Travels and observations in the Orient, and a hasty flight in the countries of Europe

Preface

. I might have given this volume a broader title : but, in my travels abroad, The Orient was my objec tive point ; all else was incidental. My trip through the countries of Europe, both in going out and com ing back, was simply a hasty flight. I would not have crossed the ocean at my time of life, nor at any time, had there been no Egypt, no Palestine, no Calvary. And yet at Rome, Vesuvius, and Athens ; in the mountain passes of Switzerland, at the birthplace of the Plymouth Colony, and among the Highlands of Scotland, — I was deeply interested. In my early youth some of the geographers divided the earth's surface into four grand divisions, or conti nents, — Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. I little dreamed, at that time, of ever traveling in any con tinent except my own ; but it has now been my privilege to step foot in all four of these grand geo graphical divisions.

For a number of recent years my desire grew stronger and stronger to visit certain of the Oriental countries, especially Palestine, — the land of the Sas

PREFACE.

. cred Writings, the land of Abraham and his descendants, the land of the Prophets, of the Man of Nazareth, of Paul and Peter. I wanted to look upon the rocks and plains that had greeted their eyes, and to tread the paths which they had trodden. I longed to go down by the shores of Gennesaret and the Jordan and the Dead Sea ; to stand within the gates of Jeru salem, and to be seated at eventide on the green slopes of Olivet. My wishes have been gratified. In the spring and summer of 1882 (after sad disappointments) I was favored with the opportunity of fulfilling this long cherished purpose. I traveled to observe and to learn, and this unpretending volume is one of the results. Possibly it may be found worth reading by some, though not embellished by poetic imagery or high-sounding phrase.

This work, it will be seen, partakes somewhat of a biographical character. I trust it will not be the less valuable on that account. It might easily have been made much larger than it is, but a book should no more be long and tedious than a speech or sermon. Believing that plain, simple language, which even the unlettered can readily understand, is always to be preferred in speech or writing, I have carefully ex cluded such outlandish words as sheikh, waddy, back shislt, and so forth, from the body of this book. Nor do I believe that minute and elaborate descrip tions of towers, temples, tombs, cathedrals, castles,

PREFACE.

. 7 columns, mosques, and arches are much sought for by the general reader ; and, therefore, I have not indulged in such descriptions. I have presented matters in a plain, candid way, that were to me overwhelmingly interesting ; and I entertain the belief that sensible people will not be wholly disappointed in the perusal of this volume. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Page The Voyage

— SEA-SICKNESS. — WHITE GULLS. — AN ICEBERG. — FASTENET LIGHT. — A HOLIDAY. — LIVERPOOL. — CHARMING COUNTRY. — LEAMINGTON 15

Chapter II. Warwick Castle

— SHAKSPEARE. — JOHN WYCLIFFE. — WINDSOR CASTLE. — LONDON. — AN ARMY COMRADE. — PARIS. — MONT CENIS. — ITALIAN SKIES. — TURIN. — GENOA. — PISA. — THE RIVER PO. — THE RUBICON 27

Chapter III. The Imperial City

— ITS FOUNDER. — ITS SEVEN HILLS. — ITS MARVELOUS RUINS. — THE NERO CONFLAGRATION. — THE APPIAN WAY. — THE TARPEIAN ROCK. — OUR AMBASSADOR. — THE TIBER. — ST. PETER'S. — THE VATICAN . . . . 3S

Chapter IV. Saul Of Tarsus

— HIS LEARNING. — PERSONAL APPEARANCE. — ARRESTED AT JERUSALEM. — CARRIED BEFORE FELIX AND FESTUS. — APPEALS TO CÆSAR. — SAILS FOR ROME. — INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. — LANDS IN ITALY. — IS MET AT APPU FORUM AND THE THREE TAVERNS. — ACQUITTED. — TRIED AGAIN, AND CONDEMNED. — SUFFERS MARTYRDOM 48

Chapter V. Journey To Naples

— THE APENNINES. — A SUNDOG. — LIGHT FLASHES ON THE WINDOW. — THE ASCENT OF VESUVIUS. — SWARMS OF BEGGARS. — MUSIC OF THE GUITAR. — MOUNTAIN RAILWAY. — PROFESSIONAL GUIDES. — SMOKE AND VAPOR. — ON THE SUMMIT. — LURID FLAMES. — RED-HOT LAVA. — THE y CONTENTS. PAGE 57 105 MOUNTAIN TREMBLES. — SEDAN-CHAIRS. — FAMOUS ERUP TIONS. — EXHILARATING VIEWS. — CITY OF NAPLES. — TO BRINDISI. — ON THE MEDITERRANEAN. — THE AFRICAN SHORE .

Chapter VI. In The Orient

— ALEXANDRIA. — ST. MARK. — POPULATION OF EGYPT. — THE RIVER NILE. — THE LAND OF GOSHEN. — CATCH- ING FISH. — THE DELTA. — WORKING-TEAMS. — SQUALID VIL- LAGES. — EGYPTIAN CEMETERIES. — IRRIGATION. — NO FORESTS. — THE CITY OF CAIRO 69

Chapter VII. The Great Pyramids

— AN INSIDE EXPLORATION. — NOTHING MIRACULOUS. — A PRETTY LEGEND. — MOSES IN THE BUL- RUSHES. — ANCIENT MEMPHIS. — THE RUINS OF HELIOPOLIS. — ZAZAZIG IN GOSHEN. — THE SOLEMN DESERT. — SUEZ CANAL. — PORT SAID. — A GERMAN BAND. — LETTERS FROM HOME. — THE ASIATIC COAST So

Chapter VIII. In Palestine

— OUR GUIDE AND CAMP. — DESCRIPTION OF JAFFA. — THE TANNER'S HOUSE. — TABITHA'S FEAST. — THE ADAMS COLONY. — ON THE JERUSALEM ROAD. — THE PLAIN OF SHARON. — TOWER OF RAMLEH. — TENT-LIFE. — ANCIENT LYDDA. — ST. PETER. — THE BAZAAR. — JUDEAN HILLS. — A THREATENING STORM 90

Chapter IX. Still Upward

— BETH-HORON. — VALLEY OF AJALON. — THE GIBEON BATTLE-FIELD. — JOSHUA. — "SUN, STAND THOU STILL." — TOWERING MIZPEH. — SAMUEL. — GIBEAH OF SAUL. — THE CITY OF NOB. — SCOPUS HILL. — FIRST SIGHT OF JERUSALEM

Chapter X. Entry Of Jerusalem

— ZION'S HILL. — MOUNT MORIAH. — SOLO- MON'S TEMPLE. — THE TEMPLE AREA. — MOSQUE OF OMAR. — MOHAMMEDANISM II4 CPAPTER XI. CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER. — THE VIA DOLOROSA. — THE SITE OF CALVARY. — WAILING-PLACE OF THE JEWS. — THE POOL CONTENTS. 11 PAGE 126 150 OF BETHESDA. — TOWER OF HIPPICUS. — URIAH'S WIFE. — STREETS, HOUSES, MARKETS. — OUR CONSUL. — OLIVET

Chapter XII. The Ascent Of Olivet

— VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT. — GRINDING AT THE MILL. — GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. — TOMBS OF KINGS, JUDGES, AND PROPHETS. — THE RUSSIAN HOSPICE. — VILLAGE OF SILOA. — FOUNTAIN OF THE VIRGIN. — POOL OF SILOAM. — TOPHET. — THE FIELD OF BLOOD 1 38

Chapter XIII. The Triumphal Entry

— RIDING ON THE COLT. — PALM-BRANCHES. " HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID." — LA5T VISIT TO THE TEM- PLE. — ITS DESTRUCTION FORETOLD. — "THIS GENERATION SHALL SEE IT." — "WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN?" — THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. — INTO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. — THE BETRAYAL. — VOICE OF THE MANIAC. — SIEGE OF TITUS .

Chapter XIV

A TURKISH REGIMENT. — STREET WRANGLE. A CITY TICNIC. — JOURNEYING SOUTH. — THE PLAIN OF REPHAIM. — OF THE HOUSE AND LINEAGE OF DAVID. — FLIGHT OF ELIJAH. — THE TOMB OF RACHEL. — JACOB'S STORY. — BETHLEHEM. — CON- VENT OF THE NATIVITY. MIGHTY MAN OF WEALTH. — RUTH AND NAOMI. — THE MARRIAGE-SONG 164

Chapter XV. Solomon's Pools

— A DESOLATE COUNTRY. — HEBRON. — ABRA- HAM'S OAK. BIOGRAPHY OF THE PATRIARCH. — STRIFE BE- TWEEN HERDSMEN. — FOUR KINGS AGAINST FIVE. — CAVE OF MACHPELAH. — TOURISTS ROBBED. — THE SHEPHERDS ARE SING- ING. — GATHERING BRUSH-WOOD 179

Chapter XVI. Down To The Jordan

— BETHANY. — WILDERNESS OF JUDÆA. — FELL AMONG THIEVES. — THE PROPHET FED BY RAVENS. — SITE OF JERICHO. — ELISHA'S FOUNTAIN. — THE DEAD SEA. — RAP- TUROUS SWIMMING. — FORDS OF THE JORDAN. — ANCIENT GILGAL. — A WHITE CLOUD ON THE HORIZON . . . . CONTENTS. PAGE 2l8

Chapter XVII. The City Of Jericho

— JOSHUA'S SPIES. — RAHAB. — THE SCARLET LINE IN THE WINDOW. — SOUNDING OF THE RAMS' HORNS. — KING DAVID. — LONG-HAIRED ABSALOM. — HEROD THE GREAT. — ZACCHEUS THE PUBLICAN. — BLIND BARTIMEUS. — BANDS OF ROBBERS. — A FAITHFUL GUIDE 2o6

Chapter XVIII. Adieu To Jerusalem

— THE MISSING CHILD. — BETHEL. — ANGELS ON THE LADDER. — AI AND RIMMON. — FORESTRY. — TARES IN THE WHEAT. — CAMP AT SINGEL. — TWO GAZELLES. — JACOB'S WEIL. — THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. — JOSEPH'S TOMB. — BLESS- ING AND CURSING. — FRENCH PILGRIMS. — MOUNT GERIZIM. — JOHN THE BAPTIST. — PIT AT DOTHAN. — CAMP AT JENIN

Chapter XIX. The Plain Of Esdraelon

— GILBOA. — THE END OF SAUL. — JEZREEL. — THE DOGS LICKED AHAB'S BLOOD. — BATTLE OF MOUNT TABOR. — CARMEL. — GOING UP TO NAZARETH. — THE SACRED PLACES. — CHRIST IN THE SANCTUARY. — THRUST OUT OFTHE CITY. — SWEET CHURCH-BELLS. — CANA OF GALILEE. — DRIFTING CLOUDS. — THE MOUNT OF BEATITUDES. — A WED- DING-MARCH. — HOUSES OF OLEANDER. — THE VALLEY OF DOVES 234

Chapter XX. The Sea And Its Surroundings

— BATHING IN ITS DEEPS. — BETHSAIDA, CAPERNAUM, CHORAZIN. — SCENE OF THE MARVEL- OUS MINISTRY. — LEAVING THE ENCHANTED GROUND. — ACRES OF BLOSSOMS. — MOUNTAIN VIEWS. — AN ARMED CAVALCADE. — THE WATERS OF MEROM. — AND HE HOUGHED THEIR HORSES. — WANDERING ARABS. — ANCIENT DAN. — CÆSAREA-PHILIPPI. — "UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH." — THE CASTLE OF BANIAS. — OVER A SPUR OF HERMON. — THE DARK DAY. — FOLLOWING PAUL TO DAMASCUS 249

Chapter XXI. Description Of Damascus

— PLACE OF PAUL'S CONVERSION. — THE STREET CALLED STRAIGHT. — WINDOW IN THE WALL. — THE MOSQUE AND MILITARY SCHOOL. — TOMB OF ABEL. — NAA- MAN'S STORY. — THE RIVERS OF DAMASCUS. — MASSACRE BY THE DRUSES. — FROM DAMASCUS TO BEYROUT. — OVER THE LEBA- NON. — ATTRACTIONS OF BEYROUT. — SAILING FOR SMYRNA . CONTENTS. 13 PAGE 3^3

Chapter XXII. Again On The Water

— THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS. — PAUL AND BARNABAS. — RHODES. — THE GREEK ARCHIPELAGO. — ST. JOHN AT PATMOS. — DESCRIPTION OF SMYRNA. — SAILING FOR ATHENS. — THE ISLAND OF SCIO. — ÆGEAN SEA. — ON THE SHORE OF ATTICA 278

Chapter XXIII. The Long Walls

— A SHADED WAY. — AT ATHENS. — A LONELY WALK. — SCENES IN A CEMETERY'. — THE AMERICAN MISSION- ARY. — AGRICULTURE OF GREECE. — ROADS AND BRIDGES. — THE ACROPOLIS. — MODERN ATHENS. — THE PARLIAMENT. — MAJESTIC RUINS. — THE ORATORICAL THRONE. — MARS' HILL. — " WHAT WILL THIS BABBLER SAY?" — PAUL AT CORINTH. — DIOGENES 2S6

Chapter XXIV. Departure From Greece

— SAILING THE SEAS. — THE QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC. — BLACK GONDOLAS. — CANALS OF VENICE. — THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS. — SEPARATION. — VERONA AND MILAN. — ITALIAN LAKES. — THE ST. GOTHARD PASS. — BEWILDERING CURVES. — HAYING IN THE RAVINES. — SNOW ON THE MOUN- TAINS. — WILLIAM TELL. — STATUE AT ALTDORF. — LUCERNE CITY AND LAKE 3OI

Chapter XXV. Through Brunig Pass

— EXTENSIVE FORESTS. — INTERLAKEN. — THE CAPITAL OF SWITZERLAND. — LAUSANNE. — GIBEON'S RESIDENCE. — LAKE GENEVA. — THE UPPER RHONE. — PERILS OF BLACK PASS. — BLINDING SNOWS. — CHAMOUNI VALLEY. — MONT BLANC IN THE CLOUDS. — STANDING ON A GLACIER. — VIEW OF THE PEERLESS MOUNTAIN 3I3

Chapter XXVI. The Ride To Geneva

— SCRAPS OF ITS HISTORY. — JOHN CALVIN. — GENEVA TO GERMANY. — HEIDELBERG AND MAYENCE. — A SAIL DOWN THE RHINE. — BINGEN AND COLOGNE. — KING- DOM OF BELGIUM. — THE CAPITAL. — FIELD OF WATERLOO. — DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE. — ART-GALLERIES OF ANTWERP. — RECROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. — BACK TO LONDON CONTENTS. PAGE

Chapter XXVII. Enveloped In Fog

— THE VASTNESS OF LONDON. — HISTORIC PLACES. — THE HOUSE OF -COMMONS. — A WARM DEBATE. — GOING NORTH. — THE CRADLE OF NEW ENGLAND. — DESCRIP- TION OF SCROOBY. — AN ALMSHOUSE. — ROWLEY IN YORK- SHIRE. — ANCESTRAL HOME. — THE CHURCH OF EZEKIEL RO- GERS. — INSCRIPTIONS ON THE WALL 336

Chapter XXVIII. On To Scotland

— SIGHTS IN EDINBURGH. — THE CITY OF GLAS- GOW. — FLAX-MILLS OF JOHNSTONE. — JOURNEY IN THE HIGH- LANDS. — KATRINE AND LOMOND. — WINDERMERE LAKE. — ON BOARD THE " GALLIA." — THE FOURTH OF JULY. — ENTERING NEW-YORK HARBOR. — HOME AGAIN. — THE PROMISE OF OUR FUTURE. — LONGFELLOW'S EULOGY TRAVELS AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE ORIENT.

Chapter I. The Voyage

— SEA-SICKNESS. — WHITE GULLS. — AN ICEBERG. — FASTE- NET LIGHT. — A HOLIDAY. — LIVERPOOL. — CHARMING COUNTRY. — LEAMINGTON. Having decided to make my long-contemplated pilgrimage to the East ; having fixed the day for sailing, and secured my passage, — William D. Chandler, second son of the Secretary of the Navy of the United States, just on the eve of my departure, proposed, under parental advice, to ac company me on the major part of the trip. I gladly accepted the proposition ; and hence, in stead of performing the journey alone, as I had expected to do, I had company from the start, across the ocean, through England, France, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Greece, and back to Italy. We sailed from Boston. On the morning of Thursday, March 30, 1882, at half-past eight o'clock, we bade our friends who had come to see us off, good-by ; and the Royal Mail Steamship RECEDING VIEWS.

" Marathon," of the Cunard Line, with the Eng lish flag flying from one mast, and the American flag from another, swung out majestically into the channel. Salutations were exchanged and re peated between those on board and those on shore, till recognition was lost in the distance. A fair breeze was blowing from the south : the sky was overcast, but no rain was falling. One might be excused for considering the day a little gloomy and unpropitious. The lady-passengers were serious and thoughtful. They had separated from those they might never see again. My young traveling - companion was buoyant and happy. He had in anticipation a long pleasure trip, and a delightful sojourn, as a student, in Germany. We each had an entire state-room, embracing three berths; and our accommodations were abun dantly satisfactory.

My sleeping-lounge had been previously lengthened for my special use. If my Maker had fashioned me after the diminutive pat tern of Zaccheus, a five-foot-and-ten-inch bed would have been ample ; but, being six feet two and a half inches " in my stockings," such a bunk for me is well described by Isaiah, as being "shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it." We took our position, involuntarily, on deck, at the stern of the boat, and saw the city gradually THE BROAD EXPANSE. 17 fading away as the distance between it and us in creased. Objects on shore soon began to merge together and become indistinct. The national flag on the Custom House loses its identity ; the great monument is undistinguishable ; the "gilded dome " disappears.

At the outer Boston Light our pilot is dis missed : the broad expanse of the ocean is before us, and a long sea-voyage of three thousand miles is entered upon. We feel that we are, indeed, on the one vast ocean ; as all the salt-water on the face of the earth (except a few small basins, like Salt Lake and the Dead Sea) constitutes one indivisible body. Our iron-clad, though three hundred and thirty-six feet long, and forty-two feet wide, seems the merest speck on the bosom of the limitless waters. We had hardly got out side the harbor when that serious draw-back to ocean-travel (sea-sickness) set in. This is not something that comes, is joked about, and then is gone. It comes to stay. It accompanies us across the ocean, across the English Channel, on all the different voyages on the waters of the Mediterranean ; and it sticks to us closer than a brother back across the Atlantic, from Liverpool to New York.

Friday morning broke upon us clear and bright. The shores we had left behind were nowhere to be seen. They were beyond the clear horizon. The sun was in the east, where it should be ; and A NIGHT OF DREARINESS. the stanch sea-vessel was sailing straight towards it at a reasonably rapid rate. The night had been one of dreariness and meditation. The plaintive sing-song of the crew, when unreefing the sails, had tended to heighten the sublimity of the midnight hour. Saturday morning, April the ist, we found a calmer sea ; and the stomachs of the passengers were proportionally more calm. Our course was still nearly due east. No sail, no vessel of any kind, had yet been discovered since the lights on shore had disappeared. But flocks of white sea gulls hovered on our track, to pick up the refuse thrown from the vessel, during the entire voyage.

These were our lone companions for ten days and nights, and the dove sent out the second time from the ark found more land and herbage in the midst of the flood than these gulls saw for a third of a moon. To give rest to their wings, they would occasionally float on the sea. There being no means for heating the state rooms, some of us suffered continuously from cold during the whole voyage. But Sunday morning opened a little warmer, with a fair sea and a bright April sun. We were then eight hundred miles out. During the day we saw several ocean-vessels, near or far off, and signaled one, asking if icebergs had. been met on her way. The answer signaled back was — none. The morning of April 3d a strong, fresh breeze THE TERROR OF NAVIGATORS. 19 swept across the ship from the south-west : every sail was unfurled, and steam and wind were driv ing our "floating palace" at an unusual rate.

Suddenly the wild cry rang through the narrow passage-ways, " An iceberg ! an iceberg ! " All hands dressed hastily, and hastened to the upper deck, to greet this wonder of the oce.an. It was at our left, moving in silent grandeur ; but it was not near enough to give us the best impression of this terror of navigators. Capt. Wolfenden of the " Marathon," a man of practical judgment, estimated the height of the iceberg, above water, to be one hundred feet. The visible part was probably two or three hundred feet in diameter, and its base under the surface must have covered many acres. And so this silent visitor from the arctic regions resembled, in some respects, the iron-clad monitor at Hampton Roads, — "a cheese box on a raft." Before noon a fearful storm came on. The flood was driven violently across the ship's decks.

The vessel plunged and rolled in the wildest manner. Every thing on board, not abso lutely chained down, was spitefully whacked about from place to place, like a few stray pumpkins in a lumber-wagon. "The breaking waves dashed high ; " and one poor lady-passenger, at least, be lieved that all was lost. From this day on, nothing occurred, or was observable, to break the tiresome monotony of COAST OF IRELAND. an ocean voyage, till Sunday morning, the 9th of April. At daybreak that morning a low range of mountains at our left was a gladdening sight. The first point to come in view was Mizen-Head. These mountains are on the southern Irish coast, coming down abruptly to the water. They were welcomed, by some of us, as we would welcome a cherished friend. At seven o'clock we passed Fastenet Light, standing as a sentinel on a bold rock fifty-six feet above high-water, and a mile or more off the coast.

At the back of this is a prominent point of land, known as Cape Clear, on the top of which is the dismantled old light-house, modestly wearing the honors of centuries of faithful ser vice. As the morning advanced, the smooth, cultivated fields on the inclininghills of the Green Isle were clearly observable ; the early-sown grain already springing from the ground. Armies of noisy gulls were now screaming about our heads. Sailing-vessels, of all shapes and capacities, were drifting gayly before the fresh breeze. The sun was riding in cloudless brilliancy to its high merid ian, and the day appeared delightfully auspicious. As darkness came on, and we were pressing forward towards Holyhead and the Irish Sea, our pathway was illuminated by the numerous lights that are stationed at dangerous points off the shore ; while behind them were just discernible the SCREAM OF THE FOG-HORN. 21 faintly lighted villages and hamlets along the coast.

It was a beautiful exhibition : — " The watch-lights glittered on the sea, The land-lights on the shore." During the night a dense fog settled on the waters, and the "fog-horn" kept up a doleful scream for hours : but, towards sunrise of the next and last day, the skies began to clear ; and soon the dim outline of the Welsh coast, on our right, became visible. We reached the mouth of the Mersey ; and, as we steamed up this placid river in the bright sunshine, the beaches on the right hand and left were swarming with a living, stirring mass of men, women, and children. There were thousands upon thousands of excited people moving actively about in every direction. " What does this mean?" Some one profanely said, it might be Moses on his way to Boston with the children of Israel ! But we soon learned the meaning of this jubi lant demonstration.

It was Easter bank-holiday, a legal holiday throughout Great Britain. The banks and most business places were closed ; and the people were giving themselves up to recrea tion, and to what they supposed was a good time. Steamboats were hurrying to and fro, loaded down to the water's edge. Omnibuses, horse-cars, and all means of conveyance, were taxed to their LIVERPOOL. utmost. Bands were playing, shows were on ex hibition, and all the paraphernalia of a first-class hubbub was brought into requisition. Such was our introduction to the mother country, and it was not displeasing. With Liverpool we were more favorably im pressed than we had anticipated being. It is a substantial place, and one of the great commercial cities of the world. The private blocks and public buildings are strong and enduring, without being elegant.

But this remark does not apply to St. George's Hall, whose architecture is of the finest order. The open space in front of this structure is ornamented with equestrian statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and of Lord Welling ton standing on a lofty and massive granite column. Liverpool is the principal seaport of England in Lancashire. It stands on the banks of the Mersey, four miles above its mouth in the Irish Sea. In 1644, during the contest between Charles I. and his parliament, the town held out for the latter nearly a month. It was finally taken by Prince Rupert ; and a great number of its inhabitants perished by the sword, and others, soon after wards, by pestilence and famine. Liverpool is now the focus of a net of railways encircling the whole United Kingdom. We landed at Liverpool on the tenth day of April ; and though the latitude of that city is SPEED OF TRAINS. 23 53° 3°> — te-tt degrees greater than that of Con cord, N.H., — we found the spring there much more advanced than it could have been at the latter place.

The laburnum, an early ornamental tree, was nearly in full leaf; and other varieties of trees were in about the same stage of advancement : but it should be stated, that, on account of a lighter winter in England than usual, the trees and grasses were much further advanced than they generally are at that date. We registered at the North-western Hotel, right at the rear of which, and adjoining it, is the spacious, open station-house at the terminus of the Great North-western Railway. The next day, after calling at the American Consulate, we pro ceeded by rail, through a very rich and beautiful country, to Leamington, distant from Liverpool ninety-five miles. The train ran at great speed, — much of the way a mile a minute. The roads are substantially made, and the trains are well con ducted ; but the passenger-cars are constructed on a plan that is ridiculous.

We found the country all along clothed in its rich spring verdure. Many trees and shrubs were in full blossom, garden vegetables had attained considerable growth in the open fields, much of the grain of spring-sowing was up ; but plowing, planting, and sowing were still occupying the attention of farmers on every hand. Cattle, sheep, and horses were grazing in the green pas- HIGH CULTIVATION. 24 tures : rooks (or crows) had their nests all made ; in some instances a half-dozen of them were in a single tree. These birds are very plenty ; but instead of being destroyed there, as in our coun try, they are protected by the agriculturalists. There are many varieties of smaller birds, and the air is made vocal with their song. The land is generally divided into small fields by simple hedges, or hedges and ditches, or hedges supported by a light post-and-rail fence.

There is no stone-wall : I am not sure that we saw a single stone in the ground, or above ground, on the whole ride. The country shows a high state of cultivation, and the land is of great value. The fuel used is mostly soft coal, mines of which abound all over England. There is not much forest-land ; but there are groves of trees, and larger patches embracing five, ten, twenty acres. These larger tracts cover the low, swampy places, and crown the rough, irregular elevations, and do much to give to the landscape an attractive appearance, like that of the blue-grass region of Kentucky. Manufacturing villages, full of enterprise and activity, are met at very short intervals. The black coal-smoke, which is constantly issuing from their chimneys, gives to those villages a dark and somber appearance.

The public roads are very fine, and they seldom cross the railroads on a level. They go under or CITY OF LEAMINGTON. 25 over, generally over ; and the bridges are thor oughly made. Most of them are arched, and constructed of stone or brick. We crossed the classic Avon at sunset, reached Leamington Station at dark, and soon found ac ceptable quarters at the Manor House. An addi tional interest attached to this charming locality by reason of the fact that my son-in-law was reared here. We visited the house of his abode on one of the popular streets of the city ; the trees that he had planted in his early youth ;' and the garden, extending down to the bank of the river, that he had richly stocked with vines and shrubs. The earliest notice of Leamington is in that admirable survey made by William the Conqueror, according to which the place contained- " two hides of land and two mills, valued at It is situated on the river Learn, in Warwickshire, twenty-two miles from Birmingham.

It has a population of twenty-four thousand, a college, and a Latin school. Its prosperity and importance have chiefly arisen from the rich agricultural district of which it is the center. It has very celebrated mineral springs. Camden, in his " Britannica," published in 1586, mentions them. In 1848 her Majesty, who, when Princess Victoria, had visited the spa, was pleased to accede to the request of the inhabitants, that it might be called " Royal Leamington Spa." Her Majesty also granted a charter of incorporation in 1875. RENOWNED CASTLES. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes Leamington as " beautiful, and at some points magnificent." The adjacent country is picturesque, and the renowned castles of Warwick and Kenilworth are near at hand. MONUMENT OF CHIVALROUS SPLENDOR. 27

Chapter II. Warwick Castle

— SHAKSPEARE. — JOHN WYCLIFFE. — WINDSOR CASTLE. LONDON. — AN ARMY COMRADE. — PARIS. — MONT CENIS. — ITALIAN SKIES. — TURIN. — GENOA. — PISA. — THE RIVER PO. — THE RUBICON. We took a carriage at Leamington, and drove to Warwick Castle, which is one of the most striking specimens of feudal grandeur to be found in the kingdom. Scott calls it, " that fairest mon ument of ancient and chivalrous splendor." Its foundation is attributed to a daughter of Alfred the Great, and it dates back to the year 915. It is situated on a rock, the base of which is washed by the river Avon. It is now owned and occupied (a part of the time) by the Earl of Warwick, who has recently married an American lady. A thousand acres of land adjacent to this castle con stitutes the landed estate of the earl. Of this ancient castle we took a thorough view, both outside and in.

But the construction and finish of the vast apartments, the paintings, the sculpture, the endless variety of relics which have been gathered from all quarters of the habitable globe, I shall not attempt to describe : I shall leave them to the imagination of the reader. The CEDARS OF LEBANON. flowers, shrubbery, and trees about the prem ises cover, and clothe with beauty, many, acres. Among the rare trees are several large cedars of Lebanon, — trees that were brought from Mount Lebanon, and planted here, over six hundred years ago. While going from arbor to river, and from flower-beds to tower, in surveying this mag nificent feudal estate, the sweet music of a chime from a neighboring cathedral came wafted on the air, to add to the impressiveness of the hour. Leaving here, we proceeded on eight miles far ther, to Stratford-on-Avon, where we visited the birthplace and home of Shakspeare.

The house still stands, in a good state of preservation ; but it is as unique and unpretentious a dwelling house as one could well imagine. Long, narrow, one-story, and very low at that, — such is the house we found. It is finished after the rudest style of even Shakspeare's day, — a wooden frame filled in with brick, both the frame and the brick coming to the weather. The floors are of rough slate-stone, now settled, and broken into many pieces. The rooms are constructed without the slightest regard to symmetry or convenience. In this rude structure the immortal bard was born, and here he had his home. We entered this very ancient historic building ; entered the room in which Shakspeare was born ; entered his sleeping-apartment, sat in his seat, and sought his inspiration. It is known where SHAKSPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE. 29 this most gifted man was born, where he lived, and where his remains were laid to rest ; but, strange as it may seem, it is not known where he died.