Litchfield enquirer., 1844-02-15
Letters from Abroad. No. III.

week tor publication, IS addressed to her children and myself jointly, as are usually her subsequent communications. It is due however to the writeT to state that at the time they written she had no expectation of their receiving publicity, being as she says frequently "ready to drop with fatigue' when they were composed. Under such circum- stances, nothing but the strong desire of nteli gent and accomplished mother for the improve ment of her children could induce one unaccustom- ed to fatigue to be minute in description, espe- cially as extensive family connections densandeG and receiUed large share of her correspondence The assent to their publication was given con- dtion of submitting them to my criticisms, "under which disguise they might be admitted into the pa- per-; condition which their faultless character set at defiance. I doubted not their easy unstudied manner would render them attractive to many gen. eral readers, who after perusing the accounts of travellers more formally prepared for the public, would like to refresh their memories with these passing notices of the wonders of the cold Word.'
 Respectfully yours, J, H, JONES. EDINBURGH, July 4, 1e43.
 To my dear Cousin and Children, greeting:
 I commence this at Edinburgh, Tuesday the 4th of July at the house of Mrs Buchanan, where, in the course of an hour, expected MT. Mrs. & T. and ! some others to dine. At what place and time this may be finished and sent is beyond the ken O any O at the present. To-day you are no doubt keeE= inr n some way the jubilee of our National Inde- pendence, that glorious day, the nations holiday. We'll, in S ,'ttish parlance, joy be wi you all.
 Now will gi, 9 you description of the objects of interest we passed on our way from Newcastle to Edinburgh. We were on the top of the coach (Chevy Chase) near Jedburgh ,a2d alittte way from the road we saw spiral monument, mentioned in my last, which the guard told us was placed there to mark the spot where Douglass fell at the battle of Chevy Chase Four miles south of Merose is Dryburgh Abbey in ruins. We left the coach here and walked a long mile to the grounds of the Duke of Buchan on whose estate the ruins are. woman was our guide, and after taking view of the whole from little distance, sae led us to part of the ruins called St. Mary's Aisle. Within an arch-way inclosed with an iron railing she pointed to mound of earth where was no mark sign, and said, "There lies Sir WALTER Scorr." This was the first intimation we had that he had been buried here. We only visited the place the location of 6eoattJul roan, and it was with sad yet pleasant surprise we found ourselves by the grave of this great and much loved author. pulled sprg or two of the vine growing over the archway of his tomb; and passed on to the other parts of the run but though they were beautiful, they were nothing to me in comparison with St. Mary's asle Our next visit was to the residence of this great man, [Abbotsford, where we were shown many curious rellcs and interesting mementoes of his collecting
  ter of which he died) his study in which he wrote, and the chair in which he sat. and the clothes which he last wore. There chair upoE which he sat to write, and great favorite with him, made from the beams of the house in which Sir William Wallace betrayed. There was grate belonging to Archbishop Sharpe, and an iron camp kettle of the Romans, 200O years old; shirt of mail worn by Oliver Cromwell when receiving his troops, as security against assassination; flask belonging to James 1; pair of pistols belongingto Ma arOlpa If lo1y fofL Loo,, tfully carved ebony chairs presented by George W, and cabinet ot the same material which once be- longed to George III; beautiful marble table and vase presented by Lord Byron excellent portraits of himself, wife and daughters; original portrait of Oliver Cromwell taken when young, and one of Con- r~;rf~as tho hoad ef Mary Queen of Scotts in a charger painted immediately after she was be- headed; marble figure of his favorite dog, and many more things which interested me much, the description of which could not be comprised in a letter. There was 'an archway in one of the pas- sases of his house, built in imitation of one in Mel rose Abbey. We visited the latter after we left Abbotsford, and which we found as beautiful as he himself describes 1t. We were however unable to view it, as he says, aright" for we did not see it "1y the pale moon light" We here saw the grave of Alexander II; the wizard stone which Scott de- scribes in the clay of the Last Minstrel :" the grave also of Douglass whose monument we passed on the wayside near Jedburgh. The poet has SO beautifully described Merose, and so strictly true that cannot do better than to refer you to his de- scription of "The slender shafts of shapely stone'
 By foliage tracery confined''
 And there still remains the beautifully fretted and sculptured stone roof, of which he says:
 "The key y-stone, that lock'd each ribb'd aisle,
 Was a faeW de lys, or a Quotre feuUe."
 And the pillars,
 " With base and with capital foursh'd around, Seem'd bundles oflances which garlands had bound'
 It is astonishing how we'll the carving is still preserved, so that you may still distinguish the strawberry, the ivy, and the shamrock as distinctly as if carved but yesterday, and which leaves you may find growing about the ruins. Time, the de- stroyer of all things, has laid his hand gently upon these beautiful ruins but man was not so lenient. They suffered more from the ravages of the border wars, mostly from those of the Reformation, and particularly from the bigotry of John Knox and Cromwell. At Edinburgh we had many remains of this stern Reformer. We were shown the window where he placed himself to assail Mary as she pass ed by on her way to mass-heaping upon her every term of reproduction. At Holyrood Palace the chap el still remains as the fire left it, when that and the palace were fired by his orders. The palace has since been restored, but the chapel is heap of rubbish, with some of the walls standing, ivy and wild flowers filling ithe crevices, and beautifying the whole. We were shown here the tapestry Mary brought with her from France, worked by Nuns, (shaming the embroidery of modern days;) several pieces of antique furniture also brought from France by her; beautiful miniature painted in France of herself which is fine specimen of the art in those days; the bed she slept in, with all its tapestry fa- ded and torn, IS exhibited, and a work box with cover, worked by herself, and a basket which held the infant clothes of James VI. These are all sim pie yet interesting mementoes. We saw also the room in which the Queen supping with Rizzio