The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-06-17
ENGLAND AND LONDON
THE LOvELIEsT COUNTRY AND THE
GREATEST TOWN IN THE WORLD.
Impressions of an Intelligent Writer
Who Views the Rural Region
and the City the First Time.
I. y. F.. in New York Tribune.

l. y. f., In New York Tribune
An American friend. who has lived in
| London for many years. surprised me a day
or two ago by congratuating me upon being
| a newcomer with fresh pair of eyes Il
envy any one,' he said. 1.-THE high privilege
| of making a first visit in England Ones
| first weeks in London are never to be for
! gotten; but how soon they pass and with
| them the supreme happiness Of earliest i'm
pressionsr' What he meant was that the
| high tension of sensibility speedily relaxes
| and London, with its splendid antiquity, in
| finite variety and awe-inspiring vastness
| becomes familiar and prosac. My friend
| convinced me that there might be compen-
| sations for rawness and inexperience, and
| that my earliest impressions of the loveliest
| country and the greatest town in the world
might have Soma value.
Nor am L deferred from trying what may
be rash experiment by English comments
upon the opinions expressed by NJ. Daudet
who has been visiting London for the first
time, and recording with characteristic dis
cernment and genius his Impressions in
Figaro. Cynical critics have affected
amazement that So much attention should
be paid to his reflections. He is a nov
elst. not thinker remarks the Spectator
He has never been IN England before and
he does not know English. His conclusions,
therefore, on gloomy London can have but
little value" Nevertheless the Figaro ar
ticles are reproduced in the London press.
and apparently are read with curiosity, if
| not with keen appreciation. Indeed, the
| least pretentiouS visitor soon learns when
he meets EngliShmeli that they inter
| ested in what he has to- say about their
| metropolis and their country They listen
N ia IA qlfhntfOhf ms Y
| be indifferent 10 what is written about
them, especially in American journals. The
s s~ be revsed s Teans to rum W6a
| Englishman ever reads an American jour-
raj until he crosses the atlantic" It Is for
| visited England many times and for those
| who are longing to see London, that have
| the hardihood to offer the meager evidence
| or fresh pair of eyes.
RURAL LONELINESS.
| Since one cannot come UP to London with
| out a short journey from the coast. the
| first word must be about the loneliness of
| English rural scenery. Whoever enters
| England at Southampton, the most con-
| venient gateway, seems to be journeying
! all the way through a continuous park
| planned by landscape gardener who has
known the poetry of his art. 1t is not
| necessary to refer to the distant glimpse
1
| picturesque villages, the thatched-roof cot
| ages, the stately trees, the broad sweeps
| OF level meadow. the winding lanes. the
| details. What is most remarkable in this
| series of enhancing rustic pictures is the
| absence of blemishes and flaws. There is
| nothing unsghtly at any turn. There are
| no blackened stumps bleaching in the fields;
| there are no ugly fences falling out of re-
pair; no depressions in the slopes OF the
| well-drained meadows, and no signs of
4 disorder tidinpSS l.
| lagos. There is the refinement of landscape
| art without traces of neglect, care
scenery can be more beautiful than the
! English fields and byways in May, when
the pink bloom is on the chestnuts. the
hawthorn is bursting into flower, and the
meadows. are lighted up with the golden
tints of the laburnum and innumerable red
and white flowers. Nowhere are flowers
| the trees more shapely or the fields greener.
Everywhere there is sense of symmetry
| detail. The English country scenes are not
| in transition stage with Disbursements
to be removed. The English country is
| finished. Nothing remains to be done in
| order to perfect these pictures of rural
loneliness.
The same impressions are produced by
| the magnificent pleasure grounds of Lon
| don and it's environs l do not refer to the
| new parks, commons and breathing places
controlled by the County Council and in
| process of transformation but to the old
parks. and especially to Hyde Park. Re-
| gents, Kew Gardens, Richmond and Hamp-
ton Court. These, too, like the English
a finer stroll than walk through Hyde
| Park in the early forenoon i'm the late
| afternoon. when the light is softly tenn
pered and the background is not too bril-
| liant? Or where can there be lovelier
| drive than that from Kew to Richmond,
| and thence through Busby Park to Hamp-
| ton Court? There has been long, disa-
| greeable winter. which has impaired the
| most robust human constitutions and ten
| ded to depress the most buoyant spirits
but nature has not suffered from the pro-
| tracted frosts and sharp changes. The
| trees are full and the verdure of the woods
| and fields is as vivid as ever; the oaks
walnuts, beeches, larches. cedars and chest,
| nuts show no signs OF weakness or dryness
| the azaleas are flaming with splendor. and
| over the hedgerows hangs a glory of pink
| and white and fields powdered with but
| tercups. daisies and bluebells are free from
! dust and delicate in their freshness of tone.
| The English love their trees and flowers.
| In their parks they study the broadcast and
| most restful effects, and avoid fussiness
| and pettinesS in details There is artis-
| tic sense of tranquility and repose i'm their
| landscape art that is lacking i'm American
rural and suburban scenery. Everything
| is finished, perfect and harmonious.
| IN THE GREAT CITY.
He must have indeed a dull soul who can
| time. or catch from the Thames his earli-
est glimpses of the dome of st. Pauls and
| the houses of Parliament after a long walk
| from Hyde Park to Lombard street. with
| out being profoundly impressed with the
| vastness and stateliness of London. 1t is
| modern London in d transition stage that
| ne sees. OF old London comparatively lit
| tie remains. although what there is of il is
| either splendid in form or rich in precious
| associations. There stored spots IN,
the busiest quarters haunted by bengnant
| ghosts for those VINO have eyes to see
| them: but the modern town is now so i'm
| comparably great and interesting as to dis
| courage historical "reminiscences and senti-
| famous sites. The visitor is now content
| TO have antiquity massed for him in the i'm
| comparable Abbey, the ancient churches
/ the few old-time taverns and Lighthouses
| and the Tower: and even in the last named
| spot. his attention is distracted by the
/ splendid new bridge which spans the
| Thames. That is a parable OF the rela-
| lions of past and present in London. The
| new is everywhere jostling and crowding
| out the old. London, in spite of its black
| eRed stone fronts, is essentially modern.
| IL challenges attention and admiration less
| for what IL has been than for what it is
the center of latter-dsy civilization, the
| metropolis o. the modern world.
NJ. Daudet has spoken of the silence oil
London the first thing that impressed
| him. With all the swollen traffic of the
| crowded thoroughfares and the ceaseless
movement OF equipages day and night there
Is duller roar than one expects to hear
! and IL is deep undertone rather thar
| confused medley of sounds. But one can
not be long in London without having a
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