Chapter III: Letter XVI

Mr. Hope's collection of pictures and statues. Toilette-necessaries of a Dandy. Ladies' conference. Style of invitations. Duke of Sussex. Major Kepple. Ascot races. S---- Park. The charming fairy and her country-house. Windsor Castle. Disaster. Greek boy. British cavalry. Absence of military pedantry. Balls. Disenchantments. Horticultural breakfast. Colossal pines. Tyrolese singers. Northumberland-house. Sir Gore Ousley. Persian anecdotes. Flower-table. Children's balls. Art and nature. Greenwich. Execution. Contrasts. Party at the Duchess of Kent's. Marie Louise. King of Rome. Heat. King's-bench and Newgate prisons. The unconscious philosopher. Vauxhall. The battle of Waterloo. Ball at Lady L----'s. Phrenology. Mr. Deville's character of myself. Mr. Nash's library. Dinner at the Portuguese Ambassador's. St. Giles's. Exhibition of English pictures. Pounds and thalers. 'Excerpts'. Gossip. Visions of the past. The Tunnel. Astley's Theatre. Parody of the Freischutz. Bedlam. The last of the Stuarts. Funerals. Omens. Barclay's brewery. West India docks. Amusing charlatanerie. Westminster Abbey by night. Dinner at Sir L---- M----'s. Practical Bull. English Opera. New organ. Miss Linwood. Solar Microscope. Panoramas. Death of Canning. 'Vivian Grey.' St. James's Park. Respect for the public. Propensity to mischief in the people. Exclusiveness of the great. London in autumn. Newspaper facts......146

LETTER XVII.

Descent in a diving-bell. Obliging fire. College of Surgeons. The false mermaid. The sagacious ourang-outang. Extraordinary recovery. The living skeleton. Fortune. The desperate lover. Salthill. Stoke Park. Dropmore. Windsor Castle. Eton. St. Leonard's Hill. Windsor Park. Habits of George the Fourth. The giraffe. Virginia Water. Lord and Lady H----. Character of Lord Byron. Windsor Terrace. St. George's Chapel. Day dreams. English promptitude. Military men of England. Frogmore. Anecdote of Canning. Egham races. Dwarf trees. Moonlight walk. Respect for the law......177

LETTER XVIII.

What a park should be. Horses. Lady ----. Hatfield and Burleigh. Doncaster Races. Pomp in the country. Duke of Devonshire's equipage. Madame de Maintenon. Useless talents. York Minster. Library. Walk in the city. Skeleton of a Roman lady. Clifford's Tower. The county jail. Thieves' wardrobe. Ascent. Town-hall. Armorial bearings of citizens. Madame de Maintenon. Archbishop's palace and kitchen-garden. Singular absence of mind. Castle Howard. Pictures. The three Mary's. Painted memoirs. English habits. Bad climate. Equine sagacity. Scarborough. The rock-bridge. Light-house on Flamborough-head......188

LETTER XIX.

Whitby. What is remarkable in a Duke. The ruin. The Museum. Alum mines. Lord Mulgrave's castle and park. Singular accident. Fountain's Abbey. Studley Park. The Catacombs at Ripon. Harrowgate. The End of the World. The old General. Aristocratical influence. Harewood park. Kennel. Horses. Wooden curtains. Lord Harewood. Leeds. Reform in Parliament. Cloth manufactory. Templenewsome. Rotherham. Disappointment. Wentworth House. Portraits. Sheffield. Knives and scissars. Nottingham. Wild beasts. Lord Middleton's seat. St. Albans Abbey. Duke of Gloucester's tomb. Return to London......200

LETTER XX.

Excursion to Brighton. Arundel Castle. Petworth House. Portraits. Hotspur's sword. Old 'Whalebone.' The fortunate duchess. 'Prognostica.' Continuation of Don Juan. The year 2200. 'Etourderie.' Rules of behaviour. English politicians. Charles Kemble's Falstaff. License of English actors. Young as Hotspur. German and English stage. Wonders of the age. 'Flirtation.' Singular ball. Macready's Macbeth. Thoughts on the tragedy of Macbeth. Der Freischutz. 'Liaison' with a mouse. Street mystifiers. Nights in London. Visit to Woolmers. Ball at Hatfield. Pansanger. Grand Signor. Persian valuables......212

LETTER XXI.

Billy, the Rat-destroyer. English amusements. The newest Roscius. Fancy. Freewill. Original sin. Austrian philosophy. Colours of the days. Friday. Don Miguel. American Anecdote. English 'tournure.' Unpleasant Christmas-box. Portuguese etiquette. Ludicrous incident in the theatre. English flints. Parties in honour of the infant. Baroness F----. The charming aid-de-camp. Anecdote told by Sir Walter Scott. B---- Society. Disadvantages of a sandy soil. India House. Tippoo Saib's amusements. Shawls. Ride in the Steam-carriage. Ride in a carriage drawn by kites. Fox-hunt. Clerical fox-hunters. Thoughts on death. Recommendation of Blotting-paper. The Atlas of life. Bellows. Advantages of illness. Instruction. Convalesence......226

LETTER XXII.

The Thelluson will. The Dandy in the back settlements of America. English justice. A Chancery suit. Dramatic juggler. Fall of the Brunswick theatre. Party at Mr. Peel's. 'Chapeau de Paille.' Mr. Carr's collection of pictures. General Lejeune's battle-pieces. The courtier. Mina, Arguelles, and Valdez. On the acting and translating of Shakspeare. Kean, Young, and Kemble, in Othello. Character of Iago......241

LETTER XXIII.

Aristocracy and liberalism united in one person. Fête at the Duchess of ----'s. Wonderful tale of Mr. H----. Toads. The menagerie in Regent's Park. Marshal Beresford. Rural dinner in H---- Lodge. Zoological Garden. The patient witling. Uncomfortable customs. Dinner at H---- Lodge. Sir Walter Scott; his appearance and conversation. A charming girl. Tailors, butchers, and fishmongers. Crockford's. Spring-festival. Rural pleasures. Musical indigestion. Strawberry-Hill, the seat of Horace Walpole. German customs in England. Epsom races. Soirée at the King's. Historical portraits. Paintings in watercolour. The little paradise. The branch from Birnam Wood. Bonneau the Second. The Empress Josephine's Fortune-telling book. Introduction to the Duchess of Sachsen Meiningen. The Pigeon Club. The aquatic theatre. The Doomed. The new Ninon de l'Enclos. Another déjeuné champetre. The two Marshals......250

LETTER XXIV.

A rout 'par excellence.' English squeeze. Visit to Cobham. Lord D----'s birthday. Mr. Child's speech. Rochester Castle. The most natural camel. The downfall. The water party. Return to London. The Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures. The nursery-garden. 'Apperçu' of English fashionable society......262

LETTER XXV.

Departure from London. Cheltenham. English comfort. Mineral waters. Promenades. Sources of the Thames. Lackington Hill. The village in the wood. Ancient Roman villa. Tea-garden. Avenues. Master of the Ceremonies. Field of Tewksbury. Worcester. Cathedral. King John. The Templar. Prince Arthur's tomb. Enjoyments of travelling. Picture in the mist. Vale of Llangollen. Churchyard, and view from it. Mountain breakfast. Celebrated ladies. Visit to them. Lofty mountains. Comparison with those of Silesia. The road. The stone bishop. The indefatigable. Jest and Earnest. German titles. German placemen. German nobles. Romances. Feudal opinions. English domestic architecture. Penrhyn Castle. The slate quarry. Operations there. Reflections of a pious soul of Sandomir, or Sandomich. Conversions. Missions. Extracts from Berlin journals......272

LETTER XXVI.

Bangor. Welsh driving. Lake of Llanberris. Fish-hunting dogs. Storm. Shelter in the old castle. Hut, and its inhabitants. Ascent of Snowdon. Mountain poney and sheep. Veiled summit and my _double_. Libation. Rocky path. View. Region of birds of prey. Return on the lake. Caernarvon Castle. Edward's birth. King's stratagem. Origin of the English Motto. Contrast in the ruins. Eagle Tower. Sea-bath. Billiard table. Weather and eating. The Hebe of Caernarvon. Extracts from the "Lammszeitung." Intolerance of Berlin Saints. Church and King sole guides of faith. Duties of rich and poor contrasted. Promenade round Bangor. Bath at Bangor. Beaumaris. The castle. Craig y don. Menai Straits. Chain bridge over the sea......293

LETTER XXVII.

Plague of flies. Project for a Park. Plas Newydd. Cromlechs. Druid's cottage. New kaleidescope. Journey into the interior of the mountains. Unworthy views of Providence. Protestant Jesuits. Destinies of man. Cars. Lake of Idwal. Path at the foot of the Trivaen. Welsh guide. Wearisome ascent. Rose-coloured light. Valley of Rocks. The eagle. "The bad pass." Bog. Capel Cerig. Valley of Gwynant. Elysium. Dinas Emris. Merlin's rock. Dangers. Pleasant inn at Bedgellert. The blind harper and his blind dog. The Devil's bridge. Tan y Bwlch. Beautiful Park. Gigantic dam. Tremadoc. Reminiscences of sand, dirt, and father-land. Evening fancies. Crumbs of philosophy. Possessor of Penrhyn Castle. Road over Penman Mawr. Conway Castle with fifty-two towers. "Contentment" villa. The Queen's closet. Hooke and his forty-one sons. Gothic mania. Truly respectable Englishman. Fashion-hunting......303