Glimpses and gatherings, during a voyage and visit to London and the great exhibition in the summer of 1851.

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Preface

In the original preparation of the following Letters, the writer had no design of making a book of them ; consequently, they may not have that relation to each other, which would be expected of consecutive chapters. They were written off-hand, during the author's Voyage and Visit to England, as editorial communications to his paper, The Gospel Banker, for the weekly gratification of his numerous readers and friends. As each new one was prepared, the contents of the last despatch were not always well remembered ; and this circumstance will account for some repetitions which may, perhaps, appear in the work. They are revised and published, with the addition of a large share of new matter, in compliance, it is believed, with an extensive call for them in the shape of a book.

Another thing : — Though the author went out as a Commissioner of the State to " the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations " in London, his communications home were made, not so much in his official, as in his professional character — not as formal Reports to the Government, but as familiar epistles to his patrons. This will account for the free and unstudied style of the composition, and also for the fact, that the more systematic and labored results of his mission, bearing upon the Industrial Interests of the State, have but an incidental place in the present volume.

IV PREFACE.

His commission, though it was not intended to accredit him officially to the British Government, gave him access to some desirable sources of information and pleasure, which he could not otherwise have commanded. At the rooms, in the Adelphi, of the Eoyal Commissioners, who conducted the Exhibition, and of which Board Prince Albert was Chairman, he enjoyed more or less intercourse with those and other intelligent gentlemen from different nations ; and it was from them, and the facilities furnished at those rooms, that he was able to collect not a few of the facts which the readers now have in the pages before them. Prince Albert was the projector and chief patron of that World's Congress of Industry and of Peace, and to his patriotic love for the Brotherhood of Man, will the Nations of our common earth always be indebted for all the influences it may exercise upon the Arts, Commerce, and Peace of the World.

The author would do injustice to himself and to others, if he did not take, as he gladly does, this opportunity to tender his very sincere thanks to those kind friends, who contributed so materially to the means by which he was enabled to perform his distant journey, and accomplish the objects of his mission. Upon them, upon all his patrons, and upon the reader now, he invokes, for time and eternity, the best blessings of Almighty God. w, a. d,

Augusta, Me., May I, 1851,

Letter I

A super-directing Providence — Passage to Boston — Necessity of changing the Route — Ride to Vermont — Notes by the "Way — Description of Bellows Falls.

LETTER II. Journey to Montreal, --- 21

Montreal— Situation and size of the city — Railway ride amongst the Green Mountains — Embarkation on Lake Champlain — Delightful Scenery — Richilieu River — St. John's — First sight of the St. Lawrence— Arrival in Montreal.

Letter III

Structure of Montreal— Notre Dame St. Church— The Scotch Kirk- New Cathedral — An argument for the Real Presence— Temperance House — College — Nunneries — Streets and Edifices — View from the Mountain.

Letter IV

Where Montgomery Fell— The Citadel— Plains of Abraham— Lower Town— Walls of the City— Where Wolfe Fell— Scotch Highlanders- Artillery Regiment— Streets and Edifices— Fires and Plague— Navigation and Ship-building— Account of Montgomery's death.

vi CONTENTS.

Letter V

Ship " New England " — Great Timber Boom — Scenery on Shore — Point Levi — View of the Cty — Falls of Montmorenci — Battle on the Plains — Wolfe's Stratagem — Orkans Island — Launch and Wreck — Parliament House, &c.,— Canadian Market— Women— Agricultural Capacities.

LETTER VI. A Strange Celebration of the Sabbath, 62

Corpus Christi Day — Streets Decorated— Grand Procession— The Real Body— Rival Chimes — French Cathedral— Pomp and Ceremony — Episcopal Church— Sabbath Quietness— Feast of God on Point Levi — Catholic Signs.

LETTER VII. Matters about Canada, Quebec and the Ship, 72

Unwonted reet — Maine Convention — New France and New England — Battle of Abraham's Plains — Ladies of Quebec — Sir James Stuart — Montcalm's Monument — Shipping in Quebec.

LETTER VIII. Quebec and its Environs, -- 80

Ship's Moorings— Orleans Island — Plains and Falls of Montmorenci — Trojan Heroes — St. Charles River — Charlebourg — Point Levi — Walls of Quebec — Business of the St. Lawrence — Historical Reminiscences.

Letter IX

Lower Valley oe the St. Lawrence. 97

The Longest Navigable River in the World — Grand Scenery — Evidences of Cultivation and Comfort — Revenues of the Catholic Church —Sailing from Quebec — Shores of the River, and distant Mountain Scenery — Mouth and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Letter X

No longer on the Earth — Old Neptune's Crystal Palace — Parting with the Pilot — Anticosti Island — Newfoundland — Pleasures of a Sailing Excui'sioh in a Gale.

CONTENTS. vil

Letter XI

A Sabbath at Sea — A Gale — A Calm — Another Ocean Sabbath — A Wreck — First Glimpses of Europe — Parallels of Climate — Sunset at Sea — Land, ho ! — Plymouth and Eddystone Lighthouse — France — Isle of Wight — The Thames — Arrival in London.

Letter XII

London seen from the Dome of St. Paul's, - - . 137

Immense size of London— Extent of its Parks — St. Paul's Cathedral — View of London — Shape of the Thames — Various Public Edifices and Places of Historioal Interest.

Letter XIII

Me. Lawrence — St. James' Park and Buckingham Palace, - 152

Mr. Lawrence's Residence — Introduction to him — St. James* Park — Buckingham Palace — The Queen's Public Promenade — Her Majesty's Character — Prince Albert — The Royal Garden.

Letter XIV

Find the Text — Visit to a London Female Penitentiary — Sabbath Services— The Congregation — The Graduates — Charities of London.

Letter XV

Field Lane Ragged School — Gehenna of London — School-Room — Conversation with the Pupils — A Hideous Female — Miss Portal, the Benefactress.

LETTER XVI. Tower or London and British Museum, 177

Roads and Streets of London — Visit to the Tower — Notice of its Objects of Interest — British Museum — Elgin Marbles — Ruins of Nineveh — Grecian and Roman Antiquities — Zoological Collections, &c.

Vlii CONTENTS.

Crossing Hyde Park — Objects outside the Palace — Description of the Interior — The American Department — Commissioners — Number of Contributors — Premiums on articles from America.

Letter XXXI

Eastern Nave — American Bridge — Inscription — American Statuary — Newspaper Trophy — Objects of American Skill — Koh-i-noor Diamond Tall Trees — View from the Transept Gallery — Arrival of the Queen.

LETTER X1XXII.

Western Nave — Venus and Cupid — Timber Trophy— Rogers' Cutlery — Light House — Russia Bridge — Liverpool Docks — Yard at the East End.

Letter I. A Fortunate Change Of, Direction

A Super-directing Providence— Passage in the "Ocean," on the Ocean, to Boston — A thief at the Berth — Failure of the Peace-Ship Nightingale— Necessity of changing the Route — Must see Canada before England and Quebec before London — A Fellow Passenger — Ride by Railwaythrough Massachusetts and New Hampshire to Vermont — Brief Notes by the Way — The Connecticut River, and description of Bellows Falls.

" Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well ;

When our deep plots do pall : and that should teach us

There's a divinity that shapes our ends,

Rough-hew them how we will." Shaksfeare.

Lake Champlain, June 14, 1851.

Where now ? This is a lawful question for my readers to propose, and I am more than half inclined to ask it myself; — I can answer it, however, only in humble reference to the mysterious workings of a super-directing Providence. Day before yesterday, in the afternoon, I left my own sweet home in Augusta for Europe • — ■ and here I am on Lake Champlain/ — instead of ploughing the briny ocean named for the African Mount Atlas eastward, actually turning a furrow by steam on one of the fresh Mediterranean seas of our own Champaign country, westward of the Green Mountains ! 2

Thousands of facts and incidents in the whole history of my life, from childhood to old age, have arisen up in my pathway ah proofs and demonstrations of the truth of the Scriptures — (the whole of life is a verification of Holy Writ,) — and especially of that Scripture which readeth, in the words of the Wise man, " A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." Have you not, also, often found it true ? Cannot you call to mind many instances in which you have " devised " your " ways," or in other words, have laid your plans and purposes with the utmost consideration and care, and commenced the execution of them with ready feet and strong hands ; and yet, you had hardly taken the first " step" ere your feet were tending in a different direction, and you were led to results of which you never dreamed at the beginning — all the while, knowing that you acted freely, and yet -proving that God controlled every cause that could conspire to the final event ? I am just so much of a Calvinist that I verily believe God's presence is everywhere ; that his hand is concerned in all things ; that atheism, or the doctrine of chance, is true nowhere ; and that, if not a sparrow can fall to the ground without his notice, so neither can any other event take place in this or any other world which is not subject to the agency of Him, " who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."

" Thus wisdom speaks To man; thus calls him through this actual form Of nature, through Religion's fuller noon, Through life's bewildering mazes to observe A Providence in all."

But though I admit and rejoice to believe in the super-directing agency of God's providence in all my movements, I do not, therefore, deny my own moral freedom or accountability, nor doubt that a very sufficient reason may be given why I am now going Westward on the Lake, rather than Eastward on the Ocean. Indeed, this strange fact, instead of being inconsistent with my main design, will be found the one, ordered in the Providence of God, for its better accomplishment.

As I have said — I left home on Thursday afternoon ; and, after a most delightful passage in the excellent steamer "Ocean" — freighted brim-full of . broad-brimmed Quakers, or Friends, proceeding to their Yearly Meeting at Newport, and a most excellent, because a pacific and honest people they are, whom I always love to be amongst — arrived in Boston at 3J o'clock the next morning. Nothing of particular interest occurred during the passage, unless I may mention the fact that some dishonest wight stole from my berth that famous cane which I have carried, and which has helped support me, through the whole of my manhood, and which, indeed, I received as a family heirloom in childhood, it having descended to me from a respected grandfather whose name I bear. Some person, I suppose, was tempted by the silver ring that clasped it, upon which my name was engraved. Much good may it do him ! I wished it to support my tottering steps in Europe, and prized it very highly from the circumstances under which it descended to me. The rogue will have my name with him wherever he carries the cane, and will know, as often as he sees it, that he is a thief and needs repentance. I leave him to the chastisement of his own conscience.

Before I left the steamer, Bev. Charles Spear, of Boston, came on board to inform us that the project of the famous clipper ship Nightingale taking the Peace Congress to London, had failed, and the passengers, after having been kept in suspense ten days, were deceived and injured, and must seek some other modes of conveyance to the old world. It seems there were some embarrassments on the ship which is yet upon the stocks in the territory of Maine, (opposite Portsmouth,) where carpenters have a lien upon the vessel till the bills are paid ; and under these embarrassments she cannot be launched at present. Who is to blame we know not : but of one thing we are certain, no blame can attach to E. W. Jackson, Esq., the Secretary of the Peace Committee, of whom the passages were engaged. He has acted in good faith, like an honorable man, and promptly paid back, I understand, all the advanced moneys he received. If the payments had been made to some other persons, perhaps the passengers might have been used worse.

God closes no passage, without opening another. A failure in one direction is oftentimes the means of better success in a different one. I was desirous that my lame son, who is a member of Bowdoin College, and who hasbeen studying constantly for several years, should take a sea-voyage this summer, visit London, and see something of the world that is to be concentrated there ; in this the College Faculty concurred ; and W. V. and 0. Moses, Esqs., of Bath, two of the most enterprising ship-builders and owners on the Kennebec, generously wrote us, a short time before my departure, saying that they have a ship — the "New England," Capt. R. P. Manson — which has been sent round to Quebec to receive a load of deals, and is to proceed thence to London ; and if I would put him on board that ship, they would take him out to Europe and bring him back again on such terms as are highly creditable to their liberality. Accordingly, he came to Boston with me, to go to Quebec, whilst I should embark in the Nightingale from Boston. Thus we were to be separated ; but the failure of this conveyance was a Providential agency which determined me to accompany my son to Quebec and take passage in the same ship. God, for wise and kind reasons, has resolved that father and son shall keep each other company. And so here we are on the highway to the American Gibraltar, steaming upon the lake for St. John's and Montreal, at which latter place we expect to arrive to-morrow (Sunday) morning at 9 o'clock. Rev. M. M. Preston, of Hingham, who was disappointed by the " Nightingale," accompanies us to London, and will make an excellent travelling companion.

We left Boston yesterday at 1J o'clock, P. M., for Burlington, via. Fitchburg. According to the advertisement we were to proceed to Rutland, Vt., last night, early next morning to Burlington on the lake, thence take a steamer to St. John's at the foot of the lake, and arrive at Montreal by 3 J o'clock, P.M. to-day. But after we started we ascertained that the Vermont and Champlain road from Bellows Falls to Burlington had changed its time just so as to leave the former place an hour before the arrival of the Boston train ; and thus we were landed at Bellows Falls at 6 J o'clock, to go no further, but to remain till Saturday noon, when we took the cars for Burlington, and embarked at 5 o'clock for a sail down the lake ; and here I am on board a splendid boat from Whitehall, N. Y., delighting myself with some of the most enchanting scenery, by land and water, that I ever witnessed. The Green Mountains of Vermont tower towards heaven in the east; over wide waters to the west, we behold the shores of Northern New York — of Ticonderoga, Queenstown and Plattsburg, near which latter city the waters of this lake were made red during the bloody naval battle fought in the last war with England, in which our Commodore Mc- Donough was victorious ; fertile islands also stud the lake, and everything conspires to render the sail enchanting. I am not sorry I came this way ; and shall have much to write about after I visit Montreal and Quebec.

The ride on Friday, from Boston to Bellows Falls, 114 miles, was interesting tome. We passed through old Concord, where the first blood of the Revolution was shed, and also through Fitchburg, which is becoming a new inland city. Keene, N. H., is a beautiful place. It is situated on plains surrounded by mountains and high hills ; the streets are very wide and well shaded by trees, the buildings, public and private, give evidence of wealth and taste, and it appears to be a great head-quarters for railroading. A few miles before reaching Keene we passed Monadnock Mountain, which overlooks the Ashuelot river and valley where Keene is situated. The country east of Keene is very hilly, and we marvelled that any persons should ever think of building a railroad there. This character of country extends to Rutland, some fifty miles or more distant, and so severe are the cuts and so high are the embankments, that the whole road cost forty thousand dollars per mile. It is equal to the road through the Berkshire mountains, from Springfield to Albany. Some of the cuts, through solid rock, are terrible. Doubtless we shall see more elegant roads and richer equipments in England ; but we shall see nothing that will rival, for sublimity and magnificence, the railroad scenery through the Green Mountains of Yermont.

Bellows Falls, where we stopped last night, are on the Connecticut river, which separates New Hampshire from "Vermont. An intelligent bookseller who was so kind as to show us some of the Green Mountain elephants, assured me that they were originally called Bellows Falls from the resemblance of the river gorge at this place to a pair of bellows ; being wide and oval-shaped above, and thence the waters running through a sort of natural canal cut to a great depth in the solid ledge, in shape of the bellows' nose, through which all the waters of the river are precipitated. It is something like the cascade at West "Waterville. Other authority, however, declares that these Falls are named from an original settler there by the name of Bellows. Both statements concurring, may be true. Bellows Falls village is on the western or Vermont side of the river, and is a pretty place. There are three churches, as many taverns, several stores, and a good number of neat dwelling-houses. Opposite the village, viz. on the eastern or New Hampshire side of the Connecticut river, rises, from the very water's edge a huge natural wall almost perpendicular, perhaps two or three miles long and nearly one thousand feet high. If the villagers would see an eastern sky, they must look up towards heaven at an angle of forty-five degrees. The sun does not rise in the morning — not till forenoon. The wall, or Falls Mountain, as it is called, though very precipitous, is like all the Green Mountains, literally green ; the roots of trees and shrubbery finding subsistence in the interstices of the rocks, so that, on the whole, it is a sublime ornament to the place. The wall is Nature's work. A million of railroad companies, with millions of nations to pledge their credit to the same, could not put up such a wall in a million of years. But my sheet is full. For an account of matters and things through the Green Mountain State, over the Lake, in Montreal, down the St. Lawrence and in Quebec, my readers will please to wait till they can hear from me again.

Letter II. Journey To Montreal

A sprinkling of uncongenial national elements— -Montreal — Situation and size of the city — The Railway Ride amongst the Green Mountains

— Fine grazing country — No country is made rich by mere fieldculture — Ludlow — Embarkation on the Lake — Passengers onboard — Delightful scenery of the Lake — Com. McDonough?s naval victory near Plattsburgh — Rich lands poorly cultivated — Rouse's Point — Ogdensburg Railroad — New Fortification — The Richilieu River entered — City of St. John's — Ride to Laprairie — First sight of the St. Lawrence

— Arrival in Montreal.

Montreal, June 15, 1851.

I write now in Montreal — a city in America where I see both England and France in miniature. Can water and oil mix ? As well can the descendants of Gaul and Britain. Every thing here is as English as it is in England, and as French as it is in France ; so that before I visit the Old World I can be introduced to a readier and more familiar acquaintance with the sights and sounds of Europe, for my advantage when I reach my destination. I am told, and, indeed, so it is laid clown in guide-books, that Montreal appears more like an European city than any other one on our continent. Its buildings are as antique in style, and built as much for durability, as are the structures of France and England. It is situated on the northern shore of the mighty St. Lawrence, which is widened into a bay in front, of oblong shape, some twenty miles in length, up and clown river, by eight or ten wide. The population is forty or fifty thousands, — twice the size of Portland ; and yet, as I approached it this morning in the boat, I could not make it appear to be larger on the ground than that city. It has many splendid public edifices in it, of which I shall speak after I have described my journey thither.

I have not been glad but once — and that is all the time — that Providence directed my steps toward Europe by way of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River. I have seen what I never before saw, and probably never shall see again ; and the whole tour, thus far, has been one of absolute pleasure both to myself and son, and to our travelling companion, Mr. Preston.

We left Bellows Falls on Saturday noon for St. John's, via Burlington and the Lake. The weather was pleasant, and our route lay entirely across the State of Vermont. It is a curious place over which to make a railroad, but human art and capital will accomplish almost any thing.

Sometimes the mountains would tower above our heads on one side, whilst the yawning gulf below on the other, would make us giddy to look into it. The country, though hilly, is not barren or desolate, but the soil is good and may be cultivated in most places to the tops of the mountains. It resembles the mountainous regions of Oxford, Franklin, and Somerset counties in our own State, and the soil is no better, and the improvements are not so good. I was surprised to see so little orcharding ; and as for the farms, they did not appear to be so well cultivated, or the people that occupy them so comfortable and thrifty, as they are in most parts of the " Dirigo " State. After all, I am not ashamed of Maine, even as an agricultural region. I begin to be proud of her in this respect. Vermont is undoubtedly an excellent grazing State — so is Maine ; and the history of the world shows that those

JOURKEY TO MONTREAL. 23

ru ral regions where grazing is the best, are the most independent as agricultural communities. Cultivated field crops alone make no people wealthy. Commerce is the fabled goose that lays the golden egg ; and Maine is better fitted for commerce than any other State of the Union. In due time our nest will be full of eggs. These sending their golden chickens all over the rural districts of our State, will secure to the agricultural interest a corresponding wealth. Time will verify all this.

On the route through Vermont we seldom saw much of a village ; we did, however, pass Ludlow, Brandon, famous once for a Bank, and famous still for its iron foundries. We also passed Rutland, Vergennes, the ancient seat of government, and Middlebury, where is a College. When within six miles of Burlington we first saw the Lake and the mountains of Northern New York on the western side of it. It was the first time I ever saw a Lake, properly so called. This is about one hundred miles long — from Whitehall, N. Y., to Rouse's Point, — and differs in width from one to ten miles. We arrived in Burlington at 4 o'clock, P. M. — distant 120 miles from the place we started from at noon, via Bellows Falls, and 234 from Boston. Burlington is certainly a very pretty place. It is well laid out on a gentle slope towards the Lake, and has a number of beautiful streets and handsome buildings. It is the seat of the Vermont University. At the wharf in Burlington a splendid steamer, the " United States " — a larger and more richly furnished boat than the "Ocean," — was in waiting for us, having arrived a few moments before from Whitehall. Glad were we to get on board, away from the jar and clatter and dust of the cars, and breathe the free sweet airs of the Lake. The boat had a large number of passengers on board, who appeared polite and cheerful.

The passage on the lake was charming. I could not make the fresh water of a lake appear like the briny deep of the ocean — after all, it was a pond to me ; still, it is pleasanter, if not so sublime, sailing on smooth waters that know no sea, than it is to be tossed up and down on the heaving billows of old Ocean. The Green Mountains of Vermont were in the distance east, exposing their smooth and well formed tops to the heavens ; between that range and the lake, the country is tolerably level, and the land evidently good. On the other, the western side, is Northern New York, and some of the mountains in the distance appear higher than do any in Vermont. One was pointed out to me that is said to be the highest land in the United States, save the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The scenery was fine, — being various — -and the lake itself was studded with verdant islands, and moving lake boats, small sloops and schooners, and steamers of all sizes. A point of land on the western shore — some twenty miles from Burlington, — makes a bay within, on which Plattsburg is situated, and where the celebrated naval battle was fought with success on our side in the last war with England, which immortalized Com. McDonough.

I noticed, as we advanced north, that the land appeared more level, till both shores of the lake finally became a champaign country, as far as the eye could see. Thus, I suppose, we had a sample of the appearance of the Great West. The lands are not exactly prairie, for they evidently had been wooded and cleared ; but their quality must be good, as the rich verdure of the grass and grain, and the size of the trees plainly evinced. And yet they

JOURNEY TO MONTREAL. 25

are poorly cultivated. We saw but a few pretty cottages, or painted houses, with ornamental yards and out grounds, The " do-for-the-present" policy is that which seems to prevail in all those rich bottom lands.

At Rouse's Point we halted for passengers from the Railroads. This is the narrowest point on the Lake, and is near — within fifteen or twenty miles, — of the lower end , where it discharges into the Richilieu River. The Ogdensburg Railroad terminates here, and the "Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad comes up to meet it on the eastern side. Piles are driven and tracks are laid for the cars to run upon, on both sides, from the shore to the channel in the middle of the Lake.

By this road the Boston people expect to take the trade of the Great West.

Shortly after leaving Rouse's Point, we passed a large American Fort in progress of building. We then crossed the line into Canada, and passed the Isle au Naux, where is a British garrison. It appears in good repair. We then entered the Richilieu River, through which the waters of Lake Champlain are discharged into the St. Lawrence River. It is wide and placid ; the shores are low, level and swampy. Thus steaming down about fifteen miles, we came to St. John's — a considerable town on the left bank of the river ; St. Antoines being on the opposite side. There are rapids in the river here, which the boats cannot pass ; so we stopped in St. John's, where we arrived a little before nine o'clock, having travelled two hundred miles on Saturday afternoon. St. John's has several long, level, thickly settled streets ; but is a filthy place — just where some kinds of Yankees, we know of — such as have no consciences — could make money by open rum-selling. We put up at a tolerable house — but not a Temperance one ; there is none such in the city. The cars left at seven o'clock next morning for Montreal, or rather for Laprairie — distant fifteen miles — which lies on the southern side of the river or bay opposite Montreal.

The whole country from St. John's to Laprairie is a perfect level — like the low prairies of Michigan. They are fenced into farms, but the fences at a little distance appear so thick together — being on a level — that in the distance you see nothing but the rails glistening in the sun, and I could make nothing of the country as far as I could see, but one vast area of fish flakes, broken only by miserable Canadian-French houses.