Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1889-09-24
MISCELLANEOUS.
Letter from London.
Mr.. Wilson'S Dissertations.
Correspondence of the Baltimore SIM

LONDON, Sept. 1.-The Sun kindly invited
me before leaving home to give its readers
some of my impressions of the country and
people should visit. AS it has been truly said
that every one sees with the eyes he brings
with him, a rapid traveller cannot wisely offer
more than his own personal Impressions. Pos
sibly, too, he should give these promptly as
he can after reaching n country. for, while de-
lay may add to their accuracy, it will inevitably
blunt their Vividness. Mr.. Froude's recent
/ book the English colonies in the West In
dies has not often been surpassed for charm
1 aud picturesgueness- of narration although as
a vehicle of fact it has been most ardently con-
tetred by the people about whom he wrote.
ENGLISH LIFE FROM THE INNER CIRCLE.
| have spent, in all, about month in Eng
land, and under circumstances that gave pc
culiar Zent and instruction to my visit. While
| in London was the guest of u former neigh
| Dor aud very near friend, a native of Jefferson
county w. Va, who. being educated at Ok
| ford, became clergyman of the Established
| Church. and is now the vicar of an important
parish in the immediate vicinity of Westmiu-
ster Abbey. the Parliament House. St. James
/ Palace and other places of interest. l have
| thus something of English life from the
| inner circle of a refined family. while the trav-
eler ordinarily views everything from without
aided by guides and guide books alone In
deed, may say, In passing. that American
- tourists" are swarming all through the Brit
ish isles this SUMMER, and at every noted place
| or historic scene one meets them, singly or in
companies. Travel from the ' States" If not
| an item of revenue to be entered in the En-
glish budget has become large and growing
source of profit to English hotels RAILWAYS and
tradespeople, and 1 am convinced that self-in-
terest has so sharpened the powers of obserya-
| ton of these latter that at n glance they can
detect the nationality of their customers
| Finding this my own experience wherever I
went. 1 asked a shopkeercr in Oxford how he
could so quickly tell an American. Because" !"
| he answered ''the Britisher has 'artier look +"
| And in truth the Britisher" has generally q
| heartier look. He seems to be a good animal,
| which Herbert Spencer truly says is the first
requisite of success in life. He lives more in
the open air than we do, has more braciup
climate, cooler in summer and warmer In win
| ter. and in dict and business habits doubtless
| conforms more nearly to the laws of health
The most marked and pleasant manifestation
! of this is seen IN the women, whose rosy cheeks
and youthful looks 90 with them much farther
| in life than in other lands. There will be no
| decline in the physical vigOr of the people as
ances imply.
THE LADIES AS WALKERS
OF the often-noted powers of walking of the
ladies had a striking and pleasant experience
| in the case of my hostess, the mother of five
children, daughter of the Bishop of Exeter,
well-knOwn in religions circles in the United
States by his poem, q Yesterday, To-day and
Forever" Occasionally she accompanied me
in sightseeing, and although am, believe.
| an unusually good walker, ] found myself more
| than once seeking rest, While she, without any
| apparent sense of fatigue. would go of imme-
diately some errand of mercy or work of
charity in her husbands parish.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
London is richer than any other place in the
world in objects of interest TO the student of
our history and cur institutions. and should
not hesitate TO declare Westminster Abbey the
most interesting spot in all London, not for its
architecture, or its age, or its religious assOci-
atiOns, but because it is the building through
which for many centuries the stream of En-
glish history has flowed in all its grand di-
visions, royalty, statesmanship. literature and
naval and military achievement and left its
monuments there. Within its chapels. upon
its walls or storied Windows in its aisles and
beneath the stones of its floors, are gathered
the cofiined dust. the mausoleuns. the monu-
ments and busts. the epitaphs and memorials
of nearly all who have held high position or in
any field of noble effort added to the luster OF
the English name. 1 say nearly all. because
the abbey belongs 10 the Church of England
as is religious memorials plainly attest, al
though in science it ho9ors Darwin along with
Barrow and Sir Isaac Newton. Moreover one
of the greatest of Englishmen, Oliver Crom-
well, buried in the eastern part of the abbey,
on the restoration of Charles II was taken
from his grave, although his daughter still rests
there in the truce of death among the Tudors
and Stuarts and HanoyeTian princesses, daugh-
ters OF kings who were sorry figures indeed
compared with her sturdy father. The abbey
is under the independent charge Of dean,
who is nominated by the crown, and am told
he still follows the ancient custom of reading
q formal protest whenever the Bishop of Lon
don visits the abbey against bis claiming ite
jurisdiction as belonging to his diocese. Ite
late dean, DR.. Stanley, was as well known and
honored in America as in England, and among
his many efforts to be useful TO his fellOW-men
he was in the habit occasionally, on Saturday
afternoons, of taking an invited party of work
. ingincn OF others through the abbey and illus
trating its treasures with his great stories o.
I historical knowledge.
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ABBEY.
His successor and biographer, Dear: bradley
continues the custom, and eagerly accepted
: his hearty invitation to join small party, con
sigting of delegation of young men and womeI
s from society of working people in East Lon
don and daughter of the Duke of Argyle