Letter 22.
London.
Dear Charley:—
No one comes to London without being told by every one to go and see the parks; so we have been to see these fine breathing places. Hyde Park is about four hundred acres, and has as many as half a dozen great entrances. Its position is high, and it is the great drive of the people of fashion. If you want to see London, you must come here on a fine summer day in June, at about four o'clock, and you will gaze on the finest and gayest equipages of England. A very pretty piece of water is in this park, which is called "the Serpentine River." The best skating of London is to be seen here, we are told, in hard winters. The entrance from Piccadilly is by a fine threefold arch. Here is the great Achilles of bronze, in honor of Wellington, made out of the cannon which the duke captured in Spain. St. James's and the Green Park: this is the oldest in London, and was made by Henry VIII. A fine arch affords entrance from Piccadilly, having a bronze colossal equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington. You get grand views of the Abbey towers, Buckingham Palace, the York Column, and other objects of interest. The two parks are about one hundred and fifty acres. Regent's Park is one of the most attractive spots in this great city. Here are villas of the finest kind. Some of the prettiest terraces and rows of houses about London are here to be seen. This park contains nearly five hundred acres, and, among other attractions, the Botanical and Zoölogical Gardens, and the Coliseum. Victoria Park, near Bethnal Green, is a new one, of about three hundred acres; but we did not visit it.
Besides these, there are more than thirty squares, some of which are very beautiful, and are finely planted and adorned. Belgrave Square is exceedingly rich in its appearance; the houses are built in the Corinthian order.
Northumberland House, at Charing Cross, is the city residence of the Duke of Northumberland. This, externally, has no great beauty, but is surmounted by the lion of the Percy family. It was built in 1605. This noble mansion has been politely opened by its proprietor to the visits of the foreigners who are here at the exhibition. It is a princely mansion; and, although we had recently been to Windsor, and seen the royal residence, yet we thought this palace home almost regal in its splendor. The staircase is splendid, and the apartments are very magnificent. The hall and drawing-rooms are quite equal, in decorations and paintings, to the rooms at Windsor. We were much pleased with two large pictures—a fox and deer hunt, by Snyders; but there were so many, that it is difficult to single out those we admired. There are some beautiful paintings of Napoleon, and exquisite carvings in ivory. In one of the saloons we were all struck with a large Sevres china vase, presented to the Duke of Northumberland by Charles X., at his coronation, at which occasion the duke was present as ambassador extraordinary, and made a most astonishing display of English wealth and liberality.
Sion House, near Brentford, is another palace belonging to the duke. This noble mansion is on the banks of the Thames, and is composed of freestone. It is very gorgeously furnished, and the hothouses and conservatories are not much, if any, inferior to Chatsworth. This mansion has also, been opened to visitors from abroad, and we received orders from the minister.
One of the sweetest features about the metropolis, to my taste, is the vast number of charming villages that surround it. Go where you may, you fall in with cottages, villas, and mansions, that convey to the mind the ideas of comfort, elegance, and wealth.