Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1863-12-26
Written expressly for the Dayton Emprel
A SUMMER In EUROPE.
NO. XVI.

OFFICES
in ScotlAud--how far it was to- London
''Threo hundred and uinety-nne miles and a
half, SIR smiled, and said, "Why not call
it four hundred Because il would not be
the truth, Sir was the proper reply of the
serious and accurate Scot.
We took train in tho evening, and when
daylight came, the great city, covered with its
eternal cloud of mist or smoke lying
"IAke monster
sleeping in its own thick breath" was visiL,e
from the car windows, We gded rapidly
along toward it, and soon we afghled in the
spacious and massive terminus. There was no
extended fringe of insignificant buildings in
the suburbs-it WAS out of the green fields in
to the great city at single step. Tho outer
most rank OF houses on the North, are all OF
old brick or stone, and three or four stories
high.
Six o'clock in the morning, after an al
nights ride, is not favorable time for pleas.
ing impressions Of a newlocality, and my on
ly ideas, this morning. were that was tired
and sleepy--there is no such thing as sleep
ing car known across the water--that / was
in city as large as four New Yorks, and that
there was not soul in it that cared a button
for me, and that il | would be cared for, /
must take care of myself Something like
these, imagine, are the feelings of all travel
ers in such circumstances, except, OF course,
those whose excessive romance prevent their
taking matter-offact view OF anything.
We rode in a cab through we'll paved streets
which were not at all crowded at this early
hour, to the Tavistock Hotel, Covent Garden,
where we found and thoroughly enjoyed those
home comforts for which all English hotels
are celebrated
Our first call after resting and refreshing
ourselves, was upon Mr.. Adams, our Minister,
at No. 8 Portland Place We we're ushered
into spacious room, where two or three gen
tlemen sat reading the papers, and a somber
looking individual WAS employing himselfwith
packages of documents, tied up with red tape
We addressed this person with the inquiry DIS
Mr.. Adams in 2"
'Yes, but he's engaged" was the brief re-
sponse
ta"We have letter to him, Sir, from Ex-
Governor -, of Ohio"
"You can leave it,
"Perhaps we will wish little assistance.
Sir, in getting our passports UiSed for the Con-
tinent"
"You wont need any rises.
I'VE would like to visit the Bank of Eng
land, Sir; can you give cards which will se.
cure our admission"
mo- Sir, we have quit doing that"
we soon wearied of conversation 30
barren and Improbable, and abruptly left.
without having had a single invitation TO take
seats, to look at the piles of late American pa.
pers which covered the tables, or to call again.
The name of this agreeable person is Wilson;
said to be from Chicago, Illinois; but if he ia
not a cold blooded Yankee, will freely ad.
nit | don't know that article when / ace, n |
He evidently thinks it no part of the duties Of
the Legation to be polite to travelling fellow
citizens, and almost all the Americans wa AZ. |
terwards met who had called there. told ms
that they experienced the same cool reeention. |
We never heard anything further of our let |
ter, and we troubled the Embassy no more.
During our stay in London we were made
daily to realize its immensity We would fre- |
quently inquire for particular place, and
would be told that ut is quite near here" We |
rarely found il within mile. "A short wav |
oil" we learned to interpret as from three 10 |
four miles, and we regulated our meaua of
locomotlou accordingly 1t was always a |
pleasure to walk through those magnificent
streets Of the West End but we found Il wa
wished to make progress in doing the place, |
we must get around more rapidly than was
possible on foot A short stroll through the
Regents or the Hyde Park il more like q DAYS
march than walk for pleasure, and the dis,
tances IN any direction are truly "magni6- |
cent During the FIRST day or two Of our stay
we felt ourselves so completely alone and sol. |
itary among the immense throngs around us, |
and the thought before mentioned, that there
were none of them all who knew us or cared |
for US, came down so frequently and heavily
upon us that We could have been qnite niisef-
ably il we had been so disposed, but the anti |
dote for that evil was at hand in the shape Of
a list OF the places, prepared by kind Day
ton friend, which every tourist should visit in |
London, and to see which kept US busy night
and day for more than two weeks Incessant
sightseeing is heavy work for the body, but
most delightful recreation for the mind, and
and leaves no time for "blues."
Our first day work began with the Cdlise.
nm-a place on the border of Regents Park,
where there are an infinite variety Of amuse,
ments going on from noon until misnight
every day. There are paintings, and pano-
ramas dssolving views, and magic Lam
terms, rocks and caverns, glassblowing,
promenades, music, acting; dancing, and so
on, all to be seen for 4 shilling We gave it
all the time we had to spare, and then passed
out at different door from the ono by which
we entered When we got fairly out, We found
ourselves in q strange place--on a street we