The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-08-19
GREENWOOD LEAVES FROM OVER THE SEA
LONDON. July 81. 1852.

GREENWOOD LEhSrso NUN WEN inE oEh
LONDON, July 81, 1852
My DEAR "LADY UNA"
know YOU will be interested in hearing
,,n,otbinc of the authoress of the charming
lis UOLyE.o and "THE HEAD OF THE
F,vuy7 met her last week at a pleasant
evening party in Camden town Miss Mulock
: on Irish woman about twenty-five, petite and
narh;le her smile and her voice have IA sort of
dreamy sweetness about them very peculiar,
and in ronized authoress surely most agree
able for its unexpectedness. She has new
noyal nearly ready for publication, which is
said to be very fine. BY the way. | have just
fn;sbed one by Mrs Crosland camilla Toul-
man which, understand, is shortly to appear
in America "Lpd,d-A Womdn'S Book, is a
work of high tone. and of much interest as a
story. am confident you will like it.
4 memorable day last week was spent with
the Halls, at their lovely country residence.
With a soft and cloudlessly beautiful heaven
above, and all the eafy and howery glories of
an English summer beneath and around, with
charming, rambling. picturesque house, which
was ike fairy palace of poetry and art-and
above all, with such host and hostess, should
have been utterly childishly happy. but for the
one shadow which ever falls on the path of the
wauderer-the one sadness which haunts the
heart of the stranger-the yearning want of
some loved presence-the weary pain of lost
cOmpanionship.
MIR. and Mrs s. c. Hail have revealed the
tone of their minds and the tenor of their lives
through their books, with beautiful uncon-
scious truthlulness. The fine wit and bumor.
and wide knowledge of life, which give so much
Of richness and spirit to their inimitable
sketches Of Irish character, flow into and I'M
mart peculiar charm to conversation and man
ner while the refined tastes of artist and poet
are manifest in all their home surroundings
blending in countless forms of beauty ,rnd
taking strange freaks and quaintnesses of
fancy.
Ofour party that day was the authoress of
Margaret Maitland Of SunnySide "a fair
Scotch woman, not over twenty-five, modest,
quiet Oveable person, who seems far from hay-
ing made up her mind to admit the fact of her
own genius. Having Weakened one morning to
find herself famous, she believes the world to
be laboring under some strange deluson, and
accounts herself an immensely oyer-rated little
woman, after all.
On the day. succeeding this visit, | first saw
Joseph Mamini--I had brought letter to him
from his friend Kossuth--and he spent a gen.
.erous part of the morning with us. Mazzini
is not large man, though taller, should say,
than K6ssuth; he is slight in person, and ex-
tremely pale, His beard is one of the grand
lest have ever seen, his eyes. have the true
Southerp depth of darkness and CLEAN OF. pas
souate fire, yet are softened with poetic feel
my and are pathetic with all their power
They are darkly Swallowed, as by great sorrows
and weary watchings To give you an idea of
the high generous thought, the noble aspira-
ton, the enthusiasm and eloquence, to which
We were charmed listepersthat morning, have
. only To Say that Mazzini talks as he writes.
On Saturday evoningI attended. with a party
of pleasant friends, Albert Smiths now enter
tainment-" The Ascent of Mont Blanc" So
delighted was | with the nice wit, the. fine
graphic. spirit, and the charming humor of
the bold tourist, and the rare beauty of his
panoramic. illustrations, that L fear | almost
made myself ridiculous by my uncomfortable
expressions Of enthusiasm and pleasure. Yet
think those around me held me excused, and
that our entertainer himself would have pro-
nOunced no harsh Judgment upon me- hear
that Dir. Smith is soon to visit America, and
congratulate you upon the rare and noble treat
before you, J. know not whether you will find
most delight in the poet tourists wOndrous
power of description, which bears you with
INN from Chamsuni's quiet vale up, up, into
the awful Alpine solitudes-the solemn eterni-
tt of snows--up, up TIL you hear the avalan-
ches thunder from the far peaks, ana look
INTO the yawning assures the icy sepuchres of
some who have gone before-up, up, till YOU
stand with him n.that stupepdous dome of ice,
and behold mountains, and seas, and Kingdoms.
below, and nothing of all the earth between
you AND God--or in that daring, delicious wit
which must have way even amid the sternest
Alpine grandeurs as the gay sunshine PLAYS
over the glaciers, and slides down their fear.
fullest abysses
But you will ike him altogether am sure
and not the least.in his clever and pood. hu.
mored take-off of Yankee tourists in the spec
men he met at ChillOn.
On Sunday morning | attended service in
old Temple Church, rarely beautiful build.
ing but chiefly interesting for its late wonder
iui restoration Al the time of Cromwell the
cunously painted walls and roof the fine tesse-
lated pavement, and the elegant marble pillars,
were thlckly covered with cement for conceal
ment and preservation Thus they remained
until iewyears since, when they were discov-
cred by accident and restored at an immense
cost
After service, ! stroled with some friends
through the Geological Gardens, where saw
suppose about the finest collection of animals
IN the world wish | could dash you off
sketch OF her stupendous majesty, the great
Elephantess with the clumsy little Prince Roy
al the CALI Elephant, as they appeared when
enjoying themselves in their bath-and of his
noyai hIghness, the great Camel Leopard as
ne stood stretching his interminable neck over
.he railing, lmpertinently watching them in
lie'r recreation. The Rhinoceros revealing in
=; r'a h'ud, and the Hippopotamus rolling lazly
~ 'no water are also pair of "beautiful pic
"l r, 10 hang on memorys WALL
strncL nonSey ana ourang-outang departments
struck me as immensely large. As the apes
aue'ched out their paws to Us through the
pars oi 'helr cages begging for nuts and crack.
pI ! Snuddered with "a new disgust--they were
~ leariuliy like the sIualid little human beg
earS along London streets. How | loathed
'''eil Tor Their horrible niockery of humanity.
saw the lions, tigers leopards, bears, wolves.
%a hyenas, at their feeding-tme Each dined
VI an undressed hare, IL mere tit-bit one would
saN TO their savage capacities They did not
ue'Our their delicate morsels at once. in hungry
haste but, though trembling through all their
mighty hbres with a fierce relish, they pro-
,onyed the palpitating pleasure by licking eve
y drop OF blood from the little creatures, and
ua'nt'ly playing with them. As the keeper
'epaSSed, and struck with his pole on the bars
y, 'te'r cages they opened upon him with the
uue hon and tiger spirit, as fierce and untam-
Gu as 1t ever roared through Nomidian forests,
S Sp howled out of an Indian jungle, while live
flames shot from their eyes, revealing the un-
Yuehchable and ineradicable hell Of ferocity
N thelr blood-nurtured natures Yet there Is
d terrible grandeur about the creatures. even
AZ leedng-tlme, which iascinates me. The old
s aiT" looked royal, even when sucking out the