The National tribune., 1883-03-01
\ DAY IN LONDON.
The GlOrieS of Westminster Phases
of English Life.
Special correspondence National Tribune.

American There is a certain interest in walk
ing along Piccadilly and watching fine equip
| ages containing beautiful women, fJIr-clad anC
| rosy, enjoying the pleasures of Christmas shop
| ping. Then, too, the weather is entertaining
it is cold enough to Justify delightful open fire:
indoors, yet not cold enough to be uncomfort
able; and, If one stays but few days, the fog
Is amusing. December however, is by no means
/ all fog, and il is difficult to conceive anything
more exquisite than the floods of sunshine
which poured into Westminster Abbey through
/ the whole of one recent December morning
! This was morning of complete enjoyment for
1 an American. who, having puzzled and STUN
/ bled out roundabout route from Piccadilly to
! Westminster. finally entered the north tran
| sept door of the Abbey just as the closing notes
| OF the morning musical service were dying
away. 1t was pleasant to find oneself suddenly
secure from the dampnesS and mud and rush
ing vehicles of Great Georges street in the
quiet of the presence of the monumental statue
OF that wise Earl Chatham whose cOunsclS,
if they had prevailed, would have deferred the
Revolutionary war; and mi ght, perhaps, have
prevented it. If there is moment in ones
life when one is prc-eminently glad of every
scrap OF knowledge of English history and En-
glish literature, it is during ones visits to
Westminster. Perhaps the English boy who
grows mp within two miles of Westminster, to
whom Westminster is never new never feels
quite so keen a thrill of joy and pride in his
English inheritance as the American who turns
for the first time from Chatham and Pitt to
Fox and Canning, and, pausing long before the
fine monument to Lord Holland, thinks Of the
delightful group of men who gathered around
that nObleman and made his beautiful home
famous Happily it is growing even easier for
the boys and girls of America to prepare them
selves for the full enjoyment of Westminster
by means OF the delightful series of biographies
OF " English men Of letters" while reprints
make the British poets aS common in America
as they i'll England. Westminster brings
home to the mind better than all The reading
of history that can do, the unbroken
growth OF the English nation, for there was a
church here so long ago that the Danes could
destroy it in their invasion and King Edgar
could begin to rebuild it before the year 9S5;
and in all the generations that have passed
since King Edgar, much has been added to the
beloved Abbey, but nothing seems to have been
taken away save the monument. promptly re-
placed, of the boy king Edward VI. In the
chapel of Edward the ConfcSsor lie the ashes Of
that remote Saxon with those OF King Edward
|, in whose reign the English nation first
developed the practice of popular representa-
tiOn In Parliament: and of every generation
III well nigh a thousand years some trace of
the great and the good is here. 1t is of inter
est to the American to note one very great
change which has taken place in the erection
of monuments in Westminster Formerly
and in some cases little children have been
buried and given monuments here, but of late
it Is the benractOrS of the race, philanthrOpists
scientists, and commoncrS enrolled for great
achievements who have received this honor
HOW REST TIE GREAT.
Thus, for example, the Macaulays father and
son: Zachary Macaulay is revered for his efforts
TO abolish slavery in the British colonies and
his fame IS not swallowed up-it is merely ex-
puiIn -bx-t Z tIofn Of Dnh
lord Macaulay), the essayist, historian of En-
gland, aud cOdifier of the laws of India. In
scientists England is rich and there is 40 more
inspiring spot in Westminster Abbey than
portion of the nave III which lie Charles Dar-
win, Sir Charles Lyell, and the Herschcls,
commemOratcd by simple stones in the floor
beneath the mural tablet to the father of sci
ence, Newton; while it was moment never to
be forgotten in the life of a smple-minded
American boy, who holds as heavy response
bility the half million dollars inherited from
father too early slain in the struggle for
wealth. when this lad stood silent in the quiet
sunshine, reading on stone in the floor Of the
bura-place of England's heroes, Here rests
the mortal remains of George Peabody" with
the beautiful words which the American
philanthropist had used to express his prayer
that he might show himself grateful for the
blessings conferred upon him, by doing some
good thing for the benefit of his fellOwmen.
American who enters the beautiful Abbey may
well pause in revercnt silence. Mr. Peabodys
bequest of money for furnishing decent homes
at moderate rents for London wOrkingmen
and their OvercrOwded families is thought in
London, to be banefiting not quite the class for
whom it was intended but, however that may
be, there is no doubt that the Americans be-
quest stimulated thought and effort among Lon
don property-hOlders in the direction of giving
TO an enormous mass of hard-wOrking beings
their just due-a decent habitatiOn i'll which |
to make home. The amount of care that |
English working people require is inezplicable |
to the careless observer The American work /
man is disgraced if he cannot take care of him |
self and keep his children in school. Not SO !
here! Relief in aid of wages wOrkh0use life |
in off seasons private charitable bequests, want
of education, and general feeling of depend |
cncc on the gentry" have undermined the |
of thousands Of men and women in |
London that there is now n tremendous effort |
required to get these victims Of bad social order
on their own feet again. Modern statesman |
ship tries to abolish outdoor relief; and public |
opinion turns now, to the foundation OF tech |
ncal schools, instead Of gifts of coal. the fit
Use of private bequestS. fine beginning is |
made compulsory education, industrial |
Schools and postal saVingS-hauks are working |
wonders for the rising generation; but demOr- |
aliZatiOn which has grown in fearful ratio |
cured in one generation, and one vast side of |
London life is terrible TO the American eye. !
Especially hideOus is the sight of hundreds of |
uncared-for young girls roaming unkcmpt and |
void OF selfrespect through the statelieS streets
Of the beautiful, stately city. The little Eng |
iiSh child is usually attractive, however neg
lected and dirty it may be, for the moist, tenn |
perate climate makes rosy cheeks and chubby |
hands. But neglect tells later: and there is |
tragedy in nearly every block in Piccadilly, |
where the fine shop windows have strong at |
traction for young eyes that have nothing |
beautiful at home.
THE OTHER SIDE.
But one cannot read the London papers. nor |
study the workings of the charity organiza- !
tions and the school board. without feeling sure |
that the hideOus degradation of the London !
working people must yield to the efforts that |
are making; and so one may be paTdoned if |
one gives ones attention to the brighter side, /
and enjoys to the full the sweet low voices the |
quiet dressing of the men and |
women that one meets, and the exquisite soft |
ness of cOlOring that prevails in the buildings,
the sky, and the very faces of the people. This |
absence of everything glaring and of every
thing shrll is very delightful, and gives one a
sense of repOse in the busiest London streets.
The restful quality of the people themselves
shows itself in the deliberate gait and the look
Of seriousness very different from the habItual |
eager step and expression that one cannot es-
cape from in Broadway. Crowds of tall men
move i'll every direction in steady activity, with !
strides but he stri5a- dol 70 Il