Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1856-07-16

Cathleen to this wild retreat; she followed hin
and hence the tragedy. Tom Moore's beautiful
ballad is familiar to most Of our readers:
"And with rude repulsve shock,
Hurls her Ger the beetling rock"
AT this place I observed the name of Sir Wal
ter Scott in the register. My next point will b.
the lakes of Killarney.
Special Correspondence of the Spectator.
New LONDON, June %, 1866.
have long observed that every large towr
has countenance or physiognomy ofits own, ,en
tirely different from that of every other, SO tha
YOU never know how place looks till you see it
however frequently it may have been described
One of the greatest pleasures of travelling con
sists in getting this physiognomy impressed up
on the memory, so that you can call it up a
pleasure. The degree of popularity differs in
definitely, but, among American cities, is great
est in Boston, which is far more like Londor
than New York or Philadelphia. This arises
partly from the intricate tripularity OF its Older
streets, but partly, also, from the traditiona
presence of the old colonial character and man
ners. which were different from those of Penn
sylvania and New Amsterdam. You cannot
walk the streets of Boston without feeling that
you are surrounded by people who have grown
up from beginnings of their own, and not by i'm
itation or migration from their neighbors The
influence of Boston on New York is far more
perceptible than that of New York upon Boston
You also perceive soon the high degree of civi.
lization, the ease with which all comforts and
all luxuries can be procured, the prevalence oi
mental cultivation, and sturdy independence,
which is perfectly compatible with courtesy and
kindness. 1t is no wonder that the English pre-
fer Boston to all other American cities, for they
must feel moro at home there. Boston, like
Baltimore, is far more picturesque than Phila'
delphia and New York, because its surface is
uneven, and the natural irregularities have been
more extensively preserved. Some Of the Boston
streets must be really dangerous in winter
This inconvenience is made good, however, by
the cleanliness which it promotes. Another
striking feature of Boston is the free use OF
granite as building material. The finest speci-
mems think are those in which the stone has
been least hewn and polished. But the brick
work of Boston is also very fine, and unlike that
of our other great cities. Some Of the private
dwellings are of vast size, and have an air OF
lordly comfort and repose that is wanting in the
brown-stone veneering of Fifth Avenne. They
are more like the houses of the nobility in GER
tain quiet but distingue parts of London. An
other resemblance to that great metropolis con-
sists in the perpetual occurrence of paved courts
surrounded by buildings and withdrawn from
the heat and noise of the great thOroughfares
as well as its short cuts and private passages
from street to street, of which Philadelphian
could form no conception. To me there is a
great charm in these little labyrinths. l am
goth enough to see moro beauty even in narrow,
crooked streets, provided they are clean and we'll
built than in perfectly straight avenues OF bound
less width, lined with inelegant and struggling
houses. The population of this city is more
like that of Philadelphia than New York in ho-
and anglo-saxonism. The peo-
ple are less handsome than fine-lo0king in the
English sense. saw fewer pretty children than
in Chestnut Street, and the girls are perhaps a
little too baby-hke in their looks and gait; but
the boys are often noble in appearance, with
that mixture of beauty and robustness SO observ-
able in England. 1t may be fancy, but l think
the Puritan look is traceable in modern Boston,
as the Quaker is in Philadelphia, and far more
so than the Dutch look in New York. l lost
myself repeatedly in Boston, though proviu, q
with good map, and at last made up my mind
to ask the way at every turn, in doing which, l
never once failed to receive q civil answer. On
more than one occasion, could scarcely per-
suade myself that was not in Fleet Street, OF
the Strand This illusion was promoted BY
the mode of driving, which is much more furious
in London and Boston than in any other great
American city l need scaccely add, that inthe
new parts of Boston, the improvements are as
regular, antistical and tasteful as can be found
elsewhere. Besides surveying the external fea'
lures of the place, l had unusual opportunities o
seeing masses of the people. During my short
stay. l had the unexpected treat of seeing Fame
nil Hall full to overhowing with an enthusiastic
body of Republicans I took no interest in the
--onhes or proceedings, which in fact did moi
g.. - was something grand in the ap
baar. Ip hut tn. -~'n. completely filled
lieai Du' In1'e '-har bands
and echoing with cheers, while o....-
were marching round it by the light of rockets
to the tuue of Yankee Doodle, (and no other)
On the Sunday that spent there. had the
pleasure of hearing DR.. Nehemiah Adams, whose
book on Slavery has made so much noise; DR..
]. B. Waterbury, the eloquent pastor of the Bow
doin st. Church; and DR.. N. /. Rice, of st. Lou
is, who is giving the Bostonians some choice
samples of kind of preaching, to which they
have been little accustomed since the days ofthe
Cottons and Matthews. Connected with this
privilege, is curious adventure, which would
be too trivial for recital but for its intimate re-
ation to that interesting and mysterious subject,
the umbrella. 1t has often been observed, that
even honest men appear to have no conscience
in purloining an umbrella; but it may not be SO
generally known, or noticed, that mans at
tachment to this species of property bears no
to its intrinsic value. In my case
the proportion is an inverse one. / have some-
times given up a rather costly article without q
pang, when once convinced that had lost it,
while at other times have heroically struggled
TO recover one of no apprecable market value.
On visit to the Old World years ago, left ST..
Paul's, where had attended divine SERVICE and
had gone some distance, when / suddenly remem-
bered that my dollar umbrella, which | had
purchased in Philadelphia when caught in q
shower, was leaning against pillar just within
the choir of the Cathedral. Hurrying back, /
found the cleaning of the vast pile going on, lln-
der the eye of an imperious beade or sacristan,
in queer but snowy uniform. such was my
anxiety, that ventured to address this awful
parsonage, who told me in reply that the choir
was locked, and on my asking him to open it,
could only testify his discontinue by groaning
out, "Oh dear! oh dear!!" As | followed him
bearing his great bunch of keys, described the
exact spot where left the umbrella, and there
to be sure he found it, whereupon he paid me
the rare compliment of saying, ''You are lucky
man, SIR" and again, with slight change of en-
phasis, "You are lucky man." A sort of pend
ent to this story took place during my recent
visit to Boston. The st. Paul's umbrella had
been dropped from a jaunting-car in Dublin,
while was going from house to house, begging
a nights lodging, during the great Exhibition in
that city. 1t had been supplied by an alpaca in
Liverpool, but that too had been early lost, and
I had very recently, during another stress of
weather, bought another umbrella, at the mod
est price of one dollar. This faithful friend at
tended me to Boston, and especially to church