Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1867-09-03
Foreign Correspondence.
LETTER NO. 8.

BENNINGTON, June l3, 1867.
My last letter was hastily closed as we were
leaving Chester. We arrived at that place last
Monday morning, and got into most delight
tul Hotel-called the Queens" had beauti-
full rooms assigned us, and all of us fine par
lor which of course we used in common, and in
which we took our meals. Shortly after arrl-
wing we took vehicle called ''waggonett IT,
with two splendid gray horses, and all of us,
for ride to Eaton Hall, the seat OF the Mar
guess of Westminster-ab miles of. The
vehicle was a curious one-being open, with a
drivers seat, and behind it seats arranged like
those Of an omnibus, facing each other with
steps behlnd-lt was very pretty and comtor-
table; there were of us in the party: The
funniest feature in the turn out was our driver
little, plump Englishman, with tight fitting
white pants, long boots drawn over them, and
a velvet roundabout with rows of silver bell
buttons in front, and skull cap. He rode one
of the horses like postillion and drove in that
way. 1t was quite novelty to us. lie dashed
forward at great speed, and we soon were IN
the Main Street Of the old town OF Chester.
we stopped a moment at a bookstore to get
tickets to the nobeman's grounds and hall,
which is open only 3 times week tor public
inspection. We soon passed the town, and
were scampering on the beautiful road IN the
country, and soon passed the gate OF the en-
closures of the Hail. We rode miles thro'
the splendid grounds before, we came to the
house, and soon were ushered within It's walls.
The ''seat" belongs to the End richest man
in England, who owns besides this, several
more places of great value and beauty, and Wis
its this with his family only about one month
in the year.
The grounds are superb-the house palatial-
great stone Gothic building with its tours,
turrets and pinnacles highly decorated outside
and in perfect order-rather modern, being only
about 60 years old.
will not tire you with description of the
interior-the grandeur of the vestibule-with
its exquisite statues, and figures of the owners,
ancestors in their coats Of mail-its tiled floor
and decorated walls, and ceiling. We saw only
about half of the lower story, the chapel, di-
ming room, breakfast rooms, parlors, drawing
| rooms, libraries and passages-ornate as posi-
ble-of all varieties of finish, walls hung with
most valuable paintings and papering- floors
of oak in block, like mosaic work, all in perfect
order, and flashing wealth from every SIDE
The family were not there and the great pal
ace looked painfully lonesome.
We soon got satisfied and passed out to view
the mountaineering could be more beautiful
splendid meadows and groves as far as the eye
could reach-terraces and parquettes and flour
gardens, and ponds, and everything necessary
| to form grand and perfect landscape garden.
The fruit and vegetable gardens, lighthouses
and Conservatives, on magnificent scale, were
teeming with the rarest plants, and fruits, and
flowers The strawberries were nearly as large
as hen-eggs, being grown in hot BEDS and my
| plebeian mouth.sorey coveted them-3 Or 4
would have made a good dish.
| We drove back by another route, having had
a capital idea of how an English nobleman lives.
Tho oO11ntry roads In EnU and GRO rnmS in
| their way-they are generally smooth and hard,
and lined on both sides, by hedges Of hawthorn,
| fruit, &c.
| Chester is one Of the oldest cities in England.
The old part Of the town is surrounded by a
validating back to the days of William the
Conqueror and is supposed to have been-at
least some parts of it-of even more remote an
tlqulty. The streets are very narrow, and the
old houses OF most quaint and unlnvltlng ar
chitecture. There is an old Cathedral there
very large, some parts Of which are known to
are rounded by the gnaWing teeth of time and
the elements, and rocks have their homes in its
| lofty battlements.
There are many beautiful places in the vicin-
ity Of Chester-a suspension bridge on the Dee,
| mot the d on whose banks Annie lived
that is in Scotland, but | will reserve discrip-
ton Of them for my return. | have some pho
tographs Of the place, and intend, as so along,
to pick them up as the best DISORDERS Of the
| places we see.
We returned to our Hotel-had fine din
| A. NJ. but on getting to the ''Station" found
that the porter had by mistake sent all Of oul
baggage bach to liverpool u instead Of the
other way-towards London. However to show
how nicely ali the business machines of Eng
land work, we telegraphed to Birkenhead, 1.-THE
town just this side of the Mersey, and first town
before reaching LverpooD to stop it and re-
turn it, and sure enough in two hours it was all
back again, and we proceeded on our way to
Clewe, little town % miles further on. On
arriving at this point a portion of our party
branched off to Stoke upon Trent to see the
great potteries there, and buy a tea seat the
rest of US kept straight on for Birning CHAM
here we tarrled an hour, took cab and drove
about the principal streets, and then passed on
| to this place, whore we arrived the same even
ing Is P. NJ
| Our riding from Chester to bennington was
deiightful-the day warm and bright, and all
the green things, grass and hedges and shrubs
looked more verdant than ever. The cuts and
embankments Of nearly all the railroads, es-
pecially the old ones are covered with grass,
adding much to their beauty and comfort, sa-
wing dust &C.
Stone and iron and brick seem to be the main
components of all the works. You see very lit
tie woodwork rarely wooden house even
everything seems to be built to last [ think
| however there is very little taste displayed in
any of their buildings-pu Or private-they
are strong, massive, neat, but squatty and
clumsy
This town we are in is on the bank of the
| Lean, small river like most of the rivers here,
which we should call creek or branch 1t is
q watering place, much resorted to in Summer
| for its mineral waters, and other attractions
1t is decidedly the most beautiful town [ have
seen-the streets are wide, we'll McAdamized
and painfully clean. The shops very. pretty
| and their windows full Of attractive goods. \ =
| l am as ever yours, &c.
gro from the North, named Jim Brown board