music and of birds,
+and with a passion for flowers and all of Nature's sweets; so careful,
+too, of mother and of father, the very embodiment of love to all around
+her. You should have seen her in her teens, a glorious ray from
+heaven--'making a sunshine in a shady place'--so natural, so hearty,
+with a carolling laugh like the falling of waters. In her most secret
+prayers she asked only for a kind lover with a fair competence, that
+they might live modestly, without ostentation. She was a good girl and I
+granted her wish and more," says Fate. "Her air-castle was small, but I
+sent her a magnificent one. She is courted, flattered, has every gift in
+my power to bestow; yet she pines in the midst of them. The fruits of
+her rare gardens have no flavor for her--Dead Sea fruits indeed, which
+fall to ashes on her lips. She has entered for the race of Fashion, and
+her soul is absorbed in its jealousies and disappointments. You may
+speak to her as of old; tell her there is something noble in that domain
+of human life where duties grow--something not only beyond but different
+from Fashion, higher than dress or show. She understands you not.
+
+"Hand her a bunch of violets. Does she learn their lesson with their
+odor (which her dog scents as well as she)? Comes there to her the inner
+meaning, the scent of the new-mown hay that speaks of past hours of
+purity, of the fresh breeze that fanned her cheek in childhood's halcyon
+days, the love of all things of the green earth and the sense of the
+goodness of God which his flowers ever hold within their petals for
+those who know their language? 'They will decorate me to-night for the
+ball!' That is the be-all and the end-all of her ladyship's love for
+flowers.
+
+"Show her a picture with more of heaven than earth in it, and glimpses
+of the light that never shone on sea or shore. If the artist be in
+fashion she will call it 'pretty,' when it is grand. Give her music. Is
+it the opera? Oh yes, she will attend. It is the fashion. But place
+within her reach the soul-moving oratorio (with more religion in it than
+in twenty sermons) or the suggestive symphony. No, a previous
+engagement prevents. Why, just think of it--_one can't talk there!_ Yet
+this woman could once play with feeling and sing with expression,
+delighting her young companions. Of her one could truly say,
+
+      "'Oh! to see or hear her singing! scarce I know which is
+        divinest--
+      For her looks sing too--she modulates her gestures on the tune;
+      And her mouth stirs with the song, like song; and when the notes
+        are finest,
+      'Tis the eyes that shoot out vocal light, and seem to swell them
+        on.'
+
+And now she has fallen to this!"
+
+"Has she children?" inquires the Good Spirit.
+
+"No," says Fate, "we are not altogether relentless. How could we give
+such a woman children and look you in the face? It is sometimes thought
+necessary even to go as far as this, but in such cases we commend the
+poor infants to the special care of the great Father, for mother they
+have none. But look! there is a man now who did so pray for a son and
+heir that we gave him one, and yonder goes the result. God in heaven!
+why are men so rash in their blindness as to pray for anything! Surely
+'Thy will be done' were best."
+
+I am as bad as Sterne in his "Sentimental Journey," and will never get
+on at this rate. I started to argue that the Fates were too kind instead
+of not kind enough; at least, my air-castles have ever been mere toys
+compared with the realities, for never did I dream, in my wildest days,
+that the intended drive through Britain would assume the princely
+proportions of a four-in-hand, crowded with a dozen of my dearest
+friends. A modest phaeton or wagonette with a pair of horses was the
+extent of my dream, but the Fairy sent me four, you see, and two friends
+for every one I had pleased myself with imagining as sure to take the
+journey with me.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Embarkation._]
+
+But now to a sober beginning of the story of the coach. It was in the
+leafy month of June--the very first day thereof, however--in the year of
+our Lord 1881, that the good ship Bothnia (Cunard Line, of course),
+Captain McMicken (a true Scot and bold British sailor), steamed from the
+future Metropolis of the World for the shores of Merrie England. She had
+many passengers, but among them were eleven who outranked all others, if
+their respective opinions of each other were to be accepted as the true
+standard of judgment. I had received for many months before the sweetest
+pleasure imaginable in startling first one and then another with
+requests to report at headquarters, Windsor Hotel, New York, May 31st,
+prepared to embark. It was on St. Valentine's Day that the Prima Donna
+received a missive which caused her young heart to flutter. What a
+pretty reply came! Here is a short extract:
+
+      "Three months to dream of it; three months to live in it;
+      and my whole lifetime afterward to think it over. I am the
+      happiest girl alive, only sometimes I can't believe it's
+      all going to happen."
+
+To Davenport, Iowa, went another invitation. In due time came a return
+missive from the proud City of the River:
+
+      "Will I go to Paradise for three months on a coach? Agent
+      of Providence, I will!"
+
+Isn't it glorious to make one's friends so happy?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      HARBOR OF NEW YORK, June 1, 1881.}
+      On board Steamer Bothnia.        }
+
+Call the roll.
+
+Queen Dowager, Head of the Clan (no Salic Law in our family); Miss J. J.
+(Prima Donna); Miss A. F. (Stewardess); Mr. and Mrs. McC. (Dainty
+Davie); Mr. and Mrs. K. (Paisley Troubadours); Mr. B. F. V. (Vandy); Mr.
+H. P., Jr. (Our Pard); Mr. G. F. McC. (General Manager); ten in all,
+making, together with the scribe, the All-coaching Eleven.
+
+Ting-a-ling-a-ling! The tears are shed, the kisses ta'en. The helpless
+hulk breathes the breath of life. The pulsations of its mighty heart are
+felt, the last rope that binds us to land cast off; and now see the
+hundreds of handkerchiefs waving from the pier fading and fading away.
+But note among the wavers one slight graceful figure; Miss C. of our
+party, present in spirit if bodily absent on duty, much to the regret of
+us all. The wavings from deck to shore tell our friends
+
+          "how slow our souls sailed on,
+      How fast our ship."
+
+  [Sidenote: _On the Bothnia._]
+
+The Bothnia turned her face to the east, and out upon old ocean's gray
+and melancholy waste sailed the Gay Charioteers. As we steamed down the
+bay three steamers crowded with the most enterprising of Europe's people
+passed us, emigrants coming to find in the bounteous bosom of the Great
+Republic the blessings of equality, the just reward of honest labor. Ah,
+favored land! the best of the Old World seek your shores to swell to
+still grander proportions your assured greatness. That all come only for
+the material benefits you confer, I do not believe. Crowning these
+material considerations, I insist that the more intelligent of these
+people feel the spirit of true manhood stirring within them, and glory
+in the thought that they are to become part of a powerful people, of a
+government founded upon the born equality of man, free from military
+despotism and class distinctions. There is a trace of the serf in the
+man who lives contentedly in a land with ranks above him. One hundred
+and seventeen thousand came last month, and the cry is still they come!
+O ye self-constituted rulers of men in Europe, know you not that the
+knell of dynasties and of rank is sounding? Are you so deaf that you do
+not hear the thunders, so blind that you do not see the lightnings which
+now and then give warning of the storm that is to precede the reign of
+the people?
+
+There is everything in the way one takes things. "Whatever is, is
+right," is a good maxim for travellers to adopt, but the Charioteers
+improved on that. The first resolution they passed was, "Whatever is, is
+lovely; all that does happen and all that doesn't shall be altogether
+lovely." We shall quarrel with nothing, admire everything and everybody.
+A surly beggar shall afford us sport, if any one can be surly under our
+smiles; and stale bread and poor fare shall only serve to remind us that
+we have banqueted at the Windsor. Even no dinner at all shall pass for a
+good joke. Rain shall be hailed as good for the growing corn; a cold day
+pass as invigorating, a warm one welcomed as suggestive of summer at
+home, and even a Scotch mist serve to remind us of the mysterious ways
+of Providence. In this mood the start was made. Could any one suggest a
+better for our purpose?
+
+Now comes a splendid place to skip--the ocean voyage. Everybody writes
+that up upon the first trip, and every family knows all about it from
+the long descriptive letters of the absent one doing Europe.
+
+When one has crossed the Atlantic twenty odd times there seems just
+about as much sense in boring one's readers with an account of the trip
+as if the journey were by rail from New York to Chicago. We had a fine,
+smooth run, and though some of us were a trifle distrait, most of us
+were supremely happy. A sea voyage compared with land travel is a good
+deal like matrimony compared with single blessedness, I take it: either
+decidedly better or decidedly worse. To him who finds himself
+comfortable at sea, the ocean is the grandest of treats. He never fails
+to feel himself a boy again while on the waves. There is an exultation
+about it. "He walks the monarch of the peopled deck," glories in the
+storm, rises with and revels in it. Heroic song comes to him. The ship
+becomes a live thing, and if the monster rears and plunges it is akin to
+bounding on his thoroughbred who knows its rider. Many men feel thus,
+and I am happily of them, but the ladies who are at their best at sea
+are few.
+
+The travellers, however, bore the journey well, though one or two proved
+indifferent sailors. One morning I had to make several calls upon
+members below and administer my favorite remedy; but pale and dejected
+as the patients were, not one failed to smile a ghastly smile, and
+repeat after a fashion the cabalistic words--"Altogether lovely."
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Atlantic._]
+
+He who has never ridden out a hurricane on the Atlantic is to be pitied.
+It seems almost ridiculous to talk of storms when on such a monster as
+the Servia. Neptune now may "his dread trident shake" and only give us
+pleasure, for in these days we laugh at his pretensions. Even he is fast
+going the way of all kings, his wildest roar being about on a par with
+the last Bull of the Pope, to which we listen with wonder but without
+fear.
+
+In no branch of human progress has greater advance been made within the
+past twenty years than in ocean navigation by steam; not so much in the
+matter of speed as in cost of transport. The Persia, once the best ship
+of the Cunard Line, required an expenditure of thirty-five dollars as
+against her successors' one dollar. The Servia will carry thirty-five
+tons across the ocean for what one ton cost in the Persia. A revolution
+indeed! and one which brings the products of American soil close to the
+British shores. Quite recently flour has been carried from Chicago to
+Liverpool for forty-eight cents (2_s._) per barrel. The farmer of
+Illinois is as near the principal markets of Britain as the farmer in
+England who grows his crops one hundred miles from his market and
+transports by rail; and, in return for this, the pig-iron manufacturer
+of Britain is as near the New York market as is his competitor on the
+Hudson.
+
+Some of the good people of Britain who are interested in land believe
+that the competition of America has reached its height. Deluded souls,
+it has only begun!
+
+One cannot be a day at sea without meeting the American who regrets that
+the Stars and Stripes have been commercially driven from the ocean. This
+always reminds me of a fable of the lion and the turtle. The lion was
+proudly walking along the shore, the real king of his domain, the land.
+The turtle mocked him, saying, Oh, that's nothing, any one can walk on
+land. Let's see you try it in the water. The lion tried. Result: the
+turtle fed upon him for many days. America can only render herself
+ridiculous by entering the water. That is England's domain.
+
+      "Her home is on the mountain wave,
+      Her march is o'er the deep."
+
+  [Sidenote: _The American Navy._]
+
+We are talking just now about building some ships for a proposed
+American Navy, which is equivalent to saying that we are going to
+furnish ships to the enemy, if we are ever foolish enough to have
+one--for it takes two fools to wage war. Unless America resolves to
+change her whole policy as a republic, teaching mankind the victories of
+peace, far more renowned than those of war, and goes back to the ideas
+of monarchical governments, she should build no ships of war; but if she
+will leave her unique position among the nations, and step down to the
+level of quarrellers, let her beat the navies of Britain and France, for
+the ships of a weak naval power are the certain prey of the stronger in
+time of war. In peace they are useless.
+
+In thinking of the real glories of America, my mind goes first to
+this--that she has no army worthy of the name, and scarcely a war ship
+of whose complete inefficiency in case of active service we are not
+permitted to indulge the most sanguine anticipations.
+
+What has America to do following in the wake of brutal, pugilistic
+nations still under the influence of feudal institutions, who exhaust
+their revenues training men how best to butcher their fellows, and in
+building up huge ships for purposes of destruction! No, no, let
+monarchies play this game as long as the people tolerate it, but for the
+Republic "all her paths are peace," or the bright hopes which the masses
+of Europe repose in her are destined to a sad eclipse.
+
+Travellers know the character and abilities of the men in charge of a
+Cunard ship, but have they ever considered for what pittances such men
+are obtained? Captain, $3,250 per annum; first officer, $1,000; second,
+third, and fourth officers, $600. For what sum, think you, can be had a
+man capable of controlling the ponderous machinery of the Servia? Chief
+engineer, $1,250. You have seen the firemen at work down below, perhaps.
+Do you know any work so hard as this? Price $30 per month. The first
+cost of a steel ship--and it is scarcely worth while in these days to
+think of any other kind--is about one-half on the Clyde what it is on
+the Delaware. Steel can be made, and is made, in Britain for about one
+half its cost here. Not in our day will it be wise for America to leave
+the land. It is a very fair division, as matters stand--the land for
+America, the sea for England.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      FRIDAY, June 10, 1881.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Ireland._]
+
+Land ahoy! There it was, the long dark low-lying cloud, which was no
+cloud, but the outline of one of the most unfortunate of lands--unhappy
+Ireland, cursed by the well-meaning attempt of England to grow
+Englishmen there. England's experience north of the Tweed should have
+taught her better.
+
+Conquerors cannot rule as conquerors a people who have parliamentary
+institutions and publish newspapers; and neither of these can ever be
+taken away from Ireland. They always come to stay. You may succeed in
+keeping down slaves for a while, but then you must govern them as
+slaves, and the Irish people have advanced beyond this. Just in
+proportion as they do grow less like serfs and more like men, the
+impossibility of England's governing Ireland must grow likewise. I hear
+some Americans reproaching the Irish people for rioting and fighting so
+much; the real trouble is they don't fight half enough. Take my own
+heroic Scotland; let even Mr. Gladstone, one of ourselves and our best
+beloved, send an Englishman as Lord Advocate to Scotland, and let him
+dare pass a measure for Scotland in Parliament against the wishes of the
+Scotch members, and all the uprisings in Ireland would seem like farces
+to the thorough work Scotland would make of English interference. She
+would not stand it a minute. Neither should Ireland. If she has the
+elements of a great people within her borders, she will never submit. In
+less than a generation Ireland can be made as loyal a member of the
+British confederacy as Scotland is; and all that is necessary to produce
+this is that she should be dealt with as England has to deal with
+Scotland. Let the Emerald Isle, then, fight against the attempted
+dominion of England, as Scotland fought against it, and may the result
+be the same--that Ireland shall govern herself, as Scotland does, through
+her own representatives duly elected by the people. "To this complexion
+must it come at last," and the sooner the better for all parties
+concerned.
+
+We reached Liverpool Saturday morning. How pleasant it is to step on
+shore in a strange land and be greeted by kind friends on the quay!
+Their welcome to England counted for so much.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. P. had been fellow passengers. A special car was waiting to
+take them to London, but they decided not to go, and Mr. P. very kindly
+placed it at the disposal of Mr. J. and family (who were, fortunately
+for us, also fellow-passengers) and our party, so that we began our
+travelling upon the other side under unexpectedly favorable conditions.
+
+To such of the party as were getting their first glimpse of the
+beautiful isle, the journey to London seemed an awakening from happy
+dreams. They had dreamed that England looked thus and thus, and now
+their dreams had come true. The scenery of the Midland route is very
+fine, much more attractive than that of the other line.
+
+The party spent from Saturday until Thursday at the Westminster Hotel,
+in monster London, every one being free to do what most interested him
+or her. Groups of three or four were formed for this purpose by the law
+of natural selection, but the roll was called for breakfasts and
+dinners, so that we all met daily and were fully advised of each other's
+movements.
+
+  [Sidenote: _House of Commons._]
+
+The House of Commons claimed the first place with our party, all being
+anxious to see the Mother of Parliaments. It is not so easy a matter to
+do this as to see our Congress in session; but thanks to our friend Mr.
+R. C. and to others, we were fortunate in being able to do so
+frequently. Our ladies had the pleasure of being taken into the Ladies'
+Gallery by one of the rising statesmen of England, Sir Charles Dilke, a
+Cabinet Minister, and one who has had the boldness, and as I think the
+rare sagacity, to say that he prefers the republican to the monarchical
+system of government. The world is to hear of Sir Charles Dilke, if he
+live and health be granted him, and above all, if he remain steadfast to
+his honest opinions. So many public men in England "stoop to conquer,"
+forgetting that whatever else they may conquer thereafter they never can
+conquer that _stoop_; that "drags down their life"!
+
+We really heard John Bright speak--the one of all men living whom our
+party wished most to see and to hear. I had not forgotten hearing him
+speak in Dunfermline, when I was seven years of age, and well do I
+remember that when I got home I told mother he made one mistake; for
+when speaking of Mr. Smith (the Liberal candidate) he called him a
+_men_, instead of a _maan_. When introduced to Mr. Bright I was
+delighted to find that he had not forgotten Dunfermline, nor the
+acquaintances he had made there.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Temperance._]
+
+A grand character, that of the sturdy Quaker; once the best hated man in
+Britain, but one to whom both continents are now glad to confess their
+gratitude. He has been wiser than his generation, but has lived to see
+it grow up to him. Certainly no American can look down from the gallery
+upon that white head without beseeching heaven to shower its choicest
+blessings upon it. He spoke calmly upon the Permissive Liquor Bill, and
+gave the ministerial statement in regard to it. All he said was good
+common sense; we could do something by regulating the traffic and
+confining it to reasonable hours, but after all the great cure must come
+from the better education of the masses, who must be brought to feel
+that it is unworthy of their manhood to brutalize themselves with
+liquor. England has set herself at last to the most important of all
+work--the thorough education of her people; and we may confidently
+expect to see a great improvement in their habits in the next
+generation. My plan for mastering the monster evil of intemperance is
+that our temperance societies, instead of pledging men never to taste
+alcoholic beverages, should be really temperance agencies and require
+their members to use them only at meals--never to drink wines or spirits
+without eating. The man who takes _one_ glass of wine, or beer, or
+spirits at dinner is clearly none the worse for it. I judge that if the
+medical fraternity were polled, a large majority would say he was the
+better for it, at least after a certain age. Why can't we recognize the
+fact that all races indulge in stimulants and will continue to do so? It
+is the regulation, not the eradication, of this appetite that is
+practical. The coming man is to consider it low to walk up to a bar and
+gulp down liquor. The race will come to this platform generations before
+they will accept that of Sir Wilfrid Lawson and his total abstinence
+ideas.
+
+This was written before the Church of England movement in this direction
+was known to me. Much good must come of its efforts; but I confess I
+should like to see that church show that it is in earnest by removing
+the deep reproach cast upon it by recent statements, which pass
+uncontradicted. Listen to this startling announcement: This holy Church
+of England, mark you, is the largest owner of gin palaces in the world.
+The head of the church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in passing from
+his palace at Lambeth to his abbey at Westminster, sees more than one
+hundred (I believe I understate the case) gin palaces which his church
+owns and has rented for such purposes; nay, it is shown that the church
+has always raised the rents of these houses, with which licenses go, as
+the sales of liquor have increased; so that her interest lies in
+extending the use of liquors as a beverage secretly upon one hand,
+while she poses before the world as laboring to restrict the curse with
+the other. Her right hand knows only too well what her left hand doeth.
+It does seem that the mere announcement of such a fact would work its
+own remedy--perhaps it will when its holy fathers are done with the
+vastly more important business of determining the size and shape of
+vestures, or the number of candles, or the posture of the priest most
+pleasing to God--but before the church can figure as much of an agency
+in the cause of temperance reform, it will have to wash its hands of its
+hundred gin palaces.
+
+The article in _Harper's Magazine_ upon Bedford Square, giving glowing
+accounts of this Arcadian colony, with its aesthetic homes, its Tabard
+Inn, and its club, made us all desire to visit it. We did so one
+afternoon, and received a very cordial welcome from Mrs. C. in the
+absence of her husband. She kindly showed us the grounds and explained
+all to us. Truth compels me to say we were sadly disappointed, but for
+this we had probably only ourselves to blame. It is so natural to
+imagine that exquisite wood-cuts and pretty illustrations set forth
+grander things than exist. The houses were much inferior to our
+preconceived ideas, and many had soft woods painted, and most of the
+cheap shams of ordinary structures. The absence of grand trees, shady
+dells, and ornamental grounds, and the exceedingly cheap and
+cheap-looking houses made all seem like a new settlement in the Far
+West rather than the latest development of culture. From this criticism
+Mr. C.'s own pretty little home is wholly exempt, and no doubt there are
+many other homes there equally admirable. I speak only of the general
+impression made upon our party by a very hasty visit. Bedford Park is no
+doubt an excellent idea, and destined to do much good, only it is
+different from what we had expected.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Stafford House._]
+
+Extremes meet. It was from houses such as I have spoken of that we went
+direct to Stafford House, to meet the Marquis of Stafford by
+appointment, and to be shown over that palace by him. What a change! If
+the former were not up to our expectations, this exceeded them. I don't
+suppose any one ever has expected to see such a staircase as enchants
+him upon entering Stafford House. This is the most magnificent residence
+any of us has ever seen. I will not trust myself to speak of its
+beauties, nor of the treasures it contains. One begins to understand to
+what the Marquis of Stafford is born. The Sutherland family have a
+million two hundred thousand acres of land in Britain; no other family
+in the world compares with them as landowners. It is positively
+startling to think of it. Almost the entire County of Sutherland is
+theirs. Stafford House is their London residence. They have Trentham
+Hall and Lillieshall in Mid-England, and glorious Dunrobin Castle in
+Scotland.
+
+The Marquis sits in the House of Commons as member for Sutherland
+County; and what do you think! he is a painstaking director of the
+London and North-Western Railway, and I am informed pays strict
+attention to its affairs. The Duke of Devonshire is Chairman of the
+Barrow Steel Company. Lord Granville has iron works, and Earl Dudley is
+one of the principal iron manufacturers of England. It is all right, you
+see, my friends, to be a steel-rail manufacturer or an iron-master. How
+fortunate! But the line must be drawn somewhere, and we draw it at
+trade. The A. T. Stewarts and the Morrisons have no standing in society
+in England. They are in vulgar trade. Now if they brewed beer, for
+instance, they would be somebodies, and might confidently look forward
+to a baronetcy at least; for a great deal of beer a peerage is not
+beyond reach.
+
+We heard a performance of the "Messiah" in Albert Hall, which the Prima
+Donna agreed with me was better in two important particulars than any
+similar performance we had heard in America. First in vigor of attack by
+the chorus; this was superb; from the first instant the full volume and
+quality of sound were perfect. The other point was that all-important
+one of enunciation. We have no chorus in New York which rivals what we
+heard, though we have an orchestra which is equal to any. The words
+were, of course, familiar, and we could scarcely judge whether we were
+correct in our impression, but we believed that even had they been
+strange to us we could nevertheless have understood every word. Since my
+return to New York I have heard this oratorio given by the Oratorio
+Society, and am delighted to note that Dr. Damrosch has greatly improved
+his chorus in this respect; but the English do pronounce perfectly in
+singing. This opinion was confirmed by the music subsequently heard in
+various places throughout our travels. In public as well as in private
+singing the purity of enunciation struck us as remarkable. If I ever set
+up for a music teacher I shall bequeath to my favorite pupil as the
+secret of success but one word, "_enunciation_."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Parliament._]
+
+Some of us went almost every day to Westminster, but dancing attendance
+upon Parliament is much like doing so upon Congress. The interesting
+debates are few and far between. The daily routine is uninteresting, and
+one sees how rapidly all houses of legislation are losing their hold
+upon public attention. A debate upon the propriety of allowing
+Manchester to dispose of her sewage to please herself, or of permitting
+Dunfermline to bring in a supply of water, seems such a waste of time.
+The Imperial Parliament of Great Britain is much in want of something to
+do when it condescends to occupy its time with trifling questions which
+the community interested can best settle; but even in matters of
+national importance debates are no longer what they were. The questions
+have already been threshed out in the Reviews--those coming forums of
+discussion--and all that can be said already said by writers upon both
+sides of the question who know its bearings much better than the leaders
+of party. When the _Fortnightly_ or the _Nineteenth Century_ gets
+through with a subject the Prime Minister only rises to sum up the
+result at which the Morleys and Rogerses, the Spencers and Huxleys, the
+Giffens and Howards have previously arrived.
+
+The English are prone to contrast the men of America and England who are
+in political life, and the balance is no doubt greatly in their favor.
+But the reason lies upon the surface: America has solved the fundamental
+questions of government, and no changes are desired of sufficient moment
+to engage the minds of her ablest men. During the civil war, when new
+issues arose and had to be met, the men who stepped forward to guide the
+nation were of an entirely different class from those prominent in
+politics either before or since. Contrast the men of Buchanan's
+administration with those the war called to the front--Lincoln, Seward,
+Stanton, Sumner, Edmunds, Morton, or the generals of that time, with
+Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Hancock. All of these men I have known well,
+except one or two of the least prominent. I have met some of the best
+known politicians in England. Compared morally or intellectually, I do
+not think there is much, if any, difference between them; while for
+original creative power I believe the Americans superior. That a band
+of men so remarkable as to cause surprise to other nations will promptly
+arise whenever there is real work to do, no one who knows the American
+people can doubt; but no man of real ability is going to spend his
+energies endeavoring to control appointments to the New York Custom
+House, any more than he will continue very long to waste his time
+discussing Manchester sewage. Much as my English friends dislike to
+believe it, I tell them that when there is really no great work to be
+done, when the conflict between feudal and democratic ideas ends, as it
+is fast coming to an end, and there is no vestige of privilege left from
+throne to knighthood, only vain, weak men will seek election to
+Parliament, and such will stand ready to do the bidding of the
+constituencies as our agents in Congress do. But this need not alarm our
+English friends; there will then be much less bribery before election
+and much less succumbing to social court influences after it. The brains
+of a country will be found where the real work is to do. The House of
+Lords registers the decrees of the House of Commons. The House of
+Commons is soon to register the decrees of the monthlies. Both these
+things may be pronounced good. In the next generation the debates of
+Parliament will affect the political currents of the age as little as
+the fulminations of the pulpit affect religious thought at present; and
+then a man who feels he has real power within him will think of
+entering Parliament about as soon as he would think of entering the
+House of Lords or the American Congress.
+
+      "The parliament of man, the federation of the world,"
+
+comes on apace; but its form is to be largely impersonal. The press is
+the universal parliament. The leaders in that forum make your
+"statesman" dance as they pipe.
+
+The same law is robbing the pulpit of real power. Who cares what the
+Reverend Mr. Froth preaches nowadays, when he ventures beyond the
+homilies? Three pages by Professor Robertson Smith in the "Encyclopaedia
+Britannica" destroy more theology in an hour than all the preachers in
+the land can build up in a lifetime. If any man wants _bona fide_
+substantial power and influence in this world, he must handle the
+pen--that's flat. Truly, it is a nobler weapon than the sword, and a
+much nobler one than the tongue, both of which have nearly had their
+day.
+
+We had a happy luncheon with our good friends the C.'s, one of our
+London days; and some of our party who had heard that there was not a
+great variety of edibles in England saw reason to revise their ideas.
+Another day we had a notable procession for miles through London streets
+and suburbs to the residence of our friend, Mr. B. Five hansoms in line
+driven pell-mell reminded me of our Tokio experiences with gin-rikshaws,
+two Bettos tandem in each.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Stars and Stripes._]
+
+It was a pretty, graceful courtesy, my friend, to display from the upper
+window the "Stars and Stripes," in honor of the arrival of your American
+guests, and prettier still to have across your hall as a portiere, under
+which all must bow as they entered, that flag which tells of a
+government founded upon the born equality of man. Thanks! Such things
+touch the heart as well as the patriotic chord which vibrates in the
+breast of every one so fortunate as to claim that glorious standard as
+the emblem of the land he fondly calls his own. Colonel Robert
+Ingersoll, that wonderful orator, says that when abroad, after a long
+interval, he saw in one of the seaports the Stars and Stripes fluttering
+in the breeze, "he felt the air had blossomed into joy." It was he too
+who told the South long ago that "there wasn't air enough upon the
+American continent to float two flags." Right there, Colonel!
+
+Do you know why the American worships the starry banner with a more
+intense passion than even the Briton does his flag? I will tell you. It
+is because it is not the flag of a government which discriminates
+between her children, decreeing privilege to one and denying it to
+another, but the flag of the people which gives the same rights to all.
+The British flag was born too soon to be close to the masses. It came
+before their time, when they had little or no power. They were not
+consulted about it. Some conclave made it, as a pope is made, and handed
+it down to the nation. But the American flag bears in every fibre the
+warrant, "_We the People_ in Congress assembled." It is their own child,
+and how supremely it is beloved!
+
+It is a significant fact that in no riot or local outbreak have soldiers
+of the United States, bearing the national flag, ever been assaulted.
+Militia troops have sometimes been stoned, but United States troops
+never. During the worst riot ever known in America, that in our own good
+city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, twenty-eight United States soldiers,
+all there were in the barracks, marched through the thousands of excited
+men unmolested. I really believe that had any man in the crowd dared to
+touch that flag, General Dix's famous order would have been promptly
+enforced by his companions. Major-General Hancock recently told me that
+he had never known United States soldiers to be attacked by citizens. He
+was in command of the troops during the riots in the coal regions in
+Pennsylvania some years ago, and whenever a body of his regulars
+appeared they were respected and peace reigned.
+
+General Dix's order was, "If any man attempts to pull down the flag
+shoot him on the spot." So say we all of us. And it will be the same in
+Britain some day, ay and in Ireland too, when an end has been made of
+privilege and there is not a government and a people, but only a
+government of the people, for the people, and by the people. The day is
+not so far off either as some of you think, mark me.
+
+But good-bye, London, and all the thoughts which crowd upon one when in
+your mighty whirl. You monster London, we are all glad to escape you!
+But ere we "gang awa'" shall we not note our visit to one we are proud
+to call our friend, and of whom Scotland is proud, Dr. Samuel Smiles, a
+writer of books indeed--books which influence his own generation much,
+and the younger generation more. Burns's wish was that he,
+
+        "For poor auld Scotland's sake,
+      Some useful plan or book could make,
+      Or sing a sang at least."
+
+Well, the Doctor has made several books that are books, and I have heard
+him sing a song, too, for the days of Auld Lang Syne. May he live long,
+and long may his devoted wife be spared to watch over him!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      THURSDAY MORNING, June 16, 1881.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Brighton._]
+
+We are off for Brighton. Mr. and Miss B. accompany us. Mr. and Mrs. K.
+have run up to Paisley with the children, and Mr. and Mrs. G. have
+joined us in their place. The coach, horses, and servants went down
+during the night.
+
+We had time to visit the unequalled aquarium and to do the parade before
+dinner. Miss F. and I stole off to make a much more interesting visit;
+we called upon William Black, whose acquaintance I had been fortunate
+enough to make in Rome, and whom I had told that I should some day
+imitate his "Adventures of a Phaeton." A week before we sailed from New
+York, I had dined with President Garfield at Secretary Blaine's in
+Washington. After dinner, conversation turned upon my proposed journey,
+and the President became much interested. "It is the 'Adventures of a
+Phaeton' on a grand scale," he remarked. "By the way, has Black ever
+written any other story quite so good as that? I do not think he has."
+In this there was a general concurrence. He then said: "But I am
+provoked with Black just now. A man who writes to entertain has no right
+to end a story as miserably as he has done that of 'MacLeod of Dare.'
+Fiction should give us the bright side of existence. _Real life has
+tragedies enough of its own._"
+
+A few weeks more and we were to have in his own case the most terrible
+proof of the words he had spoken so solemnly. I can never forget the
+sad, careworn expression of his face as he uttered them.
+
+      "But come it soon or come it fast,
+      It is but death that comes at last."
+
+One might almost be willing to die if, as in Garfield's case, there
+should flash from his grave, at the touch of a mutual sorrow, to both
+divisions of the great English-speaking race, the knowledge that they
+are brothers. This discovery will bear good fruit in time.
+
+      "Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it."
+
+Garfield's life was not in vain. It tells its own story--this poor boy
+toiling upward to the proudest position on earth, the elected of fifty
+millions of freemen; a position compared with which that of king or
+kaiser is as nothing. Let other nations ask themselves where are _our_
+Lincolns and Garfields? Ah, they grow not except where all men are born
+equal! The cold shade of aristocracy nips them in the bud.
+
+  [Sidenote: _William Black._]
+
+Mr. Black came to see us off, but arrived at our starting-place a few
+minutes too late. A thousand pities! Had we only known that he intended
+to do us this honor, until high noon, ay, and till dewy eve, would we
+have waited. Just think of our start being graced by the author of "The
+Adventures of a Phaeton," and we privileged to give him three rousing
+cheers as our horn sounded! Though grieved to miss him, it was a
+consolation to know that he had come, and we felt that his spirit was
+with us and dwelt with us during the entire journey. Many a time the
+incidents of his charming story came back to us, but I am sorry to
+record, as a faithful chronicler, that we young people missed one of its
+most absorbing features--we had no lovers. At least, I am not apprized
+that any engagements were made upon the journey, although, for my part,
+I couldn't help falling in love just a tiny bit with the charming young
+ladies who delighted us with their company.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      BRIGHTON, Friday Morning, June 17.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Supreme Moment._]
+
+Let us call the roll once more at the door of the Grand Hotel, Brighton,
+that our history may be complete: Mr. and Mrs. B., London; Mr. and Mrs.
+T. G., Wolverhampton; Miss M. L., Dunfermline; Miss E. F., Liverpool;
+Mr. and Mrs. McC., Miss J. J., Miss A. F., Mr. B. F. V., Mr. H. P., Jr.,
+Mr. G. F. McC., the Queen Dowager and the Scribe. These be the names of
+the new and delectable order of the Gay Charioteers, who mounted their
+coach at Brighton and began the long journey to the North Countrie on
+the day and date aforesaid. And here, O my good friends, let me say that
+until a man has stood at the door and seen his own four-in-hand drive up
+before him, the horses--four noble bays--champing the bits, their
+harness buckles glistening in the sun; the coach spick and span new and
+as glossy as a mirror, with the coachman on the box and the footman
+behind; and then, enchanted, has called to his friends, "Come, look,
+there it is, just as I had pictured it!" and has then seen them mount to
+their places with beaming faces--until, as I say, he has had that
+experience, don't tell me that he has known the most exquisite sensation
+in life, for I know he hasn't. It was Izaak Walton, I believe, who when
+asked what he considered the most thrilling sensation in life, answered
+that he supposed it was the tug of a thirty-pound salmon. Well, that was
+not a bad guess. I have taken the largest trout of the season on bonnie
+Loch Leven, have been drawn over Spirit Lake in Iowa in my skiff for
+half an hour by a monster pickerel, and have played with the speckled
+beauties in Dead River. It is glorious; making a hundred thousand is
+nothing to it; but there's a thrill beyond that, my dear old quaint
+Izaak. I remember in one of my sweet strolls "ayont the wood mill braes"
+with a great man, my Uncle Bailie M.--and I treasure the memory of these
+strolls as among the chief of my inheritance--this very question came
+up. I asked him what he thought the most thrilling thing in life. He
+mused awhile, as was the Bailie's wont, and I said, "I think I can tell
+you, Uncle." "What is it then, Andrea?" (Not And_rew_ for the world.)
+"Well, Uncle, I think that when, in making a speech, one feels himself
+lifted, as it were, by some divine power into regions beyond himself, in
+which he seems to soar without effort, and swept by enthusiasm into the
+expression of some burning truth, which has lain brooding in his soul,
+throwing policy and prudence to the winds, he feels words whose
+eloquence surprises himself, burning hot, hissing through him like
+molten lava coursing the veins, he throws it forth, and panting for
+breath hears the quick, sharp, explosive roar of his fellow-men in
+thunder of assent, the precious moment which tells him that the audience
+is his own, but one soul in it and that his; I think this the supreme
+moment of life." "Go! Andrea, ye've hit it!" cried the Bailie, and
+didn't the dark eye sparkle! He had felt this often, had the Bailie;
+his nephew had only now and then been near enough to imagine the rest.
+
+The happiness of giving happiness is far sweeter than the pleasure
+direct, and I recall no moments of my life in which the rarer pleasure
+seemed to suffuse my whole heart as when I stood at Brighton and saw my
+friends take their places that memorable morning. In this variable,
+fantastic climate of Britain the weather is ever a source of solicitude.
+What must it have been to me, when a good start was all important! I
+remember I awoke early in the morning and wondered whether it was sunny
+or rainy. If a clear day could have been purchased, it would have been
+obtained at almost any outlay. I could easily tell our fate by raising
+the window-blind, but I philosophically decided that it was best to lie
+still and take what heaven might choose to send us. I should know soon
+enough. If rain it was, I could not help it; if fair, it was glorious.
+But let me give one suggestion to those who in England are impious
+enough to ask heaven to change its plans: don't ask for dry weather;
+always resort to that last extremity when it is "a drizzle-drozzle" you
+wish. Your supplications are so much more likely to be answered, you
+know.
+
+There never was a lovelier morning in England than that which greeted me
+when I pulled up the heavy Venetian blind and gazed on the rippling sea
+before me, with its hundreds of pretty little sails. I repeated to
+myself these favorite lines as I stood entranced:
+
+      "The Bridegroom Sea is toying with the shore,
+      His wedded bride; and in the fulness of his marriage joy
+      He decorates her tawny brow with shells,
+      Retires a space to see how fair she looks,
+      Then proud runs up to kiss her."
+
+That is what old ocean was doing that happy morning. I saw him at it,
+and I felt that if all created beings had one mouth I should like to
+kiss them too.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Start._]
+
+All seated! The Queen Dowager next the coachman, and I at her side. The
+horn sounds, the crowd cheers, and we are off. A mile or two are
+traversed and there is a unanimous verdict upon one point--this suits
+us! Finer than we had dreamt! As we pass the pretty villas embossed in
+flowers and vines and all that makes England the home of happy homes,
+there comes the sound of increasing exclamations. How pretty! Oh, how
+beautiful! See, see, the roses! Oh the roses! Look at that lawn! How
+lovely! Enchanting! entrancing! superb! exquisite! Oh, I never saw
+anything like this in all my life! And then the hum of song--La-_la_-LA-LA,
+Ra-da-_da_-DUM! Yes, it is all true, all we dreamt or imagined, and
+beyond it. And so on we go through Brighton and up the hills to the
+famous Weald of Sussex.
+
+While we make our first stop to water the horses at the wayside inn, and
+some of the men as well, for a glass of beer asserts its attractions,
+let me introduce you to two worthies whose names will occupy important
+places in our narrative, and dwell in our memories forever; men to whom
+we are indebted in a large measure for the success of the coaching
+experiment.
+
+Ladies and gentlemen, this is Perry, Perry our coachman; and what he
+doesn't know about horses and how to handle them you needn't overtask
+yourselves trying to learn. And this is Joe--Joey, my lad--footman and
+coach manager. A good head and an eloquent tongue has Joe. Yes, and a
+kind heart. There is nothing he can do or think of doing for any of
+us--and he can do much--that he is not off and doing ere we ask him.
+"Skid, Joe!" "Right, Perry!" these talismanic words of our order we
+heard to-day for the first time. It will be many a long day before they
+cease to recall to the Charioteers some of the happiest recollections of
+life. Even as I write I am in English meadows far away and hear them
+tingling in my ears.
+
+It was soon discovered that no mode of travel could be compared with
+coaching. By all other modes the views are obstructed by the hedges and
+walls; upon the top of the coach the eye wanders far and wide,
+
+      "O'er deep waving fields and pastures green,
+      With gentle slopes and groves between."
+
+
+Everything of rural England is seen, and how exquisitely beautiful it
+all is, this quiet, peaceful, orderly land!
+
+      "The ground's most gentle dimplement
+      (As if God's finger touched, but did not press,
+      In making England)--such an up and down
+      Of verdure; nothing too much up and down,
+      A ripple of land, such little hills the sky
+      Can stoop to tenderly and the wheat-fields climb;
+      Such nooks of valleys lined with orchises,
+      Fed full of noises by invisible streams,
+      I thought my father's land was worthy too of being Shakespeare's."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Rural England._]
+
+I think this extract from Mr. Winter's charming volume expresses the
+feelings one has amid such scenes better than anything I know of:
+
+"If the beauty of England were merely superficial, it would produce a
+merely superficial effect. It would cause a passing pleasure, and would
+be forgotten. It certainly would not--as now in fact it does--inspire a
+deep, joyous, serene and grateful contentment, and linger in the mind, a
+gracious and beneficent remembrance. The conquering and lasting potency
+of it resides not alone in loveliness of expression, but in loveliness
+of character. Having first greatly blessed the British Islands with the
+natural advantages of position, climate, soil, and products, nature has
+wrought out their development and adornment as a necessary consequence
+of the spirit of their inhabitants. The picturesque variety and
+pastoral repose of the English landscape spring, in a considerable
+measure, from the imaginative taste and the affectionate gentleness of
+the English people. The state of the country, like its social
+constitution, flows from principles within (which are constantly
+suggested), and it steadily comforts and nourishes the mind with a sense
+of kindly feeling, moral rectitude, solidity, and permanence. Thus, in
+the peculiar beauty of England the ideal is made the actual, is
+expressed in things more than in words, and in things by which words are
+transcended. Milton's 'L'Allegro,' fine as it is, is not so fine as the
+scenery--the crystallized, embodied poetry--out of which it arose. All
+the delicious rural verse that has been written in England is only the
+excess and superflux of her own poetic opulence; it has rippled from the
+hearts of her poets just as the fragrance floats away from her hawthorn
+hedges. At every step of his progress the pilgrim through English scenes
+is impressed with this sovereign excellence of the accomplished fact, as
+contrasted with any words that can be said in its celebration."
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Scribe as a Singer._]
+
+The roads are a theme of continual wonder to those who have not before
+seen England. To say that from end to end of our journey they equalled
+those of New York Central Park would be to understate the fact. They are
+equal to the park roads on days when these are at their best, and are
+neither wet nor dusty. We bowl over them as balls do over
+billiard-tables. It is a glide rather than a roll, with no sensation of
+jolting. You could write or read on the coach almost as well as at home.
+I mean you could if there was any time to waste doing either, and you
+were not afraid of missing some beautiful picture which would dwell in
+your memory for years, or Aleck's last joke, or the Prima Donna's sweet
+song, Andrew's never-to-be-forgotten lilt, or the Queen Dowager's Scotch
+ballad pertaining to the district; or what might be even still more
+likely, if you didn't want to tell a story yourself, or even join in the
+roaring chorus as we roll along, for truly the exhilarating effect of
+the triumphant progress is such as to embolden one to do anything. I
+always liked Artemus Ward, perhaps because I found a point of similarity
+between him and myself. It was not he but his friend who "was saddest
+when he sang," as the old song has it. I noticed that my friends were
+strangely touched when I burst into song. I do not recall an instance
+when I was encored; but the apparent slight arose probably from a
+suspicion that if recalled I would have essayed the same song. This is
+unjust! I have another in reserve for such an occasion, if it ever
+happen. The words are different, although the tune may be somewhat
+similar. When I like a tune I stick to it, more or less, and when there
+are fine touches in several tunes I have been credited with an eclectic
+disposition. However this may be, there was never time upon our coach
+for anything which called our eyes and our attention from the rapid
+succession of pretty cottages, fine flowers, the birds and lowing herds,
+the grand lights and grander shadows of that uncertain fleecy sky, the
+luxuriance of the verdure, flowery dells and dewy meads, and the hundred
+surprising beauties that make England England.
+
+These bind us captive and drive from the mind every thought of anything
+but the full and intense enjoyment of the present hour; and this comes
+without thought. Forgetful of the past, regardless of the future, from
+morn till night, it is one uninterrupted season of pure and unalloyed
+joyousness. Never were the words of the old Scotch song as timely as
+now:
+
+      "The present moment is our ain,
+      The neist we never see."
+
+Having got the party fairly started, let me tell you something of our
+general arrangements for the campaign. The coach, horses, and servants
+are engaged at a stipulated sum per week, which includes their
+travelling expenses. We have nothing to do with their bills or
+arrangements, neither are we in any wise responsible for accidents to
+the property. Every one of the party is allowed a small hand-bag and a
+strap package; the former contains necessary articles for daily use, the
+latter waterproofs, shawls, shoes, etc. The Gay Charioteers march with
+supplies for one week. The trunks are forwarded every week to the point
+where we are to spend the succeeding Sunday, so that every Saturday
+evening we replenish our wardrobe, and at the Sunday dinner appear in
+full dress, making a difference between that and other days. This we
+found well worth observing, for our Sunday evenings were thereby made
+somewhat unusual affairs. In no case did any failure of this plan occur,
+nor were we ever put to the slightest inconvenience about clothing. Our
+hotel accommodations were secured by telegraph. The General Manager had
+engaged these for our first week's stage, previous to our start.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Luncheon._]
+
+The question of luncheon soon came to the front, for should we be
+favored with fine weather, much of the poetry and romance of the journey
+was sure to cluster round the midday halt. It was by a process of
+natural selection that she who had proved her genius for making salads
+on many occasions during the voyage should be unanimously appointed to
+fill the important position of stewardess, and given full and unlimited
+control of the hampers. Our stewardess only lived up to a well-deserved
+reputation by surprising us day after day with luncheons far excelling
+any dinner. Two coaching hampers, very complete affairs, were obtained
+in London. These the stewardess saw filled at the inn every morning with
+the best the country could afford, under her personal supervision, a
+labor of love. Our Pard's sweet tooth led him to many early excursions
+before breakfast in quest of sweets and flowers for us. Aleck was
+butler, and upon him we placed implicit reliance, and with excellent
+reason too, for the essential corkscrew and the use thereof--which may
+be rated as of prime necessity upon such a tour--and Aleck never failed
+us as superintendent of the bottles.
+
+It was in obedience to the strictest tenets of our civil service reform
+association that the most important appointment of all was made with a
+unanimity which must ever be flattering to the distinguished gentleman
+who received the highly responsible appointment of General Manager. Just
+here let me say, for the peace of mind of any gentleman who may be
+tempted to try the coaching experiment upon a large scale, and for an
+extended tour: _Don't_, unless you have a dear friend with a clear head,
+an angelic disposition, a great big heart, and the tact essential for
+governing, who for your sake is willing to relieve you from the cares
+incident to such a tour--that is, if you expect to enjoy it as a
+recreation, and have something that will linger forever after in the
+memory as an adventure in wonderland. Should you however be one of those
+rare men who have a real liking for details, and so conceited as to
+think that you never get things done so well as when your own genius
+superintends them, being in this respect the antipode of a modest man
+like myself--who never does by any chance find any one who can so
+completely bungle matters as himself--it may of course be different. As
+for me, the very first inquiry I shall make of myself when I am about
+to take the road again--as pray heaven I may some day, and that ere
+long--will be this: Now who can I get for Prime Minister, one who will
+like to govern and allow me to laugh and frolic with the party without a
+care? The position of a king in a constitutional monarchy is the very
+ideal for a chief to emulate. It is delightful to feel so very certain
+that one "can do no wrong," even if infallibility be obtained, as Queen
+Victoria's is, because she is no longer allowed to do anything. Such was
+the case with the Scribe during the Coaching Tour. Happy man!
+
+  [Sidenote: _Grouping._]
+
+There must always be a tendency toward grouping in a large party: groups
+of four or five, and in extreme cases a group of two; and especially is
+this so when married people, cousins or dear friends, are of the
+company. To prevent anything like this, and insure our being one united
+party, I asked the gentlemen not to occupy the same seat twice in
+succession--a rule which gave the ladies a different companion at each
+meal, and a change upon the coach several times each day. This was
+understood to apply in a general way to our strolls, although in this
+case the General Manager, with rare discretion, winked at many
+infringements, which insured him grateful constituents of both sexes.
+Young people should never be held too strictly to such rules, and a
+chaperon's duties, as we all know, are often most successfully performed
+by a wise and salutary neglect. Our General Manager and even the Queen
+Dowager were considerate.
+
+We generally started about half-past nine in the morning, half an hour
+earlier or later as the day's journey was to be long or short; and here
+let me record, to the credit of all, that not in any instance had we
+ever to wait for any of the party beyond the five minutes allowed upon
+all well managed lines for "variation of watches." The horn sounded, and
+we were off through the crowds which were usually around the hotel door
+awaiting the start. Nor even at meals were we less punctual or less
+mindful of the comfort of others. I had indeed a model party in every
+way, and in none more praiseworthy than in this, that the Charioteers
+were always "on time." The Prima Donna's explanation may have reason in
+it: "Who wouldn't be ready and waiting to mount the coach! I'd as soon
+be late, and a good deal sooner, maybe, for my wedding: and as for
+meals, there was even a better reason why we were always ready then: we
+couldn't wait." We did indeed eat like hawks, especially at luncheon--a
+real boy's hunger--the ravenous gnawing after a day at the sea gathering
+whilks. I thought this had left me, but that with many another
+characteristic of glorious youth came once more to make daft callants of
+us. O those days! those happy, happy days! Can they be brought back once
+more? Will a second coaching trip do it? I would be off next summer. But
+one hesitates to put his luck to the test a second time, lest the
+perfect image of the first be marred. We shall see.
+
+During the evening we had learned the next day's stage--where we were to
+stay over night, and, what is almost as important, in what pretty nook
+we were to rest at midday; on the banks of what classic stream or
+wimpling burn, or in what shady, moss-covered dell. Several people of
+note in the neighborhood dropped into the inn, as a rule, to see the
+American coaching party, whose arrival in the village had made as great
+a stir as if it were the advance show-wagon of Barnum's menagerie. From
+these the best route and objects of interest to be seen could readily be
+obtained. The ordnance maps which we carried kept us from trouble about
+the right roads; not only this, they gave us the name of every estate we
+passed, and of its owner.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Aristocratic Gypsies._]
+
+The horses have to be considered in selecting a luncheon-place, which
+should be near an inn, where they can be baited. This was rarely
+inconvenient; but upon a few occasions, when the choice spot was in some
+glen or secluded place, we took oats along, and our horses were none the
+worse off for nibbling the road-side grass and drinking from the brook.
+Nor did the party look less like the aristocratic Gypsies they felt
+themselves to be from having their coach standing on the moor or in the
+glen, and the horses picketed near by, as if we were just the true-born
+Gypsies. And was there ever a band of Gypsies happier than we, or freer
+from care? Didn't we often dash off in a roar:
+
+      "See! the smoking bowl before us,
+        Mark our jovial ragged ring!
+      Round and round take up the chorus,
+        And in raptures let us sing.
+      A fig for those by law protected!
+        Liberty's a glorious feast!
+      Courts for cowards were erected,
+        Churches built to please the priest."
+
+Halt! Ho for luncheon! Steps, Joe. Yes, sir! The committee of two
+dismount and select the choicest little bit of sward for the table. It
+is not too warm, still we will not refuse the shade of a noble chestnut
+or fragrant birk, or the side of a tall hedge, on which lie, in one
+magnificent bed, masses of honeysuckle, over which nod, upon graceful
+sprays, hundreds of the prettiest wild roses, and at whose foot grow the
+foxglove and wandering willie.
+
+It is no easy matter to decide which piece of the velvety lawn is
+finest; but here come Joe and Perry with armfuls of rugs to the chosen
+spot. The rugs are spread two lengthwise a few feet apart, and one
+across at the top and bottom, leaving for the table in the centre the
+fine clovered turf with buttercups and daisies pied. The ladies have
+gathered such handfuls of wild flowers! How fresh, how unaffected, and
+how far beyond the more pretentious bouquets which grace our city
+dinners! These are Nature's own dear children, fresh from her lap,
+besprinkled with the dews of heaven, unconscious of their charms. How
+touchingly beautiful are the wild flowers! real friends are they, close
+to our hearts, while those of the conservatory stand outside,
+fashionable acquaintances only.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Wild Flowers._]
+
+Give us the wild flowers, and take your prize varieties; for does not
+even Tennyson (a good deal of a cultivated flower himself) sing thus of
+the harshest of them all, though to a Scotsman sacred beyond all other
+vegetation:
+
+      ... "the stubborn thistle bursting
+      Into glossy purples, which outredden
+      All voluptuous garden roses."
+
+And in that wonder of our generation, the "Light of Asia," it is no
+garden beauties who are addressed:
+
+      "Oh, flowers of the field! Siddartha said,
+      Who turn your tender faces to the sun--
+      Glad of the light, and grateful with sweet breath
+      Of fragrance and these robes of reverence donned,
+      Silver and gold and purple--none of ye
+      Miss perfect living, none of ye despoil
+      Your happy beauty....
+      What secret know ye that ye grow content,
+      From time of tender shoot to time of fruit,
+      Murmuring such sun-songs from your feathered crowns?"
+
+You may be sure that while in Scotland old Scotia's dear emblem, and
+that most graceful of all flowers, the Scottish bluebell, towered over
+our bouquets, and that round them clustered the others less known to
+fame.
+
+It was an easy matter to tie the flowers round sticks and press these
+into the soft lawn, and then there was a table for you--equal it who
+can! Round this the travellers range themselves upon the rugs, sometimes
+finding in back to back an excellent support, for they sat long at
+table; and see at the head--for it's the head wherever she sits--the
+Queen Dowager is comfortably seated upon the smaller of the two hampers.
+The larger placed on end before her gives her a private table: she has
+an excellent seat, befitting her dignity. Joe and Perry have put the
+horses up at the inn, and are back with mugs of foaming ale, bottles of
+Devonshire cider, lemonade, and pitchers of fresh creamy milk, that all
+tastes may be suited. The stewardess and her assistants have set table,
+and now luncheon is ready. No formal grace is necessary, for our hearts
+have been overflowing with gratitude all the day long for the blessed
+happiness showered upon us. We owe no man a grudge, harbor no evil, have
+forgiven all our enemies, if we have any--for we doubt the existence of
+enemies, being ourselves the enemy of none. Our hearts open to embrace
+all things, both great and small; we are only sorry that so much is
+given to us, so little to many of our more deserving fellow-creatures.
+Truly, the best grace this, before meat or after!
+
+      "He prayeth best who loveth best
+        All things both great and small;
+      For the dear God who loveth us,
+        He made and loveth all."
+
+In these days we feel for the Deevil himself, and wish with Burns that
+he would take a thought and mend; and, as Howells says, "if we had the
+naming of creation we wouldn't call snakes snakes" if the christening
+took place while we were coaching.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Good Appetites._]
+
+No one would believe what fearful appetites driving in this climate
+gives one. Shall we ever feel such tigerish hunger again! but, what is
+just as important, shall we ever again have such luncheons! "Give me a
+sixpence," said the beggar to the duke, "for I have nothing." "You lie,
+you beggar; I'd give a thousand pounds for such an appetite as you've
+got." Well, ours would have been cheap to you, my lord duke, at double
+the money. What a roar it caused one day when one of the young ladies
+was discovered quietly taking the third slice of cold ham. "Well, girls,
+you must remember I was on the front seat, and had to stand the _brunt_
+of the weather this morning." Capital! I had been there at her side, and
+got my extra allowance on the same ground; and those who bore the
+_brunt_ of the weather claimed a great many second and even third
+allowances during the journey.
+
+Aleck (_Aa_leck, not El-eck, remember), set the table in a roar so often
+with his funny sayings and doings that it would fill the record were I
+to recount them, but one comes to mind as I write which was a great hit.
+
+A temperance--no, a total abstinence lady rebuked him once for taking a
+second or third glass of something, telling him that he should try to
+conquer his liking for it, and assuring him that if he would only resist
+the Devil he would flee from him. "I know," said the wag (and with such
+a comical, good-natured expression), "that is what the good book says,
+Mrs. ----, but I have generally found that I was the fellow who had _to
+get_." You couldn't corner Aaleck.
+
+Although we were coaching, it must not be thought that we neglected the
+pleasures of walking. No, indeed, we had our daily strolls. Sometimes
+the pedestrians started in advance of the coach from the inn or the
+luncheon ground, and walked until overtaken, and at other times we would
+dismount some miles before we reached the end of the day's journey, and
+walk into the village. This was a favorite plan, as we found by arriving
+later than the main body our rooms were ready and all the friends in our
+general sitting-room standing to welcome us.
+
+Hills upon the route were always hailed as giving us an opportunity for
+a walk or a stroll, and all the sport derivable from a happy party in
+country lanes. It was early June, quite near enough to
+
+      "The flowery May who from her green lap throws
+      The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose,"
+
+and the hundreds of England's wild beauties with
+
+            "quaint enamell'd eyes,
+      That on the green turf suck the honeyed showers,
+      And purple all the ground with vernal flowers."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Pleasures of Walking._]
+
+Many a time was Perry instructed to wait for us at the foot of the hill,
+or a mile or two in advance, while we spent the happy intervals in
+examining still closer than it was possible to do while driving the
+beauties which captivated us at every turn. The pleasures of walking set
+against those of coaching might well furnish matter for an evening's
+debate. Combined, as they were with us, the result was perfection, for
+they are indeed upon such a tour the complement of each other. If ever
+weary of the coach--which we never were--nothing like a walk along the
+hedge-rows as a substitute, with many a run into out-of-the-way paths,
+which tempted us by their loveliness, and many a minute stolen to
+explore the windings of the brooks we passed. I often felt that one of
+the prettiest pictures I had ever seen was that of our own party
+scattered about some bosky dell in the way I have described, while the
+towering coach-and-four stood out clear against the sky upon the
+hilltop, waiting for us to tear ourselves away from scenes among which
+we would linger till the daylight had passed. Let no one fail while
+coaching to work this mine of pure happiness to the full.
+
+We carried perpetual flowering summer with us as we travelled from south
+to north, plucking the wild roses and the honeysuckles from the hedges
+near Brighton, never missing their sweet influences, and finding them
+ready to welcome us at Inverness, seven weeks later, as if they had
+waited till our approach to burst forth in their beauty in kindly
+greeting of their kinsmen from over the sea. A dancing, laughing welcome
+did the wild flowers of my native land give to us, God bless them!
+
+On our arrival at the inn for the night, the General Manager examined
+the rooms and assigned them; Joe and Perry handed over the bags to the
+servants; the party went direct to their general sitting-room, and in a
+few minutes were taken to their rooms, where all was ready for them. The
+two American flags were placed upon the mantel of the sitting-room, in
+which there was always a piano, and we sat down to dinner a happy band.
+
+The long twilight and the gloaming in Scotland gave us two hours after
+dinner to see the place; and after our return an hour of musical
+entertainment was generally enjoyed, and we were off to bed to sleep the
+sound, refreshing sleep of childhood's innocent days. The duties of the
+General Manager, however, required his attendance down stairs; he had
+to-morrow's route to learn and the landlord or landlady, as the case
+might be, to see. Some of the male members of the party were not loath
+to assist in this business, and I have heard many a story of the pranks
+played by them--for several of my friends are not unlike the piper,
+"Rory Murphy,"
+
+      "Who had of good auld sangs the wale
+      To please the wives that brewed good ale;
+      He charmed the swats frae cog and pail
+      As he cam through Dumbarton."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Coaching Weather._]
+
+No doubt the landlord's laugh was ready chorus, and the Gay Charioteers
+of this department, I make bold to say, tasted most of the "far ben"
+barrels of every landlord or landlady in their way northward. The
+question of the weather occurs to every one. "If you have a dry season,
+it may be done; if a wet one, I doubt it," was the opinion of one of my
+wisest friends in Britain. We were surprisingly fortunate in this
+respect. Only one day did we suffer seriously from rain. A gentle shower
+fell now and then to cool the air and lay the dust, or rather to prevent
+the dust, and seemingly to recreate vegetation. Who wouldn't bear a
+shower, if properly supplied with waterproofs and umbrellas, for the
+fresh glory revealed thereafter. Only a continual downpour for days
+could have dampened the ardor of the Gay Charioteers. Good coaching
+weather may be expected in June and July, if one may indulge any weather
+anticipations in England. After we left the deluge came; nothing but
+rain during August and September, at least such was the report--but the
+conveniences of living are so great and the discomforts so few in
+England that I incline to the opinion, especially when I take into
+consideration the well-known tendency of the islanders to grumble, that
+far too much is made out of the so-called bad weather. We had a curious
+illustration of this. One day we heard some rumbling sounds which would
+scarcely pass with us for thunder, and we were amused next morning to
+read in the newspapers of the terrific thunder-storm which had passed
+over the district. All things are gentle and well behaved in this sober,
+steady-going, conservative land. Even Jove himself "roars you as mildly
+as a sucking dove." Pluvius, too, is less terrible than he is painted,
+though the green, green grass, the smiling hedgerows, the luxuriant
+vegetation everywhere tells of a moist nature and a disposition to weep
+at short intervals; but the rain comes gently down as if all the while
+begging your pardon and explaining that it couldn't possibly help it,
+the sky being unable to keep it any longer in its overburdened bosom.
+Strong, thick shoes, one pair in reserve, and overshoes for the ladies,
+heavy woollen clothing--under and over--a waterproof, an umbrella, and a
+felt hat that won't spoil--these rendered us almost independent of the
+weather and prepared us to encounter the worst ever predicted of the
+British climate; and this is saying a great deal, for the natives do
+grumble inordinately about it. As I have said, however, our travelling
+was never put to a severe test. England and Scotland smiled upon the
+coaching party, and compelled us all to fall deeply in love with their
+unrivalled charms. We thought that even in tears this blessed isle must
+still be enchanting.
+
+The same horses (with one exception) took us through from Brighton to
+Inverness. This has surprised some horsemen here, but little do they
+know of the roads and climate, or of Perry's care. Our average distance,
+omitting days when we rested, was thirty-two miles, and horses will
+actually improve on such a journey, as ours did, if not pushed too fast
+and not forced to pull beyond their strength up steep hills. The
+continual desire of most of our party to dismount and enjoy a walk gave
+our horses a light coach where the road was such as to bring them to a
+walk, and they were actually in better condition after the journey than
+when we started.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Wayside Inns._]
+
+For luncheon, "good my liege, all place a temple and all seasons
+summer," but for lodgings and entertainment for man and beast, how did
+we manage these? Shall we not take our ease in our inn? and shall not
+mine host of The Garter, ay and mine hostess too, prove the most
+obliging of people? I do not suppose that it would be possible to find
+in any other country such delightful inns at every stage of such a
+journey. Among many pretty objects upon which memory lovingly rests,
+these little wayside inns stand prominently forward. The very names
+carry one back to quaint days of old: "The Lamb and Lark," "The Wheat
+Sheaf," "The Barley Mow." Oh, you fat wight! your inn was in Eastcheap,
+but in your march through Coventry, when you wouldn't go with your
+scarecrows, it was to some wayside inn you went, you rogue, with its
+trailing vines, thatched roof, and pretty garden flower-pots in the
+windows; and upon such excursions it was, too, that you acquired that
+love of nature which enabled the master with six words to cover most
+that was un-unsavory in your character, and hand you down to generations
+unborn, shrived and absolved. Dear old boy--whom one would like to have
+known--for after all you were right, Jack: "If Adam fell in an age of
+innocency, what was poor Jack Falstaff to do in an age of villainy!"
+There was something pure and good at bottom of one who left us after
+life's vanities were o'er playing with flowers and "babbling o' green
+fields." These country hostelries are redolent of the green fields. It
+is in such we would take our ease in our inn. The host, hostess, and
+servants assembled at the door upon our arrival, and welcomed us to
+their home, as they also do when we leave to bid us God-speed. We mount
+and drive off with smiles, bows, and wavings of the hands from them; and
+surely the smiles and good wishes of those who have done so much to
+promote our comfort over night are no bad salute for us as we blow our
+horn and start on the fresh dewy mornings upon our day's journey.
+
+  [Sidenote: _British Honesty._]
+
+The scrupulous care bestowed upon us and our belongings by the
+innkeepers excited remark. Not one article was lost of the fifty
+packages, great and small, required by fifteen persons. It was not even
+practicable to get rid of any trifling article which had served its
+purpose; old gloves, or discarded brushes quietly stowed away in some
+drawer or other would be handed to us at the next stage, having been
+sent by express by these careful, honest people. It was a great and
+interesting occasion, as the reporters say, when the stowed-away pair of
+old slippers which she had purposely left, were delivered to one of our
+ladies with a set speech after dinner one evening. Little did she
+suspect what was contained in the nice package which had been forwarded.
+Our cast-off things were veritable devil's ducats which would return to
+plague us. To the grandest feature of the Briton's character, the love
+of truth, let one more cardinal virtue be added--his downright honesty.
+More Englishmen of all ranks, high and low, in proportion to population,
+will escape conviction upon two counts of the general indictment, "Thou
+shalt not bear false witness," and "Thou shalt not steal," than those of
+any other nationality; but upon a collateral count a larger proportion
+of Englishmen of position will have difficulty in clearing themselves
+than of any other race of which I have knowledge; for while the true
+Briton will tell the truth, if he has to speak at all, he will conceal
+his honest convictions upon social and political subjects to such an
+extent in public as to seem to you almost hypocritical when compared
+with what he will say freely in private. The M.P. of the smoking room of
+the House of Commons and the same man on the floor of the House, for
+instance, are two distinct personages, for it is understood that
+whatever is said below is to be above as if unsaid. I have often
+wondered how they merge the one character into the other when the day's
+words and acts come under review ere the eyes close in sleep--there is
+such a miserable fear in the breast of the free-born Briton that he will
+in an unguarded moment say something which he feels to be true, but
+which society will not think "good form." The great difference between a
+Radical and a Liberal in England is, it seems to me, that the one holds
+the same opinions in public and in private, while the other has two sets
+of opinions, the one for public, the other for private use. The
+maintenance of old forms, from which the life has passed out, is no
+doubt the real cause of this phase of English political life, apparently
+so inconsistent with the Saxon love of truth; one sham requires many
+shams for its support.
+
+We all have our special weaknesses as to the articles we leave behind at
+hotels. Mine is well known; but I smile as I write at the cleverness
+shown in preventing my lapses during the excursion from coming before
+the congregation. It was a wary eye which was kept upon forwarded
+parcels, mark you, and not once was I presented with a left article.
+The eleventh commandment is, not to be found out.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Wild Flowers._]
+
+With these general observations we shall not "leave the subject with
+you," but, retracing our steps to the hills overlooking Brighton, we
+shall mount the coach waiting there for us at the King's Cross Inn; for
+you remember we dismounted there while the horses were watered for the
+first time. Ten miles of bewildering pleasure had brought us here; some
+of us pushed forward and had our first stroll, but we scattered in a
+minute, for who could resist the flowers which tempted us at every step!
+The roses were just in season; the honeysuckle, ragged robin, meadow
+sweet, wandering willie, and who can tell how many others whose familiar
+names are household words. What bouquets we gathered, what exclamations
+of delight were heard as one mass of beauty after another burst upon our
+sight! We began to realize that Paradise lay before us, began to know
+that we had discovered the rarest plan upon earth for pleasure; as for
+duty that was not within our horizon. We scarcely knew there was work to
+do. An echo of a moan from the weary world we had cast behind was not
+heard. Divinest melancholy was out of favor; Il Penseroso was discarded
+for the time, and L'Allegro, the happier goddess, crowned, bringing in
+her train--
+
+      "Sport, that wrinkled Care derides,
+      And Laughter, holding both his sides;
+      Come and trip it as you go,
+      On the light, fantastic toe."
+
+That does not quite express it, for there was time for momentary pauses
+now and then, when the heart swelled with gratitude. We were so grateful
+for being so blessed. It was during this stroll that Emma came quietly
+to my side, slipped her arm in mine, and said in that rich, velvety
+English voice which we all envy her: "Oh, Andrew, when I am to go home
+you will have to tell me plainly, for indeed I shall never be able to
+leave this of my own accord. I haven't been as happy since I was a young
+girl." "Do you really think you could go all the way to Inverness?" "Oh,
+I could go on this way forever." "All right, my lady, 'check your
+baggage through,' as we say in Yankeedom;" and never did that woman lose
+sight of the coach till it was torn away from her at Inverness.
+
+Some of us dismounted before reaching Horsham, and went in pursuit of
+adventure. In an old tan-yard by the wayside, where men were making
+leather in the crude, old-fashioned way, with horses instead of a steam
+engine for the motive power, we had our first conversation with the
+British rural workman, whose weekly earnings do not exceed $3.50. Now,
+this was not more than thirty miles from London, and only twenty-one
+from the sea at Brighton, and yet the oldest man of the party, who was
+the most talkative, had never seen the sea. He had been in London once,
+during the great Exhibition in 1851, having been treated to the journey
+by his employer; but his brother, who lived only a few miles beyond, had
+never been in a railway carriage. Their old master had died recently and
+had left a pound ($5) to every workman who had been with him for a
+certain number of years--I think ten. Good old master! The owners had
+new-fangled notions, he said, and were spending "heaps o' money" in
+building a steam engine which was not yet ready, but which he invited us
+to go and see. This was to do the work much faster; but (with a shake of
+the head) "I've 'earn tell by some as knows it's na sae gid for the
+leather."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Rip Van Winkles._]
+
+Could we really be within an hour's ride of the capital of the world,
+and yet in the midst of a Sleepy Hollow like this, peopled by Rip van
+Winkles! This incident gives a just idea of the tenacity with which the
+English hold to what their fathers did before them. This man's father
+could not have seen the sea at Brighton, nor have visited London short
+of spending a week's earnings. His successor goes along as his father
+did--what was good enough for his father is good enough for him,
+
+            "Chained to one spot,
+      They draw nutrition, propagate and rot."
+
+But the next generation is to see all this changed, for even southern
+England is under the compulsory education act, and the rural population
+is to have the political franchise and a voice in the election of county
+boards.
+
+At Horsham we lunched at the King's Arms, walked about its principal
+square, and were off again for Guildford. As we leave the sea the soil
+becomes richer, and ere we reach Horsham we say, yes, this is England
+indeed; but I forgot we passed through the Weald of Sussex before
+reaching Horsham. The cloudy sky cast deep shadows with the sunbeams
+over the rich, wooded landscape, as no clear blue sky has power to do,
+and brought to my mind Mrs. Browning's lines:
+
+      ... "my woods in Sussex have some purple shades at gloaming,
+      Which are worthy of a king in state, or poet in his youth.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Oh, the blessed woods of Sussex, I can hear them still around me,
+      With their leafy tide of greenery still rippling up the wind!"
+
+And many a stately home did we see, fit for her "who spake such good
+thoughts natural."
+
+Mrs. Browning is said to have written Lady Geraldine in a few hours,
+lying upon a sofa. This is one of the proofs cited that genius does its
+work as if by inspiration, without great effort. What nonsense! The
+Agave Americana bursts into flower in a day; but, look you, a hundred
+years of quiet, unceasing growth, which stopped not night nor day, was
+the period of labor preceding the miracle--a hundred years, during all
+of which it drank of the sunshine and the dews. Scott wrote some of his
+best works in a few weeks, but for a lifetime he never flagged in his
+work of gathering the fruits of song and story. Burns dashed off "A
+man's a man for a' that" in a jiffy. Yes, but for how many years were
+his very heartstrings tingling and his blood boiling at the injustice of
+hereditary rank! His life is in that song, not a few hours of it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      GUILDFORD, June 17.
+
+  [Sidenote: _A Generous Squire._]
+
+The approach to Guildford gives us our first real perfect English
+lane--so narrow and so bound in by towering hedgerows worthy the name.
+Had we met a vehicle at some of the prettiest turns there would have
+been trouble, for, although the lane is not quite as narrow as the
+pathway of the auld brig, where two wheelbarrows trembled as they met,
+yet a four-in-hand upon an English lane requires a clear track.
+Vegetation near Guildford is luxuriant enough to meet our expectations
+of England. It was at the White Lion we halted, and here came our first
+experience of quarters for the night. The first dinner en route was a
+decided success in our fine sitting-room, the American flags, brought
+into requisition for the first time to decorate the mantel, bringing to
+all sweet memories of home. During our stroll to-day we stopped at a
+small village inn before which pretty roses grew, hanging in clusters
+upon its sides. It was a very small and humble inn indeed, the tile
+floors sanded, and the furniture of the tap-room only plain wood--there
+were no chairs, only benches around the table where the hinds sit at
+night, drinking home-brewed beer, smoking their clay pipes, and
+discussing not the political affairs of the nation, but the affairs of
+their little world, bounded by the hall at one end of the estate, and
+the parsonage at the other. The merits of the gray mare, or the
+qualities of the last breed of sheep at the home farm, or the
+new-fangled plough which the squire has been rash enough to order. The
+landlady told us that she had recently moved from one of the midland
+towns to this village to secure purer air for the children, who had not
+been thriving well. Her husband was a gardener and worked for the
+squire. Two pretty little girls were brought in for us to see, true
+Saxons, with blue eyes and light colored hair, but with less color in
+their sweet innocent faces than usual--the result of dirty, crowded
+Leeds, no doubt--but soon to be changed by the country air. The eldest
+girl could not have been more than six or seven years old, but when she
+was given a few pence she went to the next room and brought a sheet of
+paper upon which were pasted some penny postage stamps. She was going at
+once to the post office to buy more stamps with her pennies. On
+inquiring we learned that the Post Office Department receives deposits
+of a shilling in stamps and allows two and a half per cent. interest I
+think, upon them, and "the squire" God bless him! had promised all the
+children upon his estates, which I trust vast, that whenever they saved
+eleven stamps he would give the last one to complete the shilling. In
+this way he hopes to instil into the young the importance of beginning
+early to save something for a rainy day. The still younger girl had also
+her stamp paper. The English are an improvident race, not given to
+denying themselves to-day that they may feast later on. "Do not put off
+till to-morrow what can be done to-day" is generally construed to mean,
+that the cake may as well be eaten at once, so that upon the whole we
+were not displeased to see these children trained to accumulate; but
+nevertheless it did seem pitiful that the dear little lambs, instead of
+sporting without a care, should have so early to learn that life is to
+the mass mainly a struggle for subsistence. Civilization is a failure
+till all this be changed. What a pity the name and address of that
+squire are mislaid. He evidently feels that property has its duties as
+well as its rights. The village and the inn and all the surroundings
+showed that the Hall was, in this instance, as it is in so many others,
+the centre and source of good influences. "He has a good wife and
+earnest thinking and working daughters," said one of the party. Surely
+he has and they do their part or he could not succeed. It was quite safe
+to infer this, was the verdict. Man is a poor agency for such work, left
+to himself. It needs woman's patience and glowing sympathy to work
+improvement in the manners and customs of the rural population. Man may
+supply the money, which corresponds only to barren faith among the
+virtues; it is to woman we must look for the harvest--good works.
+
+When we remounted the coach, one regret found loud expression, and as
+the Scribe writes to-day, he wishes the omission could be remedied. Why
+did not we give these children a shilling each, with strict injunctions
+to gorge themselves with taffy and gingerbread, not a penny of it to be
+saved. A regular spree regardless of consequences! "Oh! it would have
+made them ill," said one. Well, suppose it did, just think of the legacy
+left them, a dream for years that they had been brought to death's door
+by too much taffy! Why, the sweet taste would have lingered in the
+pretty little mouths till womanhood, and they would have thought about
+their illness as Conn in the Shaughraun did about his month in jail for
+taking the squire's horse for a run with the hounds: "Begorra! it was
+worth it!"
+
+  [Sidenote: _Franklin's Proverb._]
+
+It might have given them a taste for dissipation, and they would have
+ceased to gather stamps, and turned out badly, was the next suggestion.
+This was seemingly agreed to by the majority, but there was one who
+wished he had secretly conveyed to the cherubs, at least a six-pence
+each to be entirely devoted to gormandizing. "Take care of your pence
+and the pounds will take care of themselves," the Queen Dowager
+remarked, is one of Ben Franklin's wisest proverbs. There was one at
+least of her children who had good reason to remember that favorite
+axiom. During his temporary absence from school, good Mr. Martin had
+instituted a rule that each one in the class should repeat a proverb
+before the lessons began. Her offspring was at the foot of the class,
+from absence it is to be hoped, and as each boy and girl spoke his
+proverb (they were taught together in those days, much to the advantage
+of both sexes, for who wanted to be a dunce before pretty and clever A.
+R.) they had an unfamiliar sound, but when his turn came he innocently
+gave them his mother's favorite from Franklin. It was like introducing a
+strange dog into a crowded church. After the uproar had subsided, the
+teacher said that while it was no doubt a very good proverb, it was not
+just in place among the sacred proverbs of Solomon. Another story was
+related of one of the Charioteers who, when told that he ought to sing
+when the others did in church, struck up, at the top of his shrill
+piping voice, "Come under my plaidie, the night's going to fa';" when
+the congregation began the Psalm. His uncle was so convulsed that,
+notwithstanding the angry glances of many near him, he could not stop
+the performance in time to prevent an unseemly interruption.
+
+We had done our first day's coaching, and a long day at that, and
+looking back it is amusing to remember how anxiously we awaited the
+reports of the ladies of our party; for it was not without grave
+apprehension that some must fall by the wayside, as it were, as we
+journeyed on. One who had tried coaching upon this side had informed us
+that few ladies could stand it; but it was very evident that the spirits
+and appetites of ours were entirely satisfactory, and they all laughed
+at the idea that they could not go on forever. The Queen Dowager was
+quite as fresh as any. It was a shame that general orders consigned to
+bed at an early hour two of the ladies thought least robust, while the
+others walked about the suburbs of Guildford until late. We stood in the
+thickening twilight in front of an ivy-clad residence for some time, and
+asked each other if anything so exquisite had ever been seen, so full of
+rest, of home. The next morning all were fresh and happy, without a
+trace of fatigue--full of yesterday, and quite sure that no other day
+could equal it. But this was often said: many and many a day was voted
+the finest yet, only to be eclipsed in its turn by a later, till at last
+an effort to name our best day led to twenty selections, and ended in
+the general conclusion that it was impossible to say which had crowded
+within its hours the rarest treat, for none had all the finest, neither
+did any lack something of the best. But there is one point upon which a
+unanimous verdict can always be had from the Gay Charioteers, that to
+such days in the mass none but themselves can be their parallel.
+
+We ran into a book-shop in the morning and obtained a local guide-book,
+that we might cull for you the proper quotations therefrom. It consists
+of 148 pages, mostly given up to notices of the titled people who
+visited the old town long ago; but who cares about them? Here, however,
+is something of more interest than all those nobodies. Cobbett says of
+Guildford, in his "Rural Rides:"
+
+  [Sidenote: _Cobbett's Opinion._]
+
+"I, who have seen so many towns, think this the prettiest and most happy
+looking I ever saw in my life." There's praise for you! But, then, he
+had never seen Dunfermline. Here is a characteristic touch of that rare,
+horse-sense kind of a man. He is enraptured over the vale of Chilworth.
+
+"Here, in this tranquil spot, where the nightingales are to be heard
+earlier and later in the year than in any other part of England, where
+the first budding of the trees is seen in the spring, where no rigor of
+seasons can ever be felt, where everything seems framed for precluding
+the very thought of wickedness--this has the devil fixed on as one of
+his seats of his grand manufactory, and perverse and even ungrateful man
+not only lends his aid, but lends it cheerfully."
+
+Since those days, friend Cobbett, the devil has much enlarged his
+business in gunpowder and bank notes, of which you complain. He was only
+making a start when you wrote. The development of manufactures in
+America (under a judicious tariff, be it reverently spoken), amazing as
+it has been, and carried on as a rule by the saints, is slow work
+compared with what his satanic majesty has been doing in these two
+departments. We must bestir ourselves betimes.
+
+You remember Artemus Ward's encounter with the colporteur. After a long,
+dusty day's journey, arriving at the hotel, he applied to the barkeeper
+for a mint-julep, and just as Artemus was raising the tempting draught
+to his lips, a hand was laid upon his arm and the operation arrested.
+The missionary in embryo said in a kind of sepulchral tone, for he was
+only a beginner and had not yet reached that true professional voice
+which comes only after years of exhortation: "My friend, look not upon
+the wine when it is red. It stingeth like a serpent and it biteth as an
+adder." "Guess not, stranger," replied Artemus, "not if you put sugar in
+it."
+
+It is just so with bank-notes, friend Cobbett. They don't bite worth a
+cent, neither do they sting, if you have government bonds behind them.
+But this was not understood in your day. The Republic had not then shown
+to the world the model system of banking. The objection made to it by
+others, viz., that founded as it is upon the obligations of the nation,
+its discredit involves the fall of private credit, counts for little to
+a republican. We would not give much for the man who is not willing to
+stake "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" upon the solvency of
+the Republic. Pitiable is the man who could think of his petty private
+means when his country was in peril. When the Republic falls, let us
+also fall.
+
+There is a funny thing in this guide-book. "There also resides Mr.
+Martin Farquhar Tupper, the author of 'Proverbial Philosophy,' etc. He
+has eulogized the scene around as follows." Then come two pages of
+Tupper. I naturally looked to see the name of the author of the book,
+but none was given. Such modesty! But the case is a clear one, for who
+but Tupper would quote Tupper! "Sir," said Johnson to Bossy, "Sir, I
+never did the man an injury in my life, and yet he would persist in
+reading his tragedy to me." Here's the concluding quotation from the
+guide-book of Guildford, and the Scribe promises not to quote much more
+from any similar source. Cobbett says that in Albury Park he saw some
+plants of the "American cranberry, which not only grow here, but bear
+fruit, and therefore it is clear that they may be cultivated with great
+ease in this country."
+
+  [Sidenote: _American Blessings._]
+
+Potatoes, tomatoes, and cranberries--look at the great blessings America
+has bestowed upon the "author of her being;" and what won't grow in the
+rain and fog of the old home, doesn't she grow for her and send over by
+every steamer, from canvas-back ducks to Newtown pippins! Thackeray was
+right in saying one night, when some friends were disposed to criticise
+America, "Ah! well, gentlemen, much can be pardoned to a country which
+produces the canvas-back duck." At dinner-tables in England, nowadays,
+to the usual grace, "O Lord! for what we are about to receive make us
+truly thankful," should be added, "and render us truly grateful to our
+big son Jonathan, God bless him!"
+
+One could settle down at the White Lion in Guildford, and spend a month,
+at least, visiting every day fresh objects of interest, and I have no
+doubt becoming day by day more charmed with the life he was leading. In
+every direction historical scenes, crowded full of instructive stories
+of the past, invite us: and yet to-morrow morning the horn will sound,
+and we shall be off, reluctantly saying to ourselves, we must return
+some day when we have leisure, and wander in and around, absorb and
+moralize. This rapid survey is only to show us what we can do hereafter.
+A summer to each county would not be too much, and here are eight
+hundred miles from sea to firth to be rushed over in seven weeks.
+Guildford, farewell!--on "to fresh woods and pastures new."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      SATURDAY, June 18.
+
+After a delightful breakfast we mount the coach and are off through the
+crowd of lookers-on for our second day's journey. During this stage we
+learned the valuable lesson that we should not attempt to coach through
+England without having the ordnance survey maps, and paying close
+attention to them. In this part of the country, so near to monster
+London, the roads and lanes are innumerable, and run here, there, and
+everywhere. You can reach any point by many different roads. Guide-posts
+have a dozen names upon them. We did some sailing out of our course
+to-day, and found many charming spots not down in the chart, which the
+straight line would have caused us to miss; it was late ere Windsor's
+towers made their appearance. The day was not long enough for us, long
+as it was, but the fifty miles we are said to have traversed were quite
+enough for the horses. But next day would be Sunday, we said, and they
+had a long rest to look forward to at Windsor.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      WINDSOR, June 18-20.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Scribe as a Whip._]
+
+Upon reaching the forest, the General Manager insisted that the Scribe
+should take the reins and drive his party through the royal domain. This
+was his first trial as the whip of a four-in-hand, and not a very
+successful one either. It's easy enough to handle the ribbons, but how
+to do this and spare a hand for the whip troubles one. As Josh Billings
+remarks in the case of religion, "It's easy enough to get religion, but
+to hold on to it is what bothers a fellow. A good grip is here worth
+more than rubies." The Scribe had not the grip for the whip, but it did
+give him a rare pleasure when he got a moment or two now and then (when
+Perry held the whip), to think that he was privileged to drive his
+friends in style up to Her Majesty's very door at Windsor. Only to the
+door, for that good woman was not at home, but in bonnie Scotland,
+sensible lady! As we were en route ourselves, we were quite in the
+fashion; some of her republican subjects, however, were quite
+disappointed at not getting a glimpse of her during the tour.
+
+The drive through the grounds gave to some of our party the first sight
+of an English park, and it is certain that the impression it made upon
+them will never be effaced.
+
+Windsor at last, a late dinner and a stroll through the quaint town, the
+castle towering over all in the cloudy night, and we were off to bed,
+but not before we had enjoyed an hour of the wildest frolic, though
+tired and sleepy after the long drive. We laughed until our sides ached,
+but how vain to attempt to describe the fun! To detail the trifles light
+as air which kept us in a roar during our excursion is like offering you
+stale champagne. No, no, gone forever are those rare nothings which were
+so delicious when fresh; but, for the benefit of the members of the
+Circle, I'll just say "Poole." It was a happy thought to put the General
+Manager's suit of new clothes in Davie's package and await results. We
+had ordered travelling suits in London, and when they arrived we all
+began to try them on at once. Davie's disappointment at getting an
+odd-looking suit fancied by the General Manager was so genuine! But such
+a perfect fit, though a mistake, maybe, as to material; and then, when
+he tried his own suit, what a misfit it was! The climax: "David, if you
+are going to"--but this is too much! The tears are rolling down my
+cheeks once more as I picture that wild scene.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Gladstone._]
+
+We heard the chimes at midnight, and then to bed. Windsor is nothing
+unless royal. It is all over royal, although Her Majesty was absent. But
+the Prince of Wales was there, and a greater than he--Mr. Gladstone--had
+run down from muggy London to refresh his faded energies by communing
+with nature. It is said that his friends are alarmed at his haggard
+appearance toward the close of each week; but he spends Saturday and
+Sunday in the country, and returns on Monday to surprise them at the
+change. Ah! he has found the kindest, truest nurse, for he knows--
+
+      ... "that Nature never did betray
+      The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege,
+      Through all the years of this our life, to lead
+      From joy to joy; for she can so inform
+      The mind that is within us, so impress
+      With quietness and beauty, and so feed
+      With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
+      Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
+      Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all
+      The dreary intercourse of daily life,
+      Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb
+      Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
+      Is full of blessings."
+
+Mr. Gladstone's fresh appearance Monday mornings gratifies his friends,
+and pleases even his opponents, for such a man can have no ill-wishers,
+surely. When Confucius had determined to behead the emperor's corrupt
+brother, his counsellors endeavored to dissuade him, from a just fear
+that the criminal's friends would rise and avenge his death. "Friends!"
+said the sage, "such a character may have adherents, but friends never."
+The result proved his wisdom. No revolt came, though Confucius stood by
+to see justice done, refusing to listen to the petition of the emperor
+for his own brother's life. In like manner, Mr. Gladstone may have
+opponents--enemies never. All Englishmen must in their hearts honor the
+man who is a credit to the race. By the way, he's Scotch, let me note,
+and never fails to bear in mind and to mention this special cause for
+thankfulness. I suspect that this fact has not a little to do with the
+intense enthusiasm of Scotland for him. We are a queer lot, up in the
+North Countrie, and he is our ain bairn. Blood is thicker than water
+everywhere, but in no part of this world is it so _very much thicker_ as
+beyond the Tweed.
+
+We attended church at Windsor and saw the great man and the Prince come
+to the door together. There the former stopped and the other walked up
+the aisle, causing a flutter in the congregation. Mr. Gladstone followed
+at a respectful distance, and took his seat several pews behind. How
+absurd you are, my young lady republican! Can you not understand? One is
+only the leading man in the empire--a man who, in a fifty years' tussle
+with the foremost statesmen of the age, has won the crown both for
+attainments and character; but the other, bless your ignorant little
+head!--he is a prince.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Kings and Princes._]
+
+Well, if he is, he has never done anything, you say. True, but what are
+kings and princes for? The people of England, my dear, not so very long
+ago, used to have it beaten into them that "the king can do no wrong."
+As this is historically the true doctrine and has antiquity on its side,
+it would have been very un-English to reject it; so they quietly
+accepted the dogma and made it true by arranging that the king should
+never be allowed to do anything--it's a way these islanders have--the
+form may be what it likes, the substance must be as they wish. They
+never revolutionize in England--they transform. What you complain of
+then, my red republican miss, is really the best proof that the prince
+will make that modern article called a Constitutional Monarch, and spend
+his days as the English man-milliner Worth--setting the fashions, laying
+foundation stones, and opening fancy bazars. Oh! you would not be such a
+prince or such a king. The Bruce at Bannockburn, at the head of his
+countrymen striking for the independence of Scotland, and King Edward
+leading his hosts, these were _real_ kings, you say? The kings of to-day
+are shadows. I am not going to dispute that with you, Miss; times have
+changed and kings with them; but were I Prince of Wales, I would be in
+Ireland to-day investigating the causes of discontent and devising a
+remedy; and above all showing my deep and abiding sympathy with that
+portion of my people. This would be better than leading men to murder
+their fellows--as your heroes did. Oh yes, indeed, says my young lady
+politician, I should like to be the Prince of Wales just to do that.
+What a hero it would make him! Why, he would rank with Alfred the Good,
+or George Washington. Why doesn't Mr. Gladstone suggest this to him? I
+believe the Prince would just jump at the chance. Well, my dear girl,
+drop a postal card to the grand old man, and you will get his views upon
+the subject by return mail. The conversation ended by a toss of the
+head, and "Well, I would if I were a man. I should like a chance 'to
+talk it up' to the Prince." As the Prince is an admirer of pretty
+American young ladies, our friend might get a hearing and astonish him.
+
+In the afternoon we attended St. George's Chapel. In one of the stalls
+we saw again that sadly noble lion-face--no one ever mistakes Gladstone.
+He sat wrapped in the deepest meditation. He is very pale, haggard, and
+careworn--the weight of empire upon him!
+
+      "I tell thee, scorner of these whitening hairs,
+      When this snow melteth there shall come a flood."
+
+I could not help applying to him Milton's lines:
+
+            ... "with grave
+      Aspect he rose, and in his rising seem'd
+      A pillar of state: deep on his front engraven
+      Deliberation sat and public care;
+      And princely counsel in his face yet shone,
+      Majestic though in ruin."
+
+He has work to do yet. If he were only fifty instead of seventy odd!
+Well, God bless him for what he has done; may he rule England long!
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Queen Dowager._]
+
+A memorable event occurred at Windsor, Sunday, June 19th--the Queen
+Dowager reached her seventy-first year. At breakfast Mr. B. rose, and
+addressing himself to her, made one of the sweetest, prettiest speeches
+ever heard. He presented to her an exquisite silver cup, ornamented with
+birds and flowers, and inscribed: "Presented to Mrs. M. C. at Windsor,
+by the members of the coaching-party, upon her seventy-first birthday."
+Mr. B.'s reference to her intense love of nature in all its glorious
+forms, from the tiny gowan to the extended landscape, was most
+appropriate.
+
+We were completely surprised; and when the speaker concluded, the Scribe
+was about to rise and respond, but a slight motion from Her Majesty
+apprized him that she preferred to reply in person. She acquitted
+herself grandly. Her speech was a gem (Mem.--it was so short). After
+thanking her dear friends, she said:
+
+"I can only wish that you may all have as good health, as complete
+command of all your faculties, and enjoy flowers and birds and all
+things of nature as much as I do at seventy-one." Here the voice
+trembled. There were not many dry eyes. The quiver ran through the
+party, and without another word the Queen sat slowly down. I was very,
+very proud of that seventy-year old (I am often that), and deeply moved,
+as she was, by this touching evidence of the regard of the
+coaching-party for her.
+
+This incident led to some funny stories about presentation speeches.
+Upon a recent occasion, not far from Paisley, Aggie told us, a worthy
+deacon had been selected to present a robe to the minister. The church
+was crowded, and the recipient stood expectantly at the foot of the
+pulpit, surrounded by the members of his family. Amid breathless silence
+the committee entered and marched up the aisle, headed by the deacon
+bearing the gift in his extended arms. On reaching the pulpit a stand
+was made, but never a word came from the deacon, down whose brow the
+perspiration rolled in great drops. He was in a daze, but a touch from
+one of the committee brought him back to something like a realizing
+sense of his position, and he stammered out, as he handed the robe to
+the minister:
+
+      "Mr. Broon,
+      Here's the goon."
+
+You need not laugh. It is not likely that you could make as good a
+speech, which, I'll wager, is far better than the one over which he had
+spent sleepless nights, but which providentially left him at the
+critical moment.
+
+Windsor, seen from any direction at a distance, is _par excellence_ the
+castle--a truly royal residence; but, seen closely, it loses the grand
+and sinks into something of prettiness. It is no longer commanding, and
+is insignificant in comparison with the true castles of the North, the
+surroundings of which are in keeping with the idea of a stronghold, and
+take you at once to the times of the chieftain and his armed men. There
+is nothing of this at Windsor, and the glamour disappears when you begin
+to analyze. Royalty's famous abode should be looked at, as royalty
+itself should be--at a safe distance.
+
+  [Sidenote: _St. George's Chapel._]
+
+Service at St. George's Chapel will not soon be forgotten by our party.
+The stalls of the Knights of the Garter, over the canopies of which hang
+their swords and mantles surmounted by their crests and armorial
+bearings, carry one far back into the days of chivalry. One stall
+arrested and held my attention--that of the Earl of Beaconsfield. When I
+was not gazing at Gladstone's face, I was moralizing upon the last
+Knight of the Garter, whose flag still floats above the stall. Disraeli
+won the blue ribbon about as worthily as most men, and by much the same
+means--he flattered the monarch. But there is this to be said of him: he
+had brains and made himself.
+
+What a commentary upon pride of birth, the flag of the poor literary
+adventurer floating beside that of my lord duke's! It pleased me much to
+see it. How that man must have chuckled as he bowed his way among his
+dupes, from Her Majesty to Salisbury, and passed the radical extension
+of the suffrage that doomed hereditary privilege to speedy extinction.
+But where will imperialism get such another leader, after all? It has
+not found him yet.
+
+"What is that up there?" asked one of our party. "The royal box, miss."
+Were we really at the opera, then? A royal box in a church for the
+worship of God! Did you ever hear anything like that! There is a royal
+staircase, too. Why not? You would not have royalty on an equality with
+us, would you, even if we are all alike miserable sinners and engaged in
+the worship of that God who is no respecter of persons.
+
+"Well, I think this is awful," said one of the party. "I don't believe
+the good Queen would go to church in this way, if she only thought of
+it. Our President and family have their pew just like the rest of us."
+Our English members were equally surprised that the American should see
+anything shocking in the practice, and the ladies fought out the matter
+between themselves; the Americans insisting that the Queen should attend
+worship as other poor sinners do, since all are equal in God's eyes; and
+the English saying little, but evidently harboring the idea that even in
+heaven special accommodations would probably be found reserved for
+royalty, with maybe a special staircase to ascend by. Early education
+and inherited tendencies account for much.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Royal Etiquette._]
+
+The staircase question led to the story that the Marquis of Lorne was
+not allowed to enter some performance by the same stair with his wife.
+The American was up at this. "If I had a husband, and he couldn't come
+with me, I wouldn't go." This made an end of the discussion, for the
+English young lady's eyes told plainly of her secret vow that wherever
+she went ---- must go too. All were agreed on this point; but on the
+general question it was a drawn battle, the one side declaring that if
+they were men they would not have a princess for a wife under any
+circumstances, and the other insisting that, if they were princesses,
+they would not have anybody but a prince for a husband.
+
+We were honored while here by the presence of Mr. Sidney G. Thomas and
+his sister, who came down from London and spent the day with us. Mr.
+Thomas is the young chemist, who, in conjunction with his cousin Mr.
+Gilchrist, would not accept the dictum of the authorities that
+phosphorus, that fiend of steel manufacturers, cannot be expelled from
+iron ores at a high temperature. They set to work over a small toy pot,
+which deserves to rank with Watt's tea-kettle, to see whether the
+scientific world had not blundered. Let me premise that the presence of
+phosphorus in pig iron to the extent of more than about one tenth of
+one per cent. is fatal to the production of good steel by the Bessemer
+or open hearth processes. Do what you will, this troublesome substance
+persists in remaining with the iron. If there be phosphorus in the
+iron-stone you smelt, every atom of it will be found in the resulting
+iron; and if there be any in the limestone, or the coke or coal used,
+every atom of it also will find its way into the iron.
+
+It is essential, therefore, that iron-stone should be found practically
+free from phosphorus; but unfortunately such ore is scarce, and
+therefore expensive. The great iron-stone deposits of England are full
+of the enemy; so are those of America; hence, both countries depend
+largely upon ores which have to be transported from Spain and other
+countries. One authority estimates that if all the high phosphorus ores
+in Britain could be made as valuable as those free from the
+objectionable ingredient, the saving per annum would go far to pay the
+interest upon the national debt. Many have been the attempts to devise
+some tempting bait to coax this fiend to forego his strange affinity for
+iron, and unite with some other element; but no, his satanic majesty
+would cling to the metal.
+
+Messrs. Thomas and Gilchrist, in studying some highly creditable
+experiments made by my friend Lothian Bell, Esq. (for he was upon the
+right track), discovered an oversight which seemed to qualify the
+results which he reached, and to render his experiments inconclusive.
+It was possible, they thought, that his failure might have resulted from
+the fiend not being _kept_ out when he _was_ out. So they went quietly
+to work with their toy pot, and Eureka! Their charm had not only
+exorcised the fiend, but they had discovered how to lead him away from
+the molten metal into the refuse and shut the door on him there. Here
+was a triumph indeed! I fancy they neither ate nor slept till repeated
+experiments proved that the true charm had been found at last.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Iron and Phosphorus._]
+
+Mr. E. Windsor Richards, the broad manager of the largest manufactory of
+iron and steel in the world, was soon acquainted by them with the
+discovery. He tried it upon a large scale, and announced the end of the
+reign of King Phosphorus; but he dies hard. This was some years ago, for
+I read the good news a few minutes after I had landed at Naples from the
+East, on my way round the world in the year 1879. Many obstacles had yet
+to be surmounted, but now every ton of steel manufactured at Mr.
+Richards's great works is made from iron stone which a few years ago was
+counted worthless for steel. Enough iron stone can be had for three
+dollars to make a ton of pig iron suitable for steel rails. The same
+amount of low phosphorus stone at Pittsburgh cost last year sixteen
+dollars, and yet there are intelligent people who do not understand why
+we cannot make rails as cheap as the English.
+
+I wonder if I could explain to the general reader how Messrs. Thomas and
+Gilchrist succeeded. It always seems to me like a fairy tale--I will
+try. In making steel, ten tons of molten pig iron is run into a big pot
+called a converter, and hundreds of jets of air are blown up through the
+mass to burn out the silica and carbon, and finally to make it steel.
+Now, phosphorus has a greater affinity for lime than for iron when it
+reaches a certain temperature, and when the air blast brings the mass to
+the required heat, the million particles of phosphorus, like so many
+tiny ants disturbed, run hither and thither, quite ready to leave the
+iron for the lime. These clever young men first put a lot of lime in the
+bottom of the pot as a bait, and into this fly the ants, perfectly
+delighted with their new home. The lime and slag float to the top and
+are drawn off--but mark you, let the temperature fall and the new home
+gets too cold to suit these salamanders, although the temperature may be
+over 2,000 degrees, hot enough to melt a bar of steel in a moment if
+thrown into the pot. No, they must have 2,500 degrees in the lime or
+they will rush back to the metal.
+
+But here lay a difficulty: 2,500 degrees is so very hot that no ordinary
+pot lining will stand it, and of course the iron pot itself will not
+last a moment. If ganister or fire brick is used it just crumbles away,
+and besides this, the plaguey particles of phosphorus will rush into it
+and tear it all to pieces. The great point is to get a basic lining,
+that is, one free from silica. This has at last been accomplished, and
+now the basic process is destined to revolutionize the manufacture of
+steel, for out of the poorest ores, and even out of puddle cinder, steel
+or iron much purer than any now made for rails or bridges can be
+obtained, and the two young chemists, patentees of the Thomas-Gilchrist
+process, take their rank in the domain of metallurgy with Cort, Nelson,
+Bessemer and Siemens. These young men have done more for England's
+greatness than all her kings and queens and aristocracy put together.
+
+  [Sidenote: _A Modern Moses._]
+
+It was this pale Gladstonian-looking youth we had with us for the day
+and for our Sunday evening dinner at Windsor. He wears no title--he is
+too sound a Radical, and too sensible a man to change the name his
+honored father gave him--but nevertheless we felt we had one of the
+great men of our generation as our guest. If it be true, as it is, that
+he who causes two blades of grass to grow where but one grew before is a
+benefactor to the race, what is the magician who takes from the bowels
+of the earth a ton of dross, and transforms it into steel before our
+eyes--strikes with his enchanted wand a hundred mines of worthless stone
+and turns it into gold, as the prophet struck the dry rock and called
+water forth? The age of real miracles is not over, you see, it has only
+begun, and Thomas is our modern Moses; his miracle seems as much greater
+than that of his prototype as the nineteenth century is advanced beyond
+that of the Jewish dispensation.
+
+Monday was another thoroughly English day. The silver Thames, that
+glistened in the sun, was enlivened by many stately swans. The castle
+towered in all its majesty, vivified by the meteor flag which fluttered
+in the breeze. The grounds of Eton were crowded with nice-looking
+English boys as we passed. Many of us walked down the steep hill and far
+into the country in advance of the coach, and felt once more that a fine
+day in the south of England was perfection indeed. The sun here reminds
+one of the cup that cheers, but does not inebriate: its rays cheer, but
+never scorch. You could not tell whether, if there were to be any
+change, you would prefer it to be a shade cooler or a shade warmer.
+
+The swans of Windsor are an institution almost as old as the castle
+itself, for they are mentioned in records more than five hundred years
+ago. The swan is indeed a royal bird, and it is said that no subject can
+own them when at large in a public river except by special grant from
+the crown. Such a grant is accompanied by a swan-mark for each _game_ of
+swans--the proper term, mark you, for a collection of the noble birds.
+You may say a flock of geese but not of swans; a game of swans, please,
+if you would "speak by the card." The corporation of Windsor has
+possessed the right of keeping swans in the Thames almost from time
+immemorial. Formerly the king's swanherd made an annual expedition up
+the river to mark them. He and his assistants chased the poor frightened
+birds in boats, caught them roughly with long hooks, with little
+deference to their beautiful plumage, and marked them by cutting one or
+more nicks in the upper mandible of their beaks. This expedition, called
+swan-upping (corrupted into swan-hopping), is still made by the deputies
+of the Dyers' and Vintners' companies, now the principal swan owners on
+the Thames, the mark of the former being one nick and of the latter two
+nicks on the bill.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Stoke Pogis._]
+
+Stoke Pogis is a few miles out of our direct road, but who would miss
+that, even were the detour double what the ordnance survey makes it?
+Besides, had not a dear friend, a stay-at-home, told us that one of the
+happiest days of her life was that spent in making a pilgrimage to the
+shrine of the poet from this very Windsor? Gray's was the first shrine
+at which we stopped to worship, and the beauty, the stillness, the peace
+of that low, quaint, ivy-covered church, and its old-fashioned
+graveyard, sank into our hearts. Surely no one could revive memories
+more sweetly English than he who gave us the Elegy. Some lines, and even
+verses of that gem, will endure, it may safely be predicted, as long as
+anything English does, and that is saying much. We found just such a
+churchyard as seemed suited to the ode. Gray is fortunate in his
+resting-place. Earth has no prettier, calmer spot to give her child
+than this. It is the very ideal God's acre. The little church, too, is
+perfect. How fine is Gray's inscription upon his mother's tomb! I avoid
+cemeteries whenever possible, but this seemed more like a place where
+one revisits those he has once known than that where, alas! we must
+mourn those lost forever. Gray's voice--the voice of one that is still,
+even the touch of the vanished hand, these seemed to be found there, for
+after our visit the poet was closer to me than he had ever been before.
+It is not thus with such as we have known and loved in the flesh--their
+graves let us silently avoid. He whom you seek is not here; but the
+great dead, whom we have known only through their souls, do come closer
+to us as we stand over their graves. The flesh we have known has become
+spiritualized; the spirits we have known become in a measure
+materialized, and I felt I had a firmer hold upon Gray from having stood
+over his dust.
+
+Here is the inscription he put upon his mother's grave:
+
+      "Dorothy Gray.
+
+      The careful, tender mother of many children, one of whom alone
+      had the misfortune to survive her."
+
+The touch in the last words, "the misfortune to survive her!"--Carlyle's
+words upon his wife's tomb recur to me:
+
+      "And he feels that the light of his life has gone out."
+
+These were men wailing for women. I cannot believe but that there are
+many women who would prefer to share the fate of men who die. There is
+such love on earth. Sujatas are not confined to India. As she says:
+
+      "But if Death called Senani, I should mount
+      The pile and lay that dear head in my lap,
+      My daily way, rejoicing when the torch
+      Lit the quick flame and rolled the choking smoke.
+      For it is written, if an Indian wife
+      Die so, her love shall give her husband's soul
+      For every hair upon her head, a crore
+      Of years in Swerza."
+
+I think I know women who would esteem it a mercy to be allowed to pass
+away with _him_, if the Eternal had not set his "canon 'gainst
+self-slaughter." This prohibition the Indian wots not of, but mounts the
+pile believing as thoroughly as Abraham did when he placed Isaac on the
+altar, that God wills it so. They were equally mistaken; and this
+suggests that we may all be very much surprised when we come to
+understand rightly, how very seldom the unknown requires any sacrifice
+of what is pleasing to us in this present world of his. It seems to me
+it is not God but men who are disposed to make the path so very thorny.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Gray's Tomb._]
+
+Upon Gray's own tomb there is inscribed:
+
+      "One morn I missed him on the accustomed hill.
+        Along the heath, and near his favorite tree;
+      Another came, nor yet beside the rill,
+        Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he."
+
+One perfect gem outweighs a thousand mediocre performances and makes its
+creator immortal. The world has not a second Gray's Elegy among all its
+treasures. Nor is it likely to have. We found you still in your
+accustomed place.
+
+The manor house of Stoke Pogis, which took its name from a marriage,
+away back in the 13th century, between a member of the Pogis family and
+an heiress, Amicia de Stoke, furnished the subject of Gray's "Long
+Story," a poem known now only to the curious student of English
+literature. How fortunate for the world that the poet did not let his
+reputation rest upon it!
+
+  [Sidenote: _Chief Justice Coke._]
+
+The old house, built in the time of good Queen Bess on an older
+foundation, is still more noted as the home of Sir Edward Coke, the
+famous Lord Chief Justice and the rival of Bacon. In 1601 Coke, who had
+married three years before a wealthy young widow, Lady Hatton of Hatton
+House, the daughter of Lord Burleigh, entertained the Virgin Queen at
+Stoke Pogis in a manner befitting the royal dignity and the length of
+his own purse. Among other presents which her Majesty graciously deigned
+to accept at the hands of her subject on the occasion was jewelry valued
+at L1,000, a large sum in those days.
+
+Coke's marriage did not turn out very happily. He was old enough to be
+his wife's father, and she always affected for him the utmost contempt,
+even forbidding him to enter her house in London except by the back
+door. The poor man bore his hen-pecking in silence for many years, but
+at last she went one step too far. During his absence in London she
+packed up and removed from Stoke to one of her own houses his plate and
+other valuables. The outraged husband forcibly entered her house and
+reclaimed his property, taking, as she said, some of hers also. This led
+to legal proceedings, in which she, through the aid of Bacon, got the
+better of him, and a reconciliation took place.
+
+The next year the broil took another phase. Lady Hatton--she always
+refused to take Coke's name--had borne him a daughter, who was the
+heiress of her mother's estates as well as of Coke's wealth. Her hand
+had been sought by Sir John Villiers, but as he was poor his suit had
+been rejected. A turn came in the tide. Coke, shorn of most of his
+honors, was in disgrace, and the Duke of Buckingham, Sir John's brother,
+was King James's favorite and the dispenser of immense patronage. Coke,
+with the object of winning back the royal favor and of humbling Bacon,
+his great enemy, now determined to ally himself with the rising house,
+and offered his daughter to Villiers. Lady Hatton, who had not been
+consulted in the matter, refused her consent, ran away with her
+daughter, and concealed her in the house of a kinsman. But Coke found
+out her hiding place, and with a dozen stout fellows broke into the
+house and seized his daughter. Lady Hatton, aided by Bacon, carried her
+case to the privy council and Coke was proceeded against in the Star
+Chamber. But with Buckingham behind him the old lawyer proved too strong
+for Bacon this time, and succeeded in throwing his wife into prison and
+in forcing her to consent to the match.
+
+The marriage took place at Hampton Court in the presence of the king,
+the queen, and the most distinguished of the nobility, and Frances
+became Lady Villiers. Stoke Pogis was settled on the bridegroom, who was
+shortly raised to the peerage as Viscount Purbeck and Baron Villiers, of
+Stoke Pogis, and Coke flattered himself that his troubles had at last
+ended. But the marriage resulted like many another ill-assorted union.
+Lady Villiers, after driving her husband nearly to the verge of
+distraction, eloped with Sir Robert Howard, and lived for many years an
+eventful and scandalous life, which finally brought its reward in her
+degradation, imprisonment, and death.
+
+If the course of true love never runs smooth, it may be taken for
+granted that the stream is even more tempestuous when marriage is made a
+matter of family alliance with no love at all in the matter. Our young
+ladies were unanimous upon this point, and one and all declared their
+firm resolve and readiness to trust to "true love" with all its risks.
+The Queen Dowager, being appealed to by them for support, settled the
+matter by reciting the lines of an old Scotch song:
+
+      "Lassie tak the man ye loe
+        Whate'er ye're minnie say,
+      Though ye sud mak ye're bridal bed
+        Amang pea strae."
+
+So ta-ta all worldly considerations and family alliances, and the rest
+of it, say the wild romps of the Gay Charioteers.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Royal Visits._]
+
+Several years after the death of Coke, Stoke Pogis was for a short time
+the place of confinement of Charles I., who could see from its windows
+the towers of Windsor Castle, which he was never again to enter except
+as a headless corpse. On the death of Viscount Purbeck, who resided in
+the manor house after Coke's decease, Stoke Pogis passed by purchase
+into the hands of the Gayer family. When Charles II. came to his own
+again the then possessor of the mansion was knighted, and became so
+devoted in his affection for the Stuarts that when in after time King
+William desired to visit Stoke Pogis to see a place so rich in
+historical associations, the old knight would not listen to it. In vain
+did his wife intercede: he declared that the usurper should not cross
+his threshold, and he kept his word. So it came to be said that Stoke
+Pogis had sumptuously entertained one sovereign, been the prison of
+another, and refused admission to a third.
+
+We were told that quite recently Queen Victoria had visited it in
+person, with a view to its purchase for her daughter, and while walking
+through its magnificent suite of rooms she expressed the wish that her
+own Windsor had their equal. She finally decided to purchase Claremont,
+the price demanded for Stoke, it is said, having been too great to
+square with her majesty's estimate of value. It is in the market to-day.
+If any of our bonanza kings want one of the stately homes of England,
+rich in historical associations and "looking antiquity," here is his
+chance.
+
+In still later times the old place came into possession of the Penn
+family, the heirs of our William Penn of Pennsylvania, and it was by one
+of them, John Penn, that the cenotaph to Gray was erected--for the poet,
+it will be remembered, was laid in his mother's tomb. This same Penn
+pulled down much of the old house and rebuilt is as it is to-day.
+
+Our luncheon was to be upon the banks of the Thames to-day, the Old Swan
+Inn, where the stone bridge crosses the stream, being our base of
+supplies; but ere this was reached what a lovely picture was ours
+between Stoke Pogis and the Swan! All that has been sung or written
+about the valley of the Thames is found to be more than deserved. The
+silver stream flows gently through the valley, the fertile land rises
+gradually on both sides, enabling us to get extensive views from the top
+of the coach. Our road lies over tolerably high ground some distance
+from the river. Such perfect, quiet, homelike, luxuriant beauty is to be
+seen nowhere but in England. It is not possible for the elements to be
+combined to produce a more pleasing picture; and now, after seeing all
+else between Brighton and Inverness that lay upon our line, we return to
+the region of Streatley and Maple Durham, and award them the palm as the
+finest thoroughly English landscape.
+
+We say to the valley of the Thames what the Eastern poet said to the
+Vale of Cashmere, which is not half so pretty:
+
+      "If there be a paradise upon earth,
+        It is here, it is here."
+
+The Old Swan proved to be, both in structure and location, a fit
+component part of the sylvan scene around. There ran the Thames in
+limpid purity, a picturesque stone bridge overhanging it, and the
+road-side inn within a few yards of the grassy bank.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Skylarks._]
+
+The rugs were laid under a chestnut tree, and our first picnic luncheon
+spread on the buttercups and daisies. Swallows skimmed the water, bees
+hummed above us--but stop! what's that, and where? Our first skylark
+singing at heaven's gate! All who heard this never-to-be-forgotten song
+for the first time were up and on their feet in an instant; but the tiny
+songster which was then filling the azure vault with music was nowhere
+to be seen. It's worth an Atlantic voyage to hear a skylark for the
+first time. Even luncheon was neglected a while, hungry as we were, that
+we might if possible catch a glimpse of the warbler. The flood of song
+poured forth as we stood wrapt awaiting the descent of the messenger
+from heaven. At last a small black speck came into sight. He is so
+little to see--so great to hear!
+
+I know several fine things about the famous songster:
+
+        "In the golden lightning
+          Of the sunken sun,
+        O'er which clouds are bright'ning,
+          Thou dost float and run,
+      Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun."
+
+An "unbodied joy!" That's a hit, surely!
+
+Here is Browning on the thrush, which I think should be to the lark:
+
+      "He sings each song twice over,
+      Lest you should think he never could recapture
+      The first fine careless rapture."
+
+The third is just thrown in by the prodigal hand of genius in a poem not
+to a lark but to a daisy:
+
+      "Alas! it's no thy neebor sweet,
+      The bonnie lark, companion meet,
+      Bending thee 'mang the dewy weet,
+          Wi' speckl'd breast,
+      When upward springing, blithe, to greet
+          The purpling east."
+
+How fine is Wordsworth's well known tribute:
+
+      "Type of the wise, who soar but never roam,
+      True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home!"
+
+And now I remember Shakespeare has his say too about the lark--what is
+it in England he has not his say about? or in all the world for that
+matter; and how much and how many things has he rendered it the highest
+wisdom for men to keep silent about after he has said his say, holding
+their peace forever.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Reading Abbey._]
+
+A row upon the silver Thames after luncheon, and we are off again for
+Reading, where we are to rest over night at the Queen's. Reading has a
+pretty, new park and interesting ruins within its boundaries which we
+visited before dinner. There are but few traces left of the once famous
+Abbey, founded early in the twelfth century by Henry I. In the height of
+its prosperity more than two hundred monks fattened at its hospitable
+board, and its mitred abbot sat as a peer in Parliament. It was noted,
+too, as a centre of learning, but the jolly brethren must have sadly
+degenerated in this respect, if we can believe the report of the royal
+commissioners in temp. Henry VIII., for Hugh Cook, the last abbot, who
+was hanged and quartered near his own door in 1539, is described as a
+"stubborn monk, absolutely without learning." But, of course, all who
+believe that the much-married Henry was a monster of iniquity will put
+no faith in the reports of his minions, and will continue to believe
+that Abbot Hugh was a holy man of God, whose shortcomings in the small
+matters of orthography and syntax were more than made up by his
+proficiency in vigils, fastings, and prayers. That he was the "right
+man in the right place" is proven by the inventory of the relics found
+in his keeping by the aforesaid minions at the time of the suppression
+of the monastery. Among these sacred objects were "twoo peces of the
+holye crosse," "Saynt James hande," "a bone of Marye Magdelene," "a pece
+of Saynt Pancrat' arme," and "a bone of Saynt Edwarde the martyr is
+arme." Can it be possible that this saintly man, who so zealously
+guarded such treasures to the last moment of his life, should still be
+allowed to suffer under the imputation of stubbornness and ignorance! He
+mightn't just have been "one of those literary fellers," but it is very
+clear he had a firm grasp of the "fundamentals" of the faith. What is
+learning compared to a "bone of Saynt Edwarde" as a means of keeping the
+sheep in the true fold! The old abbot knew his business better than
+Henry's commissioners. The tooth of Buddha, which I went to see when in
+Ceylon, draws crowds from all parts of the island, and excites more
+piety than the tom-tom, or the incantations of the most learned priest.
+Truly there's nothing like a relic as a means of grace.
+
+A pretty lawn in the rear of our hotel gave us an opportunity for a game
+of lawn tennis in the twilight after dinner, and in the morning we were
+off for Oxford. The editorial in the Reading paper that morning upon
+emigration struck me as going to the root of the matter. Here is the
+concluding paragraph:
+
+"Already the expanding and prospering industries of the New World are
+throwing an ominous shadow across the Old World and are affecting some
+of its habits and practices. But over and above and beyond all these,
+the free thought, the liberty of action, the calm independence and the
+sense of the dignity of man as man, and the perfect equality of all
+before the law and in the eye of the constitution now existing in
+America, are developing a race of men who, through correspondence with
+home relations, the intercourse of free travel, the transaction of
+business, and the free, outspoken language of the press, are gradually
+disintegrating the yet strong conservative forces of European society,
+and thus preparing the downfall of the monarchical, aristocratic,
+military, and ecclesiastic systems which shackle and strangle the people
+of the Old World. These thoughts seem to me to convey the meaning of the
+great exodus now going on, and he is a wise statesman who reads the
+lesson aright."
+
+There's a man after my own heart. He grasps the subject.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Causes of Emigration._]
+
+The editor tells one of the several causes of the exodus which is
+embracing many of the most valuable citizens of the old lands where
+class distinctions still linger. Man longs not only to be free but to be
+equal, if he has much manhood in him; and that America is the home for
+such men, numbers of the best are fast finding out. But England will
+soon march forward; she is not going to rest behind very long. There
+will soon be no superior political advantages here for the masses, nor
+educational ones either. England is at work in earnest, and what she
+does, she does well. I prophecy that young England will give young
+America a hard race for supremacy.
+
+Some of us walked ahead of the coach for several miles, and I had a chat
+with a man whom we met. He was a rough carpenter and his wages were
+sixteen shillings per week ($4). A laborer gets eleven shillings (not
+$2.75), but some "good masters" pay thirteen to fourteen shillings
+($3.25 to $3.50), and give their men four or five pounds of beef at
+Christmas. Food is bacon and tea, which are cheap, but no beef. Men's
+wages have not advanced much for many years (I should think not!), but
+women's have. An ordinary woman for field work can get one shilling per
+day (24 cents); a short time ago ninepence (18 cents) was the highest
+amount paid. Is it not cheering to find poor women getting an advance?
+But think what their condition still is, when one shilling per day is
+considered good pay! I asked whether employers did not board the workers
+in addition to paying these wages, but he assured me they did not. This
+is southern England and these are agricultural laborers, but the wages
+seem distressingly low even as compared with British wages in general.
+The new system of education and the coming extension of the suffrage to
+the counties will soon work a change among these poor people. They will
+not rest content crowding each other down thus to a pittance when they
+can read and write and vote. Thank fortune for this.
+
+Our ladies were unusually gay in their decorations to-day, with bunches
+of wild flowers on their breasts and hats crowned with poppies and
+roses. They decked the Queen Dowager out until she looked as if ready to
+play Ophelia. Their smiles too were as pretty as their flowers. What an
+embodied joy bright, happy ladies are under all conditions, and how
+absolutely essential for a coaching party! Was it not Johnson's idea of
+happiness to drive in a gig with a pretty woman? He wasn't much of a
+muff! If anything could have kept him in good humor, this would have
+done it. If he could have been on top of a coach with a bevy of them,
+not even he could have said a rude thing.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Oxford._]
+
+Oxford was reached before the sun went down. Its towers were seen for
+miles--Magdalen, Baliol, Christ Church, and other familiar names. We
+crossed the pretty little Isis, marvelling at every step, and drove up
+the High Street to the Clarendon.
+
+The next day was to be Commencement, and only a few rooms were to be had
+in the hotel, but we were distributed very comfortably among houses in
+the neighborhood. Several hours before dinner were delightfully spent in
+a grand round of the colleges. We peeped into the great quads, walked
+the cloisters, and got into all kinds of queer old-fashioned places. But
+the stroll along the Isis, and past Magdalen Tower, and up the long
+walk--that was the grand finish! We pardon Wolsey his greed of getting,
+he was so princely in giving. To the man who did so much for Oxford much
+may be forgiven.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      OXFORD, June 21.
+
+This morning was devoted to visiting the principal colleges more in
+detail, and also to the ascent of the tower of the Sheldonian Theatre,
+which no one should ever miss doing. Below us lay the city of palaces,
+for such it seems, palaces of the right kind too--not for idle kings or
+princes to riot in, and corrupt society by their bad example, but for
+those who "scorn delights and live laborious days."
+
+Our Cambridge member, Mr. B., tells us it does not cost more than L200
+($1,000) per annum for a student here. This seems very cheap. The tariff
+which we saw in one of the halls gave us a laugh:
+
+          "Commons.
+      Mutton,  long,  11_d._
+        do.    short,  9_d._
+        do.    half,   7_d._"
+
+The long and the half we could understand, but how could they manage the
+short? This must be a kind of medium portion for fellows whose appetites
+are only so-so. You see how fine things are cut even in Oxford. Our
+party thought if the students were coaching there would be little
+occasion for them to know anything of either short or half. At least we
+were all in for long commons at eleven pence.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Martyrs._]
+
+We drove past the martyrs' memorial, Latimer and Ridley's. Cranmer does
+not deserve to be named with them. A visit to such a monument always
+does me good, for it enables me to say to those who doubt the real
+advancement of mankind: Now look at this, and think for what these grand
+men were burnt! Is it conceivable that good, sterling men shall ever
+again be called upon in England to die for opinion's sake! That Cranmer
+wrote and advocated the right and necessity of putting to death those
+who differed from him, and therefore that he met the fate he considered
+it right to mete to others, shows what all parties held in those dark
+days. I claim that the world has made a distinct and permanent advance
+in this department which in no revolving circle of human affairs is ever
+to be lost. The persecution of the Rev. Mr. Green, of Professor
+Robertson Smith, and of Bishop Colenso in the present day proves, no
+doubt, that there is much yet to be done ere we can be very proud of our
+progress; but these are the worst of to-day's persecutions, and could
+occur only in England and Scotland. There is a long gap between them and
+burning at the stake! Grand old Latimer was prophetic when he called out
+from amid the faggots to his colleague: "Be of good comfort and play the
+man; we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace as I trust
+shall never be put out!"
+
+I think it certain that the candle will never again be put out. The
+bigots of to-day can annoy only in Britain. In other English-speaking
+communities even that power has passed away, and persecution for
+opinion's sake is unknown. "A man may say the thing he will"--there is a
+further and a higher stage yet to be reached when a man will consider it
+a man's part to have an opinion upon all matters and say what he thinks
+boldly, concealing nothing.
+
+We left Oxford with just a sprinkle of rain falling, but we had scarcely
+got fairly out of the city when it ceased and left the charming
+landscape lovelier than ever. Banbury Cross was our destination, and on
+our route lay magnificent Blenheim, the estate given by the nation to
+the Duke of Marlborough. See what the nations do for the most successful
+murderers of their fellows! and how insignificant have ever been the
+rewards of those who preserve, improve, or discover--for a Marlborough
+or a Wellington a fortune, for a Howard or a Wilberforce a pittance. It
+is only in heathen China that the statesman, the man of letters, heads
+the list. No military officer, however successful as a destroyer, can
+ever reach the highest rank there, for with them the victories of peace
+are more renowned than those of war; that is reserved for the men who
+know--the Gladstones and the Disraelis, the Darwins and the Spencers,
+the Arnolds and the Ruskins. It is only in civilized countries that the
+first honors are given to butchers.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Blenheim._]
+
+Blenheim is superb, grand, and broad enough to satisfy princely tastes.
+And that noble library! As we walked through it we felt subdued, as if
+in the presence of the gods of ages past, for a worthy collection of
+great books ever breathes forth the influence of kings dead yet present,
+of
+
+      "Those dead but sceptred sovereigns
+      Whose spirits still rule us from their urns."
+
+And to think that this library, in whose treasures we revelled,
+reverently taking one old tome after another in our hands, has since
+then been sold by auction! Degenerate wretch! but one descended from
+Marlborough can scarcely be called degenerate. You may not even be
+responsible for what seems like family dishonor; some previous heir may
+have rendered the sale necessary; but the dispersion of such treasures
+as these must surely open the eyes of good men in England to the folly
+of maintaining hereditary rank and privilege. Perhaps, however, the
+noble owner had no more use for his books than the lord whose library
+Burns was privileged to see, which showed no evidences of usage. The
+bard wrote in a volume of Shakespeare he took up:
+
+      "Through and through the inspired leaves,
+        Ye maggots, make your windings;
+      But oh! respect his lordship's taste
+        And spare his golden bindings."
+
+With many notable exceptions, the aristocracy of Britain took its rise
+from bad men who did the dirty work of miserable kings, and from women
+who were even worse than their lords. It seems hastening to an end in a
+manner strictly in accordance with its birth. Even Englishmen will soon
+become satisfied that no man should be born to honors, but that these
+should be reserved for those who merit them. But what kind of fruit
+could be expected from the tree of privilege? Its roots lie in
+injustice, and not the least of its evils are those inflicted upon such
+as are born under its shadow. The young peer who succeeds in making
+somebody of himself does so in spite of a vicious system, and is
+entitled to infinite praise; but though our race is slow to learn, the
+people hear a wee bird singing these stirring days, and they begin to
+like the song. The days of rank are numbered.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      BANBURY, June 22.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Banbury Cross._]
+
+Banbury Cross was reached about five o'clock, and few of us were so far
+away in years or feeling from the days of childhood as not to remember
+the nursery rhyme which was repeated as we came in sight of the famous
+Cross. We expected to see a time-worn relic of days long past, and I
+verily believe that some of us hoped for a glimpse of the old lady on
+the white horse, with "rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes."
+Imagine our disappointment, then, when we saw an elaborate Gothic
+structure, looking as new and modern as if it had received its finishing
+touches but yesterday. And so indeed it had, for it was recently
+erected by public subscription. The charm was gone.
+
+I like new political institutions for my native land, but prefer the old
+historical structures; and as we drove past this spick-and-span
+imitation of antiquity I felt like criticising the good people of
+Banbury for the sacrilege I supposed they had committed in thus
+supplanting the ancient landmark which had made their town known the
+wide world over. I could not help entertaining a hope, too, that the
+original "goodly Crosse with many degrees about it," had been put away
+in some museum or other safe place where it could receive the homage of
+all devoted lovers of Mother Goose. Alas! inquiry developed the fact
+that the Puritanic besom of destruction, which demolished so many images
+and other ornaments in the churches in good Queen Bess's time, swept
+away Banbury Cross as early as 1602, and that not a piece of it remains
+to tell of its ancient glory.
+
+Banbury was early noted as a stronghold of Puritanism, and was famous,
+as Fuller says, for "zeale, cheese and cakes." The zeal and the cheese
+are not now as strong as they were, but Banbury cakes are still in as
+high repute as ever, and are largely made and exported. They are
+probably the same now as in the days of Ben Jonson, who tells of them in
+"Bartholomew Fair,"--a kind of miniature mince pie, generally
+lozenge-shaped, consisting of a rich paste with a filling of Zante
+currants and other fruits.
+
+Banbury has the celebrated works of my friend, Mr. Samuelson, M.P.; and
+before dinner I walked out to see them, and if possible to learn
+something of Mr. Samuelson's whereabouts. Upon returning to the hotel I
+found that he was at that moment occupying the sitting-room adjoining
+ours. We had an evening's talk and compared notes as brother
+manufacturers. If England and America are drawing more closely together
+politically, it is also true that the manufacturers of the two countries
+have nearly the same problems to settle. Mr. Samuelson was deep in
+railway discriminations and laboring with a parliamentary commission to
+effect changes, or rather, as he would put it, to obtain justice.
+
+I gave an account of our plans, our failures, and our successes, of
+which he took note. This much I am bound to say for my former colleagues
+upon this side (for before I reformed I was a railway manager), that the
+manufacturers of Britain have wrongs of which we know nothing here,
+though ours are bad enough. I add the last sentence lest Messrs.
+Vanderbilt, Roberts, Cassatt, and the Garretts (father and son), might
+receive a wrong impression from the previous admission; for these are
+the gentlemen upon whom our fortunes hang.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Political Economy Club._]
+
+The evidence given before the Parliament Commission in Britain, proves
+that the people there are subjected to far worse treatment at the hands
+of railway companies than we are here. American grain is transported
+from Liverpool to London, for one-half the rate charged upon English
+grain from points near Liverpool--I give this as one instance out of
+hundreds. The defence of the railway company is that unless they carry
+the foreign article at half rates the ships will carry it to London
+direct, or that it will go by sea from Liverpool. I attended a meeting
+of the Political Economy Club, in London, where the question of
+legislative interference with railway charges was ably discussed. The
+prevalent opinion seemed to be that it was doubtful whether the evils
+could be cured by legislation. Being called upon to state our experience
+here, I gave them an account of the unwise policy pursued by the
+Pennsylvania Railroad Company (now happily reversed) at Pittsburgh and
+its consequences; for the great riot in Pittsburgh had for its real
+source the practice of the Railway Company of carrying the manufactures
+of the East, from New York and Philadelphia, through the city of
+Pittsburgh to the West for less than it would carry the same articles
+for from Pittsburgh, although the distance was twice as great. Many such
+anomalies as this still exist in England.
+
+The members seemed interested in hearing that the result was that the
+railway company finally agreed that in no case should the rates to and
+from the shorter exceed those charged for the greater distance, and
+Pittsburgh manufactures are now taken East and West at ten per cent.
+less than the through rates between Chicago and the seaboard, no matter
+how these may be forced by competition. While this rule does not ensure
+exact justice nor cover all cases, it is nevertheless a great step in
+advance and removes most of the more serious causes for just complaint.
+
+The club spoken of is a notable one. It consists of twenty-five members,
+only vacancies caused by death being filled by election. Admission is
+considered a great honor. It is said that every question within the
+range of practical politics upon which the club has declared its
+opinion, has been legislated upon within a short time in accordance with
+its decision. Every member is well known and must have a national
+reputation. Among those present were Sir John Lubbock, who learnt early
+in youth a rare secret, the way to learn--"_consider the ways of the
+ant, and be wise_"--and Mr. Fawcett, the blind Postmaster-General, a man
+whose career proves, as clearly perhaps as ever was proved, the truth
+that there is no difficulty to him who wills.
+
+Mr. Leonard Courtney, one of the coming men, took a leading part in the
+discussion on railways; Mr. Giffen, however, read the paper of the
+evening, which of course was able, although on the wrong side, as I
+think. He is the noted man of figures, whose recent article, read before
+the Statistical Society, showing the hundreds of millions America is
+soon to contain, produced so startling an effect here, as well as in
+Europe. Mr. Shaw Le Fevre, Lord Sherbrooke (Robert Lowe), and the
+father of the Corn Law Repeal movement, Mr. Villiers, and several
+others of note were present.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Satires and Epigrams._]
+
+I was indebted to one of the members, my friend Prof. Thorold E. Rogers,
+M.P., for the coveted opportunity to visit this club. By the way, I
+wonder the Professor's book of Satires and Epigrams has not been
+republished in America. It is wonderfully clever, and the Charioteers
+have had many a laugh and many a pleasant half hour enjoying it.
+
+Here is a specimen, which I may be pardoned quoting, as I found upon
+inquiry that the hero Brown was no less than one of my own friends, a
+Dunfermline man too, at that, Mr. Reid, M.P.:
+
+      "Sent to a distant land in early youth,
+      Brown made his way by honor, thrift, and truth;
+      Ten years he worked and saved, then, satisfied,
+      Back to his native land our merchant hied.
+      A man of worth as well as wealth, he sought
+      How he might wisely use the cash he'd brought:
+      He clearly saw his fortune could be graced
+      Only by prudence, candor, judgment, taste;
+      Assumed no airs, indulged in no pretence,
+      Guided his words, his acts, by common sense;
+      Maintained his self-respect, though glad to please,
+      Seemed not to aim, but won his aims with ease,
+      And proved that he had learnt the highest tact,
+      When no one feared and no one dared detract.
+      (I don't say hate, for some men are so nice
+      They cannot bear a man without a vice);
+      Well, such a hater, with a well-bred sneer,
+      (He took good care that all the room could hear):
+      Said, 'Dawdle asked me, Brown, if I could tell
+      What are your shield, your arms, your motto?' Well,
+      Brown winced, grew red, looked puzzled for a while,
+      Then answered gayly with a pleasant smile,
+      'My shield is _or_, sir, and the arms I bear,
+      Three mushrooms rampant.'--Motto, '_Here we are_.'"
+
+There are many similar good things in the book, so I venture to point it
+out to the enterprising publishers of America as something worthy
+of--"conveying."
+
+There is much discussion this morning as to the best route to take,
+there is so much to tempt us on either of several ways. Shall we go by
+Compton Verney (there is a pretty English name for you), Wellesbourn,
+and Hastings? or shall we take our way through Broughton Castle,
+Tadmarton, Scoalcliffe, Compton Wynyate, and Oxhill? In one way Wroxton
+Abbey, one of the real genuine baronial abbeys, if one may say so, and
+Edgehill. Surely no good Republican would miss that! But on the other
+route we shall see the stronghold of Lord Saye and Sele, older yet than
+Wroxton, and Compton Wynyate, older and finer than all--"a noble wreck
+in ruinous perfection," and a third route still finer than either as far
+as scenery is concerned. Such is this treasure house, this crowded grand
+old England, whose every mile boasts such attractions to win our love.
+
+      "Look where we may, we cannot err
+      in this delicious region--change of place
+      Producing change of beauty--ever new."
+
+Every day's journey only proves to us how little of all there is to see
+we can see; how much we miss on the right and on the left. One might
+coach upon this Island every summer during his whole life and yet die
+leaving more of beauty and of interest to visit than all that he had
+been able to see. When one does not know how to spend a summer's holiday
+let him try this coaching life and thank heaven for a new world opened
+to him.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Wroxton Abbey._]
+
+We chose the first route, and whatever the others might have proved we
+are satisfied, for it is unanimously decided that in Wroxton Abbey we
+have seen our most interesting structure. Though it dates only from the
+beginning of the seventeenth century, it is a grand building and a fine
+example of the domestic architecture of the period. Its west front is a
+hundred and eighteen feet long, and its porch is an elegant specimen of
+the Italian decorated entrances of the time. Blenheim and Windsor are
+larger, but had we our choice we would take Wroxton in preference to
+either. With what interest did we wander through its quaint irregular
+chambers and inspect its treasures! James I. slept in this bed, Charles
+I. in that, and George IV. in another; this quilt is the work of Mary
+Queen of Scots--there is her name; Queen Elizabeth occupied this chamber
+during a visit, and King William this. Then the genuine old pictures,
+although in this department Blenheim stands unrivalled. Marlborough knew
+the adage that "to the victor belongs the spoils," and acted upon it
+too, for he had rare opportunities abroad to gather treasures. But for a
+realization of your most picturesque ideal of a great old English house,
+betake yourselves to Wroxton Abbey. Its little chapel, rich in very old
+oak carving, is in itself worth a journey to see.
+
+A pretty story is told of the visit of James I. to the Abbey. The wife
+of Sir William Pope, the owner, had lately presented him with a
+daughter, and on the King's arrival the babe was brought to him bearing
+in her little hand a scroll containing the following verses:
+
+      "See this little mistres here,
+      Did never sit in Peter's chaire,
+      Or a triple crowne did weare;
+          And yet she is a Pope.
+
+      "No benefice she ever sold,
+      Nor did dispence with sins for gold;
+      She hardly is a sev'nnight old,
+          And yet she is a Pope.
+
+      "No King her feet did ever kisse,
+      Or had from her worse look than this:
+          Nor did she ever hope
+          To saint one with a rope;
+          And yet she is a Pope.
+      A female Pope, you'll say, a second Joan;
+      No sure--she is Pope Innocent or none."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Edgehill._]
+
+We lunched off deal tables and drank home-brewed ale in the tap-room of
+the Holcroft Inn, a queer old place, but we had a jolly time amid every
+kind of thing that carried us back to the England of past centuries.
+Beyond Holcroft we came suddenly upon the grandest and most extensive
+view by far that had yet rejoiced us. We were rolling along absorbed in
+deep admiration of the fertile land that spread out before us on both
+sides of the road, and extolling the never-ceasing peacefulness and
+quiet charm of England, when, on passing through a cut, a wide and
+varied panorama lay stretched at our feet. A dozen picturesque villages
+and hamlets were in sight, and by the aid of our field-glass a dozen
+more were brought within range. The spires of the churches, the poplars,
+the hedgerows, the woods, the gently undulating land apparently giving
+forth its luxuriant harvest with such ease and pleasure, all these made
+up such a picture as we could not leave. We ordered the coach to go on
+and wait at the foot of the hill until we had feasted ourselves with the
+view. We lay upon the face of the hill and gazed on Arcadia smiling
+below. Very soon some of the neighboring residents came, for one is
+never long without human company in crowded England; and we found that
+we were indeed upon sacred ground. This was Edgehill! As sturdy
+republicans we lingered long upon the spot, gazing on the scene of that
+bloody fight between king and people which, however, was almost without
+immediate result--for it was a drawn battle--but which eventually led
+to so much. Charles's army lay at Banbury, whence we had just come, that
+of the Parliament at Kineton yonder, and spread out before us was the
+plain where they met. The ground is now occupied by two farms called the
+Battle Farms, distinguished as Battleton and Thistleton. Between the
+farm-houses, on the latter place, are the places where the slain were
+buried, appropriately called the Grave Fields. A copse of fir trees in
+one place is said to mark the site of a pit into which five hundred were
+thrown.
+
+Some of the royalist writers have tried to prove that Cromwell was not
+present at Edgehill, and one has even countenanced an idle tale that he
+witnessed the battle from a steeple on one of the neighboring hills, and
+that he incontinently took to his heels, or rather to his horses' legs,
+when he thought the meeting had resulted disastrously to the forces of
+the Parliament. But Carlyle characterizes this story as it deserves, for
+Lord Nugent expressly mentions Cromwell's troop of dragoons as among
+those that charged at the close of the battle. No, no, stern old Oliver
+was not the man to stand aloof when he once had scent of a battle; and
+we may be sure, although he was then but a captain of horse, that he did
+good service at Edgehill.
+
+There were good men on both sides that day, and not the least among them
+was brave Sir Jacob Astley, who commanded Charles's foot. He was withal
+a man of piety, for the Parliamentarians did not have a monopoly in
+that line, however much their chroniclers may claim it; and I have
+always regarded his prayer on that momentous Sunday morning as a model
+which many clergymen might study with profit to themselves and to their
+congregations. "O Lord!" said he, as he settled himself firmly in the
+saddle, "Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. If I forget Thee, do
+not Thou forget me. March on, boys!" Is not that to the purpose?
+
+Let such as are at their appointed work have no fear that they will ever
+be forgotten--the performance of a duty ranks before the offering of a
+prayer, any day--nay, is of itself the best prayer. There's plenty of
+time for lip service when we have served the Lord by hard work in a good
+cause. When people have nothing better to do let them pray, but don't
+let them be too greedy and ask much for themselves.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Warwick Castle._]
+
+Our route lay through Warwick and Leamington. The view of the castle
+from the bridge is, I believe, the best of its kind in England. "From
+turret to foundation stone" it is all perfect. The very entrance tells
+of the good old days. As we pass beneath the archway, over the
+drawbridge, and under the portcullis, it all comes back to us.
+
+      "Up drawbridge, grooms. What, Warder, ho!
+      Let the portcullis fall!
+      To pass there was such scanty room
+      The bars descending razed his plume."
+
+Warwick, the king-maker! This was his castle. His quarrel with the king
+was one of our most taking recitations. The Scribe was considered heavy
+in this:
+
+      "Know this, the man who injured Warwick
+      Never passed uninjured yet."
+
+He found that out, did he not, my lord of the ragged staff!
+
+The view from the great hall looking on the river below is fixed in my
+mind. Don't miss it; and surely he who will climb to the top of Guy's
+Tower will have cause for thankfulness for many a year thereafter. You
+get a look at more of England there than is generally possible. I
+sympathize with Ruskin in his rage at the attempt to raise funds by
+subscription to mend the ravages of a recent fire in the castle. A
+Warwick in the role of a Belisarius begging for an obolus! If the
+king-maker could look upon this! But historical names are now often
+trailed in the dust in England; and it must be some consolation to him,
+wherever he may be, to know that the bearer of the title, if responsible
+for this, is no scion of the old stock.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Guy of Warwick._]
+
+The legend of Guy of Warwick, accepted as an historical fact by the
+early writers, has been relegated to the garret of monkish superstition,
+with the ribs of the dun cow and other once undoubted relics; but its
+romance will always lend an interest to the old castle and attract the
+traveller to the site of the hermitage on Guy's Cliff where the fabled
+hero died and was buried. You must not suppose that Guy's Tower had any
+connection with the original Guy, for the building dates only from the
+close of the fourteenth century, while the latter boasts an antiquity of
+nearly a thousand years. Indeed, we can place him to a dot, for the
+antiquary Rous is very precise in his statement. He says: "On the
+twelfth of June, 926, being the third year of the reign of Athelstan, a
+most terrible single combat took place between the champions of the
+kings of England and Denmark--Guy, Earl of Warwick, and Colebrand the
+Pagan, an African giant; through the mercy of God the Christian
+undertook the combat, being advised thereto by an angel; and the
+faithful servant of God and the Church fortunately vanquished the enemy
+of the whole realm of England."
+
+Is it not dreadful to contemplate what might have been the consequences
+if Colebrand the African had got the upper hand of that faithful servant
+of God and the Church! But it was not to be. The Pagan had a lost fight
+from the start, for, though the chronicle does not expressly say so, it
+is very evident to the reflecting mind that Guy was backed throughout by
+the angel--a mean advantage which, but for the immensity of the stake,
+would have led any ordinary lover of fair play to side with the weaker
+party. But not so with the wily monks of those days. In their easy
+consciences the end justified the means, and so they glorified Guy as
+the champion of all that was good, and so sedulously trumpeted his fame
+that the Norman barons who succeeded to the ownership of the old Saxon
+stronghold saw their interest in adopting the victor as an ancestor. In
+time these Normans came to believe implicitly in the family tree with
+Guy at the root, just as some silly people pin their faith to the
+parchment evidences of the professional genealogists proving their
+descent from some fabulous hero who followed William and his crew from
+Normandy. They named their sons after Guy, called the tower his tower,
+and hung up his arms and armor in the great hall, while their wives and
+daughters worked his exploits in tapestry.
+
+These proud descendants of a fabulous ancestor remind one of the general
+in the "Pirates of Penzance" who is found weeping at the tomb in the
+abbey belonging to the property he has purchased. When it is suggested
+to him that his tears are misplaced, he replies: "Sir, when I bought
+this property I bought this abbey and this tomb with its _contents_. I
+do not know whose ancestors these _were_, but I do know whose ancestors
+they _are_." And he falls to sobbing again, bound to have an ancestry of
+some kind, the more important the more to belittle himself by
+comparison. But the general is very English for all that. Tennyson's
+lines,
+
+      "Trust me, Clara Vere de Vere,
+      From yon blue heavens above us bent
+      The grand old gardener and his wife
+      Smile at the claims of long descent,"
+
+are well known and repeated by the school children all over the land,
+but the grown men and women, entirely free from the weakness of trying
+to figure out a family tree of respectable antiquity, will be found
+unexpectedly small in this old land. Josh Billings settled the matter as
+far as Americans are concerned, for the malady is even more ridiculous
+in the New World. "We can't boast old family here," says he, "the
+country ain't _long_ enough, unless a feller has Injun in him." That is
+what the lawyers call an estoppel, I take it.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Kenilworth Castle._]
+
+Driving through Leamington we reached Kenilworth Castle for luncheon, to
+which we had looked forward for several days. Alas! the keeper informed
+us that no picnic parties are admitted since the grounds have been put
+into such excellent order by the kind Earl Clarendon (for which thanks,
+good earl). But he was a man of some discrimination, this custodian of
+the ruins, and when he saw our four-in-hand and learned who we
+were--Americans! Brighton to Inverness!--he made us an exception to the
+rule, of which I trust his lordship will approve, if he ever hears. We
+had one of our happiest luncheons beneath the walls under a large
+hawthorn tree, which we decided was the very place where the enraged
+Queen Bess discovered dear Amy Robsart on that memorable night.
+
+A thousand memories cluster round this ruin; but what should we have
+known of it had not the great magician touched with his wand this dead
+mass of stone and lime and conferred immortality upon the actors and
+their revels? In his pages we live over again the days of old, and take
+part with the Virgin Queen and her train of lords and ladies in the
+grand reception so lavishly prepared for her amusement by the then
+reigning favorite; ruined walls and towers and courts assume their
+ancient proportions and resound with music and revelry, and the noble
+park, now so quiet, is alive once more with huntsmen and gayly clad
+courtiers. But vivid as is Scott's picture, it is exceeded in quaint
+interest by the original account of the festivities from which the great
+romancer drew his facts, but which is as little known to the ordinary
+reader of "Kenilworth" as is the prototype of Hamlet to the common
+play-goer. Master Robert Laneham, the writer, was a sort of hanger-on of
+the court, and appears to have accompanied Leicester to Kenilworth. His
+account is in the form of a letter addressed to "my good friend, Master
+Humfrey Martin, Mercer," in London, and is written, says Scott, "in a
+style of the most intolerable affectation, both in point of composition
+and orthography."
+
+After a brief account of the preliminary journey of the queen, this
+veracious chronicler informs us that she was "met in the Park, about a
+flight shoot from the Brayz and first gate of the castl" by a person
+representing "one of the ten Sibills, comely clad in a Pall of white
+Sylk, who pronounced a proper Poezi in English Rime and meeter."...
+"This her majestie benignly accepting, passed foorth untoo the next gate
+of the Brayz, which, for the length, largenes, and use they call now
+the Tylt-yard; whear a Porter, tall of Person, big of lim and stearn of
+countinance, wrapt also all in Sylke, with a club and keiz of quantitee
+according, had a rough speech full of Passions, in meeter aptly made to
+the purpose."
+
+  [Sidenote: _A Giant's Portrait._]
+
+Be it here recorded that the Charioteers had the pleasure while in
+London of looking upon the portrait of this giant porter, which hangs in
+the King's Guard Chamber at Hampton Court Palace. It is supposed to have
+been painted by the Italian artist Ferdinando Zucchero, who, it will be
+remembered, visited England. The fellow is truly called "big of lim,"
+for the canvas is more than nine feet high and the figure, which is said
+to be of life size, measures eight and a half feet. His hand is
+seventeen inches long. He stands with his left hand on his hip and his
+right on a long rapier; is dressed in large balloon breeches, with black
+stockings, and a white quilted vest with a black waistcoat over it; and
+wears a cap with a feather in it and a small ruff. The picture was
+painted after the queen's visit to Kenilworth, for the date 1580 is
+plainly to be seen in one of the upper corners.
+
+When the great porter had concluded, "six Trumpetoours, every one an
+eight foot hye in due proportion of Parson beside, all in long garments
+of Sylk suitabl," who stood upon the wall over the gate, sounded a "tune
+of welcum." These "armonious blasterz mainteined their music very
+delectably," while the queen rode into the inner gate, "where the Ladye
+of the Lake (famous in King Arthurz Book) with two Nymphes waiting uppon
+her, arrayed all in Sylks, attended her highness' coming. From the midst
+of the Pool, whear uppon a moovable Iland bright blazing with Torches,
+she floating to land, met her majestie with a well-penned meeter,"
+expressive of the "Anncientie of the castl" and the hereditary dignity
+of its owners.
+
+"This Pageant was cloz'd up with a delectabl harmony of Hautboiz,
+Shalmz, Cornets, and such oother loord Muzik," that held on while her
+majesty crossed a bridge over a dry valley in front of the castle gate,
+the different posts of which were decorated with fruits, flowers, birds,
+and other decorations emblematic of the gifts of Sylvanus, Pomona,
+Ceres, Neptune, and other divinities. Having passed this, the main gate
+of the castle was reached. Over it, on a "Tabl beautifully garnisht
+aboove with her Highness' Arms" was inscribed a Latin poem descriptive
+of the various tributes paid to her arrival by the gods and goddesses.
+The verses were read to her by a poet "in a long ceruleoous garment,
+with a side and wide sleevz Venecian wize drawen up to his elboz, his
+dooblet sleevz under that Crimson, nothing but Sylk: a Bay garland on
+his head, and a skro in his hand."... "So passing into the inner Coourt,
+her majesty (that never rides but alone), thear sat down from her
+palfrey, was conveied up to Chamber: When after did follo so great peal
+of gunz, and such lightning by fyrwork a long space toagither, as
+Jupiter woold sheaw himself too be no furthur behind with his welcoom
+than the rest of his gods."
+
+The chronicler then gives an account of the festivities, which lasted
+seventeen days and comprised nearly every amusement known to the period.
+On Sunday, after "divine servis and preaching," the afternoon was spent
+in "excellent muzik of sundry swet Instruments and in dauncing of Lordes
+and Ladiez, and other woorshipfull degreez, uttered with such lively
+agilitee and commendable grace az whither it moought be more straunge
+too the eye, or pleazunt too the minde, for my part indeed I coold not
+discern."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Bearbaiting._]
+
+One morning was devoted to a bearbaiting, in which thirteen bears and
+bandogs took part, "with such fending and prooving, with plucking and
+tugging, skratting and byting, by plain tooth and nayll a to side and
+toother, such expens of blood and leather waz thear between them, as a
+moonths licking I ween will not recoover."
+
+Refined amusement, you say, for the Queen of England and her court only
+three hundred years ago. But not so fast, my dear lady; think what three
+hundred years hence will say of you and your amusements. Did you not
+give us a lively description the other evening of your riding after the
+hounds? Lady Gay Spanker herself, I thought, could not have done it
+better, and I am sure she was not more fascinating than you. But long
+before one hundred years shall pass, my friend, ladies in your station
+will be equally amazed that you could so torture a poor hare or fox and
+feel it to be not only not _unworthy of a lady_ but a source of
+enjoyment to you. I say your grandchild will blush for her grandma as
+she shows to her children the picture of your lovely face. What Queen
+Elizabeth is now in your eyes, what Roman emperors in the bloody
+Coliseum were in hers, you will be in the eyes of the third generation
+after you. Think of this. Remember what Cowper says:
+
+      "I would not rank among my list of friends,
+      Though graced with polished manners and fine sense,
+      That man who needlessly sets foot upon a worm."
+
+Men will give up such sports after a time; but surely we may expect
+women to find even in this day not only no pleasure but even positive
+pain in such sports and leave them to coarser natures.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Sunday Amusements._]
+
+Another day was marked by the exhibition of an Italian tumbler, who
+displayed "such feats of agilitee, in goinges, turninges, tumblinges,
+castings, hops, jumps, leaps, skips, springs, gambaud, soomersauts,
+caprettiez, and flights; forward, backward, sydewize, a doownward,
+upward, and with sundry windings, gyrings and circumflexions; allso
+lightly and with such eaziness, as by me in feaw words it is not
+expressibl by pen or speech I tell yoo plain." On the second Sunday,
+after a "frutefull Sermon," a "solemn Brydeale of a proper Coopl was
+appointed in the tylt-yard," attended by all the country folk in holiday
+costume. This was followed by Morris dances, a Coventry play, and other
+games. "By my troth, Master Martyn, 'twaz a lively pastime; I beleeve it
+woold have mooved sum man to a right meerry mood, though had it be toold
+him hiz wife lay a dying." And all this on the Holy Sawbath--for shame,
+Queen Bess!
+
+Nearly every hour had its appointed sport, one amusement following
+another in endless variety, and the park was peopled with mimic gods and
+goddesses who surprised the queen with complimentary dialogues and
+addresses at every turn. Dancing and feasting were kept up all day long
+and far into the night, for no note was taken of time. "The clok bell
+sang not a note all the while her highness waz thear; the clok also
+stood still withall; the handz of both the tablz stood firm and fast,
+allwayz poynting at two a clok," the hour of banquet.
+
+The day of our visit to Kenilworth was very warm, even for Americans,
+and after luncheon we became a lazy, sleepy party. I have a distinct
+recollection of an upward and then a downward movement which awoke me
+suddenly. One after another of the party, caught asleep on a rug, was
+treated to a tossing amid screams of laughter. We were all very drowsy,
+but a fresh breeze arose as the sun declined, and remounting the coach
+late in the afternoon we had a charming drive to Stratford-on-Avon.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      STRATFORD-ON-AVON, June 23.
+
+Our resting-place was the Red Horse Inn, of which Washington Irving has
+written so delightfully. One can hardly say that he comes into
+Shakespeare's country, for one is always there, so deeply and widely has
+his influence reached. We live in his land always; but, as we approached
+the quiet little village where he appeared on earth, we could not help
+speculating upon the causes which produced the prodigy. One almost
+expects nature herself to present a different aspect to enable us to
+account in some measure for the apparition of a being so far beyond all
+others; but it is not so--we see only the quiet beauty which
+characterizes almost every part of England. His sweet sonnets seem the
+natural outbirth of the land. Where met he the genius of tragedy, think
+you? Surely not on the cultivated banks of the gentle Avon, where all is
+so tame. But as Shakespeare resembled other burghers of Stratford so
+much, not showing upon the surface that he was that
+
+                      "largest son of time
+      Who wandering sang to a listening world,"
+
+  [Sidenote: _Shakespeare's Tomb._]
+
+our search for external conditions as to his environment need not be
+continued. Ordinary laws are inapplicable--he was a law unto himself.
+How or why Shakespeare was Shakespeare will be settled when there shall
+be few problems of the race left to settle. It is well that he lies on
+the banks of the Avon, for that requires us to make a special visit to
+his shrine to worship him. His mighty shade alone fills the mind. True
+monotheists are we all who make the pilgrimage to Stratford. I have been
+there often, but I am always awed into silence as I approach the church;
+and when I stand beside the ashes of Shakespeare I cannot repress stern,
+gloomy thoughts, and ask why so potent a force is now but a little dust.
+The inexplicable waste of nature, a million born that one may live,
+seems nothing compared to this--the brain of a god doing its work one
+day and food for worms the next! No wonder, George Eliot, that this was
+ever the weight that lay upon your heart and troubled you so!
+
+A cheery voice behind me. "What is the matter? Are you ill? You look as
+if you hadn't a friend in the world!" Thanks, gentle remembrancer. This
+is no time for the Scribe to forget himself. We are not out for lessons
+or for moralizing. Things are and shall be "altogether lovely." One must
+often laugh if one would not cry.
+
+Here is a funny conceit. A worthy draper in the town has recently put an
+upright stone at the head of his wife's grave, with an inscription
+setting forth the dates of her birth and death, and beneath it the
+following verse:
+
+      "For the Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are
+      exceeding glad."
+
+The wretch! One of the wives of our party declared that she could not
+like a man who could think at such a crisis of such a verse, no matter
+how he meant it. She was confident that he was one of those terribly
+resigned kind of men who will find that the Lord has done great things
+for him in the shape of a second helpmeet within two years.
+
+This led to a search for other inscriptions. Here is one which struck
+our fancy:
+
+      "Under these ashes lies one close confined,
+      Who was to all both affable and kind;
+      A neighbor good, extensive to ye poor,
+      Her soul we hope's at rest forevermore."
+
+This was discussed and considered to go rather too far. Good
+Swedenborgians still dispute about the body's rising again, and make a
+great point of that, as showing their superior wisdom, as if it mattered
+whether we rise with this body or another, any more than whether we wear
+one suit of clothes or another; the great matter being that we rise at
+all. But this good friend seems to bespeak rest forever for the soul.
+One of us spoke of having lately seen a very remarkable collection of
+passages from Scripture which seemed to permit the hope that all for
+whom a kind father has nothing better in store than perpetual torture
+will kindly be permitted to rest. One of the passages in question was:
+"For the wicked shall _perish_ everlastingly." The question was remitted
+to the theologians of our party, with instructions to give it prayerful
+consideration and report.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Everlasting Punishment._]
+
+If there be Scriptural warrant for the belief, I wish to embrace it at
+once. Meanwhile I am not going to be sure that any poor miserable sinner
+is to be disturbed when after "life's fitful fever he sleeps well" on
+the tender, forgiving bosom of mother earth, unless he can be _finally_
+fitted for as good or a better life than this. Therefore, good Emma and
+Ella and the rest who are staunch dogmatists, be very careful how you
+report, for it is a fearful thing to charge our Creator unjustly with
+decreeing everlasting torture even to the worst offender into whom He
+has breathed the breath of life. Refrain, if possible,
+
+      "Under this conjuration speak;
+      For we will hear, note, and believe in heart
+      That what you speak is in your conscience washed
+      As pure as sin with baptism."
+
+I have not yet been favored with the report asked for, and therefore the
+question rests.
+
+The Charioteers got upon delicate ground occasionally, as was to be
+expected, and although in all well regulated families two
+subjects--politics and religion--are proscribed, we came near running
+foul of the latter to-day. There were wide differences of opinion among
+us, of course, from the true blue Presbyterian, strong for all the
+tenets of Calvin, down to the milder Episcopalian who took more hopeful
+views and asked:
+
+      "Shall there not be as good a 'Then' as 'Now'?
+      Haply much better! since one grain of rice
+      Shoots a green feather gemmed with fifty pearls,
+      And all the starry champak's white and gold
+      Lurks in those little, naked, gray spring-buds."
+
+I related an incident which happened in Rome. As I entered the general
+drawing room one evening, an exciting discussion was going forward on
+the very subject which we were then considering. A lady of rank was
+giving expression to very advanced ideas which others were combatting.
+An old gentleman at last said: "Ladies and gentlemen, all this reminds
+me of a discussion we young men were having once in my good old father's
+hall, when my father happened to enter. After listening to us a few
+minutes he said: 'Young men, you may as well cease your arguing. I'll
+tell you all about it. In this life
+
+        "Our ingress is naked and bare,
+        Our progress is trouble and care,
+        Our egress is--no one knows where.
+
+      If you do well here, you'll do well there,--
+      I could tell you no more if I preached for a year."'"
+
+The effect was instantaneous. Unanimous adhesion was given to the old
+gentleman's conclusion, and the party bid each other a cordial good
+night and went reconciled to bed. I am happy to record that such was
+also the effect upon the Charioteers.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Shakespeare Stories._]
+
+It will be taken for granted that while the Charioteers were in this
+hallowed region many stories were told about Shakespeare. Two of the
+gentlemen of our party, at least, dated our love of letters to the
+circumstance that we were messenger boys in the Pittsburgh telegraph
+office; and when we carried telegrams to the managers of the theatre,
+good kind Mr. Porter (followed by one equally kind to us, Mr. Foster)
+permitted us after delivering them to pass up to the gallery among the
+gods, where we heard now and then one of the immortal plays. Having
+heard the melodious flow of words, which of themselves seem to have some
+spiritual meaning apart from the letter--differing in this from all
+other combinations of words--how could we rest till we got the plays and
+learnt most of the notable passages by heart, crooning over them till
+they became parts of our intellectual being? One story, I remember,
+shows how completely the master pervades literature. It is authentic,
+too, for the teller was one of the actors in it.
+
+Visiting friends in a country town, he went with the family to church
+Sunday morning. The clergyman called in the evening and seeing upon the
+parlor table an open copy of Shakespeare, perhaps suspecting (which was
+true) that our friend had been entertaining the ladies with selections
+from it, Sunday evening as it was, he felt moved to say that it was the
+worldling's bible, which for himself he thought but little of and never
+recommended for general reading. It was the mainstay of the theatre.
+That is very strange, said our friend, for we have all been saying that
+the finest part of your sermon was a short quotation from Shakespeare,
+and I have been reading the whole passage to the ladies. Here it is:
+
+      "The quality of mercy is not strained;
+      It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven,
+      Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed;
+      It blesses him that gives, and him that takes."
+
+Imagine the feelings of the narrow, ignorant man, who really thought he
+had a call from God to teach mankind. But he could not help it. A man
+can no more escape the influence of Shakespeare than he can that of
+surroundings. Shakespeare is the environment of all English-speaking
+men.
+
+Davie's Shakespearean story was of a fellow in Venango County who,
+having just "struck ile," bought from a pedler a copy of "As You Like
+It." He was so pleased with Touchstone that he wrote to the pedler: "If
+that fellow Shakespeare ever writes anything more, be sure to get me one
+of the first copies--and d-- the expense!"
+
+  [Sidenote: _Sir Thomas Lucy._]
+
+We had one of the loveliest mornings imaginable for leaving Stratford.
+Many had assembled to see the start, and our horn sounded several
+parting blasts as we crossed the bridge and rode out of the town. Our
+destination was Coventry, twenty-two miles away, and the route lay
+through Charlecote Park and Hampton Lucy. This was one of the most
+perfect of all our days. The deer in hundreds gazed on us as we passed.
+There were some noble stags in the herd, the finest we had seen in
+England, and Charlecote House was the best specimen of an Elizabethan
+mansion. It was built about 1558 by the very Sir Thomas Lucy whom
+Shakespeare satirized as Justice Shallow. The original family name was
+Charlecote or Cherlcote, but about the end of the twelfth century
+William, son of Walter de Cherlcote, assumed the name of Lucy and took
+for his arms three luces (pike fish); so Justice Shallow was warranted
+in affirming that his was an "old coat." The poet's verses will stick to
+him as long as the world lasts; but judging from other circumstances,
+Sir Thomas was a very good sort of a man and no doubt a fair specimen of
+the English Squire of the time. His effigy may still be seen on his tomb
+in Charlecote Church, beside that of his wife--a not unintelligent face,
+with moustache and peaked beard cut square at the end, surrounded by the
+ruff then in fashion. There is no epitaph of himself, but the marble
+bears a warm memorial of his wife, who died five years before him,
+concluding thus:
+
+      "Set down by him that best did know
+      What hath been written to be true."
+
+      THOMAS LUCY.
+
+It is commonly said that Shakespeare was arrested for poaching in this
+very park, but the antiquaries have decided that it was the old park of
+Fulbrook on the Warwick road, where Fulbrook Castle once stood. But it
+makes little difference where the precise place was. That is of interest
+only to the Dryasdusts. All we care to know is that Shakespeare wanted
+a taste of venison which was denied him, and took it without leave or
+license. The descendant of that squire, my gentle Shakespeare, would
+give you the entire herd for another speech to "the poor sequestered
+stag," which you could dash off--no, you never dashed off anything;
+create? no; evolved? that's nearer it; _distilled_--there we have
+it--distilled as the pearls of dew are distilled by nature's sweet
+influences unknown to man. He would exchange Charlecote estate, man, for
+another Hamlet or Macbeth, or Lear or Othello, and the world would buy
+it from him for double the cost of all his broad acres, and esteem
+itself indebted to him forever. The really precious things of this world
+are its books.
+
+To _do_ things is not one-half the battle. Carlyle is all wrong about
+this. To be able to tell the world what you have done, that is the
+greater accomplishment! Caesar is the greatest man of the sword because
+he was in his day the greatest man of the pen. Had he known how to fight
+only, tradition would have handed down his name for a few generations
+with a tolerably correct account of his achievements; but now every
+school-boy fights over again his battles and surmounts the difficulties
+he surmounted, and so his fame goes on increasing forever.
+
+What a man says too often outlives what he does, even when he does great
+things. General Grant's fame is not to rest upon the fact that he was
+successful in killing his fellow-citizens in a civil war, all traces of
+which America wishes to obliterate, but upon the words he said now and
+then. His "Push things!" will influence Americans when Vicksburg shall
+be forgotten. "I propose to fight it out on this line" will be part of
+the language when few will remember when it was spoken; and "Let us have
+peace" is Grant's most lasting monument. Truly, both the pen and the
+tongue are mightier than the sword!
+
+  [Sidenote: _Beautiful Trees._]
+
+The drive from Warwick to Leamington is famous, but not comparable to
+that between Leamington and Coventry. Nowhere else can be found such an
+avenue of stately trees; for many miles a strip about two hundred feet
+wide on both sides of the road is wooded. In passing through this
+plantation many a time did we bless the good, kind, thoughtful soul who
+generations ago laid posterity under so great an obligation. Dead and
+gone, his name known to the local antiquary and appreciated by a few of
+the district, but never heard of beyond it. "So shines a good deed in a
+naughty world." Receive the warm thanks and God bless you of pilgrims
+from a land now containing the majority of the English-speaking races,
+which was not even born when you planted these stately trees. Americans
+come to bless your memory; for what says Sujata:
+
+      "For holy books teach when a man shall plant
+      Trees for the travellers' shade, and dig a well
+      For the folks' comfort, and beget a son,
+      It shall be good for such after their death."
+
+Who shall doubt that it is well with the dear, kind soul who planted the
+thousand trees which delighted us this day, nodding their graceful
+boughs in genial welcome to the strangers and forming a triumphal arch
+in their honor.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      COVENTRY, June 24.
+
+  [Sidenote: _George Eliot._]
+
+Coventry in these days has a greater than Godiva. George Eliot stands
+alone among women; no second near that throne. We visited the little
+school-room where she learnt her first lessons; but more than that, the
+Mayor, who kindly conducted us through the city, introduced us to a man
+who had been her teacher. "I knew the strange little thing well," he
+said. A proud privilege indeed! I would have given much to know George
+Eliot, for many reasons. I heard with something akin to fellowship that
+she longed to be at every symphony, oratorio, or concert of classical
+music, and rarely was that strong, brooding face missed at such feasts.
+Indeed, it was through attending one of these that she caught the cold
+which terminated fatally. Music was a passion with her, as she found in
+it calm and peace for the troubled soul tossed and tried by the sad, sad
+things of life. I understand this. A friend told me that a lady friend
+of hers, who was staying at the hotel in Florence where George Eliot
+was, made her acquaintance casually without knowing her name. Something,
+she knew not what, attracted her to her, and after a few days she began
+sending flowers to the strange woman. Completely fascinated, she went
+almost daily for hours to sit with her. This continued for many days,
+the lady using the utmost freedom, and not without feeling that the
+attention was pleasing to the queer, plain, and unpretending
+Englishwoman. One day she discovered by chance who her companion really
+was. Never before, as she said, had she felt such mortification. She
+went timidly to George Eliot's room and took her hand in hers, but
+shrank back unable to speak, while the tears rolled down her cheeks.
+"What is wrong?" was asked, and then the explanation came. "I didn't
+know who you were. I never suspected it was _you_!" Then came George
+Eliot's turn to be embarrassed. "You did not know I was George Eliot,
+but you were drawn to plain me all for my own self, a woman? I am so
+happy!" She kissed the American lady tenderly, and the true friendship
+thus formed knew no end, but ripened to the close.
+
+The finest thing not in her works that I know this genius to have said
+is this: Standing one day leaning upon the mantel she remarked: "I can
+imagine the coming of a day when the effort to relieve human beings in
+distress will be as involuntary upon the part of the beholder as to
+clasp this mantel would be this moment on my part were I about to fall."
+There's an ideal for you! Christ might have said that.
+
+The state here imagined is akin to her friend Herbert Spencer's grand
+paragraph.
+
+"Conscientiousness has in many outgrown that stage in which the sense of
+a compelling power is joined with rectitude of action. The truly honest
+man, here and there to be found, is not only without thought of legal,
+religious, or social compulsion, when he discharges an equitable claim
+on him; but he is without thought of self-compulsion. He does the right
+thing with a simple feeling of satisfaction in doing it, and is indeed
+impatient if anything prevents him from having the satisfaction of doing
+it." Who is going to cloud the horizon of the future of our race with
+traitor-doubts when already, in our own day, amid much which saddens us,
+the beams of a brighter sun, herald of a better day, already touch the
+mountain tops, for such are this woman and this man towering above their
+fellows. By and by these beams will reach the lesser heights--and anon,
+the very plains will be transformed by them, and
+
+      "Man to man the world o'er shall brothers be,
+                                  And a' that."
+
+I think that because we are so happy in this glorious life we are now
+leading, we are disposed to be so very kind to each other. The
+Charioteers, one and all, seem to me to have reached Mr. Spencer's
+ideal. If there's a thing that can be done to promote the happiness of
+others, they are only impatient till they have the satisfaction of doing
+it. Happiness is known to be a great beautifier--but is it not also a
+great doer of good to others? It was resolved to debate the question
+whether the happy person is not also the one who really thinks most and
+does most for others--not for hope of reward or fear of punishment, but
+simply because he has reached the stage where he has a simple
+satisfaction in doing it.
+
+  [Sidenote: _George Eliot's Poetry._]
+
+Here is George Eliot's greatest thing in poetry, for her poems are much
+less known than they should be.
+
+      "O may I join the choir invisible
+      Of those immortal dead who live again
+      In minds made better by their presence: live
+      In pulses stirred to generosity,
+      In deeds of daring rectitude, in scorn
+      For miserable aims that end with self,
+      In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars,
+      And with their mild persistence urge men's search
+      To vaster issues.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                "May I reach
+      That purest heaven, be to other souls
+      The cup of strength in some great agony,
+      Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love,
+      Beget the smiles that have no cruelty--
+      Be the sweet presence of a good diffused,
+      And in diffusion ever more intense.
+      So shall I join the choir invisible
+      Whose music is the gladness of the world."
+
+One thing more about our heroine, and a grand thing, said by Colonel
+Ingersoll. "In the court of her own conscience she sat pure as light,
+stainless as a star." I believe that, my dear Colonel. Why can you not
+give the world such gems as you are capable of, and let us alone about
+future things, concerning which you know no more than a new-born babe or
+a D.D.?
+
+There is a good guide-book for Coventry, and there's much to tell about
+that city. It was once the ecclesiastical centre of England. Parliaments
+have sat there and great things have been done in Coventry. Many curious
+and valuable papers are seen in the hall. There is the order of Queen
+Elizabeth to her truly and well-beloved Mayor of Coventry, directing him
+to assist Earls Huntingdon and Shrewsbury in good charge of Mary Queen
+of Scots. There is a mace given by Cromwell to the corporation. You see
+that ruler of men could bestow maces as well as order his troopers to
+"take away that bauble" when the commonwealth required nursing. These
+and many more rare treasures are kept in an old building which is not
+fire-proof--a clear tempting of Providence. If I ever become so great a
+man as a councillor of Coventry, my maiden speech shall be upon the
+enormity of this offence. A councillor who carried a vote for a
+fire-proof building should some day reach the mayorship. This is a hint
+to our friends there.
+
+The land question still troubles England, but even in Elizabeth's time
+it was thought not unconstitutional to fix rents arbitrarily. Here lies
+an edict of Her Majesty good Queen Bess, fixing the rates for pasturage
+on the commons near Coventry: "For one cow per week, one penny; for one
+horse, two-pence." Our agriculturists should take this for a basis, a
+Queen Elizabeth valuation! I suppose some expert or other could figure
+the "fair rent" for anything, if given this basis to start upon.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Coventry Cathedral._]
+
+The churches are very fine, the stained-glass windows excelling in some
+respects any we have seen, the amount of glass is so much greater. The
+entire end of one of the cathedral churches is filled by three immense
+windows reaching from floor to roof, the effect of which is very grand.
+The choir of this church is not in line with the other portion of the
+building. In reply to my inquiry why this was so, the guide boldly
+assured us, with a look of surprise at our ignorance, that all
+cathedrals are so constructed, and that the crooked choir symbolizes the
+head of Christ, which is always represented leaning to one side of the
+cross. This idea made me shiver; I felt as if I should never be able to
+walk up the aisle of a cathedral again without an unpleasant sensation.
+Thanks to a clear-headed, thorough-going young lady, who, "just didn't
+believe it," we soon got at the truth about cathedrals, for she proved
+that they are everywhere built on straight lines. This guide fitly
+illustrates the danger of good men staying at home in their little
+island. His cathedral is crooked, and therefore all others are or should
+be so. Very English this. Very. There are many things still crooked in
+the dear old tight little isle which other lands have straightened out
+long ago, or rather never built crooked. Hurry up, you leader of nations
+in generations past! It's not your role in the world to lag behind; at
+least it has not been till lately, when others have "bettered your
+instruction." Come along, England, you are not done for; only stir
+yourself, and the lead is still yours. The guide was a theological
+student, and therefore could not be expected to have much general
+knowledge, but he surely should have known something about cathedrals.
+
+It rained at Coventry during breakfast, and friend G. ventured to
+suggest that perhaps some of the ladies might prefer going by rail to
+Birmingham and join the coach there, at luncheon; but
+
+      "He did not know the stuff
+      Of our gallant crew, so tough,
+      On board the Charioteer O."
+
+He was "morally sat upon," as Lucy says. Not a lady but indignantly
+repelled the suggestion. Even Mrs. G., a bride, and naturally somewhat
+in awe of her husband yet, went so far as to say "Tom is a little queer
+this morning."
+
+Waterproofs and umbrellas to the front, we sallied forth from the
+courtyard of the Queen's in a drenching down-pour.
+
+      "But what care we how wet we be,
+      By the coach we'll live or die."
+
+That was the sentiment which animated our breasts. For my part I was
+very favorably situated, and I held my umbrella very low to shield my
+fair charge the better. Of course I greatly enjoyed the first few miles
+under such conditions. My young lady broke into song, and I thought I
+caught the sense of the words, which I fondly imagined was something
+like this:
+
+      "For if you are under an umbrella
+      With a very handsome fellow,
+      It cannot matter much what the weather may be."
+
+I asked if I had caught the words correctly, but she archly insinuated
+there was something in the second line that wasn't quite correct. I
+think, though, she was only in fun; the words were quite right, only her
+eyes seemed to wander in the direction of young B.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Oxford Don._]
+
+None of the ladies would go inside, so Joe had the compartment all to
+himself, and no doubt smiled at the good joke as we bowled along. Joe
+was dry inside, and Perry, though outside, was just the same ere we found
+an inn. This recalled the story of the coachman and the Oxford Don, when
+the latter expressed his sympathy at the condition of the former; so
+sorry he was so wet. "Wouldn't mind being so wet, your honor, if I
+weren't so _dry_." But I think R. P.'s story almost as good as that. A
+Don tried to explain to the coachman the operation of the telegraph as
+they drove along. "They take a glass about the size of an ordinary
+tumbler, and this they fill with a liquid resembling--ah--like--ah--"
+"Anything like beer, your honor, for instance?" If Jehu didn't get his
+complimentary glass at the next halt, that Don was a muff.
+
+The rain ceased, as usual, before we had gone far, and we had a clear
+dry run until luncheon. We see the Black Country now, rows of little
+dingy houses beyond, with tall smoky chimneys vomiting smoke, mills and
+factories at every turn, coal pits and rolling mills and blast furnaces,
+the very bottomless pit itself; and such dirty, careworn children,
+hard-driven men, and squalid women. To think of the green lanes, the
+larks, the Arcadia we have just left. How can people be got to live such
+terrible lives as they seem condemned to here? Why do they not all run
+away to the green fields just beyond? Pretty rural Coventry suburbs in
+the morning and Birmingham at noon; the lights and shadows of human
+existence can rarely be brought into sharper contrast. If
+
+      "Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay"
+
+surely better a year in Leamington than life's span in the Black
+Country! But do not let us forget that it is just Pittsburgh over again;
+nay, not even quite so bad, for that city bears the palm for dirt
+against the world. The fact is, however, that life in such places seems
+attractive to those born to rural life, and large smoky cities drain the
+country; but surely this may be safely attributed to necessity. With
+freedom to choose, one would think the rush would be the other way. The
+working classes in England do not work so hard or so unceasingly as do
+their fellows in America. They have ten holidays to the American's one.
+Neither does their climate entail such a strain upon men as ours does.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Overworked Americans._]
+
+I remember after Vandy and I had gone round the world and were walking
+Pittsburgh streets, we decided that the Americans were the
+saddest-looking race we had seen. Life is so terribly earnest here.
+Ambition spurs us all on, from him who handles the spade to him who
+employs thousands. We know no rest. It is different in the older
+lands--men rest oftener and enjoy more of what life has to give. The
+young Republic has some things to teach the parent land, but the elder
+has an important lesson to teach the younger in this respect. In this
+world we must learn not to lay up our treasures, but to enjoy them day
+by day as we travel the path we never return to. If we fail in this we
+shall find when we do come to the days of leisure that we have lost the
+taste for and the capacity to enjoy them. There are so many unfortunates
+cursed with plenty to retire upon, but with nothing to retire to! Sound
+wisdom that school-boy displayed who did not "believe in putting away
+for to-morrow the cake he could eat to-day." It might not be fresh on
+the morrow, or the cat might steal it. The cat steals many a choice bit
+from Americans intended for the morrow. Among the saddest of all
+spectacles to me is that of an elderly man occupying his last years
+grasping for more dollars. "The richest man in America sailing suddenly
+for Europe to escape business cares," said a wise Scotch gentleman to
+me, one morning, as he glanced over the _Times_ at breakfast. Make a
+note of that, my enterprising friends, and let it be recorded here that
+this was written before my friend Herbert Spencer preached to us the
+gospel of relaxation.
+
+It has always been assumed that dirt and smoke are necessary evils in
+manufacturing towns, but the next generation will probably wonder how
+men could be induced to live under such disagreeable conditions. Many of
+us will live to see all the fuel which is now used in so thriftless a
+way converted into clean gas before it is fed to the furnaces, and thus
+consumed without poisoning the atmosphere with smoke, which involves at
+the same time so great a loss of carbon. Birmingham and Pittsburgh will
+some day rejoice in unsullied skies, and even London will be a clean
+city.
+
+We spent the afternoon in Birmingham, and enjoyed a great treat in the
+Public Hall, in which there is one of the best organs of the world. It
+is played every Saturday by an eminent musician, admission free. This is
+one of the little--no, one of the great--things done for the masses in
+many cities in England, the afternoon of Saturday being kept as a
+holiday everywhere.
+
+Here is the programme for Saturday, June 25:
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+      Town Hall Organ Recital.
+
+      BY MR. STIMPSON
+
+      FROM 3 TILL 4 O'CLOCK.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Programme for June 25, 1881:
+
+      1.  _Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream,    Mendelssohn._
+
+      (It will only be necessary to state this descriptive
+      Overture was written in Berlin, August 6, 1826. Shakespeare
+      and Mendelssohn must have been kindred spirits, for surely
+      no more poetic inspiration ever came from the pen of any
+      musical composer than the Overture of the great German
+      master.)
+
+      2.  _Romanza,                                        Haydn._
+
+      (This charming Movement is taken from the Symphony which
+      Haydn wrote in 1786, for Paris, entitled "La Reine de
+      France," and has been arranged for the organ by Mr. Best,
+      of Liverpool.)
+
+      3.  _Offertoire, in F major,                       Batiste._
+
+      (All the works of the French masters, Wely, Batiste,
+      Guilmant, and Saint-Saens, if not severely classical, have
+      a certain grace and charm which make them acceptable to
+      even the most prejudiced admirers of the ancient masters;
+      and this Offertoire of Batiste is one of the most popular
+      of his compositions.)
+
+      4.  _Fugue in G minor,                          J. S. Bach._
+
+      (It may interest connoisseurs to know this grand Fugue was
+      selected by the Umpires for the trial of skill when the
+      present Organist of the Town Hall was elected.)
+
+      5.  _Jaglied (Hunting Song),                      Schumann._
+
+      6.  _Selection from the Opera "Martha"              Flotow._
+
+      (The Opera from which this selection is taken was written
+      in Vienna, in 1847, and, in conjunction with "Stradella,"
+      at once stamped the name of the author as one of the most
+      popular of the dramatic composers of the present day.)
+
+      7.  _Dead March in Saul,                            Handel._
+
+      In Memoriam, Sir Josiah Mason.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      Price One Halfpenny.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+      _The next Free Organ Recital will be given on July 2d_,
+
+      =AT THREE O'CLOCK.=
+
+      A HISTORY OF THE TOWN HALL ORGAN (A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND
+      ENLARGED,) BY MR. STIMPSON,
+
+      Is now ready, and may be had in the Town Hall, and the
+      Midland Educational Co.'s Warehouse, New Street.
+
+      =NOTICE.--A box will be placed at each door to receive
+      contributions, to defray the expenses of these recitals.=
+
+The Prima Donna said she had never before heard an organ so grandly
+played, and she knows. The management of the left hand in the fugue she
+declared wonderful. It is best to give the best for the masses, even in
+music, the highest of our gifts. John Bright has made most of his
+speeches in this hall, but it is no longer large enough for the Liberal
+demonstrations, and a much larger structure has been erected.
+
+We are behind in providing music for the people, but it says much for
+the progress of the Republic in these higher domains, from whence come
+sweetness and light, that the greatest tragic singer, Frau Materna, said
+to a friend that she would tell Herr Wagner upon her return that if he
+wished to hear his greatest music performed better than ever it had been
+before he must come to New York. Alas! even as I re-write these pages
+comes the sad news that we can reap no more from that genius. He has
+made his contribution to the world, and a noble one it is, rejoicing
+many hearts and lifting many above their surroundings to exquisite
+enjoyments beyond; and now he closes his eyes and vanishes; the long
+day's task is ended and he must sleep.
+
+To-night the Symphony Society substitutes for another number of their
+programme his Funeral March. It will seem like a voice from the grave;
+not a dry eye, nor a cold heart will be in the house. A soul has taken
+flight to whom we are under obligation, which must increase and increase
+the longer we live, for it has given expression to much that is of our
+highest and best, and suggested a thousandfold more than ever could be
+expressed. Our benefactor is indeed gone, in a sense material, but his
+soul lives with us and his voice will still be heard calling us up
+higher. The man who reveals new beauties in music enriches human life in
+one of its highest phases, and is to be ranked with the true poet. He
+who composes great music is the equal of him who writes great words;
+Beethoven, Handel, and Wagner are worthy compeers of Shakespeare,
+Milton, and Burns.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Furnaces and Coalpits._]
+
+The eleven miles between Birmingham and Wolverhampton are nothing but
+one vast iron-working, coal-mining establishment. There is scarcely a
+blade of grass of any kind to be seen, and not one real clean pure blade
+did we observe during the journey. It was Saturday afternoon and the
+mills were all idle, and the operatives thronged the villages through
+which we drove. O mills and furnaces and coal-pits and all the rest of
+you, you may be necessary, but you are no bonnie! Pittsburghers though
+many of us were, inured to smoke and dirt, we felt the change very
+deeply from the hedgerows, the green pastures, the wild flowers and
+pretty clean cottages, and voted the district "horrid." Wolverhampton's
+steeples soon came into sight, and we who had been there and could
+conjure up dear, honest, kindly faces waiting to welcome us with warm
+hearts, were quite restored to our usual spirits, notwithstanding dirt
+and squalor. The sun of a warm welcome from friends gives many clouds a
+silver lining, and it did make the black country brighter. The coach and
+horses, and Joe and Perry, not to mention our generalissimo, belong to
+Wolverhampton, as you know, and our arrival had been looked for by many.
+The crowd was quite dense in the principal street as we drove through.
+One delegation after another was left at friends' houses, the
+Charioteers having been billeted upon the connection; and here for the
+first time we were to enjoy a respite.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      WOLVERHAMPTON, June 25-30.
+
+We were honored by an entertainment at his Honor the Mayor's. As usual
+on fine days in England, the attractions of the mansion (and they are
+not small in this case) gave place to open-air enjoyments on the
+lawn--the game, the race, the stroll, and all the rest of the sports
+which charm one in this climate. The race across the lawn was far better
+fun than the Derby, but our gentlemen must go into strict training
+before they challenge those English girls again. It is some consolation
+that Iroquois has since vindicated the glory of the Republic.
+
+We coached one day about fourteen miles to Apley House, and had a joyous
+picnic day with our friends Mr. and Mrs. S----, of Newton. The party
+numbered seventy odd, great and small. That day the Charioteers agreed
+should be marked as a red-letter day in their annals, for surely never
+was a day's excursion productive of more enjoyment to all of us. There
+are few, if any, prettier views in England than that from the terrace at
+Apley House. The Vale of Severn deserves its reputation. We had a trip
+on the river for several miles from Bridgenorth to the grounds as part
+of the day's pleasure.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Small Rivers._]
+
+How very small England's great rivers are! I remember how deeply hurt
+Mr. F---- was when his Yankee nephew (H. P. Jr., Our Pard) visited him
+for the first time, and was shown the river by his uncle, who loved it.
+"Call this a river?" exclaimed he, "why, it's only a creek! I could
+almost jump across it there." But H. P. was young then, and would not
+have hesitated to "speak disrespectfully of the equator" upon occasion.
+I won the good man's heart at once by saying that small though it was in
+size (and what has either he or I to boast of in that line, I wonder?)
+little Severn filled a larger space in the world's destiny and the
+world's thoughts than twenty mighty streams. Listen:
+
+      "Three times they breathed and three times did they drink
+      Upon agreement of swift Severn's flood,
+      Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks,
+      Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds
+      And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank,
+      Blood-stained with these violent combatants."
+
+Why, you have not a river like that in all America. H. P. was
+judiciously silent. But I do not think he was ever quite forgiven.
+These Americans have always such big ideas.
+
+The free library at Wolverhampton interested me. I do not know where
+better proof of the advantages of such an institution is to be found. It
+was started upon a small scale, about fifteen thousand dollars being
+expended; now some forty thousand dollars have been spent upon the
+building. Last year eighty-six thousand books were issued. I counted at
+noon, June 30th, sixty-three persons in the reading-room, and at another
+time nearly two hundred readers. On Saturdays, between two and ten P.M.,
+the number averages fully a thousand. In addition to the circulating
+library, there are a reference library, a museum, and large
+reading-rooms. Several courses of lectures are connected with the
+institution, with teachers for the various branches. One teacher, a Mr.
+Williams, has "passed" scholars in the science and art department every
+year, and one year every one of his scholars passed the Kensington
+examination. A working plumber who attended these classes gained prizes
+for chemistry and electricity, and is now secretary of the water-works
+at Chepstow. We may hear more of that climber yet. Plenty of room at the
+top! No sectarian papers are subscribed for, but all reputable
+publications are received if sent. In this way all sects are represented
+by their best, if the members see fit to contribute them. This is the
+true plan. "Error may be tolerated if truth be free to combat it. Let
+truth and error grapple." This city levies one penny per pound upon the
+rates, as authorized by the Libraries act. This nets about four thousand
+dollars per annum. Just see what powerful agencies for the improvement
+of the people can be set on foot for a trifling sum.
+
+  [Sidenote: _A People's Library._]
+
+And do not fail to note that this library, like all others in Britain
+organized under the Libraries act, does not pauperize a people. It is no
+man's library, but the library of the people--their own, maintained and
+paid for by public taxation to which all contribute. An endowed library
+is just like an endowed church, at best half and generally wholly
+asleep. It is a great mistake to withdraw from such an institution the
+healthy breeze of public criticism; besides this, people never
+appreciate what is wholly given to them so highly as that to which they
+themselves contribute.
+
+Wolverhampton is a go-ahead city (I note a strong Scotch element there).
+A fine park, recently acquired and laid out with taste, shows that the
+physical well-being of the people is not lost sight of. The
+administration of our friend ex-Mayor D. is to be credited with this
+invaluable acquisition. Mr. D. took the most prominent part in the
+matter, and having succeeded he can consider the park his own estate. It
+is not in any sense taken away from him, nor one of its charms lessened,
+because his fellow-citizens share its blessings. Indeed as I strolled
+through it with him I thought the real sense of ownership must be
+sweeter from the thousands of his fellows whom we saw rejoicing within
+it than if he were indeed the lordly owner in fee and rented it for
+revenue. This whole subject of meum and tuum needs reconsideration. If
+Burns, when he held his plough in joy upon the mountain-side and saw
+what he saw, felt what he felt, was not more truly the real possessor of
+the land than the reputed nominal landlord, then I do not grasp the
+subject. There are woeful blunders made as to the ownership of things.
+Who owns the treasures of the Sunderland or Hamilton libraries? and who
+will shed the tears over their dispersion, think you, chief mourner by
+virtue of deepest loss, the titled dis-graces, in whose names they
+stand, or the learned librarian whose days have been spent in holy
+companionship with them? It is he who has made them his own, drawn them
+from their miserable owners into his heart. I tell you a man cannot be
+the real owner of a library or a picture gallery without a title from a
+much higher tribunal than the law. Nor a horse either, for that matter.
+Who owns your favorite horse? Test it! I say the groom does. Call Habeeb
+or Roderick. So slow their response! I won't admit they don't know and
+like me too. John knows my weakness and stands out of sight and lets me
+succeed slowly with them; but after that, see at one word from him how
+they prick up their ears and neigh, dance in their boxes, push their
+grand heads under his arm, and say as plainly as can be, "This is our
+man." I'm only a sleeping partner with John in them after all. It's the
+same all through; go to your dogs, or out to your flocks, and see every
+sheep, and even the little lambs, the cows with their kind, glowering
+eyes, the chickens, and every living thing run from you to throng round
+the hand that feeds them. There is no real purchase in money, you must
+win friendship and ownership in the lower range of life with kindness,
+companionship, love; the coin of the realm is not legal tender with
+Trust, or Habeeb, or Brownie, nor with any of the tribe.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Sister Dora._]
+
+Let us not forget to chronicle a visit paid to Walsall, the scene of
+Sister Dora's labors. It is only seven miles from Wolverhampton in the
+very heart of the black country. Dr. T. drove us out to the crowded
+smoky town, and we followed him through the hospital and heard from the
+officials many interesting stories of that wonderful woman. Our friend
+the Doctor also knew her well. She has been known to rush through a
+crowd and separate brutal men who were fighting. The most debased of
+that ignorant mining and iron manufacturing population seemed under her
+influence to an incredible degree; but then her sympathy and her tender
+devotion to every human being in distress were no doubt the secret of
+her power. A desperate case was brought into the hospital late one
+night. The physicians pronounced his recovery hopeless, but Sister Dora
+was not satisfied; indeed, she seemed to feel instinctively that the
+man had still a chance. She told the physicians to leave him, as she
+felt that they could do little good after they had given up hope, and
+took charge of the case herself. She told the poor wretch that she was
+going to stand by him all night and bring him through; and having faith
+herself she inspired it in the patient, and the result was that she
+actually saved the man's life. Here is the very material for a saint.
+Had this occurred a few generations ago, or were it to occur in some
+parts of Italy to-day, Saint Dora would surely be added to the calendar,
+and why not! Let us dispute over the miraculous and supernatural as we
+may, who will deny that the faith of this noble woman and the faith
+transmitted from her sympathetic heart to the poor sufferer were the
+foundation upon which his recovery was built up?
+
+This incident gave rise to a discussion upon the coach one day as to the
+influence of faith in one's ability to do certain things affecting the
+result. The man who goes in to win may win: the one who goes in to lose
+can't win. So far all were agreed. Some of our party were disposed to
+lament the lack of faith which characterizes this age. "There are no
+Abrahams now-a-days," said one. "What would you do, Tom, if you should
+receive a message commanding you to offer up your son upon the altar?"
+"Well," said Tom, who was a telegraph operator in his early days, "I
+think I should first ask to have that message repeated." All right. So
+would we all of us. Still there is a wide province for faith. If it does
+not exactly remove mountains now a days, it at least enables us to
+tunnel them, which is much the same thing as far as practical results
+are concerned.
+
+  [Sidenote: _English Hospitality._]
+
+We can tell you nothing of the hotels of Wolverhampton, but the fourteen
+of us can highly recommend certain quarters where it was our rare
+privilege to be honored guests. Whether the English eat and drink more
+than the Americans may be a debatable question, but they certainly do so
+oftener. The young ladies quartered at Newbridge reported this the only
+bar to perfect happiness; they never wanted to leave the garden for
+meals nor to remain so long at table. As the Prima Donna reported, they
+"just sound a gong and _spring_ luncheons and teas and suppers on you."
+The supper is an English institution, even more sacred than the throne,
+and destined to outlive it. You cannot escape it, and to tell the truth,
+after a little you have no wish to do so. There is much enjoyment at
+supper, and in Scotland this is the toddy-time, and who would miss that
+hour of social glee!
+
+Mention must be made of the private theatricals at Merridale and of the
+amateur concert at Clifton House, both highly creditable to the talented
+performers and productive of great pleasure to the guests. I find a
+programme of the latter and incorporate it as part of the record:
+
+  [Illustration: Clifton House, Wolverhampton,]
+                 JUNE 29TH, 1881.
+                 Programme of Music]
+
+      PIANOFORTE DUET          "Oberon"              _Rene Favayer_
+                      Misses A. J. B. and A. C. B.
+
+      SONG                   "Twenty-one"                  _Molloy_
+                              Miss S. D.
+
+      SONG                    "The Raft"                  _Pinsuti_
+                               Mr. B. P.
+
+      LADIES' TRIO       "O Skylark, for thy wing"          _Smart_
+                         The Misses B. and Miss D.
+
+      SONG                   "A Summer Shower"          _Marziales_
+                                 Miss D.
+
+      SONG                 "The Better Land"                _Cowen_
+                               Miss M. B.
+
+      SONG                   "The Lost Chord"            _Sullivan_
+                                 Miss P.
+
+      PIANOFORTE SOLO          "La Cascade"                 _Pauer_
+                                Miss A. D.
+
+      SONG                  "Let me dream again"         _Sullivan_
+                                  Miss R.
+
+      SONG                     "The Diver"                  _Loder_
+                                 Mr. A. B.
+
+      SONG                   "My Nannie's awa'"                 ----
+                                 Miss J. J.
+
+      DUET          "When the Wind blows in from the Sea"   _Smart_
+                         Miss M. B. and Mr. B. P.
+
+      SONG                "For ever and for ever"     _Paolo Tosti_
+                               Miss A. J. B.
+
+      SONG                 "The Boatswain's Story"         _Molloy_
+                                 Mr. B. P.
+
+                             GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Private Theatricals._]
+
+A great many fine compliments have been paid to performers in this
+world, but do you remember one much better than this? Our Prima Donna
+sang "My Nannie's awa'," my favorite among twenty favorites; and she did
+sing it that night to perfection. We were all proud of her. When she
+returned to her seat next to M., there was whispered in her ear: "Oh,
+Jeannie, the lump's in my throat yet!" All the hundred warm expressions
+bestowed upon her did not weigh as much as that little gem of a tribute.
+When you raise the lump in the throat by a song you are upon the right
+key and have the proper style, even if your teacher has been no other
+than your own heart, the most important teacher of all.
+
+After the theatricals at Merridale came the feast. The supper-table
+comes before me, and the speeches. The orator of the Wolverhampton
+connection is ex-Mayor B. He speaks well, and never did he appear to
+greater advantage than on that evening. It's a sight "gude for sair een"
+to see a good-natured, kindly English gentleman presiding at the festive
+board, surrounded by his children and his children's children, and the
+family connections to the number of seventy odd. They are indeed a
+kindly people, but oh dear! those who have never been out of their
+little island, even the most liberal of them, have such queer,
+restricted notions about the rest of mankind! This, however, is only
+natural; travel is in one sense the only possible educator. England has
+been so far ahead of the world until the present generation, that it is
+difficult for her sons to believe she is sleeping too long. The best
+speech of the evening upon our side was made by Our Pard, who said he
+felt that after he had forgotten all else about this visit, the smiling
+faces of the pretty, rosy-cheeked English young ladies he had been
+admiring ever since he came to Wolverhampton, and never more ardently
+than this evening, would still haunt his thoughts; and then, with more
+emphasis, he closed with these memorable words: "And I tell you, if ever
+young men ask me where they can find the nicest, sweetest, prettiest,
+and best young ladies for wives, they won't have to ask twice."
+(Correct! shake, Pard!)
+
+We were fortunate in seeing the statue of Mr. Villiers unveiled. Earl
+Granville spoke with rare grace and ease, his style being so far beyond
+that of the other speakers that they suffered by comparison. The
+sledge-hammer style of oratory is done. Let ambitious youngsters make a
+note of that, and no longer strut and bellow, and tear a passion all to
+tatters, to very rags. Shakespeare understood it:
+
+      "In the very tempest and I may say whirlwind of your passion,
+      You must beget a temperance to give it utterance."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Coffee Houses._]
+
+The effort now making throughout Great Britain to provide coffee-houses
+as substitutes for the numerous gin palaces has not been neglected in
+Wolverhampton. The Coffee House Company which operates in the city and
+neighborhood has now fourteen houses in successful operation, and, much
+to my astonishment and gratification, I learned that seven and a half
+per cent. dividends were declared and about an equal amount of profit
+reserved for contingencies. In Birmingham there are twenty houses, and
+cash dividends of ten per cent. per annum have been made. If they can be
+generally made to pay even half as well, a grand advance has been made
+in the war against intemperance. I visited one of the houses with
+ex-Mayor D., who, I rejoice to say, is Chairman of the Company, and in
+this great office does more for the cause than a thousand loud-mouthed
+orators who only denounce the evil about which we are all agreed, but
+have no plan to suggest for overcoming it. It is so easy to denounce and
+tear down; but try to build up once and see what slow, discouraging
+labor is involved.
+
+The prices in these coffee-houses are very low: one large cup of good
+tea, coffee, or cocoa, at the counter, 1_d._ (2 cents); one sandwich,
+1_d._ (2 cents). If taken upstairs in a room at a table, one-half more.
+
+There is a reading-room with newspapers free, bagatelle-table, and
+comfortable sitting-rooms; also a ladies' room and a lavatory, and
+cigars, tobacco, and all non-alcoholic drinks are provided. Men go there
+at night to read and to play games. The company has been operating for
+three years, and the business increases steadily. We saw similar houses
+in most of the towns we passed, and wished them God-speed.
+
+A chairman of a company like this has it in his power to do more good
+for the masses, who are the people of England, than if he occupied his
+time as member of Parliament; but the English exalt politics unduly and
+waste the lives of their best men disputing over problems which the more
+advanced Republicans have settled long ago and cleared out of their way.
+They will learn better by and by. We must not be impatient. They are a
+slow race and prone to makeshifts politically.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Lincoln and the Deserter._]
+
+A delegation of the Charioteers passed a happy day visiting one of the
+celebrated homes of England, Bilton Grange, near Rugby, the residence of
+Mr. John Lancaster, whom Americans will remember as the owner of the
+yacht "Deerhound," who rescued Commander Semmes, when the "Kearsarge"
+swept the infamous "Alabama" from the seas. Mr. Lancaster showed us the
+pistols presented to him by the Confederate Officer as token of
+gratitude. This seems like ancient history already, so rapidly has the
+Rebellion and all thoughts thereof faded away. Jefferson Davis goes to
+and fro exciting no remark, arousing some pity. Had he been invested
+with the crown of martyrdom, how different would be the feeling of his
+people to-day! It is with Davis as with the deserter of whom Hon. Daniel
+J. Morrell tells: He took the mother of the runaway to see President
+Lincoln, in Washington, to plead for the life of her darling boy, who
+had been court-martialed and was to be shot in a few days. Lincoln first
+upbraided my friend for subjecting him to such an ordeal, but the poor
+woman was already in the room, sobbing as if her heart would break, and
+there was no help for it. Lincoln conducted her to a seat, asked a great
+many questions, learned that the boy had returned to work at Johnstown,
+and provided for his mother and sister from his earnings, giving as an
+excuse for leaving the army, that it was lying idle on the banks of the
+Potomac and he knew it could not move until spring.
+
+The President mused a few moments, apparently undecided what action to
+take. Even the woman held her breath for the time and awaited in silence
+the word which was to rejoice her or doom her to misery forever.
+
+"Well, I don't believe it would do him any good to shoot him, do you,
+madam?" asked Father Abraham of the mother, in a tone of inquiry so
+natural that one would have thought he was actually in doubt upon the
+subject himself and wanted the opinion of the person who knew the boy
+best.
+
+The mother was speechless. During the inquiry the President had been
+rolling a small strip of paper into a ball. He handed this to Mr.
+Morrell, saying: "Read that when you get out, Daniel, but mind you don't
+tell Stanton."
+
+Mr. Morrell beckoned the woman to the door, placed her in the carriage,
+read the slip, and ordered the coachman to drive at once to the office
+of the Provost Marshal. Here is what he found in that tiny strip: "P.M.
+Washington--Send Private Johnston, Company B, 9th Penn. Infantry, to his
+regiment. A. L."
+
+That is the kind of thing that took our trusting hearts and gave this
+wood-chopper of Illinois such power as all the hereditary monarchs of
+the world can never hope to acquire. Just so with Jefferson Davis:--it
+wouldn't do anybody any good to shoot him. Happy America! strong enough
+to laugh at all powers which talk of assailing you.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Moral for Englishmen._]
+
+In driving to and from Bilton Grange, we passed famous Rugby and talked
+of our favorite Tom Brown. What a sad pity that Mr. Hughes was carried
+away by the fascinations of a scheme for transplanting gentle manly
+Englishmen to the Rugby colony in Tennessee! It was foredoomed to
+failure, and to much heart-burning and recrimination. Of all men in the
+world, your well-educated young Englishman is least adapted for such a
+life as Tennessee has to offer. Had the West or North-west been
+selected, the result should have been different so far as pecuniary
+considerations are concerned, for even poor management there could not
+have kept the land from rising in value. The stream of emigration from
+the older States to the new might have told these men where to go; but
+it seems that whenever foreigners attempt to do anything in America
+through an organization, their first thought is how to do it in a
+manner as far as possible from that of the Americans. The consequence
+is, they generally lose their money. Moral for our English cousins:
+"When in America do as the Americans do." If they settle in Iowa do you
+go and sit down beside them there. And to my iron and steel friends in
+this little island, just one word: If Americans are not overpoweringly
+anxious to develop the wonderful resources, say of Alabama, for
+instance, just you take Rip Van Winkle's plan "go home and t'ink about
+it jest a leetle" before you undertake the task. These Americans do not
+know everything, of course, but it is just possible they may know
+something about their own country.
+
+      "Nae man can tether time nor tide,
+      The hour approaches, Tam maun ride."
+
+Our six days at Wolverhampton had passed rapidly away in one continual
+round of social pleasures, and now we were off again to fresh woods and
+pastures new. The horn sounds. We call the roll once more. Mr. B.,
+Senior, had left us at Windsor, but the Junior B. he sent us fitly
+represented the family. If he couldn't tell as many funny stories nor
+quote as much poetry as his sire, the young Cambridge wrangler could
+sing college songs and give our young ladies many glimpses of young
+England. He was a great favorite was Theodore (young Obadiah).
+
+Miss B. and he left us at Banbury, much to our regret, but London
+engagements were imperative. Mr. and Mrs. K. arrived. If ever a couple
+received a warmer welcome I never saw nor heard of it. It seemed as if
+we had been separated for years, and how often during our journey had
+one or another of the party regretted that Aggie and Aaleck were missing
+all this.
+
+It was upon the ocean that Ben and Davie conceived the idea that a run
+to Paris would be advisable. Leave of absence for two week was
+accordingly granted to four--Mr. and Mrs. McC., Miss J. and Mr. V.
+
+We bade them good-bye at Wolverhampton, Thursday, June 30th, and saw
+them fairly off, not without tears upon both sides from the weaker sex.
+These partings are miserable things always. Their places were taken by
+Miss J. R. (a Dunfermline bairn), Miss A. B., and Mr. D. Next morning we
+gathered the clans at Mr. G.'s, calling at the houses of several other
+friends for the contingent they had so kindly entertained; thence to
+Merridale for the remainder and the final start.
+
+It was a sight to see the party on the lawn there as we drove off,
+giving three hearty cheers for Wolverhampton. In special honor of the
+head of the clan there, the master of Merridale, we had just sung "For
+he is an Englishman." Yes, he is the Englishman all over. Our route for
+many miles was still in the black country, but near Lichfield we reached
+again the rural beauties of England. How thankful to get away once more
+from the dirt and smoke and bustle of manufactories!
+
+The new members had not gone far before they exhibited in an aggravated
+form all the usual signs of the mania which had so seriously affected
+all who have ever mounted our coach. The older members derived great
+pleasure from seeing how completely the recent acquisitions were carried
+away. Their enthusiasm knew no bounds, and we drove in to the Swan at
+Lichfield brimful of happiness. We had left Wolverhampton about noon,
+the stage for the day being a short one, only twenty miles.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      LICHFIELD, July 1.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Lichfield Cathedral._]
+
+The cathedral deserves a visit, out of the way of travel as it is. Its
+three spires and its chapter house are the finest we have yet seen; and
+then Chantrey's sleeping children is worth travelling hundreds of miles
+to see. Never before has marble been made to express the childish sleep
+of innocence as this does.
+
+It was strange that I should stumble upon a monument in the cathedral to
+Major Hodson, whose grave I had seen in India. He lies with Havelock and
+Lawrence in the pretty little English cemetery at Lucknow, poor fellow,
+and here his friends and neighbors away in quiet Lichfield have
+commemorated his valor.
+
+How well do I remember my visit to that historic burial place in far off
+India and the impression made upon me as I stood beside the tombs of the
+heroes who fell in the days of the great mutiny! The inscription on
+Lawrence's is: "Here lies Henry Lawrence, who tried to do his duty."
+What could you add that would not weaken that?
+
+We talked, standing by Hodson's monument, of the long struggle and the
+relief at Lucknow, and of what I had written of it in my "Notes of a
+Trip round the World." As it pleased the Charioteers, perhaps I may be
+pardoned for quoting a part of it.
+
+"Our first visit was to the ruins of the Residency, where for six long
+months Sir Henry Lawrence and his devoted band were shut up and
+surrounded by fifty thousand armed rebels. The grounds, which I should
+say are about thirty acres in extent, were fortunately encompassed by an
+earthern rampart six feet in height. You need not be told of the heroic
+resistance of the two regiments of British soldiers and one of natives,
+nor of the famous rescue. Hour after hour, day after day, week after
+week, and month after month, the three hundred women and children, shut
+in a cellar under ground, watched and prayed for the sound of Havelock's
+bugles, but it came not. Hope, wearied out at last, had almost given
+place to despair. Through the day the attacks of the infuriated mob
+could be seen and repelled, but who was to answer that as darkness fell
+the wall was not to be pierced at some weak point of the extended line?
+One officer in command of a critical point failing--not to do his duty,
+there was never a fear of that--but failing to judge correctly of what
+the occasion demanded, and the struggle was over. Death was the last of
+the fears of those poor women night after night as the days rolled
+slowly away. One night there was graver silence than usual in the room;
+all were despondent and lay resigned to their seemingly impending fate.
+No rescue came, nor any tidings of relief. In the darkness one piercing
+scream was heard from the narrow window. A Highland nurse had clambered
+up to gaze through the bars and strain her ears once more. The cooling
+breeze of night blew in her face and wafted such music as she could not
+stay to hear. One spring to the ground, a clapping of hands above her
+head, and such a shriek as appalled her sisters who clustered around;
+but all she could say between the sobs--'The slogan! the slogan!' Few
+knew what the slogan was. 'Didna ye hear? Didna ye hear?' cried the
+almost demented girl, and then listening one moment that she might not
+be deceived, she muttered, 'It's the Macgregors Gathering, the grandest
+o' them a',' and fell senseless to the ground.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Jessie of Lucknow._]
+
+"Truly, my lassie, the 'grandest o' them a',' for never came such
+strains before to mortal ears. And so Jessie of Lucknow takes her place
+in history as one of the finest themes for painter, dramatist, poet, or
+historian, henceforth and forever. I have some hesitation whether the
+next paragraph in my note-book should go down here or be omitted.
+Probably it would be in better taste if quietly ignored, but then it
+would be so finely natural if put in. Well, I shall be natural or
+nothing, and recount that I could not help rejoicing that Jessie was
+Scotch, and that Scotchmen first broke the rebel lines and reached the
+fort, and that the bagpipes led the way. That's all. I feel better now
+that this also is set down."
+
+In Lichfield cathedral are seven very fine stained-glass windows which
+were found stowed away in a farm-house in Belgium, and purchased by an
+English gentleman for L200, and now they rank among the most valuable
+windows in the world. What a pity that the treasures wantonly destroyed
+during the Reformation had not found similar shelter, to be brought from
+their hiding-places once more to delight us!
+
+  [Sidenote: _Church Music._]
+
+We heard service Saturday morning, and mourned over the waste of
+exquisite music--twenty-six singers in the choir and only ten persons to
+listen in the vast cathedral, besides our party. It is much the same
+throughout England. In no case during week days did we ever see as many
+persons in the congregation as in the choir. Surely the impressive
+cathedrals of England are capable of being put to better uses than this.
+It seems a sin to have such choirs and not conduct them in some way to
+reach and elevate greater numbers. In no building would an oratorio
+sound so well. Why should not these choirs be made the nucleus for a
+chorus in every district, and let us have music which would draw the
+masses within the sacred walls? But maybe this would be sacrilegious.
+Theological minds may see in the music suggested an unworthy intruder in
+domains sacred to dogma; but they should remember that the Bible tells
+us that in heaven music is the principal source of happiness--the sermon
+seems nowhere--and it may go hard with such as fail to give it the first
+place on earth. In this view of the case it was decided to-day upon the
+coach that what some had hitherto thought a scandal, viz., that the
+choirs of most of our fashionable churches cost more than all the other
+expenses of the church, and that organists and sopranos receive a much
+larger salary considering the time given than the ministers; or, as one
+of the young ladies put it, "More is paid for music than for
+religion"--all this, instead of being reprehensible, as some have
+unthinkingly believed, may really be, and probably is, quite in
+accordance with the proper order of worship. Well, I am not going to
+grudge Miss B. her three thousand dollars a year any longer, said a
+vestryman; so he was converted to the theory that music stands upon
+strong ground. Some day, however, my lord bishop and lazy crew, the
+cathedrals of England will not be yours alone to drone in, but become
+mighty centres of grand music, from which shall radiate elevating
+influences over entire districts; and the best minds of the nation,
+remembering how narrow and bigoted the church was when these structures
+were built, will change the poet's line and say:
+
+      "To what great uses have they come at last!"
+
+The world moves and the church establishment must move with it, or--this
+is a splendid place to stop--there is as great virtue in your "or" as in
+your "if," sometimes. Here is the best description of service in an
+English cathedral:
+
+      "And love the high embower'd roof,
+      With antique pillars massy proof,
+      And storied windows richly dight,
+      Casting a dim religious light:
+      There let the pealing organ blow,
+      To the full voic'd choir below,
+      In service high and anthems clear,
+      As may with sweetness, through my ear,
+      Dissolve me into ecstasies,
+      And bring all heaven before mine eyes."
+
+The music at Lichfield does indeed draw you into regions beyond and
+intimates immortality, and we exclaim with friend Izaak Walton, "Lord,
+what music hast thou provided for the saints in heaven, when thou
+affordest bad men such music on earth!"
+
+I remember that when in China I read that Confucius was noted for his
+intense passion for music. He said one day to his disciples that music
+not only elevates man while he is listening, but that to those who love
+it music is able to create distinct images which remain after the
+strains cease and keep the mind from base thoughts. Think of the sage
+knowing this when he had probably only the sing-song Chinese fiddle to
+console him! I forget, he had the gongs, and a set of fine gongs of
+different tones make most suggestive music, as I have discovered.
+
+The position of Lichfield Cathedral is peculiarly fine. Three sides of
+the square surrounding it are occupied by splendid ecclesiastical
+buildings connected with the diocese, including the bishop's palace. A
+beautiful sheet of water lies upon the lower side, so that nothing
+incongruous meets the eye.
+
+We obtained there a better idea of the magnitude of the church
+establishment and its to us seemingly criminal waste of riches than ever
+before. To think of all this power for good wasting itself upon a
+beggarly account of empty benches, the choir outnumbering the
+congregation!
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Coach._]
+
+We had ordered the coach to come and await us at the cathedral, but had
+not expected Perry to drive up to the very door. There the glittering
+equipage was, however, surrounded by groups of pretty, rosy children and
+many older people gazing respectfully. There is something about a
+well-appointed coach and four which is calculated to puff a man up with
+vanity. I remember I had been absorbed in the service, and afterward in
+wandering about the cathedral had had my thoughts carried back to India.
+I was again in the crowded streets of Benares mounted upon the richly
+caparisoned elephants of the Rajah, and anon strolling upon the Apollo
+Bunder in Bombay, one of a crowd the gorgeous coloring of which equals
+any scene ever given in grand opera. I reached the cathedral door in a
+kind of trance; the gay coach, the horses and their sparkling harness,
+and Joe and Perry in their livery burst upon me, and looking up and
+around I did feel that we were a "swell" party, and had ever so much to
+be thankful for. It is a source of never failing pleasure to stand and
+see the Charioteers mount the coach--they are all so happy, and I am "so
+glad they are glad." And so we mounted and drove off, taking a last fond
+look of grand old Lichfield.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      DOVEDALE, July 2-3.
+
+Our objective point was Dovedale, thirty miles distant. When three miles
+out we stopped at Elmhurst Hall for Miss F., who had preceded us to pay
+a visit to Mr. and Mrs. F--x, who very kindly invited the party to
+dismount and lunch with them; but the thirty miles to be done would not
+permit us the pleasure. The next time we pass, however, good master and
+mistress of Elmhurst Hall, you shall certainly have the Charioteers
+within your hospitable walls, if you desire it, for such an inviting
+place we have rarely seen.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Sudbury Park._]
+
+We were to lunch in Sudbury Park, the residence of Lord Vernon. This was
+the first grassy luncheon of the five new-comers, and we were all
+delighted to see their enjoyment of this most Arcadian feature of our
+coaching life. It proved to be one of our pleasantest luncheons, for
+there is no finer spot in England than Sudbury Park. Of course it is not
+the glen nor the wimpling burn of the Highlands, but for quiet England
+it is superb.
+
+The site chosen was near a pretty brook. Before us was the old-fashioned
+brick Queen Anne mansion, and behind us in the park was a cricket
+ground, where a match between two neighboring clubs was being worthily
+contested. The scene was indeed idyllic. There was never more fun and
+laughter at any of our luncheons. Aaleck had to be repressed at last,
+for several of the members united in a complaint against him. Their
+sides ached, but that they did not mind so much; their anxiety was about
+their cheeks, which were seriously threatened with an explosion if they
+attempted to eat. To avoid such results it was voted that no one should
+make a joke nor even a remark. Silence was enjoined; but what did that
+amount to! The signs and grimaces were worse than speech. Force was no
+remedy. It took time to get the party toned down, but eventually the
+lunch was finished.
+
+We strolled over and watched the cricketers. It all depends upon how you
+look at a thing. So many able-bodied perspiring men knocking about a
+little ball on a warm summer's day, that is one way; so many men
+relieved from anxious care and laying the foundation for long years of
+robust health by invigorating exercise in the open air, that is the
+other view of the question. The ancients did not count against our
+little span of life the days spent in the chase; neither need we charge
+those spent in cricket; and as for our sport, coaching, for every day so
+spent we decided that it and another might safely be credited. He was a
+very wise prime minister who said he had often found important duties
+for which he had not time; one duty, however, he had always _made_ time
+for, his daily afternoon ride on horseback. Your always busy man
+accomplishes little; the great doer is he who has plenty of leisure. The
+man at the helm turns the wheel now and then, and so easily too,
+touching an electric bell; it's the stoker down below who is pitching
+into it with his coat off. And look at Captain McMicken promenading the
+deck in his uniform and a face like a full moon; quite at his ease and
+ready for a story. And there is Johnnie Watson, chief engineer, who
+rules over the throbbing heart of the ship; he is standing there
+prepared for a crack. Moral: Don't worry yourself over work, hold
+yourself in reserve, and sure as fate, "it will all come right in the
+wash."
+
+Leaving the contestants, we walked down to the lake in front of the
+mansion, and with our usual good fortune we were just in time to see the
+twenty acres of ornamental water dragged for pike, which play such havoc
+with other fish. The water had been drained into a small pond, which
+seemed alive with bewildered fish. We sat and watched with quiet
+interest the men drawing the net. Hundreds were caught at every haul,
+from which the pike were taken. A tremendous eel gave the men a lively
+chase; three or four times it escaped, wriggled through their legs and
+hands one after the other, and made for the water. Had the gamekeeper
+not succeeded in pinning it to the ground with a pitchfork, the eel
+would have beaten the whole party.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Adam and Eve._]
+
+Lord Vernon's park is rich in attractions. An old narrow picturesque
+arched bridge, which spans the pretty lake, has a statue of Adam at one
+end and Eve at the other. Over the former the ivy clusters so thickly as
+to make our great prototype a mass of living green; poor Eve has been
+less favored, for she is in a pitiable plight for a woman, with "nothing
+to wear."
+
+But Eve was not used to kind treatment. Adam was by no means a modern
+model husband, and never gave Eve anything in excess except blame. Here
+she is still, the Flora McFlimsy of my friend William Allen Butler
+(minus the flora as I have said); but let her be patient, her dress is
+sure to come, for kind nature in England abhors nakedness. She is ever
+at work clothing everything with her mantle of green.
+
+      "Ever and ever bringing secrets forth,
+      It sitteth in the green of forest glades
+      Nursing strange seedlings at the cedar's root,
+      Devising leaves, blooms, blades.
+      This is its touch upon the blossomed rose,
+      The fashion of its hand-shaped lotus leaves;
+      In dark soil and the silence of the seeds
+      The robe of Spring it weaves."
+
+We had rare enjoyment at the lake, and envied Lord Vernon his princely
+heritage. The old forester who once showed me over a noble estate in
+Scotland was quite right. I was enchanted with one of the views, and
+repeated.
+
+      "Where is the coward who would not dare
+      To fight for such a land!"
+
+"Aye," said the old man, "aye, it's a grand country, _for the lairds_."
+It will be a grander country some day when it is less "for the lairds"
+and more for the toiling masses; but may the destroying angel of
+progress look kindly upon such scenes of beauty as Sudbury Park. The
+extensive estate may be disentailed and cultivated by a thousand small
+owners in smiling homes, with educated children within them, and the
+land bring forth greater harvests touched by the magic wand of the sense
+of ownership--for it makes an infinite difference to call a thing your
+own--and yet the mansion and park remain intact and give to its
+possessor rarer pleasures than at present. I think one of the greatest
+drawbacks to life in Britain in grand style must be the contrast
+existing between the squire and the people about him. It is bad enough
+even in Chester Valley, where the average condition and the education of
+the inhabitants are probably equal to any locality in the world, but in
+England it is far too marked for comfort, I should think.
+
+While we were still lingering on the banks of the lake Perry's horn
+sounded from the main road to call us from the enchanting scene, and we
+were off for Dovedale through pretty Ashbourne.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Horseback Riding._]
+
+As we bowled along the conversation turned upon horseback riding, and
+some one quoted the famous maxim, "the outside of a horse for the inside
+of a man." "But what about a woman?" asked F. "Oh," answered Puss, "the
+outside of a horse for the inside of a woman and the outside as well,
+for in no other position can a woman ever possibly look so captivating
+as on a horse. Girls who ride in the park have double chances." A voice
+from the front--"You are right." Our Pard there admits that he had no
+idea of falling in love with Annie until he saw her on horseback; and
+when he had ridden with her a few times he was conquered. A woman looks
+her loveliest on horseback.
+
+"That is not Mrs. Parr's opinion," rejoined a young lady on the front
+seat. "I think it is in her splendid 'Dorothy Fox' she says that a woman
+never shows so clearly the angel of beauty which dwells in a good
+woman's heart as when she murmurs her yes to her lover."
+
+"Oh, that's not fair," came from the back row. "That's too short, only a
+moment; and besides only one man sees it. That doesn't count. We mean
+that a woman shows off better on horseback than anywhere else."
+
+"Oh!" said the cynic, "is that it, Miss? Nothing counts without the
+showing off, _eh_!" And so we rattled on interrupted at intervals by
+exclamations called forth by England's unique beauty.
+
+Can any one picture a resting-place so full of peace and beauty as the
+old Izaak Walton Inn? We arrived there in the twilight, and some of us
+walked down the long hill and got our first sight of the Dove from the
+bridge at the foot across the stream.
+
+I got the memorable verses near enough from memory to repeat them on the
+bridge. Let me put them down here, for in truth, simple as they are, who
+is going to predict the coming of the day when they will cease to be
+prized as one of the gems of literature?
+
+      "She dwelt among the untrodden ways,
+            Beside the springs of Dove,
+      A maid whom there were none to praise,
+            And very few to love.
+
+      "A violet by a mossy stone,
+            Half hidden from the eye;
+      Fair as a star when only one
+            Is shining in the sky.
+
+      "She lived unknown, and few could know
+            When Lucy ceased to be;
+      But she is in her grave, and oh,
+            The difference to me!"
+
+But think of dear old Izaak and of his fishing excursions to this very
+spot. He actually stayed at our inn! He too is secure of his position as
+the author of a classic for as long a time as we care to look forward
+to. Is it not strange that no one has ever imitated this man's unique
+style? "God leads us not to heaven by many nor by hard questions," says
+the fisherman, and he knew a thing or two. There is a flavor about him
+peculiarly his own, but especially rich when read in this old inn,
+sacred to his memory. I enjoyed him with a fresh relish during the few
+hours of Sunday which I could devote to him, for there is a good sermon
+in many a sentence of the "Complete Angler." Dear old boy, your place in
+my library and in my heart too is secure.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Ilam Hall._]
+
+Ilam Hall, near the inn, is the great place, and there is a pretty
+little church within a stone's throw of it. We walked over on Sunday
+morning and saw the squire come into church with his family and take his
+seat among his people, for I take it most of the congregation were
+connected with the hall. The parson, no doubt, was the appointee of the
+squire, and we tried to estimate the importance of these two men in the
+district, their duties and influence--both great--for to a large extent
+the moral as well as the material well-being of a community in rural
+England depends upon the character of the hall and parsonage. The squire
+was Mr. Hanbury, M.P., who courteously invited our party to visit the
+hall after service, and to stroll as we pleased through his grounds. He
+had been in America, and knew our erratic genius and brother
+iron-master Abram S. Hewitt. In the evening we received from him some
+fine photographs of the hall (a truly noble one), which we prize highly.
+The accompanying note was even more gratifying, for it said that he had
+been so warmly received in America that it was always a pleasure when
+opportunity offered to show Americans such attentions as might be in his
+power. It is ever thus, cold indifference between the two
+English-speaking branches is found only among the stay-at-homes. The man
+who knows from personal experience the leading characteristics of the
+people upon both sides of the ferry is invariably a warm and sincere
+friend. The two peoples have only to become acquainted to become
+enthusiastic over each other's rare qualities.
+
+This is a sheep-grazing district, quite hilly, and the rainfall is much
+beyond the average; but the weather question troubles us little; the
+Charioteers carry sunshine within and without. Our afternoon walk was
+along the Dove, which we followed up the glen between the hills for
+several miles, finding new beauties at every turn. Mr. H. has the stream
+on his estate reserved for five miles for his own fishing, but our
+landlord said he was very generous and always gave a gentleman a day's
+sport when properly applied for. We were offered free range by Mr. H., a
+privilege which Davie and I hold in reserve for a future day, that we
+may most successfully conjure the shade of our congenial brother of the
+angle; "for you are to note," saith he, "that we anglers all love one
+another." We at least all love Izaak Walton, "an excellent angler and
+now with God." Reading the ingenious defence of fishing by our author,
+"an honest man and a most excellent fly-fisher," is not waste time in
+these days of violent anti-vivisectionists, who have seen poor hares
+chased down for sport all their lives, and their Prince shoot pigeons
+from a trap without a protest, but who affect to feel pity for a cat
+sacrificed upon the holy altar of science. Miserable hypocrites, who
+swallow so large a camel and strain at so very small a gnat! It shows
+what demoralization is brought about in good people by rank and fashion;
+one rule for the Prince who disgraces himself by cruel sports, another
+for the medical student who exalts himself working for the good of his
+race.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Izaak Walton._]
+
+But to quaint Izaak's defence; and first as to the fish themselves.
+
+"Nay, the increase of these creatures that are bred and fed in water is
+not only more and more miraculous, but more advantageous to man, not
+only for the lengthening of his life, but for the preventing of
+sickness; for 'tis observed by the most learned physicians that the
+casting off of Lent and other fish days hath doubtless been the chief
+cause of those many putrid, shaking, intermitting agues into which this
+nation of ours is now more subject than those wiser countries which feed
+on herbs, salads, and plenty of fish. And it is fit to remember that
+Moses (Levit. 11: 9; Deut. 14: 9) appointed fish to be the chief diet
+for the best commonwealth that ever yet was; and it is observable not
+only that there are fish, as namely the whale, three times as big as the
+mighty elephant that is so fierce in battle, but that the mightiest
+feasts have been of fish."
+
+Is not that capital? It calls to mind Josh Billings' answer to his
+correspondent who wrote saying that he had heard many times that a fish
+diet was most favorable for increase of brain power, but he had never
+been able to find out the best kind of fish for the purpose. Could he
+inform him? "In your case," replied Josh, "try a whale or two."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Fishing._]
+
+Here is Izaak's argument for the lawfulness of fishing:
+
+"And for the lawfulness of fishing it may very well be maintained by our
+Saviour's bidding St. Peter cast his hook into the water and catch a
+fish for money to pay tribute to Caesar. And it is observable that it was
+our Saviour's will that four fishermen should have a priority of
+nomination in the catalogue of his twelve disciples (Matt. 10: 2, 4,
+13), as namely: St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. James, and St. John, and then
+the rest in their order. And it is yet more observable that when our
+blessed Saviour went up into the mount when he left the rest of his
+disciples and chose only three to bear him company at his
+transfiguration, that those three were all fishermen; and it is to be
+believed that all the other apostles after they betook themselves to
+follow Christ, betook themselves to be fishermen too: for it is certain
+that the greater number of them were found together fishing by Jesus
+after his resurrection, as it is recorded in the 21st chapter of St.
+John's Gospel, v. 3, 4. This was the employment of these happy
+fishermen, concerning which choice some have made these observations:
+first that he never reproved these for their employment or calling as he
+did the scribes and the money-changers; and secondly, he found that the
+hearts of such men were fitted for contemplation and quietness, men of
+mild, and sweet, and peaceable spirits, as indeed most anglers are;
+these men our blessed Saviour, who is observed to love to plant grace in
+good natures, though indeed nothing be too hard for him, yet these men
+he chose to call from their irreprovable employment of fishing and gave
+them grace to be his disciples and to follow him and do wonders. I say
+four of twelve."
+
+There I think we may safely rest the defence of our favorite sport,
+especially upon secondly; for it is all very well to say animals must be
+slain that we may live, and yet it does not give one a high idea of the
+fineness of the man who chooses the occupation of a butcher, and is
+happiest when he is killing something. Blood! Iago, blood! For my part,
+while recognizing the necessity that the sheep should bleat for the lamb
+slain that I may feast, I don't profess to see that the arrangement is
+anything to rave over as an illustration of the wisdom or the goodness
+of God. Let us eat, asking no questions, but trusting that some day we
+shall see clearly that all is well. Meanwhile I give up coursing, fox
+hunting, and pigeon shooting as unworthy sports, and never again will I
+kill a deer in sport. I once saw the mild, reproachful eyes of one
+turned upon me as it lay, wounded, as much as to say: "I am so sorry it
+was _you_ who did this." So was I, poor innocent thing. It is years
+since I saw that look, but it haunts me yet at intervals. It is one of
+the many things I have done for which I am ever sorry.
+
+Too much fishing! It is no use to try to give you the good things of
+Izaak Walton, for it is with him as with Shakespeare. Two volumes of his
+"beauties" handed to gentle Elia. "This is all very well, my friend, but
+where are the other five volumes?" We must get out of Dovedale--that is
+clear. _Allons donc!_
+
+Our stage to-day was to Chatsworth, twenty-four miles, where our Fourth
+of July dinner was to be celebrated. As we passed Ilam Hall we stopped,
+sounded our horn, and gave three cheers for the squire who had been so
+kind to his "American cousins."
+
+Our luncheon was beside the pretty brook at Youlgreaves, on the estate
+of the Duke of Rutland, and a beautiful trout-stream it is. We could see
+the speckled beauties darting about, and were quite prepared to believe
+the wonderful stories told us of the basketfuls taken there sometimes.
+There is something infectious in a running stream. It is the prettiest
+thing in nature. Nothing adds so much to our midday enjoyment as one of
+these babbling brooks,
+
+      "Making music o'er the enamelled stones,
+      And giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
+      It overtaketh in its pilgrimage."
+
+If there be "sermons in stones," I think it must be when the pure water
+sings as it rushes over them.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Burnie._]
+
+The Charioteers demanded that I should repeat "The Burnie," a gem by a
+true poet, Ballantyne. Would you, my gentle reader, like also to know
+it? I think you would, for such as have followed me so far must have
+something akin to me and surely will sometimes like what I like, and I
+like this much:
+
+      "It drappit frae a gray rock upon a mossy stane,
+      An doon amang the green grass it wandered lang alane.
+      It passed the broomie knowe beyond the hunter's hill;
+      It pleased the miller's bairns an it ca'd their faether's mill.
+
+      "But soon anither bed it had, where the rocks met aboon,
+      And for a time the burnie saw neither sun nor moon.
+      But the licht o' heaven cam' again, its banks grew green and fair,
+      And many a bonnie flower in its season blossomed there;
+
+      "And ither burnies joined till its rippling song was o'er,
+      For the burn became a river ere it reached the ocean's shore.
+      And the wild waves rose to greet it wi' their ain eerie croon.
+      Working their appointed wark and never, never done.
+
+      "Nae sad repinings at the hardness o' their lot,
+      Nae heart-burnings at what anither got;
+      The good or ill, the licht or shade, they took as it might be,
+      Sae onward ran the burnie frae the gray rock to the sea."
+
+There's a moral for us! There is always peace at the end if we do our
+appointed work and leave the result with the Unknown. Let us, then,
+follow Mrs. Browning,
+
+      "And like a cheerful traveller, take the road,
+      Singing beside the hedge. What if the bread
+      Be bitter in thine inn, and thou unshod
+      To meet the flints?--At least it may be said,
+      'Because the way is short, I thank thee, God!'"
+
+And so at the sea the burnie's race was run and it found peace.
+Immensity gives peace always. It is so vain to strive in the presence of
+the ocean, for it tells of forces irresistible. It obeys its own laws,
+caring for nought:
+
+      "Libel the ocean on its tawny sands, write verses
+      In its praise; the unmoved sea erases both alike.
+      Alas for man! unless his fellows can behold his deeds,
+      He cares not to be great."
+
+Not so. O poet, when man stands on the shore and _thinks_, for then he
+feels his nothingness, and the applause of his fellows is valued as so
+much noise merely, except as it serves as proof that he has stirred them
+for the right. This state lasts unless he lifts his eyes to the skies
+above the waste, and renews his vows to the Goddess of Duty. He learns,
+not in the depths nor on the level of ocean's surface, but from higher
+and beyond--that life is worth living, then he takes up his task and
+goes on, saying
+
+      "And whether crowned or crownless when I fall
+      It matters not, so as God's work is done.
+      I've learned to prize the quiet lightning deed--
+      Not the applauding thunder at its heels
+      Which men call fame."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Daft Callants._]
+
+The Queen Dowager and Aggie were off to paidle in the burn after
+luncheon, and as a fitting close they kilted their petticoats and danced
+a highland reel on the greensward, in sight of the company, but at some
+distance from us. They were just wee lassies again, and to be a wee
+lassie at seventy-one is a triumph indeed; but, as the Queen Dowager
+says, that is nothing. She intends to be as daft for many years to come,
+for my grandfather was far older when he alarmed the auld wives of the
+village on Halloween night, sticking his false face through the windows.
+"Oh!" said one, recovering from her fright, "it is just that daft
+callant, Andrew Carnegie!" I remember one day, in Dunfermline, an old
+man in the nineties--a picture of withered eld, a few straight,
+glistening white hairs on each side of his head, and his nose and chin
+threatening each other--tottered across the room to where I was sitting,
+and laying his long, skinny hand upon my head, murmured:
+
+"An' ye're a gran'son o' Andrew Carnegie's! Aye, maan, I've seen the day
+when your grandfaether an' me could have hallooed ony reasonable maan
+oot o' his judgment."
+
+I hope to be a daft callant at seventy-one--as daft as we all were that
+day. Indeed, we were all daft enough while coaching, but the Queen
+Dowager really ought to have been restrained a little. She went beyond
+all bounds, but life is an undoubted success if you can laugh till the
+end of it.
+
+Let me try to give an idea how this blessed England is crowded. Here is
+a signboard we stopped at to-day, to make sure we were taking the right
+way; for, even with the Ordnance map upon one's knee, strict attention
+is required or you will be liable to take the wrong turn.
+
+A voice from the General Manager: "Perry, stop at the post and let us be
+sure."
+
+"Right, sir."
+
+The post points four ways, east, west, north, and south.
+
+First arm reads as follows: Tissington, 3; Matlock Bath, 10;
+Chesterfield, 21.
+
+Second arm: Ashbourne, 3; Derby, 16; Kissington, 19.
+
+Third arm: Dovedale, Okedon, Ilam.
+
+Fourth arm: New Haven, 6; Buxton, 17; Bakewell, 13; Chatsworth, 16.
+
+All this the guide-post said at one turn, and fortunate it was that
+Chatsworth, our destination, happened to be upon the fourth arm, for
+had the worthy road-surveyors not deemed it necessary to extend their
+information beyond Bakewell, you see we might as well have consulted the
+Book of Days.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Tissington Hall._]
+
+The entrance to Tissington estate was near the post, and we were very
+kindly permitted to drive through, which it was said would save several
+miles and give us a view of another English hall. We managed, however,
+to take a wrong turn somewhere, and added some eight miles to our
+journey; so much the better--the longer the route the happier we were.
+
+Every English hall seems to have some special features in which it
+surpasses all others. This is as it should be, for it permits every
+fortunate owner to love his home for acknowledged merits of its own. If
+one has the nobler terrace, another boasts a finer lawn; and if one has
+woods and a rookery, has not the other the winding Nith through its
+borders? One cannot have the best of everything, even upon an English
+estate; neither can one life have the best possible of everything,
+
+      "For every blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew."
+
+Let us, then, be thankful for our special mercies, and may all our ducks
+be swans, as friend Edward says mine are.
+
+Have you never had your friend praise his wife to you in moments of
+confidence, when you have been fishing for a week together? You wonder
+for a few moments, as you recall the Betsey or Susan he extols; for, if
+the truth is to be spoken, you have, as it were, shed tears for him when
+you thought of his yoke. Well, that is the true way: let him make her a
+swan, even if she is not much of a duck.
+
+We stopped at Rowsley for Miss F., who was to come there by rail from
+Elmhurst Hall. She brought the London _Times_, which gave us the first
+news of the terrible catastrophe in Washington. We would not believe
+that the shot was to prove fatal. It did not seem possible that
+President Garfield's career was to end in such a way; but, do what we
+could, the great fear would not down, and we reached Chatsworth much
+depressed. Our Fourth of July was a sad one, and the intended
+celebration was given up. Fortunately, the news became more encouraging
+day after day, so much so that the coaching party ventured to telegraph
+its congratulations through Secretary Blaine, and it was not until we
+reached New York that we knew that a relapse had occurred. The cloud
+which came over us, therefore, had its silver lining in the promise of
+recovery and a return to greater usefulness than ever.
+
+We stopped to visit Haddon Hall upon our way to Chatsworth, but here we
+come upon tourists' ground. Every one does the sights of the
+neighborhood, and readers are therefore respectfully referred to the
+guide-books. We had our first dusty ride to-day, for we are upon
+limestone roads, but the discomfort was only trifling; the weather,
+however, was really warm, and our umbrellas were brought into use as
+sunshades.
+
+Haddon Hall is a fine specimen of the old hall, and Chatsworth of the
+new, except that the latter partakes far too much of the show feature.
+It is no doubt amazing to the crowds of Manchester and Birmingham
+workers who flock here for a holiday and who have seen nothing finer,
+but to us who have seen the older gems of England, Chatsworth seems much
+too modern, for our fastidious tastes. I speak only of the interior, of
+course, for the house itself and its surroundings are grand; so is the
+statuary in the noble hall set apart for it--really the best feature in
+the house.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      EDENSOR, July 4.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Edensor._]
+
+Edensor is the model village which the Duke of Devonshire has built
+adjoining the park--a very appropriate and pretty name, for it is
+perhaps the finest made-to-order village in England. Every cottage is
+surrounded by pretty grounds and is built with an eye to
+picturesqueness. It is entered by a handsome lodge from the park, and
+the road at its upper end is also closed by gates. The church, erected
+in 1870 from designs of Gilbert Scott, occupies the site of an older
+one. Opening from the south side of the chancel is a mortuary chapel
+containing monuments of the Cavendish family. In the churchyard is the
+monument of Sir Joseph Paxton, builder of the Crystal Palace, who was
+formerly head gardener at Chatsworth.
+
+One or two epitaphs in the churchyard are worth noting. The following is
+dated 1787:
+
+      "I was like grass, cut down in haste,
+        For fear too long should grow;
+      I hope made fit in heaven to sit,
+        So why should I not go!"
+
+To be sure, why not? But is there not a little ambiguity in the "too
+long should grow?"
+
+The next one, dated 1818, seems to commemorate the decease of a
+plough-boy who was rash enough to leave his proper vocation for
+another--a sad illustration of _ne sutor ultra crepidam_.
+
+      "When he that day with th' waggon went,
+      He little thought his glass was spent;
+      But had he kept his Plough in Hand,
+      He might have longer till'd the Land."
+
+  [Sidenote: _A Modern Phaethon._]
+
+One could not expect that the moral inculcated here would find favor
+with our Americans. How could the Mighty Republic ever have been brought
+to its present height and embraced the majority of all English-speaking
+people in the world, if her sons had not been ambitious and changed from
+one occupation to another? "Stick to your last" is only fit for
+monarchical countries, where people believe in classes. This young man
+was of the right sort and should have a verse of praise on his
+tombstone instead of this one which reflects upon him. One of the party
+declared that the man must have been the best workman on the place, and
+that in America he would soon have owned the acres he ploughed instead
+of ploughing here for some landlord who spent the resources of the land
+in London or on the continent. The poetess of the party was commissioned
+to provide a substitute for the obnoxious verse which should applaud the
+act of this modern Phaethon who _would_ try to drive the wagon, after he
+had learned all he could about ploughing. We were driving homeward, and
+as the discussion ended in the manner aforesaid, a sweet voice broke
+forth:
+
+      "I winna hae the laddie that drives the cart and ploo,
+      Although he may be tender, although he may be true;
+      But I'll hae the laddie that has my heart betrayed,
+      The bonnie shepherd laddie that wears the crook and plaid."
+
+The Charioteers gave it the swelling chorus:
+
+      "For he's aye true to his lassie,
+      Aye true to his lassie.
+        Aye true to me."
+
+Who knows but the refusal of some rural beauty like her of the song to
+have the laddie that "ca'd the ploo" may have stirred our unfortunate
+youth to a change of occupation? The "sex" is at the bottom of most of
+man's misfortunes (and blessings too, let it be noted) and why not of
+this lamentable end of the would-be wagoner!
+
+The day was so warm, and our next stage to Buxton being not very long
+(twenty-six miles), we decided to spend the day at Edensor and take an
+evening drive. We met here, enjoying their honeymoon, a bride and groom
+who were well known to our Wolverhampton delegation, and how do you
+suppose they were travelling? Not in the ordinary mode, I assure you. I
+mention this incident that some of my charming young lady friends, who
+give me so much pleasure riding with me, may make a note of it. They
+were doing beautiful Derbyshire on horseback! It was delightful to see
+them start off in this way. I became interested in the bride, who must
+be no ordinary woman to think of this plan; she told me it was proving a
+wonderful success; and the happy young fellow intimated to me, in a kind
+of confidential way, that her novel idea was the finest one he had ever
+been a party to. I asked him if he could honestly recommend it, and he
+boldly said he could. We must think over this.
+
+The evening ride was one of our pleasantest experiences. How entrancing
+England is after a warm day, when everything seems to rejoice in the
+hours of peace, succeeding the sunshine which forces growth!
+
+      "When the heart-sick earth
+      Turns her broad back upon the gaudy sun,
+      And stoops her weary forehead to the night
+      To struggle with her sorrow all alone,
+      The moon, that patient sufferer, pale with pain,
+      Presses her cold lips on her sister's brow
+      Till she is calm."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Buxton._]
+
+It is thus the earth appeared to me as we drove along; it was resting
+after its labors of the sunny day. The night was spent at Buxton, that
+famous spa, which has been the resort of health-seekers for more than a
+thousand years, for it was well known to the Romans and probably to
+their predecessors. We saw many invalids there drinking the waters,
+which are chiefly chalybeate; but I take it, as is usual with such
+places, the change of air and scene, of thought and effort, and, with
+most, change of diet and freedom from excess, count for ninety-nine
+points, and the waters, may be, for one. But it is of no consequence
+what does it, so it is done, therefore Buxton continues to flourish.
+
+How wise a physician was he who cured the Great Mogul when all other
+remedies had failed! The miraculous Tree of Life was upon a mountain
+five miles from the palace, and had to be visited daily, in the early
+morning, by the sufferer, who was required to repeat an incantation
+under its boughs. The words literally translated were no doubt something
+like this: "Pray away, you old fool! but it's the walk that does it."
+You need not laugh. This put into such Latin as the schools delight in
+might be made to sound frightful to the Mogul "and scare him good," as
+the negro exhorters deem to be essential for spiritual recovery.
+
+Our hotel was a magnificent "limited company" affair. The start next
+morning was a sight, in the first real downpour in dead earnest we had
+experienced. The sky was dark--not one tiny ray of light to give us the
+slightest hope of change; the barometer low and still falling. Just such
+a morning as might have begun the flood. Clearly we were in for it;
+nevertheless, at the appointed hour the Gay Charioteers, arrayed in
+their waterproofs, with the good hats and bonnets all inside the coach,
+passed through the crowds of guests who lined the hall, wondering at
+these mad Americans, and took their accustomed seats with an alacrity
+that showed they considered the weather "perfectly lovely."
+
+There are two miles of steep ascent as we leave the town, and a few of
+us decided to walk, two of the ladies among the number. Those who
+started upon the coach were all right; the pedestrians, however, found
+themselves far from dry when the top was reached--feet and knees were
+wet. By noon the rain had ceased, and we stopped at a little inn, where
+fires were made, our "reserve" clothing brought into use, and our wet
+clothes dried, and we were as happy as larks when we sat down to
+luncheon. Is not that a wise test which Thackeray puts into the mouth of
+one of his waiters: "Oh, I knew he was a gentleman, he was so easily
+pleased!" Well, our host and hostess at that little inn,
+who were taken so by surprise when a four-in-hand stopped at the door,
+said something like this about the American ladies and gentlemen as they
+left. Why not? Nothing comes amiss to the Gay Charioteers, and so on we
+go to Manchester, getting once more into the grim, smoky regions of
+manufacturing enterprise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      MANCHESTER, July 6.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Manchester._]
+
+Mine host of The Queen's takes the prize for the one best "swell" dinner
+enjoyed by the party; but then the rain and the moderate luncheon at the
+little inn, so different from the picnics on flowery banks, may have
+given it a relish. The Queen's was evidently determined that its
+American guests should leave with a favorable impression, and so they
+did.
+
+There was time to visit the Town Hall and walk the principal streets,
+but all felt an invincible repugnance to large towns. It was not these
+we had come to see. Let us get away as soon as possible, and out once
+more to the green fields; we have cotton-mills and warehouses and dirty,
+smoky manufactories enough and to spare at home. The morning was cloudy,
+but the rain held off, and we left the hotel amid a great crowd. The
+police had at last to step in front of the coach and clear the way. The
+newspapers had announced our arrival and intended departure, and this
+brought the crowd upon us. Getting into and out of large cities is the
+most difficult part of our driving, for the Ordnance map is useless
+there--frequent stoppages and inquiries must be made; but so far we have
+been fortunate, and our horn keeps opposing vehicles out of our way in
+narrow streets and in turning corners. We were bound for Anderton Hall,
+to spend the night with our friend Mr. B----. Luncheon was taken in a
+queer, old-fashioned inn, where we ate from bare deal tables, and drank
+home-brewed ale while we sang:
+
+      "Let gentlemen fine sit down to their wine,
+      But we will stick to our beer, we will,
+      For we will stick to our beer."
+
+The number and variety of temperance drinks advertised in England is
+incredible. Non-alcoholic beverages meet us in flaming advertisements at
+every step--from nervous tonics, phosphated, down to the most startling
+of all, which, according to the London _Echo_ of June 2d, the Bishop of
+Exeter advertised when he opened a coffee-house, saying:
+
+      "It looks like beer,
+      It smells like beer,
+      It tastes like beer,
+      Yet it is not beer."
+
+Better if it had been, your reverence, for your new beverage was
+probably a villanous compound, certain to work more injury than genuine
+beer. In this country we also try to cheat the devil. I mean our unco
+good people try it; but we call it "bitters," and the worse the whiskey
+the better the bitters.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      CHORLEY, July 7.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Anderton Hall._]
+
+As we approached Anderton Hall the English and American flags were seen
+floating from the archway, earnest of cordial welcome. We were quite at
+home immediately. Mr. and Mrs. B---- had their family and friends ready
+to greet us. The dining-hall was decorated with the flags of the old and
+the new lands, gracefully intertwined, symbolizing the close and warm
+friendship which exists between them--never, we hope, to be again
+disturbed. We had a long walk about the place and on the banks of the
+famous Rivington Reservoir, which supplies Manchester with water. In the
+evening, after dinner, came speeches. The evening passed delightfully.
+Next day we were sorely tempted. Mr. M---- was to have the
+school-children at his house to be entertained, and an opportunity to
+see a novel celebration was afforded us. Our host and hostess were
+pressing in their invitation for us to stay, but one night of fourteen
+guests, two servants, and four horses, was surely enough; so we blew our
+horn, and, with three ringing cheers for Anderton Hall and all within
+it, drove out of its hospitable gates. We stopped and paid our respects
+to Mr. and Mrs. M---- as we passed their place, and left them all with
+very sincere regret. How pleasant it would be to linger! but Inverness
+lies far in the north. We are scarcely one-third of our way thither and
+the time-table stares us in the face. We do not quite "fold our tents
+like the Arabs and silently steal away," but at the thrilling call of
+the horn we mount, and with cheers and God-speeds take our departure for
+other scenes, but many a long day shall it be ere the faces of the kind
+people we leave behind fade from our memory.
+
+Chorley has been one of the seats of the cotton manufacture in England
+for more than two hundred years, the business having been begun there
+about the time of the Restoration. During the American Revolution it was
+visited, like other places in Lancashire, by mobs who broke up the
+spinning machines because they feared that they would deprive the poor
+of labor. Similar mobs once destroyed sewing-machines in France. What a
+commentary upon such short-sightedness has been the success of the
+spinning-jenny and the sewing-machine, and the revolution they have made
+in the manufacturing industry of the world!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      PRESTON, July 8.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Strolling Players._]
+
+Preston, sixteen miles away, is our destination, permitting a late start
+to be made. Our route is still through a manufacturing district; for
+Manchester reaches her arms far out in every direction. We pass now and
+then a company of show-people with their vans. Sometimes we find the
+caravan at rest, the old, weary-looking horses nibbling the road-side
+grass, for the irregularity of the hedges in England gives fine little
+plots of grass along the hedge-rows, and nice offsets, as it were, in
+the road, where these strolling players, and gypsies, pedlers, and
+itinerant venders of all sorts of queer things, can call a halt and
+enjoy themselves. Every van appears to be invested with an air of
+mystery, for was not our Shakespeare,
+
+      "Th' applause, delight, the wonder of our stage,"
+
+a strolling player, playing his part in barns and outhouses to wondering
+rustics? There are such possibilities in every van that I greet the
+sweet little child as if she were a princess in disguise, and the
+dark-eyed, foreign-looking boy as if he might have within him the soul
+of Buddha. I do not believe that any other form of life has the
+attractions of this nomadic existence. To make it perfect one should put
+away enough in the funds as a reserve to be drawn upon when he could not
+make the pittance necessary to feed and clothe him and buy a few old
+copies of good books as he passed through a village. The rule might be,
+only when hungry shall this pocket-book be opened. I should have one
+other contingency in order to be perfectly happy--when I wanted to help
+a companion in distress. Elia was truly not very far from it when he
+said that if he were not the independent gentleman he was he would be a
+beggar. So, if I were not the independent gentleman I am, I would be a
+member of a strolling band, such as we often pass in this crowded land,
+and boast that Shakespeare was of our profession. What are the
+Charioteers, after all, in their happiest dream, but aristocratic
+gypsies? That is the reason we are so enraptured with the life.
+
+But in Preston there is no scope for idealism. It is a city where cotton
+is king. No town can be much less attractive; but, mark you, a few steps
+toward the river and you overlook one of the prettiest parks in the
+world. The Ribble runs at the foot of the sloping hill upon which the
+city stands, and its banks have been converted into the pleasure-ground
+I speak of, in which the toilers sport in thousands and gaze upon the
+sweet fields of living green beyond far into the country. It is not so
+bad when the entire district is not given over to manufactures, as in
+Birmingham and Manchester. There is the cloud, but there is the silver
+lining also.
+
+If ever the people of England and America are estranged in some future
+day, which God forbid, I could wish that every American were duly
+informed of the conduct of the people of Lancashire during the
+rebellion, and, indeed, of England, Ireland, and Scotland as well, but
+more particularly of such as were directly dependent upon the supply of
+cotton for work, as was the case here. The troops of Pennsylvania did
+not more truly fight the battle of the Union at Gettysburg, than did the
+thousands of men and women here under the lead of Bright and Cobden,
+Potter, Forster, Storey, and others, who held the enemies of
+Republicanism in check. The sacrifices they bore could never have been
+borne except for a cause which they felt to be their own and held as
+sacred. The ruling classes of the land were naturally against the
+Republic. This we must always expect till the day comes in Britain (and
+it is coming) when all forms of hereditary privilege are swept away and
+the people are equal politically one with another. Nothing could
+possibly please the aristocracy of Britain, or any aristocracy, more
+than the failure of a nation which ignores aristocracy altogether. That
+is obvious. Human nature would not be what it is were this not so, and
+they are not blamable for it, but, resisting every temptation, the
+working men of Britain--those to whom a Republic promises so much, for
+it gives all men political equality--these stood firm from first to
+last, the staunch and unflinching friends of the Republic. Some day,
+perhaps, it may be in the power of America to show that where the
+interests of the masses of Britain are concerned, she has not forgotten
+the deep debt she owes to them; no matter what the provocation, the
+people of America must remember it is their turn to forbear for the
+sake, not of the ruling classes, but for the sake of the masses of
+Britain who were and are her devoted friends.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Preston._]
+
+Preston, that is, Priest's Town, for it received its name from the many
+ecclesiastics resident there as early as the eighth century, was once
+the principal port of Lancashire; and when Charles I. collected
+ship-money it was assessed for nearly twice the amount of Liverpool.
+
+This was the Charles of whom Lincoln knew so little. Mr. Blaine tells
+this good story among a hundred, for he is wonderful in this line: When
+Lincoln and Seward went to Fortress Monroe to meet Mr. Hunter, who
+represented the Confederate Government, the latter was exceedingly
+anxious to get the President to promise that if the rebels would lay
+down their arms no confiscation of property (slaves, of course,
+included) should follow, and that no man should be punished for taking
+part in the rebellion. Mr. Hunter concluded by saying that this would
+only be following the course pursued in England after the contest with
+King Charles. "Well, Mr. Hunter," said that sagacious and born leader of
+men, Father Abraham, "my friend Seward here is the historian of my
+Cabinet, but the only thing I remember about King Charles is _that
+Cromwell cut his head off_!" Lincoln did not know very much, you see,
+but then he knew the only part much worth knowing upon the subject,
+which is one of the differences between a great man and a learned one.
+
+It was at this celebrated interview that Lincoln took up a blank sheet
+of writing-paper and said to the Confederates, let me write
+_Emancipation_ here at the top and you can fill the rest of the page
+with your conditions.
+
+Lincoln seized the key of a political position as Napoleon did of a
+military one, and never relaxed his grasp. He would tell stories all
+night and make his auditors shout with laughter, but whenever the real
+business was touched upon, he made his opponents feel that the natural
+division was that the buzzard should fall to them while his long bony
+fingers were already fast upon the turkey. He could afford to joke and
+be patient, for he saw the end from the beginning, and had faith in the
+Republic.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Richelieu and Cromwell._]
+
+See what the whirligig of time brings round. Near Preston, in the valley
+of the Ribble, was fought in 1648 the battle of Preston or Ribblesdale,
+in which Cromwell defeated the Scotch army under the Duke of Hamilton,
+and the English army under Sir Marmaduke Langdale. The Royalists were
+driven at the point of the bayonet through the streets of Preston, and,
+though they made a stand at Uttoxeter, were finally overthrown and both
+generals and many thousand men made prisoners. It was a notable
+struggle, for the Royalists had more than twice as many men as the
+Parliamentarians; but then the latter had the great Oliver, who knew how
+and when to strike a blow.
+
+Booth may not be great in anything, as some think, but I do not know his
+equal in "Richelieu;" and in one scene in particular he has always
+seemed to me at his very best. The king sits with his new minister,
+Baradas, in attendance at his side. Richelieu reclines upon a sofa
+exhausted while his secretaries "deliver up the papers of a realm." A
+secretary is on his knee presenting papers. He says:
+
+      "The affairs of England, Sire, most urgent. Charles
+      The First has lost a battle that decides
+      One half his realm--craves moneys, Sire, and succor.
+
+      KING. He shall have both. Eh, Baradas?
+
+      BARADAS.                        Yes, Sire.
+
+      RICHELIEU. (_Feebly, but with great distinctness._) My liege--
+      Forgive me--Charles's cause is lost. A man,
+      Named Cromwell, risen--_a great man_--"
+
+That is enough, a great man _settles_ things; a small one nibbles away
+at petty reforms, although he knows nothing is settled thereby, and that
+the question is only pushed ahead for the time to break out again
+directly. English politicians are mostly nibblers, though Gladstone can
+take a good bite when put to it.
+
+Will you lay "violent hands upon the Lord's anointed?" "I'll anoint ye!"
+says Cromwell, and then, I take it, was settled for the future the
+"divine right of kings" theory; for since that time these curious
+appendages of a free state have been kept for show, and we hear nothing
+more of the "divinity which doth hedge a king." Some one of the party
+remarked that we had not seen a statue or even a picture of England's
+great Protector. I told them a wise man once said that the reason
+Cromwell's statue was not put among those of the other rulers of England
+at Westminster was because he would dwarf them. But his day is coming.
+We shall have him there in his proper place by and by, and how small
+hereditary rulers will seem beside him!
+
+  [Sidenote: _Cromwell at Drury Lane._]
+
+We noticed in the _Pall Mall Gazette_ a curious proof of Cromwell's
+place in the hearts of the people of England. The pantomime at Drury
+Lane had a scene in which all the Kings and Queens of England marched
+across the stage in gorgeous procession. Each was greeted with cheers or
+hisses or with more or less cordial greeting as the audience thought
+deserved. When Cromwell appeared in the line a few hisses were answered
+by round after round of cheering, and the Lord Protector nightly
+received a popular ovation far beyond that accorded to any other ruler.
+That the manager of the leading theatre in London should have thought it
+admissible to introduce the Republican among the Kings is a straw which
+shows a healthy breeze blowing in the political currents of English
+life.
+
+He was truly a host in himself; besides, his men were fighting for
+something better than had been, the others only for maintaining what had
+before existed. It is this which drives Conservatives to the wall when
+radicalism moves in earnest upon them. The aspirations of the race for
+further and higher development nerve the arm which strikes down the
+barriers of an ignorant past. Who could battle enthusiastically only for
+such incomplete and unsatisfactory development as we have already
+reached and pronounce it good! The prize is not worth it. What the race
+is capable of achieving in the broad future is the mainspring of our
+assault upon every abuse or privilege, the heritage of the past which
+disgraces the present.
+
+At Preston many of us received letters from home. Harry's funny one from
+his little daughter Emma (a namesake of our Emma of the Charioteers)
+gave us a good laugh. I remember there was one announcement particularly
+noteworthy: "Ninety dollars gone to smash, papa. The pony's dead." There
+is your future special correspondent for you.
+
+At eleven o'clock this evening the party received a notable
+addition--Andrew M., my old schoolfellow and "the Maester's son,"
+arrived from Dunfermline. He was received at the station by a committee
+especially appointed for the purpose, and shortly thereafter duly
+initiated into all the rites and mysteries of the Gay Charioteers. He
+was required, late as it was, to sing two Scotch songs to determine his
+eligibility. There may be some man who can sing "Oh! why left I my
+hame?"--my favorite at present, and written by Gilfillan in Dunfermline,
+note that--or "When the kye come hame," better than our new member, but
+none of us has been so fortunate as to meet him, nor have I ever heard
+one who could sing them as well for me; but there may be a touch of Auld
+Lang Syne in his voice which strikes chords in my heart and sets them
+vibrating. There are subtle sympathies lurking in the core of man's
+nature, responsive to no law but their own, but I notice all press
+Andrew to sing, and keep very quiet when he does. We had the pleasure of
+seeing the new member get just as daft as the rest of us next day,
+gathering wild flowers along the hedgerows, the glittering, towering
+coach coming up to us. He had time to say: "Man, this canna be _vera_
+bad for us!" No, not very; only we did not know then how bad it would be
+for us when, after the dream-like existence had passed and we were back
+once more to our labors of this work-a-day world, thrown out as it were
+from a paradise and falling as Milton's Satan fell; but it's better to
+have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
+
+Fortunately we did not know then that for months after our fall there
+were to be only sad memories of days of happiness so unalloyed that they
+can never again be equalled. It is not at all desirable to be honestly
+persuaded that you never again can have seven weeks of such days as made
+us happy, innocent children; but we shall see. There are as good fish in
+the sea as were ever caught, and though it is true they do not seem to
+bite as they used to, may be we can venture to try coaching again. The
+height of our musical season was during this part of the journey. Miss
+R., Miss J., and Mrs. K. are all musical and blessed with the power of
+song. Messrs. M., McC. and K. differ only as one star differs from
+another in glory; and there was another gentleman, who shall be
+nameless, who sang without being asked, and who, as usual, was not
+encored by his unappreciative audience, his being evidently the music of
+the future.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Scotch Songs._]
+
+Davie deserves notice. He sang a beautiful Scotch song to-day, "Cowden
+Knowes," and when he was done Andrew immediately asked: "Whaur did ye
+get that? Ye didna get that out of a book!"
+
+Right, my boy. It was at his father's knee. Who ever learnt a Scotch
+song out of books? They are possessed of souls, these songs, to be
+caught only from living lips. The bodies alone are to be found within
+the bars.
+
+Passing Bolton we saw the first bowling green, sure proof that we are
+getting northward, where every village has its green and its bowling
+club, the ancient game of bowls still offering to rural England
+attractions paramount to more modern sports.
+
+We lunched at Grisdalebrook, ten miles from Lancaster, which was to be
+our stopping-place. To-day's drive was made fragrant by the scent of
+new-mown hay, and we passed many bands of merry haymakers. When Dickens
+pronounced no smell the best smell, he must have momentarily forgotten
+that which so delighted us. I do give up most of the so-called fine
+smells, but there are a few better than Dickens's best, and surely that
+of to-day is of them. We went into a Catholic church in one of our
+strolls--for let it be remembered many a glorious tramp we had--and the
+coach was rarely honored with all the party when a chance to walk
+presented itself. The requests posted upon the door of this church
+seemed to carry one back a long way:
+
+      "Of your charity pray for the soul of Rebecca Robinson,
+      who died June 7th, 1880, fortified with rites of Holy
+      Church, on whose soul sweet Jesus have mercy. R. I. P."
+
+There were several such requests. What a power that church has been and
+is, only one who has travelled the world round can know. In England here
+it is but a sickly, foreign plant, so fearfully foreign. We can all
+repeat Buddha's words and apply them to it, but they should not stop
+here:
+
+      "And third came she who gives dark creeds their power,
+      Silabbat-paramasa, sorceress,
+      Draped fair in many lands as lowly Faith,
+      But ever juggling souls with rites and prayers;
+      The keeper of those keys which lock up Hells
+      And open Heavens. 'Wilt thou dare?' she said,
+      'Put by our sacred books, dethrone our gods,
+      Unpeople all the temples, shaking down
+      That law which feeds the priests and props the realm?'
+      But Buddha answered, 'What thou bidd'st me keep
+      Is form which passes, but the free truth stands;
+      Get thee unto thy darkness.'"
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Roman Church._]
+
+Say what we will about the Roman Church, there is something sublime in
+her attitude. Neither sense nor reason make the slightest impression
+upon her; for she stands confident in her power and her right to save,
+denying the power to others, regardless of the conclusions of science
+and the fuller knowledge of to-day. This gives her the hold she obtains
+among the ignorant masses, whether at home or abroad.
+
+The world-wide influence of this faith can never be rightly estimated
+until one has visited the missions throughout India, China, and Japan.
+The converts are generally to the Catholic church. To-day on the coach
+in speaking of this, I told an inquirer that in my opinion one, if not
+the chief, obstacle to the success of missions to the heathen, lies in
+the differences between the Christian sects, and I illustrated it by a
+story:
+
+One day in China I asked our guide Ah Cum, a gentleman and a scholar,
+and a man of excellent mind, why he did not embrace Christianity. His
+eyes twinkled as he replied: "Where goee, eh? Goee Bishopee? (pointing
+to the Cathedral). He say, allee rightee. Go there? (pointing to the
+English church). Bishop say damme! Goee Hopper? (the American
+Presbyterian Missionary). He sayee Bishop churchee no goodee--hellee
+firee. What I do'ee? eh!"
+
+"Stay where you are, you rogue." Confound the fellow! I did not expect
+to be picked up in that manner.
+
+Ah Cum was severely let alone after that upon the subject of his
+conversion. I have no hope of him until we agree among ourselves exactly
+what we wish the heathen to accept. It is in vain we preach one God and
+five different religions; there must be only one true religion as well.
+Ah Cum's defence of the worship of ancestors was clever. It ran thus:
+All religions acknowledge the Creator of life as the true object of
+worship. Taking hold of his watch chain he began at the first link and
+said: "I worshipee my parents (passing one link), my parents worshipee
+their parents" (passing another link, and so on till he had passed quite
+a number); "by by come to firstee, lifee Goddee. You jump up sky all
+oncee, miss him, may be."
+
+He thought he had a sure thing passing up link by link to the end. We
+need clever missionaries to hold their own with these Celestials.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      LANCASTER, July 9, 10.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Lancaster._]
+
+We had done our twenty-nine miles from Preston and reached Lancaster in
+good season. There we had a treat. The High Sheriff for the county had
+just been elected and made his entry into town according to immemorial
+custom. He represents royalty in the county during his term of office,
+which I believe is only two years. It costs the recipient of the honor a
+large sum to maintain the dignities of the office, for its emoluments
+are nil. The sheriff was staying at our hotel, a very fine one, The
+County. He is wakened every morning by two heralds richly dressed in the
+olden style and bearing halberds. They stand in front of the hotel and
+sound their bugles to call His Highness forth. It is the Lord Mayor's
+procession on a small scale. Nobody laughs outright at the curious
+mixture of feudal customs with this age's requirements, however much
+everybody may laugh in his sleeve; but England will have lost some
+picturesque features when all the shams are gone. If mankind were not
+greatly influenced by forms, I could wish that just enough of the "good
+old times"--which were very bad times indeed--could be preserved, if
+only to prove how far we have outgrown them; but every form and every
+sham, from royalty downward, carries its good or evil with it. That not
+only the substance should be right, but that the form should correspond
+truly to it, is important if we are to be honest; so I reconcile myself
+to the passing away of all forms which no longer honestly represent what
+they imply.
+
+Lancaster is a beautiful place and noted for its admirable charitable
+institutions. The lunatic asylum and an orphanage attracted our special
+attention. These and kindred institutions abound in England, and are
+ably conducted. Rich Englishmen do not leave their fortunes for uses of
+this kind as often as Americans do. The ambition to found a family, and
+the maintenance of an aristocratic class by means of primogeniture and
+entail, tend to divert fortunes from this nobler path into the meaner
+end of elevating a name in the social scale; but the general public in
+Britain is most generous, and immense sums in the aggregate are annually
+collected for charitable institutions. It is common for a class to
+support its own unfortunates. The commercial travellers, for instance,
+have an extensive home near London for children of their fellows and for
+members in their old age, and there is scarcely a branch of industry
+which does not follow this example.
+
+  [Sidenote: _A Noble Charity._]
+
+One cannot travel far without seeing that the British are a people most
+mindful of the unfortunate. These pretty homes of refuge and of rest we
+see scattered everywhere over the land, nor are they the least glorious
+of the many monuments of England's true worth.
+
+A Mr. Ripley, of Lancaster, left his fortune for an orphanage, open to
+all orphan children born within fifteen miles of Lancaster. Three
+hundred are now provided for, but so rapidly has the fund grown that it
+has been found practicable to extend the boundaries of its beneficence,
+and children from distant Liverpool are now admitted. Bravo! Mr. Ripley.
+What is an earldom for your eldest son to this! His father's name will
+carry him farther with the best, and he should be prouder of it. Show me
+the earl who has done as much for his neighborhood!
+
+Lancaster Castle is a noble one. Here John o' Gaunt hundreds of years
+ago put his finger upon the dire root of England's woes, as far as the
+land goes:
+
+                          "This dear, dear land,
+      Dear for her reputation through the world,
+      Is now _leas'd_ out."
+
+There you have it--this England is leased out. The soil is not worked by
+its owners, and never, till England changes its practice and can boast a
+peasant proprietary working its own acres in small farms, untrammelled
+by vicious laws, will she know what miracles can be wrought by those who
+call each little spot their own--their home. Englishmen are slow to
+change, but the day is not far distant when ownership of land will
+depend upon residence on it and its proper cultivation. Denmark's
+example will be followed. Cumulative taxes will be levied upon each
+number of acres beyond a minimum number, and large proprietors taxed out
+of existence as they have been in Denmark, to the country's good and
+nobody's injury. We tax a man who keeps racing-horses or who sports
+armorial bearings. It is the same principle: we can tax a man who keeps
+a larger amount of land than he can work to the State's advantage. The
+rights of property are all very well in their place, but the rights of
+man and the good of the commonwealth are far beyond them. I wish England
+would just let me arrange that little land matter for her. It would save
+her a generation of agitation.
+
+Lancaster was an ancient Roman station, as is shown by its name--Lune or
+Lone Castrum, the castle or camp on the Lune or Lone, the little river
+which washes its plain. For what saith Spencer in the Faery Queen:
+
+      "----After came the strong shallow Lone
+      That to old Lancaster its name doth lend."
+
+The memory of man goeth not back to the time when the first castle was
+built. Indeed it is of little consequence now, for it was almost
+entirely razed by the Scots in the fourteenth century.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Lancaster Castle._]
+
+The present noble structure, or rather the older part of it, is the work
+of John O'Gaunt, that son of a king who was almost a king himself, and
+who became the father of kings. To him is due the magnificent Gateway
+Tower, flanked by two octagonal turrets sixty-six feet high, surrounded
+by watch-towers. Around the towers and across the curtain, perforated by
+the gate, which connects them, are overhanging battlements with vertical
+openings for pouring down molten metal or hot water on the heads of
+assailants. In a niche in front is a full-length statue of John O'Gaunt
+in the costume of his day, placed there in 1822. The sole remaining
+turret of the Lungess Tower, eighty-eight feet high, is called John
+O'Gaunt's Chair. It commands a view of great extent, comprising the
+hills of Cumberland and Westmoreland and nearly the whole extent of the
+valley of the Lune, with the Irish Sea in the distance.
+
+Some moralists, who believe that men and times are degenerate, may
+lament that this grand old castle--the ancient residence of
+nobles--should now be the abode of criminals; but, while equally
+desirous that its architectural wonders may be preserved, I am not
+inclined to admit that the thieves and cutthroats who now have their
+homes within its walls through the puissance of the law are any worse
+morally than were many of the noble barons who robbed and ravished in
+the good old times when the question of might versus right was always
+settled in favor of the plaintiff. Some of them indeed more richly
+merited a halter than the comfortable seclusion from the outer world
+accorded to their modern representatives. Even good old John O'Gaunt
+himself was not so virtuous that he could shy moral stones at his
+neighbors.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Bicycles._]
+
+Sunday was spent in Lancaster, and much enjoyed. The service in church
+was fine and the afternoon's excursion to the country delightful. Here
+Miss A. B. and Mr. D. left us after receiving the blessing of the party.
+Miss G. and Miss D., who were to join us here, failed us, but we
+fortunately found them waiting at Kendall. We started for that town,
+twenty-two miles distant, on Monday morning. It is the entrance to the
+celebrated Lake District. Messrs. T. and M., whom we had met at Anderton
+Hall, passed us on Saturday, before we reached Lancaster, on bicycles.
+They were out for a run of a hundred and five miles that day, to visit
+friends beyond that city. We meet such travellers often. Their club now
+numbers seven thousand members. For an annual payment of half a crown
+(62 cents), a member has lists of routes and hotels sent him for any
+desired district, with the advantage of reduced charges. It is nothing
+to do a hundred miles per day; many have ridden from London to Bath, two
+hundred miles, within the twenty-four hours.
+
+The country swarms with these fellows. I saw fifteen hundred in Bushy
+Park one day at a meet. I think seventy-five clubs were there, each in a
+different uniform. Bicycles are also growing in use for practical
+purposes, and many post-routes in the country are served by men who use
+these machines. But it takes roads like the English, and a level
+country, to do much with them.
+
+Our evening was spent in visiting the ruined castle and admiring a
+pretty Japanese kind of garden, so much in so little space, which
+attracted our attention as we passed. The owner, Mr. T., a solicitor,
+kindly invited us in, and afterward showed us his house. We are always
+receiving kindnesses from all sorts and conditions of men.
+
+Next day, July 12th, our objective point was Grassmere, eighteen miles
+away. Such a lovely morning! but, indeed, we are favored beyond measure
+with superb weather all the time. This stage in our progress introduced
+us to the scenery of the lakes, and we all felt that it deserved its
+Wordsworth; but were we ever to let loose and enter the descriptive,
+where would it lead? This is the rock upon which many a fair venture in
+story-telling has suffered shipwreck. Great mountains always carry one
+upward, but those of the Lake District are not great, nor is there
+anything great in the region. All is very sweet and pleasing and has its
+own peculiar charm, like the school of Lake Poets.
+
+At Bowness, about midway of the lake, we left the coach for the first
+time for any other kind of conveyance. After enjoying a rare treat in a
+sail up and down the lake in the pretty steamer, we rejoined the coach
+at Ambleside, where we had ordered it to await us.
+
+Passing Storr's Hall, the mind wandered back to the meeting there of
+Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, Christopher North, and greater than all,
+our own Walter Scott; and surely not in all the earth could a fitter
+spot than this have been found for their gathering. How much the world
+of to-day owes to the few names who spent days together here! Not often
+can you say of one little house, "Here had we our country's honor
+roofed" to so great an extent as it would be quite allowable to say in
+this instance. But behold the vanity of human aspirations! If there was
+one wish dearer than another to the greatest of these men, it was that
+Abbotsford should remain from generation to generation the home of his
+race. This very hour, while sailing on the lake, a newspaper was handed
+to me, and my eye caught the advertisement, "Abbotsford to let,"
+followed by the stereotyped description, so many reception-rooms,
+nursery, outbuildings, and offices, suitable for a gentleman's
+establishment. Shade of the mighty Wizard of the North, has it come to
+this! Oh, the pity of it! the pity of it! Well for your fame that you
+built for mankind other than this stately home of your pride. It will
+crumble and pass utterly away long before the humble cot of Jeannie
+Deans shall fade from the memory of man. The time will come when the
+largest son of time, who wandering sang to a listening world, shall be
+as much forgot
+
+      "As the canoe that crossed a lonely lake
+      A thousand years ago."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Abbotsford to Let!_]
+
+But even the New Zealander who stands on the ruins of London Bridge will
+know something of Walter Scott if he knows much worth knowing.
+"Abbotsford to let!" This to come to us just as we were passing one of
+the haunts of Scott, than whom no greater Scot ever lived save one.
+Fortunately no such blow is possible for the memory of Burns.
+
+      "After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well;
+      Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison,
+      Malice domestic, ... nothing,
+      Can touch him further!"
+
+For this let us be thankful. We visited Wordsworth's grave reverently in
+the twilight. Fresh, very fresh flowers lay upon it. God bless the hand
+that strewed them there this day! I think the following the one very
+great thing he gave the world; it contains "the golden guess which ever
+is the morning star to the full round of truth." The thought of the
+age--whether right or wrong we need not discuss--is hitherward:
+
+                    "For I have learned
+      To look on Nature, not as in the hour
+      Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
+      The still, sad music of humanity,
+      Not harsh nor grating, though of ample power
+      To chasten and subdue. And I have felt
+      A presence that disturbs me with the joy
+      Of elevated thoughts: a sense sublime
+      Of something far more deeply interfused,
+      Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
+      And the round ocean, and the living air,
+      And the blue sky, and in the mind of man
+      A motion and a spirit that impels
+      All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
+      And rolls through all things."
+
+There's a platform upon which this sceptical age may eventually stand.
+It is not materialistic and it is not dogmatic; perhaps it is the golden
+mean between extremes. I commend its teachings to both sides of all the
+cock-sure disputants, one of whom knows it is just so, and the other as
+presumptuously knows there is nothing to know. Let them shake hands and
+await patiently the coming of clearer light, and get together in solid
+work here. Surely there is enough to keep them busy. We still "see
+through a glass darkly."
+
+We spent our night at Grassmere, and had a fine row upon the lake; and
+can anything be finer than music upon the waters, the dip of the oar,
+the cadence of the song which seems to float upon the glassy lake? It
+came to us again lulling us to sleep--the sweetest lullaby, sure
+precursor of happy dreams.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      GRASSMERE, July 13.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Carnegie Weather._]
+
+"Right, Perry!" Off for Keswick, only twelve miles distant; but who
+wants to hurry away from scenes like these? It rained heavily through
+the night, but this morning is grand for us. The mist was on the
+mountains though, and the clouds passed slowly over them, wrapping the
+tops in their mantle. The numerous rills dashing down the bare mountains
+were the themes of much praise. They reminded me of two fine verses from
+the "Light of Asia" upon "Being's ceaseless tide,"
+
+      "Which, ever-changing, runs, linked like a river
+        By ripples following ripples, fast or slow--
+      The same, yet not the same--from far-off fountains
+        To where its waters flow
+      Into the seas. These steaming to the sun,
+        Give the lost wavelets back in cloudy fleece
+      To trickle down the hills, and glide again;
+        Knowing no pause or peace."
+
+We seem to be miraculously protected from rain. Many times it has poured
+during the night, and yet the days have been perfect. "Carnegie weather"
+begins to be talked about, and we are all disposed to accept the
+inference that the fair goddess Fortune has fallen deep in love with us,
+since Prosperity seems to be our page during this journey.
+
+The influence of America and of American ideas upon England is seen in
+various ways. We meet frequently one who has visited the Republic, whose
+advanced ideas, in consequence of the knowledge derived from actual
+contact with American affairs, are very decidedly proclaimed.
+
+While on the train to-day we met a rattler of this kind, who gave many
+instances of the non-receptivity of his countrymen. I remember one of
+his complaints was in regard to a pea-sheller which he had seen at work
+in one of our monster hotels. He was so pleased that he bought one and
+took it in triumph to his innkeeper at home: "Blessed if the servants
+would work it, sir; no, sir, wouldn't shell a pea with it, sir. Look
+where we are in the race of new inventions, sir. _We're not in it._ Lord
+bless you, sir, _England isn't in it_."
+
+This man, like converts in general to new ideas, went much too far. Any
+one who thinks that England is not in the race, and pretty well placed
+too, has not looked very deep. We did what we could to give him a juster
+conception of his country's position than he apparently entertained.
+"What on earth," I said to him, "has a small English hotel to do with a
+pea-sheller? I have never heard of this Yankee notion, but I doubt not
+that one pea-sheller would shell all the peas required by all the guests
+of all the hotels in town, if they fed the inmates on nothing but pea
+soup!" But he would not be convinced. It was just the same with any
+other improvement, he said, and he got out at a station, muttering as
+he went: "No, sir, she isn't in it, I tell you; she _isn't in it_." All
+right, you constitutional grumbler, have it your own way. If this man
+were upon our side, he would not live twenty-four hours without finding
+fault with something. He is one of those who carry their pea-sheller
+with them, or find it at every turn. He belongs to the class of
+grumblers--those who cannot enjoy the bright genial rays of the sun for
+thinking of the spots upon it--just such another as he who found that
+even in Paradise "the halo did not fit his head exactly."
+
+  [Sidenote: _American Presidents and Royalty._]
+
+The coaches in the Lake District have now the English and the American
+flags upon their sides, and we often see the Stars and Stripes displayed
+at hotels. Our present hostelry has a flaming advertisement ending with:
+"Patrons--Royalty and American Presidents." There must be slender
+grounds for both claims, I fancy General Grant, however, may have been
+there. As the elected of the largest division of the English-speaking
+race, he no doubt outranked all other patrons, and the proper way to put
+it would be "American Presidents and Royalty."
+
+At luncheon to-day it was found that our drinkables had better be cooled
+in the brook--an unusual performance this for England; but how vividly
+this little incident brings to mind the happy scene--the row of bottles
+(contents mostly harmless) in the stream, sticking up their tiny heads
+as if resentful at the extraordinary bath! Do not imagine that our
+party were worse to water than to corn; sixteen hungry people need a
+good many bottles of various kinds, for we had many tastes to gratify.
+We were all temperance people, however; a few of us even total
+abstinence, who required special attention, for their milk and lemonade
+were often more difficult to procure than all the other fluids. The
+guest who gives least trouble in England, in the drinkable department,
+is he who takes beer.
+
+At Keswick we wandered round the principal square and laughed at the
+curious names of the inns there. In this region inns abound. Almost
+every house in that square offered entertainment for man and beast. Here
+is a true copy of names of inns noted in a few squares in the village:
+"Fighting Cocks," "Packhorse," "Red Lion," "Dog and Duck," "Black Lion,"
+"Deerhound," "White Hart," "Green Lion," "Pig and Whistle," "White
+Lion," "Black Bull," "Elephant and Castle," "Lamb and Lark," "The Fish."
+If the whole village were scanned there would be beasts enough
+commemorated in its inns to make a respectable menagerie. Indeed, for
+that one "Green Lion" Barnum might safely pay more than for Jumbo.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Freedom and Equality._]
+
+The names of English inns we have seen elsewhere are equally odd; let me
+note a few: "Hen and Chickens," "Dog and Doublet," "King and Crown,"
+"Hole in the Wall," "Struggling Man," "Jonah and the Ark," "Angel and
+Woolsack," "Adam and Eve," "Rose and Crown," "Crown and Cushion." We
+laughed at one with an old-fashioned swinging sign, upon which a groom
+was scrubbing away at a naked black man (you could almost hear his
+pruss, pruss, pruss). The name of the house was "Labor in Vain Inn"--a
+perfect illustration, no doubt, in one sense; in the higher sense, not
+so. Under the purifying influences of equality, found only in republican
+institutions, America has taught the world she can soon make white men
+out of black. Her effort to change the slave into a freeman has been
+anything but labor in vain; what is under the skin can be made white
+enough always, if we go at it with the right brush. None genuine unless
+stamped with the well-known brand "Republic." "All men are born free and
+_equal_" is warranted to cure the most desperate cases when all other
+panaceas fail, from a mild monarchy up to a German despotism; and is
+especially adapted for Irishmen. To be well shaken, however, before
+taken, and applied internally, externally, and eternally, like Colonel
+Sellers' eye-wash.
+
+Harry and I were absent part of this day, having run down to Workington
+to see our friend Mr. G., at the Steel Rail Mills. Pardon us!--this was
+our only taste of business during the trip; never had the affairs of
+this world been so completely banished from our thoughts. To get back to
+blast-furnaces and rolling mills was distressing; but we could not well
+pass our friend's door, so to speak. We have nothing to say about
+manufacturing, for it is just with that as with their political
+institutions: England keeps about a generation behind, and yet deludes
+herself with the idea that she is the leader among nations. The truth
+is, she is often not even a good follower where others lead, but
+exceptions must be noted here: a few of her ablest men are not behind
+America in manufacturing, for there are one or perhaps two
+establishments in England which lead America. A great race is the
+British when they do go to work and get rid of their antiquated
+prejudices. Visitors to America like Messrs. Howard, Lothian Bell,
+Windsor Richards, Martin, and others, have no prejudices which stick.
+But let Uncle Sam look out. If he thinks John Bull will remain behind in
+the industrial or the political race either, I do not; and I believe
+when he sets to work in earnest he cannot be beaten. The Republic of
+England, when it comes, will excel all other republics as much as the
+English monarchy has excelled all other monarchies, or as much as
+Windsor Richards' steel practice and plant excel any we can boast of
+here at present. It is our turn now to take a step forward, unless we
+are content to be beaten. This is all right. Long may the two branches
+of the family stimulate each other to further triumphs, the elder
+encouraging us to hold fast that which is good, the younger pointing the
+way upward and onward--a race in which neither can lose, but in which
+both must win! Clear the course! Fair play and victory to both!
+
+  [Sidenote: _Democracy in England._]
+
+The report of the annual public debate of University College, London,
+attracted our notice to-day before leaving Kendal. The subject debated
+was: "That the advance of Democracy in England will tend to strengthen
+the Foundations of Society."
+
+Lord Rosebery presided, and it is his speech at the close which
+possesses political significance as coming from one who wears his rank
+
+      "For the sake of liberal uses
+      And of great things to be done,"
+
+and of whom almost any destiny may be predicted if he hold the true
+course. He said:
+
+"As regards government, there seemed to be great advantage in democracy.
+With an oligarchy the responsibility was too great and the penalty for
+failure too high. He did not share the asperity manifested by one of the
+speakers against American institutions, and, having visited the country
+on several occasions, he felt the greatest warmth for America and the
+American people. Persons who elected by free choice a moderate intellect
+to represent them were better off than those who had a leviathan
+intellect placed over them against their will, and this free choice the
+people of the United States possessed. It had been said by the opponents
+of democracy that the best men in America devoted themselves to
+money-getting; but this was a strong argument in its favor, as showing
+that democracy was not correctly represented as a kind of grabbing at
+the property of others."
+
+Never were truer words spoken than these, my lord. What a pity you were
+not allowed the privilege of starting "at scratch" in life's race, like
+Gladstone or Disraeli! From any success achieved there must be made the
+just deduction for so many yards allowed _Lord_ Rosebery. Receive the
+sincere condolences of him who welcomed you to honorary membership of
+the Burns Club of New York, not because of these unfortunate, unfair
+disadvantages, for he would not have welcomed a prince for his rank, but
+for your merits as a man.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      PENRITH, July 14.
+
+We reached Penrith, July 14th, after a delightful day's drive. Never
+were the Gay Charioteers happier, for the hilly ground gave us many
+opportunities for grand walks. When these come it is a red-letter day.
+The pleasure of walking should rank as one of the seven distinct
+pleasures of existence, and yet I have some friends who know nothing of
+it; they are not coaching through England, however.
+
+I have omitted to chronicle the change that came over the Queen Dowager
+shortly after we started from Wolverhampton; till then she had kept the
+seat of honor next to Perry, inviting one after another as a special
+honor to sit in front with her. She soon discovered that a good deal of
+the fun going on was missed; besides, she had not all of us under her
+eye. Her seat was exchanged for the middle of the back form, where she
+was supported by one on each side, while four others had their faces
+turned to hers, giving an audience of no less than six for her stories
+and old ballads. Her tongue went from morning till night, if I do say
+it, and her end of the coach was always in for its share of any frolic
+stirring. She was "in a gale" all day to-day, and kept us all roaring.
+
+  [Sidenote: _On the Borders._]
+
+Our next stage would take us to Carlisle, the border-town behind which
+lay the sacred soil, "Scotia dear." Mr. B. and his son joined us here
+and went on with us the last day upon English soil, waving adieu, as it
+were, as we plunged into Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. K. left us for Paisley
+to see the children, and what a loss I here record no one but the
+members can possibly understand. Aaleck and Aggie gone! If anything
+could long dampen the joyous spirits of the party, this separation
+surely would have done it; but we were to meet again in Edinburgh, where
+the reconstruction of the Charioteers was to take place. At Carlisle,
+too, the Parisians were to be welcomed back again--plenty to look
+forward to, you see. We started for Carlisle July 15th, the day superb
+as usual.
+
+We had left the Lake District, with its hills and flowing streams, to
+pass through a tamer land; but our luncheon to-day, in a field near
+"Hesketh in the Forest," was not unromantic. The members from Anderton
+Hall caught the fever, as was usual with neophytes, and regretted that
+their return was imperatively required. One day gave them a taste of the
+true gypsy life. Hesketh was "in the Forest," no doubt, but this was
+many long years ago. To-day there is nothing to justify its name.
+Smiling green fields, roads as perfect as they can be made, pretty
+houses, trim hedge-rows and gardens, and all so intensely civilized as
+to bring vividly before you the never ceasing change which the surface
+of the earth undergoes to fit it for the sustenance of dense masses of
+men.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      CARLISLE, July 15.
+
+Here is reconstruction for you with a vengeance! First, let us mourn the
+unhappy departures: Mr. and Mrs. K. went yesterday and Miss R., Miss G.,
+the Misses B., Miss D. and Mr. B. and son go to-day. Cousin Maggie, who
+had become absorbed in this kind of life, so dazed with happiness, her
+turn has come too, even she must go; Andrew M., with his fine Scotch
+aroma and his songs, must report to his superior officer at the
+encampment, for is he not a gallant volunteer and an officer under Her
+Majesty, "sworn never to desert his home except in case of invasion!"
+Well, we cannot help these miserable changes in this world, nor the
+"sawt, sawt tears" of the young ladies as they kiss each other, swearing
+eternal friendship, and sob good-byes.
+
+But if farewell ever sighs, welcome comes in smiling. Look! Cousin E.
+in my arms and a warm kiss of welcome! That is the very best of
+consolation. Clever, artistic Miss R., too, from Edinburgh; and then are
+we not to have our four originals back again, after two long weeks'
+absence! It was fortunate that our sad farewells were so promptly
+followed by smiling welcomes.
+
+Do any people love their country as passionately as the Scotch? I mean
+the earth of it, the very atoms of which its hills and glens are
+composed. I doubt it. Now here is Maggie, a douse, quiet, sensible girl.
+I tried to say something cheery to her to-day as we were approaching
+Carlisle, where we were to part, reminding her jokingly that she had
+received five weeks' coaching while her poor sister Eliza would have
+only two. "Ah! but she has Scotland, Naig!" "Do you really mean to tell
+me that you would rather have two weeks in your own country than five
+weeks seeing a new land, and that land England, with London and
+Brighton, and the lakes and all?" I just wish you could have seen and
+heard how the "Of course" came in reply. The Scotch always have Scotland
+first in their hearts, and some of them, I really believe, will get into
+trouble criticising Paradise if it be found to differ materially from
+Scotland.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Farewell to England._]
+
+To-morrow we are to enter that land of lands. Fair England, farewell!
+How graciously kind has been the reception accorded by you to the
+wanderers! How beautiful you are! how tenderly dear you have become to
+all of us! Not one of us but can close his eyes and revel in such quiet
+beauty as never before was his.
+
+      "Not a grand nature ...
+                            On English ground
+      You understand the letter ... ere the fall
+      How Adam lived in a garden. All the fields
+      Are tied up fast with hedges, nosegay like;
+      The hills are crumpled plains--the plains pastures,
+      And if you seek for any wilderness
+      You find at best a park. A nature
+      Tamed and grown domestic ...
+      A sweet familiar nature, stealing in
+      As a dog might, or child, to touch your hand,
+      Or pluck your gown, and humbly mind you so
+      Of presence and affection."
+
+"There is no farewell to scenes like thine." From the depths of every
+heart in our company comes the trembling "God bless you, England!"
+
+
+
+
+SCOTLAND.
+
+      "Away, ye gay landscapes, ye gardens of roses!
+        In you let the minions of luxury rove;
+      Restore me the rocks where the snowflake reposes,
+        Though still they are sacred to freedom and love:
+      Yet, Caledonia, beloved are thy mountains,
+        Round their white summits though elements war;
+      Though cataracts foam 'stead of smooth flowing fountains,
+        I sigh for the valley of dark Loch na Garr."
+
+
+It was on Saturday, July 16th, that we went over the border. The bridge
+across the boundary line was soon reached. When midway over a halt was
+called, and vent given to our enthusiasm. With three cheers for the land
+of the heather, shouts of "Scotland forever," and the waving of hats and
+handkerchiefs, we dashed across the border. O Scotland, my own, my
+native land, your exiled son returns with love for you as ardent as ever
+warmed the heart of man for his country. It's a God's mercy I was born a
+Scotchman, for I do not see how I could ever have been contented to be
+anything else. The little plucky dour deevil, set in her own ways and
+getting them too, level-headed and shrewd, with an eye to the main
+chance always and yet so lovingly weak, so fond, so led away by song or
+story, so easily touched to fine issues, so leal, so true! And you suit
+me, Scotia, and proud am I that I am your son.
+
+We stopped at Gretna Green, of course, and walked to the site of the
+famous blacksmith-shop where so many romantic pairs have been duly
+joined in the holy bonds of wedlock. A wee laddie acted as guide, and
+from him we had our first real broad Scotch. His dialect was perfect. He
+brought "wee Davie" to mind at once. I offered him a shilling if he
+could "screed me aff effectual calling." He knew his catechism, but he
+could not understand it. Never mind that, Davie, that is another matter.
+Older heads than yours have bothered over that doctrine and never got to
+the bottom of it. Besides there will be a "revised edition" of that
+before you are a man. Just you let it alone; it is the understanding of
+that and some other dogmas of poor ignorant man's invention that thin
+the churches of men who think and "make of sweet religion a rhapsody of
+words." "But do you ken Burns?" "Aye," said Davie, "I ken 'A man's a man
+for a' that,' and 'Auld Lang Syne.'" "Good for you, Davie, there's
+another shilling. Good-bye! But I say, Davie, if you can't possibly
+remember all three of these pieces, don't let it be 'A man's a man for
+a' that' that you forget, for Scotchmen will need to remember that one
+of these days when we begin to set things to rights in earnest and
+demand the same privileges for prince, peer, and peasant. Don't let it
+be 'Auld Lang Syne,' either, for there is more of 'Peace and Good-will
+upon Earth,' the essence of true religion, in that grand song than in
+your effectual calling, Davie, my wee mannie. At least there is one who
+thinks so." Davie got my address, and said may be he would come to
+America when he grew to be a man. I promised to give him a chance if he
+had not forgotten Burns, which is all we can do in the Republic, where
+merit is the only road to success. We may make a Republican out of him
+yet, and have him return to his fellows to preach the equality of man,
+the sermon Scotland needs.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Lunch at Annan._]
+
+We lunched at Annan. It was at first decided that we had better be
+satisfied with hotel accommodations, as the day though fine was cool,
+with that little nip in the air which gives it the bracing quality; but
+after we had entered the hotel the sun burst forth, and the longing for
+the green fields could not be overcome. We walked through the village
+across the river, and found a pretty spot in a grove upon high ground
+commanding extensive views up and down the stream, and there we gave our
+new members their first luncheon. It would have been a great pity had we
+missed this picnic, for it was in every respect up to the standard. I
+laugh as I recall the difficulties encountered in selecting the fine
+site. The committee had fixed upon a tolerably good location in a field
+near the river, but this knoll was in sight, and we were tempted to go
+to it. We had gone so far from the hotel where the coach was, that
+Perry and Joe had to get a truck to bring the hampers. I remember seeing
+them pushing it across the bridge and up against the wall over which
+most of us had clambered. When the Queen Dowager's turn came the wall
+was found to be rather too much for her, but our managers were
+versatile. The truck was brought into requisition, and she was safely
+drawn from its platform over the wall. I stood back and could do nothing
+for laughter, but the Dowager, who was not to be daunted, went over amid
+the cheers of the party. It was resolved, however, to be a little more
+circumspect in future; wall-climbing at seventy-one has its limits.
+
+Here is the bridge built by that worthy man and excellent representative
+of what is best in Scottish character in lowly life, James Carlyle--an
+honest brig destined to stand and never shame the builder. I remember
+how proudly Carlyle speaks of his father's work. No sham about either
+the man or his work, as little as there was in his more famous son. I
+wish I could quote something from "Adam Bede" I think it is--where Garth
+the stone-mason thinks good work in his masonry the best prayer he had
+to stand upon.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Carlyle and Black._]
+
+Many have expressed surprise at "Carlyle's Reminiscences," at the
+gnarled, twisted oak they show, prejudiced here, ill-tempered there.
+What did such people expect, I wonder? A poor, reserved, proud Scotch
+lad, who had to fight his way against the grim devils of poverty and
+neglect, of course he is twisted and "thrawn"; but a grand, tough oak
+for all that, as sound, stanch timber as ever grew, and Scotch to the
+core. Did any one take you, Thomas Carlyle, for a fine, symmetrical
+sycamore, or a graceful clinging vine? I think the "Reminiscences," upon
+the whole, a valuable contribution to literature. Nor has Carlyle
+suffered in my estimation from knowing so much of what one might have
+expected. But will these critics of a grand individuality be kind enough
+to tell us when we shall look upon his like again, or where another
+Jenny Carlyle is to come from? She is splendid! The little tot who
+"bluided a laddie's nose" with her closed fist and conquered "the
+bubbley jock." This was in her early childhood's days, and look at her
+woman's work for Carlyle if you want a pattern for wives, my young lady
+friends, at least as a bachelor pictures wifehood at its best. The story
+told of Mr. Black's meeting with Carlyle should be true, if it be not.
+"Oh, Mr. Black," exclaimed Carlyle, "I'm glad to see ye, man. I've read
+some of yer books; they're vera amusin'; ye ken Scotch scenery well; but
+when are yer goin' to do some _wark_, man?" Great work did the old man
+do in his day, no doubt; but they also work who plant the roses, Thomas,
+else were we little better than the beasts of the field. Carlyle did not
+see this. Black is doing his appointed work and doing it well too, and
+Scotland is proud of her gifted son.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      DUMFRIES, July 16-17.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Dumfries._]
+
+We were at Dumfries for Sunday. We had just got housed at the hotel and
+sat down to dinner when we heard a vehicle stop, and running to the
+window saw our anxiously expected Parisians at the door. Hurrah!
+welcome! welcome! Once more united, never to part again till New York be
+reached! It was a happy meeting, and there was much to tell upon both
+sides, but the coachers evidently had the better of it. The extreme heat
+encountered in France had proved very trying. The Prima Donna was tired
+out. She vividly expressed her feelings thus, when asked how she had
+enjoyed life since she left the Ark: "_Left_ the Ark! I felt as if I had
+been poked out of it like the dove to find out about the weather, and
+had found it rough. When I lose sight of the coach again, just let me
+know it!" We, on our part, were very glad to get our pretty little dove
+back, and promised that she should never be sent forth from among us
+again.
+
+One becomes confused at Dumfries, there is so much to learn. We are upon
+historic ground in the fullest sense, and so crowded too with notable
+men and events. Bruce slew the Red Comyn here in the church of the
+Minorite Friars, now no longer existing. The monastery, of which it
+formed a part, the foundation of the mother of John Baliol, King of
+Scotland, stood on an eminence, the base of which is washed on the north
+and west by the waters of the Nith. It is said to have been deserted
+after the pollution of its high altar with the blood of the Comyns, and
+about two centuries afterward the Maxwells built a splendid castle out
+of its ruins and almost on its site; but the fortune of war and old
+Father Time levelled its massive walls in turn, and now no vestige
+remains of either monastery or castle. The castle of the Comyns, too,
+which occupied a romantic site a little way south of the town, at a
+place still called Castledykes, has left but slight memorials of its
+olden grandeur.
+
+Among the noted men of the world whom Dumfries numbers among her
+children are the Admirable Crichton, Paul Jones, Allan Cunningham,
+Carlyle, Neilson of the hot blast, Patterson, the founder of the Bank of
+England, and Miller of the steamship. Still another, a Scotch minister,
+was the founder of savings-banks. While not forgetting to urge his flock
+to lay up treasures in the next world, he did not fail to impress upon
+them a like necessity of putting by a competence for this one, sensible
+man! How many ministers leave behind them as powerful an agency for the
+improvement of the masses as this Dumfries man, the Rev. Mr. Duncan, has
+in savings-banks? All the speculative opinions about the other world
+which man can indulge in are as nothing to the acquisition of those
+good, sober, steady habits which render possible upon the part of the
+wage-receiving class a good deposit in that minister's savings-bank. The
+Rev. Mr. Duncan is my kind of minister, one who works much and preaches
+little. There is room for more of his kind.
+
+It is to Dumfries we are also indebted for the steamship, as far as
+Britain's share in that crowning triumph is concerned, for, upon
+Dalwinston Lake, Miller used the first paddles turned by steam. The
+great magician also has waved his wand over this district. Ellangowan
+Castle, Dirk Hatteraick's Cave, and even Old Mortality himself are all
+of Dumfries; and as for Burns, there is more of his best work there than
+anywhere else, and there he lies at rest with the thistle waving over
+him, fit mourner for Scotland's greatest son, and of all others the one
+he would have chosen. How he loved it! Think of his lines about the
+emblem dear, written while still a boy.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Home of Burns._]
+
+I wanted to stay a week in Dumfries, and I deemed myself fortunate to be
+able to spend Sunday there. Two Dunfermline gentlemen now resident
+there, Messrs. R. and A., were kind enough to call upon us and offer
+their services. This was thoughtful and pleased me much. Accordingly on
+Sunday morning we started with Mr. R. and did the town, Maxwelton Braes,
+Burns's house, and last his grave. None of us had ever been there
+before, and we were glad to make the pilgrimage. Horace Greeley (how he
+did worship Burns!) has truly said that of the thousands who yearly
+visit Shakespeare's birthplace, most are content to engrave their names
+with a diamond upon the glass, but few indeed leave the resting-place
+of the ploughman without dropping a tear upon the grave; for of all men
+he it was who nestled closest to the bosom of humanity. It is true that
+of all the children of men Burns is the best beloved. Carlyle knew him
+well, for he said Burns was the AEolian harp of nature against which the
+rude winds of adversity blew, only to be transmitted in their passage
+into heavenly music.
+
+I think these are the two finest things that have been said about our
+idol, or about any idol, and I believe them to be deserved. So did
+Carlyle and Greeley, for they were not flatterers. Of what other human
+being could these two things be truly said? I know of none.
+
+Our friends, Mr. and Mrs. N., are the fortunate owners of Friars Carse
+estate. They called upon us Sunday noon, and invited us to dine with
+them that evening. A delegation from the party accepted, and were much
+pleased with their visit. Friars Carse is a lovely spot. The winding
+Nith is seen at its best from the lawn. As we drove past on Monday we
+stopped and enjoyed a morning visit to our friends, who were exceedingly
+kind. Mr. N. has earned the grateful remembrance of every true lover of
+Burns by restoring the heritage and guarding with jealous care every
+vestige of one of the half dozen geniuses which the world will reverence
+more and more as the years roll by. He has wisely taken out the window
+upon the panes of which Burns wrote with a diamond, "Thou whom chance
+may hither lead," one of my favorites. This is now preserved, to be
+handed down as an heirloom in the family, finally, we hope, to find its
+place in some public collection. While we were in the mansion a
+granddaughter of Annie Laurie actually came in. I know of no young lady
+whose grandmother is so widely and favorably known. We were all startled
+to be brought so near to the ideal Annie Laurie of our dreams. It only
+shows that the course of true love never runs smooth when we hear that
+she did not marry the poetic lover. Well, may be she was happier with a
+dull country squire. Poets are not proverbially model husbands; the
+better poet, the worse husband, and the writer of Annie Laurie had the
+poetic temperament pretty well developed.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Drumlanrig Castle._]
+
+"Right, Perry!" We are off for Sanquhar, twenty-eight miles away; the
+day superb, with a freshness unknown in the more genial South we are
+rapidly leaving behind. What a pretty sight it was to see Miss
+N---- bounding along upon her horse in the distance, an avant courier
+leading us to a warm welcome at her beautiful home! Would I had been
+beside her on Habeebah! We spent an hour or two there, and then with
+three enthusiastic cheers for "Friars Carse and a' within it," the
+Charioteers drove off; but long must fond recollections of that estate
+and of the faces seen there linger in our memories as among the most
+pleasing of our ever-memorable journey. A home upon the Nith near
+Dumfries has many attractions indeed. Our drive to-day lay along the
+Nith and through the Duke of Buccleugh's grounds to his noble seat,
+Drumlanrig Castle. Here we have a real castle at last; none of your
+imported English affairs, as tame as caged tigers. How poor and
+insignificant they all seem to such as this! You want the moors, the
+hills and glens, and all the flavor of feudal institutions to give a
+castle its dignity and impress you with the thoughts of by-gone days.
+Modern castles in England built to order are only playthings, toys; but
+in Scotland they are real and stir the chords. You cannot have in
+England a glen worthy of the name, with its dark amber-brown, foaming,
+rushing torrent dashing through it. We begin to feel the exhilarating
+influences of the North as we drive on, and to understand its charm.
+Byron says truly:
+
+      "England! thy beauties are tame and domestic
+        To one who has roamed on the mountains afar.
+      Oh, for the crags that are wild and majestic!
+        The steep frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr."
+
+This was the feeling upon the coach to-day. My eyes watered now and then
+and my heart beat faster as the grandeur of the scenery and the
+influences around came into play. This was my land, England only a
+far-off connection, not one of the family. "And what do you think of
+Scotland noo?" was often repeated. "The grandest day yet!" was said more
+than once as we drove through the glen; but this has been said so often
+during this wonderful expedition, and has so often been succeeded by a
+day which appeared to excel its famous predecessor, that we are careful
+now to emphasize the yet; for indeed we feel that there is no predicting
+what glories Scotland may have in store for us beyond.
+
+Our luncheon to-day was taken upon the banks of the Nith; an exquisitely
+beautiful spot. There was no repressing our jubilant spirits, and
+sitting there on the green sward the party burst into song, and one
+Scotch song followed another. There was a strange stirring of the blood,
+an exaltation of soul unknown before. The pretty had been left behind,
+the sublime was upon us. There was a nip in the air unfelt in the more
+genial climate of the South. The land over which brooded peace and quiet
+content had been left behind, that of the "mountain and the flood" was
+here, whispering of its power, swaying us to and fro and bending us to
+its mysterious will. In the sough of the wind comes the call of the
+genii to mount to higher heights, that we may exult in the mysteries of
+the mountain and the glen,
+
+      "The steep frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr."
+
+Even our songs had the wail of the minor key suggesting the shadows of
+human life, eras of storm and strife, of heroic endurance and of noble
+sacrifice; the struggle of an overmatched people contending for
+generations against fearful odds and maintaining through all
+vicissitudes a distinctively national life. That is what makes a
+Scotchman proud of this peculiar little piece of earth, and stirs his
+blood and fills his eyes as he returns to her bosom.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Cameronians._]
+
+We rested over Monday night, July 18th, at Sanquhar, a long
+one-main-street village, whose little inn could not accommodate us all,
+but the people were kind, and the gentlemen of the party had no cause to
+complain of their quarters. It was here that the minister absolved the
+Cameronians from allegiance to "the ungodly king"--a great step. Those
+sturdy Cameronians probably knew little of Shakespeare, but I fancy the
+speech of that rebel minister could not have been better ended, or begun
+either, than with the outburst of Laertes to another wicked king:
+
+          "I'll not be juggled with:
+      To hell, allegiance!"
+
+Bravo! They would not be juggled with King Charles, neither will their
+descendants be, if any king hereafter is ever rash enough to try his
+"imperial" notions upon them. That day is past, thanks to that good
+minister and his Cameronians. I gazed upon the monument erected to these
+worthies, and gratefully remembered what the world owes to them.
+
+We stepped into a stationer's shop there and met a character. One side
+of the shop was filled with the publications of the Bible Society, the
+other with drugs. "A strange combination this," I remarked.
+
+"Weel, man, no sae bad. Pheseek for the body an pheseek for the soul.
+Castor oil and Bibles no sae bad."
+
+Harry and I laughed.
+
+"Have you the revised edition here yet?" I inquired.
+
+"Na, na, the auld thing here. Nane of yer new-fangled editions of the
+Scripture for us. But I hear they've shortened the Lord's Prayer. Noo,
+that's na a bad thing for them as hae to get up early in the mornin's."
+
+He was an original, and we left his shop smiling at his way of putting
+things. Scotland is the land of odd characters.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      SANQUHAR, July 18.
+
+We are off for old Cumnock, the entire village apparently out to see the
+start. Sanquhar on the moors does not seem to have many attractions, but
+last evening we had one of our pleasantest walks. There is a fine deep
+glen hid away between the hills, with a torrent rushing through it, over
+which bridges have been thrown. We were tempted to go far up the glen.
+The long gloaming faded away into darkness and we had a weird stroll
+home. It was after ten o'clock when we reached the hotel. This may be
+taken as a specimen of our evenings; there is always the long walk in
+the gloaming after dinner, which may be noted as one of the rare
+pleasures of the day.
+
+  [Sidenote: _School Children._]
+
+Our luncheon to-day could not be excelled, and in some features it was
+unique. The banks of Douglas Water was the site chosen. The stream
+divides, and a green island looked so enchanting that the committee set
+about planning means to cross to it. The steps of the coach formed a
+temporary bridge over which the ladies were safely conducted, but not
+without some danger of a spill. As many as thirty school children, then
+enjoying their summer vacation, followed, and after a while ventured to
+fraternize with us. Such a group of rosy, happy little ones it would be
+difficult to meet with out of Scotland. Children seem to flourish
+without care in this climate. The difference between the children of
+America and Britain is infinitely greater than that between the adults
+of the two countries. Scotch children learn to pronounce as the English
+do in the schools, but in their play the ancient Doric comes out in full
+force. It is all broad Scotch yet in conversation. This will no doubt
+change in time, but it seemed to us that so far they have lost very few
+of the Scotch words and none of the accent. We asked the group to
+appoint one of their number to receive some money to buy "sweeties" for
+the party. Jeannie Morrison was the lassie proposed and unanimously
+chosen. Jeannie was in the sixth standard. In answer to an inquiry, it
+was at first said that no one else of the party was so far advanced, but
+a moment's consultation resulted in a prompt correction, and then came:
+"Aye, Aggie McDonald is too." But not one of the laddies was beyond the
+fifth. Well, the women of Scotland always were superior to the men. If
+a workingman in Scotland does not get a clever managing wife (they are
+helpmeets there), he never amounts to much, and many a stupid man pulls
+up well through the efforts of his wife. It is much the same in France,
+or, indeed, in any country where the struggle for existence is hard and
+expenditure has to be kept down to the lowest point--so much depends
+upon the woman in this department.
+
+The shyness of these children surprised our Americans much. They could
+scarcely be induced to partake of cakes and jelly, which must be rare
+delicacies with them. I created a laugh by insisting that even after I
+had been in America several years I was as shy as any of these children.
+My friends were apparently indisposed to accept such an assertion
+entirely, but an appeal to Davie satisfied them of my modesty in early
+youth. "Ah, _then_!" said Miss M. But this was cruel.
+
+We left some rare morsels for these children. When they had done
+cheering us at our departure, I warrant they "were nae blate." The dear
+little innocent, happy things! I wish I could get among them again. What
+would not one give to get a fresh start, to be put back a child again,
+that he might make such a record as seems possible when looking
+backward! How many things he would do that he did not do, how many
+things he would not do that he did do! I sympathize with Faust, the
+offer was too tempting to be successfully withstood. One point worth
+noting occurs to me. In looking back you never feel that upon any
+occasion you have acted too generously, but you often regret that you
+did not give enough, and sometimes that you did not give at all. The
+moral seems to be--always give the higher sum or do the most when in
+doubt. It seems to me that parents and others having charge of children
+might do more than is done to teach them the only means of making life
+worth living, and to point out to them the rocks and eddies from which
+they themselves have suffered damage in life's passage.
+
+  [Sidenote: _A Pleasant Meeting._]
+
+With the cheers of the children ringing in our ears we started on our
+way. While stopping at the inn to return what had been lent us in the
+way of baskets, pitchers, etc., a lady drove up in a stylish phaeton,
+and, excusing herself for intruding, said that a coach was so rarely
+seen in those parts she could not resist asking who we were and whither
+bound. I gave her all desired information, and asked her to please
+gratify our ladies by telling in return who she was. "Lady Stuart M."
+was the reply. She was of the M.'s of Closeburn Castle, as we learned
+from Mr. Murray, our landlord at Cumnock. The estate will go at her
+death to a nephew who is farming in America. We thought there must be
+some good reason why he did not return and manage for his aunt, who
+indeed seems well qualified to manage for herself. The young exiled heir
+had our sympathy, but long may it be ere he enters upon Closeburn, for
+we were all heartily in favor of a long and happy reign to the present
+ruler of that beautiful estate. Lady M. assured us that we would be well
+taken care of at the Dumfries Arms, and she was right. Mr. Murray and
+his handsome sisters will long be remembered as model hotel-keepers.
+They made our stay most agreeable. Mr. Murray took us to the Bowling
+Green in the evening, and many of our party saw the game for the first
+time. Great excitement prevails when the sides are evenly matched. It
+is, like the curling pond, a perfect republic. There is no rank upon the
+ice or upon the green in Scotland. The postman will berate the provost
+for bad play at bowls, but touch his hat respectfully to him on the
+pavement. A man may be even a provost and yet not up to giving them a
+"Yankee" when called for. We were curious to know what a "Yankee" shot
+was, for we heard it called for by the captains every now and then. We
+were told that this was a shot which "knocked all before it, and played
+the very deevil." That is not bad.
+
+While a few of us who had recently seen the land of Burns remained at
+Cumnock, the remainder of the party drove to Ayr and saw all the sights
+there and returned in the evening. Our walks about Cumnock were
+delightful, and we left Mr. Murray's care with sincere regret.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      OLD CUMNOCK, July 19.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Our Photograph._]
+
+Passing out of the town this morning, we stopped at the prettiest little
+photographic establishment we had ever seen, and the artist succeeded
+in taking excellent views of the coach and party, as the reader may see
+by a glance at the frontispiece, where the original negative is
+reproduced by the artotype process. It was done in an instant; we were
+taken ere we were aware. A great thing, that instantaneous photography;
+one has not time to look his very worst, as sitters usually contrive to
+do, ladies especially. It is so hard to be artificial and yet look
+pretty.
+
+"Right, Perry!" and off we drove through the crowd for Douglas. The
+General Manager soon confided to me that for the first time he was
+dubious about our resting-place for the night. A telegram had been
+received by him from the landlord at Douglas just before starting,
+stating that the inn was full to overflowing with officers of the
+volunteer regiment encamped there, and that it was impossible for him to
+provide for our party. What was to be done? It was decided to inform
+that important personage, mine host, that we were moving upon him, and
+that if he gave no quarters we should give none either. He must billet
+us somewhere; if not, then
+
+      "A night in greenwood spent
+      Were but to-morrow's merriment."
+
+But we felt quite sure that the town of Douglas would in council
+assembled extend a warm welcome to the Americans and see us safely
+housed, even if there were not a hotel in the place. So on we went.
+While passing through Lugar, a pretty young miss ran out of the
+telegraph office, and holding up both hands, called: "Stop! It's no aff
+yet! it's no aff yet!" A message was coming for the coaching party. It
+proved to be from our Douglas landlord, saying, All right! he would do
+the best he could for us. When the party was informed how much we had
+been trusting in Providence for the past few hours, such was their
+enthusiasm that some disappointment was expressed at the reassuring
+character of the telegram. Not to know where we were going to be all
+night--may be to have to lie in and on the coach--would have been such
+fun! But "Behind yon hill where Lugar flows," sung by Eliza, sounded
+none the less sweet when we knew we were not likely to have to camp out
+upon its pretty banks. It is essential for successful happy coaching
+with ladies that every comfort should be provided. I am satisfied it
+would never do to risk the weaker sex coaching in any other land. The
+extreme comfort of everything here alone keeps them well and able to
+stand the gypsy life.
+
+We travelled most of the day among the ore lands and blast furnaces of
+the Scotch pig-iron kings, the Bairds. To reach Edinburgh we had to
+drive diagonally eastward across the country, for we had gone to the
+westward that Dumfries and the Land of Burns might not be missed. This
+route took us through less frequented localities, off the main lines of
+travel, but our experience justified us in feeling that this had proved
+a great advantage, for we saw more of Scotland than we should have done
+otherwise.
+
+Our luncheon to-day was a novel one in some respects. No inn was to be
+reached upon the moors, and feed for the horses had to be taken with us
+from Cumnock; but we found the prettiest little wimpling burn, across
+which a passage was made by throwing in big stones, for the shady dell
+was upon the far side. The horses were unhitched and allowed to nibble
+the wayside grass beside our big coach, which loomed up on the moor as
+if it were double its true size.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Scotch Weather._]
+
+The thistle and the harebell begin to deck our grassy tables at noon,
+and fine fields of peas and beans scent the air. All is Scotch; and oh,
+that bracing breeze, which cools deliciously the sun's bright rays,
+confirms us in the opinion that no weather is like Scotch weather, when
+it is good; when it is not I have no doubt the same opinion is equally
+correct, but we have no means of judging. Scotland smiles upon her
+guests, and we love her with true devotion in return. "What do you think
+of Scotland noo?" came often to-day; but words cannot express what we do
+think of her. In the language of one of our young ladies, "She is just
+lovely!"
+
+The question came up to-day at luncheon, would one ever tire of this
+gypsy life? and it was unanimously voted never! At least no one could
+venture to name a time when he would be ready to return to the prosy
+routine of ordinary existence while blessed with such weather and such
+company. Indeed, this nomadic life must be the hardest of all to
+exchange for city life. It is so diametrically opposed to it in every
+phase. "If I were not the independent gentleman I am," says Lamb, "I
+should choose to be a beggar." "Chapsey me a gypsy," gentle Elia, you
+could not have known of that life, or perhaps you considered it and the
+beggar's life identical. But, mark you, there is a difference which is
+much more than a distinction. A gypsy cannot beg, but he or she tells
+fortunes, tinkers a little and deals in horses. Even if he steals a
+little now and then, I take it he is still within the lines of the
+profession; while your beggar who does anything in the way of work, or
+who steals, is no true man. His license is for begging only. The gypsy
+obviously has the wider range, and I say again, therefore, "Chapsey me a
+gypsy," gentle Elia.
+
+Davie and I walked over to the railway line after luncheon to have a
+talk with the surfacemen we saw at work. They were strong, stalwart men,
+and possessed of that shrewd, solid sense which is invariably found in
+Scotch workmen. Their pay seemed very small to us; the foreman got only
+twenty shillings per week ($5), while the ordinary surfaceman got
+fourteen shillings ($3.50). Although this was only a single-track branch
+line, it was almost as well laid as the Pennsylvania Railroad. None of
+the men had ever been in America, but several had relatives there who
+were doing well, and they looked forward to trying the new land some
+day.
+
+We reached pretty Douglas in the evening, and sounded our horn longer
+than usual to apprize mine host that the host was upon him. We were
+greatly pleased to see him and his good wife standing in the door of the
+inn with pleasant, smiling faces to greet us. They had arranged
+everything for our comfort. Many thanks to those gentlemanly officers
+who had so kindly given up their rooms to accommodate their American
+cousins. Quarters for the gentlemen had been found in the village, and
+Joe and Perry and the horses were all well taken care of. Thus we
+successfully passed through the only occasion where there seemed to be
+the slightest difficulty about our resting-place for the night.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Home Castle._]
+
+Douglas, the ancient seat of that family so noted in Scotland's history,
+is really worth a visit. Home Castle, their residence, is a commanding
+pile seen for many miles up the valley as we approach the town. Our
+visit to it was greatly enjoyed, we had such a pretty walk in the
+evening, and a rest on the slope of the hill overlooking the castle. We
+lay there in the grass and enjoyed the quiet Scotch gloaming which was
+gathering round us, and so silently, so slowly shutting in the scene.
+The castle upon the left below us, the Douglas water so placidly gliding
+through the valley at our feet, the old church where lay mouldering
+generations of the Douglases, and the dark woods beyond, formed a
+picture which kept us long upon the hill.
+
+In their day, what bustling men were these doughty Douglases--full of
+sturt and strife--the very ideal representatives of the warrior bold,
+who made their way and held their own by the strength of their good
+right arms.
+
+      "A steede, a steede of matchless speede,
+      A sword of metal keene,
+      All else to noble minds is dross,
+      All else on earth is meane;
+      And O the thundering press of knights,
+      When loud their war cries swell,
+      Might serve to call a saint from heaven
+      Or rouse a fiend from helle."
+
+This was their ideal--the very reverse, thank God, of the ideal of
+to-day--but note how peacefully they lie now in the little antiquated
+church in this obscure valley. What shadows we are! What shadows we
+pursue! This vein once started in the Scotch gloaming upon the hills,
+where the coloring of the scene is so sombre as to be not only seen but
+felt, must be indulged in sparingly, or some of the Charioteers might
+soon have to record a new experience--a fit of the blues. But this was
+prevented by comparing the advance made by the race upon this question
+of war within the past century. The "profession of arms" is very soon to
+be rated as it deserves. The apology for it will be the same as for any
+other of the butchering trades--it is necessary. Granted for the
+present, but what of the nature which selects such a profession!
+
+  [Sidenote: _Epitaphs._]
+
+The inscriptions upon the tombs of the Douglases recalled other
+epitaphs; some one said of all the inscriptions yet seen, he thought
+that upon the tomb of the Duke of Devonshire gave us the best lesson.
+
+It runs thus:
+
+      "Who lyeth heare?
+      Ye gude Yearle of Devenshere--
+      What he had is gone,
+      What he kept is lost,
+      What he gave--_that_ he hath."
+
+We were on the verge of moralizing. Some one scenting the danger, said
+he thought an equally suggestive epitaph headed one of the chapters of
+"David Elginbrod":
+
+      "Here lies David Elginbrod,
+      Hae mercy on his soul, oh God!
+      As he'd a-had, had he been God,
+      An ye'd been David Elginbrod."
+
+Yes, there is food for thought here too. David must have been a queer
+one.
+
+The sky grew darker, and the far-off woods faded into a cloud upon the
+horizon; the party rose, and in so doing regained their usual
+hilarity--forgot all about tombs and were off for a run hand-in-hand
+down the gentle slope to the valley, shouting and laughing in great
+glee--and so on over the pretty bridge to their delightful inn.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      DOUGLAS, July 20.
+
+Edinburgh, Scotia's darling seat, only forty-four miles distant. All
+aboard, this pretty morning, for Edinburgh! "Right, Perry!" and off we
+went quite early through Douglas, for the capital. Our path was through
+woods for several miles, and we listened to the birds and saw and heard
+many of the incidents of morn so prettily described by Beattie:
+
+      "The wild brook babbling down the mountain-side,
+      The lowing herd; the sheep-fold's simple bell;
+      The hum of bees, and linnet's lay of love,
+      And the full choir that wakes the universal grove."
+
+It was to be a long day's drive, but an easy one; only one hill, and
+then a gradual descent all the way to Edinburgh. So it might have been
+by the other road, but the mile-stones which told us so many miles to
+Edinburgh should also have said: "Take the new road; this is the old
+one, over the hills and far away." But they did not, and we could not be
+wrong, for this was a way, if not _the_ way, to "Auld Reekie." After
+all, it was one of the richest of our experiences as we look back upon
+it now. So many hills to walk up and so many to walk down; so many moors
+with not a house to be seen, nothing but sheep around us and the lights
+and shadows of a Scotch sky overhead. But it was grand, and recalled
+some of Black's wonderful pen pictures. And then we enjoyed the heather
+which we found in its beauty, though scarcely yet tinted with its
+richest glow of color. This was our introduction to it. The heathery
+moor was new to most of the party and many were the exclamations
+produced by its beauty. There's "meat and drink" to a Scotchman in the
+scent of the heather.
+
+About luncheon time we began to look longingly for the expected inn, but
+there was no habitation to be seen, and we became suspicious that,
+notwithstanding the mile-stones, which stood up and told us the lie
+which was half the truth (ever the blacker lie), we were not upon the
+right road to Edinburgh. At this juncture we met a shepherd with his
+collies, and learnt from him that we were still twelve miles from an
+inn. It was a cool, breezy day; the air had the "nip" in it which Maggie
+missed so in England, and we were famishing. There was nothing else to
+do but to stop where we were, at the pretty burn, and tarry there for
+entertainment for man and beast.
+
+As proof of our temperance, please note that the flasks filled with
+sherry, whiskey, and brandy, at Brighton, I believe, as reserve forces
+for emergencies, still had plenty in them when called for to-day; and
+rarely has a glass of spirits done greater good, the ladies as well as
+we of the stronger sex feeling that a glass was necessary to keep off a
+chill. We were "o'er the moors among the heather" in good earnest
+to-day, but how soon we were all set to rights and laughing over our
+frolic! The shepherd and his dogs lunched with us, and many a glint of
+Scottish shepherd life did we get from his conversation. He was a happy,
+contented man, and ever so grateful that he was not condemned to live in
+a city. He thought such a cramped-up life would soon kill him.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Sheep and Collies._]
+
+Good-bye, my gentle shepherd and "Tweed" and "Rab," your faithful,
+sagacious companions. Your life leads to contentment, and where will you
+find that jewel when you leave mother earth and her products, her
+heather and her burns, your doggies and your sheep?
+
+Davie, in Andrew M----'s absence, sang us that song whose prettiest
+verse, though all are fine, is this:
+
+      "See yonder paukie shepherd
+        Wha lingers on the hill,
+      His ewes are in the fauld
+        And his sheep are lying still."
+
+Softly, softly, pianissimo, my boy! These lines must be sung so, not
+loudly like the other verses. Andrew knows the touch.
+
+      "But he downa gang to rest,
+        For his heart is in a flame
+      To meet his bonnie lassie,
+        When the kye come hame."
+
+And so we parted from our shepherd, the chorus of our song reaching him
+over the moors till he faded out of sight. I am sure we wish him weel.
+Happiness is not all in the higher walks of life; and surely in virtue's
+paths the cottage leaves the palace far behind.
+
+Another song followed, which I thought equally appropriate, for it tells
+us that "Ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew." Ah, the
+shepherd's drops of the dew of life are often what princes vainly sigh
+for.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Arthur's Seat._]
+
+After many miles up and down, we finally reached the top of the hill
+from which we saw lying before us, fourteen miles away, the modern
+Athens. There was no mistaking Arthur's Seat, the lion crouching there.
+"Stop, Perry!" Three times three for the "Queen of the Unconquered
+North!" "What do you think of Scotland noo?" Match that city who can!
+Not on this planet will you do it, search where you may.
+
+It was only a few miles from where we now stood that Fitz Eustace,
+enraptured with the scene,
+
+      "And making demi-volte in air,
+      Cried, Where's the coward that would not dare
+      To fight for such a land!"
+
+Fight for it? I guess so, to the death! Scotland forever!
+
+We were about completing one stage of our journey, for Edinburgh had
+been looked forward to as one of the principal points we had to reach,
+and we were to rest there a few days before marching upon the more
+ancient metropolis, Dunfermline. Most of us had been steadily at work
+since we left Brighton, and the prospect of a few days' respite was an
+agreeable one; but after all it was surprising how fresh even the ladies
+were. Still, steady coaching is pretty hard work; none of us gained
+weight during the journey, but we all felt as if in condition just fit
+to do our very best in the way of athletic exercise.
+
+Miss R----, a native of Edinburgh, was here called to the front,
+alongside of Perry, to act as guide into and through the city to our
+hotel in Prince's Street. The enthusiasm grew more and more intense as
+we came nearer and fresh views were obtained. There remained one more
+toll-gate, one of the few which have not yet been abolished. Joe had as
+usual gone forward to pay the toll, but the keeper declared she did not
+know the charge, as never since she kept toll had anything like
+that--pointing to the coach--passed there. Was it any wonder that we
+attracted attention during our progress northward?
+
+From one hill-top I caught sight of the sparkling Forth, beyond which
+lay "the dearest spot on earth to me." The town could not be seen, but
+when I was able to cry, "Dunfermline lies there," three rousing cheers
+were given for the "Auld gray Toon," my native city.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      EDINBURGH, July 21-26.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Edinburgh._]
+
+Our route lay through Newington, that we might leave the young artist at
+home. We tried to do it quietly, but our friend Mrs. H. was out and
+shaking hands with us ere we could drive off. Mr. MacGregor, of the
+Royal, had been mindful of us; a grand sitting room fronting on
+Prince's Street and overlooking the gardens gave us the best possible
+view, the very choice spot of all this choice city. The night was
+beautiful, and the lights from the towering houses of the old town made
+an illumination, as it were, in honor of our arrival. That the
+travellers were delighted with Edinburgh, that it more than fulfilled
+all expectations, is to say but little; and those who saw it for the
+first time felt it to be beyond all that they had imagined. Those of us
+who knew its picturesque charms were more than ever impressed with its
+superiority over all other cities. Take my word for it, my readers,
+there is no habitation of human beings in this world as fine in its way,
+and its way itself is fine, as this, the capital of Scotland.
+
+The surprise and delight of my friends gave me much pleasure. Scotland
+had already won all hearts. They had admired England, but Scotland they
+loved. Ah, how could they help it! I loved her too, more deeply than
+ever.
+
+It is best to disband a large party when in a city possessed of many and
+varied attractions, allowing each little group to see the sights in its
+own way; assembling, however, at breakfast and dinner, and spending the
+evenings together, recounting the day's adventures. This was the general
+order issued for Edinburgh.
+
+The new docks at Leith were opened with much ceremony during our stay,
+and I took a party of our Edinburgh friends upon the coach to witness
+the opening. It was not a clear day, meteorologically considered, but
+nevertheless it was a happy one for the coaching party. Upon our return,
+a stop at Mr. N.'s magnificent residence was specially agreeable. He and
+his daughters were most kind to us while in Edinburgh. Mr. N. gave us a
+rare treat by showing us through their immense printing establishment,
+where such exquisite things are done, such Easter and Christmas cards,
+such friendship tokens, and a thousand other lovely forms we had never
+seen before, in their various stages of manufacture.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Valuable Importations._]
+
+I asked Mr. N. what he had to say in reply to the admissions of the
+leading art authorities of the superiority of American work in black and
+white, such as our magazines excel in. He said this could not be
+questioned; there was nothing done in British publications that equalled
+the American. The reason he gave furnishes food for thought. I pray you,
+fellow countrymen, take note of it. Two principal American illustrated
+magazines, _Harper's_ and the _Century_, print each more than one
+hundred thousand copies, while no British magazine prints half that
+number. The American publisher can consequently afford to pay twice as
+much as the British publisher for his illustrations. If this be the true
+reason of America's superiority in this respect, and I am sure Mr. N.
+knows what he is stating, then as its population increases more rapidly
+than the British the difference between their respective publications
+must increase, and finally drive the home article into a very
+restricted position. Pursuing this fact to its logical conclusion,
+Britain may soon receive from her giant child all that is best in any
+department of art which depends upon general support for success. This
+seems to me to betoken a revolution, not as implying the inherent
+superiority of the American, but simply flowing from the fact that
+fifty-five millions of English-speaking and reading people can afford to
+spend more for any certain article than thirty-five millions can. That
+Colonel Mapleson now brings over Her Majesty's Opera Company for the New
+York season as regularly as he opens his London season, and especially
+that he makes far more profit out of the former than out of the latter,
+is another significant fact. That leading actors find a wider field here
+than at home is still another, and even ministers are finding that the
+call of the Lord to higher labors and higher salaries often comes from
+the far side of the Atlantic. Drs. McCosh, Hall, Ormiston, and Taylor,
+our leading divines, get treble salaries in the Republic, and are said
+to be valuable importations. As Mr. Evarts said one night in a
+post-prandial effort: "They are about the only specimens of 'the cloth'
+admitted duty free." As long as America sent Britain only pork and
+cheese and provisions, and such products of the soil, it was all well
+enough, but if she is beginning to send the highest things of life, the
+art treasures, which give sweetness and light to human existence, it is
+somewhat alarming. For my part, I do not like to think that these
+Americans are to send Britain every good thing, and that the once proud
+country that led the world is to stand receiving as it were the crumbs
+from this rich land's table. In one department America can be kept
+second for as long a term as we need worry about--she has nothing to
+compare with the leading English reviews. Our generation will see no
+close rival to the _Fortnightly_ or the _Nineteenth Century_, to
+_Blackwood_ or _Chambers' Journal_, or to the _Edinburgh_ or
+_Westminster Review_; although the _North American_ and the
+_International_ show that even in this race America enters two not
+indifferent steeds.
+
+I must not forget to mention that the birds in the _Century_ magazine
+which the _Athenaeum_ pronounced so far superior to any British work were
+designed by a young lady and engraved by her sister. The work of two
+American young ladies excelled the best of England; and then did not
+Miss Rosina Emmet send a Christmas greeting of her own composition to
+friends in England which took the second prize at the London Exhibition,
+although not intended for anything more than a private token of
+friendship. Let a note be made of all this, with three loving cheers for
+the young lady artists of the Republic. Instead of losing the charms of
+women by giving public expression to their love of the beautiful in all
+its forms, they but add one more indescribable charm which their less
+fortunate sisters can never hope to attain. How a man does reverence a
+woman who does fine things in art, literature, or music, or in any line
+whatever!
+
+  [Sidenote: _On a Yacht._]
+
+The Charioteers gave leave of absence to the Scribe and General Manager
+to spend Sunday with my friends Mr. and Mrs. G., at Strathairly House,
+on the banks of the Forth. It was a most delightful visit. The Commodore
+of the Forth Yachting Squadron (for such Mr. G. is) had the Ranee ready
+to take us back to Edinburgh Monday morning. We enjoyed the sail down
+the Forth very much. That we could not accept the Commodore's invitation
+to change the Gay Charioteers into Bold Mariners for a day and visit St.
+Andrews in the Ranee gave rise to deep regret, when the other members of
+the party were informed of the treat proposed; but we cannot glean every
+field upon our march. Some other time, Commodore, the recently elected
+member of the squadron will report for duty on the flagship and splice
+the main brace with you and your jolly crew. There is a craze for
+yachting in Britain, which is also showing its symptoms on this side. I
+am not at home in vessels much smaller than an Atlantic steamer. The
+Charioteers resolved unanimously that their yacht should have four
+wheels and four horses, and should run on land.
+
+Upon our return to Edinburgh Monday morning, the first rumbling of the
+distant thunder from Dunfermline was heard, and it dawned upon us that
+serious work was at hand. Our friend Mr. D., of the Council, had called
+upon us and intimated that something of a demonstration might be made
+upon our arrival in my native town; but when I found a telegram from Mr.
+Simpson, the clerk, asking us to postpone our coming for a day, I knew
+there was an end to play. Things looked serious, but I was not going to
+be the sole sufferer. At dinner I laid it down as the law from which
+there could be no appeal, that if any public speaking were to be done,
+Messrs. P., McC., K., the General Manager, and V., were in for it. It is
+surprising how much it mitigates one's own troubles to see his dearest
+friends more frightened than himself. I grew bolder as I encouraged
+these victims. Their speeches were bound to be hits--no speeches have so
+often created sensations as maiden efforts. The last two offered great
+inducements to the ladies if they would vote that they should be
+excused. As for the others, I made it a question of ministerial
+confidence, and the administration was sustained. If you read their
+speeches I am sure you will see the wisdom of my selections.
+
+I was glad to see Sir Noel Paton, Dunfermline's most distinguished son,
+able to be at his sister's that evening. The recent narrow and heroic
+escape from drowning of himself, Lady Paton, and his son Victor, gave us
+all renewed interest in grasping his hand again. Thrown from a small
+sail-boat into the sea, at least two hundred yards from shore, with
+ropes and sail tangled about them, the three rallied to each other's
+support (for all could swim), and bore each other up until finally Lady
+Paton got between her husband and son, with one hand on the shoulder of
+each, and thus they struggled grandly to shore. Where is another trio
+that could do that, think you? I tell you, who don't know Dunfermline,
+that these Patons were always a marked family, and have had genius
+hovering about their pretty home for generations, and now and then
+touching the heads and hearts of father, sons, and daughters with its
+creative wand. There is a great deal in blood, no doubt, but the blood
+from an honest weaver or shoemaker is, as a rule, a much better article,
+something to be much prouder of, than you find from nobles whose rise
+came from such conduct as should make their descendants ashamed to talk
+of descent. It's a God's mercy we are all from honest weavers; let us
+pity those who haven't ancestors of whom they can be proud, dukes or
+duchesses though they be.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      DUNFERMLINE, July 27-28.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Dunfermline._]
+
+Put all the fifty days of our journey together, and we would have
+exchanged them all for rainy ones if we could have been assured a bright
+day for this occasion. It came, a magnificent day. The sun shone forth
+as if glad to shine upon this the most memorable day of my mother's life
+or of mine, as far as days can be rendered memorable by the actions of
+our fellow-men. We left Edinburgh and reached Queensferry in time for
+the noon boat. Here was the scene so finely given in "Marmion," which I
+tried, however, in vain to recall as I gazed upon it. If Dunfermline and
+its thunders had not been in the distance, I think I could have given it
+after a fashion, but I failed altogether that morning.
+
+      "But northward far, with purer blaze,
+      On Ochil mountains fell the rays,
+      And as each heathy top they kissed,
+      It gleamed a purple amethyst.
+      Yonder the shores of Fife you saw,
+      Here Preston Bay, and Berwick Law;
+      And broad between them rolled,
+      The gallant Firth the eye might note.
+      Whose islands on its bosom float,
+      Like emeralds chased in gold."
+
+And truly it was a morning in which nature's jewels sparkled at their
+best. Upon reaching the north shore we were warmly greeted by Uncle and
+Aunt, and Maggie and Annie. It was decided better not to risk luncheon
+in the ruins of Rosythe Castle, as we had intended, the grass being
+reported damp from recent rains. We accordingly drove to the inn, but we
+were met at the door by the good landlady, who, with uplifted hands,
+exclaimed: "I'm a' alane! There's naebody in the house! They're a' awa'
+to Dunfermline! There'll be great goings on there the day."
+
+A hotel without one servant. The good woman, however, assured us we
+might come in and help ourselves to anything in the house; so we
+managed to enjoy our luncheon, though some of us only after a fashion.
+There were three gentlemen, a wife, and a cousin, who for the first time
+did not care much for anything in the form of luncheon. Speeches,
+speeches, these are what troubled Harry, Davie and me; and I had cause
+for grave alarm, of which they could form little idea, for I felt that
+if Dunfermline had been touched and her people had determined to give us
+a public reception, there was no saying to what lengths they might go.
+
+  [Sidenote: _A Trying Ordeal._]
+
+If I could decently have stolen away and gone round by some circuitous
+route, sending my fellow townsmen an apology, and telling them that I
+really felt myself unable to undergo the ordeal, I should have been
+tempted to do so. I was also afraid that the Queen Dowager would break
+down, for if ever her big black eyes get wet it's all over with her. How
+fortunate it was that Mrs. H. was with her to keep her right! It was
+wisely resolved that she should take her inside of the coach and watch
+over her. I bit my lip, told the Charioteers they were in for it and
+must go through without flinching, that now the crisis had come I was
+just bound to stand anything. I was past stage-fright, and I assured
+myself that they could do their worst--I was callous and would not be
+moved--but to play the part of a popular hero even for a day, wondering
+all the time what you have done to deserve the outburst, is fearful
+work. When I did get time to think of it, my tower of strength lay in
+the knowledge that the spark which had set fire to their hearts was the
+Queen Dowager's return and her share in the day's proceedings. Grand
+woman, she has deserved all that was done in her honor even on that day.
+
+A man stopped us at the junction of the roads to inform us that we were
+expected to pass through the ancient borough of Innerkeithing; but I
+forgot myself there. It seemed a fair chance to escape part of the
+excitement (we had not yet begun the campaign as it were); at all events
+I dodged to escape the first fire, as raw troops are always said to do,
+and so we took the direct road. When the top of the Ferry Hills was
+reached we saw the town, all as dead as if the holy Sabbath lay upon it,
+without one evidence of life. How beautiful is Dunfermline seen from the
+Ferry Hills, its grand old abbey towering over all, seeming to hallow
+the city and to lend a charm and dignity to the lowliest tenement. Nor
+is there in all broad Scotland, nor in many places elsewhere, that I
+know of, a more varied and delightful view than that obtained from the
+park upon a fine day. What Benares is to the Hindoo, Mecca to the
+Mohammedan, Jerusalem to the Christian, all that Dunfermline is to me.
+
+But here I must stop. If you want to learn how impulsive and
+enthusiastic the Scotch are when once aroused, how dark and stern and
+true is the North, and yet how fervid and overwhelming in its love when
+the blood is up, I do not know where you will find a better evidence of
+it than in what followed. See how a small spark kindled so great a
+flame. The Queen Dowager and I are still somewhat shamefaced about it,
+but somehow or other we managed to go through with our parts without
+breaking down.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Free Library._]
+
+The Queen Dowager had been chosen to lay the Memorial Stone of the Free
+Library, and the enthusiasm of the people was aroused by her approach.
+There was something of the fairy tale in the fact that she had left her
+native town, poor, thirty odd years before, with her loved ones, to
+found a new home in the great Republic, and was to-day returning in her
+coach, to be allowed the privilege of linking her name with the annals
+of her beloved native town in one of the most enduring forms possible;
+for whatever agencies for good may rise or fall in the future, it seems
+certain that the Free Library is destined to stand and become a
+never-ceasing foundation of good to all the inhabitants. Well, the
+future historian of that ancient town will record that on this day,
+under bright sunshine, and amidst the plaudits of assembled thousands,
+the Queen Dowager laid the Memorial Stone of the building, an honor,
+compared with which, I was charged to tell the citizens, in the Queen
+Dowager's estimation, Queen Victoria has nothing in her power to bestow.
+So say also the sons of the Queen Dowager. The ceremonies passed off
+triumphantly. The procession, workingmen and address, banquet, and all
+the rest of it may be summed up in the remark of the Dunfermline press:
+"The demonstration may be said to be unparalleled in the history of
+Dunfermline."
+
+I will not be tempted to say anything further about this unexpected
+upheaval except this: after we had stopped and saluted the Stars and
+Stripes, displayed upon the Abbey Tower in graceful compliment to my
+American friends (no foreign flag ever floated there before, said our
+friend, Mr. R----, keeper of the ruins), we passed through the archway
+to the Bartizan, and at this moment came the shock of all that day to
+me. I was standing on the front seat of the coach with Provost Walls
+when I heard the first toll of the abbey bell. My knees sank from under
+me, the tears came rushing before I knew it, and I turned round to tell
+the Provost that I must give in. For a moment I felt as if I were about
+to faint. Fortunately I saw that there was no crowd before us for a
+little distance. I had time to regain control, and biting my lips till
+they actually bled, I murmured to myself, "No matter, keep cool, you
+must go on;" but never can there come to my ears on earth, nor enter so
+deep into my soul, a sound that shall haunt and subdue me with its
+sweet, gracious, melting power like that.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Abbey Bell._]
+
+By that curfew bell I had been laid in my little couch to sleep the
+sleep of childish innocence. Father and mother, sometimes the one,
+sometimes the other, had told me, as they bent lovingly over me night
+after night, what that bell said as it tolled. Many good words has that
+bell spoken to me through their translations. No wrong thing did I do
+through the day which that voice from all I knew of heaven and the great
+Father there did not tell me kindly about ere I sank to sleep, speaking
+the very words so plainly that I knew that the power that moved it had
+seen all and was not angry, never angry, never, but so very, _very_
+sorry. Nor is that bell dumb to me to-day when I hear its voice. It
+still has its message, and now it sounded to welcome back the exiled
+mother and son under its precious care again.
+
+The world has not within its power to devise, much less to bestow upon
+us, such a reward as that which the abbey bell gave when it tolled in
+our honor. But my brother Tom should have been there also; this was the
+thought that came. He, too, was beginning to know the wonders of that
+bell ere we were away to the newer land.
+
+Rousseau wished to die to the strains of sweet music. Could I choose my
+accompaniment, I could wish to pass into the dim beyond with the tolling
+of the abbey bell sounding in my ears, telling me of the race that had
+been run, and calling me, as it had called the little white-haired
+child, for the last time--_to sleep_.
+
+We spent two days in Dunfermline. The tourist who runs over from
+Edinburgh will find the Abbey and the Palace ruins well worthy a visit.
+Take a day and see them, is my advice. Queen Margaret, King Robert the
+Bruce, and many other Kings and Queens are interred in the Abbey, for
+this was the capital of Scotland long ere Edinburgh rose to importance.
+Who does not remember the famous ballad of Sir Patrick Spens:
+
+      "The King sits in Dunfermline toon,
+      Drinking the bluid red wine;
+      Oh where will I get a skelly skipper
+      To sail this ship of mine."
+
+Dunfermline is now the principal seat of the damask manufacture.
+Americans will be interested in knowing that at least two-thirds of all
+the table linen made in the eleven factories here are for republican
+use. While we were there the rage was for designs showing the American
+race-horse Iroquois leading all the fleet steeds of England; now it is
+said to be for "Jumbo" patterns.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The New Kings._]
+
+A visit to one of the leading factories cannot fail to be interesting to
+the sight-seer, and to such as may go I suggest that a good look be
+taken at the stalwart lassies and good-looking young women who work
+there. Several thousand of them marched in the procession formed to
+greet us at the city line, and their comely appearance and the good
+taste shown in their dress surprised the coaching party very agreeably.
+Indeed, our Poetaster improvised a verse which illustrates the change
+which has come over the ancient capital since the days of Sir Patrick
+Spens, and gave it to us as we rolled along:
+
+      "The old Kings sat in Dunfermline town,
+      Drinking the blood red wine;
+      The new Kings are at better work,
+      Weaving the damask fine."
+
+Quite correct, Davie. Does not Holy Writ declare that the diligent man
+shall stand _before_ Kings? And is it not time that the bibulous King
+should give place to the useful citizen--the world over!
+
+Friday was a cloudy day, but some of our friends, who spent the early
+morning with us and saw us off, unanimously predicted that it would
+clear. They proved true weather prophets, for it did turn out to be a
+bright day. Passing the residence of Colonel Myers, the American Consul,
+we drove in and gave that representative of the great Republic and his
+wife three farewell cheers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      KINROSS, Friday, July 28.
+
+Kinross was the lunching-place. Mother was for the first and last time
+compelled to seek the inside for a few hours after leaving Dunfermline.
+These farewells from those near and dear to you are among the cruelest
+ordeals one has to undergo in life. One of the most desirable
+arrangements held out to us in all that is said of heaven is to my mind
+that there shall be no parting there. Hell might be invested with a new
+horror by having them daily.
+
+We had time while at Kinross to walk along Loch Leven and see the ruined
+castle upon the island, from which Douglas rescued Queen Mary. What a
+question this of Mary Queen of Scots is in Scotland! To intimate a doubt
+that she was not purity itself suffices to stir up a warm discussion.
+Long after a "point of divinity" ceases to be the best bone to snarl
+over, this Queen Mary question will probably still serve the purpose.
+What matters it what she was? It is now a case of beauty in distress,
+and we cannot help sympathizing with a gentle, refined woman (even if
+her refinement was French veneering), surrounded by rude, coarse men.
+What is the use of "argie bargieing" about it? Still, I suppose, we must
+have a bone of some kind, and this is certainly a more sensible one than
+the "point of divinity," which happily is going somewhat out of fashion.
+
+To-day's talk on the coach was all of the demonstration at Dunfermline,
+and one after another incident was recalled. Bailie W---- was determined
+we should learn what real Scotch gooseberries are, and had put on the
+coach an immense basketful of them. "We never can dispose of so many,"
+was the verdict at Kinross; at Perth it was modified, and ere Pitlochrie
+was reached the verdict was reversed and more wished for. Our American
+friends had never known gooseberries before, friend Bailie, so they
+said.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Carse of Gowrie._]
+
+Fair Perth was to be our resting-place, but before arriving there the
+pedestrians of the party had one of their grandest excursions, walking
+through beautiful Glen Farg. They were overpowered at every turn by its
+loveliness, and declared that there is nothing like it out of Scotland.
+The ferns and the wild flowers, in all their dewy freshness after the
+rains, made us all young again, and the glen echoed our laughter and our
+songs. The outlet from the glen into the rich Carse of Gowrie gave us
+another surprise worthy of record. There is nothing, I think, either in
+Britain or America, that is equal in cultivation to the famous Carse of
+Gowrie. They will be clever agriculturists who teach the farmers of the
+Carse how to increase very greatly the harvest of that portion of our
+good mother earth. Davie began to see how it is that Scotland grows
+crops that England cannot rival. Perthshire is a very beautiful county,
+neither Highland nor Lowland, but occupying, as it were, the golden mean
+between, and possessed of many of the advantages of both.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      PERTH, Saturday, July 29.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Fair Perth._]
+
+The view from the hill-top overlooking Perth is superb. "Fair Perth
+indeed!" we all exclaim. The winding Tay, with one large sail-boat
+gliding on its waters, the fertile plains beyond, and the bold crag at
+the base of which the river sweeps down, arrested the attention of our
+happy pedestrians and kept them long upon the hill. I had never seen
+Perth before, and it was a surprise to me to find its situation so very
+fine; but then we are all more and more surprised at what Scotland has
+to show when thoroughly examined. The finer view from the hill of
+Kinnoul should be seen, if one would know of what Scotland has to boast.
+
+Antiquaries refer the foundation of Perth to the Roman Agricola, who saw
+in its hills another Rome, and in its river another Tiber.
+
+      "'Behold the Tiber!' the vain Roman cried,
+      Viewing the ample Tay from Baiglie's side;
+      But where's the Scot that would the vaunt repay,
+      And hail the puny Tiber for the Tay?"
+
+But Agricola, poor fellow, was probably homesick, and felt much like the
+expatriated Scot who tries to imagine himself on his native heath when
+eating his annual haggis at St. Andrew's dinner in New York.
+
+From the days of Kenneth McAlpine down to the times of James I., Perth
+was the capital of Scotland, and witnessed the coronation of all her
+kings. Every Scot knows the story of James I.--how he hid from the
+assassins in the Dominican Convent, how fair Catherine Douglas thrust
+her arm through the socket of the bolt and held the door against them
+until her bones were brutally crushed, and how the fugitive was finally
+dragged from his place of concealment by
+
+      "Robert Grahame
+      That slew our king,
+      God give him shame!"
+
+The old Abbey of Scone, the place of coronation, is about two and a half
+miles from the town, but little remains of it now besides its name and
+its associations. The ancient mound is there, but the sacred stone on
+which the monarchs stood when crowned was carried away by Edward I., and
+is now in Westminster Abbey, an object of interest to all true Scotsmen.
+In those royal days--rude and rough days they were too, viewed through
+modern spectacles--Perth was the centre toward which most of the
+clansmen looked, and almost every available hill in its vicinity was
+crowned by a castle, the stronghold of some powerful chieftain. Of
+course these autocrats were often at feud with each other, and
+frequently even with the magistrates of the town. In the latter case, if
+not strong enough to beard the lion in his den, they would waylay
+provision trains or vessels carrying necessaries to the city, and then
+the citizens would rise in their wrath and sally forth with sword and
+buckler and burn a castle or two. But quarrels with the towns-people did
+not pay in the long run, and their brands were oftener turned against
+each other.
+
+It is a sad commentary on the morals of the day that these neighborly
+feuds were rather fostered than checked by the authorities, who thought
+to win safety for themselves out of this brotherly throat-cutting.
+Sometimes the king set a score or two of them by the ears in the
+outskirts of the town for the court's amusement, just as bears and
+bandogs were pitted against each other in those godless days. Everybody
+has read in the "Fair Maid of Perth" the graphic account of one of these
+savage battles between thirty picked men of the Clan Quhele and as many
+of the Clan Chattan, on the North Inch of the city--that beautiful
+meadow in which Agricola saw a striking resemblance to the Campus
+Martius. The story is historically true, the battle having actually
+taken place in the reign of Robert III., who had in vain tried to reduce
+the rivals to order. As a last resort it was suggested that each should
+select his champions and fight it out in the presence of the king, it
+being shrewdly hoped that the peace of the community would be secured
+through the slaughter of the best men of both sides. The place chosen
+was prepared by surrounding it with a trench and by erecting galleries
+for spectators, for the brutal combat was witnessed by the king and his
+court and by many English and French knights, attracted thither by the
+novelty of the spectacle. The contestants, armed with their native
+weapons--bows and arrows, swords and targets, short knives and battle
+axes--entered the lists, and at the royal signal butchered each other
+until victory declared in favor of Clan Chattan, the only survivor of
+its opponents having swam the river and escaped to the woods. The few
+left of the conquering party were so chopped and carved and lopped of
+limbs that they could be no longer regarded as either useful or
+ornamental members of society--and thus good king Robert's sagacity in
+pitting these turbulent fellows against each other was apparently
+justified.
+
+Before starting to-day we had time to stroll along the Tay for an hour
+or two. We were especially attracted by a volunteer regiment under drill
+upon the green, and were gratified to see that the men looked remarkably
+well under close inspection, as indeed did all the militia and
+volunteers we saw. The nation cannot be wrong in accounting these forces
+most valuable auxiliaries in case of need. I have no doubt but in the
+course of one short campaign they would equal regular troops; at least
+such was the experience in the American war. The men we saw were
+certainly superior to regulars as men. It is in a war of defence, when
+one's own country is to be fought for, that bayonets which can think are
+wanted. With such a question at issue, these Scotchmen would rout any
+regular troops in the world who opposed them for pay. As for miserable
+skirmishes against poor half-armed savages, I hope these men would think
+enough to despise the bad use they were put to.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Villas on the Tay._]
+
+The villas we saw upon the opposite bank of the Tay looked very
+pretty--nice home-like places, with their gardens and boat-houses. We
+voted fair Perth very fair indeed. After luncheon, which was taken in
+the hotel at Dunkeld, we left our horses to rest and made an excursion
+of a few miles to the falls, to the place in the Vale of Athol where
+Millais made the sketch for his celebrated picture called "O'er the
+hills and far awa'." It is a grand view, and lighted as it then was by
+glimpses of sunshine through dark masses of cloud, giving many of the
+rainbow tints upon the heather, it is sure to remain long with us. For
+thirty miles stretch the vast possessions of the Duke of Athol; over
+mountain, strath, and glen he is monarch of all the eye can see--a noble
+heritage. A recent storm is said to have uprooted seventy thousand of
+his trees in a single night.
+
+The scenery in the neighborhood of Dunkeld is very beautiful. The
+description of the poet Gray, who visited it in 1766, will do as well
+to-day. "The road came to the brow of a deep descent; and between two
+woods of oak we saw, far below us, the Tay come sweeping along at the
+bottom of a precipice at least a hundred and fifty feet deep, clear as
+glass, full to the brim, and very rapid in its course. It seemed to
+issue out of woods thick and tall that rose on either hand, and were
+overhung by broken rocky crags of vast height. Above them, to the west,
+the tops of higher mountains appeared, on which the evening clouds
+reposed. Down by the side of the river, under the thickest shades, is
+seated the town of Dunkeld. In the midst of it stands a ruined
+cathedral; the tower and shell of the building still entire. A little
+beyond it a large house of the Duke of Athole, with its offices and
+gardens, extends a mile beyond the town: and, as his grounds are
+intersected by the streets and roads, he has flung arches of
+communication across them, that add much to the scenery of the place."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Dunkeld Cathedral._]
+
+The cathedral, still a noble ruin, stands a little apart from the town,
+in a grove of fine old trees. It owes its destruction to the Puritans,
+who sacked it in the sixteenth century, though the order "to purge the
+kyrk of all kinds of monuments of idolatrye" was directed only against
+images and altars. But the zeal of men in those days of bigotry was hard
+to control, and the mob did not desist from its work while a door
+remained on its hinges or a window was unbroken. Since then tower, nave,
+and aisles have remained open to sun and storm; the choir alone has been
+refitted and is now used as the parish church. In the choir is still to
+be seen the tomb and recumbent statue of the famous Earl of Buchan,
+better known as the Wolf of Badenoch.
+
+The coachman who drove us to-day interested us by his knowledge of men
+and things--such a character as could hardly grow except on the heather.
+He "did not think muckle o' one man owning thirty miles o' land who had
+done nothing for it." His reply to a question was given with such a
+pawkie expression that it remains fixed in the memory. "Why do not the
+people just meet and resolve that they will no longer have kings,
+princes, dukes or lords, and declare that all men are born equal, as we
+have done in America?"
+
+"Aye, maan, it would hae to be a _strong_ meeting that!"
+
+That strong was so _very_ strong; but there will be one strong enough
+some day, for all that. We cannot stand nonsense forever, patient as we
+are and slow.
+
+Dunkeld is the gateway of the Highlands, and we enter it, singing as we
+pass upward:
+
+      "There are hills beyond Pentland
+        And streams beyond Forth;
+      If there are lords in the south
+        There are chiefs in the north."
+
+We are among the real hills at last. Yonder towers Birnam, and here
+Dunsinane Hill. Mighty master, even here is your shade, and we dwell
+again in your shadow. The very air breathes of Macbeth, and the murdered
+Banquo still haunts the glen. How perfectly Shakespeare flings into two
+words the slow gathering darkness of night in this northern latitude,
+among the deep green pines:
+
+                                        "Ere the bat hath flown
+      His cloister'd flight; ere, to black Hecate's summons,
+      The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hum,
+      Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done
+      A deed of dreadful note....
+      ... _Light thickens_; and the crow
+      Makes wing to the rooky wood:
+      Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
+      Whiles night's black agents to their prey do rouse."
+
+That man shut his eyes and imagined more than other men could see with
+their eyes wide open even when among the scenes depicted. The light does
+"thicken," and the darkness creeps upon us and wraps us in its mantle
+unawares.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Birnam Wood._]
+
+Birnam, a wooded hill on the bank of the Tay, is about twelve miles from
+Dunsinane or Dunsinnane Hill, the traditional stronghold of Macbeth the
+Giant, as the usurper was known to the country people. According to the
+common story, when Macbeth heard from his spies of the coming of Malcolm
+Canmore's troops from Birnam with branches in their hands, he recalled
+the prophecy of the witches, and, despairing of holding the castle
+against them, deserted it and fled, pursued by Malcolm, up the opposite
+hill, where finding it impossible to escape, he threw himself from a
+precipice and was killed on the rocks below. His place of burial is
+still shown at a spot called Lang Man's Grave, not far from the road
+where Banquo is said to have been murdered.
+
+Some Shakesperean scholars have thought that the great bard must have
+collected the materials for his tragedy upon the site. It is well known
+that Her Majesty's Players exhibited at Perth in 1589, and it is not
+impossible that Shakespeare may have been among them; but it is scarcely
+probable. The play follows very closely the history of Macbeth as
+narrated by Hollinshed, in which the usurper falls in single combat with
+Macduff, and there can be little doubt that Shakespeare derived his
+facts from the chronicle rather than from personal investigation.
+
+It is very evident, however, that Dunsinane was anciently a strong
+military post. The hill, which rises about eight hundred feet above its
+base, is steep and difficult of access on all sides but one, where are
+traces of a winding road cut into the rock. Its flat summit was once
+defended by a strong rampart, which, judging from its remains, must have
+been of considerable height and thickness. The area enclosed by it is
+more than two hundred feet long.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      PITLOCHRIE, July 30-31.
+
+This is a great resort in the Highlands; and deservedly so, for
+excursions can be made in every direction to famous spots, embracing
+some of the finest scenery in Scotland. About three miles north of it
+rises Ben Vracky, and within easy distances are Glen Tilt, Bruar Water,
+the Pass of Killicrankie, Loch Tummel, the Falls of Tummel, and other
+places well worthy of a visit; but as the Gay Charioteers' time was
+limited they could pay their respects to only a few of them.
+
+We visited the hydropathic establishment in the evening, and found
+something resembling an American hotel. Such establishments are numerous
+in England and Scotland. Few of the guests take the cold-water
+treatment, as I had supposed, but visit the hotels more for sake of a
+change, to make acquaintances, and to "have a good time," as we say. I
+have no doubt that a month of Pitlochrie air is highly beneficial for
+almost any one.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Falls of Tummel._]
+
+We walked to the falls of Tummel, and spent some happy hours there.
+Cousin Eliza is up in Scotch songs, and I start her every now and then.
+It has a charm of its own to sit on the banks of the very stream, with
+Athol near, and listen to the inquiry finely sung:
+
+      "Cam ye by Athol,
+      Lad wi' the philibeg,
+      Down by the Tummel
+      And banks of the Garry?"
+
+Through these very glens the mountaineers came rushing,
+
+      "And with the ocean's mighty swing
+      When heaving to the tempest's wing
+      They hurled them on the foe."
+
+There is a new meaning to the song when Davie pours it forth in the glen
+itself:
+
+      "Sweet the lavrock's note and lang,
+        Lilting wildly up the glen,
+      But aye to me it sings ae sang,
+        Will ye no come back again?"
+
+What a chorus we gave him! There are some days in which we live more
+than twenty-four hours; and these days in Scottish glens count for more
+than a week of ordinary life. We are in the region of gamekeepers and
+dogs. It is the last day of July, and the whole country is preparing for
+the annual massacre of the 12th of August. Is civilization so very far
+advanced when the titled and wealthiest portions of cultured society
+have still for their chief amusements--which are in many cases with them
+the principal business of life--the racing of horses one half of the
+year, and the murdering of poor half-domesticated birds or the chasing
+to death of poor foxes and hares the other half? Can civilized man find
+nothing better to furnish needful recreation after useful toil?
+
+The prices paid for a deer forest in Scotland are incredible.
+Twenty-five to fifty thousand dollars per annum for the right to shoot
+over a few thousand acres of poorly timbered land, and a force of
+gamekeepers and other attendants to pay for besides.
+
+For the present the British are what is called a sporting people, and
+the Highlands are their favorite hunting-grounds. Their ideas of sport
+are curious. General Sheridan told me that, when abroad, he was invited
+to try some of their sport, but when he saw the poor animals driven to
+him, and that all he had to do was to bang away, he returned the gun to
+the attendant. He really could not do this thing, and the General is not
+very squeamish either. As for hunting down a poor hare--that needs the
+deadening influence of custom--women ought to be ashamed of it now; men
+will be anon.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Pass of Killiecrankie._]
+
+The first of all our glens is the Pass of Killiecrankie, that famous
+defile which gave its name to the battle that proved so fatal to the
+Stuarts, for the victory won there by the adherents of the so-called
+James VII., was more than counterbalanced by the loss of Claverhouse.
+The pass is a narrow, ragged break through the mountains, giving a
+passage to the River Garry, and forming the only practicable entrance
+from the low country to the Highlands above. It is now accessible by a
+broad, smooth highway as well as by the railway, but at the time of the
+battle the only road through it was a rough path between the swirling
+river and the rocks, and so steep and narrow that but two men could
+march abreast. Along this path the royal forces under McKay slowly made
+their way; and though the pass is only about a mile and a half long it
+was afternoon before the little army of three thousand debouched into
+the plain at its extremity, and took position on the high ground beyond.
+Do you see that eminence a mile away yonder, on the north, whose sides
+slope down into the plain? It was from that height that the
+Highlanders--McLeans, McDonalds, Camerons, Lochiel, Dundee and all--came
+down like a torrent upon King William's men below. The red sun was just
+above the western hills. With fearful yells the tide of ragged,
+barefooted mountaineers (Macaulay says that Lochiel took off before the
+battle what was probably the only pair of shoes in the clans) swept on,
+undismayed by the volleys of musketry that decimated them as they ran.
+Plaids and haversacks were thrown away, and dropping their fusils as
+they fired them, they were upon the astonished Southrons before they had
+time to screw on their bayonets. The fight was over in a few minutes.
+More than a thousand men went down under the strokes of the dreaded
+claymores and Lochaber axes, and away went King William's men in a panic
+down the valley with the clans at their heels. The victory was a
+decisive one, but Claverhouse, who had insisted, against the
+remonstrances of Lochiel and others, upon leading in the charge, was
+fatally wounded by a bullet early in the action. Up yonder on the right
+is Urrard House, where he was carried to die. With this brave,
+unscrupulous leader, passed away the last hope of the Stuarts of winning
+their "own again." When King William heard of the defeat and of Dundee's
+death, he said, "Well, were it not so, Dundee would have been at my
+gates to tell it himself."
+
+We walked through the pass on our way northward, and concluded that we
+had thus far seen nothing quite so wild. The cliffs rise precipitously
+on each side, clothed here and there with patches of oak and birch. The
+dark, amber-brown rushing torrent is superb, swirling among the rocks,
+down which it has poured through eons of time, wearing them into strange
+forms. The very streams are Scotch, with a character all their own,
+portraying the stern features of the race, torn and twisted by endless
+ages of struggle with the rocks which impeded their passage,
+triumphantly clearing their pathway to the sea at last by unceasing,
+persistent endeavor. The sides of Scotia's glens are a never-failing
+source of delight, the wild flowers and the ferns seem so much more
+delicately fine than they are anywhere else. One understands how they
+affected Burns.
+
+Some of our ladies, the Queen Dowager always for one, will delay the
+coach any time to range the sides of the glen; and it is with great
+difficulty that we can get them together to mount once more. The horn
+sounds again and again, and still they linger and when they at last
+emerge from the copse, it is with handfuls or rather armfuls of Nature's
+smiles--lapfuls of wild flowers--each one rejoicing in her trophies,
+happy as the day is long, only it is not half long enough. Go the sun
+down never so late it sinks to its rest too soon.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      DALWHINNIE, August 1.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Pitlochrie to Dalwhinnie._]
+
+Our drive from Pitlochrie to Dalwhinnie, thirty-two miles, was from
+beginning to end unsurpassed--mountain and moor, forest and glen. The
+celebrated falls of Bruar lay in our route, and we spent two hours
+walking up the glen to see them. Well were we repaid. This is decided to
+be the finest, most varied fall of all we have seen. The amber torrent
+works and squirms itself through caldrons there, and gorges here, and
+dashes over precipices yonder, revealing new beauties and giving us
+fresh delights at every step. No gentle kiss gives this Scotch fiend to
+every sedge it overtaketh in its pilgrimage, for in truth, dashing and
+splashing against the rocks, the surging, boiling water, with its crest
+of sparkling foam, seems a live spirit escaping from the glen and
+bounding to the sea, pursued by angry demons behind. Standing on the
+bridge across the Bruar, one need not be entirely off his balance to
+sympathize to some extent with the wild wish of my young lady friend,
+who thought if she had to be anything dead she would be a plunging, mad
+stream like this, dancing among the rocks, snatching to its breast, as
+it passed, the bluebell and the forget-me-not, the broom and the
+fox-glove, leaping over precipices and tossing its gay head in sparkling
+rainbow sprays forever and ever.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Bruar Water._]
+
+It was while gazing at this fall that Burns wrote the petition of Bruar
+Water. The shade asked for has been restored--"Clanalpine's pines, in
+battle brave," now fill the glen, and the falls of the Bruar sing their
+grateful thanks to the bard who loved them.
+
+I have often reminded you, good readers, that the coaching party, with a
+few exceptions, hailed with delight every opportunity for a walk.
+Contrary to expectation, these came much less frequently in Scotland
+than in England. Far away up among the towering hills, where the roads
+necessarily follow the streams which have pushed themselves through the
+narrow defiles, we get miles and miles in the glens along the
+ever-changing streams; but it is too level for pedestrianism unless we
+reduce the pace of the coach and walk the horses. It is after a two
+hours' climb up the glen to see such a waterfall as the Bruar that we
+return to the coach, feeling, as we mount to our seats, that we have
+done our duty. We were many miles from our lunching site, and long ere
+it was reached we were overtaken by the mountain hunger. When we arrived
+at the house on the moors where entertainment had been promised us, it
+was to find that it had been rented for the season for a shooting-box by
+a party of English gentlemen, who were to arrive in a few days for their
+annual sport--the slaughter of the carefully preserved birds. The
+people, however, were very kind, and gave us the use of the house. Few
+midday halts gave rise to more gayety than this, but there is one item
+to be here recorded which is peculiar to this luncheon. For the first
+and only time the stewardess had to confess that her supplies were
+exhausted. Due allowance, she thought, had been made for the effects of
+Highland air, but the climb to Bruar, "or the brunt of the weather," had
+produced an unusual demand. The very last morsel was eaten, and there
+seemed a flavor of hesitancy in the assurance some of us gave her that
+we wished for nothing more. There was not even one bite left for the
+beautiful collies we saw there.
+
+Has the amount and depth of affection which a woman can waste on a
+collie dog ever been justly fathomed? was a question raised to-day; but
+our ladies declined to entertain it at all unless "waste" was changed to
+"bestow." The amendment was accepted. Many stories were told of these
+wonderful pets, and what their mistresses had done for them. My story
+was a true one. Miss Nettie having to go abroad had to leave her collie
+in some one's care. Many eligible parties had been thoughtfully
+canvassed, when I suggested that, as I had given her the dog, it might
+be perfectly safe to leave him with me, or rather with John and the
+horses. A grave shake of the head, and then, "I have thought of that,
+but have given it up. It would never do. Trust requires _a woman's
+care_." Not a smile, all as grave as if her pet had been a delicate
+child. "You are quite right," I replied; "no doubt he would have a dog's
+life of it at the stable." She said yes, mournfully, and never suspected
+a joke. In a stable in New York I once saw a doctor's card nailed up.
+Inquiry revealed that this gave the coachman the address of the
+physician who was to be called in case the lady's dog should be taken
+ill during her absence. If the ladies must go wild over some kind of a
+dog, let it be a collie. I like them myself a little.
+
+  [Sidenote: _In the Highlands._]
+
+It was gloaming ere we reached Loch Ericht, twelve hundred and fifty
+feet above the sea. What a wild, solitary country it is around us! The
+lake lies as it were in the lap of the mountains. It is easy to believe
+that this was a famous Highland stronghold in the olden time. Even
+Cromwell's Ironsides met with a rude check in its savage glens from the
+men of Athol. Do you see rugged Ben Alder yonder, the highest of the
+group that looks down into the still waters of the lake? In its recesses
+is the cave where Prince Charlie was hidden by Cluny Macpherson.
+
+The gathering of the night shadows warn us that we must seek shelter,
+and in a few minutes we are housed in the queer little inn at
+Dalwhinnie. A bright fire was made, and we were as gay as larks at
+dinner. I am sure nothing could surprise Americans more than the dinners
+and meals generally which were given us even in such out-of-the-way
+stations as this. Everything is good, well-cooked, and nicely served. It
+is astonishing what a good dinner and a glass of genuine old claret does
+for a party after such a long day's drive and a climb.
+
+Reassembling after dinner in our neat little parlor, the Stars and
+Stripes displayed as usual over the mantel, we were all as fresh and
+bright as if we had newly risen, and were in for a frolic. The incidents
+of the day gave us plenty to talk about--the falls, the glen, that
+mountain blue, the lake, and oh! that first dazzling glint of purple
+heather upon the high rock in the glen which drew forth such
+exclamations! A little patch it was which, having caught more of the
+sunshine there than that upon the moors, had burst before it into the
+purple, and given to the most of us for the first time ample proof of
+the rich, glorious beauty of that famous plant.
+
+What says Annie's song?
+
+      "I can calmly gaze o'er the flowery lea,
+      I can tentless muse o'er the summer sea;
+      But a nameless rapture my bosom fills
+      As I gaze on the face of the heather hill."
+
+Aye, Annie, the "nameless rapture" swells in the bosom of every
+Scotchman worthy of the name, when he treads the heather.
+
+Andrew M.'s prize song, "The Emigrant's Lament," has the power of a
+flower to symbolize the things that tug hardest at the heart-strings
+very strongly drawn. By the way, let it here be recorded, this is a
+Dunfermline song, written by Mr. Gilfillan--three cheers for
+Dunfermline! (that always brings the thunder, aye, and something of the
+lightning too). The Scotchman who left the land where his forefathers
+sleep sings:
+
+      "The palm-tree waveth high, and fair the myrtle springs,
+      And to the Indian maid the bulbul sweetly sings;
+      _But I dinna see the broom_ wi' its tassels on the lea,
+      Nor hear the linties sang o' my ain countrie."
+
+There it is, neither palm-tree nor myrtle, poinsetta nor Victoria Regia,
+nor all that luscious nature has to boast in the dazzling lands of the
+south, all put together, will ever make good to that woe-begone,
+desolate, charred heart the lack of that wee yellow bush o'
+broom--never! Nor will all "the drowsy syrups of the East," quiet the
+ache of that sad breast which carries within it the doom of exile from
+the scenes and friends of youth. They cannot agree, in these days, where
+a man's soul is, much less where it is going; let search be made for it
+close, very close, to the roots of that ache. It is not far away from
+the centre which colors the stream of man's life.
+
+Many times to-day, in the exhilaration of the moment, one or another
+enthusiastic member called out, "What do ye think o' Scotland noo?" and
+even Emma had to confess in a half-whisper that England was nothing to
+this. Perry and Joe had never been beyond the border before, and gave in
+their adhesion to the verdict--there is no place like Scotland. "Right,
+Perry!"
+
+  [Sidenote: _Scotland's Flowers._]
+
+We have never seen that paragon of grace, the Scottish bluebell, in its
+glory till now. It is not to be judged in gardens, for it is not in its
+element there; but steal upon it in the glen and see how it goes to your
+heart. Truly I think the Scotch are the best lovers of flowers, make the
+most of them, and draw more from them than any other people do. This is
+a good sign, and may be adduced as another proof that the race has a
+tender, weak spot in the heart to relieve the hard level head with which
+the world credits them.
+
+Whew! Thermometer 53 deg. during the night, the coldest weather experienced
+during our journey. But how invigorating! Ten years knocked off from the
+age of every one of us since we got among the hills, excepting from
+that of several of the ladies, who could hardly spare so much and still
+be as charming.
+
+We were stirring early this morning, in for a walk across the moors,
+with the glorious hills surrounding us. A grand walk it was too, and the
+echoes of the horn from the coach overtaking us came all too soon upon
+us. Looking back down the valley of Loch Ericht, we had the ideal
+Highland view--mountains everywhere fading into blue in the distance,
+green to their tops except when capped with snow, and bare, not a tree
+nor a shrub to break their baldness, and the lake lying peacefully among
+them at the foot of the vale. These towering masses
+
+      "Seem to stand to sentinel Enchanted Land."
+
+I am at a loss for any scenery elsewhere with which to compare that of
+the Highlands. The bluish tinge above, the rich purple tint below, the
+thick and thin marled, cloudy sky with its small rifts of clear blue,
+through which alone the sun glints to relieve the dark shadows by narrow
+dazzling lights--these give this scenery a weird and solemn grandeur
+unknown elsewhere; at least I have seen nothing like it. During my
+strolls at night amid such scenes, I have always felt nearer to the
+awful mysteries than ever before. The glowering bare masses of mountain,
+the deep still lake sleeping among them, the sough of the wind through
+the glen, not one trace of man to be seen, no wonder it makes one eerie,
+and you feel as if
+
+      "Nature had made a pause,
+      An awful pause, prophetic of its end."
+
+Memory must have much to do with this eerie feeling upon such occasions,
+I take it, for every scrap of Scottish poetry and song bearing upon the
+Highlands comes rushing back to me. There are whispering sounds in the
+glen:
+
+      "Shades of the dead, have I not heard your voices
+        Rise on the night-rolling breath of the gale?
+      Surely the soul of the hero rejoices
+        And rides on the wind o'er his own Highland vale."
+
+I hear the lament of Ossian in the sough of the passing wind.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Ruthven Castle._]
+
+We stopped at the inn at Kingussie, one of the centres of sporting
+interest, but drove on beyond to spread our luncheon upon the banks of
+the Spey, close to the remains of Ruthven Castle, a fine ruin in this
+beautiful valley. We walked to it after luncheon. It was here that the
+Highland clans assembled after the defeat at Culloden Field and resolved
+to disband, and the country was rid of the Stuarts forever. How far the
+world has travelled since those days! The best king or family of kings
+in the world is not worth one drop of an honest man's blood. If the
+House of Commons should decide to-day that the Prince of Wales is not a
+fit and proper figure-head and should vote that my Lord Tom Noddy is,
+there is not a sane man in the realm who would move a finger for the
+rightful heir; yet our forefathers thought it a religious duty to plunge
+their country into civil war to restore the Stuarts,
+
+      "A coward race to honor lost;
+      Who knew them best despised them most."
+
+But I suppose they were about a fair average of royal races. "Life can
+be lived well even in a palace," sings Matthew Arnold, and the more
+credit to such as do live it well there, like Queen Victoria, but it is
+difficult work and needs a saint to begin with. It does one good to mark
+such progress. I will not believe that man goes round in a circle as the
+earth does; upon the king absurdity he has travelled a straight line.
+When we made kings by act of Parliament (as the Guelphs were made),
+another lesson was learned, that Parliament can unmake them too. That is
+one bloody circle we need never travel again. Not one drop of blood for
+all the royal families in Christendom. Carried, _nem. con._
+
+There was a discussion to-day upon the best mode of enjoying life.
+Sydney Smith's famous secret was mentioned. When asked why he was always
+so bright and cheerful, he replied: The secret is "I take short views of
+things." Somehow this is the Scriptural idea, "Sufficient unto the day
+is the evil thereof." A good story was told of an old man who had
+endured many of the ills of life in his long journey. His friends upon
+one occasion, more trying than usual, condoled with him, saying that he
+really had more troubles than other men. "Yes, my friends, that is too
+true. I have been surrounded by troubles all my life long, but there is
+a curious thing about them--_nine-tenths of them never happened_."
+
+That is a story with a moral for you. How many of our troubles ever
+happened! We dream of ten for every one that comes. One of the
+Charioteers was ready with a verse to enforce the moral:
+
+      "When fortune with a smiling face
+        Strews roses on our way,
+      When shall we stop to pick them up?
+        To-day, my love, to-day.
+      But should she frown with face of care,
+        And speak of coming sorrow,
+      When shall we grieve, if grieve we must?
+        To-morrow, love, to-morrow."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Honeysuckle and Roses._]
+
+This was received with evident approval, and just as it ended the huge
+beds of honeysuckle lying on the hedge-rows we were passing, and the
+wild roses rising above them on long graceful sprays, nodding their
+heads as if desirous of doing us obeisance, caused one of the ladies to
+cry out, "Oh, here are the roses on our way just now! Do let us stop and
+pluck them to-day, as the poet advises." "Stop, Perry!" "Right, sir!"
+"Steps, Joey!" "Right, sir!"--and down we are in a moment gathering the
+spoils. "Do let the coach drive on and wait for us at the top of the
+next hill." "But wait, ladies, let us all put our flowers inside and
+arrange them when we stop for luncheon."
+
+It is a superb morning, the hedge-rows prettier than ever; the larks are
+rising; now and then a hare darts across the road in advance. The whirr
+of the partridge or pheasant stirs the sportsman's blood, and upon every
+tree some feathered songster pours forth his song. Faust need not have
+sold himself to the devil for youth, after all. We find it here in this
+glorious gypsy life.
+
+Upon remounting the coach after an hour's frolic in the lane, some one
+wanted the reciter to repeat the verse which had caused the stop, but he
+said there was a second verse which also had its moral, and, if
+permitted, he would give this instead. Agreed to, provided he would give
+the ladies a copy of both verses for their books--one copy for the lot,
+and this each would copy for herself. His terms, however, were that he
+should repeat it alone to Miss ---- and teach it to her (sly dog), and
+she could make the copies. He then gave us the second verse:
+
+      "If those who've wronged us own their faults
+        And kindly pity pray,
+      When shall we listen and forgive?
+        To-day, my love, to-day.
+      But if stern justice urge rebuke
+        And warmth from memory borrow,
+      When shall we chide, if chide we must?
+        To-morrow, love, to-morrow."
+
+This was voted a fit companion for the first verse, so the Charioteers
+to-day had two moral lessons.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Good Philosophy._]
+
+The student said it was also good philosophy, and taught by no less an
+authority than Herbert Spencer himself, who had exposed the folly of
+postponing present enjoyments in the hope that they will be better if
+enjoyed at a later date. Here are the words of the sage:
+
+"Hence has resulted the belief that, irrespective of their kinds, the
+pleasures of the present must be sacrificed to the pleasures of the
+future. So ignorant is this belief, that it is wrong to seek immediate
+enjoyments and right to seek remote ones only, that you may hear from a
+busy man who has been on a pleasure excursion a kind of apology for his
+conduct. He deprecates the unfavorable judgments of his friends by
+explaining that the state of his health had compelled him to take a
+holiday, nevertheless if you sound him with respect to his future, you
+will find out his ambition is by and by to retire and devote himself
+wholly to the relaxation which he is now somewhat ashamed of taking. The
+current conception further errs by implying that a gratification which
+forms a proper aim if it is remote, forms an improper aim if it is
+proximate."
+
+And this from the "Data of Ethics." So that the poet and the philosopher
+are as one.
+
+"Does Herbert Spencer write so clearly and simply as that upon such
+subjects?" asked one of the young ladies. "I thought he was so
+fearfully deep. His books sound so very learned and abstruse, I have
+only read his work on 'Education'; that was splendid, and I understood
+it all, every word. If that book you just quoted from had an easy name
+I'd go to work at it--but 'Data of Ethics' frightens me. I don't know
+exactly what Data means, and I'm mixed on Ethics."
+
+The voice of the Coach was clear upon "Education," however, and I recall
+just now the remark of my little nephew to his mother, when Mr. Spencer
+did us the honor of visiting us: "Mamma, I want to see the man who wrote
+in a book that there is no use studying grammar." Amid the thousands of
+very grateful ones who feel what they owe to Herbert Spencer, may be
+safely classed that young scion of our family. His gratitude is
+profound, and with good reason.
+
+Boat o' Garten was to be our refuge, a small, lovely inn on the moors,
+the landlady of which had telegraphed us in a rather equivocal way in
+response to our request for shelter. There was no other house for many
+miles, so we pushed on, trusting to our star. We were all right. The
+house was to be filled on the morrow with sportsmen, and we could be
+entertained "for this night only." Such is luck. Even as it was, the
+family rooms had to be given up to us; but then, dear souls, there is
+nothing they would not do for the Americans. As for the coach, there was
+no building on the moors high enough to take in the huge vehicle; but as
+showing the extreme care taken of property in this country, I note that
+heavy tarpaulins were obtained, and it was nicely covered for the night.
+What a monster it seemed standing out in the darkness!
+
+After dinner we received packages of the Dunfermline papers containing
+the full account of the demonstration there and of the speeches. It goes
+without saying that there was great anxiety to read the account of that
+extraordinary ovation. Those who had made speeches and said they were
+not very sure what, were seen to retire to quiet corners and bury
+themselves in their copies. Ah, gentlemen, it is of no use! Read your
+orations twenty times over, you are just as far as ever from being able
+to gauge your wonderful performances; besides the speech made is nothing
+compared to any of half a dozen you have since made to yourself on the
+same subject. Ah! the Dunfermline people should have heard these. So
+sorry! One can tell all about the speeches of his colleagues, however,
+and we made each other happy by very liberal laudations, while we each
+felt once more the generous rounds of applause with which we had been
+greeted.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Last Night on the Moors._]
+
+After mailing copies of the newspapers to numerous friends, there came a
+serious cloud over all. This was to be our last night on the moors; the
+end of our wayward life had come. One more merry start at the horn's
+call, and to-morrow's setting sun would see the end of our happy dream.
+Arcadia would be no more; the Charioteers' occupation would be gone. It
+was resolved that something should be done to celebrate the night to
+distinguish it from others. We would conform to the manners and customs
+of the country and drink to our noble selves in whiskey toddy with
+Highland honors. This proved a success. Songs were sung; Aaleek was in
+his most admirable fooling; "your health and song" went round, and we
+parted in tolerably good spirits.
+
+There was an unusual tenderness in the grasp of the hand, and mayhap
+something of a tremor in the kind "Good-night, happy dreams," with which
+it was the custom of the members to separate for the night, and we went
+to bed wondering what we had done to deserve so much happiness.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      BOAT O' GARTEN, August 2.
+
+Inverness at last! But most of us were up and away in advance of the
+coach, for who would miss the caller air and the joy of the moors these
+blessed mornings when it seems joy enough simply to breathe? But did not
+we catch it this morning! No use trying to march against this blow; the
+wind fairly beat us, and we were all glad to take refuge in the
+school-house till the coach came; and glad were we that we had done so.
+Was it not a sight to see the throng of sturdy boys and girls gathered
+together from who knows where! For miles and miles there are seen but a
+few low huts upon the moors; but as some one has said, "Education is a
+passion" in Scotland, and much of the admitted success of the race has
+its root in this truth. The poorest crofter in Scotland will see that
+his child gets to school.
+
+Note this in the fine old song:
+
+      "When Aaleck, Jock, and Jeanettie
+        _Are up and got their lair_,
+      They'll serve to gar the boatie row
+        And lichten a' our care."
+
+  [Sidenote: _Advantages of Poverty._]
+
+Heavy is the load of care that the Scotch father and mother take upon
+themselves and struggle with all the years of their prime that the
+bairns "may get their lair." To the credit of the bairns let it be said
+that the hope expressed in the verse just quoted is not often
+disappointed. They do grow up to be a comfort to their parents in old
+age when worn out with sacrifices made for them. Our great men come from
+the cradles of poverty. I think he was a very wise man who found out
+that the advantage of poverty was a great prize which a rich man could
+never give his son. But we should not condemn the Marquises of Huntley,
+the Dukes of Hamilton, and the rest of them; they never had a fair
+chance to become useful men. It is the system that is at fault, and for
+that we the people are responsible. The privileged classes might turn
+out quite respectably if they had justice done them and were permitted
+to start in life as other men are. For my part, I wonder that they
+generally turn out as well as they do. The kite mounts only against the
+wind.
+
+Coaching brings us close to Nature's sweetest charms, and the good
+universal mother is always so gracious to her children; the cawing of
+the rook or the crowing of the cock awakens us; the green things and the
+pretty flowers about the inn, which greet the eyes as we pull up the
+blinds, and the sniff of fresh morning air which a short stroll before
+breakfast gives us, make a splendid start for the day, so different from
+the usual beginning of city life. The whole day is spent in the open
+air, walking or driving, or lolling upon sunny braes at luncheon, amid
+brooks and wild flowers, and the hum of bees, the songs of birds, and
+the grateful scent of new-mown hay. And when night comes we fall asleep,
+with the sense of dropping softly upon banks of flowers without a thorn.
+Tell me if such a life for a few weeks now and then is not the best cure
+for most of the serious ills of this high-pressure age! Every man who
+can afford it should give it a trial. If overworked, he should go to
+find the cure--if well, he should certainly go in order to keep so.
+
+We all need to learn what the poet says:
+
+      "Better that man and nature were familiar friends;
+      That part of man is worst which touches this base life;
+      For though the ocean in its inmost depths be pure,
+      Yet the salt fringe which daily licks the shore
+      Is foul with sand."
+
+I think the last line worthy of Shakespeare, even if it be the product
+of a poor young Glasgow poet. In this coaching life we touch the base
+every-day life of care and struggle at very few points indeed and hence
+our joy. We are deep in love with Nature, and true worshippers at her
+shrine have few sorrows.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Scotland's School Houses._]
+
+While revelling in the exquisite beauty of England--such quiet and
+peaceful beauty as we had never seen before--the thought often came to
+me that I should be compelled to assume the apologetic strain for my
+beloved Scotland. It could not possibly have such attractions to show as
+the more genial South, but so far from this being so, as I have already
+said, there was scarcely a morning or afternoon during which the
+triumphant inquiry was not made, "What do you think of Scotland noo?" Of
+all that earned for Scotland the first place in our hearts I mention the
+pretty stone school-houses, with teacher's residence and garden
+attached, which were seen in almost every village; and if I had no other
+foundation than this upon which to predict the continued intellectual
+ascendency of Scotland and an uninterrupted growth of its people in
+every department of human achievement, I should unhesitatingly rest it
+upon these school-houses. A people which passes through the parish
+school in its youth cannot lose its grasp, or fall far behind in the
+race. Indeed, compared with the thorough education of the masses, the
+lives and quarrels of politicians seem petty in the extreme. It is with
+education as with righteousness, seek it first and all political
+blessings must be added unto you. It is the only sure foundation upon
+which to rear the superstructure of a great State, and how happy I am to
+boast that Scotland is not going to yield the palm in this most
+important of all work! No, not even to the Republic. From what I saw of
+the new schools, I'll back their scholars against any lot of American
+children to-day; but I admit one great lack: the former would strike you
+as somewhat too deferential, disposed to bow too much to their superiors
+in station, while American boys are said to be born repeating the
+Declaration of Independence. No more valuable lesson can be taught a lad
+than this: that he is born the equal of the prince, and what privileges
+the prince has are unjustly denied him. It would do Scotch boys good to
+hear my young American nephews upon the doctrine that one man "is as
+good as another and a good deal better." Of the sights which cause me to
+lose temper, one is to see a splendid young Briton, a real manly fellow,
+standing mum like a duffer when he is asked why the son of a Guelph or
+of any other family should have a privilege denied to him. Are you less
+a man? Have not you had as honest parents and a better grandfather? Why
+do you stand this injustice? And then he has nothing to say. Well, I
+have sometimes thought I have noticed the cheek a little redder. That is
+always a consolation. Thank God! we have nothing like this in America.
+Our young men carry in their knapsacks a President's seal, and no one is
+born to any rank or position above them. Under the starry flag there
+are equal rights for all. It will be so in Scotland perhaps ere I die
+(D. V.). If I had the schooling of young Scotland I would make every
+class repeat in the morning before lessons:
+
+      "If thou hast said I am not peer
+      To any lord in Scotland here,
+      Highland or lowland, far or near,
+        Lord Angus, thou hast lied."
+
+I would teach them the new meaning of that stirring verse, and tell them
+that the lad who did not believe himself the peer of any man born and
+entitled to every privilege "might do for an Austrian, a Russian, a
+Prussian, or an Italian," but never would be much of a Scotchman--never.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Popular Amusements._]
+
+I do not think I have spoken of the announcements of amusements seen
+everywhere during the trip throughout the rural districts: band
+competitions, cricket matches, flower shows, wrestling matches,
+concerts, theatricals, holiday excursions, races, games, rowing matches,
+football contests, and sports of all kinds. We are surprised at their
+number, which gives incontestable evidence of the fact that the British
+people work far less and play far more than their American cousins do.
+No toilers, rich or poor, like the Americans! The band competitions are
+unknown here, but no doubt we shall soon follow so good an example and
+try them. The bands of a district meet and compete for prizes, which
+stirs up wholesome rivalry and leads to excellence. We saw eight
+gathered for competition in one little town which we passed, and the
+interest excited by the meet was so great as to put the town _en fete_.
+I do not know any feature of British life which would strike an American
+more forcibly than these contests. We should try one here, and, by and
+by, why not an international contest--the Dunfermline band playing the
+"Star-Spangled Banner," and the Pittsburgh performers "Rule Britannia."
+Yes, that's right; I insist upon "Rule Britannia"--that is the nation's
+song; I am growing tired of "God Save the Queen"--even such a model as
+the present one--for the strain is only personal, after all. I wish Her
+Majesty well, but I love my country more. "Rule Britannia" is the
+national song.
+
+I hope Americans will find some day more time for play, like their wiser
+brethren upon the other side.
+
+We came to the crossing of the Spey to-day to find that the long high
+bridge was undergoing extensive repairs and closed to travel. In America
+it would never have occurred to us that a bridge could be closed while
+being rebuilt, but in the science of bridge-building British engineers
+are a generation behind us, because they have not had to build so many.
+However, there was nothing for it but to follow down the stream until
+another bridge was found. When we did find it, we saw a notice
+prohibiting loads beyond two tons from crossing. It was a light iron
+structure (perhaps a Tay blunder upon a small scale). The wind was
+whistling like a fiend about our ears as it came roaring down the glen;
+all pleasant while we were in the woods skirting the river with our
+backs to it, but when we turned to cross it seemed as if we should be
+blown bodily from the top of the coach. Everything was taken off the
+top, and we all dismounted. Perry and Joe drove over, while we all
+walked, some of us on the lee side of the coach for shelter, and in a
+few minutes we were so sheltered in the glen again as scarcely to know
+there was a breath of air stirring; but these "Highland homes where
+tempests blow" know what gales are. We have had great blows now and then
+at some high points crossing the moors, for the hills you rarely cross;
+these you have to avoid, but to-day was the only time we were compelled
+to dismount.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The Last Luncheon._]
+
+We had not far to drive before we reached the pretty little burn which
+falls into the Findhorn, the spot selected for the last luncheon.
+
+This spot seemed made to order; the burn, the fire, the mossy grass, the
+wild river, the moor and glen, all here. Down sat the Charioteers for
+the last happy luncheon together. We were all so dangerously near the
+brink of sad regret that a bold effort was necessary to steer clear of
+thoughts which pressed upon us. We had to laugh for fear we might cry,
+the smile ever lies so near the tear. It _had_ to be a lively luncheon,
+that was all there was about it; and when duty calls it doesn't take
+much to start our boys to frolic. A few empty bags which we had used for
+horse-feed in emergencies suggested a sack-race. Such roars of laughter
+when one or the other of the too ambitious contestants went to grass!
+This was a capital diversion. Any one looking down upon us (but in these
+lonely glens no eye is there to see) would never have imagined that this
+sport was started only as a means to prevent the travellers becoming
+mournful enough for a funeral. A little management is a great thing; it
+pulled us through the last luncheon with only tears of laughter.
+
+"In, Joe! Right, Perry! Sound the horn! All aboard for Inverness!" There
+was something in the thought, "We have done it," which kept us from
+regret, although the rebuke came sharply from the ladies, as one pointed
+out another milestone, "Oh, don't, please!" With every white stone
+passed there was a mile less of Arcadia to enjoy. Over moor and dale
+lies the way, a beautiful drive, gradually descending for many miles,
+from about twelve hundred and fifty feet above the sea level at
+Dalwhinnie to a few hundred only near Inverness.
+
+At last the call is made, "Stop, Perry! Capital of the Highlands, all
+hail! Three rousing cheers for bonnie Inverness!" There she lies so
+prettily upon the Moray Frith, surrounded by fields of emerald green, an
+unusually grand situation and a remarkably beautiful town. We stopped
+long upon the hill-top to enjoy the picture spread out below. The
+Charioteers will forget much ere their entrance into Inverness fades
+from the memory. A telegram from friend G., conveyed to us the
+congratulations of our Wolverhampton connection upon the triumphant
+success of our expedition, to which something like this was sent:
+"Thanks! We arrived at the end of this earthly paradise at six o'clock
+this evening. When shall we look upon its like again?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      INVERNESS, August 3.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Inverness._]
+
+It was Saturday, 6 P.M., August 3d, exactly seven weeks and a day after
+leaving Brighton, when we entered Inverness and sat down in our parlor
+at the Caledonian Hotel. Up went the flags as usual; dinner was ordered;
+then came mutual congratulations upon the success of the journey just
+finished. Not one of the thirty-two persons who had at various times
+travelled with us ever missed a meal, or had been indisposed from
+fatigue or exposure. Even Ben had been improved by the journey. Nor had
+the coach ever to wait five minutes for any one; we had breakfasted,
+lunched, and dined together, and not one had ever inconvenienced the
+company by failing to be in time.
+
+How shall I render the unanimous verdict of the company upon the life we
+had led?
+
+"I never was so happy in my life. No, Aaleck, not even upon my wedding
+journey." That is the verdict of one devoted young wife, given in
+presence of her husband.
+
+"I haven't been so happy since my father took me fishing, and I wasn't
+as happy then," was Aaleck's statement.
+
+"Oh, Andrew, I have been a young girl again!" We all know who said that,
+Miss Velvety.
+
+"I can't help it, but I don't want to speak of it just now. It's too
+sad." Prima Donna, this was a slightly perilous line to follow, for the
+heart was evidently near the mouth there.
+
+"To think of it, Naig, I have to go home to-morrow." That was Eliza.
+
+"Jerusalem the golden! it would make a wooden Indian jump, this life
+would." No need of putting a name to that, Bennie, my lad.
+
+"Andrew, I've just been in a dream of happiness all the time." That was
+oor Davie.
+
+"I never expect to be as happy for seven weeks again," met with a chorus
+of supporters.
+
+The Queen Dowager, however, put us all in a more gleeful mood by her
+verdict: "Well, I expect to have another coaching trip yet. You'll see!
+He can't help doing more of this, and I'll be there. He can't keep _me_
+at home!" And her hearty laugh and a clap of her hands above her head
+brought us all merrily to dinner. She is very often a true prophet. We
+shall see, we shall see!
+
+After dinner we strolled about the city and admired its many beauties,
+especially the pretty Ness, which flows through the town to the sea. Its
+banks and islands constitute one of the finest of pleasure-grounds for
+the people, and many a lover's tale, I trow, has been told in the shady
+walks beside it. I felt quite sentimental myself, sauntering along
+between the gloaming and the mirk with one of the young ladies. The
+long, long gloaming of the north adds immensely to the charms of such a
+journey as this we have just taken. These are the sweetly precious hours
+of the day.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Macbeth's Castle._]
+
+At Inverness we are again on classic ground; for Macbeth had a castle
+there, which good King Duncan visited, and of which he said:
+
+      "This castle hath a pleasant seat: the air
+      Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
+      Unto our gentle senses."
+
+It was razed by Malcolm III. or Canmore, Duncan's son, who built a new
+castle not far from its site. This latter fortress existed until about
+the middle of the last century, when it was blown up by the troops of
+Charles Edward Stuart. Portions of its walls may still be seen. Culloden
+field, too, is hard by, and all the country round is rich in ruined
+keeps and towers.
+
+On reassembling in our parlor an ominous lack of hilarity prevailed. We
+did manage, however, to get the choir up to the point of giving this
+appropriate song with a slight variation:
+
+      "Happy we've been a' thegither,
+        Happy we've been in ane and a',
+      Blyther folk ne'er coached thegither,
+        Sad are we to gang awa'."
+
+      (Chorus).
+
+It wasn't much of a success. We were not in tune, nor in time either.
+Joe and Perry were to come at ten to say good-by. Here the serious
+business of life pressed upon us, escape being impossible. We had to
+meet it at last. They came and received the thanks and adieux of all. I
+handed them notes certifying to all coming coaching parties that
+fortunate indeed would be their lot were Perry and Joe to take them in
+charge. Joey responded in a speech which so riveted our attention during
+delivery that not one of us could recall a sentence when he ceased. This
+is one of the sincere regrets of the travellers, for assuredly a copy of
+that great effort would have given the record inestimable value. It was
+a gem. I have tried to catch it, but only one sentence comes to me: "And
+has for the 'osses, sir, they are better than when we started, sir; then
+they 'ad flabby flesh, sir; now they're neat an' 'ardy." So are we all
+of us, Joey, just like the 'osses; "neat an' 'ardy," fit for walk, run,
+or climb, and bang-up to everything.
+
+We had all next day to enjoy Inverness. What a fine climate it has as
+compared with the Highlands south of it! Vegetation is luxuriant here
+and the land fertile. One would naturally expect all to be bleak and
+bare so far north, but that Gulf Stream which America sends over to save
+the precious tight little isle from being a region of ice makes it
+delightful in summer and not extremely cold even in winter. We are
+assured that the climate of Inverness is more genial than that of
+Edinburgh, which is not saying very much for the capital of the North
+surely, but still it is something.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      CALEDONIAN HOTEL,
+
+      INVERNESS, August 5, evening.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Farewell to the Coach._]
+
+General Manager, at dinner.
+
+_To waiter_: "What time do we start in the morning?"
+
+_Waiter_: "The _omnibus_ starts at seven, sir."
+
+_Shakespearean Student_--"Ah! There was the weight which pulled us down.
+The omnibus! Farewell the neighing steeds, the spirit-stirring horn,
+whose sweet throat awakened the echoes o'er mountain and glen. Farewell,
+the Republican banner, and all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of
+glorious coaching, farewell! The Charioteers' occupation's gone."
+
+_First Miltonic Reciter_--
+
+      "From morn till noon,
+      From noon till dewy eve,
+      A summer's day we fell."
+
+Our fall from our own four-in-hand to a public omnibus--oh, what a fall
+was there, my countrymen!--involved the loss of many a long summer's day
+to us, for long as they had been the sun ever set too soon.
+
+It was all up after this. Perry and Joe, the coach and the horses, were
+speeding away by rail to their homes; we were no longer _the_ coaching
+party, but only ordinary tourists buying our tickets like other people
+instead of travelling as it were in style upon annual passes. But fate
+was merciful to us even in this extremity; we were kept from the very
+lowest stage of human misery by finding ourselves alone and all together
+in the omnibus; our party just filled it. If it was only a hotel
+omnibus, as one of the young ladies said, it was all our own yet, as was
+the MacLean boat at the flood, and the ladies, dear souls, managed to
+draw some consolation from that.
+
+We returned from Inverness by the usual tourist route: canal and boat to
+Oban, where we rested over night, thence next day to Glasgow. Under any
+other circumstances I think this part of the journey would have been
+delightful. The scene indelibly impressed upon our minds is that we saw
+at night near Ballachulish. I remember a party of us agreed that what we
+then saw could never be forgotten. But Black alone could paint it. It is
+saying much for any combination of the elements when not one nor two,
+but more of a party like ours stand and whisper at rare intervals of
+the sublime and awful grandeur which fascinates them into silence; never
+am I lifted up apparently so close to the Infinite as when amid such
+weird, uncanny scenes as these. We had an hour of this that night,
+fitting close to our life in the Highlands of Scotland.
+
+  [Sidenote: _The First Separation._]
+
+The first separation came at Greenock. The Queen Dowager, and Mr. and
+Mrs. K. disembarked there for Paisley. The others continued by boat to
+Glasgow and enjoyed the sail up the Clyde very much. It was Saturday, a
+holiday for the workers. The miles of shipyards were still, "no sound of
+hammers clanking rivets up," that fine sunny day, but as we passed close
+to them we saw the iron frames of the future monsters of the deep, the
+Servia, Alaska, and others destined to bear the palm for a short time,
+and then to give place to others still greater, till the voyage between
+England and America will be only a five-day pleasure excursion, and
+there will be "two nations, but one people." God speed the day! But the
+old land must come after a time up to Republicanism! I make a personal
+matter of that, Lafayette, my boy, as Mulberry Sellers says. No monarchy
+need apply. We draw the line at this. All men were created free and
+_equal_. Brother Jonathan takes very little "stock" in a people who do
+not believe that fundamental principle.
+
+We landed at the Broomielaw, whither father and mother and Tom and I
+sailed thirty odd years ago, on the 800-ton ship Wiscasset, and began
+our seven weeks' voyage to the land of promise, poor emigrants in quest
+of fortune; but, mark you, not without thoughts in the radical breasts
+of our parents that it was advisable to leave a land which tolerated
+class distinctions for the government of the people, by the people and
+for the people, which welcomed them to its fold and insured for their
+sons, as far as laws can give it, equality with the highest and a fair
+and free field for the exercise of their powers.
+
+My father saw through not only the sham but the injustice of rank, from
+king to knight, and loved America because she knows no difference in her
+sons. He was a Republican, aye, every inch, and his sons glory in that
+and follow where he led.
+
+I remember well that our friends stood on the quay and waved farewell.
+Had their adieu been translated it would have read:
+
+      "Now may the fair goddess Fortune
+      Fall deep in love with thee,
+      Prosperity be thy page."
+
+Thanks to the generous Republic which stood with open arms to receive
+us, as she stands to-day to welcome the poor of the world to share with
+her own sons upon equal terms the glorious heritage with which she is
+endowed--thanks to it, prosperity has indeed been our page.
+
+At St. Enoch's Station Hotel, Glasgow, another separation of the party
+took place. A delegation of five of our members were sent to investigate
+the Irish question and report at Queenstown. Miss E. L. returned to
+Dunfermline. Miss F. and Mr. and Mrs. K. were visiting the Queen Dowager
+at Paisley. Harry and I ran down to see friend Richards at his basic
+process at Eston, stopping over night at York and Durham, however, to
+enjoy once more the famous cathedrals and hear the exquisite music.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+      LIVERPOOL, August 13.
+
+  [Sidenote: _Embarkation for Home._]
+
+We sailed to-day in the Algeria, the great Servia having been delayed.
+Many were there to see us off, including four or five Charioteers. The
+English are, as Davie said, "a kindly people," a warm-hearted,
+affectionate race, and as true as steel. When you once have them you
+have them forever. There was far more than the usual amount of tears and
+kisses among the ladies. One would have thought our American and English
+women were not cousins, but sisters. The men were, as befitting their
+colder natures, much less demonstrative. There seems never to be a final
+good-by on shipboard; at every ringing of the bell another tender
+embrace and another solemn promise to write soon are given. But at last
+all our friends are upon the tug, the huge vessel moves, one rope after
+another is cast off, handkerchiefs wave, kisses are thrown, write soons
+exchanged, and the tug is off in one direction and we in another. Some
+one broke the momentary silence and brought the last round of cheers
+with the talismanic call "Skid, Joe! Right, Perry!" That touched all
+hearts with remembrance of the happy, happy days, the happiest of our
+lives. So parted the two branches of the Gay Charioteers.
+
+At Queenstown we received the Irish contingent, who had enjoyed their
+week in the Emerald Isle. Very nice indeed was the report, but with this
+quite unnecessary addenda, "But, of course, nothing to coaching." That
+goes without saying in our ranks.
+
+The Algeria was a great ship in her day; now she is sold to a freight
+line. But when she does not give a good account of herself in a
+hurricane do not pin your faith in any iron ship. You may still,
+however, believe that one of steel like the Servia will stand anything.
+She has at least double the strength of any iron steamer afloat. When
+she does not outride the tempest, you may give up in earnest and decide,
+like Mrs. Partington at sea, "never to trust yourself so far out of the
+reach of Providence again."
+
+On Wednesday morning, August 24th, the party reached New York again, and
+were finally disbanded. Two or three of the most miserable hours I ever
+spent were those at the St. Nicholas Hotel, where the Queen Dowager,
+Ben, and I lunched alone before starting for Cresson. Even Ben had to
+take an earlier train for Pittsburgh, and I exclaimed: "All our family
+gone! I feel so lonely, so deserted; not one remains." But the Queen
+was equal to the emergency. "Oh, you don't count me, then! You have
+still one that sticks to you." Oh, yes, indeed, sure of that, old lady.
+
+      "The good book tells of one
+        Who sticks closer than a brother;
+      But who will dare to say there's one
+        Sticks closer than a mother!"
+
+(Original poetry for the occasion.)
+
+  [Sidenote: _Final Farewells._]
+
+These horrid partings again; but whatever the future has in store for
+those who made the excursion recorded here, I think I can safely say
+that they could not wish their dearest friend a happier life than that
+led from June 1st to August 24th by the Gay Charioteers.
+
+Those who have mounted the coach become, as it were, by virtue of that
+act members of an inner circle; a band of union knits them closely
+together. To a hundred dear, kind friends in the Beautiful Land we send
+thanks and greeting. Their kindness to us can never be forgotten, for
+they soon taught us to feel that it was not a foreign land which we had
+visited after all, but the dear old home of our fathers.
+
+Forever and ever may the parent land and the child land grow fonder and
+fonder of each other, and their people mingle more and more till they
+become as one and the same. All good educated Americans love England,
+for they know that she alone among the nations of the world
+
+      "On with toil of heart and knees and hand
+      Through the long gorge to the far light hath won
+      Her path upward and prevailed."
+
+She it was who pointed out to America what to plant, and how, and where.
+The people of England should love America, for she has taught them in
+return that all the equal rights and privileges of man they are laboring
+for at home are bearing goodly fruit in the freer atmosphere of the
+West. May the two peoples, therefore, grow in love for each other, and
+with this fond wish, and many a sad farewell, the Gay Charioteers
+disband, forever afterward in life to rally round each other in case of
+need at the mystic call of "Skid, Joe," "Right, Perry;" and certain of
+this, that whatever else fades from the memory, the recollection of our
+coaching trip from Brighton to Inverness remains a sacred possession
+forever.
+
+
+
+
+THE RECORD.
+
+_BRIGHTON TO INVERNESS, JUNE 17 TO AUGUST 3, 1881._
+
+                                                              MILES.
+
+      June 17        BRIGHTON (The Grand Hotel)
+        "  "         GUILDFORD (The White Lion)                   42
+        "  18 and 19 WINDSOR (The Castle)                         32
+        "  20        READING (The Queen's)                        27
+        "  21        OXFORD (The Clarendon)                       34
+        "  22        BANBURY (The White Lion)                     23
+        "  23        STRATFORD-ON-AVON (The Red Horse)            18
+        "  24        COVENTRY (The Queen's)                       22
+        "  25 to 30  WOLVERHAMPTON (English Homes, best of all)   33
+      July 1         LICHFIELD (The Swan)                         20
+        "  2 and 3   DOVEDALE (The Izaak Walton)                  26
+        "  4         CHATSWORTH (The Edensor)                     24
+        "  5         BUXTON (The Palace)                          26
+        "  6         MANCHESTER (The Queen's)                     23
+        "  7         CHORLEY (Anderton Hall)                      14
+        "  8         PRESTON (The Victoria)                       16
+        "  9 and 10  LANCASTER (The County)                       29
+        "  11        KENDAL (King's Arms)                         22
+        "  12        GRASSMERE (Prince of Wales)                  18
+        "  13        KESWICK (The Keswick)                        12
+        "  14        PENRITH (The Crown)                          16
+        "  15        CARLISLE (The County and Station)            16
+        "  16 and 17 DUMFRIES (The Commercial)                    32
+        "  18        SANQUHAR (The Queensberry)                   28
+        "  19        OLD CUMNOCK (Dumfries Arms)                  29
+        "  20        DOUGLAS (Douglas Arms)                       28
+        "  21 to 26  EDINBURGH (The Royal)                        44
+        "  27 and 28 DUNFERMLINE (The City Arms)                  16
+        "  29        PERTH (The Royal George)                     32
+        "  30 and 31 PITLOCHRIE (Fisher's Hotel)                  33
+      August 1       DALWHINNIE (The Loch Ericht)                 32
+        "    2       BOAT O' GARTEN (The Boat o' Garten)          35
+        "    3       INVERNESS (The Caledonian)                   29
+                                                                 ___
+
+                  TOTAL MILES,                                   831
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An American Four-In-Hand in Britain, by
+Andrew Carnegie
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AMERICAN FOUR-IN-HAND ***
+
+***** This file should be named 39790.txt or 39790.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/7/9/39790/
+
+Produced by Charlene Taylor, Melissa McDaniel and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+(This file was produced from images generously made
+available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions 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.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+  www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at 809
+North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887.  Email
+contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the
+Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit:  www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For forty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+