Letters from Europe, comprising the journal of a tour through Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Italy, and Switzerland, in 1825, '26, and '27

Front matter

LETTERS FROM EUROPE, COMPRISING THE JOURNAL OF A TOUR THROUGH IRELAND, ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, FRANCE, ITALY, AND SWITZERLAND, IN THE YEARS 1825, '26, AND '27. BY N. H. CARTER. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY G. & C. CARVILL, 108 BROADWAY. 1827. SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, ss. Be it remembered, that on the 11th day of October, A. D. 1827, in the fifty second year of the Independence of the United States of America, Nathaniel H. Carter, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author in the words following, to wit : " Letters from Europe, comprising the Journal of a Tour through Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Italy, and Switzerland, in the years 1825, '26, and '27. By N. H. Carter." In conformity to the Act of Congress ofthe United States, entitled, " An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned ;" and also, to an Act, entitled, " An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving-, and etching historical and other prints." FRED. I. BETTS, Clerk ef the Southern District of New-York. Sleight Hi George, Printers, Jamaica, L. I.

ADVERTISEMENT.

. The substance of a large proportion of the following Letters has already been published. In a revision of their contents, it has not been deemed advisable to change the form, in which they originally appeared ; although it is liable to some objections, as necessarily leading to repetition, in the connecting links of a personal narrative. The same remark may be extended to the style, which is not the most suitable for a de tail of facts, and for comprising useful information within the narrowest compass. But such was not the design of these sketches. The series of letters was commenced, without knowing to what extent it would be continued, and with no higher aim than amusement. To write a formal book of travels, with a view to instruction, was not originally, nor is it now, the author's intention.

Letter II

— Arrival on the coast of Ireland— Kinsale— Ride to Cork- Sketch of the city — Excursion to the cove of Cork — Celebration of American Independence. If. LETTER IU.— Route to Killarney— Aspect of the country— Sketch of the Lakes — Departure for Tralee— Banks of the Shannon — Arrival at Limerick — Description of the city • . . 26

Letter XIX

— English Lakes continued — Thirlmere — Vale of Keswick Derwent Water — Bassenthwaite — Borrowdale — Wast Water — Furness Abbey — Ennerdale — Lowes Water — Crummock — Buttermere — Excursion to the top of Skiddaw — Visit to the Poet Laureate 202

Letter XX

— Ride from Keswick to Ullswater — Description of the Lake— Penrith— Carlisle 214

Letter XXI

— Ride from Carlisle to Newcastle-upon-Tyne — Roman Wall — Description of Newcastle — Birth place of Akenside — Gatesend — Castle — Collieries — Excursion to Shields 223

Letter XXII

— Entrance into Scotland— Route from Berwick to Edinburgh — Dunbar Castle — Preston Pans — Dalkeith — Porto Bello — Arrival at Edinburgh — Calton Hill — Salisbury Crag — Arthur's Seat — Professor of Humanity — Literary Breakfast — Nelson's Monument — Holy-Rood House. . 237

Letter XXIII

— Edinburgh Castle — Reminiscences of Allan Ramsay and Robert Burns — Professor of Natural History — National Prison — Cemete ries — University — Library — Botanic Garden — Market — Gray Friars Church — Libraries of the Advocates and Writers to the Signet — Old Parliament House — High School — Visit to the Editor of Ihe Edinburgh Review. . . 251

Letter XXIV

— Tour through the Highlands— Loch Leven— Banks ofthe Tay — Perth — Birnam Wood — Dunkeld — Pass of Killicrankie — Grampian Hills — Inverness — Field of Culloden . 267

Letter XXV

— Route through the Western Highlands— Steam-boat Comet — Manners of the Highlanders — Caledonian Canal — Loch Ness — Fall of Fyers — Fort Augustus — Loch Oich — Loch Lochy — Ben Nevis — Fort William — Loch Linnhe — Corran Ferry — Ballahulish. .... 283 LET TER XXVI. — Loch Leven — Glencoe — Birth-place of Ossian — Loch Tolla — Glenorchy — Loch Awe — Inverary — Castle of the Duke of Argyle — Loch Fine — Glencroe — Loch Long — Tarbet — Loch Lomond — Ben Lomond —Loch Katrine— Ellen's Island— Trosachs— Ride to Callendar. . . 293

Letter XXVII

— Ride to Stirling— Roman Encampment— Castle of Doune — Dunblane — Stirling — Field of Bannockburn — Junction Canal — Glasgow 306

Letter XXVIII

— Excursion to Ayrshire — Kilmarnock — Irvine — Early Associates and Friends of Robert Burns — Ayr— Burns' Cottage — Mauso leum—Kirk Alloway— Banks of Doon CONTENTS. Page.

Letter XXIX

— Glasgow— Dr. Chalmers— Theatre— Botanic Garden ■Gas-works — Excursion to Greenock — Banks of the Clyde — BothweU Castle — Hamilton House — Stonebyres — Lanark — Falls of the Clyde — Dumfries — Tomb of Burns — Visit to his Widow — Gretna Green. . . .330

Letter XXXIII

— Arrival at Calais— Description of the Town— Custom House — Dessein's Hotel — Reminiscences of Sterne — Route to Paris — French Diligence — Boulogne — Aspect of the Country — Montreuil — Abbeville — Beauvais — St. Denis — Montmartre — Arrival at Paris. . . . 381

Letter XXXIV

— Paris— Funeral of General Foy— Pere La Chaise- Morgue — Police — Notre Dame — View from its Towers — Outlines of the City — Coronation R.obes of Napoleon and other Regalia — Hospitals — Hotel Dieu. . * 391

Letter XXXV

— Paris continued— Boulevards— Faubourgs— Old part of the City — Hackney Coaches — Public Squares — Champs Elysees — Cours dela Reine — Place de Louis XV — Garden ofthe Tuilleries — Place Vendome — Place du Carousel — Palace of the Louvre — Royal Museum. . . . 405

Letter XXXIX

— Paris continued— Pantheon— Law School— Observatory — Americans in Paris — Style of French Dinners — Church of St. Sul pice — School of Medicine — Anatomical Museum — National Institute — Great Men — Philosophical, Chemical, and Medical Lectures. . . . 447

Letter XL

— Paris continued — Royal Library — Cabinet of Antiquities — Palace ofthe Tuilleries — Public Dinner ofthe Royal Family — Theatres — French Opera — Theatre Francais — Italian Opera — Excursion to Versailles. 457

Letter XLI

— Route from Paris to Lyons — Sens — Aspect of the Country — Vineyards — Auxerre — Autun — Chalons-sur-Saone — Macon — Vale ofthe — Environs of Lyons — Sketch ofthe City 4fit: CONTENTS. Page. LETTER XLI1. — Route to Avignon— Vale os the Rhone— Vienne — St. Vellier — Tain — Valence — Mont Ventoux — Orange — Avignon — Carnival — Tomb of Laura — Excursion to Vaucluse. ....... 48s>

Letter XLIII

— Ride to Marseilles— Aix— First view of the Mediterranean — Sketch of Marseilles — Notre Dame de la Garde — Port — Quays — Commerce — Public Buildings — Garden of Plants — Historical Sketch — Climate — Washington's birth-day — Amusements — Society and Mannei-s. . 497

Letter XLIV

— Excursion to Languedoc — Ride to Nismes — Amphitheatre — Maison Carree — Fountain — Route to Montpellier — Sketch ol [In- City — Concert — Porte Peyron— Aqueduct — Botanic Garden — Tomb olNarcissa — Professor of Botany — Medical School.

Letter I. Passage Across The Atlantic

Packet Ship Corinthian, at sea, 25lh June, 182o. " Thus far we sail before the wind," in a figurative, if not in a literal sense, our gallant ship having at length reached the fifty-second degree of north latitude, and the twenty-ninth of longitude, after a passage of seventeen days from New- York. She is now standing for the coast of Ireland, with a favourable breeze, bearing us at the rate of eight or nine knots the hour towards the port of destination ; and as it is possible we may land at Cape Clear or Cork, if a fair opportunity shall present, with a view of visiting the principal places in that island, before going to England, I employ a leisure' hour in retracing our path-way over the waste of waters to this point, reserving the remainder of the voyage to some future occasion. Although I have kept a full diary, in which a volume of minute incidents are recorded ; yet on a review, the contents appear too trifling and too monotonous for publication.

Circumstances which attracted attention, and served to amuse us, insulated and cut off as we were from the rest ofthe world, would appear trivial in detail, and could afford no gratification to my readers. A general outline of our voyage thus far is all I shall attempt. My letter will doubtless con tain many things at which a sailor would laugh, as exhibiting the evidences ofa complete landsman, or what the English denominate a Johnny Newcome, the extent of my navigation having hitherto been confined to Long-Island Sound. The whole scene has therefore been to me entirely novel. I hope the struggle of seeling, which a temporary separation from friends was calculated to excite, was sustained with a fortitude " that vol. I. becomes a man ; who dares do more, is none." The heart experiences a new sensation, and throbs with new pulsations, as the eye surveys its native shores fast receding from view, with all the endearments of country and home.

To a novice, the feeling is by no means allayed by the thought, that he is going he knows not whither, launching upon the wide ocean, and entering in fact upon an untried state of being. Light as these things may seem on shore, they will occasionally come over the heart at sea ; and it is enough to say, that they were felt to their full extent, without however producing a moment's regret, at an undertaking involving like all others, some doubts and some risks as to the result. A fair but light breeze soon bore us away from the waters of New- York. Object aster object faded on the eye. Staten Island and the blue summits of the Neversink were soon lost in the horizon. Our course for some distance was nearly parallel with Long-Island ; and the last land we saw was the hills of South-Hampton. Every American passenger kept the deck, with his face turned homeward, till between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon, when the last glimpses of the shore vanished, and several of us for the first time realized the force of the poet's expression — "undique cœlum, undique pontus."

The blue sky and the blue ocean were all of the world that remained to us ; and we felt, if we did not exclaim — " my native land, good night!" The separation had not till this moment become perfect ; for the mind clung to the objects it could yet discern, as old acquaintances, and the dim and distant view of the hills along the island formed the last tie to be severed. When this was dissolved, we began to regard the packet as our only home for the present, and to examine into the resources which it afforded, for comfort, instruction, and amusement. Fortunately we have thus far found it abundant in all these particulars. The Corinthian is one ofthe best built, and most gallant ships belonging to our port, with a skilful commander, and an active crew. When all her canvass is spread, and there is a stiff breeie, with the speed ofthe Corsair's bark, " She walks the water like a thing of life," dashing through the foam, and bounding over the billows with the utmost grandeur, leaving her competitors far behind.

She has fallen in with perhaps a dozen vessels in the course of our passage, none of which could keep in sight of her, for more than two or three hours. The accommodations ofthe Corinthian are not inferior to her ex ternal appearance and her reputation for fleetness. Our table has been spread four times a day, laden with all the variety of meats, fruits and delicacies, which the greatest epicure could desire, and crowned with several kinds of wine, not excepting champaign once or twice a week, for the purpose of drinking " sweet-hearts and wives," — a custom rigidly observed by us on every Saturday evening. Our ship is a sort of farm and store-house, from which the most abundant supplies of fresh provisions are drawn at pleasure. Its deck has quite a rural appearance, where one hears the crowing of the cock, the cackling of hens, geese, and ducks, the lowing of the cow, and the bleating of sheep.

There is an honest Irishman on board, named Jemmy, who is working his passage home, and whose special duty it is, to super intend the farm-yard and feed the stock. His assiduity, and the ten derness he manifests towards his little flock, particularly towards the cow Sukey, have acquired for him the good wishes of all the pas sengers. We have fourteen passengers, a majority of whom are Americans, and the remainder English and Scotch. They are all well educated, intelligent, and gentlemanly men, who have seen much of the world, and are intimately acquainted with the respective countries to which they belong. Although we have no ladies on board to exercise their restraining influence, the utmost decorum in dress and demeanour is observed ; and as much etiquette prevails daily at our table, as is witnessed at a genteel dinner party.

This circumstance has added greatly to the pleasures of our passage. There is a good library ou board the Corinthian, which with the books belonging to the passengers and thrown into common stock, furnishes an ample supply of literary amusement. I have not found an hour hang heavy on my hands since my departure, except in cases of indisposition, which have been less frequent and less severe than I had anticipated. The day passes in reading, writing, and conversation, interspersed occasionally with a game at chess, or back-gammon for recreation. These occupations, at once instructive and amusing, together with the various operations in directing and managing the ship, presenting a new sphere of life and a language peculiar to itself, with which I was in a great measure unacquainted, have left no room for ennui.

But there is a pleasure beyond what this little world, enclosed in wooden walls, can afford — the pleasure of looking abroad upon the boundless ocean, of watching its changing aspects, its restless agita tion, its eternal heavings. There is a grandeur in such an expanse of water, stretching beyond the limits of vision, and on all sides mingling with the skies, even when its surface is calm and placid. But how is its magnificence heightened, when it is lashed into tumult, and the billows are crested with foam ! I have stood for hours, to see the waves rolling and tumbling in the verge of the horizon, with which they appear to be blended. It is at such a moment, that man feels his weakness and insignificance, while the elements are in commotion, the sea dashing around him, in all its terror and sublimity, and a fathomless abyss yawning beneath, insulated as he is from the rest of the world, and devoid of human assistance.

His confidence is limited to a plank, and that apparently too fragile to withstand for a moment the violence and concussion of the waves. In spite of all the convictions of safety and of all resolutions to meet whatever may come, with firmness and fortitude, the imagina nation, startled by the creaking of masts, the piping of winds, and the dashing of the surge, will sometimes descend to the bottom of the ocean, and survey such horrors, as are depicted in the dream of Clarence : " What sights of ugly death within mine eyes ! Methought I saw a thousand fearful couches ; A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon ; Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels, All scattered in the bottom of the sea. Some lay in dead men's skulls ; and in those holes, Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept, As 'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems, That woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep, And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by."

When the imagination has once reached the bottom of the ocean, it is very easy for it to extend its rambles through coral groves and those green recesses, which poets, and naturalists scarcely less fanciful, have supposed to exist. Buffon thinks that the depths of the sea exhibit all the varieties of hill and dale, earth and rock, that we observe on dry land ; and that its plants and shrubs have a similar regular distribution. According to others, these vegetables and sub-marine productions are of the most gorgeous and splendid colours, vying in richness and beauty with the most picturesque scenery of the earth above. Fancy may go a step farther, and people these bright abodes with the inhabitants of the deep, or those fabled divinities, whom the poets of antiquity called into existence. But let us once more ascend to the surface, if my bathos has not carried me beyond a retreat.

I have never before so fully realized the imagery,* which has been drawn from, and the epithets which have been applied to the ocean, by every writer from Homer to Byron, as my observation has enabled me to do in this short voyage. The epithet employed by the latter, in the first line of the Corsair, " O'er the glad waters of the dark-blue sea," is exactly true to nature, and expresses with minute accuracy the colour of the ocean, at depths where there are no soundings. As you recede from the shore, the sea-green tinge vanishes, and the cerulean hue darkens in proportion to the depth of the water. So perceptible is this change, that we were able to discover in a moment when we had arrived on soundings upon the Grand Bank. A skilful mariner will ascertain with great accuracy the number of fathoms by the eye, with out the use ofthe lead.

Other natural objects, such as the sun, moon, and stars, acquire an additional interest, when seen from the ocean, particularly at their ri sing and setting. Some of our sun-sets have been glorious beyond description. As the ruddy orb sunk into the sea, its disc became ob long, and flashed its splendours across the waves, tracing a pyramid of light of the brightest hue. This gorgeous imagery towards the west ap pears the more splendid, when contrasted with the darkness ofthe east, where there are no objects to reflect the beams of day, after the sun has reached the verge of the horizon, owing to the sphericity ofthe ocean. His disc appears to be tinged and gradually quenched by the billows, assuming as it sinks, a hundred different forms. On one evening, some of our passengers had the curiosity to climb to the round-top, while others held their watches below, for the purpose of ascertaining how much longer the sun could be seen at that height, than from the deck.

The difference was found to be one minute and four seconds. The moon, stars, and clouds have to us been equally fruitful sources of observation, appearing under new aspects, and being dearer from thc eternal solitude, which reigns over the long and desolate tracts of ocean. We have often stood upon the deck, to see the star of evening go down. * The dim and shadowy forms of ships, seen in the distant horizon, journeying onward over the pathless ocean, will often bring to mind Milton's sublime simile : " As when far off at sea, a fleet descry 'd Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles Of Ternate and Tidore, whence merchants bring Their spicy drugs : they on the trading flood Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape Ply, stemming nightly toward the pole." and the moon plunge her cold orb into the main, creating a silver dra pery in the clouds around her, as she sinks to rest.

When the sea is calm, twilight and the reflection of the rosy west is delightfully soft and tranquil. The mornings too are sometimes extremely beautiful, the clouds reposing in the utmost serenity along the horizon, and apparently resting upon the blue unruffled waters. By good fortune, the aurora bo realis has been added to the phenomena of nature observed by us, during the passage. It brightened the whole north, and gave to the skies the appearance of the crepusculum at break of day. The latitude of this place has in some measure changed the aspect of the heavens, the sun setting at 7 minutes aster 8 o'clock, making the day 16 hours and 11 minutes lono-. Evening twilight does not disappear till about 1 0 o'clock, and the day dawns at a little after two. There are of course at this season but a few hours of darkness, and even that brief reign is at pre sent shortened by the moon, now fast becoming full-orbed.

The Cap tain informed us at breakfast to-day, that twilight in the north-west was visible the whole of last night. In the course of our passage we have experienced nearly every variety of weather, except the severe gale, and have therefore enjoyed an opportunity of viewing the ocean under all aspects. In three days after leaving the Hook, we reached the Gulf Stream, and nearly crossed it, our ship being at one time as far south as the 38th degree of latitude. There is some advantage in taking this current in an eastward passage, as it runs at the rate of two or three knots an hour ; but this seems to be in a great measure counterbalanced by the bad weather and heavy swell to be encountered. It is indeed a region of tempests, occasioned probably by the different temperature of thc air, and its effects in producing a conflict ofthe elements.

On Mon day the 13th, we experienced a severe thunder storm, accompanied by heavy gusts, which continued from 4 o'clock in the afternoon till mid night. It was truly a terrific scene, especially after night came on. The flashes of lightning were frequent and vivid, and the peals of thun der, mingling with the roaring of the sea, were tremendous. The bolts fell thick around us, but the lightning did not appear to strike near the ship. A more sublime and awful spectacle than the ocean presented during this storm, can hardly be imagined. The sea, as well as the skies, seemed to be in a blaze, the phosphoric flashes of the former be ing scarcely less vivid than those of the latter. The grandeur of the scene was heightened by the active bustle and cry of the hardy mari ner, as he went aloft amidst the storm, to reef the sails.

To a lands man it is really surprising to witness with what alertness the sailor will climb to the dizziest heights, and leap from one part of the rigging to another. There is a sprightly and interesting little boy on board, only thirteen years old, who is sometimes seen poised like the lark at the top of the mast, handing the royal. His name, as well as his activity in climbing or descending, has often reminded me of Gay's beautiful simile, in "Black-eyed Susan." At 10 o'clock on the night of this thunder-gust, Captain Davis called me to the deck, (for the rain was so severe as to drive the passengers to the cabin,) for the purpose of witnessing what mariners term a corpo santo, or sacred body — a phenomenon I was very anxious to see. A ball of fire was visible at the top of the mainmast, emitting a light not unlike that of a lamp.

Indeed, so striking was the resemblance, that I at first suspected some one had been playing off a quiz, or that one of the crew was aloft with a light. But the reality ofthe phenomenon was soon ascertained. As it never appears except in storms, it has generally been supposed to be electrical ; but the mate of the ship assured me, that he had often examined the substance emitting the light, and found it to be a mass of jelly, apparently composed of marine animalcules, exactly resembling those to which the phosphorescence of the ocean has by some been ascribed. This testimony seems to corroborate the theory broached in the Statesman, in the year 1822, by a philosophical correspondent, who has made many ingenious ex periments on the subject. When we had escaped the Gulf Stream, and arrived at the Grand Bank, a sudden and very sensible change took place in the tempera ture of the atmosphere, indicated by our feelings not less than by the thermometer and sea-glass.

All the cloaks on board were put in requisition, and even these were scarcely sufficient to keep us warm. We were all upon the look-out for mountains of ice, amidst the fogs which constantly envelop this extensive shoal. June and July are the months, when these masses of ice from the arctic regions arrive at this part of the ocean, and are frequently seen in the most fan tastic forms, resembling enchanted islands, mountains, churches, and castles. The passengers were desirous of witnessing so great a curiosity, although they did not care to come very near such dan gerous and formidable obstructions to navigation. The melting of the ice creates a thick vapour around it, and vessels frequently run close upon the floating masses, before they are discovered, as was the case with the Packet Liverpool, which was lost a year or two since.

Our eyes were strained in vain, and a few days bore us be yond the region of these mountains from the pole. From the 20th to the 22d of June inclusive, the ship lay in a dead calm. On the last mentioned day, so perfectly tranquil was the ocean, that the Captain ordered the jolly-boat to be launched, and four of us with a man at the helm rowed to the distance of a mile from the ship, the little skirl" climbing over thc smooth swells with an easy and delightful motion. We brought back with us a large nau tilus, or Portuguese man-of-war, as this animal is generally called by the sailors. He is a curious creature, peculiarly fitted for the element on the surface of which he moves, being furnished with a keel, anchor. sails, and ballast, for the purposes of navigation. Possessing the power of loco-motion, he can shift his position so as to catch the breeze, and glide over the highest waves with ease and safety.

Some times when the sea is calm and the sun warm, he will turn himself upon his side, wet his sail, and then right his little bark and resume his passage. These animals frequently navigate the ocean in fleets, perhaps under the command of an admiral. Their sails, which are transparent and beautifully bordered with a bright pink colour, vie in richness and elegance, particularly when seen in the direction of the sun, with the silken sails of Cleopatra. We have seen thousands of them bounding over thc billows, reminding us of Pope's couplet : " Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, Spread the thin oar, and catch the rising gale." After our return to the ship, Captain Davis and another party made an excursion in the jolly-boat, taking a musket with them, and bringing back a haglet, a large sea-bird, apparently very fierce in its disposi tion.

It was slightly wounded in its wing, and some of the more mischievous passengers got up a cockfight, pitting the haglet against Dick, a proud rooster on board, which had worn the gaffs, and acted the part of a bravado to all the other animals. The combat lasted for some minutes, when the bird seized Dick by the throat and held him fast, till he was released by one of the bystanders. The latter was completely beaten, and could not be brought to another engage ment. On the same day, the Captain ordered a sail to be rigged out by the side of the ship, sinking it to the depth of six or eight feet below the surface, and drawing it up at the corners, so as to form a fine bath, secure from the rapacity of the shark, which renders bathing in the ocean dangerous. Half a dozen of us plunged in, and had a good frolic of it before dinner, not less conducive to health than amusement.

Such are some of the little resources for recrea tion during a calm at sea. In the course of our voyage, we had a glance at nearly all the va rious inhabitants of the deep. Soon after our departure, numerous shoals of porpoises were discovered, gamboling in the waves, and playing round the ship, being visible several feet below the surface, and darting like lightning through the water. One of the passengers, who was formerly an expert whaleman, and is perfectly ac quainted with every fish that swims the ocean, planted himself with a harpoon in the bow. He soon hurled his weapon with unerring dexterity, and a large porpoise was hoisted upon deck. One day while we were at dinner, word came below, that a large whale was along side the ship, within a few rods. We all rushed upon deck, and had several fair views of the monster, as he stretched himself upon the surface and threw up torrents of water.