The daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1889-1890, 1889-08-08
EUROPEAN LETTERS.
A COACHING TRIP FROM COW
ENTRY TO OXFORD,
And Thence On to KeniIwOrth'
warwick Castle and StratfOrSl-
OIl-AVOn-M Magnificent Piles In
"Merrie England" Described.

OXFORD, England, July 20, 1889.
Editor Citizen Once more i'll the early
hours of a misty morning we glance be
hind us, and will try to carry your
thoughts over our path of yesterday,
first moraIizing little as to points which
strike us on touching the soil OF Merry
England. Why is it styled merry!
WHY are its people so happy and con-
tented? Surely it will be well for us
Americans, oppressed as we are from day
to dav with anxious thoughts, to con-
slider this question and try if we may not
,rather benefit to ourselves and children
from its careful study.
What first we note is the broad cX-
pause on all sides of green fields, bright,
lovely, cheerful, gay i'll their velvet carpet
of vcrdurc, lighted by the glorious sun
and made only more gay and beautiful
by it's living ornaments of thousands OF
fat. happy cows and tens of thousands of
sheen, which as they gambol in all dircc-
tons add sense of mirth to the land
scapc. Do YOU not think that possibly
the influence of Il scene like this may bcto
make this a nation of people happy,
merry, contcntcd? Oh, why may not we
of the South learn Of them? Surrender
our filthy stves of disgusting hogs, vast
1ur more than enough to support this
pcoplc, burning rccklcssly timber for
which these English would give millions
sterling il they could but possess it-aye,
reckless waste, want OF THRIFT want OF
nratncss, waste oflabor in crops of corn
and tobacco, on lands well suited tor
grass and cattle, prcicrrlng to protect
thousands of worthless ours and ticcs OF
low degree, rather than give care to
sheen which would afford the most de
liuhtful food on earth, after having
clothed our bodies.
For all these industries our lands and
climate are thoroughly well adapted, and
vet we allow them all to pass unhccdcd
and waste our time and substance. May
not this be one solution OF the mcrrincss
of England and OF our urOvcrwrought anNi-
,cty which shortcns our lives?
Again, a feature which we note is the
absolute confidence i'll the due execution
ofIaw which pcrvadcs these people and
seems to cngcndcr spirit of confidence
IN themselves and others almost ludicrouS
TO us who arc trained to be suspicious Of
MI men. For example: We buy tickets of
Cook in Edinburgh, because six trampcrs
wish to take this midland tourand rcjoin
the party in London, and although we
stop at many stations we are never an
moved bv an impOlitc conductor and his
suspicious looking and strapping punch,
hut Il polite guard asks us on entering,
"Arc YOU provided with tickets, sir :
oh. don't trouble yourself to show them,
please. We will call you when you reach
-" and so we are politely locked into
our carriage and left to our own amuSc-
ments. And up to the present time our
tickets have safely nestled i'll ourpockcts,
undcmandcd and unpunched Very funny,
is il not? We must attribute 1t to our
frank and honest cOuntcnancc, as we can
not think all travellers are treated so.
And at our hotel at Coventry, our
purscS being depleted by the inevitable
sixIeuCc which is pleasantly lurcd from
MS but never demanded, we baShtully ten
der our check to our landlady tho land
lords hcrc), and although utterly un-
known to her, our sign manual is readily
accepted, not only for our bill but to re-
plcnish our stock of sixpencesinrcadincss
for the days excursions. All this, we re-
rcat, is very strange to our suspicious
minds, but may not this confidence be en-.
gcndered by their implicit trustlulness in
the protection their laws afford them
against swindlers? And, if so, may not
this tend to promote their cheerful, happy
and merry dispositions?
But we have no more space for moral
izing. A glorious day is behind us, ant
must be described even though family
and impericctly by our feeble pen.
A hasty stroll around part of Coventry
gives us a peep at the original "PecpinA
Tom" as he glanced from his niche ut the
fair lady en- diShabiLc, and as he stooc
when he inspired Chauccr's story.
A hastv visit to old st. Mary's Hal
and grand old St. Michacl's church, now
undergoing its restoration. Only pass
ing glimpse at cach which deserves ant
would well repay Il week visit, and theI
we mount into a nice wagon, drawn by
a pair of English roadsters, who will
their load of seven persons, never faltcl
in their rapid steady trot, making will
the regularity of clockwork, eight miles
per hour.
On leaving the city we glance back at ;
view of Tennyson's Three Spires" OF ST
Michael's, st. Mary's and Christ church
and do not wonder at his inSpiratio
and then over an avenue lined with lovcl!
clms we reach
KENILwORTH CASTLE.
Yes, here we are, viewing its massiv
walls, ten feet in thickness, their plan
sides covered with ivy, looking dow
into it's dark dungeons, trcadinS its ole
banquet hall, gazing upwards i'll Leices
tcr's house, at the place from which w
imagine sweet Amy RobSart to hav
fallen, and finding an hour all too short
of course, but hurrying back through
gardens bordercd by a new kind OF holly
curled and varicgatcd, differing cntrel
from ours, VIC regain our wagon and tn
faithful roadsters take up once more thei
changelcss trotto
WARWICK CASTLE.
oh. for the power of mind and hand T.
give you even an idea of the glories {
this spot. We approach it from the QUITE
gate through a roadway cut out {
solid rock, OF which the sides are cOverc
with various creeping vines, and eros:
ing the drawbridge spanning the moai
90 under the Ovcrhanging portcullis 1t
huge spikes suspended i'll its groove {
rock, 90 near by "Grey's Tower" and til
awful dungeon at whose Shiny depths
glance suffiCes, and emerge upOn-wha
shall we say ?-an earthly heaven. Tt
most utterly ctherealizcd picture VIC eve
imagined. The ivy covered battlement
enclosing a smooth sward of velvet gree
turf, ornamented by droves of bright co
orcd peacocks, their plunagc an
rivaled by the brilliant flowers in careful
tended beds of every design and pattvrI
and all supported and rendered MOI
lovely by background Of the grande'
beech trees we ever bcheld between whiC
the peaceful river Avon sparkled in Il
sunshine. oh, indeed it was SO swcc
How we did long to have all of you dea
ones to enjoy it with us.
4 r,nrI nf The inimrnSc cnSIlC Is used Z