The daily gazette., 1880-07-06
Our London Letter.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY AND ITS ILLUS
l TRIoUs DEAD-THEATRICAL
LANDS GIRLS, ETC.

WhoIMiNbIEh ABBEY AND ITS lLLUS-
D. TRIoUs DEAD-THEATRICAL
LANDS GIRLS, ETC.
Special correspondence of the Gazette.
LONDON, June 22d, 1880.
In our last we were describing West
minister Abbey. Here have been bur
led the illustrious dead of England for
the past thousand years. The space en-
closed within the outside walls is thick
with tombs; the church floor is filed
with vaults and hundreds are buried in
the walls of the church. Most of those
buried in vaults and church walls have
lite-sized figures carved in marble, over
their resting places. Many have groups
of figures of heroic size. In the church
yard, where the fat tombs are trampled
by thousands OF feet, many of the in
scriptions are entirely worn out. We
made out some dates as far back as A.
d. 967. Some looked to be older, but
so worn we could not decipher the dates.
To MS the most interesting part is the
'Poet's Corner," where lie AdlsoD,
Goldsmith, Macaulay, Campbell, Spen-
Ger, Dryden and Chaucer ca. d. 1900,
aud so many others. go Rare Ben
Johnson" is under the floor of the
chapel, and is crowded by Lords and
Ladies, Admirals and Generals.
Ii the tombs and the statuary con-
tinue to be added for the next thousand
years in the same proportion as the past,
the limits will have to be greatly ex.
tended and we wonder where the space
| will be found in city so compact that
it already seems compressed into the
smallest limits.
But it would tire you to read, as it
| wearie1 us TO see the many attractions
| and we shall leave Il for another day.
Patti and Nilsson were both to appear
in "Faust" at the Haymarket, and we
were invited to attend with a party.
We were provided with box of Lord
Il forget-facing the Royal box, one
tier below. As the Queen is in mourn
| ing for the Empress of Russia, the box
was not occupied. All the other parts
of the house, even the standing places
were full. Clustering around the Roy
al box are the boxes of the magnates of
London and we had the opportunity OF
seeing good deal of many noble forms.
This is in strictly literal sense, for
all are requested to attend in full dress,
which here means little or no dress at
all from the waist upward. The volum-
NOUS skirts were magnificent, with gold
and flashing gems. But with all their
grand toilet we failed to see single
beautiful face. Their glasses were often
turned in our direction but whether at
tracted by our fair American girls, or in
wonder as TO what rabble had possession
OF the box of one of their order, we
neither knew nor cared.
As rule the English girls are not so
graceful as the American girls, nor do
they dress with so much taste. What
beauty there is belongs largely to the
middle and lower classes; on the other
hand the men exceed ours in this respect
up to q certain age, when they grow
coarse and lose their good looks. Much
has been said about the mulishuess and
hon-obliging disposition of the English
map. We believe this holds with the
lower classes who expect sixpence for
| every question they answer, but we have
ever found the better people kindly dis
posed and ready to meet us half way In
our advances.
London would be great place to get
lost in were it not for the ever present
helmeted police who seem to spend one
half their time in patiently answering
everybodY's questions. They are ex-
pected to be epitomes of knowledge,
guide books to London, and to know all
about streets, stores, cabs and mail
roads, and everything beside. t.,.
We have given day to the British
Museum, and taken a cursory view oi
| the wonderful things Ii contains. Whilst
amid the graves OF st, Paups and West
| minister, we seemed to be in communica-
| ton with the long gone Past; and, meas
| ured by any standard In our own land
| this was literally true. But in the Brit
| ish M useum we walk through aisles OF
busts, statues, sarcoP hagi and syhinxs
| that belong to such remote past, that
| the times of Christ and the heroes of the
N ew Testament are mUdern il com pari-
| son. Here are mementoes of the days OF
Philip and Alexander, of the great bib
lical kings, and of peoples and cities that
| Christian era. All time, from Adam
and many believe even before man was
created-is here represented.
| We were interested in the autographs
| of great men and women. Here we read
| the last letter written by Charles Dick
| ems, saw prayer-DoOk IN tno manu- :
writing of Queen Elizabeth, copy of
the Koran, written in gold letters nine
hundred years ago, original poems by
Burns, Campbell nd Scott; deed for
q house signed by William Chdkspeare;
other of ShAkespeare's writings, inclu-
ding some of his plays-and hundred
other interesting manuscripts by those
persons whose names are known to us
| dimly through record and hearsay.
Here is a piece of tapestry over three
| hundred years old, worked by the busy
! needles OF queen and her maiden, who
devoted the greater part of their lives to
the work. 1t represents history OF the
times, and Is three hundred feet il
length. u .. fnL .rt
| see by the Times thas the earliest
| wheat-head reported In England for this
| year was on the 10Th. This is an early
season; last year the first was JNne Goth
| As to the comparative earliness of the
season 1 am unable to judge; but the past
| two eeks las been abominable wealth
ar. IL has rained every day, with one
exception, and to-day (June 22d) over.
coats are in demand, 1t is cold, clammy
and wet The sun rises clear and prom.
ises fine day; by ten O'Clock the rain