The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-09-18
ENGLAND.
The March of Progress In the Smother
Country"

Ahe March of Progress In the "Mothel
Country"
| Cor. Courier-Journal
The notion that Old England is in hel
cottage, that her national vigor and en-.
terprise are declining, and that she is
too stupidity Conservative to follow the
| progressive inHincts of the times, pre-
walls very largely in the United States.
In facS, very few people, except the
travelling element of our po pulation,
regard Eng and with an intelligent eye.
10 most Americans she is n kind of fos-
sll, an old fegy, stereotyped in all the
OLD ways, and almost utterly adverse to
improvements and changes for the bet
ter. After an absence of several years
from her shores, / am sure, from what I
nave seen, that the old lady is not only
as young and stronger than ever, bat
tnat there are no signs OF approaching
age or feebleness. The travellers first
view of Great Britain is one of the best
and fairest of her material and CONNER
elai strength. Leaving the Irish chan
mel, stEaSed with lighthouses, bell
safe co7S-=-4--qer vessels, an immense
line of massive docks present its bold
front to the waters. This is work of
modern time, and marvellous even to
sea-faring eyes. In few more years,
wnat is now barren beach at the south
end will be occupied by an extension of
the docks. Such is and will be the pro-
gress of the country at this point and in
this direction. At other ports of the
kingdom, such as Bristol and London,
great undertakings are to be begun. So
that the recent sensation which has
filed Europe with regard to the designs
of the Russian Bear has not completely
stupefed the maritime senses of Old
England.
The new landing stage, destroyed a
few days after my arrival, was certainly
an achievement of very high order of
engineering Allill, and a prooke among
many otherS&n the same locality, that
the power which made England what
she is, can and will make her still greater
as she grows older.
That portion OF Liverpool bordering
on the Mersey has been, since my last
visit, dozen years ago, SO entirely
changed, so vastly improved as to be as
new as strange country to me.
London has not been asleep while the
great cities of the world have been
marching on, during IL e last decade.
Her underground railways, running IN
every direction and to every point,
are simply wonderful. Her old-nar-
row streets are being widened at an
immense cost. The most costly prop
erty in the world is being converted
into capacious streets, and superb
structures are everywhere in process of
erection. The new Victoria street, run
ming from the Mansion House, is already
magnificent, but when finished viii be
still grander. The famous Poultry will
soon be at least as wide as CIeapside.
London is also on the alert to get the
best payer cut. Her streets show th2t
she has tried everything that ! 9 ever
been known. Cheap Tide and many o5her
streets seem to succeed finely with The
asphalt, which has been rec epSly lad
on Markes, from Fifth to Third, in our
own city. 1t is interes<x0g to watch
with wi at ease and passion the I'M
meuse traffic of Cheapside is copd 1esed
upon This asphalt pavement. }Ee-
queutly remarked that if was less slip
perry than tre Nicholson and stone pave
melts. / hope 1t will pIOve to lie as
s seaAte IL t9oae dh%s il s. d Il i rs su an
icoroclast here as elsewhere. The an
Gent and even the famous things must
&C down and pass away to make room
for ne news The palet'al Northumber-
land House, opposite Trafalgar Square,
viii shortly fall, ard in its place will
rise suDdry petty kingdoms, where
princes o a diff erent order Will Old
court aud drive the car of CONNIE ,.
One evening / rode tb ugh Temple
Bar. from Fleet street, the Strand.
On the next morning We licles OF evei y
descriptjon were prohibited from pes
ing through, as the Keystone was zoos
eued and there were sundry ominous
~ he Nl n
peop'e loitered for days on the Fleet
street and Strand sides, as if anxious to
be present when the final catastrophe
arrived.
TIE danger which threatened demoli-
tiol to this old memorial OF the c Y,
awakened quite lively interest among
the people, aud the papers were agltated
with the question, % What to do with
it ?" The first impulse wi ! all was to
save it if possible. If it could no. be
preserved upon its present site, they
suggested that it should he transferred
to one of the parks. SUI dry supports
have been placed under Z, and OR er
repairs have been made, but all Of o
| temporary character, for there is but
little doubt that it will soon be taken
| down and the street made wider.
The Thames embankment is only an
| other of the numerous demonssre ions
which old $gland is giving continually
! that the pSwer which she is putting
| TO tn to preserve, mag nifty and perpetu-
ate herself is at least equal to that by
which the old Britons created her. The
banks of the Thames were formerly
very unsightly places. Now they are
simply grand in their vast proportions
of masonry and the very spacious boule
wards that now skirt the ancient limits
of the city. But to write of London IL
| her grand march of growth IN all tina
is substar .ial and beautiful in prosper
itv reauires the space of tones rathe,
than newspaper letter. Its vastnes
is absolutely bewildering:.
saw many of the Leading towns
the provinces which / had known yer,
Familiarity when a boy, and was sur
n,ised to find that what have WRITER
of Lono on is measurably dtrr,oinent local
itic J had been widened, and streets
buildings that had no better service 10
fine peoole than their antiquity, ma
been sIlDerceded by handsome strucl
ures of mrch private or pubic rtlhty
The country was arrayed IN all tn
GLORY of an English harvest time. IN
fresh green hedge rows sklrtlng tn
roads from one end of the is land to til
other. are peculiarly charming. III
land is full of flowers in town au
, country. SO that old England stl
, blooms in her seasons as regularly q
! the year rolls round.
: Bathing Children.