Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-08-15
SUMMERING ABROAD.


inbOrO' TOWn-The Heart OF Mid
Lothian - HOIyrOOd-The Home OF
walter SeOtt-HIstOrie YOFk-LOn.
dOn's Three MtInOn-The Abbey, the
Cathedral and the Museum-Gay
Paris-A Startling DlOrama Yer.
saiIes -
Correspondence Of the Union and American.
PARIS, July o.-EurOpe-staid, sober
! and grave, with the frosts of centuries upon
its aged brow, is 50 unlike America, young,
| joyous, verdant, gay, free and independent
America-that to give yOu a correct idea Of
all the interesting scenes that have crowded
upon me in our hasty Journey through this
country, would, fear, too severely tax
your patience, Is well as occupy many
hours in detailing them Every thing is so
difierent-the mountains and the valleys,
| the hills and the plains, the rivers aud the
! islands, and the manners and customs Of
the people, are all so dissimilar to those of
nay own loved nation, as almost to make
one believe that we are not living upon the
same globe, nor in the same age. Here all
seem to live in and be satisfied with the
past, while our people are living in the
present and seek TO improve the future.
Yet, when night comes, and look upon the
it the same no mutations - the
same yesterday, to-day, and forever. The
moon with It's borrowed light sheds its
same soft refUlgence upon me-the same
little stars 'ssing together in the heavens
Venus, as the evening star, mOdestly
guards the golden West, and in the morn
heralds the coming day as the sun hurries
up from his drOwsy sleep to bring on the
dawn. Mercury, the messenger of the
gods, walks in the same beaten path around
the sun. AndrOmeda still hides its bushes
beyond Pegasus, CassOpeia and Perseus. |
Byra still illumines the zenith. The Sis
ter beams of the Pleiades still light the |
way across the trackless waters for the |
timid mariner, and the great Wstch-stars, |
blocking meekly to their sovereign in the |
North, steadily point to the magnet Of the |
compass. They are all unchanged and |
seem like the familiar faces of friends |
beamIng with affection upon me in a |
foreign land among stTangeTs-a glorious |
proof of Gods immutability, true token /
Of His love and care for mankind. With /
out these lights and manifestations, dark, |
indeed, would be the path Of The mariner /
across the mad ocean and Of the sad wan
deTeT upon earth.
Since my last letter have visited
STERLING CASTLE,
the birthplace of James ii, and James Y,
where the Prince Of Orange was hurled
from the window after his assassination.
l sat in the chair occupied by James VI, of
Scotland, and James ] of England, when he
received his crown. No one then thought
that his seat would ever be filed by the
daughter Of one of the SOveTeigns of Amer
lea. l saw the pulpit from which was
preached the coronation sermon by John
Knox, whose life IS no mean part Of Scot
tish history. Thence we went to Edin-
burg, and when "within a mile Of Edin-
bOro town" my heart seemed attuned 10
the music of that beautiful Scotch ballad.
soon We were passing through the ''Hes-t
of Mid Lothian" joyfully anticipating the
most delightful pleasures OF its classic as
sOclaJiOns. This beautiful city, by en-
thUsiasts called
THE "AIODERE ATHENS"
sits in fine relief before the grim old cas-
tie (whOse rocks seem to have formed and
grown in the place low occupied by them),
the Gallon Hill, the Salisbury Craigs aud
Arthur's Sat, which rise glOOmily and
msjsstically in the background. Not long
after our arrival in the city We were domi-
ciled in the ROYAL MCGTegOr Hotel, OpDO-
|
Sir Walter Scott, which, lending an ex-
quisite Inspiration to the soul, lifts IFS
head high above he city, as if to breathe
the C oil air Of night and battle its brow in
the refreshing mists of morn. 1t is
gothic pyramid, two hundred feet high,
while it shelters the colossal statue, in a
sitting posture, of the Scottish Bard and
King Of Fiction. This splendid memorial
is the happy conception of the brain of
the self-taught architect. Kempt. We |
climbed to its top, and from there had a
bird's-eye view of the great city. We then
procured a carriage and visited the Castle. |
Here the drivers Of cabs and carriages are
well versed in all the legends of places Of |
note, and recite them with al air Of OsteH-
tatiOus learning peculiar 10 themselves and
to the American pedant; but with such IA
pidity and singular emphasis and brOgue
as scarcely TO be understood. Among tee
sights at this old Castle I saw "MOre's Meg
a gigantic cannon used az the seige of Nor
ham Castle I'm 1875. The view from the
grey old Castle is lovely indeed Here
you see laid out before you the whole city
Of Edinburgh-the old and the new pOr-
tons, connected By bridges-the streets
running under them, monuments rising
here and there-and the whole city a mon
ument Of architectural skill and beauty.
l visited the
HOLLYWOOD PALACE.
Twas here in 1865 Mary Queen Of SCOTS
was united in marriage TO Darnley. Her !
apartments, as Well as much Of the furni-
ture Of Charles ], is still preserved. aud
kept As she left II. Aud here, too, RizZiO's
blood still stains the floor. The Chapel
Royal is now in ruins, but it shows the
splendor Of the Gothic architecture-one
doorway being pretty well preserved.
After seeing all the c1riOsities Of Edin-
burgh, We startedEor London, and on our
way we stopped al
ABBOTTsFORD,
once the home of Walter Scott. 1t is one of
stThe pilgrim shriDcs, the Delphian wales,
The Meccas Of the mind
Every one is acquainted with the appear
ance Of AbboltsfOrd from the numerous
engravings published all over the world.
From here we went to MelrOSe Abbey; a
,plended ruin, in which is buried Alexan-
der III. and the heart of Bruce. On our
yay we also stopped at RipOn, where we
visited the beautiful pleasure grounds Of
Earl de Gray. In this vicinity is situated
the most magnificent view in Great |
Britain-Fauntauss Abbey. Here we took
our luncheon, eating strawberries five
inches in circumference.
AT YORK
saw a portion Of the wall built by the
Romans, now used as a promenade. York
is beautiful city of about fifty thousand
and exhibits many marks OF
age upon its features. Seventy years before
Christ AgTicOla made it his headquarters
Il was here Serverus the Emperor closed his
eyes upon the world, and here the inst
Christian Emperor, Constantine, was born.
Here, too, tie first Christian Church, in
North Of England reared its head and be-
sought the blessings of the Redeemer Of
the world to rest upon il. From this place
we went directly 10 London,
THE "GREAT METROPOLIS
of the world pa nation within itself
over three million souls cOngregated in and
under the government of one city. "TOo
vast for comprehension, too bewildering
for description" Its immensely is enough
to weary the very wings Of Imagination
e'er they had carried thought over its con-
fines. Here 1 visited the Westminster
Abbey. The impressions made upon me
were indesCTibable. Singular feelings OF
admiration and Of ave, were caused by
a n Il nHn