St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1863-07-30
HENRY WARD BEECHERI IN ENGLAND,

Rev. Henry Ward Bcecher is writing a
series OF letters from England, to the H.
dependent telling Of what he sees in that
couutry and the light in winch things arc
viewed by him. A visit to the Syden-
ham Crystal Palace is thus described:
/ have just returned from spending a
day at Sydenham Crystal Palace, and that
accounts for the foregoing tstrain. The
day was glorious. Everybody said, You
must 90 to Sydenham" I had read dea-
criptions. Yet, the meaning Of it never
dawned upon me till to.dsy-this most
wonderful of all modern English achieve.
ments. Even alter having been at Chats.
worth, one of the Duke Of Deyonshire's
seats, reputed, hitherto, to be the finest in.
the world for landscape gardening-Syd-
enham is still more wonderful. This grent
Crystal Palace, vast but not massive,
springs into such huge proportions with
such 6ce ". and al@egt sshslql stzpctpses
than picture; or II veritabIe building,
one which the winds will blow away 1t
is the very antithesis Of castles and cathc-
drals. These impress you by their solid:
ity. They arc mountains Of stone, and
seem to be durable as the mountains from
which the stone was hcwn Against their
huge walls has dashed battle and seige,
almost in vain. Time itself, that never
rais' its seige, seems in vain, with wind,
and art, and frost, to have assailed wany
mighty MEDIEVAL structures And when
you look upon them, you feel the solidity'
the massiyeness. But this Glm upon the
sky-this gossamcr spun last night BY
fairies, this glittering, luminous, transpar'
ent spcctcr Of a palace! Can it be real
durable. tangible? :.
The grounds on which this ETHEREAL pile
is erected are worthy Of the vast jcwe
which they hold upon their bosom. Their
is every variation Of hue and slope. Th'
grass is shaven close, and is as green an,
velvcty as only English grass can be-.
Cut into its green arc innumcrabl
beds Of gorgeous flowers Of every hue
, You ale dazed and dazzled at the wealtl
of flowers, the clumps of rhodcndrons
the belts, beds, and ribbons Of color, tn
" " circles of roses. have travelled in th
prairics Of the Great West, and seen tn
sheets and billows Of flowers that stretc|
with endless profusion there. There ar
no such wild aud extravagant .abundanc
= = here. 1t was as if the flower angel ha
= sounded the trumpet, and p, airic {
flowers had rushed to camp to be brigade
and marshaled and now, in ranks an
squadrons, in files or companies: they ca
ry their floral hnccs to their innocuou
war of beauty = Lakes, fountains, an
pools abound. The most gorgeous drea
Of the Arabian Nights would turn pa
and fade out in presence Of this substal
tial glory Of horticultural skill. If l h'
\ had ti,nc, should have been amazed
the literature Of color spread out here.
These flowers I had seen, all Of the'
growing loose and d,sconnectedly. He
they were gathered into artistic grou
by similuritics or contrasts. had se'
them . scattered alphabet ,of beauty, eve
- letter by itself: Here they were comp<
y cd. into words and septepces. ri My e
drank and was drunk with color: Itu,
, cd from the grounds To- the building, al
-. from IL again to the grounds. o hap
.~ people, who can come ~hither so easil
For, the immortal glory Iof 4
enterprise is this,I that this pals
and grounds, = that have no parallel
- equal in the world, are presented by !
wealth 0f London )tot6e commun .peop
ct- L do not believe that 50 extraordinary
md combination of rational pleasures for ev,
the sense and sentiment Of h'a,, ',vas ever
md fore combined. Not for, the governme
%. On not for kings or mobiles, not for rich !
rs, refined class, but for the great common
'fs, pie has, this miracle Of beauty and
!!eol been. ,wroughhtt!. .,I1T,ua , yiIat.Ls
s{e { u Within Is Is every variety Of food for b
~: ~. ilyl hunger capitany served, simple
, ",,a those who, nsdd or ean afords ittle,, :,