National Republican., 1880-12-25
OUR LONDON LETTER.
THE OLD KENslNoToN MUSEUM.
Rare and Antique Curlositles - Dickens Masu-
scrlpts-Poets' Letters 49, Illustriou Per-
sons-Nirsinla Papcrs-Thaukssiv-
Ing Dinner to Americans.
snccinl nn,rcsnon,Lencc Nn,lonnl Rln,hicnn.

ana ornaments are to be seen. ono pair OF can
dclobra, ofthc finest Dresden porcelain nre over
six feet high, and beautifully ornamcucd IN gIt
and colors. Ornaments. rare and curious, In jade,
agate and crystal greet you everywhere. Twelve
plates Of finest crystal are engraved In u,ns
terly manner with NEUROLOGICAL subjects. Jewels,
precious stones, brooches and rings are In ono
collection. Roman rings rings with inscriptions,
jcwccd snuffboNcs In sardonyx, crystal. and
mosaic Nrc displayed IN abundance. Among tho
curious brooches Is one which was supposed IA
have belonged to Mary of Modcnu, on the occasion
Other marriage with James II. II isoval in shape.
set round with garnets and pearls. The centre Is
of hair, on which Is set n golden monogram.
Among the watches are two which seem very odd
to the eyes Of this century. One of them hass
golden case In the shape of an apple, ensmelcd In
green and surrounded with belt Of pearls. The
other Is mclon.shapcd cnamcled In blue, with
golden leaves and stems.
Among the useful objects are stoves. lNcqucred
or cnnmclcd In green. They are solid. but orna-
mental and were used In the sixteenth century.
Many old and queer musical instruments belong
ing to "nuld lang synG" are displayed. A spinct
said to bclongt the Princess Elizabeth, ntcrwam
Queen of bohemia, daughter of James l. IL unique
In design, 1t has gilt and leather case, The iu'
terror Is pancled with NEUROLOGICAL subjects In
cOlored glass and adorned with plaques of frosted
silver and pearl. The keys, forty.nve In number,
are covered with frosted silver plaques. Tho
lovers OF old lace here find treat In patterns and
designs flacos of all nations and every variety OF
manufacture from the most expensive and clabo
ratio to the simpler and cheaper patterns.
CHARLES DICKENS MANUSCRIPTS.
In room devoted TO oil paintings and water
colors are desks with glass tops Under these glass
tops repose the manuscripts and letters of Dickens
and other celebrated writers. The original manu-
script of MARTIN Chuzzlcwit," david Copper
field" and half dozen of his other novels herd
appear In the same dress that they were when they
first went to the printer Dickens manuscripts
cannot be called remarkable either for lcgibilty
or ncntncss. III appearance they In no way sur
pass that Of the ordinary hurried writer for tho
press. They IRE written with blue ink in rather
cramped hand. There are many intorlneatlons
and crasuros Some whole lines are struck out
and other words written above them. Tho last
page of" Edwin brood" looks much like his other
manuscripts, although trile nonter In appear
ancc This page was written In the Swiss Chalet,
in the shrubbcry his house ut Gads Hill, noar
Rochester, In the afternoon of his last day of con-
seriousness.
Among the manuscripts In this room are lcttcri
of Pope, Milton, De Foe, Swift and other cols
bratcd persons and poets.
LITTER FROM LORD BYROs
to Lady Hunt reads thus:
"DEAR HUNT: send you some game, which
peg y0S 70 e accent u" insure NmG against n she p0r
ridges, which hope are fresh My stay In town
has not been long and | am now ogouized over
my departure carly next month, preparatory to
business"
Here the letter abruptly ends.
Aletter from Sir Edwin Landseer II. A., in an.
swer TO nm invitation to dine at the Star aud
Garter" Is quite droll. Amer thanking him for
the invitation, and explaining that it will he al.
most impossible for him TO come at the appointed
hour, he writes:
hnnp IN hp n ttp fhnrn n non
drawing of start and (another pen drawing,
quite artistic In its way of ladys foot and limb;
the foot Is slippered and the limb bound with
gnrtcrl in time for lhis last effort In pen drawing
terminates in champagne botte,''l
A lotter from tho Princess Elizabeth, known as
the Queen of Bohemia, sometimes called, from her
grace and beauty the Queen Of Hearts, although
yellow with age, Is we'll preserved. 1t was written
at Heidelberg, In 1918 or 10, after the death of her
mother, the Queen of Denmark. 1t Is written 10
the bishop of London John King) The writing
Is In crampcd, school girl hand but lcgble. She
has sent him her picture In the care Lady ApSby,
and apologies: "I am sorry she says that tho
drawing is not better but there are no good draw.
crs In this country"
ORIGINAL STATE PApERs or VIRGINIA.
Mr.. Stevens, one of the directors of the British
Museum, has in his possession papers which ho
claims are original records Of the State of Virginia,
covering space of seven years, during the child
hood of Washington He claims that iC the records
of the State were searched the papers covering
these seven years would bo found missing. These
papers are to nll appearances authentic, md aro
curious and interesting. They were for some p,lr.
pose brought over here In colonial times and still
remain rs u mcmento of our former connection
with the mother country.
A THANKSGIVING DINNER,
Mr.. Digeow, quOndam resident of Washington.
but who has lived many years in London, gave y
Thanksgiving dinner to few American friends
on the 25h of November Mr. Bgclow's elegant
home was the scene of as merry and pleasant
party as could be imagined, Each card of the
| menu had at the bottom an admirably executed
etching OIL different subjects from the hand Of
Miss Bigclow, daughter of the host. The bill OF
fure contained two articles which are ever dear TO
the American heart-nnmcly, pumpkin pie and
mincc pie. The toast of the evening was given by
Charles Sheppard, formerly of Buffalo n. Y, who
was for many years American consul 10 Leeds
Mr.. Sheppard remarked briefly that "a Thanks
giving dinner was essentially family affair,
and that, as he had made 1t u rule OF his
life never to Interfere In family matters per.
hapS the less said the better but that he
might say that possibly the dear ones at home
in the States wcro Mt their dnGcr ut This very
| time. II was now eight o'clock with US, and that
| Il was usual at home to have Thanksgiving dinner
| at two" lie finished his little speech by saying
GOD bless our dear ones every one" 1t may be
stated In this connection that ruinOr boldly whis-
| pcrs that Mr. Sheppard has recently become
| allanccd TO n beautiful and cstimablc lady Of
| Bradford, England Among the guests were Nclie
| Gr0utSartoris Mr. Hubbard, who Is largely idCn.
| titled with the telephone interests; Mr. James NJ.
Omcs aud wife and Mrs. Lura NJ OcmeS, (Mr.
| OrmcS was cue of those earnest workers who
| helped make the telephone famous In America,
and Is now, in connection with his home interests.
general manager of the Oriental Telephone Com.
| pany); Mr.. and Mrs, James Tracy, of New York,
| (Mr. Tracy Is also well known in the telephone
ranks; Mr., King correspondent of tho Boston
journal, and Mr.. Munger, an artist of some fame.
NELLIE GRASr,sARToRIs.
| Mrs. Sartors Is looking ifanythlng, more bloom.
ing aud lovely than she did rs Nellie Grant There
| l. u charm, an innocent Haircs about her, which
clings to her the bloom docsto the peach. With.
| out being exactly handsome. she Is altogether
lovely She will probably not visit America before
| the end of another year. ShO complains SOmcwhpt
of tho dulneSs Of hcrcountry lltc aud thinks New
York aud Washington tho only two cities of tho
universe worth living In. Mr. Sartoris Is eStraya-
ghnlly fond Of huntnga and fishing and utilIlcS his
time so indptrioualy In this way that Mrs SnrIorls
often lnds herself alone, and n her nclghbOrs are
not to her taste she Is often dull She was dressed
! In pae pink silk, garnlshed with lace Her orna,
mcnts were necklace of pink coral, carved Ia tho
| shape of shells, Il pin with large diamonds set In
| the form of cross, and diamond star Speaking
of weddings, she said, with the frank implicitly VI
child, "Ithlnk weddings are delightful, should
| like another wedding myself although, ot course,
| | should marry my husband" l.. ". q.
Three Oriental Pcrs0ua'4.
| Our now consul at Nngnsuki, japan. ,crH, iu be
| aware Of the repeal of the national huSgupt law,
as We learn that he Is putting an Amr au r.ilcn
Of that port through bankruptcy under aU,l INV
| Tho verdict In the trial of an American citizen
by Consul Lord at WonChow upon change OF