The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1878-05-11

! aFcnWdyS ana tE6HnenuOuS waits OF
masonry the work looks as though
it might have been performed hy a
race of 'Fitans long since extinct, in
stead of the Pigmies you see laboring
by the wayside.
From Liverpool TO London the rail-
way runs through country which
/ gives you the impression of being en
tirely finished-it seems as if there
was nothing more to do. The fields
are all prepared, the lawns are all
moved, the hedges are trimmed, all
the little bits of straw and hay have
been picked up from the road and
the wayside, and there is nothing left
for anybody to do. There were but
few people visible in the country all
were huddled in the towns. Disem-
barking at the Vitcoria Station, |
found my way to quarters just back
of the Strand, and only short dis
tance from Waterloo Bridge and Som
erset House. Within sight was the
building where the traitor Benendict
Arnold died. Ny own quarters were
once the abode of the vagabond Earl
of Rochester. The room [ occupied
had an air of gentility, of the gloomy
and grand order; and as the gay Earl
is not considered model by the good
| people of Exeter Hall, it was perhaps
! as we'll for my sweet peace of mind
that | knew no more of its history !;
but as blew out the light and jumped
into bed the red glare from the CRATE
lit up the face of grand cavilier in
high ruff and buff boots, who hung
against the wal, aud as sunk iDto an
uneasy slumber, he seemed to step
down from the canvas, and tell me
a jumble of C9ur- de-Leon and Will
lam the Conqueror; Edward the Con-
fessor, Jane Shore, and the great Pro-
teetor and Henry the Eighth's three
wives, who came out minus their
heads, and good Queen Bess, with her
red head and hnoked nose; of Guy
Fawkcs and Lord George Gordon's ri
OTIS. | was just about to fire off the
great krupp gun on a mob which had
attacked Windsor Castle. and Queen
Victoria was looking out at me from
King Wiliiam's Tower, when / awoke.
The misery of a London fog is ac-
kDowledged Wherever British civili-
cation is Known. The rain came pat
tering down filling the streets with
sloppy wretchedness and. mud. The
miserable weather gave no respite to
the millions whose cry of want is
unceasing. Dripping and soggy, a
restless tide of humanity rolled down
Oxford street and the Strand. Women,
with clothes all wet and soaking,
pushed carts along the streets, loaded
with vegetables or fish. Costermong-
ers, driving little donkeys about the
size of a Newfoundland dog, trotted
along, whistling as cheefully lis if it
had been a balmy day in June. All
London was astir, and, indeed,
might say all England. The chances
of IL disturbance with Russia were,
for the moment, forgotten, for sthe
University boat race was on the tapis,
and everything else had to give way.
Oxford and Cambridge were in tie
ascendant, and till that important
matter was settled, they lad no time
TO waste on the consideration of the
probable consequence of the thunder
of British guns awakening the Rus
sian Bear, or even the assassination
of the Earl of Leitrim among the hills
of Donegal. Ii you want to see Eng
land out fora holiday, just come aud
take ii look at her on Derby Day, or
at the time of the University boat
race. The love of athletic sports has
always found very warm corner in
the true British heart. A hundred
years ago, the prize ring sent a mem
Der to the House of Piuliament, and
noblemen, whose pedigrees went
back to the Conquerer, stepped into
the rope circle to encourage their re-
speetiye favorites. Now the @boat
race and the walking match furnish
healthier excitement for the million,
aud the elite of Britain's aristocracy,
attended by all that is gentle and
beautiful in the land, lend the sane
ton of their presence to that which
may be called the national carnival
of the year. But, the boat race ended,
the thing is done with, and business
goes on as before.
Nothing impresses stranger in
England more than the grand scale
on which everything is done. 1t may
possibly take them some time to
make up their minds (for nobody ap-
pears in a hurry, but when they
have made up their minds, it is no
longer matter of trouble or expense.
1t is no matter whether it is the send.
ing an army TO the mountains of Abys-
sinia, or fitting out an. expedition to
the North Pole; suecoling the starv-
ing. millions of India, or building
railroad depot that ,ivals in magnif-
cence tile palaces of her kings-tle
motto is Thorough" The rever-
ence of England for her honored dead
greets you on every hand The gal
liant Victor Of Trafalgar stands guard
over the priceless treasures of the
National Gallery, willie Haverlock
and Napier look up from the granite
base to the 'grandcst of England's
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