Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-11-08
From the Church Intelgcncer.
Bisho:, atitEnson's IIrtteE from Europe.
(En
DUBLIN, September 50, 1866.

DUBLIN, September 50, 1866.
bIY DEAR ME. EDIIoE Il had hoped t,
have written you q letter nearly every week
! but now more than a month has elapsed
without my sending you line. The rea
son has been, that ;s5 my acquaintance hai
! extended, my leisure has been abridged. -
! ] last wrote you, [ believe from Tunbrdgt
/ Wells / found that watorin% place an cx
! tromCiy pleasant one, and very bcneicia
! to my health. HE water is the best tonic
! | ever tried, the scenery beautiful, and the
air extremely pure and saiubriouS. Tlt
merits of the Chalybeate Spring were frs
made known to tue public by Dudley, Lore
! North, Il dissolute young Dobleman, in the
reign OF James |, whose shattered constitu
ton WAS so invi9Orated by It's use, that in
stead Of the premature death which seemed
| tc await him, before he tried this remedy
he was, by virtue Of it, enabled to attain
extreme old age. It has ever since been
much esteemed and greatly frequented by
| the English Near it is one of those his
tOrical houses of which they are Justly
proud. It is Penhurst, the seat of the Sid
ney family, to whom it has belonged since
the time OF Edward VI. It was the birth
place of Sir Philip and Algernor Sidney
and is adorned with portraits of these, OF
| Queen Elizabeth, and Dudley, Lord Leices
ter, her favorite, of DoTothea Sidney Wal
lcr's SacchaTissa) and Of many other per
sons the world Will never forget IL has
also pictures by the old masters, and curl
Gus relics, pieces of armOr, and the like, OF
the great men whose names are associated
with the place. The building is d fine old
mansion OF stone, qlladrangular in form,
enclosing d court, and surrounded by park
remarkable for the size and beauty of its
oaks.
While at Turnbridge Wells I received an
invitation from q venerable old clergyman
Norfolk county, to meet the Bishop Of Bris-
bane, at his house, and to take some part
III meeting to be held in his parish, in
furtherance of the interests of the new
Diocese Of Brisbane. [ accepted the inyi-
tation. and met the Bishop and some fif-
teen or twenty clergymen Of the neighbor-
hood, many of them accompanied by their
wives, at the table Of my hospitable friend.
We had afterwards a pleasant lively mis-
sionary gathering, in which, as a represen-
tative of the American Church, I received
a most cordial welcome.
The next day Iwent with the Bishop and
our host to Norwich, mainly to visit the Ca
thedral, bestowing a portion of our time,
however, on the Palace and grounds Of the
Bishop Of Norwich shown us by his sons,
the Bishop and the rest Of his family being
absent, and taking glance at the Castle
and some of the Churches.
The Cathedral of Norwich would in al
most any other country, be considered one
Of its chief architectural glories. The build
ing was commenced as far back as A. D.
1904. The work was carried on for centll-
ries, and the spire was not erected until
1861. I give these facts to illustrate the an
tiquity of these grand and venerable monu-
ments of Christian devotion. The archi-
lecture is Of course, from it's era, Norman.
It is All feet long, and 191 wide, while the
spire is 3l5 feet high. It will give an
American reader better idea of its size for
him to consider that if the width of the
Transepts were that of the whole building,
there would lie more than enough room in
it for twelve churches 100 feet long, by 60
wide, or for at least twenty, of the average
of such as we have in North Carolina. To
stand at the western door of such Cathe-
dral, and cast your eye to its eastern ex-
tremity is like looking down an avenue of
lofty trees whose branches intertwine far
above you in the air. And when one res
members that the light which streams in on
you, is gorgeous with the colors of richly
painted windows, that thickly planted
around you are the monuments Of saints
and warriors of past ages here the effigy
of Il stern knight reclining in his armour,
there the figure of devout prelate, with
his arms crossed on his breast, in the atti-
tude Of prayer, and that here they have
been lying century after century, while the
restless loom of lime has been weaving the
web of human life around them. one feels
that a building may have other than merely
material uses, that q sacred building may
serve other purposes than to furnish room
in which to hear i sermon that ii may be
itself sermon, q solemn and elevatin, scr
mon jill stone, preaching with power to
many successive generations.
That day | dined with a country gentle
man who has d handsome place, near the
residence, although not in the Parish of
my kind clerical host and rs [ have seen
more perhaps Of English country life thau
Americans generally do it may be well to
give my impressions Of it, especially as it
is very much confined to this country In
the South we had something like it before
the wal. Whether it will continue under
the new order of things is doubtful At
the North, and on the COntinentof Europe,
men of wealth prefer to congregate in
Cities and in the summer to resort to Wa
tering places. Most Englishmen who have
estates in the country prefer, on the other
hand, to reside on them, and to come up
only occasionally to town, unless they are
confined to it, by the engagements of po-
litical life Their houses, [ observe, are
built chiefly in valleys, while ours, if pos
sible, are on hills, the difference, [ think,
being due to the influence OF climate. We
who suffer from heat wooing the winds,
while in this cooler and more stormy re-
giOn, they seek rather to shelter themselves
from their violence. Around their houses
they have parks of greater or less extent
according to the wealth of the proprietor.
These are covered with grass of the richest
verdure, which is carefully and frequently
mown, and on which feed focks of sheep,
and fat happy-looking COWS, and on the
grounds belonging to great houses, herds
of deer are enhancing that aspect of album
dance, and tranquil beauty, which seems
to me the characteristic charm of English
scenery. OF course, there are always fine
trees objects much valued by the English
growing singly, or in clumps, and if pos
sibe, water in stream, or lakelet, and near
the house profusion of beautiful flowers,
of those kinds such as Geraniums, which
bloom all the summer. I may add in pass
ing, that nothing in England has struck me
more than he abundance and splendor of
the flowers. [ see great advance in that
respect, since my former visit to this coun-