Letters of Travel 
 
 from 
 
 Caspar Morris, M. D. 
 
 1871 H.1872 
 
 To His Family 
 
 Printed for Private Distribution 
 1896
 
 550 
 m5lL 
 
 TIMES PRINTING HOUSE 
 PHILADELPHIA
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 > 
 
 Philadelphia, September i6, 1873. 
 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 This day a year ago we were in Edinburgli. It is a bright 
 autumn atternoon. I have risen refreshed from an hour's 
 slumber. The sun shines brightly on the photograph of the 
 Colosseum hanging before me, and this revives the promise 
 made to your Mother that I will arrange, revise and correct 
 for preservation, the letters written to you during our travels ; 
 which you have so carefully and lovingly kept, and which lie 
 in one of the drawers of the desk kindly presented by my 
 good brother Henry, on our return ; which stands beneath 
 that photograph, at the foot of the sofa on which I have 
 rested. 
 
 What better time than NOW. Often has the request 
 been urged and compliance promised and postponed. Where 
 will postponement leave me ? When shall I find more leisure, or 
 be better qualified for the duty ? It is a duty and like all 
 duties may be converted into a pleasure by a ready and cheer- 
 ful discharge. 
 
 To your Mother it is due by every obligation. Most 
 reluctantly and at a great sacrifice of her comfort and will, she 
 consented to accompany me on the tour which she hoped
 
 would be beneficial to me. Most cheerfully she submitted to 
 the privations and trials incident to travel ; most lovingly she 
 ministered to the support of my often fainting spirits ; and 
 most lovingly and efficiently did she contribute her share to 
 the common stock of enjoyment. 
 
 I have quite forgotten the contents of the letters. I 
 know only that they are truly photographs — instantaneous 
 pictures — of events and scenes and impressions and feelings 
 as they presented themselves to the eye or affected the mind 
 and heart, as we passed through them. 
 
 And as I now seat myself, with the same pen in hand 
 with which they were all written, and to paper such as many 
 of them were written upon, though the scenes themselves 
 have passed away and the circumstances are so diverse — your 
 mother busied once more at her loved employment of sewing 
 for the benefit of her children and grandchildren — and I 
 seated in the modest but cheerful room we call the "Library" 
 in the new home where we are probably to spend the few 
 declining years of the evening of our life. In this under- 
 taking I cannot be said ''' rcnovare infandwn dolor em " though 
 about once more '•'' errare per terras et super inare''\- it is 
 rather nearer the fact that these memories, " redolent of joy 
 and youth " seem to " breathe a second spring." 
 
 Whatever these letters may fail to present, they tell a true 
 tale of our experience and exhibit the representation of our sor- 
 rows and our joys ; and as you read them (if read them ever 
 any of you may) you will find in them the representation of 
 the incidents which occurred, and the thoughts those incidents 
 suggested, and the feelings and emotions they stirred in my 
 heart, recorded at the moment while they were most vivid. 
 Always hastily done, often in the weariness of rapid travel, 
 there is of course much imperfection. 
 
 I look back upon it all with much gratitude to your uncle 
 Wistar and your Aunts, to whose liberality we are indebted
 
 for having afforded lis such an opportunity for enjoyment ; 
 and with humble devout thankfulness to the gracious provi- 
 dence of a merciful God and loving Redeemer, who was with 
 us in all our goings out and comings in, and through perils 
 by sea and perils by land and all the vicissitudes of the way, 
 brought us safely back and preserved you all to welcome us 
 once more, HOME. 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 NOTE — Philadelphia, December, 1896. 
 
 These letters, with the exception of a few which had been partially 
 prepared for publication by our Father, Dr. Caspar Morris, in accor- 
 dance with his intention, as expressed in the foregoing introduction, 
 are printed just as they were written, without alteration or revision. 
 
 Some are unfortunately missing ; notably, one describing the 
 journey through the Stelvio Pass, and another of vivid interest and 
 thoughtful reflections after his visit to the Catacombs of Rome. The 
 majority of our INIother's letters were messages of affection and 
 detailed family correspondence, which in our opinion she would prob- 
 ably not have wished preserved for any but those to whom they were 
 addressed. Wherever any letter of hers appears it was found among 
 our Father's letters as arranged by him, and has therefore been printed 
 with them. 
 
 This volume is published solely for distribution to the familj^, 
 which in the score and more of years elapsed since the introduction 
 was written, now embraces many who never knew the writer. For 
 these younger grandchildren and great-grandchildren who had not the 
 privilege of personal association, with all its accompanying evidences 
 of a Father's constant love and tenderness, we trust both pleasure and 
 profit may be found in reading this record of impressions made upon 
 an active and studious mind. In the comments and reflections upon 
 the scenes through which he passed — expressed with that ease and 
 grace which gave him throughout his life not only the pen of a valued 
 correspondent, but the charm of an intelligent and sympathetic con- 
 versationalist — we venture to hope that they may not fail to discover 
 repeated and ever present assurance of that charity which possessed
 
 and animated him through all his walks in life, making him in very 
 truth " the beloved physician " in many households beside his own. 
 Though failing health in his latter years caused his steps unwil- 
 lingly to falter in the path of the profession to which he was devoted, 
 and in which his success was measured b}' the affectionate respect of 
 thankful patients, his Faith, Hope and Charity — and the greatest of 
 these was charity — for all men, never forsook him through months of 
 painful illness. We would have the generations of his descendants 
 who are yet to come, think of him not onh- as the student, as the 
 healer of men, as the affectionate father of a devoted family, but we 
 would have them remember the pattern and example of his life as a 
 Christian gentleman, who has left the heritage of a stainless name. 
 May the spirit of his life be ever present, ever speaking in the words 
 of one of his favorite poets, bidding each one : 
 
 " So live, that, when thy summons comes, to join 
 The innumerable caravan, that moves 
 To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
 His chamber in the silent halls of death. 
 Thou go not like the galley slave at night 
 Scourged to his dungeon ; but, sustained and soothed 
 By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 
 Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
 About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 
 
 Israel "W. Morris, 
 Galloway C. Morris.
 
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 Steamship "Scotia," Wednesday. 
 My Dear Sister Emily : 
 
 Kneeling on one knee (there are no loose chairs you know to draw 
 up to the table), I avail myself of the last quiet moments, QUIET ? 
 before being ' ' cast off, ' ' to say to you how our hearts yearn toward 
 you and all we leave behind us. Thus far " all well," and we would 
 desire, and pray for more faith to say, simply, truly and humbly, 
 looking into the dark future, "all is well." Our Father is there, and 
 as of old, so still, ' ' though I take the wings of the morning, and 
 dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there Thy hand shall lead 
 me and Thj' right hand shall hold me. ' ' 
 
 The very act of writing the words brings forcibly present to the 
 soul the richness of the assurance. Not that all should be as we will, 
 may I reverently say, God forbid that it should be as I will. My will 
 is corrupt, my judgment infirm. Both have often lead me astray. He 
 never, never, and never will. Neither does He leave or forsake those 
 whom we leave behind. You there, I here, He with both, and all 
 equally and eternallj'. 
 
 When you see Mrs. Cope remember us gratefully to her, and most 
 lovingly too, and also to Mrs. Buckley. 
 
 My sheet is insufficient to record all the names of those who 
 crowd around my heart with tokens of their love. 
 
 But I must say ' ' farewell. " " May the God of all grace keep 
 your heart and mind, and preserve you blameless, to the coming of the 
 Lord." All would join in "Amen " if they were near. 
 
 Your truly loving brother, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Steamship " Scotia, " July i, 1871. 
 My Dear Son Galloway : 
 
 Our thoughts turn toward those we leave behind us, who have 
 been so long and so intimately entwined with the inmost fibres of our 
 hearts, that these cannot throb without striking some chord which
 
 vibrates in common with 3'onrs. We are now more than half seas 
 ■over, and have been blessed with perfectly propitious weather ; not 
 always sunshine ; that was too hot and glaring, burned the cheeks of 
 all around, and blistered the noses and ears of some. On some days 
 the fog has been so dense that we have heard the constant reiteration 
 of the shriek of the fog whistle, and sometimes there have been 
 showers of rain; but through all we have been pressed onward by fair 
 winds, and the temperature has been so cold as to require all our well 
 provided wrappings. 
 
 Everything has been thought of b}' our various friends, so that 
 we are objects of envy to less favoured fellow-voyagers. 
 
 The accommodations of the ship are all that could be asked ; and 
 she herself a pattern of a sea-boat, a triumph of human wisdom and 
 energy. 
 
 But I never utter such a phrase, without remembering the reproof 
 of the Apostle, " who art thou that boasteth, or what hast thou that 
 thou hast not received ?" 
 
 The wisdom of man's intellect is the fruit of God's gift. 
 
 We are told the ' ' Scotia ' ' is the last of the side-wheel steamers, 
 the difference between the 150 tons of coal which she consumes per 
 diem and the 80 or even as low as 60 tons used by propellers in the 
 same time is, in itself, a small profit, without counting the difference 
 in cost of building, and the gain of space for freight now given to 
 coal. 
 
 We find very agreeable company among the passengers, and are 
 able to keep out of the way of that which is disagreeable ; though the 
 clatter of coins and the slang terms of the gambler are floating 
 around us whenever we go to the saloon, nor are there wanting the 
 angry exclamations and nois}'' discussions of points of honour and 
 the rules of the game which will obtrude themselves on our ears. 
 
 Your mother keeps up better than I had ventured to hope she 
 could. She has not missed one meal, though she has lost some which 
 she had taken. She lies down for an hour or more each morning, 
 and we pass much of the other portions of the day, when the weather 
 permits, on deck. Tell Mrs. Buckley her cup has been in daily ser- 
 vice, and has proved a most valuable and acceptable gift. I can reach 
 it before I rise, as it stands on the rack in our state-room, and pour 
 into it your mother's dose of Tonic Tincture, add the proper dilution of 
 •water while still keeping the lying posture and thus escape nausea, 
 which I could not have done with a common wine-glass not graduated 
 as this is. She will from this learn that her thought was wise, as her 
 intention was kind and loving. 
 
 But oh ! what would we not give for a participation now in the 
 peace and comfort of your dear home and the quiet prattle of the 
 dear boys, and the sweet sounds of Hannah's piano, and a look at the 
 beauty of your lawn !
 
 Well, that will come after the storm, and meanwhile we will cheer 
 ourselves by the glad anticipation. You can report your uncle and 
 aunts as all doing well. I shall reserve the space below in case any- 
 thing should occur worthy of being reported between this and Friday, 
 when we hope to mail our letters at Queen's Town. 
 
 Wednesday. 
 Spoke the "Cuba," si xt^^-two hours out from Queenstown. We 
 avail ourselves of a glorious day to finish up our letters ready for 
 being mailed on our getting off that port, which we hope to make on 
 Friday. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar ]\Iorris. 
 
 P. S. — I am glad, my dear children, that your father can write to 
 you. I do not love 3'ou less than he, but am not equal to expressing 
 it, but 'Tis a comfort to feel that you will understand it entirely, and be 
 loving me still. 
 
 Your most affectionate mother, 
 
 \nne C. Morris. 
 
 Steamer " Scotia, " July 19, 1871. 
 3Iy Dear So?i Israel : 
 
 The steamer ' ' Cuba, ' ' which we met this morning, 62 hours out 
 from Queenstown, gives us patent notice that we have traversed much 
 the longest portion of our voyage, and that if we wish to transmit to 
 our friends the earliest notice of our welfare we must prepare our 
 notes. 
 
 Your mother is lying down, between lunch and dinner, and I avail 
 of the empty table in the dining saloon to convey to you the written 
 symbols of our love and wishes for j-our welfare. 
 
 The sea is purely blue ; the sky not so bright as our own ; (that 
 we have taken leave of till we reach Italy) but quite clear of clouds ; 
 the roll of the ocean pitches the ship fore and aft, and keeps many of 
 our fellow passengers in their berths ; but all is well, and we are mak- 
 ing favourable progress and now hope to reach Liverpool on Saturday. 
 We shall be obliged to remain there, over Sunday, though we should 
 have chosen Chester in preference as a more quiet place for the Lord's 
 day. Perhaps it is as well, as it will permit your uncle and aunts to 
 attend Friend's Meeting, and we shall find our service the same in 
 either place. Mr. McVickar, of New York, read it for us on board, 
 delightfully.
 
 We have had but little intercourse with our fellow passengers. 
 Mr. Rhenn and his nephew are ver}'^ pleasant. Mr. Wanamaker and his 
 former minister at the Bethany Mission (now at Abington, Pa.), a 
 Mr. Lowry, sit near us at the dining table, and also a Rev'd. Mr. 
 Dickson, father-in-law of Mr. Lowrj'. We exchange the common 
 courtesies of fellow citizens. 
 
 There is an Englishman, who is a partner in the Banking House 
 which does the business of the Penn. Central R. R. in London, who 
 recognised your uncle Wistar, and is a very pleasant man. My friend, 
 Isaac Braithewaite, is the Broker of the Bank, so that we have com- 
 mon points of interest and enjoy a talk together on various matters. 
 He is a hearty, honest speaking Englishman thinking as we do about 
 Ritualism and its tendencies ; and dreading the progress of Romaniz- 
 ing tendencies in both countries. !Ma3' God preserve us and ours from 
 the insidious snare ! 
 
 Your uncle was told there was to be on board a Friend in some 
 way connected in business with Edward Marshall ; and though the 
 Purser tells us he is our neighbour iu the same range of state-rooms, 
 3''our uncle has sought in vain for any one having a sign of Quakerism 
 about him so that we shall probably land without having recognized 
 each other. We are said to have on board, also, a Governor ot 
 Honduras ; and a Malabar Portuguese serv^ant indicates that we must 
 have some East Indian also. There are manj^ distingue looking Eng- 
 lishmen, but there is room enough for all, and each takes his own 
 position, and we enjoy ours. 
 
 Your mother sews, of course, and I read to her, either on deck, or 
 in the Saloon. We sta}-^ little in our state-rooms though they are 
 comfortable. 
 
 We shall be glad to learn that j'ou got out of New York as safely 
 as we did, though I assure this is the first time the anticipated riot 
 has presented itself to my mind. 
 
 Our prayers turn after you, that you may be kept on the righ 
 hand and on the left ; from foes within as well as without ; and that 
 we rn&y be permitted once more to collect together in peace. Your 
 mother wishes you to take the herrings from 1428 Chestnut street, it 
 3'ou and Annie like them, and says, if the house should be rented 
 without the furniture, take up the floor-cloth carefully, and send it to 
 your sister. 
 
 P. S. (bj- dear Anne) — Any of j'ou use anj' thing j^ou would like 
 to have. 'Twill be a relief to me if you will, as I reproach mj^self for 
 not being more thoughtful about these things. We think ^Ir. Cowp- 
 land, or INIr. Buchanan, the sexton, had best rent our pew in the Church 
 of the Epiphan3\ 
 
 Your loving 
 
 Father and Mother.
 
 Steamer " Scotia," July i8, 1871. 
 My Dear Son Chest on : 
 
 While your mother lies down before dinner, I take my seat in the 
 saloon to give utterance to the feelings of affection which well up in 
 my heart, and flow out freely to j^ou all, left behind in bodil}- presence, 
 not in heart, and j^ou and Mellie and the bo5's come in for a full share 
 of the stream. 
 
 Her kind providence for your mother, in furnishing her with a 
 warm silk hood, has proved very profitable ; and I find her ink-stand 
 a most important agent in promoting my comfort ; so you see we are 
 not destitute of present and material tokens of the love which unites 
 us. 
 
 We are having a 7iice time of it. The number of passengers is 
 large ; and, of course, the variety of character is great; some thoroughly 
 disgusting ; as, for instance, a part}' of 3'oung men at my elbow, while 
 I write, only withheld from wrangling over a low game of cards by 
 some little remnant of shame ; while at the table behind me mingled 
 voices of women, men, and children, are interrupted by the jingling 
 of the coins which tell the storj^ of their gambling assured by the brag 
 of success and tones of triumph of the winning players. 
 
 A tutor, with his pupils, is among the passengers who will not, 
 I suppose, from what I see of them, experience the difliculty of Mr. Lab- 
 berton, who once and once only, took charge of such a party and 
 declared on his return, (I am told) that he would as soon undertake to 
 drive a herd of swine as to encounter again such a task. 
 
 But to return from this digression, caused by the distracting sounds 
 in the Saloon. 
 
 Your uncle and I have talked over his plans and decided to leave 
 Holland off, at the beginning, and staying ovXy a week in lyondon 
 make our way direct to Switzerland. 
 
 We shall endeavour to get into Edwards' lodging house in Lon- 
 don if they can accommodate so large a part}-. If they can not 
 receive us, we shall probably try Woods' Hotel, Furnivals Inn, a house 
 near Lincoln's Inn recommended hy your uncle Israel. 
 
 Our arms are all affected by the vaccination, though not painfully 
 so, and I hope they may not be as they are sore enough to prove the 
 activity of the virus used and the fact of its insertion. T. Longstreth 
 had not been vaccinated, so I turned out in New York and bought a 
 quill and tried that, (to me) unusual mode of operating ; but it was 
 iinsuccessful, either from inefficacy of the virus, or want of skill on 
 the part of the operator. 
 
 I secured the matter through the assistance of Doctor Thomas 
 IMarkoe, whom I found a courteous and obliging gentleman as well as 
 a brother in Medicine. 
 
 I have not j'et seen the Surgeon of the Ship though I know there 
 is one.
 
 On my remonstrating against the high encomiums on m3' profes- 
 sional standing, in which I was introduced to the Captain by George 
 H. Stuart, saying that I had left my profession behind me, Capt. Lott 
 replied that I need not be afraid, as it would only secure me gratuitous 
 attendance if I should require an}-. 
 
 By the way, ]\Ir. S. looked ver}' well and says he has at last found 
 the Doctor at Clifton Springs ; not the water-cure, but the Doctor who 
 understands his case. 
 
 He has been so often cured, that I do hope for his famih^'s ease, 
 and friends, as well as for his own, that he and they ma3^ not be again 
 disappointed. 
 
 Give your mother's love, and mine, to the dear bo3'S, from Tyson 
 down to each one that can understand and value it. 
 
 We hope to return beloved and comforted b}' them all, in our old 
 age, which is la5ing claim to us without any defence or mode of escape. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 2oth : Favourable winds, and fair weather ; we expect to reach 
 Queenstown early to-morrow. Your mother and all the part}' well. 
 Have had an exceptionallj^ fine voj-age. 
 
 Love. Much, viuch, love. I will try to write. We are doing nicely. 
 
 A. C. M. 
 
 Wood's Hotel, Furxival's Inx, London, July 26, 1S71. 
 My Dear Son : 
 
 The time which has elapsed since we parted has been, truly, but 
 short ; and j^et so important have been the results, and so widely has 
 it separated 3'our dear mother and myself from all whova zc'c hold dear, 
 that we can not disabuse ourselves of the impression that it has been 
 long, and fraught with momentous consequences to us and to you ; 
 and we feel as thovigh each moment must bring us tidings of import- 
 ance. 
 
 Your mother has borne wonderfully well, the pain of separation, 
 the discomforts of the vo3^age and the fatigue of travel. 
 
 As 3'et neither she nor I have ventured on either sight-seeing or 
 shopping, be3'ond the purchase of some flannel shirts and some stock- 
 ings in Chester. 
 
 We are as quiet here as though we were miles awaj"" from the 
 great, bustling, throng of this IMetropolis of the world — for such it is — 
 and the arrogance which assumes to ourselves any importance, is mere 
 childish foil}'.
 
 This Hotel stands back from High Holborn, the great thorough- 
 fare between the Cit}' (proper) of London, and Westminster, and the 
 great Western extension of the capital of the British Empire. We 
 enter through an arched Gateway and passing across an open space, of 
 about the same area as one of the sections of Penn's Square, find our- 
 selves in a good Hotel, with quiet servants, and though the rooms are 
 small, they are clean and our meals are well served. 
 
 We arrived at Liverpool on Saturdaj'^, getting ashore by 12 m.; 
 took a lunch at the Adelphi Hotel, and, after arranging with an 
 agent, — Mr. Sherlock — who makes it his business simpl}^ to attend to 
 the wants of American passengers, attend to their luggage, forward 
 either to or from them packages or purchases, etc. ; who took charge 
 of our vnrious yijirings, took rail for Chester, distant about 14 miles. 
 The car was very commodious, and so arranged with compartments, 
 that our party occupied one entirely distinct, and was separated from 
 all other passengers, and as comfortably seated as we had been in the 
 special car in which the Pennsylvania Central R. R. Co. , had sent us 
 as the family of one of its most honoured Directors, to New York, 
 when we left home, as a special token of respect to j^our uncle. 
 
 So, 3'ou see, i/ie brag was taken out of us at once. 
 
 Then the grade of the road is so easy, that we were astonished by 
 the small size of the Locomotive — not half the size of ours. It looked 
 to my unskilled observation, to be of much simpler construction, and 
 must certainly be less costly. 
 
 Then, the finish of every thing ! The beauty of the Station-houses 
 at everj^ stopping place, with their exquisite flower-gardens, adorning 
 the slopes of the embankments and excavations, give an air of refine- 
 ment and elegance. 
 
 We were also impressed — the ladies especially — by the manners of 
 the guards. 
 
 With us a conductor, with no costume to mark his position as an 
 official, flings open the door of the car, and cries ' ' Tickets ' ' with an 
 air of supercilious superiority. Here a uniformed officer touches his 
 cap and sa3^s respectfully, ' ' Please have j'our tickets ready, ' ' and after 
 a pause of a minute or more, inspects and stamps them and hands 
 them back with a " Thank you," in a subdued and kindly voice, that 
 seems to express " a good journey to you." At Chester we stopped at 
 the Queen's hotel immediately adjoining the Railwa}' terminus, and 
 found it a very nice establishment, well appointed in every respect, 
 and perfectly quiet, notwithstanding its proximity to the Railway 
 terminus. It belongs to a joint stock Company, and is managed by a 
 lady. 
 
 Nothing could excel it in any respect ; and after staying there, 
 Saturday- afternoon, Sunday, INIonday, and part of Tuesday, we paid 
 for the accommodations of our part}^ of nine, only about Twenty 
 Pounds.
 
 These practical matters are important, and having detailed them 
 to 3'ou, I will add that I this morning, procured from Brown, Shipley 
 & Co., Twent}'' Pounds, lor which amount I drew on you ; and to which 
 you will please attend. 
 
 At Chester we had a fair specimen of English weather ! The rain 
 and sunshine alternated, without any warning of change, a dozen times 
 in about as many hours. The temperature was cool. 
 
 On our way from Chester to London we saw the hay lying as it 
 had been cut, in the field, three weeks ago, and no apparent hope of its 
 being cured. 
 
 On Saturday'- some of us walked round the wall of Chester and 
 were gratified by the spectacle of a most impressive sunset, giving a 
 glorious glow to the western sky, and lighting up with beaut}^ the 
 slopes of the Welsh Mountains, which were cultivated, while it threw 
 into darker shades, b}-- contrast, the sombre outlines of the loftier and 
 uncultivated ranges. 
 
 It is impossible to convey to 3'ou an adequate idea of the splendour 
 of the scene. 
 
 We, from the western world, stood gazing on its glory over the 
 crown of the arch of the gateway through which Roman legions had 
 emerged from their " Castra " — hence the name Chester — for conflict 
 w^ith the savage Britons, our ancestors. 
 
 Though the walls and gates have been often rebuilt and renewed, 
 since those ancient days, still thej-^ are the same, on the principle by 
 which we, ourselves, retain our identity through life, though perpetu- 
 ally undergoing change by waste and renewal. 
 
 These walls have never been wholly prostrated, but continually 
 renewed from those days until now. 
 
 INIanj' parts are now so corroded b}' time and weather that they 
 must soon be rebuilt. It is not that the stones separate, the mortar is 
 indestructible and cements them still ; but the stone itself is worn away. 
 
 The walk around the top of the wall is about two or three feet 
 wide, well flagged, and guarded bj' a parapet about 3 feet high coped 
 with dressed stone. 
 
 The circuit of the wall is about two miles ; and there are towers 
 at several points rising at least twenty feet above the wall. On the 
 top of one of these poor Charles stood, supported by a few loyal 
 friends, watching the progress of the battle in which the destiny of 
 the kingdom was determined for that generation. 
 
 We attended the worship at the Cathedral, on Sunday-, both morn- 
 ing and evening. It was devoutlj' celebrated ; and the sermons, 
 (Morning bj^ Canon Kingsley, and Evening b}^ Dean Howson) were, 
 both of them, eminently interesting and profitable. 
 
 On Monday we visited the "Rows," or shops, which are unique in 
 their arrangement ; there are none other such at least in Great Britain, 
 perhaps not an}' exactly such in the world.
 
 It is as though the front rooms of the houses of block after block 
 of dwellings had been taken out, and the back rooms converted into 
 shops, while the story above was supported on columns, and the floors 
 of the front rooms laid with brick pavement or stone flagging, while 
 the ground floor rooms are likewise appropriated to shops which open 
 on the level of the street-wa5\ The houses are old ; at least of the 
 age of Elizabeth and present the gables to the street adorned with 
 quaint devices and strange ornaments ; some of them having grotesqiie 
 carvings ; and some scripture texts, or expressive mottoes carved on 
 the timbers which intersect the fronts. 
 
 Steps at either end of each block, and occasionally in the inter- 
 vening space, give easy access to the carriage-way. 
 
 The stories are of little elevation ; mostly of about seven feet, 
 some less, and none higher than eight. 
 
 A covered way is thus provided from one shop to another, protect- 
 ing the shoppers from the weather. 
 
 Many relics of the Roman occupation have been disinterred by 
 the progress of more modern improvement, such as tesselated floors, 
 altars, fragments of columns et cet : These are collected in an enclos- 
 ure connected with one of the towers. 
 
 Among the objects of interest in the vicinitj'^ are the ruins of a 
 mediaeval Monastery, or Priory, a portion of which has been restored 
 and does service as a Parish Church ; and Eaton Hall, an extensive mod- 
 ern Gothic building, one of the many residences of the Marquis of West- 
 minster, one of the richest, if not the richest of the English nobility. 
 
 It is a grand and imposing structure, standing in a noble Park 
 well planted with trees, of many miles extent. Your mother and I 
 did not accompany the other members of the part}^ in their drive to 
 visit this as it would have required a second carriage, and we still 
 remember the attraction it presented to us on or former voyage in the 
 j'^ear 1836. 
 
 The Park is of great extent, the drive to the Hall being itself, 
 miles in distance, through grand plantations of noble trees, and the 
 grounds near the Hall laid out with all the taste which great skill in 
 the science of gardening provides, for efiect. When we visited it more 
 than thirty years ago, the Hall had a front extent of 800 feet, which 
 has since been added to. 
 
 On Friday morning we left Chester for this place via Shrewsbury, 
 Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Warwick, Oxford and Windsor. 
 
 The greater part of the way lay through a landscape of perpetually 
 changing beauty ; green fields divided by trim hedges ; with here and 
 there a great Park with its lordl}^ mansion ; and frequent hamlets of 
 thatched cottages clustering around venerable chvirches, with their 
 steeples pointing heaven-ward or tower with its chiming bells. 
 
 The agriculture seemed perfect ; fields of grass, grain, and turnips 
 or other root crops, succeeding each continuously-. About Wolver-
 
 liatnpton we passed through the iron producing region. There for 
 miles it was one vast synithy. Literally eve>ywhere forges and furnaces 
 and factories. 
 
 The heavens were obscured — actuall}^ shut out from sight — by the 
 smoke belched forth from the thousand chimneys ; while the surface 
 of the earth was concealed beneath the universal pall of cinders and 
 scoria, thrown out from the numberless workshops which were crowded 
 on its face. 
 
 Here lies the power of Great Britain ; Is it inexhaustible ? The 
 coal and iron ore are certainly 7fiaterial, and therefore destructible and 
 may be used up ; and then the men — the intellectual power — must 
 transfer themselves, and with themselves that power, to other locali- 
 ties ; and with this transfer of power goes the empire. 
 
 We must wait and see. Whether free-trade or protection be the 
 best for permanent prosperity is a debateable question in my mind. 
 The more rapid the consumption, the earlier the exhaustion. With 
 love to all from both your mother and myself, 
 
 Your aflft : father 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 You must let this serve for 3-our brothers and sister. 
 
 Wood's Hotel, Furnival's Inn, London, July 27, 1871. 
 My Dear Son, (C/ieston) : 
 
 We have had a London day. Your uncle and ]\Ir. John Welsh 
 and I spent the morning in a Hospital visitation. 
 
 We began with the new buildings of St. Thomas' on the Thames 
 Embankment, opposite the Parliament Houses, supposing that they 
 were occupied. We were disappointed in this ; the wards are not yet 
 furnished. We made, however, a prett3^ thorough inspection of the 
 buildings. It would have been better for our purpose if we had asked 
 before going there and secured the guidance of some one able to give 
 us information on manj^ points in which we needed it. We expected 
 to have found all vv^e needed among the Ofl&cials. 
 
 The Hospital is built on made ground, formed in the process ot 
 straightening the River line and reclaiming that which was lying 
 waste along the irregular shore. 
 
 A retaining wall was constructed at the water line and a wide, 
 paved Avenue laid out just Avithin it. This runs the entire length of 
 the Embankment, and provides a channel of communication directly 
 along the River. 
 
 The ground occupied by the Hospital is considerably higher than 
 the level of this Avenue, from which it is separated by a retaining 
 wall which is crowned with a Parapet, within which an open Corridor 
 
 14
 
 extends the entire front of the Hospital grounds, and aflbrds a very 
 admirable opportunity for the convalescent patients to take exercise 
 in the air freshened by the draught along the current of the 
 stream. 
 
 It may be true that the atmosphere of the Thames is not so pure 
 as that of a position further removed from the contaminating influences 
 of the great masses of human beings, crowded in the INIetropolis, but 
 it is purer and fresher than it would be without the currents created by 
 the motion of the stream. Between the Corridor and the ends of the 
 Pavilions, into which the Hospital buildings are divided, the grounds 
 are cultivated as gardens and planted with shrubbery. Across these, 
 bridges from the ends of each pavilion afford access to the Corridor 
 for the patients. 
 
 The plan of construction is that known as the Pavilion plan ; each 
 pavilion is three stories in height and the front is composed of open 
 corridors, stretching along the entire length, and affording easy com- 
 munication between the nximerous buildings. 
 
 The first building we entered, lying at one end of the range, was 
 that devoted to Administrative purposes and the apartments of the 
 Resident Officers. 
 
 The vista along the front corridor as we entered, presented a very 
 impressive view. 
 
 The several Wards are each of them capable of receiving 28 beds, 
 standing, as do those in our Hospital of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, in front of a pier and having an outlook from two windows 
 opposite the foot of each bed. 
 
 The entire capacity of the Hospital is I believe but few, if at all, 
 short of one thousand. 
 
 At the extreme opposite end of the range of ward pavilions we 
 found that devoted to Instruction. 
 
 In this department there are three amphitheatres for lecture rooms, 
 including one for Anatony, one for Materia Medica, and one for Patho- 
 logical Anatomy. This last is connected with a large airy, well- 
 lighted, room for dissection ; and another for Post-mortem examina- 
 tions, having a small number of raised seats designed for the accommo- 
 dation of students, and enabling them to see for themselves the morbid 
 condition of the organs in the cases the treatment and progress oi 
 which they have been watching. 
 
 Every part of these extensive buildings is connected by telegraph 
 with every other part, an arrangement rendered absolutel}' necessary 
 by the vast area they cover. 
 
 We were told that the cost of the site and the erection of these 
 buildings amounts to not less than $2,000,000. 
 
 The situation is admirably adapted to the use of a hospital. The 
 river not only affords a wide unoccupied area, but secures a free current 
 of air ; and the animation of the scene with the unceasing passing to 
 
 15
 
 and fro of steam-boats on the river, taust be inspiriting to those who 
 have been sechided and weakened b}' disease. 
 
 The animating moving panorama is always in sight from every 
 ward ; while the exercising corridor overlooks it. 
 
 Such a spectacle must be beneficial in convalescence, and, to man}' 
 persons of the classes which furnish the patients of our hospitals, even 
 more attractive than the quiet and seclusion of rural surroundings. 
 
 The structure impressed us favourably ; it is nearly complete ; 
 they are now colouring the walls in distemper, and painting the wood- 
 work and expect to bring the patients from the old St. Thomas into 
 this about October. 
 
 The arrangements for out-door patients are on the largest scale. 
 The reception and prescribing rooms are numerous, each devoted to a 
 special class of disease and each giving ample accommodation. 
 
 From St. Thomas' we went to Guy's and I was delighted to note 
 the vast improvement which had been made since I was there, in 1836. 
 
 Though the building is, I believe, some two hundred years old, 
 everything is clean and fresh as though of recent construction. There 
 was not the slightest offensive odour perceptible, and the patients 
 looked as comfortable as sick people can be made. Every ward of 24 
 beds is in charge of a head nurse called "sister," though not con- 
 nected with any " sisterhood." 
 
 These are fine looking, intelligent countenanced women, evi- 
 dently belonging to a class much above that from which we derive 
 oiir " Nurses." 
 
 A Matron has charge of the whole, and provides each of them 
 with the requisite assistance, called "nurses," five, and a "Night- 
 nurse " to each ward. 
 
 Children are dispersed among the adult patients ; all under 7 years 
 of age in the Female wards, and the older boys in the male wards. 
 
 The walls are painted, and every available space is occupied b}^ 
 beautiful engravings or by illuminated texts from Holy Scripture. 
 
 There are at least a dozen oil paintings presented by the artist 
 whose work the}' are, named Salomen. 
 
 Thej' represent rural scenes with animated figures of men women 
 children and animals, well drawn and highly coloured. 
 
 One very impressive one represents Bunyan's Mercy at the 
 Wicket Gate. The figure of IMerc}' is good, and the face most touch- 
 ingh' beautiful and true to the conception of the immortal Dreamer. 
 
 The texts are selected with admirable judgment. 
 
 The sheets and pillow-cases were of linen and scrupulously clean ; 
 I asked, foolishly, how often it was changed ? The Matron and nurse 
 tiirned it down for vcvy inspection, smiled, and said " ever}' hour if it 
 is necessar}'." 
 
 The smoke of the bituminous coal renders the use of White spreads 
 inexpedient, but neat clean chequered linen spreads were substituted. 
 
 16
 
 The tables were covered with damascened cloths of bleached linen, 
 and the appliances for meals were clean and attractive. 
 
 In one of the wards I found Doctor Owen Reece about to commence 
 his daily visits, and asked of him the privilege to be permitted to 
 accompany the class of students who were abotit to profit by attending 
 him. 
 
 There were only about four or five earnest looking young men ; I 
 presume the dressers or house pupils. 
 
 He commenced by examining the cases which had been admitted 
 since his last visit. 
 
 One of the young men read the history of a case drawn up by 
 himself, and a diagnosis of its nature and present condition drawn 
 from his own investigation, and written out fully on a form provided 
 for the purpose. 
 
 This was read aloud to Doctor Reece b}- the author as they stood 
 by the bedside of the subject, after which Dr. R. made his own explor- 
 ation of that case most minutely, a?id patiently, and gave his own diag- 
 nosis, which was recorded by the clinical clerk. 
 
 He then prescribed the treatment. The ' ' Sister ' ' stood beside 
 each bed during the entire examination, and heard all that passed. At 
 the head of each bed hung a large card, on which was engrossed the 
 name of the patient, the disease as diagnosed by Dr. Reece, and the 
 prescription and diet directions for each day. 
 
 Altogether, I think they are decidedly in advance of us. Bttt how 
 could we hope to approach them ? Giiy's has a large income from 
 invested funds, and owns an Estate of 11,000 acres of land in Here- 
 fordshire. 
 
 It is now 10.30 p. M. and the whole party is very weary and sleepy. 
 
 We spent last evening at Mr. Bevan Braithewaite's ; with himself 
 only. Mrs. Braithwaite and the family having left town in the morning 
 for their appointed siimmer visit to her family in Oxfordshire. 
 
 To-morrow I shall take the cars to Epsom and make a visit to my 
 dear old friend Isaac Braithewaite, who has written to beg me to go to 
 see him as he is too feeble to come into town to call on us. We have 
 secured the service of a Courier an Italian named Stephano Cervetto, 
 who is to substitute Friezer till the latter gets through his present 
 engagement. 
 
 We start from London on Tuesday morning via Dover and Ostend, 
 spend the first night on the Continent at Ghent ; go the next day to 
 Brussels and Antwerp. 
 
 The weather has, thus far been most propitious to us, though 
 there had been continuous rain for a month before our arrival. It has 
 ever since been clear and the temperature most genial. 
 
 To-morrow I design to go to St. Lawrence, Jewry, to search the 
 register of that Parish for any notice of the Hollingsworth and Cornish 
 families. 
 
 17
 
 The rest of the part}- go to the Zoological Gardens, Regents Park. 
 To-day Mr. Bevan Braithewaite carried them to Westminster Hall, and 
 the House of Lords, in which a case was being argued, so that they saw 
 the Lord Chancellor and some Barristers in costume. Mr. B. could 
 name to them all the notabilities. 
 
 Mr. B. is a regular walking Cyclopgedia. He shewed us man}'- rare 
 and valuable books in his private librarj^ last evening. Among others 
 a cop}'' of Cicero which had belonged to Blackstone having his name 
 on a fly leaf, evidently an autograph, and annotations on the text 
 written on slips of paper interposed between the pages proved that it 
 had been used by him for puqDose of study. 
 
 A question of chirograph}- having been raised, and T. K. Long- 
 streth asserting that the signatures to the American Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence were poor, Mr. Braithewaite denied the correctness of the 
 opinion, and at once took down from the shelves of his library, in 
 in which we were sitting, a copy of that document with fac-similes of 
 the signatures, in order to convince him of his error. He is ready on 
 every topic can be presented. 
 
 Love to jNIellie, and the boys — I hope she will pardon the profes- 
 sional tone of this letter. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 C.\SPAR !\IORRIS. 
 
 London, July 27, 1871. 
 My Dear Galloivay : 
 
 jMoney goes here even when one does not, as I do not, pay ones 
 own way. 
 
 Will you please inform your brother, Israel, that I have been 
 obliged to draw again of this date for twenty Pounds. 
 
 I have already written to him since our arrival, and not to yea 
 before this, therefore address this now to you and trouble you with the 
 message to him. 
 
 Yesterday your mother and I did some necessary shopping, which 
 used up the proceeds of our former drafts ; after which she went with 
 the others to the Tower and St. Pauls Cathedral, while I accepted an 
 invitation from my old friend Isaac Braithewaite to visit him at his 
 summer home. 
 
 When we were here, 35 years ago, he, his sister, your mother and 
 myself, occupied together ver}' humble apartments in the heart of the 
 city. 
 
 Now I find him with a residence at the west end, to which they 
 come in December, and a summer home near Epsom 9 miles from 
 London. His health is so much impaired that he was unable to call 
 on us, but wrote to me begging me to come to him and bring your 
 
 18
 
 mother, and asking the other members of the party to accompanj^ us 
 and dine with them in travelling dress ! 
 
 Of course 3'our mother was not disposed to go, and was thankful 
 that INIrs. Braithewaite had not thought it necessarj^ to call on her. She 
 would not have accepted even if INIrs. B. had first called. I had no 
 alternative. It woiild have been treason to friendship, old and true, 
 for me to hesitate about these conventionalities. I went by Rail ; and, 
 as I thought, by the line and train designated but found there were 
 two separate lines and that I had taken the wrong one, so that the car- 
 riage was not at the station on my arrival. I felt a little embarrassed 
 but determined to enquire m}- way and persevere. 
 
 Having got ni}' directions for the road from the people at the 
 station, I walked on. 
 
 After having passed through the village of Epsom, (without 
 seeing any traces of the arrangements incident to the annual Races to 
 which it owes its celebritj'), I approached on the outskirts, a noble 
 grove of grand old trees, surrounded by a lofty wall and entered by a 
 spacious gateway, in which I heard repeated reports of guns and made 
 up my mind that ' ' pigeon shooting ' ' was going on within. Ap- 
 proaching the gate through the massive wall I found a porters lodge 
 just within it and a road winding up a considerable elevation, through 
 clumps of shrubbery of exquisite beauty. 
 
 I soon saw a noble looking lady approaching by a cross path and 
 stretching out her hand toward me with the exclamation, " I am sure 
 you must be my husbands old friend, Doct. Morris ; how did you get 
 here ? We sent to meet you, and the carriage is to go for you again. 
 ]Mr. Braithewaite will be so glad to see you ! 
 
 Just then it began to rain, and as we rose the hill a stately mansion 
 met my eye, grandly seated on a knoll, with the grounds sloping 
 toward us ; beautifully planted with exquisite shrubbery in great 
 variety. Turning toward the right hand (the house fronted us on the 
 left), Mrs. B. said " excuse me a moment, I will step to the stable and 
 prevent the groom from putting his horse to the carriage to drive to 
 the station again for you, as he has been told to do. ' ' 
 
 I of course walked with her. She no sooner set eyes on the ser- 
 vant than she said, " I hope they all escaped. How man}^ did you 
 shoot?" On his repljdng " not many, Master John did not fire ! The 
 Captain did it all ; " she said ' ' Oh, I am so glad ! ' ' and then turning 
 
 to me she said, " It is barbarous sport ; but Captain is making 
 
 us a visit, and they made an apology on the ground that we do want 
 some pigeons to eat, and there are a great many about, but I am so 
 glad they did not get vaz.r\y. ' ' 
 
 By this time we had reached the Hall door, which stood open, dis- 
 playing a large Billiard table directly in front of the entrance. As we 
 crossed the threshold, she exclaimed again ' ' Mr. Braithewaite will be 
 so glad to welcome you, he has been lying down all the morning, to 
 prepare or you. 
 
 ^9
 
 Bvxt how shall I attempt to describe the beauty of the flowers ? 
 There were Carnations which I mistook for Roses, so large and fully 
 developed were they — a hedge of Sweet Pea, (the old fashioned 
 favourite of the garden in the days of my child-hood) in full bloom — 
 Banana plants, and great tufts of Pampas grass, and other tropical 
 plants set in turf as green as English grass can be, and short and 
 close shaven as the pile of Italian velvet — an Auricaria imbricata of 
 perfect form, and nearly, if not quite twenty feet in height — and many 
 other foreign trees and plants and shrubs, which appear to have adapted 
 themselves to the climate here, under the care of a gardener who must 
 be well-skilled in his profession. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the kind hospitality with which I was 
 received by my dear old friend, who, though many years 3'ounger than 
 I, is now. a venerable looking white headed man. 
 
 We paced slowly back and forth, along a nicel}' kept walk which 
 runs parallel with the front of the house, bordered on either side w'ith 
 bedding plants of the choicest sorts and in great variety, while the 
 smooth green turf dotted with noble elms and gra?id old oaks, spread 
 out, acre beyond acre, and a fine herd of Alderneys pasturing in a 
 field be3'ond, and distant hills, seen across a wide extent of furze-clad 
 Common, closed the view. In one part of the grounds a party of 
 young ladies and gentlemen, were pla3'ing Croquet with great zest. 
 
 Talking over the mercies and memories of the past, to us and 
 ours, and the blessings of the present, we sauntered up and down the 
 terrace walk till Mr. Braithewaite became exhausted, and carried me 
 with him into the drawing-room which opened into a conservatory 
 about 40 feet square, around which hung such clusters of Bignonia 
 flowers as I had never dreamed of, while there stood, scattered about 
 the floor, pots of Erica, Fvischia, Ferns of various kinds, Torrenia, and 
 a dozen other plants, of whose names even I am ignorant ; but all 
 of great beauty and each a perfect specimen of its kind. It was alto- 
 gether a iairy scene. 
 
 At about 7 P. M. I was shown up stairs to prepare for dinner, 
 and at 7.30 some twenty ladies and gentlemen, all members of the 
 family or guests staying in the house, were ushered into the dining- 
 room. 
 
 Three men-servants in livery waited on the table. Soup was fol- 
 lowed b}- fish, and that by mutton cutlets and stewed Pigeon ; then 
 there was roast beef, and roasted chickens. 
 
 These were followed bj^ pudding, and that by custards ; after which 
 came on the fruit dessert, composed of grapes from their own glass, and 
 the most delicious melon I ever tasted, also grown in their own frames. 
 
 Each was served by itself, and handed round by the waiters. 
 Cofiee followed, after the serving of which the ladies left us and the 
 gentlemen sat and talked over Sherry, Champagne, and Claret. But 
 very little of any of the wines was drank b}^ any one. 
 
 20
 
 In the midst of a very pleasant chat Mr. Braithewaite turned to 
 me and said " would not you like to go with me to my own room ?" I 
 gladly assented, and when we had entered, he turned the key in the 
 door, and said *' many a 7iice time we have had, you and I, together, do 
 not you feel as though it would be pleasant to pray ?' ' So, withdrawn 
 from the company, w^e renewed together our old associations of Christian 
 fellowship until the time arrived for the starting of the last train for 
 London. 
 
 All this affluence and elegance, is the result of his diligent and 
 earnest pursuit of business. 
 
 I can not avoid fearing greatly for the effect upon his children. It 
 is a dangerotis position in which the}'' are placed ; they are attractive 
 looking young people and I pray that they may be kept from all evil, 
 and from bringing sorrow to the heart of their father. 
 
 This morning I received a letter from him thanking me for my 
 visit and begging for a renewal of the pleasure. To-day the whole 
 party went to the Zoological Gardens. Hippopotamuses, Rhinoceroses, 
 Giraffes, Elands, Camels, were each represented by numerous speci- 
 mens, while Birds, Beasts, and Reptiles ; Monkeys, Bears, Lions, 
 Tigers, Hyenas, met one at every turn, each one provided with the 
 arrangements most congenial to its instinctive and natural habits. 
 
 The boys would have been delighted beyond conception. 
 
 As we passed through the monkey house, a sick Chimpanzee 
 leaped into my arms, unsolicited, and nestled himself in my bosom. 
 What was the attraction ? 
 
 Give our love to Hannah and the boys ; we hope to hear from some 
 of you, on Monday, after which we shall start for the Continent. It 
 seems hardly possible to convince ourselves that we have been separated 
 only tlif'ee zveeks. 
 
 Your mother stands it all very nicely, and the others are all well 
 except your aunt Hannah, who has a cold. 
 
 Mr. H. Burroughs has left England. We did not see him. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 * -;:- -::• -i;- -s * * ^f -x- * * -;f * 
 
 I found it impossible to continue a journal of the events of travel 
 and at the same time maintain a frequent correspondence, and there- 
 fore soon abandoned the former, determining to rely on my letters as 
 the record of what we saw and felt and did. I did commence a 
 journal, and shall here transcribe from it the account of the occupations 
 of the few daj^s we spent in England. They were oppressively 
 crowded with the arrangements necessary for our extended and pro- 
 longed tour over the Continent of Europe, in Egypt, and the Holy 
 Land, mingled with hurried visits to objects of interest, new" to most 
 of the party, and recalling to your mother and m\-self the memories 
 of former enjoyments and trials.
 
 Who would have ventured to foretell to us, even a few years back, 
 that after the lapse of thirty-five years, we should revisit these scenes ? 
 We then came by sailing packet, and rejoiced over the unusually short 
 passage of 21 da^'S, only. This voyage was of onl}- 9 days, without 
 even one incident of discomfort, excepting moderate sea-sickness. 
 
 The list of fellow-passengers was verj' large, though not very 
 select. There were some distinguished Americans, among whom was 
 Mr. Evarts, on his way to Geneva, to represent the Government of 
 The United States before the Tribunal of Arbitration and there were 
 some Englishmen of elevated social position, but the motly assem- 
 blage was like the crowd one meets on the great thoroughfares of life, 
 everv'where. We formed no acquaintances. 
 
 There was one charming 3'oung lady from New York, a Miss 
 BuckW. WTien we entered the saloon of the "Scotia" on embark- 
 ing, we found the tables literallj' covered with superb boquets and 
 baskets of the choicest and most exquisite flowers, each having a card 
 attached, ' ' For Miss Buckle}'. ' ' We decided she nitist be one of the 
 fashionable belles of New York ; and thought no more about them or 
 her ; the levelling influence of sea-sickness wiped out of our thoughts 
 and feelings, flowers and recipient. 
 
 The next daj' my attention was arrested by the rich melody of a 
 female voice, soft and full in tone, reading to some disconsolate child- 
 ren, whose mammas were unable to manifest even maternal love, 
 grouped around her as she sat upon the deck. 
 
 The same sj'mpathising sounds uttered at the doors of one state- 
 room after another, offering fruits and words of consolation to the 
 wretched " incumbents,'' made us aware that we had on board, some 
 one at least, of those ministering angels who are fluttering around 
 ' ' when pain and sickness wring the brow ' ' ; and revealed to us the 
 attractive influence which caused the stream of flowers to overflow so 
 richly on IMiss Buckley as so man}- tokens of affection for a parting 
 friend. I am sure she was worth 3^ of them all. She was as lovely in 
 person and charmingly imaffected in manners as she evidently was in 
 heart and temper, but she was one of a large party, and ours was 
 equally so, and both disposed to be exclusive, and sat at distant parts 
 of the table, and therefore had but little communication, and formed 
 no acquaintance. Indeed we had but little opportunit)^ for communica- 
 tion even with those we already knew, only exchanging with them the 
 most infrequent civilities. 
 
 Smooth as was the sea, and favouring the breezes, we all experi 
 enced the depressing influence which renders one averse to exertion. 
 We left the Mercury among the nineties, but soon found all our 
 heaviest winter clothing and warmest wraps were in requisition. 
 
 The day after we left Queenstown, I was on the deck at day-dawn, 
 seeking to renew my acquaintance with the Welsh coast, but it was 
 all veiled in impenetrable ' ' fog, ' ' so dense that we could not see the
 
 leng-th of the ship, and the frequent screams of the steam whistle, 
 as we crept slowly along, told us not only of peril from collision, 
 but of detention in our own course and consequent dela)- in arri- 
 val. 
 
 Suddenlj', after all hope of reaching port that daj' had been 
 abandoned, the fog lifted, and we soon found ourselves off the Bell 
 Rock buoy, whose welcome notes replaced the discordant sounds of 
 the whistle of alarm ; and under full head of steam, we entered the 
 Merse}^ along the coast of Lancashire, by what is known as the North 
 Channel passing the pretty sea-side villages of Waterloo and Bootle ; 
 while the mountains of North Wales, and the Hills of Cheshire, rose 
 in the distance, and New Brighton spread its pretty villas and cottages 
 along the South shore. We entered the IMersey about 9 A. m. pass- 
 ing slowly along the massive walls of hewn stone which form the 
 Docks, lifting above us, as we steamed up the River, the vast hulls of 
 the great fleet of merchant vessels which bring to Liverpool the Cot- 
 ton of the Western Hemisphere, the Silks and Teas of the Eastern and 
 the great medley of the various products of the different climes of the 
 earth which here find a mart of exchange for the varied manufactures 
 of the shops and looms of Great Britain. Behind these Docks lie 
 extensive and lofty ranges of warehouses, stored with these goods and 
 manufactures, in unceasing, active exchange. 
 
 Many millions of pounds sterling have been jitdiciously expended 
 in thus providing facilities and safe-guards for trade, made essential by 
 the great rise and fall of the tide in the Mersey, and the extreme 
 rapidity of the current. 
 
 ^lillions more have been laid out in the construction of rival 
 establishments at Birkenhead, on the opposite side of the river, which 
 are as j'^et unprofitable, though the growth of commerce is so great and 
 rapid, that it is not improbable they may soon become not only 
 remunerative, but necessary. 
 
 We spent but a few hours at Liverpool, and these were fully 
 occupied in making arrangements to leave it. We placed our sea 
 equipage in charge of Mr. Sherlock, the verj^ intelligent and attentive 
 agent who pursues as a business the taking charge of this branch of 
 accommodation for travellers ; storing not only their sea baggage, but 
 also any purchases they may make and consign to his care while they 
 are travelling ; either shipping them or retaining them in his ware- 
 house. A moderate charge to each, in these days of " running to-and- 
 fro," affords him an ample compensation, and renders them an eflacient 
 ser\'ice. 
 
 We saw only the exterior of St. George's Hall, the equestrian 
 statues of The Queen and Prince Albert, the Waterloo monument, and 
 that great and characteristic illustration of the present age, the 
 Terminus of the London and North Western Railway, with its great 
 Hotel adjoining — under the same roof, indeed. 
 
 23
 
 Mr. Sherlock devoted himself to the care of our part}', waited on 
 us till we were embarked on the Ferry-boat for Birkenhead, and 
 crossing with us took his leave only when he had seen tis comfortably 
 seated, at 4 p. m., in the cars for Chester after having furnished your 
 uncle Wistar with an introduction to the manager of the Queens Hotel, 
 to which he advised us to go. 
 
 The distance from Liverpool to Chester, by the line of Rail we 
 travelled by, is only about 14 miles ; the country' is very flat, and 
 possesses no special attraction for the traveller, either in high culture, 
 beauty of landscape, or fine buildings, or historic associations, and we 
 reached our destination in time for dinner, for which we were prepared 
 by the bustle and toil of the day. 
 
 We found the hotel justified the commendation bestowed on it. It 
 adjoins the railway terminus, being truly under the same roof, and 
 separated from the waiting rooms and oflSces of the railway only by 
 the track of the rail, and that covered by glass. 
 
 It belongs to a joint stock company, and is managed for them by 
 a woman of great administrative ability'. 
 
 The management is admirable ; there was no confusion, or noise 
 from the railway, or zxiy other source, and the service was perfect. 
 
 An extensive and well planted pleasure-ground, with its 
 shrubbery, and attractive flower-beds, spread out before the windows 
 of our private parlour, and cheered us, wearied as we were, with its 
 promise of comfort for the morrow, which we shall make a sabbath. 
 The windows of the room open down to the level of the ground. 
 
 This Hotel is about a quarter of a mile from the outskirts of the 
 town, which extends on this side about the same distance be3-ond the 
 old wall, and its gate. 
 
 A well constructed "Drive" and footway-, leads to the main 
 approach to the gate. Near the point of Junction of these roads there 
 is an extensive Park, beautifully laid out with foot-walks and planted 
 with rhododendrons and other shrubbery, interspersed with flower- 
 borders ; presented to the citizens of Chester by the Marquis of West- 
 minster, who has large estates in the town and vicinity. 
 
 After dinner several of the party stro;led off in detachments. 
 Your mother was too weary to leave our room, so leaving her to rest 
 I walked into the town to refresh my recollection of the place, and its 
 mediaeval remains. 
 
 After leaving the new approach from the Railway Terminus, the 
 old street leading to the gate was lined as of old with antiquated 
 dwellings and stores, man}'^ of them presenting the gable to the street, 
 some of them with the upper story projecting over the first, and 
 supported on columns, others of larger front and more modern plan, in 
 the style with which we are familiar at home in the oldest structures of 
 the early settlers of the colonies in the days of James and the Com- 
 monwealth and the First Charles, and the Georges, of which a few 
 
 24
 
 have been retained in despite of the modern march of improve- 
 ment. 
 
 The whole aspect of the way was antique, and prepared one for 
 the Gatewaj', the arch of which spanned the street as one passed 
 through the wall and entered the ancient enclosure of the Roman 
 "Castra," from which word is derived the modern "Chester" as 
 applied not onl}' to this cit}', biit as combined with other localities, as, 
 fcr instance, Winchester, Worcester, Gloucester, etc. The first object 
 of interest to me, after entering the precincts within the wall, was the 
 Hotel at which j'our mother and I and Cousin Emily, and our dear 
 Mary, then an innocent, imconscious babe of only six months, unable 
 to appreciate an}' thing connected with travel, except its discomforts, 
 stopped on the occasion of our tour through England and Wales, in 
 the summer of 1S36. 
 
 It is just within the wall, and still retains the same name, The 
 Grosvenor Arms, and is still much frequented, on account of its 
 location near the Cathedral, and other objects of antiquarian interest. 
 Chester is I believe, the only town in Great Britain retaining the old 
 walls, by v/hich in feudal and still more ancient times, every cit}'^ was 
 protected from the aggression of enemies. The reference in Hol}^ 
 Scriptures as well as secular history, at the earliest period to which 
 their records reach, to " Gates " and walls, proves that at the earliest 
 period of which an}- account has been transmitted to posterit}*, such 
 protection was needed. Was there not a prehistoric period in which man 
 still retained that " uprightness " in which he was created, and had not 
 3'et "sought out man}^ inventions," by which he oppresses his fellow. 
 
 Such speculations will intrude themselves into my thoughts. Evil 
 as are now the daj's, and various as are the results of human corrup- 
 tion, it certainl}^ is more pleasant to be able, as we now can, to dwell 
 without fear, in open unprotected places, and to have what would 
 othenvise be solitarv places made glad \y\ the prescence of human 
 habitations, than to have the entire population cooped, and huddled 
 within the narrow limits which may be protected by the power of 
 some one chief against the violence of another ; and to feel that one is 
 one's own master, and not the serf or follower of some lord, subject to 
 his caprice, and liable to be called to do him service, whether in the 
 camp and field of war, or as the tiller of the soil for the benefit of the 
 sole proprietor of soil and those who dwell upon it, both alike belonging 
 to that lord. 
 
 Such was the condition of the toiling masses, in those dark ages 
 to which belong the walled city with its guarded gates ; ages to which 
 the admirers of antiquity and its relics, look back with veneration, 
 and a half formed desire for the restoration of their scenes of 
 picturesque display of chivalric grandeur. 
 
 As the implements of stone and bronze, and the disinterred 
 contents of moitnds and tombs, preserved in our muse\ims, these old
 
 walls and gates should be kept in repair, as memorials ot past ages, 
 and stimulants to thankfulness for the privileges enjoyed b}' those 
 whose lot is cast in these more enlightened times, when the rights 
 and privileges of the many are recognized, and not accorded only at 
 the discretion or kindly feeling of the few. 
 
 The wall of Chester is about two miles in circuit, and is provided 
 with a paved walk along its entire extent, guarded on the exterior by 
 a parapet, about two feet high, while on the cit^' side the houses abut 
 direcllj-^ upon it, with not only windows, but doors as well opening 
 upon the walk. 
 
 At the gates this walk rises by steps above the crown of the arch ; 
 and at the river-side a flight of stone stairs descends to the water's 
 edge. 
 
 Legendarj^ lore asserts the certain fulfillment of every wish uttered, 
 aloud, after running three times without stopping, up and down again, 
 these stairs. 
 
 It requires good breathing power to utter any thing after such a 
 feat of agility. 
 
 This walk around the top of the wall, affords a very attractive 
 promenade and is a favourite resort for the citizens. 
 
 Great events have left their impress on the course of the history 
 of the Western world, since these walls were first constructed by 
 Roman soldiers. 
 
 A contemporaneous inscription on one of the stones of the wall, 
 records the fact that that portion had been the work of the XXth 
 legion. 
 
 Britons, Saxons, Danes, the supporters of the claims of the Red 
 rose of Lancaster, and of the ^Vhite rose of York ; of Ro5'al Supremacy, 
 and of Parliamentar}' Power, have each, in turn, found them objects 
 of attacks or means of defence. 
 
 They now, all value for warlike purposes forever lost, afford a 
 pleasant resort ; on which age may saunter in the quiet evening hour 
 and recall the pleasant memories of the past ; where youth may 
 cultivate its affections, and, in the morning walk, or evening stroll, 
 under the influence of friendship or of love, enjoy the " pleasures of 
 Hope ; " where the sober citizen may seek relaxation from his carss, 
 and where the stranger like ourselves, from the far-off land, may be 
 gratified by the first sight of the remains of what to him is antiquity. 
 
 It was not, however, from this source we drew our chief gratifica- 
 tion at this visit. 
 
 We gazed with delight on the glory of the setting sun ; and 
 thought how soon he would illuminate with his rising splendour, the 
 land of privilege we vSo love ; and rested our e3'es, as we turned them 
 from the rich tints with which he decked with splendour the clouds 
 above, on the quiet, and peculiarly English scene presented in The 
 Dean's Yard, a cathedral enclosure, which lay at our feet just within 
 
 26
 
 the wall, comprising an area of many acres well set in grass, where 
 the Dean's children watched the dairy maid milking the Dean's 
 cow. 
 
 This preferment is now held by one of the most eminent and 
 deser\dng of the clergy of the Church of England, Doct. Howson, 
 author of the well known Life of St. Paul. 
 
 Near the cathedral there is a considerable space between it 
 and the wall, appropriated as a cemetery- ; and near by another open 
 space known as the Cathedral Close, and still another the Dean's 
 Yard, to which I have already adverted. 
 
 These form valuable sources of purification of the air, available 
 for all classes of the community, while, in many other points the 
 dwellings abut directly against the wall, having entrances and 
 windows on the wall from the upper stories as well as by the lower 
 ones onto the street. 
 
 Near the tower on which Charles sat, watching the progress of the 
 critical conflict which decided the fate of the kingdom, and ultimately 
 his life, there is an enclosure appropriated to the collection and preser- 
 vation, of Roman remains found from time to time in making excava- 
 tions for new buildings in Chester. These consist, chiefly, of broken 
 statues of the gods, broken altars, and columns and other fragments of 
 buildings, having but little antiquarian value and no beauty. 
 
 At a late hour but the bright light of day still shining, a weary 
 party, we retired to our beds to seek the needed repose after the excite- 
 ment and fatigue of a first day in Europe ; thankful to be once more 
 on dry land, having been carried in safety through the perils of the 
 mighty deep, and released from the sound of rushing waves, and the 
 jar and rattling of the engines which have been our nightly disturb- 
 ances since we left home. We all slept late into the following day, 
 waking only in time for a hurried breakfast, before the hour for Morn- 
 ing Worship in the Cathedral, to which we all repaired. 
 
 The Cathedral service was performed ; choral, of course, but very 
 solemnly rendered, and deeply impressive. 
 
 Certainly we all found it entirely satisfactory. 
 
 The individuality of the worshipper was not lost in the vastness 
 of the multitude, while the perfect unison of the many voices gave 
 grandeur to the service. 
 
 While I felt deeply my personal interest in every utterance of 
 prayer, and ascription of praise, I yet recognized fully the precious- 
 ness of Common Prayer, 
 
 The morning sermon by Canon Kingsley, was able and instruc- 
 tive, on the character of Ahab, who " sold himself to sin " ; and was 
 made practical in its application to the present times, when ' ' men of 
 all ranks and conditions of life, are ready to enter into possession of their 
 neighbour's goods provided some Jezebel will take the odious active 
 part in doing the wrong to Naboth. ' ' 
 
 27
 
 The evening service was also choral ; after which Dean Howson 
 preached from the text " by their fruits ye shall know them." Purely 
 evangelical in doctrine, it was lovingl}^ catholic in the true sense of 
 the word, embracing in the unity of the ' ' one faith ' ' all such as 
 ' ' bring forth fruit unto holiness ' ' as the result of faith in the work of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 After evening ser\dce we walked about the building, which is 
 being ' ' restored ' ' ; which process is actively promoted by the Dean. 
 Built of red sandstone, which is very perishable, the exterior had 
 become unsightly under the corrosion of weather and time. The 
 exterior has been renewed, retaining carefully the original character, 
 in the most minute detail. 
 
 Unhappily this rigid adherence to the original features, involves 
 the restoration of ornaments and symbols, which belong to the Papal 
 superstitution, many of which had, with great propriety, been removed 
 or even destroyed at the time of the Reformation in the reign of 
 Edward VI. 
 
 There is great reason to fear that we are now sacrificing on the 
 altar of spurious taste the invaluable principles of fundamental Truth, 
 while retaining, preser\''ing or restoring these representatives of 
 error. 
 
 We listened but impatiently, to the mythical stories of the Verger 
 about legendary saints and heroes, and heard his tedious explanations 
 of the designs of the often grotesque carvings on the stalls of the 
 Choir. 
 
 He recognized us as American in our natio^alit5^ and invited our 
 attention to a modem but beautiful monument recently completed to 
 the memory of Bishop Pierson, author of the work on the Creed which 
 has been adopted as the authoritative exposition by the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church of the United States of North America, for the instruc- 
 tion of her students of theology. 
 
 He was at one time Bishop of Chester and the propriety of the 
 placing a monument to commemorate his worth and learning, in this 
 Cathedral, was suggested by Bishop Coxe of Western New York, and 
 contributions for that purpose sent from there a few years ago. A 
 blessed thing it would be for that church, were the faith he expounded 
 as that expressed in the Apostles' Creed, the living faith of that 
 body. Most thankful should we be for such an ' ' exposition ' ' of 
 the truth. 
 
 They also exhibit here a tapestrj' wrought from one of the Cartoons 
 of Raphael, representing the reproval of Elj'mas the Sorcerer, atPaphos, 
 by St. Paul, before the Roman Deputy, Sergius Paulus. This is said to 
 have been stolen, this especial illustration being missing from the 
 series in the Vatican. 
 
 As their first opportunity to become acquainted with the rich 
 beauty of this form of art, those of the part}' who had not before seen 
 
 28
 
 a specimen of vertiable tapestry were highl}'- gratified, while your 
 mother and myself were equalh* interested in the renewal of the 
 pleasure we experienced in seeing it for the first time in the year 1S36. 
 
 The Bishop sat high above the heads of the people, enthroned in 
 the shrine of some St. Werburgh, a local celebrity to whom the cathe- 
 dral was dedicated, and who had been the Abbot of an adjacent monas- 
 tery. 
 
 On IMondaj^ we drove about the town admiring the Park, the Hos- 
 pital, the Blue Coat School, and other public buildings, but especially 
 interested by the antiquated houses which still remain nothwithstand- 
 ing the various destructive influences of the centuries which have 
 passed over them but have failed to destroy them. 
 
 The early residence of the Stanleys, the family now bearing the 
 title of Earl of Derby, occupied bj^ them in the early years of the 1 7th 
 centurj-, is still standing, and in its dilapidated condition, up a narrow 
 court, its low-ceiled and narrow rooms occupied by the families of the 
 lowest class of labourers, presents a strong illustration of the advance 
 of modern over ancient comfort in domestic arrangements. 
 
 On the principal street there are many ancient houses with low 
 stories and heav3' beams intersecting the brick or stone work of the 
 gables which project above the lower stories, and form the front of the 
 street, any one of which is an object of interest to the stranger. 
 
 One attracts special notice from the legend connected with it. It 
 is called God's Providence House, and bears on the beams which inter- 
 sect the ornamented gable the legend in gothic letters, " God's Provi- 
 dence is mine inheritance. " It is said to be the onl}' house in which 
 there was no death at the time of a fearful visitation of the Plague 
 soon after it was built, and thus consecrated. 
 
 Many of the houses in the ' ' Rows ' ' which I have vainly attempted 
 to describe in one of m}' hurried letters written from Chester, are 
 three centuries old ; others have been rebuilt, but retaining all the 
 peculiar features of the original. 
 
 Chester is certainly' well worth 5' of the earliest visit of the stranger 
 from a land from which every vestige of an antiquity which has noth- 
 ing behind it, and does not date at the earliest more than three cen- 
 turies back ! and is easy of access to the newly arrived voyager, who 
 finds in its mediaeval relics an appropriate introduction to the observa- 
 tion of the remains of a still earlier era which will be as interesting 
 after having been familiar with these, though they would appear insig- 
 nificant if seen for the first time after having been overwhelmed, and 
 awed by the grandeur and age of Etruscan, Grecian or still older 
 Roman ruins, even if one should stop short of the hoary antiquity and 
 massive solemnit}^ of Pyramids, and Obelisks, and Temples of an 
 unknown antiquity. 
 
 Leaving Chester by Rail, after breakfast, we dined in London. 
 How different from our own experience 36 years ago, when we posted 
 
 29
 
 up to the Metropolis, reaching Macclesfield the first day, and thought 
 we had done well. 
 
 The Railroad is not only a grand troph}^ of past success, and 
 triumph of present power, biit the great agent of future progress. 
 What shall that be ? Shall we rise in the course of the next half 
 centur\-, to a point from which we shall look down on that we have 
 now attained, and glory in, as we now look down on that from which 
 we have risen in the last fiftj'^ j'ears ? 
 
 Thirty-six 3'ears ago we made an excursion from Liverpool to 
 Manchester, b}^ Rail, — that being then but recently opened, and the 
 only line for the conveyance of passengers — merely for the novelty of 
 the mode of transportation. Now, so numerous are the lines running in 
 every direction with crossings and junctions every few miles, that it 
 occurred to me that Engineers of the present day must regard the 
 solid earth as designed only to furnish beds for railroads, as Brindley 
 is said to have said that Rivers were only designed to feed canals. 
 
 The grades of the road by which we were carried up to London 
 were easy ; the tracks laid solidl}^ and well ballasted ; the embank- 
 ments smooth and well sodded, and the line of rails skirted by neat 
 flower borders or kitchen gardens. 
 
 The stopping places were frequent, and the station-houses often 
 picturesque, sometimes elegant cottages. The cars were commodious, 
 and arranged in compartments ; and the officials, and servants of every 
 grade, obliging in their attentions, and civil in their deportment. 
 Every thing conspired to make travel attractive, and pleasant. ' ' Your 
 tickets ready, if you please" would give notice of approaching inspec- 
 tion, instead of the short, sharp and often harsh cry of ''Tickets!''' 
 uttered by the conductor with us, as he throws open the door with a 
 dash, which seems to say "/ am the ma7i here'' ; seizes hastily' the 
 first ticket, clips it, thrusts it back without even deigning to look at 
 one, and passes on to the next. The courteous utterance of the 
 ' ' Thanks " in a subdued voice, falls gratefully on the ear, even though 
 one knows he had the right to demand that one should produce the 
 evidence that one is not taking a ride surreptitiously. As we were 
 whirled along, every thing appeared strange. That which is only 
 comparative!)- of yesterday, presents an aspect of antiquity to one 
 who has been wont to see it only in the works of God, ever renewing 
 themselves, and clothing themselves with fresh beauty year by year. 
 
 At home there are no ancient works of man. Here tombs, monu- 
 ments, and churches, though they do not bear the date of more than 
 a few recent centuries, have an ancient appearance and attract notice 
 by some peculiarity of style indicating the period of construction, or 
 by the solidity of their structure. 
 
 We passed through the ISIarches of Wales, along the slopes at the 
 foot of the hills, and crossed the openings of the valleys which run 
 into the mountains, catching passing glimpses of scenes of great beauty 
 
 30
 
 and full of interest from their historic associations as well as from their 
 inherent loveliness. 
 
 The extent of the manufacturing industrj^ and the richness of the 
 Iron and Coal districts around Wolverhampton Birmingham, and 
 Kidderminster and other such seats of manufacturing industry-, sug- 
 gested thoughts of the wealth and power of Great Britain, while the 
 transient glimpse of Warwick Castle as we passed its mediaeval walls, 
 gave one a faint idea (like that of one just waking from sleep, who 
 just opens his e3^es and closes them again instantlj-, acquires of 
 some new object) of the habits of life and manners belonging to the 
 13th and 14th centuries around which the stories of the Novelist have 
 thrown the glamour which makes them attractive. 
 
 Oxford, as we gazed for a moment on her venerable domes and 
 towers while skirting the plain on which she lies, aroused thoughts of 
 the vast contributions of English mind to the accumulated and still 
 growing stores of Science in its various developments, and Literature 
 in its most valuable treasures. 
 
 We could distinguish the groves and walks of Magdalen College, 
 founded by the one Saxon who has been honoured by all subsequent 
 ages of his countrymen with the name of The Great, and made sacred 
 Iw the pure taste of Addison ; and the shades of JNIilton and a crowd of 
 honoured names of those whose powers were trained within the courts 
 of the university, who have reflected back upon their Alma INIater the 
 full tribute of honour in return, seemed clustering around her ; though 
 the aspect of the suburb near which we passed gave no idea of what is 
 shut out from view by the unsightly walls which enclose each College. 
 
 Blenheim (the house hidden from view amid the noble trees of the 
 grand Park), spreads its groves along the banks of the Thames ; after 
 passing which we skirted Windsor Park, the majestic Castle crowning 
 the distant heights ; and dashing rapidly along by Uxbridge, 
 Wj'combe, and other places the names of which revived the memory 
 of the pleasure we enjoyed in our drive through them on the occasion 
 of oiir former visit, we arrived at Paddington Station, near Kensington 
 Gardens, and were there ushered into the great metropolis of the 
 world, London. 
 
 It was a wondrous day! We had left Chester — redolent of 
 memories of Britons, and Romans, and Saxons ; of Edwards, and 
 Richards, and Charleses, and Parliament, and passing through fertile 
 fields richly laden with the products of the soil, corn, and grass, 
 vetches, and turnips and other root crops ; and animated by flocks 
 of sheep and herds of cattle, grazing peacefully ; living tokens of the 
 progress of civilization, and the advance of human welfare and happi- 
 ness ; and had reached the great centre of modern power the mart of 
 industry and trade. 
 
 No such scenes had marked the days of mediaeval England. We 
 were sorry to see the mown grass lying uncured, black, and rotting in 
 rows in the meadows. 
 
 31
 
 Better, however, even this, than the devastation of Civil War and 
 the tramp of troops of hostile factions, however ' ' chivalrous. ' ' 
 
 Let us thank God that the days of chivalrj' have j-ielded to those of 
 Commerce and Manufactures, and that the greatness of to-day is marked 
 b}'^ peaceful triumphs over nature, and not b}^ bloody trophies of 
 successful invasion on other's rights or the triumphant resistance of 
 oppression. 
 
 Such advance could not be made without the overthrow of insti- 
 tutions which were themselves inimical to peaceful pursuits. 
 
 A change is thus wrought in the habit of thought of the human 
 mind, as well as in the piirsuits of men, which will itself give rise to 
 future changes, as marked as any that have preceded them. 
 
 Thus the tide of human events rolls on ever, leaving deposited on 
 the shores which curb the flowing current, not onl}' the wrecks (which 
 mark the imperfection of human power), but living seeds, the germs 
 of further development in future ages. 
 
 In contrast with the depressing effect of the sight of the decaying 
 hay crop, the richness of the verdure of the fresh grown grass and 
 luxuriance of the various root and other growing crops was ver}^ grati- 
 fying ; there was still hope left for the farmer that his flocks and herds 
 would not suffer. 
 
 Where the land was thin, exhausted by long reiterated cropping 
 ■without any return of fertilizing influences, and the com (wheat is so 
 called here universal!}'), consequently light, innumerable poppies took 
 possession of the impoverished soil, sometimes overtopping the wheat 
 and giving a purely sanguine hue to the field ; and in other cases just 
 mingling their scarlet petals among the bearded heads of the green or 
 yellowing corn, giving a purple or redtinted hue to the more or less 
 extensive field, and recalling the witty criticism of good old George III, 
 on the florid sermon of a courtly preacher, "the poppies are beautiful, 
 but they ruin the corn." 
 
 Every glimpse of sunshine was availed of by the farmers, the 
 whole force being turned out to shake up the blackened hay, and give 
 it air and expose it to the dr3'ing rays ; and some few half formed stacks 
 and ricks were covered with canvas cloths to protect the ha}- which 
 had been already "carted." 
 
 Game preser\'es and ornamental copses were often seen, and the 
 lordly domain of Blenheim, which lies within sight of the Railway, 
 must win and receive the admiration of every passer by. 
 
 From Chester, brother Wistar had telegraphed to the INIisses 
 Edwards, recommended by Cheston, to know whether they could 
 receive so large a party as ovirs. 
 
 Their establishment is at the West End, near St. Georges Chapel 
 so celebrated as the scene of many fashionable marriages. They were 
 full, so that we were compelled to seek for quarters elsewhere, and 
 having had equally strong recommendation of Woods Hotel, Furnivals 
 
 32
 
 Inn, in High Holborn, from brother Israel and others, Wistar had 
 engaged accommodations there before we started. 
 
 Arriving at the extreme west end, we had our choice of a drive in 
 cabs thence down to the city, or a subterranean passage by the Metro- 
 politan Railroad. 
 
 Preferring to see all that was to be seen and to avoid the close and 
 foul atmosphere of the tunnel, running as it does through earth satur- 
 ated with the accumulated filth of centuries, we chose the more tedious 
 and wearisome arrangement and took cabs, and were driven through 
 the busy crowded streets ; thus repeating for your mother and mj-self 
 our experience of thirty-six years ago when we entered London at 
 about the same point, and by a strange coincidence we were driven 
 without any connivance of ours, in the same direction and over a part 
 of the route, by the same streets. We were at that time carried beyond 
 the point at which we now stopped, going about a mile further into a 
 still more central place opposite the Guildhall. 
 
 Even in the deepening twilight we could now recognize some 
 familiar places and old buildings ; but were more impressed by great 
 and unlooked for changes, especially in High Holborn itself, and the 
 immediate vicinity of Furnival's Inn. Where on the occasion of our 
 former visit we had seen only narrow crooked alleys leading among 
 dingy old houses, which, whatever they may have been in the da3S of 
 Good Queen Bess, were then no longer fit for the residence of even sqiialid 
 poverty, we now found wide thoroughfares lined with modern shops. 
 
 One point at which we were sure to find a jam of every form and 
 kind of vehicle, omnibuses, vans, cabs, and private carriages, amid 
 which struggling pedestrians squirmed and twisted themselves at the 
 imminent risk of life or limb, is now, by the simple expedient of 
 carrjdng one thoroughfare across the other at a higher grade on a via- 
 duct, rendered not only safe but of easy transit. 
 
 The Holborn Viaduct is one of the great achievements of modern 
 art, as were the still grander Aqueducts of ancient Rome. Stairways 
 afford opportunitj' for pedestrians to descend to the street below or to 
 ascend from it to that above. 
 
 The city terminus of the Metropolitan railway, which affords rapid 
 transit from one part of the vast conglomeration of humanity known 
 as London, is at this point. 
 
 St. Andrew's, Holborn ; and St. Sepulchre's, two Parish churches 
 built after the fire of London, stand the one at either end of the modern 
 viaduct, memorials of the past ; and rather pretentious statues of more 
 modern city magnates are stationed on the parapets of the bridge, and 
 the gloomy walls of Newgate and Old Bailey frown on the passer as he 
 presses forward toward Cheap side. Old Jewr}-, the Guildhall, the Bank, 
 and Leadenhall and other places with which every one is familiar. 
 
 We found ourselves very comfortable at Woods but were not a 
 little amused, a few days after our arrival, by the manifestation of 
 
 33
 
 disgust on the part of Stephano Cervetto, our Italian Courier (engaged 
 as his teniporaiy substitute b3- Freizier), who had been awaiting our 
 arrival with some anxiety, as we were informed at Brown Brothers & 
 Co. , who evidentl}' thought his own dignity compromised bj- being in 
 the employ of a party willing to stop at so plebian an establishment. 
 
 We occupied a suite of apartments on the ground floor, the rooms 
 small but clean and neatly furnished, with good beds, and a table well 
 supplied at our discretion, and the ser\'ants very attentive. 
 
 The sweet sound of psalmody ascending from a room in the base- 
 ment daily at 9.30 A. m. and again at 9 P. m., announced that there 
 was a ser\-ice of worship at those hours conducted by a City Missionary 
 for the benefit of the family of the Proprietor, and the servants who 
 could be spared from actual duty at those hours ; and a note in the 
 Bible (of which there was a cop}' in each apartment) invited the par- 
 ticipation of guests. 
 
 The proximity of this establishment to the Inns of Court, the 
 Post Ofiice, the Bank of England, and other great financial centres 
 causes it to be the resort of business men though but little, if at all, 
 known to the fashionable world and the herd of pleasure-seeking 
 travellers, who naturallj' seek for more stylish quarters at the West 
 End. Here cluster by themselves the various places of amusement 
 and recreation frequented b}' those classes which think there is no 
 place worthj'^ of their knowledge out of ]\Iay Fair, Belgravia, and 
 Tyburnia. 
 
 How suggestive of progress or at least of change, is the last name ! 
 
 Once the spot at which robbers, murderers, and other criminals of 
 the basest class — the despised of all — expiated their crimes on the 
 gallows, the word was synonj'mous with irredeemable disgrace ; it has 
 been the seat of the highest fashion, and is now passing through the 
 stage of transition, the residence of fading gentility. 
 
 vSuch is the course of all human affairs ; one t3-pe runs through 
 them all, little and great, social or individual, national or metropolitan ; 
 all rise from the earth ; flourish for a time and then decay and return 
 to the dust from which the}' sprung. Nations and families have their 
 birth, their life, their death, and their tombs ; some with longer, some 
 with shorter annals ; some with greater and some with lesser splendour, 
 but one beginning and one ending to all. 
 
 The energy and activitj' of London is now even more imposing 
 than when we were first dropped into its seething mass, five and thirty 
 years ago — the average duration of human life — the period allowed to 
 a generation. 
 
 Then, driven by a postilion in our own travelling carriage because 
 there was no other mode of conveyance for so great an invalid as j'our 
 mother then was, entering by Kensington Gardens and passing 
 through the entire length of the city b}^ Pall Mall, the Strand, Cornhill, 
 and Cheapside to King street, Guildhall, we, wear}' and disconsolate 
 
 34
 
 realizing what it was to be alone in the great crowd, found refuge 
 at the close of a long day's travel in the Sun Parlour of a Coffee house 
 to which we had been fortuitously recommended to go, we have reason 
 to believe in the same house which had been the residence of a common 
 ancestor of both j'our mother and nij'self, and from the window of the 
 room we thus first occupied in that City of which he had been one ot 
 the Aldermen (and came within one vote only of being made Lord 
 MaN^or) we looked down upon the roof of that Guildhall where he took 
 an active part in the proceedings of the citizens in opposition to the 
 Court, so prominenth- as to render him personal!}- obnoxious to the 
 monarch, and to cause Lord Chief Justice Jeffries (though they had 
 once been personal friends) to refuse any co-operation in the efforts to 
 save his life, with the assertion ( pointing to the urn which stands on 
 the top of the column erected to commemorate the Great Fire of Lon- 
 don), "though you were to fill that vase with pearls, and guineas, he 
 shall be hanged." 
 
 Now a dozen or more Railways bring their thousands of passengers 
 hourlj- to as many Stations in various parts of the metropolis ; and 
 vehicles of the most appropriate form, and comfortable as any one can 
 desire, stand waiting at all hours to convej- the newly arrived stranger 
 to any point he maj^ indicate. 
 
 Woods Hotel is a verj- good point from which to survey the present 
 London with its multiplied interests and diverse influences. You pass 
 by an archway from Holborn with its crowding flow of busj' peoples 
 into a court3-ard with ranges of oflices on either hand, and the hotel 
 building stretching across the opposite side of the square, from the 
 back windows of which one looks down upon a mass of old houses, 
 crowded together in inextricable confusion, divided from each other by 
 the narrowest possible alley's rather than streets. 
 
 The changes wrought by the progress of improvement of course, 
 arrested our attention the more forcibly, from the fact that our present 
 place of sojourn is not very far remote from that we formerly lodged 
 at while then in London. 
 
 Moorgate street (then a forlorn ruinous looking place presenting 
 no promise of an3-thing btit hopelessly advancing decay) is now a 
 wide avenue well laid with Asphalt pavement or Belgian blocks, and 
 lined on either side with lofty warehouses of costly construction and in 
 modern style. 
 
 The Royal Exchange, and Bank of England, have undergone no 
 change, and so the Post Olflce proper ; but the new buildings now 
 being erected for the accommodation of the Telegraph Department, 
 are very imposing in appearance and proinise to be commodious. The 
 Government has purchased the privileges of the incorporated com- 
 panies and made the wires a part of the Postal service. 
 
 We observe the continuance of many of the old names of firms 
 with which we were familiar at our former visit, but the new shop 
 
 35
 
 windows, on Cheapside, and Cornhill and the new pavements and 
 occasionally an entire new front to an old warehouse, show that pro- 
 gress is made even in the most unchangeable parts. Bow Bells still 
 send forth to the ' ' citizen ' ' the note of the flight of Time, and the 
 antique figures still raise their hammers for the rosounding stroke on 
 the bell in Cheapside opposite King Street ; across the head of which 
 the Guildhall stands as it has stood so many centuries, the scene of 
 Municipal controversy at the charter elections, as well as of the revelry 
 of the feasts of the Alderman and Councils. 
 
 The historic associations which cluster around this part of London 
 (Guildhall and its vicinity) are especially dear to the middle classes 
 and those noble houses which owe their eminence to the support they 
 have always given to that class — the Old Whig Lords. 
 
 Whilst others of the party were occupied in shopping and sight- 
 seeing, I devoted two days to the examination of the Registers of the 
 Parishes of Bassingshaw, St. INIary Magdalen, and St. Lawrence, 
 Jewry (now consolidated into one) ; for any traces of the historj' of 
 Henry- Cornish, Alderman, an active citizen and affluent and extensive 
 merchant in the days of Charles II, and James II ; who was executed 
 for High Treason in the time of James II ; accused of being connected 
 with the rising in behalf of the Duke of I^Ionmouth, and confessedly 
 associated with Lord William Russell, and an active opponent of the 
 attempts of the Royal brothers to establish Popery. 
 
 P'amily tradition traces the pedigree of both your mother and 
 myself through the Hollingsworths, to a daughter of Alderman Cor- 
 nish ; and I hoped to find some record of marriage or burial in these 
 Parish Registers, which would establish the claim and throw light on 
 the history of the family. 
 
 I was disappointed. 
 
 After a careful search in which I was most ably assisted bj' the 
 Rector, who also manifested his sympathy with the object by declining 
 to accept the customary and legitimate fee for the " search, " we found 
 nothing, be^-ond the simple "Henry Cornish, Alderman ; interred in 
 the chancel, i8th of November 1687." This was done before the land- 
 ing of William and INIarv*. 
 
 From The State Trials we learn that Alderman Cornish was 
 arrested on Change on Saturday (possibly, Friday) confined without 
 counsel and debarred from any intercourse with his family or friends, 
 without pen, ink, or paper, or other means of making preparation for 
 trial ; and indicted on Monday, convicted, by (to say the least of it) 
 equivocal testimony, and at once sentenced, according to the horribly 
 barbarous habit of the age to be hanged until half dead, taken down 
 and disembowelled, and his heart burned before his e3-es, beheaded, 
 and his body divided into quarters and exposed to public gaze, at "the 
 pleasure of the King. ' ' 
 
 This sentence had been executed literally in October, 1685. 
 
 36
 
 There is abundant testimony in the contemporaneous pamphlets — 
 (see Somers' collection in the Loganian Library, and several of the 
 English Histories of the period), to the noble Christian deportment of 
 the patriot and mart3'r. Echard and Macauley give him due praise, 
 and it has ahva5^s been held in the tradition of the Hollingsworths 
 that the act of attainder was repealed in the next reign and the estates 
 restored to the heir. 
 
 But where had the mangled remains rested during the two years 
 which had elapsed between the execution and their final deposit in the 
 chancel of his Parish Church ? 
 
 Doctor Calamy (not the distinguished and venerated Nonconformist, 
 but a member of the same family and holding similar views and feel- 
 ings, but adhering to the Established Church of England), gave ample 
 testimony to the Christian character of Mr. Cornish, and his exemplary 
 life. 
 
 In the parish register there is no note of his age, nor of the cir- 
 cumstances or time of his death, nor could we find any antecedent 
 trace of the family. Two years later there is an entr>- of the baptism of 
 a child of " Henry Cornish." 
 
 I should have devoted more time and labour to the search if I had 
 had it at my command ; I gave all I could to it during our hurried visit 
 at that time. 
 
 In making the investigation I first sought out the Solicitor ol the 
 Parish, who received me with great courtesy and referred me to the 
 Beadle, and also gave me a note to the pew-opener, requesting her 
 attention to me. From her I learned that the Rector is also a Minor 
 Canon of St. Paul's, on duty at this time, and would be found partici- 
 pating in the service at 4 p. m., at the close of which I could see him 
 with less inconvenience to him than at any other time or place. 
 
 I went therefore to the Evening Service and asked one of the 
 Vergers to point out to me the Rector of St. Lawrence, Jewry ; and as 
 he withdrew from the Choir after disrobing, I spoke to him, and he 
 kindly made an appointment to meet me at St. Lawrence after the 
 Litan}' servdce the next morning. 
 
 Your mother and I went to it accordingly. There was a kind of 
 melancholy satisfaction in thus worshipping the one God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the same sanctuarj', with the same words 
 our common ancestor had used and where and by which he had been 
 nurtured in the one faith, for the preservation of which from corrup- 
 tion and its transmission in its purity to his descendants he had sacri- 
 ficed his blood, "not counting his life dear unto himself" 
 
 It was his estimate of the value of the simple truth as it is in 
 Jesus as opposed to the conniptions and errors of Rome (which Charles 
 had adopted and was striving to introduce into his realm), that inspired 
 his patriotic zeal and made him an earnest opponent of the Court and 
 an active participant in the movements which led to the removal of the 
 
 37
 
 Stuarts, and the settlement of the power of William and IMary and the 
 establishment of Protestantism. 
 
 It v.-as ver>' sad to us to observe the manifest evidences of the 
 reflux of the tide of superstition. Here in the very church where 
 Doct. Calamy had taught the truth and in which Cornish had wor- 
 shipped, Ritualism has established itself 
 
 It was a week-day service; many of the congregation assembled 
 were active young men, who had evidently left their several places of 
 business for the purpose of worship — serious, devout looking men. 
 Each as he entered the church knelt in the aisle, with his face to the 
 eastward, and crossed himself repeatedly, bowing himself again to the 
 " fl/Zar " as he took his seat in the pew. All joined earnestlj' in 
 chanting the responses; and at the close, as each withdrew, he again 
 bowed to the "altar" and crossed himself before leaving the church. 
 The building is in good repair and is a fair example of the churches 
 which were erected after the great fire in London. 
 
 I have since seen in The Tijnes that a demand by the Rector for 
 the assessment of a Parish Rate, has been resisted successfully on the 
 ground that the purpose was to introduce change in accordance with 
 the modern notions of High Ritual. 
 
 To us the deportment of the Rector was not only courteous but kind. 
 
 If I had had the necessary time at my command I should have 
 prosecuted ray search further and ascertained whether there are any 
 other registers of the parishes of St. Michael, Bassishaw, or St. Mary 
 Magdalen, which are now merged in that of St. Lawrence, Jewrj'. 
 
 Among the greatest attractions of the vicinity of London are the 
 Botanical Gardens at Kew, maintained atithe expense of the Nation. 
 The extensive grounds lie on the south bank of the Thames a few 
 miles above London and are easily accessible by steamers plying on 
 the River, by Railway, and by frequent Omnibuses. The Gardens 
 are open to the public freely and are often crowded with visitors in 
 quest of recreation and amusement. There are not only extensive 
 houses for the cultivation of exotics and the protection of Tropical 
 plants, but a large collection of specimens adapted to promote the 
 study of Vegetable Physiology ; and Herbariums in which are pre- 
 seri'.ed dried specimens of plants from the grandest monarchs of the 
 forest to the humblest vegetable organism. 
 
 n3- The' grounds are laid out with great taste and judgment, so as 
 test- to exhibit the natural growth and form of each tree and shrub 
 atid plant;. and. every variety, from every climate, is provided with the 
 temperature and other surroundings best adapted to its habits. One 
 .would :nfi^'^et: tire of the wondrous attractions of Kew ; nor exhaust its 
 stores of instructioti in botanic lore. Many of the trees are of the 
 grandest-size and the sloping lawns and winding alleys of verdure and 
 feecluded.patha.ofiej': ever changing allurement to the lovers of the 
 Joeautiful in- Jiature attd ia Horticulture. 
 
 ^8
 
 The da\' we passed at the Crystal Palace was also one full of 
 special interest. 
 
 The grounds there are planted with trees and shrubbery and 
 adorned with flower borders, and there are some arrangements for the 
 display of tropical plants and other exotics, interspersed with the more 
 formal ornament of numerous and large fountains; but they have no 
 claim to be mentioned on the same page as the National Gardens at 
 Kew. 
 
 On the occasion of our visit there was a great Temperance Festival 
 held in the grounds. 
 
 Cheap exciirsion tickets to it had been issued bj- nearl3' all the 
 Railroads which had termini in the Metropolis, and more than 70,000 
 persons, children and adults, were collected and marched in grand pro- 
 cession through the grounds with bands of music, and banners flying; 
 after which the children were collected in the grand hall and gave a 
 concert, singing Temperance Songs. 
 
 It was an inspiriting display exhibiting the power of the principle 
 of total abstinence, which made it possible to gather an assemblage so 
 numerous in order to spend a holiday in enjoyment without excess or 
 disturbance. 
 
 The spectacle was a grand one as we looked down from the 
 Terrace, over flower borders and beds dotting the rich turf, kept in 
 continual verdure by the spray of the fountains which sent up their 
 colums of water to be dispersed into spray and descend in gracious 
 showers on the closely shaven grass. 
 
 The attractions at Sydenham are verj' varied; besides the outside 
 beauty of the grounds and the collection of exotics, there are many 
 objects of interest in the building. 
 
 Courts are arranged filled with Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian, 
 Mediaeval, and Renaissance buildings and furniture, designed to 
 furnish representations of, the habits and manners of the respective 
 eras. 
 
 One, for instance, contains a model on a large scale of the 
 excavations at Pompeii, while in an adjoining apartment are restora- 
 tions of the buildings as they were at the time of the eruption, by the 
 ashes of which they were buried ; with figures dressed in the costumes 
 of the age, and engaged in the pursuits of the place and period. 
 
 There is also a court devoted to restorations of the plants and 
 animals of the paleozoic ages, constructed under the directions of the 
 most skilled scientists in that branch of human knowledge. 
 
 What with banking and shopping and visiting friends, the days 
 of our sojourn in London were absolutely consutned, leaving but little 
 in the ashes even, to be fanned again into flame b}^ the breezes of 
 memory in future conference. We passed an evening most pleasantly 
 with Bevan Braithwaite, the youngest son of the noble friends of my 
 father; v/ho for his sake received your mother and myself and dear 
 
 39
 
 Mary, then an infant, making us the recipients of all the comforts of 
 their hospitable home, as the manifestation of their grateful appreciia- 
 tion of the friendship of that father; than whom no son ever had one 
 more loving, forbearing, more self-sacrificing in devotion to the 
 promotion of his interests, temporal and eternal. 
 
 Mr. Braithwaite is a Barrister, a Fellow of Lincoln's Inn, held in 
 great esteem for his moral worth and as highly valued for his pro- 
 fessional standing. 
 
 He was consulted by the government of the da}'^ in the celebrated 
 Alabama case. A thorough Englishman, his S3'mpathies (notwith- 
 standing his Quakerism) were with the Southern states in the 
 Rebellion. 
 
 A Preacher among the Friends, thoroughly Evangelical in his 
 doctrinal views and earnest and eloquent in proclaiming them, he 
 overcomes the impediment to his usefulness in that line of service of 
 Christ (caused bj' very serious stuttering in his utterance) by the 
 perfect calmness with which he perseveres. 
 
 He is a ver^' active member of the Acting Committee of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society. 
 
 He called on us daily on his way to his Chambers in Lincoln's 
 Inn, offering his services in any mode in which he could be of 
 use to us. 
 
 Meeting Wistar and sisters at Friends Place of worship on 
 Wednesdaj'', he took them to Westminster Hall to see the Judges 
 and Barristers, and modes of legal proceeding in the Court, and thence 
 to the Parliament Houses. 
 
 His familiarity with English as well as with Classical Literature, 
 is surprising. He can recite page after page of passages from the best 
 authors, prose as well as poets, his mind and meraorj' being as well 
 stored as are the shelves of his Library with the best authors. 
 
 His wife and family were absent for their summer visit to her 
 family in Oxfordshire, but we passed an evening with him at his 
 earnest request at his small but elegant residence on the Camberwell 
 Road. 
 
 He received us in his Library-, filled with choice editions of 
 valuable works, proving his familiartN' with their contents by 
 frequently turning to their pages to confirm his views by their 
 authority. His memor>' is wonderful. 
 
 Another visit made by your mother and myself, with the greatest 
 pleasure, was to the family of the late Josiah Forster (another of the 
 highly esteemed friends of our dear father) and with whom I had 
 myself enjoyed the privilege of friendship, maintained by occasional 
 interchange of letters, since oiir former visit to London ; when he 
 carried me to visit the schools of the British and Foreign School 
 Society in the Borough Road, and to the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society, of both of which he was an active Manager. 
 
 40 
 
 I 
 
 I
 
 He now rests with the Lord, whom he loved and served with 
 cheerful goodwill. 
 
 We saw his widow, and sisters, and his brother Robert who when 
 we were here in 1836 manifested much affectionate interest in my 
 spiritual welfare. 
 
 He is now an imbecile wreck through the influence of years, 
 living with his sisters ; the object of the most watchful affec- 
 tion. 
 
 Each has done what the}^ could, and has adorned the doctrine of 
 God their Saviour by a consistent life ; and for each there remaineth 
 the rest of the people of God. 
 
 Even now they stand like trees planted in the courts of the Lord, 
 beautiful in their old age. 
 
 We had designed to leave for Dover on our way to the Continent 
 early in the morning, but the urgency of the numerous demands on 
 our time prevented the accomplishment of the necessarj' packing of 
 our luggage during the afternoon, and we were compelled to postpone 
 that tiresome task till the morning and postpone our start till the 
 afternoon. 
 
 vSome of the part}' who had heard of the rich and extensive and 
 varied treasurers of the British ^Museum (but had foimed no adequate 
 conception of the vastness of its collections, which, indeed, can be 
 derived only from actual inspection), fancied we might visit it in the 
 morning before starting for Dover, but we did not attempt it. 
 
 The road to Dover lead us through Kent, so celebrated for its hop- 
 culture. The formal planting in rows v/ith high rigid poles on which 
 to support the climbing vines, only partially covered with the foliage 
 and flower at this season of the year, did not lend any grace to the 
 landscape ; and the huge ill}' proportioned kilns built of ugl}' bricks, 
 did not improve it. 
 
 The old farm-houses and thatched cottages were picturesque 
 objects whether scattered irregularly'- amid the fields and meadows, or 
 gathered into hamlets clustering around the Parish church ; and the 
 ' ' Downs ' ' (as the rounded chalk hills are called) gave some little 
 variety- to what would otherwise have had too much sameness for 
 beauty. 
 
 The Railroads penetrate these ridges by tunnels, the cost of the 
 excavation being less than the damages demanded for the surface in 
 the case of lengthy deep cuttings. 
 
 The towns through which we pass have no special claim to 
 notiv^e from their present importance or appearance, nor, so far as I am 
 posted, have they anj- historical associations. 
 
 Yet there is no part of England absolutely destitute of some inci- 
 dent treasured up at least in local tradition. 
 
 The wheat-fields were being reaped and there were man}- thriving 
 apple-orchards, and the people looked contented, and of consequence 
 
 41
 
 happy, and we were much impressed by the air of substantial comfort 
 belonging to every grade in social life. 
 
 Church towers and spires were frequent, and gave beauty to the 
 country and spoke of instruction for the present generations as they 
 had afforded it to those which have gone to their account. 
 
 Toward evening we reached Dover with its white chalk cliffs 
 rising nearly perpendicularly from the sea, crowned by Dover Castle, 
 which occupies the site of an old Roman fortress. 
 
 Prett}^ villas and cottages are arranged in terraces, rising one 
 above another from the margin of the sea to the top of the cliff, which 
 are occupied by lodging-honsc keepers, who take lodgers during the 
 bathing season. 
 
 Several were pointed out which are supported by the contributions „ 
 of the benevolent, as convalescent hospitals for the poor. ■ 
 
 It is but a narrow channel which separates England from France, 
 yet who that has ever heard of the discomfort of the passage but looks 
 with dread to the encounter ; who that has experienced the disgusting 
 details of its turbulence, that does not (under the strong sense of its 
 inexpressible distress) resolve that no hope of enjoyment beyond, 
 shall tempt to the renewal of the experience. 
 
 Yet the crowds which pass and repass daily, prove that some 
 are unterrified by the grumbling of sick passengers, in The 
 Times. 
 
 Thirty years before I had stood on this shore with passports vised, 
 letters of credit on Paris, and all other arrangements for a trip in 
 France and Belgium perfected, but the qualms of a vo3-age to the Isle 
 of Wight were fresh in my memor}- — perhaps the experience had 
 been too recent to justify' the relegation of it to the domain of memory 
 — and England had unexhausted attractions, so I turned my back 
 upon the beguilement of the Capital of the vanities and follies of 
 "the life that now is," and drove back to the charms of Christian 
 fellowship, amid the mountains of Wales, and the Lakes of West- 
 moreland. 
 
 Now imder other auspices, and (v.-e trust) at the call of duty, we 
 again pass by much that is most interesting to us in the natural 
 beauty and artificial adornment and historic associations in Great 
 Britain, not even pausing, in passing, to look at the seat of the 
 earliest Ecclesiastical establishment among our Saxon ancestors, 
 Canterbury, with its memorials of medi;tval histories, political as 
 well as ecclesiastical, and enter on an extended tour through Egypt, 
 and the Holj- Land, as well as the various countries of the continent 
 of Europe. 
 
 From Dover I wrote on the evening of the day we had travelled 
 from London to our children, addressing the note to dear Mary. 
 
 42 
 
 1
 
 Dover, August 2d. 
 My Dear Dattghtcr : 
 
 Here we are, under the chalk cliffs of England, the whiteness of 
 which as seen from the coast of Gaul by the Romans caused them 
 to give it the name by which it is still known in the language of 
 poetr}-, Albion. 
 
 The opposite shores of France rose into view beautifully as we 
 approached by rail running along the coast from Sandgate and 
 Folkestone, which are much frequented watering places on the south- 
 ern coast. We left London at 4.50 p. m., and reached here, having 
 passed over a distance of 180 miles, in about four hours. 
 
 Our route lay through a very varied and pictuersque country, the 
 railroad carried by several tunnels through chalk-hills, called here 
 "Downs," on emerging from which our eyes wandered wildly over 
 highl)^ cultivated fields intersected bj' beautiful green well-trimmed 
 hedges ; covered with abundant and luxuriant crops, sometimes wheat 
 (here known by the generic term corn) just now 3'^ellowing for the 
 harvest ; sometimes oats with its pale green hue, almost white, and 
 then again, great fields of mangolds or turnips or beans or vetches ; or 
 acre after acre of hop vines climbing poles set at regular distances, 
 the hard formality somewhat relieved by the graceful pendency of 
 the vines and the rich hue of the green of the foliage. 
 
 The meadows wore the liveliest coat of grass and the herds of 
 cattle, quietly reposing, as though satisfied with the ample supply for 
 their future needs as well as content with the abundance of which they 
 had already partaken, and the numerous flocks Ij^ing in the green 
 pastures, and beside the still waters, presented a picture of agricul- 
 tural peace and plenty which will long be present in our memories as 
 one of the delights of travel. 
 
 We passed no lordlj' palace nor stately mansion ; residences of 
 wealth or power ; but were rarely ever, if at all, without the sight of 
 many quiet hamlets clustering around church towers or short spires, 
 as though the centre around which they naturally collected for 
 protection. 
 
 Everj'thing we saw indicated comfort ; I suppose there is but little 
 education among the labouring masses in these districts, but there is 
 reason to hope they enjoy the blessings of life even if they are with- 
 out its refinements. 
 
 Our life in London has been one of unceasing toil, and your 
 mother has endured it to my great astonishment ; wearied, but not 
 exhausted ; and always ready cheerfully to go to whatever the others 
 had a desire to visit. 
 
 Yesterday was spent at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, about 
 14 miles from London. 
 
 It is an immense structure of glass, an engraving of which is 
 rolled up in the library at Ivy Neck. It was first erected for the great 
 
 43
 
 International Exhibition of the industries of all nations under the 
 auspices of Prince Albert, at the close of which it was taken down and 
 reconstructed where it now stands as a permanent place for the exhibi- 
 tion of models representing the buildings of antiquity, as well as the 
 ruins of Egypt, Greece and Rome, and the Alhambra, that grand 
 representative of the arts and culture of the Moors ; still the boast of 
 Spain. 
 
 There are also numerous specimens illustrative of the customs 
 and habits of foreign nations, interspersed with many good specimens 
 of the plants and flowers of other climes. 
 
 There is also a bazaar in which are sold a great variety of articles, 
 useful and of fancy. 
 
 The chief attraction to me was found in the surrounding grounds, 
 which are laid out with great taste and highly ornamented with flower- 
 borders and beds, and planted with shrubberj- ; among which were 
 grand fountains, throwing up large volumes of water, partly falling into 
 large basins and much dispersed in sheets of spray descending in 
 gracious showers on the vegetation around ; which is thus kept fresh 
 and green. 
 
 Wide, well constructed walks meander through the various attrac- 
 tions of the grounds. In these and the numerous apartments of the 
 Palace, 65,000 persons were collected at the time of our visit, each 
 enjoying himself in his own way. 
 
 It was a great temperance excursion from all parts of the kingdom 
 for which cheap excursion tickets had been issued. 
 
 The various Societies were marched in procession, with banners 
 and bands of music, and twice during the da}- 5000 children united 
 under a skilful leader in singing appropriate h3'mns and songs. 
 
 The tunes were such as 3^ou used to sing of old at the Epiphany 
 Sunday-school Anniversaries, and reminded your mother and me very 
 pleasantly of many such experiences. Harry' and Dr. Tyng would 
 have enjoyed the spectacle full3\ 
 
 We reached the Hotel at a late hour in the evening wearied and 
 exhausted, having almost fasted during the day. Just as supper was 
 placed on the table in walked Mr. John Welsh, to take leave of us as 
 he was to leave in the morning for Philadelphia — home — and we for 
 the Continent. 
 
 We now look with dread to the anticipated horrors of to-morrow, 
 as the boats are small and poor, and the unanimous testimony of all 
 who have crossed the Channel is that it is a fearful affair, not from 
 danger, but from the disgusting sea-sickness. 
 
 Well we are in for it and will try to take it cheerfully. 
 
 That God, our God, may have you all in His wise and holy keeping 
 is our only prayer. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Your mother has retired. 
 
 44
 
 A long pier at Dover projects itself into the Channel, on to which 
 the railway trains are run, discharging and receiving the ever living 
 shoals of passengers of everj- nationality who throng to this port, in 
 passing to and from the continent, as the point at which the channel, 
 by which Britain is made insular, is narrowest. 
 
 What does not mankind owe to the wise providence of the Creator, 
 who by this narrow straight isolated the Anglo Saxon race? Like the 
 moat of the feudal castle it afforded, during the Middle Ages, security 
 from the constant overflow of their nearest neighbours, assimilating 
 them to the Latin races, at the same time that it afforded ready oppor- 
 tunit}' to the Sea kings — Norsemen and Danes — to settle their roving 
 heroes on the fertile soil, and infuse their peculiar energy into the 
 sturdy hardihood of the aboriginal stock. 
 
 Thus as God formed it in the beginning, so he used it from time 
 to time to accomplish his wisely appointed purposes, either as a barrier 
 of defence, or an avenue for access. 
 
 While it furnished the poet with the apt illustration of his theme — 
 "Lands intersected by a narrow frith, abhor each other" — (what 
 national repugnance has ever been stronger than that between France 
 and England ?) it has also at various periods afforded facilities for the 
 interchange of offices of love, and the extension of assistance and pro- 
 tection from the warm hearts and strong hands of Christian England 
 to the sad hearts and oppressed liberties of the Protestants of the 
 Continent ; and Elizabeth, Cromwell, and Pitt, each in their several 
 times and ways, were the agents in the hand of the King of Kings in 
 the accomplishing his own purposes. 
 
 Corrupt and imperfect agents it must be acknowledged, and their 
 failures were often sad indeed ! 
 
 Dover and Calais ! points around which hopes have clustered and 
 names at which hearts have failed ! Courage and cowardice, honour and 
 treason, savage cruelty and Christian mercy, have each been exhibited 
 here in the ages past ; and each shore, in its castles and forts, exhibits 
 the scars of war lightened by the smiles of the present in the shape of 
 piers and esplanades, the resort of invalids and pleasure-seekers, while 
 seaside cottages tell of peace and securit}^ where once prevailed the 
 clang of men at arms, or the boom of artillery. 
 
 National jealousies are still displayed. It is supposed that an 
 isthmus once connected England to the continent at this point ; and 
 now lest too great facility of landing should make the narrow straight 
 an easy passage for an invading force, the harbour of Calais is provided 
 with no pier which would permit the landing of troops from large 
 steamships. 
 
 The steamboats plj'ing between Dover and Calais are therefore 
 small and imperfectly supplied with conveniences for protection in wet 
 or rough weather. We selected Ostend as our place of debarkation on 
 the continent on account of the larger size and better accommodation 
 
 45
 
 furnished by the steamers of that route, as well as because the distance 
 to Brussels was shorter b}^ it ; and the land part of the journej' lay- 
 through a more interesting country. We started early in the morning, 
 enjoj-ing the privilege of a bright sunshine, and a favouring breeze. 
 Though larger than the Calais packet the Ostend boat itself was but 
 small and inconvenient, and croivded with passengers. Had the 
 weather been rough or wet, there was no refuge from the exposure 
 except in small close cabins, below decks, into which not one-hali the 
 company could have been packed with the utmost pressure. The 
 mere thought of such a calamit}' was sickening. A loosely hung 
 canvas awning screened a small portion of the deck from the sun, but 
 was so imperfectly arranged that in case of a shower it would have 
 delivered the accumulated water on more persons than it shel- 
 tered. 
 
 Had the sea been rough and the passengers sick, not one in four could 
 have found relief at the bulwarks. Altogether the provision for the 
 convenience of the passengers reminded me of those at watering places 
 of inferior grade, whose proprietors receive visitors for the benefit of 
 the waters and say to grumblers, ' ' you pay for that, and may be 
 thankful for anything you receive in addition." 
 
 The steamboat company "provides transportation," but does not 
 even promise comfort in transitu. 
 
 Happy were we in our day. Only four hours were consumed in 
 the voyage. 
 
 The Belgian coast is so low and flat that we did not see it till just 
 before we landed ; it is a sand beach heaped up into low mounds, called 
 "Dunes," behind which spires of churches told us there are inhabi- 
 tants and towns, though the sterile sand banks gave no promise of 
 fertility beyond. 
 
 Ostend is a favourite place of resort at the seaside, from some 
 parts of Belgium, and as we turned in from the open sea we saw the 
 long pier thronged b}' crowds seeking the fresh breezes from the 
 German Sea, while ranges of bathing machines stood along the 
 beach on either side and clusters of lodging houses stood on the 
 shore. 
 
 These bathing machines are objects of curiosit}' to those who are 
 accustomed to the American habit of public bathing. They are 
 covered carts (with a moveable hood which can be made to descend to 
 the surface of the water) either lowered by a rope and windlas or drawn 
 by a horse to the depth selected b}'^ the bather, who dresses and 
 undresses and bathes in perfect privacy. Of course there can be no 
 ' ' taking the surf ' ' 
 
 After passing these we reached an extensive sea wall terminating 
 at the entrance of the harbour in a long vv'ooden pier, intersected by 
 drawbridges. It was crowded with people, men, women and children, 
 enjoying the sea breeze, and the excitement of the Port, with its active 
 
 46
 
 bustle, not only steamers but various other forms of craft arriving and 
 departing continually. 
 
 There were the old fashioned Dutch Galliot with stem and stern 
 equally obtuse, the mainmast rising directly from the prow, and a 
 small sail at the stern just as one sees them represented in all the old 
 Dutch pictures. If these carried us back to old times by associa- 
 tion our attention was speedily absorbed, wholh', by our own necessi- 
 ties. 
 
 Since the dispersion at Babel the scenes at the sea-port, where 
 various nationalities are represented by every class of social grade and 
 individual character, all under the influence of the excitement of 
 feeling incident to the departure from home or arrival in a strange 
 land, have been the shadow of the confusion there and then reaching 
 its height. 
 
 Strange tongues commingling, each individual in the struggling 
 throng "elbowing" his neighbour, every one striving for precedence, 
 and urging his own prior claim to attention to his demands, some 
 pressing foi-ward causing a reflux, by which all others are thrust back- 
 ward, till the " vis inertia " combines with the " vis insita" and like a 
 ' ' Bore ' ' in the Ganges or a rush of the tide in the Ba}- of Fundy, the 
 living, struggling, vociferating mass, sways to and fro. Ladies are 
 separated (by authority which can neither be resisted nor defied) from 
 their natural and plighted protectors despite all protestations however 
 defiantly uttered and earnestly repeated in all the languages at com- 
 mand. Passports are demanded — baggage carried off for examination — 
 every one is earnestly enqitiring for the proper starting point for his 
 own destination — all combining to produce what may truly be described 
 only as confusion worse confounded, especially when to these inevitable 
 elements of discord are added the needless alarms of some, and the 
 equally needless and still less profitable passion of others. 
 
 It is a condition of ' ' concentrated energy and action ' ' full of 
 excitement. 
 
 We were compelled to surrender the ladies to other care than our 
 own, most reluctantly, and when we at last got through the seething 
 mass we were glad to find them quietly seated in the compartment of a car 
 of the train for Brussels and had only time to take our seats beside them 
 when the train was started, and we were whirled away through small 
 antique houses with shops, whose signs were in French, which appears 
 to hold its position as the language of the people, though it is 
 long since the country was separated from the empire of France ; 
 and has recovered its distinct nationality as the kingdom of Bel- 
 gium. 
 
 From this point I shall give the account of what we saw and felt 
 in the letters v/ritten daily to the famih' at home. 
 
 47
 
 Brussels, August 4, 187 1. 
 My Dear Brother {Galloway) : 
 
 You will be prepared by my former letters to learn that I shall not 
 accomplish the execution of your order at Ghent. 
 
 I had proposed to return mj'self to Ghent, while the other members 
 of the party make an excursion from this place to Antwerp, and visit 
 the establishment of Van Houtte. I find that if I do this I shall 
 introduce some disorder into Wistar's arrangements and as I am not 
 sufl&ciently familiar with the French terms of business and values of 
 money to act independentl\^ I should be obliged to employ an inter- 
 preter of whom I was uncertain, and I could not have confidence in my 
 action. 
 
 Anne and I have held a conference on the subject and concluded to 
 throw ourselves once more on your well tried affection. Such are 
 some of the inconveniences of a large party. There can be but one 
 leader whom all must follow, or much time will be wasted. 
 
 This is a wondrous place. The first thing which arrested our 
 attention is its perfect cleanliness and order. Built of a soft stone of a 
 white colour, the fronts of the houses are kept clean by frequent coats 
 of cream-coloured paint. We have driven through the city for hours 
 daily since our arrival, and though the varying style of architecture 
 indicates the varying periods of erection, the fresh coats of paint give 
 a new look to them all, except some of the grand, old, historic build- 
 ings — the Cathedral, the Hotel d' \\\\&, and one still older looking 
 than either, in front of which stands the noble monument erected to 
 the Counts Egmont and Van Home on the spot at which the}' were 
 beheaded in the days of Philip the Second, and in one of the windows 
 of which it is said the Duke of Alve stood to witness the execution 
 of his bloody orders. These buildings have either been built of a 
 dark coloured stone or have been allowed to become discoloured by 
 time. 
 
 The Cathedral is a grand structure, with the style and arrange- 
 ments common to all buildings dedicated to those purposes (this was a 
 premature expression — we had not then seen enough to justify it). 
 The stained-glass windows are specimens of the highest order of that 
 Art dating from a period as early as 1537. They are Memorial 
 windows, erected in honour of Princes and Dukes and adorned with 
 representations of incidents in history in which they bore a part ; 
 entirely unconnected with any religious associations. 
 
 Manj' of them are frightfully life-like scenes of strife; with 
 figures of the actors with countenances expressive of fiend-like 
 passion, and hands lifting gleaming daggers. 
 
 In the nave stands a pulpit of great size. It is of wood and is 
 supported on life-sized figures of Adam and Eve ; she holding the fatal 
 apple in her hand ; the attitudes and countenances of both strongly 
 expressive of the sense of ruin. 
 
 48
 
 The Angel with the flaming sword soars over them on the one side 
 and the conventional (skeleton) figure of death protnides itself from 
 beneath the pulpit, on the other. 
 
 The pulpit itself is canopied by emblems of light and peace, 
 intended thus to symbolize the Gospel to be preached Irom it ; the 
 canopy being supported by angels of Mercy. 
 
 The body of the pulpit is covered with foliage most elaborately 
 and exquisitely carved ; the whole design is well conceived and beauti- 
 fully executed. 
 
 Many pictures of merit as works of art adorn the walls, while 
 costly moniiments of departed greatness bring to one's mind the words 
 of Gray — 
 
 " Can storied urn, or monumental bust, 
 Back to the clay recall the fleeting breath ? " 
 
 Every thing is grand and imposing and adapted to foster and 
 flatter the pride of the natural heart ; not to humble it. 
 
 The hotel at which we are staying adjoins the Royal Palace. This 
 is a very plain structure two stories in height, but having a very 
 extensive front facing the IMaria Theresa Park ; entirely destitute of 
 ornament except a few simple columns at the central entrance. It is 
 not a favourite residence of the present King, Leopold, who comes to it 
 only on state occasions when his presence is indicated by a flag. 
 
 As we drove past yesterday he drove out in a very plain carriage 
 drawn by four good horses, with two outriders, followed by a second 
 carriage, empty I believe. 
 
 On our return we learned that the extent oi the drive had been ta 
 our hotel, to make a call on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who 
 are stopping here. The ladies report that the Duchess is a fine looking 
 woman. 
 
 I am more impressed by the perfect neatness of every thing in 
 Brussels and the good order which prevails, apparently spontaneously 
 from the love of it by the people, than by any thing else, unless it be 
 the noble Park on which this Hotel fronts, with its majestic elm trees. 
 It lies along the crown of a hill sloping down toward the river ; several 
 grand old churches and monastries, and an extensive hospital rising 
 above the buildings of the older part of the city which lies between 
 the park and the river. 
 
 The view from the higher part of the Park is very extensive and 
 beautiful, bounded in the distance by a long range of lofty hills. 
 
 The park was established by the empress Maria Theresa, and bears 
 her name. There are some groups of good statuary over the chief 
 entrances, and isolated statues in several prominent positions ; but 
 beyond these there is no attempt at ornament. It is intersected by 
 broad straight walks, leading directly from gate to gate and is a 
 thoroughfare from one part of the city to another, and is much 
 
 49
 
 frequented. We saw poor women sitting under the trees with their 
 sewing, while their children amused themselves in the walks. 
 
 It is flanked on the one side by a somewhat extensive Botanical 
 Garden freely open to the public, having a good conservatory contain- 
 ing fine specimens of Palms and Orchids and other tropical plants. 
 
 Along the upper side runs the Boulevard, which must be seen to 
 be appreciated properly. It is several miles in length, of great width, 
 flanked in its whole extent with elegant residences, most of them 
 standing a little retired in pretty grounds, while the drive itself is 
 planted with fine large healthy looking trees in four lines. 
 
 The space is distributed into foot-ways for pedestrians, bridle 
 paths for equestrians, and a wide carriage drive. It is the favourite 
 resort of citizens of every social grade. 
 
 I have seen nothing in any of our great cities to which to com- 
 pare it. 
 
 Anne unites with me in love to Margaret, and in deep sympathy 
 for you both, and for Mary Ellen, and in kind regard to all. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Brussels, August 4, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 I feel as though now at last we have got through the hurry of 
 preparation, and entered on our travel. Thus far all has been confu- 
 sion and uncertainty ; anxiety to get forward in order to reach Switzer- 
 land, struggling with a counter determination to see everything new 
 and strange and attractive as we passed on. 
 
 The desires for gratification are as various as the members of the 
 party, and the tastes as diverse as the number. 
 
 Brother Wistar has now taken the reins into his own hands. 
 
 Yesterday morning we left Dover, a marked spot in the history of 
 the world as that near which Caesar first set foot on the soil of Britain, 
 whose white cliffs, seen from the opposite shore of Gaul (just added to 
 the possessions of Rome by his conquering Legions) invited the ambi- 
 tion of the conqueror to add to the same dominion the land from which 
 its rival, Carthage, (as the colony of Tyre) had drawn the Tin and 
 other products of its soil, by the merchandise of which she had 
 acquired the wealth of which Rome was jealous ; and which led to the 
 adoption of the motto ' ' delenda est Carthago. ' ' 
 
 It owes its present celebrity chiefly to the circumstance that it is 
 the point on the English shore nearest to France and is therefore 
 chosen by most travellers, American as well as British, from which 
 
 50
 
 to start for the tour on the continent. Steamers run dailj-, from Dover 
 to Calais, only i8 miles distant, and others to Ostend, a voj'age of 
 5 hours. 
 
 The day was most propitious, not a ripple on the water when we 
 left the pier, and only a ripple at any time during the voyage. 
 
 On shore the temperature was warm, but at sea it soon became so 
 cool as to require over-coats and shawls for comfort. 
 
 Happily no one on board was in the least sea-sick, as the crowd of 
 passengers was so great that such a trouble would have been not only 
 a distress to the individual sufferer alone, but a great inconvenience to 
 many more. 
 
 There was only room for the majority to stand, seats being pro- 
 vided for but few ; and locomotion was out of the question. 
 
 If the weather had been bad, or the sea rough, the misery' would 
 have been abominable ; and if rain had fallen on the unprotected 
 crowd it would have been distressing, as the scanty awning would have 
 thrown the accumulated torrents on the multitude outside. We are 
 thankful to have escaped these inconveniences. 
 
 Large flocks of ducks rose from the water as we approached the 
 shore, which is low, and sandy. Spires of churches rising above the 
 heaps of sand thrown up by the winds and waves, tell of towns and 
 villages lying behind at a level lower than the ocean on which we were 
 sailing. 
 
 The approach to Ostend is imposing from the fine masonry of the 
 sea-wall and the long well built piers, which were thronged with people 
 enjoying the fresh sea-breeze, and the excitement of the arrival and 
 departure of the vessels of all style of marine construction and of many 
 nationalities. 
 
 Such a scene of confiision as met us as we reached our landing- 
 place can neither be described nor conceived. 
 
 Such a crowd and bustle ! such a looking up of passports by those 
 who did not know or did not remember that they could not land till 
 they had exhibited them ! Such a jabber of French by those who 
 spoke that language, and loud utterances in English by those who did 
 not ; as though the forcible expression would carry with it the interpre- 
 tation of what was meant. 
 
 The ladies of our party were separated from us, notwithstanding 
 our opposition, while our passports were being examined ; and we found 
 them safely deposited in the rail-road car just in time for us to take 
 our places beside them as the train started and whirled us off for 
 Ghent. 
 
 French signs on all the shops and the universal use of that lan- 
 guage by the crowds on the streets is the result of the long annexation 
 of the country as a province to France. Though of but small extent 
 the kingdom of Belgium is one of the most important powers on the 
 continent of Europe. 
 
 51
 
 As we emerged from the densely populated parts of Ostend we 
 passed large canals and extensive ponds communicating with the sea, 
 in which oysters (imported from England for the purpose) are fat- 
 tened for the supplj^ of the gourmands of the continent ; and then were 
 whirled away through the land of high culture, and frequent ditches, 
 rich manufacturers, and good government. Everj' thing which met 
 the eye was expressive of this state of affairs. It is the height of har- 
 vest just now, and the fields are heavily laden w4th the waving com, 
 or thick set with the gathered shocks, or covered with the scattered 
 sheaves. 
 
 Interspersed with these are patches of beans, vetches and clover, 
 with no dividing fences or hedges, and not co-term inous with the 
 intersecting ditches, but all laid out in parallelograms, var3dng in 
 size, but never deviating from the regulation shape, and all worked 
 up as closely as so many pieces in a ladies old-fashioned patch- 
 work. 
 
 There is not apparently an inch of land untilled. How this is 
 accomplished I could not discover, though we saw the people at their 
 work, some ploughing some reaping and some gathering into barns. 
 All these various operations were going on simultaneously. The 
 labourers were here much more numerous than in England, where we 
 saw the results of toil and high culture, but rarely the process and but 
 few labourers in the field. Here women as well (and almost if not 
 quite as numerous) as the men were performing field work. 
 
 The banks of the ditches and also the road-sides, were all planted 
 with lombardj' Poplar trees, their trunks trimmed of every branch to 
 near the top, where a few branches are left, just allowing foliage 
 enough to maintain the life of the tree. They are like long straight 
 rows of giant poles each with a green tuft surmounting it. 
 
 The country, for man\' miles was perfectly' flat, but never tame or 
 wearisome from sameness, as the varict}" of patches, changing like the 
 beads in the kaliedoscope with every moments change of the point of 
 observation, ever aflbrded us some new object or fresh combination of 
 those with which we had become already familiar, to amuse or 
 interest us. 
 
 The dwelling-houses were confortable looking, in external appear- 
 ance, and all the appurtenances were appropriate. 
 
 For a long distance, we saw no crops other than those I have 
 mentioned, but as the country became more rolling as we left the 
 immediate proximity to the sea, hops were added to the others ; of 
 much stronger growth and trained to taller poles than those we saw in 
 Kent, in England. 
 
 Flax also was spread on the grass to rot ; and we often saw 
 persons either throwing water over it as it lay, or gathering it up in 
 bundles and dipping it in pools provided evidently for the purpose and 
 spreading it out again. 
 
 52
 
 There were also, many bleach-yards large and small, white with 
 the yarn in hanks or the woven product of the loom, spread out in the 
 sun to whiten. 
 
 Industry and its fruits were manifested on every side ; and no sign 
 presented itself to the passing visitor which would indicate poverty or 
 want of happiness. 
 
 There were more frequent handsome residences, with moderate 
 sized pleasure grounds, occupied by persons of moderate fortune, than 
 we saw in England (where the land is held in large estates) ; indicating 
 a more equal distribution of property. 
 
 We saw many large new churches, with extensive Monasteries 
 attached to many of them ; proving that we are in a country over 
 which the Pope holds supreme authority, while the picturesque 
 costumes of the priests of various degrees, and Monks of different 
 orders, give variety to dress, which otherwise would differ in no 
 respect from that of our own country. 
 
 The features of the people are even more familiar than those one 
 meets in Great Britain. 
 
 We arrived here about 7 p. m., having left Dover at 9.30 A. m., and 
 come through Bruges, Ghent and Alost. 
 
 Brussels is a magnificent Metropolis, as well as a Royal residence. 
 
 We entered the city by a gate-waj' through the fortifications which 
 still surround the town, and soon passed the Royal Botanical Gardens, 
 evidently open freely to the public ; indeed so many were walking in 
 them that there must be a thoroughfare. 
 
 The streets by which we drove to the Hotel Belle-vue, are wide, 
 and brought us by a rapidly ascending grade to the Public Park, a 
 large area planted with noble trees. It is open to the people but is not 
 lighted at night. I have not yet seen its extent. One entrance to it 
 is immediately opposite the window of the chamber in which I am 
 now writing. The gateway is flanked by piers, which are surmounted 
 by marble statuary. One group represents Cupid having subdued a 
 wild boar, on the carcase of which he sits triumphant. The corres- 
 ponding piece represents a similar triumph over a doe. 
 
 After tea Wistar, T. K. Longstreth and I walked out. 
 
 Passing the Roj^al Palace, which adjoins the Hotel at which we 
 are stopping and fronts on the Park, the Barracks, with their 
 admirably dressed troops (very superior in appearance to those of 
 Great Britain), we reached the Boulevard Waterloo. It is impossible 
 to describe the effect of the spectacle. 
 
 I do not know what is the actual width, but should think it is not 
 less than four times that of our Broad Street. 
 
 The carriage-ways are paved with square blocks, while a part is 
 left unpaved for equestrians, and there are flagged walks on either side 
 for pedestrians, and a very wide space is left for four rows of noble 
 trees, unpaved and without turf. 
 
 53
 
 This grand highway extends for many miles, and is flanked on 
 either side with costly mansions and stores — here called Magazins. 
 We walked till we were wearied, and then returned, retired, rested 
 well and now, having breakfasted since I commenced this sheet, the 
 ladies are about to start for a visit to the shops. 
 
 I do not know what our fate will be. 
 
 We breakfasted on the ' ' terrace ' ' which is on the ground floor of 
 the hotel, a series of apartments surrounding an open court-yard paved 
 with marble and set thickly with plants in pots, amid which one may 
 have their table placed, ordering from the card what one chooses, or 
 the}' maj' take a table in a room opening on to the court if the weather 
 renders the out-of-door meal undesirable. We had on our table 
 apricots, as large as good sized peaches, and green-gage plums equally 
 fine. They were delicious. We are all enjoying ourselves fully — 
 gradually becoming accustomed to the habits of this way of life ; the 
 health of all without ground for complaint. 
 
 I shall note my impressions as they occur, and direct the sheets 
 in succession to our children and hope you will make joint-stock of 
 them by passing them from one to the other. 
 
 They will be directed indiscriminately to one or the other as the 
 case may be, and you will consider them as belonging to the family. 
 
 Your loving father 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Brussels, August 5, 1871. 
 My Dear Little Girls : 
 
 Here are we, your Grandmother and Grandfather, in the Capital 
 of Belgium ; in a grand Hotel de Bellevue, immediately adjoining the 
 Royal Palace. The flag now flying above it indicating that his Majesty 
 Leopold II is at present there, though it is not his favourite place of 
 residence. 
 
 Yesterday as we went out we met him coming out of the entrance 
 in a plain carriage drawn by four fine horses. An outrider announced 
 his approach by fine bugle notes, two other outriders preceded him 
 and he was followed by another coach drawn also bj^ four fine horses, 
 but without any one in it ! 
 
 He drove about the length of one of our Philadelphia squares to 
 our hotel to make a formal call on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, 
 who have come here to visit Leopold, and who are guests at the Hotel 
 de Bellevue. 
 
 We do not feel ourselves any the greater for this proximity to 
 Toyalt}' with its splendors, but do enjoy the delight of our position as 
 our chamber looks out over a park of from fifty to one hundred acres 
 laid out for the benefit of the citizens, her subjects, by Maria Theresa, 
 
 54
 
 Queen of Hungary and Austria when Belgium was an Austrian 
 province, called the Netherlands or Low Countries; before the French 
 Revolution and the ambition of Napoleon I. had overturned the old 
 system of government, and introduced into Europe new ideas of the 
 divine rights of kings, and of the people ; which have produced so 
 many and great changes in the boundaries of Empires and States. 
 
 This hotel is well named ; the view from the windows of the apart- 
 ments we occupy ranging across the Park and embracing in the dis- 
 tance a very wide extent of country, with a distant range of lofty hills 
 skirting the horizon, is very charming. 
 
 The trees in the Park are truly majestic ; wide avenues run through 
 it, not only directly from one gate to that opposite and at right angles, 
 but others diagonally in various directions, while many good statues 
 stand about singly or in groups. 
 
 It is commonly open to the public freely, but to-morrow a concert 
 is to be given there for the benefit of the Blind Asjdum, and a charge 
 for admission within the gates is made during the hours of entertain- 
 ment. It is the Lord's day and is selected purposely, because being 
 a holiday, the attendance will be larger than on any working day. 
 Belgium is a Romish State and, after morning Mass, pleasure seeking 
 is considered proper and I anticipate finding the shops open as on other 
 days. 
 
 Priests with broad brimmed hats turned up at each side and 
 behind, and long dark garments falling down to their feet, folded 
 behind like a lady's dress, meet us frequently on the streets. 
 
 The countenances of the people one meets on the streets are contented 
 and happy looking, and in the shops we find them patient, civil, polite 
 in manners, and kind. They are anxious to serve us themselves, when 
 they can do so, patient in their efforts to understand our very imperfect 
 attempts at explaining our wants, and ready to assist us by directions 
 to other shops where we can procure what we ask for. 
 
 This afternoon I walked through the Park, and found numbers of 
 what I suppose to be the wives and daughters of the labouring class 
 (ouvriers) sitting on the seats knitting, while their dirty little children 
 were making themselves happy and more dirty, rolling in the dirt, 
 gathering the loose dirt into heaps with their feet and scattering it 
 again with their hands ; no one reproved them or appeared to think it 
 wrong. All, from the youngest to the oldest, appeared to be happy in 
 their own pursuit of pleasure, each in his or her own way. 
 
 The same description is applicable to the Royal Botanical Gardens 
 and the frequenters of them. The grounds occupied by them are not 
 extensive, nor are there any fine specimens of trees, or shrubs, nor 
 were the flower beds very attractive. 
 
 We saw poor sickly exiles, tulip trees and oaks, and mist-shrubs, 
 and dwarf horsechestnuts, which smiled sadl}'^ at us as they reminded 
 us of Ivy Neck, and our own children there. 
 
 55
 
 There were some good specimens of the Sequoia Gigantea, the 
 great trees of California, small yet of course, but interesting to those 
 who had not seen those relics of ages long past, still retaining a life 
 which began some thousands of j^ears ago ; though but in the infancy 
 of their existence, they afforded a tA'pe of the character of the full 
 grown trees, sovereign of the vegetable world. 
 
 In the Palm house we found some beautiful specimens of that 
 grand division of plants ; with gigantic ferns, and other strange tropi- 
 cal plants. 
 
 We went also to the Zoological Gardens, which are more attractive 
 than those in London, though the number of animals is not so great 
 AS there. The specimens are better and the animals look more com- 
 fortable. The Gnu, or horned horse, was in very fine condition, and 
 and we were much pleased b}' a pair of beautiful Yaks, from vSiam, 
 with a calf, all white, with long silky hair and a bushy tail. These 
 tails are used in Siam to brush away the flies trom the persons of 
 Majest}', and the gods. 
 
 There were also unusually fine specimens of the animals usually 
 found in such collections. Camels, Elands, or African Antelopes, 
 Grizzly and Polar Bears, and wild dogs and wolves. But the most 
 attractive part of the exhibition was the Aquarium. It is an artificial 
 grotto containing imitation stalactites hanging in varied groups from 
 the roof, dividing the space into compartments of various size and 
 shape, each of which contained a pool of either salt or fresh water, 
 with a large plate of perfectly translucent glass at the side exposed to 
 view. These glass fronts were wide and high, and at such a level 
 above the floor as to almost delude one into the impression that one 
 was walking among the fishes, which were sporting in the pools as 
 naturally as though they had never been caught but were still in their 
 native haunts. 
 
 Water plants and seaweeds and rocky caverns and miniature bluffs 
 added beauty to the sight, as well as furnished retiring places for the 
 animals. Well fed and freely supplied with fresh air and pure water, 
 one could not but think thej' were exceptionally happy fishes. 
 
 There were not only sea anemonies in great number and a great 
 variety, and manj' curious flat fish of odd shapes floating about, and 
 reminding us of the flying squirrels by their motions in the water, as 
 the squirrels float on the air ; and lobsters and crabs in endless variety 
 crawling along the sand and tumbling from the rocks ; but there were 
 larger denizens of the rivers and the sea ; an alligator about six feet 
 long, and a white seal which turned up its face when we spoke to it, 
 looking almost human ; sufficientl3^ so to furnish some justification of 
 the superstition of ignorance which fancies mermaids and mermen 
 (men and women of the sea) frequenting uninhabitable shores and 
 luring incautious sailors onto the rocks, that the}- may be wrecked ; 
 and then beguiling them into the waves that they may have them for 
 companions. 
 
 56
 
 Brussels is a grand city ; the streets are wide and well paved and 
 in their whole length and breadth clean and smooth enough for those 
 who choose to do so (and many do) to walk on the carriage-way. The 
 foot-walks are wide enough for three to walk abreast and allow room 
 for passing those coming in the opposite direction, and are well laid 
 with a solid and well graded pavement of artificial stone laid oflF in 
 large squares ; or nicely dressed stone flags. The fronts of the houses 
 are built of a soft cream coloured stone found in the neighbourhood 
 which though soft and easily, and therefore cheaply dressed, when 
 first quarried, becomes hard on exposure to the air and is much more 
 enduring than sandstone ; indeed it is said to be indestructible by 
 weather or atmospheric vicissitudes. 
 
 Some houses are built of yellow brick ; but these are covered by 
 thick coats of paint of the same shade of colour as the stone, so that 
 the whole town has the same tint and that a soft harmonious colour ; 
 which is kept clean and fresh looking and without a stain. There are 
 no harsh contrasts of white marble doorways, steps and trimmings, as 
 is so common with us ; and there are no long blocks of dingy and 
 gloomy looking brown sandstone ; and though varietj'^ may have its 
 charm uniform beauty is to be greatly preferred. 
 
 The largest church in Brussels is that of St. Gudule, and is as dark 
 on the exterior as the modern structures are light. It dates from about 
 A. D. 1450. It has very large windows filled with richly coloured 
 glass said to be of the best period of that art. It is said by those who 
 are well informed on the subject that the art of producing the rich 
 colours of these older specimens has been irretrievably lost. 
 
 The pictures in these windows represent a great variety of 
 subjects, some merely commemorative of incidents in the history of 
 some noble family. 
 
 In one of the windows the supposed solemnities of the last judg- 
 ment are represented. 
 
 The commandment ' ' thou shalt not make to thyself any likeness 
 of the Lord thy God ' ' is sadly violated by the representation of the 
 Divine Majest}'^ under the form of a man, venerable in aspect it is true, 
 but still only in the form of one of his creatures, with the Saviour on 
 the one side, and the Dove (emblematic of the Holy Spirit) on the 
 other. An innumerable company is gathered for judgment, each 
 countenance and figure and attitude expressive of the hope or fear, the 
 joy or despair, of the hour. In another window there is the represen- 
 tation of local legendary story, in life sized figures, in which the most 
 malignant passions are expressed by the countenances of the actors in 
 the mythical story. 
 
 This is that the Jews once stole the wafers of the church (conse- 
 crated bread, which is asserted by the church of Rome to have been 
 transformed by virtue of that consecration by the Priest into the actual 
 Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, every fragment of it down 
 
 57
 
 to the minutest crumb containing the entire body and all the blood), 
 and subjected it to great indignities. 
 
 In the window they are seen pouring out these wafers (shaped 
 like our water-crackers) and stabbing them with daggers. 
 
 From each wafer thus poured out and stabbed, blood streams from 
 the wound as it falls to the floor. The malignant expression on the 
 countenances of the Jews is frightful.: 
 
 Around the wall of the church are placed Confessionals. These 
 are enclosed chairs, in which a priest sits (unseen) with an opening in 
 the wooden cover which conceals him, at the inner side of which he 
 places his ear while the penitent, kneeling on the outside, whispers 
 his or her confession. This is known as auricular confession and is 
 required of every member of the Romish church before absolution and 
 participation in the ' ' Sacrament of the altar ' ' as that church calls the 
 Eucharist or Lord's Supper. These confessions, absolution, and par- 
 taking of the ' ' sacrament of the altar, ' '' are held by them necessary- to 
 salvation. 
 
 We believe that God alone can forgive sin, and that confession is 
 to be made to Him only, and pardon sought from Him through our 
 One, Great High Priest, who is forever set down at the right hand of 
 God, ever living to make intercession for us, ready to receive the con- 
 fession of the penitent, and to present them, washed in his own blood, 
 shed as an atonement for the sins of the world, and made clean 
 thereby. 
 
 May His grace prevent (go before) us, putting into our minds 
 good desires, and enabling us to bring the same to full effect ; prays 
 for you as for himself. 
 
 Your loving grandfather, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Brussels, August 6, 187 1. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 This is a beautiful and imposing looking city, called the miniature 
 Paris. 
 
 The capital of Belgium, it lies just on the confines of the Netherlands, 
 a flat country', reclaimed like its sister kingdom of Holland from the 
 dominion of the sea, and inhabited by Walloons and Flemish people ; 
 and the higher rolling land of North Germany. The people are of 
 both races, though French is the language spoken by all ; and the habits 
 and manners and customs are those of France. 
 
 Belgium is now a Romish kingdom, and its inhabitants devoted to 
 their faith with great earnestness. 
 
 In has been the scene of some of the most fearful conflicts between 
 the persecuting power of the Pope and Protestant endurance, and much 
 martyr blood has been poured out on its soil in many places. 
 
 58 

 
 There is here an impressive monument to Counts Egmont and 
 Van Home, erected on the spot on which they were beheaded by order 
 of the Duke of Alva, in front of an old building called the Bread 
 House, at one of the windows of which it is said he stood to witness 
 the execution. 
 
 This building was erected in 1625 and now presents a very anti- 
 quated appearance ; two Latin inscriptions in large letters are on the 
 front, the one " From plague, war, and famine, Mary deliver us," and 
 the other ' ' Elisabeth has consecrated this as a thank-oflfering for 
 public peace. ' ' 
 
 Immediately across the street stands the Hotel de Ville, a mediaeval 
 structure in Gothic style. {In the original letter I have described again 
 the Park and its surroundings but will omit the repetition here.) 
 
 The streets are all laid with what is known as Belgian pavement, 
 the small blocks of granite of which it is composed being broken and 
 dressed by prisoners in England, and imported thence. The footways 
 are all either of artificial stone neatly divided into large square blocks, 
 or of flag stones and are neatly curbed. The drainage is wholly under- 
 ground, the entrance to the sewer being by frequent small grated 
 openings in the gutter, and wherever a carriage way crosses the foot- 
 walk, it is laid with a slope so gentle from the wall to the gutter, and 
 so gradual from either side to the centre, that there is no step over 
 which to stumble, and yet the flow is sufficient to carry off all the 
 water. The carriage ways are swept more than daily ; indeed one 
 might say constantly. They are indeed as clean as when with us 
 the extra particular housekeepers have them swept daily with a 
 broom. 
 
 Built of a soft stone (easily worked when first quarried but becom- 
 ing hard on exposure), having a delicate cream colour, and those 
 which are built of brick coated with stucco and painted to correspond, 
 the newer part of the city occupying the higher part, has one harmo- 
 nious tint and is perfectly clean ; light and very attractive. The 
 principal hotels are near the Royal Palace and the Park, which lies as I 
 have already described, along the crest of a hill which was formerly 
 crowned by a forest, and which still contains many noble elms of great 
 size and without the slightest sign of decay. The foliage is dense and 
 of a very deep green. Wide walks, bordered by shrubbery, intersect 
 the grounds and near the centre is a pavilion in which a concert is 
 now being given for the benefit of the Blind Asylum, on which account 
 the gates, which are always open, are closed to-day and a franc charged 
 for admission. 
 
 We see many poor looking women sitting under the trees with 
 their knitting or sewing, while their children amuse themselves rolling 
 on the grass or in the walks. The gateways are surmounted by 
 groups of fine marble statuary; and isolated marble figures stand 
 scattered among the trees. 
 
 59
 
 There is one deep dell near this hotel, which is pointed out as 
 having been the field of a terrible conflict in one of the many bloody- 
 struggles v.'hich marked the unsettled period when the kingdom of 
 Belgium was wrested from France, and settled upon Leopold and his 
 heirs, in order to arrange the balance of power in Europe to suit the 
 interests of the greater nations. The trees still bear upon them the 
 scars of the bullets, nor are the gaps among the boughs yet filled up, 
 though there is no indication of vital injurj' to them. 
 
 Judging from what we have seen here and the appearance of the 
 country through which we passed coming here, I should think Belgium 
 a richer and happier country than England. The agriculture is cert- 
 ainly better, and the soil itself more fertile. We find here, as I men- 
 tioned in my last letter we had thought on our waj' here, the counten- 
 ances and deportment and dress of the people speak of comfort and 
 contentment. I am deeply impressed by their courtes3^ 
 
 It is now nearly 5 p. m. and I have just returned from a second 
 service. 
 
 While out, yesterday, I had seen a notice of an English Morning 
 Service, at one chapel at 11 A. m. and we went to it, and had the 
 usual English Morning Prayer, followed by a good simple discourse 
 from the text ' ' WTien I surv-ey the heavens. ' ' 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Moro Philips joined your Uncle and Aunt as we 
 came. out, and walked with them to the hotel and as the visit was 
 designed for them, and not us, I turned out to seek another chapel at 
 which it had been announced there would be service at 3 p. m., which 
 would be through before the hour for the Table d' Hote. I found it 
 was the chapel of the British Embassy, and though the ser\dce was 
 intoned the sermon was most thoroughly evangelical and earnest, from 
 the text ' ' There is no other name under heaven by which we can be 
 saved but the name of Jesus. ' ' The congregation was evidently of 
 the higher rank socially, but bore the simplest and plainest teach- 
 ing. 
 
 Surrounded as we are here by influences which dissipate the 
 thoughts and deaden the feelings and spiritual affections, it is refresh- 
 ing to hear such truths. 
 
 I did not find the shops open as I had expected I should ; it seems 
 to be kept as a holiday. The streets were thronged with people prom- 
 enading, and the concert for the benefit of the Blind Asylum in the 
 Park was in progress. 
 
 It was at Brussels that Charles V abdicated his crown in favour of 
 his son Philip II, husband of Bloody Marj', and supporter if not 
 instigator of her persecution of the Protestants of England. What a 
 mercy that our lot is cast in these peaceful times, when, within sight 
 of the scenes of such events as gave character to those fearful days, we 
 may worship God according to a ritual the use of which led those who 
 did so to the gibbet or the stake. May we have grace for grace added 
 
 60
 
 to us, that we may faithfully serve Him who has blessed us so 
 freely. 
 
 Your mother and I have stood in London on the spot wet with the 
 blood of our own ancestor, and on the stone which covers his mangled 
 remains. God grant we may none of us ever be called to a similar 
 trial of our faith ; or rather that whether tried bj- ease or by suffering 
 we may be found faithful and endure to the end. 
 
 I did not finish what I designed to say about the kindness of the 
 people. Asking those that I met casually, for directions to the 
 " 6glise Protestante Ancienne" (the name by which the chapel 
 I was seeking is known) though but few knew of such a building all 
 were civil and tried their best to aid me by enquiry of others. 
 
 At last I met one who stopped, and studied out my imperfect 
 French, asked several others for assistance, and finally jumped and 
 ran after a man at some distance, who gave him the direction. He then 
 turned out of his own course and walked with me, telling me that the 
 gentleman after whom he had run was a co-religionist of mine, and 
 he was glad to see him as he knew he could direct us. Thus you see 
 all virtue is not confined within Protestant hearts, as my guide was 
 not one. 
 
 Your mother keeps up wonderfully well. These letters are for 
 your families generally, and you must pass them around. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Cologne, August 7, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Among other objects of interest we visited while at Brussels, was 
 a lace factory. (The relation of this place to that branch of industry 
 is exhibited on every side as one walks through the business parts of 
 the city, by the frequencj'^ with which the word "Dentelles" is 
 repeated on the signs indicating that "laces" are sold there.) 
 
 We entered through a court yard into a room with a low ceiling, 
 in which, on small low-seated chairs placed as closely together as they 
 could be stood on the floor, sat a dozen or more women of various ages 
 from almost childhood to apparently old age. I say ''apparently'' 
 since they gave me rather the impression of premature decay than of 
 natural decline. 
 
 Each takes her allotted seat at the beginning of the day, and hour 
 after hour of weariness is passed, with no change of position or situa- 
 tion, with their eyes intently fixed on their work, till, through the 
 long fixed habit of looking only at small points and an object close to 
 the face, they lose the power of seeing objects at the distance of com- 
 mon vision, and the contracted chests, bent shoulders and attenuated 
 
 61
 
 form all unite to tell the sad story of lives worked into the exquisite 
 and delicate tissues so coveted for dress. 
 
 I will not accuse the sex that wears them of the wrong ; our own 
 participates at least equally since we " love to have it so," and express 
 freely our admiration of the beauty of the fabric, and delight in the 
 idea of its costliness as it adorns the persons of those we desire to 
 attract admiration. 
 
 My eyes were soon sufftised with tears through which the box 
 against the wall bearing an inscription asking for alms for the benefit 
 of the work women blinded and crippled by their work, presented 
 its mute but thriling appeal. 
 
 Under the impression of the sad exhibition of the cost in human 
 suffering at which the delicate and graceful articles I have so admired 
 (and I must confess have so often coveted) are produced, I at first 
 shrank from the thought of becoming accessory to the cruelty, even 
 by purchasing the product of such suffering toil. Second thought 
 brought the idea that it is tJnis onl}^ they can procure the means of 
 supporting themselves at all. (Are second thoughts always, and 
 necessarily best? May not thej' also, as well, and as probably, as first 
 impressions, spring from and be strengthened by our inherent 
 selfishnesss?) 
 
 No price ever paid can be considered extravagant when considered 
 in relation to the time and labour bestowed in the various steps of 
 production ; first in the growing of the flax and its preparation, then 
 in spinning the gossamer like thread so delicate and fine, and so 
 perfectly even as it must be ; then in designing the beautiful patterns 
 by which it must be fashioned, each drawn on paper ; and finally in 
 twisting these fine threads — so fine that it is difiicult for an unpractised 
 eye to perceive them — in conformity with the pattern and knotting 
 them firmly. 
 
 We saw one woman at work on a pattern for a fan. She had 
 more than two hundred bobbins, each having a thread attached to it, 
 and the same number of pins, each to be inserted in the cushion at the 
 point around which a loop was to be tied. She had been already more 
 than a month working on this piece, and two months more of unin- 
 terrupted labour would be necessary to complete it. 
 
 Some shawls occupy two hundred women an entire year, each 
 figure in the pattern being the work of a separate workwoman. 
 
 From the saddening spectacle of the work room we were taken to 
 the sale room, or " ^lagasin " as it is here called. The ladies of our 
 party, and others who followed, all gathered around a table on 
 which were displayed Coifiiires, Collars, Cuffs, Shawls, et cetera, of 
 every variety of pattern, shape, quality, and price. 
 
 You all know your mother well enotigh to need no assurance from 
 me that under such circumstances she bought nothing, and felt much 
 exhausted. So we soon turned away and sat down to look at shawls, 
 
 62
 
 which I in my ignorance thought beautiful, displayed on lay-figures 
 standing around the sale-room. Some I admired for the fineness of 
 the thread, some for the beauty of the pattern, but only to display my 
 ignorance, as we were told by one of the sales-men they were very 
 coarse and common and were worth only two hundred dollars. 
 
 Your uncle's arrangement for the next morning was that we should 
 all go to Antwerp, see the famous cathedral and the celebrated pictures 
 by Rubens, visit the great silk factories, and return to Brussels in the 
 evening. 
 
 Your aunt Jane was taken sick during the night, and could not go ; 
 and your mother and I availed ourselves gladly of the opportunity for 
 her to rest, and remained with her ; and your aunt Hannah was not 
 willing to leave her even with us. 
 
 As Jane slept, Hannah, your mother and I, left her for a short 
 time and went shopping. Of course we knew nothing about even 
 what course to take to find the shops, nor what to ask for if we should 
 find them. iVIy French is slowly and very imperfectly reviving, but it 
 never embraced a knowledge of the terms of shopping, especially ot 
 articles of female wear. 
 
 We stumbled on, looking at the articles displayed in the windows, 
 and by asking the name of these, I gradually got up courage enough 
 to ask for some stockings (which I learned were called bas) which we 
 purchased ; and a few other articles of necessity. Courage increased 
 as we went on, and finally I persuaded your mother to look at some 
 lace which she and your aunt talked over, and she determined she would 
 wear her cotton lace cap every where and to the end. 
 
 The woman in the shop was the most civil and patient thing you 
 can imagine, and ' ' at long last ' ' we did impose on your mother a 
 coiffure with some trifle of lace as a curtain. 
 
 The good woman (though our only medium of communication was 
 my very^ imperfect French) entered cheerfully and earnestly into the 
 consultation and shewed how the edging should be attached, so 
 promptly, that we ventured to ask if she could not do it herself for us. 
 This she declined doing, very pleasantly, however. I then enquired for 
 your mother for thread to mend lace with. We had asked for this in 
 vain at other shops and were told it could not be had. She at once 
 took up a spool from which she had been working when we entered, 
 and shewed it to your mother who said promptly that was just what 
 she wanted. The woman left us and went up stairs by a flight which 
 rose out of the little shop, and on coming back told us it was not to be 
 bought in Brussels, but she lived in one of the suburbs and had more 
 at home which she would bring us the next day. 
 
 That would be the Lord's day and we were to leave Brussels early 
 on Monday morning, so we declined her kind ofier only to give her an 
 opportunity of being still kinder, as she at once v»^ound oif from her 
 spool as much as she could spare and sold it to us. 
 
 63
 
 Annie will understand from these details that we did not execute 
 her commission. Your mother thinks it can be done at home as 
 cheaply as here, and one can be had there quite as pretty as here for 
 the same price, and the wear of the travel in our trunks be avoided ; to 
 say nothing of the risk that it might find its way to the loins of some 
 Arab Sheik or the head of some Copt damsel. What might be done by 
 ourselves alone is one thing ; what can be done is another. There is 
 not always wisdom in the multitude of counsellors and other heads 
 beside my own become confused by much conference. 
 
 Cologne, August 8th, evening. 
 
 We have passed a day in this city of fragrant waters, seated on 
 the bank of the muddy Rhine, which rolls its noble but turbid stream 
 to the bosom of the German Ocean, flowing here through a perfectly 
 flat country in which its waters are divided into numberless chan- 
 nels. 
 
 The town derives its name from the fact that it was in the day of 
 the Roman possession of this country Colonia Agrippina, like the 
 Colonia Philippi a form of government possessing special privileges. 
 It has undergone many changes during the progress of these almost 
 two thousand years but is still a military' station, surrounded by moats, 
 walls, ramparts, earth-works, lunettes, redoubts, and all the other 
 known means of defense ; and can be entered only over draw-bridges 
 through gate-ways guarded by armed sentinels. Within these we find 
 the area closely built, the narrow streets running in everj^ direction 
 conceivable, wnth no separate footways for the safety of pedestrians, 
 but the entire breadth of the street well paved with square granite 
 blocks, and kept perfectly clean. 
 
 Thus far on our travel tiothing has caused me so much astonishment 
 as the entire absence of all protection from intrusion and pillage of the 
 grounds around houses, and especially the fruit and vegetable gardens. 
 Even in the immediate environs as you enter or emerge from the 
 towns, 3-ou find small fruits such as raspberries and currants, and 
 garden vegetables, planted directl}^ on the road-side, without any 
 protection. No animals are allowed to run at large, but human 
 nature is the same here as with us ; but with us the planter of them 
 would have but a small share of the produce. Not only are there 
 no divisions to indicate proprietorship, but no outside hedges or 
 fences of any kind. Boj'S fly their kites and pursue their sports in 
 the narrow road, yet no foot of thoughtless or mischievous youngster 
 or plundering intruder, steps aside to pluck the lettuce, beets or pota- 
 toes ; while plums, apricots, and pears hang out their luscious 
 temptation within easy reach, unplucked. The culture of the gardens 
 is perfect ; not a weed is to be seen. As we came here, to-day we saw 
 them gathering the potatoes, and no sooner were these taken out of 
 the ground than cabbages were set in the same place. 
 
 64
 
 We met many groups of boj^s going to and from school, boy like, 
 full of fun and merriment, but neither saw nor heard any boisterous 
 play nor rude behaviour. I am afraid our democratic institutions are 
 demoralizing in their tendencies. 
 
 I will not inflict on you the pain of an ineffectual attempt to des- 
 cribe the grand Cathedral ; nor the church of St. Ursula, garnished with 
 the ghastl}^ skulls and skeletons of her eleven thousand virgin com- 
 panions, said to have been slaughtered before her ej-es (together with 
 her affianced husband) by the heathen Huns, for whose conversion she 
 was leading her followers ; about A. D. 500. 
 
 A strange miracle it was that these same savage barbarians should 
 have permitted the collection of all the skulls and the various smaller 
 bones ; and stranger still that these should have resisted the inevitable 
 decay which would ages ago have converted them into the dust from 
 which they were gathered. 
 
 The riches of the several shrines in gold and precious stones, gifts 
 of the superstitious faithful, is fabulous. We saw them without violat- 
 ing the tenth commandment. 
 
 Frightful as is the subject, I did enjoy the art exhibited in the 
 celebrated picture bj' Rubens of the crucifixion of St. Peter. It is truly 
 a master-piece of accuracy of drawing, truth of colour ; and expression. 
 I would not have missed it for any consideration. On the representa- 
 tion of the crucifixion of our Lord I could not gaze. That subject is 
 too awfully mysterious to be made the subject of any attempt at repre- 
 sentation. 
 
 With love to Mrs. Buckley, Annie, and Effingham, 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Cologne, August 8, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Yesterday was one of unequalled beauty and interest to us. Early 
 in the morning we took a parting look at the rich city of Brussels, and 
 about 1 1 A. M. left for this place by Railway via Liege. 
 
 We were whirled through such varied scenes of grandeur or of 
 beauty, each moment changing and each moment renewed, that the 
 impression left on our minds and memories is much like that of a photo- 
 graph somewhat blurred, suggestive, but deficient in clear definition. 
 The first part of the route was through a rolling country, cultivated in 
 those small patches which relieve the monotony by giving the attrac- 
 tion to the eye, of ever varying colour. No cattle or other domestic 
 animals were to be seen pasturing at large ; therefore there was no 
 animation in the landscape. The crops were those with which we 
 
 65
 
 have become so familiar, wheat, rye, oats, clover (scarlet and purple), 
 and various root crops alternating. 
 
 The flax had been pulled but the delicate beauty of the light blue 
 bell of the volunteer plant, which stood among the potatoes which 
 followed that crop, proved how much grace and elegance the full crop 
 must have added to the combination. 
 
 The scarlet poppy, which abounds in the wheat fields, gives rich- 
 ness of tone as it mingles its showy petals with the pale green of the 
 oats or the deeper hue of the wheat, and occasionally it seems to wave 
 its brilliant sheet as though it were in triumph over the undisputed 
 possession of some patch from which it had crowded out the legitimate 
 crop ; to the sorrow of the farmer. After passing several hours drawn 
 rapidly through such scenes, each mile repeating the impression made 
 by that which had preceded it, the sameness relieved bj' the universal 
 habit of planting trees beside the roads and ditches (which are very 
 numerous) giving to the entire country a park-like appearance, we 
 suddenly found ourselves entering a mountainous district, so closely 
 resembling that of Pennsylvania, that we might almost have fancied 
 ourselves transported there. 
 
 The enclosures became more marked, and the lots larger ; cereal 
 and root crops gave place to pasture fields of irregular shapes and 
 size ; and herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep grazing quietly, but at 
 large, added a cheerful, living feature to the scene, which had been 
 wanting hitherto. 
 
 The dwelling houses were like those of our own farmers, and every 
 thing conspired to suggest and confirm the impression that our 
 German early immigrants had come from some similar district. They 
 were no longer built, as they had been, of red bricks with roofs of 
 red tiles, but of stone with black tiles. 
 
 Gradually the ranges of hills became higher and higher, and 
 wooded to their top ; and soon the tall chimneys of steam engines and 
 the waste of mines, shewed that we had entered a mineral region in 
 which the Creator had hidden the treasures of the earth to stimulate 
 the energy and enterprise of man for their development ; and at the 
 same time to give additional value to the products of the surface soil 
 itself, by creating a market for those products to supply the needs of 
 those whose labour does not directlj' yield the means of supporting 
 life, though it does this indirectly by furnishing the improved instru- 
 ments of toil which coal and iron supply, when wrought by human 
 skill. Thus the various regions of the earth mutually react upon 
 each other through the agency of their diverse products, and the 
 beauty and fertilitj' of the soil of the low lands are increased by the 
 mineral riches of the mountain ranges which, charming as they are 
 to the eye, yet at first sight appear less profitable. 
 
 Iron and Zinc and even Silver and Gold mines, have been ; and 
 Iron and Coal (the most profitable of them all) still are worked in this 
 
 66
 
 district ; and though not so fertile as the low lands the surface is also 
 cultivated. 
 
 When we had passed through the mining region we entered that 
 of woolen manufactures ; the woolen cloths of Belgium having a 
 world wide reputation. Thus agriculture, manufactures, and mines 
 unite to increase the wealth of the country. 
 
 Fine modern houses are scattered freely about in all directions, the 
 residences of affluent proprietors of mines, intelligent and industrious 
 manufacturers, and others connected in some way with the manage- 
 ment of the various ' ' industries ' ' as they are familiarly called here. 
 
 One grand and beautiful establishment attracted our notice and 
 we found by consulting the guide book, that it is the residence of a 
 wealthy manufacturer who has been made a noble b\' King Leopold, in 
 consideration of services rendered by him to the commonwealth. This 
 typical residence of modern society, the result of honest industry in 
 peaceful pursuits, stands on the site of a hunting lodge of Pepin, 
 grandfather of the founder of modern Western empire, Charlemagne. 
 
 How wondrous the changes wrought in the character of human 
 society in the ten centuries which have passed since Pepin chased wild 
 boars and hunted stags where now the shuttle driven by steam pro- 
 duced by the coal, mined from the earth which then had no value 
 except that it furnished game for the amusement of himself and his 
 knights, weaves woolen fabrics which furnish comfortable clothing to 
 the inhabitants of a new world, then not dreamed of, now densely 
 peopled by the descendants of those who followed him in his hunting 
 expeditions or predatory raids, amalgamated with the descendants of 
 the clans with which he carried on exterminating wars. 
 
 Still more suggestive of advance was the sight of the telegraph 
 poles and wires, flashing intelligence from this very point to that 
 distant world ; the result of the gradual development of mind which 
 progressing step by step, from age to age, under divine guidance, as 
 it originated from divine inspiration in that new world as the Electric 
 Telegraph, binds in the bonds of common interest the most distant 
 nations of the world ; so that we, here, could now in a moment commu- 
 nicate to you, there, our affections, our fears, our desires. 
 
 The rail road car rattles along its iron bed, and the locomotive by 
 which it is drawn wakes with its whistle the echoes which once rever- 
 berated the sound of the horn of the hunter or the shout of the 
 battle cry. 
 
 On the fertile plains over which we have passed on our way here 
 from Brussels have been fought the great battles which have decided, 
 for the time, the destinies of Europe, determined the fate of princes, 
 and the boundaries of nations, and even exercised the most important 
 influence on the interests of the human race to the end of time. 
 
 Such, for instance was the battle of Ramillies in the days of 
 Queen Anne. 
 
 67
 
 From one point we saw, as we rolled on over the checkered plain^ 
 the Tower and colossal bronze Lion which mark the field of Waterloo ; 
 and Louvain and Tirlemont are names which at once recall to the 
 mind the movement of forces on which the fate of that day so critical 
 to the interests of Europe, Imng ; when the ' ' star ' ' of Napoleon set to 
 rise no more, except in the simulated glor}' of the 3rd Napoleon with 
 his mimicrj' of ' ' Mon Oncle. ' ' 
 
 The rail-road from the point at which it enters the mountainous 
 districts to this place, is a Chef (V ceuvre of civil engineering. There 
 are no less than twenty tunnels of various length, the longest being 
 more than a mile from entrance to exit. 
 
 But language fails me to express the delight created by the being 
 rolled rapidl3', yet without exertion, through valleys so extensive that 
 the eye finds no limit to its vision but the horizon, smiling in all the 
 beauty of a fertile soil improved by centuries of tillage, with no hedge 
 or fence of any kind to break the distance and clothed with har\'ests 
 so abundant that some of our party expressed a doubt whether they 
 could be gathered, though labourers abounded. 
 
 What astonished me not a little, is the various stages of advance ot 
 the same crop. Wheat and oats were in every stage from the first 
 shooting of the head to perfect ripeness of the full ear ; green patches, 
 the blade still concealing the ear, h'ing ini mediately' contiguous to those 
 in which the grain was fully ripe ; and even in not a few instances to 
 those in which rose the shocks of the sheaves of gathered harvest, 
 while plough was running between them and the manure was being 
 scattered preparatorj' to the seeding of another crop. Every inch of the 
 surface of the earth is cultivated ; there is no margin left. How they 
 manage to sow or plant so accurately it is impossible for me to conceive. 
 And then the beauty of the tillage ! The lines on this paper are not 
 more straight, and regular than those left by the plough and the har- 
 row ; equally so, and short as they are, the freshly upturned surface 
 is made ornamental by diversifying the course of the marks of 
 the plough or harrow ; by running them alternately diagonally and 
 parallel to the several sides of the parallelograms ; in which form 
 the divisions are uniformlj' laid out. This gives the effect of neat 
 quilting on a ladj-'s needle work. Horses are generally used in 
 the ploughs, though we saw some drawn by oxen. The ploughs are 
 heavy and peculiar looking, having two wheels to support the beam. 
 
 The wheat is cut with a short scythe by a blow so directed that 
 the cut portion falls against that which is still standing. When the 
 reaper has reached the end of the lot he lays aside the scythe, and 
 gathers into bundles that which leans against the face of the next cut. 
 It is cut very near to the surface of the ground, and as the grass grows 
 very rank, the sheaves are much larger at the bottom than at the top, 
 and as they lie amid the short stubble, the green butts look more like 
 bundles of grass than sheaves of grain. 
 
 68
 
 In some places we saw the women shaking the grass out of the 
 straw. We saw no stacks nor ricks of grain and as there are extensive 
 out-biiildings attached to all the farm houses, we suppose the crops are 
 housed in them and that the stables are under the same roof as the 
 dwelling of the farmers. 
 
 Every thing testifies of industry and plenty, and the flower plots, 
 about the houses give them an attractive appearance. 
 
 (Noon) 
 We have just returned from visiting the majestic cathedral, and 
 the church of St. Maria Capitolini, the oldest ecclesiastical structure in 
 Cologne, containing the mortal remains of the wife of Pepin and 
 mother of Charlemagne, and have seen some pictures by Albert 
 Durer, the contemporary and friend of Martin L,uther. Your mother 
 is well, but thinks, even while admitting the magnificence here, 
 ' ' there is no place like home. ' ' 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Bonn, August lo, 187 1. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 The heat of the weather yesterday made the close atmosphere of 
 Cologne (of which Coleridge says, ' ' she furnishes sweet waters to 
 wash other people, ' ' but asks the Rhine who shall purify it after it 
 passes by) less endurable ; and caused us to rejoice in our escape from 
 its narrow streets. 
 
 The morning was ushered in at 5 A. M., by the simultaneous 
 chiming of the bells of the churches to various airs. What must have 
 been the sound when in the same area 200 churches and convents 
 united in pouring forth their various melodies at the same hour ? 
 
 All sj'^mpathy with the apparent earnestness of the worship- 
 pers, is here destroyed bj* the sense of the absurdity of the superstition 
 when one is taken into the places in which are deposited the various 
 relics, and shewn, apparently in all good faith, fragments of the robe 
 worn by Jesus ; a thorn from the crown which lacerated His holy brow; 
 the bones of Matthew the Publican ; links of the chain which bound 
 St. Peter ; and other such vain and trifling objects of the veneration 
 of the ignorant masses. 
 
 Any such lingering sympathy is changed into disgust when you 
 follow the guide into the church of St. Ursula, and are told the heaps 
 of mason work around you cover the mouldering remains of 10,000 
 virgins, slaughtered before the eyes of the one unfortunate woman, 
 whose affianced husband fell beside her ; and that finall}' she was 
 herself transfixed with arrows. 
 
 69
 
 After this wearisome wholesale slaughter, these same barbarous 
 Huns allowed the sacred remains to be gathered ; and here they are, 
 miraculously preserved from the all-devouring tooth of time for us 
 unbelieving souls to gaze upon the ghastly show ! 
 
 Pigeon holes in the walls are filled with skulls, covered with deli- 
 cate needle- work, the labour of fair hands, in ages past ; row above 
 row are displayed ranges of gilded silver cases each containing the 
 skull of some noble saint among the vast multitude of more humble 
 plebeian followers, then slain ; while a hideous display of ribs and 
 bones of the arms and legs, artistically arranged in figures on the walls 
 of an edifice professedly dedicated to the worship of God, repels, and 
 produces a sense of disgust instead of attraction. 
 
 But I forget that we are in the church, not of the living God, but 
 of St. Ursula, who however saintly was at the best only equal to 
 him who when the apostle would have worshipped him as the 
 glorious messenger of God, reproved him, saying, " See thou do it 
 not, I am one of thy fellow servants ; Worship God. ' ' 
 
 There is danger to our faith from the perpetually renewed influence 
 of " Hallowed shrines," long drawn aisles, fretted vaults, the solemniz- 
 ing power of sacred harmony reverberating from loftj' domes, and 
 echoed from long vistas of columns rising to lofty heights, and receiv- 
 ing many-coloured shadows through great windows glowing with the 
 most harmonious arrangement of the various hues into which light 
 may be dispersed. 
 
 I feel the effect very strongly, and as I gaze on the prostrate mul- 
 titude, am tempted to bow myself in sympathj'. 
 
 But shrines to the Queen of Heaven land Chapels of the Saints 
 tell that it is like the superstition of those who called on Baal from 
 morning till noondaj- and even "cut themselves with knives" in 
 token of the sincerity of their worship. May we all be kept from the 
 first steps toward departing from ' ' the living and true God. ' ' 
 
 I am still wondering at the supremacy of law in this land. We 
 came here yesterday, through the same fertile and limitless and undi- 
 vided cultivation, nothing to protect the fruit of the ground, the result 
 of the labour of the owner, from the step of thoughtless intrusion or 
 the hand of the w'ilful plunderer. 
 
 It is a marvellous manifestation of the influence of that unseen 
 power, the majesty of law, which controls that most uncontrolable 
 thing, the unruly will and affections of sinful men. 
 
 I can not see how it operates nor where it is placed. No watchful 
 policeman mounts guard, at least none is visible ; all looks free as the 
 air; and yet no one appropriates to himself that which belongs to another. 
 The harvest fields were rich, and the ploughs standing in the fur- 
 rows amid the stubble tell that the heat has dried the soil till it has 
 interrupted the toil of the husbandman ; yoX. the scarlet clover, the 
 bronzed buckwheat, the green sugar beet and potatoes, all look bright 
 and flourishing. 
 
 7P
 
 Soon arter leaving Cologne the outlines of the distant mountains 
 rose above the horizon with a comforting promise of coolness, and we 
 found here last night, the air fresh and the temperature cooler. I 
 would advise the tourist to take rest where there is no especial object 
 to demand exertion. 
 
 This is the time of vacation and one maj^ sit under the noble 
 groves of horse-chestnuts and summon around him the memories of 
 the great and learned who have here received their life ; or been trained 
 in the college or sought refreshment from their studious toils amid 
 these pleasant shades ; hear in imagination, if not in actual melody, 
 the symphonies of Beethoven, who was born here ; or follow Niebuhr 
 in those deep researches into archaic history' by which he has initiated 
 a new philosophy in that most interesting field of investigation which 
 he here cultivated so assiduously ; and, passing from these reminiscences 
 of its past glor>-, may fancy how animated these now tranquil shades 
 must become when the thousand young German nobles who now 
 attend the lectures in these College Halls are collt cted on the Campiis 
 for rest or recreation. 
 
 COBLENTZ, 3 p. M. 
 
 Leaving Bonn with regret (we would gladly have lingered in its 
 pleasant shades) at ii A. m. we have reached this place wearied; 
 though the four hours have been passed seated on the deck of a fine 
 steamboat, well protected by a good awning, and refreshed by a strong 
 breeze, which did not permit us to realize that a hot sun was maturing 
 the vintage on the irmumerable terraces which step above step, climbed 
 the hills on either side of the river, forming mere strips of soil on 
 which the vines may find a foot-hold, or standing room on the slopes ; 
 so steep that they are almost precipitous. So precipitous in some 
 places that the narrow borders in which the vines are planted, seem 
 absolutely inaccessible and the terrace walls so high, that stones were 
 left projecting from the face in zigzags by which the vine-dresser may 
 mount from one stage to another. In some places, where the slope is 
 more gradual, and the soil less rocky, wattles, like baskets, are substi- 
 tuted for the stone walls. Every foot of the banks is utilized and an uni- 
 versal covering of green vines clothes their else rugged and sterile sides. 
 
 The Rhine is a noble stream, its current rapid and strong ; its 
 course meandering ; the mountains which skirt it on either hand 
 advancing and receding ; now apparently shutting it in, and with- 
 drawing the opposing barrier ; so that as the boat pushes its way the 
 mountains appear to be dancing around. 
 
 Our weariness has been due to an excess of enjoyment. New 
 objects of interest and new sources of delight presenting themselves 
 every moment, as the ever varying scene was perpetually changing, as 
 we glided quietly on without other exertion than that of taking in the 
 pleasure unceasingly thrust upon our eyes and mind. 
 
 71
 
 Drachenfels stands first on its lofty precipice, like some giant 
 warder guarding the fairy land beyond. Basaltic strata in projecting 
 cliflFs add to the illusion, while now and again the mountains receding 
 from the river leave rich valleys surrounding antiquated towns, and 
 modern villas standing detached on wooded eminences or crowning 
 distant hills ; while tasteful plantations of trees adorn the sloping 
 banks of the river. Iron works, coal mines, quarries of Tufa, to be 
 manufactured into hydraulic cement, and of a soft stone cut out in 
 square blocks hardening as it is exposed to the air, all afford occupation 
 and produce wealth for man. 
 
 Legend upon legend lends the glamour of' imagination to the entire 
 course of the Rhine, while a railroad on either bank notes the absolute 
 close of the time when new legends can be woven from the incidents of 
 history. 
 
 Wherever vine3'ards 3-ield place to farm culture, the same patch- 
 work of alternate spots of green, and yellow, and crimson, and scarlet, 
 covers the hill-sides or clothes the more widely expanded bosom of the 
 valleys, in which old towns raise their spires amid quaint old houses ; 
 sometimes guarded by watch towers and enclosed by walls. 
 
 There is one very wide valley supposed to have been the bed of a 
 lake, into which the upper Rhine flowed carrying suspended in its 
 waters pumice and other volcanic products of volcanoes now long 
 extinct ; depositing this in la5'ers alternating with the debris of the 
 other mountains, thus providing the various materials for building 
 purposes which I have mentioned. 
 
 Coblentz, by which we passed, is an old Roman station. Coins, 
 and other evidences of their residence here are still occasionally found 
 in excavations. It has been the scene of many sieges and repeated con- 
 flicts, and is now commanded by the famous Castle of Ehrenbreitstein, 
 or ' ' broad stone of honour. ' ' It has been taken but twice during the 
 past and is said to possess in its magazines military stores and pro- 
 visions to enable a garrison to sustain a siege of eight years. It 
 presents a most imposing appearance to the passers on the stream 
 which here rushes past our windows, crossed by a bridge of boats. 
 
 At Bonn and other points on the river there were what are known 
 ■as " flying bridges." 
 
 The ladies of the party are going to a promenade concert given by 
 the Queen of Wiirtemberg. Mother and I prefer the quiet room, and 
 repose in the delightful fresh breezes of our parlour. 
 
 Love to all, from your mother and father, still, though widely 
 separated in body, with you in spirit. 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 72
 
 Heidelberg, Aug. 13, 187 1. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 You will all of you understand how even the beaut}' of the most 
 attractive spot would pale in our ej'es, before the sad news which 
 reached us here. 
 
 Our dear friends have been most sorely chastened ; yet who can 
 say anything against the dealings of that Lord who has taught us to 
 receive all sorrowful dispensations as tokens of Fatherlj^ love to those 
 who have entered into covenant with him. 
 
 The dear bo)'^ was to me the most attractive of my juvenile 
 friends. I could not have chosen for him a more favoured lot than to 
 be one of those elect ones who are spared trials and made partaker of 
 glory ; nor for his parents a richer portion than to know that he is 
 " forever with the lyord." Yet my heart does lament for them, and 
 my spirit goes out in prayer that they ma}' not be cast down by over- 
 much sorrow. 
 
 The pleasant letters from each of the several family circles telling 
 of health and comfort as the portion of all, afford a gratifying contrast 
 and call for thankful love to the Giver of every good gift. We thank 
 yoii for your love and the manifestation of it ; and trust that you are 
 each of you now enjoying some summer relaxation. The weather has 
 been cool with us, as you note it has been with you, till the last five 
 days. We have no thennometer by which to note for your information 
 the degrees of heat here, but we can tell you it is hot, and lying as does 
 this University town, at the feet of opposing mountains and intersected 
 by very narrow streets crossing each other at all degrees of obliquity, 
 and with the most exemplar}' irregularity, we have not found 
 much refreshment for our bodies, somewhat wearied by hurried 
 travel. 
 
 Last evening, after our journey hither by rail, your uncle and the 
 other members of the party drove to the top of the mountain which 
 rises directly from the bank of the Neckar which skirts its foct and 
 meanders past the town and through the valley to loose itself in the 
 more majestic stream of the Rhine. 
 
 They returned not only not exhausted b}' the exertion, but per- 
 fectly enchanted with the exquisite views obtained, not onh' from the 
 top but at various points on the ascent of the Geisberg, as this moun- 
 tain is called. Hot as it is in the town they report the temperature on 
 the mountain as being most genial. 
 
 Your mother was too much fatigued to think of going with them 
 and even if I had been disposed to leave her alone, I was not myself 
 in a frame of feeling to find pleasure even in the wonders of natural 
 beauty of scener}', well adapted as it is above all other influences to 
 soothe the sorrowing heart. 
 
 There must be a chord in unison in one's own soul or that soul 
 will find no pleasure even in the purest source of joy; and our 
 
 73
 
 sympathy with Mr. and Mrs. Cope in their bereavement is too close to 
 be forgotten. 
 
 Heidelberg is one of the oldest towns in Europe. 
 
 The modern entrance by the Railway is through a narrow but well 
 arranged Park, and by a wide street lined on either side with well 
 furnished shops and through the pviblic market place in which stands 
 the principal church, having the stalls for merchandise and countrj- 
 produce standing directly against the consecrated walls and crowding 
 around the doors of the sacred edifice. As you turn off from the high 
 street the passages are narrow, without footways, and the houses also 
 narrow, and many storied. 
 
 Mayence, which we left yesterday morning, is still more 
 antiquated looking and the streets are narrower and even more 
 intricate; and the houses smaller and more closely packed. A spider's 
 web affords a good illustration of the ground plan. The fronts of 
 some of the houses in Maj'ence are adorned with sculpture, some 
 of it most elaborateh^ wrought, bearing evidence of the corrosion of 
 time during many centuries. 
 
 Mayence is fully fortified according to the modern system of 
 defence and also still retains a portion of its mediaeval wall. Military, 
 either on or off duty, swarm in the street. 
 
 I have alluded to the spider's web as affording an illustration of 
 the intricacies of its plan, but this resemblance is greater if one fancies 
 some insect to have been entangled in its meshes and to have tied 
 frequent knots in the threads by its frantic struggles to get free. 
 Corners from which three or more waj'S diverge like the sticks of a 
 fan, are constantly presenting themselves ; puzzling one to decide which 
 will lead one into the greatest error. Some are blind courts ; others 
 turn and wind until they bring you back to the point from v?hich j'ou 
 had started. The cul de sac generally terminate at some monastic 
 establishment, or church edifice. The houses are so tall and the streets 
 so narrow, that when you turn your face upward, the sky seems like a 
 little streak of light. It can not be seen in any other direction. 
 
 The corners are often adorned with images of the Virgin-mother 
 holding the Infant Jesus for adoration ; or some favourite Saint ; while 
 grotesque gargoyles, projecting above, enipt}' the rain collected by the 
 gutters from the roofs in great douches into the middle of the street- 
 ways. 
 
 Preparations were being made for a great Fair in the open space 
 surrounding the Cathedral, and many of the busy throng frequenting 
 it turned for a few minutes into the Cathedral for their morning 
 devotions ; returning at once to their regular pursuits. 
 
 Following them in, I found them at their prayers and did not 
 disturb them by walking about or even gazing around, though I saw 
 there were many fresco paintings above the arches of the nave and 
 much statuary on the floor ; probably monuments of noble or princely 
 families. 
 
 74
 
 In one side chapel my attention was arrested by the sculpture ; a 
 group representing the various incidents in the history of the 
 humanity of our Lord, especially the Passion ; and life sized figures of 
 the dead Christ ; with Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and the women, 
 preparing it for burial. 
 
 Guttenburg was bom at Mayence. A bronze state to his honour, 
 erected by contributions from all Europe adorns a large open space, 
 and one to Schiller stands not far distant. 
 
 Large military barracks have been erected here recently and a 
 review was in progress the morning we were there. Large bodies of 
 men clothed in coarse unbleached linen clothing were marched about, 
 evidently under guard, whom we supposed to be French prisoners of 
 war. Military arrangements presented themselves to our notice at 
 every turn. 
 
 Our voyage on the Rhine from Coblentz to Mayence was very 
 interesting. The river is a noble stream with a strong current and 
 very muddy ; flowing at times between lofty cliffs which press close to 
 its borders on either bank, barely leaving room for the passage of the 
 Railway ; sometimes not even that, the road being carried on artificial 
 embankments supported by strong stone walls ; or by tunnels through 
 the cliffs. 
 
 These are often crowned with ruined castles, formerly the 
 residences of chieftains often no better than highway robbers, 
 plundering passers along the river ; then the only channel of com- 
 munication either for travel or for the transportation of merchandise 
 from place to place. 
 
 Some of these ruins are picturesque memorials of times and 
 habits now happily existing only in the romantic legends, and fictions 
 with which romance has invested them. 
 
 The children will be interested to learn, for instance, that we 
 passed the castle on an island in the river, said to have been the 
 residence of the Bishop Hatto who was devoured by rats in just 
 vengeance for his cruel avarice in hoarding corn in a time of famine, 
 and beguiling the starving peasants into a barn, by the promise of a 
 distribution of corn, and then setting fire to the building and burning 
 them to death ; comparing them to so many rats. It is called the 
 Mouse Tower. Southey has versified the story, and the children will 
 find it in his works on the shelves of the library at Ivy Neck. 
 
 The sides of the hills on both banks of the river are covered with 
 vines trained on poles about the height of Maize with us, which, at 
 this season of the year gives the crop much the same appearance as that 
 has. The vines are in full leaf and very green. The sides of the 
 clifis are so precipitous in many places that one would think it 
 impossible to cultivate them, and the terraces are like gigantic ladders. 
 The spaces of earth are very narrow and the retaining walls very high, 
 and stones are left projecting from the face of the wall forming steps 
 
 75
 
 by which the vinedresser climbs from one stage to the next; often to a 
 great height above the stream. As we ascend the stream, flowing 
 through these narrow passes by a very tortuous course, giving 
 wondrous variety to the ever changing view, as changing as the look 
 through a kaleidoscope, w^e suddenly emerge on a wide expanse of 
 gently sloping fields extending as far as the eye can reach on either 
 hand, cultivated in the manner and with the crops I have already 
 described, in narrow stripes of great regularity, and dotted with 
 frequent hamlets or larger villages and some still more populous 
 towns, each with its church structure and castle ; and often its ruined 
 wall. 
 
 This now highly cultivated plain, has evidently been in some 
 remote period the bed of a lake, which was drained by the river 
 forcing its way through the opposing barrier of hills which barred its 
 course to the ocean. 
 
 The stream below has been impetuous, and so strong that mills 
 are anchored in the current, the strength of which as it flows past is 
 sufficient to grind corn ; and ' ' flying bridges ' ' afford transport, the 
 barges propelled by the power of the stream they cross. A long chain 
 is fastened at the one end to the shore, with a ferry boat attached ta 
 the other, and the chain is floated b}- boats or buojj^s at intervals. 
 These are kept in the line of the stream b}- the force of the current, 
 while the ferry boat is steered by a rudder so adjusted as to keep its 
 broad side to the stream which forces it to swing across. 
 
 This voyage between Cologne and Mayence, whether made as we 
 did it, ascending the stream, or as it is often done descending, is 
 among the most attractive objects for the traveller in Europe. 
 
 The variety and richness of the cultivation at present contrasts 
 strongly with the ruinous remains of feudal grandeur, and the mingling 
 historic associations with the impressive tokens of the march of 
 modern improvement, stimulate the minds of intelligent and 
 thoughtful travellers. As ever, 
 
 Your affectionate grandfather 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Heidelberg August 13, 1871. 
 
 Aly Dear Sister {Eynily H oiling swortK) : 
 
 Among the few pleasant associations with this place we will 
 enumerate the letters which greeted us, and after those from our dear 
 children, none was more acceptable than yours. True it is that the 
 sting of death was in all ; but then it was a sting which while it made 
 our hearts bleed, yet was spoiled of its venom. 
 
 76
 
 What greater triumph over death and the grave could be exhibited 
 than that of a loving mother parting with an only son (and such a son) 
 supported by the arm of strength and saying "all is well." Truly 
 God has proved to us the truth of His promise ' ' I will never leave 
 thee nor forsake thee. " " They that trust in Him shall be as Mount 
 Zion which can not be moved. ' ' 
 
 How it rebukes the unmanly fear which drove me away from 
 home with all its comforts, that I might escape from the duty of 
 ministering to the relief of the sorrows of suffering fellowmen because 
 I felt incompetent. All power is given to Jesus and He strengthens 
 and qualifies those who trust Him and lean upon Him, making their 
 strength perfect in weakness. Let us magnify together the grace of 
 our Lord. 
 
 Well here we are ! Sisters and brother Wistar drove last evening 
 on the mountain which overlooks this town — the Geisberg — which 
 rises abruptly above us, and on their return report the beauty of the 
 view as beyond expression ; and the freshness and coolness of the air 
 as very delightful ! Sister Hannah says of the trip, "full of heaven." 
 
 She brought down with her a large collection of wild flowers, 
 Campanula, Hare bell. Clematis, and above all, beautiful delicate heaths 
 and ferns ; all gathered freely from the road-side and the mountain 
 top, while the setting sun cast long shadows over the valleys below 
 and lighted up the receding ranges which were beyond. 
 
 Anne and I have as yet seen nothing but the old town. 
 
 We rested the Sabbath. Anne was too wearied and I too much 
 saddened to feel dispOvSed for the drive with them, beside being 
 weary. 
 
 I turned out this morning, before the other members of the party 
 made their appearance, to seek the location of the chapel of the Church 
 of England, but found it was too distant for Anne to walk to it, while 
 the mission of the Church of Scotland held its worship in one part of 
 the Cathedral which stands directl}' across the market space (on which 
 this Hotel opens) only a few minutes walk from us. 
 
 I can not get any information of the circumstances which allow 
 the use of the Romish Cathedral to Protestants. We went to the 
 service and were well satisfied, and design going again this evening. 
 In giving notice of the hour for the second service the minister alluded 
 to the use of the same apartment by some other body, thus rendering 
 it necessary to accommodate themselves to each other and hold it at an 
 inconvenient hour. I did not learn of what denomination that other 
 body was ; but it was not Papal as we found the building is divided by 
 a brick wall the Protestants having undisputed possession of one part 
 and the Romanists of the other. 
 
 To us it is yet a novel and painfully peculiar sight, to find all the 
 stores open, the vendors of various articles setting out their wares on 
 the stalls which fill the market place in which this Cathedral (thus 
 
 77
 
 occupied by several religious bodies) stands. Tents and booths and 
 stalls all crowded around the doors of entrance ; buying and selling at 
 the very threshold of the place of worship. There is nothing to give 
 the idea of sacredness being attached either to the day or place. 
 
 Many old quaint-looking houses face on the main street and those 
 which cross it are so narrow that two vehicles can not pass each other ; 
 but be3^ond these again are wider avenues rising by terraces on the 
 side of the mountain ; the houses surrounded with neat court j^ards 
 all presenting the appearance of comfort, as we understand the term. 
 
 The ruins of the castle which stand out conspicuously about half 
 way up the mountain are ver\- imposing, and are said to cover a large 
 area and to be well worth a visit. 
 
 We shall probabl}' visit them to-morrow, though the oppressive 
 heat warns us to avoid exertion. 
 
 Anne holds out better than I had anticipated, not however with- 
 out "longing lingering looks behind." I fear the effect upon her of 
 the extreme heat. I had supposed that we should before this have 
 reached the cooler region of the Alps. 
 
 Our course is now turned instead in another direction ; toward 
 Munich. Its treasures of art have no attraction for either Anne or 
 myself but we will trust that we shall be kept. 
 
 Remember us both to Isabella, Sarah, and Richard. 
 
 We shall be glad to see you all once more. 
 
 Anne desires her love to yourself, and you know you possess that 
 
 of your brother. 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Heidelberg, August 14, 1871. 
 My Dear Galloway : 
 
 I had, inadvertently, commenced my letter with an error, giving 
 the English instead of the German spelling of the name of this place 
 so deservedl}"- celebrated as the seat of one of the most renowned 
 Universities of modern times, and for the majestic ruins of its Schloss, 
 or castle, the residence of the Elector Palatine and his worthy spouse 
 (the daughter of James I. of Great Britain) who suffered her and her 
 Protestant subjects to be deprived of their rights rather than sacrifice 
 his hopes of advantage from an alliance with Spain, to be defeated. 
 
 The very Castle, a noble specimen of mediaeval glory in its 
 extent, its proportions, its massiveness and the architectural skill 
 displayed in its sculpture, is (most absurdly) more famous as the 
 receptacle of the enormous wine vat which lies in its cellar, than for 
 its grandeur as a princely residence, and one of the strong holds of 
 Protestantism during that struggle for the truth, known as The Thirty 
 Years' War. 
 
 78
 
 Much as that great wooden receptacle of the juice of the grapes 
 of the thousands of acres of vineyard by which it is surrounded 
 (having a capacit}' of 50,000 gallons) exceeds all common wooden 
 vessels by whatever name known, casks, hogsheads, or butts, still 
 more does this vast display of architectural grandeur transcend all 
 more modern castles or palaces. 
 
 Standing on the side of a mountain, the Geisberg, which rises 
 abruptly and to a lofty height directly from the town, the view from 
 the terrace commands a wide plain of unrivalled luxuriance with corn 
 fields and vineyards, through which the Rhine and the Neckar 
 meander for miles, looking from the battlements of the Schloss like 
 mere strips of silvered ribbon lying looselj' amid the vast expanse of 
 green vinej'ards and yellow corn fields. 
 
 The entrance is at the rear, by a draw-bridge, across a moat 
 and under a portcullis into a spacious courtyard surrounded by 
 buildings several stories in height, each storj- having a range of 
 statues on the front, all which are in a good state of preservation. 
 But before the front of the Castle there is a wide plateau, flagged with 
 nicely dressed stone, flanked by lofty towers between which rises the 
 highly ornamented front, and protected by a heavy stone balustrade 
 along the precipice over which it rises immediately above the town ; 
 from which two centuries ago knightlj^ courtiers and courtly ladies 
 looked over this same expanse ; on the flagstones of which trod the 
 armed heel of knights with clanging spurs ; and where the hours of 
 the summer evening were beguiled with song and dance, in the days 
 of chivalry and feudal power. 
 
 We, wanderers from a far off^ land, seated ourselves upon the stone 
 seats still in perfect preservation, on which, as some of our party 
 laughingly said, the "wall flowers " of those parties had rested them- 
 selves, and we enjoyed the view without any palpitation of heart lest 
 a mightier lord than he of this castle should interrupt the festivities 
 by an assault on its apparently impregnable strength. 
 
 Walls of from S to 20 feet in thickness, covered long casemates ; 
 with deep embrasures and magazines of enormous capacity, still per- 
 fect notwithstanding the determined efforts of the French Marshal 
 Tilly, who expended many tons of gunpowder in vain efforts to pros- 
 trate the ponderous walls and towers which had so defiantly resisted 
 his assaults. 
 
 There is abundant evidence of the almost superhuman efforts to 
 overthrow these walls, in the vast masses of ruined masonrj^ which lie 
 at the foot of the massive and lofty towers which still stand uninjured 
 as witnesses of the solidity of the structure. It were vain to attempt 
 to convey any idea of the majestic grandeur of this castle by written 
 description, but we shall provide ourselves with some fine photographs 
 of it, by means of which we may hope to convey an intelligible idea 
 should we be mercifully spared to sit down once again beside your dear 
 
 79
 
 hearth. There are portions still in perfect preservation, though built 
 four centuries ago and though the French, as I have said, made great 
 efforts to destroy the whole. 
 
 One attempt at restoration was defeated by a stroke of lightning. 
 
 The facade of the royal apartments which opened on the interior 
 court, is covered with sculptured figures still in perfect preservation 
 and very beautiful, at least to our untutored taste. 
 
 The kitchen apartment is of vast size and terminates aloft in a 
 great chimney like the stack of an iron furnace, beneath which there 
 is an elevated hearth quite large enough to roast an entire ox. 
 
 iStb. 
 
 Great as was our admiration of the view from the terrace of the 
 ruined castle, it was lost in the vastly grander as well as wider stretch 
 of outlook which we enjoyed last evening. 
 
 We drove by a road admirably planned and well constructed and 
 kept in perfect repair at the cost of the government, to the top of the 
 mountain. 
 
 The great plain, of apparently limitless extent, with the Rhine 
 and Neckar meandering through it, spread itself out beneath us, look- 
 ing like a vast flower bed of various hues. Towns, villages, castles 
 and monastic establishments, were dotted here and there, looking like 
 little Dutch toj's, while the vast ranges of mountains were piled above 
 and beyond one another, until all was lost in the blue distance. 
 
 Every thing immediately around us had been refreshed by a recent 
 shower. The beautv of the flowers at the roadside was verj' great. 
 Your Aunt Hannah counted not less than 80 varieties in bloom — 
 heaths, hypericums, foxglove, canterbury bells, and oh, such ferns ! 
 and such noble trees ! It was such a drive as one can enjoy but once 
 in one's life on earth. 
 
 I enclose a little fern from the wall of the castle, thinking you 
 may perhaps be able to make the spores vegetate, and also a few 
 laburnum seeds gathered in the court5'^ard of the Schloss. 
 
 With much love to dear Hannah and the boys, and all our family 
 
 and friends. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Your mother enjoyed the drive yesterday fully, and is bright this 
 morning. 
 
 Heidelberg, August 13, 1871. 
 My Dear Cousin {Emily H oiling sworth) : 
 
 Our package of letters, including one from you, met us here 
 yesterday. Do you remember the trepidation on the receipt of such 
 when we were here before ? 
 
 80
 
 We soon were sympathizing most truly with poor Mrs. Cope ; and 
 you will know better than I can tell you how the Doctor would feel 
 not only for the parents, but he loved the boy. 
 
 I am glad you had been to see her that day ; it was a well-timed 
 visit, I am sure. 
 
 We hope from your letters you are getting on well, housekeeping. 
 I suppose about this time you have Miss Alice and the girls with you, 
 and I hope they will not add to your care. 
 
 It is a great satisfaction to us to think of their having this little 
 trip. We are getting on as comfortablj^ as we possibly can. It is 
 warm weather now and we all feel that, particularly Jane and myself ; 
 but we are told it will not continue. I have yet to see ayiything I would 
 cross the ocean to see. We are all favoured with health. 
 
 I look at Mary with astonishment, she is readj^ for every thing. I 
 am longing for that quiet I was promised; and will be \.x\x\y glad when 
 we find it. 
 
 Monda}' morning. 
 
 I have a few minutes before prayers and will give them to you. 
 We went last evening to the Presbyterian service, it being held near, 
 and heard a most excellent sermon from a Mr. Mitchell of Edinburgh ; 
 and as we were lingering after ser\dce he joined us and after some con- 
 versation requested us to call on him when we reach Edinburgh and he 
 would do what he could for us ; so you see the Doctor makes acquaint- 
 ances wherever he goes. 
 
 We are glad to find you are making satisfactory' arrangements for 
 your Fall flit and do hope it will be beneficial all round. Take a worsted 
 cap and wear it under your hood on deck, and the same will do for din- 
 ing in, etc. No dressing can be done on shipboard. It is sad indeed 
 to see the traffic going on all around one on the Sabbath ; stores all 
 open, buying and selling as much as on ^ny other da^- ; and oh ! these 
 Germans are so noisy ! I see nothing attractive here. 
 
 Near this was the "Home" of the Wistar family and as such 
 they want to tarr)^ awhile, and those who are equal to it will visit a 
 ruined Castle, etc., to-day and get some relics; and to-morrow we leave 
 for Lucerne. I shall go with sister Jane to get a shawl, but not speak- 
 ing the language nor understanding it we shop to great disadvantage. 
 
 We like our Courier very much and he has to escort us, but you 
 can imagine that is an inconvenience. 
 
 I must close abruptly. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 Anne C. Morris. 
 
 Of course you will see our letters to our children ; though there is 
 not much in them. 
 
 8i
 
 Heidelberg is the seat of one of the most renowned of the Gennan 
 Universities and is largely frequented by the youth of that nation. 
 
 Every child in the Empire is compelled to attend school, and every 
 village has in its Gymnasium ample provision for elementary instruc- 
 tion. These Gymnasia furnish opportunity to prepare for admission 
 to the classes of the universities, in which the most ample arrange- 
 ments are made to enable all who desire to cultivate their mental 
 faculties, to do so at a verj^ moderate pecuniar}^ cost. There are no 
 expensive buildings, and the fees of the students and salaries of pro- 
 fessors are very moderate. The session here, called Semester closed 
 the very day of our arrival at Heidelberg, and the exuberant spirit of 
 youth, so exceptionalh' developed among German students, manifested 
 itself in boisterous rejoicings, degenerating into Bacchanalian orgies 
 unmindful of the account to be rendered therefore here or hereafter. 
 Students whose caps of many colours and various shape marked the 
 college societies to which the wearers were attached, paraded the 
 streets and gathered around the beer shops, prolonging their orgies far 
 into the night, making wreck of hopes which might have led them on 
 to lofty achievements. The weather was hot and our bed-room small 
 so that windows, open of necessitj', made us unwillingly only too 
 cognizant of the perils to which those are exposed who seek to drink 
 of the stream of knowledge where the fount of evil runs so full and 
 strong beside its pure waters. 
 
 Heidelberg is an old town, and much of it very closely built ; but 
 the railway station is at some distance from the older part and the 
 town is now rapidly extending itself toward it over the intervening 
 space, which is being covered by pretty modern villas, with neat 
 grounds around each, and a public park. 
 
 Man}^ American and English families live here in order to avail 
 themselves of the opportunity for education for their children. The 
 cost of living is less than at home and the advantages of instruction 
 are thought to be greater. 
 
 We fell in with some of our countrymen, and ladies especially (of 
 this class), in the waiting room at the station and your mother was 
 much interested in their reports. 
 
 In the newer part of the town the houses are built on terraces 
 rising one above another on the lower part of the mountain, facing the 
 Park which is handsomel}' laid out and judiciously planted. The love 
 of flowers by the people is highlj^ developed and strongly marked. 
 Passengers by the train in which we left carried huge bouquets in their 
 arms, composed of rare and splendid flowers ; and our attention was 
 arrested on the platform by a female dwarf who was supporting herself 
 by the sale to passengers of smaller bunches. Her appearance was so 
 peculiar that she attracted the notice of every one, and she enhanced 
 the value of her flowers by adding a photograph of herself to the 7)ur- 
 chase. Your mother supplied herself with one. 
 
 82 
 
 \
 
 The miseries inseparable from zvar, here obtruded themselves on 
 our notice and excited our sympathy'. We could not shut our eyes to 
 the evidences that the ranks of manhood were thin, and the women 
 looked sad, and your aunt Mary while shopping, found the people 
 spoke freely of their grief from the loss of sons and brothers and 
 husbands. 
 
 A trifling incident served to prove the honesty of one at least of 
 the shop keepers ; we may hope a sample of all. 
 
 Your aunt had left her parasol in one of the shops she visited ; she 
 had not the faintest idea which. As we drove to the railwa}^ station 
 the next day to leave, the driver of the carriage noticed the calls of 
 some one to stop us, and the lost article was sent oiit of one of the 
 shops to her. 
 
 We were not comfortably lodged though the hotel to which we were 
 taken was evidently the best in the place, and we suffered from the 
 heat. One great inducement to visit it was the knowledge of the fact 
 that it was from this immediate vicinity our German ancestor had coine 
 early in the eighteenth centur3^ 
 
 His ancestors had long been hereditary ' ' Foresters ' ' of the Grand 
 Duke, and the house they occupied in right of the office they held still 
 stands and is known as the "Forester's house." It is near the vil- 
 lage of Hillspach, which lies in a valley beyond the Geisberg. The 
 position was one which commanded respect ; and the father of the 
 Caspar who migrated to x\merica wished to transmit it to his descend- 
 ants and offered to resign in his favour if the 5'outh, his oldest son, 
 would remain and occup}' it. The ambition to secure an independent 
 position for himself and his posterity prevailed over the respect for 
 ancestral honours, and the young man left his father's house almost 
 penniless, arriving in Philadelphia with no other possession than a gun 
 and a very small sum of money. 
 
 By God's blessing on honest industry and intelligent enterprise 
 he rose to affluence, introducing the manufacture of glass and of brass 
 buttons into the State of New Jersey, where the former is still an 
 important industry ; and he left to his descendants an honourable 
 name, and a social position equal to any in the community ; and the 
 foundation of the wealth which many of them still possess. 
 
 We were not accurately posted in the relative position of Hillspach 
 to Heidelberg, and were compelled to hasten our course in order to 
 accomplish the plan adopted, and were ignorant of the language and 
 therefore did not seek it out. 
 
 It has been visited by other more devoted descendants, who have 
 possessed themselves of copies of the Church records, from which it 
 appears that the father of the first Caspar in America was Hans, and 
 that all his children followed the example of the oldest and emigrated. 
 
 Their descendants are still to be traced among the Hiesters. 
 Keppeles, and Zantzingers, as well as in the numerous Wistars and 
 Wisters.
 
 The first day we were in Heidelberg your mother was very 
 wearied, and unfit to drive ; and the saddening influence of the account 
 we there received of the death of the onl)' son of our valued and dear 
 friends the Copes, led us both to prefer the quiet of our ow^n rooms at 
 the hotel to the drive taken by the other members of the party. 
 
 The}^ were so enthusiastic in their report on their return, of the 
 grandeur of the views and the perfection of the roads, that we were 
 induced to accept your aunt INIary's invitation to partake of a trout 
 supper which she had ordered for the next afternoon at a resort on the 
 Cieisberg, called Wolffsbrunnen, about half waj' up the mountain. 
 
 We drove first to the Konigstuhl, at the highest point of the 
 mountain, where a tower of some fifty or sixty feet high affords a verj' 
 extensive view over the valley through which flow the Rhine and 
 Neckar. The panorama is most magnificent. 
 
 The plains below are cultivated in long strips each of which has 
 its own peculiar hiie derived from the nature of the crop it produces, 
 varying also with the stage of advancement. 
 
 Rape, in bloom, gave a clear bright yellow to some ; clover, scarlet 
 and crimson, or purple were strongly contrasted with that ; while the 
 paler yellow of the wheat and the delicate green of the vines gave a 
 softened and subdued tone as they lay side by side with the brightel 
 hues. 
 
 Hillsides and valleys lay like a vast patch-work of various colours 
 running in different directions, some at right angles to others, some 
 diagnonally, but all marked clearly by straight lines of division each 
 from its neighbour. 
 
 Towns and villages with their church spires were dotted down at 
 short intervals, though there were no isolated strictlj' rural dwellings, 
 as with us scattered among the fields, giving a quiet, secure, peaceful 
 expression to the whole scene. 
 
 The sides of the mountain as we were driven up by an admirably 
 well engineered and thoroughly well constructed road, were clothed 
 with a grand forest of noble trees, of many varieties ; firs, oaks, and 
 beeches predominating, while the frequent open spaces intervening 
 were carpeted with wild flowers of great variet}', and of exquisite 
 beauty, and superb Ferns of gigantic size grew luxuriantly by the 
 roadside. 
 
 On reaching the top, which is crowned by an observatory called 
 the Konig's Stuhl, raised some fifty feet in order to widen the horizon, 
 we wandered around while the horses took rest in the shade of the 
 trees, and were not a little amused by seeing the drivers take from the 
 boxes of their several carriages long dark coloured loaves of bread 
 which looked more like sticks of firewood than food for beast (much 
 less for man) and cutting off slice after slice alternately for their horses 
 and themselves, take their common meal. On enquiry we found that 
 this is customary here, the horse and its owner partaking always of 
 
 84
 
 the same loaf. I had the curiosit}' to taste a slice and found that dark 
 and unattractive as was its appearance, the bread was sweet and 
 pleasant to mj"^ taste, and undou.btedl3^ highly nvttritious. 
 
 We all enjoyed the delight of the stroll amidst such rural sur- 
 roundings, under so serene a sky, with so wide an expanse of lands- 
 cape of such varied beauty spread out at our feet, and breathing an 
 air so pure and invigorating ; but the hour came at which we were 
 obliged to descend to keep our engagement with our host at the WolfFs- 
 brunnen. 
 
 When we arrived there, we found it was a very copious spring of 
 the purest water, perfectly limpid, to which some mysterious legend 
 attaches an unknown virtue. The spring is of large volume though 
 much less than that at Bellefonte and man}- others with which we are 
 familiar in our own countiy, and from it the water is conveyed into 
 numerous dark receptacles, in which are fed large numbers of moun- 
 tain trout of great size, for the suppl^^ of the numerous parties who 
 daily frequent the place to enjoy the beauties of the landscape, the 
 purity of the air, the pleasure of social intercourse and, though last 
 mentioned not least esteemed, the gratification of the palate with the 
 sweetness of the most delightful of fish. 
 
 We walked around, enjoying the beauty of the views, and 
 admiring the graceful movements of the speckled trout floating peace- 
 fully in the crystal pools, happily unconscious of the object for which 
 they were thus pampered, until we were summoned to the table, whose 
 neat appointments of snow white napkins and shining silver gave 
 promise of a luscious feast. 
 
 But how can I describe the look of utter disappointment and blank 
 amazement of your Aunt Mary and Miss Eliza, who had dwelt on fond 
 recollections of trout suppers and associated pleasures in their own 
 their native land and amid the genial hospitality of Bellefonte. We 
 took our places at the neatly arranged tables each provided with a roll 
 of the whitest and lightest bread, and a glass of amber coloured and 
 foaming beer, full of expectation ; but when the chief attraction, the 
 trout appeared, they were boiled not fried. Beautiful in size and shape 
 and very sweet to the taste, biit lacking the piquantc taste of the pan 
 and the fire. Your aunt was the most disappointed one of the party ; 
 we enjoyed our meal, your uncle settled the bill, and in the cool of the 
 evening we were driven to our close quarters at the Hotel in the old 
 town and prepared for our start afresh in the morning in quest of 
 further experience of the mingling of hope and disappointment, and 
 the gratification of our several tastes in the pursuit of pleasure, in the 
 delights of natural scenery, and the investigation of the products of art. 
 
 On our way we visited the castle, one of the most imposing 
 remains of mediaeval ages on the continent of Europe ; associated 
 with its most eventful histories, and the scene of some of the most 
 stirring conflicts in the war which followed the reaction and political 
 
 85
 
 arrangements at the time of the great Reformation. It stands on a 
 plateau on the mountain side overlooking the town, which lies at the 
 foot as though seeking the protection of its massive walls. These 
 walls are of the most perfect mason work and of a thickness which 
 must be seen to be properh^ estimated, varying from 8 feet to at least 
 twenty, and the area thus enclosed must be many acres. 
 
 Entering at the rear by a gateway through an arch, we found our- 
 selves in a grand courtyard enclosed on all four sides by walls covered 
 with sculpture, and adorned with admirable statues of life-size stand- 
 ing in niches between the windows, all of which open upon this 
 interior court. 
 
 No part of the Castle is habitable at present, nor yet is anj' part 
 in absolute ruin. Indeed it would seem to defy the destructive influ- 
 ence of Time, as it had that of man vainly exerted in the effort to level 
 its lofty towers with the dust. 
 
 We walked around the spacious kitchen, with its raised hearth of 
 size ampl}^ sufficient to receive the entire carcass of the largest ox, and 
 looked up to the tower-like chimney, loft}^ and with a throat like that 
 of a modern iron furnace ; passed through many other apartments, 
 now deserted, though still entire ; climbed walls, shattered and rent, 
 but not overthrown by the explosion of the magazine, well stored with 
 powder, by the French marshal whose efforts to reduce it had been so 
 long resisted by its strength and the courage of its defenders, during 
 the Thirty years' War, and discussed imperfectly, these historic asso- 
 ciations ; gathered ferns from amid the fallen stones, and seeds from a 
 laburnum tree flourishing among the ruins ; and had very pleasant 
 interchange of the courtesies of travel with an intelligent English 
 family, like ourselves in quest of pleasure, and willing to take it in 
 every incident as it passed with a simple enthusiasm which ensures 
 success ; and then just as the sun was setting, throwing his nearly 
 horizontal rays and lengthening shadows toward us, took our seats on 
 the paved terrace with its stone seats and balustrade still affording pro- 
 tection against the danger of the precipice below, and enjoyed to the 
 full the extensive panorama which la^^ outstretched before our eyes, as 
 it had done in the ages of feudal times to those of spurred and belted 
 knights, and ladies of high degree. 
 
 The view was charming indeed to us. The setting sun gave the 
 richest hues of golden splendour to the clouds and sky, and the mountains 
 were clothed in that soft purple haze which at such an hour is thrown 
 over their ruggedness like a delicate veil ; and silvery streams flowing 
 through the sinuous valleys added the beauty of their sheen to the 
 varied shades of green with which the luxuriant crops gave promise 
 to the labourer of an ample recompense for his toil. 
 
 Ferns in great variety and of exquisite beauty, and Laburnums 
 loaded with golden bloom, springing from interstices between the 
 fallen stones and from the debris of the mouldering walls, lent the 
 
 86
 
 favScination of their gentler charms in contrast with the stately grandeur 
 and massive solidity of the grand facade which lifted its proud front, 
 defiant still, a noble specimen of the style of architecture ol the feudal 
 ages and a state of society which can never again be produced, unless 
 human progress is checked, and the now advancing tide is rolled back- 
 ward, and the masses of the people who now possess the power and 
 wield it for their own improvement, resign or sell their birthright and 
 consent to become once more the heritage of the few, who possessing 
 wealth are, by that possession, enabled to control affairs for their own 
 personal advantage, and consider the mass of their fellow beings as the 
 mere agents for their aggrandisement. 
 
 Better far the fields cultivated in security and the fruits of the soil 
 accnaing to the personal benefit of the labourer and small proprietor, 
 and cultivator ; better the luimble home occupied by intelligent industry, 
 and sending forth its sons and daughters in annual migrations to form 
 colonies of other such homes of intelligence in foreign lands and under 
 alien skies, than the concentration of wealth and power in the coffers 
 and under the control of the few owners of the soil, in realit}', though 
 perhaps not in name, owners of those by whose labour that soil is 
 tilled. 
 
 It is onl}' under circumstances thus adverse to the progress of the 
 human family, that Castles such as this can be erected. 
 
 Rather let us be content to see the rjiins which mark the passing 
 away of such times and manners, than welcome the accumulation 
 of vast riches in the hands of the few in what manner so-ever such 
 accumulations may be invested. 
 
 Better many humble happy homes than an increase in the reproduc- 
 tion of stately castles and palatial mansions. 
 
 In one of the vaults of the Castle we saw the famous Tun cele- 
 brated as the monarch of vats, having the largest capacity for holding 
 wine of any vessel ever constructed. We climbed over its huge bulk by 
 flights of stairs, and marvelled at its capacity. On our way back we 
 passed the Cathedral, a very unpretending structure, standing in the 
 midst of the great square which is used as a market place and occupied 
 b}' the venders of the products of the gardens of the vicinity, fruits 
 of various kinds according to the season of the year. The plums were 
 very luscious looking. Stalls of more permanent dealers in goods and 
 wares of every variety, were attached to the very walls of the sacred 
 building and around the doors. 
 
 A wall is built across the middle of the nave of the cathedral ,' 
 the space on the one side being used by the Romanists for their 
 worship, while the other is similarly dedicated to the service of the 
 Lutheran ritual. We attended the Presb3'terian service, at an hour 
 which did not interfere with the Liitheran, conducted by a Scotch 
 Presbyterian minister who gave us a very good sermon. 
 
 The population of the kingdom is about equally divided, and the 
 Royal family is Protestant. 
 
 87
 
 Lake of Constance, Aug. 19, 1871, 
 My Dear Son Chcston : 
 
 We have just passed under the paw of the Bavarian Lion which 
 sits in the attitude of being aroused from repose (on the summit of a 
 column) to guard the entrance from the Lake into the dominions of 
 his Bavarian Majesty under whose government we have been protected 
 during several days at Munich, and in travelling there from Stuttgard 
 and since we left Munich to Landau ; the entire distance by rail. 
 
 The ride from Munich was a varied one, at first across extensive 
 deposits of peat ; then over a verj- flat district cultivated in much the 
 same way and with much the same crops with which we have been 
 made familiar in our journey through Belgium and the Rhine districts ; 
 excepting the vine. 
 
 In the last few hours we have been in a region of enchantment. 
 Swiss chalets have taken the place of long low German farm houses, 
 with barns and other farm buildings attached and under the one roof, 
 and grassy meadows covering the slopes of the irregular hills, which 
 have taken the place of the peat bogs, and flat levels and extending 
 into the ravines of the mountains, often dotted with beautifully rounded 
 clumps of firs with pendant boughs, and the lower branches Ijdng on 
 the ground. 
 
 Herds of cattle, with their attendant herdsmen, grazed on these 
 fertile pastures. The houses were scattered singh^ or in small groups 
 over the face of the country ; and gradually the mountains assumed a 
 character almost Alpine in the imagination of those who like m3'self 
 have had no opportunity to form a true conception of the full mean- 
 ing of that term. Snow-clad peaks rose into view over the already 
 grand outlines of the nearer mountains. 
 
 We were wearied with the ever renewed pleasure ; and are now 
 resting amid still and unexciting beauties of lake and mountain, on 
 the deck of the Stadt Constantz, a little steamer having in tow two 
 freight boats, by which we are likely to have our voj'age prolonged 
 and to be detained until a late hour before we reach our destination at 
 Constance, where we have planned to stay over to-morrow — the Lord's 
 Day — and where we hope to meet letters from some of the loved ones 
 we have left at home, over whom our hearts yearn most fondl}\ 
 
 I enjoj^ed yesterday and the day before at Munich very greatly 
 and should have enjoyed them still more if you had been with me, 
 not only to interpret for me, but still more that I might have partici- 
 pated with you in the pleasures you would yourself have found in the 
 treasures of science and of art which are collected there. 
 
 Your mother did not wish to go either to the Pinacothek or the 
 Glyptothek, so that I felt at liberty to elect for myself from the 
 various objects of interest to me, knowing that I could not visit them 
 all with any satisfaction, and much as you and many (nay most of my 
 friends) may be disposed to condemn ni}' choice as exhibiting great 
 
 88
 
 want of taste iu the Fine Arts so lavishly represented here, I took a 
 valet dc place and went to the Hospitals, which I found admirably well 
 administered. I never saw any private dwelling more free froni 
 offence or more exquisitely neat and clean ; nor had I concieved it 
 possible to make patients so comfortable as I found them there. 
 
 You know how strong is ni^' judgment on the subject of Mario- 
 latry, and how repugnant to my feelings to give to a creature, even 
 her who is pronounced by the v/ord of God itself "Blessed among 
 women," the honour due to the Creator. It was never more deeply 
 rooted or of stronger growth than now, yet I am a convert to faith in 
 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 None but those thus bound together by a common impulse of love 
 to the lyord could have accomplished what I saw here in the Hospital 
 and House for the reception of the Poor. 
 
 The Hospital was erected in the 5'ear 18 13 and is well planned and 
 well built, calculated to receive aboiit 300 patients. Each Ward con- 
 tains about one dozen beds and opens out of a corridor, one side of 
 which is unglazed and opens on or looks over prett}^ gardens. The 
 mattresses were all of curled hair, thick and elastic, and the bedding as 
 fine and good as that we get here at first class hotels. 
 
 Figures of the Virgin with the infant Jesus in her arms, and 
 Crucifixes more or less adorned with votive flowers, hang around the 
 walls ; and on many of the tables at the head of the beds there were 
 also fresh flowers. 
 
 The bath tubs were of metal and polished as mirrors, and all the 
 adjunct arrangements equall3' commendable. 
 
 One arangement impressed my judgment as especially worthy of 
 imitation. This is a detached ward built of wooden plank in which 
 were placed the subjects of amputation, thus separating them effectu- 
 ally from the injurious influences of Hospitalism. At the time of our 
 visit it was entireh^ open like a tent, and was placed in the midst of the 
 garden. It was in fact only a neatly constructed shed, elevated a few 
 feet from the ground. There are many private rooms as neatly 
 furnished as those we occupied at the hotel, at which for a florin and 
 a half per diem the occupants receive medical attendance, board, and 
 nursing. 
 
 There are a few more eligible and more elaborately furnished 
 apartments for which a higher rate is demanded. 
 
 All the nursing is done by Sisters, whose happy loving benevolent 
 and open countenances, speak of hearts at peace with God ; cheer- 
 fully devoted to the loved task of relieving the sorrows and comforting 
 the grieving hearts of their fellow creatures. 
 
 Their very presence is curative in itself, there is an atmosphere of 
 peace about them, like the nimbus with which the religious older 
 masters were wont to environ the representation of their Saints. 
 
 Protestant Christians must provide son:e substitute or our hospitals 
 will fail to equal these. 
 
 89
 
 A like neatness and good order and comfort per\-aded the arrange- 
 ments of the Poor House ; and the cheerful, contented, even happy 
 faces of the beneficiaries (most of whom were in advanced 3^ears, and 
 of whom man}-^ in the time of health and strength had supported 
 themselves in comfort by their own labour) preached to me a sermon 
 in the most eloquent words, which went directly to my heart, though I 
 should not have understood one word of their tongue even if they had 
 ventured to address me. 
 
 I could not repress the feeling which their silent eloquence excited 
 and requested the valet dc place who spoke good English, to tell some 
 of them how greatly I was gratified. To this they replied that all their 
 wants were well supplied, " why should they not be happy " ? 
 
 They were all busily occupied ; every woman in Germany like 
 Penelope, knits all da}', though not condemned like her to the dis- 
 gusting task of ravelling at night the work of the preceding day — and 
 the men were busy with tailoring or shoemaking, or some other light 
 labour, for their own profit. 
 
 No hovise-keeping I have ever known, not even that at Pontread- 
 ing, or 1 6 Dock street (so celebrated in the home circle of the past 
 generation) could rival the exquisite neatness of ever}' part of these 
 houses of the Poor. 
 
 I went into the kitchen departments — busy scenes they presented 
 — and into the store rooms where I saw the materials for the supplj' 
 of food, all in ample abundance, l.^nexpected as was my visit it was 
 not regarded as intrusive, and I was gladly welcomed to every part 
 and was equally pleased with all. 
 
 Another Institution to which I went from these was as poor and 
 as badl}' conducted as these were well. It is a L^ing-in-Hospital, the 
 only thing about it commendable is a Training School for Nurses, who 
 are thoroughly instructed in ever}' thing connected with their art. I saw 
 a class of about 60 women of all ages emerge from the lecture room. 
 
 The contrast between the expression of the countenances of these 
 and that of the Sisters of Charity was as great as that between the 
 neatness and good order of those under the care of the Sisters and the 
 untidiness and repulsiveness of the latter. 
 
 These visits occupied the morning while the other members of 
 our party were enjoying the rich stores of Art, and in the afternoon 
 your uncle Wistar went with me to the INIuseum of Geology and 
 Mineralogy. 
 
 It is well to travel and thus learn to compare ourselves not with 
 ourselves, but with others. 
 
 We who have staid at home, and confined our observation to what 
 is to be found there alone, have been wont to pride ourselves on our 
 truly meritorious Academy of Natural Sciences. 
 
 Here we found hall after hall each as large as the whole Academy, 
 devoted to the most perfect specimens of minerals from every part of 
 
 90
 
 the world, all arranged in scientific order and each hall quite filled ; 
 and others equally spacious and equally well filled with Fossils. 
 
 These are arranged in separate halls as Palaeozoic, Devonian, or 
 Triassic ; and in each the several specimens are distributed according 
 to their classification in systems of Natural History, This arrange- 
 ment affords great advantage to the student, and wonderfulh' increases 
 the gratification of the mere dilettante visitor. 
 
 I saw the celebrated human skull, about the age of which there 
 has been so much discussion. The label attached to it has that crooked 
 little thing which asks a question, or expresses a doubt, attached to 
 the adjective " Fossil." 
 
 I do not doubt its being a human skull, nor that it is merely 
 covered by some adventitious calcareous deposit. 
 
 The teeth, which are exposed, are as white and clean as though 
 they had been recenth' subjected to the manipulations of a skillful 
 modern dentist. 
 
 But the Ichth^'osauri, and Plesiosaiiri, and other great antediluvian 
 monsters whose names have already escaped m}-^ memor}', thotigh the 
 impression made upon my mind never can be obliterated, were more 
 numeroush^ represented than I had thought there were specimens 
 extant in all the museums of the civilized world. There were the 
 fossil hind legs of an Elk which were, as the}' stood in a natural posi- 
 tion, so high that I could stand beneath the bones of the pelvis. What 
 must have been the size of the body with its clothing of muscle and 
 fat. 
 
 From these monsters of the antediluvian world the gradation in 
 size was uninterrupted down to the perfect fl}-, which has left the 
 perfect impression of its expanded wings with all its nerv^es (so called) 
 and markings, accurately stamped on the stone. 
 
 There is a very large collection of fossil fishes, from the Quarry of 
 the ' ' Lithographstien ' ' which is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 
 Munich, I believe. The perfection of these specimens is such, that 
 one can only describe it by saj'ing that the fish itself is there, caught 
 as it was swimming, and turned instantaneously into stone. 
 
 All the varieties of "Crustaceans " ; lobsters, crabs, shrimps, and 
 prawns, each with fins and claws and long feelers, are represented 
 there. 
 
 We could have spent days in examining them if we had under- 
 stood the language of the labels attached to each or had the time at 
 our command. Very manj' of the finest specimens were from 
 Wiirtemberg and Saxonj^ and many also from " bei Athens." None 
 that I recognized as from our own Continent. 
 
 It is time we were exerting ourselves more strenuously to make 
 such collections and lay the foundation of such a museum. 
 
 I gave the next morning to the examination of the Anatomical 
 collection which I found was under the management of BischofF, who 
 
 91
 
 lives at Munich, but was absent at this time. When I mention the 
 name of this great master of Physiology you may think I have said 
 enough, but it is not. If I had the opportunity I would gladly give a 
 year to study under such a master. Such specimens as are there 
 exhibited I never dreamed of the possibilit}^ of preparing. There 
 were many tanks made of glass, so that every part of the preparation 
 contained was distinctly visible from everj^ side, containing dissections 
 of the nervous system, floating i?i a perfectly clear transparent fluid, 
 from the study of which one would learn more than from the dissection 
 by one's own hands of a dozen cadavers. What is the anti-septic 
 fluid ? 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 CoNvSTANCE, August 20, 1 87 1. 
 My Dear Son : 
 
 The letters from Annie and yourself, dated the ist of the present 
 month, which reached us here were heartily welcomed. We were 
 thankful for the account the}' give of the condition of cousin Hannah, 
 to whom and also to Mrs. Ellis, give our dear love. We are favoured 
 with good health ; and though we rose at 4 A. m. yesterda}' and were 
 in the railroad cars and on board a steamer, slowly crossing the Lake 
 Constance, from 6 A. M. till 8 p. m. we rose again this morning 
 refreshed by a good night's rest, thankful it is true that it is a day of 
 rest (and to God for having ordained such) and bright and cheerful. 
 
 We passed two entire da3'S at IMunich, the capital of the kingdom 
 of BPcVaria, a noble city, full of splendid structures erected under the 
 direction and at the cost of the present monarch, who has spared no 
 expense in making his capital one of the most attractive places we 
 have )'et visited. 
 
 Your mother had been satiated with Palaces, and residences of 
 nobilit}' during our former visit to England, and has not yet gotten 
 rid of the impression ; and now adheres to her determination not to 
 weary herself by visits to picture galleries or disgust herself with nude 
 statuar>', so that I was at liberty to follov/ the bent of my own inclina- 
 tion and did not go with your uncle and aunts to the Pinacothek and 
 Glyptothek, though I knew thej' contained some works of the greatest 
 INIasters in their respective schools of Fine Arts, well deserving a visit. 
 
 My letter of this date to j-our brother Cheston will inform you all 
 how I passed most of the time usualh' given to the great collections of 
 Fine Arts, and how much pleasure I derived from the objects I saw ; 
 3'et when in the evening I heard the expression of the delight the 
 other members of our party had found in the four great pictures of 
 INIurillo, and remembered the pleasure I had so often found in copies of 
 them in colours and engravings, and how I had been entranced by his 
 
 92
 
 picture of The Assumption of the Virgin (which I had seen in the 
 British Institute in London in 1836) I almost wished that our clothing, 
 which had been sent to the laundress, might not be returned in time 
 for us to leave in the morning, that we might be detained long enough 
 for me to visit them. 
 
 I was even willing to be left behind to wait for the clothes, that I 
 might add that pleasure to the already large store I had accumiilated 
 at INIunich. 
 
 But Cervetto (our Italian Courier) sat up all night with the laundress 
 drj'ing them before the fire, and was ready for the start. I have put 
 down on a list of places to be revisited, Munich. We all went to the 
 celebrated Bronze Foundry from which they have just now despatched 
 the Statue of Lincoln by Rogers, which is to be placed in Fairmount 
 Park, and we saw the parts of the splendid Fountain presented to the 
 City of Cincinnati by one of her citizens, Mr. Probasco. 
 
 The design is very beautiful and appropriate, intended to illustrate 
 the blessings conferred by water. 
 
 They were at work on the Eagles which are to stand on the 
 corners of the pedestal of the statue of Lincoln. 
 
 In a large detached building are exhibited the models from which 
 all the castings have been made. 
 
 jMany have been sent to America, and they are now at work on a 
 colossal statue of the late Chief Justice Taney for the State of i\Iary- 
 land, to be placed in front of the Capitol at Annapolis. 
 
 They have executed busts of Washington, Marshal, Henry, Jeffer- 
 son, Clay, Everett, Benton and other of our statesmen. 
 
 Homel}' enough are the features of Taney as they are represented 
 in bronze, but Aunt Fanny alwa5'S spoke of him as the ugliest man 
 she had ever seen. The statue is one of the many illustrations of the 
 incongruity of human actions. While his daughters are earning the 
 mo.st meager support by the drudgery of copyists in the Public Offices 
 at Washington, his admirers are expending thousands of dollars on an 
 ugly statue to transmit those features to posterity. What will be the 
 verdict of that posterity on the Dred Scott decision on which these 
 admirers would base his claim to honour ? 
 
 These castings are composed of many separate pieces as they 
 come from the moulds, and are all much indebted to the dressing by 
 tools. 
 
 A grand colossal statue emblematic of Bavaria stands on a slight 
 elevation in a park, just out of Munich. The city is adorned by many 
 statues of Germans distinguished in various ways, such for instance 
 as those of Goethe, Schiller, Scheliing, Gluck, and Frauenhofer the 
 distinguished Optician, which are found on the principal highwa}-. 
 
 We saw also one to a native of Boston, an American by birth, but 
 who forfeited his citizenship of the United States by his adhesion to 
 the mother country at the period of the Revolt of the Colonies. 
 
 93
 
 He was born in htimble life, a poor boy but devoted himself to 
 the prosecution of plans for the amelioration of the condition of 
 those of his own class, on which account one of the German 
 Princes bestowed on him a patent of nobilitJ^ and he is best known 
 now as Count Rumford. There are man}- massive structures in 
 Munich erected at the personal cost of King Louis, but all designed 
 for some popular use. 
 
 I did not enter an\^ of the churches. Over the entrance to one of 
 the principal ones is placed a very impressive bronze representation 
 of the Archangel Iilichael in conflict with the Devil. It is more than 
 300 years since it was cast and I do not know by what great Master it 
 was designed, but it appeared to my uneducated ej-es an admirable 
 work of art. 
 
 The Angel stands with calm dignity and composure without any 
 manifestation of effort, his countenance expressive of perfect purity, 
 and simple confidence of power sufi&cient for the emergency, with his 
 foot resting on the back of the Fiend, whom he has transfixed with 
 his spear. 
 
 In the face of the Fiend every malignant passion finds expression, 
 while the attitude of his prostrate body shews reluctant submission to 
 irresistible force. 
 
 Nothing I have ever yet seen, or imagined, has ever given me such 
 an impression of the power of the sculptors art. 
 
 For some distance after we left Munich for this place oxir road 
 passed across a dreary extent of peat bog. The surface is cultivated 
 it is true, except at the points at which the peat has been recently dug 
 out, but it yields but a scant return for the labour. 
 
 After leaving this tract we entered on a more rolling district of 
 country and passed through Augsburg ; where I would have stopped 
 gladl5^ as it possesses not onl}- the Historic celebrity which attaches 
 to it as the seat of the council of the German Empire to which was 
 submitted the famous Lutheran Confession of Faith (which derives its 
 name from this place) in the time of Charles the Fifth, but is itself 
 interesting from the quaint appearance of the numerous antiquated 
 houses which are still to be found there. But the stopping there now 
 would have deranged your uncle's arrangements for his tour, and we 
 shall return to German^' at some future stage of our travel and take it 
 more leisurely. 
 
 After passing Augsburg the country became more rugged, and 
 cultivation of cereral and root crops gave way to grasslands and 
 pasturage ; and hamlets to isolated and scattered houses, and these 
 became gradualh- more picturesque in their forms and substantial in 
 their structure until at length the\- assumed the character of regular 
 Swiss chalets, with walls covered with tiles, and roofs projecting and 
 outside stairs. Stones laid on the roofs, indicated the liability to 
 tempests of wind ; little lakes lay like silver points in the beautifully 
 
 94
 
 green meadows ; herds of cattle with attendant herdsmen, gave a new 
 feature of animation to the landscape ; and as we rolled rapidly onward 
 by the rail, the mountain ranges became loftier and grander, until 
 finally we caught distant glimpses of lofty snow-crowned peaks. 
 
 It was a day's journey of great interest, and when at length we 
 launched on the Lake, with its pea-green water embosomed amid 
 towering hills, their sides varied with grassj' slopes and forests of 
 noble firs, and the margin dotted with old towns, the effect of the 
 whole was surpassingly impressive. No one can form a correct idea 
 of the colours who had not seen them. In a painting we should con- 
 demn them as exaggerated and unnatural. 
 
 This Lake of Constance, forms the boundary of five nations : 
 Wiirtemberg, Bavaria, Austria, Baden, and the Swiss Confederac}'. 
 
 The Town of Constance though old, has few external attractions. 
 Its historic interest is derived from its having been the place at which 
 the Council sat which condemned the doctrines of John Huss, and 
 Jerome of Prague. This evening we walked quietly, and unattended 
 by any obtrusive guide, in the meadow which skirts the town, in which 
 John Huss was burned. 
 
 The spot is appropriateh^ marked by an immense undressed 
 boulder of granite, having simply inscribed on the one side "Johannes 
 Huss" and the date of his martyrdom, Juh', 141 5 ; and on the other 
 " Hieronymus Prag, 1416." 
 
 To-morrow we propose to leave for Zurich, where we hope to find 
 more comfortable accommodations than we have had here ; and propose 
 to stay until Saturday making an excursion from there to the Falls of 
 the Rhine at Staubbach. 
 
 It is your uncle's intention to reach Ragatz on Saturday and spend 
 this day week at that place and from thence to commence a tour in 
 carriages through the Austrian Tyrol, and by ^■arious passes through 
 the mountains of Switzerland, backward and forward, until they 
 reach Geneva. 
 
 Your mother and I do not enter into any of the conferences about 
 plans and routes, which we leave entirely to the direction of your 
 uncle and the Courier, who has given us entire satisfaction. 
 
 When the time comes for excursions on horses or mules, or by 
 ' ' Chaises-a-porteurs, ' ' we will quietly stay behind wherever it may be, 
 and join them again when we can do so by carriage or railway. 
 
 We are enjoying ourselves more than we can tell j^ou ; and I think 
 your uncle Wistar is getting what he so needed and your aunt Mary 
 gaining strength. 
 
 May our Heavenly Father keep 3-ou at home, and us in our travel, 
 and unite us in His love and fear, on earth and in heaven. 
 
 Your ever loving father 
 
 Casp.^r Morris. 
 
 95
 
 CONvSTANCE, August 21, 1 87 1. 
 
 My Dear Brother {/srael) : 
 
 Thy kind attention in writing to us wayfarers, is highly appre- 
 ciated by us all ; and I am sure I am not trespassing on the bounds 
 of propriet}- in thus making a common acknowledgment for the 
 entire party. The anxietj- felt by all that we should not fail to 
 reach our destination, on the day and at the place on and at which 
 we have appointed that our mail should meet us, is sufficient evidence 
 that we may adopt the lines of Goldsmith's experience to which thou 
 makest allusion, 
 
 " Wlie'er we roam, •whatever lands we see 
 Our heart, untravelled, still returns to thee." 
 
 We have now skirted the ' ' Fatherland ' ' and I have been much 
 delighted with what we have seen of it. 
 
 Law reigns supreme ; and order, the child of law, presents its 
 beautifvil expression at ever}- turn. The garden needs no fence, and 
 flowers and fruits bloom and ripen by the very roadside, even up to 
 the well worn foot-path in which child-hood pursues its sports, and 
 the owner is secure of his property. Plentj' iills her horn with grain 
 and crowns it with flowers. The whole country is cultivated in small 
 patches and with a nicety and skill which would do credit to a gardener. 
 Sometimes these are rectangular, either square or very much elong- 
 ated parallelograms, at others they are concentric, with the radius of 
 various length, but in all cases equally the lines are true, so that there 
 are no vacant corners or spaces. 
 
 We are at a loss which to admire most, the antiquated appearance, 
 so novel to us, of those buildings which, solid and castellated, tell of 
 days when the light of knowledge was shut up in monasteries, and 
 protective power was seated in castles around which the feeble com- 
 mon people clustered for defense ; or the statelj' and substantial 
 magnificence of the more modern structures, which tell of the care 
 of princes of the present day for the welfare of their people, and their 
 provision not only of palatial residences for themselves, but of 
 Galleries of Art and other Institutions, whose object is to disseminate 
 knowledge and provide amusement for the great masses of those on 
 whose intelligence and industry depend the wealth and prosperity of 
 their kingdoms. 
 
 That there are many separate kingdoms with divers interests, we 
 are constantly reminded by the extensive military' works we so often 
 pass, the barracks, like small towns, and the great number of fine 
 looking men, in the first beauty of opening manhood, wearing the mili- 
 tary garb who throng the streets of all the larger towns ; while the 
 hardest work of the fields is of necessity performed hy the women, who 
 are found also in the workshops and at the railwaj^ stations, where 
 they load and unload the freight cars and perform the services about 
 
 96
 
 the engines which at home we think demand the strength and endur- 
 ance of the hardier sex. They are more numerous in the harvest fields 
 than the men, and sometimes we have passed them working as labour- 
 ers on the embankments or excavations of the railwa}-, or carrying 
 building materials to the masons, and even laying the bricks and 
 stones ; and ver^' commonly sweeping the streets. 
 
 All, of both sexes, are busy. We see no loafing crowds of the 
 sovereign people standing or sitting idly about the drinking saloons, as 
 is too common with us. In the evening, it is true, the greatei part of 
 the popiilation of the large towns collects in beer-gardens, or at musical 
 resorts in the open air, drinking sparingly of light wines or beer, 
 neither of them intoxicating. We in our loved land are certainly in 
 advance of them here in the road to ruin ; and I am more than ever 
 desponding about our progress. 
 
 I think most of our party are satiated, for the present, with Cathe- 
 drals and Palaces and shows in general, and thankful that we have at 
 last reached a stage in oiir tour in which we shall be refreshed by the 
 beauties and glories of Nature in Creation. The grand mountains 
 loomed upon our vision as we drew near to Switzerland and launched 
 on the green waters of Lake Constance. I have not been disappointed 
 by this distant glimpse, though I have always thought them so won- 
 drous and grandly and glorioush' beautiful, that the only thing the 
 earth could offer to induce me to encounter the perils and fatigue of 
 travel is the combination to be found here of green grassy meadows in 
 direct aSvSOciation wHth snow-crowned mountains. 
 
 The sight is quite as grand and impressive as I had anticipated, 
 and yet we have had but a passing glimpse through the partially 
 opened door of the vestibule, merel}- ; the grand temple is still before 
 us and we are preparing to enter in v/ith awe. 
 
 The plan now is to spend the ensuing five weeks amid the sacred 
 precincts and thence emerge into the warmth of sunny Italy ! Freizier, 
 who was at Zurich — yesterdaj- came over here to meet us. I saw him 
 but for a moment ; a very pleasing gentlemanly person in his deport- 
 ment. Our present Courier, Cervetto, has been acting as his deputy 
 and has been all that we coiild desire, but turns us over to Freizier, 
 who had been engaged b}^ Wistar, in about a month from this time. 
 
 With love to Caroline, Elizabeth, Naomi and all, in which Anne 
 unites, thy loving brother, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Zurich August 22, 1871. 
 My Dear Israel : 
 
 First to business ; that done, to pleasure. I have this day, signed 
 my third draft, for forty poimds sterling, for which I have received 
 Francs, looi. 
 
 97
 
 This matter thus summarily disposed of I may go on to describe 
 our present state and condition. 
 
 Your mother is now, 3.30 P. m., resting— I hope sleeping— your 
 uncle and aunts have gone to the Falls of the Rhine, distant from 
 hence one hour by railroad, designing to spend three hours there and 
 return here to a late dinner or early tea. 
 
 We— your mother and I — thought the delight of sitting in this 
 comfortable apartment, looking down the length of this beautiful lake, 
 its shores dotted with many villages and charming villas, to the glori- 
 ous mountains crowned with snow, at the other end, was pleasure 
 enough for us, and to leave it and seek another which could not exceed 
 it in attraction, and might disappoint the expectation, required some 
 effort, we decided to enjoy that which we possessed, and not seek that 
 of which we could form no very brilliant hope. We therefore decided 
 not to go with them. 
 
 We arrived here from Constance 3'esterday, about an hour later 
 than this, and mailed our letters for home written at Constance ; 
 where we had rested the Lord's day. Had we known how much better 
 the accommodations are here and how much more attractive in every 
 way, we should have selected this for our Sabbath. But in that 
 case we should have missed Constance, which has attractions of 
 its own, in its sacred associations with the witness for Jesus by the 
 early martyrs of the great Reformation, Huss and Jerome of Prague 
 It strengthened our faith and quickened our love, to stand on the con- 
 secrated spot. 
 
 This lake is about five miles in length, and two in breadth ; the 
 shores almost lined by prett}^ clustering villages, the inhabitants of 
 which derive their support from silk manufacturing in its various 
 details. 
 
 The cocoons are brought here from Italy and Southern France and 
 are unwound, reeled, spun, and woven, here. 
 
 There are also very extensive cotton factories, and large machine 
 shops, so that it combines the interest of present active industry and 
 consequent wealth with its resulting modern elegance ; and the his- 
 torical renown, derived not only from its having been an important 
 Roman station in the palmy days of its imperial greatness, but as the 
 city of refuge of the English exiles in the days of persecution for the 
 truth's sake, during the reign of Mary. 
 
 Zwingli, the great Swiss Reformer possessed sufficient influence 
 with his fellow citizens to secure protection for the noble band 
 of refugees, until the death of Mary and the accession of Elizabeth 
 permitted their return, carrying back with them the influence they had 
 here imbibed, which gave origin to the spirit of Puritanism in England 
 and which is still so powerful there and in our own land, for the preva- 
 lence of which we have so great reason to give thanks continually to the 
 great Head of The Church, who orders all things after the counsel of
 
 His own will, and in this, as in so many other cases, has caused the 
 wrath of man to praise Him, spreading through its agency the princi- 
 ples, the prevalence of which shall ultimately spread the truth from 
 pole to pole. 
 
 To the principles thus engrafted on the English Church we owe 
 what is known as the Evangelical Party in the Church of England and 
 the entire body of Dissenters in that countrj^ and to it also we are 
 indebted for the great principles of Civil Liberty which culminated in 
 the establishment of our National Union. 
 
 The immediate environs of the town are very beautiful, the distant 
 views sublime. From the window of our chamber, which opens directly 
 over the Limmat flowing out of the Lake, whose perfectly clear trans- 
 lucent waters lave the wall in which it opens, we see Rappersw}^ 
 which lies at the head of the Lake, and beyond it a grand panorama 
 of dark mountains with many peaks, some of them attaining an 
 altitude of at least 6000 to 7000 feet, clad with everlasting snow ; now 
 reflecting the glory of the setting sun. 
 
 There are, it is said, no less than twenty-three varieties of fish in 
 the Lake, and a crast of bread dropped from our window into the 
 crystal water, which flows with a swift current at the base of the wall, 
 draws them in shoals sporting around it. 
 
 On the other side of the hovtse lies a verj' beaiitiful lawn, planted 
 with Firs and other trees and shrubberj^ and adorned with beds 
 and borders of many coloured flowers, through which we approach the 
 hotel and from which it derives its name of Bauer au Lac. 
 
 The weather is very warm, we should at home say intensely hot ; 
 too warm for out door enjoyment during the midday hours. 
 
 I left your mother alone this morning, she wisely preferring to 
 avoid exposure to the great heat, and went out to visit the Asylum for 
 the Blind ; and on my return I find that the hundreds of guests have 
 all been following the example. 
 
 They are now just going out to be rowed on the Lake, in beautiful 
 gondolas with many coloured awnings, and adorned with various flags. 
 Last evening the bosom of the lake was perfectly alive with them ; and 
 the air tortured with the frequent reports of firearms discharged for 
 the purpose of awaking the echoes. The weather is said never to be 
 cold here. Many winters pass without any snow falling, though its 
 presence now in this very hot term, on the mountain peaks which 
 terminate the view up the Lake, proves that the refreshing sight is 
 never absent. 
 
 It is now the period of vacation, bixt the extensive and appropriate- 
 looking buildings occupied by the University and Polytechnic school, 
 give evidence that these Institutions are well .sustained. 
 
 Evening. 
 We were particularl}^ happj^ in having arrived here yesterday, 
 when the mountains were lighted up by the sun and glowed in all the 
 
 99
 
 rich colouring given by his parting rays ; this morning they were 
 enveloped in fog which rolled up in heavy clouds permitting only a 
 partial display of their forms, and now this evening they are entirely 
 shrouded in dense masses of black vapour. 
 
 Last evening the surface of the Lake was lively with the gondolas ; 
 this evening none venture awaj' from the shore. 
 
 23d. 
 
 Soon after I had written the last line the lighting began to glare 
 over the surface of the water, and illuminate the dark heads of the 
 distant clouds, and the servant of the house went to every one of the 
 numerous windows in it to secure the shutters, thus proving that these 
 sudden storms are often violent, and sufficiently frequent to render 
 such a habit necessary. 
 
 It would be unsafe to depend on the chance attention of guests. 
 The lightning was very brilliant in its corruscations, but the reverb- 
 eration of the thunder less than we often have with us at home. The 
 storm did not last long, nor did the gust of wind which we had 
 looked for. This morning the atmosphere is fresh and the sky is clear, 
 and we start on another day refreshed b^- the rest of a good night. 
 May God keep us through its passing hours and fill our hearts with 
 thanksgiving and our lips with praise. 
 
 The plans for the next five or six weeks were discussed last 
 evening, but 3'our mother and I being mere attaches to the party do 
 not attempt to influence them, nor enter into the discussion of them. 
 Cervetto, the Courier, advises a detour to the eastward among the 
 Tyrolean Alps, by way of avoiding the inconvenience of the great 
 crowd of tourists now gathered in Switzerland. Dozens have been 
 turned away from this house since our arrival, and it is the same 
 condition in every place on the more frequented routes. ' ' A Tourist ' ' 
 writes to the Times (London) advising no one to leave England as 
 ' ' ladies are compelled to sleep on the floor. ' ' 
 
 The railroad buildings here are, if possible, on a grander scale 
 even than those at Munich and Stuttgard to which I have already 
 referred. The front of the station is of a beautiful light coloured close 
 grained sandstone, and has great architectural merit. Within, the 
 entire extent of the space occupied by the platforms and rails and 
 saloons for the reception of passengers, is lighted at night by 
 chandeliers with shades protecting the gas-lights, which would be 
 pronounced ' ' elegant ' ' and tasteful in any place of public resort, and 
 of a size commensurate with that of the building. Here, as at the 
 places I have mentioned, the waiting rooms are divided into apart- 
 ments, each appropriated to one of the many principal points on the 
 route to which one may desire to go. Even those for the reception of 
 the travellers by ' ' second class ' ' trains are furnished with handsome 
 sofas, chairs, and tables of mahogany ; the seats covered with maroon 
 coloured plush or morocco, moveable at the will of the occupant, and
 
 not as with us fixed immoveably at the wall ; while parquetted floors 
 are kept as free from all pollution, as nice and clean indeed as those 
 of the best kept private dwelling. 
 
 To the credit of the moving crowd of travellers it must be said 
 that no defilement from the use of tobacco offends us as we move 
 about, and signs requesting that there may be no smoking, surprise us 
 in this land of smokers, while on some of the cars we see inscribed 
 " smoking permitted. " Flowers, flowers, everj' where. Thej' adorn 
 the window of the poorest in the narrow streets of the smallest 
 hamlet, and abound in the courtyards of the rich and the conserva- 
 tories of their palatial residences ; are planted with care along the 
 footways and even between the tracks of the Chemin-du fer about the 
 stations. 
 
 Every town of any pretention to public spirit has its Botanical 
 Garden open to the resort of the people, with its Palm house and col- 
 lection of Orchids. That here is not extensive, but has in it an elevated 
 spot planted with ornamental shrubbery, and provided with seats 
 beside its shaded paths from which there are man}'^ beautiful views 
 over the L,ake to the distant mountains. Parents and children with 
 their nurses, gather each mornin<^ on this shady plateau and while the 
 first enjoy the views the little ones play merrily around with at least 
 an equal pleasure, but without destroying or even injuring the plants 
 and flowers. 
 
 The trees and permanent shrubs are all labelled with their botani- 
 cal names. I shared the enjoyment yesterday morning ; and at break- 
 fast table this morning T. K. L. reported having met there a large 
 school of young ladies. 
 
 We find that there are very large Machine Shops and extensive 
 factories of Cotton and other textile fabrics in this place, and the 
 usual evidences of the wealth which in these days results from such 
 pursuits, are displa3'ed in the shape of commodious dwellings and 
 handsome grounds. The High School has a wide-spread reputation 
 and is largely patronized. 
 
 There is also a Medical School which attracts students from 
 distant places, even Russia being represented in its classes ; and among 
 the students are many females. This being the season of vacation all 
 these institutions are closed at present and I did not think r worth 
 while to encounter the exhaustion of the heat by visiting the deserted 
 halls. 
 
 Every male inhabitant has the privilege of a vote ; but happily for 
 them the elections occur only once in six years and the number of 
 offices is small, so that they are saved from the demoralizing influences 
 of our system of frequent, almost quarterly excitements; aggravated by 
 the pernicious habit of rotation in office, and the still more injurious 
 doctrine that official emoluments are the spoils of political struggle 
 and belong to the victor.
 
 The climate of Zurich is ven^ delightful for though the sun of 
 summer is hot, the oppressive heat is of short duration and, great as 
 it may have been during the daytime, the influence of the lake and the 
 snowclad mountains, tempers the air and calls for blankets at night 
 even now. 
 
 The fruits are very fine and very abundant. Plum, Pear and 
 Apricot trees, as well as Apple are loaded with fruit ; the Apricots are 
 as large as good sized peaches are with us, and instead of being dry 
 and almost tasteless, are mellow, juicy and luscious. 
 
 In our journey on Monda}' we passed through almost ever variety 
 of culture, under the influence of change of climate due to the varying 
 elevation ; var5'ing from the heaviest Wheat crops to simple grassy 
 pasturage at elevations too high to permit the ripening of cereals. 
 Where ploughing was done it was performed by women, and often the 
 plough was drawn by cows, the men and horses being absorbed by the 
 armies of their respective sovereigns. This is rendered necessary by 
 the divided nationalities ; may God mercifully avert from our con- 
 tinent this curse of the older civilization of Asia and Europe and while 
 He preserves from the calamity of this waste of power in /^^/V/^t" frady 
 for war with neighbouring powers, make us dul\- sensible of the bless- 
 ing of one united government from sea to sea. Its blessedness is 
 worth the sacrifice of some minor interests, even (which I greatly 
 doubt) if that be the price of the boon. It is very saddening to see the 
 fine forms and noble countenances of so large a proportion of the 
 young and active men all clothed in military uniform. 
 Your loving father, 
 
 C.'VSPAR Morris. 
 
 Rag.atz, August 24, 1 87 1, 7 p. M. 
 Afy Dear Children, 
 
 The sun has set to us in this deep hole in the everlasting rocks, 
 blasted by some Titanic explosion as of all the gunpowder and gun- 
 cotton and dynamite combined, which have been made by man since 
 the day of Cain ; and its golden light is slowly retreating foot after 
 foot from the gigantic precipices which frown in awful grandeur 
 round us, till, while I have written this sentence, it has been with- 
 drawn from all but the highest peaks which here and there project 
 above the edge of the crater like excavation, as if so many watch- 
 towers. 
 
 The eye is delighted with the soft blue haze which, as with a 
 veil, covers all below, and with the golden glory which clothes every 
 thing above ; and the ear drinks in with almost intoxicating pleasure 
 the sound of the unceasing rush of the mountain torrent which sweeps 
 over its rocky bed just beneath our window. 
 
 The day has been one of the most perfect enchantment.
 
 lie who made the everlasting hills inspired them with a voice 
 which impresses me with the feelings of the whole being one great 
 psalm, with a melody like that of the spheres. 
 
 "All thy works praise Thee" saN-s ///^Psalmist, and adds, Thy 
 saints give thanks to Thee, 
 
 O may my harp in tune be found 
 Like David's liarp of solemn sound. 
 
 25th. 
 
 This morning has opened up a day which promises as much 
 delight as that which has just passed. As I lay, unwilling to disturb 
 the repose of your mother, the soft light of the coming sim tinged one 
 I>eak after another of the many which lift their heads into sight from 
 our window, even before we rise ; and then crept slowly down the 
 scarred grey faces of the opposing hills and soft velvety delicately 
 green coloured slopes of others. No sound disturbed the deep base 
 monotone of the rushing Tamina, pouring its torrent through and 
 over the bed of huge boulders which during the long ages of the 
 past its irresistible power has forced from their firm adhesion to their 
 natural connection with the seemingly indistructible strata of the 
 everlasting hills, and strewn along its headlong course ; while in its 
 unceasing roar it celebrates with a song of triumph the achievements 
 of its might, until the deep soft tones of the church bell sounding its 
 summons to ^latins, added to the equally unconscious utterance of the 
 water, the call for man to add his intelligent song of praise. 
 
 One after another the numerous chapels pealed forth their harmony; 
 and finally the tread of human feet and the hum of human voices, 
 told that man goeth forth to his labour after his night of rest. Yester- 
 day afternoon your uncle W. and 3'our aunts H. and J. wandered oft 
 for a stroll on the mountains, and on their return late in the evening, 
 laden with beautiful flowers, and seed-vessels from which your uncle 
 hopes to be able to propogate plants at Green-IIill, report that wild 
 and inhospitable as are the cliffs of this fearful chasm on this side, the 
 other sides are clothed with grass, and enriched by orchards and 
 dotted about with villages and scattered habitations, and consecrated 
 by churches. Man\- of the plants they brought with them are quite 
 ftmiiliar acquaintances, being mere varieties of those already cultivated 
 with us or those indigenous to our own land. 
 
 We are now in the Swiss (irisons, and among a hardy people 
 jealous of the liberty they once wrung forcibly, and after much suffer- 
 ing, from the robber-lords, the ruins of whose castles are still seen 
 crowning many of the rocks, whose alm.o.st inaccessible sides made 
 them long secure from the vengeance for oppression, which ultimately 
 overtook and overwhelmed them. 
 
 These ruins stand not onh- as memorials of the bravery of the 
 generations which are past, but as incentives to present jealous care to 
 preserve that which was attained at such a cost. The hotel in which 
 
 103
 
 we are staying was formerly the sumrner resort of the Abbots of a 
 great monastery a few miles distant. 
 
 They certainly subjected themselves to no privation or mortifica- 
 tion of taste by dwelling here in such comfortable, and for the times, 
 elegant apartments. We find all that we can desire, though our 
 Courier was greatly provoked as well as disappointed that we were not 
 received in a much more extensive and more modern building, the 
 Hotel Quellen-hof, of which establishment this is what is here known 
 as a succursale or receptacle for the overflow of guests at the season of 
 greatest resort to these baths. 
 
 Cervetto had engaged rooms for us some daj's before by telegraph, 
 but just as we took the boat at Zurich to come here, he received a tele- 
 gram that the rooms were occupied and that v/e could not have them. 
 We had given up those at Zurich and could neither reoccupy them nor 
 procure others there, so that we had no alternative bvit to come on. 
 
 His indignation at the personal insult he thought offered to him- 
 self as well as ourselves, led him to pursue a course which terminated 
 in his inglorious defeat and made us ignora?itly actors in a rather dis- 
 creditable scene. 
 
 He insisted that the apartments were ours by the usage of travel, 
 and that we had only to demand possession and it would be sur- 
 rendered to us. In order to effect this he divided the party and leaving 
 your uncle and aunts with the luggage took your poor mother and 
 myself with him to the Quellen-hof and left us on the portico while he 
 went to assert his superior claim to the manager of the establishment, 
 with directions not to allow ourselves to be " cajoled ' ' into going to the 
 other house. 
 
 A very gentlemanly ofiicial of the hotel assured us we should be 
 quite as well accommodated at the succursale, which belonged to the 
 same proprietors, and was under the same management, but acting 
 under orders I remained obstinately firm, until Cervetto, after a long 
 parley, came to our relief from a very embarrasing exposure, and 
 informed us that our rooms were occupied by the Duchess of Genoa, 
 sister of the King of Italy, and we could not have them. 
 
 Even an Italian Courier could not assert the precedence or prior 
 'Claim of Avierican Sovereig7ity , and we were content to take what were 
 offered and now that we are in them, we are quite satisfied, indeed 
 suspect that, in some respects, we are better off than we would have 
 been in the royal apartments to which Cervetto aspired, as the 
 manager himself occupies rooms in this house, and seems especially 
 desirous to promote our comfort in every way. 
 
 Plated ware it is true is substitured for solid silver in our table 
 service, but the provision supplied is of the best quality, and the 
 manager himself stands by and begs we will eat freely and if need be 
 ask for more and what we please. 
 
 104
 
 Thus 5'ou see we are not unmindful of creature comfort even in 
 the midst of the sublimity around us, in which your mother finds as 
 much delight as does anj^ other member of the party ; and coming to 
 her, as it does as the unsought fruit of her self-denial in abandoning 
 her cherished, but well known, simple home-comforts, and the satis- 
 faction of the presence with her of all she so dearly loves, for the sake 
 of m}^ gratification, she enjoj'S it all the more. 
 
 Here she and I saunter around in the grounds of the Quellen-hof 
 while your aunt Mary and Holly ride off on donkeys ; Miss Harris and 
 Mr. Longstreth climb precipices ; and your aunts and uncle W. take 
 lofty mountain walks. 
 
 Such was the occupation of each 3'esterday after our arrival here 
 from Zurich by steamboat up the lake, and rail from Rapperswyl. 
 As your uncle was busy over his plans for further progress, after tea, 
 your aunt M. challenged him to take her and Miss Harris to a Conceit 
 at the Quellen-hof, to which he assented with some reluctance, leaving 
 your aunts H. and J. with 5'our mother and myself. They did not 
 return before 10.30 p. m. having had Prestidigitation instead of music. 
 I mention this as an illustration of the forces of the several mem- 
 bers of the party, and of the manner in which each expends their 
 own. 
 
 I feel as though we had only to enjoy ; all around is so grand in 
 nature, so beautiful in art, and so full of blessing for us, that life is a 
 perpetual song. I never raise my eye from the paper on which I am 
 thus inscribing my pleasure to transmit it to you, hoping to make 
 you in some degree participant thereof, that it is not greeted by some 
 new light on an attraction I had before thought perfect, or some new 
 object challenges equal admiration. 
 
 We have met with some very pleasant people in the cars. If they 
 understand our language they enter into conversation ; if the}' do not 
 the}' endeavor by signs to draw our attention to objects of interest. 
 We have found some English people with whom we have fallen in, 
 quite disposed to be cordial. A very intelligent family at the castle 
 of Heidelberg for instance, and another, named Bright, yesterday on 
 board the steamboat on the Lake as we came here from Zurich. The 
 trip was altogether a most delightful one. From Rapperswyl to this 
 place it was by rail. The road lay, a part of the distance, directly 
 along one shore of a little lake, (the Walen-see) while the crags on 
 the other side of the rails rose so perpendicularly at our side that in 
 looking up they appeared to overhang us ; while on the opposite shore 
 of the lake were what looked in the distance so like toy houses that 
 your mother drew my attention to them and asked for what they could 
 possibly be designed, and would scarcely credit me when I assured her 
 they were veritable human habitations thus diminished to our ej-e only 
 by the distance. The lake appeared so narrow that she could scarce 
 believe it was three miles wide, and that the distance in a horizontal
 
 line had the same effect as the same in height, there beiner no inter- 
 vening object to diminish the effect. 
 
 We could discover no means of approach to them except by water, 
 and they thus seemed shut off from intercourse with the world except 
 by that channel. Doubtless there was a road along the shore, and 
 others leading by passes through the mountains to the world beyond 
 that barrier. 
 
 We are all struck by the love of the beautiful exhibited by even 
 the humblest of the peasantry in the culture of flowers about their 
 houses, and in the villages in window pots. 
 
 It is in strong contrast with the want of such taste among our 
 labouring classes, who are at best content with a staring Sunflower, or 
 a bright Scarlet-Bean vine trained about the door or window frame. 
 Here the poorest class have Petunias, Fuschias, and such Reine 
 Marguerites as I have never before seen, so large and so rich and 
 varied in colour. They are planted in nicel_\- planned borders, and 
 neatly kept. 
 
 We have not only not seen any beggarj- but have met with no 
 indications of the existence of poverty. The people are well clothed, 
 except the heads of the children which are uniformly uncovered ; and 
 the faces of all we meet wear an expression of contentment. 
 
 On our mountain rides we meet women and children such as we 
 are so familiar with in pictures, coming from the forest with loads of 
 faggots on their heads under which one would suppose they must 
 stagger, 3'et always bright and happy-faced. 
 
 The roads by which they pass to and from the forest lie through 
 noble orchards loaded with tempting fruits, pear, apple, plum, and 
 apricots, yet they do not appear to think of plucking them ; and the 
 bundles of sticks with which they are loaded are all evidently made up 
 of dead wood gathered from the ground. 
 
 12 M. 
 
 We have just returned from Pfeffers. What shall I sa}' ? I will 
 not attempt any verbal description, in which every one who has ven- 
 tured has failed. Nor will I presume to give vent in words to the feel- 
 ings which the scene must give rise to in the soul of the least suscep- 
 tible to deep emotions. When I have heard the attempts at description 
 of its horrors by those who had visited it, I have again and again said 
 " nothing could lure me into the frightful chasm !" Yet I have done 
 it, and I am happy to be able to say that I have enjoj'cd it. 
 
 Your mother, on the contrary', says " she now has iSome idea of 
 the pains of martyrdom, from the terrors she has encountered ; and 
 that it is the last time she will be beguiled into a mountain pass in 
 search of pleasure. She may go through worse becmtse it is the only 
 way home, but never again for any less inducement. ' ' 
 
 The Tamina, a mountain torrent of great force and volume, which, 
 as I have said, roars past our window, has in the long ages past worn
 
 its way through the heart of a mountain of not less than looo feet in 
 height, composed of stratum upon stratum of solid rock of varying 
 density and power of resistance and colour, from each of which it has 
 rent off huge fragments and rolling them in its narrow channel has 
 wrought them into boulders of varying size, but each rendered round 
 by attrition with each other and against the sides of the cliffs of per- 
 pendicular rock by which it is restrained, and in which it has, as 
 though in its vain efforts to escape it had thus inscribed in the ever- 
 lasting rock the record of its ineflectual struggle to overcome the bar- 
 rier, left great rounded openings, into which the waters as they rush 
 headlong by are poured, or rather drawn as though engulphed by some 
 voracious monster watching for its prey. To heighten the illusion the 
 roar is deafening, and reverberated from side to side of the perpen- 
 dicular walls, which rise on either hand till the eye almost fails to find 
 the verge above. 
 
 We entered the chasm by the road which lies at the door of the 
 house in which we are quartered. Through this vent the stream 
 rushes with a rapid descent, approaching a cataract, while the road 
 gradually ascends and on the one side one looks down on the foaming 
 water, white with the struggle it is making over and among the rocks 
 in its bed, which have been worn round and smooth by the current, 
 whose violence has worn the great caverns in the rocks which form 
 gulph-like whirlpools at verj^ short interx'-als, while on the other hand 
 the road lies against the solid and perpendicular wall of rock, along 
 which it is often carried for considerable distances, on brackets let into 
 the rock. 
 
 In many places the road lies at least loo feet above the roaring 
 stream, into which j-ou cannot but shudder lest you should be precipi- 
 tated, while the narrowness of the chasm is such that the sun never 
 finds its wa}- below, not even at the moment when it reaches its 
 meridian height. 
 
 The cleft at the surface looks to one from below like the merest 
 chink while the scarcely discerned trees which fringe the margins 
 appear like the lashes of half closed eye-lids. 
 
 Through this narrow chasm you go on, on, on, rapidly ascending, 
 but finding as you raise your eyes that the mountain is becoming 
 loftier and loftier also, while the stream is still deeper in the abyss 
 below you, till after a drive of about two and a half miles, you reach 
 the termination of the carriage road and alighting, pass through a 
 house erected here in the twilight gloom (never cheered by the light of 
 day) designed for the accommodation of invalids, many of them from 
 the immediate vicinity, who seek for relief from various forms of disease 
 in the hot baths which are supplied with water from the springs which 
 here gush out of the rock at a temperature of loo F. 
 
 We here entered into a cavern through which the stream forces its 
 way. Through this cavern we pass 700 feet along a narrow boardwalk, 
 
 T07
 
 supported on brackets let into wall of rock, while far, far below, the 
 hot stream erodes its tortuous way, sending up suffocating columns of 
 yapour which rising above us find exit through a scarcely perceptible 
 opening at the summit of the mountain. It is a most marvellous, 
 stupendous, awe-inspiring, wonderful place ! 
 
 While I have been writing we have received Cousin Emily's very 
 welcome letter of the loth, for which we are profoundly thankful. She 
 will please consider herself as one of the partners in this. 
 Your ever loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 R.\GATz, August 26, 1 87 1. 
 My Dear Childreji : 
 
 We are still here, amidst the ' ' everlasting hills, ' ' their height and 
 grandeur and sublimity becoming more and more impressive daj^ by 
 day. I laid down after dinner and fell asleep ; not a cloud in sight and 
 the temperature such that even I wished for a thermometer that I 
 might report its figures instead of sa3dng " it is intensely hot." 
 
 The lofty gre5'-stone precipices which frown around us seemed so 
 many walls of a furnace reflecting the heat in due proportion to their 
 height and size. When I waked I found your mother had gone out 
 with the others without my being conscious of it. 
 
 The distant peaks are shrouded in the deepest gloom, and the 
 valley of the Rhine, in which the town of Ragatz is situate, is filled 
 with vapour. White clouds roll like the drapery of curtains over the 
 scarred faces if the impending cliffs, while as 3'ou look into the deep 
 openings in their sides j^ou find them filled with impenetrable 
 darkness. 
 
 The temperature has fallen many degrees. Whether the gust will 
 expend itself before it reaches us is a problem I cannot solve ; difficult 
 at home, still more so here amid sitrroundings so different from those 
 to which we have been accustomed. 
 
 There has been as yet no lightning and thunder and the roar of 
 the Tamina is the only sound that falls upon my ear. 
 
 Some of the peaks are seen towering above the clouds. 
 
 After tea. 
 
 I was here interrupted by the return of your mother and now 
 resume my writing without taking up the broken thread of thought or 
 description. 
 
 While the others are talking over the varied events of the day and 
 discussing the hopes and fears for to-morrow, and the relative merits 
 or demerits of their several purchases of wood carvings, embroideries, 
 etc. , and your uncle W. and the Courier are arranging about the 
 bestowal of trunks and bags on the carriages in which we shall start 
 
 108
 
 to-morrow, the rain is falling gently, and occasional flashes of lightning 
 disclose the gaunt forms of our mountain guards, each of which takes 
 up the thunder note and rolls it round and round again till it dies 
 away in the distance. It is solemnh' grand ; filling the soul with an 
 awful sense of devotion, not of dread. 
 
 It was verv' interesting this afternoon to watch the changes. Just 
 in front of us rise two towering peaks, between which opens a valley 
 shut in by other distant mountain ranges. This valley was filled with 
 black clouds. The tip of one peak was lighted b}- the sun's rays fall- 
 ing upon it from beyond ; while upon the face of it turned toward us 
 we could watch the formation of clouds from the atmosphere, in soft 
 feathery volumes gradually condensing into heavier cloiids ; while 
 along the side of one range the light poured in between two clouds, 
 and brought out various shades of green from the deep dark hue of the 
 Fir forests to the light yellowish tint of the newl}^ mown grass-fields, 
 irregularly disposed in patches of diverse shape, till the whole resem- 
 bled a huge table of Malachite, worth)'^ of Him who made it. 
 
 We took a long drive this morning. Our road led us by zig-zag 
 ascents to the mountain top which rises with a sharp ascent from the 
 chasm in which we are. From various points we looked down on 
 Ragatz as it lay almost beneath our feet, and felt as though a shying 
 or a baulking horse or broken trace, would precipitate us on the roofs 
 of the houses Ijdng some thousand feet below us, Away up at this 
 height and even there perched on a precipitous rock, stood the skele- 
 ton-like ruin of an old castle frowning on all around it. Passing b}- it 
 our road led us into a warm sunny nook of some hundreds of acres 
 spreading its open bosom to the south and east, while it was sheltered 
 from the north and west by a still higher range than that we had 
 climbed. Here orchards and wheat fields and gardens all told of rural 
 wealth ; passing through which and rising still higher, we came upon 
 a village perched against the mountain side. 
 
 The Swiss cottages of which it was composed were each surrounded 
 by beds of beautiful flowers ; and cactus, fuschias, and geraniums in 
 hanging baskets and pots, spoke more plainly and strongly than words 
 of the taste of the inhabitants of a region with which we are wont to 
 associate nothing but sterile rocks, and boorish inhabitants, inured to 
 the storms to which thej' are lifted by the sterile mountains ; from the 
 influence of which they derive the ruggedness of character which gives 
 them the courage and endurance for which the}'^ are celebrated b}" the 
 muse of history as well as her sister of song. 
 
 Soon after we had passed through the village we reached the old 
 Monastery, an immense quadrangular structure, approaching in extent 
 and somewhat in appearance the Almshouse at Blockle)'. 
 
 It is appropriated by the government as an Asylum for Lunatics, 
 and in its exterior at least, presents as little that is forbidding as any 
 institution of the kind I ever saw. 
 
 109
 
 still higher on the mountain we were startled by the sudden stop- 
 ping of our carriage, and were told to look down and there at our feet 
 was an opening through which we could see the Baths of Pfeffers 
 directly beneath us at the depth of one thousand feet, with its hot 
 springs sending up the vapour, as we had visited them yesterday. 
 One look was more than cfioin^/i . 
 
 Soon after, we reached the terminus of the carriage road and 
 stopped at a Swiss Chalet. Pigs, goats, cows and human beings, all 
 gathered under the one roof, and all looking perfectly contented with 
 their several shares of the common protection. 
 
 We had been passed on the road as we came up the mountain, by 
 a woman with a basket on her head, whose smiling face as she toiled 
 under her burden excited the remark that we had not often met with a 
 happier-looking, or more beautiful woman. 
 
 We found her the mother of this household, and at a fountain 
 spouting out of the hillside, stood, busily washing, a child of some 
 twelve years old, in all respects the most beautiful descendant of Eve 
 I have ever beheld. If I were an artist I would stay here for months 
 and perpetuate her figure and face as the perfect incarnation of female 
 purity and loveliness. vSuch must have been our first mother as she 
 came from the hand of the Creator. 
 
 From this point, at which we tarried as long as the fleeting day 
 would permit, and from which we tore ourselves away literally with 
 great reluctance, we gazed on the one hand on the everlasting snow, 
 capping a range of mountains apparently close by, though in reality 
 having a wide valley between ourselves and it ; while on the other side 
 there rose before us a slope covered with the "most beauteous of 
 green," dotted with chalets, some of the lower ones with chimne3's 
 indicating that they are permanent residences, others without these, 
 being mere temporary resorts of the herdsmen during the summer 
 months when they resort to the higher Alps (so these pastures are 
 called) with their flocks of goats and cattle to feed on the fresh and 
 tender pastures. 
 
 They also sometimes gather the ha\' frotn these lofty slopes. One 
 such lies on the summit of the almost perpendicular cliff which bounds 
 the chasm in which Ragatz lies. 
 
 From our window I had observed that in certain parts it presented 
 a striped or ribbed appearance for which I could not account, and the 
 mystery of which I had vainly attempted to solve by the aid of the 
 field glass so kindh' given me by dear Mrs. Caldwell Biddle, when we 
 left home. The elevation was too great to permit us to suppose it was 
 the result of cultivation, and j'et it was evidentl}- not natural. At 
 sunrise this morning, Mr. Longstreth started on a pedestrian excur- 
 sion in the course of which he climbed to the spot, often obliged to 
 crawl on hands and feet, and even in this attitude was obliged to resort 
 for support to his Alpenstock. He did not get back until dinner-time.
 
 lie reported that he found the peasants gathering hay, and that 
 the stripes were caused by alternation of places in which the grass 
 ■was still growing and others in which it had been cut. The slopes are 
 so steep that it is necessary to cut steps in the sod that the labourers 
 •may find secure foothold. 
 
 2Sth. 
 
 \Ve had a very pleasant rest yesterday at Ragatz. We went in the 
 rnorninji- to the English service at the Chapel. Before service the 
 clergyman, a fine countenanced, attractive looking old gentleman came 
 to nie and asked if I would be willing to carry the collection plate. I 
 excused nu'self unless there should be no one else. We had a very pleas- 
 ing ser\'ice and he gave us a very excellent sermon after which I went 
 to him and apologized for having declined to comply with his request, 
 ■on the ground of being a stranger and an American. This led to an 
 interesting conversation in which he informed me that these services 
 are maintained under the auspices of the Colonial and Foreign Church 
 Society, at the various points most frequented by travellers, British 
 and American. This led to an interesting conversation in the course 
 of which I learned that he was a Curate for Rev. Francis Cunningham 
 iit Lowestoft, with whom he (Mr. Hogarth) had been intimate for 
 years and also with J. J. Gurne}- for whom he expressed the highest 
 veneration. 
 
 In the afternoon your mother and I attended service again. 
 
 Your uncle W. was not well and did not go out either morning or 
 evening, and your aunts had a worship of their own on the monutain 
 side. This morning we breakfasted at 7 A. m. and at 8 found ourselves 
 all seated in two most comfortable travelling carriages each drawn by 
 four horses, ready for our start for a tour among the Aiistrian Tyrolean 
 Alps. We have put those articles of clothing necessary for daily 
 ser\'ice in our hand-bags, and the trunks are all packed in places 
 attached to the carriages for that purpose and are not to be touched 
 until Saturda}' night. 
 
 The morning is clear, bright and cool. But we start with some 
 serious misgivings as 5'our mother is not well, and she wishes very 
 riuch that the others would go on without us. But your uncle and 
 aunts are not willing, and as she will not consent to detain the whole 
 party on her account we determined to make the venture. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris.
 
 Post-house in the Austrian Tyrol, August 28, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 This has been the pleasantest clay's travel we have 3'et enjoyed. 
 We entered on it with no little anxiety. Your mother is not well and 
 had passed a very restless night, and we feared the fatigue of the 
 untried mode of travel, and were doubtful about the scenes through 
 which it might carry us, especially as your mothers' terror had been 
 excited by the excursion to the Baths of PiefFers. We have been most 
 agreeably disappointed. Every thing has conduced to promote our 
 comfort ; easy commodious carriages ; good, surefooted and perfectly 
 trained horses ; trustworth}' drivers ; roads literally as smooth as the 
 paper on which I am writing, and so well graded and admirabh" con- 
 structed and guarded with stone pillars and parapet walls at precipi- 
 tous points, that the apprehensions of the most timid are tranquilized ; 
 weather just the most propitious possible for travel, and scenery the 
 most impressive ; combining all that is beautiful with all that is grand ; 
 all combined to make the day one long to be remembered. 
 
 The road lay through valleys in which the hay-makers and reapers 
 were busy at their hopeful toil, and wound along and around the base 
 of moiintains which towered high above our heads, lifting their peaks 
 above the clouds ; and followed the course of rivers or streams 
 which sometimes rushed and roared over their rocky beds as only 
 mountain streams can do, and then spread themselves out in wide 
 lake-like pools. 
 
 Glaciers lay in the bosom of the distant mountain ranges ; while 
 the towering cliffs of those near-by frequently receded, leaving green 
 slopes of tender grass, or ravines filled with forests of noble firs. 
 
 We had occasion to feel thankful we had not been travelling on 
 this road on Saturday during the tempest we saw pass by us at Ragatz, 
 as the heavy rains had swollen the torrents which ran down the 
 sides of the mountain, bringing down a flood of stones and even what 
 might well deserve the name of rocks, depositing them in many 
 places to the depth of several feet, burjdng under the debris of the 
 hills, gardens, cultivated fields, meadows, and in one or two instances 
 that we saw, the dwellings of the peasants. At several points they 
 had been obliged to dig out the road. 
 
 August 29th,L,andeck Tj-rol. 
 I was tempted to sit down and write ' ' no one has lived who has 
 not seen what we have enjoyed diiring the last two days " ; I will not 
 write it. A man's life consists not in seeing, any more than in the 
 abundance of other possessions, and he who lives in Christ to God, 
 in the faithful discharge of the duties of the station to which he has 
 been allotted, lives truly wherever and however his days may be 
 passed.
 
 But there is so much that is adapted to strengthen the understand- 
 ing, expand the intellect, and improve the heart, in these awfully 
 sublime and beauteous scenes that I have again and again exclaimed 
 to your mother " I never before in all my life had an idea of such 
 enjoyment ! " To make roads at all through such gorges, and across 
 such heights would appear at first sight an almost superhuman under- 
 taking ; that such roads as those over zvhich we have travelled could have 
 been made by human power seems incredible. 
 
 We have been above the snow so that INIr. Longstreth, standing 
 upon it, threw balls of it at the carriages as they rolled by above his 
 head, while the crags rising in bold and naked defiance of the storms 
 still above the road, held the snow and ice in their crevasses, from 
 which they poured forth cascades of foam whiter than the driven snow, 
 leaping from point to point, and then flowing in peaceful rivulets 
 through meadows still at a higher level than the road, clothed with 
 soft green grass, in which men and women, reduced by the distance at 
 which they were above us to the apparent size of mere puppets, were 
 busily occupied in gathering hay, often on slopes so steep as to appear 
 almost perpendicular, so that we could not but wonder how they could 
 maintain their foothold or stand erect, much more how they could 
 swing their scythes, or handle their rakes. 
 
 At the same instant, turning the eye to the other side of the road 
 we looked over the tops of great fir trees growing below us, and 
 through continuous forests of the same, down! down!! down!!! to 
 streams rushing below, chafing among the rocks with a rapiditj' of 
 current and roaring sound which proved how great was the descent to 
 the distant valleys thej^ were seeking with precipitate haste. Yet 
 through passes such as these the bed of the road was sufficiently wide 
 to permit three carriages at least to drive abreast ; as smooth and firm 
 as asphalt pavement in our most improving towns, perfectly graded, 
 with a very gentle scarcely perceptible rise in the middle, and wide 
 gutters on both sides empt^-ing at short distances into culverts which 
 carried oft' the water without ever crossing the bed of the road. 
 
 All through these desolate mountains we saw labourers engaged in 
 clearing these gutters and trimming the sods along the margins of 
 the road with as much attention to the maintenance of the straight- 
 ness of the lines as would be taken by skilled gardeners in the neatest 
 and best kept grounds of a gentleman's residence. Not a stone as big 
 as a hickory nut is allowed to lie on the road, and while on the ascend- 
 ing grade there is no jolt or even jar, when the shoe is applied to check 
 the impetus on the descending grade, the sense of motion is precisely 
 that of good sleighing, and the illusion is assisted by the sound of the 
 bells with which each horse is caparisoned and the mere motion is like 
 that of our favorite amusement, exhilirating. 
 
 All this fascination is assisted by the delightful, invigorating 
 temperature, the spotless purity of the cloudless sky, with a depth of 
 
 113
 
 bluenoartist'sbnisli can represent and which permits a range of vision 
 which is astonishing. 
 
 We left Dalaas, at the foot of the Adler Pass, at S A. m., this morn- 
 ing, with six horses to each carriage and ascended before i p. m., to 
 a height of more than 2000 feet above that place, yet so easy was the 
 grade that we were scarcely aware of the rise as we passed up. But 
 when, reaching the summit, we began to descend we were well aware of 
 the change. The perfection of the engineering was manifested in the 
 fact that having put the shoe under the wheel the driver was able to 
 keep his team on a trot all the way. On the upper side of the road it 
 is protected from land slips, by strong walls of fine mason work, and 
 on the lower side well-dressed monolithic stone pillars are set at 
 intervals of not more than eight or ten feet, continuously, except 
 where it is precipitous and there a strong parapet wall precludes the 
 possibility of accident. This wall is often of considerable extent and 
 has a well-dressed stone coping. The most timid is rendered fearless. 
 
 We have descended this afternoon as much as we had ascended 
 this morning, and to-morrow we are to start at 6 .\. .m., and rise still 
 higher and then descend again to Mais, or Sondrio. 
 
 In many parts of to-day's journey we have passed hours in narrow 
 valleys with onl}- a few Swiss Chalets, sometimes (juite solitary ; at 
 others scattered at considerable intervals along the road side, or more 
 rarely gathered into small hamlets in little sunny, grass)' nooks. 
 
 Each dwelling had its little patch of oats or barley— not one of 
 them would yield more than one, or at most two bushels of grain — and 
 its few handfuls of hemp just pulled and laid out to rot, not enough to 
 make a single garment for an adult man or woman ; yet at every 
 window there was the pot of beautiful flowers, at every hamlet a neat 
 pretty church ; at frequent points on the roadside well-carved figures 
 of our I^ord on the Cross, or as the Good vShepherd bringing back his 
 sheep from their wandering in the wilderness, and very often on the 
 front of the houses there were well-executed pictures of the \'irgin, or 
 representations of the most evangelical of all the Romish I^egends,. 
 St. Christopher, bearing the child Jesus on his shoulder through the 
 swelling torrent ; and manj' of them bore also te.xts from Mol\- Scrip- 
 ture or other devotional inscriptions. 
 
 At one of the villages we passed yesterdaj' we saw the inhabitants 
 busily engaged in making wreaths of boughs of fir trees and other 
 evergreens, and just bejond a new church elaborately adorned with 
 them, and soon after found the roadside thronged with people in holy- 
 day garb, the women having wreaths on their heads, and vSoon aftet 
 we passed the Priest in the lull canonical dress of his office surrounded 
 by well-dressed people evidentlj- waiting with him for the expected 
 approach of some one. 
 
 We felt confident that some important event was impending, and 
 about a mile further on we met a carriage driven 1)\- a .servant in scarlet 
 
 114
 
 livery. In the carriage sat the Bishop, a venerable noble looking man. 
 He was on the way to consecrate the new chapel we had passed. 
 
 The Tyrolese are proverbially a devout people and 1 cannot but 
 express mj^ admiration of their character as I have seen them. If they 
 are superstitious they at least worship in ignorance the semblance of 
 the truth. During the long winter their chalets are almo.st buried in 
 the snow ; and our Courier says of them " they are a verj^ happy 
 people ; they then spin and weave and sa3' their prayers, and are good. ' ' 
 
 The old town of Feldkirch, through which we passed, leaves 
 Chester far behind in the solidity and quaintness oi its Rows of .shops 
 under arches and colonades. Many of the other villages are strikingly 
 picturesque and this old place, though but small, is wonderfully quaint, 
 with its Castle frowning defiance at all intruders perched on a rock 
 many hundred feet above the houses, and the Iser (made poetically 
 immortal by Campbell in his verses on the battle fought on its banks) 
 " rushing rapidly " right under our windows here and now, as he 
 makes it do when the ' ' St:n was low ' ' and ' ' bloodless was the 
 untrodden snow" on the field of Linden. Your mother was very 
 unwell last night but has been improving through the day and now 
 seems as well as usual. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Mokuis. 
 
 While speaking of the attractions of this region I should not omit 
 the exquisite wild flower shrubs with blue, purple, and j^ellow blos- 
 soms, and scarlet berries — a variety of Elder j-our uncle W. says. 
 Ever}' meadow is enlivened with Crocuses, Meadow Saffron, and every 
 slope hangs out its wreaths of (>entian. Aconite, Colts-foot and 
 Barberry. 
 
 The following letter fro?n your dear another is without date but -was 
 evidently written at this time. It tells its own tale of patient endurance 
 of suffer itig boriie for »iy gratifeation. 
 
 Afy Dear Ma^'garet : 
 
 'Tis late at night, but I have just finished packing. We are to 
 make an early start in the morning, but I do want to say a few words 
 to you both in this letter of the doctor's. 
 
 I tell him he does give such glowing descriptions of ever\' thing 
 that it is only right I should give a little of the other side. I won't 
 tax you with scenery which I think it is all folly for any one to attempt, 
 but I will tell you these mountain rides are azcful, dreadful ; no words 
 can express it, in my opinion ; and as to taking pleasure in them I do 
 not see how any one can. nor do I believe they do. I certainly never 
 will : so when von think of me it mav be as suftering martxrdom for
 
 the next four weeks, for we are to do nothing else but pass from one 
 gorge to another all that time. I wish there was any tire in the other 
 members of the party ; but there is not and they will not listen to our 
 lying by yet, which I often long for. 
 
 I have gained strength, notwithstanding ; but the time is very long 
 since we bade you all farewell, and I often query ; can I stand this a 
 year? 
 
 ' ' Sufl&cient unto the day is the evil thereof ' ' and I will try to 
 endure one day at a time, but I take no pleasure in it. 
 
 I never was intended for anything but a sempstress, and I would 
 far rather be at home sewing. I do (not) want to see sights ; and they 
 say the days we lie by are as fully occupied by the other members of 
 the party as though we were actually travelling. We get off (from 
 sight seeing) when we can. 
 
 I do hope that INIary Yarnall is with you ; remind her that she 
 promised to write to me ; and I do want to hear from Wallbrook. 
 
 I hear from our children by every mail and wht n they know any- 
 thing of you they tell me. We are glad that Israel and Annie have 
 taken C. and M. a little trip. It was our wish that they should do so. 
 Tell Mary Yarnall that C * * ^- * * "'• is seeking a situation as 
 governess. Perhaps she may know of something for her. Poor girl ! 
 we feel much interested for them. But I must say Good Night. With 
 a great deal of love for you both. Yours most truly and affectionately. 
 
 Anne C. Morris. 
 
 Anne has just handed me this sheet with the comfortable assertion 
 that even my leaden, heav}' attempts at description will not add to the 
 postage, and that it is a shame to send blank paper, etc. The moon- 
 light does ' ' sleep ' ' as sweetly on the giant crags on which our 
 windows look out here, as ever it did on the ' ' bank ' ' of the poet of 
 poets ; and they stand like grim warders of the vale in which Ragatz 
 shelters us for a few more hours. At 7 A. m. to-morrow we breakfast, 
 and then start immediately, in two carriages each drawn by four horses 
 to pass a week in driving to Chiavenna, where we hope to meet letters 
 from home. 
 
 Anne does express herself strongly on the terrors of Swiss scenery, 
 and feels all she says and j-et I do believe it is doing her good. I did not 
 suppose I could ever have brought mj^self to the point of endurance I 
 have attained, though very often I do not dare to utter a word, or look 
 up or down, to the right or the left. 
 
 The beauty of the Heaths, and Gentians, and Hare-bells, and 
 Digitalis, and the Honeysuckles, and Mountain Ash and Ivy, and the 
 Ferns and Mosses which grow in wild profusion at the roadside is 
 bevond description ; and so are the Reine Marguerites (such as you 
 never dreamed of), Fuschias, etc., which adorn the gardens and the 
 
 116
 
 windows of the houses of the peasantry at the highest altitude we 
 have yet attained. They are certainly lovers of the beautiful. 
 
 You have often heard nie sa^- that I could not see anything so 
 specially attractive in the beauty of the sweet looking girls to whose 
 faces you have drawn my attention. I yesterday saw one washing 
 clothes at a spring on the highest ridge of the mountain near here, 
 so lovely that if I were an artist, I should spend months in copying 
 her form and features as the highest expression of female loveliness 
 and pxirity and beauty. I never saw or dreamed of any thing so near 
 what I suppose our mother Eve was when first she came pure from the 
 hand of the Creator. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Caspar Mokkis. 
 
 R.\GATz, August 27, 1S71. 
 My Dear Galloivay : 
 
 We are here at one of the most frequented bathing places of the 
 old world, in Switzerland at the foot of the Alps, just south of the 
 Austrian frontier which is in sight from our window, marked by 
 the presence there of a military- post to prove the right of possession 
 and collect customs. 
 
 You and Margaret are not often forgotten by us and we would 
 gladly know that none of you and yours are sviffering even more than 
 when we left you. 
 
 Just now we talk as well as think about you, as we see invalid 
 ladies and gentlemen pushed or drawn about in nice easy little vehicles 
 through the walks in the grounds which surround the hotel and think 
 how mtich such an one would contribute to the comfort of dear 
 Margaret. They are merely small, light, gig bodies, mounted on 
 elliptic springs, slight, adjusted to the weight they are designed to 
 carry, having a movable top which can be thrown back to facilitate 
 the getting of the invalid into the seat and then left down or raised at 
 option of the occupant. Joshua, or even one of the female servants, 
 could in such an one push or draw dear Margaret round the circle, or 
 even along one of the avenues when she would not think it worth 
 while to have the horses and carriage got out for so short a time. In 
 the cool of the evening it would refresh her greatly. 
 
 We have consulted about it, and decided that if we were at a place 
 from which we could ship one to yon we would get one and send it 
 at once. 
 
 We have alwaj's felt how impotent we are but never more so than 
 just now, when we realize that though it is only eight short weeks 
 since we parted, the distance is so great that nothing can bring us 
 together. We can only seek for the blessing to descend on you both 
 which cometh from above, and which waits upon you alway. 
 
 117
 
 Thus far our journey has been as free from inconvenience and dis- 
 comfort as could have been reasonably asked ; and our gratification — 
 mine at least — all that could have been desired. Each day has brought 
 with it new sources of gratification to m}' taste and new scenes of 
 pleasure, and new subjects of thought and opportunities for improve- 
 ment ; and / do revel in the feeling of exemption from professional 
 responsibility. 
 
 ]\Iy only abatement from the sense of pleasure in this respect is 
 found in the feeling that such is not the proper state of mind ; that 
 it were more honourable to be steadfast, immovable in seeking 
 knowledge, and in applying that which I have acquired in the ser\dce 
 of my fellow creatures ; and the question put to the prophet as he lay 
 despondent under the Juniper tree in the wilderness to which he had 
 fled in his feeling of being alone as the witness for the truth of God, 
 ' ' what doest thou here ' ' ? will sometimes intrude itself on my con- 
 science. 
 
 I can only meet it by diligent effort to be found faithful to duty as 
 it presents itself here. 
 
 Anne and I have been enjoj-ing greatly here to-da}-, a book which 
 I bought in London, but which I presume has been reprinted in 
 America and which I am sure dear Margaret would find very pleasant 
 reading. It is on the 23rd Psalm by Rev. John Stevenson. Get it 
 for me if 30U please and give it in our name to Margaret. 
 
 Since I last wrote to you we have come up the Rhine, and passed 
 out of German3' into Switzerland : and however much I may have said 
 in praise of Royal Railroads and their Princely Stations, and accommo- 
 dations, I am prepared to say yet more for those of the Swiss Con- 
 federation. 
 
 The splendour and comfort of the depots at Stuttgard and Munich 
 are dimmed by that at Zurich. I have a photograph of it and will not 
 attempt to describe it lest you should discredit my statement. I will 
 only say that while waiting for the arrival of the train by which we 
 were to leave, we sat in a room furnished with highly finished 
 mahogany tables, and chairs and sofas covered with maroon coloured 
 plush. The floors were parquetted with hard woods in patterns, 
 nicely oiled, and the windows glazed with stained glass. There were 
 no rooms of which the chairs and movable seats were not covered at 
 least with morocco leather, and well stuffed and having spring seats. 
 The arrangements for refreshments were also on the most liberal scale 
 and most comfortable plan. 
 
 The front of the building was of soft coloured and well dressed 
 Sandstone and was 700 feet in extent. Frescoed walls and carved 
 gambrils to support the roof, and chandeliers with glass globes to pro- 
 tect the gas-lights by which the whole building is brilliantly illumi- 
 nated, gave it the elegance of a chamber in the palace of Aladdin. 
 But you must see it or you will not believe. 
 
 X18
 
 We are now fairly ushered into Alpine regions, and the grandeur 
 of the scener>' surpasses my imagination. 
 
 Lakes, and Mountains, inaccessible peaks covered with snow, 
 waterfalls leaping from the heights, and meadows skirting the streams 
 with green slopes interspersed among black forests of firs, repeated at 
 every stage of the journey and always with some variety, furnish a 
 basis of beauty, on which chalets of the most picturesque forms, 
 castles, and ruined fortresses, are dotted about in profusion. 
 
 We are now in a district once held by robber chiefs who fortified 
 every crag and made descents from their fastnesses on luckless travel- 
 lers and more luckless peasantry, in search of plunder. The peasantry 
 at last found the daj^ of vengeance for their wrongs and spoiled their 
 oppressors, leaving no trace of their existence, but the skeleton-like 
 wails of their castles, which stand like so many gibbets to tell the 
 story of the doom of injustice and wrong. 
 
 From Zurich to this place we came first by the Lake of that name, 
 the shores of which are studded with villages inhabited by indus- 
 trious manufacturers of silk, cotton, and woolen goods. 
 
 The Alps lift into sight their distant snow-crowned peaks. 
 
 After leaving Lake Zurich the railroad passes through a well 
 peopled valley until it strikes the head of the Wallen-see, along 
 which it is carried at some height above the margin of the water, with 
 barely room for its bed, beneath precipices of many hundred feet in 
 height, towering in perpendicular cliffs almost overhead. 
 
 The views are so sublime and varied that it was a positive relief 
 to be plunged occasionally into the darkness of a tunnel that the 
 eye as well as the imagination might have some rest even from 
 enjoyment. 
 
 It was as though lakes and mountains, and precipices, and green 
 slopes, and ruined castles crowning lofty crags, and picturesque Swiss 
 chalets nestling on green mountain sides and in sheltered sunny 
 nooks, and snow- wreathed mountains, with peaks towering still 
 higher, too drecipitous to retain the snow, were all thrown at random 
 into a gigantic kaleidoscope, which was turned and turned again 
 before one could take in the symmetry and beauty of each succeeding 
 figure. 
 
 We are nov/ in a great irregularly shaped basin surrounded by 
 scarred grey clifis, and these surmounted by loftier peaks which have 
 ascribed to them heights varying from five to seven thousand feet. 
 Above the nearest line of precipice rise slopes so nearly perpendicular 
 to our view from here that it is only the absoluteh" perpendicularity 
 of those below which convinces us they do not overhang. Our young 
 fellow-traveller, Mr. Longstreth, occupied an entire morning, start- 
 ing before breakfast, in climbing to the summit. It was only with 
 the aid of an alpenstock that he was able to accomplish it, and was 
 several times brought to all fours. In certain lights the upper slope 
 
 TT9
 
 has a peculiar striped appearance, over which we have ptiz/.led our- 
 selves to account for it and even with the assistance of field glasses 
 have not been able to solve the mystery-. He reports that it is caused 
 by the cuttinj^ of the grass and gathering hay. 
 
 Half way up we see little chalets which are occupied during the 
 summer by these haymakers and goat-herds, who come down during 
 the long winter months to lower slopes. 
 
 We have made two excursions in the carriages which Wist-^r has 
 hired to travel in through Switzerland. 
 
 Anne says she can endure such torture as she experienced in these 
 drives into the mountains, only on the presumption that they are on the 
 way home. Where th^ pleasure is to be found, she says, and she is truth- 
 ful, she is at a loss to understand, and is slow to believe in its existence. 
 
 Just beside our hotel a torrent rushes out through a great gap in 
 the mountain side and roars impetuously on toward the Khine, which 
 it falls into a short distance below. 
 
 The gate through which it emerges from the very bowels of the 
 mountain is formed of two perpendicular rocks. As you enter into the 
 defile it becomes a narrow chasm and the cliffs on either hand are 
 higher and higher as you advance into the interior shades, till the 
 light of the sun is wholly excluded even at high noon. At many 
 places the rocks close over your head at the height of several hundred 
 feet, as though some great arch had been rent by an earthquake and 
 one buttress only was left to support it. 
 
 The carriage way lies on a road partly dug out of the side of the 
 cliff and in other parts supported on brackets let into the rocks, or on 
 wooden piers and stages, and runs at the height of an hundred feet 
 above the level of the roaring torrent of the Tamina, which plunges 
 from one leap to another over and around great masses of rock which 
 it has wrenched from their attachments to the strata of which the 
 enduring mountain is composed, vainly opposing its mad career, and 
 whirled around them, and hurled them on with them in its rush, till 
 it has worn deep holes in the solid walls, and rounded and polished 
 them by its unceasing friction. White streaks of quart/, run irregu- 
 larly through the black limestone, and its zigzag lines break the 
 monotony of the dismal scene. For three miles we followed the 
 course of the stream or rather faced its fury, as we passed up the 
 gorge. We reached at that point the place beyond which only pedes- 
 trians can penetrate and on foot, enter into a cleft in the rock so 
 narrow that it is dark, and when one can venture to look up a mere 
 fissure in the rocks, far above, shews that there is still light in the 
 world outside, does not admit it within, to the gloom below, while 
 trees fringing the margin of the opening look like lashes on eye-lids 
 nearly closed. 
 
 Every thing around is awful. The roar of the water, scarce seen 
 in the darkness beneath, and reverberated by the walls within which
 
 it is confined, fills the soul with a sense of solemnity too impressive to 
 admit a thought of dread. 
 
 Penetrating about 700 yards further we reach a fissure in the side 
 of the chasm from which issues a stream of water at the temperature 
 of 1 00° F. the vapour of which rises and escapes from the opening at 
 the top of the mountain. 
 
 In our drive the next da}' the carriage stopped just below the line 
 ■of snow, at this opening, and those who could looked down into the 
 dark abj'ss. 
 
 Formerly invalids were lowered by ropes, through this opening to 
 the baths below, which are now reached by the road we had followed 
 yesterday. 
 
 I am sorry to find my sheet is filled as I would gladly describe to 
 you our numntain drive. But I suppose we shall have others which 
 will furnish equally interesting materials. 
 
 l^ve to dear Margaret and all around you, not forgetting poor 
 Mary Ellen, in which Anne unites heartily. 
 
 Yours truly. 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Spondinig, Austrian. Tykol, August 30. 
 Aty Dear Children : 
 
 Another day amid these wondrous scenes, and though those of 
 this have differed greatly from any previous da3''s experience, it has 
 not abated in the least my enthusiasm. 
 
 Ask Mr. and Mrs. Joshua H. Morris, or Dillwyn Wistar, or Mr. and 
 Mrs. Clapp, all of whose names we found inscribed on the register at 
 Finstermunt/. (the last only a few days ago) and they will tell you that 
 the grandeur of the scenery can not be surpassed. 
 
 I have, I know, expressed myself in similar terms at other times 
 and of other places ; but this exceeds them all. 
 
 I wrote vou yesterday that we had been above the snow, and had 
 seen snoiv. To-day we have seen viountai7is of snow ; not patches here 
 and there, but long ranges white as the untrodden field of Hohen- 
 linden ; and when "the sun was low," and all the uncovered mountain 
 side was thrown into shade, the snow -clad peaks looked lustrous in the 
 lingering sunlight, still crowning them with its parting glory ; and 
 now, as the full moon sheds on them its paler, but not less beauteous 
 rays, it reflects the whiteness of the splendour of her " radiant orb " 
 as we have so often seen it togetlier on the fields and meadows covered 
 with its mantle of dazzling whiteness, at home. 
 
 We have been wrapped all day, while sitting in the open carriages, 
 in blanket shawls and carriage rugs, though the direct rays of the sun 
 felt warm to those who were exposed to them while walking.
 
 In the valleys through which we have passed the reapers were very 
 busy gathering their scant harvest of golden grain, golden not only in 
 its hue but equally in its inestimable value to these dwellers on the 
 high places of the earth. 
 
 During the earlier part of the day the mountains were sterile and 
 repulsive in their nakedness ; and the people were poor and beggars, 
 and the houses very dirty. The descent to this place has led us 
 through a more fertile section and a more attractive region. As we 
 emerged from a defile near the top of the mountain a lovely little lake 
 lay spread out at our feet, while beyond it the snowy range 1 have 
 mentioned lifted its brow to the heavens. 
 
 Near Finstermuntz the Inn runs through a narrow defile between 
 two ranges of terrific cliffs, along the face of one of which the road has 
 been constructed partly by blasting through the side for miles, partly 
 supported on terraces retained by thick strong walls of beautiful 
 masonry, and partly carried through tunnels bored through the solid 
 rock. 
 
 The Inn pours its rvishing torrent hundreds of feet directly below 
 the road at the one side, and the rocks tower as many hundreds of feet 
 above, yet so wondrously well constructed is the road and so perfectly 
 guarded by parapet walls of solid masonry at the most exposed points, 
 and b}' well dressed monolithic posts at those where the descent is less 
 precipitous, that there can be no reasonable grounds for fear of danger 
 even to the most timid. Nervously apprehensive as I must plead 
 guilty to being, I had no sensation of terror to mar the pleasure I 
 enjoyed. 
 
 At Finstermuntz the hotel is perched on the verj- verge of the 
 precipice which closes a ravine of great depth opening directly in 
 front, and stretching away, away, far, far into the distance ; the lofty 
 and precipitous sides of which are clothed with grand forests of V\x. 
 We lunched and rested an hour or more there. 
 
 Soon after leaving it we reached the boundary l)etween Austria 
 and the German Empire, at which there was a terrible engagement 
 between the Austrian and Bavarian troops. The spot is now marked 
 by a very strong fortress which commands the pass. 
 
 We lodged last night at Landeck and were amused earh' in the 
 morning by the sight of the flocks of goats descending from the Alp, 
 on which they had been feeding, under the guidance of a boy. 
 
 On each goat there was a little bell, the tinkling of which as they 
 trotted by made pleasant music by association in keeping with the 
 surroundings. Three of the goats straggled off and leaped a stone 
 wall into a cabbage garden. So soon as the boy saw their escapade 
 he whistled and in a moment two of the marauders, like truant school- 
 boys, jumped back again. The third was more tardy and at it he 
 threw a stick which did not reach the pilferer, but iii.-ide it jump out 
 quickly.
 
 We have since then seen large flocks of them and also herds of 
 cattle, and though these have not been as fine specimens as many we 
 had seen before, I will take the present opportunity to saj' to Cheston 
 that if I were a breeder of fancy stock I certainly would import a pair 
 of genuine Tyrolean cattle. It is evidently the source from which has 
 been derived the Jersey- stock, but these are much more beautiful and 
 graceful than the purest specimens of the Jersey or Aldeme3^ breed I 
 have ever seen. Some are nearly black, but more of a dun colour 
 shading into black, with pretty little black horns which, as well as the 
 ears, also small, are well set. The eyes are bright and have a gentle, 
 almost a loving expression, and in the animals which have the dun 
 colour are surrounded by a margin of black, gradually' fading into tlie 
 dun, like the fabled houris of the Mahomedan paradise. They have 
 clean black muzzles, straight backs, and round bodies mounted on 
 delicately shaped legs and clean feet. There are none of them mot- 
 tled or of mixed colours. Thej' are perfectly beautiful and as gentle 
 and docile as beautiful. The milk we get is also verj' good. 
 
 In the villages through which we have driven to-day the stables 
 occup3' the ground floors of the houses so that the families not onl\- 
 share the same roof with the animals but can enter their own apart- 
 ments onh" through those of the cattle ; yet the front of these houses 
 are often adorned with tolerabl}'^ well executed pictures painted on the 
 wall. All represent some sacred subject. At short distances at the 
 roadside are niches — called " tabernacles " — elevated on posts, contain- 
 ing representations of the Propitiatory Sacrifice of our Lord on the 
 cross ; thus ever reminding the passing traveller of the debt we owe 
 Him for our redemption. It is a solemn and impressive lesson, and I 
 would fain hope has not been without its influence upon my own 
 heart. For figures of the Virgin I have no toleration (the worship of 
 the crucifix is also idolatrotis) but the constant repetition of the st()r\- 
 of my sin arid }iiy Saviour should humble me. 
 
 Your mother, though better than she was a day or so past, is still 
 far from well and feels the fatigue of a drive in the carriage of fort\- 
 five miles per day, though we both think it more pleasant than the 
 same number of hours passed on the railway. 
 
 We are to start again to-morrow at 6 a. m., so we must now retire. 
 She has just folded up her knitting and is now fixing our travelling 
 bags, ready for the early movement ; she luill fiot resign any of these 
 cares to me. 
 
 BORMio, Italy, August 31st. 
 It is accomplished ! You must never be astonished at anything 
 you hear of our doing ! A balloon ascension ; climbing the royal mast 
 of ' ' some tall admiral ' ' ; nothing earthh- can be more improbable than 
 that your mother and I have traversed the ' Stelvio Pass." Nothing 
 short of the power of /i'/'^ ;/;/;• determined to hold in subjection an unwill- 
 
 123
 
 ing people, and sparing no expenditure of nionej^ or application of its 
 force, conld have conceived the construction of a road over such 
 obstacles. They call it " a Pass !" It is rather an impossibk scramble 
 over an impassable moimtam. It was made by Austria to facilitate the 
 transfer of troops and niilitarj' stores into the Venetian Provinces, 
 conquered bj- her arms and held by that force alone. 
 
 At Trafoi, where we had stopped at midday to bait our horses — a 
 mere roadside inn — I looked back and down beloiv at what we had 
 already done, (at the cost of much suffering to mj'self, and indescribable 
 misery to your mother), and thought it was a wonderful feat ! I looked 
 above and saw the snow-clad peaks almost overhead ; and, beguiled by 
 that word ' ' Pass, ' ' so deceptive to the innocent inexperienced traveller, 
 (I understand its meaning noM^) said to your mother, ' ' high as we are, 
 and higher as we must yet go these \\\\\ still tower above us." And so 
 we started forward i?t hope, for she was suffering less than she had done 
 during the morning, and I had given a half franc for a cup of milk to 
 the woman at Trafoi, as we supposed the highest point at which fresh 
 milk could be had, and putting some brandy from the flask which she 
 has so long carried always in her bag without using it, she drank it 
 while the horses were fed. 
 
 When the woman saw me add the brandy for the lady, I used up 
 my little stock of (ierman words in the phrase, " Madam sehr krank 
 ist," she rolled out a volume of blessings or prayers, the spirit of which 
 alone could be appreciated. So forward we fared ; on, on, on, up, up, up, 
 by dint of slow and toilsome effort of the six horses, past the region 
 of trees first, and then leaving behind that of stunted shrubs. Happily 
 your aunts, Hannah and Jane, who share the second carriage with us, 
 were mounted on the seat outside, so that we were left to ourselves, 
 and could try to comfort each other as best we might. Every now and 
 then I would say to your mother, " there are cows and goats still high- 
 er than we, clinging to the mountain side like flies on a window pane." 
 
 At length we reached Franzenshohe, a solitary house in ruins, but 
 being rebuilt, having been burned bj^ Garabaldi in one of his incursions 
 into the Austrian territory, in his efforts to liberate Italy from the 
 thraldom, so hateful to that people, and establish her national indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 There we again rested our horses ; j-our mother and I had feared 
 they would give out. We went into the house which was built like a 
 fortress and was designed to be one, and found several other parties 
 there taking lunch. They were coming from the other way. I said 
 loud enough for all to hear, " If ever a word expressive of ambition 
 escapes my lips, whisper Stelvio ; that will subdue me." 
 
 We waited an hour 7iow in fearful apprehension, anticipating the 
 resvimption of the ascent by zigzag road over a part of which we had 
 already passed in actual suffering of mind and bod}- as the heavily 
 laden carriages fairh' groaned and seemed as though they would give 
 
 124
 
 way inulcr us. We looked down and back upon a panorama of cloud- 
 g^irdled and snow-capped mountains through which we had already 
 passe<l, and up and forward to a series of zigzags, gradually diminishing 
 the distance between the turns as they got higher and higher, which 
 we now saw we must encounter and with that feeling of determination 
 which conies to one only in extremities, and which has in its com- 
 position, if an\- hope, only the faintest degree, took our seats in the 
 carriage. 
 
 The length of each grade of the road diminished ; the height of 
 the almost perpendicular cliff at the upper side of the road and that 
 of the wall which supported the next grade increased, till I can com- 
 pare it to nothing biit the steps around the outside of a square tower 
 or campanile, and we heard from the slope above us the voice of little 
 Holly, calling to sister Jane, " Aimty there are only thirteen stories 
 more !" The comparison was a just one. 
 
 The distance between us and the ridge of mountain which rose on 
 the opposite side of a valley filled with ice and snow, seemed reduced to 
 almost nothing, and the gorge rose toward us, so that when we had 
 our faces toward the summit, the height seemed lost ; but when our 
 ■course laid in the other direction and we approached the wall which 
 guarded the turn, it was another sight. Down, down, down, and out 
 into boundless space. 
 
 When the direct rays of the sun fell on us the heat was so scorch- 
 ing that the fable of Icarus might have had its origin in some such 
 approach to the lord of da\' ; and when a turn of the direction ot 
 the road rejuoved us from that influence the chilled state of the 
 atmosphere, caused by the vast accumulation of snow, afforded an 
 apology for the rigor which shook our frames, though reason strove to 
 banish fear. 
 
 There was indeed no rational cause for apprehension ; the road was 
 perfectly guarded against the remotest peril, was as safe as if it had 
 lain along a level stretch, but every ner\'e was unstrung, and each 
 groan of the loaded vehicle which twisted and squirmed under us, found 
 a vibrating chord in our own frames ; and when at some slight jolt it 
 would yield more than usual, the sensation was as though the solid 
 mountain itself were yielding beneath us. 
 
 At last we reached the Summit ! a plateau on which were collected 
 t^everal carriages, with the tourists to whom the^- belonged, who had 
 s.sccnded from the Italian side. 
 
 An obelisk stood in the midst having inscribed on it the word 
 "Confine" shewing us that we stood on the line which divides the 
 Kingdom of Italy from the Empire of Austria. 
 
 Some of the party amused themsehes with snoichalling, at the 
 highest point crossed by any road on the continent of Europe ; while 
 others, more ambitious, climbed the rocks to reach a yet higlier eleva- 
 tion and enjoy a still wider range of view.
 
 I was quite content with the height to which I had been carried 
 with no aspirations after greater, and yielding to the impulse of the 
 circumstances and the foolish thought that we had reached the end of 
 our trial of nerv-e-force, raised my hat and saluted regenerated Italy 
 with the cry " Long live Victor Emmanuel ! " 
 
 Appearances are deceitful, especiallj* to those who are ready to 
 welcome hope. The Italian slope looked beautiful. No corkscrew 
 stairs grinned at us, and our eyes, so long wearied by their endless 
 gyrations as we ascended flight after flight, rested with delight on easy 
 slopes, like meadows, carpeted with short and coarse grass, instead of the 
 stunted mosses through which we had toiled up till even they had 
 disappeared, and left no relief from the frowning rocks which skirted 
 the latter part of the way. What vegetable life there was seemed not 
 only stunted but paled by the altitude ; the thistles, so long as there 
 had been any, had white leaves except those nearest the surface ; that 
 hardy weed, the ox-eyed Daisy, which with us bears every thing and is 
 j-o difiicult to eradicate, dwarfed itself to the smallest proportions ; and 
 the Dandelion whose flower has been more golden than with us in the 
 meads of the lower valleys, became so pale that it might be almost 
 said to be white. 
 
 Well ! without casting one last, one lingering, reluctant, look belli nd, 
 we turned our aching backs on it all and with joyful hearts returned 
 the cheerful smile with which Ausonia welcomed us to her border. 
 which only less rugged as yet than that of her sterner neighbour, I)Ut 
 enclosing a territory smiling", to our imagination, with myrtle trees and 
 olive orchards and orange groves. Beguiled by such fancies, and the 
 smoothness of the road, which was as perfect as it had been in the 
 Austrian territory, having been made during the domination of that 
 power, we went merrily down a gentle slope till we saw before us the 
 grim jaws of an opening defile between towering cliffs of stratified 
 limestone and then realized how baseless had been the vision of our 
 hope ; and that there were terrors before us which must be encountered 
 in our descent, quite as appalling as anj- through which we had 
 climbed hither. Our triumph had been as short-lived as it was prt;- 
 mature. 
 
 Into the seeming abyss we plunged, and round curve after curve 
 we were whirled till the steepness of the precipitous, cavernous, rocky, 
 cliffs forbade this ; and we were carried through gallery after gallery, 
 built against the side of the defile, covered some times with stone 
 arches, and at others with roofs of timber, to protect the passengers 
 from the rocks falling from the heights above. Some of these were a 
 quarter of a mile in length and each spanned a gulf into which the 
 strongest headed and firmest hearted might shrink from looking down 
 without incurring justly the charge of pusillanimit3'. 
 
 Beside, beneath, and before us, roared a torrent, whose foum to 
 our terrified imagination might well represent that of some gaunt 
 
 126
 
 beast whose jaws were stretched to devour all who should nuidly 
 venture into his domain. It was down, down, without anj' pause, 
 while as we turned our eyes upward for relief it looked as I suppose 
 may do the lofty cliffs of the valley of the Yoseniite, and domes and 
 arches in the rocks lent their aid to the illusion. Not a tree or shrub 
 not even the humblest manifestation of life presented itself to our 
 relief. 
 
 About half way down the narrowest part of the defile, an endless 
 chain started from a point over our heads in the rock near the summit, 
 on the side along which the road was thus constructed, and swung 
 across to the other side where it was also fastened to the rock. We 
 were told it had been used in time of the arrangements for construc- 
 tion of the road, to convey the materials iised from that side of the 
 chasm to this. 
 
 At length we reached the bottom (as we then thought) and there 
 found our place of rest for the night, Bormio, now a favourite watering 
 place, on the site of old Roman baths. 
 
 Everything conspired to render it beautifitl in our e3'es, and com- 
 fortable for our bodies, wearied, and exhausted by the fatigues and 
 anxieties of the last three days ; particularly to your mother and my- 
 self, not only because we can find no pleasure in such experiences to 
 balance the toil, but from thankfulness that she was better than when 
 we started in the morning from Sondrio, when she was suffering from 
 an attack of acute disease which rendered travelling especiall}^ incon- 
 venient, so much so that we had begged to be left there, destitute as 
 was the Hotel of any attraction for those in health, and of conven- 
 iences for the sick. In the evening I had ascertained that there was 
 a woman in the vicinity who had passed some years in the United 
 States, and spoke English, whom I could get to wait on your mother. 
 Cervetto said she was " no good," and we were compelled to make the 
 best of the case and travel on. 
 
 September ist. 
 
 We started early this morning, thinking we had only to go a 
 short distance before entering on those Ausonian plains which give so 
 musical a rhythm to the idea we entertain of Italian scenery. JVe had 
 passed over the highest road in Europe, the summit of the ' ' Pass ' ' 
 being nearly 10,000 feet above the sea level and had ascended more 
 than 6000 feet — that is a mile and nearly a furlong in perpendicular 
 height — during the morning. 
 
 I am now writing at noon while the horses are baiting at an 
 hostelry on the banks of the Adda. 
 
 The teviperatnre is that of the hottest August day ivith us (or more 
 properly with 3'ou at home) and we have just eaten some of the most 
 luscious grapes I ever tasted, freshly plucked from the vineyards in 
 the neighbourhood. 
 
 127
 
 Bormio, where we slept last ni<:^ht, lies in a deep valley among the 
 rugged hills which cluster around the base of the mountain we had 
 crossed, and is celebrated for its hot springs, known to and frequented 
 by the bath-loving Romans. 
 
 There are old buildings, but they cannot date further back than 
 mediaeval times though there have been undoubtedly from the time 
 of the Emperors some accommodations for the invalids and pleasure 
 seekers, who came here from C'raul if not from the Imperial city itself 
 The modern accommodations for them and for travellers over the 
 Stelvio are good. The softness and purity of the water is delightful, 
 and I revelled in a large deep bath lined with white tiles, the clear- 
 ness of the water and the whiteness of the receptacle making one's 
 body appear lustrous as it floated in it. As I looked out of my 
 window in the early morning I saw great flocks of sheep driven 
 successively into a pool beneath it, in Avhich they were washed. I was 
 told the animals enjoy it and that it is repeated daily in the pool, 
 through which the water flows after having sup])lied the baths of the 
 establishment. The first part of our course this morning lay through 
 high mountain valleys, the soil of which is extremely poor and the 
 inhabitants of course poor also. Thej' cluster in small collections of 
 wretched looking houses, each a fortress, but resembling rather a 
 prison, having narrow loopholes in the walls, and even these protected 
 bj' iron gratings through which to shoot at an approaching enemy. 
 
 The inhabitants of the vicinity of Bormio are evidently descended 
 from some Legion of Britons or Saxons stationed here in the days when 
 these outposts of her empire were thus guarded liy Imperial Rome. 
 In the midst of the dark complexion of the other inhabitants of the 
 valle5'S around them, and subject to the same climatic influences, they 
 still retain the fair complexion and light hair and eyes which belong 
 to those northern races. All the surroundings of Bormio were beauti- 
 ful and attractive. As we have come down the valley the nature of 
 the products, and the character of the cultivation have changed per- 
 petually and steadih- improved. On the hillsides of the upper valleys 
 the extensive Chestniit orchards furnished an abundant supply of that 
 favorite food of the Italian peasantry', supplemented by many noble 
 (English) Walnut trees. Maize of stunted size, and buckwheat, which 
 on the contrary has been very heavy, were the prevailing crops of 
 tillage in the upper valleys ; and here the Maize is ripe and yields a 
 very fair return. ' 
 
 The number of Mulberry trees shews that silk culture is one ot 
 the principal indtistries ; and extensive vineyards of both white and 
 purple grapes prove that we have entered the wine districts. 
 
 Your mother is much better to-daj' but your aunt Hannah has 
 either taken cold or drank water which has disagreed with her or is 
 suffering from the repression of her feelings on the Stelvio, and has 
 been lying down all the time we have been resting here. 
 
 I 28
 
 The Adda, with which I first formed an acquaintance on the map 
 which adorned the wall of our school-room at Green-hill farm, in my 
 child-hood, and of which the name somehow caught mj- childish 
 fancy and fixed it in my memory, here flows with rapid current 
 beneath the window of the room in which I am writing. Its appear- 
 ance is that of dirty soapsuds, and its sound deafening. Little did I 
 then anticipate so near an acquaintance with its flood. But we are 
 about to start for .Sondrio and I must laj' aside my pen. 
 
 CoLico, Lakk Como, September 2nd ; noon. 
 
 Since the last date we have passed through the most unattractive 
 district we have yet seen. I may be justified in going further and 
 saying the most disgusting. 
 
 The heat has been as intense as that of the hot spell of Septem- 
 ber in Maryland, and the country as manifestly malarious. 
 
 The people stunted in stature, sallow in complexion, goitrous, and 
 looking old at the age of thirty shears. The animals looking as badlv 
 as the human beings and the dwellings, which are shared by them, 
 such as we would not appropriate to beasts for which we had an\ 
 regard on account of their value or from our aflfection. They are it is 
 true built of stone and therefore have an air of durability, having 
 massive walls, pierced by small narrow windows in the lower stories, 
 and larger in the second, in both guarded by gratings of strong iron 
 bars, while the upper story is an open loft in which is stored the twigs 
 of trees as provender for the cattle dviring the winter ; and small 
 faggots of sticks for fire wood for the family. 
 
 Every thing one sees indicates the oppression under which the 
 people have so long groaned, and the bondage of the superstition in 
 which they are held spiritually by the Church of Rome. 
 
 As we passed, we saw near Morbegno a large shrine or chapel b\' 
 the road-side adorned with a collection of human bones (skulls and 
 other bones) and the giiide-book informs us that in this place there is 
 a church most elaborately ornamented with such emblems of mortality. 
 The place itself looks mortal enough, without any such "memento 
 mori. ' ' 
 
 I do not retract any thing I have written about the pass over the 
 Stelvio ; either in praise of the granduer and sublimity, or in describ- 
 ing its terrors for your dear mother and mj'self ; and I had deliberately 
 proposed to your uncle Wistar that we should make arrangements for 
 your mother and me to rest at Bellagio on this side of the Alps, to 
 which they will of necessity return after their tour through Switzer- 
 land, and had authorized Cerv-etto (our admirable courier) to carr\' out 
 this plan. The wretchedness and squalor through which we have 
 traveled to-day has robbed the Splugen of its terrors even for your 
 mother. It is simply indescribably di.'^tressing and in some of its 
 features disgusting. 
 
 129
 
 Of tliis however, I have already said more than enough. 
 
 It would seem impossible that the great cargoes of bales of rags 
 which we see so frequentl}' landed on the wharves of the Schuylkill 
 from Italian vessels, can come from that kingdom ; there could not in 
 that case be so many still left here on the backs of the people. 
 
 I have heard of persons who did not know whether they had ever 
 had a grandfather. These do. Thej' have more quarterings than the 
 proudest noble who boasts of heraldric eminence if they fail to shew 
 as many coats of arms, such as would be recognized by the College. 
 They bear about with and upon them, daily, the rags of at least seven 
 generations patched together into garments to be worn by the present, 
 if not transmitted to the next. 
 
 Cerv'etto, by the way, says that he bought for Mr. Jessup, with 
 whom he was then travelling as courier, two hundred thousand dol- 
 lars worth of rags ; and when they were examined the bales were 
 found to be marked with the initials of the firm, having already made 
 one voyage across the Atlatitic and back on account of some change 
 in their value in the market. But I shall have further opportunities 
 to take up the subject of Ital}'. We hope to receive our letters this 
 evening. I made them all laugh heartily just now, by calling them 
 to look at the Blue (?) colour of the water of Como, and pointing to 
 some houses on the opposite shore (this is the head of the lake and 
 it is very narrow, and dirty looking with the mud brought down by 
 the mountain stream), called them Isola Bella. Tell Mr. Bohlen I 
 shall estimate still more highly that beautiful picture of his I have so 
 much admired, now that I have seen Como for myself The imagina- 
 tion of the artist was of the highest degree. 
 
 Your mother and aunt are both better, but neither of them well. 
 Your loving father 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Chiavenna, September 2, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 We lodged last night at that miserable Colico at the head of Lake 
 Como from which my last was dated, leaving there early this morning 
 for this place which is at the foot of the Splugen Pass on the Italian 
 side. 
 
 We have had the most fatiguing daj' we have yet endured, 
 though the distance has not been so great as some others and the road 
 nearly level. 
 
 The heat has been intense, the dust oppressive, the people wretched 
 looking, and the houses, whether standing isolated or collected in 
 small groups, indescribably miserable. 
 
 130
 
 As I tuentioned in my last the people here appear lower in the 
 jrrade of human beings than I had ever conceived of ; lower than the 
 most degraded dweller in the bogs of Ireland. 
 
 x\s we drove through the town of Morbegno, the streets of which 
 are so narrow that it seemed impossible to pass without the wheels 
 passing over the feet of the people at their doors, we found almost the 
 entire population of the adjacent countr>^ collected, exchanging the 
 products of the sterile country, as it was market da3'. We had passed 
 the poor creatures on the road ; some leading a single goat or sheep or 
 carrying a pair of fowls ; some nothing more than a small bunch of 
 willow wands for the basket maker. 
 
 We saw women staggering under great baskets of faggots, and 
 what was still worse bending under conical baskets rising above their 
 heads and strapped on their shoulders and supported below by their 
 hands, filled with manure ; regular beasts of burden. One lazy fellow 
 was lying fast asleep on a sort of cart drawn by two oxen, while his 
 wife walked beside the beasts. 
 
 The only animals we saw were a few pigs, and sheep and goats 
 and cows, all as stunted and poor as the people themselves. 
 
 The houses are built of stone it is true, but very roughly, with 
 little or no mortar, and less skill of the mason than is shewn in the 
 construction of our commonest stone fences. 
 
 Woodwork there is little ; certainly none which could claim the 
 name of carpenter's work. They were destitute of paint, and the 
 slates, or more frequentl}' flat stones, of which the roof was formed were 
 kept in place by large stones laid upon them. 
 
 As I mentioned 3'esterda3'-, the lower storj^ is given to the cattle 
 and all access is through these ; the second is occupied by the family 
 and the third left open to receive the provender of the animals. 
 
 Some of the sides of the hills were so sterile that nothing would 
 grow upon them, while some had little patches of vineyard, the support- 
 ing walls of the terraces occupying, apparently, as much space as the 
 patch of soil in which the vine was planted ; with a building propped 
 on the w^all here and there looking like a pigsty. It was the lodge of 
 the watchman, and I could not but think it was from such husband- 
 men our Lord drew the lesson of the parable of those who not only 
 refused to render the fruit in the season, but conspired together, and 
 said -'this is the heir, come let us kill him and the inheritance shall 
 be ours. ' ' 
 
 It was the act of just such stolid ignorance as must exist here. 
 Wickedness enough to rebel against his authority and to refuse to 
 render him what is due may be found associated with the noblest 
 endowments and the highest culture, and such poor ignorant creatures 
 dwelling on a sterile soil and oppressed by a grinding tyranny 
 and held in the thraldom of a benighting superstition, will have less 
 to be responsible for than we whose souls are lighted with wisdom 
 from on high.
 
 Chiavenna, Tuesday, September 5th. 
 
 We arrived here on Saturday, and when the evening of the ]x)rd's- 
 day came, finding even after the rest of the day that she was not in a 
 condition to start in the morning to encounter the fatigue of body, and 
 exhausting influence of the mental strain which was inevitable, if we 
 continued with the party, your mother decided that it would be better 
 for them, as well as ourselves, that we should not venture on the Splugen 
 Pass with the "Via Mala," and the necessary return over the Simplon 
 some weeks hence, and we determined to remain on this side of the 
 Alps now that we are here, and allow those who anticipate finding 
 great delight among the awfvil scenes of grandeur in Swit/x-rland, to- 
 pursue their pleasure untrammeled by our fears. 
 
 They left us, according to our wishes, with great reluctance on 
 their part, and we spent yesterday very busily occupied in unpacking 
 our trunks and reversing the arrangements of our clothing, the warm 
 garments having been put at top in readiness for the cold of the moun- 
 tains and the lighter raiment at the bottom out of the way. 
 
 When they left us it was with the expectation we would remain 
 here for some time at least, as, being on the highwa}' of travel inta 
 Italy over the Splugen, it is much frequented by English and Ameri- 
 can tourists, and we should not feel so much like exiles as at places 
 less frequented by them ; and one of the chief waiters speaks good 
 English. 
 
 We find, however, that it is a very hot place, a contracted valley 
 surrounded b}- mountains which shut out the breezes, and your mother 
 has not recovered the strength she had gained before, and lost from the 
 depressing effects of the alarms of the last week. 
 
 We shall probably go to the shores of Lago Maggiore and wait 
 there at the Italian terminus of the road over the Simplon, for the 
 return to this side of the Alps of your uncle and aunts, unless we 
 find as we go thither that the air of Cadenabbia or P>ellagio, or some 
 other point on Lake Como, is suflaciently refreshing. Here there is 
 nothing to interest us in the views, which are bounded by sterile moun- 
 tains, and neither drives nor walks to diversify the monotony of exis- 
 tence, and divert our feelings from the thought of those we so love and 
 from whom we are separated so needlessly, if we are to continue here. 
 
 We now regret very much that we allowed our sympathy for your 
 aunts Hannah and Jane and your uncle W. to overcome our judgment 
 that it would be best, and our consequent desire to be left at Ragatz, 
 from which we could have gone by rail to Interlachen, or (leneva, and 
 there have joined them. 
 
 We urged it, biit found it would defeat all the plans of }our uncle, 
 adopted after much and laborious investigation and consultation with 
 the courier, and reference to the guide books and maps, and they had 
 trno-ao-ed carriages to meet us there and convey us by this route. We 
 had not the most remote idea that it would carry us over the Stelvio or 
 
 132
 
 bring us to the Italian side of the mountains. I have sedulously 
 refrained from entering into the consultations because I can add noth- 
 ing to the stock of knowledge of localities ; and an ignorant member 
 of a conference onlj' gives trouble without adding any weight. If we 
 liad known what we now do we should have, perhaps, been more 
 positive. As it now is we shall miss entirely all the glories of Swiss 
 scenery and what is more important, the bracing influence of cool 
 mountain air which was very desirable for both of us and shall not get 
 to Geneva nor Chamouni, nor gaze even in the distance on the majesty 
 of Mont Blanc. 
 
 But we may well rest content and be thankful for all that we have 
 enjoyed and hope for more 3-et to come. 
 
 There is the ruin of an old castle in view from our window just 
 across a small open unadorned " Place" upon which opens, through an 
 arch-way, the court of the Hotel. On another side of this there is a 
 large monastery, a quadrangular building presenting only dead blank 
 walls to the outer world, but enclosing a considerable space as an 
 interior court on which open the doors and windows of the cells of the 
 monks ; and a mortuar}' Chapel. 
 
 There are four entrances, one at each corner of the Quadrangle. 
 The tedium of our stay was broken j-esterda}-, one can not say relieved, 
 by a spectacle novel to our e5'es. 
 
 Our attention was excited by the sound of what appeared to us to be 
 a solemn dirge ; and going to our window we saw a procession emerge 
 from one of the doors in the enclosure of the monastery. First came 
 a man in white robes with a scarlet cape, bearing a crucifix, followed 
 hy a large number of women with black veils thrown over their heads, 
 but no other peculiarity of costume, chanting a Latin hymn. They 
 were followed by a company of Priests, clad in white robes and scarlet 
 •capes like the leader, and boys bearing banners, and then another 
 company of Priests with blue capes ; then a host of begging Friars, 
 with brown cassocks, each girded with a rope, and bare head and feet, 
 the most squalid, filthj', forlorn looking objects one can conceive of in 
 human form. These were followed by another detachment of men and 
 boys. It was a wretched spectacle of ignorant superstition. 
 
 In the cool of the evening we walked in the enclosure. It con- 
 tains cloisters and a Campanile or bell-tower from which the soitnd of 
 "the passing bell " has been tolling often during the da}^ telling of 
 the parting of the soul of some one ot our brothers in Adam. To add 
 to the depressing influence of this mournful sound we found in one of 
 the corridors, two rooms about fourteen feet square each having an 
 elaborately wrought iron door of open work so as best to displaj^ the 
 ghastly contents, which consisted of human skulls and other bones 
 arranged in symmetrical figures against the walls. Some of the skulls 
 had labels attached to them bearing the name of a Saint, and on others 
 there were caps which indicated their social rank. 
 
 ^33
 
 In the walls of the cloisters were many tablets of black marble 
 bearing inscriptions of the names of those who were interred near by. 
 Crossing the court, we went out by a door in the corner opposite to 
 that by which we had entered, and found near it a shrine to the Virgin 
 in a niche in the wall, in which a lamp is kept constantly burning 
 before her efiigy, which was surrounded with wreaths of artificial 
 flowers, while bouquets of fresh Queen Marguerites in vases standing 
 before it, proved that recent worshippers had left their tribute. 
 
 Near by a black stone, having an appropriate hole in it, bore an 
 inscription soliciting alms for the poor. 
 
 In front of the cabinets of human bones, boxes were placed 
 having inscriptions begging for contributions for masses for the 
 benefit of the souls in Purgatory. 
 
 The people here are less repulsive looking than those in the valley 
 through which we had passed on our road from Sondrio, but they are 
 still a stunted race looking like dwarfs, and many, both men and 
 women, are goitrous. The children are rickety. Altogether our feel- 
 ings of thankfulness that your lot has not fallen in this land are strong. 
 
 We hope to find more that is agreeable to our feelings at Cade- 
 nabbia which the Guide books praise as a most attractive spot. If we 
 do not we shall try to make our way to Lago Maggiore, and so to 
 some cooler spot near the end of the Simplon, and there await the 
 arrival of our party on their way to Milan. 
 
 We fear we shall be a long time without any letters from home, as 
 they must all first go to your uncle before they are forwarded to us, 
 and we find this apprehension a great trial to us. I feel as deeply as 
 your mother the distress of the Stelvio. We had not designed to 
 cross the Alps more than the once which we knew was necessary to 
 effect our purpose of getting to Rome and Italy ; and for that purpose 
 to select for ourselves the least appalling Pass. Our intention, as ^-ou 
 all know, was to rest on the northern side at Geneva or Lausanne or 
 in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Our Moon's daily text book has for to-day the question, "What is 
 thy reward ? " and for answer " Fear not. I am th\' shield and exceed- 
 ing great reward. Love ye your enemies, and do good and lend, 
 hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall 
 be called the children of the Highest, for He is kind to the unthankful 
 and to the evil." 
 
 ]\Iay He increase our faith, and make us partakers with them who 
 inherit the promises. I sometimes fear lest in the excitement of 
 pleasure I may have written something which would lead you to 
 think I am less firmly settled in the siviplicity of the gospel of Christ. 
 There is none other name given under heaven among men whereby 
 we may be saved. 
 
 " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
 
 Your loving father 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 134
 
 Chiavkn:na, Italy, September 3, 1S71. 
 My Dear Mrs. Cope : 
 
 Another Lord's day finds us cut oif from the privilege of public 
 worship and Common Prayer, but not, I trust, excluded from the 
 "true sanctuary which the Lord hath pitched, and not man," nor 
 beyond the advocacy of the Great High Priest who ever liveth to 
 make intercession yc»r 7is, though those by whom we are here surrounded, 
 and whose bells summoning her faithful children to their worship are 
 now sounding sii'eetly in our ears, have excommunicated us — cast us 
 out — because we will not render to her whom yet we delight with all 
 generations to called blessed among, not above women, that homage 
 which is due only to the Triune God, nor recognize the blasphemous 
 assumption of power to renew perpetually that sacrifice which was 
 made ' ' otice for all ' ' when Jesus made himself a sacrifice for our sins. 
 
 Since I last wrote you we have seen miich, enjoyed much, and 
 suffered greath'. 
 
 Our course of travel has led us through the Austrian Tyrol into 
 Italy, and we are now once more on the borders of Switzerland, which 
 (D. V.) we hope to enter to-morrow. 
 
 Anne has been quite sick but has recovered. One night I felt 
 very anxious about her, and in the morning told Cervetto he must 
 make arrangements for us to remain where we were till she was 
 relieved. This was at Spondinig, a frontier village in the midst of the 
 mountains. He replied that it was simply impossible. That we could 
 not divide the party ; all must go on together or all stop ! and that 
 there were no suitable accommodations for our stay, or for the nursing 
 of the sick, and that that day's journey wovtld carry us to a much 
 more appropriate place, if it should be necessary to rest. 
 
 So with many misgivings and in utter ignorance of what was 
 before us, we took our places in the carriages, which happily are very 
 easy ones, Anne unable to sit erect and under the depressing influence 
 of opium and blue mass and camphor, which she had been taking at 
 intervals through the previous day and night, and unable to take any 
 nourishment except a very little milk and brandy. 
 
 If you have ever read or heard any description of the Stelvio Pass, 
 which lies over the highest point above the level of the sea of any road 
 in Europe, you may form some conception of what zve endured who 
 had positively determined before starting that nothing should induce 
 us to cross any mountain but the one which must of necessity " be 
 crossed on our way from the north to the south of the continent, and 
 if possible to go around that. 
 
 God was very gracious to us. I make no boast of freedom from 
 fear. It was an awful day, but the sense of gratitude for Anne's 
 hourly improvement notwithstanding the unpropitious circumstances, 
 served to balance our souls and strengthen our hearts, and a good 
 night's rest at Bormio which we reached early in the evening, made us 
 quite happy again. 
 
 135
 
 Bormio is a celebrated bathing resort, and has been since the times 
 of Roman conquest. There is a ver}- abundant stream of pure water 
 which springs from the mountain side at the temperature of 120 F. 
 From there we came to this place by a journey of two days stopping 
 at Sondrio. 
 
 While at Bormio I proposed to my brother that Anne and I should 
 remain on this side of the Alps, as we have crossed them, and allow 
 them to take their full satisfaction of the mountains unchecked by our 
 unmanly fears, and meet them at Milan or Florence. 
 
 But our experience during the last two days of the heat of the 
 Italian summer, and the wretchedness and squalor of the people, have 
 stripped of their terror even the Splugen and Via Mala. I have 
 encountered misery in our own abodes of poverty and vice, and saw it 
 in its most repulsive forms thirty-five years ago in the wretched pur- 
 lieus of the large manufacturing towns of England, when I found the 
 contrast between the luxurious displaj' of affluence on the one hand, 
 and of beggarly want on the other was so painful that I decided that 
 no degree of comfort attainable by myself could reconcile me to living 
 there, but never did I conceive of such universal miserable povert3^ as 
 we encounter here without au}^ alleviating concomitant. Men, women 
 and beasts are all equally stunted in their ph3'sical development and 
 are all sheltered under the same roof 
 
 While in the Tyrol there was much to sadden us in the supersti- 
 tion which places the Virgin and saints between themselves and Him who 
 teaches that Noah, Job, and Daniel can save but their own souls, there 
 was a predominance, in the shrines at the roadside, of the representation 
 of the one sacrifice for sin, which encouraged the hope that the trust 
 of the simple ignorant people is in the one Mediator between God and 
 man. Thus far we have seen nothing here in Ital}' which has a ten- 
 dency to elevate or purify. 
 
 Pictures of the Virgin and Child and of saints, and shrines at 
 the roadside filled with human skulls and bones, tell of a superstition 
 almost as dark and debasing as Fetich worship. Goitrous necks, 
 shrivelled countenances, ragged clothing, and miserable dwellings 
 shared with the cattle and affording bvit imperfect shelter to man or 
 beast ; iron bars and gratings to everj- window proclaiming the preva- 
 lence of violence and plunder, the apprehension of which must par- 
 alize ever}^ effort to improve their condition, and develop ever}' evil 
 passion, form in combination a picture which once seen can never be 
 forgotten, and which I wish I had never seen. 
 
 Great cause have we to be thankful that our lot was cast for us 
 amid better auspices, and having food and raiment we may therewith 
 be content, when we think of such scenes as we have been passing 
 through these last two days, nay more than content. 
 
 As we yesterday rode down the bank of the Adda toward the head 
 of Lake Como into which it flows, and saw the mountain sides terraced 
 
 136
 
 for vine3-ards, the terraces formed b}- stone walls of tlie rudest construc- 
 tion, enclosing and supporting- spaces of earth whose area was appar- 
 ently not much larger than that occupied bj- the retaining wall, very 
 man}' of them having small stone hovels perched on the wall, my 
 mind reverted to the parable of our Lord, of the husbandmen who 
 refused the fruit of the vin3-ard to its owner and killed the heir, that 
 the inheritance might be theirs. 
 
 Such brutalit}^ is what might be looked for from tlie ignorance of 
 such as these husbandmen. The prophets have other parables drawn 
 from the same line of observation, of well enclosed vineyards in fruitful 
 soil, figures of God's love for his people and watchful care over them, 
 and of their unprofitable returns at the best, and ungrateful disregard 
 of his right to the first fruits. 
 
 We may thus find lessons suited to every condition at the roadside 
 of life, if we are but ready to take the instruction ; may God's good 
 Spirit give us wisdom and understanding to profit by them. 
 
 We are here on the great high road from England to INIilan by the 
 Splugen Pass, and Diligences and Voitures filled with English people, 
 are coming and going hourly. We are resting the Sabbath-day, and I 
 hope may find comfort to both body and soul. 
 
 I did not observe how much of the soil of travel attached itself to 
 this sheet, so fair when you first gave it to me, till I tiirned it over 
 after having written on the first page. 
 
 Our trunks have been out of reach and we have been carrying 
 everything we required for daily use, writing paper of course included, 
 in our hand-bags and the dust has permeated everything. The heat 
 has been intense, the drought extreme, and of course the roads very 
 dusty. I remarked yesterday, that we were living statues ; we were 
 covered thickly on the outside with finely pulverized limestone, and 
 of course as thickly coated with it within. When we opened our 
 trunks, which had been protected by heavy canvas covers, it had sifted 
 into them. 
 
 The transfer to the southern side of the mountains has given us 
 the opportunity to taste the Figs and Grapes of Italy, and Tomatoes, 
 which has been a very pleasant change. 
 
 The rooms we occupy here open on a very prettj^ garden in which 
 we recognize, among other plants of hot climates, the beautiful Mimosa 
 with which we have been so long familiar at Ivy Neck, the most northern 
 point at which it can survive the cold of winter — the Pampas-grass 
 of our own lawns, the Magnolia Grandiflora, next to the Eive Oak the 
 pride of our Southern States, Rhododendrons, Persian Lilacs, and 
 other familiar plants, mingled with others ec|ually beautiful and new 
 to us. 
 
 The Peaches on the table remind us the same fruit at home, which 
 we suppose you are now enjo3-ing, but as we learn b}' our letters from 
 Ivy Neck at a price which 3'ields no compensation to the producer for 
 the toil and outla3'. 
 
 137
 
 Bellagio, on Lake Cotno, Sept. 7, 1871. 
 3Iy Dear Galloway : 
 
 No proverb of human wisdom bought by human experience has 
 in it more truth than " L'homme propose: Dieu dispose," and no 
 doctrine of inspiration is more comforting than the corresponding 
 declaration of the Word of God, "It is not in man that walketh to 
 direct his steps," taken together with the assvirance that "A good 
 man's wa3-s are ordered of the Lord." 
 
 Certainly when we are taught by the same authority, that ' ' there 
 is none that doeth good, no not one," it is not designed to mock us 
 by proving that no one can claim the fulfilment of the promise or 
 enjoy its comfort. There must be a sense in which some maj' plead 
 its fulfilment ; and the whole tenor of the gospel teaching is to lead 
 us to seek for such living faith in Jesus that we being found in him, 
 not having our own righteousness which is of the law, but ' ' that which 
 is of God by faith ' ' may have hope. This is no mere unmeaning disser- 
 tation, but has intimate relations with our present position, and is 
 the only foundation of our present comfort. 
 
 You know Anne and I were determined not to subject ourselves to 
 all the fatigue of travel and exertion which would give pleasure to the 
 younger and more adventurous members of our party. It was our 
 design to stop at Lucerne, or Interlaken, or Geneva (one or all), while 
 they made excursions over passes of Switzerland or into the moun- 
 tainous regions, in the hope of which they found great delight, while 
 the chief pleasure we anticipated for the summer was to be found in 
 those places. 
 
 We have been hurried on through Germany, as 5'ou will have 
 learned from our previous letters, with perpetually changing plans for 
 daily movements, though keeping ever before us the general purpose 
 of being in Switzerland during the present month and crossing over 
 the Simplon into Ital}^ in October. 
 
 This frequent change of daily route was inevitable ; arising from 
 the unexpected incidents of travel, and especially from the informa- 
 tion received of the crowded condition of the more frequented routes, 
 to which I have already alluded. 
 
 Anne and I felt that we had come for Wistar's benefit, and that he 
 had enoiigh to contend with, without increasing his difficulties by any 
 interference on our part with his plans further than by frequently 
 reminding him of the condition on which we came, that we should 
 not be obliged to accompany- them over mountain passes. 
 
 We were therefore taken wholly by surprise when we found our- 
 selves on the heights of the Stelvio with no alternative but to surmount 
 them and descend to this side, while it was his intention to return 
 over the Splugen into the heart of the Alps, traverse the passes through 
 Switzerland and then come back into Italy over the Simplon. 
 
 13S
 
 These passes are all, it is true, made by good and safe roads in 
 carriages ; and with no discomfort to most, and it is said by many with 
 great pleasure, and by some even with delight. 
 
 It could not be without actual distress to Anne and myself We 
 had endured the Stelvio, supposing that was all ; but when we found 
 to continue with them involved two more, we decided rather to 
 abandon the pleasure we had anticipated at Geneva and Chamouni, 
 and remain on this side. 
 
 I have thought it due to 3-011 and to ourselves thus to explain to 
 you the circumstances which have led to our being here, separated 
 from brother Wistar and Sisters. 
 
 I do not remember when I last wrote to 3'ou and cannot therefore 
 take up the thread of my narrative where I laid it down. Anne has 
 been quite sick with diarrhoea caused probabU' in the first instance by 
 the agitation and terror in the mountain drives about Ragatz. She 
 was then so unwell that we desired to be left behind there, as from 
 that place we could have joined them at Lucerne by Rail. Wistar had 
 however made his arrangements, and had hired two carriages and four 
 horses for each for a month. We begged them to leave us, but while 
 Anne spoke of her suffering from the mountain passes in verj' strong 
 terms, she concealed her bodily disease as much as possible, and they 
 none of them realized how unfit she was to travel, and did not give 
 full credit to the extent or degree of her mental distress. They were 
 also unwilling to leave her, sick ; so Anne made a great effort and we 
 accompanied them, rather than detain them, as each da}^ was important 
 for accomplishing the objects in view before the time we must be in 
 Egypt to enable us to start at the proper stage of the Nile overflow to 
 ■ascend the river. 
 
 So we came on with them. The night before we entered on the 
 ascent to the Stelvio Pass, Anne was frequently disturbed and obliged 
 to have recourse to blue mass and opium, and brandy, and milk, 
 repeatedly ; and though the place at which we had stopped was very 
 uncomfortable for even those in health — we had slept between sheets 
 of hempen stuff almost as coarse as good salt sacks — I had told the 
 courier when I first saw him in the morning that it would be impos- 
 sible for us to move that daj^ and as we had heard there was a woman 
 in the vicinity who had passed some \'ears in some part of the United 
 States, I proposed that we should employ her to act for us as inter-, 
 preter and that the rest of them should go on and leave us till the 
 violence of the attack should subside. There were objections appar- 
 ently insuperable to either their going on and leaving us, or remaining 
 with us. 
 
 The courier did not tell us what we should encounter in the course 
 of the day's journey, but assured us that it would bring us to a much 
 better place at which we could rest comfortably, if we could only hold 
 out another da3^ 
 
 139
 
 I can never be thankful enough for the mercies of that day, the inci- 
 dents of which I can better exhibit to you when we meet, if we are 
 permitted to do so. 
 
 (^Note. — As now {Angnst, 1882) I look back at the incidents of that 
 morning, T am filled with admiration of the SJirprising calmness and self- 
 possession of your mother, and with adoring thankfulness for the Divine 
 support zvhich strengthened her in the severe trial to which she was 
 subjected; more severe to her than ca?i be conceived by any but those who 
 knew, as I know, her extreme sensitiveness. 
 
 What the courier told us was true. The place at zvhich we were had 
 no suitable accommodations, and that at the end of the day's jour?iey was 
 a much freqjiented bathing place ivhere every thing was at our command. 
 But he did not (very happily for us) describe the terrors through which 
 we nmst pass to arrive there. It was in Italy on the other side of the 
 Alps from zts, and the heights must be scaled, and the descent effected 
 before we could reach the desired haven.) 
 
 I believe I have alluded to the wonderful engineering skill dis- 
 played in the construction of the road by which we have travelled. It 
 could never have been projected or made by any power less than the 
 despotism of Austria, determined to hold at any and every cost her 
 conquered Italian Provinces. 
 
 On our way here we have passed through one corner of those 
 Provinces. Nothing can exceed the squalor and miserj- we have seen 
 since leaving Bormio and descending the Adda to the head of Lake 
 Conio. You have ' ' The Innocents Abroad. ' ' Read that part which 
 has reference to Italy ; it is not an}'' too strong in its description of 
 Italian wretchedness as we have seen it on our way to this place. Here 
 everything is changed and we find ourselves in the midst of elegance, and 
 partaking of every comfort which can be desired or even conceived. 
 
 The beauty of this Lake and its surroundings is almost proverbial. 
 Poor David Scull charged us not to omit to visit it, and named Monte 
 Generoso as especially an attractive point. 
 
 We are so delighted with our experience here as confirming his 
 taste and judgment that we shall go there, as it is accessible from this 
 place — indeed I believe we see its towering height in sight. But then 
 it must be clornb. 
 
 The lake lies embosomed in mountains of varying height, but all 
 pressing as though to see their reflected images in the mirror of its 
 incomparable clear water, with its dark blue reflection of the wondrous 
 empy^rean arch which rises above. Between these mountains are narrow 
 and more or less rugged ravines descending to the margin at short 
 intervals, in each of which may be found invariably a picturesque 
 village as seen from the lake, with their church towers, and campaniles, 
 and often we hear the sweet bells. At some points the cliffs rise pre- 
 cipitously from the shore, and are crov\'ned by a monastery or a church ; 
 
 140
 
 wliile beautiful villas surrounded by elegant grounds and gardens skirt 
 the margin. There are also more imposing structures, the resort of 
 Royalty and the higher nobles during the winter months, when it is 
 quite common for Russian and German princes to avoid the rigors of 
 their more inhospitable climes by a temporary sojourn here. Even in 
 the times of the Romans it was a favourite resort of the wealthy and 
 pleasure-seeking citizens of the ' ' Mistress of the World, ' ' as well as 
 those of highest culture and taste, and purest character. We are shown 
 an island, the site of Pliny's villa, beautifully situated in the midst of the 
 Lake, and commanding fine views on every side. I do not wonder at 
 their taste. 
 
 / wish you could see the Oleander trees, not shrubs or bushes as 
 they are with us, under the best culture, but trees with good round 
 heads of rich green foliage, crowned with such masses of crimson 
 flowers, each in itself an object of admiration and each division of a 
 bunch as large as one of the finest clusters I ever saw before, and each 
 bunch as large as \ny head. 
 
 Just beside the hotel on our way to the tov.'n there is a wall about 
 eight or ten feet in height, behind which is a hedge of oleanders, the 
 flowers of which hang over the top in clusters as numerous as 
 those of the roses in your hedge at the .season of its greatest pro- 
 fusion. 
 
 We are lodged at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, which is a very 
 extensive one, standing on the margin of the Lake having only a 
 neatly planted shrubbery, quite narrow, intervening between its front 
 and the water. Our chamber is a large one on the second floor — here 
 they call it the first — with the windows opening to the floor on a 
 balcony, which overlooks the Lake and has a most gloriousl}' beautiful 
 view of the opposite shore, with its shelving mountain barriers, clothed 
 with the most varied hues of rocks and mosses and herbage, while 
 Cadenabbia, one of the most favourite resorts of tourists, spreads 
 along the shore its hotels and villas and gardens. 
 
 Our chamber is furni.shed in the most luxurious st3'le, not only 
 with every convenience, but with fine oil paintings and immense mir- 
 rors. The reading room is at the end of a corridor on the same floor, 
 and is palatial in size and furniture, and well supplied not onl}- with 
 the daily English newspapers and magazines, but liberally furnished 
 with good standard works in French and English. 
 
 We never weary of admiring, nor of expressing to each other our 
 admiration of the views from the windows over the lake. The colour 
 of the water — an indescribable blue — the various and ever var\-ing 
 hues of the opposite mountains, the imceasing mutation of light and 
 shade are all entirely new and indescribably beautiful. If we had seen 
 them first on canvas, we should have said at least that they were 
 exaggerated if not unnatural and impossible ; and 3-et they are per- 
 fectly harmonious. 
 
 141
 
 The table d'hote is the best I ever sat to in quality' of food, 
 abundance of supply and character of dressing ; and the charges much 
 less than with us at home : Our dinners of five or six courses are 
 charged at only Five Francs each, but little more than one would be 
 compelled to pa5' for one of the unsavoury and illy-sers^ed meals on 
 board the steamboat to West River, which nothing but the craving of 
 hunger or sense of exhaustion could induce 3^ou to swallow. 
 
 By way of occupying my time I have engaged a teacher of Italian : 
 and we design daily excursions to points of interest or beauty on this 
 Lake, or Lago Maggiore. 
 
 You will excuse this narrative, so purely personal in its detail, 
 and accept the assurance of our unabated love and interest in the wel- 
 fare of dear INIargaret and yourself. We fear we are cut oif from our 
 letters for some weeks, but endeavour to commit ourselves and all dear 
 to us into the hands of our Heavenly Father. May we have better 
 ground for feeling Him such than they who once said, "One is our 
 Father, even God," though they crucified His Son. 
 
 Yours trul3', 
 
 Casp.vr Morris. 
 
 Bellagio, Lake Como, September 7, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 We are here amid every thing that is beautiful and grand, and I 
 was about to add comfortable, but ray heart refused to endorse the 
 word. There is more comfort in home and the companionship of those 
 we love and who love us as 3'ou do, than in grand apartments, atten- 
 tive sers'ants, good table d'hote, and the numberless other conveni- 
 ences which we have here, and which mone^^ bu3-s; which are essential 
 to 7nere bodily comfort, but do not touch the inner shrine of the affec- 
 tions, in which the true and holy comfort dwells. 
 
 We reached here 3'esterday p. m. having left Chiavenna b3' "extra 
 Post" at II A. M. for Colico at the head of Lake Como, where we 
 embarked on a steamer which leaves that place daily to carr3- passen- 
 gers to the town of the same name as the lake, which lies at the other 
 end, and is connected with INIilan and Venice b3' a railroad. 
 
 We had passed through Colico, some da3-s previousl3' while still 
 with your uncle on our wa3' from Bormio on the Stelvio pass, bj' 
 which we had come into Italy, to Chiavenna at the Italian terminus 
 of the Splugen, over which they returned into Switzerland ; ver3' 
 reluctant to leave us behind. The3' were anticipating great delight 
 from the mountain drives and had no shrinking from the passes, 
 which to 3'our mother and m5^self were only terrors. 
 
 Our experience on the Stelvio had onl3' ser\^ed to confirm our 
 apprehension that we could not endure the distress the3' would give 
 
 142
 
 ns, even though confidentl}' assured bj- our own reason that with such 
 roads there could be no more danger than in common travel. The 
 overpowering heat, the wretchedness of the people, the manifestations 
 of the degrading influence of superstition which presented themselves 
 at every turn with most forbidding obtrusiveness, the fatigue of two 
 days' travel in the dust and heat, and the miserable accommodation at 
 Colico, which appeared to be the appropriate chief town of the wretched 
 district, all combined to make us anxious to avoid if possible the 
 separation from our family, and despite the remembrance of our recent 
 sufferings on the Stelvio, when we reached Chiavenna we determined 
 to persevere. 
 
 It had been our intention to separate from them on the northern 
 side of the Alps in some cool place, as Geneva or Lucerne, and to 
 remain there quietly recruiting strength and resting, of which we 
 felt the need (j'our mother especially) while the others made the tour 
 of Switzerland. But we had crossed the Stelvio into Italy and wann 
 weather, without knowing we were doing so. 
 
 I have always shrunk from asking about 3'our uncle's plans for 
 two reasons. First, because he has so many wishes to gratify that I 
 could not bring m3'self to add to his cares by any expression of wishes, 
 or suggestion of plans on our account. 
 
 And secondly, because he changes them frequently, so that when 
 we have been told on separating at night what was designed for the 
 next day, there was no certainty that it might not be changed before 
 the hour for starting arrived. I merely stipulated that we should not 
 be carried unadvisedly into any position which would cut us off from 
 our rest and oblige us to encounter mountain passes. 
 
 If I had studied out our course on the maps, as I might and 
 should have done, I might perhaps have been wiser and have done 
 better. But I acted as I did from the simple and single-hearted desire 
 to avoid every thing which could embarrass the freedom of his move- 
 ments, more than they were already by other influences than our 
 wishes ; which he was ever only too readj^ to gratify. The result has 
 been to cut lis off from that part of our European tour from which I 
 had hoped for the most benefit to your mother and the highest gratifi- 
 cation for myself We shall return home without having visited 
 Switzerland, and must be content with the Alpine grandeur of the 
 T3^rol, which has given us so much delight (as you will judge from 
 some of my previous letters), that we ought to be not merely content 
 but very grateful for the opportunity^ 3'our uncle has given us of seeing 
 and enjojdng so much beauty. 
 
 Without knowing an^^ thing ot what was before lis we desired to 
 be left behind at Ragatz. Your mother was then too much wearied 
 and was too sick to travel ; but 3'Our uncle had some ten daj-s before 
 engaged private carriages and drivers, with their four horses to each, 
 to meet us at that place and start from there on IVIondaj- morning. I 
 
 143
 
 knew your mother was very unwell ; too much so to travel ; but when 
 we proposed to stop the whole party remonstrated and decided that 
 they could not leave us there and she sick, and we could not think for 
 a moment of such a disappointment of their plans and such an addition 
 to your uncle's expense on our account, and therefore we started with 
 them, reluctantly and not without apprehension. From there we could 
 have gone by railroad to Lucerne, Basle, etc. , and so to Geneva, and 
 I supposed we should still have the same opportunity at Chiavenna, as 
 it had been your uncle's plan before we got there to ascend the Splugen 
 from there and return to that place again, making both the ascent and 
 descent again to that place, where we should wait for them; but when 
 they had left us we found there were so many inconveniences to be 
 encountered and so few objects of interest to attract us that we deter- 
 mined to make an effort and try how far we could move independently, 
 and accordingly made our first movement to this charming spot. 
 
 I have thought it right to enter into these details, in order that 
 yovi may understand how we are situated and why we are here at this 
 season instead of being among Alpine snows as we had designed and 
 desired to be. 
 
 If 3-ou have any doubt about our comfort, ask John Hockle}-, or 
 the McKeans, or Hugh Davids, if an\' of them shall have returned ; 
 they have all been here this season. i\Ir. Davids stayed a month or 
 more and left on the Register the strongest expression of his satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 I wish I possessed an}' power as an artist. I know of no land- 
 scape picture I should more covet than a well-executed sketch of the 
 view across the Lake from the window of the apartment we occupy 
 and in which your mother and I have been passing the morning, she 
 embroidering, while I read to her from the London Illustrated Neivs, 
 the Loudon Times, and Galignani" s Messenger. We are sorry to see 
 under date Philadelphia, September 3d, that the troubles in South 
 Carolina are such, that the Cabinet at a meeting at which Gen. Grant 
 was present, determined to interpose the power of the General GoA'ern- 
 ment. We will pray for peace and quiet in our own land though our 
 sojourn is so far away. 
 
 The colours on these mountains are such as I have never before 
 seen in nature ; and I should have ridiculed any picture in which an 
 artist had introduced such, as absolutely unnatural and exaggerated. 
 You may sit and gaze on them hour after hour without weariness, 
 changing with the varying light and shade. The colour of the water 
 of the Lake is also very peculia'- and, IMark Tvi-ain to the contrary 
 notwithstanding, it is perfecth* pellucid. By the way, the Italian 
 portion of his " Innocent's Abroad " is generally truthful, so far as we 
 have yet had opportunity to judge. Our blood has boiled at seeing 
 great lazy men l3ing flat on the back, in wagons, while their wives 
 drove the beasts which drew them, or even shoveling sand or heaping 
 
 144
 
 stones into baskets strapped on the backs and shoulders of women who 
 stood like mere animals, beasts of burden, till they were loaded. 
 Indeed on our wa^' to Chiavenna we saw them thus loaded with 
 manure, which they carried to the place of deposit and there dumped 
 it by merely bending forward and discharging it over their heads. 
 
 Here the inhabitants are of a very different race. They are of 
 taller stature, straight limbed, and larger person generally, and we do 
 not see either deformed, stunted, or goitrous persons. The cultivation 
 is neat and apparentl}' judicious and successful ; while the grounds 
 around the villas and palaces which lie on the margin of the lake are 
 very plentiful, afford beautiful specimens of landscape gardening and 
 floriculture. 
 
 The boats on the lake are very numerous, each protected by a 
 gay awning of many colours and provided with comfortable cushioned 
 seats. They are also ornamented with the flags of many nations and 
 not a few of them are conspicuous with the Stars and Stripes of our 
 own, our native land. They are busily plj'ing about in even,- direction 
 and give great animation to the scene. Your mother and I had one 
 this morning and were rowed across the lake which is here about two 
 miles in width. 
 
 To-morrow morning we propose to leave here on the steamer which 
 starts from here for Como at 7 a. m. and reaches this place on her 
 return trip at 2 p. m. The next 6.a.\ we shall be quiet, of course. There 
 will be English sendee both morning and evening which I hope we 
 shall enjo}- as much as we have done heretofore. The temperature of 
 this place is very equable ; it is said never to reach the freezing 
 point nor to rise higher than 70° F. at vv-hich it now is. IMorning and 
 evening the breezes just rufiie the bosom of the lake, and during the 
 mid-day hours we keep in the shade. There are Oleander trees as large 
 as good sized cherrj- trees — not the giant black heart trees which are 
 now so fast disappearing, but modern garden trees — full of great 
 bunches of crimson or scarlet flowers. Figs, pomegranates, grapes, 
 and peaches abound, and all of the finest varieties, luscious and rich, 
 and of manj' flavours. Excellent as have been our accommodations 
 everywhere we have j'et been, we have not before enjo3-ed as good a 
 chamber, nor set down to as well-furnished a table anywhere in Europe 
 as here in this Hotel Grande Bretagne. 
 
 The mountains rise abruptl}' from the margin of the Lake on every 
 side, so that tunnels must be driven through the projecting points 
 to allow the road to run along the shore. Their outline is grand, and 
 the effects of the changing light and shade as the daj- advances and 
 declines, developing and changing their own colours, is wonderful 
 indeed. These colours are indescribably various, beautiful, and rich ; 
 due sometimes to the natural hue of the rock, and sometimes to the 
 plants which cover them, not alwaj^s with verdure, though this has 
 an almost infinite varietj^ of shade, but often a soft brown, or dark 
 
 145
 
 purple, each changing as the light of the morning or the shade of the 
 evening lends its grace. Little nooks in these mountains are occupied 
 by villages looking picturesque and pretty in the distance, while grand 
 palaces and modern villas skirt the shore, surrounded with extensive 
 highly cultivated grounds, adorned with very splendid beds of showy 
 flowers, while huge aloe plants aspire from the rocks, with their loftly 
 spikes of white flowers. 
 
 I shall write again to some of you while we linger here. 
 
 Tell Effingham and Caspar that we are near the place at which 
 the Plinys passed their holidays, and where the younger was born. 
 Those old Roman gentleman showed good taste in the selection of 
 their retreats. In one of the newspapers I saw this morning, a story 
 of the opening recently of a tomb. One learned gentleman present 
 expressed his surprise that they did not find the coin usually placed in 
 the hand of the dead and buried with him to paj' the fare across the 
 Styx. A labourer said " To be sure 3^ou could not : Charon has it ! " 
 Your affectionate father 
 
 C.'^.SPAR Morris. 
 
 Bell.vgio, Italy, Sept. S, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Your mother and I have just returned from a trip bj^ steamboat 
 to Como, which lies at the south end of this lake and is an old town 
 with a fine cathedral. We went not for the pleasure of the excursion 
 only, but to leave our address at the Post Office also, and to request 
 that any letters received there for us might be forwarded to us here. 
 I mailed there two letters, one for your Uncle Gallowaj', and one 
 for Mrs. Cope. 
 
 On our return we found one here from your uncle Wistar, mailed 
 at Richisau, which reported them all well. 
 
 On the steamboat we saw baggage marked New York ; and at one 
 of the many stopping places on the lake, a lady who sat beside 
 your mother turned to her suddenly and said : ' ' See ! there is an 
 American flag ; I know you are an American ; are you not glad to see 
 it ? " Your mother, of course, expressed her gratification ; for it does 
 one good to see it floating from many of the beaittiful barges which 
 ply about the lake, for hire. It proves that our nation is recognized 
 even here as a power ; and that her citizens are cheerfullj' welcome. 
 
 This is some great holida}^ — either National for Italy, or a festival 
 of the Romish Church and almost all of the population is afloat, and 
 the places of business of all kinds are closed. Boat loads of people 
 are going merrily before our window, singing; and now (3.30 P. m.) 
 the music of a full band breaks on my ear. The heat is very great ; 
 and vour n:other is lying down to seek some rest after the fatigue of 
 
 146
 
 the morning. We had returned just in time for the table d'hote at 
 2.30 P. M., at which we found seated near us a young- man from New 
 York talking very intelligently with an English acquaintance who had 
 travelled in the United States ; and on the steamboat we had beguiled 
 the way with conversation with an agreeable English gentleman and 
 his wife and daughter. He had been a Director of the Atlantic Tele- 
 graph Co. You thus see we have resources with which to occupy the 
 time, and I am now expecting the Italian teacher, from whom I design 
 to take lessons. We are more than ever impressed by the beauty of 
 the lake and its shores. The excursion this morning occupied two 
 hours each way, between this place and Como. 
 
 The water of the lake retained its wondrous blue colour all the 
 distance, though the polished surface was slightly ruffled by a gentle 
 breeze which relieved, somewhat, the heat. 
 
 The mountain ranges were most magnificently grand in their 
 outline and varied in their grouping of the different peaks, and in their 
 colour ; and at distances of a mile or two the shore of the Lake was 
 made attractive by splendid villas surrounded by beautiful gardens and 
 pleasure grounds, adorned with good statuary on the terraces ; while 
 picturesque villages sheltered themselves in the recesses of the valleys 
 which ran among the hills. The mountains generally press directly 
 to the shore as though to lave their feet in the placid waters of the 
 lovel}' Lake, in which their giant forms are so clearly reflected. 
 
 Wherever they retire sufficiently to permit it, the margin of the 
 lake is beautified by plantations of Olive-trees with their soft grej'ish- 
 green foliage half hiding, half revealing their gnarled trunks. 
 Trees of Oleander, covered with blushing bunches of glorious bloom. 
 Crepe Myrtle trees, rivalling them in size as well as in beauty of flower, 
 Aloe-plants sending their aspiring spikes of white bells out of great 
 masses of solid verdure ; Pampas-grass waving its feathery tufts ; 
 towering Oriental Cj^press trees ; Orchards of Fig and Mulberry 
 trees ; and Vineyards, all combine their several distinct beauties in one 
 harmonious picture which excites us by its newness. 
 
 As we approached Como and looked back toward the northern end 
 of the Lake, the panorama of mountains became very grand ; Monte 
 Generoso towering like a dignified monarch on his throne while the 
 subject hills crowded to his feet with their silent homage. It is not in 
 itself so lofty, but stands isolated far in the distance, though with the 
 aid of my field-glass we could discover the hotel which has been built 
 at its summit. 
 
 David Scull charged lis not to omit its ascent and was very earnest 
 in his praise of the commanding view it affords. He ascended it from 
 Baveno on Lake Lugano, the other side, and his descriptions were so 
 impressive that we noted it as one of the things to be seen. But you 
 may tell him that we have in the meantime been higher and now are 
 satisfied. The views about its feet are so beautiful that we give him 
 
 147
 
 full credit for that from the summit. We look at the details with 
 ever-increasing admiration. 
 
 Each Villa has charms of its own and some of them are grand, 
 the residences of Royalty and nobility. The statuary in the grounds 
 is ver}^ fine, and the Guide books inform us that some of the master- 
 pieces of Canova and Thorwaldsen are to be seen here. 
 
 Being a holidaj^ the whole population of Como was on the streets 
 in holida3' attire. We drove first to the Post Office to give directions 
 about our letters, and then to the Cathedral. Over the door of this 
 hung a banner bearing the inscription " Plena Indulgenzia " in large 
 letters. We asked no questions but walked in. Around the walls are 
 many Chapels and altars, in addition to that known as " The High 
 Altar ' ' in the chancel. 
 
 The altars in these chapels are very costl}' structures, richly 
 adorned with precious stones and car\'ings and paintings by celebrated 
 artists representing sacred incidents, or actions of Saints ; some of 
 them allegorical. The ceiling is most richlj' and elaborately embossed 
 in gold and blue and so loft}' that I was obliged to resort to the assist- 
 ance of m}' field-glass to decide what were the subjects of the paint- 
 ings, though the figures were colossal. About the nave of the Cathe- 
 dral there were elaborate and costh'' tombs of Bishops, Archbishops 
 and Cardinals, with inscriptions commemorating their worth. There 
 was a life-size statue of St. Isidore with two bulls, of which the guide 
 book gave no explanation. 
 
 Como is the emporium of traffic between Itah' and Switzerland, 
 though the railroad does not pass directly through, but at a short 
 distance. Silk is one of the principal staples of production of this 
 part of Italy ; and we never pass the shops in the windows of which 
 are displayed the hanks of this beautiful material, without pausing to 
 admire the various shades of colour and the exquisite softness of the 
 glossy skeins. 
 
 It is wonderful how so much that is lieautiful can be drawn from 
 so disgusting a source as the foul worms ; nor is there an}- redeeming 
 attractiveness in the surroundings in which they are raised and bred. 
 The appearance of man}- of the people who feed them is scarcely less 
 repulsive than that of the silk-worms themselves. These, while feed- 
 ing and winding themselves in the cocoons, require constant care as 
 well as a supph' of food, and are attended by a most disgusting and 
 peculiar odour. The peasants give up their houses to the worms and 
 live out of doors. The Mulberrv' trees are planted not only in exten- 
 sive orchards but in rows by the road-side, and are all cut off" at the 
 height of eight and ten feet from the ground, at which point they 
 shoot out branches which are frequentl}* trimmed in, in order to pro- 
 mote the growth of succulent leaves for the food of the worms. 
 
 Just now the}' are covered with a luxuriant growth, the first crop 
 having been fed to the worms, and this is about to be gathered and 
 
 148 
 
 J
 
 dried, and stored away for provender for the cattle in winter. This 
 treatment of the trees, of course, forbids their ever attaining any size, 
 and renders the frequent replanting of them necessary'. The cocoons 
 are sold to the manufacturers, by whom the thread is reeled off into the 
 beautiful skeins I have mentioned. 
 
 For this purpose the cocoons are assorted according to their colour, 
 and placed in boiling water, which dissolves the gum with which the 
 thread is imbued by the insect as it spins its glossj' tomb, and which 
 is necessary to enable it to form its protecting covering. With a brush 
 the filaments of several of them are combined into one thread, and the 
 softened gum causes tlieui to adhere together, and thus forms the thread of 
 commerce, which varies in its fineness at the will of the operator, accord- 
 ing to the texture for which it is designed. The skeins are then 
 collected into hanks of accurately adjusted shades of colour twisted 
 together, and packed in bales and sent to the manufacturer by whom 
 they are dyed and woven into the beautiful tissues we all so admire. 
 Our sympathy with and compassion for the poor people here, by whom 
 these various processes are performed, leads us to wish that there 
 should always be a great demand for the products of their repulsive 
 industry, and at the same time to wish that there may be no compe- 
 tition with them by its introduction into our own country, M'here a 
 more robust labour gives a better compensation for the expenditure of 
 time and toil. 
 
 The extent of the cultivation of maize in the Austrian Tj'-rol sur- 
 prised me very much, and we find it is also largely grown in this part 
 of Italy. In southern Germany it is only a stunted plant, is larger in 
 the Tyrol, whilst here it attains a size equal to that it reaches at home, 
 and as we came down the miserable valley of the Adda, with its stunted, 
 goitrous population, we passed through miles of corn-fields which 
 looked so well that we expressed to each other the hope we felt that 
 the field in front of the house at Ivy Neck might look as promising. 
 There was no other crop grown, and the narrow valley was filled with 
 maize. Here it is planted in the vineyards, alternating in rows with 
 the vines, which are trimmed in, and being now ripe the fading tops 
 and dry and yellow blades give a forbidding appearance to the 
 terraces. The drought is extreme, and many^ of the trees shew its 
 destructive influence in the brown and desiccated foliage. It is true,, 
 however, that it is thus only they change their foliage, the new and 
 green succeeding the old and dead in imperceptible change, and not 
 falling at one time as with us in more northern climes. 
 
 The weather is pleasant to-day, the sky being overcast with a veil 
 of light cloud, obscuring the sun, altering the colour of the water of 
 the lake, and destroying the play of light and shadow on the moun- 
 tains and diminishing the play of colour on their sides, and thus dimin- 
 ishing the beauty of the outlook. 
 
 149
 
 Yet there is beauty enough left to give grace and lend a charm to 
 all around us. 
 
 Your ever loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 I am sorry to add that your mother is not well, and is keeping 
 her bed, at my siiggesiio?t, taking Opium Blue Mass and Camphor. 
 
 Bell AGIO, Lake Como, ItsXy, vSeptember lo, 187 1. 
 My Dear Sister {Emily Hollingsworth) : 
 
 With the discordant sounds poured forth by a ver^- fine military 
 band — grand it is true in themselves, but out ol hannon}- with the 
 Day — jarring in va.y ears and disturbing the quiet, which is so gi-ateful 
 and in accord with its sacred associations, my heart seeks relief in 
 turning to you ; trusting that 3'ou have more congenial as well as more 
 solemn sounds refreshing 5'our soul, instead of banishing even bodily 
 rest ; and I long for the time to arrive when we maj' once again be 
 permitted to go to the house of God in company. 
 
 Anne and I are here alone, in one of the most delightful places we 
 have yet visited. The seat of the retirement of such men as the Plinys, 
 that fact alone affords the most unequivocal testimony to the attraction 
 it possesses for refinement and taste ; and the numberless beautiful — 
 many of them reallj' magnificent — villas of Princes and Nobles which 
 occupy the nooks along the shore, under the impending cliflfs which 
 come crowding down to the shore as if to see the reflection of their 
 giant forms in the clear mirror of the Lake, prove that the same charms 
 which drew the lovers of the beautiful here in the one generation have 
 the same influence on their successors of the present day. I can 
 indeed conceive of no richer combination of light and shade, and 
 •colour, than that which lies perpetuall3' spread out before our ej'es. 
 
 ' ' Every prospect pleases, ' ' and when I add as did Bishop Heber, 
 *' only man is vile," I do not mean to record any bitter reproach of 
 men here especialU', in contrast with man elsewhere, and surely not 
 to exalt m^'self as being better than they. 
 
 Man here is much more attractive than we have found him in 
 ■other places since we entered Italy, though we have been disturbed 
 this afternoon by the roar of artillery immediately under our window, 
 a salute to some Italian ofiicer of high rank. 
 
 But neither this stunning noise nor the performance of the Band 
 in his honour, has been so painfully offensive as the loud laughter and 
 shouts from English or English speaking American throats of several 
 parties just now about to start on an excursion on the Lake. 
 
 You will not I hope, think me more disposed to see the motes in 
 my brother's eye, and unmindful of the beam in nw own because I 
 
 150
 
 thus note the indications of the disregard of the sacredness of the 
 Lord's day here. I was never more conscious of its presence, with its 
 hateful power to interfere with my clear perception of Him who is the 
 way the truth and the life, than just at this time. 
 
 We have great cause to be thankful to an English Society which 
 supplies chapels, and maintains chaplains, at all the prominent points 
 frequented b}- tourists on the Continent. We have been to-day indebted 
 to it for two services, and have enjoyed not onl3^ the privilege of Common 
 Prayer, but the singing of hymns with which we have been familiar at 
 home. "Thou art the Way," and " Sun of my soul," and at the 
 Communion " Hail sacred feast." Thus you will see we are without 
 excuse if we allow our souls to be famished even while absent from our 
 familiar sanctuary. 
 
 In the Salon de Lecture in this great hotel, we find an Italian 
 Bible and a volume of the "Sunday at Home." These little points 
 will indicate to you our position. 
 
 Anne is better than when I wrote last, though I think quiet is best 
 for her for some days yet. After we have received our letters, which we 
 hope to do on Tuesday or Wednesdaj', we shall (D. V.) move on to 
 Lago Maggiore, and there wait for Wistar and Sisters. You will have 
 learned, before this reaches you, of our temporary separation. 
 
 This is probably the last letter you can receive from us before you 
 sail for the West Indies. We shall hope to hear from you before j^ou 
 sail what will be the best direction for letters for you from here ; we 
 do not wish to be further separated. 
 
 From the London newspapers, which we see here daily, we learn 
 there has been either an earthquake or a tornado or both at the island 
 of St. Thomas, which is in sight from St. Croix. 
 
 How that name brings up all the fearful ignorance and supersti- 
 tion by which we are surrounded here ; and how solemnly the message 
 of Jeremiah in the lesson of the morning fell on our ears in the midst 
 of such scenes ! May God graciously condescend to keep our Church 
 from falling back into the meshes of that net which would entangle 
 us and draw us captive to Rome. 
 
 I tremble, especially as I find myself subject to the power of 
 .the fascination of her sorceries and realize that nothing but Divine grace 
 can protect us from the insidious influence. 
 
 I must refer you to my letters to my children, which are certainly 
 designed for your perusal, to give you information about our doings. 
 Much love to all our dear ones when you see any of them, and kind 
 regards to our friends, Isabella, Sarah and Richard ; with the assur- 
 ance that they are more than ever valued by us. 
 Your ever loving brother, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Our love especially to Mrs. Buckley and Mrs. Ellis.
 
 Bellagio, September lo, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Your dear mother is better to-day, and yet my wretched heart is 
 not so filled with overflowing gratitude to the Healer of all our diseases 
 as it should be. 
 
 Yesterday she was compelled to keep her bed till late in the after- 
 noon. This morning she was able to join me in attending the service 
 of public worship which is kept up here during the season of travel ; 
 and is now lying on the sofa, resting, hoping to be able to unite with 
 it again when it is held for evening service toward sunset. 
 
 We appreciate highly this privilege, which is provided for Pro- 
 testant tourists on the Continent by an English Society. 
 
 The tendency of the hurried life we lead, and the multiplicity of 
 objects thrusting themselves on our attention, and demanding instant 
 attention before they vanish from the view, is to make us unmindful 
 of the better and enduring substance, and forgetful of the fact that we 
 are in truth only strangers and pilgrims, in a deeper and more import- 
 tant sense, than that of mere passengers from one object of attraction 
 for our curiosity to another. It is a great privilege to find provided 
 for us at ever}' point at which we arrive on Saturda}-, alwaj-s designing 
 to rest the Sabbath, some arrangement for worship and instruction. 
 
 We have been thus far favoured to find sound evangelical instruc- 
 tion in the pulpit ; but even should it ever be unhappily otherwise the 
 Scriptures will be read for our learning, and the Hymns in the books 
 with which these chapels are provided are both sound in doctrine and 
 sweet in expression. 
 
 At the service this morning I was impressed by the second com- 
 mandment, and led to question how far I had violated its spirit by 
 the feelings expressed in some of ni}' letters regarding the representa- 
 tion of our Lord's passion as stimulating my sense of the value of that 
 One offering made once for all, on the Cross. 
 
 I pray earnestly that we may one and all be kept from idolatry 
 which God has declared He abhors, or the most distant approach to it. 
 I feel jealous of mj-self and particularh^ anxious that I should not 
 lead any to tolerate services which are not spiritual. 
 
 I am astonished at the way in which every one we meet speaks of 
 the Passion Play at Ober Ammergau. The more carefully I investi- 
 gate the subject and reflect on its tendenc\% the more decidedl}- do I 
 think it is wrong. Nay, very wrong. 
 
 How is it possible that any mere man should take on himself to 
 personate Him who was led like a lamb to the slaughter and to 
 exhibit His Passion on the cross, when He bore " our sins in His own 
 body on the tree. ' ' The very idea is abhorrent to even our natural 
 reason and feelings. 
 
 Then the thought of finding gratification for a mere aesthetic 
 taste, or of a spurious feeling of worship in such a spectacle hov/ever 
 
 1^2
 
 well performed, is equally abhorrent to my mind and feelings. No 
 purity of character on the part of the performers — and the advocates 
 of the play claim perfect holiness for him who personates our Lord — 
 can qualify them for such an exhibition ; and what man can, by any 
 stretch of imagination, be supposed to be able to represent the agony 
 which caused the perfect man to sweat "as it were great drops of 
 blood," or what human being comprehend, much less represent, the 
 endurance of that which caused the Lord to cry " My God, My God, 
 why hast Thou forsaken me ? ' ' 
 
 The effect must be, I think, to degrade the act and bring it down 
 to the level of mere humanity, since nothing beyond this can be repre- 
 sented by human power ; and when the Son of God took upon. Him 
 ovir nature, the perfect Godhead was united to the manhood, which 
 could not in its weakness have borne the punishment of our sins ; and 
 we are told that when he made his soul an offering for our sins ' ' the 
 Lord laid upon Him the iniquities of us all." 
 
 We met General Anderson, at Zurich, on his return from Ober 
 Ammergau, and he was very urgent that we should go there. He said 
 it had been very profitable to his own soul. He was too enfeebled in 
 body to justify me in any controversy with him on the subject and I 
 could not but fear from other indications that his noble mental endow- 
 ments were enfeebled also by his long continued illness. His heart 
 was all right. 
 
 I find that all who have met with him participate in the 
 same anxiety about his condition I feel. He is now very weak, and 
 the nature of the disease under which he is suffering is such as to for- 
 bid any reasonable hope of improvement, and I learn from some per- 
 sons from Newark, N. J., who are connected with his brother, by 
 marriage, and have seen him since we met at Zurich, that he is worse 
 than when he started for Ober Ammergau. 
 
 There were not fewer than 5000 spectators at one performance of 
 
 the Passion-play, and it is repeated on every Lord's day and on certain 
 
 ■ saints' days, at certain seasons of the ecclesiastical year, and each 
 
 several performance lasts eight hours, including one hour's interval for 
 
 rest. 
 
 Tickets must be procured in advance or one is subjected to the 
 inconvenience of waiting an entire week at a small village, without any 
 accommodations for the crowd of visitors which is now drawn there by 
 the tide of fashion, and there is nothing other than this spectacle to 
 divert the mind or occupy the time. 
 
 The popularity it has attained is one of the many illustrations of 
 the tendency of men to collect in flocks, and follow a leader. This 
 subject recalls to my mind the approaching General Convention of our 
 Church, about which I feel no little anxiety. 
 
 The Truth of God must and will prevail. Whether, in His 
 wisdom. He sees that it is not safe in the keeping of that ecclesiastical 
 
 153
 
 organization, and is about to transfer the custody to some other agency,, 
 through which it is to be transmitted to other people and succeeding 
 generations, I do not pretend to foresee. 
 
 I wish to learn through you how it is conducted. 
 
 There was some understanding with Israel that he should send me 
 a daily newspaper. I find they are transmitted at but slight cost ; and 
 if the Ledger publishes the proceedings of the convention, even in a 
 mere summary', that will supply all I wish for. If it does not, one of 
 the weekl}' papers devoted to the interests of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church will answer. 
 
 This will probably reach j'ou before the Convention meets, and we 
 may hope to receive a repl}' at Rome or Naples, where we hope to be 
 about the time it is due. 
 
 An American Protestant Episcopal church is about to be built at 
 Rome, and two clerg3^men from there have gone to the United States 
 to solicit contributions toward that object. 
 
 There is some idea of being able to promote a reformation in the 
 Romish Church from within its own organization. 
 
 This is very desirable ; but the question may well be raised 
 whether it will be promoted \>y our retracing our steps and receding 
 into the errors we have repudiated, instead of standing firmlj^ on the 
 one foundation than which none other can be laid, and inviting and 
 encouraging them to come to our standing place, and if need be 
 advancing still further onward. 
 
 We have alreadj' seen enough to convince us that IMariolatry, and 
 image-worship, are the characteristic features of the religion of this 
 country. The words of St. Paul to the Athenians are certainly appli- 
 cable to the inhabitants of this land ; "I perceive that in all things j'e 
 are too superstitious ' ' — given to blind and ignorant worship — not, as 
 do too many in Protestant countries, neglecting or even repudiating 
 and rejecting all acts of worship, but easily led to worship they know 
 not what or whom. 
 
 We were shocked by the levity with which religious topics were 
 discussed at the table d'hote to-day by an American party, one of 
 whom being asked to what church he belonged, said in reph' : ' ' My 
 mother goes to Dr. Bellows', he is a Unitarian, or Universalist, or 
 some such thing, I do not know what ; but she does not mind ; she 
 likes to hear him ; he is learned." This was followed by other equally 
 exceptionable remarks. Thus error has many forms. With us it is 
 indifierentism ; here ignorant superstition. 
 
 As we walked through the Cathedral at Como, a few days since, 
 there were many chairs and boxes arranged round the walls for confes- 
 sion. These boxes consist of a chair, in which the Father confessor is 
 seated, enclosed by a wooden screen having an opening in one side at 
 the point at which the ear of the priest is approached most nearly by 
 the mouth of the penitent, who kneels on a slight projection from the 
 one side of the chair. 
 
 154
 
 The clasped hands of the priest projecting, give evidence of his 
 presence ; these being the onl}^ part of his person visible. 
 
 As we passed one of these confessionals, we saw one poor woman 
 with her mouth closely pressed to the opening at the ear of the invis- 
 ible auditor, while two others at a short distance were waiting their 
 tixrn. It is from this whispering into the ear of the priest, who is 
 supposed to be invested with the power to give absolution for repented 
 and confessed sins, that the term ' ' Auricular Confession ' ' is derived. 
 
 Over the grand door of entrance was hung the sign of Plenary- 
 Indulgence, and at various shrines around the body of the Cathedral 
 were kneeling men and women, each engaged in their own sjDecial 
 private act of devotion, whether of penitence, of worship, of ■prayeTy 
 or of praise. 
 
 We stole very silentU' around, careful to avoid any act which 
 might disturb their feelings. If they could onl}?^ all be taught to come 
 to the one High Priest, ' ' to the I^amb of God who taketh away the sins 
 of the world" and who is found where'er He is sought, and who needs 
 not the intervention of any man claiming priestly power. 
 
 Notwithstanding it is the Lord's daj^ we are being startled every 
 few minutes by the explosion of something which makes a report 
 like that of a small canon, in honour of a distinguished Italian oJ3B.cer 
 who arrived this morning by the steamboat. There is no echo of the 
 sound from the mountains near, but after a considerable interval it 
 comes back to us most clearl}^ and distinctl}^ from those at a distance^ 
 
 We are again struck, as we have been before, with the entire 
 suspension of all labour on the Sabbath day ; and after Mass the entire 
 population is busy in the pursuit of recreation in some form. 
 
 The beauty of Bellagio has not in the least palled, nor its attrac- 
 tions diminished, and the comfort of the accommodations at this 
 hotel are unrivalled by any that we have yet met with. There are 
 three large hotels, each formerly a palace of some noble, all within two 
 miles of this and all owned and conducted by one man who w§s 
 originally a mere boatman on the Lake. His name is INIela, and he 
 not only manages these hotels but also a large farm with its grain- 
 fields, and orchards of figs and olives, and vineyards from which the 
 tables are furnished with the most luscious Figs and Grapes, while a 
 bottle of his own wine is supplied to each guest daily with no extra 
 charge. He also offered to cash any draft I might find it convenient 
 to draw on my letter of credit, and his son is a member of the muni- 
 cipal council. 
 
 This affords a good illustration of the power of the Renovated 
 Italy. Garibaldi and Cavour, are consecrated names. 
 
 You may find pleasure in a description of our accommodations 
 here. Our chamber is furnished with a large and good oil painting on 
 one wall, with a large mirror elegantly framed on the opposite side, 
 reflecting it, a pianoforte, two etageres, a dressing-table, sofa, three 
 
 155
 
 large ann-cliairs, six other comfortable chairs, and two excellent 
 mattresses, and two tables, all new, and of the best make. Can we 
 desire any thing more. The windows look out on the Lake and com- 
 mand a grand view of the panorama of mountains with their exquisite 
 variet}' of colour and form, and perpetually changing light and 
 shade. A confused noise under the window drawing my attention 
 from my employment in thus writing to you, I find is caused by a 
 gathering crowd, attracted bj'- a full-dressed militar}' band, which is 
 about beginning a performance directly under the window. On an}' 
 other day we should share gladly in the enjoyment. May God help 
 us to cleave to Him. 
 
 As regards our diet I need only report the provision at the tabic 
 d'hote for to day to prove that all our wants there are well supplied. 
 We had soup, fish fresh from the lake, roast beef, kid, and turkey ; 
 plum pudding, followed by peaches, pears, figs and grapes, the fruits 
 all the products of J\I. INIela's own farm, all good, and the cooking 
 excellent, and all at the moderate charge of only foiir fra7ics, or eighty 
 cents per head. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Bellagio, Italy, Sept. ii, 1871. 
 My Dear Children, 
 
 We are detained here by indisposition, and are thankful for the 
 comfort of our arrangements while waiting to learn where and when 
 we shall meet your uncle and aunts, hoping to-morrow may bring us 
 letters from 3'ou as well as from them. The time does pass heavily 
 and slowly. Your mother has been improving during the last two 
 days, and I was myself well enough to go with her this morning to a 
 shop and bu}'^ some muslin which she wanted, and she is now, 8 p. m., 
 seated beside me with her sewing, as at home. I have been amusing 
 her with Mark Twain, whose descriptions are so good that I wonder 
 that I have the courage to sit down to the pen and paper and attempt 
 that which he has done with so keen an eye and so skilled a hand. 
 
 One of his stories reminds me of an experience of our own since 
 we have lost the services of Cervetto, who, of course, went with your 
 uncle. We had depended on him for all our communications with 
 those who did not speak English. 
 
 In the hotel at Chiavenna there was one servant onl}^ who spoke 
 English, and he could not be always at our beck and call. 
 
 Your mother was very unwell and I was verj- desirous to procure 
 some arrow-root for her and sallied out of our chamber, in which we 
 had a sorrj'-sort of home like feeling, in quest of some ; having in my 
 
 i=;6
 
 hand a letter I had just put in an envelope designing to mail it at the 
 same time. 
 
 Failing to find the English-speaking waiter, I addressed myself to 
 another whom I chanced to meet and enquired of him, in Freiich, as I 
 fondly thought, whether they had any ' ' Arrow-root. ' ' 
 
 He hesitated for an answer, evidently because he did not under- 
 stand. Hoping to assist him I added as an explanation " O est 7me 
 Farine, ' ' at the same time unfortunately holding out the letter in my 
 hand. He said very promptly, '' Je comprendsy to which I, wishing 
 to get it as soon as it could be prepared, said '■'■ toute de suite''' and 
 away he posted with a civil ' ' Out, otii. ' ' I supposed he had gone to 
 order it to be prepared in the kitchen and v»^as amazed to see him return 
 immediately', sure enough, flourishing the trophy of his success in 
 understanding me, in the shape of a bottle of mucilage with which to 
 seal my letter ! 
 
 Just at this jimcture my English-speaking Swiss came upon the 
 stage, and laughed as though he would hurt himself at the absurdity 
 of our position. 
 
 I have found, however, that it is possible to stumble through, 
 though I am often much amused at the thought of my ludicrous mis- 
 takes as they come before me when it is too late to rectify them. 
 
 We have musical entertainments nightlj', directly under our win- 
 dows ; sometimes a full band and at others what I suppose to be parts 
 of operas sung by several performers, and once what seemed to be 
 improvisation. 
 
 The sense of isolation during the two days 3'our mother was most 
 ill, was much relieved by my finding there was a Doctor Johnson, ot 
 Baltimore, in the house, though I did not know him personally. I 
 sent him a note saying I would be glad to see him before he left and 
 when he called I found him a thorough gentleman, a near neighbour 
 to your uncle Galloway, whom he knew and holds in high esteem ; and 
 familiar with all our friends. 
 
 I had no occasion to seek his counsel or trouble your mother with 
 a visit from him, but felt great relief in the knowledge he was in the 
 house in case she should be worse. 
 
 The apprehension that I might be ill myself and your mother 
 without protector or assistance, would intrude its unwelcome sugges- 
 tion. 
 
 This morning finds us both quite well, and we desire to be properly 
 thankful for the mercies of the day. So soon as we have breakfasted 
 we will stroll out. 
 
 The number of the guests here is perceptibly diminishing, as the 
 season for the English holiday is drawing to a close. 
 
 There was a slight fall of rain last evening which has laid the 
 dust, and freshened the atmosphere. Except in the sun at mid-day, 
 the temperature is delightful. 
 
 157
 
 12th, II A. M. 
 
 We have just returned from our morning walk and find tv/o 
 letters, one from sister Hannah, and the other from your uncle Wistar ; 
 which make us more than before thankful that we did not travel on 
 with them, as, though they are enthusiastic over the glories and delights 
 of grand mountain views — beautiful green hillsides, contrasted with 
 icy glaciers — tell us also of wearisome rides, and roads beside preci- 
 pices and across chasms, unprotected by guards such as we found so 
 comforting on the mountain roads in the Austrian Tyrdl. They had 
 not received our letters at the date of theirs, so that we must wait 
 patiently for advices of their plans until they come. We are some- 
 what afraid they may not receive ours. They had fallen in with Wistar 
 Brown and his wife, so that they will not miss us. 
 
 The shadows on the mountains in the light of this morning are 
 even more beautiful than they have been, and the temperature to-daj' 
 is so cool, even at this mid-da}^ hour, that we are compelled to close the, 
 sash of one of the windows, as we find it too cool with both open. 
 
 4 p. M. 
 
 I never hear the sound of the bell which summons the chamber- 
 maid, and hangs in the hall not far from our door, without thought 
 more or less distinct, of the great man who was born and lived at 
 Como, to whose intelligent inve.stigations we owe the inception of the 
 Science of Electricity ; to the development of which we owe the mar- 
 vellous progress of modern science in all its various relations, and art 
 in the application of knowledge. Volta was an advocate, living at 
 Como, who devoted much time to the culture of scientific knowledge 
 simply as a matter of taste. We saw there a statute in honor of him, 
 opposite the house he lived in ; and there is a public square which 
 bears his name. 
 
 If I remember correctly it was the the observation of a spasmodic 
 contraction of the muscles of some frogs which were being prepared 
 for his breakfast, on the contact of a fork, which arrested his attention ; 
 and he was stimulated to the investigation of the cause by the hope 
 of discovering the mystery' of vital force. 
 
 Step by step he advanced till he formed the instnament known as 
 the Voltaic Pile, and this has been developed bj' various stages of 
 progress into the Battery of Sir Humphrey Davy, by which what had 
 before been supposed to be simple elementary bodies were proven to 
 be compound ; and has since advanced till now we have the Electric 
 cable, connecting the most distant countries and crossing the widest 
 seas, and as a practical result bringing you and ourselves within a few 
 hours of each other, enabling us to know the value of gold in New 
 York within a few hours.
 
 We look daily at that item in the London limes, fearing that there 
 may be some other item of sufficient general interest to be appended 
 to that, which affects us all. To ourselves it has none except as it 
 indicates the relative cost of travel and home expenditure. There is- 
 great comfort to us in the assurance that we can communicate with 
 you at any moment in case of necessity. 
 
 Little did I ever suppose I should ever be on the spot where these 
 discoveries originated, or I should have studied them up more carefulty, 
 and been more definite in m^- information. I am inclined to think I 
 have confounded Galvani with Volta ; both were Italians, and both 
 were discoverers of important facts in electric science ; Volta certainly 
 lived at Como. 
 
 Be all this as it ma}^ the bell arrangement is a neat one. 
 There is no oft repeated pulling of the cord, uncertain whether it has 
 moved the distant bell ; no impatience of the guest at the tardiness 
 and uncertainty of the response ; no useless chafing of the officer of 
 the house whose dutj', among a thousand distractions, it is to watch 
 the bell and summon the reluctant waiter, perhaps at the very moment 
 on ser\'ice within a few feet of the fresh call, and obliged to go wearily 
 to the central office to learn where his services are now desired and 
 then retrace those steps ; no fretting of the guest at the delay, which 
 irritates his temper whether the demand he has to make be urgent 
 or of no real moment. One touches a neat little button on a plate let 
 into the wall and instantly hears the sound of the bell which hangs, 
 with as many others as there are chambers in the suite on the floor, 
 each having appended a number corresponding to that of the gviest 
 who requires service, and the maid on the floor at once looking at the 
 board knows where to go. 
 
 The communication may be interrupted by any accidental injury 
 to the wire, but if so the one who has touched the button recognizes 
 the fact by the failure of the bell to give its summons. There can 
 be no needless jerking at the innocent cord, nor storming at the 
 equally innocent officer or waiter ; all is done decently and in order 
 even by the most impetuous and impatient. 
 
 We have just been reading, in the London Times of the 9th, the 
 account of a terrible railroad disaster in the United States, at Revere 
 near Boston, on the last of August, and a tornado on the southern 
 coast, causing fearful shipwrecks on the Florida coast, and while we 
 were thus engaged, came a second letter from your uncle Wistar dated 
 at Lucerne on Saturday night, but without any from home. We shall 
 wait here, hoping yet to receive some in a day or two. 
 
 Your uncle and aunts have been taking full swing over Alpine 
 Passes, in which we greatly rejoice, not without the hope that the}- will 
 have had entire satisfaction and will wish for no more after we are 
 reunited. 
 
 159
 
 The description given by your uncle of their enjoj'ment stirs no 
 feeling of envy, but rather causes a feeling of thankfulness that we 
 are not exposed to the same terrors and exhausted by the same excite- 
 ment and fatigiied by the same toil. 
 
 It would not suit either your mother or myself, yet we do regret 
 missing Lucerne, Geneva, and Mont Blanc. 
 
 I can this morning report ourselves, both, better in every respect. 
 The day is delightful. Your mother and I started to visit the Villa of 
 the Duke of INIelzi, whose grounds adjoin those of this hotel, but 
 found the walk was too long for her. 
 
 I brought her back to rest while I went over them alone, my onlj^ 
 regret that she could not share the pleasure. 
 
 I was shewn through the gardens and the various apartments of 
 the palace. The grounds are extensive and laid out with much taste 
 and planted with many beautiful specimens of ornamental trees, and 
 shrubs ; interspersed with showy beds of flowers all neatly kept and 
 thriving finely. 
 
 There were splendid IMagnolia Grandifloras, Sequoias, INIimosas, 
 and Rhododendrons. 
 
 Within doors the various apartments are adorned with appropriate 
 Frescos, really beautiful as works of art. 
 
 There is a fine original portrait of Napoleon the ist, in his j'outh, 
 taken when he was First Consul, for the Duke of Melzi, who was 
 the Vice-President of the Cis-alpine Republic, and a devoted admirer 
 of the successful General. 
 
 The change wrought b}- j-ears and position, is xory clearly shewn, 
 b}- the contrast of the portly figure and expanded forehead and full 
 round face of the portraits of the Emperor at the height of his glory, 
 with the rather narrow forehead and slim figure of this portrait of his 
 youth. 
 
 In the grounds are several works of Canova, a very beautiful bust of 
 Madame Mere, as the mother of Napoleon was called, as though no one 
 else had ever deserved that honorable title ; an exquisite group repre- 
 senting Dante and Beatrice ; a David in the act of casting the stone 
 from his sling ; an Esmeralda and her goat ; and a Laocoon, said to be 
 of great merit. 
 
 Except in the frescos on the walls of the dining saloon, which 
 were in panels and represented the products of the several seasons, the 
 works of art did not impress me as being much superior to some I had 
 seen at home^ 
 
 The whole establishment had an air ot comfort, rather than of 
 display of either rank or aflSuence. 
 
 Your ever loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 1 60
 
 Bellagio, September 13, 1871. 
 My Dear Daughter : 
 
 I am not afraid, as you see, of making you proud, as you say you 
 will be when you receive a letter directed to yotir own self ; so though 
 I did direct one to you or Harry (you are, / believe, one) from this place, 
 I will even let you have another as a token of the great delight j'our 
 dear mother and I have enjoyed this afternoon in the reading your two- 
 precious letters of about three weeks since. 
 
 Our ej'^es literally overflowed, and I trust we were not without 
 devout feelings of thankfulness in our hearts as we read on, letter after 
 letter, from each of our dear children, and also from dear Cousin Emily, 
 and your uncle Galloway, 
 
 Our cup was full ; and it requires that one should pass through 
 the ordeal of being unwell at sixty-five years of age in a foreign land, 
 and ignorant of the language, and without any one to sympathize with 
 3'ou in feeling, to whom you can turn, and without letters, to enable 
 one to appreciate properly the feelings with which your mother and I 
 welcomed your several expressions of affection. 
 
 We can and do thank God for the children He has given us and 
 say " happ3'- is the man that hath his quiver full of them." 
 
 The best earthly blessing we can ask for our children is that their 
 children may be to them what they have been to us. 
 
 We are happy to be able to relieve any anxiety you may have felt 
 on our account by reporting ourselves quite well again, and enjoying 
 the beauties and comfort of this place. 
 
 If Cornelia and Mary will magnify the mountains around Llohunk 
 by ten, and make the Lake two miles wide by about twenty in length, 
 winding among the projecting cliffs, and give it a depth of 1800 feet, 
 and colour the water an indescribably beautiful shade of greenish blue ; 
 then place on every point of the rocks on which a goat can stand a 
 terrace planted with vines ; and dot the whole height of the mountain 
 with little cottages, rising so high above you that they look like toy 
 houses — Swiss chalets, such as the music-box their uncle Cheston 
 brought to them — and they will be able to form some idea of Lake 
 Como, and its surroundings. 
 
 But to render it complete they must imagine such colours spread 
 over the mountain-sides by the various growths which cover them as 
 I, after having revelled in the exquisite loveliness of their hues, am 
 quite incompetent to conve}^ any idea of ; and then must locate 
 at distances of one or two miles along the shore, picturesque 
 villages, alternating with royal palaces, and princely villas, 
 each surrounded hy extensive pleasure grounds ; and beautiful gar- 
 dens, planted with every variety of handsome ornamental trees and 
 shrubs, and orange trees and lemon trees trained to espaliers and 
 loaded with their golden frtiit half buried in the luxuriant glossy 
 foliage, while hugh aloe plants rooted in fissures in the rocks send up 
 
 161
 
 their aspiring spikes of snow-white bells ; and equally snow-white 
 statuary of purest marble stand on the steps b}' which one ascends to 
 these Paradises, so the Italians call them. It is truly a scene of 
 enchantment. 
 
 The background must be filled in with other and loftier ranges of 
 more distant moimtains, with rugged peaks and irregular outlines ; 
 some with their heads swathed in clouds, some tinged by the living 
 sunlight, while others are softened by the various hues which distance 
 and variations of light and shade bestow on their rugged forms, and 
 some are flecked by the shadows of the passing clouds. But the best 
 idea of the wondrous beauty is that furnished by your dear mother, who 
 saj^s I am very foolish to attempt an impossibility and communicate an 
 idea of that which is simply indescribable. 
 
 Now that is, I think, the best thing that can be said and next to that 
 conies Mark Twain's description in his " Innocents Abroad " — which 
 we are reading here amid the scenes he describes. 
 
 This morning I visited the Villa INIelzi, belonging to the Duke 
 who bears that title. The grounds join those of this hotel and are 
 thrown open freely to any one who chooses to walk in them, though 
 the family is resident there. 
 
 Your mother walked with me to the gate and we saw sweet looking 
 little children sporting on the grass, which was of course a great addi- 
 tional temptation to her motherly heart, but she decided she would not 
 be able to go about the gardens and grounds which were more attrac- 
 tive to her taste than the pictures and statuar}' in the palace. The 
 flower-borders about the house were exquisitely beautiful. The walls 
 of the various apartments were painted in fresco, with designs 
 appropriate to the purposes to which they were used. Those of the din- 
 ing-room had the various fruits and vegetables of the several seasons, 
 grouped according to the seasons ; the music-room was adorned with 
 the portraits of the most distinguished composers, and allegorical 
 figures ; the billiard-room was surrounded by exquisite landscapes all 
 well executed by good artists. 
 
 There was a very fine collection of statuary, the work of the 
 moulding power of Canova, Thorwalsden, and other masters of the 
 art ; bu&ts of the Duke and Duchess and their ancestors, all in pure 
 white marble like the bust of Cousin Sally, by Powers, at Tulip Hill. 
 There was one of Michael Angelo, by himself, in which he certainly 
 did not flatter himself, as it represents him with a nose as flat as that 
 of any African. 
 
 In the open grounds was a figure of David in pure Carara marble, 
 cut by Canova, representing him as a graceful youth of sixteen in the 
 attitude of hurling the stone from the sling. It impressed me as 
 perfectl}^ beautiful. I would like to own it. 
 
 The first Napoleon, when, as general of the Arm j-- of Italy in the 
 service of the First French Republic he had conquered Italy, estab- 
 
 162
 
 lislied under the authority of that aspiring- power, what he called the 
 Cis-alpine Republic, and made the Duke of Melzi Vice-President. 
 
 The portrait of the youthful conqueror, taken at the time, hangs 
 in one of the salons of the palace, representing him as a slight youth- 
 ful figure with a rather narrow forehead. 
 
 His head must have expanded as his ambition enlarged and was 
 gratified by success, as it is claimed that it did ; and his features 
 changed also from a rather pleasing expression which they have in 
 this portrait, to the expression of stern absorption in self-aggrandize- 
 ment, which they wear in all the portraits of him with which we are 
 familiar, taken after he had become the Emperor of the French and 
 claimed to be the Arbiter of the destiny of the world. Every thing 
 wears an air of quiet unostentatious comfort without extravagance, 
 which spoke well for the character of the present Duke, who resides 
 here with his family. We saw them seated quietly in a sequestered 
 part of the grounds. 
 
 After seeing the house we were taken through the grounds bj' the 
 gardener, leaving them by another way than that by which we had 
 been admitted. This led us by the statues of Dante and Beatrice ; a 
 very beautitul one of the mother of Napoleon, and other statuary. 
 The gardener called our attention to the variety of trees in the grounds, 
 from Australia, New Zealand, California, and our own country. 
 
 A crowd of tourists, English, American, German, and others, 
 arrives hei'e daily ; many passing on immediately, others lingering 
 for periods varying from one day to several weeks, as we are doing. 
 
 The record of their satisfaction is inscribed by almost all on the 
 register of the hotel, which thus becomes an interesting exhibition of 
 the feelings and character of each visitor, as well as of its own merits. 
 
 In the reading room we are supplied daily with the newspapers 
 of Paris and London, only two da5^s after their issue, so that we are 
 kept posted as to the general state of public affairs. 
 
 The reports of the spread of Cholera are disagreeable. 
 
 What influence this may have on our future course we can not say 
 until we meet your uncle and aunts. They are enjoying Switzerland. 
 We regret greatly to miss some parts of it, but it was impossible for 
 us to accompany them any further than we did. 
 
 We certainly should not have missed Geneva if we had known 
 that the route we were taking would involve that. We must believe 
 it is all right. 
 
 Cheston told us we must go to the open air concerts. They come 
 to us here almost every evening directly under the window. Now as 
 I am writing we hear the approach of the performers. Last evening 
 they were afloat in a boat gaily decorated with lanterns, and 
 flags. 
 
 We enjoy greatly the sight and smell of the peaches, pears, figs, 
 grapes and melons, but are not yet sufi&ciently established in our 
 
 163
 
 restoration to justify the eating them. We should be glad to be able 
 to hope that the net return for your peach crop will furnish a fair 
 return for the outlay and labour bestowed on it, but fear it will not. 
 
 Be thankful that your lot is not cast here as a cultivator of {rait, 
 silk, or any other product of the soil. You are happy indeed that it is 
 what and where it is. You need not envy even the Duke and Duchess 
 of Melzi, much less one of the peasantry. 
 
 It is however a delightful spot at which to loiter away a period of 
 relaxtion from toil, and seek renewal of strength for further service 
 of duty. We shall never forget its many pleasures. 
 
 Your loving father 
 
 Caspar I\Iorris. 
 
 Bellagio, Lake Como, Sept, 15, 187 1. 
 My Dear Brother ; 
 
 I am glad to be able to write to you giving pleasant accounts of 
 ourselves since my last, written soon after reaching this most delight- 
 ful spot, at which we have been loitering now more than a week, and 
 where we still wait for letters from Wistar, fixing the time and place 
 for our meeting. 
 
 For several days neither Anne nor myself was well ; but we are 
 thankful to be able now to make a good report. 
 
 We have been perfectly at rest ; content to drink in quietly, the 
 enjoyment of the beavtty of the scene from our windows, which 
 embraces a v/ide outlook over Lake and mountains and villas, and 
 palaces with their elegant grounds and gardens, with the lively ani- 
 mated spectacle of gaily decorated boats gliding past incessantly. In 
 one of these, well cushioned and protected from the sun by a tasteful 
 awning, we were rowed across to Cadenabbia, an elegant place of 
 resort for tourists, with its beautiful terraced gardens, and long alleys 
 of lemon trees trained on lattices, covered with the golden fruit, half 
 hidden, half revealed, amid the profusion of glossy green leaves. 
 
 Another day we took an excursion to Como at the foot of the 
 Lake, by steamboat, which makes the trip daily, passing amid all the 
 glory of the mountains crowding, as it were, to see their towering 
 heights reflected in the gigantic mirror spread out at their feet, against 
 which the pure water dashes its tiny wavelets as though sprinkling 
 them in sport. 
 
 Except where the clifis are too precipitous to leave space to plant 
 them, the margin of the lake is adorned by villas and palaces, and 
 their highly cultivated grounds and gardens with numerous pictur- 
 esque villages nestling in little nooks on the slopes of the mountains, 
 each with its campanile ; and there are often seen churches on 
 points apparently inaccessible, to which we are told all the materials 
 
 164
 
 for the building have been carried by human hibour. Even Mark 
 Twain is compelled to la}^ aside his humour, and paj' homage to the 
 surpassing beauty of all around. 
 
 Immediatel}^ adjoining the grounds of this hotel, the Grande 
 Bregtagne, are the palace and grounds of the Duke of Melzi, a grandson 
 of the first Vice-President of the Cisalpine Republic erected b}- Napo- 
 leon Bonaparte, when as commander of the forces of the first French 
 Republic he conquered Italy. 
 
 It is a noble but simple Villa, surrounded with beautiful grounds 
 exquisitely kept. 
 
 Anne walked with me to the entrance, but we were both convinced 
 it would be too fatiguing for her to attempt to go through, so that I was 
 most reluctantly compelled to see her back to our rooms and make the 
 visit alone. 
 
 We saw the younger members of the famil}' amusing themselves 
 in the most simple natural manner, on the lawn ; which gave an addi- 
 tional charm to the hearts of us parents. 
 
 I enjoyed greatly the sight of plants and trees from Australia and 
 New Zealand, flourishing in close proximity to those of our own 
 country ; those from more northern latiiudes do not thrive. The walls 
 and ceilings of the various saloons of the villa are most appropriately 
 painted in fresco with exquisite taste and great artistic ability, with 
 scenes appropriate to the purpose for which they are used. I am more 
 than ever amazed at the want of judgment and taste displayed b}^ our 
 affluent citizens in the extragavance of the costly application ot 
 colours in unsightly daubs, with which they deface their walls under 
 the specious name of fresco-painting. The landscape pictures on the 
 four walls of the billiard room, are all combined in one widel}' 
 extended view, and the aerial perspective of the ceiling, with the soft 
 fleecy clouds, is a valuable specimen of ait. The foliage might well 
 be called natural ; and the birds seem to fly. 
 
 Not in the house alone but at variovts points in the grounds. 
 are costly and beautiful specimens of statuary ; a very fine bust of 
 Madame Mere, and of the ancestors of the Duke, a Dante and Bea- 
 trice, and a very fine David in the act of casting the stone from the 
 sling, all by Canova ; and a bust of Michael Angelo with his flattened 
 nose, by the great sculptor himself ; are all of them gems of art. 
 
 There is also a very fine portrait of Napoleon as General of the 
 Army whose successful campaign in Italy gave him the prestige from 
 which all his subsequent fame was developed, or as First Consul. 
 The contrast between the graceful figure of youth, and the corpulence 
 of later life, in which we are accustomed to see him represented, is very 
 strong, and much in favour of the former ; but not greater nor more 
 impressive than the change in the expression of the countenance. 
 
 That of the portrait here, taken in youth, is attractive, nay might 
 almost be said to be ingeniious, such as one would suppose might have 
 
 165
 
 fairly won the heart of Josephine Beauharnais as we are wont to regard 
 her in the light of her subsequent sorrowful history. All the portraits 
 taken in later years, are alike expressive of the concentrated selfish- 
 ness and self-adoration which were his most marked characteristics. 
 
 But the most remarkable change is in the shape of the forehead. 
 
 In after life it was much larger than it is represented here, as 
 though the incessant workings of ambitious feelings and aspirations, 
 and corresponding mental effort, had enlarged the organ through 
 which the}' acted and required an increase of the case within which it 
 acted. 
 
 The furniture was simple, and the toute ensemble of the arrange- 
 ments such as gave one the idea of modest elegant refinement of the 
 possessor. 
 
 This lake was the favourite resort for retirement of intelligence in 
 the palmy days of Rome. The guide book tells us that the Plinys had 
 a villa on an island in sight from our window, and that the younger 
 w^as born there. This is not surprising ; they were our brethren after 
 the flesh, and in every generation the same minds will seek the same 
 gratifications, in similar scenes and pursuits. They were just the 
 class to take delight in the grandeur of mountains and the soft beauty 
 of the Lake with its winding shores. It is now a very favourite resort 
 of tourists in search of rest in the quiet loveliness of nature. 
 
 Anne just now called me to share her enjoyment as she stood 
 gazing out of the window on the soft and varied colours which cast 
 their rich mantle over the opposite mountains, enlivened by the 
 floating light and shade, and all doubled by reflection in the mirror- 
 like surface of the Lake ; and I gazed on it with as much enthusiastic 
 delight as when I first saw it, though it has been the object of our 
 unvarying admiration at all hours ever since. 
 
 The company collected here is very select, but we are exclu- 
 sive. We take our tea in a little side room opening out from the 
 general dining saloon, at our usual home hour, and in our home style. 
 At a table in an opposite corner of the same room, and at the same 
 hour there is another party seeking to be withdrawal from the crowd, 
 consisting of a lady and three children. They are vei-y beautiful, and 
 very sweet in their deportment, and Anne addressed the little girl as 
 she passed us near the door last evening, and asked her name. 
 She paused and answered most graciously in good English, that it was 
 Dolgourouki ; and we find since that they are the children of the 
 Princess of that name ; and the young English lady who has charge of 
 them is the Governess, and that the Princess never leaves her apart- 
 ments, which adjoin our own. 
 
 We now see the two brothers fishing in the Lake from the shore, 
 right under our window, with common lines, and poles cut from the 
 wood behind the hotel just as we have done ; as modest, well-behaved 
 boys as any in the world. 
 
 i66
 
 Youi- account of dear Margaret's condition was quite as good as 
 ■we had hoped, and we do most earnestly pray that Mar}- Ellen's move- 
 ment may be blessed to her improvement. You know my opinion 
 about it. But I fear my courage would have failed in the hour of 
 action. We hope to have another letter from you before long. 
 
 Anne desires dearest love to you all. 
 
 Your loving brother, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Bellagio, September 15, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Loitering here now for more than a week, with no definite occu- 
 pation for the days as they pass, and without any form of excitement, 
 is rather a novel experience in life for your dear mother and myself, 
 who until now have never known a condition in which we were not 
 pressed by the urgent demand on our time and strength for all we 
 could accomplish. 
 
 While we were sick, each felt for the other the weight of anxiety 
 which is natural to those who are thus isolated. 
 
 Now that we are again well and relieved from that disturbing 
 element, we might perhaps yield somewhat to the enervating influence 
 of e}m7n had not the arrival last evening of a precious package of 
 letters, a dozen of them at least, filled our hearts full of love and 
 adoration, and we waked this morning much refreshed, took our 
 breakfast, and then strolled along the Arcade beneath which are col- 
 lected all the few shops of the village, stopping in several and manag- 
 ing with mtich stumbling about among French, English and Italian 
 words to buy some buttons to replace those on my vest, which are 
 much the worse for wear, and some fresh trimmings for your mother's 
 bonnet. She also looked at some black silk, woven here, in the 
 factorj^ of the shopkeeper, of which I vainly attempted to persuade 
 her to buy a pattern for a dress. She has not j-et shaken the old one 
 to tatters, and therefore thinks she can postpone a little longer the 
 purchase of a new one. You all know how much time and how many 
 words the persuading her to buy any thing for her own use costs. I 
 sometimes think more than in Francs. The price of those woven 
 here, which were very good and pretty, varies from seven francs and a 
 half per yard, upward. 
 
 Among the guests we have found some agreeable associates with 
 whom to interchange thoughts and the expression of feeling, though 
 we do not know their names nor their social status. 
 
 A baby in the house is a good ralljdng point for Mammas and 
 Grand-mammas, and a few words over that object of universal love 
 leads to further conversation. 
 
 167
 
 We have not ventured on the extreme expression of a gushing 
 American Matron, who in the public saloon before a mingled crowd, 
 rushed up to a baby and throwing vip its clothes, said she must have a 
 kiss, and took one ! 
 
 In our quiet sauntering we are much amused with the natural, 
 home-like sports of the children around us, whether Italian or those of 
 travellers, like ourselves. 
 
 The laundresses do the washing of the clothing on the shore of 
 the Lake, along which runs the Pave on which we walk often. Our 
 attention was arrested this morning by a little ' ' baggage ' ' about the 
 size, shape and age of dear little Anne (we could not carry the 
 resemblance au}' further), whose mother was on her knees wholh- 
 absorbed in her work ; the little woman was at work with equal 
 earnestness hanging a garment to drj-, and when it was done to her 
 own satisfaction called to her mother for praise, with a most interesting 
 expression on her face of "that's all right." The poor little thing 
 did not enjo}- the privilege of a mother who thought, as does Anne's, 
 at least daily abhition necessar}- to puritj' of bod}' and health. 
 
 There does not appear to be here anj- grade intermediate between 
 the nobility and the peasantr}', unless it be the few shop-keepers and 
 the proprietor of this hotel, and he has raised himself from the position 
 of a boatman on the Lake. 
 
 We stepped into one this morning, the wares in which were so 
 beautifi;l and attractive that we were deterred from purchasing only 
 by the recollection of the difficulty in transportation. There were 
 various articles of wood of the olive tree, very close grained, of a 
 peculiar yellow colour streaked with black. There were boxes and 
 portfolios, the lids of which were most beautifullj- inlaid with 
 coloured mosaic-work representing the peasantry of Italj- in their 
 picturesque costumes. I never saw such finished specimens of this 
 kind of work, and wish we could carrj' them home with us. The fear 
 of this difficulty will probably follow us all our tour and prevent our 
 gratifying our desire to make you participants, as we would fain do, 
 of some of our pleasures. 
 
 In some of our late letters we have alluded to the very forbidding 
 appearance of the poor people of the districts through which we were 
 passing. Here it is entirely different. Their stature is good and their 
 features not unpleasing. We saw this morning several young people 
 whose whole appearance reminded us stronglj^ of your own in your 
 early youth. E3'es black, features regular, faces oval, complexion 
 dark, and black hair ; with light forms and graceful movements. 
 
 One of the shop-keepers pleased us especially not only by the easy, 
 graceful, courteous manner in which he waited on us, but still more by 
 the frank, open ingenuous expression of his countenance. 
 
 The principal shop, the proprietor of which is also a manufacturer 
 of silk-goods, we found without any attendant while the owner v/as 
 
 i68
 
 absent, we believe, at his breakfast. The goods were left hanging 
 about the door and the key in the lock. 
 
 The gait and carriage of the people are very peculiar and graceful. 
 The foot is raised and put down on the full sole, not on the heel or 
 toe, and there is nothing approaching to a shuffle. I am inclined to 
 attribute this very peculiar walk to the shoe worn by all the children, 
 and by the poorer class of adults. It consists of a simple wooden sole 
 the size and shape of the foot of the wearer retained on the foot only by 
 a leathern strap passing across the instep with no heel strap or fixture 
 for the toe as the oriental sandal has. It requires the dexterity which 
 can be acquired only by habit to retain it on the foot, and this habit 
 effects the gait, even when the common shoe is adopted in after life. 
 We see the children with ver}' pretty fancy coloured stockings, yet 
 wearing this simple shoe. The adult men and women generally adopt 
 the common shoe, and shoemaking is here as everywhere, an im- 
 portant industry. We see many shops in which the followers of 
 St Crispin pursue his honorable calling with as much energy as he 
 did. 
 
 We saw in our walk, this morning a placard headed " Aviss " or 
 ' ' Notice ' ' to the ' ' Societ}'^ for mutual benefit of Operata e Contadini, ' ' 
 from which we infer that these classes ' ' work-people and peasantry ' ' 
 are able to read and are not inattentive to their own improvement nor 
 unmindful of their interests. 
 
 I haA^e alluded to the very narrow margin of level land on the 
 shore of the lake. This causes all the villages which lie along the 
 shore to rise by very sharp ascents, which are surmounted generallj' 
 by stone steps from terrace to terrace. 
 
 It is only at distances of a mile or two that even room enough for 
 these hamlets is found on the shore, and it is laborious climbing to get 
 to the upper ranges of houses. 
 
 The sky is overcast to-day, and instead of the broad sunshine on 
 the mountains opposite, relieved by the dark shadows of the flitting 
 clouds, we have the general covering of shadow illuminated at short 
 intervals by bursts of sunlight on limited spots. The effect is very 
 fine indeed. 
 
 Another incident of variation from the ever}' day course of events 
 is the landing on the hotel pier of a load of coal from France, for the 
 use of the establishment. The scale on which this is conducted may 
 be estimated from the fact that the proprietor manufactures gas not 
 only for his own consumption but for that of the neighboring village. 
 Very good it is, giving a clear white light and entirely destitute of 
 offensive odour. The coal is brought, as I have said, from France and 
 is of a brown coloiir but has the regular chonchoidal fracture and is 
 hard and bears handling without breaking, and does not soil those 
 who handle it. I could only learn that it comes from France but not 
 from what part. 
 
 169
 
 The common fuel of the country is charcoal and peat. On our 
 way from Sondrio we passed both peat bogs and charcoal pits, arid we 
 see large boats loaded with these passing on the Lake in large 
 numbers. They are both shipped from Colico. 
 
 On many of the railroads over which we travelled in coming 
 through Germany they use peat for the locomotives, and we were 
 often surprised to find that what appeared to be good farm-land was 
 underlaid by peat, so that we would see green pastures and grain fields 
 interrupted by pits from which the peat had been recently dug, and it 
 was stacked in large heaps not far from the hay-cocks. In those 
 districts in which there is no peat the inhabitants are reduced to the 
 very sparing use of vine trimmings and small faggots of twigs for 
 their fuel. 
 
 As your dear mother and I sit quietly here together and think ot 
 you all, and recall the incidents of our travel since we left HOME, we 
 often think of something which has interested us as we passed, and 
 which we designed to mention lor describe to 5^ou but of which we 
 are sure we have omitted many incidents which at the time we 
 thought valuable or amusing. The allusion to the hay-fields and peat- 
 bogs just now reminds me of the expedient for curing the hay to 
 which the shortness of the summer compels the inhabitants of some ot 
 the mountain valleys to resort to expedite the process. Thej^ have 
 stakes of some six feet high crossed by three or four bars of about 
 three feet in length, which are driven firmly into the ground, on which 
 they hang the half cured grass that it may receive the full benefit of 
 the drying influence of the sun and air. When the crop of one year is 
 secured, these stakes are collected into little sheds in the fields, in 
 which they are protected from the weather for another year. There 
 are no great barns or stables for the cattle ; these share the same roof 
 as their owners. 
 
 Much skillful attention is given to irrigation in the districts 
 through which we travelled on the confines of Switzerland, the Tyrol 
 and upper Italy, on our way here. The mountain streams are diverted 
 from their course, and often conveyed across chasms in rudeh' con- 
 structed and inexpensive aqueducts, in order to convey the fertilizing 
 streams to those portions of the vallej^s which are destitute of streams 
 of their own, but which are thus converted into smiling pastures. 
 
 As we emerged from the higher mountains, and came down to the 
 tree-producing zones, the Chestnut orchards, which are very extensive 
 and composed of noble trees, became numerous ; the large sweet nuts 
 they yield forming a very important part of the food of the people. 
 These were followed by fruit orchards and those again by mulberry 
 orchards, before we descended to the plains, with their grain fields and 
 vineyards. 
 
 The Maize is planted in rows alternately with the vines and does 
 not add any beauty to the scene at the period of the year in which we 
 
 170
 
 passed through, as the crop had ripened and the tall dry yellow stalks 
 with the tattered leaf-blades and faded tassel, gave a parched and harsh 
 appearance, not at all in harmony with the green foliage and rich purple 
 clusters "of the vines, which were indeed, almost hidden under the 
 yellow veil. 
 
 I was much amused yesterday in the grounds of the Villa Melzi, 
 which contain as I have already told you a large variety of ornamental 
 trees, by the astonishment of a young German who formed one of a 
 party which was visiting them under the guidance of the Intendane. 
 He was very desirous to gather all the information within his reach, 
 and asked of me many questions about the various objects of interest 
 as they presented themselves ; which I could sometimes give him, as he 
 spoke French rather better than I do. Pointing to a chestnut-tree 
 very full of fruit he asked what it was, and on my replying " Castanea" 
 said " non, non ; " and pointed to it again. He was not satisfied 
 until he ran and picked up one of the burrs, which had fallen, before he 
 could be convinced that the smooth, soft nut had such a forbidding 
 covering. 
 
 I was so much pleased with him and his friend that I could not 
 but long to be able to communicate with them in the German language. 
 You young folk cultivate the knowledge of other languages than your 
 own. 
 
 Your ever loving father, 
 
 Caspar Moruis. 
 
 Bell AGIO, September 15, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 I closed my last with my advice to the ^^oungsters to cultivate 
 their power and improve every opportunity for the acquisition of other 
 languages than their own, and as I write the date of this sheet I am 
 reminded by it that this is about the time at which they will be 
 resuming school duties, I trust with cheerful, happy determination to 
 '■'■ find pleasure'" for themselves in the pursuit of knowledge, and to 
 give pleasure to all around them by their assiduity. Every thing 
 around us here makes me feel more and more my own deficiency. 
 
 If I were a scholar — classical or historical — I should be familiar 
 with the associations which cluster so thickly about these seats of 
 Grecian and Roman story, not to go still further back to the Etruscan, 
 which preceded them both, but has left no traces except the graceful 
 urns in which they deposited the ashes of their dead and the exquis- 
 itely shaped and adorned Patera which are found in their tombs, 
 deposited there before the foundation of Rome or the settlement of a 
 Grecian colony in the Italian peninsula. 
 
 171
 
 If I were posted in Natural Histor}' these mountains and valleys 
 would pour out their treasures in their Flora and Fauna, for my 
 delight. The Geology of these mountains has inexhaustible stores for 
 her votaries in the strata of which they are built, which are well deserv- 
 ing of investigation, and ray deficiency in general science is sufficiently 
 exhibited by the confusion into which I fell between Galvani and Volta 
 in one of my late letters. 
 
 So you see I stand poor in the midst of treasures of riches, only 
 because I failed to avail myself of opportunities to cultivate my powers 
 when I was a boy. 
 
 As your mother and I sat at otir tea in a little room which opens 
 out on the grand salle a manger, where we take our meals at such hour 
 as suits our own habits, our attention was arrested by another party, 
 evidently like ourselves desiring retirement, consisting of a young 
 lady and a little girl (the}' are generally accompanied by one or two 
 little boys). 
 
 We have noticed them walking, and had just heard the little girl 
 saj- in sweet tone of voice, and with perfect pronunciation, " I do not 
 want to be naught}'," and she looks as if she did not, so gentle and 
 amiable. We were sitting near the door and as she passed us in going 
 out, I ventured to salute the child who immediately stopped, and the 
 3'oung lady spoke to her in English. The child stopped and re- 
 turned our salutation and I said ' ' you are a dear little English girl ' ' ; 
 to which the young lady replied "no, Russian." On my expressing 
 surprise at the purit)' of the English of the child the Governess said, 
 "her father is Russian, her mother an Italian, and I am English." 
 
 Your mother then asked the little girl her name and she said 
 ' ' IMarie, ' ' and being asked ' ' what else' ' the child said ' ' Dolgou- 
 rouki." "What!" I said; "the daughter of the Countess?" "No," 
 replied the Governess, " the Prince and Princess Dolgourouki, of St. 
 Petersburg." Now here is this little Princess, not older than Emily 
 talking English as if it were her mother tongue. 
 
 We soon after passed her brother returning from the Lake side, 
 where he had been fishing with a pole cut rovighly from the thicket 
 hard by, and ignorant of his rank, I said "have you been fishing, 
 mylacP.'' He smiled pleasantly as he answered in French, "I have 
 not caught any. ' ' Nothing could be more simple than their manners. 
 
 Some years hence 3'ou may read of these nice little children grown 
 up to maturity, and performing a prominent part in the transactions 
 of public life. 
 
 Now they are learning like you the lessons which, well learned 
 will qualify them for the part allotted to them, and find their pleas- 
 ures in similar pastimes to those you enjoy. 
 
 They are very attractive children, most docile and affectionate in 
 their deportment to the Governess, and I fancy from missing them at 
 regular hours each da}', are piirsiiing their studies here. 
 
 I 72
 
 The advantages enjoyed by those who speak French, German or 
 Italian are very great. One feels quite ashamed of oneself to be 
 obliged to resort to the ' ' Porter' ' as an interpreter, and I find him 
 able to speak/ive languages, while I am, I fear, but imperfect in my 
 own . 
 
 Your grandmother lies on the sofa, while I thus chat with you. 
 She is I hope dozing, though this is just the hour at which we enjoy 
 the melodious sound of the bells of the church, which are verj'^ good, 
 and chime from 12 m. to i p. m. daily. The}' are sufficiently distant to 
 have the sound come to us softened bj' it. 
 
 When I had written thus far, the bell summoned us to the tad/e 
 d' hote, since which I have enjoj^ed a nice doze in my chair ; and now 
 o;i waking, find your mother at her sewing, the lake all aglow with 
 the rich light which falls on it ; the temperature most genial, and it 
 we were young we should take a boat and have a row. We are 
 delighted to think that Cornelia and Mar}- and Effingham had enjoyed 
 that pleasure on Lake Mohunk. 
 
 The thought did much to relieve us of the feeling that we are 
 enjoying a selfish gratification in our present pursuits. 
 
 We are looking forward in the hope that our next package of 
 letters may contain some from them. Our latest accounts from them 
 were Cousin Emilj-'s report of what she heard from Cousin Hannah 
 Buckley. We are truly thankful that they should have been permitted 
 to enjoy so much under such admirable care, and hope the}^ got 
 through all their holiday pursuits without any discomfort. Their 
 visit to Philadelphia would be so divided between their several uncles 
 that they would have but little time for either, and yet, I hope they 
 would give and receive pleasure in all. We do not expect from them 
 detailed accounts. I know when da3-s are crowded full of variety it is 
 impossible to retain all, and much less possible to report all, even, that 
 is retained. 
 
 I often think that the wonders and beavities by which we are sur- 
 rounded are wasted on me, so unable am I to retain the vividness of 
 the first impression and retain them in my mind ixntil I catch the linea- 
 ments, and transfer them to paper for 3'Ou. 
 
 To-morrow morning we propose to take the steamboat for Lecco, 
 a town of some 6000 inhabitants, at the head of one arm of the lake. It 
 is market-day and the boat lies there some two hours which will give us 
 a fine opportunity to witness the novel and bus}- spectacle, and to 
 learn something of the character of the people from thus interming- 
 ling with them ; and also to see what are the productions of the 
 country, and the results of its ancient civilization. 
 
 We shall keep the Lord's daj' quietly here, and on Monday we 
 purpose to cross over to Lago Maggiore, and spend a week there as 
 we have done here. 
 
 173
 
 Evening. 
 
 Half a dozen explosions ot some kind, making a noise as loud as 
 those of a cannon used for firing salutes at home, directly in front of 
 our windows, shook the house, jarred the cups and saucers on our tea- 
 table, startled your mother and myself, and announced the arrival 
 from the other side of the Lake of a boat with a band on board. 
 
 The music with which it has favoured us has quieted the disturb- 
 ance of our nerves caused by the unexpected explosions, and soothed 
 our feelings and tranquillized our spirits, so that we have now taken 
 our places at the table in our own chamber ; your mother occupied 
 with her needle- work and I with a book. 
 
 This is very pleasant, but we are far, far, from you. 
 
 And yet we are brought very near ; I took up Galignani of the 14th 
 just now, and find New York dates of the 13th announcing to us a 
 Reptiblican victory in Maine at the election of the previous day. It is 
 tantalizing to see the daily quotations of the price of gold and stocks, 
 on the day before with you, and to learn nothing about matters so 
 much nearer to our hearts, which are ever craving to know just how 
 3'OU are and what you are doing. Still more tantalizing is it to read 
 accounts of the boat races of yesterday, as though they were the im- 
 portant events interesting to all Europe. The advance in the value of 
 gold is interesting to us as it eifects the cost of travel. 
 
 The gliding about the Lake of the pretty 1 little pleasure boats 
 gives more interest in the boats at home than we should otherwise 
 feel; and just now we see passing many boats of burden, with their 
 picturesque sails, freighted with lime, coal, peat, charcoal and 
 wood. They have high prows and sterns, as well as large sails. 
 
 Saturday, September i6th. 
 
 Your mother and I awoke this morning feeling better than we 
 have done since we left home. What shall we render to the Lord for 
 all His gifts to us ? Everything around us is smiling in the fresh light 
 of the morning, the soft velvet-like green, mingling with the purple 
 and blue and grey which combine so wondrously on the opposite cliffs, 
 all glowing with the golden hue of the newly risen sun thrown over 
 them like a veil, softening and harmonizing them with a living glor^-, 
 is inexpressibly lovely, and if possible more attractive than any view 
 we have yet had from these windows, which open on so much that is 
 charming. 
 
 "All thy works praise Thee" ; may we, the objects of Thy 
 redeeming love ' ' give thanks to Thee. ' ' 
 
 When shall the knowledge of the Lord cover these mountains 
 with a moral glory like that which the rising sun now irradiates their 
 varied grandeur? When shall the sun of righteousness arise, with 
 healing in his rays ? I have felt not a little anxious lest I should fall 
 
 174
 
 under the condemnation of the servant who said ' ' my Lord delayeth 
 His coming ' ' ; and though I may not literally eat and drink with the 
 drunken, nor beat my fellow-servants, may settle down into slothful 
 indifference instead of cultivating a watchful desire to serve Him. 
 
 May He keep 7(s all, in all our goings out and comings in, looking 
 for the day of the Lord. 
 
 Your ever loving father 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 BelIvAGio, Lake Como, Italy, September i6, 1871. 
 My Dear Effingham : 
 
 I can not more strongly express the gratification your grand- 
 mother and I derived from yovir letter, nor I hope more acceptably to 
 yourself, than by thus addressing to j'ou the first letter home I have 
 written since the receipt of yours. 
 
 We made an excursion this morning to Lecco, a town of some 
 8000 inhabitants, Ijing at the head of one branch of this Lake. It 
 you consult the map you will find there are three divisions of the lake 
 each having a town at its extreme point ; Colico at the entrance of the 
 river Adda ; Lecco at the point from which the Adda flows out ; and 
 Como at the end of the largest division. Bellagio is situated at the 
 point of junction of these divisions. On our arrival at the door of the 
 hotel on our return, we were greeted by the " Porter" with the news 
 — most welcome indeed — that there was a packet of letters awaiting 
 us, so we rushed up to our chamber with no delay, I can assure you, 
 and have just got through them, very thankful that they bring us only 
 assurances of the good health and the happiness of those we so love — 
 more if possible, than if we were still with you. 
 
 Your description of your Wissahickon excursion makes me 
 tremble for my laurels. I shall be hereafter on my guard when I 
 attempt, what your grandmother has told me again and again it is 
 vain for me to try to do, to transmit to you some faint idea of the 
 scenes through which we pass here. 
 
 Make the Lake Mohunk, on which you have been passing your 
 holiday, about forty miles long, and two wide; gave it a depth of iSoo 
 feet, surround it with cliffs of rock from 600 to 1000 feet high; with 
 mountains from five to six thousand feet high just beyond, crowding, 
 as it were, around, to look over these cliffs and see their giant forms 
 reflected in the beautiful mirror of the Lake with its clear blue water ; 
 then adorn these moitntain-sides with villages of picturesque old 
 houses, each with its church campanile, or bell-tower, and along the 
 shore of the lake wedge into every nook or angle a magnificent villa, 
 or pretty little ornamental cottage ; and throw over all a mantle ot 
 glory such as 5^ou may weave out of the golden hues of the western 
 
 175
 
 heavens glowing with light after the sun has set, and you may form 
 a faint conception of the delights of this place, in which the old patri- 
 cians of the "Eternal City" took refuge from the cares of their 
 Curule chairs, and where they sought to forget, amid the beauties ot 
 nature, the anxieties of Senatorial duty. 
 
 The features of nature remain unchanged, and I believe art had 
 then lent as much additional grace as now, though time has left but 
 few of its trophies to vie with those which modern art has gathered 
 here now, "Like them to perish, and like them to fall." 
 
 We selected this day for our visit to Lecco because it is the market- 
 day there, and we found the town crowded with people of every social 
 grade, from Princesses in splendid equipages, down to humble peasantry- 
 with the products of their farms or of their other industries, but 
 nothing lower ; no beggars. 
 
 Priests of most imposing presence, handsome faces, manly forms, 
 and well dressed, their fine features and expansive foreheads well set 
 off by the three-cornered hats, which are one of the badges of their office, 
 mingled in the crowd with officers and soldiers of military port, and 
 ladies in the latest Parisian costumes ; while the market places (open 
 spaces with no protecting roofs or buildings of any kind), were 
 thronged with vendors and btiyers, of great variety of personal appear- 
 ance, but all clothed in the costume of the peasantr}-, not materially 
 different from that of our own labouring class. 
 
 The people vary vers* greatly in features stature, and complexion. 
 \'en,' man}- of them are so like our own Milesian-immigrants, in short- 
 ness of stature, contraction of features, and the entire expression of 
 countenance that I am convinced they are of the same race. 
 
 The Roman habit of colonizing their territories b}' settling on 
 them the barbarians they conquered, and the frequent invasions of the 
 Empire by hordes ot northern peoples, would lead tis naturally, to 
 look for a very mingled population in these Italian plains. Associa- 
 ting chiefly, if not exclusively, with their own congeners and either b\' 
 their own choice or from being despised hy their conquerors and older 
 and therefore richer settlers, the}' would intermarry for generations 
 among their own kindred, and thus maintain at least, and probably 
 magnify, the peculiarities of race features, and transmit them unchanged 
 from generation to generation to the end of time. 
 
 It is to this diversit}' of origin I attribute the diversit}- of counte- 
 nance and figure and carriage which is so evident here, and which we 
 saw in so marked degree in the crowded mart at Lecco. We are con- 
 tinually reminded of your father and uncles by many whom we meet. 
 That arm of the Lake on which Lecco is situated, lies in a limestone 
 district, and we passed many lime-kilns on the shore on our way. 
 Immense stacks of faggots, the fuel used in the calcination of the 
 stone, a very poor substitute for the large sticks of wood or the coal 
 tised with us for that ptirpose, are piled up around the kilns ; and fresh 
 
 176
 
 supplies are brought from a distance on the large craft which ply on 
 the Lake. These are about half the size of one of our large canal 
 boats but are much more picturesque, having the stem and stern both 
 elevated, and a mast in the midst with a long 5^ard crossing it at the 
 top, from which is stretched a very large sail. The cargo of whatever 
 it may consist, is protected from the weather bj^ a canvas cover like 
 that of our old-time Conestoga wagons. On ovir way to Lecco we 
 passed a great man}' of these boats laden with maize, peat, charcoal, 
 and other industrial products, bound to that place for the market ; and 
 when we landed we found ourselves in the midst of a most busy scene 
 of traffic. One portion of the market space was piled with bags of 
 maize, large bags of the grain of a deep rich 5-ellow colour ; great 
 heaps of cheese were stored together in a part devoted to that article 
 alone. There was a great variety of kind. Some were in small round 
 balls, a hundred or more of which were packed in one box ; some not 
 bigger than a walnut ; others were like mill-stones in size and shape ; 
 and the different kinds varied as much in colour and texture as in size 
 and form. One part was entirely occupied by the vendors of shoes of 
 every style, shape and material, from the delicate, soft kid slipper of 
 infancy, to great coarse heavy brogan, and the wooden sole with its 
 strap across the instep, to which I have alluded as the common wear 
 of the children. 
 
 Every kind of merchandise was exposed for sale, and each variety 
 had its own position assigned to it. 
 
 One part of the space was covered closely with basket-coops, 
 filled with chickens, ducks, geese and pigeons ; one man was selling 
 dogs ; a dense crowd was clustering about another, and on getting 
 near we found him with quite a pile of broken glass and chinaware 
 before him, and he vending Diamond cement. 
 
 One stall attracted us, covered with segments of water-melons, 
 looking enticing — red, juicy, and sweet. A tiny reservoir of water 
 Avas elevated about two feet above the stall of one dealer on which was 
 attached a miniature water-wheel, turned hy the fall into its buckets 
 of the water from a jet which was constantlj' falling. The power thus 
 created was employed in turning a grindstone at which stood a minia- 
 ture figure of a man grinding an axe. Thus you see devices to attract 
 customors are resorted to here as well as in our enterprising countn.'. 
 The displa}' of fruits was very fine and attractive ; peaches, grapes, 
 figs, and chestnuts. Your grandmother and I stopped before one of 
 the best furnished stalls to buy some, and on my ' ' Questa prezza ? ' ' 
 a nice looking young man looked at us and smiled, as he replied in 
 good honest English, ' ' How many do you wish ? ' ' We made our pur- 
 chase and then I asked how he came to be so familiar with our 
 language. He said ' ' I have lived many years in London ; if you 
 should ever cross London bridge 5'ou will find my mother there ; 
 she keeps a fruit shop." "What brought you back ? " I asked. "I 
 
 177
 
 was compelled to return and enter the army and serve eleven years, 
 or be declared a deserter. ' ' His father was dead, and he was obliged 
 to abandon her and come to Italy to fight for his country. He would 
 like, he said, to come to the United States of North America. 
 
 I had written thus far, when our tea hour arrived, and we went 
 down to the 'little ' ' salon ' ' in which we take it very quietly by our- 
 selves in the corner ; after which we had a very pleasant chat with 
 two young Philadelphians who came here this afternoon, Townsend, 
 and Ashbridge. We were sorrj^ that Burroughs w^as not with them 
 ,and they could give no account of him. 
 
 Leaving them we returned to our pleasant chamber, designing to 
 finish this letter, but the band commenced to play immediatly under 
 the window, and I found it impossible to write. 
 
 Mr. Ashbridge asked if we thought the beauty of this Lake had 
 been exaggerated ; to which I replied I did not think it could be ; an 
 opinion in which he entireh' coincided, though they had but recently 
 sailed on Zurich, Lucerne, and Lago INIaggiore. 
 
 I must refer you to Mark Twain ; you must get it and read it. 
 There are passages in it which are irreverent and many in bad taste 
 but much that is good of its kind and his descriptions are generally 
 correct. * Your grandmother and I are reading it here now with 
 pleasure ; have just finished the chapter on Pomxpeii. I have before 
 mentioned that this was the favourite resort of the Plinj-s. A letter 
 from the younger gives an animated description of the destruction 
 of Pompeii, and is given by Mark Twain. The place of his birth, and 
 for which he ever retained the fondest affection, is in sight from our 
 windows. Its charms are still almost without rival. 
 
 I am sorry for j-otir account of my poor old friend Dr. Blanke. 
 Please remember me to him, and avail yourself of his assistance in 
 acquiring language. I shall be happ}- to find on our return you and 
 Caspar both accomplished in German and Classic tongues, and I 
 should be delighted at some future da}- to visit these scenes with you, 
 if it is permitted to us to do so. 
 
 I can even now fancy you rowing on this beautiful Lake in the 
 evening ; or, as many young Englishmen do, being rowed in a covered 
 boat everj' morning to the middle of its bed of pure water and plung- 
 ing from it again and again into its depths, ' ' taking a Header ' ' they 
 call it, then swimming around and returning to enjoy their breakfast 
 all the more for the exercise and excitement, after which they spend 
 the morning in climbing heights to which those at Mohunk are, I 
 take it, but mere ant-hills in comparison. Ask Mr. Hugh Davids 
 about it all. 
 
 Our dear love to j'our grandmother and mother, with our hearty 
 thanks for their letters and for all their kindness to your cousins. 
 
 Your loving grandfather 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 178
 
 Bellagio, Sept. 1 8, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Your mother and I find it difficult to tear ourselves away from the 
 beauties and comfort of this delightful place. We have several times 
 talked of the time when we would leave, but it has, as yet, been 
 always the day after to-morrow , or next week. We have had some 
 apology for our incertitude in the ignorance in which we have been, 
 necessarily, of the movements of Wistar ; and even now, though he 
 has informed us by letter received j-esterday, that he will send a 
 courier here to take us to them, he fixes no time more definitely than 
 ' ' aboiit the 3rd of October. ' ' We had no desire for this, and do not 
 wish to remain here quite so long as that involves. Yet they change 
 their own plans and places so frequently'', that we can not communi- 
 cate with them. While we were sick our only channel of communi- 
 cation was through the Bankers in London. 
 
 The uncertainty of their movements is inevitable, as they find 
 objects of interest opening unexpectedly before them da}^ by day as 
 thej' advance, as well as difficulties they could not anticipate, or 
 provide against. 
 
 They were at Interlaken on the 15th, though our letter of only 
 two days before, had been dated at Me3^ringen, to which they had gone 
 unexpectedly, because they had not received an answer to a telegraphic 
 despatch asking for rooms at Interlaken. 
 
 They were enjoying rides on horseback and walks on foot " over 
 dreadful passes, and rough roads, and fearful descents." 
 
 Little Holly had been six hours in the saddle, and her mother 
 carried in ' ' Chaise a porteur. ' ' 
 
 Your mother and I are well out of the way and rejoice that they 
 have no such drag on their proceedings as we should have been of neces- 
 sity, if we had continued with them. 
 
 Thus yon see we are well cared for by Him who orders all things 
 well for them who trust in Him, and commit their way to His order- 
 ing. 
 
 The beauty here does not in the least pall on our senses ; but we 
 do intend to cross over to Lago INIaggiore to-morrow, or at the farthest 
 on Wednesday, and I shall probably not mail this letter until we get 
 across, as you must ere this have sickened of the very name Bellagio, 
 and think we are idiotically fixed in our attachment to the place. 
 
 I do hope Hugh Davids has some good sketches in his poitfolio, 
 and can fill them up after his return. Townsend and Ashbridge are 
 somewhere about, to-da3^ They appear to be enjoying themselves 
 nicely. 
 
 On the table in the salon de lecture I found to-day a copj^ of the 
 tri-weekly New York Tribune of the 28th, and was pleased to be able 
 from its report to justify the statements I had made in conversation 
 with some Irish gentlemen, of the extent of the peach culture in the 
 
 179
 
 United States, which had been thought must be exaggerated. The 
 peaches here axejine looking, and your mother says some of them are 
 very good. You know I never eat them at home except after meals ; 
 and here they are not brought on table at that time, cut and sugared, 
 but as fruit dessert with figs, of which I am especially fond, and grapes 
 et cet. Peaches are sold by the pound weight. 
 
 Bellagio appears to enjoy a perpetual holiday ; a steamboat arrives 
 or departs every few hours, alwaj'S full freighted with tourists in search 
 of pleasure whether coming or going. 
 
 In the intervals, like the minute marks on the dial of the watch 
 breaking up the large divisions by the marks of the hours, little pleas- 
 ure boats are constantl)' coming and going with those who are idling 
 here, like ourselves, or visiting from other places on the Lake. 
 
 No one is busy, except in doing nothing, except the ' ' Porter ' ' who 
 is fully occupied in giving welcome to the coming and speed to the 
 parting guests ; and the chamber-maid, who is never done "ridding 
 up" after those who have been enjoying, and preparing good beds 
 and nice rooms, for whoever may succeed the departing ; and the 
 denizens of the culinary department, of the existence of which we 
 have no knowledge, except that which is derived from the viands 
 which are carried from it to the salle a manger at all hours between 
 6 A. M., and lo v. M., always abundant and good. No one ever calls in 
 vain at any hour for milk, eggs, coffee, tea, bread, butter, beef mutton, 
 fish, poultry-, or game in season, dressed in any way one ever thought 
 of, and asks in vain. 
 
 One of the courses daily at the table d'hote is what they call 
 Quails : a delicious little bird of which one is furni.shed to each guest, 
 however many there may be. The cooking is perfect. We are spoiled 
 for future travel : not for home. One joint with potatoes and tomatoes 
 and a dessert of cut peaches, would draw us awa^-, gladly, from six 
 courses even here. 
 
 I have just read this to Nour mother, who is busy (packing pre- 
 paratorj' to our leaving here); she says " That's so, I endorse that 
 fully. ' ' The very water of the lake seems to have nothing to do but 
 reflect from its tramquil bosom the glorious heavens above it, and the 
 beautiful earth around it, so gently does it plash against the environing 
 shore ; and the air fans us with just that gentle creeping sensation 
 of the softest breeze, which lulls the senses into repose. 
 
 There was a transient flurrj' last evening, which stirred up every- 
 thing for a time. The clouds gathered blackness upon those distant 
 mountains (whose shadowy forms draw me ever and anon to the 
 window to enjo}^ the luxury of saying again and again " How perfect 
 is the beauty ! " — while I write the soft sound of the chiming bells 
 floats on the air among the distant peaks) and soon covered the entire 
 area of the lake, and fell in refreshing showers, mingled with lightning 
 flashes, and rolling thunder, reverberated from the mountains, followed 
 
 1 80
 
 by a fresh wind which stirred the waves and made them break noisily 
 against the shore, till we fell asleep. 
 
 The morning woke us with its cheerful smile on everything, far 
 and near ; and the day has gone on with its accustomed tranquil course. 
 Just at this moment all is so perfectly still that I suppose those who 
 dine at 2 p. m., are sleeping off the fatigue of that laborious action 
 and those who dine at six are sleeping in preparation for the exertion. 
 Your mother and I have enjoyed both the meal and the repose ; and 
 while she prepares to leave this realm of enchantment, a task she is 
 no more willing now than heretofore to confide to other hands than 
 her own, and in the performing of which she admits of no division of 
 thought or delegation of action, I talk thus idly with you, and yet 
 though idl}^ not I trust unprofitably. Such loving caiiserie serves as 
 the light fuel to kindle the flame of that love. 
 
 She and I sometimes differ about which of us shall carry some 
 article of our hand-luggage ; I was brought up in the school which 
 taught that this part of life's burden should all rest on man's should- 
 ers — was his peculiar province — and it required the experience of her 
 superior skill in packing to compel me to surrender that to her exclu- 
 sive control. 
 
 This morning she quite exulted as she pointed to an English 
 part)' we met on the steamboat, as we returned from a sauntering 
 walk. The good ladies were trotting, as only Engish ladies can trot, 
 each laden with a large satchel while their lords walked with grand 
 majesty beside them unburdened with any impedimenta. My only 
 reply to her chuckle was a grunt of dissatisfaction. But when it 
 comes to packing she has me at disadvantage ; and I can only relieve ni}'- 
 disturbance, caused by her assumption of her rigid to reign supreme in 
 that province, confirmed b}^ her success and my frequent failure, by doing 
 as I am now doing, taking refuge with you from the feeling of chagrin. 
 
 This gratifies her, satisfies me, and, I would fain hope does not 
 offend you. 
 
 One power only seems left me, that of enjoyment ; and the material 
 for enjoyment is ever present without needing to be sought for ; I 
 have but to do as I have done since I wrote the last sentence, lift my 
 eyes from the paper to which I am striving to transfer for your grati- 
 fication the expression of past delight, and I take in not only fresh 
 portions but, ' ' ever new delights ' ' from merely gazing on the ever- 
 lasting hills ! No artist has produced any thing more beautiful than 
 they are as the ideal of the ' ' Delectable Mountains ' ' of the blessed, 
 glorious. Dreamer whose Progress has so charmed the imagination of 
 the world of literature that it has been willing to accept his solemn 
 truths for the sake of the grace with which they are presented, and 
 the taste with which they are conveyed. 
 
 Before me now, (5 p. M.) lies the Lake like a mirror, its margin 
 like a frame artfully concealed by the villas, villages, and cliffs which 
 
 181
 
 skirt it, the surface just stirred as though b}' the fanning of unseen 
 wings. Opposite rise towering precipices, bathed on the one side in 
 the golden light of the sun, which seems almost to rest on their lofty 
 heads ; the other thrown into soft shades of variable purple. On the 
 extreme right rise the rugged grey ranges of the distant Alps, their 
 peaks reflecting the almost level raj's which reveal their savage grand- 
 eur, while the lower ranges and the valleys are veiled with a thin 
 haze of blue mist which, like drapery, adds beauty to that which exists 
 in form and perspective, while it covers all that could offend. 
 
 Half a dozen boats float slowly around, their oars scarce lifted 
 from the water, while those who recline in them imbibe the tranquil 
 delight which is gentl}' settling on every thing around. Earth can 
 never again offer to my eyes so much delight. 
 
 I am always jealous of any sensuous picture of a future life. I 
 do not believe that heaven is a place, or even a state. 
 
 But if I were drawinig the delineation of a Paradise of delight, 
 I should place it here. It is God's workmanship, and therefore may 
 be safel}- praised. None but He could have made it as it is. 
 
 " He planned, and built, and still upholds the world 
 So filled with beauty, for rebellious man." 
 
 ^la.y I shew my gratitude to Him for having permitted me to enjoy 
 this great gratification, by shewing forth His praise not only with my 
 lips but in mj' life, by giving up myself to His service with renewed 
 energy and zeal and love. 
 
 The grandeur of the Tyrolean Alps was exciting ; that of the 
 Jungfrau and IMatterhorn ma}^ be more stiblime ; but this, this is satis- 
 fying. It is peaceful repose, resting tranquill}^ amid surrounding 
 majesty and power. 
 
 You must not think that we are so absorbed in the pleasures here 
 as to be forgetful of 3-0U all. Your precious letters up to September 
 ist have filled our hearts with thanksgiving and prepared them for 
 this jo5^ 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Bellagio, September 19, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 At dinner table to-daj-, we learned that there is to be an illumina- 
 tion of the Cathedral at Milan, to morrow evening, it being the anni- 
 versary of the occupation of Rome by the Italian troops ; and as it is 
 only four hours distance from this place by rail, we have determined 
 to make a great effort and go there, leaving here earl}' to morrow 
 and reaching ]\Iilan by i p. m. 
 
 This will enable me to visit the Hospital to morrow afternoon and 
 Thursday morning, witness the celebration of the great Italian Anni-
 
 versary, see the illumination of the great Cathedral, which we are 
 told will be a most imposing spectacle, and return here by Fridaj' or 
 at furthest Saturday. 
 
 I shall endeavour to find time while there to write, and will at least 
 mail this. 
 
 We are wonderfully^ well. The weather to-day has been invigor- 
 ating. The early morning was quite as cool as we could desire, 
 making it necesar}' for comfort to close the windows ; and a north 
 wind raised very decided waves on the Lake so that our clerical friend 
 reported at breakfast time that he had been quite sea-sick while being 
 rowed to shore after bathing. 
 
 Could any of j'ovi desire for us more of earthly enjoyment than we 
 are favored with ? . IMay we not unite with one accord in a Psalm of 
 thanksgiving ? 
 
 INIiLAN, vSeptember 20th. 
 
 When as a boy I learned that one of the chief towns of Italj^ bore 
 this name, and as I advanced a little further in knowledge and read of 
 Lombardy, and of this as the capital of that kingdom ; and even later, 
 when I became familiar with its importance in the decline of the 
 Roman Empire, and associated with it the fate of Belisaritis and the 
 lives of Ambrose and Jerome and Augustine, I little thought I should 
 ever tread its streets, or fancied what manner of place it was ; and 
 now that I am here, the associations with the events in its history to 
 which I have alluded are but shadowy and obscure and indefinite com- 
 pared with the strangely impressive fact that here are your mother 
 and myself in a chamber which we reached after more meandering 
 through intricate passages than I had ever conceived it was possible to 
 introduce into one house, with a naked floor of tiles, but ver}- com- 
 fortabh- furnished ; she with her knitting, and I writing thus to 3'ou, 
 beguiling the time while we wait for our homely meal, at our homelike 
 hour, having ordered tea at seven o'clock. We shall take it in the salle 
 a manger (at a side table), in which there are now at least one hundred 
 and fifty guests at their dinner of courses ; many, if not all of whom, 
 will pit3^ the rusticit}' of such barbarians as we will be in their eyes. 
 But it suits our tastes and confirmed habits ; and still better would be 
 the quiet domestic order of one of your parlors or dining rooms. 
 
 I am more astonished at Milan than by anything we have yoX. 
 seen. We can with difficulty conceive ourselves in a foreign land, so 
 closely do the thronging multitudes resemble those of our own great 
 cities in costumes, manner, stature and countenance. The language 
 alone is strange. We came direct from the railwaj^ Depot through the 
 principal streets, lined on either side with shops containing the same 
 goods as those with us, arranged in the same proportions, and 
 displayed with the same taste, and the various kinds of merchandise 
 distributed in about the same relative assortment of the shops.
 
 The street through which we came to the hotel has about the same 
 width as those of our own towns, and the fronts of the dwellings are 
 not very dissimilar. 
 
 The vehicles resemble our own, and the horses are good, and on 
 this street there are omnibuses plying every few minutes along the 
 crowded wa5^ There are, it is true, no footwalks ; but we have 
 become so familiarized with this that it does not offend us. The 
 pavements are excellent ; very different from our miserable cobble 
 stone substitutes, and men with baskets strapped on their shoulders in 
 which to carry off the garbage, and shovel in hand with which to 
 gather up ever3'thing offensive, are to be met every few yards 
 gathering all offal matter and keeping all parts of the street perfectly 
 clean and fit for the foot. 
 
 Merry children, playing on the streets, or running along, give a 
 cheerful aspect to the whole scene as I have attempted to give it to 
 you. But there are other features which are strange indeed ! I have 
 seen and admired engravings, photographs, models even of the 
 Cathedral, and read description after description from various pens, 
 but have never formed the faintest conception of its majesty. That is 
 the only word which occurs to m}' mind as in anj' degree appropriate. 
 IVIilan stands in a great plain with no elevation in its area, which 
 is thickly covered with houses and as we approached by rail and I first 
 saw it from the cars, rising above the houses, I said to myself, as did 
 Bruce at the sources of the Nile, "Is this all ?" I said nothing to 
 anyone else, but was expressivel}' silent. As we drove along the 
 streets and approached, but did not pass it, I still felt disappointed. 
 When I walked to it — it is not far from the hotel, on the same street 
 — and stood beside it in the rather narrow open space at one side of 
 which it stands, while the archiepiscopal palace and other large 
 buildings crowd on it from the other side, there was still the same 
 unsatisfied feeling. But, when I got within it ! then in a moment, 
 the awe fell on me, and I felt as an insignificent atom in the midst of 
 its immensit}' ! 
 
 There are no statues or tombs to divide the area, no pictures to 
 distract the attention ; one is absorbed in the extent and unity of the 
 massive structure, spread undivided around one, and towering in 
 immeasureable height above, and one turns to the nearest column for 
 some sensible companionship in the solitude of space. That does not 
 afford it ; it is too massive and too \oiX.y, and one feels like a petty 
 insect crawling at the base. 
 
 As one enters, the distant lights in the chancel at the opposite 
 end; appear like twinkling stars in the dimness of distance ; no sound 
 disturbs the solemn silence which prevails ; there is the feeling of 
 loneliness which can be compared only to that of the unexplored 
 wilderness or the limitless ocean at midnight. One lifts one's ej'es, 
 and the height is more overwhelming. 
 
 184
 
 The first thing which brings one back to the feeling of the real, is 
 probably the sight of some poor victim of misbelief stopping at the 
 vase beside one, at the entrance, to sprinkle himself with holy water, 
 and make the sign of the cross on the forehead and breast. 
 
 Ye men of Milan, I feel toward 5'ou as did St. Paul to those of 
 Athens, and would fain declare unto you Him who ye thus ignorantly 
 worship. 
 
 The same conflict between the priestly and the civil power which 
 was \\ aged in the days of the Lower Empire, when the Roman Emperor 
 Vv-as compelled to stand a trembling penitent at the door of the 
 cathedral, waiting till the bishop should permit him to enter, with every 
 token of subjugation, is renewed at this very juncture. We were 
 induced to come over here at this time without waiting for your 
 Uncle and Aunts, by the announcement that there would be an 
 illumination of the city generallj^ and especially of the Duomo, in 
 honor of the unification of Italy, on this the first anniversary of the 
 entrance of the Italian Kingdom into Rome as the Capital. This act 
 is distasteful to the Pope and the supporters of his Temporal Power, 
 under which he claims to be the legitimate ruler of the Papal States. 
 
 The priests have forbidden the illumination of the Cathedral, and 
 the fete has in consequence dwindled from the proposed display to a 
 Concert, vocal and instrumental, in the Plaza rieht along side the 
 great citadel of their strength ; a partial illumination of a few 
 houses ; and a general display of flags ; and this notwithstanding the 
 presence of Victor Emanuel, who has come over from Florence to 
 distribute the Prizes at the tv/o Expositions, one of Art and the other 
 of Industrial products, which are now being held here for the purpose 
 of affording encouragement to Italian native skill. 
 
 We spent an hour or so this afternoon in that for the encourage- 
 ment of manufactures, with great satisfaction. The display is ver}' 
 fine in all its parts, and especially creditable in the departments of 
 household furniture and carriages. Silk stuffs, plain and brocade, 
 were of course verj'- rich and elegant ; and the inlaid cabinet ware 
 superbly beautiful. In st3dc, proportions, workmanship, it exceeds 
 anything we have ever seen. Chinav/are, glass and cutlery, were also 
 well represented in the various forms of those products of art and 
 skill. IManj^ of the vehicles were superb in their appointments and 
 in the arrangements for the ease of the occupants, as well as in the 
 exquisite finish of the workmanship. 
 
 The department of Pharmacy attracted my attention, and there 
 were many beautiful specimens of the products of that art, which 
 might have excited some feeling of rivalry on the part even of IMr. 
 Hubbell. He might tremble for his laurels. Perfumery and toilet 
 articles were, of course, prominent. 
 
 Before one of the stalls appropriated to these, was a fountain 
 throwing iip liberal jets in which the visitors were moistening their 
 
 185
 
 pocket-handkerchiefs. The spray was sweetly odorous, being Eau d'' 
 Milan, which your mother pronounces better than Eau d' Cologne, 
 There was the usual display of ornamental feather-work and 
 embroidery, etc. ; some of it very beautiful. But it is time for us to 
 take a little turn on the street, after which we shall commend 3'ou and 
 ourselves to the loving protection of our Father in Heaven, and seek 
 for repose. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 ]\IiLAX, Itah', September 21, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 While your mother dresses I will record for you the experiences of 
 last evening before they are crushed out of ni}- mind by the pressure 
 of those of the passing day, which is too often the result of the 
 unceasing presentation of fresh objects of interest with every passing 
 moment, amid scenes so new to us and so full of interest as those by 
 which we are here surrounded. So rapidh' do the}' crowd the one on 
 another, that the former has not time to make a definite impression 
 before it successor comes into the field, and thus the whole picture 
 becomes blurred and marred in inextricable confusion. 
 
 After our return from the Industrial Exposition we found a 
 temporar}' resort to our beds a much needed comfort ; and tea a blessed 
 restorative. After which we seated ourselves in our chamber, your 
 mother with her knitting, and I with my letter-writing to fill up the 
 minutes till the hour for music on the Plaza. I had just completed 
 my letter and folded it for the mail when the chamber-maid entered, 
 and expressed her surprise that we were not out to see the illumina- 
 tion, and was much surprised when told it was forbidden. 
 
 Your mother was dressing for the walk, and to my enquir}' about 
 the weather the maid replied b}' the assurance that it was beautiful ; 
 but on reaching the street we found it was raining and unfit for 3-our 
 mother to expose herself on the Plaza, unsheltered, so that she 
 remained within. 
 
 I met such numbers of persons returning, as I went toward the 
 Plaza, that I supposed the rain (which was heav}-), had caused the 
 postponement of the Concert ; but walking on, I soon encountered 
 three cavalry soldiers, standing in the carriage-wa}', evidently 
 stationed there to prevent the further advance of carriages in that 
 direction. Still to my surprise, the people were all coming away from 
 the Plaza. But when I arrived at the Plaza I found it closely packed 
 with a multitude before which one of our great monster mass-meetings 
 in Broad Street would dwindle into a mere crowd. I could get no 
 nearer to the Orchestra than just to see that the musicians were on a 
 
 186
 
 great platfojm, brilliantly lighted and that there was a stage beside it 
 which had evidently been erected for the reception of some partv of 
 distinction, but it was impossible to determine whether those who 
 occupied it were Royal or Plebeian — nay, I could not get suf&ciently 
 near to decide whether they were white or black. The numerous 
 statues which adorn the exterior of the Cathedral were brought out by 
 the brilliant light of the torches in high relief, while the niches in which 
 the}' stand were thrown into deep shade, contrasting strongh- with the 
 pure white ot the vast pile of well-dressed Carara marble of which 
 the whole striicture is built ; drawn from a quarry which is the exclu- 
 sive property of the Cathedral. Except the great Temperance Rally 
 at the grounds of the Cr5'stal Palace near London, it was the largest 
 collection of men I had ever seen collected, and the most decorous in 
 behaviour. 
 
 I arrived at a very happy moment, just when were singing a 
 song written for the occasion by T. Buchanan Read, in the chorus of 
 which many of the crowd united, and at the close the entire multitude 
 applauded. I did not remain longer in the rain, entirely convinced by 
 the number assembled, notwithstanding the disappointment about the 
 illumination of the Duomo and the heavy rain falling, that the hearts 
 of the people here were in entire sympathj'^ with the movement for the 
 regeneration and unification of Italj', though they may not 5'et be 
 prepared to throw off the j-oke of priest-craft the}- have worn so long. 
 
 Would that there were something better than the bondage of 
 scepticism and sheer infidelity (its own progen}^), to take its place. 
 It is to be feared that nothing but violence will break up the strong- 
 holds of error and superstition, and I should be glad to see any mode in 
 which one could cooperate in efforts to bring them under the influence 
 of the simple iinadulterated Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. This can be accomplished onl}- b}'' the Divine wisdom, Divine 
 power, and love of Him who " is Love." 
 
 English influence is ver}- great and makes itself felt in many waj-s 
 silenth- promoting the efforts of the people in their own behalf ; and 
 English capital is freely expended in many enterprises, not always 
 either advantageously to the Italians or profitably to the English 
 owners. 
 
 A grand enterprise was commenced a few years ago in the con- 
 struction of an extensive building for a Bazaar, with an enormous 
 glass dome, of great elevation and radivis, from which three long corri- 
 dors several stories in height, diverged to as manj' wide streets, on 
 each of which there was to be a grand arcade of marble with sculpture 
 over the lofty arches. 
 
 By their contract with the jVIunicipalit}' it was to be forfeited if 
 the contractors did not complete it according to the plan submitted, 
 and having underestimated the cost, the company failed after having 
 expended no less than 12,000,000 Francs of British capital, and the 
 
 187
 
 Municipality is now at work on it. It covers an area larger than 
 several of our squares thrown together ; and the dome, which is com- 
 pleted, and the arcades which diverge from it are entirely protected 
 with glass from the weather, while the shops and passages are as light 
 as out of doors during the day, and are brilliantly illuminated at night. 
 The shops are large and well supplied with everj^ conceivable kind of 
 goods, and there are several large cafes building, around which one 
 sees every evening the chairs fully occupied with men and women 
 eating ices or drinking the light wines of the countrj^ or sipping the 
 coffee, and gossiping about ptiblic or private affairs, as their several 
 tastes or interests may incline them. There are also Music halls, 
 giving concerts ever}- evening, while crowds of well-dressed people are 
 promenading in the spacious arcades which are brilliantly lighted, and 
 furnish a favourite place of resort for the INIilanese of all ranks. The 
 entire floor is laid in mosaic, and there are many perfectly executed 
 statues of distinguished Italians, poets, statesmen, and artists, from 
 the earliest to the present time, Raphael, Dante, INIichael Angelo, and 
 Cavour being especially conspicuous. 
 
 The one facade which is finished is ver>' imposing ; and the prin- 
 cipal front, which is on the Plaza and as yet only commenced, is 
 designed to be still more so. 
 
 The Italian spirit is aroused and is determined to manifest its 
 claim to the honour of being the offspring of the Romans of old, by 
 their determination to thrive under their autonomy, and thus rebuke 
 the tyranny of Austria b}' which the}- were so long held in depressing 
 thraldom. The very name is held in abhorrance, as is also the tem- 
 poral authority of the Pope, which was upheld by that Empire ; and 
 this feeling is dominant also in the minds of a large majority of the 
 middle and lower classes toward the spiritual claims of the Papac}^ 
 which the}' associate with their temporal oppression. 
 
 An apt illustration of the depth and extent of this feeling is 
 afforded by our valet de place, an intelligent and well informed 
 Milanese. 
 
 There is a grand boulevard or public drive, six miles long, shaded 
 by double lines of noble horse-chestnut trees, running around the city 
 on the level of the top of the wall, from which one looks, in driving, 
 down on the houses and their beautiful ornamental grounds, on the one 
 side, and on the Lazaretto built by Carlos Boromeo (so deservedly 
 canonized) and the wide spread plain, on the other. We diove there 
 (each afternoon, and as we were admiring the noble trees I remarked to 
 Allessandre, ' ' they must have been planted under the Austrian rule ; 
 they could not have attained such size if planted since the establish- 
 ment of the Kingdom of Italy." 
 
 He instantly replied, with great animation : "They are older than 
 Austrian rule. Napoleon I. had a great ambition to be Roman 
 Emperor. He did much for Milan." This is true; there is now a
 
 great Ampitheatre, capable of seating 35,000 persons to see races and 
 fire-works and listen to musical performances, which was designed 
 and commenced under his auspices. The arena is sufficiently spacious 
 to admit of horse races, and is annuallj'- flooded with water and thtis 
 converted into a lake on which a regatta is held. 
 
 Near by rises proudlj^ another of the trophies by which Napoleon 
 delighted to commemorate his power in France and Italy, a grand 
 triumphal Arch at the southern terminus of the Simplon Road over 
 the Alps, by which he designed to perpetuate the union between France 
 and Italy, which he named The Arch of the Simplon. Under the Aus- 
 trian sway the name was changed to Arch of Peace, and it is now 
 known as The Arch of Triumph. It is of Carara marble, of magnifi- 
 cent design and fine proportions and execution, having represented on 
 it in bas-relief, the marriage of the Emperor to Josephine, and his 
 various Italian victories over Austria. 
 
 It is surmounted by a bronze group of horses in imitation of the 
 celebrated group at Venice in front of the Cathedral of St. Mark, said 
 to be the greatest remains of Grecian art ; which Napoleon carried to 
 Paris, but was compelled to restore them. This group was cast here, 
 where we are told there is a very successful foundry for bronze works 
 of art. 
 
 The palatial structures which abound here, but especially on the 
 Corso Reale, where they are magnificent, prove the existence of great 
 wealth ; but the possession of this is not confined to the old nobilitj-, 
 which has lost its prestige, but is shared by the merchants and manu- 
 facturers and mechanics. 
 
 One very fine building arrested my attention soon after we arrived, 
 standing conspicuously near the park-like space around the railroad 
 station, and on making some inquiry about it I was told it is a manu- 
 factor}^ of letter envelopes. This fact alone affords striking evidence 
 of the energy and activit}' of the present times, as nothing but intel- 
 lectual activity and commercial energ}' can create a demand for so 
 extensive a production of this article. 
 
 The fronts of most of the more recently built houses are of granite 
 (nearly white) or marble, and, by a curious municipal regulation, all 
 houses on the principal streets and chief thoroughfares are compelled 
 to have a projecting balcon}' over the chief entrance, and if the owner 
 is not able to encounter the cost of it one is built for him at the public 
 charge. 
 
 The fronts are frequently wide and are entered through port 
 cocheres, opening into extensive gardens, which are shut off" from the 
 streets, and thus have the advantage of entire privac3\ Thej- are 
 planted very tastefull)' with a charming variety' of semi-tropical shrubs 
 and flowers, beautifull}' arranged, and in man}- there are fountains. 
 
 Our valet de place procured us access to one which had been over- 
 looked from neighbouring: houses ; the owner had met this inconveni-
 
 ence b}' surrounding his premises b}' a loft}^ wall, which he covered with 
 beautiful fresco paintings, representing mountain and other rural 
 scenes so perfectly that as one stood in the midst of the actual flowers 
 and shrubs of the garden and looked at the illusorj- surroundings one 
 could not realize that the whole was not real. 
 
 In the older parts of the city they are renewing the fronts of the 
 old houses in modern stjde, so activel}' that it strikes one as the most 
 livingly active place we have j'et visited. Everything betokens 
 prosperity. The shops are brilliantly lighted everj' evening, not onl}' 
 in the arcade, but on the great thoroughfare, and the goods, which are 
 in great variety and of costly material and superior fabric, are 'dis- 
 pla^'ed most artistically and with much good taste. Mirrors are so 
 arranged as to duplicate the entire shop, not only in depth, but also in 
 the extent of front, so perfecth' that one is still deceived again and 
 again. 
 
 Last evening j-our mother and I wandered around with great 
 pleasure. The streets were swarming with people, the seats in front 
 of the cafes filled with respectable looking men and women drinking 
 coffee and tea and eating ices. 
 
 We did not meet with one who gave anj- reason to suppose that 
 he was the worse for wine ; still there was the thought present that 
 this out-of-door life is not conducive to domestic happiness nor to 
 mental culture, and that it must be inimical to all forms cf spiritual 
 life. 
 
 Yet the devotional feeling is not quenched ; certainly not extin- 
 guished. As we stood with entranced feelings, almost overwhelmed 
 b^- the awe inspired by the immensit}' of the grand Cathedral, one 
 after another, men of sober mein and humble deportment, and counte- 
 nances expressive of earnest feeling of devotion, seeking an object of 
 adoration or one to whom they could make known their wants in 
 pra\-er, would press near to the place they considered most holy and 
 kneel solemnh', and in silence kneel with even,- indication of sincere 
 desire for Divine help. 
 
 I know that mere sincerit}' of belief is not the test of truth ; cer- 
 tainly, they who of old brought oxen and garlands of flowers and 
 would have worshiped Paul and Barnabas were sincere in this act, and 
 yet they soon after persecuted and stoned the teachers of the tnie 
 faith. 
 
 I find it ver}^ diflicult to hold fast the form of sound doctrine 
 delivered to us in the Word of God in the midst of all the diverting 
 influences, so many and so various, which we encounter amidst the 
 pleasures of travel, as \'ou do in the midst of the anxieties and tempta- 
 tions of business. JSIaj^ we all be kept by the power of God, through 
 faith imto salvation. 
 
 Yoiir ever loving father, 
 
 Casp.\r Morris. 
 
 190
 
 Milan, September 22, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 This has been a day of full enjoA-ment without satiety or weari- 
 ness from over-exertion, and all the greater for myself in that I really 
 believe yonr mother has participated in the delight. The Cathedral 
 and Leonardi da Vinci's painting have given her more gratification 
 than I had supposed she would find from an5-tliing on this side of the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 The influence of each was subduing, like the deep tones of sacred 
 music, or the calm glory of a cloudless western sk}^ or the majesty of 
 the midnight moon as the fleecy clouds float across, as she hangs sus- 
 pended in the empyrean depths of the vault of heaven. I am thank- 
 ful to have enjo3^ed the privilege of witnessing and participating in 
 her calm enjoyment of both. 
 
 Leonardi must have studied thoroughly, and, more than that, 
 must have understood and appreciated the character and meaning of 
 our Lord's last discourse with His disciples, or he could not have pro- 
 duced that inconceivable expression of " nevertheless, not my will but 
 Thine be done," as he has thrown into his picture of 'CaQ hnnianiiy 
 of our Master and Lord. 
 
 The varied manifestation of mere human feeling displayed by the 
 disciples — irom the indignation of one and the horror of another, to 
 the remonstrance of Peter and the loving sympathy of John — are in 
 strong contrast with the combination of human feeling with Divine 
 serenity in the countenance of our Lord. 
 
 I have often said, and always feel, that the highest proof of the 
 Divinity of our Lord is found in the calm yet earnest character which 
 prevades the entire record of the last hours spent with His disciples ; 
 and it seems to me that the same impression in the mind of the artist 
 produced this incomparable picture. The more I turn over in my mind 
 the details the deeper is the impression it leaves. I would not have 
 that impression marred by looking at much less by possessing any 
 copy, however good. We saw man}' in the Refectorj% and the contrast 
 was most painful. Attitudes, perspective, position, colour, were all 
 faithfully reproduced ; but it was worse ' ' than the body v\-ithout the 
 spirit ' ' : the spirit had never been there. 
 
 Note. — Date uncertain, probabl}' in 18S2. (Ed.) 
 
 (/« copying this expression of the feeling I experienced in sitting as 
 we did in silent awe before this most wonderful production of Imman 
 power, after the lapse of ten years, marked in their passage by the most 
 sorrowful experiences of human life, and realizing the fearful extent to 
 which aesthetic feclijigs have been made the agent of introduci7ig into the 
 nominal church the most grievous and fatal errors in doctrine and practice, 
 I am led to pause and hesitate whether such feelings are conducive ta 
 
 191
 
 growth in grace and the true knowledge of the gospel of our Lord fesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Such feelings are soothing, elevating, purifying ; but do they lead to 
 7nore faithful active service, or promote a religion of mere volupiitous 
 enjoyment of a hope of our own salvatian frojn the penalty of sin f) 
 
 Bellagio, Saturdaj^ p. m., September 23rd. 
 
 We left Milan this morning, at 9 a.m., for Como, bj' rail, and 
 thence bj^ steamboat on the Lake back to this sweet place of rest, reach- 
 ing here about 2 p. m., where we found precious letters /;'<?;« home 
 awaiting our return. Dear Marj^'s and Cousin Emily's as late as the 
 3rd and 4th of this month. 
 
 How shall we express our gratitude for the good news, "All well." 
 There was also one from dear Mrs. Cope, pouring out the mingled 
 notes of deep afiSiction, confiding faith, and ardent love. We ivould 
 fai?i be with you all. 
 
 We are not only disappointed, but disturbed, b3' the want of 
 information of the how and whereaboiits of Wistar and Sisters. There 
 is a letter from \'illeneuve but without any definite account of tlieir 
 plans, or arrangements for meeting, for which we had been looking 
 with entire confidence we should find it here. We feel embarrassed 
 about our own movements. 
 
 The countr}' between Como and ]\Iiian is verj'- flat and destitute of 
 any natural attractions, and the soil verj- poor. It has been evidently 
 the bed of a lake in some distant period. It is underlaid in the whole 
 distance b}' a stratum of small rolled stones, or pebbles. The onl}^ 
 crops we saw were maize, grapes, and mulberry trees, to supply food 
 for the silk- worms. 
 
 These are planted in extensive orchards, about 20 feet apart, and 
 are not permitted to rise higher than about 10 feet high, when the}' are 
 " topped," in order to promote the sending out of shoots, v/hich shall 
 produce large, tender, succulent leaves for the supply for the voracious 
 eaters, and enable them to spin fine large cocoons of the beautiful 
 fibre which enters so essentially into the beautiful fabrics, so appro- 
 priate to female dress. The spaces between the trees are planted with 
 vines which here are trained from tree to tree, as they were in the da3-s 
 of Horace, who celebrates the "marriage " of the vine to the Elm. 
 
 Maize is also planted in the vacant spaces, but is very poor, and 
 at this season of the j-ear when the tassel has faded and the blades 
 become j'ellow, and the mulberry trees have been denuded of their 
 foliage, the aspect is very sterile. 
 
 The land is owned by large proprietors, formerly b}- the ecclesias- 
 tical establishments, or nobles ; and rented out to the peasantrj- — 
 " contadini " — I believe they are called — who paj- one-half the pro- 
 
 192
 
 duct to the proprietor of the soil. They are said now to be prosperous 
 and happy. 
 
 This part of Italy has certainly aroused from the torpor into 
 which it had sunk under the depressing influence of Austrian oppres- 
 sion and misrule. Milan, the chief cit3% is a place of wonderful 
 energy. Streets are being widened and new houses constructed in 
 ever}' part ; and public improvements pushed forward with an energy 
 which astonishes every visitor, even those who have been accustomed 
 to witness the rapid development of the New World. The dwellings 
 of private citizens, who have acquired wealth in mechanical pursuits 
 and by manufactures or in trade, exceed in comfort and elegance those 
 of the princes of former days, if they fall somewhat short of their 
 solid durability. They are built of granite or marble, often with a 
 frontage of over loo feet on the street, and several stories high. The 
 ground-floors are not infrequentl}- rented out for shops or even as 
 workshops, but this is not done so commonly now as formerly when 
 it was the universal custom of the nobles. The prestige of the old 
 aristocracy is lost. Those of them who now command the popular 
 favour, have acquired it by ruinously lavish expenditiire in support of 
 the present popular form of government, and promoting the iinification 
 of Italy which is the great object of patriotism. Some of the nobles 
 are said to have reduced themselves to poverty by their very free 
 expenditure on this account. No more expressive illustration could 
 be given of the tendency of the popular feeling at the present time 
 than that which is furnished by the fact that the most costly and 
 elaborate monument in the new Campo Santo, a very admirable piece 
 of statuarj^ has been erected to the memory of a mechanic, with the 
 tools and emblems of his art sculptured on the tomb. 
 
 One must do as we did — drive for hours about the streets — to form 
 a correct idea of the energy which is everywhere active here, and the 
 wondrous results it has already accomplished. 
 
 Our Commissionaire assured us that everyone was getting rich, 
 including even himself. The houses, the fronts of which I have men- 
 tioned as so imposing, enclose open courts with fountains and flower- 
 beds and shrubbery, and sometimes extensive pleasure gardens, which 
 one enjoys as one passes, as they are exposed to the view of all 
 through the open iron-work of the gates, through which they are 
 entered under wide arch-ways. 
 
 As we paused before one of these gateways the portier very kindly 
 pressed lis to enter, and we were nothing loth to accept the invitation, 
 attracted by the beaut}^ of the grounds as we saw them from the street. 
 Though in the heart of the most populous part of the town, there 
 must have been at least two acres in the enclosure, laid out with great 
 taste in flower-beds and ornamental shrubbery and miniature lakes, 
 most artfull}' contrived to resemble natural ones, with sinuous shores, 
 surrounded with plantations of flowers of gorgeous colours in great 
 
 193
 
 variety. The amaranths were especially rich and varied in colour, and 
 were massed in clusters of the most attractive forms. 
 
 But the wonder of the spot was derived from the means taken to 
 remed}^ a great defect, caused b}^ its being overlooked on three sides 
 from the adjoining properties. 
 
 The proprietor of this, a retired banker, surrounded it with a high 
 wall which is covered in its whole extent by very fine fresco paintings, 
 representing snow-clad peaks, Alpine valle3'S, castles and chalets, with 
 roads passing from one to the other, and terraces — all so perfectly rep- 
 resented that the illusion is complete, and one must walk up to the 
 wall and touch it to be undeceived. From one window in a castle a 
 lady is represented as looking out, and apparently withdrawing on 
 being obser\-ed, so naturall}' that one felt inclined to withdraw oneself 
 from the intrusive gaze. We were told that this arrangement had cost 
 the owner 80,000 francs. 
 
 The railway station is almost equal to those at Zurich and at 
 IMunich, quite equal in the real comfort of the accommodations, 
 though not furnished as sumptuously nor ornamented so expensivel}'. 
 The waiting-room, in which we were received this morning till the 
 arrival of the train by which we left, was frescoed with paintings 
 which, with us, would pass for works of high art. 
 
 One represented Venice as a queen in regal costume, receiving the 
 tribute of the world, brought b}' representative figures. 
 
 The entire area of these stations is covered with glass, thus pro- 
 tecting the travellers from the vicissitudes of the weather as they enter 
 or leave the cars, without excluding the light during the da^'-time ; and 
 at night they are brilliantl}' illuminated by gas. The fortifications of 
 Milan are, as I have already said, six miles in circuit, having a moat 
 outside, and a wide carriage-drive along the top of the wall, planted 
 with grand horse-chestnut trees in four lines — the carriage-way between 
 the inner lines and a foot-way on either side between the outer rows. 
 This is the fashionable drive and is much frequented, and from several 
 points commands the best views of the Cathedral. It also passes the 
 Public Gardens and those of the New Palace, which lie immediately 
 contiguous to it. The energ}^ of business corresponds to these evi- 
 dences of affluence. The large number of book stores affords positive 
 evidence of the intelligence and mental culture of the inhabitants, as 
 does also the number of shops in which philosophical instruments are 
 exposed for sale. The cleanliness of the streets is perfect, and the 
 entire police arrangements appear to be good, though the immense 
 tufts of chicken feathers worn in the caps of one set of officers, almost 
 hiding the entire head, looks ver\' ridiculous in our eyes, accustomed 
 to the severe simplicity of dress of the agents of the majesty of the 
 law. We saw no disorderly- conduct in the streets, heard no unseemly 
 noise, and met with no drunkenness in all our driving and walking 
 during the three days of our visit. 
 
 194
 
 The encouragement given to the Fine Arts is characteristic of 
 Italy, and shews the wealth and prosperity of the present times. The 
 Campo Santo is a new cemeter}', established within the last three 
 5'ears, j-et there are alread}- numerous costl}' monuments, of great 
 beautj' in design and execution. 
 
 One represents two sons, clinging to their father, whom they are 
 seeking to console for the loss of their mother b}- their loving care. 
 Another is a closed tomb, into which a disconsolate widow is vainly 
 seeking an entrance for herself and her children. Still another mode 
 of manifesting love and grief for the loss of the husband represents 
 the widow kneeling in praj-er for the repose of the soul of the object 
 of her love. 
 
 These figures are all of life size and admirably cut in the purest 
 white Carara marble. 
 
 A custom which is quite new to us is almost universal — of placing 
 a photograph of the departed under glass in some conspicuous position 
 about the tomb, whether simple or ornamented with statuar}-. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Milan, September 22, 1871. 
 3/}' Dear Children : 
 
 It is a great privilege to have had one's birth in America, and of 
 all other parts of America in Philadelphia, and of all conditions in 
 Philadelphia just in that which we are favored to occup}-. 
 
 I was early taught to praj^ " give me neither poverty nor riches" 
 by ni}' sainted mother, who caused me to commit to memory the pra3-er 
 of Agur, in the Book of Proverbs. 
 
 But Milan is a great place, and thus far we find it a verj- pleasant 
 place on various accounts. Last evening a ver3r nice old gentleman, 
 between whom and his wife and 3'our mother and mj-self a pleasant 
 travelling acquaintance sprang up at Bellagio, Vi'hich has been renewed 
 here without our knowing even their name, called on us and presented 
 his card, Lieutenant-Colonel Bowen, and begged us to seek them out if 
 we should go to Dublin ; and this morning, as we sat at breakfast 
 table, one of two j'-oung gentlemen who have taken their meals at the 
 same table and at the same hour, and with whom we have interchanged 
 the common talk of fellow-travellers, stopped as he rose to leave and 
 offered his hand to 3'our mother to bid her good-b3-e, as they were 
 about to leave for India, where the3' had received appointments, and 
 in repl3^ to your mother's request for his name said " Mulock." 
 
 I asked if an3^ wa3' related to the authoress of "John Halifax." 
 "Oh 3'es," was his prompt repl3-. He and his companion are two 
 very pleasant fellows, with whom we have found it ver3- nice to chat. 
 
 195
 
 Last evening I was so unfortunate as to break one of my porcelain 
 teeth, and this morning Alessandre found for me a dentist, who prom- 
 ised to replace it for me verj' promptly. (This valet de place, by the 
 way, is a very intelligent and useful man — your mother says the 
 original Ferguson of Mark Twain, or at least his brother.) Through 
 him I asked where the teeth from which he was selecting one were 
 manufactured. I suppose he took me to be English, and he said in 
 London ; and then, taking up another lot, said \h&y were made by 
 ' ' Doct Vite, of Filadelfy ; they are excellent. ' ' I then told him I was 
 from the same city, and described to him the extent of the establish- 
 ment. I 5'esterda3' made my visit to the Hospital. It was a sadly 
 solemn spectacle of human misery and noble effort for its relief, the 
 greatest accumulation of sickness and suffering I have ever seen. The 
 wards are all on the ground-floor and of immense length, breadth, and 
 have lofty ceilings. There is no furniture but the beds, which are 
 placed so close together that there is onh^ space enough to permit the 
 access of the attendant. They are in three rows, one against each 
 wall and one along the middle of the ward. 
 
 Each ward is entirely emptied once a 3'ear, for purification and 
 repair. The floor is of hard tile, and the walls coloured with distemper. 
 Each bed is composed of a wool mattress, resting on a thick paillasse. 
 The bedsteads are low, so that the patient is not raised more than three 
 feet from the floor. 
 
 There is no arrangement for heating these large and high-ceiled 
 wards, which are very airy and light, but must be cold in winter, for 
 they have winter, as is proved \)y their having a large ice-house 
 which they fill annually. I saw a stove in the Children's ward, and 
 there were warm-air flues in the operating room. But I could find no 
 way provided for warming the general wards, and if there were any 
 they must be seen, as the only fuel used in Milan is wood. Very poor 
 indeed was the sample of it which we saw being taken into one of the 
 stores in the neighborhood of the hotel. The Hospital is endowed, 
 but is now under the care of the Municipality, and has an extensive 
 out-door Dispensary, divided into districts, each of which has its 
 doctor. The Laboratory and Pharmacy are on the most extensive 
 scale and appeared to be well conducted. There was long suite of 
 boilers, heated by one fire, each appropriated to the preparation of a 
 special Ptisan, the name of which was inscribed over it in large letters. 
 The Plospital owns a mill, at which it grinds its own wheat into flour 
 for its own consumption, bakes its own bread, and slaughters its own 
 cattle. Ail the meats were of the best qualit3^ The kitchen was 
 ver^' light, airj', and perfectl}' clean. Chickens were being roasted, 
 croquets prepared, tomatoes being stewed, and potatoes in large quan- 
 tities boiled. Three good meals are furnished daiU', as many of the 
 cases require diet rather than drugs. A card bearing the name of the 
 patient, the domicile, and the name of the disease hangs at the head 
 
 196
 
 of each bed. There is a form of disease they call Pellagra, which they 
 say is among the most common and which required only good food for 
 its relief. I am not familiar enough with Nosology to identify it by 
 that name — was told it meant " misery." The subjects of it were cer- 
 tainly verj^ wretched looking. The most prevalent forms of disease in 
 the Medical wards for Acute cases were Bronchitis and Rheumatism. 
 There were some Tj-phoid Fever cases, and one called " Fievre 
 Palustre," which I supposed to correspond to our "Malarial Fevers." 
 
 In the chronic wards Pulmonary Phthisis and other forms of 
 Tuberculosis occupied a large proportion of the beds. There were also 
 many cases of Paralysis and Myelitis, and in the Surgical wards 
 Cancers ; and Necrosis and other forms of Scrofula in great numbers. 
 These cases all present the same features as with us. There are special 
 Eye-wards. 
 
 One Sister is in charge of each of these large wards, having under 
 her authority an assistant Sister for every ten beds. 
 
 The cost of maintenance for each patient per diem appeared, as 
 well as I could judge, to be about the same as in our own hospital. 
 
 The Children's ward was a curious spectacle, the entire floor 
 covered with little cribs, out of each of which was projected a head ; 
 and they were all so much alike that one would suppose they were so 
 many dolls or manikins, all cast in the same mould. They appeared 
 contented, and the Sister in charge assured us that they cried when 
 they were taken home. I can quite believe it ; everj' thing about be- 
 spoke the kindest treatment and the best care. 
 
 There are 3000 patients at present in the wards of this hospital 
 and the admissions average 60 daily. 
 
 I could not learn the daily number of deaths, nor the percentage 
 to the aggregate admissions ; but it must be large. 
 
 The arrangement for the reception of the bodies of the dead was 
 very revolting. They are laid side by side indiscriminately, both sexes 
 and all ages, on an inclined plain laid with plain red tiles in an apart- 
 ment appropriated to that purpose, waiting till they shall be claimed 
 by friends ; failing which, they are interred in plain wooden coffins. 
 
 The great defect of the institution is the entire want of corridors 
 for exercise for convalescent patients, and the absolute destitution of 
 anj'thing attractive in the court-yards, to which thej^ have access, it is 
 true, for air and recreation, but which offer no attraction. 
 
 The buildings are old ; having been originally an Arch-ducal 
 Palace. The revenues are large, derived from bequests and donations 
 which have been accumulating during four centuries. 
 
 The landed estate is very extensive. There are several distinct 
 separate "Dependencies," one of which is a Small-pox Hospital. 
 
 Alessandro informed me that there are no less than sLv other hos- 
 pitals in Milan, which has a population of 250,000 inhabitants. 
 
 197
 
 Nothing impressed me more favorably, as promotive of their com- 
 fort, than the occupation of all the women who were able to sit np out 
 of bed (and of some of those who could not) in sewing, or knitting, or 
 some little light employment of their fingers, beguiling the tediousness 
 of the period of convalescence. 
 
 There is one sad, ver3^ sad. ward occupied by the Insane, crowded 
 tight together, without any discrimination and without attempt at 
 classification. It was truly a pitiable spectacle ! 
 
 The arrangements for the admission and discharge, and for the 
 general classification of the patients is good and simple. 
 
 At the time of entrance their personal clothing is taken from them 
 and registered, and each is provided by the hospital with a change of 
 undergarments and a bed-gown to wear while in the house, which is 
 retained when they leave, and their own clothing is restored to each. 
 The bedding appeared nice and clean, each bed covered with a spread 
 of bkie checked linen. 
 
 There is a Chapel, of course, and there are 7iine priests in constant 
 attendance. There is also a shrine of the Virgin in every ward in a 
 conspicuous position. 
 
 The hour for the morning visit of the medical and surgical staff 
 had passed before I reached the hospital, so that I did not see any of 
 them. A very intelligent officer of the institution, who spoke French 
 with great fluency, waited on me, giving me all the information I 
 sought and furnishing me with the blank forms and other papers when 
 I left. 
 
 While at the hospital, Alessandro asked me if I had ever heard of 
 a Doctor Mutter, of Philadelphia, and was delighted when he learned 
 that we had been personal friends. He had been his attendant in his 
 travels, and alluded with much feeling to the intensity of the doctor's 
 sufferings from gout. 
 
 Alessandro had been at one time in the employ of Priesnitz, at 
 his Water Cure, and claimed to have done much for the relief of the 
 doctor by the application of wet bandages to the affected limb. 
 
 His attachment to Mutter was great and sincere, and I do not 
 know to what else to ascribe his great civility to myself He was 
 very devoted to " Madame," and was not only attentive to her wishes, 
 but rendered himself especially useful to us both. 
 
 (Afternoon.) 
 We w^ent this morning to the Leonardi da Vinci. I could be con- 
 tent to rest on that as the one specimen of the power of Art. I am 
 happy to have been able to see in it more than Mark Twain. It is a 
 wonderful production ! The character of each figure is so perfectly ex- 
 pressed that no guide book is needed to indicate them. The artist 
 devoted eight years to this great work, which is now rapidly perishing.
 
 I am glad to have enjoyed the privilege of seeing it together with your 
 mother, who entered fully into the feeling, and we enjo3^ed it together. 
 It was a rich feast, not only at the time but for memory. 
 
 Your ever loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 BeIvLAGio, September 25, 187 1. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Among the many objects of interest we visited in our short stay 
 in Milan was the Brera Gallery of paintings. 
 
 The building in which it is collected is an enormous pile, once 
 belonging to the order of the Humiliati. Certainly the humility must 
 have been of that kind satirized by the poet as ' ' the pride that apes 
 humility, ' ' and one is not surprised to find that the Brothers of the 
 order conspired against not the character only, but the life itself of 
 San Carlo of Borromeo, who was a true and faithful follower of the 
 great Exemplar of true humility, consecrating to works of charity 
 the vast possessions entailed on him and spending his entire life in 
 following the pattern of Him who though He was rich, for our sakes 
 became poor. 
 
 Among the incidents in his life sculptured on his marble tomb is 
 the attempt made by them to assassinate him on account of his efforts 
 for the reformation of the morals of the order, of which he was a 
 member. 
 
 Thej^ were in consequence dissolved, and their vast estates con- 
 ferred on the followers of Loyola, then as now so devoted to the exten- 
 sion of the power of Papacy. When they fell under the power of an 
 oppressed people justly indignant at their assumption of all power, 
 the Brera Palace was appropriated by the Italian government as a 
 Gallery of Fine Arts. 
 
 It contains many of the productions of the Old IMasters of world- 
 wide reputation ; and is also annually opened for the exhibition of the 
 works of modern artists, especiall}- of those of Milan. 
 
 These are hanging on the same walls as those of the great masters 
 of Art, and I must confess that to my uncultivated taste some of these 
 modern pictures gave rise to a sense of pleasure quite as great as did 
 some of those whose reputation is beyond question or dispute ; and is 
 not the power to give pleasure the test of value ? 
 
 One of these modern pictures has been copied in every mode of 
 reproduction, even to chromo-lithography, and thus rendered familiar 
 to us all, representing a little girl fallen at her mother's feet terrified 
 by her brother, who has presented himself to her at the kitchen door, 
 with a hideous false-face. 
 
 199
 
 He is represented in the act of removing the object of her terror, 
 and standing laughing at the success of his sport, while the mother 
 turns toward him, threatening him with a blow from the ladle with 
 which she has been stirring the porridge preparing for their supper. 
 
 The most minute details of the fire-place and the floor, are per- 
 fectly elaborated ; but the great merit of the picture lies in the contrast 
 of the expression of the countenances of the mother and children. 
 
 Any one who has visited a collection of works of art, even on the 
 limited scale with which we are familiar in our new country, will 
 easily realize the difiiculty, if not impossibility, of bringing away with 
 one any definite memory of the numerous pictures which each en- 
 grossed attention and afforded pleasure at the time one looked at them. 
 
 There were, however, in the Brera two modern sculptures, of life- 
 size, which challenged our attention and fixed our admiration, and which 
 I would gladly possess at the moderate price at which they are held 
 by the artist, who has placed them on exhibition hoping the}^ will find 
 a purchaser at the moderate price of $1000, if I were possessed of the 
 means of doing so without encroaching on other more important 
 concerns. 
 
 One of these is called ' ' Vanity ' ' and is a life-sized figure of a 
 young girl just fitted with the first silk dress. 
 
 The long skirt and flowing drapery, are perfectly reproduced in 
 the pure soft marble lying in delicate folds along the floor, while the 
 expression of perfect satisfaction with which she looks on it, and the 
 attitude of turning to gaze on her treasure and gather up the flowing 
 tissue, are wonderfully life-like and accurate. The figure and face are 
 very beavitiful and the entire conception true to nature, and the execu- 
 tion very effective. 
 
 The other is equally good representing also a fine female figure, 
 in the beauty of opening womanhood, gathering up her skirts and 
 starting from a mouse which is on the floor approaching her feet. 
 The two would make admirable companion pieces in a simply furnished 
 ••drawing room. 
 
 The circumstances under which the works of the great masters 
 were produced were such as gave rise, of necessity, to great sameness 
 •of subjects, relieved, it is true, by the diversity of conception of the 
 'different artists, and variety of effect in colour and detail of accom- 
 paniments and execution ; but even this diversity of treatment 
 fails to avert the feeling of satiety with which one turns away from 
 the perpetual repetition of Madonnas of every conceivable character 
 and race, according to the taste and prejudice of the artist or his 
 'employers, and Josephs, and Sebastians, for some reason (perhaps the 
 •opportunity it presents of exhibiting the figure of perfectly developed 
 early manhood) the most popular subject of the painter's art. 
 
 The power to patronize art at the time of the Renaissance was 
 possessed exclusively by monasteries and ecclesiastics and the nobility 
 
 200
 
 who were under their domination ; and most of the celebrated pictures 
 were painted to adorn altars of votive churches or the chapels and re- 
 fectories of Monastic establishments, and hence represented subjects 
 appropriate to the purpose for which they were intended. Some of 
 the subjects are so repulsive in character that the very perfection of re- 
 production onh' causes one who is sensitive to turn away ; the more 
 promptly the better it is as a work of art. There is in the Brera 
 Gallery one fearful picture, which exhibits almost inconceivable ability 
 of the artist in what is known as ' ' foreshortening. ' ' It represents the 
 dead body of our Lord, and, take what position you may to look at it 
 from, the feet are always turned toward the observer. 
 
 Raphael's picture of the " Marriage of the Virgin," which is much 
 praised by those who are thought able to form just opinions on suck 
 subjects (which I certainly am not, having had no opportunity to form 
 or cultivate correct taste), did not impress me strongly. I thought the 
 onty good figure in the group was that of the High Priest, who is 
 represented in the act of bestowing the blessing on the newly wedded 
 pair, and that of the youthful page, who is breaking a stick over his 
 knee — a part, I believe, of the Hebrew ceremonial, for which they now 
 substitute the breaking of a wine-glass. The face of the Virgin is 
 devoid of expression. 
 
 Among the celebrated pictures in the Brera Gallery is one which 
 impressed me as the greatest work of art I have yet seen. It is the 
 dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael. The principal figure is, of course, 
 that of the Patriarch, his very attitude full of character, the counte- 
 nance benign, yet strongly expressive of the sense of authority. 
 There is sufficient softening, rather than softness, to tell of affection for 
 his offspring and the mother of his child ; but at the same time enough 
 decision to leave no room for hope he may relent. I never saw such 
 perfect representation of combined sorrow and indignation as that 
 expressed in the countenance of Hagar. The painting of the reddened 
 eyes suffused with tears is marvellously natural. Ishmael, a lad of 
 about thirteen years old, is equally well represented. He looks at 
 his father with the expression of entire submission to a decree which 
 ma}' not be gainsaid nor resisted, but which is felt to be unjiist. 
 
 I have said but little about the Cathedral. What can be said ? 
 One is almost tempted to apply to it the language — but no ; I will 
 not. I will only say I am absolutel}' without words to clothe the sense 
 of majesty and awe with which it inspires me still, as I revert to the 
 image of its magnificence impressed on my memory. " 'Tis a part of 
 my being beyond ni}' control." From the midst of the mazes of 
 densely populated streets, their intricate mazes winding about in every 
 direction and thronged with the bus}^ crowds of a great commercial 
 and political centre, and surrounded by the crowd of almost number- 
 less idlers which congregate on the Plaza, beside which it stands in 
 majestic repose, it towers above them all as does Mont Blanc amid
 
 surrounding ranges and summits, the confessed and unchallenged 
 superior of all contemporaneous structures. 
 
 As you pass along the footway beside it your head is just on a line 
 with the first course of masonry of the water-table ; you turn your eye 
 upward along the wall of perfectly pure white marble, without a spot 
 or flaw, and it rises above you to the height of 150 feet before a pin- 
 nacle is set upon its base, and you see statue after statue of saints, 
 standing each in its shrine or tabernacle, every one as perfect in 
 sculpture as though designed for the closest inspection, and then think 
 of the 9000 such which are already standing in their niches on the 
 exterior, all so adjusted m their proportions that each looks in its 
 position of life-size as one looks at them from below ; with no dupli- 
 cate in this marble host. Then walk 500 feet along the flank of the 
 building and find each foot rivalling in execution every other foot of 
 the distance in the perfectness of its detail ; and when from this near 
 inspection of the detail you retire across the Plaza and from the oppo- 
 site side take in at the same time the view of the still more elaborate 
 front and the elevation of 350 feet to the statue which surmounts the 
 spire, and find it at every point covered with statues and sculpture, 
 you are lost in admiration of the majesty and grandeur of the whole 
 conception and of the perfection of all the details. 
 
 The awe which overwhelms j'ou as you enter through the great 
 door is due to the extent and simplicit}^ of the interior. The stained 
 glass windows are tali and narrow, in conformit}'' to the style of the 
 whole structure, and admit only a dimmed and softened light, without 
 the gorgeous colouring of other Gothic buildings. There are more 
 than fifty columns, each composed of eight shafts combined in one 
 whole, forming a shaft of eighty feet in height. There are fewer side 
 chapels and subsidiar}- altars and shrines and statues and monuments 
 than are generall}' crowded together in great cathedrals, and therefore 
 less to divert attention from the dignity of the Cathedral itself. 
 
 To-day we are tarrying here, waiting for some communication 
 from brother Wistar. This morning we drove to the hotel Serbelloni, 
 or rather we accepted the invitation of M Mela, who is the proprietor 
 of this hotel and that, and also of another formerly the residence of 
 the King of Holland which lies on the other arm of the Lake, who 
 drove us in his own carriage, merely for the pleasure it gave him to 
 contribute to the gratification of his guests. 
 
 The hotel is the palace of the Duke of Serbelloni, v»^hich M. Mela 
 has bought recentl}' and added to his other conveniences for receiving 
 tourists and pleasure seekers, with all its pictures and furniture and 
 its extensive ornamental grounds. 
 
 It stands on a very loft3- promontorj' at the junction of the two 
 arms of L,ake Conio. The cliffs are precipitous, several hundred feet 
 of perpendicular elevation from the level of the Lake, but the top is 
 crowned with noble oaks and pines, while the grounds are beautifully
 
 planted and laid out in well-graded walks, with pretty seats at 
 various points from which the views are especially attractive. The 
 distant views are very grand, embracing a wide expanse of the Lake 
 with its headlands and entourage of mountains, and the distant peaks 
 of the Swiss Alps. The grounds are so extensive as to furnish pleas- 
 ant drives without descending from them. The oaks and cypress trees 
 in them look as though they had stood for centuries and there are 
 Palms which are worth}^ to be their companions, and are probably 
 their coevals. 
 
 There are Lagerstroemias not less than thirty feet in height, and 
 Camellias flourish in the open air ; while not less than 600 varieties 
 of ornamental plants are set out in the borders and beds, adding attrac- 
 tion to the walks which are laid out amongst them. There are Cac- 
 tuses and Orchids also in the open air, blooming freely. Zigzag 
 paths are cut in the precipitous rocks, in which there are artificial 
 grottoes and resting places one above the other in which to rest while 
 climbing to the top, from which the prospect is verj^ wide. These 
 paths are overhung with vines. 
 
 ]M. Mela drove us also to the Villa Giulia, his other establishment. 
 The contrast is very great. It lies directly on the level of the Lake, 
 but the conveniences of the house are great, and the grounds and 
 gardens are very beautiful though the views are so much more limited 
 than either here or at Serbelloni. 
 
 We have now seen all that is of an}^ interest here though we have 
 not exhausted the pleasure of anj-. If we do not receive letters to-day 
 or to-morrow we shall after that venture off on our own account. 
 
 The accounts of the approach of Cholera from the East, which we 
 see in the English papers, make us think that it is possible your 
 uncle may abandon the eastern trip. 
 
 It is said to be in Constantinople, and that the mortality in Russia 
 is as great as in the former visitation. 
 
 I shall advise great caution ; we had better return without having 
 completed oi:r programme, than rush into the hopeless encounter with 
 a disease which sets at defiance the highest medical skill, and pro- 
 duces a mortality of fifty per cent, alike under all forms of treatment 
 and with no treatment. 
 
 Monday, 5 p. m. 
 We were startled just now by the knocking of a servant at our 
 door, telling us that there was a gentleman inquiring for us, v.'ho 
 wished to know if we were ' ' chez nous. ' ' The c/iez no?(S was the key 
 to the message, without which I should not have understood the rest. 
 To our great relief in walked iSIr. Friezier, the courier Wistar had 
 first engaged. So now we are fairh^ off under his convo}^ to meet 
 Wistar and Sisters! Do j^oti not rejoice with tis? We thank God, 
 and take courage 
 
 Your ever loving father 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 20::
 
 Note. — (Written most probably when he arranged the letters 
 according to their dates, perhaps in 1882. Ed.) 
 
 In looking over the letters from Bellagio, I find they convey a very 
 imperfect impression of the enjoyment we had in that most delightful 
 retreat, where we spent nearly a month. The letters which describe 
 the journey from Sondrio to Chiavenna are missing, and I shall there- 
 fore be compelled to rely on the feeble and imperfect recollections which, 
 like spirits of those who have passed, cluster around. 
 
 From Dalatz we ascended by the Adler (Eagle) Pass, gradually 
 pressing into the gorges of the mountains, over roads laid out b}- skill- 
 ful militarj^ engineers, and made without regard to cost at the expense 
 of the Austrian Government, to facilitate the transportation of armies 
 and military stores to its Italian provinces. As we gradually rose 
 above the zone in which cereals grow, we reached those where pasture 
 for cows and goats was the onlj' product of the soil. The sides of the 
 hills as they rose near the road were so steep that it was with difficulty 
 the animals held their feet while grazing, and, treading after each other, 
 and again and again in the same vestiges, they left their traces in 
 marks, distributed over the hill-sides like great cuniform inscriptions 
 on the rocks. 
 
 We passed villages and hamlets and detached residences of sturdy 
 mountaineers, and were much impressed b}- the greal beaut}' and per- 
 fect docilit}' of their cattle, with their soft mouse colour gradually 
 deepening to a black line at the vertebral ridge, and their full, round, 
 meek, j-et intelligent e5-es, looking lovingh^ at their owners, as though 
 the bond between them was like that of domestic life — mutual 
 affection. 
 
 As we got into the higher regions, the inhabitants became less and 
 less numerous, and the spots suitable for culture more widely separated 
 and the product more limited, till a handful of barle}- and a little 
 stunted hemp, literally no larger than flax, constituted the whole crop 
 wrung from the sterile soil. 
 
 Each hour carried tis imperceptibl}' higher, our ascent onlj' marked 
 by the widening expanse over which the eye ranged, bringing into 
 view more and more extended ranges of mountains. We stopped at a 
 roadside house to bait our horses, but could procure nothing for our- 
 selves but some milk. 
 
 At Finstermuntz we found a good inn, seated at the head of a 
 gorge, like that known as the Horseshoe, between Altoona and Johns- 
 town, on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The view was grand indeed- 
 stretching along the parallel ranges which shut in the dark valle}^ 
 below — far, far away, almost infinitely. Every foot of the road was in 
 perfect order, like the best-kept railwaj'. Stone walls of perfect masonry 
 against the hills prevented any slides from above on to the well-rolled 
 stone roadway ; and periectlj' dressed pillars of stone, several feet 
 high, guarded that side along whicli la}- the precipitous descent. The 
 
 204
 
 grade was so easy that the regular trot was scarcely' ever broken, either 
 by ascent or descent, and the very little Hungarian horses were man- 
 aged by their skillful and patient Genoese drivers in the spirit recom- 
 mended by Cowper : ' ' Thy waggon is thy wife, and the poor beasts that 
 drag the cumbrous load thy helpless charge. ' ' 
 
 Thus we journeyed the entire da}^ and night found us at Sondrio, 
 the frontier between Austria and Italy, lately wrung from their grasp 
 by the Italo-German war. 
 
 Yoiir mother had left Ragatz unwell, and, despite the use of opium 
 and blue mass, her disease had increased and gave her much trouble. 
 She was so unwell at night that we decided, if it were possible, we 
 would lie by until she got relief, and were not a little pleased to hear 
 that at this out-of-the-way place there was a woman who had lived sev- 
 eral years in the United vStates, and had recently returned for a visit to 
 her native place, speaking the English language, and was in a village 
 not far distant from the inn, which was near the fortress built to com- 
 mand the pass. The night was one of great discomfort, and we 
 decided to send for her in the morning and engage her services, if they 
 could be procured, to act as our interpreter and Vv-ait on your mother in 
 such wa}' as I could not render her service. When Wistar and Cervetto 
 were taken into our council, this plan was determined to be impractic- 
 able, and that we must proceed at every hazard, and no matter how 
 great the inconvenience. We made the best arrangements we could 
 command and started on our road, little thinking what was before us. 
 As we advanced, the mountain sides became more and more precipit- 
 ous and closed more closely to each other. Trees became dwarfed into 
 stunted shrubs, and grass gave place to lichens and mosses, and gorse 
 and coarse growth. Happily, before we passed entirely beyond the 
 region of pasture we procured a little milk, in which your mother took 
 some brand5^ a flask of which we carried in our bag, but of which the 
 cork was then first removed. This afforded her great relief 
 
 Soon after the road, while it retained the width and perfection of 
 construction in all its arrangements, commenced ascending the side of 
 the ridge which was to be crossed before we should descend into the 
 plains of Italy. Along the side of the mountain lay stretch after 
 stretch of road, each rising gradually above the lower, at each turning 
 place supported by strong perpendicular walls of various height, from 
 twenty to fifty feet. The stretches became shorter and shorter ; the 
 grade of ascent increased. 
 
 The horses dragged wearily along, six in each carriage ; the car- 
 riages groaned and creaked under the weight of their burden and the 
 strain of the draught. W"e looked out into space, and while reason 
 was satisfied that the solid mountain was beneath us, just as firmly 
 fixed as the everlasting hills which stretched far, far away, ridge be- 
 yond ridge, as far as the eye could reach ; and faith assured us that the 
 arms of Omnipotence and the bosom of love were as strong and pre-
 
 cious here as in the plains — what with the rarification of the atmos- 
 phere and the discomfort of sickness, our nerves gave unmistakable 
 signs of distress. At the angles of juncture of the zig-zags there was 
 ample room for turning, and our drivers were perfect. Yet, as we saw 
 our leaders trot to the very verge of the perpendicular wall and wheel 
 around as though bj' instinct, and knew that our coach would make 
 the same turn, with us in it, on the same gidd}" verge, we could not 
 but yield to the sense of awe which overwhelmed that of pleasure, and 
 caused us to shrink instinctively from the open side to that next the 
 mountain. 
 
 After hours of ascent, spent in silence on our part, and with but 
 little utterance by others, when we thought we were near the highest 
 point, we looked toward it. The stretches had become very short, and 
 the side of the cliff so precipitous that the road looked like a ladder 
 against it, each stretch of road being one of the rungs. Little Holly, 
 who was seated by her aunt Jane on the box of the foremost carriage, 
 turned round and called to her mother : ' ' There are onl}^ fourteen more 
 stories, mama ! ' ' 
 
 Having reached the summit, we found a wide plateau of barren, 
 rocky soil, and were told we stood on the highest part of the Continent 
 of Europe traversed b^' a carriage-road. Some of the party manifested 
 their delight b}- various feats of g3-mnastics. All felt glad that the 
 feat had been accomplished. Your mother and m\'self were not alone 
 in thanksgiving for our safety. There had been no peril. The entire 
 route was as free from danger as though the road had traversed a level 
 plain. This was certain. Yet we could not control the feeling that it 
 had been dangerous. 
 
 The utterance to which I gave waj^ in ni}^ letter from Landeck was 
 supplemented by this — that the elevation of the Pass of Stelvio did 
 not bring us nearer to the peace of Heavenly-mindedness, nor did the 
 feeling of triumph in having accomplished the ascent aiford compen- 
 sation for the distress to our bodies, and mental sviffering the cost of 
 achievement. 
 
 We set off gaily on our descent vainly supposing that it would be 
 effected without any disturbance of the equanimity w^ith which it began. 
 The road was as good as ever and as well guarded, and for the first 
 stage lay over a regular slope of easy grade. As it descended it entered 
 a gorge of most savage wildness. Rocky precipices descended on 
 one side of it and overhanging cliffs rose on the other. A torrent 
 rushed in the gorge by which it was separated from a similar peak. 
 Galleries cut in the rocks, like tunnels, carried us through projecting 
 points which could not be rounded, and bridges spanned deep clefts 
 into which one could not venture to look down, while cascades fell 
 from point to point, and chains, stretched from one side to the other, 
 formed bridges over which timber and building stone were slid to sup- 
 ply material at points where one could not conceive, men could stand 
 
 206
 
 to build supporting walls and piers. Through such savage grandeur 
 we descended a ta smart trot, only reconciled to the sense of peril of 
 rushing over some precipice into the gulf below, by the assurance that 
 every step was carrying us rapidl}^ to the foot of the pass and putting 
 its horrors forever behind us, and it was with hearts overflowing with 
 the feeling of thankful happiness that v/e found ourselves, late in the 
 afternoon, approaching Bormio, a place celebrated for its hot baths, 
 once the resort of the bath-loving Romans and still a favorite watering 
 place. 
 
 The old baths occupy the same site as those of the Romans in the 
 time of Augustus, while a more modern hotel with all the appliances 
 of contemporary luxury received us lower down the valley, which was 
 planted thickly with chestnut trees in extensive orchards, furnishing 
 the large nuts which are so much used as food by the Italians, and 
 which flourish especially in these sub-alpine valle3'S. A lofty and 
 jspacious SaloJi a manger offered us the comforts of a good meal 
 while the table was spread with copies of The Thries, Galigiiani and 
 other vehicles of information from the outside world, which were the 
 more welcome as they contrasted with the wildness and ruggedness 
 amid which we had spent the last three daj's and nights. 
 
 But, oh ! The delight of that bath in water heated in the sides of 
 the mountain by agencies which man cannot control and at which 
 science can at best, make but skillful guesses. The water is con- 
 ducted from the spot, at which it issues from the earth higher up the 
 mountain, by tubes and distributed into large baths lined with white 
 porcelain in which one may swin and in which the body floats looking 
 like a statue of alabaster. The water is slightly alkaline and has a 
 softness which is very grateful to the skin. I never enjoyed a higher 
 sense of luxurious bodily delight. 
 
 In the morning we were roused from our slumbers \>y the tinkling 
 of the bells of the mountain flocks as they descended narrow paths and 
 congregated beside a large pool of water contained in solid walls of 
 well-dressed stone into which the sheep were being driven by scores, 
 and where their fleeces were well washed by the shepherds who plunged 
 in with them. This is, we were told, a daily performance. When the 
 flocks had gone through their ablutions our horses were taken into 
 the bath. 
 
 After an early breakfast we took our carriages to follow the road, no 
 longer over mountain heights, but down the course of the River Adda 
 to the shore of Lake Como. This road still follows the route of one of 
 the old military roads by which the Romans bound to themselves the 
 conquered nations of Dacia and Alemannia, and we found here at Bormio 
 a fair-haired, white-skinned population, evidently the descendants of 
 one of those Colonies of Northern Savage tribes which they brought 
 with the return of their conquering Legions. Perhaps this very spot 
 had been the encampment of one of those legions of auxiliaries com- 
 
 207
 
 posed of Angles or Saxons or some conquered Northern tribe. Cer- 
 tainly their complexions and features were in strong contrast with 
 those of the Italian people. 
 
 As we drove down the valley we passed through the same repeti- 
 tions of the same changes of production as had marked our ascent on 
 the other side, and saw frequent repetitions of the evidences of the de- 
 structiveness of the torrents which are filled by mountain storms and 
 come pouring down bearing with them the disintegration of the rocks 
 in every size and shape from great boulders to fine gravel, spreading 
 desolation over gardens, orchards, fields and meadows. It is often 
 deposited to the depth of several feet and spreads over a level space of 
 half a mile or more in extent. Ruined hovels standing tenantless, 
 while the tops of the mulberry or fruit trees peering up through the 
 stratum of mud and stones, stand like sad memorials of buried hopes 
 and crushed joys. The suddenness with which these storms descend 
 and their fearful, irresistible violence afford apt illustration of the par- 
 able of Our Lord. 
 
 We passed manj' such, and in some cases the torrent was onl}'- just 
 subsided and the road was followed with difficulty. The government 
 or large proprietors endeavor to guard against the damaee by building 
 well constructed channels of masonr}'- at the points most liable to such 
 visitations, so as to restrain the stream within narrower bounds. 
 
 We were deeply impressed with the degraded position of woman. 
 Not only do they share with man all the toil of life, but bear much the 
 heavier portion of the load. We frequently saw the woman with a 
 large conical basket strapped to her shoulders, the wider end projecting 
 above her head, while the smaller part diminished so that it could be 
 grasped b}^ the hands reached to the hips, standing like a beast of bur- 
 den, while the man filled the basket with manure, or earth, or stones 
 with which she walked away and dumped it down at the appointed 
 place, while the man quietly rested from his toil till she should return 
 for more. Or we would see a woman trudging wearily beside a truck 
 drawn by an ass or cow, while the man lay idle or sleeping. There 
 was not the recognition of the honor due to the weaker vessel shewn by 
 man in those lands in which an open Bible teaches the due relation of 
 the sexes and sheds its benign influence, just in proportion as its inspi- 
 ration is acknowledged, its doctrines received as truth of God, and its 
 precepts obe3"ed. 
 
 The wretchedness of the Italian villages through which we passed 
 is in strong contrast with the thrift and neatness, even though in the 
 midst of great poverty- and sterile rocky surroundings, of some we had 
 passed through in the Tyrol. 
 
 We still saw also the traces of the devastation of the war by which 
 Italy had been forced from the Austrian yoke. Garibaldi had made 
 raids on the places occupied b}^ the Austrian troops, and though the 
 result had been liberation, the means by which it had been accom- 
 
 208
 
 plished left sad concomitants of the blessing of freedom, and as we 
 travelled amid such scenes and witnessed the degraded and debased 
 condition of the people, we were disposed (perhaps hastily and unjustlj^ 
 to attribute it all to Austrian despotism. 
 
 When we afterwards came into Austria from the East and saw the 
 solid strength of that Empire, and contrasted the apparent happiness 
 of its subjects and the intelligence of the people with that of those of 
 Turkey and its dependencies and these Italians we modified our views 
 and thought less compassionately of these degenerated sons of Italy. 
 
 Are they degenerate ? What was the condition of the masses 
 even at the boasted period when Horace, Virgil and Cicero stamped 
 their personal character on the age they adorned, but of which they are 
 not just types of general character. The Roman Plebs, and the rustic 
 cultivator of the soil were then as now like brute beasts, with no right 
 which their Lordly masters were called to recognize. 
 
 Village after village through which we drove presented no possible 
 refuge for any civilized man and literally no provender for our weary 
 beasts, and we drove reluctantly by good wide dusty roads through culti- 
 vated plains, in a wide valley, with frequent shrines containing images 
 of the Virgin and Infant Jesus at the roadside. At Morbegno we had 
 hoped for an opportunity for repose and refreshment btit were told 
 neither could be had and the name of the place seems suggestive more 
 of death than life and this idea was strengthened as we entered, by the 
 sight of a mortuary chapel filled with human skulls and bones, rearing 
 its ghastly front at the roadside by which we entered. 
 
 We drove on to Colico seated at the head of one arm of Lake Como, 
 in the midst of swamps created by the outspreading of the River Adda 
 at its mouth. Here in a wretched Osteria situated on the Piazza Gari- 
 baldi, we procured a wretched meal and looked out on the collection ot 
 barges which here take in the charcoal and peat which, are brought 
 down the mountains, and convey them to various points on the Lake 
 below. From thence we drove to Chiavenna, a village at the foot of the 
 Splugen Pass situate in a narrow valley bosomed in mountains, reach- 
 ing it late on Saturday evening. There is a ruin of an old Patrician 
 residence, conveying a good idea of mediaeval grandeur, perched against 
 the precipitous side of a rocky eminence and containing within its now 
 ruinous fortified walls the remains of its ' ' paradise, ' ' as these Italians 
 call their pleasure grounds. 
 
 We stopped at the Osteria under its walls and found comfortable 
 rooms with good beds and well provided tables served by civil and 
 intelligent attendants. The Post House adjoined and on the opposite 
 side of the way a Campanile raised its bells on one corner of a quad- 
 rangle which enclosed a Campo Santo or "consecrated ground," the 
 burial place of the inhabitants. 
 
 We spent the Lord's day here, quietly indeed. Other English-speak- 
 ing parties were in the house and among them one, evidently a clergy- 
 
 209
 
 man of the Church of England. Your mother and myself were both 
 suffering from the same disease as had troubled us since we left Ragatz. 
 Our chamber opened on the public street so that we saw the procession 
 of friars and priests as they went to and from the chapel of the Virgin 
 and we saw the clergyman and his wife going and coming with the 
 crowd. 
 
 During the day your Uncle and the Courier (Cervetto) laid the plan 
 of further progress which began by going into Switzerland over the 
 Splugen Pass, this place being the Italian terminus of that good road 
 over the Alps. Your mother and I determined that as they would be 
 obliged to come down again somewhere into Italy we would rather 
 remain while on this side of the Alps, so that we allowed them on 
 IMonday morning to start without us. It was a wretched feeling which 
 possessed us and which deepened in spite of all our efforts to control it, 
 as we saw them drive away ; and realized that we were left here so far 
 from our home and children, amid uncongenial scenes and withoi:t 
 friends. 
 
 It had been our plan to staj^ at Chiavenna until we should exhaust 
 the objects of interest in the vicinity. Among them there were 
 remains of Roman works somewhere in the mountains, this place hav- 
 ing been celebrated for its pottery ; supplying with its ware the Mistress 
 of the World in the paln\y da3-s of Imperial Rome. The -weather was 
 intensely hot and the surrounding mountains shut out every breeze. 
 The drives had no attraction for us and though we found pleasant asso- 
 ciates in some English people, they were like ourselves only passengers 
 pausing for a day. There was a pleasant reading-room supplied with 
 books in English and French and Italian. The windows opened to the 
 ground on a little garden filled with pretty shrubbery. We took our 
 meals by ourselves looking out over the garden to the wooded heights 
 of the mountains which crowded closelj' around us on every side. 
 
 An English lady with a bright and beautiful little boy bearing the 
 worthy name of Haldane was a fellow lodger, and the pretty gambols 
 and innocent sports of the boy cheered us greatly. He talked most 
 sweetly in the purest English and the use of words, which proved that 
 his life had been passed in refined associations. He petted the lizards 
 which ran familiarly and freely about the garden walls and afforded us 
 much pleasure. Then among the books provided for the guests or left 
 behind by those who had passed before us were many of interest. One 
 however would appear to have been designed for our instruction and 
 consolation, so admirably were its teachings adapted to our necessities. 
 It was a stor3' of life work and how it is appointed for us, not in the 
 paths of our own choice, but by Divine Wisdom. I have not often 
 met with lessons more directly adapted to the state of my own heart, 
 and bless God for His goodness in placing it thus in my way. It 
 arrested my attention by the strangeness of finding an American work 
 in this distant and secluded nook where I had not thought of finding 
 
 2IO
 
 anything higher than some superficial trifling work of amusement. 
 But I afterwards found that in all the hotels on the routes of Continental 
 travel frequented b}'' English tourists there are collections of works 
 provided for the guests, and among them alwaj's a good proportion of 
 such as convej' sound instruction in Heavenly truths. 
 
 Your Mother and I sauntered as far as we could walk around the 
 village, pitying the povert\' and ignorance of the people. 
 
 There is a large cotton factory, driven by water power, which 
 affords employment to the inhabitants at very low rates of compensa- 
 tion. Frequent funeral processions passed our window to the Campo 
 Santo attended by priests chanting the Liturgy of the dead and these, 
 with other processions of the Romish ritual, appeared to be the only 
 interruptions to the monotous course of every day existence. Peasants 
 from the adjoining country sat b}'' the wayside with figs and grapes for 
 sale to the tourists who passed at regular hours by the diligences twice 
 a da)', while an occasional traveller, in like loiiu res those in which our 
 party moved, would stop for refreshment. 
 
 After a few daj^s we determined to ventiire on change and pa3-ing 
 our bills, which were very moderate, we hired a carriage to drive us to 
 Colico where we would find a steamboat to convey us to Bellagio and 
 started off like our first parents hand in hand. The world was all 
 before us where to choose, not our future home it is true, but our tem- 
 porary abiding place. The route lay bj' the same route we had trav- 
 elled over with the party a few days before and though we spoke not a 
 word of Italian and cur driver not one of English we found no diffi- 
 culty, as I had paid before starting every item till we should be placed 
 on board the steamboat, and then had nothing to do but say 
 "Bellagio," pay the fare demanded, take our seats and enjoy the 
 voj^age down the lake, which lay embosomed in mountains of moderate 
 elevation clothed with vineyards and dotted at short distances bj^ Cam- 
 paniles, square towers without spires, which marked the sites of 
 chapels where they perform daily the Masses of the Church of Rome 
 and where the simple and ignorant peasantry' resort to offer their 
 prayers to the Virgin and their confessions to the priest. 
 
 In Germany we passed frequently by the roadside, images of 
 various size of Our Lord upon the Cross, teaching thus the great 
 truths of human sin and Divine Atonement. Here in Italy it is the 
 Virgin with the Infant Jesus who are thus presented, whether for 
 worship or not matters not so much. It is anj' way the perversion 
 of the Truth and putting the human mother above the Divine Lord, 
 who as a little child was subject to her, and the people are taught to 
 believe in the same relation as still existing and to pray to Mary as the 
 one channel through which grace is to be received. 
 
 At Colico we found the boat had brought up from the places below 
 on the Lake, parties who made the excursion up and back provided 
 with lunches of their own, and it was amusing to watch the develop- 
 
 211
 
 tnent of national character in the various forms of food, from the figs 
 and grapes and bread and native wine of the Italian, to the cheese and 
 beer of the German, and the more extended provision of sardines and 
 sausage and ham and bread of the English. Coffee was provided on 
 board and all enjoyed greatly the beauty of the water, the freshness of 
 the breeze and the various objects of interest on the shore including 
 the ruined Austrian fortifications which had been attacked and 
 destroyed by Garibaldi and his patriots some few years before, and still 
 lay untenanted. 
 
 Lugano, Lake of Lugano, Sept. 27, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 In my last I told you of our delight at the arrival of Friezier, the 
 Courier. We at once decided to leave Bellagio, pleasant as had been 
 our stay there and great as were its comforts, and we spent the after- 
 noon and evening in unpacking and repacking our trunks. The 
 night was one of ceaseless pouring rain ; and so was the morning of 
 the following da^', which obliged us to remain. Soon after 10 A. m., it 
 cleared away and afforded us the opportunity of a drive by a beautiful 
 road to one of the heights, from which we overlooked the entire lake 
 in all its windings and got a still more extensive view of the distant 
 mountains than that we have so greatly enjo3'ed from our windows 
 and walks, but not more attractive in the effects of light and shade. 
 As we returned we passed a spot, the knowledge of the existence of 
 which would have been a relief to one of m}' anxieties during the time 
 your mother and I were ill, when I could not avoid thinking how 
 much the desolation of j-our mother's condition would be aggravated 
 in the event of my death, by the difficulty of procuring interment of 
 my bod}- as, of course, no consecrated ground would be opened to 
 receive the remains of heretics, such as we. Young's " pious sacri- 
 lege, ' ' kept sounding in my ear, though I of course gave no utterance 
 to the thought or feelings ; but one of my first acts on recovering was 
 to write a note of directions of what I thought should be done in case 
 of death. 
 
 I found in driving that the proprietor of these hotels, so much 
 frequented by Protestant tourists, has enclosed neatly and durably a 
 lot of ground sufficient!}' large to accommodate any emergency of the 
 kind which may arise. As we passed it I found a similar anxiety had 
 distressed your mother. We can now exchange thoughts with each 
 other cheerfully, with hearts glowing with thankful recognition of the 
 goodness which watched over us in our sickness and isolation, and 
 spared us from overmuch sorrow. 
 
 This morning was like one of our most invigorating and fresh 
 days of October and we left Bellagio soon after breakfast, crossing the
 
 Lake in a row-boat to Menaggio, turning our back most reluctantly on 
 Bellagio, where we have enjoyed so much pleasure amid its beauties, 
 unrivalled we think, by any other spot on earth. Certainly it has 
 been to us a blessed place of repose, and refreshment in everj^ aspect, 
 bodily, mental, and I trust spiritual also. 
 
 At Menaggio we took carriage, and drove an hour and a half over 
 a most excellent carriage road through vinej^ards and olive groves and 
 chestnut orchards and beautiful green meadows, to Porlezza which lies 
 at the head of the Lake of Lugagno. The road runs along a ridge 
 but not at the top of it. Porlezza is a poor little Italian village, 
 having no attractions and no importance beyond that which is derived 
 from being the point at which the road terminates and at which 
 tourists are transferred to the steamboat, by which they are conveyed 
 to this charming place which is much frequented by those who are in 
 search of the beautiful, and pursuit of pleasure in the delights of 
 natural scenery and comfortable and even elegant accommodation. 
 Your mother thinks the Lake more beautiful even than that of Como. 
 The mountains which skirt its borders are wilder and more wooded, 
 and rise more directly from the margin of the water ; leaving posi- 
 tively no place for even the humblest dwelling. Their outlines are 
 very grand and the lake is very tortuous, and as the steamboat winds 
 its sinuous way among them, thej^ seem to move around in a solemn 
 slow and mj'stic dance with ever changing graceful mazes. Opposite 
 to the point at which we took the steamboat, at this end of the lake, 
 rose a lofty solitary peak, crowned bj' a building which, though it 
 appeared small in the distance from which we saw it, is said to be a 
 very large church. The view from it is said to be very extensive 
 embracing Monte Rosa and the Swiss alps. We shall be content to 
 take it in faith on the statements of others ! 
 
 We are most luxuriouslj^ accommodated here in what was till 
 within but a few 5'ears a Monastery, only recently confiscated by the 
 government and sold to the present proprietor who has furnished the 
 cells of the monks with modern conveniences and luxurious furniture 
 of the best kind, and makes it a most agreeable place of retirement, 
 not from the pleasures of life and the beauties of sublunary things, 
 but from the cares of business and toils of duty. A neat or rather an 
 elegant pleasure ground spreads around the house, over which the eye 
 is attracted to the Lake, and the mountains on the other side ; while 
 behind, the hill rises into almost mountainous elevation by gradual 
 slopes, which are terraced and laid out with shaded walks to tempt to 
 healthful exertion in exploring the secluded nooks on the sides. 
 
 We took our simple dinner immediately on our arrival. The six 
 courses of the table d' hole are now being discussed and disposed of 
 by a large company of guests, and when they have got through we 
 shall take our homely tea, at a little table to ourselves. It has been 
 raining all the afternoon, and your mother has been seated at her 
 
 213
 
 sewing while I have been reading history aloud to her. At a moment 
 when it held up for a little while I stepped out to explore, and found 
 we were in the midst of magnificent villas, with beautiful grounds and 
 gardens, in one of which was a dome supported on columns under 
 which was a bronze bust of Washington, with the motto " Magnum 
 scECulorum deais.'" One would not have looked for such a tribute to 
 the Father of his Country in this far away place. Which of you 
 grandsons will favor those who are unable to understand the admirable 
 motto with a translation ? 
 
 Having alluded to the monastic character of the building in which 
 we are now quartered, it may not be inappropriate to mention that we 
 occupy an apartment about 25 feet square with a ceiling of corres- 
 ponding elevation, and a floor parqetted with woods of various colours 
 laid in regular patterns, the windows draped with lace curtains, the 
 ceiling frescoed with figures of cupids, and the walls hung with rich 
 paper. 
 
 I do not mean that you should infer that these were here in the 
 time of the monks ; or that we, ourselves are attaching much import- 
 ance to them, but simply to give you an idea of our surroundings. 
 This place is said to have been the location of a Press from a very 
 early period of the introduction of the art of printing : and from it 
 have been issued a large portion of the liberal books which have lately 
 stirred into such activity the minds of the people of Italj'. 
 
 In looking over the newspaper I find the names of Wistar and 
 sisters recorded among those of other American travellers at Geneva, 
 on the 23d, so that we may indulge the hope of meeting them very 
 soon. 
 
 2Sth. 
 
 A night of constant rain has been succeeded by a da}' of t3'pical 
 beauty. The sun has just surmounted the brow of the opposite moun- 
 tain and is sending his horizontal rays into our chamber ; one solitary 
 cloud lies like a veil over the highest peak illuminated by the light, 
 making it white as the driven snow and contrasting softly with the 
 deep blue of the water of the lake, from the bosom of which it is 
 reflected with a clearness almost equal to the distinctness of that which 
 floats in the vault above. 
 
 A good night's rest starts us well for a day of quiet rest here, but 
 not of forgetfulness of those at home. Your mother is about finishing 
 her toilet, and when that is complete we will have our usual morning 
 reading, and commend you all, and each severally, to the care of Him 
 in whom we all live and move and have our being, and who only can 
 keep us there or here in safet3^ May His Fatherly mercies be over us 
 all, " at home or abroad ! " 
 
 At the breakfast table I took up the Geneva newspaper in which 
 I find the report of the proceedings of the meeting of the ' ' Old 
 
 214
 
 Catholics " ; as those are designated who are opposing the onward 
 movement of the regular Papal Church, claiming for itself the exclu- 
 sive use of the title of Catholic, under the sway of what is known in 
 France and Germany as ' ' Ultramontanism ' ' which is urging the pro- 
 gression, or as we consider it, the retrograde movement toward the 
 condition of the darkest ages of the Chvirch. The action of these "Old 
 Catholics" is due to the decree of the late Ecumenical Council — so 
 called without any just claim to that character — of the Immaculate 
 Conception of the Virgin Mary as well" as that of our Lord himself,, 
 making it a necessary article of the faith of every Christian, to be pro- 
 fessed on pain of eternal damnation. The claim of Infallibilit}' for the- 
 Pope in his individual capacity as Pope, independent of the consent of 
 Councils, which has heretofore been supposed to be necessarj^ to give 
 it validity, is also opposed by these " Old Catholics," though this is 
 the onl3- logical result of the doctrince that the Bishop of Rome is the 
 Head of the Church. 
 
 If the Pope is ' ' The Vicar of Christ ' ' he must be clothed with the 
 power Christ, who did not confer with his Apostles, but "sent them." 
 If I v/ere a Romanist I should find no place of rest short of this entire 
 submission of judgment, v,-ill, and affections to the Pope and his repre- 
 sentative, the Priest, and I am afraid the Old Catholics will find their 
 new position untenable. 
 
 I see that Pere Hyacynthe was present at this conference at 
 Munich. He is said to have no hope from the present position of 
 Italy ^ where, to use his own expression, he thinks those v\'ho have 
 thrown off the yoke of the Chtirch are ' ' too radical. ' ' The Bavarian 
 government has guaranteed the ' ' Old Catholics ' ' who have held their 
 council at Munich from any persecution by the Papal part}' in the 
 church. 
 
 My great apprehension is that the movement is embarrassed by 
 its political associations ; and entangled with the ' ' advance of science, ' * 
 which has been given prominence at IMunich, on the principle that the 
 increasing intelligence of the people requires that the priesthood shall 
 be better instructed in science. 
 
 There is no hope for the cause of Christ in any S3'steni, however 
 modified, which recognizes ayiy priest other than the One great High- 
 Priest ; and any shade of doctrine which makes an}- mere man, by the 
 imposition of hands of other men, from whencesoever they draw their 
 authority, a separate and authorized mediator between Christ and the 
 soul, is only a branch of the one evil root. 
 
 Here, as at Milan, we see all the tokens of temporal prosperity 
 and activity strongly contrasted with the stupidit}- and squalor of the 
 population of other places through which we have passed. 
 
 The confiscation of the property of the IMonasteries, and the pro- 
 hibition of the admission of new brothers into the fraternities, while 
 assuming the maintenance of the present members of the several 
 
 2^5
 
 orders, was a bold step but appears to be sustained by public opinion ; 
 there is still a great conflict in tbe future. 
 
 That Jesus will triumph no one can hesitate to believe, notwith- 
 standing the boldness with which the hosts of Antichrist are marshalled 
 and drilled, whether under the lead of science, ' ' falsely so called, ' ' or 
 of superstition and ignorance ; and I only pray that we maj'' all be kept 
 steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
 knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. 
 
 Your ever loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Stresa, Lago Maggiore, Italy, September 30, 187 1. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 We are once more happily united to our brother and sisters, and 
 find them well and that they have enjoyed to the full their mountain 
 experiences, passes included, as we have certainly our quiet repose 
 amid the delights of these Italian lakes. 
 
 We have great call for gratitude to our Heavenly Father, who has 
 watched over us in our several conditions, and given us each so much 
 to charm us. 
 
 We yesterday left Lugano on steamboat for this place, calling at 
 Baveno a few miles from here, a beautiful spot, and much resorted to 
 by tourists and visitors to the lakes, and just as the boat was pushing 
 off, Friezier came to us to saj' that he had met on the pier a courier of 
 another part}^ who told him that Wistar had arrived at Stresa about an 
 hour before he had left. 
 
 We had not expected to see them so soon as our last letters from 
 Wistar had fixed the 3rd of October for our meeting. 
 
 When we reached this place we had a truly joyful meeting, and 
 in anticipation of our arrival Wistar had secured a chamber for us and 
 ordered dinner, which was a most acceptable kindness as we were both 
 wearied and hungrj'. 
 
 On the pier we were welcomed by the drivers of the carriages who 
 told Friezier thej' were ordered to be ready for a start at 4 p. m. This 
 was not a pleasant feature in the picture, but we made up our minds 
 to do as others did and make the best of it. Dinner was served, and 
 just as we were about half through we were summoned to the car- 
 riages — not for a start, but to be photographed. The operator sent us 
 word ' ' now or never, ' ' as the sun would not pause in his course to 
 suit our appetites, so between two courses v»'e left the table, to the 
 disgust of cook and servants, and the amusement of fellow travellers, 
 and took our seats in the carriages in the front court of the great hotel, 
 as though about to leave. After several attempts, which were decided 
 to be unsatisfactory', we returned to our dinner which we have just 
 got through, and are again summoned to the carriages for another 
 
 216
 
 sitting ; immediately after which we are to take a drive to Lake Orta. 
 We shall remain here until Monday morning, waiting for letters from 
 you for which we are longing. 
 
 We are discussing another separation to meet at Milan, to which 
 your mother and I would go by Rail, instead of retracing our course 
 through the lakes with those who have not seen their beauties. 
 
 Saturday evening. 
 
 We have driven 15 miles to Lake Orta, over a perfectly smooth 
 road, lying amid charming little meadows, and mountain surroundings. 
 
 You will judge how home-like it was, and Harry will laugh at our 
 childish folly, when I tell you that we welcomed the sight of Black- 
 berry bushes, Pokeberries, Sumac, and Elder, with much joy, as though 
 they were almost of kin. 
 
 The first part of the drive lay along the shore of the Lago 
 Maggiore lined with magnificient villas, the residences of Italian 
 nobles and temporary residents from various other countries of Europe, 
 and the latter part on the shores of Orta, much wilder and more moun- 
 tainous. 
 
 There is a monastic legend attaching to this Lake, to which it 
 owes much of its celebrity. 
 
 In the third or fourth century a holy man was very desirous of 
 converting to the Christian faith the pagans living on the opposite 
 shore to that on which he was, but having no means of crossing to 
 them he spread his cloak on the water, and taking his seat on it, was 
 wafted across in safety by a propitious wind. He landed on a lofty 
 promontory which juts out into the lake, which is called St Julius in 
 commemoration of this miracle. On it grow freely in the open air, 
 Camellias, Aloes, and Palms, while the terraces which surround a fine 
 villa are richly clothed with Rhododendrons, Kalmias, Azaleas, and 
 Magnolias in great profusion and perfection. 
 
 The summit of the loftj"^ promontory is clad with noble Pine and 
 Linden trees, and affords an extensive view of the lake and surround- 
 ing mountains, and is approached by a series of zigzag paths having 
 a small chapel, or "Station " for prayer, at each turn in the ascent, 
 each containing a group of terra cotta figures of life size, and admirable 
 artistic merit, dressed in coloured costumes, each group representing 
 some incident in the life of St Francis of Assisi, to whom the whole 
 were dedicated. He was the founder of a brotherhood of ascetic 
 monks. 
 
 In one of the largest of these station chapels the figures represent 
 the Corso at Rome, at the time of the Carnival. The figures represent 
 every variety of pursuit of pleasure in every imaginable variety of 
 grotesque attitude and costume. 
 
 Through the midst of the pleasure seeking crowd, the emanciated 
 form of the saint worn out with penances and fastings, his hands tied 
 
 217
 
 behind him as though he were a malefactor, is led by a halter in the 
 hands of brother monks toward a gallows which has been erected in 
 the midst of the giddy scene, as though he were about to suffer 
 execution. It is said to comm.emorate the fact that he thus reproved 
 the licentious revelry of the celebrated festival. In another of the 
 stations he is represented riding on an ass surrovinded by a large group 
 of figures worshipping him, as he rides through the crowd so absorbed 
 in holy meditation or prayer that he is unmindful of external objects. 
 
 The walls of the chapels are covered with fresco paintings, cor- 
 responding with the figures they contain. 
 
 The drive was a most delightful one and the spot itself possessed 
 of great attractions in itself, beside those of these works of art which 
 are very celebrated. 
 
 Here the lake spreads out before our windows in great beauty 
 some five or six miles in each direction, begirt with ridges of moun- 
 tains, some sending up rugged peaks, while others are rounded off at 
 their tops, clothed with soft verdure, or rich forests, and, like those at 
 Bellagio, ever varying in hue with the changing lights and shades. 
 
 It is the time of full moon — harvest moon — and the soft light 
 falls beautifull3' across the bosom of the lake, reminding us, O ! so 
 pleasanth', of the silver sheen on the fair face of the Chesapeake as 
 seen so often from the humble home at Ivy Neck, where we have sat 
 happily so manj^ such evenings, and drank in quiet happiness, even 
 though no mountain ranges added their grandeur to the view, and no 
 magnificent villas surrounded by costly plantations and graceful flower 
 gardens stand at every point to lend their adornment to the toiUe 
 ensemble of beauty. 
 
 I would gladly add there the attractive beauty of elegant grounds, 
 and shaded alleys, and smiling flower borders ; it was alwa3^s in my 
 heart to do so ; but in that as in more important affairs I must leave 
 much unaccomplished, which I have earnestly desired to accomplish ; 
 and forgetting things behind press on to those before, careful for 
 nothing earthly, and grasping firmly those things which belong to 
 that inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and which fadeth not 
 away, reserved in heaven for those who believe in Jesus, love him, and 
 serve him while looking for and waiting his appearing. 
 
 Italy has roused from the torpor resulting from the oppressive 
 tyranny of Austria, by which she has been held in thraldom so many 
 years ; whether with the political yoke she will be able also to throw 
 off the worse tyrannj' of the priesthood, is an important question. 
 Every newspaper I take up, contains some article which indicates that 
 we are living at the commencement of a new era, and one of great 
 importance. 
 
 As travellers we are ever}' where received in Monastic buildings 
 which have been secularized, and devoted to the common purposes of 
 life, while the revenues hy which the brotherhoods were supported in 
 
 218
 
 idleness, are appropriated to the purposes of civil government, thus 
 relieving the burden of taxation. 
 
 Every where in Ital}^ we see notices of " Communale" Libraries 
 and Schools. At Munich, in German}', there is now in session, unless 
 it has adjourned within the last few da^'s, a Congress of "Old Catho- 
 lics, ' ' met for the purpose of arranging some plan for co-operation in 
 action on the part of those who can not accept as indispensible articles 
 of faith the new Dogmas decreed by the late council and issued by the 
 Pope. 
 
 The Bavarian government, it is believed with the sanction of the 
 Emperor of Germany, has avowed its determination to protect at 
 least, the ' ' Old Catholics ' ' in their civil and religious rights ; and yet 
 I observe that the Archbishop in whose 'jurisdiction lies the See which 
 embraces IMvmich, has excommunicated one of the priests who attended 
 that congress, in which I note that Pere Hyac3'nthe took a part. 
 
 The King of Italy evidently shrinks from extreme measures in 
 his intercourse with the Pope, whether from political motives or 
 apprehension of the spiritual power, I can not form an opinion. The 
 power of the priesthood here is evidently great. 
 
 We m.ay well pray earnestly for the outpouring of the Spirit ot 
 Christ, by whom only these conflicting elements can be harmonized 
 and controlled. It is not by might nor b}^ power, but by the Spirit of 
 the Lord alone that the kingdom of Jesus can be established on earth ; 
 just as it is not of blood, nor of the will of man, but by the Holy 
 Ghost, that our individual hearts are brought back from their rebellion, 
 and made heirs of the kingdom of eternal life ; and my most earnest 
 prayer for every one of you of both generations, children and children's 
 children, is that each one may knovv^ what it is to be born from above, 
 not by anj^ mere external rite of ecclesiastical arrangement, but b}' the 
 mighty power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 This morning I saw a young Englishman moved to tears by the 
 earnest teachings of the clergyman stationed here, and I covild not but 
 think of the dear boys and girls I had left behind me at home and 
 pray that our heavenly Father would draw them all to himself by the 
 subduing power of the love of Christ, shed abroad in their hearts by 
 the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, that so if we meet not again 
 on earth, we may meet in the kingdom of Jesus, into whicli nothing 
 that defileth can enter. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 I find room only for much, very much love, and best wishes. Of 
 course father has told 3-011 our party are united again, all weil and 
 happy ; so much cause for thankfulness and I think we feel it. The 
 flower seeds j-our father encloses will give so much weight th.it I will 
 
 21Q
 
 not venture another sheet of paper. I have some strawberries drying 
 for you on a sheet of paper that you may plant the seeds and try to 
 raise some. We ate them yesterday, very delicious in flavour though 
 small in size ; so tender and luscious that they melt in the mouth. 
 
 Your father and I are quite well, and start with the others on the 
 same track over which we came here by the Lakes, and so to Milan. 
 Your loving mother, 
 
 Anne C. Morris. 
 
 Stresa, Lago Maggiore, Italy, September 30, 1871. 
 
 My Dear Brother : 
 
 It seems impossible for me to convince myself that it is only 
 twelve weeks, about, since we parted ; and our anxiety to hear how 
 you are at Wallbrook increases daily. 
 
 We indulge the hope that letters which we have requested to be 
 forwarded to us here may include one from you. 
 
 From my last you will have learned of our quiet rest amid the 
 beauties of these Italian Lakes which deserve all the encomiums which 
 have been so lavished upon them in all ages of civilization. We are 
 now enjojdng a temperature very much the same as your own, though 
 there is no indication of changing hue in the foliage. B}^ the Geneva 
 newspaper of to-day, I see a telegraphic report from Washington that 
 the corn crop is good ; but that of wheat only half an average, and 
 that the price of gold is rising. 
 
 So 3-ou see we are not entirely without information of the state 
 of things at home. But while these items have an interest for us, 
 they have not the value of some little word of love. 
 
 It was interesting to us to be told, a few da5^s since, that if we 
 desired to communicate with our friends in America from the point at 
 which we then were, we could do so directly. 
 
 I would not have answered for my self denial if I had been told 
 that I could without the double cost of .the two messages secure a 
 message of good news from j^ou without sending one of enquir3\ 
 
 From the date of our last letter to j^ou from Bellagio, Anne and I 
 continued to recruit, and I think I may venture to say that even she 
 enjoyed greatly the beauty of the scenery, the comfort of the climate, 
 and the luxury of a life without care, and every convenience to con- 
 tribute to our ease abundantly supplied. 
 
 We were entirely isolated, it is true. The mountain passes 
 separated us as effectually from our kindred on this side of the 
 Atlantic as from you ; and we could have communicated with j'ou by 
 telegraph as quickly as with them, and much more certainly. We 
 made excursions on Lake Como and finally plucked up courage
 
 enough to venture to Milan, having been told there was to be an illum- 
 ination of the Cathedral on the anniversary of the occupation of Rome 
 by the Government of Victor Emanuel. 
 
 We were disappointed in that, as it is the policy of Victor Emanuel 
 to avoid any active controversy with the Papal power. We were how- 
 ever amply compensated by the opportunity we enjoyed of witnessing 
 the great energy of the people, and the activity, enterprise and pros- 
 perity displaj^ed there. 
 
 Not even in Great Britain have we at any point seen greater 
 evidences of wealth ; and it is interesting to observe that in Italy, as 
 elsewhere, the avenue to wealth, influence and honour is now through 
 the cultivation of the useful arts. 
 
 The mere possession of ancient hereditary distinction has lost its 
 prestige, even in these older centres of civilization, and those who 
 possess it are compelled to do homage to the present by manifesting 
 their interest in the progress of these useful arts, or they lose their 
 position. 
 
 Engineering and mechanical arts have come to the front, and take 
 the lead ; and in the textile mantifactures there is great activity, 
 especially in silk, in which they are competing with Lyons. 
 
 Italy being the cherished home of the Fine Arts, these flourish in 
 proportion to the wealth of any point ; and Milan being now a great 
 centre of energy, these flourish there in proportion to the wealth of 
 the community, and painting and sculpture are well patronized there. 
 
 We visited some of the studios ; and at the great National exhibi- 
 tion of arts, which was in progress at the time of our visit, saw many 
 specimens of modern painting and statuary, the description of which 
 would fail to convey any adequate impression of their beauty and 
 would therefore be uninteresting to you. The most costly group we 
 saw was a monument in the modern cemetery to the memory of a 
 mechanic and civil engineer, adorned by representations of his tools. 
 One establishment, very extensive and imposing in its palatial style 
 of building, is a place for the manufacture of envelopes. It certainly 
 exhibits the activity of the mental and commercial life of Italy that 
 there should be so great a consumption of these. 
 
 As we shall visit Milan again with the party, we spent our private 
 excursion there chiefly in the enjoyment of the solemn feelings experi- 
 enced in visiting the great Cathedral ; certainly the unquestioned 
 chef d' oeuvre of architecture in mediaeval times ; and the rapidly 
 decajdng ruins of the equally unrivalled picture representing the Last 
 Supper of our Lord with the Twelve, by Leonardo da Vinci. 
 
 Leonardo was occupied on it eight years and he produced a most 
 impressive commentary on that most sublime transaction the world 
 has ever witnessed. 
 
 The artist must have imbibed a full comprehension of the deep 
 mysteries of the character and ofiices of our ' ' Master and Lord ' ' or
 
 he could never have produced such a clear exhibition of that ineffable 
 combination of the divine and human which is embodied in that great 
 picture. The attitude, and the expression of the face of our Lord seem 
 to give utterance to His words " Lo ! I come to do thy will." 
 
 IMay we be found loving and following Him whom to know is life 
 eternal. Love to dear Margaret and all around you, not omitting 
 Mar}' Ellen, in which Anne joins. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 I enclose the seeds of three beautiful shrubs ; perhaps 5'ou can 
 make them grow. 
 
 Stresa, Lago Maggiore. 
 My Dear Brother and Sister : 
 
 I know you both will be glad to hear we are again well and happy ; 
 having been steadily improving, and having made several little excur- 
 sions from Bellagio, of which place we took, as we then thought, our 
 final leave on Wednesday the 27th under the care of Friezier (the 
 courier), whom Wistar had sent to carry us to this place, at which we 
 were to join him and sisters, which we did on the 29th. 
 
 It is ver}^ nice to be all together again. They have been much 
 favoured in health, and have enjoyed very much the mountain scenes 
 and drives in carriages and rides on mules, in rain and sunshine. But 
 we are onl}' the more fully convinced than we were before hearing 
 their reports, that it was well we were not with them. From now our 
 travelling will be principally by R. R., though we find they intend to 
 take us back through these lakes, this week. The lakes are so beautiful 
 that one can not weary in looking at them, and as it will be retracing 
 our steps, we shall be able to designate the inost attractive points of 
 interest to them. 
 
 We were rather disappointed last evening at not receiving letters 
 we had hoped would reach us then but will try to be patient. We want 
 to hear from you as much as from any one, and we rejoice on dear 
 ]\Iargaret's account that the warm weather must be over now. We 
 have not had any oppressive weather continuing, in fact only feel the 
 heat for an hour or two, then it gets cool so that it is necessarj' to be 
 verj' careful to guard against colds. 
 
 Another month and 3'ou will be moving into town, and we want 
 to hear about IMary Ellen. Our last told us of her going to Elmira 
 and how she had borne the fatiguing trip. 
 
 On our way here we spent a day in an old monastic establishment 
 now an elegant hotel, but its original construction still remains ; the 
 cloisters, et cet. , et cet. , though some of the rooms are large, and now
 
 elegantly furnished, and have a fine outlook over the lake, many of 
 them are very small and I almost wished the walls could tell us of past 
 events. 
 
 It is a solid granite structure scarcel}- any wood having been used 
 in the construction of it. 
 
 Sunday evening. 
 We have enjo3'ed the English Service here to-day and two most 
 excelient sermons from a gentleman placed here by the Colonial Society 
 which has here, and at most places much resorted to by travellers, a 
 small chapel which they supply in the season of travel, and we have 
 found great comfort from it. 
 
 You may tell Mrs. Valentine no one enjoys the travel more, or 
 bears the fatigue better than Mary ; and I do hope she will return 
 strong and well. Wistar too is much improved. I hope the children 
 send 3'ou some of the Doctor's letters, then j'ou will have a better idea of 
 what we see. Yesterday we ate the most delicious strawberries I ever 
 tasted ; small, but so lucious that they melt in the mouth, with no 
 acidity at all. I shall send some of the seeds to son Galloway, to see 
 what he can do with them ; and if you wish he will share them with you. 
 
 The grapes, pears, apples and figs, are all very fine ; and mush- 
 rooms as large as a breakfast plate and so thick that they slice and dry 
 them for winter use. 
 
 Tell Margaret that though I am getting accustomed to table d'hote 
 dinners of seven or eight courses, that I do often long for a good joint 
 and two kinds of vegetables — a Wallbrook dinner, for instance. But I 
 must say farewell, with O ! so much love to you all. 
 Yours most truly and affectionately, 
 
 Anne C. Morris. 
 
 Stresa, Lago Maggiore, October 2. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 While your dear mother finishes dressing I seat m3-self to salute 
 3^ou and to attempt to convey to you some idea of the love with which 
 our hearts turn toward you, and 3'earn over 3'ou all while we are enjo3'- 
 ing the wondrous beaut3^ of this glorious morning ; of which I can 
 give 3'ou no adequate description. I awoke just as the first glow of the 
 rosy morn had tinged with its hue the light clouds which la3' over the 
 peak of the mountain which rises before us to the east ; while the 
 living ra3's from the coming lord of day shot straight through the 
 opening in their golden gates far tip toward the zenith. 
 
 To the east all beyond was limitless ether, clear as cr3'stal, of amber 
 colour. At our feet lay the lake, its surface smooth as a polished 
 
 223
 
 mirror, reflecting the amber light, except that portion nearest to us in 
 which were reflected the clouds, which glowed more and more gorge- 
 ously moment by moment. Toward the west the lake was like a sea 
 of ink, so black was it rendered bj^ the dark, gloomy clouds which 
 hung over that portion of its bosom and shrouded the mountains on 
 that side. 
 
 The amber and the purple gradually spread from east to west over 
 the lake and while I was gazing, a beautiful Iris (not a bow, but a side 
 column of dispersed light with all the rich hues of the bow), glowing 
 with the most intense brilliance, rose above the point of the mountain 
 at the west side, while the adjacent clouds seemed to gather deeper 
 blackness from the contrast, and the various more distant ranges were 
 like weird shadowy ghosts peering through the veil of darkness. The 
 one point in the surface of the lake on which alone the sun's first rays 
 fell, laughed as it were in triumphant exultation. Suddenly a breeze 
 ruffled the inky dark portion of the lake and covered the surface with 
 dancing white-caps, while the nearer portion before us lay tranquilly 
 unruffled, reflecting the purple hue of the clouds which had slowly 
 floated to the zenith. 
 
 As the sun's rays reached point after point of the distant peaks, 
 shrouded in heavj' masses of black cloud hanging around them, they 
 were all set aglow till they looked almost as though they were 
 volcanoes, shooting up columns of burning light from the midst of the 
 surrounding gloom. 
 
 The gradual spread of the soft light of the morning, slowly 
 increasing into perfect day, over one mountain after another, revealing 
 forests, terraces of vineyards, and picturesque villages pitched among 
 the heights, w^here but a moment before all was veiled in darkness and 
 obscurity, was magical in effect. 
 
 Your mother enjoyed it as fully as I did, and said as I took my 
 seat to write, " 5'ou may a.muse jwirse// with the effort, but it is a vain 
 attempt to convey to them any idea of the grandeur. ' ' 
 
 It is true we both agreed that we had seen equal beauty in the sky 
 and clouds and water from our chamber window at Ivy Neck. The 
 mountains only were wanting there. 
 
 I was amused last evening at little Mary. She said she did not 
 wish to travel any further. One of the party replied, " O j-es ; to go 
 home." She quickly responded, " O, let us make our home here." 
 It certainly is a very tempting place. Some Russian noble has a 
 beautiful villa and another is about expending $1,000,000 in the erec- 
 tion of one. 
 
 When Caspar and Effingham read the splendid passage in Ovid in 
 which the poet describes the opening of the gate of the morning by 
 Aurora, they must fancy, as I do, that the poet had gazed on just such 
 a spectacle as we saw this morning, perhaps from the very same point. 
 "We may cultivate the same intense love of the beautiful as that of the 
 
 224
 
 pagan, associating it with a higher and holier feeling and realize that 
 He who made all this beauty and renews it day by day for our gratifi- 
 cation, delights to call Himself "our Father" and entreats us to 
 realize and enjoy the privilege of being "sons and daughters of the 
 Lord God Almighty. ' ' 
 
 The temperature is cool and the lake is now rough, so that instead 
 of sailing on it we drove twelve or fourteen miles along its shore to 
 see the colossal statue erected in honour of St. Charles of Borromeo, 
 an Italian nobleman who surely deserves canonization if any mortal 
 man ever did. 
 
 ' ' By their fruits ye shall know them, ' ' and his works were certainly 
 fruits of the spirit, blessing and comforting the sick and the needy, 
 devoting to their service his large revenues and his personal toil and 
 his entire time and powers. 
 
 Lazarettos for the sufferers with the plague, Hospitals for the sick, 
 built and endowed by him still stand, and are actively performing 
 their functions as monuments of his zeal and self-denjdng charity. 
 He printed an edition of the Bible in folio at his personal cost. His 
 errors were those of the times in which he lived ; and we may cer- 
 tainly apph- to him the language of our Lord when He reproved His 
 disciples for forbidding some to cast out devils in His name because 
 the}' followed not ivitli them. 
 
 Evening. 
 
 Our drive this morning was hy the great Simplon road constructed 
 by the First Napoleon as First Consul, to connect the Cisalpine 
 Republic and France, leading from Milan, the capital of the Italian 
 Republic, across the Alps. 
 
 During all the interv^ening time, and under all the vicissitudes of 
 Europe, and changes of government, the road has been kept in good 
 repair. It runs here along the shore of the lake, and almost the entire 
 distance to Arona, is lined by villas, looking over the lake, and at the 
 mountains, surrounded by gardens glowing with the rich colours of 
 ornamental flower beds and borders of the most gorgeous hues and 
 tasteful arrangement, and grounds planted with ornamental shrubbery 
 and trees of great beauty and variety. There are Tulip Poplars, 
 Mimosas, Pride of China, and, above all attractive, the Magnolia 
 Grandiflora, which attains great size, and a rich profusion of its 
 polished evergreen foliage, and is now loaded with its elegant fruit, 
 throwing its red berries out on the yellow pulp, and proving how 
 abundant must have been the superb white flowers in the season. 
 
 There is no ornamental shrub or beautiful flower to which we are 
 accustomed at home which we do not recognize here ; and these 
 gardens possess many others of equal attraction which would be 
 destroyed by the heat and drought of our long summers, or the cold 
 of the winters. Tufts of Pampas grass are very frequent, shaking 
 
 225
 
 their snowy plumes in contrast with the 7uasses of Amaranth of the 
 deepest Crimson and richest scarlet. The effects produced by the 
 gardeners here, by massing plants, are very sti'lking. The rising 
 ground behind these villas are terraced, and planted with vines, 
 hanging thickly with purple clusters of luscious grapes ; while at the 
 road-side, at frequent inter\^als, stood great wooden vats, mounted on 
 wheels, into which the peasants, men and women, were emptying 
 great baskets loaded with the fruit to be crushed for wine. There 
 were boats containing similar vessels, lying at the shores. 
 
 When we started on our drive, the blue waters of the lake were 
 ruffled by a heavy gale ; the weather clear, and so cold that we were 
 glad to avail ourselves of the protection of shawls and wraps, and 
 overcoats. As we advanced there was a change in the direction of the 
 lake and of the road, so that we were screened from the wind, and 
 found it warm, even oppressively so ; but it became cool again before 
 we got back. 
 
 Arona, to which we drove, is a town on the lake at which the 
 connection between the railroads and the steamers on the lake is made. 
 On the summit of a low mountain near the shore of the lake stands 
 the colossal figure of vSan Carlo, looking over the lake and surround- 
 ing country with a Bible in his left hand, while his right is elevated 
 and extended in the attitude of ' ' blessing ' ' peculiar to the Roman 
 priesthood. 
 
 The statue itself is sevent}^ feet in height, and stands on a pedestal 
 of some twenty feet. The head and hands are of Bronze casting, the 
 body and drapery of copper, beaten. The expression of the face, 
 which is said to be a correct likeness, is most benevolent ; the propor- 
 tions of the figure perfect, and the impression produced on the 
 beholder ver}- imposing. It was erected about the time that William 
 Penn settled the province of Pennsylvania, and commemorates the 
 virtues of one of the holiest men who has adorned our nature — a man 
 who counted not his life dear unto himself, but exposed it freely to 
 plague, pestilence and famine, and the malice of enemies, in labours 
 more abundant than any other of whom I have read since the days of 
 the Apostle Paul, whose language I have ventured to appropriate to 
 him. He had inherited vast estates which he consecrated to the relief 
 of human suffering during his own life as well as by bequest. 
 
 To-morrow morning we start on our return over the route your 
 mother and I took on our v.-ay here by Lake Lugano to Lake Como ; 
 and thence by rail to IMilan, where we will probably, mail this. 
 
 We have been disappointed by failing to receive letters, vvhich I 
 had requested should be forwarded to us at this place. 
 
 We have not enjoj'ed an}' portion of our absence from home more 
 to our satisfaction, than these few daj^s here since we have been 
 favoured to be reunited with our party. 
 
 226
 
 The perfect temperature, the grand mountains, the beautiful lake, 
 the charming villas and grounds, all combine with comfort of the 
 family association and thankfulness for our preservation during our 
 separation, to fill our cup with earthly bliss. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar INIorris. 
 
 Lugano, October 4, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Here we are back again, and of course you will not expect much 
 that is new, or much attempt at description of what we see as we pass 
 over the same route so recently travelled. When here a few days 
 since, having come through Italy, I was under the impression that it 
 was in that kingdom ; but I now find that it is in one of the Swiss 
 cantons between which and that kingdom the boundary is very 
 irregular. We were in both territories yesterday, and shall pass from 
 one to the other more than once to-day, though the distance travelled 
 in either will not exceed thirty miles. 
 
 Lakes and mountains are very irregular in their courses, and 
 boundary lines are even more irregular still. 
 
 We were amused as we approached one of the Custom Stations 
 yesterday, by a little fellow about eight years old, whom we saw full}^ 
 ' ' equipped " as a Doiianier, with his mimic carbine slung across his 
 shoulders, seated at the side of the road bj' which we were approach- 
 ing, looking immensely important. He laughed very prettily however 
 when I saluted him as the officer of Custom, and ran off to his home 
 by a short cut through the bushes, and we found him awaiting our 
 arrival with his mother, peeping at us through the window-blinds. 
 
 We are here in the same hotel as that I described in my former 
 letter from here, but though Wistar had telegraphed for rooms we are 
 colonized in an out-building, the immense Monastery being full of 
 tourists, of whom more than fort}^ were turned away 5-esterda5- because 
 they could not find room for them, even in a colony. The accom- 
 modation we now have is quite as good as that in the main hotel ; and 
 suits lis better as we are all together, and have the house entirely to 
 ourselves which gives us a more home-like feeling. The drive 3'ester- 
 day was through a valley between mountains with its rich verdure of 
 grassy pastures, and orchards of mulberr}' trees festooned with vines 
 stretching from tree to tree, hanging thickly clustered with purple 
 bunches of luscious grapes. On the lake we felt cold and required all 
 our wraps, through the direct ra3-s of the sun felt warm ; and the pre- 
 sence of tufts of Bamboo and great plants of Aloes in the open air, 
 and the Orange and Lemon trees in the gardens, assured us that frost 
 is unknown, or at most an infrequent visitor. 
 
 227
 
 It was dusk when we drove down the mountain side to the lake 
 shore, but now the bright sun of an autumn morning illuminates the 
 mountains by which it is environed, and enables us to appreciate the 
 beauty of the villas around us, and the statute of William Tell, which 
 stands in the open square before this house, brandishing the arrow 
 he designed for the Austrian despot, Gesler, having just discharged 
 that which cleft the apple on the head of his son. These people, like 
 their neighbours the Italians, lose no opportunity of exhibiting their 
 hatred of Austria. 
 
 Yesterday, at Laveno, on the shore of Lago INIaggiore, we passed 
 the crumbling ruins of the Austrian fortresses which sheltered a fleet 
 of gun-boats. Garibaldi stole a march across the mountain, with a 
 small force, pounced upon them unexpectedly from above, and siezed 
 the whole flotilla. On the same occasion he concealed his troops, only 
 500 all told, in the mountain, and sent a message to the commander at 
 Como (the civil officer, I believe the Maj^or), to prepare rations the 
 next day for 2500 men. The Austrian garrison marched out ignomini- 
 ously leaving him in possession of the town, and the command of the 
 Lake. •' Plazas " called by his name in every Commnne, and statues 
 erected to his honour in every town, indicate the esteem in which he is 
 held by the Italian people. 
 
 Bellagio, October 5th. 
 
 A rainy daj' shuts us within doors, and requires wrappings about 
 us, in addition to our usual clothing. 
 
 I am glad we arrived here yesterday at an early hour, so as to 
 afford your uncle and aunts an opportunity to see and enjoy the 
 wondrous beauty of the lake and mountains before the rain shut them 
 in ; and now the rest of the day will prepare them the better to 
 appreciate them when the sun again illuminates them with its rays, 
 and the var5-ing hues of colour, and the changing lights and shades, 
 give them the charm we have so revelled in. They enjoyed the sail 
 on the Lake of Lugano, yesterday, and the drive across from it to 
 Menaggio, on the opposite side of this lake, from which we crossed to 
 this place in row-boats, the distance being about two miles and a half 
 
 We found 3'our letters of the 12th awaiting us here, and are 
 thankful that up to that time you were enjoying the blessing of health 
 and happiness, except at Ivy Neck. The condition of the family 
 there, was sad enough ; and we shall open our next letters with some 
 apprehensions. We are glad that Miss Alice and the three older chil- 
 dren were still in Philadelphia, as that diminished Mary's anxieties 
 for their health ; though we know they would each have done their 
 best to assist their mother in her labours and to relieve her of her 
 cares and Miss Alice would be a very great comfort to her, and we 
 cultivate the hope that they all are now happily at home, and pur- 
 suing their studies. 
 
 228
 
 EiTmgham may write me a German letter. I have a pocket 
 Dictionary of French and German, by the help of which I may be able 
 to spell out its meaning ; and if that fail it shall not be in want of 
 faith that what I can not understand is still an evidence of his affection 
 and respect for his grandmother and myself. 
 
 She is quite an important personage. Yesterday as we sat on the 
 deck of the steamboat on Lake Lugano, I saw a gentleman e3^eing our 
 party very intenth^ ; at last he turned to me and asked if I had not 
 been at Cadenabbia some three or four weeks ago, and reminded me 
 that I had then addressed a question to him, and added, " I recognized 
 you by the lady who is with 3-011." 
 
 Mid-day. 
 
 The rain has ceased and 3'our mother and aunts have turned out 
 for a walk, without attendant. 
 
 They rejected m3' proffered company and declined the attendance 
 of Friezier. We are now looking for their return which will be, we 
 suppose, at least in time for dinner which is to be serv^ed at two o'clock 
 p. M. You see b3^ this that she has found her e3'es, which she so posi- 
 tively said before leaving home she should not do till that opened 
 them. Your aunts laugh not a little at her about the stores of infor- 
 mation she has gathered iip without them, picked up in her blind 
 gropings. 
 
 Though her heart is certainly with you she does find much plea- 
 sure in looking at the various objects of interest by which we are 
 surrounded, and treasures the recollection of them, not so much how- 
 ever for her own gratification as for the delight she can give 3'ou on 
 our return by the recounting her experiences. I am thankful that this 
 is so for I could not endure to drag her about, a reluctant victim, for my 
 own personal gratification. 
 
 While I have written the foregoing she has returned and is empty- 
 ing her pockets of the purchases she has made. 
 
 These same pockets afford us all much amusement ; their capacity 
 is such that it can never be exceeded ; at least they never refuse to 
 take in more nor are they ever empty. I sometimes tell her she will 
 become an object of suspicion to the custom house ofiicials. I believe 
 the first purchase she made in Europe was of materials for a new 
 set. 
 
 It has been a great comfort to us to learn that dear Kannah is 
 gaining strength and has made a visit to Munc3^ We hope you 
 are now all gathered each around 3'our own hearth, perhaps 3'our 
 fires. 
 
 The last London Times mentions the order for the sale by the 
 treasury of $8,000,000 of Gold, and the purchase of the same amount 
 
 229
 
 of Government bonds, which \'our uncle hopes maj' have a favourable 
 influence in his behalf, as he has been drawing largely of late. 
 
 You will recognize the fragmentary" style of a rainj'-day letter. We 
 are now sitting hatted and cloaked, waiting for a boat which has 
 been engaged to carry us across the lake to visit some Thorwaldsen 
 statuary in a villa on the other shore. 
 
 We are now drawing near the close of our sojourn in this favoured 
 spot, where I have certainly enjoj-ed more unallo3'ed pleasure than 
 in any other portion of m^^ life or place. 
 
 I speak of coiirse as " a man ' ' and of earthl}- things and temporal 
 delights. 
 
 Evening. 
 
 We have just returned from the Lake, across which we were rowed 
 to the Villa Carlotta now the property of the Prince of Saxe-Meinin- 
 gen, formerl}- belonging to the Italian Duke of Somma-Riva, by whom 
 it was built and ornamented. The gardens are truly magnificent ; 
 Bananas in flower, Palms looking at home, jNIyrtle trees in the open 
 air, Lemon trees trained to long trellisses and on arbours, loaded with 
 ripe fruit. Olea fragrans, a large shrub in the open grounds skirting 
 the walks and alleys and filling the air with the most delicate of 
 odour, while on everj' hand and at every turn in the walks one is 
 astonished at the profusion of flowering plants and ornamental shrubs, 
 all well trained and kept in perfect order. 
 
 One grand Magnolia tree — Grandiflora — elicited from our party 
 an unanimous exclamation of delight. Our enthusiasm was met by a 
 vulgar repulse as a sallow complexioned, cadaverous looking lady 
 who had entered at the same time with ourselves said in bad English, 
 ' ' What for j-ou make so much fuss ? In Lousiana they grow bigger ; 
 we cut them down for wood to boil sugar. ' ' 
 
 We had crossed the Lake from Bellagio in a barge belonging to 
 M. Mela the proprietor of the hotel, larger and more elaboratelj^ fitted 
 up than the common boats on the lake, which he had put at our 
 ser\'ice and as we approached the hotel near the villa Carlotta, I saw 
 there was some excitement on shore, and quite a crowd rushed to see 
 us land and accompany us into the Villa. 
 
 One good lady came up to me, taking me I suppose for the servant 
 and told me it had been supposed that the Prince was of the party and 
 thej^ all wished to see him. 
 
 So you see we sometimes make a stir unintentionallj-. 
 
 The statuary did not impress me as being equal to that at the 
 Villa Melzi, which I mentioned in a former letter. 
 
 The gardens were more extensive and the plants finer. 
 Your ever loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 230
 
 Bellagio, October 6, 1871. 
 JMy Dear CJiildren : 
 
 A lovely, bright, fresh, morning, just such as makes this 
 month so pleasant and invigorating at home, has dawned on us 
 in the midst of these beautiful scenes and enables us to part from 
 them with full satisfaction that they will remain iinchanged to 
 gladden other eyes and expand other hearts, as they have done 
 ours, though we shall never more drink in delight from their loveli- 
 ness and beauty. Who can tell which of you shall at some future day 
 find an additional charm in the thought of the great pleasure 3'our 
 grandmother and I have enjoyed here ? 
 
 I was verj' wearied last evening, when we rettirned from the visit 
 to the Villa Carlotta, and ni}^ account of it written then could not 
 have rendered justice to the magnificence of the place. 
 
 Our barge drew up at the foot of grand stone stairs which lead up 
 to an elaborately wrought iron gate, surmounted by a gilded crown. 
 After passing through the gate the wide stairs rose bj^ several stages 
 with a fountain on each landing, and at the top a larger fountain, in 
 the basin of which a life sized human figure of black bronze was dis- 
 porting with a Dolphin which was spouting water. Alleys of Lemon 
 and Orange trees heavily laden with golden fruit led off to right and 
 left at each stage of the terrace, up which we rose by a grand stone 
 stairway ; the atmosphere loaded with the sweetness of Olea fragrans 
 and Heliotrope, while exquisitely arranged groups of Ferns, 
 Adiantums and other beautiful varieties, were lodged in secluded 
 nooks. The profusion of beautiful plants was great but they were so 
 well assorted and arranged that there was no redundancy, and each 
 neatly trimmed as though it alone was the special object of the affec- 
 tionate attention of some loving heart. 
 
 The house is square, in the Italian stj'le, and stands high above 
 the lake, flanked on either side by trees of various lands ; Australia 
 and America each represented by the most beautiful forms of their 
 Flora. There is a Salisburia Adiantifolia (Gingko) with a trunk not 
 less than two feet in diameter and of corresponding height, and as, I 
 mentioned in my letter of last evening, a splendid Magnolia Grandi- 
 flora with the rich green of its polished foliage set off by a profusion 
 of crimson fruit. 
 
 Great clumps of the graceful Bamboo hung out the soft leaves 
 which clothe so prettily its pendent tress-like shoots, and clumps of 
 Myrtle and Laurestinus, and Portugal Laurel, skirt the walks. As 3-ou 
 enter the vestibule of the palace j'ou see grouped on either side life 
 sized statues in marble of the seven brothers of the first Napoleon ; 
 and in the grand hall there are statues and groups in marble designed 
 by Canova ; Venus, Mars, Cupid and Ps3^che, which elicit the praise 
 of connoisseurs ; while the walls of all four sides are covered with 
 marble bas-reliefs representing the triumphal entry of Alexander the
 
 Great into Babylon, the work of Thorwaldsen, executed to the order 
 of Napoleon who designed that they should adorn his triumphal Arch 
 at the termination of the Simplon at Milan. 
 
 Your aunt Mary was exhausted by a part only of ' ' the toil of 
 pleasure," (we may well be thankful that toil also has its pleasure) 
 so I staid with her while the others explored the more distant parts of 
 the grounds. 
 
 Your mother had not accompanied us, and on our return we 
 dropped your uncle and aunts at the Villa INIelzi, with which I find 
 they were as much pleased as I had been when I visited it while 
 here without them. Canova's David there suits my taste better than 
 the objects from pagan mythology at the Villa Carlotta, and the bust 
 of Madame Mere, as the worshippers of Napoleon called his mother in 
 flattery to him, as though she were the typical women ol these latter 
 days ; and the exquisite group of Dante and Beatrice by the same 
 artists, in the INIelzi grounds, I shall hold in memory among its rich 
 treasures. 
 
 This day is so exhilarating that 3'our mother has decided to drive 
 with us to the villa Serbelloni. She was delighted with our former 
 visit to it with M. Mela, and would rest content with the memory of 
 that were it not that we feel that she contributes to the comfort as well 
 as to the pleasure of the others by going with them when she can 
 without too much fatigue for her own comfort. You would one and 
 all rejoice greatly could j^ou witness her happiness ; though frequently 
 thoughts of home and its sacred joys do intrude with great incisions, 
 as of the pruning knife of the gardener, lopping off the branches. 
 
 Evening. Milan 
 
 Your mother and I started out to make a few purchases ot articles 
 made from olive wood, as souvenirs of Bellagio, and some photo- 
 graphs to assist us to conve}' to you some impression, very feeble it 
 must be at the best, and with all the assistance we can command of 
 the beauties in the enjoyment of which we have passed a most 
 delightftil episode in our married life. 
 
 Cut off from all other social associations, and exempt from the 
 duties of the parental relation and the other cares incident to our lot 
 in life, we were thrown more than we have ever before been upon each 
 other, and left without other purpose of life or occupation of time and 
 thought than the cultivation of our mutual affection ; entering closely 
 into each other's feelings and sharings each other's joj^s and devoting 
 ourselves exclusively to the one purpose, that of promoting directly and 
 solely to ministering each to the comfort of the other. 
 
 We have now turned our backs, forever, on this " paradise" — this 
 is the Italian term for a country retreat — but I trust not like our 
 original progenitors, ' ' driven out, ' ' bi;t rather led on to other scenes 
 
 232
 
 in which, though the)' be not equal in inherent attractions, we may 
 at least indulge the same affections and cultivate the same feelings 
 and find the same joy. 
 
 Having made our few purchases we joined the others in the drive 
 to the Villa Serbelloni, once the residence of the Duke of that title, by 
 whom the palace was built and furnished and the extensive grounds 
 laid out and planted. 
 
 I have once already attempted a description of the wooded heights 
 and rocky cliffs, projecting between the two arms of Lake Como and 
 commanding extensive views on each, shut in by snow-clad mountains 
 in the distance, while in strong contrast, the immediate grounds around 
 are planted with tropical Palms and Bamboos and the Magnolias of our 
 southern states, and the rocks are thickl}' set with Cactus (some of 
 them of great size,) and Aloes, and Ferns. Terrace above terrace 
 winds around the projecting height, from the several successive stages 
 of which one not only looks out on an ever widening extent of view 
 over lake and hillside and mountain range, but down upon richly 
 coloured beds and borders of flowers planted in figures and looking 
 like immense Persian or Turkish carpets ; and just outside of these, 
 vineyards, merry now M'ith the jo5^'of the vintage, the peasantrj^' busy 
 in gathering the grapes, while the orchards of fig trees and the light 
 greenish-grc}' foliage of the Olive 3'ards add to the novelt}- and variety 
 of the scene. 
 
 By unanimous consent the excursion of the morning is voted to 
 stand unrivalled for its pleasure amid our travelling experiences. 
 While the other members of the party climbed to the topmost point, 
 j'our aunt Mary, 3'our mother, and I awaited their descent seated in a 
 grotto which commanded the view I have attempted to give you some 
 idea of I left them there a little time while I went to the house to 
 examine more carefully a picture which had attracted my notice as we 
 passed around, which was hanging in one of the corridors. 
 
 While I was looking at it, a gentleman accosted me and entered 
 into conversation on the subject of Art, about which he displayed both 
 knowledge and cultivated taste. When I reached the grotto I found a 
 lad)^ in conversation with your aunt and mother, and soon learned 
 that she was the wife of the gentleman who had accosted me, and 
 that she had been educated as a "Friend." Their attention had 
 been drawn to us by their having noticed our habit of sitting in 
 reverent silence, as to seek a blessing and return thanks, at the meals 
 at the table d' hote, and the}' determined to introduce themselves at 
 the first fitting opportunity', which was afforded by our meeting in 
 these grounds. They are named Fn,-, and know the Braithwaites, and 
 Peases, and Gurne3's, and Forsters, and seem to be nice people. 
 
 He promises to assist me in looking up objects of art in London 
 on our return next Spring. He has a brother who is in some wa^- con- 
 nected with the Grand Trunk R. R. in Canada, and who ' sometimes
 
 visits Philadelphia, where he knows the Cabur3's. His name is 
 Howard Fry and some of you ins-y chance to fall in with him. I jot 
 down these little incidents of travel because I think thej' nia}^ interest 
 you. 
 
 It is now lo p. M. We did not arrive here until 9, having left 
 Bellagio at 4 p. m., by steamboat for Como and b}' railroad from Como 
 here through the scenes I mentioned in my former letters from this 
 place. The whole district is devoted to the culture of mulberrj- trees, 
 and the feeding of the silk worms, and we passed several large manu- 
 factories of the silk goods. 
 
 We are luxuriating in luscious figs and grapes. 
 
 Saturday evening. 
 
 We have been delighted to-day b}' receiving letters from Mary, 
 Cousin Emily, Galloway- and Israel W. and Annie. Sorry that G. has 
 been so unwell and Mary so oppressed bj' duties and cares. For all 
 else desire to feel more and more thankful. We are well and enjo3dng 
 ourselves as much as we can do, so far removed from you all. 
 
 The weather is so cool that we find warm clothing necessary. 
 
 Ever your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 MiivAN, October 9, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 When last here I wrote 3-ou that Italy had awaked, founding my 
 remark on my observation up to that time limited to only two days' 
 stay here. 
 
 I can now reiterate the remark and emphasize it as the result of 
 more extended opportunities for seeing the evidences of this awaking 
 afforded by a wider field of examination into the facts. We drove 
 to-day to near Pavia, distant from here about twenty' miles in a due 
 south direction, our object being a visit to a IMonasterj' of Carthusian 
 Friars, at Certosa near Pavia. 
 
 I have so often spoken of the perfection of the roads that you may 
 have tired of that subject ; yet I cannot refrain from alluding to this 
 once more. The road is a perfectly straight line the entire distance, 
 and wide enough for four vehicles to travel abreast on it, and lies 
 through a perfectlj^ level country, so that at the distance of eight miles 
 on looking back we saw the grand Cathedral rising in all its majesty 
 as though close at hand still. There was no apparent rise or fall in the 
 grade, the country being apparentlj^ a perfectly' level plain, and j-et 
 ever}^ foot of the surface is irrigated, the water being distributed by a 
 series of canals which run along the sides of the road and constitute 
 a system of drainage and irrigation which is one of the great marvels 
 ^f human skill and engineering science. 
 
 234
 
 The central trunk-channel lies directly along side of the road, 
 and has a constant flow of water, caused by the draught for the supply 
 of what is absorbed by the soil, evaporation, and the supply of sub- 
 sidiary canals at a lower level. 
 
 This is the best information I have been able to get on the subject, 
 which is one of great interest. 
 
 What a comfort it must be to the planter and sower to commit 
 his seed to the ground without apprehension of the drought. 
 
 Rice is a staple crop ; and they cut three successive crops of clover 
 annually. The Rice crop had been harvested, so that we could form a 
 very imperfect idea of what it had been from the stubble which stood 
 thick and strong, |from which we inferred that [the yield had been 
 productive. The maize had been topped and bladed, and though the 
 size of the plant was small, the ears appeared to be well filled and well 
 set, though they were also small. 
 
 The question occurred to me how far the irrigation favoured the 
 development of malarious influences. 
 
 Great herds of noble looking cattle grazed in the meadows, and 
 white oxen, fully as large and as well broken as those of our New 
 England States, drew ploughs and harrows and prepared the soil to 
 receive the seed for another year's crop. 
 
 The entire distance we travelled, eighteen miles, was flat and the 
 only crops appeared to be those I have mentioned. Grass, Rice, Maize, 
 and Mulberry Trees for the Silk-worms, yet we met hundreds of carts 
 and wagons drawn by great oxen, all of a dun colour, or by horses, 
 mules, or even donkeys, heavily loaded with grapes in baskets or in 
 huge wooden vessels in which thej^ are crushed for wine ; and on our 
 return to Milan in the afternoon, we met an equally numerous train 
 of similar vehicles loaded with the empty tuns, and casks, and baskets. 
 How far they had been brought I was not able to learn ; but it must 
 have been from beyond the irrigated district. The banks of the 
 smaller canals are all planted with willows and Lombardy Poplar trees. 
 On the large trunk there are boats drawn by horses, on which much 
 heavy freight is transported, and some passengers. It is edged with 
 brickwork and has enormous locks of well constructed masonwork. 
 
 The farm houses are large and surrounded by extensive offices and 
 stables for the animals, and dwellings for the labourers and their 
 families. 
 
 On the top of some of the houses we saw brick structures pierced 
 by seven or eight ranges of holes to accommodate the sparrows with 
 shelters in which to build their nests. 
 
 The people whom we saw at work in the fields, or met at the road 
 side or in the villages through which we drove, all looked health}^ and 
 happy, though one would naturall}- expect the development of malari- 
 ous poison where the soil is kept so saturated with moisture, and the 
 heat of summer is so great and the vegetation so luxuriant. As the 
 
 235
 
 sun set, the entire country was enveloped in a veil of fog, and I was 
 glad we were not detained longer to be exposed to the paludal atmos- 
 phere. 
 
 I wish I understood the system of irrigation pursued here, which 
 was derived (I believe) from the ancient Roman cultivators, that I 
 might give 3^ou an idea of its wonders. Each landholder pa3'S for the 
 use of the water, which is measured out to him. 
 
 General A. A. Humphre3-s spent many months here some years 
 ago, in a careful study of the system and examination of the works, 
 on which he made a valuable report to the United States Government, 
 which laid the foundation of the eminence he has since attained as an 
 Engineer. 
 
 The object of our excursion was to visit a most extraordinary 
 building, the monaster}^ of the Certosa near Pavia. 
 
 It was erected about 500 5'ears since by one Galeazzo Sforza, Duke 
 of Milan, who had caused the famil}' of his brother to be poisoned, 
 and erected this building and endowed the institution with large reve- 
 nues from estates for the maintenance forever of twenty-four monks 
 of the order of La Trappe, who were to spend their lives in silence 
 and to devote themselves to beautifying the altars and other parts of 
 the chapel, to the glory of the Virgin Marj' as a propitiation for his guilt. 
 
 The result has been the collection here of the most wonderful 
 treasures of works of art in fresco paintings, paintings in oil, sculp- 
 ture, and mosaics of marble and gems and precious stones, known as 
 " Pietra dura work." It cannot be concieved without having been 
 seen ; and having been seen it can not be described nor retained in 
 memory in detail. 
 
 We passed four hours in examining it in detail and when we left 
 it was with the conviction that we had not seen one half. 
 
 We drove beneath an arch on the walls of which were frescoes 
 executed by Bernardo Luini, a distinguished pupil of the celebrated 
 master Leonardo da Vinci, whose reputation is almost as great as that 
 of Leonardo. We entered then into a court-yard of 300 yards square. 
 Immediatel}' in front of us, opposite the archway, rose a lofty facade 
 of Carrara marble covered with statues of various sizes but all of the 
 most perfect execution, sonie standing singly and others gathered in 
 groups. Between the statues there were medallions of marble of 
 almost priceless value, of various colours and arrangment of pattern 
 and shape. iVs we gazed on the facade we exclaimed, with unanimous 
 consent, ' ' This is wonderful ! It is an ample compensation for the 
 fatigue of the drive. ' ' 
 
 But wonderful as was the exterior, it was as nothing when, after 
 spending some time in the examination of the various objects, we 
 entered the door of the Chapel. 
 
 Rows of clustered columns with richly carved capitals, supported 
 a ceiling glowing with the richest colours, most harmoniously arranged; 
 
 2^6
 
 while the floor over which we trod was a pavement of hard stones 
 polished, and laid in figures and patterns as varied and as beautiful as 
 Florentine Mosaic work. 
 
 Before us rose to the ceiling an altar composed of columns of Verd 
 Antique and other equally rare marbles, while the base is a pedestal 
 of mosaic of Lapis Lazuli, carbuncles, agates, chalcedonies, coral, and 
 carnelian and other precious stones, of the very names even of which I 
 am ignorant, arranged in figures of the most exquisite symmetr}- and 
 interspersed with fruits and flowers made of the same precious 
 materials. 
 
 These fruits and flowers were almost as perfect as the natural 
 objects represented, the forms and colour accurately reproduced. This 
 part of the altar occupied three generations of one family, father and 
 sons, in its construction. Above the table rises a dome-like structure 
 of the same materials and workmanship. 
 
 There are eight chapels on either side of the nave, each lighted by 
 a window, and each containing a similar altar of jeweln,' dedicated to 
 some saint, incidents in the life of whom are frescoed on the walls b}' 
 the best masters of the art, while the special altar-piece in each is by 
 one of the most distinguished artists of the ages in which they were 
 executed. In each there is also an altar table of Pietra dura equal in 
 the value of the stones and the perfection of workmanship to the main 
 altar. 
 
 The variations are almost innumerable, each apparently more 
 costly and elegant than the preceding one. 
 
 There are also in each chapel groups of statuar\^ some of them 
 having as man}- as fifty or sixty pieces. 
 
 It would occupj' a very long time to enumerate and attempt to 
 describe the subjects and the manner in which tliej' are handled, and 
 when it was accomplished you could not form the feeblest idea of the 
 impressive effect of the whole structure or even of any of the subor- 
 dinate parts. In one of the chapels the space usually devoted to the 
 altar-piece is occupied with a series of carvings in ivory of the teeth 
 of a hippopotamus. There are no less than sixt}'^ subjects represented, 
 each some incident in the Old or New Testament history. The figures 
 are innumerable and they are surrounded by eighty small ivory figures 
 arranged as a frame or border, each standing in a small but separate 
 niche. The various compartments into which the entire work is 
 divided are separated from each other by borders of arabesque carved 
 in ebony in an infinite varietj^ of figures and imaginative shapes and 
 forms. The whole covers a space of some eight feet b}' ten, and was 
 the work of an entire life. 
 
 This building was erected in the 3'ear 1296 A. D. 11 ow many 
 lives have been consumed in those five hundred j^ears in the production 
 of this wonderful treasur}^ of art ? The artists have all gone ' ' earth to 
 earth, dust to dust, " yet here stands the work of their hands — I was about 
 
 237
 
 to write their iniperisliable work — the wonder of each successive age. 
 After having given to it all the time and strength at our command 
 we went into the quadrangle attached, upon which opened the doors 
 of the cells of the monks on three sides, the fourth being occupied by 
 the cloister. 
 
 There are eight on each of the three sides thus giving a separate 
 cell and garden to each of the brothers, who when he entered took a 
 vow of perpetual silence, broken only by a weekly permission of three 
 hours conference with their fellow recluses. Each father had three 
 rooms, one a workshop, one a sleeping-room and the other for medita- 
 tion. Each had also a very small garden surrounded by lofty walls, so 
 that nothing could be seen but the sky and the clouds, while a well in 
 each supplied water, and the scant supply of food was thrust in by a 
 hole in the wall beside the door which closing behind him at his 
 entrance shut him off from the S3'mpathy of his fellow men. 
 
 Each monk was at libert3'to select his own mechanical occupation, 
 and was supposed to distribute his time between v/ork, study, and 
 meditation. The work-room we entered contained a turning lathe! 
 The garden, though small, afforded an opportunit}' to cultivate some 
 herbs or flowers according to the taste of the occupant, and a little 
 bodily exercise. The rooms are quite large enough. There are now 
 but three Fathers and a few lay-brothers, no new ones being permitted 
 by the government to enter. 
 
 These lay-brothers exhibit the building to visitors, vv'ho come in 
 large numbers from various parts of Europe and America. 
 
 They wear the peculiar habit of the order, a white long woolen 
 robe, like a loose cloak with a hood. Their heads are shaven and 
 covered with a cowl. The}^ do not take a vow of silence, but never 
 leave the building. The one who waited on us had not been outside 
 the wall since he entered twentj'-four 3-ears ago. We saw another who 
 w^as still older, ^-et they were meriy fellows, laughing readily, and 
 acting very much as children. 
 
 Indeed their lot is a verj' happ}- one when contrasted with that of 
 the regular fathers shut in from every cheerful influence of the outer 
 world, except that of the flowers in their little garden, and the sun 
 and moon and stars of the vault above them ; never hearing the sweet 
 music of speech. 
 
 I had never heard of this monastery of Certosa till it was men- 
 tioned to us by one of our acquaintances at Bellagio, who charged us 
 to be sure not to omit a visit to it. It is certainly well worthy of a 
 visit, and wearied as we are by the toil of the day we feel amply com- 
 pensated, and I am glad to add that no one was more gratified than 
 your dear mother. You can form no idea of the deep interest she 
 takes in everj- thing around us here. 
 
 When we think of all there is to interest us still unseen at Milan, 
 and that it is your uncle's purpose to leave for Venice on Friday, we 
 feel that in that short time we shall be busy indeed. W^e are delighted 
 
 238
 
 by the letters from Cheston and IMellie, and Cousin Emily ; and uncle 
 Galloway's of the 21st. 
 
 Tuesday Morning. 
 
 As I lie wakefiil during the night time, my mind becomes 
 crowded with images of the things I have seen and the feelings and 
 thoughts they have suggested and which I have not described to you, 
 as well as reflections on them which I wish I had recorded. 
 
 During this morning's vigil the Certosa presented itself vividly 
 and I realized how utterly inadequate any description of its wonders 
 of art must be. It is a perfect museum of the beautiful. As regards 
 the pietra dura work, you may take the most finished piece of Floren- 
 tine Mosaic 3'ou have ever seen or can imagine ( for those we see with 
 us are but imperfect specimens of the art), and combine them in figures 
 of inconceivable intricacj^ and compose them of stones of the largest 
 size, and richest colour ever attained by "precious stones," and 
 spread out yard after yard of the most exquisite combinations of 
 fruits, flowers, birds, and arabesque figures grouped with the highest 
 skill and most refined taste and artistic judgment ; the details of work- 
 manship as perfectly finished as the designs are graceful, every inch a 
 study, and all composed of the most valuable gems (excepting only 
 diamonds, and emeralds and rubies, but abounding in lapis lazuli, 
 opals, agates and carbuncles), and then you will form but an inade- 
 quate conception of the splendor of the display presented. There is a 
 rail separating the chancel from the choir quite fifty feet in length, 
 and proportionally massive, of the purest Carrara marble, svipported 
 by angels of the same material sculptured in various attitudes. 
 
 The top of the rail is a perfect bed of this most superb collection 
 of jewels, set as fruits and flowers and birds. This alone would be 
 attraction enough to compensate for a visit. 
 
 On the exterior, between panels of the richest and most costly 
 marbles of many colours, there are medallions containing polished 
 marble profile busts of life size, and having life-like expression of the 
 kings and prophets of the Old Testament history, and Roman 
 Consuls, poets and statesmen and orators. 
 
 Some of these are copied from contemporaneous coins and medals 
 and busts. 
 
 As we drove out of INIilan on the road to the Certosa, we passed a 
 colonade of sixteen columns in line, of the Corinthian order and 
 Roman construction, which must have been the front of a Temple. 
 Great care is taken to preserve them from decay. The shafts are 
 hooped with iron bands, and the architrave is braced to a solid struc- 
 ture behind it. 
 
 Evening. 
 
 This morning your mother and I accompanied brother Wistar and 
 sisters to the picture of ' ' The Last Supper, ' ' and sat there an hour in 
 silent admiration of its wonderfully expressive teaching. 
 
 239
 
 We did not feel it less impressive than on our former visit. From 
 there the others went to the Brera gallery and we attended to some 
 necessary shopping. 
 
 This afternoon we went to the Cathedral, and all, except your 
 mother, aimt Mary and I, ascended to the roof. 
 
 I ventured as high as the main roof, which is of solid blocks of 
 marble and so wide in its extent, and so gradual in its slope that the 
 most nervous apprehension can not find reasonable ground for fear, 
 but I found my head could not carr3^ me any higher. The forest of 
 pinnacles rising from it, each surmounted by a statue, and the 
 numerous flj'ing bvittresses supporting them and the innumerable 
 other statues standing on the roof, give a good stand-point from which 
 to estimate the extent of the structure. But it is in the interior of the 
 nave, passing slowly from column of the four rows by which they 
 divide the space, making five aisles, and looking upward to the roof, 
 so elevated that 3'ou can just perceive that it is ceiled with stucco 
 in lieu of marble, that one reaches the highest impression of its 
 majestic grandeur. A drive on the walls beneath the beautiful 
 avenue of horse chestnuts, and past the public garden, and back 
 through the old and new parts of the city, all thronged by busy 
 crowds of people, completed the toils and pleasures of a busy day. 
 To-morrow promises a day of enforced rest, as the weather threatens 
 rain, and the da}' after we leave Milan with its incomparable 
 Cathedral and unrivalled paintings and various historical associations, 
 through ages of Roman greatness and Gothic barbarism and ruin, 
 and mediccval empire, and now modern renaissance ; for Bologna, 
 with its librarj^ and museum and its University, still maintaining the 
 honour of its ancient fame ; and thence to Venice the city of the sea, 
 around which are clustered so much of romance as well as glory. 
 
 Your ever loving father 
 
 Caspar IMorris. 
 
 MiLAX, October 11, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 The objects of interest in Milan are varied and inexhaustable, and 
 day after day spent among them has filled 1113^ mind ver\' much as a 
 vault is filled with materials dumped from a cart at the opening. 
 Whether I shall be able ever to disentangle them, and arrange them 
 in such order as will give them anj' value in the treasury of memory, 
 and make them useful to mj'self or others, is doubtful. 
 
 As an illustration of the incongruous mass collected two are at 
 this moment thrusting themselves on my notice, each of which has 
 its special claim to attention. The sight of a cartload of firewood 
 which I saw deposited on the footwalk with its suggestions of cold 
 weather in the winter, and the scantiness of the suppl}- of fuel, and 
 
 240
 
 the imperfect character of even that little ; and the other the Cartoon 
 of Raphael, for his great fresco painting of "The School of Athens." 
 
 Can any contrast be stronger or two subjects of thought more 
 diverse ? Yet they are both dancing before my e3'es, and each 
 demanding my attention. 
 
 The Cartoon is the most wonderful production of art I have yet 
 seen. It is the drawing with chalk on grey tinted paper in outline 
 merely ; from which the fresco painting was executed by his pupils. 
 Engravings and photographs of it are accessible and I must refer you 
 to these instead of attempting a description. 
 
 The figures in the Cartoon are life sized, and the drawing perfect 
 and the attitiides not only natural but graceful. 
 
 Those of Archimedes and his pupils, and of Diogenes reclining 
 on the steps of tlie temple, are most surprising productions. 
 
 This Cartoon is in the Library of St. Ambrose, and in an adjoin- 
 ing apartment is a painting by Crespi, of the adoration of the Virgin 
 and infant Saviour in which the representation of the face of the 
 Virgin Mary and the figure of the child, and of the cherub are all 
 wonderfully beautiful. It is one of those pictures which is impressed 
 indelibly on the mental vision, can not be obliterated, no matter what 
 may be laid over it. 
 
 Note. — (Probably written in 1882. — Kd.) 
 
 Thus I ivroie, and so I thought, and felt ; but now in going over the 
 record, I am positively unable to recall the faintest trace of that ' ' indelible 
 impression.'''' 
 
 Near it are several Titians, one of them the Adoration of the Magi^ 
 a very celebrated specimen of his peculiar power. One striking feature 
 in it is a fine horse standing impatiently at the door, pawing. You 
 must not be alarmed and throw down this sheet ; I do not design ta 
 give you a catalogue of the spaces occupied on the walls of the several 
 saloons of this great building ; and descriptions of pictures are not 
 much more than this. I have tried my best to prepare myself for a 
 visit to a collection by the most diligent and laborious study of the 
 accounts and descriptions in the guide books and catalogues, but have 
 never found that I had taken in the most remote conception of the 
 subject. I do find, however, that I recognize a meritorious work so 
 soon as my eye lights on one. 
 
 There is no hesitation about that. There may be great diversity 
 in taste of different persons as to the subject represented, but there is 
 no question about whether a picture is the production of " a master, ' ' 
 and any sarcasm about " old masters," is only evidence of the want of 
 power to appreciate the work of art. 
 
 We wandered from room to room in constantl}^ renewed admira- 
 tion, until we were compelled by the very weariness of enjoyment, to 
 abandon the further pursuit of pleasure. Some fresh object of 
 
 241
 
 interest presented itself challenging our notice at ever}- turn of the 
 head. 
 
 In the librar}- there are 60,000 printed volumes all in perfect 
 preservation and carefully arranged ; 15,000 manuscripts, many of 
 them palimpsests, containing valuable ancient classical works, which 
 had been carefully engrossed on the vellum while it was fresh, but 
 erased bj- monks or other cop3dsts, and monkish legends, or other 
 equally worthless treatises of the dark ages, substituted for them. By 
 removing these latter, and the application of chemical reagents to 
 deepen the colour of the original work, man}^ very valuable works 
 have been recovered within a few years, the useless later essay having 
 caused the preserv^ation of the vellum with its buried treasures. 
 
 When enumerating the paintings in this collection, I failed to 
 mention man^^ of great celebrity, especially a portrait of a Cardinal, 
 by Raphael Mengs which is very fine. 
 
 There are several halls or rather saloons appropriated exclusively 
 to statuary. There is a group of great merit, representing the 
 deliverance of St. Peter from prison. He lies sleeping the perfect 
 restful sleep of innocence and trust in the care of the ' ' eye that 
 neither slumbers nor sleeps," between the Roman soldiers, and the 
 angel alights to touch him. 
 
 I have already alluded to the wonderful energy which displays 
 itself in INIilan ; we are more and more impressed b}^ the evidences of 
 it which exhibit themselves on every hand, in the various channels of 
 art, commerce, and manufactures. 
 
 As regards art, it is said that the statues which have been 
 placed on the Cathedral within a few j-ears, are quite equal to anj- that 
 have preceded them. We saw one being hoisted to its niche. 
 
 The sculptors of the present are quite equal to Canova, or Thor- 
 waldsen. Any citizen of our own country disposed to cultivate the 
 taste of his fellow countiymen by the introduction among them of 
 good specimens of contemporarj^ artists, will find works of living men 
 well worth}^ of their attention. 
 
 In one of my former letters I mentioned the ' ' Vanit}- ' ' on exhibi- 
 tion at the time of our visit at the National Exposition. It was pur- 
 chased by Victor Emanuel ; and "The Girl and Mouse," has been sold 
 to an Austrian nobleman who has carried it to Vienna. Thus my 
 judgment of their merit has high endorsement. We made a very 
 interesting visit to the studio of a very youthful artist named Donati. 
 He had two or three works in progress which pleased me highly. One 
 was called "The Return from the Chase." It was a laughing boy 
 having a dead rabbit suspended from a stick resting on his shoulder. 
 There was also a companion piece, a similar boy bearing a bunch of 
 grapes in the same manner. They were faultless. In the studio there 
 was also another piece equally perfect in design and execution, but 
 oflFensive as well to mj' taste as to my sense of propriety. 
 
 242
 
 It is the figure of a sweet delicate little girl in pursuit of a butter- 
 fly which she has been chasing and which she is reaching forward to 
 seize standing a tiptoe, and seeming to be almost in motion ; but she 
 has dropped her only garment in the earnestness of the effort. When 
 our Maker clothed our first parents after the fall and taught them they 
 were naked, he taught us the propriety of dress. 
 
 We were all delighted with a work on which Donati was occupied 
 at the hour of our visit ; two little children seated on a garden balus- 
 trade, blowing bubbles from a pipe ! It was a perfect gem of art. 
 What a wonderful power it is ! 
 
 There lay a shapeless mass of clay ; such as each one of us in 
 our boyhood may have patted with his hands and then dashed against 
 the wall, leaving it to adhere there only a " boss " of mud. From just 
 such a boss Donati, with only a little stick for his tool, has produced 
 an image of the beautiful conception of his own imagination, which 
 calls up in the mind of every beholder a corresponding image of the 
 beautiful. 
 
 I have often expressed my conviction that the power of the 
 sculptor is one of the highest with which man has been endowed by 
 the Creator, before I had the opportunity to see so many of its won- 
 derful triumphs. I early accepted the tribute of Cowper to Bacon, who 
 
 "Gave Chatham's eloquence to marble lips. 
 And more than female beauty to a stoue." 
 
 Donati is a very j'oung man with a boyish look, and one of the 
 most open ingenuous faces I have ever seen. 
 
 As I looked at his works I became so enthusiastic, that I seized 
 his head in both my hands and drawing it toward me said ' ' do let 
 vie look in here and discover the image of beauty within, which pro- 
 duces such results." 
 
 He took the freedom in good part, evidentlj'^ pleased with the 
 intention, promising to send me a photograph of the work when it is 
 completed, though I held out no prospect of my becoming a purchaser. 
 
 Your uncle Galloway will say ' ' Biling over. ' ' I cannot help it. 
 When the vessel is shallow a little heat will make the contents boil ; 
 and the little kettle will sing sooner than a great cauldron. The 
 marble for these figures costs as it comes from the quarry, $2000, and 
 he asks for the finished work $8000. 
 
 I have been led into this digression by the association between 
 the St. Peter and the angel in the Ambrosian library, and the works of 
 modern artists. 
 
 There is also in that librarj'- a modern glass window executed b}' a 
 Milanese artist within a few years, in memory of Dante. 
 
 At the summit is a figure of The Virgin. In the central compart- 
 ment a life-sized figure of the poet seated, and in lateral compartments 
 Beatrice on the one side, and IMatilda on the other, while in smaller 
 divisions are scenes from II Purgatorio. 
 
 243
 
 In the Churches and Cathedrals of Great Britain, Germany, and 
 Italy, I have seen many ancient stained glass windows and many 
 modern imitations, but nowhere have I seen anything to compare 
 with this. The flesh of the faces and hands is life-like. 
 
 The folds of the drapery and the shades of colour as the light falls 
 through, and develops them, are such that one can with difficulty 
 realize that they are semblances and not the material realities ; and the 
 choir of angels which surrounds the Virgin, stand out like figures 
 in relievo. 
 
 Writing thus of the productions of modern art, I am reminded of 
 a very fine statue of Count Cavour, in bronze, standing on a solid 
 granite pedestral, at the foot of which sits a figure of Italia, inscribing 
 upon the lasting rook the name of her favourite son ; the lofty states- 
 man to whose patriotism, intelligence, and devotion, she is indebted for 
 the establishment of the present government on the sold basis it now 
 occupies. 
 
 The conception is simple and grand, and the workmanship excel- 
 lent. It was cast here, and is thought to be equal to the productions 
 of the celebrated foundry- at Munich. 
 
 No one can mingle in the busy throngs which crowd the streets, 
 see the various artisans ph'ing their trades either in the streets before 
 their hoxises and shops, or in the shops which open directly on the 
 level of the street-waj-s, and see the beautiful display of rich stuffs, 
 the product of their looms, and the various fabrics which adorn the 
 shop-windows, without being strongly impressed with the present 
 vigour of this place, whose history reaches back to the earliest period 
 of the Roman empire. The sixteen Corinthian columns I have men- 
 tioned are the remains of some heathen temple, and bear witness of 
 the splendour of that period ; and the church of St. Ambrose is said 
 to have been erected in the fourth century on the ruins of a temple of 
 Bacchus, and is said to be that from which he repelled the Emperor 
 Theodosius, until by a prolonged and severe penance he had atoned 
 for the massacre of some rebels at Thessalonica. This is considered 
 one of the great triumphs of the Church over the State, and the anni- 
 versar}' is still celebrated by religious services in the church of Rome. 
 The unrivalled Cathedral is recognized by all as one of the triumphs 
 of architecture, commenced in the fourteenth century and still uncom- 
 pleted ; the great hospital is one of the largest institutions for the 
 relief of the sick poor in the world ; and the Lazaretto, built by San 
 Carlo Borromeo, for the reception of the sufferers with the Plague (a 
 quadrangular building of two stories, one front of which has an extent 
 of a quarter of a mile), still stands an evidence of his abounding 
 charit}^ for the suffering in body, while we must condemn the fearful 
 persecution of the Vaudois which he stimulated. 
 
 We shall turn our backs on Milan, with its spacious mansions and 
 public edifices and various institutions for the benefit of its citizens, 
 
 244
 
 telling of the enterprise of the present generation, with much regret 
 that we cannot still further explore the ever fresh vistas opening 
 before us and challenging investigation. 
 
 There are many incidents also which amuse us as we fall in with 
 them in our walks about the city, which shew how habits linger in 
 these old centres of the power and civilization of past ages. At the 
 commencement of this letter, I referred to the scant supply of fire- 
 wood. I had wondered what was the design of the habit which is 
 universal in Ital}', and indeed in other districts also, of trimming the 
 Poplar trees so as to leave only a comparative!}' small tuft of branches 
 at the top, while only short boughs clothe the tall straight trunks at 
 -any season of the j'ear, and even these are wanting in the autumn. 
 
 I find these branches are cut off" for firewood, dried and tied up in 
 bundles. It is certainly a strange sight to see three men engaged in 
 cutting these faggots into short pieces ; one holding the stick, while 
 two others work the saw. 
 
 We all laughed this morning when we encountered a watering 
 machine of the most primitive construction : simply a hogshead of 
 water in a cart, with a hose attached to it which was shaken by a man 
 who held it as the horse carried it along the street. We have seen so 
 often two men engaged in shoeing one horse that it is, we must sup- 
 pose, the universal mode. One stands holding the foot of the animal 
 while another pares the hoof, and applies the shoe. But everyone here 
 is busy at something and all look animated and happy. 
 
 Nov. 1 6, 1S82. 
 
 Note. — In copying these letters thus far I have already foinid the 
 expression of thoughts and feelings written in the excitement of the 
 hour which I cari not now approve, a7id about the indulgence and cultiva- 
 tion of which I had some doubt at the time, hi this letter I was carried 
 away by my foolish enthusiasm at the visit to the Church of St. Ambrose 
 and when in the light of the course of events which have disturbed the 
 Christian Church and especially the Church of England, and " the Prot- 
 £stant once," {I fear 7iow no longer such) Episcopal Church of the United 
 States I read them now, I do not dare to transcribe them. 
 
 I have great regret at having ever entertained the feelings a7id given 
 vent to them in expression to others. I can only now record viy repent- 
 ance atid pray to be forgiven. 
 
 We were shocked this evening by seeing in an Italian newspaper 
 a telegram announcing that Chicago is on fire, and the entire business 
 part of the town reduced to ruins. We hope the account is an exagger- 
 ation ; but scarely dare to indulge a similar hope in the report of moral 
 ruin in New York and other places. We feel very sorry for the Hodge 
 famil5^ Frauds and defalcations are fearful things. 
 
 245
 
 1 2th. 
 The newspaper of this morning confirms the truth of the worst 
 accounts from Chicago. 50,000 people homeless, and all efforts to 
 subdue the flames still vmavailing, 
 
 Verona, Italy, October 12, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Hurried from one object of absorbing interest to another, I should 
 yet lose more than half the interest and pleasure I now take in them, 
 did I not seize the passing moment to transmit to j'ou the impression 
 they make on me and thus at the same time increase the pleasure of 
 the passing hour, and deepen its influence on myself, and engraving 
 it more clearly on my memor}^ make the treasure more available for 
 future gratification for us all. 
 
 We left Milan this morning in the rain, numberless objects of im- 
 portance unvisited ; and subjects we were desirous of investigating unat- 
 tended to ; while those we had explored and visited again and again 
 had lost none of their attraction for us in the familiarity. It appears 
 to be a great focus of active development. Schools are established 
 and supported by the Government ; education is made compulsory ; 
 and the books and instruments approved b}' the Minister of Instruc- 
 tion, as we find them in the shops, appear to be most appropriate. 
 
 Though Victor Emanuel is excommunicated by the Pope, the 
 people seem to be devoted to the support of the church and when we 
 last visited the Cathedral elaborate preparations were being made for 
 a grand fete in honour of the Virgin, and the decree of the late Council 
 in favour of the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Intalli- 
 bilit}^ of the Pope, have been accepted. On the other hand I have been 
 told that the celibacy of the clergy is not considered absolutely essen- 
 tial ; and that the Government supports those priests who marry ; and 
 provides for the nuns and monks whose establishments have been 
 seized and the revenues appropriated to educational purposes and in 
 other modes made useful to the nation. 
 
 The railroad b}^ which we came to this place led us along the flat 
 district Ij'ing along the foot of the Alpine regions, itself as flat as our 
 prairies or the " Swamp" at West River. 
 
 It has been evidentl}', at some distant era, the bed of a great lake 
 or an arm of the sea, extending from the base of the Alps to that of 
 the Appenines. 
 
 The soil like that of another portion of the same district over 
 which we passed from Como to Milan, is very thin and underlaid 
 everj'where by a thin stratum of rounded water-worn stones, of small 
 size, from that of our best paving pebbles down to large gravel. The 
 whole district is well irrigated, and covered with orchards of Mulberry 
 trees for the feeding of the silk worms, while vines and maize are 
 
 246
 
 planted in the intermediate spaces. The sides of the hills which skirt 
 the plain are terraced for vinej^ards ; and towns and villages of various 
 size are scattered thickly along the route of the road. 
 
 We passed through Bergamo and Brescia, large towns ; and each 
 possessed of great interest as the scenes of historic events of import- 
 ance in ages when our Western world was not known to exist by the 
 actors in those affairs. 
 
 As we were carried through these fertile plains at the speed of fifty 
 miles an hour, and looked at the mountain ranges we were skirting, 
 we could not but think of the high culture and the advanced civiliza- 
 tion which had been reached centuries before the Christian era ; and 
 also of the fearful scenes of which it had been the arena when the 
 savage hordes of the Northern barbarians burst across these dark bar- 
 riers, sweeping before them all the riches which could be carried away 
 with them, and burning and destroying what could not be transported, 
 strewing the fertile fields with the bodies of the inhabitants ; and how 
 these very savage peoples lingering under the power of softer skies 
 and dwelling on more fertile fields than their native dwellings had, 
 under these meliorating influences, themselves became in their turn 
 civilized and ultimately Christianized, and at length the agents to 
 transmit Christianit}' and refinement to our own savage ancestors. If 
 Italy was indebted to Greece for letters and arts, we are in like manner 
 indebted to Italy for our own culture in both. 
 
 A part of the distance the road lay along the Southern shore of 
 Lake Guardia, whose perfectly' pure clear blue waters spread themselves 
 over an extent of many miles, laving the feet of the Tyrolean Alps on 
 the northern side, while the southern shore is a level plain. The 
 ruins of Roman villas which are still found along this shore confirm 
 the testimony of the letters and poems of the Augustan age, that this 
 was the resort of the Roman citizens whose good taste led them to 
 frequent these scenes which were adorned by their residences, to which 
 they resorted for recreation, at a period when they were more difiicult 
 of access from Rome than they now are from America. 
 
 The guide books tell us that Catullus had a villa at a point on the 
 shore of Lake Guardia which we passed this morning ; from which the 
 views are almost as grandly impressive and as attractive as those from, 
 the villa of Pliny at Lake Como ; and Virgil is known to his warmest 
 admirers as the Mantuan bard, having been born at ]\Iantua or near 
 it, and though his residence was in the vicinity of Naples and at 
 Rome, it is not unlikel}- that the memory of his earlier years passed 
 amid these distant and provincial scenes may have furnished some of 
 the imagry of his poems which are still dear treasures of everj^ one of 
 cultivated taste. I hope to read them again with an increased gratifi- 
 cation in some vacant hours of retirement from the toil and hurry- 
 scurry of active life ; not as I once did in the carriage while driving; 
 from house to house in the daily discharge ot professional dut3\ 
 
 247
 
 Before reaching Verona we pased Peschiera, at which we entered 
 within a series of military works and fortifications constructed by the 
 Austrian Government, and extending to Mantua, Vicenza, and other 
 points, all known for many years as ' ' the Quadrilateral, ' ' by which 
 the northeastern part of Italy was held in military subjection by 
 Austria ; which it was necessary to force in order to rescue Venice 
 from her thraldom and add it to the Kingdom of Italy. This was 
 accomplished by the terrible battle of Solferino, which was fought in 
 this vicinity between the Austrians on the one side and the com- 
 bined forces of Italy and France under the third Napoleon, on the 
 other. 
 
 Even as they now stand these works are so strong that one does 
 not wonder that the Austrians supposed them impregnable. They 
 still frown around us, and enable the Italians to bid defiance to the 
 power by which they were constructed for the purpose of holding them 
 in subjection. 
 
 The first object of interest here claiming our attention is the 
 Roman amphitheatre, which still stands, almost perfect, capable of 
 seatitig 25,000, or 70,000 stayiding. Its walls are blackened b}' time 
 and corroded by years, and though much of the upper stories have 
 fallen, four arches of the uppermost of all still remain intact, and 
 enable us to form a correct idea of its appearance when still perfect. 
 The masses of stone-work on which the seats were supported, remain 
 as they were constructed in the third century of our era, as do also the 
 dressed stone casings of the lower stories, and prove how grand must 
 have been the structure in its integrity. 
 
 Where are the people who then dwelt here in such numbers as to 
 require such extensive arrangements for their amusement ? Truly such 
 -ruins bear strong witness to the greatness of the Roman power, and 
 progress in the cultivation of the arts which mark the advance of 
 civilization ; and how loud and deep the lessons inscribed in letters 
 which all may read on these tombs of the nations ; for of all their 
 ^lory it can now be only said of the nations, as of the individuals, 
 " Hicjacet.'' 
 
 In our disposition to magnify our influence, and boast ourselves 
 of our glorj', may we become wiser by taking to our hearts the solemn 
 teaching. 
 
 On the door of entrance into the corridors of the Carthusian 
 Monastery we visited at Paira, the Certosa, is the fresco painting of a 
 human skeleton, with the inscription '■'■ Mihi hodie, tibi crastinus ;" 
 and on the walls of these Amphitheatres, and Basilicas and arched 
 gateways to arenas, we may read a similar lesson, intensified just now 
 by the light of the flame which has reduced to a smoking ruin that 
 most boastful of all our American cities Chicago. 
 
 248
 
 October 14th. 
 
 It was just at this juncture that we learned from a telegraphic 
 article in an Italian newspaper of the terrible conflagration at Chicago, 
 and met a half hour later a gentleman from that place who had a 
 personal telegram from his partner, informing him of the utter 
 destruction of the town. Ovir hearts were filled with feelings of strong 
 S3'mpath3^ with the sufferers, and on my own part with a wish to 
 return at once and apply myself to efforts for the relief of the distress 
 which must extend itself to every part of the countrj^-. The London 
 Times which I have just seen, says it is the most serious fire of which 
 the editor has any know^ledge, exceeding in its importance that ' ' Great 
 fire of London," wdiich makes so strong an impression on the mind of 
 every reader of its history. The influence of the utter annihilation of 
 200,000,000 of dollars worth of property would be fearful at any time ; 
 but at this period, when the monetary interests of the commercial 
 world are in a state of inflation, which renders them more than 
 commonly insecure, it must be overwhelmingly disastrous ; and I look 
 with anxiety for the result. Israel will please make such contribution 
 to the fund which will be formed for relief as he thinks proper for me. 
 
 Thanks to dear Cousin Hannah for her kind letter which reached 
 us here with Israel's and one from Tyson and Cousin Emil}'. We are 
 much obliged to Tyson and will write to him. INIother unites in dearest 
 love to you all. We are all well. The weather is very cold so that 
 mother will not venture out even to church. 
 
 October 15th. 
 
 I add this at Venice. 
 
 I must not entirelj^ overlook the present while thus dwelling on 
 the reflections which arise from the influence of the sight of the ruins 
 of the past. There are many things present themselves for observa- 
 tion which are equally sources of thought. One can form no idea of 
 the force of the common expression, "as spry as a lizard " until one 
 has seen the little animal as it darts in and out of the crevices in the 
 walls, basking in the sun, and starting at the approach of a step. 
 
 The motions of the most " pert " and active of the squirrel tribe 
 are not more vivacious and can scarcely be said to be more nimble, 
 though they do not leap so far. The little creatures lose the repulsive 
 idea we are wont to associate with them as one watches them darting 
 from one hiding place to another across the stones, and they are 
 found by the dozen on the sunnj^ sides of the walls of the vineyards 
 and orchards, by the road-side. 
 
 I have never made an attempt to catch one, but doubt the 
 possibility of doing it, so instantaneousl}'- do they appear where you 
 are not looking for them and disappear again in a moment. We are 
 enjoying all the luxury of travel and it is luxury. 
 
 249
 
 At Ragatz, as I wrote you we were forstalled by the Duchess of 
 Genoa having got possession of the rooms your uncle had engaged, 
 and now we are exchanging, day by daj^ with the Emperor of Brazil 
 and his suite. They are flitting around the same course as your 
 uncle's party, sometimes the one and sometimes the other in advance. 
 I am at this moment sitting in a boudoir, furnished with every con- 
 venience for writing, with lemon trees, pittosporum shrubs, and other 
 such plants lining the walls ; the window overlooking the Grand 
 Lagune across which rises a grand pile of buildings which I think is 
 occupied by the offices of the Customs. This little apartment opens 
 directly into our chamber, and your mother is now making her toilet 
 in a corresponding apartment adjoining this, which is furnished with 
 appropriate arrangements for that purpose, and at the other side of the 
 chamber is the private parlour of the party, and beyond that the 
 dining-room, also private. A siihilar suite of rooms beyond that is 
 occupied by your uncle and aunts. We are not in the Hotel Danieli 
 strictly speaking ; this is a " dependence " attached to the old hotel. 
 The Emperor has those we had expected to get, having remained 
 beyond the time he had designed in order to have a bust for which he 
 is sitting to a sculptor, completed. We ore obliged to accept these in 
 lieu. At Chester we vacated our apartments in his favour. 
 
 When we arrived at the terminus of the railway, we found 
 ourselves at a landing place, of course, and in lieu of the crowd ol 
 wheel carriages, and vociferous drivers of hacks to hire, there was a 
 mass of Gondolas waiting to conve}^ passengers and their luggage. 
 Black as blackness itself, painted entirely of the deepest shade of 
 perfect blackness, without the smallest spot or stripe of any colovtr to 
 relieve the gloom. Your mother is not yet convinced that some which 
 bore plumes at the several corners are not hearses, to carry the dead. 
 After much conference between Friezier and some men in livery who 
 were, we supposed, officials of the Hotel Danieli in which he thought 
 he had secured accommodations for your uncle, we and our luggage 
 were deposited in two long black canoes with each end turned up and 
 projecting in a sharp point, and worked our wa}' through the wrig- 
 gling, writhing, mass of similar craft, turning and twining around 
 each other as 3'ou have seen a collection of earth worms crawling and 
 interlacing their repulsive lengths. 
 
 In the midst of the seething mass I saw two familiar faces in a 
 similar conveyance, and bowing to them found the salute returned by 
 Dr. and Mrs. Harris, the uncle and aunt of your aunt Mary, who had 
 come to the station to welcome her. 
 
 Dr. Harris has held the office of Consul of the United States for 
 some years, and they reside here. 
 
 Your aunt and Miss Harris were transferred to their Gondola, and 
 we all started in company on the Grand Canal, along which we swept 
 with eas}'^ and graceful motion between ranges of lofty houses, the 
 
 250
 
 steps of which were laved by the water directly out of which the walls 
 arose. 
 
 We passed under the Rialto, and soon after under (happily not 
 over) the Bridge of Sighs, which spans the canal, connecting the Ducal 
 Palace with the grim front of the gloomy looking Prison, which is 
 separated from the rear of the Palace only by the Canal. Over this 
 bridge no one ever passed voluntarily ; it led only to the hopeless 
 seclusion of the dungeon, or the final liberation from all earthly 
 sorrow, b}- death. It is a covered archway at a great elevation above 
 the level of the water, lighted only by grated openings in the sides, 
 precluding all communication with the outer world, nay forbidding 
 even the ' ' last lingering look at the precincts of the cheerful day, ' ' to 
 the hopeless victim of despotic jealousy and power. 
 
 We were carried about from one landing place to another, under 
 the direction of the runners from the hotel, and at last found a resting 
 place in this, which is attached to the Hotel Danieli, which is recognized 
 as the best in Venice. 
 
 This building was erected b}' the Austrian Government and used 
 as their Treasury, until their expulsion about ten years since. There 
 are vaults beneath it which are water-proof, in which the treasure was 
 kept, and into which all the documents and papers of value were 
 placed every evening, and then submerged to protect them from fire or 
 robber^'. 
 
 Notwithstanding the luxurious accommodations we are furnished 
 with, and which I have already described, we do not like Venice. // 
 smells badly. The wide lagune which spreads out directly before our 
 door, is clean and beautiful, and animated by the frequent passing ot 
 the Gondolas, so graceful in motion, and so beautiful in form, that 
 they are objects of attraction in despite of their gloomy forbidding 
 colour. The action of the Gondolier as he stands in his boat and 
 bends forward, pressing on his oar, has been often described and is 
 very graceful. 
 
 The ease with which they propel the boat, and the skill with 
 which they direct its course are very surprising, nor can I comprehend 
 how with a single oar resting always against one side and at one 
 point, its course is directed with the speed and directness of an arrow 
 and yet its direction changed at any moment and in any direction, 
 so that collisions are very infrequent even in the most crowded 
 passages. 
 
 A huge ironclad turret ship of war lies in front of us, presenting 
 a strong contrast to these insect-like shapes flitting around her. We 
 have yet seen nothing worthy of record except the novelty, to us, of 
 the decaj'ing palatial buildings rising directly from the water as 
 though they were sprung from the sea. 
 
 The lesson taught by the history of Venice is one of deep 
 instruction. It was settled, originally, by hopeless exiles driven 
 
 251
 
 onward before the aggressions of invading foes till there was no land 
 left on which the}' could rest. The}' found a refuge from the violence 
 of the hostility, which had desolated their cherished homes, in the 
 marshes and small islands on the coast ; and instead of settling down 
 in hopeless despair and perishing, thej' devoted themselves to the task 
 of providing new homes in the midst of these forbidding surroundings. 
 
 By the natural process of development under the stimulus of such 
 energy it became one of the greatest powers on earth. 
 
 Venetian boats grew into Venetian gallies, carrying the riches of 
 the East to the furthest markets of the ever extending West, and 
 carried the soldiers descended from those exiles, to distant conquests 
 until Venice became mistress of the sea and controlled the destiny of 
 nations. 
 
 Wealth flowed in upon them, and luxury followed in its course, 
 subduing them by its ener\'ating influence under which the}' fell into 
 decay. Now again a renewed energj' is everj-where manifest, and 
 though Venice as a distinct municipality, can never again assume the 
 place she once filled with such glory in the histor}' of nations, her 
 population may perform a no less important part as an integral part 
 of the renewed United Kingdom of Italy. I can not but anticipate a 
 glorioles futvire for this newly born member of the family of nations. 
 Her people are enterprising and thoroughly awake to the importance of 
 their destin}'. They are even now planning the settlement of colonies of 
 Vaudois, and other hard}' mountain races, in the long deserted plains of 
 the Campagna, which once teemed as do the plains of Lombardy, with 
 an industrious and thriving population, deriving not only support but 
 wealth from the soil now producing only malarious influences. 
 
 As we were carried rapidly across the long level tract of reclaimed 
 marsh, ditched and diked, teeming with an industrious population 
 deriving their support from plantations of Mulberry trees, furnishing 
 not onh- food for the silk-worms but support to the vines, which are 
 trained from tree to tree in luxuriant festoons loaded with luscious 
 grapes, while the spaces between the rows are occupied with rich crops 
 of IMaize, Sorghum, Vetches, and Clover, I thought I had never seen a 
 more astonishing exhibition of the power of man to overcome obstacles, 
 and conquer difliculties. The entire distance from Milan to Venice is 
 devoted to the same culture. Between Milan and Verona the soil is 
 less productive than that between Verona and Venice. From that 
 place we passed through a Valley skirting the spurs of the Tyrolese 
 Alps and on the other bounded by hills such as those beside the Great 
 Valley of Chester County, and like that valley it has a deep rich soil 
 amply repaying the toil of the husbandman. Where the grapes have 
 been gathered, and the mulberry trees stripped of their leaves the 
 charm of the scene is greatly diminished, to say the least of it ; indeed 
 it gives a sense of desolation as though they had all been killed by 
 drought. It is in truth wonderful that the trees do survive the annual 
 
 252
 
 stripping oft of the leaves not only the first growth, for the worms, but 
 the second are pulled and dried for provender for the cattle. 
 
 Such cattle as they are ! Their size is very large, their shape per- 
 fect, their e5'es lustrous, and the expression of their faces beautifully 
 docile and intelligent, and their coats of a clean dun colour. 
 
 Venice, October 15, 187 1. 
 
 Within the last two days we have been saddened by the fearful 
 account of the terrible calamity which has visited our nation in the 
 destruction of Chicago b}' fire. 
 
 We flattered ourselves at first that there must be a great exaggera- 
 tion, and when this hope was destro3'ed and we found the real extent 
 of the calamity, we were stupefied by the immensity of the destruction 
 of property. Hour after hour it becomes more and more appalling. 
 My own impulse is to turn our faces homeward, or at least to ascertain 
 by telegraph how far my apprehension of a universal overwhelming 
 financial panic may be well founded. 
 
 It does not produce so depressing an influence on your uncle, 
 though he speaks on the subject with strong feeling. 
 
 I this morning despatched a very disjointed imperfectly expressed 
 letter, written b}^ snatches and very huriedl}^ by which j'ou will have 
 learned (if it was at all comprehensible) when and how we arrived 
 here. 
 
 We find, most unexpectedly, the weather so cold as to put all our 
 winter clothing into requisition ; most happily for myself at Milan I 
 had a suit made of the warmest material I ever wore. Still more 
 happil}^ for j^our mother, though at the time the change was made it 
 was a great anno}'ance to both her and myself, we have left the suite 
 of apartments I described in my last letter for others much less com- 
 modious and smaller, and with a very unpleasant outlook. Instead 
 of the wdde lagune a blank wall ; and less elegantly furnished. V/e find 
 great comfort in the fact that the flue of the kitchen passes the sitting- 
 room of the apartments occupied by your aunts Hannah and Jane and Mr. 
 Longstreth and your mother and mj'self ; so that we have the comfort 
 of the warmth it imparts, which is worth more to us than the beauty 
 of the flower-furnished boudoir, and the wide lagune, animated with the 
 Gondolas and shipping. Thus we are reproved for our murmuring in 
 which we indulged very improperly and taught to ask and depend upon 
 guidance in little things as in great, and to trust that in them also 
 goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Harris passed Friday evening with INIary and Wistar 
 and Miss Harris, and we of course participated in the pleasure of their 
 company and accepted their kind invitation to join their relatives at 
 tea at their house on Saturday evening. 
 
 253
 
 On Saturday morning we all sallied forth to see the wonders of 
 this Queen city, The Bride of the Adriatic, so fascinating to all who 
 claim to possess the least infusion of aesthetic taste. 
 
 As we passed the hotel your uncle Wistar and aunt Mary went in 
 with Friezier, while we walked on to the Plaza, and when they joined 
 us again they told us they had made arrangements for apartments in 
 the hotel instead of those we were occupying in the supplemental 
 building, and that we were to make the change immediately after 
 dinner. 
 
 Our first object for a visit was, of course, the Piazza or Square ot 
 •St. Mark, with its columns surmounted by Winged Lions, the arms of 
 Venice ; and the column of Theodosius, all near the water front of the 
 Piazza. The Palace of the Doges has one front on the water also, while 
 the principal facade extends along the side of the Square and is 
 divided only by the entrance court from the building in which the 
 Senate sat, and that extends to the Church of St. Mark, which rears 
 its majestic front, glorious in gold and rich mosaic work, each structure 
 vying with the other in unrivalled splendour, and all combining to give 
 grandeur to one side of the Piazza such as can be found nowhere else. 
 
 The other sides of the Square are adorned with Corridors and 
 shops and an extensive Library. 
 
 In the middle of the open space the Campanile or Bell-tower rises, 
 a solid square structure rising to the height of about 150 feet. All the 
 party except 3'our Aunt Mary, j^our mother, and I, ascended to the 
 top, from the platform at which point there is a wide view including 
 •on the one hand the snow-clad peaks of the Tyrolean Alps, and on the 
 other extending to the shores of the Adriatic sea. They reported on 
 their return that the wind was so strong that they felt themselves in 
 danger, and we below felt it so icy cold that we were glad to shelter 
 ■ourselves from its violence, and are not surprised to learn that snow 
 fell at Trieste distant only a few hours. 
 
 When they rejoined us we all entered St. Mark's Cathedral. 
 
 What a wondrous sight ! Arches and domes in great number, 
 ■each of overwhelming magnificence, shone in all theglory of burnished 
 gold, or covered with paintings rich with all the exuberance of colour 
 for which the Venitian school is so celebrated ; representing incidents 
 in the historj' of the Republic or sacred or legendary subjects. The 
 .^entire surface is tht;s covered with Mosaic pictures formed by coloured 
 glass in small cubes of every shade of colour, while the interspaces all 
 glow with gold. The style of the building is as unique and as 
 gorgeous as the decorations ; the columns are of various style and 
 every variety of stone, from the white alabaster shafts said to have 
 been brought from the temple at Jerusalem, to those of red porphyry 
 -SO hard that modern tools make little or no impression on it. This 
 variety of material is equalled by the style of ornament of the Capitals 
 -of the columns, and the sources from which they have been derived. 
 
 254
 
 Older Christian churches in Asia, as well as idol temples, have been 
 spoiled of their richest treasures to enrich this church. The Venetians 
 of the present day must not be too severe in their condemnation of 
 their Austrian spoilers who in their turn carried away with them many 
 things which the modern improved sense of justice has obliged them 
 to restore. 
 
 Many objects of legendary interest were pointed out to us which 
 failed to impress themselves on my memory, as my attention was 
 almost wholly absorbed by the splendour of the Mosaics and the 
 wonders of the columns and grandeur of the architecture. We will 
 procure photographs which will enable us to talk over what we have 
 seen, during the manj' opportunities of domestic enjoj-ment to which 
 we look forward in the coming j^ears. 
 
 Immediately adjoining St. Mark's church, lying between it and 
 the palace of the Doges, is the Court of the same Princes, in which 
 sat the Senate and the terrible Tribunal of the Ten. We were too 
 wearied and the time was too short to allow us to attempt a regular 
 visit to its spendid halls and several apartments rendered famous, or 
 infamous, by the scenes enacted in them, or attractive by the pictorial 
 adornments ; so we went only to the bridge which connects it with the 
 prison whose iron-grated windows grin horribly across the narrow 
 channel by which it is separated from the Palace and Court. We trod 
 the stony floor which unites the proud mansion of prosperity to the 
 abode of despair. The entire structure, floor, walls, and roof is of 
 marble, divided longitudinallj^ by a septum also of marble. By the 
 passage on the one side prisoners were carried from the cells for trial 
 in the hall of the Palace appropriated to that purpose ; by the other, 
 if condemned, they were transmitted to the hopeless dungeons of 
 darkness in which the victim of political or personal jealousy was 
 literally " immured," without light, air, or hope, their food passed by 
 a mere opening through the wall ; or to the place of execution, a doom 
 more merciful as that transferred them to the hands of a merciful God 
 and released them from the torture of the crueltj' of man. But let us 
 not dwell on subjects so hateful, which have furnished themes for 
 poets and writers of romance, but are, alas ! only too true and too 
 horrible in the nakedness of truth. 
 
 We were thoroughly exhausted by the morning's work, and glad 
 of an hour of quiet rest after having settled ourselves in our new 
 quarters, which are much less commodious than those we have left. 
 But then we may balance the account by the honour of being in the 
 same building with Dom Pedro, some of whose suite occupy an apart- 
 ment adjoining ours. I am inclined to suspect they are sers^ants, 
 judging by the sounds we hear. 
 
 We are also nearer the Square of St. IMark's, and other objects of 
 interest. So soon as we were sufficiently rested we took a Gondola 
 
 255
 
 and went to the apartments of Dr. and j\Irs. Harris with whom we 
 passed two or three hours very pleasantl3^ 
 
 They treated us to a nice hovie-like entertainment of chicken salad, 
 and tea and bread and butter, while we all enjoyed a quiet talk over 
 aifairs here and at home. 
 
 The sad fall and crime of Major Hodge was one painful theme, 
 affecting as it does so sorely one so dear to us all ; the good Hugh L. 
 and his brother Charles. Maj' God of His grace and mercj^ preser\^e 
 and defend us from yielding to similar temptation. His father and 
 uncle would appear to have cultivated in themselves and him an 
 ambition for riches, and thus have added another to the already too 
 numerous instances which prove the truth of the divine word that 
 " the love of money is the root of all evil." Let us seek to be content 
 with that which God gives as the reward of honest toil, and set our 
 " affections on things above." This day has been conseci^ated to 
 worship and rest ; and we have seen nothing but what has been pre- 
 sented to our observation on our way to and from church. 
 
 One very striking peculiarity of Venice is the absence of all 
 animals except human beings, and a few dogs. 
 
 Contrary to nij^ expectation we can go to any part of the town on 
 foot. But it is only by narrow wa3'£ along the rear of the dwellings, 
 chiefly, which all have their front on the canals, with not an inch of 
 space between the step and the water of the canal. These footways are 
 all very narrow, only sufficiently wide to permit two to pass ; with 
 small shops on either side, like mere stalls, in which there is room 
 only for the seller to stand, while the buyer stands on the street as in 
 the bazaars of the East. 
 
 These foot-ways are all very clean, having no muddy streets from 
 which dirt or dust can be carried into them, and no animals to defile 
 them ; and are neatly paved with flags. They lead by tortuous 
 courses from one open space to another. 
 
 These open spaces or Plazas, are of small size but numerous, and 
 are all connected with some Palace or Church which stands fronting 
 one side. But while the buildings both private and public are all 
 grand and generally spacious, ever3'thing wears the aspect of decay. 
 This is due not only to the lapse of time since their erection and the 
 decline of commercial prosperitj^ but the noble owners of the palatial 
 residences were so restive under Austrian domination, that they 
 removed to other parts of lta\.y, choosing rather to suffer the priva- 
 tions of restricted incomes and inferior comfort than to submit to the 
 indignities which galled their fellings in their more commodious 
 residences, which were rented to strangers for fabulously small prices. 
 These palaces were of course neglected and allowed to fall into ruin 
 and dilapidation. 
 
 Meanwhile they have formed new attachments elsewhere, and 
 inter-marriages with the noble families of other States and countries,, 
 
 256
 
 and are reluctant to return to these with which they have no associa- 
 tions of childhood or early life, and to which they are bound only by 
 ancestral pride. 
 
 To-morrow we have allotted to the Palace of The Doges and the 
 Glass-works, the products of which have so long enjoyed an unrivalled 
 reputation. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspah Morris. 
 
 We have learned one instructive lesson from Dom Pedro during 
 our association under the same roof ; we have had no personal inter- 
 course with him or any one of his suite. 
 
 He is an energetic, earnest man ; rose earl}^ acted independently, 
 and when he left we saw him carrj- in his own ro^'al hands his personal 
 luggage ; a travelling bag of good size, and apparently heavy, in the 
 one, and a bundle of umbrellas in the other. 
 
 Venice, October 17, 1871. 
 
 Seen by sunlight, and without the annoj'ance of a cold North-west 
 wind — a really wintry temperature — Venice is certainly less repulsive 
 than we should have considered it had we left this morning with only 
 the experience of Saturday and Sunday, by which to form our judg- 
 ment. 
 
 To-day the sun rose brightly, and soon made the temperature 
 warm as midsummer with us, though fire would have been most 
 acceptable last evening. We have passed the morning in sitting for 
 photographs of the several members of the party, by a celebrated 
 artist ; in selecting photographic views and copies of pictures to be 
 sent home ; and in visiting celebrated pictures contained in some of the 
 numerous churches ; and at the Palace of the Doges. All this is a 
 great weariness to the flesh, and in many things to the spirit also. 
 
 The Palace of the Doges is a large quadrangular structure sur- 
 rounding a court ; having four large halls the walls and ceilings of some 
 of which are entirely covered with paintings representing scenes in 
 the history of the great republic, in compartments divided by borders 
 elaborately carved and gilded. 
 
 They are the productions of the brush of Tintoretti and other 
 distinguished artists of the Venetian school. It would be an absurd 
 waste of 5'our time as well as of my strength to attempt to give a list 
 of the artists or their subjects ; and I could do no more. IMere verbal 
 descriptions of them would be no better. It is better to rest satisfied 
 with assuring you that wearied as I am, I yet rest dwelling with 
 delight on the impression made by some of the works of Tintoretti. 
 His pictures are perfect in drawing and the definition of the figures, 
 and in richness of colouring are unrivalled. Some of them are too 
 
 257
 
 crowded, but even these give evidence that they are the production ot 
 an artist of no common ability and the familiarity with them causes 
 me now to turn awaj^ with dissatisfaction from many other pictures 
 which I should have looked at with pleasure before having been taught 
 by his works properly to judge of true merit. 
 
 Some of the richest treasures of art, both in sculpture and paint- 
 ing, in Venice, were burned by the priests, a few j'ears ago. Among 
 others one which was considered the chef d' oeiivre of Titian, together 
 with some sculptures of which the photographs prove that they were 
 of the highest order of art. 
 
 This was done to prevent their falling into the possession of the 
 Kingdom of Italj- which had sequestrated the property' of the convent 
 to which they belonged, and appropriated it to public uses. As I look 
 at the vast collection of valuable books arranged in the palace of the 
 Doges, in great halls decorated with the works of the great masters 
 of art, commanding the admiration of every beholder, and think of 
 how these treasures are wasted on the ignorant and inappreciative 
 people around, or gazed at by the ever passing crowd of travellers 
 drawn here onl}^ b}' idle curiosit\', who look at them and go on, I am 
 led to look into my own heart and cannot avoid the thought of the 
 wondrous furniture with which God has endowed it, and mourn over 
 the reflection how sadly it all lies wasted and dusty and confused ; and 
 in manj' of its most valuable endowments broken and spoiled ; and 
 I mar\'el at His long-suffering, and long for grace to enable me in 
 some way to dedicate to his glor}- the additional treasures I am now 
 acquiring as I enjoy the privilege of this tour among objects which so 
 many, far better qualified to profit b}-^ the advantage, so long to see and 
 are not able. 
 
 Among these triumphs of the power of Art are onh- too many 
 which speak loudl}- of the degradation of our fallen nature, devoted as 
 the}- are to the cultivation of the sensual passions, instead of being 
 consecrated to the glory of Him who conferred the power to produce 
 the true and beautiful ; and alas ! when that power is redeemed from 
 the open service of sin, it is too often only transferred to the purposes 
 of superstition. 
 
 Madonnas, Saints, and absurd legendary miracles, affording the 
 most frequent subjects for the work of the greatest masters of Art. 
 Then these crowds of pertinaceous beggars ! whether in the guise of 
 venders of trashy articles of no worth which they force upon one's 
 notice, ragged urchins tumbling and turning somersaults before yoxi. 
 (their only means of procuring a livelihood.) One feels as though it 
 were an encouragement of a wrong principle to buy or to give, and 
 yet how else are the poor wretches to procure the means of purchasing 
 the scanty mouthful, poor enough and small enough at the best, cold 
 mush or roasted pumpkin, which is required to stay the importunate 
 cravings of hunger ? 
 
 258
 
 Are not such, those whom Jesus is not ashamed to call brethren ? 
 and in His sight are we better than they ? Are we with our refinement, 
 of ciilture and better knowledge trul}* devoting our lives to His 
 service? or are not we in a more graceful manner merel}^ like them, 
 begging and tumbling our lives away, idling away our time and 
 misapplying the powers with which He has endowed us to be employed 
 to His glory ? May He graciously not only pardon past delinquencies, 
 but quicken us now to newness of life. 
 
 We are getting verj^ weary of the survey of the acres of canvas 
 here, covered with the representation of battles in which the Venetians 
 were victorious, and the miracles and martyrdoms of Saints, which 
 constitute now the glory and riches of Venice. Many of them are 
 worthy of admiration as works of art ; biit even the sense of the beauti- 
 ful, as well as other avenues of gratification, maj'' be satiated. 
 
 One may return day after daj^ to enjoy in detail the examination 
 of the beauty of these works of art, just as one eats day after day of 
 the same delicate and well dressed dish ; but the perpetual hurry from 
 one gallery of paintings, or from one church or chapel or convent to 
 another all day long and day after day, produces a mental surfeit as 
 surely as gormandizing, even on the most delicate and well prepared 
 food, does on the organs of digestion. 
 
 i8th. 
 
 Venice does not improve on more intimate and familiar acquaint- 
 ance. The canals are rendered foul by the offal and garbage of a 
 teeming population, for which the water is the common receptacle, and 
 much of which floats offensively on the surface as well as pollutes the 
 water. The atmosphere is charged with offensive odours, and if its 
 houses are styled " palaces " and were once grand, they are now like the 
 people, ragged, wretched looking remains of departed grandeur. 
 
 We spent the morning, yesterday, in visiting the glass-works of 
 Salviati at which are made the material for the Mo.saics in the Cathe- 
 dral of St. Mark, which are now being renovated. 
 
 They make there also the articles of fancy glass-ware which are 
 now in request by the lovers of novelty in the form of the antique, but 
 they do not suit the taste of 5'our mother and mj'self and we made no 
 purchases. We think it is false taste and will be short lived, though 
 we saw great quantities of it ordered for royalty in Europe and the 
 representatives of royalty at home, our millionaire fellow citizens. 
 The warehouse was filled with boxes marked London, Bombay, and 
 St. Petersburg ; and they said they had large orders for New York. 
 The chandeliers are very splendid and showy, but I think gaudy, 
 and it would be impossible to keep them free from dust and bright 
 looking. 
 
 In the library of the palace of the Doges, we spent some hours in 
 the examination of a Breviary on vellum, the illuminations of which 
 are inexpressibly exquisite. 
 
 259
 
 There about 300 sendees in the book, and each is illustrated bj' a 
 picture designed to represent the subject of the Epistle or Gospel of 
 the day. No miniature painting on ivorj^ I have ever seen can 
 approach the exquisite delicacy of the execution of each. It is con- 
 sidered of priceless value ; and as such was retained at Rome for a 
 century, and only restored to Venice after much negotiation. 
 
 It also contains a series of twelve pictorial representations of the 
 Calendar, one for each month of the year, representing the pursuits 
 appropriate to each. 
 
 These have a peculiar interest as they exhibit the manners, dresses 
 and habits of the people of Holland five centiiries ago. 
 
 It is the work of the two brothers. Van Eycke, and was executed 
 at Bruges, in Flanders. The flowers, fruits and shells and insects, 
 introduced into the ornamental borders, are exquisite as works of art 
 and have the same interest as the costumes of the people in the 
 pictures. 
 
 But Venice is a nasty place, from which we shall be glad to 
 •escape. 
 
 The streets and alley's are well paved, and there being no animals 
 -or vehicles in them they are of course clean. But the canals ! They 
 are foul with the floating sewage of a great mass of people, and the 
 atmosphere is poisoned by the foul efliuvia. I feel as though I was 
 saturated with the amount I have imbibed. After one leaves the Piazza 
 or Place of St. Mark by the footwa3'S, one sees little to attract attention 
 but fruit stalls and small shops for the sale of cheap jewelry and orna- 
 mental trinkets. The entire area of the island is occupied by the 
 dwellings ; and the supply of vegetables and grapes and apples and 
 pears and other fruits is brought by the canals from the adjacent dis- 
 tricts of terra firma, and distributed to the shops and private purcha- 
 sers at a central market place on the grand canal, which is well worth 
 a visit. The fish-market is close beside it and, though less attractive 
 in the display', is equally' important to the inhabitants ; and the articles 
 here disposed of in quantity, are distributed like the others to small 
 vendors \iy whom they are cooked. Crabs and periwinkles are the 
 common fare of the labouring classes varied only by bread and fruits. 
 
 Soon after our being settled at our hotel, which is situated on the 
 grand canal near the Piazza, my attention was attracted by seeing men 
 constantly busy beating something which looked like rough sticks 
 of fire-wood on the tops of certain posts which stood as though to guard 
 the edge of the footway. They used a heavy maul, and the column 
 'On which they beat whatever it was, was of stone and about three feet 
 in height and they kept time in their strokes. The odour emitted was 
 disgusting, and proved that the article thus being beaten could not be 
 fire-wood, and on inspection and enquiry I found it was dried Ling, a 
 coarse kind of dried fish, resembling Codfish, brought from Norway. 
 It is a verj' coarse fish of the same family as the Cod, and so hard and 
 
 260
 
 dr}' and tough that it could not be used till it is thus beaten and torn 
 to fragments. Even then it requires to be soaked in water during 
 twenty-four hours before boiling, but it can never be made tender nor 
 fit for food, except to still the cravings of a hunger so intense that it 
 ceases to be fastidious about what is eaten ; it cannot supply nutri- 
 ment. 
 
 I could not induce m3'selt to partake of any fish while in Venice 
 which could by any chance have been taken in the canals. There 
 were some so large that they must have been taken in the sea. But 
 those which fed in the canals could not be good eating. I must have 
 been very hungry indeed to take any of those which fed near by. 
 
 Meat shops were very infrequent, and I should think very little 
 animal food is eaten except by the most affluent class. 
 
 Baked pumpkin was cried loudly by vendors on the streets, sold 
 in small segments to the labourers and children. 
 
 Round melons were baked whole, and the long ones in halves, 
 The slices were about four inches square, and were sold for the fifth of 
 a cent each ; they were kept hot and the seeds were extracted. 
 
 Among the objects of interest in Venice one must not overlook 
 one peculiarly its own, the numberless pigeons which build their nests, 
 and have their roosts about the statues with which the facades of the 
 numerous churches are adorned, and in fact on every spot on which a 
 pigeon can find foot room about all the buildings, even the Cathedral 
 of St. Mark and the palace of the Doges. Indeed they abound 
 especially on these, and at 2 p. m. each da}^ they are fed in the Plaza at 
 the charge of the Municipality and at all hours by visitors ; little 
 urchins dogging ones steps continuall}^ offering for sale ' ' crumbs for 
 the pigeons." 
 
 The legend connected with this is to the effect that the conquest 
 of the island of Candia was due to information transmitted by means 
 of Carrier Pigeons, sent home by the commander of the Venetian 
 forces, and that they were adopted by the Republic and their progeny 
 has been held sacred ever since and fostered and protected. 
 
 The only clean places we saw at Venice, were the narrow foot-ways 
 leading in the most tortuous manner around the rear of the dwellings, 
 and among the small shops which do not have any opening on the 
 canals as the larger houses all have. 
 
 The Armenian Convent stands isolated, entirely surrounded by 
 water, in the Grand Lagune and is exquisitely neat in all its appurte- 
 nances. It is a considerable distance from the other islands. It is a 
 school for the education of the natives of Armenia as priests of the 
 church of Rome, in order that they may extend the influence of the 
 Papacy among their own nation. 
 
 The Propaganda has here not only a seminary of boys to be 
 trained for this work, but also a very active Press from which books in 
 the Armenian language are issued in large number, beautifull}' 
 
 261
 
 printed. The Armenian characters are beautiful and the paper and 
 execution faultless. 
 
 There are not only books of Pra5'ers and school books, but the 
 monks shewed us with pride a copy of the fourth canto of Childe 
 Harold, the English text and an Armenian translation on alternate 
 pages. Lord Byron made this convent his home in Venice and we 
 were taken into an apartment, opening from the Library, which was 
 occupied by him as his study and in which he composed a part, at 
 least, of the poem which exhibits his power most strongly, and which 
 is least deformed by the evils which render his works so objectionable ; 
 — a splendid monument at once of the great gifts with which he was 
 endowed, and of the depravit}- of man's fallen nature. Nothing short 
 of an irreversible decree of exile fixing this as the location, could 
 cause me to take up ni}^ residence in Venice, but if as an exile I v/ould 
 select this Monastery as the place of imprisonment, and solicit the 
 hospitality of the Armenian Fathers. The}' have a good collection of 
 books and the apartments in which they are kept are pleasant and 
 cheerful, the one onl}- spot in Venice (so far as our observation extended), 
 to which such terms are at all applicable or can even be appropriated 
 by the utmost stretch of imagination or courtes}'. 
 
 The INIuseum is a curiosity, on account of the exhibition it affords 
 ■of their simplicity and ignorance of the most common affairs of the 
 ■world, bej'ond their own immediate observation. 
 
 Among other objects of interest we found Chinese Puzzles and 
 books of Tangrams. 
 
 The}' shewed us a gilded manuscript at Pali ; it may be a speci- 
 men of what is now supposed to be the oldest form of human lan- 
 guage, certainl}- older than the Sanscrit, as evidence of which they 
 informed us it was written on Pap3-rus, and came from Madras ; but as 
 papyrus is an Egyptian, and not an Indian growth, and I saw that it 
 was engrossed on palm-leaves, I feel quite at liberty to believe that the 
 credulity of the innocent fathers has been imposed on. 
 
 Immediately on our return from the monaster}- we took our last 
 meal in Venice, thankful that it was to be the last, and with all our 
 luggage in two gondolas, were rowed by the Grand Canal to the rail- 
 road depot, with cheerful anticipation of the delight of setting our feet 
 once more on the main-land ; and deep sympathy for Dr. and INIrs. Har- 
 ris, who met us at the station to take leave of their nieces. 
 
 There were half uttered promises to see them again, next spring 
 when we expect to be at Trieste on our return ; but who can foresee 
 what next spring may bring to any of us. 
 
 Trieste is only a few hours distant from Venice by either railroad 
 or steamer, and we do hope to be there. While in Venice we saw 
 Dr. Harris almost daily ; I more frequently than the others, as Mrs. Har- 
 ris took me to visit an American family in affliction. They were travel- 
 ling in hope of the restoration of the broken health of the husband 
 
 262
 
 and father. They arrived in Venice well, with an only child, a beau- 
 tiful boy of fourteen months, who died very suddenly. I could enter 
 into their sorrow with deep sympathy, and did what I could to miti- 
 gate their great grief, by striving to lead them to the onlj- source of 
 consolation ; and attended them in the sad dut}^ of committing to 
 foreign earth the very beautiful body, the lovely casket in which had 
 been enshrined the darling object of love and hope. 
 
 Some misapprehension led to a disappointment at the hotir first 
 fixed for the interment, which was made on a remote island almost 
 out in the sea. 
 
 I was with them three times, and was glad that the}- left Venice 
 immediatel}' after the sadly solemn act, as ever}- hour of delay would 
 have added to the sufficientlv difficult task of tearing themselves away 
 Irom a spot to which, painful as are the associations with it (at present 
 terribly agonizing), they must ever cling w-ith the most sacred love. 
 
 They are named Roberts, from Elizabeth New Jersey and Trenton ; 
 and know the Hodges and Rev. John Hall of Trenton and the Keppeles 
 and Latimers to all of whom, and especially the Biddies, remember 
 me with warm affection when next you meet them. 
 
 Padua, Friday. 
 
 Part of the forgoing was written here, this morning. We arrived 
 here very late last evening, wearied, and several of the party having 
 taken cold. I am thankful that all are able to be out of bed this 
 morning, but Wistar and Holly were too unwell to go out with us. 
 
 As I wrote our names in the hotel register I saw that of Mr. Howet 
 and Mrs. Howet immediately pi'eceding us, and soon after, while con- 
 versing with a venerable Englishman, found it was he himself I 
 introduced myself and your aunts Hannah and Jane as near neigh- 
 bours of young Aklerson, his nephew, who married Miss Yarnall. 
 We found them very simple and pleasant companions. 
 
 We spent the morning in visiting the church of St. Anthony the 
 patron saint of Padua, him who preached to the fishes. It is a 
 splendid building filled with fine marbles and bronzes and paintings ; 
 bvit I am ready to cry '' Ohc Jam Satis.'' The music was very 
 delightful, but such absurd mummery of shifting robes and changing 
 places during service, and bending knees, I never before saw 
 in all my experience of superstitious observances. From the church 
 we went to the Botanic (harden, in which Prosper Albinus taught in 
 1534, where we saw noble trees, venerable from their antiquity, as 
 well as many beautiful new plants. We were delighted to pick from 
 the ground a Black Walnut, redolent of juvenile and home memories ; 
 looked w-itli equal pleasure at the familiar form of the Kentucky 
 Coffee tree, and ate persimmons, tasting very good. 
 
 Your affectionate father, 
 
 Caspar IMorris. 
 263
 
 Bologna, October 20, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 It is now IIP. M., and we have just risen from the table which 
 we have found spread and furnished with the materials for tea on 
 our arrival from Padua, which we left at 6 p. M., having ordered the 
 rooms and the meal (including some of the celebrated sausage deriving 
 its name from this old university town) b}^ telegraph, and now though 
 your mother and grandmother is exciting peals of laughter at some of 
 her witticisms in the adjoining room, I seat mj'self to renew my corres- 
 pondence with you. 
 
 At Venice we all suffered from the cold weather, and also at 
 Padua, where we were surprised to find the people were all protected 
 with heavy overcoats and shawls, and to find that a large proportion 
 of the shops were devoted to the sale of clothing ; while the stock 
 now exhibited was all of the warmest and heaviest material. Here 
 we find in each of the chambers a box containing little bundles of the 
 smallest twigs tied tip in parcels neatl}^ each about a handful, the 
 onl}^ fuel used here. 
 
 On the table there were two volumes marked "The works of 
 Dante," which gave promise of some pleasant reading, but on opening 
 them I found the contents were designed to give, not intellectual 
 delight and animation, but material, consisting as the}' did of some 
 light wooden substance, probabl}' dried reeds saturated with sulphur, 
 to kindle the fires. Not a bad practical joke, when one thinks of the 
 subjects of his most popular poem. 
 
 Having left Padua about dusk we, of course, saw nothing of the 
 character of either the rural districts or the towns through which we 
 passed on our way hither, but believe it is a flat level country, 
 watered and drained by the River Po, over which we crossed on a very 
 long bridge. 
 
 The drive here from the station to the hotel carried us through 
 wide well-paved streets, but it was too dark for us to form any notion 
 of the character of the houses. We find however that the streets are 
 lined on either side bj' lofty arcades fronting them. They are 
 supported by strong and high columns and have an imposing appear- 
 ance in the dim light. 
 
 But I must lay aside my pen as your mother has come to our 
 chamber and wishes to retire, as we are to have breakfast served at 
 8 A. M. to-morrow. So good-night ! and may God bless j'ou. 
 
 Saturday, 21st. 
 
 A good night's rest has refreshed us, and calls for the acknowl- 
 edgment of the merc3' with which our Father in heaven follows us 
 day by day. 
 
 I find it will not do to indulge the habit of forming a hasty 
 judgment about places or persons. The wood box to which I alluded 
 
 264
 
 last evening, contains nice little billets of solid wood in addition to 
 the bunches of twigs which I then supposed were the onh' material 
 for making a fire, so that if it were necessar3' we conld have a bright 
 as well as a warm and brisk fire ; but though fresh and cool it is not 
 cold enough to require that. 
 
 The hotel is a verj^ good one ; the chambers spacious and clean 
 and neath^ furnished, and the beds good. 
 
 I have always said the height of my desire for comfort in the 
 matter of bedding was ' ' clean linen sheets every night' ' ; and we 
 have had that great luxurj- ever since we came to Italy ; and thus far 
 ever}' comfort a traveller can have. 
 
 The meals are ample and the cooking good, and a saloon car at 
 our own service justifies my assertion that we are enjoying the highest 
 luxur}^ of travel. The emperor of Brazil is content with a compart- 
 ment in a common first-class car. 
 
 We have not j'et seen the exterior of Bologna, but the superior 
 elegance and comfort of this hotel gives a favourable impression of 
 its character. Just as I had written the foregoing sentence, j-ou aunts 
 Hannah and Jane called us to their room which overlooks a public thor- 
 oughfare, to look at the crowd of people passing to and fro, all busy ; and 
 donke3--carts mingling with the men and women, while a large force 
 of men were busily occupied in sprinkling and sweeping, making the 
 carriage-way as clean as our best kept footwa3's. While waiting for 
 the summons to the breakfast room, I will just record the pleasure I 
 derived while in Venice from meeting, at Dr. Harris's, INIiss Nevins, 
 daughter of the Revd. Dr. Nevins of Mercersburgh, now pursuing art- 
 studies as a sculptor. We saw her first original work though it is not 
 3-et perfecth' finished, and had not been exhibited to an}- one but 
 ourselves. It is a beautiful female bust, at the period of life at which 
 the character is just established and the face has the peculiar charm ot 
 opening womanhood. The countenance is upturned, and the lips are 
 uttering articulate sounds. 
 
 To the question " what is it" ? I replied, " Hope," but found she 
 had designed it to be " Pra3'er. ' ' I felt as though I had not been 
 wrong. There can be no pra3'er without hope. There must be not 
 onh- faith that there is a God who hears, but that He answers, and 
 hope that He will give that which we sincerety desire, or else our 
 iitterance will be not pra3'er but the agonizing utterance of despair. 
 The bust will be sent to Philadelphia vtdiere I hope to see it again. 
 
 Florence, Saturda3' Evening. 
 A bus3' morning at Bologna, followed 1)3'' a hast3' dinner and 
 hurried drive to the R. R. station, terminated in an afternoon in a 
 saloon-car which brought us eight3- miles in about five hours, to this 
 place b3- a railroad which crosses the Apennines at a point rising 
 some 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and which penetrates the 
 
 265
 
 range by no fewer than fort^'-five t'.mnels in a distance of some forty 
 miles, some of them, it is true ver}' short, but others more than a 
 mile in length. The district is wild and the land sterile, intersected 
 frequently by the wide dry beds of mountain torrents. 
 
 In our assent we crossed one of them no less than twenty times. 
 Night closed in on us soon after we reached the summit so that we did 
 not see the beauty of the glimpses of the fertile fields of Tuscan}^ in 
 the distance, which are said to appear charmingly through the opening 
 gorges of the Apennines. I know of no place in which if I were 
 exiled from home I should find so much to attract me in a Cit}^ as in 
 Bologna. I feel as though ever since I entered Italy I had been dragged 
 through a field thickly set with ripe corn ; snatching here and there a 
 straggling ear but leaving t;ngathered the rich harvest, and trampling 
 and crushing, in the haste, much that would, if carefully garnered, 
 furnish rich stores of future thought. The figures of Hannibal and 
 Scipio and Caesar and Cataline and Cicero and Pompey and Augustus 
 and Anthonj^ and Livy and Horace and Virgil and Dante and Petrarch 
 hover around me in misty confusion ; reproaching me that when I 
 enjo3'ed the opportunity I did not so study them that I should now be 
 familliar with their works when I am passing, even though it be 
 hastih', through the places of their birth and which the}' have made 
 renowned by the association with themselves, and the scenes in which 
 they acted, and in which some of them decided the destinies not of 
 their contemporaries only, but of mankind in all succeeding genera- 
 tions and in which others of them wrote and sang, giving their names 
 an honourable immortality. 
 
 But at Bologna I was most deepl}- impressed and instructed by 
 a lesson from the tombs. 
 
 The Campo Santo of that cit}' occupies the site of a ver}^ ancient 
 monasters^ " The Certosa ' ' which was used as a mortuary- chapel. A 
 few months ago, in making some improvements, the workmen exca- 
 vated a spot which had evidentall}' been the burial-place of generations 
 in ages long antecedent, even prehistoric, and manj- bodies were 
 exhumed, and are now on exhibition in one of the halls of the Great 
 Library' of the University ; and also a collection of cinerar}' urns and 
 other potter}', and ornaments deposited with the dead by the Etruscans, 
 a people who had attained to such a high degree of civilization before 
 the foundation of the city of Rome, that art has never, in any of the 
 generations which have succeeded, nor in any nation by which it has 
 been cultivated most successfully, surpassed or even equalled the 
 point to which that people had attained, as manifested by their pro- 
 ductions found only in the tombs in which they had been buried ; as 
 had been almost the memory of the Etruscan people themselves. 
 Some of the bodies of the dead were burned, and the ashes gathered 
 and enclosed in vases of unrivalled elegance of form and adornment ; 
 the pictures on them being representations of the habits and customs 
 
 266
 
 of the times, others were simply buried in the earth, and specimens 
 of both are exhibited now in the halls of the ancient University, just 
 as they were disinterred. In some cases we saw the cinerary urn 
 imbedded in the clay which has been partially removed ; and in others 
 the entire osseous frame of the body, everj'^ bone in proper apposition 
 to its fellow, the entire skeleton lying in the hard clay in varjdng 
 attitudes, as though deposited without any encasement, each crowned 
 with " that ruined skull, once of etherial fire full," the influence ot 
 which once gave it power over the earth and the beasts of the field. 
 The crania are finely formed and well developed, and all have perfect 
 sets of beautiful teeth. 
 
 It is a ghastly but most impressive spectacle ; how many centuries 
 have these perishable remains of the fleshl}^ clothing of the imperish- 
 able soul lain undisturbed in the clay from which they were each 
 moiilded, to be brought forth for a lesson to the present possessors of 
 similar forms, the same in stature and weight and, so far as we can 
 judge, of similar figure and expression of feature ; and undoubtedly of 
 like passions with ourselves. Like us they hoped and feared ; like us 
 they toiled and rested, suffered and enjoyed ; and like them we shall 
 return in some way to the dust from which we all were formed, and 
 await somewhere the sound of the call to awake to shame or glory. 
 
 One of the bronze vases is ornamented by well executed figures in 
 relief, representing processions , each figure of which, evidently priestly, 
 has on the head a hat of the identical shape and appearance of those 
 worn at the present day by the priests of the Romish church in Italy. 
 A tomb-stone of unquestionable antiquity has on it the figure of a 
 winged genius, in all respects similar to the representations of Angels 
 by Christian painters. This adoption of pagan rites and ecclesiasti- 
 cal costume by the corrupt church of modern times is ver}^ curious and 
 affords a theme for careful thought. 
 
 The enclosed seeds are those of the Japanese INIedlar, a delicious 
 fruit produced bj- a pretty tree of the smaller size. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Florence, Monday, October 23, 1871. 
 My Dear Children: 
 
 Your mother has gone with the others to see the shops ; what 
 more they will do I cannot foresee ; and I avail myself of the time to 
 continue my efforts to impress on my own mind the remembrance of the 
 things I have seen, by communicating them to you. 
 
 Bologna, our last stopping place, is a wonderful town ; not only 
 in its past history, but in its present magnificence. 
 
 267
 
 Both it and Padua are rich in the honour of their Universities 
 which were foci of light in the da3^s of mediseval darkness. That ot 
 Bologna was the oldest as well as the most renowned. 
 
 It was founded in A. D. 1 1 19, and is said at one period to have had 
 on the lists of its students no less than 10,000 in a single session, 
 coming from all parts of the then known world. 
 
 The ceilings and walls are now adorned with the armorial bear- 
 ings of some 15,000 of these students who distinguished themselves 
 in their studies, and brought honour to their Alma Mater. 
 
 Vain effort at immortality. Who now recognizes them as indi- 
 vidual children, and how many of the present active members of the 
 great Guild of Science and Literature thinks of the Universit}' as the 
 great centre it was of Knowledge, and source of Wisdom. Vastly 
 better, however, than the names scrawled on the walls of the homes 
 of learning now, by the modern aspirants for future fame or the 
 ' ' graphites ' ' on the walls of Pompeii. 
 
 I was deeply moved as I sat in the ampitheatre in which Vesalius, 
 and Taliacotius, and Malpighi, and others who "bore immortal names 
 which were not born to die ' ' had examined, discovered and explained 
 the intricate structure of the human frame, and the nature of the dis- 
 eases to which it is liable, and the means and methods of relief and 
 restoration. 
 
 The effigies of these worthies, well carved in wood, fill niches 
 around the walls within which they once taught, and seem to beckon 
 to the youth of the present time who fill the seats of those who drank 
 wisdom and received inspiration from their living tones, and urge them, 
 starting from the vantage ground gained for them by the labour of the 
 ancients, to carry onward and upward the prosecution of the same 
 researches, and thus pile up another stage in the scaffolding of the 
 temple of knowledge, and prepare, as they themselves did, another 
 platform for those who shall still follow. 
 
 Merged in such reveries I sat absorbed and entirely unmindful ot 
 the present, till I was aroused b}^ the grating of the key in the lock of 
 the door and found the others of the partj^ had left and I was left alone 
 with the illustrious dead. 
 
 A few rapidly given knocks recalled the janitor, and saved me 
 from the fate of being ' ' left behind the age. ' 
 
 Bologna was distinguished in the middle ages as the place in 
 which Female professors taught the most abstruse sciences, and one 
 of them was so beautiful that she screened her face with a veil while 
 delivering her prelections. From the amphitheatre we passed into the 
 library, on the well arranged shelves of which are arrayed no less than 
 100,000 volumes, most of them of great value, and 6000 MSS. We 
 passed through hall after hall each filled with the literary treasures of 
 ages past, carefull}^ protected in neat cases, each neatly labeled with 
 the subject of the works it contained ; riches we could hardl3^ imagine 
 and could not estimate much less appropriate. 
 
 268
 
 This library' is constantly open for public use without charge, and 
 in one of the apartments we found a score or more j'oung Bolognese 
 availing themselves of the privilege. 
 
 I had the curiosity to glance, as I passed, at the book over which 
 one of them was intently poring, and found it was ' ' par Alex. Dumas ' ' ! 
 Such is human nature, seeking present amusement even in the pres- 
 ence of the trophies of the toil of the great. So was it undoubtedly 
 in the days of their labour, and even now there are profound thinkers 
 striving to acquire greater stores of knowledge and to kindle lights for 
 their successors. 
 
 From these apartments we went on to those occupied by Egyptian 
 remains, through which we passed hurriedl}', onl}^ giving them a 
 superficial examination expecting to have better opportunitj- while on 
 the Nile, and pressed our way through these treasures, great as they 
 undoubtedly are, to those which, if we now neglected we should never 
 again have the opportunity to study, the various articles which have 
 been recently exhumed in this vicinit}', the remains of the people who 
 occupied this very soil in ages so long past that their history is almost 
 unknown. ' 
 
 We have been awe-struck as we have stood in the midst of the 
 nave of church after church of the tenth century, kept in order or 
 restored from ruin at the present day ; we have been solemnly im- 
 pressed by the ruins of Roman temples still standing though in deca}-; 
 we have moralized on the fate of the tens of thousands who were 
 seated year after year on the crowded benches of the arena to witness 
 gladiatorial shows ; all these emotions were feeble in comparison with 
 those which were excited in us as we stood face to face with the forms 
 of generations who lived and moved and had their being, on the very 
 spot on which we were then standing, at a period lost in the dimness 
 of antiquity and of whom we know nothing literally, but that they 
 had attained a perfection in the ceramic art which has never been 
 exceeded ; na}- which cannot be equalled at the present time either in 
 delicac}^ of material, beauty of design or exquisite taste in ornament, 
 and which still excites the admiration of the world just in the propor- 
 tion that we have advanced in the cultivation of the love for the 
 beautiful. 
 
 Case after case in the museum of the universit}' at Bologna, is 
 filled with ornaments of gold and bronze, and beads of precious stones 
 and coloured glass, which have been taken from the graves and tombs 
 of these prehistoric people ; and the floor of one apartment is covered 
 by cases containing the skeletons, lying undisturbed, imbedded in the 
 clay to whose keeping the bodies were entrusted in those long past 
 ages, now carefully protected by frames so as to transmit to still later 
 times these tokens of mortality. 
 
 Beside them lie the vases and patera and cups which were interred 
 with the hands which had used them. In other cases are cinerarj' 
 
 269
 
 iirns of various form, size, and material ; terra cotta, glass and bronze, 
 containing- the half-consumed bones of those who it is supposed were 
 more affluent or in some other way distinguished in their day or 
 among their co-evals. 
 
 The resemblance of the finger rings still clinging to the bones of 
 the fingers, and the other articles of jewelry found with the skeletons, 
 to those of modern art is so close that it requires one to be on the spot 
 and see them still on the ghastly remains, to be convinced they are 
 not spurious. We see inserted in the clay the Fibula, just like our 
 shawl-pins of the present day, with which their robes v/ere fastened in 
 preparation for sepulture. These robes are displayed most gracefully 
 on the figures which adorn the patera and other urns and vases, ot 
 which there is a verj' varied and rich collection in the museum at 
 Bologna. 
 
 The art galler}' is one of the most extensive we have yet visited 
 and contains man}' ver>' celebrated paintings. In others we have been 
 wearied b}' the thousands of pictures, each doubtless good but mere 
 repetitions of the same thought or sentiment. Madonnas, St. Josephs, 
 and most numerous of all St. Sebastians ; with Martyrdoms and Adora- 
 tions and Assumptions without number, till one turns from them with 
 the feeling of absolute satiety, having jumbled in the niemor\' "colour- 
 ing," "composition," "design," " drawing, " with an indistinct haze 
 of ' ' schools ' ' covering them all ; read}' to adopt the sarcasm of Gold- 
 smith on the connoisseurs of his day, when he represents the meeting 
 of the Club and sa3's of Sir Joshua Rej'nolds, who was deaf, 
 
 " When they talked of their Raphaels, Corregios and stuff, 
 He shifted his trumpet, and only took snufF." 
 
 I have not j'et taken the lowest degree in the scale of Art-lore. 
 Bologna was the school of Raphael and his co-evals and though the 
 collection is not large it contains some pictures of great merit. His 
 St. Cecilia is very beautiful and I was tempted to covet a copy in 
 aquarelle on vellum, which is being made by an American artist for 
 some one whose name the artist said he could not pronounce. So far 
 as he had advanced the work was beautiful, but the artist told us he 
 should work on it at least two months before he should commence to 
 hope to be satisfied. The price of the copy is only $300. 
 
 There are here many Guidos, and among them the celebrated head 
 of our Lord, crowned with thorns ; with the numerous copies of which 
 we are all so familiar. 
 
 There are here also many of the works of the Caraccis vv-hich are 
 vmdoubtedly very fine. I could have spent daj's among them with 
 pleasure. 
 
 St. Petronius is the patron of Bologna and is represented in various 
 acts and attitudes, and with many companions. There is one espec- 
 ially grand picture, in which he and St. Carlo Borromeo are united in 
 an act of adoration of the Virgin. 
 
 270
 
 I bovight a vohime of etchings of the pictures in the gallerj- which 
 is better than photographs. 
 
 Bologna is a city of palaces, many of them being magnificent, 
 and the number of new ones being erected tells of active prosperity at 
 the present time. They still retain the peculiar plan of structure, 
 having no excavations, and the ground floor is used for shops and 
 ware-rooms. One maj' pass for miles under covered waj'S, like clois- 
 ters, in which are shops where are displaj'ed the most elegant and 
 costly goods, as well as those of more general necessity. The upper 
 floors project over these arch-ways, the front wall of the building 
 being siipported on arches, and the size and proportions of the shafts 
 of the columns and the -workmanship of the capitals, are such as 
 would be considered adapted to our best public buildings. 
 
 The fronts of the houses are wide, and they enclose court- yards 
 with shrubberies and flowers, and the upper apartments are large and 
 light. These arcades give a magnificent air to the streets and I 
 bought several photographs of them. 
 
 On Saturdaj' the "■agora''' was thronged with bu^'ers and sellers 
 and the ground piled with heaps of fruits and vegetables, and common 
 goods of ever}- day's demand. In just such surroundings it was that 
 St. Paul disputed daily in the market with those vv'ho met him. But 
 the oxen ! the oxen ! who can describe their beauty, their perfectly 
 developed symmetry of form, their stately step, their intelligent 
 faces, their pure color, and the soft silkiness of their sleek coats ? 
 
 And then the beauty of their eyes ! I never understood the force 
 of Homer's description of Juno as " ox-ej^ed " till I saw these. There 
 is a majestic softness of expression which conveys the idea of imper- 
 turbable dignity and is at the same time full of gentleness. But I 
 must turn oiit and see Florence, or I shall have nothing to say 
 about it. 
 
 The early morning was cold ; and now the heat of the sun is 
 oppressive. The dry bed of the Arno lies before my window, wide 
 and full of cobble-stones rolled there by the torrents of winter and 
 spring, with here and there a sluggish pool left standing ; while marks 
 of the floods left on the walls of the houses fronting on the river, 
 prove that the water sometimes rises to the height of lo or 12 feet or 
 even more, and it is spanned by many lofty and substantial bridges, 
 the oldest of w-hich has a row of houses along the middle, now occu- 
 pied by shopkeepers for the sale of jewelry and other knick-knacks. 
 The bridges of more modern date are constructed of iron and stone 
 and are free from any obstruction on the road-ways ; and are of fine 
 proportions and well constructed. 
 
 Your loving father 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 271
 
 Florence, October 23, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Your mother and I have jvist returned from a delightful drive in 
 the beautiful environs of this place, so celebrated in mediaeval history 
 and as the special home of art, and in more recent periods as the 
 favourite resort of the seekers for health, and tourists in search of 
 amusement and health or pleasure and instruction. 
 
 It differs widely from any other city we have visited before, in its 
 style of architecture. There is less grandeur in the size and appear- 
 ance of the houses, and the streets are narrower ; and yet there is an 
 appearance of wealth and an activit}' in the movement of the people 
 one meets with on the streets which are befitting the recent Capital of 
 the revived Kingdom of Italy. The magazines, or shops, are well 
 furnished with supplies of all that is requisite to the comfort of man ; 
 and the booksellers' counters and shelves are supplied with a most 
 attractive display- of the choicest stores for the intellect ; and paint- 
 ings, mosaic-work, and other productions of the choicest art attract 
 us at ever}" turn of the eye. The fruit stalls are loaded with the 
 most luscious grapes, figs, pomegranates, apples, pears and other fruits. 
 
 We drove this evening past the Pitti Palace, the residence of Victor 
 Emanuel, the King of Italy, until the removal of the French troops 
 from Rome (where they had repressed the wishes of the inhabitants, 
 and supported the temporal power of the Pope) made the Eternal Cit_v 
 the Capital. 
 
 The Pitti Palace contains one of the greatest collection of paintings 
 and sculpture in the world. We have not yet entered it, though I did 
 go this morning to the museum of natural history and physics which 
 is gathered in one of the wings. 
 
 I was induced to visit it without the other members of the party 
 on account of the report by Friezier of the extent and value of the 
 anatomical collection, which could have no charm for them. 
 
 There is also a collection of stuffed beasts and birds, but it is not 
 large nor well preser\-ed, and the objects are common-place. 
 
 Our drive led us by a perfectl}' constructed road skirted by ' ' vil- 
 lini," (as they here call suburban residences, surrounded by shnibbery 
 and orchards and gardens) to the summit of one of the man 3- hills sur- 
 rounding the citj' and giving variety to the celebrated Val' d' Arno, 
 itself skirted b}- numerous villages as well as villas, and bounded by 
 mountains which rise in the distance on ever}- side, not loft}' it is true, 
 but. as it were, protecting. The sides of the hills are clothed with 
 vineyards and olive orchards, the vintage already gathered and the vines 
 brown and drj', while the grey-tinted foliage of the olive trees is 
 relieved b\' the dark purple clusters of the berries which hang richly 
 on the trees. 
 
 On our way we stopped at the Campo Santo, the church of which 
 is adorned by frescos representing incidents in the life of St. Benedict, 
 
 272
 
 in some of which the Tempter figures largel}-, his black form con- 
 trasting strongly with the saintly white robes of the monk. We also 
 called at the tower in which Galileo made his observations by which 
 he determined that the earth moved around the sun in a fixed 
 orbit, and was not stationary with the sun revolving around it. He 
 lived near b}-, and the house is still shewn in which he received the 
 visits of the ' ' beautiful young Englishman ' ' who had not then 
 achieved the eminence which placed him second only to Shakespere on 
 the roll of fame. Fiesole and Vallambrosa appear to have made a deep 
 impression on the mind of the youthful poet, seen from this height 
 through the wonder-working tube of the philosopher, which has since 
 made us familiar with the mountains and valleys of the moon as it 
 made him then with those of the earth. 
 
 How strange the contrast ! Great Britain then struggling to 
 throw off the tyrannj^ spiritual and temporal, of Charles and Laud ; 
 Italy with its Inquisitors compelling the philosopher, on pain of death, 
 to swear that his theory was untrue (though in undertone he made the 
 reservation, " still it does go round"), now that same England sliding 
 with a steady though scarceh' perceptible motion to the prevalence of 
 the same superstitions she then repudiated, and Italy throwing off its 
 baneful influence. Such is man ! 
 
 Florence was also the birth-place of Dante, exiled by faction, now 
 he is avenged ; the posterity of those who then persecuted him desir- 
 ing to do honour to his memory by repossessing his lifeless bones, 
 while in every town of Italy they raise statues to commemorate the 
 glory of his ' ' Divina Comedia, ' ' and pictures of the immortal poet 
 and his Beatrice adorn the libraries and drawing-rooms of the lovers 
 of poetry throughout the civilized world. 
 
 Just as I had written that last line a card was handed to me, 
 Monroe Mercer! How strange a meeting place for West River people! 
 He was accompanied by his oldest son, a nice intelligent boy as thor- 
 oughly bred as any Mercer of them all. 
 
 I should have recognized the blood wherever I had met it. They 
 are living near us ; so we shall call to-morrow on Mrs. ]\Iercer, who is 
 still a great sufferer. 
 
 24th, 2 p. M. 
 
 We have just returned from the Palace and the Pitti gallery, and 
 the Museum of Natural History. Cheston will remember his own 
 experience and from that will understand in what condition we all are. 
 I never prized so highlj^ the beautiful miniature copy on ivorj- of 
 Raphael's Madonna dell' Seggiola, which is among the very few works 
 of art I possess, as I now do having just stood delighted before the 
 original ! It is worthy of its reputation as the greatest picture in the 
 world ; and that copy is the best I have ever seen; at least it strikes 
 
 273
 
 me so now in the warm enthusiasm of the moment after having 
 ■enjoyed the privilege of drinking in delight from the delicacj^ of the 
 exquisite face of the Virgin ]M other, the sinless purity of the lovely 
 infant, and the rich harmony of the colour of the whole composition. 
 I am divided in my feeling and judgment between the Madonna of 
 Raphael and that of IMurillo, both in the Pitti Gallerj', though the bal- 
 ance rather inclines in favour of the Spanish Master. He has given a 
 more intelligent expression with equal feminine grace and beauty of 
 features to both the mother and child ; and to my taste the subdued 
 colouring of the ^lurillo is more agreeable than the higher tone and 
 stronger hues of the Italian. 
 
 There was an aqnareUe copy on paper which tempted me some- 
 what, but I must be content with a good photograph. It is a lovely 
 picture. As I have more than once remarked it is worse than a waste 
 of time to attempt to give descriptions of the treasures of these great 
 galleries of pictures ; such attempts fail in the hands of all but the 
 most appreciative and highly cultivated taste, combined with the 
 highest powers of word-painting. In any other they are no more than 
 mere catalogues. 
 
 But the Madonna of Carlo Dolce is especially beyond all descrip- 
 tion even by the most gifted with artistic taste and power of language. 
 The three stand on the same platform as works of art, without a rival 
 to compete with either. Each is perfect in itself, and they stand side 
 by side pre-eminent ■ 
 
 There are numberless other great works of art in the collection 
 especially those of Raphael and Salvator Rosa. 
 
 One apartment is dedicated to the exhibition of the work of 
 Benvenuto Cellini, in gold, silver, and precious stones. 
 
 He was the co-eval of the great masters in painting, and the 
 exquisite beaut}- and grace of his designs, and delicacy of the execu- 
 tion of the work have given a celebrity as great in that expression of 
 art as they achieved by the brush and chisel. 
 
 We saw also some very magnificent carv^ed cabinets, and others 
 inlaid with mosaic-work of precious stones and marbles, and ebonj' 
 of the age of the Medicis, which were wondrously elaborate. 
 
 The most gorgeous and delicate specimens of Tapestry of the 
 .same period hung on the walls. 
 
 In one of the apartments we were shewn a table of Florentine 
 Mosaic which cost 700,000 francs in money and fourteen years of 
 assiduous labour. The design was very admirable and the patience 
 and skill required to carr>' it out were very great. 
 
 There was also exhibited a table of Malachite which is of untold 
 value, presented by the Emperor of Russia to the Grand Duke of 
 Tuscany. He was a member of the family of Hapsburgh, and took 
 the part of Austria in the contest for the power in Northern Italy and 
 the formation of the revived Kingdom of Italy, while the people were 
 
 274
 
 almost unanimous in favour of the unification of the Italian power, 
 and he was compelled to abdicate. 
 
 The passion of the Florentines for the new kingdom was 
 intense. 
 
 The Duke ordered one of his general of&cers to fire on a crowd of 
 citizens who were expressing their devotion to the Kingdom. 
 
 The response of the oflBcer was "They are Italians, so am I." 
 
 This sealed the fate of the Duke, though he is said to have been 
 personall^^ a good ruler, and he was compelled to make his escape 
 hastily by a secret passage, taking with hini nothing but what money 
 he had about him. 
 
 The Pitti palace is a grand and very substantial structure, having 
 a frontage of 500 feet, built of stone either dark in its natural colour 
 or rendered so b}^ age. 
 
 It was commenced by a merchant of the name of Pitti, a contem- 
 porary and rival of the Medicis who were also like Pitti, silk weavers 
 and merchants. Pitti lost favour with the people of Florence, was 
 unable to complete his palace, and the people, who during his period 
 of popularity had bestowed on him many tokens of favour in the 
 shape of costly gifts toward its ornamentation, reclaimed them on the 
 loss of his affluence and his grandson was obliged to sell it, and it was 
 purchased by those very Medeci in the attempt to rival whom he had 
 exhausted his wealth and sacrificed the popular favour. Upon the 
 extinction of the INIedeci family in its turn, the palace passed into the 
 possession of the Duke Lorraine, a foreigner, son-in-law of Maria 
 Theresa, and through him passed b}- regular descent to the last Duke, 
 and now with all its accumulated treasures of art has become, by the rev- 
 olution which established the revived kingdom of Ital}- , the property of 
 the people of that kingdom, and while Florence was the capital, was the 
 residence of Victor Emanual who had also married (I believe) a daughter 
 of the last Duke of Tuscany, who had been compelled to abdicate the 
 dukedom. 
 
 Such are the episodes which illustrate the histor}- of human great- 
 ness and pride. 
 
 As a practical evidence of the present tendency- to popularize 
 the benefits and difpLise the advantages of modern progress in science 
 and art, we met, as we descended the stairs from the galleries of natural 
 history and painting, quite a crowd of labour-stained artisans and 
 peasants, going up them to avail themseves of the opportunity afforded 
 them, by the perfectly gratuitous admission, to gratify their innate 
 taste for the beautiful, or satisfy their thirst for knowledge. It was a 
 very pleasant incident ; they looked intelligent and appeared happy, 
 and some at least, could appreciate and profit by familiarit}^ with the 
 various objects of interest collected there and enjoy the sense of joint 
 proprietorship which as fellow citizens they shared with the wealthiest 
 and noblest. 
 
 275
 
 We had been impressed with the earnest countenances and intel- 
 ligent deportment of the great masses of the common people we had 
 seen gathered at a political meeting of citizens held in the great square, 
 The Plaza Signoria. 
 
 In the afternoon we drove to Fiesole, the site of an old prehistoric 
 city of the Etruscans, and the predecessor of Florence as the chief town 
 of the region before it passed under the swa^^ of Rome, by w'hich power 
 it was subjugated under Scilla about a centur}- before the Christian 
 era. A portion of the old wall still stands after the lapse of not less 
 than thirty centuries since the massive stones, of which it is composed, 
 were laid together for the defence of its inhabitants. 
 
 Various remains of antiquit}' have been recently disinterred in the 
 neighbourhood. Florentia, as it was called b}' the Romans, was not a 
 colony of much importance and is not associated with many incidents 
 in the history of the empire but it possesses an inglorious notoriety' as 
 the place to which Cataline and his co-conspirators retired on the 
 discovery of their nefarious projects b}' Cicero. As a frontier town it 
 was exposed to the incursions of the Northern Barbarians in their 
 invasion of the plains of the south and seeking richer spoil in the sack 
 of the Imperial City itself 
 
 Its greatest eminence was reached as the centre and birth-place of 
 the revival of art and literature known as The Renaissance, which here 
 attained its point of culmination about the middle of the fifteenth 
 century, under the fostering auspices of the Medeci family who as 
 princel}' merchants fostered them, and by the favour of the people, 
 won by their liberalit}', were made Dukes. 
 
 Fiesole, with all its claim to honour for its antiqiiity, has none 
 so enduring or nobler than the fame it has derived from our own 
 great poet jNIilton, when he uses the view from this point over the 
 Val d' Arno, with its wide spread bosom thickly studded with villas 
 and villini, and its undulating hills covered with vinej^ards, olive- 
 yards, and orchards of every kind of fruit, and stretching out to 
 Vallambrosa ' ' thick strewn with fallen leaves, ' ' as the t3'pe of the 
 svirvey made by Lucifer of his discomfited host. The view is indeed a 
 grand one, and worthy of being thus immortalized by the blind bard 
 on whose memory- it left its impression ere j-et the visual orb was 
 quenched by ' ' drop serene. ' ' 
 
 The drive was full of delight, over a well made road rising by 
 successive gradations to a height of more than looo feet above the 
 level of the Arno. 
 
 The entire valle}-, mile after mile stretching away in the distance, 
 looks like an immense city with large gardens, more densely peopled 
 about the great centre, marked by the Duomo around which the 
 population is most thickly clustered, but still thickly set with suburban 
 residences over the entire area ; the Arno shewing even at its lowest 
 stage, like a silver thread amid the clustering trees which shade the 
 
 276
 
 houses, and the whole enclosed in a glorious frame of loftier mountains 
 shutting it in on every side. As we descended from our lesser height 
 the sun went down behind the western range, leaving a golden space 
 beneath clustering masses of heavy dark clouds, while the softer light 
 of the moon cast its silver sheen over all below just as it did when 
 Galileo, through his newh^ applied telescope, first descried its moun- 
 tain ranges from the height before us ; on which yet stands his tower 
 of obsen-ation, in an apartment in which are exhibited the very instru- 
 ments consecrated to science by his use. 
 
 A special room is dedicated to their preservation, in which there is 
 also a life-sized marble statue of the Philosopher, while the walls are 
 adorned by good fresco paintings representing incidents of his life. 
 In one compartment he stands in youth watching the vibration of the 
 lamp which suggested to him the uniformity of the swing of the 
 pendulum. In another he is surrounded by a group of students to 
 whom he is demonstrating the time occupied in the falling of a solid 
 body from a height, while older philosophers stand looking on with 
 scornful expression. In still another he is represented in the blind- 
 ness of old age demonstrating his astronomical problems to his 
 friends. These are all fine paintings, and full of interest to us. In 
 the vestibule is a fresco representing Leonardo da Vinci to whom are 
 attributed discoveries in light and colour antedating those of Sir Isaac 
 Newton, and observations on other points of natural philosophy 
 which sustain the claim made for him as a forerunner of Galileo. 
 
 I did not give my sanction to the sacrilegious act of the admirer ot 
 the great astronomer who stole a finger from the body of Galileo at the 
 time when his remains were removed from the obscure corner in 
 unconsecrated ground, to which they had been consigned b}' supersti- 
 tion at the time of his death, to a consecrated burial place, even so 
 much as to look at the relic, which is displa5'ed here beside the instru- 
 ments it had so triumphantly employed. I found much more congenial 
 gratification in examining the paper tube with its simple lenses, 
 brought from Holland by the Venetian ambassador, and fitted together 
 by the philosopher's own hand, of which, living, that finger had been 
 an essential part, through which he made those explorations in the 
 boundless regions of space, and which have furnished data which have 
 been stepping stones over which science has advanced in its onward 
 progress into infinite space, till she is almost lost in the sublime con- 
 templation of the incomprehensible grandeur of " the heavens, the 
 work of God's hands " ; and the story becomes overwhelming. 
 
 Little children amusing themselves with the glasses of their 
 father's spectacles, by an unintentional (is it rational to say accidental ?) 
 combination of their power opened the gates through which all 
 this grand spectacle has been displayed, and from which such floods of 
 wisdom have been poured on man ; making manifest the glor}' of the 
 Creator and monarch and ruler of all. 
 
 277
 
 As there can be no conceivable boundary to space, so neither can 
 there be any perceptible limit to the advance of human knowledge. 
 Each successive generation has the advantage over that which pre- 
 ceded it, in the more elevated standpoint to which that has advanced 
 it, from which to make further progress ; so that though the power of 
 each individual mind is finite, the progress is unlimited. 
 
 26th. 
 
 Yesterday was a day ot wasted energy ; wasted by the excess of 
 indulgence in going from flower to flower. 
 
 Entering in the morning, by the Ufiizi Palace into the Uffizi gal- 
 leries, we went on, and on ,and on again, from one hall to another and 
 from saloon to saloon and from room to room, each filled to repletion with 
 paintings and drawings and designs and studies by the great masters 
 of the art, and statues and mosaics and gems and tapestry, literally by 
 the mile, covering the walls of the long passage-way by which the 
 Uffizi and Pitti palaces are connected. 
 
 What mortal power can store away in proper order for use the 
 vast accumulation of products of art during the centuries from every 
 land in which it has been cultivated b}'^ the proficients in so many 
 schools as are here represented ; or draw the wheat from the chaff, or 
 the true jewels from the spurious imitations ? Amid the great number 
 there are two pictures of which the images are strongly impressed on 
 my memory. One is by Gerard dell' Notte illustrating the assertion 
 of our Lord "lam the light of the world." The spectators gather 
 around the infant Saviour in the arms of the Virgin Mother, their 
 faces beaming with holy joy as the}^ gaze upon Him, each bathed in 
 the pure light which emanates from His body and irradiates the 
 outer gloom. 
 
 The other is a Madonna b}^ Corregio, which is deserving of a 
 place beside those of Murillo and Carlo Dolce which we saw a few days 
 since. Separate rooms, each opening out of one long corridor, are 
 devoted to the several schools of art, so that the student may here 
 compare the various st5des of drawing and colour and composition of 
 different ages and stages of art development in each. This requires 
 more time and thought than we have to devote to the subject, attrac- 
 tive as it is. 
 
 There is one gallerj^ containing only the original sketches and 
 rough drafts of many of the greatest painters, out of which their 
 grandpieces were gradually developed, atid the more elaborate and 
 finished Cartoons or drawings on paper, from which they them- 
 selves worked on canvas, with oil, or which were entrusted to their 
 pupils from which to work. Some of these studies are very interesting. 
 
 We have not yet seen the collections in the Vatican, and I may 
 therefore be allowed to express my gratification at the sight of some 
 ancient marble busts of emperors and statesmen collected here, as 
 
 278
 
 well as the mj'thological figures which call up in my mind the dim 
 shadows of forgotten studies of boyhood. 
 
 There are also contained in the Ufifizi collection, many modern 
 pictures. One of these just now rises before me. It is a German 
 painting, a portrait, with a cap of wool and a cape of fur so exquis- 
 itely represented by the brush that one is tempted to blow up the deli- 
 cate fur, or pluck a lock of the wool. The skin of the face is so accur- 
 atel}^ rendered that it really looks as though it were the living tissue 
 really stretched over a marble bust of perfect execution, retaining all 
 the freshness and bloom and softness and elasticity of life, while the 
 white of the eye retains its perfect purity, and the cornea seems reall}^ 
 to glisten in the light. 
 
 The picture has all the delicac}' of finish of the finest miniature 
 painting. I think the name of the artist is Miers and that he is cele- 
 brated for this perfection of finish. We saw portraits of an old Burgher 
 and his wife by the same artist in the gallerj^ at Dresden in which the 
 dry wrinkled skin of old age was represented with repulsive accuracy. 
 
 I think ]Mr. T. A. Biddle has fair copies of those. 
 
 In one of the rooms of the Pitti museum stands in a corner, a glass 
 cover as though designed to protect some object of interest, but under 
 which I could discover nothing, and supposed the object it had been de- 
 signed to protect had been removed, while half the shade was covered 
 by what I supposed to be the dusting cloth of a careless servant left hang- 
 ing on it. I looked again and again and could make nothing else of 
 it and passing a second and third time was each time attracted to look, 
 and wondered that that veil should be left there so carelessly. 
 
 I find on enquiry that it is the web of a spider woven as closely as 
 a cloth, about the size of a common table napkin and having the tex- 
 ture of a lady's veil. 
 
 27th, p. M. 
 This morning has not been wasted. We have visited the Tomb of 
 the Medicis, a structure planned and commenced by Michael Angelo. 
 The building was designed purposely to receive the tombs, and these 
 were designed to occupy it so that the whole is harmonious. The 
 tombs themselves were completed by the great sculptor and are very 
 celebrated, and have been described and engraved and photographed 
 until everj'one is familiar with the figure of Lorenzo, seated and 
 absorbed in thought, and more especially with the allegorical sculp- 
 tures of Night, and IMorning, and Dawn and Twilight ; each repre- 
 sented by colossal figures in marble, the work of the chisel of the 
 great sculptor, as well as the design of his genius. An unfinished 
 work of his has given the impression that he did not model his idea in 
 clay but cut it directly from the block, as though the object already 
 existed in the marble and he only liberated it from its imprisonment 
 by the strokes of his chisel stripping off" the enveloping laj'ers. The 
 
 279
 
 Poet Rogers, in his Ital3'-, draws largely on his imagination in his 
 description of these figures. 
 
 We also went into the chapel of the Medici. It is a wonder of 
 mosaic-work. It is a dome, the walls covered with precious marbles, 
 pannelled, and inlaid with vases and the armorial bearings of Tuscan 
 cities, and the Medici. 
 
 This chapel was intended to receive the Holy Sepulchre, which was 
 to be transported hither, and in the A'ear 1604 an expedition was sent to 
 the Holy Land to bring that which, in the superstitious faith of the da3^ 
 was considered the most sacred treasure on earth and deposit it 
 within these walls. 
 
 Returning without the coveted spoil, the then reigning Duke 
 appropriated the building as a tomb for the Medici family. 
 
 It is octagonal, surmounted by a dome and the walls are covered 
 with the most precious marbles arranged in panel-work enclosing the 
 most exquisite representations of fruits and flowers in mosaic of 
 precious stones. 
 
 One can not imagine from whence could have been procured such 
 an infinite variety' of shades of colour as are necessar}' to form the 
 various groups which are united with such perfect adjustment that no 
 junction is perceptible, and the shades of the colours of the flow^ers 
 and fruits melt imperceptably into each other as in the finest paintings 
 in oil or water colours. They have the highest polish, such as only 
 the hardest stones are susceptible of 
 
 In the cushion on which rests the ducal crown there are set emer- 
 alds and topazes, and rubies of the largest size and greatest purity. 
 I asked whether it could be possible the}- are genuine, and was assured 
 they are. 
 
 We have seen such vast treasures of precious stones since we came 
 into Ital}' that one would almost feel justified in believing the legend 
 of the valley of jewels told in the Arabian Nights and that its fabulous 
 riches had found a way into the treasuries of the Church. They are 
 very beautiful but we can live without them, and also without many 
 other things equally beyond our reach. 
 
 Your ever loving father, 
 
 Caspar ]\Iorris. 
 Note. — To this point the text has foUoived the letters as partially p7'e- 
 pared for publication by 02ir father. Froin this point the text follows the 
 original manuscript letters. — (Eds.) 
 
 Florence, October 27, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 We yesterdaj' afternoon called on Mrs. Kennard after which we 
 drove around the Park, ' ' Casino ' ' they call it here. It was a cold 
 October day with a strong keen wind blowing ; and the lofty trees, 
 with a thick set undergrowth, which fill a large part of the ground 
 (which must have an area of at least 1000 acres) made a scene very 
 
 280
 
 natural in appearance. It lies along the Arno, and the drive of some 
 five miles is in perfect order. We enjoyed it much, and were refreshed 
 by it. Your Aunt Jane sa3-s it is worth all the pictures and churches 
 in Florence. It certainly is a most attractive place of resort. 
 
 This is OUT first rainy day. Last evening's programme for to-day 
 was a trip to Pisa and return. We have not 3'et met so I do not know 
 how the weather will influence the plan for to-day. 
 
 We are not making any purchases of jewelry or pictures. Your 
 Mother does not see any Mosaics she admires except some magnificient 
 tables v.'hich are offered at the moderate cost of $20,000 to $50,000 
 each. One at $20,000 is ordered for some Philadelphian. These are 
 great sums to be paid for merely ornamental work, but they are 
 onh' proportioned to the labour bestowed on them. Think of 22 men, 
 each with a famil}^ dependent on him for maintenance, occupied 25 
 years on a single table, and now the $20,000 will divide among them, 
 leaving no siirplns bej-ond a reasonable compensation for the art 
 M'hich designs, and the capital which is employed. The natural 
 h&zvity of the shells and flowers and birds is rivalled by the colour and 
 softness and delicacy of shade of the stones ; and the accuracy of the 
 adaptation of each is a wonderful effort of skill. The common 
 Mosaic, such as we see at home, gives no more -idea of the perfection 
 of these tables, than do the coarsest pictures in gaudy colors, sold by 
 itinerant venders, of the works of great oNIasters. The shells look as 
 though 3-ou could take them up ; and the flowers lack odor only. 
 There was in one a pair of doves, which had a delicacy of shade and 
 color, and softness of plumage, and perfect life-like position which 
 I can never forget. And on another a wreath of white roses which 
 a bride might covet. 
 
 As I sit now waiting for some of the party to appear it occurs to 
 me that I did not mention the mode in which beads are made in Venice. 
 The glass is taken from the melting pot in a soft condition, like 
 dough, and rolled on an iron plate till the mass has assumed a 
 cylindrical shape, about six inches in diameter and a foot long. This 
 mass is turned rapidh' round by the tube to which it is attached, in 
 one hand (the mass still being kept on the plate), while with the other 
 a tool is inserted into the opposite end. The turning of the mass with 
 this tool in it, converts it into a /;^//i;k' C3'linder. All this is done with 
 great rapidity, so that it shall not harden at all until another operative 
 seizes the open end, and the tv.'o v.-alk rapidly in opposite directions, 
 and the molten mass is drawn out into a long thread, the inner and 
 outer portions of the hollow c\-linder drawing exactly equall}'. They 
 stop so soon as the two masses at either end cool so much that the glass 
 does not run off" sufiicientl}' fast ; break the connection, and return the 
 portion adhering to their tools into the melting pot. Those we saw 
 made were black ; and the long wires la^- on the floor, side by side, 
 just like so many iron wires, and the workmen v.^alked beside them as 
 
 281
 
 carelessly as thoiigli they had been so. A dexterous tap on each 
 breaks them into proper length to be tied up in bundles about a 
 yard long, which are placed in boxes and carried away. The next 
 process consists in cutting these tubes into proper lengths to form the 
 beads. This is done by a man taking into his left hand a bundle of 
 these tubes, and laying them on a block which stands before him as 
 he sits, having fixed on it an iron knife with a guard behind it which 
 allows the tubes to be thrust across the knife blade only a certain 
 distance, which is regulated by a screw so that it can be suited to beads 
 of any size. The operative holds in his right hand a small knife, just 
 like that used in our kitchens for mincing meat, with which, by a 
 quick dexterous blow, he cuts off the little portion intended for the 
 bead. The rapidity with which this is done is astonishing ; and it 
 must be quick and light, as a hard, or heavy blow would break them 
 tip into irregular fragments. These little pieces of glass tubes are then 
 shovelled into vessels containing fine sand, and shaken until all the 
 little holes are filled with the sand. After this they are placed with 
 sand in an iron cA'linder and exposed to heat sufficiently great to 
 soften the glass, while the C3-linder is kept in rotation. The sand 
 prevents the little pieces of tubes from collapsing, while the edges, 
 being softened, are rounded by being rolled about among the sand as 
 pills are. 
 
 The twisted tubes we saw made also. A white glass strip already 
 made is enveloped in a mass of molten glass and two men take hold ot 
 opposite sides of the mass and draw it out while they continually turn 
 it around as though twisting it ; other colors are introduced in the same 
 wa3' as the white are. These tubes are then laid side by side in the 
 order selected and of the same length, on a tile and placed in the fur- 
 nace till they are softened by the heat when they are welded into a 
 mass and blown into any shape required. 
 
 We saw them make variegated bottles and cups and salvers, and 
 would have bought some but for the difficulty of carriage ; though 
 they are only trumpery things after all, as well as the other Venetian 
 rlass. 
 
 When we came in from our morning visits we were both 
 disappointed and pleased by finding Ledgers of the 7th & 9th of 
 October, but jw letters. We fear something has befallen our letters. 
 The}- are the first papers we have received. Our visits this morning 
 were wholly uninteresting with one marked exception. This was the 
 museum of Etruscan and Egj'ptian remains. With both we are 
 familiar from prints and lithographs and discriptions, yet these do not 
 make the impression on the mind of the realit}'. Some few j-ears since 
 at Orvieto and Chiusi formerly Clusium and other places in Tuscan}-, 
 man\' tombs were opened which contained Cinerary Urns and other 
 
 282
 
 objects ot great interest. Among these was one tomb sixpposed to be 
 that of Porsenna. If an}^ of the younger members of the family wish 
 to know who he was they can read INIacauley's " L,ays of Ancient 
 Rome. ' ' 
 
 As I have mentioned in some of my hasty notes by the way, we 
 have no records of Etrurians except scattered notices in the most 
 ancient history ot Rome dating far back in the mj'thical periods. But 
 to-da)'- I have entered through stone gates moving on stone hinges, 
 into one of these Etruscan tombs, and seen the walls covered with — 
 depicted on the walls — pictures representing the preparation of the 
 funeral feast, from the slaughter of the oxen and hares and fowls, to 
 the cooking them. The cook stands as far away from the fire as he 
 can, holding a pan by a long handle, stooping forward and shielding 
 his face from the fire with his left hand, while his right grasps the 
 handle of his pan. On a ledge roimd the wall are arranged cinerary 
 urns ornamented with bas-relief figures, and on the lids repose 
 figures supposed to represent the person whose remains lie within. In 
 the halls of the Egyptian IMuseum are many saloons filled with these 
 Etruscan remains. Hvmdreds of chests for bones, dishes, vases and 
 urns, many of them of exquisitely fine models. There are vessels 
 having several compartments united by one handle, like our caster 
 stands, only each compartment large enough to hold a pint, at least, 
 and other vessels somewhat like tea tra5rs, having in them a number 
 of cups and plates of various sizes. 
 
 The jewelry is very beautiful and of various kinds. One pair of 
 earrings is oi finely wrought gold representing bird's-nests, with the 
 bird sitting on them. There are beads of glass as well as of precious 
 stones, and pins of gold of graceful shape and size. Hatchets, ham- 
 mers, shears, needles and other implements for domestic service, are 
 numerous ; as well as tripods and lamps of many patterns. Some of 
 the bas-reliefs on the marble sarcophagi are very good, and of subjects 
 connected with classic study in its mythical periods. One I noticed 
 had the carrying away of Helen by Paris ; another the death of 
 Troilus ; another Ulysses giving wine to Polyphemus ; another a 
 chase of a wild boar. The jewelry and household and warlike imple- 
 ments, have all been taken out of urns and sarcophagi and tombs 
 such as I have mentioned. The sarcophagi varj^ from those of the 
 size of the human figure to small square chests with lids and are 
 either of terra cotta or of marble. They prove the existence in Italy 
 of a highly intelligent race before the time at which Rome was 
 founded, and we are now moving about in towns which occixpy the 
 same sites as those of that ancient people, and these remains afibrd 
 proof that in some of the arts of life they were our equals at least, 
 and in others our superiors. 
 
 In the same museum with these are collected Egj'ptian relics of a 
 period even older. Mummies and ]\Iummy cases, highly ornamented 
 
 283
 
 with hierog-l3'phic painting's ; statues of the Gods ; and pictures from 
 the M'-alls of their tombs, retaining- their color and distinctness as 
 though of recent date. But perhaps the most curious relic in that 
 department is a perfect Chariot, made entirely of wood, with the yoke 
 of the horses and all the parts perfect, and in it a bow, surely that of 
 the warrior who rode in it. It is entirely of wood and ivory, and has 
 evidently been covered with an enamel of some kind, parts of which 
 are still resting- on the hubs and tongue. It is supposed to be 
 Scythian and to have been a trophy buried in the tomb of him by 
 whom it was taken at the time of the Sc^-thian invasion of Egypt. 
 It is very light and yet looks as though it were strong. I procured a 
 photograph of it. 
 
 2Sth, Evening. 
 
 We have just returned from a trip to Pisa. It lay along the banks 
 of the Arno or at least the bed of that river. It is wide and stony, and 
 in the rainy season is filled with a rushing stream, though now the 
 water forms but a trifling brook. The wide pebbly bed supplies many 
 of the coloured stones which are used in the IVIosaic work of Florence. 
 We saw children seeking them as we passed the wide spread beds of 
 stones. They are brought down by the torrents from the Apennines. 
 These mountains are to-day covered xvitli stioiv. These long ranges of 
 snow clad mountains running parallel with the river at distances 
 varying from one to twenty miles have made it very cold. We require 
 all our winter wrappings and many persons are clad in fur-trimmed 
 coats. It is a ver}^ unusual spell of cold for the season and the 
 contrast between the green wheat fields and meadows, and fig and 
 mulberr}' trees, and the white mountains so near, is very great. 
 
 A day's observation impresses me with the truth of the description 
 of Tuscany as fertile. This wide plain is very rich and verj' highly 
 cultivated. It is perfectly level and the fields are all thrown into ridges 
 even for wheat. This ma}' be worth imitating on our level fields at 
 Ivy Neck. 
 
 The banks of the Arno are lined by plantations of Poplar trees which 
 reminds me of the use made of them by one of the poets (Horace ?) 
 who compares the gracefulness of j'outh to that of the ' ' Populus ; ' ' 
 they are tall and straight. There are great beds of reeds some ten feet 
 in height — undoubtedly they are the same as those called ' ' Canorous ' ' 
 which were used in making Pandean pipes and which Horace calls 
 "te7i?ia" when speaking of his earliest strains. Oh if I could only 
 call up the rich associations of those classic bards. To think of being 
 in the land of Lars Porsenna and know so little about him, and 
 travelling through scenes on which Virgil and Horace stood, and not 
 able to quote them. 
 
 At Pisa there is a large enclosure called Canpo Santo, the soil in 
 whiph had added to it thirty-three shiploads of earth from Mount 
 
 284
 
 Calvary, in the time of the CrusadevS, in order to make it specially 
 sacred and with the superstitious idea that the souls of those whose 
 bodies were buried in it would avoid the pains of purgator}-. It is 
 surrounded by cloisters which are filled with Sarcophagi and other 
 Etruscan and Roman remains ; altars and bath tubs of very large sizes, 
 man}' of them with interesting bas-relief figures. Manj^ persons are 
 attracted by the horrid fresco paintings of judgment and purgatory 
 on the walls of the cloister, the rude conceptions of a superstitious 
 age. They may have produced alarming impressions in days of ignor- 
 ance, but now provoke contempt and excite infidelity. There is a 
 long series of pictures representing incidents in human history begin- 
 ing with the creation and running down to the crucifixion. But I am 
 wearied with the perpeti;al repetition of these scenes. 
 
 Pisa was once a sea port. The Mediterrarean is now ten miles 
 distant. It was once one of the Italian Republics, the rival of Genoa, 
 Florence, and Venice ; and the Universit}' was only inferior to those ot 
 Salerno and Bologna. It boasted among its many distinguished pro- 
 fessors, Galileo ; and it was the observation of the vibrations of the 
 great lamp which hangs in the nave of its splendid Cathedral, that 
 started his mind on the train of thought which terminated in the dis- 
 covery of the principle of gravitation and the laws which govern the 
 falling of solid bodies. His experiments on this subject were con- 
 ducted from the top of the leaning tower of Pisa, which is more impos- 
 ing than I had expected to find it. 
 
 Built of marble with a height of 179 feet, a diameter of 53 feet, 
 and 13 feet out of the perpendicular. It was begun in the twelfth 
 Century, and the foundation sank before it had reached half its present 
 height. It consists of eight stories of arches and the architect sought 
 to remedy the defect, caused by the sinking of the foundation at one 
 side, by making a difference in the height of the columns of the arches 
 of the two sides as it goes up. At the upper part it has certainly 
 returned toward the perpendicular. 
 
 That the peculiarity is owing to the settling of the foundation is 
 confirmed by the similar settlinar of the great Cathedral which stands 
 besides the tower. It is a very stately and elegant pile of marble ; 
 with a long and lofty nave ; the ceiling verj' richly and elegantly 
 adorned with gilded compartments, and the walls adorned by fine 
 paintings on the usual subjects of saints and martyrs. It is a rich and 
 imposing sight. Adjoining these buildings stands the Baptistery, a 
 very elegant structure of circular form, surmounted by a dome. The 
 gates to it are ornamented by very fine bronze castings. There are 
 some ver}^ fine bas-reliefs on the four sides of the pulpit. The slightest 
 sound is reverberated by the dome in a way only equalled by the echo 
 at Milan. A musical note sounded beneath the centre is prolonged and 
 repeated, seeming to be taken up by an invisible choir and carried on 
 till it fades gradually away in indefinite distance. IMr. Longstreth and 
 
 28^
 
 little ]Mary tried it repeatedly very much to the gratification of the 
 older members of the party. The distinction between Mr. Long- 
 streth's notes and Holly's childish treble was maintained by the rever- 
 beration some moments after they had ceased to utter them. 
 
 On our return to the station we stopped at the door of an imposing 
 looking palace now occupied only by one servant who exhibits a grand 
 picture bj^ one of the great painters. I cannot retain their names even, 
 much less the subject. We could not arouse him by all our determined 
 rapping at the door over which was a motto in Italian which signifies 
 " One day's labor." The story is that the palace was built by one of 
 the old Pisanese with his share of the spoils of one day's attack on a 
 Genose merchant fleet. Such were the shoddy means of getting rich 
 in those " good old times." 
 
 Here there is a similar palace belonging to the descendants of a 
 man who had agreed with his associates in business to start in the 
 morning for an important fair and buy up all the wool on speculation. 
 After they separated he determined to secure the whole profit for him- 
 self and started ofi" at once travelling all night, and thus arrived before 
 the others and forstalled them. He was not ashamed to perpetuate the 
 memory of his dishonesty by building with the proceeds a palace on 
 which he inscribes " Per non dor mire.'''' Thus 3'^ou see the " love of 
 money" in every age "drowns men in destruction and perdition." 
 May God deliver us from stich " foolish and hurtful lusts " and make 
 us content with the moderate returns of honest labour, fixing our 
 affections on things which are above ' ' where Christ sitteth on the 
 right hand of God, ' ' having gone to prepare a place for us where it is 
 better to have been Lazarus in rags than rich and full in the present 
 life. These frescos which I condemn were constantly before the eyes 
 of these very people, but did not hinder them from shameful deeds. 
 We have Moses and the prophets speaking in God's word, not in rude 
 pictures. Our responsibility is greater than theirs. 
 
 Sunday, 29th. 
 Sister Hannah has taken cold and is in bed to-day, I hope it may 
 be onl}- a temporary attack, but it is very cold. jNIrs. Kennard sat with 
 us last evening and sa3-s she never knew snow to fall so early on the 
 mountains. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar ]\Iorris. 
 
 Florence, October 30, 1S71. 
 My Dear Oiildren : 
 
 We have spent another day in this place very pleasantly to our- 
 selves though we regret that the sickness of your aunt Hannah will 
 detain us to-morrow also. She was confined to the bed 3-esterdaj' and 
 to-day but will we hope be able to travel on Wednesday. 
 
 286
 
 This morning your mother and I turned out to look at iNlosaics 
 and the result was the purchase of a table top, which I have directed 
 to be shipped to "Israel W. IMorris," direct to Philadelphia. Is. will 
 please attend to it and pay the cost of transportation and send it to 
 Mrs. Cope from your mother and myself, with our dear love. I 
 would send it nno-pened that Mrs. C. may enjoy the pleasure of the 
 first sight. 
 
 After having gratified ourselves b}^ the purchase, your mother 
 went with your aunts Jane and Mary to procure some necessary 
 clothes, while I went with the Rev. Mr. Connelly to the studio of his 
 son, where I spent much of the morning with great delight. He is 
 at present working on the model of a very fine figure designed to 
 represent Ophelia as she presents Heartsease. It is a lovely concep- 
 tion. The figure is fine and beautifully and gracefully draped ; the 
 attitvide so expressive that if the head were lost the very bodj- and 
 hands are instinct with thought and expressive of feeling. The face 
 is one of pure beauty. One covets the power to say "cut it in marble 
 forme." There is another companion figure already finished repre- 
 senting the Lady Anne, of Tennyson, when informed she is not Lady 
 Anne, but the child of her nurse. It is a beautiful conception. Still 
 another is the figure of Desdemona, equallj- true to the spirit of 
 Shakespeare in that character. 
 
 Mr. Connelly's horses are living creatures, not impossible quadru- 
 peds in unattainable attitudes. They are modelled from a favorite 
 animal of his own, so thoroughly broken that he will follow his 
 master into his studio and follow him like a dog. There is one fine 
 piece nearly completed in marble for ]\Ir. Abbot Lawrence : St. Martin 
 dividing his cloak with a beggar. The Saint is a youthful cavalier 
 well seated on his horse. The beggar rising from a reciambent posi- 
 tion bj' the wayside has hold on the flowing cloak which St. Ivlartin 
 cuts with his sword. 
 
 There are two fine groups modelled and cast in plaster, ready to be 
 cut in marble when ordered, which have special charms to the con- 
 sideration of Americans. The one consists of three figures ; War, 
 represented' by a vigorous male figure, lies prostrate with broken 
 sword and fettered limbs before the genius of Peace, represented by a 
 lovely 3'outhful female figure which is receiving the embrace of a 
 colossal female figiire, representing the genius of America, with a 
 laurel crown and an olive branch, which she had just received from 
 Peace. 
 
 The other I will allow Mr. C. to describe in his own language by 
 enclosing one of his printed papers. I w411 only add that the figures 
 are so perfect that each one of them might be detached from its fellow 
 and it would l)e complete in itself. The horse on which Death rides is 
 admirable and the figure representing Courage is equal to any of the 
 remains of Grecian Art I have yet seen. 
 
 2S7
 
 In speaking thus strongly I speak also deliberately having before 
 seeing this said that sculpture had never, since the revival of art, pro- 
 duced an3-thing approaching the remains of Antiquit}^ I could wish 
 our government would order the completion of this work for the 
 National Capital. Our own park should possess some work by this 
 son of Philadelphia and I hope for once it will be found that an artist 
 has honor among his own kindred and friends. Some of them have 
 given him orders for busts and I recognized among the casts, those ot 
 fellow citizens and ladies with whose faces I have long been familiar 
 and some of the works I have mentioned are being wrought for Chicago 
 and St. Louis. 
 
 There are two busts which struck me as triumphs of art. I have 
 often said that it w^as impossible to paint a smile or the hues of sunset, 
 or the rainbow, so as to be agreeable, and have justified the criticism 
 by the remark that their attraction was enhanced by their ceaseless 
 change in nature, and that when fixed by art they became stale and 
 unattractive. Mr. Connelly has given to two female faces the living 
 changing expression of a passing smile in a way I could not have con- 
 ceived possible. He should be commissioned to execute the statue ot 
 Mr. Merrick whether in stone or bronze. It could not fail to give 
 satisfaction. I suppose INIrs. Lawrence's St. IMartin, and a statue ot 
 the daughter of ]\Irs. Bloomfield Moore, now in process of execution 
 after the model of that of the Duchess of Northumberland (I said in 
 my former letter Devonshire by mistake) will both find their way to 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 I spent the entire morning with IMr. C. and his father, greatly to 
 my gratification ; after which I went to the museum where I was 
 interested by some antique bronzes and ivory carvings and superb 
 INIajolica ware, the painting on which was after designs by Raphael, 
 and engraved glass of the Sixteenth Century, and long saloons filled 
 with ancient armour and arms. Among these latter were eight bar- 
 relled revolvers, and machines which would fire twelve shots at one 
 time, both many centuries old. It is probably the most perfect his- 
 torical illustration of arms and shields and other means of protection 
 to be found anywhere. One cannot imagine how it could be possible 
 to breathe or move encased in such massive plates of steel, complete 
 from head to toe. These pedal coverings were some square toed and 
 others elongated and drawn out to a point, the scales working freely 
 over each other like those of a lobster's tail. 
 
 In one of the rooms, among other ancient sculptures, was one 
 which will interest Cheston & Murray more than anj^ others of 5'ou, 
 being a representation of the monstrosity which was exhibited in 
 Philadelphia just before I left (and which I see has since died), so per- 
 fect in all the detail of heads, trimks and members, that one can hardly 
 believe tivo such beings could have lived. In the calculation of chances 
 it would be said to be next to impossible to have so perfect a reproduc- 
 
 288
 
 tion of an abnormal living being. Yet there it was so, ancient that no 
 date could be assigned to it, built into a wall some centuries old. 
 
 After dinner your uncle Wistar 3'our mother and I drove round 
 the "Casino" with quite as much enjoj'ment as we had found on 
 Friday. The mountains in the distance still have their covering of 
 snow, but the wind does not blow over them and the temperature is 
 more genial than it has been, though still requiring all our wrappings ; 
 and the resident English and Americans have fires. In one of my 
 visits to Mr. Connellj^ he asked my opinion of Mississisquoit water as 
 a cure for cancer and said a friend of his had gone from here to 
 America to use it. I of course denounced it as an imposture. Ke then 
 asked me to recommend some medical adviser in New York and I sug- 
 gested Dr. Markoe. Yesterday I met another friend of the gentle- 
 man's who told me he had consulted Flint and by him been referred to 
 Van Buren, both whom I endorsed thoroughly and warml5\ To my 
 surprise this afternoon a lad}- called and introduced herself as the 
 daughter of this gentleman to thank me for the relief I had afforded 
 her and presented me a work of her mother's ; "The Hon. Lady Duff 
 Gordon's Travels on the Nile," a book your aunts have been earnestly 
 seeking for and which they find very interesting. So you see pleasant 
 friends and pleasing things follows us in our travel. 
 
 Israel will find I have drawn on him here for ^10 sterling. 
 
 With much love. 
 
 Your affectionate father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Florence, October 31, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Your mother is busy packing trunks, and you knov/ she does not 
 admit any intrusion into her domain on such occasions, so I betake 
 myself to you. I would gladly relieve her entirely but there can be no 
 division, and she is not ready to abdicate. We trust that we have 
 spent our last day in Florence, not because it has not much unex- 
 plored ground which would yield pleasant fruits, but because we have 
 no time to loiter on our way to Brindisi where we must be on the 5th of 
 December, and nothing but sickness will arrest our course. Your Aunt 
 Hannah M^as too ill to permit our leaving this morning, as we had 
 arranged to do, and we gave up the expectation yesterday, very happily 
 for us, as your mother was quite sick during the night and could not 
 have left this morning. She has improved during the da}"-, and as the 
 weather is again pleasant, joined us this afternoon in a nice drive to 
 the ' ' Chartreuse, ' ' a monastr}" beautifully placed on one of the hills 
 over-looking Florence and the vale of the Arno. 
 
 It is a strongly fortified building, dating back as far as the 15th 
 Centuiy, designed for the reception of fifty Carmelite Friars. We 
 
 289
 
 passed through paved court yards with arched passages opening from 
 them, resoiinding to the tread of the horses and the roll of the carriage 
 wheels, and were conducted into chapels, and sacristies and refectories 
 and anterooms, and waiting halls, every inch of the walls of which 
 are covered with really fine paintings by good artists ; some fresco, 
 some on panel, and some on canvas, each representing some conflict 
 between a Monk and the Arch Fiend ; some miracle performed by a 
 saint or bishop ; or the martyrdom of some saint. They are all sug- 
 gestive and impressive pictures. 
 
 One pleased me exceedingl)' ! a friar in his white robe and hood, 
 with a most devout and lovely countenance, was seated at his meal 
 and is interrupted by a vision of our Lord, as an infant. A Latin 
 verse beneath records that ' ' while he ate with thankful heart his soul 
 was refreshed by the heavenly vision." 
 
 Everything was clean and pleasant. The three rooms of each 
 father, afforded ample accommodation, and the garden attached to that 
 we visited was very pretty. An orange tree in flower gave sweetness 
 and beaut}', and many thriving plants stood full-flowered in the 
 borders. In the wall was a niche with a seat, commanding a grand 
 view of the mountains. 
 
 I said to the father who, with his entire form shrouded in white 
 cloth waited on us, "■ Est Hortus jucundas — Est ilia tibi f " to which he 
 replied, '' non est mihV ; emboldened by this effort I pointed to the 
 pictures and said "■Opera magna: sunt ilia dilcctissima fratribusf to 
 which he replied with a vacant look, "?i07i intelligo," and turned to 
 Friezier and remarked in Italian that but few persons now studj' Latin. 
 He had asked for a card before he would allow us to enter. I gave one 
 having on it my name "Med. Doct." ; he took it from his pocket and 
 read it over, ' ' Philadelphy ; Medicinal Doctor ' ' shook his head, and 
 put it in his pocket. I followed up my advantage by quoting David's 
 Psalm as I looked at the sunlight on the mountains '■'■ Levabo oculos 
 vieos nwntibus,'^ and looking at him, '' Beatus q7ii confidet i?i Domino: 
 quando dorniiet reqtiiescat in pace Christus beatits da tibi pacevi in die 
 ultima.'" He turned very pleasantly toward me and stuck closely to 
 j'our mother and myself as he led us around. He was stupid looking, 
 it is true, but he has a soul : and I do pit}' the poor deluded ones seek- 
 ing for peace where it is not to be found. He took us into the refectory. 
 Over one door was inscribed, " Obediejitiatti,''' and over the other " Sil- 
 eJitiamy I suppose the one detailed to receive strangers has a license 
 to speak. 
 
 To-morrow is All-Saints' Day — a festival — and the tables in the 
 refectory were spread with neat white cloths and napkins — some placed 
 two or three grouped together ; at others each plate at a distance from 
 others. The china was clean. A plate to receive a wine bottle ; 
 another for a water goblet ; a plate for bread ; and a cup for coffee, was 
 placed for each one, with a cruet of oil and one of vinegar. We met 
 
 290
 
 several other friars as we went about the various apartments, who all 
 passed us in silence. It is a wondrous store-house of beauty. Every 
 inch of wall and ceiling and window elaborately adorned. There were 
 also some very fine marble effigies ; full length figures of cardinals, 
 bishops, and friars ; the work of celebrated sculptors. 
 
 The buildings are amply large for the accommodation of fifty 
 Monks and the revenues were abundant for their support. But the 
 Governmant has appropriated the revenues and give annuities to the 
 thirteen who remain, forbidding any additions. They get a new suit 
 of clothes once in five years only. They raise their own vegetables, and 
 have a large vineyard yielding a good supply of wine. 
 
 "We met many carts loaded with wine on our way to the Monastery. 
 It is evidently the season at which it is being sent into the towns from 
 the country. The carts are two-wheeled vehicle of great length ; and 
 so nearly balanced on the axle that no weight rests on the horse. The 
 shafts are short, not reaching beyond the saddle which rests on the 
 horse's back, the shafts projecting high above the back and attached 
 to a hornlike prominence rising from the saddle. The draft is by a 
 band across the breast of the horse and in a line from below that of the 
 shafts. The band under the belly of the horse is oftener tight than 
 that attached to the saddle above, so as sometimes almost to lift the 
 horse from his feet. They carry immense loads. 
 
 The roads are so smooth and well-graded that this is more easily 
 done there than with us. What would we think at home of twelve 
 persons getting into one carriage and having our twelve trunks piled 
 on the top of it, weighing looo pounds, and looking out, finding our- 
 selves drawn at a smart trot by one little horse. That was the way in 
 which we were brought from the R. R. Station to the Hotel. 
 
 Our driving about has been in two carriages with two horses each 
 which have been at our service at any hour, or all day, ever since our 
 arrival. There is still much here that we have not attempted to visit 
 and many things we have seen we would gladly visit again. 
 
 This morning, your mother and Aunt Mary and Aunt Hannah 
 being all more or less indisposed, your uncle Wistar and I went to a 
 photographers and spent a long time in selecting pictures of this place 
 and Pisa. I cannot bring myself to buy any of the feeble copies Of 
 great pictures which are sold at small prices, preferring photographs 
 of buildings and statues and places. After getting through that I 
 turned out to shop for 3'our mother ; buying thread, buttons, ribbons 
 and scarf and over-shoes, etc. Mongrel French, Italian and English 
 with much pantomime enabled me to get through very nicely much to 
 my own amusement and your mother's satisfaction. The people are 
 civil and their stores good, and what one cannot supply himself he 
 gladly aids you to get elsewhere. 
 
 But we have crossed the Rubicon and march on to Rome. Thirteen 
 hours of R. R. without stoppage is our task for to-morrow commencing 
 
 291
 
 with breakfast at 7 A. M. and ending with supper at 9 p. m. in the 
 ' ' Eternal City, ' ' from which I hope to transmit this sheet to you and 
 where we fondly hope to be greeted by a good package from you. 
 Other people here have letters to the 14th ; our last were the 3d. 
 P. S. Nov. 2d, Rome. — We have not yet left our rooms and before 
 entering on Rome I may just mention the pleasure of 3'esterday in 
 passing through the numerous towns which, standing on the sites of 
 those of Etruria, have undoubtedly much the same aspect as they 
 presented in the days of Solomon or even earlier. No change in style 
 of architecture is probable. The walls indicate the shape of the cities 
 and neither during Roman daj-s nor in those of the subsequent ages 
 is it likely any modification was made. The habits too are much the 
 same. We saw men trapping birds. An owl is tied down surrounded 
 by a quantity of bird lime, he sits nodding and the little birds collect 
 around him and their feet are entangled in nets and held fast in the 
 viscid slime. The Italians eat all the little thrushes and other 
 songsters. 
 
 Rome, November i, 1S71, S p. m. 
 Hotel des lies Britanniques near Piazzo del Popolo. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Did you ever realize the possibilitj' that you should receive from 
 your mother and mj-self a letter dated thus ? The Eternal City. The 
 mother of nations. The INIistress of the World. What other title ot 
 dignity and honor has been bestowed on her ? By superstitious 
 millions now regarded as the great centre of divine authority. 
 
 I shall not venture before I see it to utter any expression of judg- 
 ment about the present city, but I do venerate her past history, though 
 robber}^ and oppression maj' be laid to her charge in every age, from 
 the time when the one twin brother slew the other for pla3^fully leap- 
 ing over the wall being erected for the defence of their common 
 property. Like all other human enterprizes it was marked by corrup- 
 tion from its inception, but who can estimate the value of the good 
 which has emanated hence in those ages in which the light of Egypt 
 and of Greece was received and reflected on the dark nations of the 
 North and West, by her Poets Philosophers jurists and historians. 
 And then from her prisons issued those grand expositions of the 
 Gospel which St. Paul sent back to Ephesus, and Thessolonica, and 
 Phillipi ; which have been the Charter of Hope, and message of 
 Redemption to the wide, wide world. 
 
 We have but just arrived. I have got rid of the dust of travel 
 rather more promptly than the others, and thus occupy my time till 
 they convene for supper. I was tempted to date from the ' ' Seat of 
 the Throne of Darkness. ' ' As we drove to the hotel I was greatl3' 
 
 292
 
 astonished at the wide streets, well paved, over which we were 
 brought, as well as the distance between the R. R. Depot and this 
 hotel. 
 
 It is raining- ; and the light shed by the few lamps only renders 
 visible the surrounding want of it. I can just see that our windows 
 open on a plaza, in which an obelisk rises before them ; and find 
 the room clean and comfortable looking. Your Aunt Hannah has borne 
 the fatigue of the day better than we could have hoped. Your mother 
 is wearied but has enjoyed the ride. The Apennines, snow crowned, 
 have skirted the way except when we thrust ourselves through them. 
 I had no conception of their grandeur. Those old Poets and Essay- 
 ists knew what mountains were, and the Rail Road runs through 
 them as I thought none did but the Pacific. Except when we thus 
 passed through the Apennines from the valley of the Arno to the 
 source of the Tiber, a pass wild and grand beyond description, our 
 route lay along the bank of the Arno through a fertile valley varying 
 in width but everywhere well cultivated. Lime stone abounds and 
 lime kilns ; and much manure was being spread on the fields, which 
 are all planted with mulberry trees and grape vines. The trees are 
 kept cut down, and each one has a vine trained on it, while the inter- 
 vening space is devoted to wheat and grass- The wheat is all put in, 
 in ridges. 
 
 Soon after leaving Florence we passed the celebrated Monastery 
 of Vallombrosa, whose leafy shades were selected by Milton to illus- 
 trate the number of the fallen angels lying thick strewn in the regions 
 of the lost. It is a very extensive and imposing building, standing like 
 the Chartreuse we had visited yesterda}^ and Fiesole, on a loft}- emi- 
 nence overlooking a wide stretch of fertile vale. The valley widens 
 and contracts alternately, but is everywhere beautiful. Olive trees 
 clothe the hill sides and vines and mulberry cover the plains ; the 
 houses are comfortable, and here and there lordly mansions of modern 
 appearance indicate wealthy proprietors, while the hill tops are 
 crowned with mediaeval structures and walled towns. Many of these 
 recall by their names their Etrurian origin and Roman celebrit}^, and 
 many Etruscan walls and gates and tombs remain to remind us that 
 generation after generation has been fed from the soil, from times so far 
 back in the dim distance that the torch of historj- only lights them 
 sufficiently to shew them as dimly shadowed, with no well defined out- 
 lines, filling up the obscure termination of the vista of time, into 
 which we vainly stretch our imagination, far beyond the limit of 
 vision. 
 
 We passed the Lake of Trasimeno which still spreads its motion- 
 less bosom to the sun as it did in those days when on its shore Hannibal 
 and the Roman Consul each earned a deathless name ; the one by his 
 courage in advancing into the heart of the country of so mighty a 
 people ; and the other hy the firmness with which he resisted, in 
 
 293
 
 hopeless fortitude, the well planned attack of his wily foe, and only by 
 his death assured the victory to the invader. From my boyhood I was 
 a Roman as against Carthage, however much I may have sided with 
 other peoples against Roman aggression. I could see the manly forms 
 of Roman legions, this morning, vainly facing the Carthaginian 
 hordes as they rushed down from the hills and pressed their slowly 
 yielding masses into the marshy margins of the sluggish lake ; and 
 the air was filled for me with the shouts of victory over the silent 
 masses of vainly resisting men, dying "-Pro patna pro ara, pro 
 focis. ' ' Both are gone and the soil yields its fruits to other generations 
 of other races. How manj^ sad scenes have been enacted on this 
 highway of the people ! 
 
 Our road followed the " Flaminian Way" along which Goths, 
 Huns, and Barbarians, time after time pressed on to the spoil of 
 Roman fields, aud sought the sport of Rome itself; not always as 
 vainly as their Carthaginian leader. It is folly to talk of " Exhausting 
 the soil." These fields now 3-ield as ample a return to the toil of the 
 husbandman as they are known to have done centuries before the 
 foundation of Rome was laid. Ceres and Bacchus and Pomona once 
 received the first fruits and libations which are now paid to the Virgin 
 and Saints ; all equally robbing the God of nature of the tribute which 
 is His due. It shall not ever be so. The earth shall yield its fruit to 
 the glory of Him by whom it was created, has been redeemed, and is 
 upheld. It has not diminished in fruitfulness while thus misapplied. 
 Shall it not be more fruitful when He comes whose right it is to reign ? 
 
 We passed Etruscan tombs and Roman arches ; one very grand 
 one, part of a viaduct of the Flaminian Way over a raging torrent, 
 still standing in majestic greatness. Sabine Hills welcomed us to the 
 neighbourhood of the little farm of Horace, the birth place of Numa 
 Pompilius, of Tacitus, and of Maecenas — '^ Sorade-Staiusque hodie,'" 
 though not " Alta Nive Coronata " as when Horace sang of it — and 
 ultimately Flavins Tibur — " Uxorius Aimtis,'' justified that title, con- 
 ferred by Horace, still by kissing his banks as he meanders through 
 the plain which gradually widens into the Campagna, spreading with- 
 out an habitation, but animated by flocks of sheep, herds of milk- 
 white steers, and horses, and asses pasturing around its unhealthy 
 meadows. 
 
 Many of the mountain sides are clothed with wild olive, oak, and 
 maple ; some of the oaks, deep green like live oak, or I believe are ever 
 green. I was astonished at th.^. bright .yt^r/^'/ of the maple, like our own. 
 Some of the oaks are majestic and near Trasimeno the olive trees were 
 mere shells of trunks with green heads, looking as though it were 
 quite possible they were contemporar}- with the fearful day which has 
 rendered that name so familiar to our ears. 
 
 But I must come down to the present reality. The chamber-maid 
 has brought blankets for our beds, and it is time to lay my head on the 
 
 -94
 
 pillow, and seek for sleep. That the God who has ruled and governed, 
 though unacknowledged as Lord through all these ages, keep you in 
 His redeeming love, praj^s 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Rome, November 2, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Twenty-four hours in Rome! Little did I suppose it possible that 
 I could have passed that length of time within sight of the Forum, the 
 Colosseum, the arch of Titus, the Mamertine prison, and not yet have 
 seen them. Certainly we are not our own masters and cannot order 
 our own goings. St. Peter's we have seen the exterior of It exceeds 
 in majestic proportion n\y most exaggerated conception. The Colon- 
 nade, the facade, the dome, the fountains, are one and all in detail and 
 in combination worthy of all the commendation they have received ; 
 and must be seen to be conceived of I had begun to doubt the justice 
 of the claim of Michael Angelo to the lofty place assigned to him. 
 Now I must be greatly disappointed in the effect of the interior if any- 
 thing can displace him. The obelisk, with its hieroglyphics, which 
 rises before our window, that in front of St. Peter's, and one or two 
 others we have passed in driving, seem too much like the spoil of 
 conquest the property of other nations and another land. They would 
 please me more amid the desolation of the desert ; or, if they must 
 have modern surroundings, transported still further to our own land. 
 Here I crave Roman and Etruscan remains. 
 
 Thus far we have seen nothing but gaj' shops, brilliantly lighted 
 this evening on the Corso, crowded with men and men only. Streets 
 of modern houses and numberless churches with no special claim to 
 consideration ; a gallery of pictures, some few of which are certainly 
 of incomparable beauty, and the Quirinal Palace, recently fitted out 
 with great taste and at enormous expense to suit it for the central resi- 
 dence of the King of Italy ! How indignant I have felt, as I have 
 read Gibbon at the effeminate, luxurious, unworthy, successors of the 
 Roman Emperors, who brought down to that limited scale the grand 
 comprehensiveness of the Empire of the world from the river Euphrates 
 to the pillars of Hercules, the source of the Nile and the Isles of the 
 Sea. Now the kingdom of Italy is bounded by narrower limits than 
 even the empire of the West, and the poor creature who boasts the 
 empty title shrinks with stiperstitious cowardice before the old man 
 who looks across the space between the Quirinal Palace and his so 
 called ' ' prison in the Vatican " on a neighbouring height — that space 
 filled with men who clamor for the King to take possession of his 
 Palace — and hesitates to jdeld to the popular will. It is a grand palace 
 furnished in a style commensurate with its extent. The walls of a 
 
 295
 
 hundred rooms are all hung with rich brocades ; each differing in 
 pattern and color ; curtains of each to correspond ; and chairs, and 
 lounges, and divans, and carpets, and bedsteads, and furniture, in 
 perfect correspondence ; and all new, and all heated by warm air flues; 
 giving home-like comfort to the whole. We have visited no palace to 
 compare with this either in size or magnificence. Some royal tapes- 
 tries and frescos, which belong to the Pope, adorn the walls, most 
 attractive home-like pictures. But one in the chapel surpasses all the 
 others combined. It is an annunciation by Guido. The figure of the 
 angel is very fine. The wings are Angelic, and the countenance and 
 attitude of the Virgin are wondrously expressive of those emotions we 
 all attribute to her who is " blessed among Women." There are also 
 fine pictures of our Lord washing the disciples' feet, which would shame 
 (one would think) the pett}'' imitations of this wondrous act of humility, 
 annually repeated by the Pope. The garden of the Ouirinal is very 
 extensive, but contains no flowers at present. 
 
 It is bounded and divided bj^ massive square walls of box and 
 laurel, cut with arches and niches, and enclosing labyrinths of trees 
 and shrubs, and manj^ fountains. Rome is still as it was of old well 
 supplied with water ; not introduced into houses, but bursting out in 
 fountains at every turn. Those in front of St. Peter's are truly grand, 
 * ' living fountains, ' ' throwing up masses of spray descending in 
 graceful curves. As we have been driven from place to place we 
 repeatedly exclaim at the odd conceits of the figures which pour or 
 spout or discharge water into basins at various points. One near us 
 is the figure of a recumbent man, resting on a vase which pours out 
 its contents. No feature of the countenance remains, time and 
 weather having rounded every point ; and he lies, confessedly the 
 " oldest Roman of them all." 
 
 A rainy morning rendered it expedient to confine our visits to 
 indoor objects ; and we started for the Borghese Palace, designing to 
 spend the hours before dinner among the pictures there. It is closed 
 for repair, so that we were obliged to drive awa}'^ to that of the 
 Corsini, which occupied the time. We were obliged to hurry from 
 room to room, not able to sta}' long enough before an3^ one picture to 
 transfer its beauties with indelible distinctness to our own minds. 
 But among them a Holy Family by Battoni, a small picture, arrested 
 our attention and drew back our steps again and again. The perfect 
 execution is not its only merit. The composition is very fine. The 
 infant Saviour is the light, not only of the lower world represented by 
 Mary and Joseph, but of the world of unfallen spirits ; some of whom 
 hover over, their faces radiant with the light shining from the 
 beauteous form of the babe of Bethlehem, while their look is that 
 which expresses "which things the angels desire to look into." It 
 can not be copied. There is also a Madonna by Murillo which is ver}' 
 rich and sweet, as also one by Carlo Dolce. Each has its peculiar 
 
 2g6
 
 merit but I cannot expreSvS tliem. There was one picture which 
 arrested the attention of all of us from its close resemblance to your 
 Aunt Caroline. In the catalogue it is given as the portrait of the wife 
 of Luther by Hans Holbein, but in the hand book probably more 
 correctly as that of Holbein's wife. Titian, Rubens, Albert Durer, 
 Rembrandt, Vandyck and Teniers ; all contribute to the treasures of 
 this gallery. One picture by Teniers is very fine in his way. It is 
 the interior of a dutch farm house. Husband and wife in their several 
 duties are surrounded by oxen and sheep, perfectly represented. 
 
 The afternoon was one of disappointment also ; and yet had its 
 own pleasure. We drove to the Villa Albani, which is outside the 
 walls and contains a large collection of antique sculpture. When we 
 stopped at the gate it was opened by a boy of about fourteen with his 
 little brother and sister, but he prohibited our entering. Friezier 
 talked fluently to him in Italian, both gesticulting strongly. We 
 could not of course understand the words though the actions of each 
 were highly intelligible. He placed himself before us and evidently 
 said ' ' not one step. ' ' Friezier stormed and went forward. The boy 
 sprang after him and caught him in his arms, and with a most 
 imploring countenance begged him to desist. Friezier handed toward 
 him a franc, which he repelled with indignation. Friezier talked 
 again ; and then left us while he went somewhere in the neighborhood 
 to seek authorit}^ for us to enter. The boy was greatly relieved. We 
 indicated. to him b}^ our countenances our approbation of his course, 
 and your mother took some cakes from those many capacious pockets 
 at which we all laugh but by which we all profit, and gave them to 
 the children, and when Friezier returned and told us the Queen of 
 Holland was within and no one could intrude, we got into our 
 carriages but not before I had given the brave lad a douceur, assuring 
 him that I thought he had ' ' bene fatti. ' ' He saw us off with 
 unfeigned pleasure and we substituted the Quirinal for the Albani. 
 
 On our way we passed the breach in the city wall through which 
 the Italian army entered Rome in September, 1870. It is already 
 rebuilt where it was thrown down. INIany marks of shells are still 
 seen on the adjoining wall. The name of the street has been changed 
 to " Via Vingt Settembre " in commemoration of the triumph. 
 
 Rome, November 3, 187 1. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Letters from home ! received just as we were stepping into our 
 carriage to drive across the Tiber to the Villa Pamphili-Doria on the 
 ' ' Mons Janiculus ' ' ; and that from West River, read just in time to 
 fold it and put it in my pocket, and turn to look across the intervening 
 valley to the ruins of the Colosseum, and the arches of the Temple of 
 Peace. Can any such coincidence of events ever again mark our lives ? 
 
 297
 
 What thankfulness should fill our hearts for the mercies which have 
 abounded to us and to you. Ours is great that we have been blessed 
 with children so loving and true to each other and to us, and no prayer 
 for earthly blessing is more earnest and sincere than that we may be 
 preserved and reunited to comfort each other to the end. Each letter 
 as it is read warms up our hearts toward each in turn, while the 
 steady flame of love burns equally to all. Gladly would I write to 
 each child and grandchild individually, but I find all the time at my 
 command is consumed b}^ my general letter. Tyson and Cornelia and 
 Robert (I have acknowledged Effy's) have each an especial claim on me, 
 which I thankfully acknowledge, and most reluctantly beg them to 
 take a share of the general stock and venhire again. 
 
 We feel deeply for Mr. IMcMurtrie ; Mr. Thos. Montgomery ; the 
 Hodges and all out friends who are so sadly suffering. The Philadel- 
 phia letters in the London Times had informed us of all the sad events 
 to which you refer. We are glad to have such an occupant of our 
 house as Mr. Parrish. Before the six months expire, if our lives are 
 spared we shall be able to form some idea of our own probable time for 
 return. With such calamities as those which have marked the few 
 months since we left home, who will venture to saj' what shall be done 
 so long time before-hand ? Israel will remember that I have some 
 policies in the Enterprize, both Perpetual and Annual. The news 
 which will meet Mr. Montgomery' on his arrival at St. Croix will be 
 very depressing to both himself and Emily. But the terrible destruc- 
 tion of life and property and consequent distress at Chicago and in the 
 West leaves all other afflictions in the distance. Israel will please 
 remember my previous request to give to the fund for relief of both 
 classes. 
 
 Several of 3'ou refer to messages of friends. You ma}^ one and all 
 respond to all such, in expressions of reciprocal affection from your 
 mother and m5-self as though each v.'ere named but I will select Mrs. 
 Biickley, Mrs. Ellis and our cousins in Spruce above Eighth. 
 
 This morning I spent sometime in the dentist's hands, and then 
 all, except 3'our aunt Hannah who was not able to go with us, went to 
 the Pamphili-Doria Palace to see the pictures ; much against the will 
 of one of the party who came here to see the Rome of his boyhood's 
 veneration, and could have postponed other people's pictures till he 
 had given reality to the pictures of his own imaginations. Still even 
 that grudging, reluctant, assent, could not totally destroy the delight 
 derived from some grand Roman Sarcophagi with perfectly preserved 
 bas-reliefs of the boar chase of INIeleager (does Cheston remember that 
 wild boar ?) the visit of Diana to one of the other gods, with Apollo whip- 
 ping his steeds around the corner; and above all the perfectly preserved 
 Centaur in red and black marble, which stands in the centre of one of 
 the halls ; a gem of ancient art. It was dug up on these very grounds 
 and is as clean and perfect as if new. Effingham and ;Caspar would 
 
 298
 
 have laughed at the greal woollj^ ram with Ulyses clinging beneath his 
 body, escaping thus from the cave of Polyphemus ; and a recumbent 
 figure of an old man with Crocodiles lying besides him, in black 
 basalt, represents the Nile as idealized by some sculptor of the age of 
 Hadrian, the Roman Emperor who heard the song of the statue of 
 Memnon. These had so far reconciled me to my disappointment, that 
 I could find pleasure in some very good pictures. One by Quentyn 
 Matsys " the Antioch Blacksmith," representing some misers cheating 
 each other, is very strongly expressive of the power of that ' ' basest of 
 all spirits which fell from heaven' ' ; who when he once gets possession of 
 the human soul holds it most tenaciouslj^ in his control. Cheston will 
 remember a picture, admiration of which I have heard him express — 
 the " Adoration of the infant Saviour b}^ the Virgin," from the pencil 
 of Guido. It is a very fine picture. In the same room is a portrait 
 by Leonardo da Vinci. There are a few so decidedly superior to all 
 other masters of Art, that one singles out their productions sojsoon as 
 the eye falls upon them. I find I am never deceived. Not that I can 
 always say who has painted a picture, but I can, out of thousands, say 
 at once this is the one. There is one by Delli Notte representing a girl 
 catching a fiea by the light of a candle, which is very wondrously true, 
 and caught the attention of all the ladies of the party as expressive rj-' 
 their own experience. The peculiarit}'^ of this artist is the introduction 
 of the light from a candle held so as to illuminate the face and leave 
 other parts in shade. The pictures in this gallery which are most 
 pleasing are lanscapes by Claude Lorraine. One called Moulino or 
 the Mill — from there being one in it — is very bemitiful; and so is a 
 smaller one, the figures in which represent Mercury driving off the 
 Cattle of Apollo. 
 
 From there we went to a very different spectacle. The burial 
 place of the Capuchin Convent ; certainly the most disgusting sight we 
 have yet witnessed, and siich as I shall never repeat. In a crj^pt under 
 the church they have placed earth brought from Jerusalem in which 
 each brother of the order is buried as he dies ; the last dying being 
 placed in the spot which the remains of the one who had lain the 
 longest had occupied. Those bones are then placed, clad in Motik's 
 garments, in niches prepared for them in walls of skjills and bones of 
 those who had still earlier shaken off the mortal coil. These sad relics 
 of mortality and trophies of superstition have accumulated tier over 
 tier, and room after room, till one sickens in thinking of the heap. 
 
 In the church above is one of the greatest pictures of the world ; 
 Guido's Archangel Michael triumphing over the arch fiend who is 
 represented in a colossal Jmman form, prostrate beneath the foot of the 
 angel. The artist is said to have gratified his feeling of dislike to one 
 of the Cardinals by giving the prostrate fiend the features of the man 
 he disliked. The angel, like that of John of Bologna which I described 
 at Munich in bronze, stands in the majesty of power with a face and 
 
 299
 
 attitude expressive of a simple discharge of duty ; with 7io feeling oi 
 triumph and without effort; contrasting the sublimity of calm virtue 
 with the disappointment and mortification of impotent rage, displayed 
 by the fiend. It is a grand and powerfully impressive picture. 
 
 Our drive this afternoon to the Villa Pamphili-Doria, on Mons 
 Janiculus was very delightful ; the day was clear and fine, the distant 
 mountains glowed in the rich color of the autumn sun, the boundless 
 plain of the Campagna stretched away toward the T^-rrhenian Sea, the 
 ruins of Rome lay at our feet, around us were beautiful grounds, and 
 beneath us St. Peter's rose majestically. As we drove slowly beneath 
 the overarching boughs of avenues of evergreen oak, or through clumps 
 of Italian pines, or glades and lawns with sparkling fountains and odor- 
 ous shrubs, I could not but fancy Maecenas, Horace, and Virgil, or 
 Cicero, or Seneca, and some of their congenial cotemporaries, taking 
 such an evening drive ; and my heart rejoiced that they had such 
 enjoyment, and a colossal figure in the attitude of addressing a crowd 
 — while one foot rising, represents him as inviting them to accompany 
 him in some arduous enterprise — a statue cotemporaneous with the 
 days of Augustus, may have stood here to stimulate their ambition. 
 We passed on our wsy an enormous shaft of polished variegated 
 marble twenty feet long and six feet in diameter, which has recently 
 been found on the banks of the Tiber, which after lying so many years 
 in the mud is now to be erected in these gardens. 
 
 Rome, Novembers, 187 1. 
 My Dear Cornelia and Mary : 
 
 On our return from church this morning we were gratified b)'^ 
 receiving ^-our dear IVIother's letter and those from yourselves, each ot 
 which gave us great pleasure, and added to the feeling of thankfulness 
 we already overflowed with to our loving Heavenly Father, for the 
 great blessing we had enjoyed, in being permitted to unite in worship 
 with His children ; and for the blessed instruction we had received 
 from the clerg3anan's sermon on the text "Ye are complete in Him" ; 
 shewing us how those who are ' ' in Christ, ' ' made members of his 
 Spiritual body by the power of the Holy Ghost, are wholly safe ; and 
 calling on all who had not yet ' ' put on Christ " to do so, as the offer 
 was free to all ivho will come. But I do not design to repeat his dis- 
 course, but will only take the opportunity, while acknowledging your 
 sweet letters, so precious to us now so far away, to invite you both to 
 come to Him who has said He ' ' is the life of the world. " If he is the 
 life, then all are dead who are not in Him. May He quicken you by 
 His Spirit, and may we rejoice together as those who "love Him 
 because He first loved us." 
 
 I was called away to dinner before I had concluded the last page, 
 and have just returned from the afternoon service, in which another 
 
 300
 
 minister made quite as strong an appeal to our hearts from the text 
 "I am the bread of life." You cannot form any idea of the comfort 
 and blessing it is to us to be thus fed by the bread which supports our 
 souls while we are travelling in hopes of renewing the vigor of our 
 bodies. 
 
 Your account of your pleasure in gathering chestnuts was very 
 interesting ; chestnuts form a large item of the food of the Italians. 
 On the mountain sides are great orchards of the trees. The nuts are 
 much larger than those in America and are roasted in pans by the road 
 side and in the streets, and sold to the laborers and lower classes 
 of people as they pass along. IVe buy them more or less every day. 
 They are very nice tasted, and nourishing. We often have them on 
 table for dessert and sometimes, as we had to-day, they are served with 
 meat. To-day it was roast turkey. The nuts had been boiled or 
 roasted and were stripped of the hull and the skin within that, and 
 then boiled in the gravy, I think and laid in the gravy and among 
 the pieces of the bird, which was carved at the side table. 
 
 Our windows open on a public square near a gate through the 
 wall of the town, which opens on the fashionable drive. It is thronged 
 every afternoon, but especially i/ii's afternoon, with pleasure seekers 
 in carriages and on foot. In the centre rises an obelisk brought from 
 Egypt covered with hierogl3-phics, rising from the midst of the basin 
 of a fountain. The water is poured into the basin from the mouths of 
 four great lions. There are two other grand fountains in the same 
 square ; and, rising on one side above it, are the beautiful grounds in 
 which are the drives. In these grounds are numerous fountains. 
 Indeed no city in the world has so ample a supply of pure water 
 brought from the mountains, a distance of fifteen miles, by subterra- 
 nean channels. In the great days of old Rome there were aqueducts, 
 laid on arches, bringing it I believe not less than twenty miles. 
 
 We have not j^et seen the grandest ruins of ancient Rome, they 
 are not in walking distance, but have seen some. Two great masses 
 of white marble each weighing loo tons, beautifully car^^ed and 
 ornamented, now lie on the ground though once they formed a part of 
 the tipper portion of the temple of the Sun, being raised at least 
 50 feet from the ground. It must have been a grand and imposing 
 building as these great stones formed a verj^ small part of the front, 
 and the proportions of their buildings were perfect. These are all now 
 left of it above ground. But the hillsides are full of such relics. 
 
 Thanking you for your letters and assuring you we do not forget 
 you. 
 
 Your loving Grandfather, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Postscript by A. C. M. 
 
 We have just received two Newspapers up to the 20th ; heartily 
 welcomed they are. 
 
 301
 
 My Dear Girls : 
 
 T/io' I do not write to you, you are not forgotten. Let us continue to 
 have good accounts fro7n and of you. We love to get yo7ir letters. Love 
 to Sally and Carrie. If you have not Mark Twain ask Uncle Is. to send 
 it to you. ' Tis a better description tha7i we can write, and true. 
 
 Rome, November 5, 187 1. 
 My Dear Brother : {Galloway Cheston — Ed.) 
 
 Your most welcome letter of the 20th ult. greeted us on our return 
 from church this morning. It was doubly welcome from our fears 
 having been great that a letter from you had probably miscarried with 
 a parcel of eight Brown, Shipley & Co. report to have been mailed for 
 us, which we have not received. With many calls for thanksgiving, 
 I do not know of any I more gladly respond to than that which comes 
 from your report of dear Margaret and j'ourself and Mar}' Ellen. We had 
 been comforted by the report made of 5'ou in a letter from Mrs. Valen- 
 tine to her nieces. Please thank her and give her my love and Anne's, 
 but there is no gratification greater than a letter Irom yourself 
 
 The general news of fires and frauds and defalcations, which 
 reaches us again and again in the public papers contrasts strongly with 
 the comfortable accounts of our own children and friends and we trust 
 that He who has thus far watched for good over us and you, may 
 keep us all to the end and bring us once more together in His love 
 and fear ; keeping us in the fellowship of the Spirit even while sepa- 
 rated in body. 
 
 The sermons we have heard to-day would have delighted both 
 Margaret and yourself as they edified Anne and myself and met the 
 hearty approval of all our part}'. We have not yet found the place for 
 rest and shall not before we reach the Nile. Rome is a peculiarly hard 
 place. There is much from which Anne and I turn with a strong feel- 
 ing of loathing — more than disapprobation — which is so mingled 
 with what we wish to see that we cannot take the one without the 
 other. We never know when we start out to what object we are to be 
 taken. Sometimes find we cannot obtain access to what we started for 
 and are obliged to substitute another. This compels us to go Vv^ith the 
 party and they are led by the courier. 
 
 You will hardly believe that we have been three daj-s in Rome 
 and have neither been in the Forum, the Colosseum or St Peter's. 
 We have seen them all in the distance in our afternoon drives, which 
 are most refreshing to us after mornings spent in churches and picture 
 and statue galleries. These drives are very interesting. Those old 
 Romans, with whom you and I formed some acquaintance through 
 their writings, were as happy as men could be who knew nothing of 
 
 302
 
 the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have quite revelled in delight- 
 ful imagination of the pleasure with which Horace drove or walked 
 over these same hills, and gazed on these beautiful mountains and 
 wish he had been able to see something more than the ' ' Pater, ' ' whose 
 right hand cast down towers and flooded fields, as he drove with 
 Maecenas or Postumus and lamented that the lapse of years was 
 destroying his power of enjoyment of wine bowls crowned with 
 flowers, and kindred sensual delights. 
 
 The Etruscan cities and tombs through which our road has brought 
 us have interested me greatly. The mystery which shrouds their 
 origin has never been satisfactorily solved, though the beauty of their 
 remains proves them to have been highly cultivated in pre-historic 
 times ; and the valleys they cultivated, and from which they drew the 
 support of a numerous people, still yield a rich return to the labourer. 
 It is absurd to talk of wearing out the soil. Give it a fair return and 
 it will always yield fruits of increase. 
 
 Great preparation is making here for the opening of the Italian 
 Parliament in a few weeks. The Pope still holds /limself prisoner in the 
 Vatican. Many of the Cardinals have had apoplectic and paral5i:ic 
 attacks and some are childish, yet he is not allowed bj^ the Jesuits to 
 appoint any new member of the college as they now hold the control. 
 With love to Margaret. 
 
 Yours afft'ly, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Rome, November 6, 1871. 
 My Dear Brother a7td Sister : 
 
 I find it difficult to believe I am actually here, so far away from 
 you all, but so it is and I am contented too, which is more than I ex- 
 pected to be, and am really looking now with pleasure to the Nile trip, 
 which you know I had no fancy for when we left home, so you see 
 there is no telling what we may come to. Perhaps one reason that I 
 look with pleasure toward the Nile is that there we will have rest, 
 which we find almost impossible, travelling as we now are, for even if 
 a few days are spent in a city there is a rush from morn to night to see 
 all that we can, which is I find, more fatiguing than travelling. Here 
 of course there is very much to do, we expect to remain two weeks, 
 then go to Naples ; from there we are undecided whether to go to 
 Brindisi to cross the Mediterranean or go to Sicil}', but our expectation 
 is to sail on the 5th of December. Sister Hannah has been quite poorly 
 for a week ; with that exception we are all well and enjoying ourselves; 
 seeing much. Much to interest and much to disgust; nothing to make 
 one desire to live here. The Dr. writes very fully to the children. He 
 keeps no other journal but wishes them to take care of his letters. If 
 you and Margaret would like to see them, do so. We think much of 
 
 303
 
 you both and I now imagine you settled in Madison Avenue. We were 
 very glad to hear from you yesterday and that on the whole both Mar- 
 garet and Mary Ellen were doing as well as we can expect. I suppose 
 the country is looking beautiful now with you. Here the foliage is 
 changing but is not so rich as ours. We drive every afternoon and 
 the grounds of some of the Villas and Palaces are extremely beautiful. 
 Yesterday we took a long walk thro' an arbour of Lemon trees 
 loaded with fruit ; also an abundance of oranges. The fruits are ver)'- 
 fine, but I still think there is no place like home. 
 
 I was glad to hear James and Sally had been up to make you a 
 visit, as I think it is nice for you both. From what I hear of Sam 
 he has been very poorly tho' Mary tells me is better again. Mary and 
 the children keep us pretty well posted in West River intelligence as 
 she sends us a weekly letter. Not that I receive them as regularly. Once 
 we received three mails at a time. 
 
 We have all felt much concerned for the sufferers in Chicago and 
 those who suffer in consequence of the fires elsewhere ; and rejoice that 
 so liberal an effort has been made for their relief Cousin Emily is a 
 loser; she had invested in the Insurance Company that Mr. Montgomery 
 was Vice-President of. She sailed with Mr. Montgomery and family 
 for St. Croix only a few days before the fire. He was ordered there by 
 his physician and I fear his all was there also. He has seven children 
 and is undoubtedly in consumption himself. We have barely time to 
 mail this, so farewell with a great deal of love to you both. 
 
 Your truly attached sister, 
 
 Anne C. Morris. 
 
 Rome, Novembers, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Another twenty-four hours in this mj'sterious city ! Still the focus 
 of the power which rules so widely over the destines of nations ! 
 Stripped of political influence, yet wielding a sceptre before which mil- 
 lions bow ; and arrogating a control not only over the wealth and 
 power of mankind, but claiming the ability to determine their eternal 
 destiny. To sit under the very shadow of the Vatican, and reflect that 
 within its walls some fifty or sixty old men, some lying paral5-zed, some 
 imbecile through the decay of eighty to ninety years, several recently 
 struck down with apoplex}', all exhibiting the mortality which they 
 share with any other group of the same number in any asylum for old 
 men in any part of the world, and think of the fearful influence they 
 exercise — and their blasphemous assumption of power to elect from 
 among themselves one who shall be the Vicar of Christ — nay that one 
 among them claims now to hold the power over the consciences and 
 wills of man which belongs to that offlce — and that he can in virtue of 
 that power decree what is truth and must be believed ; what is good 
 
 30^
 
 and must be performed ; — relieve vice of its guilt ; — and exonerate 
 crime from its punishment ; to realize that this is now an actual living 
 power, not an historical reminiscence, does stir up my heart within 
 me. 
 
 I saw a crowd gathered in the Piazza del Popolo, when I first 
 opened vxy window, and tried long with myglass to dissect its shifting 
 mass, and read the moving influence by which it had been gathered. 
 It suddenly crossed my mind that it might be the preaching of the 
 truth as it is in Jesus by some one who was commissioned and sent 
 forth by the Power before whom all this mvist one day bow, and by 
 which alone it can be subdued. " That day " is coming — blessed is he 
 who surrenders himself to become the servant of that power, and who 
 shall share in its triumph. 
 
 While I dressed the crowd dispersed, and now I look only on the 
 people going in and out to their dailj- labour ; the hacks and the 
 omnibusses plying their daily tasks, and carts loaded with building 
 material and hay and grain, and nothing to mark the holiness of that 
 day which God has claimed to be set apart from secular concerns and 
 ' ' our own thoughts, ' ' and devoted especially to His service, and our 
 bodil}^ rest and spiritual edification. Light is here certainly called 
 darkness and darkness light, evil good, and good evil. Priests 
 arrogating to themselves the power of the keys, to shut or open the 
 way to Heaven, jostle the busy crowd, and elbow their way through 
 its masses, and take no heed of the violation of the Divine law even 
 if they know of its existence. Monks and friars of most forbidding 
 countenances, and filthy in their raiment, are going and coming like 
 bees (each with his bag) to rifle the flowers ; sweet pretty looking 
 bo3^s with countenances so attractive that they win my soul and warm 
 up my affections follow in groups, all clad in the long robes and 
 peculiar hats and buckled shoes which mark them as destined for the 
 priesthood. Some of them are of very tender age ; taken while 
 plastic and fashioned and formed hy cunning craft into the material for 
 the great edifice built up as the spurious counterfeit of that spiritual 
 house, the church of the living God composed of lively stones which 
 is being built in every place and among all nations. 
 
 Nov. 6th. 
 I had written thus far yesterday before being called to breakfast. 
 The day was spent delightfully in joining with the people of Christ in 
 worship and the Lord's Supper and listening to two most instructive 
 and edifying sermons from clerg3'men of the church of England in a 
 third story room near our Hotel, btit outside the Holy City, and over 
 stables. Another English Church ; the American Chapel ; and Scotch 
 Kirk, are all in opposite houses ; thrust out and despised. Imme- 
 diately beside them the road to the public drive turns up the hill 
 (thronged in the afternoon \ty splendid equipages) rising to the magni- 
 ficient public gardens on the Pincian Hill. 
 
 305
 
 Monday evening. 
 
 This morning we have seen Rome ; or rather the curtain rose, and 
 the first act of the Drama was presented to our view in its scenery 
 and arrangements ; but I do not feel that I am ready to have it fall. 
 There it still stands with all the actors ; and I must take days to 
 study out the detail before I am readj^ to dismiss the performers. It 
 is the only stage I have ever seen, and the crowding personages are 
 so majestic, that I have been compelled to seek rest from the excite- 
 ment. I have been wearied and dissatisfied that we have been so long 
 time in Rome without seeing an5'thing Roman. Its churches and 
 picture galleries, are only repetitions of those we find elsewhere and 
 until to-day we have seen little else. 
 
 This morning we were taken to the Museum of the Lateran in 
 which are grand relics of ancient Rome, and on our return suddenly we 
 found ourselves beneath the arches of the aqueduct of Claudia ; under 
 the wall of the Coliseum ; passing the palace of the Caesars ; the 
 Forum of Rome ; the Arch of Constantine ; and that of Titus ; and 
 that of Septimus Severus ; skirting the Forum of Trajan ; and the 
 ruins of the Temple of Peace. These are but unmeaning names 
 which do not convey any idea of places or structures ; nor can they 
 be made to do so. I was familiar with them all from photographs of 
 varied size, and perfect in their representation. But to have the 
 carriage drawn up suddenly, and stand facing them, was like receiving 
 the warm grasp of the hand and hearty utterance of welcome from one 
 of the great philosophers or philanthropists of whom one has read 
 and for whom the heart has prepared a place among its most sacred 
 shrines. It may be the sign of weak and unwise enthusiasm, but I 
 have not yet recovered from the overwhelming impression of awe. 
 
 The palace of the Caesars brings before me "them of Caesar's 
 household ' ' who welcomed St. Paul and were ' ' not ashamed of his 
 Chain." The arch of Titus, with its bas-reliefs of the conquered 
 Jews and the sacred implements of the temple borne in triumph along 
 that very "via sacra" on which we stand, brings before one the 
 sacred transactions of those courts in which Jesus talked with the 
 doctors of the law, reasoned with the scribes, healed the blind and 
 lame, ' ' daily taught the people ; ' ' and of which he predicted the very 
 overthrow which Titus accomplished. The Forum brings up the 
 image of Cato and Cicero, and Senators, and Emperors, and all the 
 triumphs and processions of victorious hosts on the one side, and the 
 anxious hurry of despair when Carthaginian or Gothic forces came 
 insultingly to the very walls of the city, and Senators placed them- 
 selves in their curule chairs waiting the inevitable doom. 
 
 I came to my room and quietly lay myself down to rest ; determined 
 that I would, alone, take time to enjoy the spectacle. The morning had 
 been passed amid the bas-reliefs and; statues which have been disin- 
 terred from the Forum and other places. Those old Romans were 
 
 306
 
 men indeed, if their statues are not ideal. Germanicus and Aggripina 
 are as noble looking in marble as their characters are grand on the 
 pages of histor3^ There is a procession of senators wrapped in their 
 Togas, every face attractive by its noble features and beaming with 
 high intelligence. They are of life size. There is a fine bas-relief, 
 said by some to be the feeding of the infant Bacchus, and by others the 
 education of Jupiter, which represents a noble infant drinking from a 
 horn presented by a life size female figure, while branches wave over- 
 head and fauns and satyrs revel in the background. 
 
 In another room are life sized marble figures of a cow and a deer 
 which want only the vital principle to make them move. They are 
 as life like as Rosa Bonheur or the Stag on the Mountain ; and 
 many busts, some of which are smiling and la^ighing as I never thought 
 marble could. You must remember that all these are antiques ; having 
 been dug out of the earth in which they have been entombed for cen- 
 turies. There are many Sarcophagi, covered with bas-reliefs repre- 
 senting the mythical acts of the Roman Gods ; and one, which 
 evidently was designed for a ' ' Baker, ' ' having sculptured on it the 
 various processes of ploughing, sowing, reaping, hauling to the barn, 
 grinding into flour, and baking the bread, and drawing it from the 
 oven. On another is sculptured the presentation of the meats of a 
 funeral feast ; composed of dishes of meats and vegetables like our 
 own. There is a viajesiic statue of Sophocles ; and many which 
 illustrate the depraved morals of the times, just as the brilliant pages 
 of classic authors are defiled by similar evidences of the truth that the 
 apostle declares in writing to the Christian church of this very Rome, 
 at that very time, that ' ' not liking to retain God in their knowledge 
 God gave them over to a reprobate mind " " because that when they 
 knew God they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful." 
 There is great reason that we should ' • take heed lest we also shall be 
 cut off" ; for " we are in no ^vise better than they,'' and the cultivation 
 of the same natural evil affections in ourselves, will lead to the like 
 results as it did in them. 
 
 Both your mother and myself are firmly convinced that there is 
 7nuch evil results from the indiscriminate admiration of works which 
 had an evil origin in corrupt affections, and getider like corrupt affec- 
 tions in those who cultivate a taste for them. Dancing Fawns, and 
 Satyrs, and Appollos, and Venuses, and Cupids, are not images to help 
 us ' ' to grow in grace ' ' and unless we do we decline in life, and incur 
 risk of death. There is less that is objectionable however in these 
 antiques than in their modern imitations which are now so frequently 
 produced to gratify a spurious and corrupt taste, which I am sorry to 
 find growing among our countrymen and women. Why should not 
 the new born love of the beautiful in art produce a new era ? I should 
 be glad to see such statues as those of the Caesars which we saw yes- 
 terday, adorning the park and squares and public halls of our own 
 
 307
 
 country ; but pray to be delivered from the flood of evil which I see 
 pouring into our picture and statue galleries, and the salons and 
 boudoirs of our countrywomen. 
 
 The custom of ornamenting sarcophagi with bas-relief was a 
 curious one, and has transmitted to us interesting records of habits, 
 as well as specimens of the condition of art at various periods. There 
 is in the Lateran Museum a bas-relief from a sepulchral monument, 
 disinterred in 1848, representing a temple in procCvSS of erection. 
 There is beside the building, an enormous drum wheel with figures of 
 men treading on the inside as horses, with us, tread on the outside 
 for the purpose of raising the stones. This would be an imperfect 
 arrangement and no one can suppose that such blocks as those I 
 mentioned as forming a part of the architrave of the temple of the 
 Sun, weighing 100 tons each, could have been thus elevated. That is 
 one of the secrets of time the tomb has not yet betrayed. 
 
 Among other life sized figures here, is one of the Diana of Ephe- 
 sus ; a female figure covered with emblems of fruitfulness ; and a 
 sarcophagus having on it Niobe and her children, more perfectly repre- 
 senting inconsolable grief than even the larger and more celebrated 
 grovip we saw at Florence. There was a bust, which is in good preser- 
 vation, of a medical man as is indicated by the serpent of an yEsculapius 
 on which it reposes ; and another of his wife — good homely whole- 
 some faces not to be ashamed of — I am sure they must have been 
 honorable people. There is also a very interesting life sized full length 
 figure of a " Captive German" frowning defiance still, as it stands 
 surrounded by the inanimate statues of the Conquering race. It is 
 not finished in all the detail, but the shaggy head of hair and stalwart 
 form are sufficiently' indicative of his barbarous race, though he is 
 wrapped in a toga. 
 
 It is very curious that in another hall of this very museum we 
 found a large series of life-sized, and very life-like, terra-cotta figures 
 executed at Dresden representing our own native Americans in their 
 native costumes and habits. Buffalo hunting, war parties, and medi- 
 cine men. Their features and forms are very fine and life-like just as 
 I have myself seen some of our North Western Chiefs thirty or forty 
 years ago. They are evidently copied from Catlin's book. 
 
 Among other most interesting and suggestive relics we found at 
 the Lateran are lead pipes of various sizes, some with a calibre of six 
 inches, and an inch or more thick. Thej' are lapped together and 
 welded, leaving a large projection like an overseam in sewing. But 
 the most interesting point is to see the name of the maker in large 
 clean well formed Roman characters still on these old tubes as those 
 of Henry G. Morris now are on the great iron mains being laid down 
 in Philadelphia. How closely did those old Romans touch the art of 
 printing without appljdng it. These pipes must have been made by 
 beating .or rolling out the lead into plates and then joining the edges 
 
 308
 
 and hammering them together, and these letters must have been first 
 cut in a die and the lead beaten or rolled over it. One step more and 
 the blacking the letters would have transferred them to vellum or 
 paper. 
 
 In another stor}^ of the I^ateran IMuseum are relics of early Chris- 
 tians ; Sarcophagi of the same size, style, and material, but the bass- 
 reliefs consisting of figures of the Saviour and Apostles and Prophets, 
 and recording incidents in sacred history from both the Old and New 
 Testaments. These are interesting as proving the affluence and 
 elevated social position of the Christians in the 3rd and 4th Centuries. 
 They are I believe all of a date posterior to that of Constantine, and 
 correspond in this respect with the traces of luxurious habits and 
 corrupt manners which crept into the church after it was adopted into 
 the state by that Emperor. There is a very fine sitting marble statue 
 of Hippolyttis, in perfect preservation except the head, which has an 
 inscription in Greek characters on the one side of the chair in which 
 he sits and a church calendar on the other side which prove it to have 
 been cotemporaneous with that saint who lived about 240 A. D. This 
 proves the use of the art of the sculptor before the days of Constan- 
 tine, in the service of Christianity ; and undoubtedly that it was 
 practised by Christian men. Who else would have executed a statue 
 of a Christian Bishop ? Several of the rooms are floored with old 
 Mosaic representations in life-sized figures of gladiators, and there are 
 very fine smaller portions of the floor of some dining-room, which 
 represent the fragments of feasts ; shell of fish ; portions of claws of 
 crabs and lobsters, and bits of vegetables and fruits as they may have 
 fallen from the tables. There are the bones of a fish with the tail and 
 head attached ; and the " merry thought " of a chicken. They are all 
 well executed and so shaded that they appear to stand up from the 
 floor. Cherries look so natural that yoii might stoop to pick them up 
 lest they should be trodden on. 
 
 Tuesday morning, 7th. 
 
 A rainy day. Last evening we had a very acceptable visit from 
 Mr. W. Rlien who is enthusiastic in his delight at all he sees now, the 
 second time, after a nine years' interval. He says he enjoys it more 
 than his first visit. Your aunt Hannah is better, but will keep in the 
 house. I am quite refreshed \iy yesterday afternoon's rest. Your 
 mother not quite so smart but sits, bonneted and cloaked beside me, 
 mending my gloves while I thus fill up the time waiting for the call, 
 which often comes very suddenly to start. To-day as it rains we shall 
 go to the Capitol and the Museum and gallerj^ of St. Luke and perhaps 
 to the prison built by Servius Tullius which received Jugurtha, the 
 fellow conspirators of Cataline and other traitors against the honor of 
 Rome ; and is consecrated by Christian legend as that of St. Peter. 
 
 309
 
 This may or inay not be. The other is capable of historic demonstra- 
 tion. L,ove to one and all and all our many friends. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 We yesterday received Ledgers of 19th and 20th Oct. only these 
 two ; no other papers yet and have reason to fear the loss of one 
 mail about the 5th of October. 
 
 Rome, Novembers, 1871. 
 My Dear Childreji : 
 
 The haste with which we are driven from gallery to gallerj^ and 
 from one object of interest to another, absorbs our time, and exhausts 
 my strength, so that I find that I pass over all the subjects on which I 
 write most superficially, and omit to report to you many incidents 
 which would interest you ; and do not describe the pleasure we often 
 ourselves, derive from objects which meet our view. Many beautiful 
 plants adorn the gardens, quite new to us, and which we would gladl}' 
 think might be introduced at home. Mimosa trees abound and look 
 very flourishing ; reminding us of Ivy Neck and the loved ones there, 
 lyike those they are now dropping their leaves. We see orange trees 
 in the open air, loaded with fruit in every stage of progress, from the 
 little green nob, just formed, to the rich golden ball almost ready to be 
 plucked. Chrj^santhemums have just the same golden and brown 
 colors as those at home. Date palms, with bunches of pendant fruit, 
 and other palms, are forerunners of the groves we trust to see in 
 Egypt ; while giant cactuses recall the plains of Mexico. I suppose 
 if we had access to the halls of the college of the Propaganda we 
 should find human representatives of as large a circuit of the earth. 
 
 Yesterday we were repelled from the entrance to the Vatican by 
 Swiss guards in the extraordinary garb of the Pope's livery. So 
 many colors in stripes on their persons that they remind one of a 
 gaudy collection of tropical birds. His Holiness has always found it 
 wise to protect his person — (that person which is infallible in judgment 
 should be immaculate in morals and able to protect itself) — from the 
 olence of his own subjects. We see scrawled on the walls " A bus 
 V Infallibilite,^'' and " Viva Dolli7iger Pappa'' and are told that hostility 
 to the Papacy is the strongest feeling of the Roman mind. 
 
 The beauty of the people arrests our notice frequently, especially 
 the boys ; and Mr. Rhen speaks in strong terms of the change since 
 e was last here nine years ago ; manifested by new buildings erect- 
 ing, old undergoing repair, and the general cheerfulness, contrasted 
 with the sullen scowl which then proved their sense of oppression. 
 The Italian government moves carefully but I hope steadily, for the 
 good of the people. A store on the Corso in the most frequented 
 
 310
 
 part has on it a sign of the British and and Foreign Bible Society 
 into which I must go. ( I cannot separate from the party without 
 producing disarrangement of the general plan for the day.) I have 
 been, but found no one could speak English. 
 
 On Friday evening we drove through the Ghetto, the quarter in 
 which all Jews are compelled to reside, just as the Sabbath was about 
 to begin. The inhabitants are, without question, the lineal descend- 
 ants of those who were brought here by Titus and Vespasian, and 
 yet there was not one whose face had the tj^pe we are wont to consider 
 specially Hebrew. They are very fair, more so than the Italians. It 
 is a terrible place of confinanent. Narrow streets, high houses and 
 crowded population. Some relaxation has been granted lately, such 
 as the permission to a few to open places of business on the Corso, 
 and, more important still, they are no longer driven by the police into 
 a Romish church adjoining the Ghetto, as they were every Sunday 
 until quite latel}', and compelled to remain and conform to the atti- 
 tude of worship during the celebration of mass. 
 
 I find the beautiful Obelisk which rises before our window is that 
 which Augustus brought from Heliopolis, ( one of the old towns of 
 Egypt, perhaps as old as Joseph even) after the defeat of Mark Anthony, 
 and by him consecrated to the sun in Rome. And it is said the ashes of 
 Emperor Nero were deposited near this gate. The spot is said to have 
 been the resort of evil spirits from that time till they were 
 dispossessed by the erection of a church about the year looo. What 
 varied scenes have been enacted around the silent shaft of granite 
 with its mute emblems ; mute as to us ; but once telling their own 
 story to the crowds which gathered around it on the spot which is 
 now a solitary waste of sand ; beneath which lie buried the hosts 
 which were the terror of the world as they marched forth to the 
 conquest of AssjTia, taking Jerusalem in their way, or standing 
 equally unmoved amid the insulting shouts of the hosts of Cambyses 
 as they rolled on toward Memphis or Thebes ; carrying desolation to 
 their colossal monuments, yet sparing this, only to be the spoil of the 
 Western barbarian ; as in their pride ©f ancient history they regarded 
 then the future monarch to whose power Egypt, Assyria, Persia, and 
 Greece alike did homage, and before whose power they bowed them- 
 selves never to rise. That Roman power is still perpetuated by the 
 influence of Roman law. That law, which emanating from the 
 Forum and the Capitol, still lies at the foundation of our own juris- 
 prudence, and holds its sway over the entire Christian world, modified 
 by the principles of the Gospel 'tis true, but tracing its source to the 
 Code of Justinian into which the older Roman law was reduced. 
 Who can tell what Jewish Martyr has cast his loathing look on this 
 tall stone, or what witness for Christ has pointed to its idolatrous 
 symbols of things which could not help, while he has invited the 
 surging crowds which thronged around, to seek the Lord while he 
 
 3"
 
 might be found and call upon Him while He was near ; warning them 
 of the ' ' desolation to come, ' ' which they scoffed at as an idle song ; 
 while the busy people of this day look upon it as little moved by the 
 solemn lesson, as by a tale that is told ; though it confirms the 
 warning still uttered to us, that we too shall pass away. Thus these 
 old stones may have sermons for us if we close not our ears. 
 
 M. November 8th. 
 
 One exclamation crowns every visit to the remains of ancient 
 Rome " They were a great people!" This fact impresses itself con- 
 tinually more and more iipon us, as day by day we penetrate more 
 and more deeply into the mysteries of the past. Their statues of their 
 Caesars, their busts of their orators ; their beautiful figures of their 
 wives and mothers ; all have the same attribute of majestic repose. 
 As we entered one of the halls (it matters not which as I am not 
 writing from the guide book nor for a guide book) I called your mother 
 to look at the \exy personification of a happy mother, as we stood 
 before a female figure seated with matronly dignity, while a boy of 
 twelve or fourteen years stood at her knee evidently proud of the 
 beauty of his mother. Your uncle, who had a book in his hand, 
 laughed at me and said " Agrippina and Nero." What a lesson those 
 statues utter ! She was the happy mother of one of the most prom- 
 ising boys ever born to the purple, trained too by the wisdom of 
 Seneca. Yielding to his baser passions he became the type to all 
 future ages of the basest being that can wear human form and 
 features, capable even of strangling that very mother who thus 
 idolized his boyhood ; and in this very marble of the artist is perpe- 
 tuated her vain hope ! Such still is man ! 
 
 On the Capitoline Hill stand two colossal equestrian statues one 
 of Castor and the other of Pollux whose fabled appearance for the 
 relief of the fainting Roman forces at the Lake Regillus is alluded to 
 in the Tusculan Disputations as an undeniable proof of the existence 
 of Gods ; and has been so finely wrought into one of his ballads of 
 Rome, .by Macaule3\ The}'' are imposing from their size and propor- 
 tions, and venerable from their undisputed antiquity. 
 
 In the centre of the Piazza in front of the capitol is an equestrian 
 bronze statue, so perfect in its preservation that it might pass for the 
 work of yesterday, but known as being that of the Emperor Marcus 
 Aurelius, one of the few who has transmitted to posterity the reputa- 
 tion of a good Emperor, and who lived about A. D. i6o. There is 
 still plainly to be seen the traces of gilding which proves that it was 
 originally covered with gold. As we approached I said to your mother 
 ' ' that is the seat of a Maryland gentleman ' ' ; and to your Aunt Jane 
 ' ' he rides like father. " It is a perfect man on a perfect horse. When 
 Philadelphia decorates her park may such a bronze find a place there. 
 
 312 
 
 J
 
 Near it are colossal figures of River Gods, grand and impressive 
 in art, like mountains in nature- There are also near-by some 
 portions of hands and feet of a statue which must have been thirty 
 feet high. I was interested in them by seeing that the fingers are in 
 the position which is considered by our ritualistic devotees as 
 especially indicative of blessing ; and which is assumed by the Pope in 
 that act. Alas for their wisdom ! these are portions of a statue of 
 Apollo, raised by lyUcullus ; thus, like the dresses of the priests in 
 Etruscan processions, proving the adoption of heathen habits and 
 forms into the declining church of the third and fourth centuries. 
 INIay we be delivered from the worse than absurd mummeiy to which 
 they belong. Rome is certainly a homoeopathic cure for Romanism. 
 If that fail the case is hopeless. 
 
 Rome, Nov. 8th, evening. 
 We have to-day visited two very different, but equally important 
 buildings. The Pantheon and the church of .5". Paolo fjiori Ic Ahira the 
 first erected by Marcus Agrippa before the Christian era, and the 
 second yet incomplete ; being built, under the auspices, and chiefly at 
 the expense of the present Pope, on the site of an older edifice which 
 was burned some half a century since. The one, the grandest exhibi- 
 tion still standing of ancient architectural art ; the other certainly 
 likely to transmit to future ages the best idea of that art as it is 
 practiced at the present day. The Pantheon is a circular building 142 
 feet in diameter within the walls, which are twenty feet thick. These 
 circular walls of massive masonry are surmounted by a dome of brick 
 work. The walls rise about seventy feet perpendicular, and the centre 
 of the dome is about as much higher. These walls are still lined with 
 beautiful variegated marbles ; and the dome, which is now only brick, 
 the same originally built more than 1900 years ago, was once lined 
 throughout by Corinthian bronze, exquisitely wrought, divided into 
 panels. Much of this bronze was removed to Constantinople by the 
 Emperor Constans, about the year 650 ; but no less than 450,000 
 pounds were left, only to be taken down by one of the Popes ; part of 
 it being cast into Cannon, and a part used in forming the grand 
 bronze columns which support the canopy over the high altar of 
 St. Peter's. The outside of the walls were once covered with marble 
 slabs as well as the interior. The doors are thirty feet high, and 
 covered with bronze still ; being co-eval with the structure itself In 
 front of this circular building rises a portico no feet long and forty- 
 four feet deep, supported by massive monolithic columns of granite, 
 with marble capitals. Were the dome removed, this grand colonnade 
 alone would be a majestic relic of ancient art, and its grand simplicity 
 and perfect proportions make it very attractive. It does not produce 
 the awe of St. Peter's, nor the solemn feeling of Milan ; but gives an 
 impression of perfect beaiity, with which 3^ou can associate yourself 
 
 313
 
 on a footing of equality. They produce the impression oi superhuman 
 effort, this of being the highest reach of human power. Service, oi 
 some kind, was being performed and the priests were entirely con- 
 cealed by a wooden screen, while the organ was a small one on a 
 moveable stage. The effect was very good ; entirely devoid of any 
 sacred solemnity, and producing no more solemn influence than if it 
 had been the rehearsal of a performance ; and when we wandered to a 
 position from which the priests were visible, their deportment and 
 frequent changes of position heightened that impression. There are 
 many recesses in the walls below, faced by marble columns, now 
 occupied by statues and pictures of the saints, supposed once to have 
 held those of pagan gods. Around the drum of the dome are other 
 and more numerous recesses, now empty but thought to have been 
 designed for heroes and demi-gods ; but were probably occupied by 
 statues of Nero and Emperors. As this building was contiguous to 
 one of the great bathing establishments for which Rome was cele- 
 brated, and on which Consuls and Emperors expended millions for the 
 gratification of the people, and to provide luxurious places of resort 
 for the tens ol thousands of idlers who collected at the seat of Empire, 
 it has been suggested that this was no temple, but a grand hall of 
 concourse, in which they sat and lounged, and discussed the scandal 
 or of the important news from the provinces which, if it came more 
 slowly, still must have daily reached the heart of Empire enriched by 
 the spoils of the world. What a grand spectacle must have been pre- 
 sented here, when the accounts of some great triumph of Roman Arms 
 in Dacia, Gallia, or Pontus, was first proclaimed by the sacred herald. 
 How terrible the dismay when the destruction of the legions of Varus 
 was whispered around ! 
 
 The church of St. Paul is a purely modern structure, a long nave 
 with four rows of twenty columns each of red granite from the 
 quarries near Baveno, on Lago INIaggiore where we saw them being 
 dressed. They are sent, unpolished, on rafts down the Po to the 
 Adriatic, thence by sea to Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber and from 
 thence here, by railroad. We saw one on its way to the church drawn 
 on planks laid on the road side, by cable and capstan worked by men. 
 A post is fixed some hundred j-ards in advance of the point at which 
 the last one was placed, and it is inch by inch warped along. They 
 are polished at the church, which is situated a mile and a half outside 
 the wall, in the midst of pestilential marshes. No stronger picture oi 
 Papal superstition could be presented. I believe $1,000,000 would not 
 cover the expense of the last twenty j-ears on this building w4th its 
 massive columns, rich marble, and gilded walls and ceiling, and 
 malachite and precious stone altars, and tombs, and statues ; and this 
 only because tradition represents it as the burial place of the great 
 apostle to the Gentiles, the tent-maker who, rather than be a burden 
 to any, laboured with his own hands. No o?ie ca7i worship here. 
 
 3H
 
 There is a monastery adjoining but even the monks are compelled to 
 vacate it during- the Summer months. It is therefore merely a costly 
 mausoleum. It contains the body of Raphael who made provision for 
 his interment here and in one of the recesses is a marble Madonna 
 and infant executed at his order to surmount his tomb. 
 
 November 9th, evening. 
 Did ever any of you think when reading St. Paul's salutation to 
 the Chiirch of Philippi, in which he says, "they of Caesar's hovtsehold 
 salute 3'ou," what a city of itself was the palace of Caesar? or what 
 position in that household these Christians held ? I have spent the 
 afternoon in wandering hour after hour, and might say with truth 
 mile after mile amid the excavations which have recently been made 
 on the site of Csesar's palace. The area covered by these excavations 
 is not less than — shall I say 100 acres ? — certainly not less than fifty. 
 Every part of which is covered with massive walls, and arches and 
 pavements, and columns, all in confusion which is perfectly inexpli- 
 cable to vie, though those who are familiar with the various points in 
 classic authors which refer to these buildings, have been able to trace 
 the several departments and apartments, and have given plans which 
 enable the visitor, who has time to follow them, to understand their 
 connection with each other. A few years since and the Palatine Hill 
 was covered with gardens and orchards. Some few indications of 
 subjacent ruins led to explorations which are still being pushed vigor- 
 ously, and which have disinterred not only the most immense 
 labyrinth of walls, twenty feet in thickness ; and arches and passage 
 ways, and stairs, and mosaic pavements, retaining all their original 
 beauty, and marble columns ; but also chambers whose walls are 
 stuccoed, and frescoed, and elaborately ornamented ; and balustrades 
 of white marble beautifully carved ; and arrangements for conducting 
 heated air beneath the marble floors ; and walls coated with polished 
 marble ; and floors of variegated marble, laid in rich and varied pat- 
 terns. A theatre with its niches for statues and vaulted dome ; a din- 
 ing-room capable of seating a thousand persons ; and a fountain with 
 all the arrangements for flowers around it in a room opening by wide 
 passages from the dining-room. A large library and lecture room with 
 its rows of seats. We stood on the mound amid these ruins of the 
 luxury of the emperors and gazed on the glories of the setting sun and 
 were lost in the strange mystery of our situation, plebian citizens of 
 the Great Republic of modern days standing among the excavated 
 ruins of the palace of those Cr^esars who had overthrown the Republic 
 of eighteen centviries ago. These frescoed and ornamented walls rise 
 like the Caesars themselves on the ruins of preceding greatness. 
 Down, down, down we look and find the massive walls of the buildings 
 of the early kings — unmistakeable — and their solid work composed of
 
 great stones laid upon each other without cement. One age has piled 
 its gorgeous arches over the ruins of that which preceded it and now 
 we are digging down to the foundation of them all in the house of 
 Evander and the wall of Romulus. This is a jumble, but so are the 
 ruins. Yet they are grand ! not in their decay — they are indestructible. 
 Your mother was as enthusiastic as I. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Rome, November lo, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 I am afraid to write just as I find things lest you should think I 
 exaggerate. But everything is so grand as to defy exaggeration. I 
 thought the palace of the Csesars was on such a gigantic scale that 
 nothing could surpass it, unless it might be the Coliseum ; but both 
 are dwarfed by the ruins of the baths of Caracalla. This emperor 
 reigned about the 200th 3'ear after the Christian era ; and only three or 
 four years ; and yet, in that short time caused to be erected buildings, 
 called baths etc., so massive and extensive as to defy description now, 
 in their ruin. What then must the}'^ have been when entire? As we 
 stood in one of the great halls and looked up some 80 to 100 feet to the 
 massive remains of domes and arches of brick work still standing 
 entire, and then looked down an equal depth into wells which lay open 
 at our feet, we felt like pigmies inspecting the works of giants. Each 
 of these vast areas of hall was floored with mosaic of varied patterns, 
 all beautiful, many of them still as fresh and entire as when laid down, 
 and from the lofty domes fragments have fallen, covered with mytho- 
 logical figures also in mosaic, composed of small pieces of colored 
 marble. 
 
 These masses of brick and mortar have accumulated on the floors ; 
 and are now being removed, tliu;j disinterrin.g huge columns of maible 
 and not unfrequently statues also. The area covered by these ruined 
 walls and arches is very wide. To secure sufl&cient space, Caracalla 
 found it necessary to cover that occupied b}- the house of one Asiniits 
 Pollio ; and in making excavations they have recently exposed the 
 walls, still standing, of this house at least fifty feet below the lower 
 floor of that of Caracalla. There lie now exposed to the heavens, at 
 that depth below the present surface of the earth, mosaic pavements of 
 great beauty, and in patterns of various colors, margins of exquisitely 
 graceful figures such as are still employed in ornamental work and 
 alwa3^s admired. The work of exploration is still progressing at the 
 expense of the Italian government and under the care of intelligent 
 officers appointed for that special purpose. 
 
 With some difficulty we obtained access to the Forum as they are 
 now busily and earnestlj^ extending the area there. Crowds of Romans 
 
 316
 
 as well as foreigners, collect around the margin, which is guarded by a 
 railing; and cart loads of rubbish are hourl}^ drawn awa^'. If free 
 access to the Forum itself were granted it would not only be difl&cult 
 to prevent the spoliation of light articles which might be disinterred, 
 but the crowd would materially impede the labours of the workmen. 
 As I remarked when alluding to the Palace of the Caesars, I found it 
 impossible to trace the outlines of the various structures, or disen- 
 tangle the confusion of the labyrinth in which I found myself But I 
 could walk on the stones which still mark the course of the " Via 
 Sacra, ' ' beneath the triumphal arch of Septimus Sevenis, and ascend- 
 ing by its sinuous course the Capitoline Hill ; and while walking there 
 my heart was moved, more with sympathy for the noble unfortunates 
 who had graced the Conqueror's triumph, than with the great spoilers 
 of the world who gratified their vanity by the public exhibition of the 
 riches they brought back from ruined peoples. And I almost forgot 
 the blessings they conferred, by the extension of the protectorate of 
 Roman power over nations torn and rent by the fratricidal strife for 
 the crown, in the feeling of sorrow for the personal wrongs and suffer- 
 ings of those who, like the Queen of the East, were compelled to walk 
 behind the car of the Conqueror. 
 
 Doubtless it was " He who sitteth upon the circle of the heavens," 
 and who " Setteth up one and pulleth down another," who ordered 
 the progress of the Conquerors and the subjugation of the Conquered; 
 and ' ' made the wrath of man to praise Him ' ' ; thus preparing the 
 way before the coming of our Lord ; and providing for the dissemina- 
 tion of the truths of the Everlasting Gospel ; though neither the pride 
 of the one nor the mortification of the other recognized the importance 
 of the part they unwittingly performed in the great drama of the 
 earth. 
 
 We are too prone to forget the dependence of all human events on 
 Divine appointment. The Anastasis of these great, buried, records of 
 events which made the world turn pale as they occurred, should not 
 be wasted on us, as it will be if we only look and wonder. The same 
 Judge now holds the scales of Justice ; and the nations are " but the 
 dust of the balance. ' ' We have no more ' ' fee simple ' ' of nationality 
 than had the peoples of old, who successively sent their subjugated 
 generals and kings to grace the ever recurring processions of the ' ' via 
 Triumphalis." Are we stronger or better than Rome herself over 
 whose fossil remains we moralize ? 
 
 The very newspapers of the day which reach us here from home, 
 filled with stories of trusts betra3'ed and oflicial power prostituted to 
 personal gain without even the redeeming trait of columns and arches 
 and temples erected by the spoil, bid us take heed lest while we ' 'judge 
 others, we condemn ourselves." Such was the train of thought and 
 feeling excited as I looked at the still perfect figures of captive Kings, 
 and triumphant Generals, and trod the very stones over which they
 
 trod, still lying along the old Roman way from the Forum to the 
 Capitol, over which so unwillingly pressed Zenobia, Arminius, or the 
 hundred others whose names are less familiar to my mind. 
 
 Saturday evening, November nth. 
 
 Everything is heaped around us. Mr. Rhen called this evening 
 and asked ' ' how we are getting through Rome, ' ' to which I could 
 only reply "We have only just entered Rome "; and I might have 
 added we feel lost in its immensity, and overawed by its majesty. 
 
 To-day among other things we have explored the palace of Nero. 
 It is difhcult to believe what is' presented to our eyes. Nero began to 
 reign about 54 A. D. and died in 69 ; during which time he had 
 erected a palace so stupendous in extent, and enriched with such 
 treasures of art in its varioixs forms, as have excited the admiration of 
 the world, since they have been recovered from the entombment to 
 which they were subjected by Titus ; whose reign of only eleven years, 
 commenced only one year after the close of that of Nero. We wan- 
 dered this morning for hours among the halls, and chambers, and 
 bathing apartments of Nero ; the floors adorned with Mosaics ; the 
 walls with stucco ; and the arched and vaulted ceilings, at least forty 
 feet above the floor, still covered with frescos so beautiful as to have 
 been copied by Raphael in his works ; and were shown the places in 
 which the celebrated group of the Laocoon and the great Porphyry 
 vase in the Vatican stood, and where they were buried for centuries in 
 the earth and rubbish with which these vast halls had been filled, in 
 order to for7n a platfor7n on which Titus erected his batlis ! That one 
 Emperor should thus vie with another in the splendor of his structures 
 for the increase of the glory of the Imperial City is not surprising ; 
 but that he vshould fill up the splendid halls of his immediate prede- 
 cessor, and thus prevent the comparison of the works, is strange. 
 Stranger still that such works as the Laocoon and Meleager and the 
 Vase, etc., should not have been removed before filling in some forty 
 or fifty feet of earth above them. Yet such was the mode of proceed- 
 ing. We see still, where the excavations have stopped, perpendicular 
 walls of material just as if the whole of our Chestnitt Street house had 
 been filled with earth, brickbats and rubbish, shot in from Mr. Wistar's 
 roof next door, and that which filled the three stories front, had been 
 taken out and the back chambers and back building were still left 
 filled up. Onl}^ 3-0U must imagine Nero's bed chamber to have been 
 so large that oar entire house, roof to cellar could be put within it ; 
 and his bathing-room of half that size, the same height ; and other 
 rooms and passages in proportion. The place in which the Porphyry 
 vase stood is at least twenty feet in diameter, and is surrounded by a 
 raised wall with a depression on the top, evidently designed to contain 
 earth in which flowers could be planted ; so that it is probable that 
 
 318
 
 water fell into the vase and over its margin into the basin below. The 
 frescos are shown by wax tapers elevated on long poles so that we can 
 see the grace of the figures and the beauty of the color. 
 
 On the surface above these stands a church, ►$". Pictro in Vmcoli 
 the floor of part of which is still composed of the rich marble mosaic 
 just as it laid in the floors of the Baths of Titus. 
 
 Rome must have been as crowded as an over stocked bee-hive, that 
 no place could be found for a new structure but by filling up that 
 occupied by one of so recent erection. The thousands of Jewish cap- 
 tives doubtless furnished the labour necessarj' ; but what is to be said 
 about the burial of such works of art ? It is to such acts that we owe 
 their safe transmission to modern times. 
 
 INIonday evening, Nov. 13, 1S71. 
 
 You will none of j'ou have forgotten that yesterday was the 42d 
 anniversary of our marriage. To think of our having spent it in 
 Rome ! Well, we passed it with as little ceremonious observance as 
 we do at home. Your Aunt Mary surprised us with a nice bouquet ol 
 flowers and we went to church and were both delighted and edified by 
 excellent sermons. In the morning, on the assurance of Faith derived 
 from personal experience of the love of Christ ; and in the afternoon, 
 on the hope which maketh not ashamed which springs from the 
 tribulation which worketh patience and experience of love ; starting 
 from different points but reaching the same conclusion. We fear that 
 we are now passing out of the region of Christian instruction, but we 
 know the suuiciency of the Spirit who can take of the {things) of 
 Christ and shew them to his people ; and in His word is our Trust. 
 
 To-day we explored the ruins of the baths of Caracalla and visited 
 the church into which Michael Angelo changed one of the halls of the 
 baths of Diocletian. Eight vast monolithic red granite columns still 
 stand in the church as the}^ did in the room of the baths. Other vast 
 halls of the same structure are occupied by troops as magazines of 
 various kinds. They wotild appear to have been capable of holding 
 as many as those we visited before. We also spent some time in the 
 studio of our country woman, Edmondia Lewis, sculptor. She is a 
 nice smart looking little body, dressed in a tow gown, covering her 
 from her neck ,to her heels ; moving smartly about her studio, and 
 directing the operations of several journeymen who are executing in 
 marble the figures from her designs and casts. Her mother was an 
 Oneida Indian, and her father an African ; but the Indian predominates 
 in her character as well as features and color. She is really attractive 
 in her appearance ; but I was disappointed in her work. There are 
 two groups of Indians, illustrating scenes in Hiawatha, which a.refair, 
 but want expression and are defective in their proportions. A Roman 
 Girl is better. Two little cherubs, designed to personate Sleep, are folded 
 
 319
 
 in each others arms in an impossible position, and Abraham Lincoln 
 sits more rigid than he ever did in his life. She seems happy and 
 saj^s she has many friends and orders, but I cannot anticipate a bril- 
 liant career for her, which I regret. I found myself greatly tempted 
 to take one of her Hiawatha groups, but only as an expression of inter- 
 est in her. 
 
 This afternoon we spent in the picture gallery at the Vatican. 
 The number of pictures is small but a few are veiy choice. I had told 
 Friezier this morning I was perfectly satiated with pictures — nay more 
 than that, and I could see no more. The Madonna of Sassoferrato 
 was enough to cure me entirely. Do not accuse me of becoming a 
 convert to the ' ' similia similibus ' ' doctrine as applicable to bodily 
 disease, however successful it may have been in this mental disorder. 
 Your mother thinks it the most beautiful picture she has seen. I bought 
 a good photograph and should have been glad to take more if there 
 had been any. There is there also a good Murillo Madonna ; the 
 marriage of St. Catherine to the infant Jesus ; but far, far inferior to this. 
 The Raphael pictures in the Vatican disappointed my expectations, 
 and the great picture of the Last Judgment by Michael Angelo would 
 have been passed without notice but for the absurd story connected 
 with a figure in the lowest pit, in painting which the artist gratified 
 his dislike of one of the Cardinals by making a perfect portrait of him 
 in the coil of a great snake. He was so annoyed by the taunts of his 
 friends that he applied to the Pope to order Michael Angelo to alter it. 
 The Pope asked where the painter had placed him and on being told 
 replied " I can do nothing for you, I could order you out of Heaven or 
 deliver you from Purgatory, but I have no power where he has placed 
 you so you must stay where you are." 
 
 Among the frescos of Raphael in the Vatican is the "School of 
 Athens " which I described from the Cartoon, from which this fresco is 
 copied, which I saw at Milan. The Cartoon is much more impressive 
 and effective than the finished picture. I have enquired everywhere 
 for a photograph of the Cartoon but cannot get it. 
 
 In one of the halls in the Vatican is an immense battle piece in 
 fresco, the design by Raphael, but executed by his followers, repre- 
 senting the celebrated conflict between Constantine and Maxentius, 
 which took place a few miles from Rome and decided the fate of the 
 Empire. It was then the celebrated vision of the cross with the motto 
 'A'v TOUTo) — (I cannot recall the Greek word for conquer which is in 
 the picture) appeared. It is a very spirited work, full of powerful 
 action and of strong contrast as between Constantine calmly and 
 steadily leading on his forces, mounted on a horse which moves 
 majestically onward, and Maxentius struggling in the Tiber, his horse 
 making frantic efforts to ascend the bank. There is one horse in the 
 picture which is the highest expression of energetic action in the midst 
 of the fight ; while in a corner near is a veteran stooping to raise the 
 
 320
 
 head of a dying youth. This picture though designed by Raphael 
 was executed in fresco by his pupils. In one of the rooms are three 
 pictures only ; considered the greatest in the world : Raphael's Trans- 
 figuration, with which you are all familiar from photographs and 
 engravings ; the Madonna Foligno so called from its having been the 
 property of a convent at Foligno ; and the Last Communion of St. 
 Jerome by Domenichino. I think the last the best ; St. Jerome old 
 and emaciated by long fasts and vigils, and barely clothed, kneels and 
 is supported by several devotees, while St. Ephraem S3^rus, in the 
 rich garb of a Greek Bishop, stands offering him the symbols. Atti- 
 tude, coloiir, and expression are all in strong contrast ; and I think it one 
 of the highest works of art. This picture too has a story. The monks 
 for whom it was painted quarrelled with Domenchinio and put the 
 picture away in a corner and sometime after applied to N. Poussin to 
 paint an altar piece for them, offering to supply the Canvass, and sent 
 him this picture to be painted on. He recognized its superior value 
 and refused to destroy it,* and it is confessedly without a rival. 
 
 You will I fear wish I had not taken the homoeopathic dose in art. 
 So I will relieve you by assuring you we have now done with pictures 
 and shall hereafter confine mj^self to Ruins and Statues till we leave 
 Rome which will be probably on Thursday next. We have tnuch to 
 engage our attention still here. I send an adiantuni from the Col- 
 iseum, hoping it has some spores which ma}'' grow. 
 
 With ever growing affection for you all. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Rome, November 14, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 As the time for leaving here aj^proaches I feel as though one great 
 object of our excursion were being accomplished and almost as though 
 I had been to some distant planet and were about to return again to 
 our old sphere, the Earth. To have looked on the effigies of Romans, 
 and the ruins, even, of their palaces and senate chambers; to have 
 stood on the very pavement where stood Virginius, and Coriolanus 
 and Regulus, and Brutus, and Pompey, and Julius Ctesar (the pavement 
 now just uncovered in the Forum looks old enough to have been trod 
 on by them) ; to have entered the house of ]\Isecenas and journeyed 
 through the regions governed by those ' ' Atavi reges ' ' from whom 
 he sprang, — Atavi, before Romulus and Remus drew their ferocity from 
 the breasts of the Wolf of Alba — to have laid one's hand on the very 
 bronze figure which transmitted from one generation of Republican 
 Romans to another the Myth on which they so prided themselves, 
 and which did so much to form and mould their character ; to have 
 trodden the Via Triumphalis, still paved with the same enduring 
 
 321
 
 stones which resisted the hoofs of triumphant Consuls and Emperors, 
 or were moistened by the blood and tears of captive foes, worthy of 
 the prowess which had overwhelmed their resistance (often noble, if 
 unsuccessful) ; to have driven over the roads travelled by Horace, and 
 Virgil, and Maecenas, and looked on the grand views which kindled 
 their enthusiasm ; to have stood on the very Mosaic pavement on 
 which they may have sat, in the halls of that friend, so lovingly 
 addressed as '^ prcesidium et duke decus mcuni,'" (we were in the house 
 of Maecenas, the Mosaic floor still perfect) ; to have wandered by the 
 shores of that Flaviis Tiber still rolling his muddy, very muddy, 
 waters through the same channels as those whose restraint he over- 
 leaped when Proteus drove his flock to unused resting places among 
 the branches which were the natural haunts of birds of the air, rather 
 than of the fishes of the stream: '' Omtte peats egii, visere viontes." 
 Caspar and Efiingham can translate the ode beginning, ^' Jam satis 
 terras," which I remember puzzled me somewhat when I was their 
 age, but which I can now understand, being *on the %pot and seeing 
 marked on the walls above our heads as we ride about ' ' Diluvione 
 1870," proving that it was no poetic exaggeration which spoke of 
 ' ' the fishes sticking in the trees, ' ' and the overthrow of the Temple of 
 Vesta. 
 
 15th, evening. 
 
 I had written to the bottom of the other page early yesterday 
 morning. The fatigue of two days of steady driving through the halls of 
 the Vatican, under the pressure of being told " Sir, you cannot 
 stop " ; " you must go on " ; " there are more interesting things 
 before " ; " you will never get through at this rate" ; till one begins 
 to wish there were nothing more interesting that one might be allowed 
 to enjoy the comparatively 7/«interesting things which absorbs the 
 present interest. This fatigue has brought me down from all 
 rhetorical flights, so flat that I have not been able even to plod on with 
 any description of Rome as it is, much less to soar among figures of 
 Rome as it was. And now having been dragged out of the carriage on 
 our return from our farewell visit to that treasure house of Statuary, and 
 MSS. and records of antiquity — and having taken some hours 
 "rest in sleep," — I resume my letter, only to say that where so much 
 is to be told nothing can be said. 
 
 In the Egyptian Hall we have been taking preliminary lessons in 
 Hieroglyphics, among Mummies and Sarcophagi, and colossal figures 
 in Porphyry and Basalt, which can scarcely be included in the idea of 
 things in heaven above or in the earth beneath, so monstrous are they 
 in form. In addition to the large number which are genuine, there is 
 one hall filled with imitations, which were found in the Villa of the 
 Emperor Hadrian, and which he had made for a memorial of his visit 
 to Egypt. It is easy to distinguish them from the true. 
 
 322
 
 There was one bronze vessel found in a tomb with the inscription 
 as fresh as if made yesterday. Even these however were less interest- 
 ing, to me, than the immense Etruscan Collection which fills hall after 
 hall with its wondrous Vases, and Urns, and Sarcophagi and Jewelry, 
 and household implements ; which a life time would not suffice to 
 describe in detail. They excite wonder even after having seen the 
 remains I have already alluded to in previous letters. On many of the 
 patera and vases are representations of scenes and implements, which 
 are so accordant with modern habits that it is difficult to believe the)^ 
 have been buried some 3000 j'ears. One scene arrested my attention. 
 A female figure appears at a window, below which stand two male 
 figures, one with a light the other with a ladder, which he is abot:t to 
 place against the wall. Another represents a woman filling a 
 smaller bottle from a larger, using a modern funnel. Another repre- 
 sents a gentleman lying on a couch fearfully sick, while his wife stands 
 by his side and supports his head. ]\Iost of the figures are Mytholo- 
 gical ; or illustrative of games and races and gladiatorial shows. 
 
 Not the least interesting objects w^ere glass dishes and vases and 
 bottles, disinterred from these old tombs, made in the same manner as 
 the modern antique glassware we saw them producing at the works of 
 Salviati in Venice a few weeks ago — patterns, shapes, colors, all the 
 same. 
 
 The Etruscan race was extinct as a nation untold ages since. If 
 they had a literature the only remains are the illegible inscriptions on 
 their tombs and cinerary urns. One race after another — Greek, Roman, 
 Goth, and Vandal, — has occupied their seats ; through them all this 
 art has been transmitted unimproved to our day, and I might pass the 
 little bottle your mother has in her trunk for an Etruscan relic, if it were 
 but dimmed a little by some rvibbing with enier}', and a sliort deposit 
 underground. So on some of the Vases are figures called Ulysses and 
 Agamennon playing at a game over which more broils have their 
 origin in Rome to-day than in any other cause. In one of the rooms is a 
 bronze bier or funeral couch with six legs, looking much like a modern 
 iron bedstead. There is a figure of a boy seated on a horse which is 
 perfect in its proportions, and proves they knew how to sit a horse. In 
 the case containing gold jeweliy are female ornaments for the head 
 and fingers, which would be now prized as much for their beaut}^ as for 
 their antiquity ; and glass beads of very many patterns and colors, 
 formed into necklaces, bracelets, and armlets. Some of the chains are 
 so flexible that one ma}^ still fold them up as one v^'ould a silk cord. 
 
 17th. 
 
 Among the Sarcophagi in the Vatican museum is one of Scipio 
 
 Barbatus which was taken from the Tomb of the Scipios on the Appian 
 
 Way just without the gate of the wall of Aurelian. It is perfect and 
 
 there is no question about its genuineness and antiquity ; dating at 
 
 323
 
 the time of the Republic. He was the great grandfather oi the Scipio 
 whose conquest of Carthage gained him the name of Africanus. The 
 Sarcophagus was opened in 1781, and a distinguished antiquarian who 
 was present says " The skeleton was entire and on one of the fingers 
 was a ring, which the Pope gave to me." He gave it to one of the 
 English nobles, I forget which. His descendants still have the ring. 
 The bones crumbled into dust. The Sarcophagus is a large, brown 
 stone chest, with rude sculpture. I stood yesterday at the gate of the 
 tomb from which it had been taken. A solid arch with two columns, 
 one at either side above and around a mole of brick and stone and 
 cement : the exterior coat of marble or stone, having either been used 
 for other buildings, or wasted before the corrosion of time and 
 weather. Before me stretched the Appian Way, straight as the flight 
 of an arrow, visible at least twenty miles as it crossed the plain of the 
 Campagna, and then lay over the top of the mountains, and thence 
 straight on, toward the southern parts of Italy even to Brundisium. 
 By this way Horace journeyed as he has recorded in his well known 
 epistle ; and by it the great apostle of the Gentiles came under guard 
 of soldiers, "in bonds for the Gospel" to accomplish the Divine 
 purpose by which he was sent ' ' to the Gentiles, ' ' and which prepared 
 the way for his labour by giving him favour with "Julius the 
 Centurion," who having saved the other prisoners from the slaughter 
 to which they were adjudged by the soldiers (who in those days had 
 generally everj^thing their own way), was doubtless strengthened in 
 his ' ' desire to spare Paul ' ' by the miracles he witnessed in the house 
 of Publius, and among the people of IMelita. Having allowed him 
 " to tarry at Puteoli seven days with the brethren " he brought him 
 along this Appian Way to Rome, where he was suffered to dwell by 
 himself with a soldier that kept him receiving all that came to him. 
 How wondrous are God's ways ! Paul had designed "to preach the 
 Gospel to them in Rome ' ' but who should open him a way to ' ' them 
 of Caesars household ? " I never before realized the difficulty. It is 
 diflScult to get access to the house of modern sovereigns, but these 
 ruins of Caesar's Palaces, so gigantic and imposing, tell us that 
 provincial ' ' citizen ' ' though he were, Paul would find little oppor- 
 tunity for entrance there ; much less for the introduction of a faith 
 regarded as a contemptible sect by the Jews themselves, who said ' ' it 
 is everywhere spoken against ' ' while they were considered by the 
 Philosophers and Poets and Historians of the day so superstitious, that 
 the name Jew was adopted as the symbol of credulity (" Credat 
 Judaeus ") and they were soon after commanded all to depart from the 
 Imperial City as unworthy to reside there, except in slaverv 
 
 A furious mob, in their blind rage, arouse the pride ol ttie l:aptaln 
 of the Temple, who with no other design than to maintain the dignity 
 of Roman rule, rescues, he knows not whom, from their fury. 
 Their wicked and treacherous purpose to take Paul's life by subtility 
 
 324
 
 excites his interest in their victim, and leads him to place him out of 
 their reach. The "hope that money would be given him " induces 
 the corrupt Governor to keep Paul bound, until that Wisdom of God 
 which is ordering all things to accomplish His own purposes, brings 
 Felix and Festus and Agrippa, each in his appropriate sphere, to 
 combine to bring about that, " / appeal unto Casar'' ; which was the 
 hinge on which turned such great events, by which the way was 
 opened to Caesar's household. 
 
 As I have walked amid these ruins, and during the night watches 
 have meditated on my bed over their magnificence in decay, I have 
 gone back still further to the scene on the IMount over against the 
 treasury of the Temple of Jerusalem, when the disciples said to our 
 Lord " what manner of buildings are here." His reply, that the time 
 was coming in A^hich there should not ' ' be left one stone upon another, ' ' 
 might with equal propriety have been applied to the Palace of the 
 C.Tesars, though not then built. Its shapeless ri:in serves onl}' now to 
 show how inconceivabl}^ grand it must have been. Spoiled kingdoms, 
 ruined provinces, rifled temples, beggared peoples, each contributed 
 to swell the enormous pile, and covered it with polished marble, 
 ornamental stuccoes and frescos, and wondrous mosaic floors ; and to 
 fill these niches and arches, and recesses, with marble and bronze 
 statues of heroes and gods, and treasures of skill, " graven by art and 
 man's device." They now stand, the piles themselves shapeless 
 masses, and their treasures broken and distorted ruins of beauty, to 
 read us a solemn lesson. 
 
 Who in the day of their glory would not, with the disciples on 
 the mount, have associated with their overthrow ' ' the end of the 
 world ? ' ' That end has not yet come — will it ever come f So surely as 
 these ruins stand, mute yet eloquent witnesses of the just judgment of 
 God on those who forget and deny Him, so surely shall that day come 
 with regard to which we so frequently utter the prayer that "the 
 stewards and ministers of God's word may prepare and make ready 
 the way, that at His second coming to judge the world we may be 
 found an acceptable people in His sight — ' ' and it will add to our condem- 
 nation if we who now roam amid this decay, fail to lay to heart the 
 deep and solemn sound which issues like the still small voice of the 
 cave of Carmel, with a power greater than that of rushing winds or 
 rumbling earthquakes, or reverberating thunder, telling us that 
 " Heaven and earth may pass away but the word of Him who made 
 them shall not pass away"; and bidding us prepare to meet Him 
 when He shall come to judge the earth and to prepare new Pleavens 
 and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. If righteousness 
 dwell there no one who is ?<«righteous can partake of its joys. May 
 we be found of Him in peace in that da}^ without spot and blamelCvSS. 
 Are any of us so ?iow f 
 
 325
 
 Surely St. Paul told "them of Caesar's household" that he 
 counted all the righteousness he had by the obedience he had rendered 
 to the law, ' ' but dung, that he might win Christ' ' and be found in 
 Him, " not having on his own righteousness which is of the law, but 
 that which is by faith" even the righteousness of Christ which is 
 unto all and upon all them that believe. He that hath ' ' this righteous- 
 ness of faith' ' will surely ' ' strive so to walk as He walked' ' ; " his faith 
 working by love and p7irifyi7ig the hearty 
 
 We are soon to place another sea between ourselves and you, 
 whom we so love ; and to pass beyond the limits of the frequent 
 intercourse we have thus far enjoyed. It will still be our pra5'^er that 
 one and all, from the youngest infant to the oldest son, our family 
 may be kept by "the power of God through faith unto salvation." 
 This going further away is a very sore thing to do and I often shrink 
 from it. But it would be unwise to return now. I think I see a 
 progress in the attainment of the object which brought us to this side 
 the Atlantic and fear it would be imperfectlj^ attained were we to stop 
 here or return. Your uncle and aunt are both better ; — endure more 
 fatigue than I can ; — and appear to enjoy themselves greatly. 
 
 Your mother is most wondrously supported and really is a spring 
 of life and joy to the whole party. She and I spare ourselves as much 
 as possible without interferring with the plans of the others. She did 
 enjoy the ride on the Appian Way yesterday delightfully. We did not 
 go beyond about eight or ten miles from the walls, beyond the tomb of 
 Ceecillia Metella and the Circus of Maxentius. 
 
 The entire route for thirty miles is lined by a continuous mass 
 of ruined tombs standing side by side like the houses on one of our 
 city streets. A city of the dead ; the rich and great and noble dead. 
 In holes and pits near the tombs of their masters lie the masses of 
 undistinguished and undistinguishable remains of their slaves — by tens 
 of thousands — equally awaiting the call of the Archangel and the trump 
 of God, together with the blessed company of the martyrs whose 
 ashes lie in the catacombs by which we passed. What a surging 
 multitude shall people this vast waste ! 
 
 By the way, I am thus reminded of the feeble and childish 
 attempt of Michael Angelo to portray the last judgment on the wall of 
 the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. It can have no other influence 
 than to strengthen the natural unbelief of the corrupt heart and to 
 excite the disgust of every believer in the solemn truth that, ' ' God 
 hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world by that man 
 whom He hath appointed ' ' ; and I almost wonder that the Popes who 
 did attempt some improvement, did not obliterate the entire blasphe- 
 mous conceit. The truth is I have lost all respect, even for his 
 artistic power. His Moses is a plain plagiarism, as to the head, from 
 an antique figure of the River Nile : and the arm, which from its 
 attitude should be in perfect repose, has the strong muscular contrac- 
 
 326
 
 tion of a great effort. The dome of St. Peter's is as he said "the 
 Pantheon raised in the air." His "night and morning," and "dawn 
 and twilight," at Florence are mere masses of heavy marble, without 
 a particle of that life of soul which beams out of the bass-reliefs of 
 Thorwalsden. And unless his features, as transmitted to us by his 
 own hand, fail to speak the character which wrought within, and 
 ''does make the body speak,'' he was not the great man so idolized 
 by lovers of Art. All this may be superficial judgment. I have 
 never read his life except in the works I have seen, but they have 
 disappointed me. 
 
 A few days since I spent an hour in the studio of our fellow 
 townsman and old neighbour Buchanan Read. He has some beautiful 
 pictures. One, "Abou Adhem's dream of the angel's visit," is a poem 
 on canvas. The "Marys at the Sepulchre" with light beaming 
 from the open tomb on the angel who sits there, himself shedding 
 a softer light, is a very fine conception and the execution 
 beautiful. The "Angels appearing to the shepherds," and "Sud- 
 denly there was a host," is admirable, shepherds and sheep as 
 well as angels. The light of the little fire, and the angelic glory, the 
 adoring awestruck wonder of the shepherds, and the calm joy of the 
 angels, furnishing fine contrasts. He has been oflfered $5000 for the 
 Abou Adhem by a Californian, and has sold the Christmas picture to a 
 Mr. Christman of Brooklyn. The " Angels" and " Marys at the 
 tomb" have not been purchased. I wish they could come to Phila- 
 delphia. He has a very fine "Sheridan's ride" for sale. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Naples, November 18, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 We left Rome this morning feeling very sad at the thought of 
 going further from you. I have always thought of the Apennine Range 
 as the wall of division between the Bast and the West, and though we 
 still have that barrier beyond us, we have taken the step which involves 
 the necessity that the next should be across. That is what we came 
 here for so, as we used to say as children in the great bath tub beside 
 the creek at Green Hill, "warning once, warning twice, here we go " ; 
 and took our plunge. This figure has not been inappropriate to-day. 
 It has rained, is raining, and threatens to rain more. I have rarely 
 known a more unintermitting fall than we have had ever since we left 
 Rome until about one hour before we reached here, when the sun 
 broke out enough to furnish a most glorious bow on the cloud just as 
 we entered the ' ' Campagna Felica ; " so well named. It is a beautiful 
 and fertile vale into which we enter at Capua, and we could not wonder 
 
 327
 
 that Hannibal wintered his |forces here, nor that they prefered its 
 delights to the hardships of Alpine passes or lost, amid orange groves 
 and vineyards, the determination which gained the victory at Trasi- 
 mene and enabled them to limit the Roman power to the narrow 
 circuit of its own walls. 
 
 The journey has been through a district rich in historical associa- 
 tions. We passed across the Campagna Romana ; beside its aque- 
 ducts, some still supplying precious water to the fountains of the 
 ' ' Eternal City ' ' ; some standing like great skeletons in magnificent 
 decay, telling the story of fallen greatness. The wide expanse is 
 dotted with masses of ruined brickwork ; tombs, temples and palaces ; 
 the remains of that great city of more than 2,000,000 inhabitants, 
 which has been reduced to 200,000. The fertility of the soil remains, 
 but not a habitable dwelling is to be seen till we approach Albano on 
 the first outlying spur of the Apennine range, along which the road 
 ran all the way. The valleys are cultivated, the hills crowned with 
 Castles and ^lonasteries and Cities ; the miserable wrecks of Veientian 
 and Samnite towns, retaining the same names nearly, and often 
 honoured by ruins of their aboriginal glory. 
 
 Wheat seems to be the staple production and the fields are bril- 
 liantly green with the young growth. Here and there the road lay so 
 high that we got into the range of olive and grape culture for short 
 distances. Much of the distance the railroad excavations exposed a 
 layer of lava a few feet beneath the surface, and the rocks were gen- 
 erally of Volcanic origin, though an occasional vein of marble would 
 protrude. A bright day would have rendered the entire ride charming. 
 After we crossed the Vulturnus and emerged from the valley between 
 the Volscian and Veientian hills, the sun emerged from the dense pall 
 of cloud, cast a glorious bow from mountain to mountain, and revealed 
 the iro7i clad range bej^ond in glittering brightness ; while orange trees 
 loaded with golden fruit, directly on the road side, assured us that the 
 frost never ventured from its mountain recesses into these plains, an 
 assurance we required for our comfort, since we were sitting in the car 
 with all the windows closed not only dressed in the warmest winter 
 clothing, but wrapped in all our blanket shawls ; and cold with that. 
 It was a strange combination of incongruous elements. 
 
 It was dusk when we reached the environs of Naples, and I was 
 not able to convince some of the party that the very modest hill which 
 rose beside our way with a veil of vapour about its brow, was the 
 Vesuvius of which they had read so much, and imagined so much 
 more ; and it was only when they found there was nothing higher or 
 more formidable looking, that they yielded a reluctant assent, and 
 abandoned their hopes and fears. They certainly did hope to be terri- 
 fied by ' ' Chimeras dire. ' ' We have yet, of course, seen nothing but 
 the splendid well lighted shops which lined the streets through which 
 we drove from the railroad depot to the Hotel des Etats Unis, which lies at 
 
 328
 
 the extreme opposite end of the town. It was like the drive through 
 London, we thought we should never get here. Our parlour over- 
 looks the bay, so universally acknowledged to be the most beautiful in 
 the World, and will enable us to enjoy the sunsets should the cloudy 
 weather terminate during our stay here, which we have decided to 
 limit to one week in order to have the greater fulness of the Nile, 
 which is already nearly at its highest, and falls rapidly. 
 
 Among other interesting visits made at Rome one was to the 
 studio of an American artist named Tilton who spent last winter on 
 the Nile and exhibited to us his portfolio of drawings made on the 
 spot. They are his studies from which he paints to order pictures ot 
 great beauty. We saw some on his easel which made us quite covet- 
 ous. He estimates his drawings at thousands each, and their beauty 
 justifies it. He advised us to go immediately as every day's delay 
 diminished our comfort in the voyage. 
 
 2 1 St. 
 
 The 2oth we spent quietly as possible, going twice to church ; in 
 the morning to that of the Scotch mission, and in the afternoon I 
 alone to the English church, more distant ; in both edified, in the last 
 comforted bj' a sermon on the loving kindness and power of Jesus, from 
 the text "lam the resurrection and the Life" ; not will be, hut a f/i 
 7101V. If He lives in us now in resurrection power giving us newness 
 of life, we need not fear to trust Him in the hour of death and the day 
 of Judgment ; may such be the happy experience of each of us at 
 home and abroad. 
 
 I was obliged on ni}^ way to pass what I then thought the place 
 most confounding of all confounded places since the day of the dis- 
 persion at Babel, the Chiaja crowded with every kind and class of 
 vehicle, carrying representatives of every grade of human life, from 
 the ragged beggar to the noble prince, all driving at the utmost speed 
 of their several animals from donkeys and ponies to splendid 
 turnouts. 
 
 The bay spread its calm bosom to the soft light. Capri reared its 
 huge misshapen rocks in the midst, looking as though it were still the 
 residence of the gloomy Tiberius, surrounded by voluptuous beauty 
 even in the midst of his morose withdrawal from the duties of 
 Empire. Misenum thrust itself out into the blue Tyrrhenian Sea on 
 the one side, and Vesuvivts raised its cone, capped with sulphurous 
 vapour on the other. The entire circtiit of the shore was lined with 
 houses which in the distance looked beautiful, while the heights above 
 were covered with villas and gardens. Such, only more thickly 
 peopled, more highly ornamented with costly temples and gorgeous 
 palaces, it was on that August day, nearly 2000 years ago, whose mor- 
 row was ushered in by the wail of lamentation over buried homes and 
 lost loved ones ; while dark clouds of ashes still obscured the sim, and 
 
 329
 
 thundering noises and frightful oscillations of the earth asserted the 
 unexhausted power to destroy which still threatened to overwhelm 
 those who had escaped the living burial of so many. 
 
 On our way to the disinterred remains of Pompeii we passed through 
 the ' ' Piazza Lazaroni ' ' with its teeming thousands, its crowding 
 donkey carts, its cracking whips, its market, its cook-shops, its 
 money changers' stalls, its scribes, its jests and its laughter ; where 
 everything betokens poverty and gloom, its children licking from the 
 stones of the street that which had been dropped by some careless 
 passer, all jostling each other like so many ants around their hill and 
 what with the cries of the several venders of their various wares, the 
 bandied jokes of the jostling crowd, the cracking of the whips of the 
 drivers (they are wondrously skilful in cracking loud and long and 
 frequently), it was enough to fill our hearts with sadness at the thought 
 of so many immortals, ignorant and unmindful of their responsibility, 
 and with wonder at the powtr of endurance which man possevsses. 
 How do the children survive and live and thus keep up this hive from 
 age to age ? I shall leave Pompeii till another letter. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Naples, Nov. 21, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Here am I seated in a window opening on to the bay, catching the 
 last beams of the parting sun, while your mother and the other mem- 
 bers of the party rest themselves from an afternoon drive. I declined 
 going, as the object was merely to see the people of Naples on a fete 
 day, and I was convinced that would not compensate for the weariness 
 of sitting to be driven around the same circle. Their experience con- 
 firms m}^ judgment ; though your mother sa3^s the first impression 
 was verj' striking, but much the same as that I saw in the Chiaja on 
 my return from church on Sunday. 
 
 This morning we drove along the Chiaja to the tunnel through 
 Mount Posilipus ; and through that most ancient excavation to the 
 Lake Agnano, evidently the crater of an extinct volcano. The tunnel 
 is half a mile long ; cut through /lard lava and must have been a work 
 of great labour as we have no record of the time at which it was made 
 and suppose that those who executed it had no knowledge of any 
 explosive material, and must have accomplished it by dint of patient 
 cutting with picks and chisels. It is loity, and wide enough to permit 
 carriages to pass each other readil5^ The view across the bay, 
 terminated by snow clad mountains, everything being excluded but 
 those points which were immediately opposite the end of the tunnel, 
 was very impressive. At Lake Agnano there are caves in the lava 
 
 330
 
 hill, the sides of which are so hot that my fingers smarted for hours 
 after having thoughtlessly thrust them into a crevice ; and we found 
 it impossible to remain long in them. The openings in the roof, like 
 chimneys, carried out the heated vapour which was condensed as it 
 reached the open cool air. while the sides of the caves are encrusted 
 with sulphur. Though we have dined since, the taste still adheres to 
 my mouth. Stamping on the floor makes the whole ground shake ; 
 and gives a hollow resonance, proving that we stand on the vault 
 formed over a vast Volcano, which though dormant now, is not extin- 
 guished ; and mephitic gases exude from chasms in the earth at 
 various places. One was long celebrated as the " grotto del cane,'" 
 into which it was the habit of guides to thrust hapless dogs till they 
 were suffocated by the carbonic acid gas and then resuscitate them by 
 dragging them into the fresh air. 
 
 In returning we drove across the promontory called Posilipo, and 
 enjoyed the unrivalled beauty of the view. It may well be called 
 unrivalled even now, and I do not wonder at the old Grecian, lo?ig 
 before the days of Romaji conquest, who gave his villa here the name ot 
 Pausilypon, said to mean ' ' Beyond trouble ' ' ; from which the modern 
 name is derived. Where else can one look at the same moment on 
 the broad blue sea, across the smoking volcano to the ranges of snow 
 clad mountains, the intervening country filled with vineyards and 
 gardens ; and the entire circuit of shore covered with beautiful villas ? 
 Naples itself rising tier above tier at the one side, while on the other 
 Capri and Ischia and Procida lift their picturesque rocks from the blue 
 sea, studded with the sails and smoking steam pipes of vessels coming 
 and going. 
 
 As Magna Grsecia this Southern Italy was one of the great centres 
 of civilization in the earliest periods of human history ; and in the 
 golden age of Rome it was the chosen resort of her nobles and princes 
 and poets and philosophers. Virgil is said to have written his ^neid 
 in this neighbourhood ; and Augustus to have frequented its beautiful 
 retreats. Near the sight of Virgil's supposed residence stands a 
 modern villa surrounded by beautiful gardens and trees, called ' ' Mon 
 Caprice, ' ' of which I said as we passed it, ' ' what a delightful spot ! ' ' 
 I never saw one so modest j^et so attractive in itself and in its out- 
 look. 
 
 Yesterday we spent in visiting Pompeii. We drove to it as I 
 mentioned in my last, through the most densely populated and especi- 
 ally Neapolitan part of Naples. The road lay along the margin of the 
 bay passing above Herculaneum and skirting the foot of Vesuvius. 
 It is one continuous line of dwellings, some of them palaces, some 
 churches ; more of them houses consisting of one room, an arched 
 vault with a door. This stands open all day and all the pursuits of 
 life are carried forward at its entrance or on the road side. Some of the 
 palaces and large residences have ranges of dwellings of this kind on 
 
 331
 
 the level of the street. I mention this now as it will enable you the 
 better to understand the ruins of Pompeii. 
 
 Vesuvius had not been an active Volcano at any previous known 
 period, and in the year 34 after the birth of our Lord the entire district 
 l3dng between its base and the sea was densely peopled and cultivated 
 and occupied by three large cities, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. 
 In that year violent earthquakes shook them all and ruined many of 
 the houses and temples and theatres. This devastation was being 
 repaired when in the year 79 in the month of August, the day was 
 obscured by the immense amount of ashes suddenly thrown out of the 
 summit of Vesiivius, which was then cultivated on all its sides, and 
 crowned with villas on its summit. The Roman fleet then lay at 
 anchor in the harbour of Misenum, at the opposite side of the bay, 
 under command of the Elder Pliny, — the Naturalist. It is years since 
 I read the letters of his nephew, Pliny the younger, in which he 
 describes to his friend Tacitus, the historian, the terrible scene, but it 
 is vividlj-- impressed on my memory and as I now visit the spot comes 
 clearly before me. 
 
 Ages passed by, Pliny was not read in Italy ; Scoria lava, and 
 ashes covered the cities and villas and vine}- ards ; and new towns and 
 vineyards were planted on the soil slowly formed out of the disinte- 
 grated molten stones vomited forth from the mountain. In digging a 
 well in his vineyard a simple rustic opened into the buried town and 
 dug up statues when he sought for water. I do not remember precisely 
 the period but at various times since, the town has been explored and 
 now it lies once more in the light of day, and we saw yesterday one 
 of its mansions being emptied of its ashes which had lain in it nearly 
 2000 years. Many men and boys were busy with shovels and baskets 
 removing the accumulation and three or four chambers were opening 
 as we stood there, the walls as clean and fresh as though they had 
 been occupied ; and covered with rich and beautiful frescos of animals 
 and birds. We have seen none better in all our visits to the works of 
 the masters. The birds were flying, the animals browsing. There 
 was an elephant, a buffalo, a cow, a goat, a peacock life sized and with 
 a beautiful and graceful tail, monkeys. The walls were colored deep 
 purple and divided into compartments by festoons and wreaths of 
 beautiful flov/ers, looking fresh and wonderfully well drawn. It must 
 have been the residence of taste and affluence. 
 
 We had sauntered for hours along the well paved streets still 
 marked deeply in ruts worn by the carriage wheels, crossed at many 
 places by raised stepping stones like those of Baltimore, only many 
 times larger and more convenient ; and skirted by well curbed foot- 
 ways. We had stopped in wine shops (one ot which has some dozen 
 or more Amphora or earthen wine casks, each holding a barrel, still 
 standing with the maker's name dearly stamped on the edge) looking 
 as fresh as though they had been made recently ; and baker's shops and 
 
 332
 
 cook shops ; we had wandered amid the columns of their temples and 
 stood on the beautiful mosaic floors of their baths, and admired the 
 luxurious arrangements for their frequenters ; but nothing wias so 
 beautiful as this, the last house they have emptied of the dust of ages. 
 In manj' of the others the figures and ornaments are such as prove the 
 moral debasement of heathenism. In this there is nothing to offend 
 the most fastidious taste. Wine shops were at many street corners ; 
 and so were fountains, the edges of the stone worn into depressions 
 by the friction of the vessels which had been dipped into them. 
 
 One house, the villa of Diomedes was ver^^ extensive, and must 
 have enjoyed a beautiful view from its pillared court j^ard, while the 
 extensive cellars beneath, with the wine jars still standing in rows 
 proving the purpose to which it was appropriated, shows that the 
 occupant was a hospitable citizen. Tombs are near ; on one of which is 
 recorded the name of a priest, and on another the name of Domitia 
 and the simple story " Vix XII annos Vixit." 
 
 But few remains of the inhabitants have been found ; which is 
 accounted for by the known fact that there was a fall of ashes of some 
 foot deep which preceeded the great and overwhelming shower ; thus 
 giving warning to the population, most of whom escaped from the 
 town though they may have been overtaken in the fields. Some skele- 
 tons were found in various houses, and positions ; and are still shown 
 in one of the rooms which is filled with jars and vases and pans and 
 lamps and braziers and variotis household implements. There are 
 many loaves of bread which were found in the Bakers' shop, just the 
 same shape and size as those that are put on our table here to-day. 
 But most of the articles found are removed to the Museum to which 
 we shall go to-morrow and the next day if nothing prevents. You may 
 find it interesting to look at the book on Pompeii which used to be 
 on the table. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 We have taken passage from this port to Alexandria to sail on 
 Tuesday next stopping at Messina. 
 
 Naples, November 27, 1871. 
 My Dear Brother : {^Galloway Chestofi) 
 
 The crowding events of travel and visiting objects of interest do 
 not expel from our minds or hearts those we have left at home nor pre- 
 vent our taking a lively interest in all that concerns them. Our letters 
 last evening have occasioned us much solicitude on your account and 
 dear Margaret, knowing as we well do how keenly you sympathize 
 with the trials of others and how heavy a load rests iipon you. Cheston 
 in his letter mentions that he was about going to the Hospital to visit 
 
 333
 
 " Young James Carey " who was there, a patient. This leaves us in 
 doubt as to the exact person thus afflicted. His alhision to the simi- 
 larity of the case to that of Frank Murray would cause us to apprehend 
 it may be your neighbor, but the term young would appear to exclude 
 him and reduce it to his son or George's. It is a sore aflBiction be it 
 which it may and we shall look with anxiety for further news at Cairo 
 where we hope to find letters in about a week from this time. We 
 have taken our passage for Alexandria in an Italian Steamer of some 
 2500 tons built last year at Glasgow and running from Leghorn to the 
 East. She is said to be a fast and fine ship and well officered. We 
 have chosen this route for two reasons. In the first place the Railroad 
 trip from here to Brindisi is a long one involving fifteen hours in the 
 cars, leaving here at 9 p. m. and not arriving at Brindisi till 12 or i 
 p. M. next day, without stopping. It is very cold crossing the moun- 
 tains and the cars are poor and dirty. Then while the accommodations 
 are said to be good on the Italian line, the cost is only half that on the 
 Peninsular and Oriental Company's line. Again, we reach Brindisi 
 not knowing how full the steamer might be with passengers going all 
 the way to India, who of course have the preference over way passen- 
 gers, and as Brindisi is the last stopping place there is risk we might 
 have imperfect accommodation. 
 
 A heavy storm which has been raging two days has caused a very 
 heavy swell in the bay so that we suppose it may be very rough out- 
 side. I shrink from the sea; especially as it carries us further from 
 home, and requires to be crossed again on our return, as the sanitary 
 state of Constantinople is such that we must abandon our pur- 
 pose of returning by that way. I believe the object we had before us 
 in the journey is being accomplished and hope if we are favored 
 to return to our homes we may be thankful for having ventured. We 
 have enjo3'ed much pleasure and endured many toils and I feel daily 
 that the term of our earthly pilgrimage cannot be far distant. In 
 looking back I find everj'thing to be forgiven and I pray for more faith 
 to realize more fully the blessed truth that " He hath borne our sins in 
 His own bod}- on the tree " — and to exercise an abiding faith in the 
 full perfect and sufficient satisfaction and atonement made for the sins 
 of the world. Knowing the corruption of my own nature I feel anxious 
 that m}' children, and children's children maybe ''kept,'" "in the 
 world," "from the evil that is in the world" and would fain help 
 them all I may, but God will provide the best means for the end, and 
 I endeavor to trust His mercy truth and grace. 
 
 Anne and I certainly endure much more fatigue than I had thought 
 possible for either of us. We do not go all lengths with some of 
 the part}'. We did not drive up Vesuvius and, as all the others did, we 
 are sometimes tantalized by reports of weird and awful grandeur of 
 the immense ocean of lava which lies mile after mile thrown into 
 strange contortions by the successive surging force of the molten 
 
 334
 
 streams as they spouted out and ran over each other. We did visit the 
 old crater, known as the Solfatara, and another, now a marshy lake, with 
 caves beside it so hot from the volcanic fire beneath that j-ou cannot 
 bear your hand upon the wall. In the Solfatara there is still an open- 
 ing of considerable size sending out a continous flow of vapor so hot 
 that one cannot put one's hand near it, and a stone thrown on the soil 
 gives a hollow reverberating sound so closel)^ resembling a subter- 
 ranean explosion that I took it to be such. 
 
 The temple of Serapis was a massive structure which has been 
 submerged and elevated again, and is now again slowly sinking in the 
 water of the bay ; and a mound of some hundreds of feet perpendicular 
 elevation was raised in a few hours some three centuries since. Every- 
 thing around is volcanic. 
 
 The crowd of people here is wonderful. It is like a great ant hill, 
 lam oppressed by a feeling of their wretchedly ignorant condition. 
 They seem to enjoy their life like the animals. They live in cave-like 
 dwellings with no fire places and no windows. The door admits light 
 and permits them egress to the street in which all the domestic duties 
 and all the pursuits of the artisan are carried forward. At night they 
 must lie down in squads. We see as we pass, the bedding piled against 
 the wall, where there is any. This remark is of course applicable only 
 to the humbler classes. 
 
 The residences of the afiiuent are grand and beautiful. But every- 
 thing sunk into insignificance when contrasted with those which have 
 been exhumed from the tomb in which they have been so many centu- 
 ries. The beauty of the ornamentation, and of the various works ol 
 statuary they contained are bej'ond discription. I feel loth to tear 
 myself away with so superficial an observation as our ten days stay 
 has permitted. Yet it is very fatiguing work to stand hour after hour 
 among marbles and bronzes and mosaics and frescos, each vying in 
 beauty with the other. Then there are hall after hall of hundreds of 
 feet long, filled with instruments and implements of daily use ; 
 illustrating perfectly the habits of the people. Their overthrow was 
 entire. 
 
 In the Amphitheatre at Puteoli, capable of seating some 30,000 
 persons, the mason work of the lower story is almost entire ; its arches 
 cracked in some j^laces, but still entire, looking so fresh that one can 
 scarcely credit the assertion that they have been buried for centuries. 
 Yet there lie the heaps which have been dug out of them, and there 
 are still portions filled up, as those now open were. About the cleared 
 spaces lie immense broken marble columns, large as those of our 
 capitol, and we see their ends and angles protruding from the mass 
 which fills to the top the yet unexcavated arches. By what force 
 were these columns carried into these arches and the arches thus 
 packed full ? Wistar and I have endeavored in vain to solve the 
 mystery. There they lie ; there are the arches, above which they 
 
 335
 
 stood, still unbroken, and beneath them packed in Volcanic matter, 
 the columns, weighing tons. 
 
 2 p. M. 
 
 The weather is finer than it has been since our arrival and we 
 have enjo3'ed a drive to the heights overlooking the town. The trees 
 have lost their foliage except the orange and lemon. The air is fresh 
 and the sun warm. The entire population crowding the streets. It is 
 the most crowded and noisy place we have yet been in. We shall long 
 to hear from 3'ou and hope j'ou may be able to give us good accounts 
 of Margaret and Mary Ellen. 
 
 Give our love to the one and remember us most kindly to the 
 
 other. 
 
 Yours affectionatel}^ and gratefully, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Bay of Naples, 6 p. m. 
 Tuesday November 28, 1871. 
 
 Mr. Rhen has just come in and says give my love to Cheston and 
 my kind regards to his wife, and also to your uncle Israel. 
 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 You none of you can appreciate you mother. You must have 
 seen her within the last few hours to be able to do so. Cheerful and 
 bright herself, giving light and life to all around her in the midst of 
 discouraging and disagreeable circumstances. We are here at anchor 
 when we had every reason to suppose we should have been half way to 
 Messina. I made inquir}% in compan}' with Mr. Rhen, not only of the 
 agents but of the clerg5^man resident here, and received accounts ol 
 the character of the line (which starts from Genoa, stops at Leghorn, 
 and this place, and ISIessina, and Alexandria, and on to Bombay), so 
 satisfactory that neither your uncle nor mj^self had any hesitation in 
 giving the decision in favour of this in preference to that by Brindisi, 
 which involved a night and day journey by railroad without stopping ; 
 across the mountains and in poor cars. The early hours of the morn- 
 ing were dawdled away because we were afraid to leave the hotel as we 
 had been notified to be on board the "Persia" at 12 M. She lay in the 
 harbour some distance from the mole. We left at 1 1 A. m. and in two 
 boats were rowed out to her. You know your mother's aversion to 
 such things and may judge how thankful I was to get her safely on 
 board without any distvirbance of her feelings. As we approached the 
 steamer I saw her surrounded by a crowd of lighters laden with bales 
 of hay, boxes of macaroni, casks and merchandise, bags and bales of 
 every description, and a large number heavily laden with dressed 
 stones for pavement. I said at once they could not take it aboard and
 
 sail for several hours even with the two donkey engines which were 
 actively engaged in taking it in. When we reached the deck we found 
 others had the same idea for there was a regular bazaar opened for the 
 sale of cameo and lava and coral jewelry, gloves, matches, etc., and 
 soon a blind beggar, with two little girls and their guitars, boarded us 
 and began a performance for the relief of the passengers who crowded 
 the deck. There were English, Americans, Germans, Italians and Turks 
 in the chief cabin. In the second and third class saloons a motley 
 crowd of men, women and children, and as we sat at dinner just now 
 we had verj^ frequent evidence that there was a strong representation 
 of the insect world such as I had been accustomed to combat on my 
 voyage from Calcutta, proving very //^satisfactorily that she had made 
 at least one voyage to the peninsular of hither India. Well ! I have 
 noticed that the sound of the donke3^'s braying had altered much since 
 I began to write, and just now 6^ p. M. your mother sends me word 
 ' ' the anchor is weighed " so we are started at last. The agents when 
 we took our passage assured us there was no occasion for anxiety 
 about accommodation as there was ample first saloon accommodation 
 for sixty passengers. When we got on board we found no captain, 
 but the steward told us every state room was full ! We were in a 
 straight. By some management we secured one saloon or stateroom 
 for the six ladies of the party and one other English lady, and one of 
 the officers gave up his room for your uncle W., Mr. Longstreth and 
 myself, so far as the aborigines would recognize the right of transfer by 
 the bipeds. We loitered about the deck watching the process of load- 
 ing, and talking over our disappointed hopes and encouraging each 
 other in cheerful expectation till a^Yz when we were summoned to 
 dinner. Happily we had acted on my suggestion that a bit of bread 
 and some Italian wine would be proper before leaving the hotel, as we 
 might not be able to eat when dinner time arrived. Else we should 
 have been faint before it came, though there was no heaving or rolling 
 of the waves to impair our appetite. It was a good Italian dinner of 
 some eight courses, keeping us occupied until six. The entire com- 
 pany, myself excepted, are now on deck and the undulations of the 
 table warn me that it may be well for me to join them. The moon is 
 just rising and I must take my last look at Naples and Vesuvius and 
 not miss Capri and Sorrento. The paving stones of our cargo will 
 keep the ship steady. They are for the streets of Cairo, Egypt. The 
 Khedive does not spare expense in his efforts for improvements. I 
 fear some of the people who supply the means may kneel, like those 
 who are represented in the vase I described, and vainly declare they 
 have no more to give. Our captain commands respect and confidence 
 by his countenance and bearing, and the engineer, with whom I had 
 several chats, is a highly respectable looking and intelligent English- 
 man. He tells me that the ships of this line were built at New Castle 
 on Tyne, and that they have been accustomed to send them there for 
 
 337
 
 repair. The strike lately among the engineers and mechanics there 
 has resulted in the establishment of workshops at Genoa for building 
 iron steamers. The Italian government encourages it by admitting 
 the iron for the purpose without duty and it is under the superintend- 
 ance of English machinists and promises success. 
 With much love to all. 
 
 Yours afft. father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Straits of Messena, Nov. 29, 1871. 
 The Autochthonous (that is not the name of the natives of the soil) 
 did not demolish us. We did not strip to the contest and were agree- 
 ably disappointed at finding we had rested during the night. The 
 morning claimed a tribute to the sea and we still find ourselves the 
 worse for its exactions, though the sea is now smooth and the weather 
 pleasant. We passed Stromboli with its mass of Pumice stone and 
 sulphur, smoking at the top ; and now see what we supposed to be 
 Etna on rur right and the Calabrian shore on our left. Your mother 
 is lying down to rest. We shall part with our only pleasant fellow 
 passengers, an English gentleman and his wife. (I do not refer to the 
 Rhens, they are for the time as ourselves.) I shall entrust this to them 
 to mail for you. You may make a note not to take passage on Italian 
 Steamers in the Mediterranean if any other can be had. Meats Italian ; 
 no stewards ; second and third class passengers about the deck eating 
 Macaroni, etc., and the first class passengers not very mindful ot 
 elegance in their habits. Ship not so fast as we had expected. We 
 should have been at Messina at twelve. It is now not probable we 
 shall reach there before 4 p. m. But we acted as we thought wisely, 
 hoping to escape a hard land journey. We shall not reach Alexandria 
 before Sunday morning at earliest. It is now Wednesday afternoon. 
 We will only pray for deliverance from storms and safe arrival. Cheston 
 will please give my most grateful remembrance to my many kind 
 friends, and patients. Biddies, Clarks, Halls and others whom I cannot 
 enumerate. We were sorry to hear that Cousin Hannah and Mrs. EUis 
 had been sick. Our best love to them. Tell Dr. Hartshorne I found 
 his letter valuable and am greatly obliged by his labour in preparing 
 it. Remember me also to Mr. Welsh and if on duty at Hospital to 
 
 Dr. Knight, Mr. J. C. Cresson, Mr. (I cannot recall his name, 
 
 one of our best managers living on Arch near Sixteenth). You will 
 see the influence of seasickness. 
 
 Steamer "Persia," Dec. 2, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 That I should be able thus before breakfast to take my seat at a 
 table in the Cabin to write, will, to those of you who have had anj' 
 experience of sailing, speak more clearly of our comfort than any
 
 elaborate efforts at words. We have the smoothest sea, the purest sky, 
 the balmiest breeze, that ever gave pleasure to the voluptuary. The 
 mate in making an entry in his log yesterday used the date of April. 
 So you see he is somewhat of an enthusiast about the weather, and 
 knows how genial it is. I must add our name to the list of those who 
 have made the vain effort to communicate an idea of the glory of the 
 sunrise here. It is ahnost equal to that from our chamber window at 
 Ivy Neck, where I have so often watched the deep lake color of the 
 clouds which curtained the windows of the East, yield to the paler 
 crimson of the living gold, as the horizon on the bay of Chesapeake 
 gradually descended, till, with a bound " rejoicing as a strong man to 
 run his race," the glorious lord of day sprang instantly into view, 
 throwing his horizontal rays into our chamber. Just such was the 
 vision which greeted my ej^es. Yesterday we skirted the southern 
 shore of Crete, the land of Minos, and saw its snow-clad peaks — Mount 
 Ida I suppose among them. (Ida was the birth place of Jupiter and 
 the home of the gods in Crete, was it not ? I am sadly rusty and have 
 no manner of rubbing up.) It is an zVzhospitable shore now ; void of a 
 dwelling place for man so far as we can trace it ; and we were near 
 enough all day to see them if there had been any. Some parts were 
 so savage and inhospitable that the question was discussed how far it 
 would be a refuge to be desired by any one wrecked, even leaving out 
 of the question the character of the Turkish lords for barbarous cruelty, 
 and the consequent degradation of its poor Greek dwellers. The shore 
 was precipitous and naked except a few poor stunted shrubs clinging 
 here and there to the cliffs. 
 
 It is now Saturday morning and we have been on board since noon 
 Tuesday. As you will have inferred from my letter from the roads of 
 Messina, we have had some discomforts ; but the smooth seas of 
 yesterday and to-day with the cooling breezes and soft temperature 
 •have reconciled us to a lot which, if it did not cause murmurs of dis- 
 content, did cause your mother to determine that however loudly we 
 may whistle on the Nile, we were ''paying for our whistle " now. The 
 cabin of the steamer is a fine one, but the peculiarity of our party, 
 having so large a proportion of females has subjected thein to great 
 discomfort ; as the part appropripated to their service does not afford 
 proper space for more than four or five and there are six of them. 
 The English lady who left at Messina made a seventh the first night. 
 Your Uncle and Mr. L,. and myself have a very comfortable state-room, 
 but we cannot make any change with your mother and aunts which 
 would not involve still greater discomfort to them than they now 
 have. 
 
 We have a careful and skilful engineer and gentlemanly captain ; 
 but as the harbour of Alexandria cannot be entered at night, and they 
 thought we could not reach it before six this evening, they are saving 
 coals, and making slow speed, so as to make it at daylight to-morrow. 
 
 339
 
 Meanwhile we have recovered our stomachs enough to tolerate Italian 
 cooking ; take a cup of coffee and a biscuit when we first rise ; a break- 
 fast of courses of meats and macaroni, and fine pears and grapes, with 
 nothing to drink but Italian weak wine at lo A. m. ; and a table d'' Jiote 
 dinner, served in courses, from 5 to 6j^ p. M. 
 
 Your mother finds her knitting an inexhaustable ally, and I catch 
 from her the virtue of patient resignation, only abridged by a feeling 
 of repentance at having subjected her to such trials from her love to 
 me. I have often before wondered what could have induced her to 
 accept such offers as I had to make even in the hopeful season of youth, 
 but never before realized so fully how wonderful has been the constancy 
 which endured, notwithstanding the constantly recurring disappoint- 
 ment of those hopes. She is the life and soul of the party, rising 
 above every depressing influence. 
 
 We have found the Rhens quite an agreeable addition to our circle, 
 and also a father and son named Morely from Boston, who came on 
 board at Messina and are likelj' to join the Rhens in a Dahabeyah on 
 the Nile. It is delightful to see father and son traveling together ; the 
 son not less than twenty-five years old. Mrs. Morely was left in Rome. 
 She has previously travelled in Turkey and Russia and they are highly 
 cultivated people. The other passengers (there are twenty-four of us 
 in the main cabin) are German, Italian and Swiss ; well behaved 
 people. 
 
 There are two other classes of passengers ; one in the stern cabin 
 and another in the forward cabin. This arrangement renders the first 
 class passengers uncomfortable by the intrusion on our deck of some 
 very dirty disagreeable people. But we have decided to make the best 
 of it and be thankful if our Heavenly Father "bring us in safety to 
 the haven where we would be. ' ' And O how earnestly do I desire 
 that, not for that only, but for all the unmerited mercies of His 
 Fatherly goodness, our hearts may be duly thankful ; and that not 
 with our lips only, but in our lives we ma}^ shew forth the praises of 
 His grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. 
 
 There is a feeling of depression comes over me when I think of 
 having turned our backs on those lands which possess the light of the 
 truth, and being about for six months to wander among those who 
 know not the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and I desire to feel 
 more clearly that He is all our salvation and all our desire. No man 
 Cometh to the father but by " 7ne " is his own testimony at the same 
 time that He warns t/s, ' < children of the light, and of the day ' ' that 
 ' ' they should come from the east and from the west and sit down with 
 Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in His Kingdom, while the children 
 of that Kingdom shall be cast out." We are now the Children of 
 the Kingdom, as the Jews once were. "Are we better than they?" 
 Nay we are all under sin. It is all of grace that no man should 
 boast. 
 
 340 
 
 I
 
 Noon. 
 
 Your mother has jiist resigned her pen and taken her knitting. 
 It is so warm and sunny on deck that we prefer the shade and coolness 
 of the cabin, though most of the passengers are on deck. I have been 
 reading up Murray on Alexandria while she wrote, and find as I had 
 previously thought there is nothing to detain us there, so that on 
 Monday I presume we shall go to Cairo. 
 
 Alexandria was once the seat of the largest commerce of the world 
 under the Romans ; as under the Ptolomies it had been made the home 
 of science. The luxury and self-indulgence of its inhabitants is exhib- 
 ited in the pages of Athenaeus, a recorder of dinner table talk in the 
 fourth century which is in the library at Ivy Neck, and proves that 
 then as now wealth gives birth to idleness and luxury. The same 
 record ; whether read on Egyptian tombs, Etruscan vases, records of 
 table talk of voluptuaries, or the sensational novels of our day. Man 
 is corrupt, eats and drinks and is merry, forgetting the Giver of everj^ 
 good gift, and requires such lessons as that taught by the Egyptian 
 herald who entered the banqueting rooms of their Kings to remind 
 them " Thou too must die. " The text in dear Mrs. Cope's book for 
 to-day is apropos. "So teach us to number our days that we may 
 apply our hearts unto wisdom." 
 
 8 p. M. 
 A lovely soft evening, with multitudes of stars and a blue sky 
 with here and there a cloud. A large steamer has just met us, proba- 
 bl}^ the Peninsular and Oriental boat which leaves Alexandria on 
 Saturday morning, thus proving that we are within a few hours of our 
 haven. Your grandmother sits besides me closing her sheet and I will 
 just add God bless 3^ou all from a pure heart and fervently. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 It just occurs to me that I have not mentioned the very peculiar 
 blue of the INIediterranean. Not the deep dark blue of our sea, but an 
 indigo blue. It was very beautiful in contrast with the rock}' shores 
 of Crete. 
 
 Alexandria, Egypt, December 3, 1871. 
 Lord's Day, morning. 
 Afy Dear Children : 
 
 When you receive this let it move your hearts in unison with ours 
 at this moment when they overflow with thanksgiving to him who has 
 prospered our journeying thus far. We cannot feel too thankful, nor 
 commit our way too confidingly to His love. As I sat down and men- 
 tioned to your mother the date she said " Dear Tyson's birthday." 
 She afterward expressed a hesitation whether it was third or eighth. 
 It matters not which, this will prove to j'ou all, and to him especiallj', 
 
 341
 
 how we carry you individually as well as collectively in our heai'ts 
 wherever we go. We are awaj' from home — we are in Africa — we are 
 in Egypt ! all at once as my eyes rested on the shore it flashed across 
 ni}^ mind " The land of plagues " — the land in which the power of 
 God was displayed in wonders ; where " He made His power known" — 
 even now it is a wonderful land. What was then its grandeur ? 
 
 We have landed ; I will not now pause to sa}' how, or in what a 
 crowd of Arabs, Turks, Italians, Greeks and Armenians. We have 
 had our trunks turned out ; and our pockets searched by men with 
 colored faces, turbaned heads, long gowns, and petticoats pinned 
 together at the hem between the aides ; and, amid all this, have been 
 put into an omnibus in which we have been driven through crowds of 
 donkej'S and camels to the Hotel de 1' Europe, wheie English speaking 
 men have served us a good honest breakfast of bread and butter, coffee, 
 mutton chop, and fried potatoes ; by which otir animal nature has been 
 comforted ; and now I leave your mother having taken opium cam- 
 phor, etc., l3'ing on a divaii to rest, while I go to English Church, amid 
 these Mussulmen in their ' ' den . ' ' 
 
 ]\Iid-da5'. 
 St. Mark's Church, Alexandria, from which I have just returned 
 is a neat substantial structure and has a settled congregation of 
 English residents, most of them in the service of the Khedive or 
 employed hy the P. and O. Steamship Co. There was no service this 
 morning, only morning prayer and the Lord's Supper. Oh, it was so 
 delightful to see a settled homelike congregation of 3'oung men and 
 maidens, old men and children "in the house of the Lord," and to 
 unite with them in public worship and here to "show forth the Lord's 
 death." 
 
 Mondaj' morning, December 4, 1871. 
 Your mother had taken cold which, together with the discomfort 
 of the l:)ertlis and other accommodations on the steamer, caused her to 
 be very unwell all day yesterda}^ requiring liberal use of opium cam- 
 phor, etc. , and rendering it necessarj'^ she should be kept quiet ; so that 
 neither she nor I saw much of the strange spectacle passing in front 
 of the hotel ; a spectacle which can neither be conceived nor described. 
 Everything is strange though we are of course in the Frank quarter. 
 Red caps with long black tassels, cover all the heads ; around the 
 greatest number of these are wound white cloths, some larger and 
 some smaller according to the abilit}' of the wearer to buy, and some 
 clean and white, others dirty and ragged ; some in loose folds, others 
 rolled first into a rope and then coiled around. These are never 
 removed from the head ; respect in the East is shown by the removal 
 of the shoe from the foot, and not of the covering from the head. 
 Hence Moses is directed to take off the shoes from his feet in the pres- 
 ence of the Lord in the burning bush. 
 
 342
 
 Beneath the head the costume varies greatly. All is loose and 
 flowing ; but in shape, and color, and material, there is every variety 
 from pure white to glossy black ; and every condition, from that just 
 put on to the rags which scarce hang together. No idea of shape and 
 style can be given by description. There are loose jackets, many 
 colored bornouses, wide sashes rolled around the body ; but the lower 
 limbs are all clothed in loose plaited petticoats sewed together by the 
 hem, leaving on either side a hole just large enough to allow the foot 
 and ankle to pass through. 
 
 But few women are on the streets and they of the poorer classes. 
 Their bodies are dressed much as those of the men, but their heads are 
 covered with a hood down to about an inch above the eyebrows. In 
 the middle of the forehead a brass ornament hangs down to the bridge 
 of the nose, on which is suspended a black veil by a stick or rod which 
 runs across the face just below the eyes. Thus the entire forehead and 
 face is covered except the space occupied by the ej-es. They carry 
 babies seated astride on one shoulder resting their arms on the head of 
 the nurse or mother. The streets swarm with these people. 
 
 In front of our window is a large basin with a jet of water. It is 
 amusing, as our supply of water is not drawn from it, to see men 
 washing their dirty feet, and women the dirty children, while beside 
 them others are kneeling down to drink, and carts are being filled to 
 haul it off for sale in other parts of the town. I have seen them wash 
 and then drink at the same spot. 
 
 Mingled with these motley groups of human beings are donkeys 
 with immensely long ears, short legs, and small bodies. Many of them 
 are white — but more, closely shaven, showing a mouse colored skin, 
 and some shaven in rows and figures as if tattoed, making them look 
 like pigmy Zebras. A man clothed as I have described, is generally 
 mounted on each donkey sitting directly over the hips of the beast ; 
 while behind runs a boy or man urging on the donkey, whose gait 
 is a quick trot or canter so that often the driver runs like one of our 
 old time fireman. I saw a lady riding (European) with a " syce" run- 
 ning before her just as I used to have in Calcutta; always just in 
 advance of the horse no matter what gait the rider chooses. So much 
 for the crowd. 
 
 Palm trees rise majestically in sight, and great trees of Euphorbia 
 Poinsetta hang their scarlet tips at the end of every branch, forming 
 a very showy ornamental tree. 
 
 The arrival at the custom house was a time of great amusement. 
 We had no sooner landed than we were accosted by Dragomen, 
 offering their services ; one telling me he had been with Dr. Newton ; 
 another with Mr. Lehman ; another with Dr. Camac. The}- had 
 already discovered we were Philadelphians. ]\Iingled with them were 
 custom house officials, in the flowing robes and turbans of the East ; 
 and Othello like complexions. They overhauled our trunks, and bags, 
 
 343
 
 and bundles ; and examined my pockets with the most imperturable 
 gravity, nothwithstanding the great amusement we all felt and freely- 
 expressed by our laughter as one article after another of female attire 
 was unrolled and left for us to replace in the trunks, as best we could 
 — no trifling undertaking, as you may suppose when I tell you that 
 the packing of oiir trunk had been the work of several hours ; and it 
 was so full as to require my weight on the lid to bring the clasp down 
 to the lock. Your mother'' s pockets escaped inspection ; but the oflBcer 
 looked astonished as he drew the silk hood dear Mellie gave her, out of 
 mine. By the way it has been a most valuable gift. 
 
 We have just returned from a drive of two hours through scenes 
 as varied as the people about the doors of the Hotel. In the Frank 
 quarter are elegant houses, built like the Italian palaces, enclosing 
 court-yards, entered by an arch way, with ofl&ces on the ground floor 
 and elegant apartments. 
 
 In the Arab quarter the houses are one storied, with flat roofs and 
 no windows ; crowded together like the cells in the honey comb. 
 Intermediate between these are others two or three stories high, each 
 story projecting above that below it till they nearly touch from the 
 opposite sides of the streets, which are so narrow that nothing but 
 donkeys and men can pass along them. Little closet like places, with 
 shelves around them serve for shops ; the owner seated, cross-legged 
 at the door which is as wide as the shop, no room for any one to enter ; 
 all the goods in which are exposed to view. Special squares are occu- 
 pied by the venders of each article ; all the fruit in one place, all the 
 fish in another, all the meats in another ; and so on through every 
 variety of article sold and we find collected here the product of the 
 looms of the East and the great factories of the West. 
 
 In the Frank quarter are large and elegant stores, with the usual 
 assortment of goods from China and Europe and America ; and good 
 stocks of them too. 
 
 The groves of Palm trees, and clusters of Bananas carry me 
 back to India, while some of the showy ornamental shrubs are quite 
 familiar to my eye from their resemblance to those I saw there. 
 Another familiar object is the water carrier with the skin of a goat 
 filled with water, thrown diagonally across his shoulders, the legs and 
 tail tied up, and sticking out, perfectly filled with the water ; and the 
 neck standing stiflQy out, and grasped in the right hand. It is filled and 
 emptied through this ; and the man walks about stopping to fill the 
 buckets and pots of his customers as they call on him. An aqueduct 
 brings the water of the Nile here and there are many places, like our 
 fireplugs, at which they fill their skins. There is now nothing 
 remaining of ancient Alexandria above ground. Its grand Museum 
 
 344
 
 and Serapeum with their libraries of 700,000 volumes are no more. 
 We did see one fine granite column lying at the corner of the street ; 
 and stopped before two fragments of what must when perfect have 
 been very admirable statues of Colossal size ; a Hercules in repose in 
 white marble, and a seated figure of some Roman in red porphyr}^. 
 The attitudes of both are excellent, but they stand by the waj'-side 
 amid the crowding Arabs and Turks ; looking sadly out of place. 
 We leave to-morrow morning for Cairo ^''here we hope to find letters 
 from our dear ones. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 The appearance of Alexandria is very imperfectl}^ described in ray 
 letters from that place. The Harbour, which is divided by a mole run- 
 ning through it to the light house on the site of the old Pharos, is 
 crowded with vessels of every size from the large Steamer of the P. & 
 O. Company to the felucca of the Ionian and other Greek Islands. 
 The site of the celebrated Pharos and the mole which sheltered the 
 Commerce of the World in ancient times, still lifts its light and pro- 
 vides shelter for the largest and more costly vessels of modern traffic 
 and few places so accessible from the scenes of modern Civilization 
 present so much that is novel to the eye of the voyager. 
 
 The still water of the basin afibrds an opportunity for the service 
 of countless lighters and skifis carrying passengers and merchandise 
 between the landing place and the shore. 
 
 All passengers must land at the Custom House in order to super- 
 intend the care of their luggage. The boatmen crowd around the 
 Steamer, men of every shade of color and variety of language and all 
 importunate for employment and struggling for an opportunity to 
 impose upon the new comer. In the conflict they manifest little regard 
 to each other's rights and we saw one deliberately throw another over- 
 board, and leave him to his own eflForts to escape drowning. When 
 one has been amused and worried by passing through this Babel of 
 sounds and Pandemonium of strife, and lands upon the Quay, it is to 
 pass into a still more exciting turmoil in which he is no longer a pas- 
 sive observer but must become an active participant. Custom Officers 
 seize upon trunks, boxes and bags ; and turn out the contents with an 
 intensity of determination to give as much trouble as possible, or 
 extort as large a fee for exemption as they think commensurate with 
 the pecuniarj'^ ability of one who has so much money that he wastes it 
 in running about the World to gratif}- an idle curiosity. Nor is the 
 traveller safe when he has gratified the cupidity or satisfied the curi- 
 osity of the first official. Another and another as he passes on asserts 
 his right to inspection, and resistance is not only useless but perilous. 
 
 We were not a little amused at the astonishment exhibited at some 
 of the unimaginable articles pulled from our pockets or dropped from 
 
 345
 
 our bags. A large collection of letters of the alphabet, designed for 
 spelling — games for your Cousin Mary which your Aunt Jane had in 
 her bag — excited no little suspicion of being some contraband matter ; 
 and the silk hood of your Mother which was found in my coat pocket 
 was thought a very extraordinary article of male attire, by the man 
 whose attention was caught by the projection of my breast pocket. 
 
 Patience and good humour carried us safely through and we 
 emerged from the shed in which we had been inspected to find our- 
 selves the prej^ of a horde of the same genus as that represented at our 
 own points of change in routes of travel, by the clamorous hackmen 
 shaking their whips in 3' our face, soliciting our patronage with a 
 pertinacity far from pleasant. Donkey drivers and owners of camels 
 take at Alexandria the place of cabmen with us, and are not a whit 
 behind their congeners in their anxiety to serve you. 
 
 These furnished the action of the strange picture ; while scowling 
 Arabs in long woolen garments thrown over the head and falling down 
 to the limbs, their heads bound by ropes by which the robe is retained 
 on the person, stood grouped in the background, a repulsive looking 
 crowd. They were pilgrims on their way to INIecca. One would 
 reluctantly fall into their power. They recalled bo3-hood's memories of 
 Capt. Riley's suffering among them. 
 
 Our way to the Hotel led us through crowded bazaars composed 
 of little shops in which were exposed for sale all the various 
 articles of food from the carcasses of sheep, with tails weighing nearly 
 a fourth of the entire weight of the body, to the filberts and walnuts 
 and semi-tropical fruits and vegetables which are used, though spar- 
 ingly, instead of the garden vegetables which enter so largel}' into the 
 consumption with us. 
 
 Camels swung their heavily laden bodies or their crooked legs 
 while their ungainly necks raised aloft their large heads, shaking from 
 side to side as they shuflfled along, with vicious looking eyes and dis- 
 gusting mouths from which there issued from time to time the most 
 discordant growls. One did not wonder at the complaints when one 
 looked at the rude arrangement by which their loads were supported 
 on their backs, which appear to be furnished with a hump as though 
 to render it impossible to make them beasts of burden. Saddles con- 
 sisting of rough timbers crossed like a wood sawyer's horse, were fixed 
 astride the obstacle and stones and rubbish, sugar cane and clover 
 freshly cut from the neighbouring fields were piled upon this primitive 
 arrangement and the animals filed along the crowded way utterly 
 regardless of every obstacle. It was truly '' saiive qjii peiit.'" 
 
 A seaport and an entrepot in several lines of Commerce, one 
 finds grouped in Alexandria the representatives of all the various 
 nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Jews of course (where is 
 traffic active and they not engaged in it) Turks, some of them fine 
 looking men of light complexion and well formed shape, set off by 
 
 346
 
 the well fitting collarless frock coat, which resembles so exactly the 
 recently adopted clerical costume that one wondered to see so many 
 priests with red fezzes and blue silk tassels on their heads — Moors from 
 Barbary, Copts from the valley of the Nile ; Arabs, the descendants of 
 the hordes brought to the west by the Saracenic Conquerors — 
 Greeks, the floating population of the INIediterranean Cities — Syrians, 
 the modern dwellers in the old land of Phenicia — with their immensely 
 wide skirts plaited and gathered in at the waist and tacked together 
 between the feet at the hem below. 
 
 It was through narrow streets and between dark and dirty hovels 
 and crowds such as these that we were drawn in an omnibus to the Hotel 
 de r Europe where large and well furnished apartments received us, 
 and we were waited on by Italian and Swiss upper servants assisted 
 by well trained Orientals. Shops and dwellings in European style 
 spread out on either side of us and we found ourselves in comfortable 
 quarters. 
 
 No one can associate modern Alexandria with one's ideas of the 
 Ancient town built by the great Greek conqueror, nearly 400 years 
 B. C. and said to be the the place of his entombment. He did not 
 terminate here his career of conqiiest, but after his death his body was 
 brought here by Ptolemy Lagus, and enshrined in a golden case for 
 which one of glass was substituted by a needy successor. 
 
 The scene of the abominations of successive Ptolemies and 
 Cleopatras, as well as the location occupied by the great Library col- 
 lected by one of them, for which he procured the translation into 
 Greek of the Hebrew Scriptures ; and the Museum and Serapeum, 
 grand endowments and loftj^ buildings devoted to cultivation and 
 dissemination of the science of the period, it is not less distinguished 
 as the scene of the struggles between Christianity and Paganism in 
 the early centuries of our era and the often bloody conflicts between 
 rival sects of the Christian faith at a later period. Origen and 
 Athanasius each found refuge here. 
 
 The table-talk of Athenreus exhibits the fact that in the 4th. 
 Century it was the seat of luxury and the resort of the wits of the 
 period, while the philosophy of Pliilo and the school of Plato refined 
 and cultivated the intellects but enfeebled and perverted from the 
 simplicity of its earlier faith, the doctrines of the Church of Christ. 
 
 Of all the grandeur which made it in the days of Ctesar and 
 Anthony as attractive, or even more so, than Rome itself, not a trace 
 remains except the mutilated statues I have mentioned and tlie 
 solitary shaft called Pompey's pillar and Cleopatra's Needle and 
 anotlier obelisk which lies dishonored in the dust trodden by crowds 
 of fellaheen clamorously demanding " backsheesh" from every visitor. 
 These obelisks formerly stood in the Temple of On at Heliopolis and 
 bear the hieroglyphic emblems of Osiris which gives them age as 
 that of 1500 years B. C. They were brought to Alexandria by one of 
 
 347
 
 the Caesars. That which stands is seventy feet high, of a single stone 
 of red granite. The fallen one was given as a troph}'- of its conquests, 
 to the British Government which has never been willing to incur the 
 cost of Transportation, though France has placed that given to it in 
 the Place de la Concorde at Paris. It is now sadly mutilated and ex- 
 posure to the air of the sea has caused such manifest disintegration 
 as proves that the preservation of the monuments and Temples of 
 Egypt is due to the character of the atmosphere rather than to the 
 material of which they are built. 
 
 Our visit was too hurried to allow of more than a hasty drive to 
 these remains of the ancient grandeur of the City which lies buried 
 hopelessly under heaps of rubbish. Indeed they are sad memorials of 
 a greatness once beyond conception and their corroded angles and bat- 
 tered sides accord with the crowds of naked and ragged semi-savages 
 who gather about them dailj^ to prey upon the curious visitors and 
 make one glad that there is nothing to induce a prolonged exposure to 
 their rude importunity. They call up visions of Pompey, Caesar, 
 Anthony and Cleopatra with all their splendor and luxury, but they 
 are visions only. All traces of the glor}" have vanished truly like the 
 baseless fabric of the dream. They stand at the portals of the shadowy 
 realms we are about to enter — appropriate specimens of the greater 
 ruins we are about to visit. 
 
 St. Mark's Church is a beautiful new Gothic structure surrounded 
 by neat grounds, and a drive through the suburbs led us past some very 
 pretty modern villas occupied by Europeans in some way employed 
 by the Khedive or transacting business on their own account. There 
 are many nice shops in the Frank quarter. 
 
 SoDOiki, Paris, Cairo, which shall I use ? Dec. 5th, 5 p. m. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 At 8 A. M. we left Alexandria by railroad and reached this place a 
 distance of 130 miles at 3 P. M. We left the Oriental world at Alexan- 
 dria ; passed through Egypt on our way hither ; and Jiozv find ourselves 
 in the midst of scenes as novel as those were, and differing from them 
 as widely as they from each other and all Irom any previous exper- 
 ience. The Khedive is bent on making this city an imitation ot 
 Paris. The hotel, in which we are, has a front equal to one of our 
 squares and though the style of architecture is Oriental, it is imitation 
 Oriental, looking as much like the original as English blue willow pat- 
 tern ware does like the ware of Canton or Nankin. Immediately vis- 
 a-vis is a public garden, the Esbekeej-ah, in which a band is discoursing 
 Western Music ; a circus of modern style and large capacity rises 
 beyond it, and within view a grand opera house as large and fine 
 
 K
 
 looking as that on Broad Street, offers its attractions to those who 
 desire to forget God and live their life in this world, unmindful of 
 that which is to come for which this is only the great school in which 
 character is to be formed. A large placard upon it annnoi:nces 
 " Othello the Moor of Venice" as the subject of the evening's enter- 
 tainment. Did Shakespeare suspect for a moment that he was writing 
 for Cairoians ? Wide streets are opening straight through the town, 
 and as we learned on board the steamer, the Khedive is importing from 
 Italy stones to pave them. Our steamer was laden with them and haj'^ 
 for his horses. 
 
 It is a large place ; has more than 200,000 inhabitants, and its 
 native bazaars and markets lie in other parts so that we have not yet 
 seen them. On our way to the banker's we passed through an inter- 
 mediate quarter occupied by what are known as Franks, being a 
 mixed population of German, French, Italian, Maltese and other 
 peoples ; the houses manj- stories in height, and each story projecting 
 beyond that below ; so that, above they nearly meet. In some cases 
 the street is roofed over, or a floor thrown across. Even in these parts 
 however the people have very little of the Oriental character. There 
 are more black coats, and the costumes are less flowing, and the num- 
 ber of Europeans is much larger in proportion to that ol the Egyptian 
 than at Alexandria. 
 
 There are beer houses and restaurants in imitation of those of 
 Brussels and Paris ; and even the horse shoers have signs 
 " Atelier a la Frajicaise.'" Your uncle and I walked this afternoon to 
 call on Rev. Dr. Lansing, the American INIissionary ; Mrs. L. is sister 
 of Rev. Dr. Dale, Mary Gibson's minister. We found two boys 
 schools in their house and they have two female schools elsewhere. 
 Here, as in Alexandria the}- have difficulty in keeping the children 
 long enough to make a permanent impression. So soon as they 
 acquire a little knowledge of the English language the boys can get 
 employment and leave school. They therefore communicate their 
 instruction-through the medium of the Arabic tongue. Their 
 scholars are of various nations — Musselmen, Copts, S3-rians, etc., but 
 all use the Arabic. 
 
 Cairo, we learned from Dr. Lansing, is the seat of a great Uni- 
 versity having 6000 students many of whom spend years in the prose- 
 cution of their studies here ; and the Khedive has collected a library 
 of many thousand valuable works in Arabic, which is free for the use 
 of all residents. He has established Military and Scientific and Medi- 
 cal schools in this University which is supported by the INIosques ; to 
 which wealthy people leave large sums, as in Papal countries they do 
 to INIonasteries and churches. What we may find as we advance 
 further up the Nile I cannot anticipate but one cannot conceive it 
 possible that students of any subject can be produced by such a dis- 
 trict as that through which we came here. 
 
 349
 
 There i.s no want of people ; and they are all actively occupied in 
 the culture of the land ; but their houses (can they be called houses by 
 any propriety ?) are worse than pig stj'S ; without windows, and gener- 
 ally without chimney, they are merely a cell with a flat top, so low 
 that no man can stand erect ; and so small that one can scarce believe 
 a man can lie at full length on the floor, which is the ground itself, and 
 the walls and roof are of mud. They may be described as Brobding- 
 nagian mud-dauber cells, so closely do they resemble them. The walls 
 are mottled by patches of manure kneaded into cakes and plastered on 
 the sunny side to dry for fuel with which they bake their bread ; which 
 is, with dates, their chief food. 
 
 Yet as I remarked they are very industrious. The entire distance 
 between this and Alexandria is a level plain cttltivated in cotton, wheat, 
 maize and barley. The inundation of the Nile which reaches its 
 height about mid-summer is just subsiding, and the people are plough- 
 ing and harrowing and sowing their fields with great energy. We saw 
 in some places as many as a dozen ploughs at work in one field or 
 patch. They have no fences nor hedges ; but the ditches, by which 
 the water is carried through the fields, divide them into oblong squares. 
 The ivJiole country is irrigated from the Nile by canals running through 
 it, from which the water is distributed by various modes. Sometimes 
 one sees two men with a pan of earthen ware attached to two ropes, 
 one at either side. The men swing the pan under the surface of the 
 canal and toss the water out of it into a trough by which it is carried 
 into the irrigating channel. At other times you will see a man with a 
 jar attached to one end of a pole with a weight at the other end ; the 
 pole supported on a post, like the fulcrum of a lever, (our old draiv 
 well arrangement) raising the water slowly. A larger amount is 
 raised by wheels running through tlie water having rude buckets on 
 the rim from the upper edge of which the water falls into the troughs. 
 These wheels are worked by oxen or buffaloes attached to levers, like 
 the old horse power at the threshing barn at Ivy Neck ; the wheel 
 which lifts the water being vertical and turning like the band wheel 
 there. The animals have their e3'es bandaged closely so that they 
 cannot see, and walk patiently and slowly but unceasingly round 
 sometimes without any driver. 
 
 There need be no apprehension of competition with our own cotton 
 growing States. The plant appeared to me to be very stunted, the 
 boll very small, and the staple very short, yet we are told the staple 
 is very good. The maize was a short plant, but the cars were large 
 and well filled, and the new sown wheat fields looked beautifull}' green. 
 As yet the entire country is like a marsh, as the river has not entirely 
 subsided and they were plucking cotton and pulling up corn stalks 
 wading in water or mud. The ploughs are of wood drawn often by a 
 bufialo and a camel, sometimes by two buffaloes, rarely by two camels. 
 The camels we see in the menageries at home are beautiful when com- 
 
 35°
 
 pared with the wretched looking ones we see here ; and the biiffaloes 
 are the most sorry looking quadrupeds I have ever seen. All burdens 
 are carried here on the backs of Asses, buffaloes or camels — there are 
 no wheeled vehicles of any kind, except the European carriages in the 
 streets of Cairo and Alexandria, and the roads are mere tracks along 
 the edges of ditches or the banks of canals. Along these we several 
 times saw long lines of pilgrims from Barbary, Algiers and Tunis, 
 winding their way to Mecca. A large number came by R. R. from 
 Alexandria to the point where the road diverges to Suez. 
 
 From time to time as we rolled along on the rails through these 
 cultivated fields we saw the desert on one side or the other, thus real- 
 izing how narrow is the strip of land rendered fertile by the deposit on 
 it of the mud brought down suspended in the water of the Nile. At 
 short intervals along the road there were cotton mills or other 
 machinerj^ worked b}' steam power, and wherever this was, there 
 would be houses which indicated that there were Europeans (generally 
 Englishmen or Frenchmen) living in them in the employ of the 
 Khedive. We saw trains of cars loaded with cotton in bales ; and met 
 often long trains of camels and asses carrying the produce of the fields 
 to these mills to be packed or spitn. 
 
 There were very man}- birds new to us ; some beautiful white 
 herons or cranes or storks ; great flocks of pigeons having houses on 
 the roofs of the huts. The hawks were plenty and Turkey Buzzards 
 floated about in the air just as easily as they turn round their circles at 
 Iv}' Neck. This is a dirty place of course. Dust must rise where 
 there is no rain, an alluvual soil, hot suns and a large population ; 
 and that which rises will attach itself to every object which will retain 
 it, paper- for example, not to mention skins. Have not yet got a 
 Dahabeyah. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Cairo, Egypt, December 8, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 It feels very unnatural to sit down to write to you with no idea of 
 when our letters will be forwarded ; but that is only in keeping with 
 the unnatural circumstances of our present position in every respect. 
 Another planet with the inhabitants carrying their heads under the 
 arms, as the ancients believed the inhabitants of the interior of Africa 
 did, or walking as the little Bushman (who was in Philadelphia some 
 3^ears ago) was wont to do in order to relieve his feet, on his hands, 
 with his head downward, would not be more contrary to our usual 
 mode of action, in ever}- wa}-. 
 
 Dirt is the predominant characteristic of everj-body and every- 
 thing ; so that we feel dirty ourselves, not only from the deposit cxter- 
 
 351
 
 nally — but — morally and physically dirty. The hotel though not 3^et 
 finished is dirty ; the servants are dirty ; when we step out it is into 
 dirt ; when we go into the Bazaar it is more dirt. 
 
 Yesterday morning your uncle was busy with the Dragoman and 
 we were left to follow our own devices which were not devious. Hav- 
 ing no guide we wandered about the hotel and in the public garden. 
 In the afternoon we drove by a good road, which had been sprinkled, 
 and was therefore not dusty, beneath two rows of very large Acacia 
 trees, with the fig sycamore, also a large tree, intermingled with them, 
 to the Shoobra Palace, belonging to an uncle of the Khedive, now in 
 disgrace and banishment. The garden is large and planted with trees, 
 and shrubs such as adorn our green houses. But the grounds are 
 neglected and the Kiosk or summer house which is in there is going 
 to decay. The palace itself was not accessible as it is occupied by the 
 wives of its owner ; but it looked forlorn. The temperature and the 
 air are the only redeeming features. On our way to the palace we 
 crossed the Nile, a large muddy stream, and also two great canals 
 which are being excavated to connect the Nile with the Suez canal. 
 It is supposed that b}' carrying the Nile water into the Desert, portions 
 of it, once fertile now desolate, may be reclaimed. It is found in mak- 
 ing the canal that beneath the sandy surface lies a deep bed of fertile 
 alluvial soil ; the deposit from the river in ages long past ; so that so 
 soon as the Nile water is turned on the sand it deposits the mud with 
 which it is charged and produces fertilit}'. The desert on the West is 
 underlaid b}' rock ; and is much higher than that on the East side. It 
 can never be reclaimed and has never been cultivated. 
 
 The appearance of Cairo is very forbidding on account of its 
 transition state. The Khedive has run straight wide streets in various 
 directions directU" through the thickl}^ settled parts of the town built 
 of unburned bricks and closely packed together. All the squalor and 
 wretchedness of ages of oppression is thus exposed to view ; and the 
 new buildings are not sufilciently advanced to hide it. They are in 
 many cases, merely new fronts to cover the old delapidation. This 
 and the other costly measures by which he is endeavoring to revive 
 the power of Egypt, involve heavy expenditure and great indebtedness ; 
 to meet which he " Appeals to the people," or extracts " Gratuities," 
 or "Benevolence," from them. The rates or taxes are now paid six 
 years in advavce, he says, as the spontaneous tribute of the people to 
 the merits of his government. Those who know the facts are better 
 informed. The larger part of the wealthy landholders hold some 
 government emploj-ment. If they make any hesitation about paying 
 their taxes /« advance, they are at once dismissed from office ; lose 
 their salaries ; and, what is worse, find the water, necessary for irri- 
 gating their estates, is withheld from them. In this way they are 
 ruined and their poor labourers suffer with them. No wonder they are 
 willing to pay six years in advance ! Such is the paternal government. 
 
 352
 
 Yet no one ventures a complaint and the newspapers laud the Khedive. 
 They dare not venture on any censure. He is like the Pharaoh who 
 acted under the advice of Joseph, becoming possessed of all the land. 
 It has been held by smaller proprietors in tracts of various size from 
 thousands of acres down to one or two. The larger landholders reside 
 in the chief cities supported on their incomes derived from a stated 
 share of the produce. But from the highest to the lowest they are 
 subjected to oppressive exactions ; and the great improvements which 
 are being effected are made by forced labour. 
 
 Copts and INIussulmen live harmoniously in Egypt in the same 
 villages and pursue the same avocations. The Copts, who are the 
 descendants of the ancient Egyptians, have been the secretaries of the 
 Government and bookkeepers and accountants, and have thus secured 
 considerable influence. They are said to have peculiar aptitude 
 for accounts, and to possess some mj^sterious mode of reckoning, 
 which is transmitted from generation to generation \>y which they 
 solve very promptly'' intricate questions of numbers which we could 
 only accomplish by laborious algebraic problems. 
 
 The crowds in the streets are of the most mongrel character, with 
 a very large admixture of Europeans at this time, Italians, Germans, 
 English and Americans. From the number of donkeys offered to us 
 as ' ' Yankee Doodle Name ' ' we infer there are many Americans to be 
 found, and on the marble top of our dressing table we find written the 
 name of ]\Irs. Dennison, Kalamazoo, Michigan ; shewing that all parts 
 of our country send their representatives. 
 
 Your mother and I will be the last of our tribe here, so far as our 
 report will exert any influence, unless we find the Paradise on the 
 Dahabcyah which has been dazzling our eyes so long, that as we 
 approach it, we have sad misgivings that it is a mirage. Certainly 
 almost any escape from Cairo will bring comfort. I have not seen 
 your uncle since we heard last evening that cholera had appeared 
 among the pilgrims ; and that the Khedive has ordered them to be 
 sent back ; and that a Quarantine has been established at Alexandria 
 on all persons from the East. I shall advise the abandoment of the 
 eastern trip of course and personally would give up the Nile voj'age 
 also, and immediately retrace our steps to Italy and Winter somewhere 
 on the Mediterranean ; Sorrento, or Mentone, or Nice, or Paris. But we 
 will talk it over when we meet this morning. Your mother exhibits 
 the strength of her character nobly. You know it always rises to the 
 emergency and she is the most calm and cheerful member of the party. 
 
 We have had very pleasant visits from Mrs. Dr. Grant. Dr. Grant 
 is the physician here. She was a Miss Torry of Honesdale, Pennsj'l- 
 vania. Her grandfather was my father's agent for back lands, she was 
 educated at Miss Annable's school in Philadelphia ; a cousin of Henry 
 M. Fuller who lived at the N. W. corner of Chestnut and Sixteenth 
 Streets ; and knew the IMitchell and Burroughs families well and 
 
 353
 
 Mrs. Eff. Perot. She was taken ill while traveling here of fever con- 
 tracted in the Holy Land and attended by Dr. Grant ; she returned 
 home, and came back here and was married. The Dr. is a good 
 ph3-sician and Christian man. ]\Irs. Lansing the wife of the mis- 
 sionary has also called on us. She is the sister of the Rev. Mr. Dale, 
 Maiy Gibson's clergj'man. They are very intelligent pleasant people. 
 Have been many j'ears here ; and are much encouraged b}' their 
 success. 
 
 If you can procure Miss Whatelj^'s book just published in Eng- 
 land, " The //«/ and its Inhabitants" j^ou will find much to interest 
 you. Get Lloyd Smith to import it for the Philadelphia Library. It 
 is illustrated by photographic pictures and must give perfectly correct 
 views of the state of the people. Miss Whatel}^ was a daughter of the 
 celebrated archbishop of Dublin. 
 
 The privations to which missionaries are subject are very great. 
 Dr. Lansing told us that latel}- he was visiting a sick man. He sat 
 half an hour on a chair on a broken marble floor in an old house onlj- 
 talking and praying with the poor fellow, and that on his return home 
 no less than thirty-nine vermin were taken from his person. If that 
 was the case in such an instance what must be the condition of those 
 villages of mud daubers I described in my last letter, and what faith and 
 love must inspire such persons as the Misses Whately and Mr. and 
 Mrs. L,ansing to forego all the comforts and nicet}' of civilized life to 
 live and labour among them. 
 
 December 9th, 9 a. m. 
 
 Your uncle and I have discussed the cholera question , and while 
 we think it will probabl3' prevent our proposed Sj'ria tour, he has 
 decided to go up the River as we shall there be as free from liabilit}' to 
 contagion as any where. We desire to commit ourselves, in faith, 
 liumbly to the care of our Heavenl}' Father and trulj' to trust Him. 
 
 I find on looking over this I have mentioned the S3'camore fig 
 tree. It is a large tree with spreading boughs and much foliage but 
 the fruit grows out of the trunk and large limbs, looking like figs 
 stuck directly on the bark, in bunches all around and all over it, and of 
 all sizes from a little wart like projection at first of a light green color, 
 to that of a large ripe fig of a bright yellow color when mature. 
 
 Thej' are eaten but are not nice to the taste and literally crowded 
 with insects. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 ' ' Among the Huts in Eg3'pt, ' ' bj^ Miss Whatel}' is the name of the 
 book. 
 
 354
 
 December 9tli, i p. m. 
 
 Ever3' step is further into the mire or more correctly speaking 
 into the dust and dirt. We have driven this morning to old Cairo 
 through heaps of broken pottery and debris of houses piled at least 
 20 feet high extending for miles on every side a great part of the way ; 
 though for a short distance the route X-xy through the quarter in which 
 Europeans resident here (and some wealthy natives in imitation of 
 them) are building very fine houses surrounded by nice gardens and 
 vshrubberj-. They are built on speculation to be sold or rented to Euro- 
 peans. Attractive as these are they only render more abominable 
 the squalor and wretchedness of the old town. 
 
 When we reached Fostat or old Cairo, we were compelled to 
 dismount from our carriages and follow the guide through torturous 
 alleys so narrow that two persons pa.ss each other with difilcult3^ 
 The houses are three stories high, the lower floor being occupied 
 by the closet-like hole in which goods are vended or wares made. 
 The people squat to do everjlhing. The turner sits with his work 
 on the ground holding the tools with his feet while he works a bow 
 with his hands and arms. The carpenter sits and holds his work 
 with his feet while he saws or drives nails. They have but few 
 tools. All the shapmg is accomplished with an adze. The black- 
 smith sits with his anvil between his knees. Each trade is followed 
 in a special street devoted to that. 
 
 The ujDper stories are occupied by the women. As you look up 
 3'ou see the fronts covered with projecting frames of wood ; like large 
 bird cages, made of turned wood, in short pieces, joined together so 
 that the spaces between them are onlj^ large enough to permit one's 
 finger to pass through. They look as though they v/ere made by 
 stringing together small spools. Behind them live the poor women 
 with no more light and air than pass these openings. In the houses 
 of the affluent there are inner court yards in which they can see the 
 heavens above them, and the \^xy poor have the advantage in that 
 they may go about veiled. On certain daj^s in the week those of what 
 we would call the middle class are allowed to exchange visits. Alwaj'S 
 closelj' veiled, and if thej^ can afford a donkey they ride. ' If the hus- 
 band keeps a carriage the curtains are shut closely and the}^ drive in it. 
 We saw some turn up the curtain and take a peep. 
 
 Through these narrow passages we followed our guide first to 
 some of the ]\Iosques ; large open squares surrounded \>y pillars and 
 arches. One had 276 marble columns but all dilapidated, dirt}', and 
 forlorn. Tliej^ are richly endowed and the funds are devoted to the 
 support of the poor. Bread is distributed dail}', and the}' lodge about 
 the arches. In the oldest which we visited, built in the 7th century 
 of the Christian era, there were many families squatting about the 
 grounds in the area of the Mosque of Ahmed ebn Tooloon said to be 
 the oldest in Cairo. Near the pulpit was a column said to be brought 
 
 355
 
 from Mecca, worn by the friction of faithful hands, and near the entrance 
 two are placed with a space of lo inches between them. These are 
 polished on the inner sides by the friction of persons who attempt to 
 pass between them ; the legend teaching that a true believer can, no 
 matter how fat he ma}^ be ; and none but a true believer can pass at 
 all. The guide assured us that 10,000 Mussulmans had been in this 
 iMosque the previous evening. 
 
 From this sacred place of the IMahormetans we were conducted to 
 an old Coptic Church said to cover the house in which Mary and Joseph 
 dwelt during their sojourn in Eg3'pt to escape the wrath of Herod. 
 Nothing is too absurd for the credulity of ignorance and superstition 
 or this sill}' legend would cease to be repeated. It undoubtedly fs a 
 ver}' ancient church, with small rude pillars and very' rude capitals. 
 The chancel is partitioned off by lattice work like that covering the 
 windows of the women's apartments, evidenth' of great age ; and there 
 are rude carvings designed to represent incidents in the life of our 
 Lord, and also equall}' rude paintings of the Apostles. We could not 
 but reverence the structvire in which Jesus has been the avowed object 
 of worship during so many centuries of bloody persecution and con- 
 tempt, though we did not accept as true the legend, nor feel any inter- 
 est in descending into the chamber beneath in which is shown the spot 
 where the blessed Virgin rested and the child Jesus was laid. 
 
 In the afternoon we drove to the citadel which overlooks Cairo 
 and realized more fully than ever before how ' ' distance lends enchant- 
 ment to the view." Cairo with its many hundred mosques, with each 
 its dome or domes, and minarets almost without number, la}' spread 
 out at our feet. Beside us towered the massive square IMausoleum of 
 IMohamet Ali, built entirety of Alabaster ; dressed without and highly 
 polished within and having IVIinarets of unusual height. Slippers 
 were supplied to us on the threshold and we entered the sacred 
 enclosure with its marble paved court yard and crossing it we entered 
 the IMausoleum which is covered with one large central dome, sur- 
 rounded b}' many smaller ones ; all richly and elaborately^ ornamented 
 with arabesque figures guilded. Glass Chandeliers and lamps protected 
 by globes, are suspended in great numbers in concentric circles and 
 are lighted every evening at dark during the Rhamadan which is now 
 nearl}' at the close for this 3'ear. The floor is covered with rich Turkey 
 carpets. 
 
 Cairo, December 11, 1871. 
 
 I am ashamed to send you such wretched scrawls but we have no 
 conveniences for writing and our time is broken up and frittered away 
 sadly, and there is nothing to interest one in the midst of such squalid 
 misery. 
 
 This place does not improve from familiarity. It differs in that 
 respect from that monster vice, though the first impression leads one 
 
 356
 
 to say "to be hated needs but to be seen ' ' ; and we are told it is 
 one of the most vicious cities in the world. Your mother and I have 
 tried a walk in the bazaar, scuffling with donke3's and camels and 
 swarms of dirty Arabs, and obliged to watch our steps too closely to 
 have an}' eyes for the objects in the stores. 
 
 We drove in carriages from our Hotel to the entrance. We were 
 told of one store at which they .speak English. To reach it we were 
 obliged to dismount and walk through very narrow alleys a long waj' 
 before reaching it and when we did we could not, even after our weeks' 
 experience, but express alovid our admiration that such a stock of 
 goods should be gathered in such an out-of-the-way place. Costl}' 
 Japanese and Chinese vases, beautiful bronzes, were mingled with 
 Cashmere shawls. So our banker's Counting house lies at the end 
 of a series of dirty allej-s through which a donkey makes his waj' 
 with diflflcult3^ 
 
 At 12 o'clock every store and place of business is closed, and the 
 owners go to their midday meal. Even during the Rhamadan when 
 they fast from 5 A. m. to 5 p. m. still they close their stores. They are 
 opened again at i p. m. and kept open until sunset. 
 
 We hear but little of the Muezzin's call to prayer though it is 
 repeated from all the minarets five times in each twenty-four hours. 
 Nor do we see any indication of the strict attention to the duty enjoined 
 by the Prophet, of which one reads. Ver}' manj^ of all creeds carrj^ 
 strings of beads in their hands and tell them over constantly while 
 thej' are walking or talking. This however is a mere trick, or source 
 of amusement without anj' connection with devotion. It is like the 
 habit of whittling with a knife or playing with a string in which some 
 people indulg"e. 
 
 Our Dragoman has returned from Alexandria having made his 
 purchases of stores and we have this afternoon made a second visit to 
 the Dahabe3'ah 3-our uncle proposes to have for the vo3-age up the 
 Nile. She is called the America and I think promises comfort for us. 
 vShe is certainl}' not less than 100 feet in length. In the bow is the 
 kitchen range, between which and the cabins is a low deck on which 
 the rowers sit when the3' are obliged to use their oars. The mast rises 
 near the bow, and has one immense sail of a peculiar triangular shape 
 of which the best idea ma3' be derived from some of the engravings in 
 the books describing Nile vo3-ages. The after part of the boat has a 
 cabin raised suificientl3' to permit us to stand upright without difli- 
 cult3'. As 3'ou enter it there is a state room on either side designed for 
 two persons each, with good mattresses and washstands ; pasvsing 
 between these we enter the dining saloon which has in the middle a 
 table sufficientlj^ large for eight persons to sit comfortabl3' at meals 
 with a wide passage all around their chairs. It is lighted b3' a sk3-- 
 light over the table and has twelve windows, six on each side and each 
 two feet b3' three feet, with silk curtains, glass slide and Venetian 
 
 357
 
 green shutters. On either side is a divan covered with brocade run- 
 ning the entire length of the saloon and having cushions on it to sup- 
 port the back. There are also "Etagers" and "What-nots" at 
 either end. Beyond this, which is the Dining saloon and Sitting room, 
 are three state rooms on either side, each with a single berth but larger 
 and more commodious than those further forward, and behind these in 
 the stern of the boat one very large cabin quite capable of receiving 
 three or four persons comfortably. Each of these state rooms is 
 lighted by windows of the size previously mentioned. The deck 
 above is screened by a good awning covering it entirely and has on it 
 four large wide sofas with very comfortable mattresses and pillows. 
 The forward deck is also shielded from the sun by an awning, and 
 there are large water filters on it. There is also good bathing accom- 
 dation. I do trust we may find not only bodily comfort on board 
 but true peace with God through Jesiis Christ our Lord. 
 
 Three months is a long section of the remaining time of our 
 absence from home. We have an ample supply of books of various 
 kinds. Cheston's contribution reached us here a day or two since and 
 will refresh Italian memories. We had thought there were some dis- 
 comforts there, chiefly climatic. Neither Florence, Rome nor Naples 
 has a climate suited to invalids. This is delightful ; but the dust and 
 dirt and fleas of Carlo are so great and numerous as to def}' exaggera- 
 tion, and the cooking of this Hotel is very indifferent. We all agree 
 the bread and sardines are the best articles presented to us. The house 
 is very large, very full, and ver>' noisj'. 
 
 I had hoped Eg3'pt might present a place of refuge for invalids. 
 But it must improve greatly before I would send one. The dust alone 
 would render it improper for diseases of the air passages. The life on 
 the boat may be free from these objections, but the absence of medical 
 advice there would be a serious disadvantage. Dr. Grant, here, makes a 
 favorable impression. I have no doubt that he will before many years 
 remove to some part of the United States. I counsel him to wait till 
 he accumulates here enough to make him independent in America. 
 Your mother will describe a visit the ladies made yesterday with 
 Mrs. Grant to one of the Doctor's patients. 
 
 Last evening the other members of our party spent at Mr. Lansing's 
 where they learned, too late to profit by the information, that the 
 Khedive had gone to the Mosque in the Citadel and that there was 
 some imposing ceremony in progress there. Mr. Rhen had been there 
 a few nights ago when the Dervishes were performing their dance. 
 As a sight it is worth seeing, but must be very distressing too. The 
 report made by those who were present reminded me strongly of the 
 description of the excitement produced among our poor ignorant 
 negroes under the name of religion. They spun round in a most 
 surprising manner, with one hand elevated and the head thrown back 
 until they became giddy, and unconscious, and fell on the floor. 
 
 358
 
 Sometimes they become convulsed and remain insensible a long 
 time. 
 
 The time is much occupied in various little arrangements neces- 
 sar}' before sailing. A visit to the bankers where I drew for £^o con- 
 siimed much time for myself It is certainly the last place in which 
 one would look for a civilized banking establishment. 
 
 We drove this morning to Heliopolis or On ; once the great seat 
 of learning when the Wisdom of Egj'pt was S3-nonymous with the 
 expression of a// wisdom. It was the seat of the priesth' power when 
 that power was paramount to regal influence. It was there the once 
 despised Israelitish Slave, transformed into the prime minister of the 
 most mighty kingdom on earth, took to wife Asenath the daughter of 
 Potipherah, and it was to the priests of the temple of the Sun there 
 that the Grecian philosophers resorted for instructions. We drove 
 through richly cultivated fields of Cotton, wheat, clover, vetches and 
 other crops and large patches of garden vegetables, all watered bj^ 
 means of furrows dividing them into small squares. The water is 
 supplied from wells fed from the Nile and is drawn up by wheels 
 carrying round on their rims earthen jars like buckets which dipping 
 into the water at the bottom of the well empty it into troughs which 
 convey it to tanks and basins. These wheels are turned by camels 
 oxen or buffaloes, having their e3'es bandaged and walking perpetuall}' 
 in a circle. Wherever the water is applied there is laughing fertilit}- — 
 all around is desolate sterilit}-, far as the eye can reach. In the midst 
 of these fields, rises a solitarj- obelisk — the only indication that here 
 was once one of the proudest cities and grandest temples of the world: 
 that from hence flowed forth the fullest stream of science and wisdom, 
 bj' some supposed to have been the fountain head from which Grecian 
 sages drank. There it has stood since the year 2000 B. C. and the 
 name of Osirtasen, by whom it was erected, stands as clearly distinct as 
 though it had been cut but j-esterda}'. jNIud wasps appear to have 
 found the Hierogh'phics on two sides ver}' eligible places to which to 
 attach their clay cells, so that they look like embossed figures instead 
 of intaglia. On the other sides they are perfectly free and the edges 
 sharp as though just cut. The obelisk is not very tall, and much 
 of it is buried with the temple beneath the soil. 
 
 On our way we were induced to stop at a very ancient S3'camore 
 fig tree standing near a well and surrounded bj- a garden which tradi- 
 tion asserts to have been a resting place of the liol}- famil}" on their 
 flight from Herod. It certainly is an old tree and is covered with 
 names cut upon it bj' travellers in past 3'ears. It is now protected 
 from such silh' desecration. I enclose some seeds of an oboranche 
 (verj' pretty violet colored, which grew near the Obelisk in a field of 
 egg plants) I have kept more in case these do not vegetate. It is ver^' 
 like that which grows with us. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 359
 
 Cairo, December 13, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 One does see strange sights in Cairo. Your mother and I were 
 seated in the carriage this morning in one of the crowded streets of the 
 Bazaar, while the other members of our party were working their way 
 amid the crowd in the bye streets of the Jeweller's quarter, vainly bar- 
 gaining for gold trinkets, which we thought were not worth having 
 at any price. The patience of the people amazed us. Suppose some 
 man with a turban and loose robes, and his wife looking like a heap 
 of white muslin or black silk, with a little slit near the top through 
 which two piercing black eyes were seen, were to take their seat in a 
 carriage in one of our streets, thronged as much as 5''ou ever saw them 
 when there was a procession, and obstruct the way so that there was a 
 constant jam around them. Would there not be some vexation 
 expressed ? Some call to us to move out of their way ? or some utter- 
 ance of disgust ? Yet though these people despise us as ' ' Christian 
 Dogs," there was not the slightest evidence of disturbance or ill will. 
 Camels, donke5^s and carriages jostled each other, and pressed \yy us, 
 but no remark about our being in the way reached us. The keepers 
 of little shops were busy selling their various wares ; the people passed 
 without even looking at us. 
 
 To-morrow is the beginning of the New Year, which is the great 
 Holy day. Every one puts on some article of new attire, and it was 
 interesting to see the children carrj'ing home their new red or yellow 
 shoes ; which appear to be the most usual gift. What should pass us 
 in the midst of all this Oriental crowd, but two or three large waggons, 
 drawn by buffaloes, laden with square boxes marked in stencil, ' ' Refined 
 Petroleum, Phoenix Works, Philadelphia." All around were squatted 
 Copts, Arabs and Turks. IMen were selling dates ; and women rad- 
 ishes ; half a dozen were solemnly seated at the door of a cofifee house ; 
 and above our heads were the cage like projections called lattices 
 which cover the only access for light and air to their dingy rooms. 
 
 Wednesday A. m. 
 This is the Mohomedan festival of the New Year. The Rhamadan 
 or annual fast of forty days closed last night ; and this morning all is 
 festivity. We had designed driving to the pyramids, but they demand 
 thirty dollars, double the usual sum, for the carriages. Wistar has 
 decided to postpone our visit till our return, unless we are disappointed 
 in our arrangements to sail to-morrow, which depends on the wind. I 
 found everything astir at an early hour and therefore dressed before 
 5 A. M., and turned out. A man with a donkey hailed me " you want 
 Donkee and on my replying yes, asked ' ' where you go " I said merelj' 
 " to see " ; he whipped up the animal, and away I went at a gallop 
 without the slightest notion where I was to close the course. Throngs of 
 people in new red and yellow slippers, and clean turbans, pressed on the 
 
 360
 
 same road. Some had new clothing- also, especially the little children. 
 They wore gaud}- yellow chintzes, with large borders of colored cres- 
 cents or scallops. Some had slips of purple or green silk ; and some 
 thin muslin veils thrown over their heads. It appeared a general day 
 of childish gratification. There were not wanting the usual accom- 
 paniments on the other side, however, as I saw several little ones 
 getting boxed ears, and other chastisement. As I pressed on the crowd 
 became more dense ; and sais after sais rushed past me with tight- 
 fitting jackets riclih' embroided with gold thread ; loose surplice-like 
 sleeves of muslin like wings as their arms were stretched at full length 
 to either side, and their full petticoats of white muslin streaming 
 behind like tails ; while with head erect and chest protruded and carrj-- 
 ing the long rod of their ofiice elevated before them, they cleared the 
 way for the carriages of their masters, who reclined in open barouches 
 drawn often b}- splendid horses richly caparisoned, dashed on one after 
 another ; evidently all destined for the same goal. I\Iost of these 
 carriages were occupied b}- ofiicers of the Egj'ptian army : some Turks ; 
 very many evidently Americans or Europeans ; but all in the rich and 
 show}- uniform of the Khedive, heavily embroidered with gold, and 
 wearing the Fez. Soon I found cavalry guards with long highly 
 polished carbines in their hands, stationed in pairs at the way side at 
 short intervals. We passed INIosque after Mosque into which the 
 turbaned multitude was crowding ; and many Cemeteries. Into these 
 each one who entered carried green palm branches, of larger or smaller 
 size according to their ability to purchase them, with which to adorn 
 the graves of departed friends. We had seen large camel loads of 
 Palm leaves brought into the city the day before and wondered to what 
 use they could be applied, and now in many places the crowds 
 looked like those coming from our Romish Chapels on Palm Sunday ; 
 only substituting the palm for the box. Some of them carried entire 
 leaves, eight or ten feet long ; others only bvinches of leaflets. All 
 seemed jubilant. You remember the use of the palm in Revela- 
 tions. 
 
 At length I found myself passing between two lines of lancers 
 mounted on fine Arab horses, each with the little red and yellow flag at 
 the lance head, drawn up facing each other. Still the guide pushed on 
 my donkey; and I could fancy the amusement of the Turkish soldiers 
 at my ungainly appearance in my new character, with my sack coat 
 filled out by the wind projecting behind the animal, and my feet within 
 a few inches of the ground. Suddenly I heard the word of command, 
 and, beginning at the rear, they fell into line, and galloped past me, 
 each falling in behind the one that passed ; and away they went like 
 wild, up the hill, and following them I found myself the only Western 
 man in Frank attire amid an immense crowd of Arabs and other 
 Eastern people collected in the square of the Citadel at the door of the 
 Grand Mosque. Dismounting I stood behind two ranks of infantry 
 
 361
 
 among the carriages and servants of those who had alteady deposited 
 their masters, and saw some hundred or more drive up in the same 
 way to leave officers of the arm3% consuls or other officials, at the 
 door of the Mosque. The carriage of the British Consul was very 
 elegant, his servants, all English, with scarlet jackets and buff small 
 clothes. Others were equally gorgeous, and all evidently new for the 
 occasion. 
 
 Ver}' soon my donke}' driver took out his tobacco box, and a little 
 book of white paper gummed at the edges like the packages of paper 
 for artists, and rolled himself a cigarette. He then offered me one, 
 which I respectfully declined. He asked me " you no smoke " ? and 
 on my sa\'ing " no " said " no drink " ? And I am sorry for the sake 
 of our faith that he appeared surprised when I answered with emphasis 
 " no " and put in the supplemental query " never " ? Thus, as of old, 
 stumbling blocks in the way of the truth are laid by the sins of those 
 who profess to possess more light and knowledge — who do possess 
 more, but choose to walk in darkness rather than light and shall 
 receive the greater condemnation. 
 
 After I had stood I suppose half an hour watching the arrivals 
 there was a sudden salute with trumpets and " some small boy," the 
 donkey- man said (I suppose) ' ' the son of the Khedive, ' ' drove itp. Soon 
 after there was a salvo of artillery and the Khedive entered b}- another 
 door from his Palace in the Citadel ; after which I mounted my donkey 
 and rode quietly back ; reaching the hotel in time to wash and shave 
 read}' for breakfast at S A. m. The view of Cairo from the Citadel in 
 the morning light is quite as imposing as it was by sunset two even- 
 ings previously. I was in a different part to-day. Then we had been 
 taken into the side which opens on the west of the Mosque. There is 
 the large court yard in which IMehemet AH assembled the Mamelukes 
 some fifty }-cars ago inviting them to a feast. When the}' had 
 mounted their horses to leave he closed down the gates and gave a 
 signal to fire on them. Five hundred were killed, one only escaping 
 by jumping his horse over the parapet. The horse was crushed to death 
 but he escaped. It makes one giddy to look down the precipice and 
 if the fact were not well established one would not believe that the 
 man could have reached the bottom alive. 
 
 It is now 9 A. M. Thursday the 14th. We have not yet heard from 
 the Dragoman and can do nothing till we do. It is cloudy and cold 
 and most insufferably dirty. We are all longing for change even 
 though by staying over the Lord's Day we should enjoy once more 
 the privilege of the public worship, and receive letters. That we 
 may still enjoy the Divine protection and realize fully that God is love 
 and that they that dwell in love dwell in God is the praj^er of your 
 loving Father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 362
 
 Dahabevah "America," 6>2 p- m. , 
 
 Thursday, December 14, 1S71. 
 Afj' Dear Children : 
 
 The last stage of oiir pilgrimage is fairlj^ begun. At 10 this morn- 
 ing word was sent that the luggage must be ready b}' 1 1 , when it would 
 be sent for, and that we should dine at i p. bi. and go immediately on 
 board. Our hearts fluttered between hope and fear. We knew how 
 dirty and uncomfortable we were at the hotel, and j^et the very 
 strength of the terms in which we had heard voyagers on the Nile 
 speak of the delight the}' had found caused some anxiety lest we 
 should be disappointed. Hour after hour passed ; trunks and bags 
 were all strapped and piled up ; parting visits to our friends resident 
 at Cairo were paid ; small change procured for little expenses on the 
 river ; dinner was served and eaten and still no porter appeared. 
 Toward 5 p. m. we were summoned to the carriages, and drove over 
 the Nile on a bridge of boats, looking in vain for the Stars and Stripes 
 which should have been floating on the ' ' America. ' ' Your mother and 
 aunts Hannah and Jane and m3'self were in the second carriage and were 
 wondering what was before us as we drove on, and on, through gardens 
 and palm groves. Suddenly our driver hailed the first carriage, and after 
 some loud talk we turned about and drove back to the river and were 
 soon received on board b}^ the servants, (neither Dragoman nor Reis 
 being there) and the boat still covered up with canvas. I have already 
 described the accommodation to you. I had not told j'our mother, who 
 had no idea of the size of the boat, and she and you.r aunts are very 
 much gratified by the apparent comforts. They have dusted and fixed 
 cabins ; and oiir books are all placed on the shelves ; and each one is 
 striving to find some occupation to beguile the evening hours. A 
 beautiful new moon hangs its crescent among clouds just above the 
 horizon. 
 
 The weather is cold ; our friends at Cairo say, distressingly cold. 
 Your mother has taken cold and has had a trying bustling and unset- 
 tled day and feels badly. I trust she ma}^ have a good night and be 
 better in the morning. Warm wraps are in request. 
 
 W^e are much amtised just now to learn the cause of our long 
 drive this afternoon. The driver of the leading carriage had mistaken 
 his orders and was on his way to the Pyramids. These we have seen 
 onl}' in the distance, grandly solemn spectacles ; shadows of past ages. 
 They do not even tell who was their builder. We shall postpone our 
 visit to them to our return. Shall we not then be saturated with 
 Eg5'ptian remains, and allow our anxiety to get home draw us b}"- 
 without stopping to climb them or explore the vaulted chambers 
 within the P3-ramid of Cheops ? 
 
 3(^3
 
 Friday morning. 
 Thankful hearts for a refreshing night's sleep (even your mother 
 slept well) prevailed, as we assembled this morning iox Faniily reading, 
 which has been interrupted ever since we left England. The meal last 
 evening was delightful ; would have been good at any time and an}-- 
 where, but from contrast with the discomfort and filth of Cairo and the 
 Hotel, specially delightful. A nice service of French China and bright 
 new plated ware, and knives and forks, were attractive in themselves ; 
 and the food was good and abundant. We spent the evening seated 
 around the table lighted by six stearine candles hanging in a chandelier 
 over the centre, the ladies with their work, while I read to them several 
 chapters of the Daughter of the Egyptian King translated from the 
 German b}' Henry Reed and presented to me b}- dear Emily. Thus 
 you see we entered pleasantly on our ho7ne life. 
 
 This morning we found ourselves Ij'ing closely wedged among 
 native boats laden with beans, doura, wheat, sheep, turkeys, fowls and 
 other country produce. The bank was thronged by villagers passing 
 from house to house, milking buffaloes, and pursuing other homely 
 avocations. Breakfast called us away from our inspection, and soon 
 after we bethought ourselves each of some little thing which had not 
 been gotten yesterday-, and as the Dragoman had some purchases to 
 make which would detain the boat. Miss Harris, IMr. Longstreth and 
 myself were rowed ashore and walked into Cairo, agreeing to meet at 
 the Post Office as a rendevous, when we had accomplished our several 
 errands. IMine was soon done being only some Arsenical soap for the 
 Dragoman who says he is a Taxidermist ; and some crayons and a 
 paint box for Holly at Christmas. 
 
 Long and patiently' I paraded the portico of the P. O. At length INIiss 
 Harris and T. K. Longstreth arrived ; but Friezier was missing. So I 
 despatched them to the boat and continued ni}- watch. The time was 
 beguiled b}- the varied scene. Among other indications of the transi- 
 tion state of Cairo is the introduction of street boot-blacks. They beset 
 you here as at home. Two, who look as though they might be twin 
 brothers, work together each cleaning one boot, so that the process is 
 soon accomplished. They are found of course only in the new part of 
 Cairo among the mongrel population who wear congress boots. Among 
 the pure natives yellow and red slippers are still worn. 
 
 The festival of Bairam is just at its height and every one who can 
 do so is clothed in new garments. Those thej' have laid aside were 
 probably new this time a year ago, and have never been taken off dur- 
 ing the 5^ear. You may suppose therefore the contrast is very great, 
 especially as yellow and red and green and purple are the dominant 
 color of ever5'thing. (As I raise my e3-es from the paper a native boat 
 glides past with a number of men in blue robes with white turbans 
 and in the midst one with scarlet trousers, very full, and a tight fitting 
 blue jacket with gold laced edges.) 
 
 .164
 
 Ittimcdiateh' before tlie window of my cabin is a rotary swing 
 which is the centre of attraction. It is rarely still; one group after 
 another getting into the pendant cars for a trifling payment. They are 
 kept revolving by a man who touches the levers when the motion 
 slackens. A part of the amusement consists in one of the swingers 
 having a hammer in his hand which he laj's on the ground just as the 
 car in which he sits is about to rise, and each occupant of the other cars 
 strives to take it up as he is about to rise. The rotation must not be 
 arrested ; and much promptitude as well as dexterit}' is required to 
 avoid either stopping the machine or being thrown out while reaching 
 for it. 
 
 They appear to be a merry race and easih^ moved either to mirth 
 or anger. I should suppose familiarit}^ with Western Nations, I cannot 
 sa}'^ Christians since they are really in many things better practical 
 Christians than we. is rendering them tolerant of our presence. They 
 manifest no displeasure at us and often smile as we pass. As we came 
 on board of the skiff at the shore one of the boatmen assisted me, 
 very gracefully, and I said "thank you"; on which Friezier who is 
 studying Arabic gave me the word for that expression. The men all 
 smiled, and a group on shore who had taken off their clothing and 
 were washing them in the river, joined in a real laugh of pleasure. 
 We have witnessed no quarrel even in the most thronged passage, 
 where they are compelled to jostle each other constantly. 
 
 As I sat in the reading-room at the hotel 3-esterday while waiting 
 for the summons to the boat Mrs. Grant came into meet Mrs. Reynolds. 
 A gentleman approached us and she said, "Dr. Morris"; on which 
 he started and said, " Dr. Caspar ^lorr\^ "? and on my acknowledging 
 the name he expressed his pleasure, and I found him Genl. Reynolds. 
 His wife soon came and I recognized an old patient of twenty odd 
 years ago. She was a Miss Reeves and said she was a St. Andrews 
 member, so we had quite a Philadelphia talk. Genl. Sible}- also 
 joined us, he knew Dr. Robert INIurray. The American officers are not 
 particular!}^ happ}^ in the service of the Khedive. But the}^ have 
 nothing to fall back on. They say to me "we followed \X\<i political 
 leaders, that fellow Davis and others, like a pack of fools. " " Soon as 
 the war was over they rushed over to London and got the money left 
 there ; but care nothing for us and we are left to shift as we ma}-. ' ' I 
 pity them from my heart. 
 
 Saturday morning. 
 We still lie near Cairo opposite the palace of Said Pasha and the bar- 
 racks on the one side and a mud village on the other ; before us a nev/ 
 iron railroad bridge not yet quite complete. The detention by head 
 winds is not a little trying to some of the party. To myself it is quite 
 indifferent. I am enjoying the quiet and freedom from pressure and 
 should be perfectly content, if I were not a little anxious for your 
 
 365
 
 mother. The weather is cold and she is taking cold I fear. She does 
 not sleep well at night, though our staterooms (she and I each have 
 one) are quite comfortable. The mattresses are wide enough, and thick 
 enough, but they rest on ///elastic boards. Our breakfast has been 
 good, except the butter and that we cannot have good. All the other 
 members of the party are well. I have procured for your mother two 
 air cushions, one nearly long enough for a bed, and the other forming 
 a nice pillow which she finds a comfort. Our chairs and sofas are very 
 comfortable and our cabins as ga}' as china, glass and gilding and silk 
 curtains can make them. 
 
 I do not wonder at the feeling of awe inspired in the ancients by 
 the Nile with its hippopotamuses and crocodiles. Wide and deep 
 even at this season it rolls its turbid and rajoid stream. Love to all. 
 My letters are called for. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Dahabevah "America," December 16, 1871. 
 My Dear Child r en : 
 
 You will have noticed the abrupt termination of my last letter ji;st 
 as I was about to express ray sense of the majest}' of this grand river 
 flov.-ing most tiirbidly it is true, but the muddier the better. That mud 
 has been from 3-ear to 3'ear the riches of this land and the support of 
 other lands from generation to generation through ages and ages. 
 I was about to say untold ages. The millions of Rome were fed from 
 this granar}', as the starving household of Jacob had been. And all its 
 fertility has depended on the mud with which it is still annually 
 charged not onlj- during the period of inundation but at all times. It 
 would be impossible to express in numbers the gallons which flow 
 hourly by, or the amount of fertile soil thus brought from the centre 
 of Africa, for you must remember no tributary- stream swells it volume, 
 as it passes down, and no rain washes the hill sides, as with us, within 
 our observation. All the water and the mud come from some thousand 
 miles south. Its value was inestimable, its source mj'sterious. What 
 more calculated to inspire reverential awe ? 
 
 I went ashore myself with 3'our uncle and mailed the letters to 
 Cheston, and made some trifling purchases for 5'our mother, and then 
 to the bankers where I was repaid for the trip and would have been 
 amplj' compensated, even if I had indulged m^-self in the slightest 
 impatience at our detention, by finding dear Mary's letter of the 19th 
 and Galloway's of the 17th and INIrs Cope's of the 19th. O ! how thank- 
 ful they made us ! You will have learned by our irregularity of route 
 why I never attempted to give 30U an idea of what we designed. Your 
 mother and I never knew a da3' before hand what our course would be. 
 
 -,G6
 
 Now that we are out of Cairo and delivered from its annoyances 
 we can saj- that it is a wonderful place. We landed this morning on 
 our way into town near the mouth of a new canal which is being con- 
 structed. An immense steam excavator is pushing its way in from the 
 river, attracting crowds of spectators. Just beside it on an inclined 
 plane a dozen red trousered and turbaned men were squatted on their 
 heels washing their other garments. On the bank stood several large 
 portable steam engines ; and just beside them a collection of mud 
 dwellings. One man was kneading straw and mud by treading it with 
 his feet ; and as we returned we saw him repairing the roof of his hut 
 by laying broken stones in this mud spread out on it. The houses are 
 not higher than your head ; and chickens and goats live upon the 
 roofs. Close by, women were drawing water from stagnant pools and 
 mixing straw with camel and buffalo dung and patting it out in cakes, 
 which thej' spread against the sunny side of the houses to dry for fuel. 
 All the straw is broken up into short fragements only an inch or two 
 long and thoroughh- crushed in the process of threshing. This adapts 
 it to be mixed with the clay for brick making and building. In the 
 fuel I think the material which is mixed with the straw has no other 
 effect than to make the combustion slower and thus economize the 
 straw ; which would burn away too fast if it was not thus checked. 
 
 In pursuing our walk we passed many fine large houses being 
 built on European models. The Hippodrome, a large edifice devoted 
 to equestrian performances, and the Grand Opera house, and so on to 
 the native bazaar with its teeming multitude. As we passed along 
 one donkey driver after another solicited our patronage, oiTering to 
 carr}' us to any or all the sights of Cairo. We preferred walking and 
 were not a little amused b}' the wit of one fellow vrho on being repulsed 
 after manj' efforts said " What for 3-ou come to Cairo " ? 
 
 Having effected the object of our visit there to-day we came on 
 board again and are still lying, hopeless of an}- advance but content 
 with our condition. The scene on the bank near us is one of unceas- 
 ing change. The merry-go-round of the holiday has been taken 
 down ; boats are taking in and discharging cargo, chickens are crowing 
 and goats stand bleating on the house tops ; crowds are passing and 
 repassing, and an incessant din of luin-ds in an unknown tongue salutes 
 our ears, mingled with two sounds so easily understood b}' all, and of 
 universal expression, " laughter " and " lamentation." 
 
 Camels bring down loads of sugar cane, and take awa}- loads of 
 stone. Their groans are fearful sounds. Till I learned the source 
 I thought it was the bellowing of Buffaloes. I knew it could not be the 
 roaring of lions, though it is suggestive of the voice of the King of 
 Beasts. It is not a cry of pain or dissatisfaction, though it sounds 
 very like it and I thought it was, till I found it is uttered while being 
 unloaded. 
 
 ;67
 
 The shore is lined with Palm trees and the mud walls of the hoA-els 
 are built against them and enclose them. These trees are all regis- 
 tered ; the proprietor of each pays a tax to the government. 
 
 Friezier saj'^s it is a cheap place to raise children. They require 
 no housing and little clothing, and are certainl}- fed verv' cheaply. I 
 see a group of them just now finding cheap pleasure, grovelling in the 
 dirt. In our walk this morning we saw a knot of them playing plug- 
 top just as we used to do at home. One top was lying in the ring and 
 each boy was pegging away at it. Was that a juvenile amusement in 
 the days of Cheops or even the Ptolemies ? I shall look for a picture 
 of it in the tombs. 
 
 Lord's Da}- morning. 
 
 Not a breath moves the feather}^ palms which stand so majestically 
 amid the mud hovels on the shore before m^- little window, so that we 
 have no ground for hope of sailing to-day. Everything around us 
 proves us to be in a land which knows no Sabbath, nor Him who is 
 Lord of the Sabbath day. Once Jesus was known here. How has that 
 knowledge been destroj-ed ? History teaches us that it grew under 
 persecution ; degenerated into superstition in times of ease ; fell off on 
 the one side under the enervating influence of worldly prosperity and 
 on the other under the self imposed ascetisin of Monasticism and 
 Eremitism. Kingslej^'s work on the Hermits is worthy of perusal. 
 
 If it is proper to leave the boat I shall go into Cairo to church this 
 morning and if I do will leave this letter to be posted to-morrow. We 
 were greatly comforted last evening by the receipt here of letters which 
 we had ordered to be forwarded up the river, but which our detention 
 here enabled us to receive earlier. It is a mercj^ to be very thankful 
 for, that our hearts should thus be set at ease about ovtr loved ones at 
 home just as the door of communication is about to be closed. Cas- 
 par's letter gave me great gratification. I shall not be able to write 
 to him by this mail but will endeavor to do so by the next. 1 cannot 
 permit this to go without the expression of the pleasure it afforded his 
 grandmother and m3self and thanking him and also Tyson and 
 Cheston. Their letters do Jis good. I did write to Effingham a few 
 da3s since. Cornelia and Mar};- and Robert may each look for letters. 
 I am their debtor already but hope that one and all will pile on the 
 heap of obligation. Thej^ can never know how much we love them ; 
 how earnestly we pray for them ; and how anxiously- we watch their 
 development of character. They are none of them in any degree less 
 in our thoughts or less warmly loved because of our separation. Our 
 one pra3'er for them all is that each wyax be ' ' Kept by the power of 
 God through faith unto salvation." 
 
 The texts in dear Mrs. Cope's book for some weeks past have a 
 tendencj- to make us think of closing life, as the year draws to a close. 
 
 -,68
 
 That for this day (Dec. 17) is strongly suggestive. Ma}'' we one and 
 all " walk as children of the light " seeing "the night is far spent and 
 the daj' is at hand. ' ' 
 
 The various members of our party appear to be all bright and well. 
 Your mother (I am so thankful) is better than j-esterday ; she had a 
 good night. But I have determined that this is not a proper trip for 
 a serious invalid. The nights are cold, and there is a feeling of 
 humidity which makes the sensation greater than the thermometer 
 would indicate. It stood jxsterday during the da}' in the shade at 62°F, 
 and in the evening at 60°. Yet even so high as that ^-our mother went 
 to the trunk for a warmer dress than that old black silk with which she 
 started, and in which she had determined to "do the Nile " even if the 
 Nile ' ' did it. ' ' The warm wool lined carriage shoes which I purchased 
 for her at Florence prove an invaluable acquisition. Without them she 
 would suffer. Her hands are generally cold. Nothing has surprised 
 me more than the clouds. It never rains but it is never clear ; at least 
 we have not seen a cloudless day yet, and it is now approaching 10 a.m., 
 and no one would know there was a sun except by the uniform light. 
 His orb is not visible and no shadow is cast. This is a merciful provi- 
 dence. If the sun's rays fell directly on the earth during the entire 
 year it mxist be baked hard. There is I believe a nightly deposit of 
 dew which refreshes the foliage and moistens the roots of the smaller 
 plants. While I write a little gleam of sunshine breaks through. This 
 may prove the harbinger of wind biit we are just told we may go to 
 church, and I must make some toilet before leaving. Your mother of 
 course will not attempt it as it involves a walk of something like a 
 mile. 
 
 You would be amused at our attire. Your mother has a common 
 coarse Leghorn hat with a broad rim. It is trimmed in the way worn 
 for Nile voyage, with a muslin scarf plaited over the crown and hanging 
 loosely down behind ; and she has put a blue gauze veil in front. Your 
 Uncle Wistar purchased a cork hat shaped something like one of our 
 firemen's helmets, covered with alpaca, and has a scarf folded around 
 it, hanging behind also. I tell him it looks exceedingly Quixotish. 
 Your aunts each have a jaunty little straw hat with white veils all 
 around ; and I have folded a white scarf around the crown of a palmetto 
 hat. The universal habit of Eviropeans is thus to protect the head 
 from the direct rays of the sun, so that I suppose it does shine some- 
 time. Each of the gentlemen have a scarlet skull cap with a black 
 silk tassel for evening wear. This is the Fez. Miss Harris presented 
 me with one and I must wear it but not out of doors. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 369
 
 Dahabeyah "America," December i8, 1871. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Here we still lie wind bound in the Nile between tlie two bridges 
 near Cairo, with no more prospect of moving than when we first came 
 on board. The sky is veiled with nniform grey clouds, and calms and 
 strong sfliitJi winds alternate. Yesterday Mr. Longstreth and Miss 
 Harris went ashore to service at the American Mission ; the other 
 members of the part}' remaining quietly on board occupied with read- 
 ing appropriate to the daj'. This morning I ventured ashore m3'self, 
 made a few small purchases, saw the bulletin announcing the 
 improvement in the condition of the Prince of Wales, had a little con- 
 versation with Dr. Grant, made efforts to procure a specimen of the 
 Senna Plant for Dr. Carson, mounted a donke}' and rode back. The 
 Druggist was ver}' civil and piomised to make efforts to procure speci- 
 mens for me if possible against my return. He said he had often tried 
 without success. It comes from Nubia and Upper Egypt. I will try 
 what the Missionaries can do as I go up the river. 
 
 This lying still here is somewhat trying to the tempers of impatient 
 people. To ni3-self, though I plead guilt}' to being one of that most 
 unfortunate tribe, it is not disturbing. I had anticipated it before we 
 stalled from home, aud really the freedom from excitement and relief 
 from the pressure under which we have been kept without intermis- 
 sion, except during the inter\'al when your mother and I were left 
 among the Italian Lakes, is most grateful, She sits with her sewing 
 and I with my book or writing, just as we should do if we were sailing 
 up the Nile. When we assemble at meals the subject is of one limit- 
 less discussion, some being never wearied of asserting the possibilitj' 
 of moving if the spring were only strong enough in the wills of the 
 Reis and crew, while the more reasonable point to our neighbors lying 
 besides us as tokens that this is one of those things which cannot be 
 done as well as others. 
 
 We were tantalized as we sat at dinner bj' seeing a steamboat pass 
 with two empty Dahabeyahs in tow and should have felt quite vexed 
 if Friezier had not made application this morning to the government 
 for a Tug and been told we could not have one. Who are the favored 
 parties or b}' what power they accomplished the object we cannot conjec- 
 ture. All that we know is that we are here with no hope of getting 
 away. Well, well, the earth moves on in its orbit, Christmas is within 
 one week and whether we get up the Nile or not the time is approach- 
 ing when we shall turn our faces homeward. The question how far 
 we should pray for a change of wind is discussed and I take the ground 
 that we should rather ask for patience and submission and that all 
 things may be ordered for our good. 
 
 I cannot say as I did among the Italian lakes that I never weary of 
 the beaut}'. There is really no beauty within sight. Goats, buffaloes, 
 donkeys, camels, and bipeds with red trousers and blue gowns and white 
 
 370
 
 turbans, and dirty children with little but tawny skins, crowd the banks, 
 while native cargo boats line the shore. One boat has been nearl}- com- 
 pleted, and the lumber of another sawed out and the frame laid just before 
 us since we came to this place. The bugle call in the barracks is reiterated 
 hour after hour and the ceaseless sound of the rivetting hammer tells 
 us thej' are pressing forward to completion the draw of the iron bridge 
 which stands between us and our destination. 
 
 Our deck is covered with the dark brown bread of the crew, cut 
 into portions and spread out to dry. They are just now sweeping it 
 up into heaps to be covered by the sails for the night. The Reis and 
 his crew will soon go through their Vesper bowings and prostrations 
 which are duly repeated several times every da}'. Each takes his 
 place in turn on the highest point of the deck, stands for a few minutes 
 with his face turned toward Mecca, then suddenlj'^ prostrates himself 
 on his knees with his forehead touching the deck, and rises to his 
 knees, and bobs to the deck alternatel}^ time after time. What the}- 
 feel or think or say is known only to their own hearts and the Searcher 
 of all hearts, who is no more propitiated by the unfelt repetition of 
 ' ' sound words ' ' than He is by the idle bending of the bod}- or bowing of 
 the head. We are all struck with the resemblance of their singing to 
 that we have so much enjo3-ed in the kitchen yard at Ivy Neck. We 
 might almost think Toby Bias was there with his nasal twang. They 
 keep time with a Tambourine and Tomtom, which is a dried skin tightl}' 
 stretched over the mouth of an earthen jar, and relieve the monotonous 
 song by an occasional hearty chorus. 
 
 Except the time spent in going ashore to-day I have been earn- 
 estly studying Sharpe's History of Eg3'pt hoping to prepare myself 
 for the better appreciation of the wonders of the palaces and tombs, 
 the ruins of which we shall visit, by some knowledge of the time 
 when, and the princes b}- whom they were severally built. 
 
 Your mother fortifies herself in her position that we are better off 
 than we will be up the Nile, by reading a book of travels in the East 
 by a Mr. Gadsby, who sa3'S " Cairo is charming " in comparison, and 
 reports having lain at a bank eight days on his downward trip, because 
 his crew would not move without a fair wind, even to come down the 
 stream. It is an interesting book and will repa}^ perusal if you have 
 it in the Philadelphia Library. We are indebted for it to the waiter at 
 Wood's Hotel, Furnival's Inn, London, who presented it to j-our 
 mother as a token of his grateful remembrance of your Aunt Elizabeth. 
 Mr. Gadsby was not so uncomfortable, however, that he did not repeat 
 his voyage three several times. We must admit that it is tantalizing 
 to know we are in the reach of objects of interest and yet be unable to 
 visit them, lest the wind should shift and our absence be an excuse for 
 not moving. 
 
 371
 
 Tuesday morning, Dec. 19. 
 
 The sun shines upon us this morning and this is the onlj' change. 
 The air is fresh and cool but the wind still dead ahead. One of the 
 waiters on the boat, a most important man for our comfort is sick, I 
 fear with an attack of fever of some kind. This is an unpleasant 
 incident. Coughs are very common, as I hear the people on the boats 
 lining the shore cough violently during the night. The l^ank is all 
 astir with its camel loads of Sugar cane being brought down to be 
 shipped across to Cairo. It is much used for food not bj' children 
 only bixt by those of all ages, and is said to be rich in its saccharine 
 matter. I have not tasted it myself The sugar we use is rich and 
 good and is doubtless made here. 
 
 I have not yet seen any one but the sick man and know not what 
 may be the plans of others, but suppose I shall walk into town after 
 breakfast, and possibly maj'^ mail this. I wish I had anything interesting 
 to 5'ou with which to fill the sheet as it seems wrong to send blank paper 
 to 3'ou. Your mother had a prett}' good night and seems bright this 
 morning. Indeed her uniform brightness is a great bles.sing to us all 
 and a gift from God, for which we must be dul}' thankful. 
 
 After breakfast. 
 I find that though the sun is shining brightly the thermometer 
 has fallen during the night as low as 54° F. ; several degrees lower than 
 on any previous daj'. We hope the afternoon may bring us a change 
 in the wind. I shall take this unsealed with me into Cairo and add to 
 it anj'thing that may interest one there. 
 
 5 P- M. 
 
 In Cairo this morning I made some little purchases, such as 
 woolen 5'arn for 3'our mother to knit herself some night socks. We 
 did not dream of needing such things in this Southern latitude and 
 left dear old Mrs. Sperr)''s in London; some chintz to make little 
 pockets to hang around her state-room and some hooks to suspend 
 clothes on. 
 
 The donkey driver amused me. As we passed some of the mud 
 houses I asked him if he lived in one. He very indignantly said 
 ' ' No " ! " English gentlemen lunch with me. " "I own five donkey. ' ' 
 I asked him how much a donkey cost, and was surprised to hear him 
 say ^20. On m^' expressing ni}^ surpri.se he said, " You think I lie?" 
 " Gentlemen offer me twenty Napoleons for this donkey." 
 
 Since my return we have been tantalized by seeing no less than 
 three steamers pass up, towing boats loaded with the sugar machinery' 
 of the Khedive. There are six or eight other Dahabeyahs lying near 
 us, like ourselves waiting a change of wind. While I was .shopping 
 this morning 3'our uncle and Mr. L,ognstreth visited the Egyptian 
 
 372
 
 Miiseiim at Boolak, which is near us, we find. Among other objects 
 of interest, it contains the last found tablet with a trilingual inscription 
 which confirms the value of hierogl3-phics as deciphered by means of 
 the Rosetta stone. It was discovered within a few months. If we do 
 not sail I will go to the museum to-morrow morning. Several casts 
 have been made from it and we are told one has been sent to Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Wednesday morning, there is 3-et no change of wind nor increase 
 of hope of our moving so I shall take this into town when I go to the 
 Museum and mail it, hoping we may yet get off before the time for 
 another mail. The thermometer is now 52° F. in the cabin. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Dahabev-VH, December 20, 1871. 
 Afy Dear Caspar : 
 
 I have alread}- sent a message to 3'ou in one of m}- letters to the 
 famil}' generally', b}' which \'ou will have learned how great pleasure 
 3'our letter gave 3-our grandmother and m3'self, by the care with which 
 it was written ; but, still more, hy the evidence it gave us of the affec- 
 tionate lespect with which 3'ou regard lis ; which incited 3-ou to the 
 effort. You know we are now moving among the ruined remains of 
 the temples and tombs of a people who were pre-eminentl3' distin- 
 guished b3^ their veneration ; and who set the seal of immortalit3' on 
 their tombs ; and passed judgment even on their kings, before allowing 
 them the honor of interment in the tombs the3' had expended vast 
 Slims in constructing for themselves during their own lives. Those 
 who are wise above what is written, and are not willing to believe that 
 ' ' God made the World and them that dwell therein, ' ' and revealed to man 
 what is right, ' ' making known His ways unto Moses and His statutes 
 and ordinances to Israel," think it a sign of their superior wisdom to 
 trace to these old Eg3'ptians the origin of all wisdom, as if it were 
 more honorable to man to believe that in some remote age he invented 
 knowledge and wisdom, than to trace all he possesses to the favour of 
 Ilim who made all things in heaven and earth. These ver3^ Eg3'ptians 
 shame them. There is no honor the3- prized so highl3' as the3- did the 
 favour of their Gods. They placed at the head of their titles ' ' Loved 
 of the god Amun-Ra," or Phtah or some other of the Gods many that 
 the3- framed for themselves, when, not liking to hold in their memor3' 
 the one true God, He gave them over to worship animals, and other 
 creatures. 
 
 We have not 3^et reached the region of their grandest remains but 
 have visited the solitary obelisk which stands as the onl3- token of the 
 site of the cit3- of On, or Heliopolis, once celebrated as the great College 
 to which resorted for instniction those sages whom we are accustomed 
 
 373
 
 to venerate as the Fathers of Wisdom. If you have not yet met with 
 the " Golden Verses " of Pythagoras they are well worth looking up. 
 I wrote a translation of them years ago, and was strongly impressed 
 by the testimony thej^ afforded to the universality of moral truth ; 
 which imist spiking from the one fountain, Truth itself. It may be more 
 or less defiled by the channels through which it flows, but Truth is 
 Divine. Pj^thagoras is known to have received instruction at Helio- 
 polis ; and in later ages Plato also. Joseph married a daughter of the 
 priest of Heliopolis and it was there, beyond doiibt, that Closes became 
 learned in all the wisdom of Egypt. 
 
 A few mounds of earth now covered by fields cultivated for 
 vegetables of various kinds for the market of Cairo, surround the 
 obelisk which rises in their midst, having on it hieroglyphic figures 
 which prove that it stood there before the daj's of Abraham. They 
 are as clean cut and fresh looking, as though we might look at the base 
 for the chips which have been chiselled out of the deep incisions, 
 and the tools and hammer of the workman, who would soon 
 return to add other signs. On two sides the figures of the birds and 
 animals present the appearance of being (?wbossed. The mud daubers, 
 a kind of wasp, have availed themselves of the depressions to build 
 their nests, following exactl}' the lines traced for them, and filling up 
 the form of the Hierogh'phic figure. I did not ascertain whether it is 
 the sun or the wind, which makes these two sides to be preferred b)' 
 these insects. It certainh^ is one or the other. A rain, if it ever falls, 
 will wash away their deposit and then all four sides will stand alike, 
 with clean figures cut at least an inch deep, and the narrowest line 
 two inches wide. They are placed in a vertical line near the middle 
 of the face of each side. These obelisks, and some of the statues and 
 sarcophagi which we have seen in the museums, are of a basalt or a 
 granite, or of porphyry ; all ver}' hard stone ; some so hard that even 
 modern tools will not dress it. Yet they are the work of ages before 
 the siege of Tro}'. Did thej' possess the knowledge of the process bj' 
 which steel is made ? or had they some tool better even than ours ? 
 
 I commenced this letter yesterday while lying off Cairo almost 
 despairing of a change of wind which should carry us up the Nile, 
 and while we were tr\-ing to make arrangements for a steam tug to 
 carry us through a drawbridge, after passing which we could sail or be 
 tracked, suddenly the favouring wind came ; and in 15 minutes over- 
 came the obstacle ; and now (the morning of the 2 ist) I open va.y eyes on 
 a beautiful wide spread reach of River, glowing with the reflected light 
 which Aurora spreads on the heavens, as the herald of the sun. In 
 calm majesty of inherent greatness, and clothed with the dignity of 
 ages untold, making them venerable as well as grand, rise before me 
 the pyramids of Ghizeh, and just beyond lies the site of Memphis. 
 Once — yes often — the seat of empire of the nation which overran Asia 
 as far as the Caspian ; and measured strength with Ass3'ria — now a 
 
 374
 
 series of mounds covered with gardens and palm groves ; and tiere 
 are zee a family of descendants of those who then were more savage 
 than the Sc3'thee and Massagetee of those Northern lands, sailing by 
 these silent memorials of their greatness, but eloquent teachers of 
 the vanit}^ of earthh' things whether national or individual, great or 
 small. 
 
 At this moment we are being towed by our crew, harnessed like 
 horses to our boat, and tracking along the shore. There are i6 of 
 them in line. Thej^ are by every token of form and feature, the 
 descendants of those 1)}' whom the pj'ramids were built, and who 
 carried the power of Egypt into those distant lands ; and lelt there, 
 cut on the stones in hierogl3-phics, the record of their conquest. Such 
 are the changes which /iave passed, and are passing, on this restless 
 earth. 
 
 We are looking forward with the pleasure of confident hope to oui 
 return to the bosom of our families. It affords us great consolation to 
 tliink that 3-011, and 3-oiir brothers and cousins, are preparing for us the 
 highest happiness earth can offer, by your honor of your parents and 
 diligence in preparation to fill honourably and usefullj' 3'Our positions 
 "in that state of life to which God hath called you" ; and we are 
 thankful that 3'our lot, and ours, is cast in these better times ; and not 
 as subjects of a Pharoah or C3-rus, of Caesar, Alexander, or Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, nor citizens of Rome, Carthage, or even Athens, or Sparta. 
 Ours is a better lot in this life, than it would have been in either, and 
 " to know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast 
 sent is life Eternal. ' ' 
 
 10 A. M. 
 
 As I sat just now gazing at the pyramids my ear caught a familiar 
 sound and — shades of Cheops and Cephrenes ! what did m3' e3'es see 
 passing betu-een me and your tombs ? A locomotive and train of cars ! 
 What extremes ! P3^ramids heaped up one knows not how, and at a 
 period so distant that it has never been positively settled how many 
 centuries ago — and rushing chariots drawn by a power of which those 
 builders had no comprehension, though they were producing it ever3' 
 time they cooked their onions and leeks, of which thej' recorded on 
 the p3'ramid the number consumed b3^ the labourers. 
 
 We are now passing the site of the lab3'rinth ; vide Herodotus. 
 
 Your loving grandfather, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Dahabeyah "America," December 21, 1871, 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Starting now on a more tranquil stage of our voyage I feel as 
 though I might be able to write more calmly and connectedly than I 
 have been able to do under the high pressure with which we have 
 travelled till now. Not having had the direction of our own 
 
 375
 
 movements, we have never thus far known one hour in advance what 
 course we were to take, what objects we were about to visit. It was 
 of course impossible to command our time or make any systematic 
 arrangements of our actions. Now, for three months at least, we shall 
 not leave our own position, but wait for the various objects of interest 
 to be brought to us. This may sometimes test our endurance, and trj- 
 our tempers by the demand on our patience, as much as the excite- 
 ment of action has done heretofore. Yesterday morning we were 
 planning and concerting- with our fellow dettmis (some three or four 
 Scotch and English families) how we could procure a steam tug to 
 carry us through a drawbridge which lay as an insuperable barrier to 
 our advance. Suddenly, while some members of their party were 
 ashore, and just after some of ours had returned to the boat, without a 
 minute's premonition, the wind hauled round ; our bcatitiftil striped 
 sail was spread, we floated off", and in fifteen minutes were through the 
 draw and gaily sailing against the stream on our southern course, 
 leaving our less fortunate neighbors still anchored. We made about 
 twelve miles before nightfall, when we tied fast to the shore, and lay 
 quietly all night. The sunset was just what we have seen repre- 
 sented in the pictures of Mr. Tilton at Rome and in Robert's Egypt. It 
 any one is willing to give some thousand dollars for an Eg3'^ptian pic- 
 ture instead of spending some thousands in a personal visit, j\Ir. 
 Tilton will gladly accommodate him, and do it perfectly. A light veil of 
 cloud lay gauze-like over the face of the sky, and as the sun reached 
 the horizon, assumed richer shades than were ever given to an Egyp- 
 tian or Persian cloak b}' any Tyrian dj^er ; while in the delicacy 
 of its texture it defied the competion of the looms of Decca ; and in 
 gracefulness of folds the art of the most accomplished Paris vip- 
 holsterer. Then what language can describe the richly burnished 
 surface of the Nile Sea, so it was called of old, as it reflected the 
 purple and gold of the heavens ? 
 
 Soon after sunset the wind failed us and stakes were driven into 
 the bank and we lay quietly all night. My window looked out on the 
 water side and as I kept the watches of the night the moon shed its 
 calm rays on the river till the returning sun gave a golden hue to the 
 eastern sky, which was reflected from the placid surface of the water. 
 Going on deck I could see three pyramids of Ghizeh on the west side 
 of the river ; and on the east the citadel of Cairo, with the grand 
 dome of its IMosque flanked b}^ needle-like minarets on either side, 
 towered loftily above the town ; while on either side the limestone 
 hills and the desert sands showed how narrow is the valley fertilized 
 by the Nile. It seems almost beyond belief that such great cities 
 should have been erected, or such great events transpired within such 
 narrow limits ; that from hence could have issued the armies which 
 overran India, threatened Assyria, invaded Scythia and Armenia, 
 made for a long time auccessful resistence to Persia and Greece and 
 
 376
 
 Rome ; or that from this little strip should have been raised year by 
 year the corn with which the Roman Emperors quieted the rebellion of 
 her starving citizens. It is true wheat fields alread}?- green meet the 
 eye everj^where ; but the area is so small that one cannot think 
 without wonder of the annual harvests which fed not its own people 
 onl}', but the world. 
 
 Just behind these green grain fields we see the ranges of lime- 
 stone hills, in the sides of which numerous gaping caverns indicate 
 the mouths of the caves in which are stowed awa\' the remains of 
 the generations of three thousand 3'ears ; together with the mummies 
 of crocodiles, apes, monkeys and cats. Gloom}' enough is the 
 grimness of these cream colored cliflFs. 
 
 Now we pass flocks of sheep or goats tended by Arab herdsmen 
 like the servants of Laban or Jacob ; now we see camels arranged 
 along the shore, stretching their long necks till their heads are 
 between their feet while they drink ; and every now and then we pass 
 ploughs drawn by camels or buffaloes. (I was called on deck just now 
 by the excitement created by the near approach of the other 
 Dahabeyahs which had overtaken us while we were aground ; an 
 incident often repeated. The wind falling, each landed its crew to 
 track, and the contest which should lead was very animated. We keep 
 the lead.) 
 
 We are passing great fields of tall Egyptian corn or Doura the 
 grain growing on top like broom corn. Tents are pitched beside 
 it and it is being harvested. They cut it off near the ground ; then 
 take off the grain ; and bind the stalks and leaves in large bundles. 
 We meet loads of them on the boats going down the river. 
 
 The Citadel of Cairo stands on an eminence so lofty that we have 
 had it in view all day. The pyramids also of Ghizeh, and later in the 
 day those of Sakkarah. The beaut}' of the palm groves is very great, 
 and the wheat fields have the brilliant green of early spring with us. 
 Large flocks of wild geese fly screaming over head in long single files, 
 as with us ; occasionally breaking and forming into two diverging 
 lines having a point of union in the one leader. 
 
 22d. 
 
 We sailed on in the moonlight last evening till about 8;^ p. m., 
 when in company with our fellow voyagers of the Counteso, the Gazelle, 
 the Urania, and a larger boat, whose nam.e we have not learned, and 
 surrounded b}' a host of Cangias or freight boats laden with corn, we 
 made fast for the night, Your uncle Wistar climbed the bank and 
 saw beyond cultivated fields ; but was glad to make his return safely, 
 being attacked by dogs. 
 
 This morning my window opens on the calm unruffled stream, 
 flowing, silently as destin}', undisturbed by the incidents of time ; 
 reflecting only the glow of the heavens above ; and skirted b}' palm 
 
 377
 
 groves waiving their crowns of green, feathery sjaiibols of victory. 
 Behind them lies in solemn, awful stafe, the corpse of human history, 
 the pyramids of Sakkarah ; and above them all, the pearly vault of 
 heaven shews itself adorned by fleec}^ clouds, some white as the driven 
 snow, some glowing like molten gold, emblem of the streets of the 
 apocalyptic Jerusalem. Beyond in the distance the grim grej^ outline 
 of the desert spreads itself with the malign aspect of unknown, unfath- 
 omable, evil — the " outer darkness," surrounding the paradise of God. 
 
 While we were at breakfast we were tracked a short distance but 
 even that slow process of advance soon failed us, and we were obliged 
 "to stake " under a high bank which projects into the stream. 
 
 Beside us la)' the Gazelle and two other Dahabeyahs. I went 
 ashore and saluting as we passed two gentlemen who like myself were 
 walking for warmth in the sun, found one of them, a very modest 
 unpretending fellow, is the Marquis of Bath, making his third trip. 
 He says he never found it so cold before. The}' turned their poultry 
 ashore to feed and get exercise while detained. Chickens, turke3'S 
 and geese waited quietly on shore to be caught at will. 
 
 We saw the processes of agriculture. The Doura crop is being cut 
 off just as our Indian corn. The tops with the seeds are gathered in 
 large heaps and thrashed with sticks, and the stalks are bound in 
 bundles and sent down the river, either for food for camels, or to be 
 used in strengthening the mud walls of the houses. The land is 
 immediately ploughed b)' oxen and sown witli wheat or beans or 
 vetches. In some exposed places they plant the dry Doura stalks, as 
 screens to the young crops, in hedge like rows parallel to each other 
 at a distance of some feet, and cultivate the ground between in small 
 crops. They are certainly an industrious and happy race of people. 
 
 We find that one of our waiters was with Joshua H. Morris and 
 his party and talks of them with most respectful affection. He says 
 he had received two letters from J. H. M. He has been to New Orleans 
 and Mobile, and seems a ver}- nice man named Joseph. The INIarquis 
 of Bath recognizes our pilot and sa3'S he was in his employ and is a 
 good ofl£cer. 
 
 It is interesting as we lie here to watch the activity around us. 
 Cangias or freight boats are floating constantly past us with large 
 loads of the threshed straw and doura and other grains ; and many 
 are, like ourselves, wind bound on their up-river course. Ploughing 
 and sowing are being done on shore and everything indicates activity. 
 We hear the rattle of the R. R. and occasionallj^ a steamboat passti- 
 dragging a long line of barges with machinery for the works of the 
 Khedive or the sugar and cotton of his manufactories. 
 
 2 p. M. 
 We are still lying at the same spot, with no indications of change. 
 While at dinner a favorable breeze fanned us genth' and in a moment 
 at a call from the Reis we saw the crew spring on board, hoist the sail, 
 
 378
 
 man the poles, draw the stake and we were off. The alacrity and good 
 humour with which they perform their duties is very pleasing. The 
 Marquis of Bath was not so happy as we, and the Urania and Gazelle. 
 He and his friend had strolled away and his Reis had taken down the 
 sail to enlarge it, so that they were not ready for the start. By dint 
 of poling through shallow water and catching the lightest breeze on 
 our sails we crossed to the opposite side of the river and then the crew 
 took us in tow. They pull like a long team of mules. We often pass 
 Cangias lying taking a cargo of wheat or Doura or the stalks or straw. 
 These are piled up very high and it is pleasant to see with what good 
 humour their men assist our crew in passing the long towing rope over 
 them, singing and cheering and chaffing at each other gaily. As we 
 were being towed along this afternoon one of our men broke from his 
 place and ran down to the shore to assist two women to raise their 
 water pitchers to their heads. He did it with all the grace of a finished 
 gentleman and returned to his rope. 
 
 Dahabeyah "America," Dec. 24, 187 1. 
 
 The enquiry has just been made ; have 3^011 any letters to mail 
 this evening at Benisooef and I avail m3'self of the opportunity to 
 send the sheet which accompanies this and will endeavor to divert my 
 attention from passing objects sufficientl}^ long to give you another 
 day's record of our progress. It is difficult to do so. We are sailing 
 gaily and every minute presents some fresh object of interest to our 
 notice. At this moment we are passing a noble grove of Acanthus 
 trees sheltering under their great masses of foliage an extensive build- 
 ing like a fortified castle, built of unburned brick ; recently we passed 
 a Coptic Convent ; and the incidents of navigation are often amusing, 
 sometimes exciting, and occasionally vexatious. This morning for 
 example we were sailing most rapidly when without a moment's pre- 
 vision we stuck our bow into a mud bank and spent some half hour or 
 more in extricating ourselves. This allowed the only Dahabeyah 
 which can sail with us, and which we had dropped, to overtake us. 
 Soon after doing so we were hailed and I was asked to go on board to 
 pay a professional visit to the Dragoman. I found him suffering with 
 an acute Pleurisy or Hepatitis. I prescribed for him to the best of 
 my ability and returned after offering to repeat the visit at any time 
 they pleased. The poor fellow is suffering greatly and asked if I did 
 not think leeches would be of use. On my saying I did, he proposed 
 to go to Benisooef where he could get them, and also a surgeon 
 stationed there by the Khedive. Soon after we came in sight of that 
 town and while we are holding on oiir way I see that boat has stopped. 
 
 We shall not stop as we have a most favourable wind and our 
 stores will not need replenishing. It is quite a large town, the resi- 
 dence of a Lieut. Governor. The country around is fertile and highly 
 
 379
 
 cultivated and the groves of trees are large ; while the minarets of 
 several mosques pierce their clustering foliage quite picturesquely, and 
 the large number of masts shows an active trade. There is also a large 
 cotton and silk manufactory belonging to the Khedive. 
 
 My medical advice is needed by one of our cabin servants who is 
 quite sick, we are all interested for him. His manner is attractive, he 
 talks five languages fluenth', E^nglish among them, and though a 
 Romanist lingers purposel3' about the cabin during our morning read- 
 ing of the Scriptures. One of the crew came to me pointing to his 
 ear; he evidentl}^ has earache and says it is relieved by oil and 
 laudanum. Another came and coughed and held his hand to his 
 chest, and laughed and then pointed to his mouth, to indicate he 
 wanted something to take. When I gave him some liquorice paste he 
 appeared more than satisfied. Another held his hand to his face and 
 then pointed to his teeth. Indeed I onl}" wonder the}^ are not all ill. 
 The nights are ver}- cold. Thermometer 40° to 45°F. and they have no 
 shelter, but lie on the open deck wrapped onl}' in coarse blankets. 
 Your Uncle Wistar, Friezier, and myself, are all suffering more or less 
 with cold in our teeth ; and now at 4 p. m. it is unpleasantly cold. 
 The Dragoman I saw this morning owes his attack to cold, though 
 his stateroom is as comfortable as anj- of ours. It is no place for a 
 delicate invalid. 
 
 This morning we passed on one shore a town which is falling into 
 the river, which is undermining the bank ; and on the other shore the 
 desert piles its heaps of sand quite down to the river's edge. Along 
 the sandy shore congregate large herons, standing in lines at the water's 
 edge, while countless flocks of wild geese sail over us screaming most 
 noisily. Steamboats drawing heavy barges laden with machinery 
 pass and are repassed b}- us and the rattling sound of the railroad 
 breaks the strange stillness of the scene. It was very funny to see 
 the monkey on one occasion, when the noise of the cars caught his 
 ear, run quickly to the highest place his chain allowed him to reach, 
 and stand perfectly erect on his hind legs while he held his forepaws 
 over his head and looked as anxiously' to learn the source from which 
 the new sound came, as the pilot looked at the course he was 
 steering. 
 
 December 25th. 
 
 I will thank Israel to stop the Ledger from the time he receives 
 this. It will arrive here till we leave Egypt and after that I do not 
 care for it and may save the postage. 
 
 This morning we were aroused by the cheery sound of little Mary's 
 greeting reminding us of old times and pleasant incidents, and now 
 as it is 2 p. M. we fancj' the pleasure with which in each of your several 
 homes you hail the return of the festival which should fill all hearts 
 
 380
 
 with thanksgiving and all months with praise, and we desire to unite 
 with 3'ou in thanks to God for His unspeakable gift. Your mother 
 and I had provided some crayons and colors for little Marj- and other 
 similar tokens of affection served to brighten the breakfast hour. Since 
 then our time has been beguiled by the sights on the shore which have 
 been interesting. The usual culture in its simplicit}' of hoe and 
 native plough, just such as are represented in the pictures on the 
 tombs, with which we have all been made familiar bj^ photography, is 
 found at every turn. 
 
 This morning we have passed extensive quarries of white lime- 
 stone, worked by hundreds of natives who receive no compensation 
 for their labour and are kept at their toil by military force. Steam loco- 
 motives, drills, and blasting with gunpowder facilitate their work but 
 contrast strongly with their eastern costume and sable skins. Very 
 many of the people here are evidently of Nubian descent. 
 
 Nearly opposite the stone cpiarries we found very extensive sugar 
 manufactories worked b}- steam power driven by coal imported here 
 from England. Gas woi'ks for lighting well prove their importance. 
 INIuch machiner}'^ was being landed ; Copper boilers, and Iron rolls and 
 Hydro extractors and girders for roofs ; all made either in Europe or 
 America, and as we knew Henry G. Morris was making some machin- 
 ery we used our glasses diligentl}^ to detect if possible his name on 
 any part. The English directions to Alexandria could be read easil}'. 
 
 We had so strong a favouring breeze when we reached Benisooef 
 5-esterday that we did not stop. We are now lying still at mid-day not 
 having made ten miles to-day. If we have a fair wind when we reach 
 Minieh we shall not stop. If we have not we shall mail our letters 
 there. Your grandmother and I are busy reading Egyptian Histor}- 
 ever}' morning, and in the evening I have read aloud Henr}- Reed's 
 translation of the Daughter of the Egyptian King. It is a sad but 
 intensel}' interesting story, illustrating the manners and customs of 
 the times of Camb3'ses and Amases in Persia and Egypt and the Pisis- 
 tratidfe in Athens. Reading, the histor\' simultaneously with the storj- 
 I am able to indicate the perfect truth of the incidents in this, which 
 ai'e most exciting. If you have not read it you. will find it very instruc- 
 tive and enable you to follow the thread of history more readily than 
 you can without and will make 3'ou all feel that it is better to be citi- 
 zens of our free Republic and possessors of the blessings of Christ- 
 ianity than worshippers of Ormuzd or Osiris or Zeus or Poseidon, 
 even sitting on thrones or riding in the first chariots of the 
 Kingdom. 
 
 I find by the cessation of movement that we are again at the 
 shore. It is interesting to see the stratification of the deposit. Some 
 years leave a slight deposit of an inch or two ; some ten or fifteen 
 inches, but all of the same black mud with a little sand. Just now we 
 have a cliff ten or fifteen feet high directly at our window. As it falls 
 
 381
 
 into the water it breaks into cubes, and these again into smaller frag- 
 ments, but to the smallest all retain the rectangular cubical shape. 
 
 5.30 p. M. 
 Would that you all could see the burnished golden water as it lies 
 before my state-room window with the background of palm grove 
 and above it the changing glory of the sunset hues on the lace-like 
 veil of cloud. Thermometer 65° not a breadth of wind stirring. We 
 are fastened to the eastern shore and the moon nearly full is just above 
 the horizon. All thy works praise Thee, may thy saints give thanks 
 to Thee. That we may be of that number praj's 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 This has been a daj- enjoyed bj' 3'our mother and all. 
 
 December 26, 187 1. 
 
 The scene which spreads before m}- little window as I lie waiting 
 for the time of rising is one of great beauty. We cast anchor last 
 evening when the failing wind rendered further progress impossible, 
 near the eastern shore. Fear of Hj-aenas which were heard howling 
 along the desert, whose grim outline approached the river on this side, 
 caused us to anchor instead of staking. Now the river is a mile wide 
 and the western shore is low and the fields highl)' cultivated. A large 
 chimney of a steam pumping machine with its square, well built, 
 engine house stands opposite us, and near it a beautiful residence of 
 stone, embowered in a grove of Palm and Acanthus trees on which 
 the sun's horizontal rays are just resting. vSince I took my portfolio 
 to write, a breeze has risen and is curling the water and alread}^ our 
 prompt Reis and his cheerful crew are raising anchor and hoisting sail, 
 and as the sun illuminates the palms we are passing along this wind- 
 ing shore, causing them to seem as though in m5'stic dance the) 
 waved their feather}- plumes and shifted their positions in graceful fig- 
 ures in honor of the life-giving power thus smiling upon them. 
 
 We suppose ourselves to be about 120 or 30 miles south of Cairo 
 and as there are the chimneys of sugar mills in the vicinity in addition 
 to those w^e passed yesterday, which are within a few miles, we sup- 
 pose the residence I have mentioned may be that at which 3-our aunts 
 tell us Frederick and his party were hospitably entertained. 
 
 10 A. M. 
 
 Each day's observation confirms me in the conviction that no 
 
 delicate invalid should be sent here. Since the first beams of the sun 
 
 fell on the shore, clouds gre\' and cold have obscured the day. The 
 
 thermometer stands below 50° F. and the air is colder to our sensations 
 
 38a
 
 than even that would indicate, and while our diet is excellent for 
 healthy persons it would be difficiilt to suit the capricious appetite of 
 disease or weakness. For the 3-oung and gay and for sportsmen, or 
 artists, or poets, or loungers, who desire onlj- to eat and drink and 
 sleep, who carr}- with them carefully assorted stores and arrangements 
 for the gratification of their several tastes ; or for a party of two or 
 three perfectly well assorted and congenial souls, everything would 
 conspire to make it a vo}'age of pleasure. We enjoy the delightful 
 parts. There are allo5-s in the shape of difSculties connected with the 
 large number. Then one of our waiters is quite ill with Dysenter3- 
 without an}'- means of appropriate treatment or care ; stowed awa}- in 
 a dark hole, with the dog and the monkey for his bedfellows. I had 
 hoped he was doing well this morning. He is a verv* pleasant servant 
 and we not onh* miss his assistance but feel deep sj-mpath}' with his 
 suffering and are saddened b}^ the absolute impossibility^ of doing any- 
 thing to comfort and relieve him. Your mother is verj' busy with that 
 old black silk dress which is to her what canvas and brushes are to 
 the artist, and she is bent on making it as smart now as it was before 
 it was turned the first time (some ten years ago was it not and has it 
 not been transmitted annuallj- since ?) Little Marj^ is prowling around 
 the floor of the saloon performing the crocodile. Thomas K. Long- 
 streth and Miss Harris are exercising each other with the aid of 
 OUendorf 's French Grammar. Wistar is coiled up in one corner with 
 a book, and I am cnjoyijig all I hoped for with the single abatement of 
 the sick man. I had fondly hoped to escape the responsibilit}^ of my 
 profession. It has been m^- life's burden. Perhaps it is my sin that 
 I feel it such, and I should have bent my shoulder to the 3-oke and 
 borne it cheerfully and been glad to do what / could and not fret, as 
 I have done, becavise I could not do more. I must now do what I can 
 gladl}-. 
 
 In a little walk on shore at our last stopping place we found 
 melon vines in flower sheltered from the cold north wind by tufts of 
 grass. This use of grass and tall reeds is ven,- common. 
 
 2 p. M. 
 We have had a most laborious day and made but little progress. 
 The channel was very tortuous and the shoals ver\' shallow so that vt'e 
 have been floated off by the crew getting under the counter of the boat 
 at one time, by poling at another, by tracking at another, and some- 
 times b}^ carr3-ing out an anchor to keep the head to the little wind. 
 We had just got around a ver}' difHcult point and the sails were spread 
 when I remarked to Wistar I believe the task is accomplished but it 
 has been hard work. If I were at home I should say we are about to 
 have a N. F. blow. At the same moment the Reis shouted loudly to 
 his men ; ever3' rope was cast loose, and looking to the desert we saw a 
 dense black cloud driving toward us, and in a few moments felt the 
 
 383
 
 grit of the sand in our teeth while the atmosphere was darkened by 
 it. It passed over us in a few minutes but not till it had startled us 
 all by its violence. It is cause for thankfulness that we had got beyond 
 the shallows or we should certainly have been driven ashore. We 
 are now making rapid advance but the sun has smiled on us but little 
 to-day and about 3 p. m. we had a fall of rain sufficient to wet the 
 deck. We have passed several very extensive sugar works, and many 
 acres of melons and corn sheltered by tufts of long grass. The flats 
 from which the water has receded are beginning to have a green tint 
 from the growth of young reeds ; and the wheat fields are verj- green. 
 There are frequent and large flocks of sheep ; black, white, and 
 parti-colored ; and at a ferry we saw quite a herd of cattle being trans- 
 ]iorted across the river in boats. They were large and many of them 
 had humps on their shoulders sufficiently large to prove their rela- 
 tionship to the cattle of India. The tameness of the birds proves that 
 there can be no shooting except that from the foreign travellers. The 
 little birds light on our decks. Herons scarce move at our approach 
 and eagles sit entirely indifferent as we pass them. Thej' are eviclentl}' 
 the same bird figured on the coins of the Ptolomies. 
 
 27th. 
 
 After a toilsome da}', with but little progress, in the course of 
 which we passed some old quarries on the shore where the desert came 
 quite down to the river on the East side, we staked for the night close 
 to a native village on the West side. The bank is clothed with palms 
 whose tops are now waving in the favouring wind. At their feet lies 
 a large heap of beans, beside which watch has been kept all night l)y 
 a native guard who has kept a small fire of dry reeds to warm himself. 
 The people on board are beginning to move and so soon as they can 
 get our supply of milk from the shore we shall start. The sky is cold 
 and wintr}- looking and were it not for the palm trees we should find 
 it difficult to believe it a tropical climate. Mj^ night has flea-cd awa}- 
 with broken rest, and I have been fearful that your mother's has 
 been disturbed also by the same intrusion. This is the only animal 
 trouble we find, and it is not so great as it was in Ital}-, but destruc- 
 tive of rest anj'-where. The coughs on shore as well as on board con- 
 firm mj' opinion that this is not the place to send persons suffering 
 under diseases of the respiratory organs. 
 
 While I write we are moving off", and as we pass the town I see 
 near one of the houses some swine ; affording convincing evidence 
 that some of the people are not followers of the prophet who forbade 
 swine's flesh. As we get fairly out on the river the sun rises and gilds 
 the clouds and gives a little warmth to the sky while a great grove of 
 palms gives beaut}' to the earth. I had written the above before 
 rising, and now I have not half completed lu}- toilet, when the wind 
 falling we are drifting rapidl}- down stream. Quick as thought the crew 
 
 3S4
 
 spring- to the boat, row ashore with their towing rope, land on a spot 
 where I do not see how the}' can stand, let alone hold on to the rope, 
 climb the bank, check our retrograde course and commence their 
 toilsome draught. Such are the perpetually recurring incidents of 
 Nile voyage. 
 
 The various flocks and herds which have been brought to the 
 village for safety during the night ; goats, sheep, donkeys, cattle; are 
 being driven a-field and the cheery calls of human society sound musi- 
 call}^ over the water, while the song of our crew forms a deep bass to 
 the harmon}'. The unceasing ' ' gobbling ' ' of the Turkej^s and cawing 
 of the crows are familiar chords amid all the wild dissonance. While 
 breakfasting we have been carried rapidly up the stream and on going 
 on deck see vcty extensive unfinished sugar works with the town of 
 Semaloot on the one side, with its lofty and exquisitely beautiful 
 minaret, and on the other a cliff running down to the river's edge, 
 with old quarries in its side. We suppose the Coptic convent is not 
 far distant, which stands on one of these cliffs, and from which the 
 monks were accustomed formerly to be lowered to the water and float 
 off to the boats on inflated skins, asking alms as " Christians." The 
 low shores are highly cultivated and look attractive, and here as 
 wherever machinery is being introduced, we see houses more commo- 
 dious than the common native hovels ; we suppose to be occupied by 
 Europeans. We have just been boarded b}^ three naked Coptic monks 
 who swam off" for money cr5-ing " Christiani Hawadgi." If they be 
 slaves of superstition who has set us free ? A trifle satisfied them and 
 the}' svi'am to shore. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 "The America," on the Nile, December 28th, 1S71. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Yesterda}^ we were able to mail letters from Minieh, quite a con- 
 siderable town about 82 miles from Cairo. Wistar and Mary ; 
 T. Longstreth and E. Harris went ashore, but as it did not look invit- 
 ing and there is nothing of interest to see we did not join them and 
 I admit the fear of bringing back companions deterred us. Thus 
 far we have been greatly favoured, having nothing more than fleas ; 
 bad enough too. We had no reason to regret not joining them from 
 their report. This is a delightful day and we are all well and happ3^ 
 Is not that saying much f The life here as you can imagine, is monot- 
 onous and yet there is almost all the time something to see, either on 
 the shore or river. The glare from the water is so uncomfortable to 
 me, even in the hat and parasol, that I stay very much below stairs, 
 but have a very good view from the windows. The evenings we 
 
 38s
 
 spend together aroimd a well lighted table, each having their work, 
 and your father reads aloud. We have read the " Egyptian Princess" ; 
 have now taken the "Wilkinson's Egj'pt " and two other works on 
 Egypt. Cheston's book will be the next. We have — little Holh- 
 tells me for she has made a catalogue — loo Books in our little librar}-. 
 So I think we'll hardly run out on the trip. 
 
 There is plenty of opportunity^ for gentlemen to shoot, so if any 
 of you bo3^s were here I have no doubt it would afford you much 
 amusement, and I often regret we have not a sportsman in the part}'. 
 The dragoman shoots a little but not much. The geese and birds 
 we see in large flocks ver}- often, and they are very nice. 
 
 Sundaj-, Dec. 31st. 
 
 I think much of you all, but especiallj' on Sunda3-s, seeing 3'ou 
 all going to }'our different churches with 3'our families. We assemble 
 at 1 1 in the morning and Wistar reads a sermon and a chapter, and 
 after that 3'our father and I have our own service in m3^ little state 
 room to ourselves. We rather hoped to have reached As3'oot last 
 night and then we would have gone to hear the missionary even if the 
 services had been in Arabic, but we are creeping along at a slow rate. 
 
 Head winds and a strong current against us, makes the tracking 
 which the poor crew do (that is pulling us with strong ropes) ver3' 
 hard work ; two Dahabe3^ahs have just got up to us, and so now we 
 have conlpan3^ The flies to-da3' are intolerable ; it is almost impossible 
 to write or do an3-thing for them and the da3'^ ver3' warm. I suppose 
 I shall get accustomed to this Nile life but so far I don't like it, it is 
 just loafing, and doing nothing, and surrounded b3' most miserable 
 human beings that call for 3'our S3'mpathy. 
 
 The Pasha is Lord and when he issues an order it has to be obe3'ed. 
 His sugar manufactor3^ is not far from here and he has conscripted so 
 many to work in it for a piece of bread a da3^ ; and we dail3' meet the 
 boats crowded to excess with the poor creatures on their wa3' there. No 
 less than 12 boat loads have passed us to-da3'. He is now requiring 
 the whole population to pa3' their taxes 6 3'ears in advance $36 a 3'ear 
 per acre. Occasionall3- we see the slave boats also. 
 
 Januar3' i, 187.?. 
 
 This is dear little Emil3''s birthda3' and ni}' thoughts wandered 
 on waking to Ivy Neck especiall3', but did not forget to ask in our 
 morning petitions for each member of each family, " Old and Young." 
 I thought the 24th was Herbert's but was not quite sure. Elliston and 
 Annie, too, have passed their anniversaries, as well as Caspar, Cornelia, 
 Eff", and T3'son, so 3'ou see my dear children grandma don't forget 3'ou. 
 We trust this will be a happ3' New Year to 3'ou all. This morning our 
 
 386
 
 breakfast table was decked with a very beautiful bunch of wild flowers. 
 HoUj^ and her father had gathered them in their walk, for the boat is 
 anchored by a bank on the top of which is a most luxuriant wheat 
 field, and all have been tempted to go ashore almost daily except me. 
 They are guarded by a man with a heavy stick to keep off dogs ; this 
 is a necessary precaution. 
 
 Tuesday, January 2d. 
 After having been anchored forty-eight hours, about 3 o'clock 
 this morning we were aroused b}' a stir and excitement overhead ; the 
 wind had changed and we were moving. Some difficulties were to be 
 encountered and consequent!}' we have had a bustling exciting morn- 
 ing and to add to what is going on on board is the prospect of a donkej' 
 ride up into the town to do some shopping. Yesterday as we were 
 h'ing between two Dahabeyahs, with whom we had had some inter- 
 course, we exchanged visits ; they are English and Scotch people, 
 quite pleasant ; and nov/ this morning we are running a race. 
 
 10 o'clock. 
 To the disappointment of our Ladies the dragoman says he has 
 no occasion to tarr}' here long enough for us to go into town ; so your 
 father and uncle have gone to get our letters and we are watching with 
 some interest what is passing on the shore. About 100 donkej^s with 
 their attendants rushed down as we came in, and I thought it was at 
 the risk of their lives that the gentlemen mounted, and then the 
 Dragoman whipped the bystanders out of their way. We were shocked 
 at this ; it is the first time I have seen the lash iised, and if I am to 
 try donkey rides thro' as many difficulties as these I shouldn't do it at 
 all. I think the Dragoman and Reis or Captain changed their plans 
 because there is a fair wind and our fellow travellers have gone ahead 
 with it and they don't like to be left. 
 
 January 3d. 
 We had a great shock last evening. Your father as usual had just 
 commenced reading aloud as soon as the tea table was made read\', 
 when in the middle of a word, his head fell back. I was sitting beside 
 him, jumped and supported his head. His eyes were fixed, and he was 
 entirely unconscious. Wistar and T. Longstreth lifted him on the 
 Divan and we gave brandy, applied spice plasters, and ginger, and 
 paragoric, and mustard. On coming to himself he was very sick at 
 his stomach. You may imagine it was a most trying night to us all, 
 feeling the whole responsibility of the case on ourselves, and he very 
 unwilling (of that he has no recollection) to let us do much for him. 
 I sat up with him. The room being too small either for me to lie 
 down in it or for a second person to sit there. Wistar left his door 
 
 387
 
 open and was frequently at the door to look after us ; and sisters were 
 equally anxious and watchful. They all sa3^ and he thinks so him- 
 self, it was just such attacks as ^-our grandfather used to have ; none 
 the less alarming for that. He had not been feeling sick at all, tho' 
 we had noticed for several daj-s his appetite was not so good, and j^es- 
 terday especially had only eaten a small piece of roast mutton and 
 rice ; declining a very tempting pudding. This morning he appears 
 entirely relieved ; tho' looks badh^ ; has taken a little breakfast. And 
 I do feel anxious and shall dread a recurrence. 
 
 Oh ! again (you will tire hearing of it) for the comforts of home ! 
 air}' rooms, etc., our children to comfort and aid me. But don't 
 think me ungrateful, the}^ are all as kind as possible and we have 
 every luxurj- that mone}' can give. What an unspeakable comfort to 
 feel in a INIerciful Father's Hand, and to know every stroke is meted 
 b}' him. 
 
 Januar}- 7th. 
 
 The few last days have been ones of anxiety to me and watchful- 
 ness of your father. I do try to avoid over care on his account too, 
 knowing to knock mj'self up would trouble him ; but I see he is not 
 well and I am afraid of a return. It is most trying to have to leave 
 him alone and across the entry at 7iight and I dare not have the doors 
 open as the draft makes me cough all the time and I am so susceptible 
 to colds, and as the thermometer is forty some nights we have to wrap 
 up. Your father is cheerful and enjo3'S the scenery, etc., reads and 
 writes, tho' not so much as he did, and looks badly ; bad color, evi- 
 dently wants to be quiet ; so we are a good deal alone in our little 
 rooms. I sit on the bed and then he can occupy the chair. I am sorr}- 
 to have to send such accounts, especially' as it will be a long time ere 
 another letter can go. They tell us we will get to Thebes to-night 
 where we hope to hear. And then we can't either hear or send until 
 our return to that point, which will require six weeks at least (if we 
 go above the cataract.) We most sincerely wish they would not. I 
 regret this attack of 3-our father's also on Wistar's accoinit as he 
 evidently feels it. 
 
 We have had several right sick people on board, for whom your 
 father prescribes, and he is winning the affections of all the hands. 
 The old Reis came twice the other morning to the cabin to inquire for 
 him, tho' he only speaks a few words in Ivnglish ; but actions conve}' 
 much. We are now passing the most luxuriant wheat I ever saw, the 
 scenery on the shore is ever varying ; some times attractive and at 
 othei's painful in the extreme. At one point alone (we had to stay at 
 that town thirt}' hours for our men to bake their own bread) we saw 
 2000 men shipped for the Pasha's works. After carrying many, maity 
 laro-e bags or bales of bread on their backs on board (that is their only 
 food) they were then driven on board .like animals and packed as 
 
 388
 
 clcsely as tliey could squat, so as to put as maUy as possible on board 
 each boat, and there they must remain for five daj'S, at least, without 
 change of position ; they are seated on the bread on deck. They are 
 a cheerful, happy people notwithstanding, and not slothful, and 
 certainly sincere and devout in their worship of Mahomet, indeed I 
 think they set a good example to us Christians in many ways. 
 
 Your father is keeping a journal for 3^ou all but will not risk 
 sending it in this way, as the mail from here is very uncertain, it is 
 carried by runners for 200 miles, changing at each of their little mud 
 towns. There goes the anchor, too strong a gale to venture on ; so no 
 Thebes to-night. To my great relief we generally lie to at night and 
 then I can sleep. 
 
 January 8th. 
 We all had a good night. Your father quite like himself to-day 
 so I hope I have been unnecessarily anxious about him. We are in 
 sight of Thebes ; and a fair wind so farewell for the present. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. C. M. 
 
 We shall only send this and one sheet of 3'our father's, so forward 
 to your sister if they reach you ; we are told it is not likely and I do 
 not want his journal lost. Your father has now gone to see a Mr. 
 Betts who is very ill in consumption on board a boat that keeps at our 
 side. Poor man it was cruel to send him from his home. But, with 
 oh, so much love to you all, farewell. Remember me affectionately 
 
 also to brothers and sisters and the Cheston boys. Tell Sally C Jr. 
 
 that I live in a purple sack and am often reminded of her. To day we 
 are seeing most beautiful little green birds, how I wish for a boy and 
 gun ; our dragoman is not worth much in that way. 
 
 December 29, 1S71. 
 
 Soon after I closed my last sheet we moored near the town ot 
 Minieh ; tying to a stake in the bank, between native Cangias laden 
 with beans and wheat, or discharging stone or machinery for the 
 sugar works and distillery which the Pasha established here many 
 3'ears since. There are several grand houses, which are occupied by 
 his officers ; and some of less pretention, but the greater part are poor 
 and mean looking. It is the centre of the sugar growing district, and 
 as we passed we saw the cane half grown ; and also the labourers 
 busil^^ engaged in setting out a fresh crop. It requires two years to 
 perfect it. On the shore were lying pumpkins, which promised to 
 make an agreeable addition to our supplies, and turkeys, chickens 
 and sheep (to renew our store of which we had stopped) were abun- 
 dant. 
 
 389
 
 Large companies of asses came down to the sliore, each laden 
 with wheat or beans, which were taken directly on board the open 
 boats where men and fowls were treading over it as freely as they did 
 upon the muddy shore, without regard to the purpose for which it 
 was designed. They loaded the boats till they sank to the water's edge, 
 and then laid edgewaj^s (like the side boards of our carts), extra sides 
 and plastered the seams with mud from the shore mixed with broken 
 straw to keep the water out. 
 
 One would anticipate some damage to the cargoes, but when we 
 saw them discharging at Cairo and Alexandria they appeared dry. 
 Those wdio went ashore at Minieh reported no object of interest ; and 
 as we know that the fleas abound, 3-our mother and I were content 
 with looking at the busy scene from the deck. 
 
 As we had passed the quarries in the morning we had been struck 
 with the perfect whiteness of the stone and had the opportunity of 
 getting here a fragment. It breaks into very irregular fragments and 
 is composed of little ^r&ks pC7-fectly circular, about an inch in diameter; 
 and is I suppose nummulitic limestone ; so called from the resemblance 
 of these pieces to coins ; Caspar or Effingham can tell why. It must 
 be a poor building stone. 
 
 Along the shore, among the cane plantations, are many pumping 
 stations with steam engines. The houses and chimneys are built of 
 this material ; but very often the stream undermines them, and they 
 fall into ruin. 
 
 We saw very many fields watered by means of the simple old 
 Egyptian wheel and ox ; and still more frequently there were stations 
 of two or three stories of vicii. The lowest had baskets hung by sugar 
 canes to the one end of a lever, a stone at the other. The lever Avas 
 balanced on a pole lying on two low pillars. The water the}^ raised as 
 high as they could reach to empty the basket into a basin, from which 
 a second set raised it another height and so a third to the level of the 
 bank, from which it was distributed to the cane crops. All this is done 
 \iy forced \shQ)MX and the streaming baskets, allowing half to run through, 
 compel very rapid motions or none would reach its destination. 
 
 Soon after dusk, our stores being replenished, and the wind fair 
 we started, by a lovely moonlight, and sailed most joyously while the 
 ladies worked and I read, until about lo p. m., when the wind failing, 
 we tied up for the night ; the thermometer being 62° F. 
 
 This was a cloudless morning : 58° F. but now, at 7 A. m., the 
 mist is rising densely from the river. Our messenger has just left 
 with his milk can to seek our supply of milk, which is alwa5'S good, 
 and so soon as he returns we hope to resume our upward course. We 
 yesterday passed the openings of the mummy pits and tombs of some 
 ancient Egyptian town ; which lay amid the hills, a heap of red brick 
 bats. They always buried their dead in the stony hills above the rise 
 of the river, and generally across the river, carrying them of course in 
 
 390
 
 boats. Hence the fable of Charon and his boat had its origin and was 
 adopted into their mythology by the imitative Greek people. Cecrops 
 and Danaus, from whom the Greeks derive their origin, were Egyp- 
 tians. As we could see the entrance to the tombs with our glasses, it 
 was evident that there were sculptured frames to the doorways into 
 them, but we could not decide on the forms of them. 
 
 It seems almost impossible to believe that on the very narrow 
 strip of fertile land, shut in by the visible desert on either hand, so 
 many millions of people as history assigns to the Egj'ptian Empire, 
 could have been supported. And then we read of the immense wealth 
 of the temples, priests, and monarchs ; a wealth so great, that even 
 after the fabulous extravagance of Cleopatra and Marc Antony, when 
 Augustus carried the royal treasure to Rome, it was supposed by its 
 great sum to have had a perceptible influence in raising the value of 
 real estate, and diminishing the rate of interest, we can only account 
 for it by the fact that it all concentred in the coffers of the king, and 
 was dispensed by him to his favourites ; while the great multitude of 
 people were held like beasts, as the wealth producing power, using 
 only what was absolutely needed to keep them living, and working 
 like so many steam engines fed with fuel to keep them at work. This 
 morning the desert is in sight on either side, and no imagination can 
 exceed the utter desolation of the desert. It stands in my mind as the 
 emblem of ' ' Outer darkness ' ' ; absolute despair ; and I quite appre- 
 ciate the feeling which adopted the palm as the token of victory and 
 eternal life. So solid and lofty in its aged trunk, crowned with a leafy 
 glory like the ra5-s of the sun ; and with a depth of green which con- 
 trasts grandly with the grey sky and yellow sand. "Va.Q.n you7iger trees 
 are the very representative of vigour oiis life ; spreading their leaves 
 about one's head. 
 
 9^ A. M. 
 With wearisome labour and monotonous song, our crew are urging 
 us slowly against the current with their long poles and lusty arms. 
 
 2 p. M. 
 
 Our course to-day has been varied by rapid sailing, slow poling, 
 and lying becalmed ; and has led us through fertile plantations of sugar 
 cane, beans and palms, and beside barren cliffs and desert sands. 
 
 In the cliff we plainly saw the entrances to the tombs ol Beni 
 Hassan which are among the most interesting remains of antiquit}" — 
 an antiquity so great that we cannot definitely fix the period, but 
 know that it preceded the days of Joseph. We shall visit these tombs 
 on our descent of the river. It is never wise to stop for such visits or 
 the way up. While passing these remains of past tyranny (priest and 
 governors and monarch only could afford tombs) we were recalled to 
 the consideration of the present oppression by seeing crowded boat 
 
 391
 
 loads of able bodied men on tlieir way to the service of the Khedive, 
 either as soldiers in his army, or labourers on his works ; in either 
 case devoting their 3'ears of ability to unrequited toil for the benefit of 
 a government from which they receive nothing in return which can in 
 any way inure to their personal advantage. 
 
 The thermometer is now 68° in the saloon. The course of the 
 river very torturous, with desert quite to margin on the one side, and 
 wide spreed flats on the other. We are about the site of Antinoe, a 
 town now known only by its ruins, as having been the spot at which 
 Antinous whom the Emperor Hadrian, on his visit to this province of 
 his empire, carried with him as his dearest friend, drowned himself 
 in the Nile, in order to meet the utterance of an oracle, which foretold 
 prosperity to the Emperor, if he " lost something highly valued. ' ' 
 
 The changes in the course of the Nile are frequent and very great, 
 and we have nowhere had so extensive and richly cultivated lands as 
 at Roda on the west bank near Antinoe, the fields richly laden with 
 varied crops, but chiefly sugar canes. At Roda is one of the costly 
 establishments of the Khedive ; and it presented the most attractive 
 appearance we have seen on the Nile. The flat lands were ver}' exten- 
 sive on the west side ; while on the east the tomb-pierced mountains 
 still skirted the river at a short distance. Mile after mile we could 
 trace with our glasses, the dressed openings to these tombs, which 
 contained, pictured and sculptured on their walls, the records of ages 
 long antecedent to the Christian era. 
 
 Last evening was spent anchored just above Roda, the ladies at 
 their knitting and embroidery and dressmaking, W'hile I read to them 
 from the History of Egypt. At 10.30 p. m. we retired ; thermometer 
 52°. During the night it was so cold that yarn stockings wxre neces- 
 sary to check cramp in my feet, and I was compelled to add my 
 double flannel wrapper to the blankets on my bed. A favouring breeze 
 and bright moon induced the Reis to get under way about 3 A. m. but 
 by 5 he was compelled to anchor again ; and now at 7 the silver moon 
 hangs, in the gray and cloudless arch of heaven, over a mirror-like 
 expanse, skirted in the distance by palm groves ; and as I look from 
 my window a mountain juts into the river, which is just beginning to 
 blush with the reflection of the eastern sky which is, I doubt not, 
 glowing before your mother's window. 
 
 Our cabins are on opposite sides of the boat, separated by a pas- 
 sage, on which the doors open. Each room is about eight feet square, 
 the ceiling divided into panels, white and gilded ; the sides panelled 
 with imitation bird's-eye maple, and yellow beads in imitation of 
 gilding. In the centre panel at the foot of the berth is a large, gilt 
 framed, looking glass. The berth lies under the window, and in each 
 corner on the opposite side, where the door is in the middle of the 
 
 392
 
 side, is a little rounded closet, having on the top accommodations for 
 washing- on one and on the other a candle stick with a glass shade and 
 agoolcih of drinking water. There is room for two chairs, one at either 
 end ; and drawers under the berth contain our clothes. I lie, as I 
 thus write before rising, and hear j-our mother, just throwing open the 
 screens of her window, thus informing me that it is time to rise. 
 
 As I lie and gaze on the majestic grandeur of this m3^sterious 
 stream, I cease to wonder at the unrivalled character of the temples 
 and tombs which alone have transmitted to historic times the evidence 
 that in ages lo)ig, long, past its shores were peopled more densely even 
 than now. Surrounded by interminable deserts parched and dry, the 
 river pours unceasingly on, a deep dark stream, vivifying and fertili- 
 zing a narrow strip on its immediate banks. There was to them, no 
 knoivn source of S2ipply. It was to them the toitnown source of life. 
 As / gaze on it, taught by observation of later travellers ivhence it 
 fozvs, the immense volume of water passing every moment with head- 
 long haste, inspires vie with azce. Your e^'e scarce fixes on an object 
 floating on the surface before it is gone. The sublime simplicity ot 
 temple and pyramid was the natural product of t/icir isolated converse 
 with the mysterious and great. 
 
 But I am recalled to the present, hearing INIr. Longstreth 
 announce the thermometer at 40° ; and the rattling china tells of the 
 intrusion upon this ancient river of our modern civilization, and I 
 must prepare for breakfast. 
 
 December 29th, 2 p. m. 
 
 The morning has been cold out of the sunshine, with but little 
 wind ; so that our progress has been slow through large sugar cane 
 plantations and wheat and bean fields, all showing the great fertility 
 of the soil, which requires no preparation but the simple breaking the 
 surface and planting the seed. Just now we have come upon the track 
 of the railroad which is being extended from Minieh to Siout, about 
 eighty miles further south. Cars and a locomotive prove that the 
 track has been laid thus far, and we are told the grade is completed. 
 So that next j^ear, visitors to Thebes may save the time now con- 
 sumed by uncertain winds, a strong current, and winding stream, by 
 going to Siout by rail and taking boat there within a few daj'-'s sail 
 of the objects of interest. On making this suggestion to the 
 Dragoman he said, " the Pasha has no design to run it for passengers, 
 but only for the accommodation of his own sugar works " ; and that it 
 is laid and taken up as those require it. I am almost ashamed of 
 these blurred and blotted and illegible sheets but with all the elegance 
 and comfort of our boat the writing arrangements are imperfect. In 
 the saloon the excitement of incidental matters renders it impossible 
 to write and in oiir cabins there is not room for a table. 
 
 393
 
 December 3otli. 
 
 A ruddy glow on the eastern horizon greets my sight as my open- 
 ing eyes respond to the noise overhead, which announces that the 
 crew is astir, though our boat is lying tranquilly at anchor. The 
 windows of the cabins on the opposite side must open on a towering 
 cliflf of rock, while on my side a wide plain spreads out, bare and 
 desolate ; at least destitute of trees. Yesterday afternoon we reached 
 Gebel Aboofayda, a point at which the river laves the foot of the 
 mountain, which rises perpendicularly beside its course. It is the 
 part of the voyage which the crew regard with much anxiety, as the 
 bed of the river is rocky, and the wind often pours down ravines in 
 the hill side in gusty flaws. We sailed on, gail3% until it became too 
 dark to see clearly, when they cast anchor ; and even after the rising 
 moon made it clear as day they still held their position, though we 
 were tantalized by seeing several Cangias sail gaily past ; and finally 
 a steam boat gaily lighted, evidently not a mere freight boat, went on 
 her way, saluting us by a whistle as she passed. This morning there 
 is no wind ; and we must wait till it rises, unless they track us along 
 the low shore when they have got through the washing of the deck, 
 which is the daily morning process. 
 
 No one of our party is yet stirring ; so that I hear no report from 
 outside, but have not felt the cold so much during the last night as 
 sometimes. Whilst I write women with water jars on their heads, are 
 coming down to the shore beside us, proving that, though nothing is 
 in sight, there are trees sheltering a village not far distant inland, 
 and that the flat is cultivated ; the bank being just above our line of 
 vision from the cabin, shuts in our view. The river is said to rise and 
 fall twenty feet at this point, as shown by the lines on the cliffs. It is 
 now about midway between its extremes. 
 
 As the perfect calm gave no promise of much progress Wistar, 
 Holly, your aunt Jane, INIiss Harris, I\Ir. L. and myself were rowed 
 across to the cliffs and clambered up to the caverns or tombs which 
 lie like so many pigeon holes arranged horizontally in the face of the 
 cliff. They are all placed in one stratum ; and are of course of equal 
 height. In this case the stratum excavated is about eight feet thick, 
 and each cavern about 12 feet square. The front ot each is dressed 
 square like the portals of a house. The rock is very peculiar honey- 
 combed formation in some strata, and in others appears to be coarse 
 chalk, with many nodules of flint. The point at which we landed 
 was just belowla turn in the river, and soon after we returned on board, 
 a wind sprang up and we got under way and passed the commence- 
 ment of a long stretch of arable land on the eastern side, while that on 
 the west reached away northward to the town of Manfaloot. This is 
 the point of nearest approach to it ; and on the eastern side boats were 
 lying to receive the products of that section and carry them across the 
 river for the market to-morrow at Manfaloot. We saw one man, who 
 
 394
 
 was driving a buffalo, strip himself and tie his clothing in a turban- 
 like roll on his head, mount the beast, and drive him into the water. 
 Soon nothing was seen but the tiuo heads ; and thus they swam the 
 stream. 
 
 2 p. M. found us quietly staked at Manfaloot, waiting for Friezier 
 and Joseph who went ashore this morning to walk across the peninsula 
 to that place and market. We thus loose a fair wind which is bring- 
 ing up the three English parties whom we left behind at Minieli and 
 who overtook us last night while we were waiting. Our course to-day 
 has lain past wheat fields which would make the mouth of a INlaryland 
 farmer water, so strong in blade and so rich in color. But alas little of 
 the crop remains with the labourer to recompense his toil. 
 
 At 4 p. M. the thermometer is at 80° in the saloon. 
 
 December 3ivSt. 
 
 The tortuous course of the river will be ftilly proven by my men- 
 tion that while its general flow is from south to north the rising 
 sun now looks 'gloriously into my cabin window on the right side of 
 the boat with her head lying up stream. We have been tied to the 
 shore all night, and are at the widest portion of the narrow valley to 
 which the mighty kingdom of Egypt has always been limited. The 
 average width including the stream is about three miles only and never 
 has been greater. The changing current carries away the fertile land 
 from one place and deposits it at another, thus making annual changes 
 within those metes and bounds, which are formed by the mountains 
 and desert, fixed and immovable, the very types of eternal fixedness. 
 But the fertile land has never been more nor less during the untold 
 ages in which it has been inhabited and cultivated in mitch the same 
 manner as it now is. 
 
 We are now in the heart of the Thebaid or that part of the valley 
 of the Nile which belonged to the Empire of Thebes ; which Homer 
 says was in the days of the Trojan war (about 1000 years before the 
 birth of our Lord) the richest city in the world. The almost intermin- 
 able wheat fields, whose living green spreads around us on all sides, 
 proves that it still has the power of supporting a large number ; and 
 the boat load after boat load of able bodied men which float down the 
 stream to the works of the Khedive below, show that it might, as of 
 old, send out its thousands from its hundred gates, if those gates 
 still stood open, and its walls were not gone. 
 
 The more I see of the present, and the more I read of the past, the 
 more I am convinced that no change which has come over the land 
 with changing dynasties, and seats of empire, has made any change 
 in the condition of the masses of the people. They are now as they 
 always have been, the toiling millions for the benefit of the few, 
 whether those masters were of the same or of an alien race. The 
 monarch, the priestly, and the soldier caste, monopolized the riches ; 
 
 395
 
 and to them we owe the temples and the tombs on which they expended 
 their surplus wealth, while the labouring class watered the soil and 
 gathered the harvests for the profit of their lords. They are now a 
 light hearted race, laughing and singing at their toil. We have just 
 passed a shadoof at which a dozen men, with but little raiment, were 
 lifting skin buckets of water from one basin to another to the height 
 of the bank ; their motion as regular and as incessant as that of the 
 arms of a steam pump, j^et each laughing as he worked as thongh it 
 were full of pleasant hope, though to him his toil brings no recompense 
 of reward as the success or failure is nothing to him. In either case 
 he receives merel}^ the amount of food which is necessarj^ for the sup- 
 port of his being. 
 
 I had written thus far when we were summoned to breakfast, the 
 crew being all ashore tracking. While we were all quietl}'' seated, 
 after breakfast, Wistar reading the Scriptures, as is our daily habit, we 
 were interrupted by a shout, a scuflBe of feet, and in an instant found 
 ourselves drifting down stream. Going to the deck we found the head 
 wind and current setting round a projecting point had been stronger 
 than our crew and dragged them to the very verge of the precipitous 
 bank when they were compelled to let go the towing rope and we 
 drifted down stream while our rival English travellers passed us by. 
 So you see the monotony is broken by various incidents. An anchor 
 thrown out dragged over the bottom a long way before it brought us 
 up biit we now have our men on board again and I hear their song as 
 they heave the anchor and prepare to try it again. 
 
 January i, 1872. 
 
 The shrill whistle ot a steamboat giving the signal for starting, 
 sounded strangely on the ear in the grey dawn of this first moniing of 
 the New Year, while this ancient river plashed against our boat with 
 the same sound as had greeted the ears of Rameses or Anthony or 
 Hadrian ; and the dull plash of the falling bank, frequently repeated, 
 told how continually the current of to-day is washing away the deposit 
 made by that of last j'ear. We are at a point where this process is 
 particularl}'^ active just now ; and it interferes with our advance. With 
 much labour j-esterday by combining the force of the crews of the 
 two Dahabeyahs we dragged first one and then the other, around one 
 point ; and there we are still lying. 
 
 Toward evening a steamboat towing a fine Dahabeyah came up and 
 anchored for the night near us. IMr. Longstreth met some of the party 
 on shore and found they are Americans : Col. Butler our Consul, and 
 Genl. Starr, sent out to investigate the charges made against him ; 
 a Mr. Morris from New York and others on their way to the upper 
 waters of the Nile. The steamboat is furnished by the Khedive. 
 Strange to say while I thus write two other steam boats passed my 
 
 396
 
 window on the wa}^ down. Thus modern science and art are invadini^ 
 the slumber of this old country and rousing once more its dormant 
 energies. The stream of population floating down to the works of 
 the Khedive at varioiis points among the sugar works, as well as at 
 Cairo on the canals and public buildings, is almost as astonishing as 
 the volume of water. We do not see any return current, j^et we counted 
 not less than lo boats 3'esterday each with at least a hundred men on 
 board, and now there are two points of the shore opposite, which 
 reall}' look like the entrance cf beehives when those insects hang there 
 in clusters, so dense is the crowd. We do not see any reflux of the 
 people up stream, but there must be some such current at some period, 
 or this upper countr}'' would be drained. 
 
 We are still at noon lying wind bound. The same accident as we 
 met with befell our neighbors in their attempt to pass the point yester- 
 day. They called on us to-day and proved to be a very intelligent 
 party from the highlands of Scotland having the same course before 
 them as ourselves. Soon after their return to their own boat they 
 very courteousl3^ sent us a book of travels which they had mentioned 
 as interesting. 
 
 - January 2, 1872, 7 a. m. 
 
 All day yesterday we la3' at the shore detained by a strong head 
 wind, with a cold grej' leaden screen of cloud through which the sun 
 never indicated his position in the heavens. Books and work beguiled 
 the hours until 11 p. M. when we retired. About 3 A. m. I was 
 aroused by the stir of getting underway, since which by dint of poling 
 and towing and sailing we have worked our way slowly across a very 
 wide spread (and of course shallow) reach of the river, and now find 
 ourselves under a high bank on the eastern side while a beautiful green 
 shore, with palm groves and wheat fields of most luxuriant green, 
 be3'ond which the harsh outline of the Lybian mountains lifts its 
 barrier to the desert which lies be3'ond. 
 
 It is a beautiful scene in the soft light of the opening day and 
 makes one feel the more intense desire for the dawning of ' ' that day ' ' 
 when there shall be no more oppression and injustive, no more violence 
 and wrong, no more fraud and deceit, but when the day shall be ushered 
 in with loud hosannas. The tortuous course of the stream is indicated 
 by the pouring (as I write) into my window of the first rays of the 
 sun. We should be heading south in which case we would have the 
 east on our left instead of the right. 
 
 As I wrote the last sentence I was disturbed b3^ the clamour of a 
 crowd under the window and found it to come from one of the boat 
 loads of men drifting down the stream to Cairo. And now before I 
 have penned these three lines another is approaching. The Sheik of 
 each village is compelled to send a certain number annually in propor- 
 tion to the rated population of the district and as we are now in a 
 
 397
 
 fertile and wide part of the valley, and this is the season for conscrip- 
 tion we see its full fruit. There is no appearance of distress among 
 them, though other voj^agers report that they have seen great trouble. 
 But I am daily more and more impressed with admiration of the 
 cheerful patience with which our crew overcome obstacles which 
 appear to be perpetually renewed. We have neither seen or heard 
 anything but ready response to the orders of the Reis, who gives them 
 in the tone of quiet authority which would be graceful anywhere. 
 
 It is difficult to dress, so many are the objects of interest which 
 present themselves on land and water. Just now my attention was 
 arrested by seeing several men floating past quite low on the water and on 
 bringing my glass to bear, found they were on a raft composed entirely 
 of the large water jars which the women carry on their heads when they 
 come down to the river's edge for water for their daily use. They are 
 large enough to hold at least five gallons each. They are made in 
 large numbers just above Siout and floated down the river. The 
 lower range are fastened together with their mouths upward and on 
 these several tiers are laid on the side and all bound together with 
 ropes made of palm fibre and form a raft which floats like our log and 
 timber rafts, and they are steered by men who live on the top. 
 
 The same cloudy screen as hung over us yesterday has again cov- 
 ered the sky. The thermometer is 56° F. so that we shall be thankful 
 for protection from the sun's rays as the day advances. Our wind has 
 failed and we are staked now at 8}4 A. M. I find I was wrong about 
 the wind and we reached Siout about 10 A. m. On arriving the Drago- 
 man seeing the other Dahabeyahs press on with a fair wind announced 
 that he had no need to stay long and if we would go and see for our 
 letters he would only stay till our return. So Wistar and I in hot haste 
 mounted Donkeys and started ofi"from the shore, with only the drivers 
 to guide us, to seek the American Mission. 
 
 Wistar and I rode about tv/ent}'- minutes along a highway elevated 
 above the highest level of the inundation. We passed through wheat 
 and clover fields, with camels, donkeys, sheep, buffaloes and cows, 
 each tethered, and pasturing on the clover which is tall and very 
 sitcculent, having grown to the height of a foot in the last few weeks. 
 It has a white head shaped like that of our red clover. The wheat 
 is sown as the river falls and we saw a farmer sowing some on the 
 moist surface from which the water had just receded, while immedi- 
 ately by it was some at least six inches high. He did not cve/i break 
 the surface. 
 
 We entered the town by a gate-waj' and found ourselves in a public 
 square, shaded with large Acacia trees. On either side were large 
 buildings which we supposed to be those of the government. Well 
 dressed gentlemen in Eastern robes and smoking long pipes walked 
 about in the shade on the smooth ground, and appeared as though 
 they were there busily occupied ' ' on change. ' ' Cofl^ee stands were 
 
 398
 
 under the trees, And venders of cakes sat by the wayside. We rode 
 on through clear and wide streets, with houses on either side, having 
 interior coiirtyards, and entered by arched doorways, but no windows 
 opening- on the streets. This gives a very dull appearance to the town. 
 We met camels laden with various goods ; and pedestrians of all ages 
 and very different appearance from those at Cairo ; and some white 
 Turks, soldiers from Turkey, who are kept here by the Khedive to 
 perform services for which he cannot depend on the natives here. 
 
 We were guided to a gate-v/ay over which we saw the name 
 " Dr. Johnson " in good English letters, and entering the courtyard 
 the driver clapped his hands, on wlicli a native appeared who 
 answered, " la, la ; " to the question of the driver, which we knew meant 
 '• no, no," and understood to indicate the absence of the Dr. A female 
 voice from above stairs invited us to " come up ' ' and on doing so we 
 were welcomed by Mrs. Johnson who has been here some four years, 
 coming from southeastern Ohio. She had a delicate looking infant in 
 her arms. The Dr. soon came in ; and finding I had asked how they 
 endured their "exile," very promptly repudiated the terms as wholly 
 inapplicable ; and said they were happy in the discharge of their duty 
 in the place to which God has allotted them. He is Medical Mis- 
 sionary, a graduate of Rush Med. College, Chicago; and "Wood's 
 Practice ' ' stood on his table as the foimtain from which he refreshed 
 his medical knowledge. It had a very familiar, pleasant appearance. 
 He told me he had prescribed for more than loo cases at his Dispensary 
 this morning, chiefly chronic. He says they have no t}^lioid and but 
 few malarial fevers, and do not seek medical advice in such cases. 
 
 As he had no letters for us he went with us to the American 
 Consul's as we hoped they might be there. The arms of the U. S. A. 
 were beautifully displayed over a gate-way in a blank wall. We 
 entered a court paved with marble flags and mounted by well cut clean 
 limestone stairs to the upper floor, where we were received by a 
 goitlenian in native costume, in a large apartment, the floor covered 
 with a good fine Turkey carpet, the windows hung with satin damask 
 curtains, and a divan covered with the same running round two sides 
 of the room, and elegant lounges on a third ; and a Harmonica and 
 handsome chairs on the fourth. A centre table, marble-topped and 
 somewhat the worse for wear, but about the same size and shape of 
 that in our own parlour, in the middle. We sat down near this and 
 entered into conversation ; Dr. J. acting as interpreter. The consul 
 who is a Copt and of a dark olive complexion, expressed great regret 
 when he learned there were other members of the party who had not 
 accompanied us ashore, and his hope we would call again and bring 
 them with us ; and on being told we should leave immediately, begged 
 we would f Avour him with our company on our return voyage ' ' if God 
 pleased to bring us back safely. ' ' He very promptly ordered in a box 
 of cigarettes, and was not at all hurt by our declining to smoke. 
 
 399
 
 Chanii:)agne was then brought and at the risk of a headache I sipped 
 a little from my glass, while he emptied his, and WivStar and the Dr. 
 followed his example. Paris bon-bons were then lianded ; and a very 
 prett}^ boy about five yes.TS old, his grandson, ran in from an adjoin- 
 ing room ; and on our shaking hands with him kissed ours as he held 
 each in his. He had the brightest black eyes, a sweet rougish coun- 
 tenance, and the manners of a petted and spoiled child. He took bon- 
 bons from us when we offered them, and then r?.n awa}' to the organ 
 and working the pedals with his feet, and holding the keys ' ' made it 
 play." 
 
 "When the first exchange of compliments ceased the Consul turned 
 to Dr. Johnson and said " Now you must find us some subject of con- 
 versation and interj^ret for us." On which I enquired if he did not 
 feel disposed to imitate our example, and visit America, to see there 
 new things as we came here to look at the old. He laughed and said 
 he would not know how to conduct himself, and would fear the cold. 
 
 I then put a series of questions to him ; from his answers to 
 which I learned that the Khedive has recently asked from the people 
 the payment of a tax equal to $40 on every five acres of land they 
 cultivate, with the promise of interest on it if he shovild repay it 
 within six 3-ears ; and in case he does not tliot that amount shall be 
 accepted in lieu of taxes during those six 3'ears. This falls very heavily 
 on the/(?(?;rr fellaheen, many of whom own just that amount of land, 
 and the few beasts necessary to till it. They are liable at any moment 
 to be called to furnish animals and the provender, as well as their own 
 labour, on the private sugar estates of the Khedive, in addition to the 
 government tax which has been mentioned. 
 
 I asked about the drain of population which we have seen going 
 on so steadil3^ He sa3's the}' are not detained more than three or four 
 months on the public works and are well cared for while there and 
 returned again to their homes, but that it does interfex'e sadl^^ with the 
 culture of their own lands. He asked what we would think of such 
 taxation. And on my saying that the people with us fixed the 
 amount and rate of tax he replied the Khedive calls a parliament but 
 he tells thcni what they are to do and then suiting his action to the 
 expression by imitating the act of stamping a seal " they only put 
 their seal to his decree." After the wine and bon-bons, coffee was 
 handed in small cups and a sugar dish on the waiter, that we might 
 sweeten it if we desired. 
 
 On our rising to leave he renewed the expression of regret that 
 the ladies had not come with us and remarked that if we wanted any- 
 thing in the bazaar he could purchase it for us better than we could our- 
 selves either now or on our return. We parted from him much 
 pleased with our visit. He is a Copt and prides himself on being a 
 descendant of the old Egyptians. His brother and himself have built 
 the church in which the mission services arc held and belong to the 
 
 400
 
 Protestant body wliicli is being organized here. Dr. Jobnson says 
 they have some 150 or more converts and that there is much inquiry 
 for the Holy Scriptures and they have a depot for the sale of them 
 here. Their schools are large but this is their holiday time, as with us, 
 so that we did not see them. The influence of the mission is reacting 
 on the Coptic Church. The priests now conduct their services and 
 read the Scripture lessons in Arabic, which the people understand, 
 instead of Coptic, which is like the Latin services of the Romish 
 Church. Dr. Johnson unites with Dr. Lansing in high commendation 
 of the Copts for the faithfulness with which they have maintained 
 their adhesion to the Christian faith, imperfect as is their knowledge 
 of its spiritual truths, during long years of persecution and oppres- 
 sion. Lie saj'S they live in perfect harmony with the IVIoslems, side 
 by side in the towns and villages ; and as we rode through the bazaar 
 he pointed to here and there a shop as that of one of their church 
 members. One was a turner in ivory ; from whom I purchased some 
 little articles, and ordered some napkin rings to be ready for us on our 
 return. He showed us the place of business of our Consul. He is a 
 merchant, importing INIanchester prints, and other foreign goods, and 
 exporting wheat ; and owning vessels which trade on the Nile ; and is 
 worth at least $100,000. On the shore of the river was a large house 
 enclosed with a high wall over which we could see vines and fig trees 
 and pomegranate trees and bananas. I learned that lemons and 
 oranges are also grown in private gardens, but not for sale. 
 
 The aptitude of these people for acquiring language is very great. 
 There are only the annual visits of travellers, to bring them into 
 communication with foreigners, 5'et the donkey driver chattered freely 
 in broken English — told me his donkey's name was "Yankee Doodle" 
 and that on which WLstar rode was ' ' Snooks ' ' ; and hoped we would 
 ask for ' ' Ali ' ' on our return ; and then said ' ' Parlez vous Francais 9 ' ' 
 and on my replying "■ tres pen " said "Je suis content,'' and turning to 
 some boys who were crying out ' ' backshish' ' said ' ' hold 5'our tongues. ' ' 
 I cannot command half as many Arabic words ; and fear my French 
 was worse than his. 
 
 We are all sadly disappointed about letters, especially poor Friezier 
 who is dispairing, not having heard from his wife for a month. We 
 hope to find a lot at Luxor for which we are now under full sail with a 
 fair breeze and most genial weather. 
 
 Januaiy 3d. 
 We sailed on through the afternoon ; staked sometime during the 
 early night ; got under way about i A. m. and now find ourselves still 
 passing those verdant wheat fields which are iinfailing objects of 
 beauty. This crop does not require irrigation as some others do, so 
 the old shadoof columns stand along the shore. The towns we passed 
 have been better built, with fine mosques and lofty minarets. 
 
 401
 
 Tills morning the weather is cold and the sky overcast, but unfor- 
 tunately the monkey has been examining the state of the thermometer 
 and has looked so hard that he has broken it, so that we shall not have 
 the satisfaction of knowing its degress but must depend on our own 
 sensations. We find that we have sailed sixty miles during the last 
 twentj'-four hours and have overtaken and left behind us the consort 
 Dahabej-ahs which got nearlj- three hours start while we v/ere at Siout. 
 The Reis and crew are verj^ much excited on this point, mentioning it 
 to each one of the party as they appear on deck. While we were at 
 breakfast we were called to see a large flock of beautiful Pelicans, white 
 as snow and large as swans, seated on a sand bar, and while looking at 
 them two steamboats were in sight. One had just gone down stream 
 heavily laden with merchandise and crowded with natives ; the other 
 coming up. Thus the Pelican of the desert and the new power which 
 makes modern civilization what it is, are brought together here — and 
 we look at it ! We see also large flocks of birds, probably pigeons, as 
 large as our flocks of black birds in autumn. Then on the shore are 
 often seen herons and cranes, and eagles. Thus, what with the towns, 
 of which Herodotus says there were 20,000 in his days, and they are 
 as numerous now though not so populous ; the palm and acacia groves ; 
 the boats and birds and the crops, we are never without some object of 
 interest in view during the day and the sunsets at evening and the sun 
 rising in the morning begin and end each day with a glory which 
 never fails to excite the enthusiasm of the most prosaic. 
 
 The river here spreads more widely than below and the banks are 
 not so high. We thus get a better view of the plains. Tobacco is 
 occasionally cultivated and in some parts is quite an important crop. 
 It is smaller than with us. The wheat has a larger blade, and the 
 grain is more plump and verj' white. We often see bands of a dozen 
 or twenty men keeping time in their blows as they thresh out the 
 wheat or the Doura, and at other points we see them sitting throwing 
 up the grain with shovels to fan out the chaff in the wind as it blows. 
 You will not wonder at the disconnected want of method of my letters 
 when 3'ou think how distracting it is to be called to look first at one 
 and then at another of these varied objects of interest. I find it 
 almost impossible to fix in my own mind the points of history which 
 are essential to the proper understanding the tombs and temples 
 toward which we are now approaching and am sure you must find it 
 more difficult still. I therefore will endeavor to arrange for you cer- 
 tain points which will help us both. 
 
 7 P. M. 
 
 Our favorable wind carried us lorvvard most delightfully all day. 
 
 About noon the steamer with its company of American tourists in 
 
 tow overtook us and as they passed we saluted the American flag by 
 
 dropping and raising ours and at the same time our dragoman fired 
 
 402
 
 his gun. The compliment was acknowledged by the other boat and 
 the gentlemen of both parties stood on deck using glasses freely and 
 waving hats and handkerchiefs. We sailed by the movmds which 
 mark the sites of ancient Egyptian towns, and the tombs in the rocks 
 which once contained the remains of their inhabitants, and the 
 mummies of their sacred animals. A mere catalogue of names of the 
 present villages or ancient towns would convey no idea to you of what 
 they were. 
 
 Mile after mile ol rock hewn tombs tell how populous this district 
 was, and the crowds gathered on the shore at every landing place 
 waiting for boats to carry them down to the Khedive's works prove 
 how populous it still is. We now lie under the bank at Girgeh ; it 
 swarms with men thus waiting to depart, and women and children 
 come to see them leave ; and is piled with mat packages which look 
 like the date packages, made of palm leaves woven or plaited, which 
 contains the bread they carry with them for their support on their 
 voj-age. They are now seated round fires built on the shore singing 
 monotonous songs in which the name of God — Allah — is frequent^ 
 repeated so that we suppose they are hymns. There is no indication 
 of distress at this forced separation though some writers of travels 
 report they have seen very strong manifestations of it under similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 Their music is all monotonous and plaintive. To-day when we 
 passed the other boats and all were in a state of jo3'ou^s excitement the 
 crew took out their tomtoms and seated themselves in a circle on the 
 deck and sang what was certainly designed for a triiimphant expres- 
 sion and yet even that had the same tone. Those who had not instru- 
 ments kept time by clapping their hands, but even that was done in a 
 gentle subdued manner. Their wailing for the dead differs but little 
 from their other songs. We frequently met funerals in Cairo. The 
 body is enveloped in a shawl and laid on a bier or box which is carried 
 above the heads of the bearers. Sometimes there were only one or two 
 attendants who chanted in a subdued tone as they walked along. 
 Sometimes there was a crowd of attendants. It is said they believe 
 the bearers are under the guidance of the Spirit of the departed which 
 leads them to certain mosques on their way to the cemetery which is 
 always near one of the gates of the town. The body is deposited in 
 the ground and an arch of sunburned bricks is turned over it and 
 plastered with mud and white washed. These coverings soon fall into 
 decay and render the graveyard very desolate and reptilsive in appear- 
 ance. While on shore at Siout we met quite a large funeral. There 
 were certainly twenty or more wailing women who cltistered closely 
 around the bier while the relatives and friends followed ! It afforded a 
 perfect illustration by practical observation of the ' ' Mourners going 
 about the streets ' ' to whom Solomon refers, as well as of the ' ' grievous 
 wailing of the Egyptians ' ' when carrying up the body of Jacob to 
 Canaan. 
 
 403
 
 January 3rd. 
 
 iMot withstanding nly remonstrances the Dragoman insisted last 
 night on staking our Dahabej-ah directly at the spot on the shore above 
 which the poor conscripts for the Khedive's Canal at Cairo are bivou- 
 acked waiting for transportation. They are compelled to report them- 
 selves at a given point on the river at a certain time, and as the boats 
 arrive to carry them down the name of each in succession is called 
 until they fill a boat with themselves and their " freals," or palm leaf 
 bags of baked bread ; and the redundant numbers must wait for 
 another boat — no one knows how long. Yet there they sit in groups, 
 their faces all turned together and laugh loudly and tell stories and 
 sing, as though it were all right and they only "the lordling's Slave " 
 who possesses a right to all their powers. What is it to them whether 
 a canal is made from Cairo to the Red Sea at Suez or not ? They do 
 not know ; but in the wise government of the Almighty God, who 
 does know and order all things, this may be the important step toward 
 the introduction of those changes in Commerce which b}' opening the 
 doors which have so long excluded light and knowledge, and introduc- 
 ing the light of the blessed Gospel with all its renovating influences 
 upon the life that now is as well as that which is to come. A group 
 of these poor fellaheen is at this moment illuminated by the ra3-s of 
 the morning sun which has just risen upon them as they squat in a 
 corner of the bank on which their bread is piled. I have watched 
 them occasionally during the night. They fold themselves together, 
 each one almost as closely as you would shixt up the blades of a pocket 
 knife in the handle and then squat on the soles of their feet like so 
 many jars with the tops up. 
 
 Each has a loose surplice-like robe, with wide open sleeves made 
 of some coarse material either cotton dyed blue, or coarse wool or 
 camels hair, which is brown. This is worn loosely on the shoulders 
 and falls straight almost to the ground. In addition to this each has 
 also a long straight garment much the size and proportions of one of 
 our long shawls, made of the same material but sometimes not dyed. 
 They throw this over the head about one-third from the end and then 
 throw the longer portion over the left shoulder as I do my circular 
 cloak. They then draw their knees up to the breast and fold the legs 
 and body closely and clasp their hands across in front and drop their 
 heads upon their knees and sleep. And now while keeping their 
 weary monotonous watch for the hour of their departure they sit in the 
 same attitude. Their heads are shaven leaving only one lock near the 
 vertex and this is cut short. They wear, all of them, a close fitting 
 white cap covering the skull, and wind around the temples a roll of 
 soft white muslin twisted in a rope and carried three times around the 
 head. This forms a turban and is the dress article. It is washed 
 almost daily. The descendants of "the prophet," who are very 
 numerous, and of all grades in life, wear a green turban ; and those 
 
 404
 
 who can afford a tarboosh, or red felt cap with a black silk tassel, wear 
 this over the white skull cap and surrounded by the turban. 
 
 I was interested during the night by seeing the reverence for age 
 they displayed. The group near mj- window had kindled a little fire 
 which they fed from time to time with Doura stalks (like our corn 
 stalks ; the Doura is a sorghum). Two old men tottered toward it 
 from some other group when two lads arose and gave them their places 
 and went away and squattered near another company. I am favour- 
 ably impressed by the conduct of the people. They are certainlj' very 
 industrious, ver}'' light hearted, and apparently contented with their 
 lot. 
 
 The earnestness of their worship is beyond all doubt. At the 
 stated hour each spreads his cloak or mat, and turning his face toward 
 Mecca and repeating verses from the Koran expressive of a sense of 
 the greatness of God they bow themselves in token of adoration of 
 Him, the one Supreme, adding the recognition that Mahomet is the 
 prophet, but worshipping the Lord alone. They thus do present a 
 strong contrast to the " worship of our own power and might," which 
 is the idolatry of too manj^ in Christian lands, who not only " crucify 
 the Lord afresh, and put Him to an open shame ' ' by rejecting the offers 
 of ' ' His Grace, ' ' but with a pride which is rebuked by these poor 
 Muslims, refuse to admit that anj^ God has the control of their destiny 
 and live ' ' without God ' ' ; which they do not. I am not apologizing for 
 Islamism, nor adopting the vain delusion that sincerity is the only 
 feeling which is necessary to make man acceptable in the sight of God. 
 We have the knowledge of the only true God and of Jesus Christ 
 whom He hath sent. Our Lord himself asserted the advantage of the 
 Jew over the Samaritan with regard to knowledge, while He made the 
 Samaritan the exemplar of practical religion. So would I exalt the 
 religious deportment of these Moslems in their open worship of, and 
 acknowledgement of dependence on the providence of God, while I 
 thank Him that He has made me a child of light and of the day. 
 What then ? There is a solemn warning that many shall come from 
 the East and from the West to sit down in the Kingdoni of God while 
 the childrai of the kingdom shall be cast out. 
 
 It is now between 9 and 10 A. M. and they sit in the sun on the 
 bank most patiently w'aiting, with nothing to do. There is nothing 
 they can do. Let one of us step ashore and thus present an oppor- 
 tunity to them to make anj'thing b}^ carr3'ing us or serving us in any 
 wa}^ and there will be at once a clamorous competition who shall do 
 it, thiis proving their readiness to avail themselves of every opportunity 
 which offers by which they may profit, and even the axy for ' ' back- 
 sheish " with which they are taunted as beggars, is onlj' the seizing the 
 opportunity to get a trifle to add to the verj^ scant}' store of comfort 
 they possess. 
 
 405
 
 A camel stands on the bank ruminating ; an ugly beast it is at 
 best. A huge hump supported on two legs with a long neck pro- 
 truding in front, terminated by a misshapen head with a vicious eye, 
 and immense nostrils and mouth ; the hump and body sloping away 
 behind into two long crooked legs which seem to follow reluctantly 
 the motion of the forelegs, as though their only office were to hold on 
 to the ground the former had gained while they advanced. This one 
 is well fed and in good condition, but very many look starved and 
 mangy. Their advance is perfectly noiseless as their feet are great 
 masses of elastic tissue which spread out on the ground as they are 
 put down in absolute silence. When they are lying with their legs all 
 folded under them either to receive their load or be relieved from it, 
 they utter the most repulsive sounds between a groan and a roar, and 
 look ready to devour ever>' one who approaches them. Thej^ are 
 wondroush^ adapted to use in the desert, where their power to relieve 
 their thirst b}' the regurgitation of water which the}' retain in a 
 stomach from which it is not absorbed, renders them independent of 
 spring or stream or well, for days together ; and, like the donkey, they 
 are sustained by the dry straw of wheat, and coarse provender ; which 
 makes them invaluable to man in these climates, but nothing can be 
 said for their beauty ; and like horses and other beasts their tempers 
 vary exceedingly, so that the term "patient" is not universally 
 applicable. 
 
 The donkeys are patient and are beautiful little beasts with soft 
 gentle black eyes and graceful ears often pendant. Their gait is a 
 gentle pace or amble, and as one strides across their hips they move 
 on with an easy advance which is ver}- pleasant. I should like one at 
 home. But a good one is worth one hundred dollars here, I am told. 
 I thought the stor}' of the donke}^ driver in Cairo that he owned five 
 of them and had refused ^20 for the one I was on was a vain-glorious 
 boast, but am told it was not. 
 
 Noon, Januar}- 4th. 
 I fear we have made a serious mistake to-da}^ and that it is due to 
 m5'self We are at Girgeh, which is near the site of Thinis, one of the 
 earliest seats of power in Eg3"pt. Older than Thebes or Memphis, and 
 about three hours ride across the plain are the ruins of palaces and 
 temples which have been opened and freed from sand within the last 
 few years. We are detained here by the crew baking their bread, and 
 I urged Wistar and Mar\' to avail themselves of the opportunity to 
 visit these interesting ruins now, but the}' have postponed it till their 
 return Vv'hen the dragoman tells them it can be done hy an easier ride 
 from another town higher up and they think I am not able now to ride 
 with them and hope I will be then. Their anxiety about me I do not 
 share, though it arises from my having had an attack of unconscious- 
 ness while reading to them evening before last, resembling those to 
 
 406
 
 which our dear father was subject so man}' years. It is the first time, 
 and is certainlj- one of the indications of — well never mind what. It 
 was entire for a time. I fear they will thus miss entirely the oppor- 
 tunity to view these, which are among the most interesting remains in 
 Egypt. One of the temples was lined with Alabaster and had on its 
 walls the celebrated tablet of Ab3-dus on which was a list of the 
 earlier monarchs. This is now in the British Museum. 
 
 While alluding to this affair of baking, notice may be taken of the 
 meagre diet of the crew and I believe of the entire class of fellaheen 
 fiom which the}^ are derived. It appears to consist entirely of a very 
 coarse bread made from unbolted wheat flour, imperfectly leavened, and 
 sour ; baked in small flat loaves. These are cut in thin slices and dried 
 in the sun. They boil a thin soup of yellow lentils, a kind of bean, 
 and pour it on these pieces of bread in a large wooden bowl, some- 
 times flavouring it with leaks or onions which they take (without 
 asking the owners) from the patches they pass while tracking the 
 boat. This is very spare and unsavour}'^ diet, yet on it they maintain 
 their strength and agility, which are very great. Their frames are 
 light and thej^ are muscular, but have no fatty deposit. When oppor- 
 tunity presents they buy curdled milk looking like balls of '' sine ur- 
 ease, ' ' and sugar cane, but we see no other change of diet ; and on my 
 offering to procure some meat for them, they chose the money it would 
 cost in preference. While we were sitting at dinner table a steamboat 
 with three emptj'^ barges in tow, came to, between ourselves and the 
 bank, just behind us ; sent to carry awaj^ the crowd of labourers wait- 
 ing on the bank. Then began a scene of confusion which beggars 
 description. No sooner were they fastened to the shore than officers 
 of police, indicated bj- their white turbans, bluest of blue robes, and 
 sticks in their hands, were marshalled along the, shore. The labourers 
 divested themselves of all impedimenta in the way of clothing, and 
 with shining brown skins, and well developed muscles and unceasing 
 vociferation, commenced the task of piling their palm leaf bags of 
 bread, and themseves, mingling indiscriminately the one with the other, 
 till they were heaped up a great mass of green mats, brown and blue 
 clothes topped off with dirty white caps crowning the pile. How it is 
 possible they can exist in such a compact mass passes comprehension. 
 Yet thus they are to be five days if the\' go, as we suppose they do, to 
 Cairo. The entire afternoon was occupied with this packing process. 
 It was like stowing away goods in a warehouse or hold of a vessel, 
 and darknesss alone brought quiet. 
 
 Jany. 5th. 
 
 A clear cold morning was ushered in \iy most confounding noises 
 
 from the decks of the boats ; and the constant repetition of words of 
 
 command from officers, with frequent flourishing of sticks, made me 
 
 think there was some disturbance v,orking among the crowd which 
 
 407
 
 was soon subdued, and while I was dressing preparatory to going on 
 deck to watch the further progress, a rap at the door of my cabin 
 startled me, followed by an inquiry ' ' is the doctor up ? here is a letter 
 for you. ' ' On opening my door I found it was a note from the Daha- 
 beyah ' ' Luxor, ' ' begging the favour of a professional call before we 
 should leave this morning. If I had a good store of remedies quite at 
 my command it would be a pleasure to relieve. As it is I shall gladly 
 do my best. Yesterday we had quite a scene growing out of the cook 
 having cut his arm and fallen into a state of unconsciousness which 
 lasted a long while, and was followed by a h^'sterical condition which 
 would have caused great alarm had I not been at hand to assure all 
 that it was not dangerous. Friezier too has been suffering terribly 
 from intermittent neuralgia and the waiter is ill with dysentery. Thus 
 you see I am not occupying a sinecure post, and would be happy if 
 they would not trouble themselves about my own condition. 
 
 Mr. Richardson in his note reports a very fatiguing ride of 
 twenty-eight miles occup3'ing nearly twelve hours yesterday on their 
 visit to " Thinis" or Abydus. It is well therefore our ladies did not 
 insist on going. I have just returned from visiting my patient who is 
 not worse though desponding. Mr. Richardson reports the ride a very 
 interesting one through fertile fields clothed with beans and wheat. 
 The palace stands in the desert ; majestic in its desolation. Great 
 columns of limestone with the freshness and cleanness of dressing 
 which would be surprising an} where else in buildings only a few 
 years old. The sculpture and painting also being clean and bright. 
 Gods and Kings and altars and sacrifices. The roof has been formed 
 by immense blocks laid flat from column to column and then cut out 
 into a vault. We must visit it on our descent. 
 
 It claims the honor of being the burial place of Osiris. Obscure 
 as is all m5'thology, that of Egypt is least understood of an}-. 
 Osiris is represented as having been killed by his own son Typhon, 
 the embodiment of evil, and his dismembered body concealed in many 
 parts in as many places. His wife Isis, and son Horus, spent much 
 time in searching these portions which were revivified by Horus. You 
 will find the fable well told in one of the the last chapters of 
 Henry Reed's translation of the " Daughter of the Egyptian King." 
 
 While I write my ears are stunned by the noise and confusion on 
 board the steamboat, where the process of packing the human cargo 
 by dint of clubs and blows is in full activity. The poor wretches take 
 it all as part of the discipline of life. The barges are filled and have 
 been cast off". Evidently some portions of the little possessions of 
 the poor wretches have been left ashore as there are men swimming 
 to and fro carr3dng on their heads bundles of clothing and hoes, to 
 those on board. It is difficult to analyze the feelings displayed b}^ the 
 conscripts. Tomtoms and laughter would appear to indicate indiff"- 
 erence at least, while some appear to press on board and be thrust 
 
 408
 
 off again forcibl}^ and others are beaten for no apparent cause. Our 
 dragoman says to keep them submissive. I find by the motion we are 
 under way and it is a relief to be out of the sight and sound. 
 
 Evening. 
 
 I found I was correct in my idea that we had sailed and we soon 
 passed beyond sight of the steamer and her company and we were 
 astonished as we advanced up the river at the large population still 
 left to pursue the agricultural work. We have made a very long 
 stretch to-day through a beautifixl countr}"- with fine crops of sugar 
 cane, tobacco, clover, wheat, and beans. The temperature has been 
 cold to our feelings and the wind strong, much like a clear cold bracing 
 October day at home. The sun has just sunk beneath the horizon and 
 the sk}^ is covered with those golden and silver and blue scales which 
 like the feathers of angelic wings are perpetually changing hue, while 
 the rich verdure of the plain, the grand groves of palms and the bur- 
 nished surface of the river combine to favor the celestial imagery. 
 
 We have outsailed our compagnons de voyage, after much trial 
 of skill and speed between our several Reises, and our crew is very 
 happy. The villages of this part of Egypt are very picturesque. On 
 the tops of the houses they erect pigeon cotes, as large as and loftier 
 than the house itself, and while the lower story, which the human 
 beings lodge in, is left the uncolored mud hue of the material of which 
 it is built, the upper part is whitened and divided into stories by open- 
 ings for the birds, placed at regular distances, and in straight lines 
 with short boughs projecting, on which the birds may alight. These 
 fancy buildings seen in the distance, and sheltered as they always are 
 by palm groves, whose verdant crowns shade them while the tall 
 straight trunks do not intercept the view. 
 
 Many of the towns we passed to-day are larger and more substan- 
 tially built than those below. We passed Farshoot where the Khedive 
 has a large sugar mill and this district is inhabited b}^ the descendants 
 of a tribe of Arabs of more independant character than those below, 
 and famed for their skill in breeding and managing horses, and they 
 have an entirely different breed of dogs. The fancies of the Moslems 
 about dogs are not uniform. In Cairo they are not owned by any one 
 but allowed to live and care for themselves being tolerated as scaven- 
 gers. As we have been ashore occasionally we have seen them about 
 the villages in the same relation. Here the}' train them and hold 
 them as private property. 
 
 The course of the river here is such that we have been facing 
 north and now this morning of the 6th of January, 1S72 I find the sun 
 rising on the right side of the boat as we lie staked to the shore with 
 our heads up stream. The glor}- of the sunset last evening was truly 
 unearthly. It glowed and shone and changed each moment as though 
 
 . 409
 
 instinct with life, and I felt glad to be alone in my room. It was too 
 solemnly (nay awfully) grand to permit the intrusion of voice in the 
 utterly vain attempt to express the feeling of the heart. The soul was 
 subdued as in the presence of the Creator and could only bow and 
 worship with that feeling which is beyond utterance. The sunrise 
 this morning was beautifully attractive. The temperature still cold, 
 suggestive of frost. 
 
 When I crossed the boat to your mother's cabin which is on the 
 shore side, I found immediately before her window a Dhom-palm tree. 
 "We had seen one at a distance a day or two since ; here they abound. 
 They differ entirely from the date palm. They do not shoot up the 
 majestic lofty column with its green coronal, waving grandly in the 
 breeze, but bifurcate at a short height and divide again and again. 
 The leaves are only at the end of the limbs but they thus make a large 
 head. I have not been sufficiently near to see the leaves distinctly, 
 but think they differ as much from those of the date tree as do the 
 trunks. The fruit hangs in a large drupe of nuts of a deep brown 
 color and about the size of an orange, there being probably a dozen 
 in a bunch. Our dragoman brought a bunch on board ; they are unripe 
 and will not be perfect for two months to come. They then assume a 
 reddish hue. Each fruit consists of an external fibrous coat, a hard 
 shell, and an internal kernel which is about the consistency of horn 
 and is eaten. The external covering is eaten, and when ripe is said to 
 have the taste of ginger bread. When drj'^ the internal portion 
 becomes very hard, somewhat resembling vegetable ivory, and is used 
 by carpenters for the sockets of drills. The leaves are fan shaped. 
 
 2)i P. M. 
 
 Our course to-day has been verj' slow, the river running from the 
 east toward the west. We passed much highly cultivated land and 
 several villages with their lofty pigeon houses. It is said the object in 
 erecting these is to attract the wild pigeons, not to use the birds for 
 food but to collect the dung which is sold to the Khedive as manure 
 for his cane plantations. Joseph shot two pigeons as we passed one 
 of the towns and a man picked thetn up and ran along the shore till 
 the Dahabeyah was near enough to throw him a half piastre and he 
 threw them on board. Our neighbors on the Luxor shot a black eagle 
 and two of the sailors stripped and swam ashore one taking it by the 
 tips of either wing and swinging it between them, brought it off. We 
 were near enough to congratulate the young gentleman on his success 
 and learn that it measured 8;^ feet from tip to tip. It is perfectly 
 black. They shot repeatedly at others afterward but without success. 
 They are keen sportsmen but are sadly annoyed by the non-arrival of 
 their guns at Alexandria so that they are reduced to Arab rifles and 
 guns. 
 
 410
 
 January 7th. 
 
 No effort can be more futile than the vain attempt to convey by 
 language an idea of the fascination of the voyage on the Nile. There 
 has not been an hour which has not had its own peculiar source of 
 delight. The grey dawn ushers in the day by disclosing the character 
 of the spot at which you have been moored during the night and the 
 recollection of the glory of the sunset is still gloriously fresh in your 
 memory when it yields to the grandeur of the returning lord of day. 
 Last evening found us in a wide plain with fertile fields and waving 
 groves and picturesque villages bounded on every side by lofty cliffs 
 of yellow and red and brown color like a deep and highly carved frame 
 to a soft landscape picture ; over which the parting sun spread glories 
 such as earth nowhere else receives from his rays. Range after range 
 of these hills caught the parting splendour, and retained its living 
 lustre after its life-giving power had faded on the valley below ; and 
 star after star came out in the blue canopy above. And now these 
 same cliffs are smiling again as they catch the rays which slant upward 
 over the descending eastern horizon while similar tufts of palm rise 
 between us and them ; and the grand m3-sterious old Nile rolls its 
 ever new fertilizing flood between my window and the bank, on which 
 the tobacco bows itself under the breeze which wafts us on through 
 scenes which have witnessed the daily renewal of these same depart- 
 ures and returns of day and night, in unchanging vicissitude, ever 
 since the Creator of all "spake and it was done," "commanded and 
 it stood fast forever. ' ' Where is the unfailing source from whence the 
 water flows ? Where the great storehouse from which is supplied the 
 fertilizing mud which has supplied food for so many generations and 
 so many nations of men ? It is as mj'sterious now as it was when 
 speculation was first turned to the investigation, recorded as an ancient 
 subject of curious enquiry by the father of history. If we cannot 
 decide this question how shall we fathom the greater but parallel one 
 as to the supply of light and heat which, ever expended by the sun, 
 knows not only no exhaustion but no diminution. 
 
 The unchanging habits of this ever changing population is equally 
 amazing. As I write I pass huge piles of water jars heaped on the 
 bank waiting to be formed into rafts and sent down the current guided 
 by men seated on them, with poles formed of branches of the acacia 
 tree tied together ; in the same attitudes, with the same features, and 
 the same clothing, while the jars have the same shape and are of the 
 same material and manufacture as are represented in the pictures still 
 fresh as yesterday, though the}^ have been sealed up in the tombs of 
 their forefathers four thousand years. We have lost all records of the 
 methods and implements by which the monuments and temples of 
 these people were excavated and raised. With all our much-vaunted 
 mechanical and scientific progress we could not move one of the blocks 
 of which the pyramids are built nor carve on the enduring basalt, or 
 
 411
 
 even granite, one of the exquisitely cut figures in the hieroglyphics 
 with which their obelisks are covered, much less transport them unin- 
 jured by the voyage from loo to Soo miles, so gigantic in their size yet 
 so admirable in their proportions. Yet we boast and are justly proud 
 of the results of our skill. 
 
 ' ' What hath God wrought ' ' is forced on my attention at this 
 very moment as I raise my eyes to fill my pen and they fall on poles 
 and wires stretching over the green wheat fields which crown the bank 
 along which we are sailing, while on the ledges below are springing 
 up vegetable growths which clothe them with verdure so soon as the 
 declining waters allow the sun's rays to fall on the virgin soil. With 
 us the seeds of the last 3'ear are the source of the growth of the new. 
 Here we have a fresh surface, and the plants of the past year have 
 been washed away by the rolling flood yet they are year by year the 
 same plants as those which clothed the terraces of the past and have 
 always been the same. The}^ are not therefore the chance products of 
 the vital energy of the soil and often they are disturbed by the hoe of 
 the Arab who follows the receding water with crops sown on one ledge 
 after another so long as there is hope of time for maturity to his grain 
 before the heat of summer bakes the soil. 
 
 It is customar}^ for travellers to rail at the lazy Arab, and to 
 recount their struggles to urge on the tardy and reluctant boatmen. I 
 should give an entirely opposite account. I never look out in the early 
 morning that I do not see women filling water jars on the shore, and 
 men at their shadoofs raising water, or with their hoes turning up the 
 soil, or in some way manifesting untiring energy, small as is the profit 
 allowed to remain with them, and certainly the efforts of our Reis and 
 crew are worthy of all laudation. Never a breeze is allowed to curl 
 the water without filling the sail, and the moment it falls they spring 
 to their poles or harness themselves to the long rope and jump ashore, 
 and always with a cheerful song or animated discussion of the hope 
 of success. Then like so many Amphibia they leap into the water 
 and literally lift the boat from the sand bank when she runs aground. 
 I think their energj'^ exceeds that of our own people and I am sure 
 there is none of the cursing and grumbling which with us shows the 
 dogged obstinancy of our hearts, so opposite in character to the simple 
 child-like nature of this amiable, oppressed race. 
 
 The wheat fields this morning are most wonderfully beautiful. I 
 never before saw such strength of plant or so thick a growth. We are 
 passing also great piles of jars on the bank, and rafts along the shore 
 This is the special place of manufacture and has been for ages. The 
 clay in one of the gorges of the mountains, here approaching the river, 
 being particularly adapted to form the porous ware. The outline of 
 the mountains is more broken and though from the days of Herodotus 
 it has been received as an unquestioned truth that rain never falls, 
 there are gorges in the hills that could apparently have no other 
 
 412
 
 origin than from rushing torrents. This is therefore another problem 
 to be added to the list requiring solution together with equatorial cur- 
 rents, change of climate, glacier movement, etc., which the surface 
 of our globe everywhere presents. How wonderfully applicable is the 
 question of our Lord to Nicodemus. If we cannot solve these doubts 
 about the material phenomena how vain the attempt to sound 
 the depths of Divine decrees and understand the laws of Divine 
 government. 
 
 The morning is free from cloud, the first we have had since we 
 left Cairo ; each day has been overcast and some have had the peculiar 
 cloudiness which belongs to our easterly' winds. This must be an 
 exceptional season, so very much does it differ in temperature and 
 amount of sunshine from the reports of others. We have been passing 
 cotton fields as well as tobacco and wheat ; and castor oil plants are 
 frequent. The oil is used for light. 
 
 8th. 
 We had a very strong wind yesterday which carried us gaily 
 onward until it became a gale, accompanied with clouds of the finest 
 sand penetrating even into my portfolio and among the sheets of 
 paper. It compelled us to anchor when we were in hope of reaching 
 Thebes last night. This morning found us staked under a bank 
 crowned by tamarisk, acacia, and palm trees. Evidently the culture 
 here is very high. We pass sakkias every hundred yards, creaking as 
 they turn, while the monotonous song of the driver as he urges his 
 bullocks on their interminable journey is prolonged after dark, proving 
 the energy and perseverence with which the fellaheen pursue their 
 toil. Radishes, onions, turnips and leeks are planted on the sloping 
 bank, while cotton, tobacco and larger crops are seen on the level beyond. 
 Flocks of beautiful birds flit from tree to tree, and their songs are as 
 animating as they are at home. The newly risen sun lights up the 
 rugged outlines of the mountain range, in which lie concealed the 
 Tombs of the Kings, and we are now being tracked along ; the three 
 Dahabeyahs in company, the crews all laughing and chattering as, 
 harnessed like so many horses, they drag the cumberous load. Each 
 has in his hand a piece of cane which they devour. As I lift my eyes 
 I see we are passing enclosed gardens with large cotton plants like 
 trees, and sheiks with long guns on their shoulders peer in at my win- 
 dow as I am sitting writing. A little before noon as we were sailing 
 along without thought of being so near, the Dragoman came to my 
 side and said : ' ' See ! the Tombs of the Kings ; there is Karnac and 
 there are the colossal statues of Amunoph. ' ' It was stupefying. I could 
 scarcely believe my ears, and rising and climbing to the highest point 
 of the deck, on the skylight, I stood entranced, as the majestic Pylons 
 and Propjdous of Karnac rose behind the palm groves, and beyond 
 them the Hall of Columns opened its massive sti-ucture, until I could 
 
 413
 
 with the aid of my glass trace distinctly the sculptured winged globe 
 on one of the Pylons, and then, turning to the savage desolation on the 
 western side, could trace the opening in the sand heaps which cover the 
 glories of the Memnonium and saw clearly the features in the statues 
 of Amunoph, which stand in the majesty of four thousand years guard- 
 ing, its portal. We soon drew to shore ; our crew, with noisy mirth 
 laid aside the tom-toms and songs and dances in which they had 
 indulged from the moment at which we obtained the first glimpse of 
 Thebes, and fastened us, as we saluted the flag of our country floating 
 from a neat white residence on the bank of Luxor. While I went on 
 board one of the Dahabe5^ahs to visit a patient, Wistar repaired to the 
 office of the consular agent in quest of the longed-for letters. On my 
 return I met an English acquaintance who informed me there were 
 letters and papers for me at the house of the British agent, who had 
 formerly held the same relation to our country, and hastening there I 
 found Wistar who, disappointed by not finding any at the other ofl&ce, 
 had come in search of them. Mustapha Aga is a finished Mahome- 
 tan gentleman and gave us a hearty oriental welcome, after which we 
 took our letters and papers and hastened to our home on the Nile, the 
 beautiful ' ' America. ' ' 
 
 After enjoying the very pleasant letters from our home, at home, 
 and talking over the contents at a comfortable dinner, we visited the 
 ruins of the temple ; in which Mustapha and other Arabs have built 
 themselves houses of unburned brick and mud, perched amid the mas- 
 sive capitals, on mounds of sand which have drifted in and filled up 
 the courts covering the columns and images and sculptures. Among 
 them rises the upper part of an obelisk of granite, covered with hiero- 
 glj'^phics as clear and clean and as fresh looking as though the work of 
 yesterday ; the hares, and bees, and owls, and hawks, and serrated lines, 
 and ovals, and spheres, and signs of life, all telling the same tale of 
 the glory of the king as the sculptured figures on the sandstone walls 
 which half buried in the sand rose beside it. Mustapha Aga urged 
 our taking the ladies into his house where he regaled them with excel- 
 lent coffee in little cups handed in rests of silver filagree work, after 
 which he presented his pipe to each for a whiff, and brought out a store 
 of little relics from the tombs which he presented to each. Some 
 photographs of Egyptian ruins which he had for sale enabled us by 
 purchases to repay his courtesy and we left his hospitable roof for 
 further survej' of the wondrous ruins. 
 
 As I stood beside the broken sitting figures at the portal, my feet 
 were on a level with the upper line of the forearm which rests upon 
 the knees and the top of my head was on a line with the top of the 
 shoulder. All the parts are in perfect proportion. The ear was the 
 length of my forearm and hand, but the face of each has been broken 
 away. How ? Nothing less powerful than an iron headed battering 
 ram could have effected the mischief So that we probably stood look- 
 
 414
 
 ing at the manifestations of the mad rage of the Persian conqueror 
 who thus transmitted to posterity a reputation little if any better than 
 that of Herostratus (who destroyed the great wonder of the world at 
 Ephesus) while he vented his rage on his rival by the destruction of 
 the monuments on which his predecessor in the career of conquest had 
 relied to transmit to posterity the features of him who boasted that 
 from Ethiopia to the Euxine he had made his power to be felt. 
 
 While we were discussing such subjects over the tea table our 
 courier announced that a Mr. Smith of New York, who was resident in 
 IvUxor, had called and would return when we were through our meal, 
 and soon after a tall thin unmistakable Yankee in loose white muslin 
 pants (made to resemble those of Western nations) dilapidated coat and 
 tarboosh, and long white beard, came in and spent the evening with us. 
 He has lived here fourteen years. We talked much of America for his 
 gratification and gleaned from him information about the people of 
 the present rather than the tombs and temples of the past. I was dis- 
 appointed by being told that the luxuriant looking wheat fields do not 
 yield more than fifteen bushels of grain to the acre, the head not 
 equalling the straw in its yield and that, being worth not more than a 
 dollar per bushel, it yields but little profit to the fellah after paying its 
 tax to the Khedive. 
 
 Jan'y. loth (before dressing). 
 Yesterday was one of intense interesting excitement. My first 
 duty was the visit to the gentleman so ill on the other Dahabeyah. 
 On my return I found the party all ready for the excursion to the 
 temple of Karnac. Donkeys, ready saddled and bridled, stood waiting 
 on the bank, and your mother was the first to say ' ' come, let us be off. ' ' 
 The first step in climbing the mountain of diflSculty lay along the 
 plank by which she was compelled to walk to the shore from the boat, 
 and the second stage was to climb the bank, which she accomplished 
 by the assistance of two of the crew, one on either side locking hands 
 behind her, and the dragoman before drawing her toward him, while I 
 meekly followed ready to intercept her if she should roll back. (O, 
 if you could only look at the burnished stream and glowing moun- 
 tains just now as the sun's first rays fall on them this moment.) This 
 done the first seat to be taken on a donkey which stood about as big 
 as a month old calf, with its long ears and melancholy face. The men 
 lifted her on ; and after some changes of position she finally settled 
 with the reins in her right hand to steady her (they are never used 
 for guiding the donkey), her left arm embracing an Arab who walked 
 on that side, and another carrying my umbrella to shade her, walking 
 on the other, the group hiding the donkey beneath and between them; 
 her hat slouched down over her ears and a white muslin veil falling on 
 her shoulders as well as protecting her face. Away we started at the 
 ambling pace with short steps to which the donkeys are trained by 
 
 415
 
 tying weights to their feet, and which is a very pleasant though not 
 very rapid mode of riding. A photograph of that scene with the 
 crowd of lookers on and the Babel-like confusion, caused by ever>'one 
 talking, would be highly amusing. The donkey boys exhibited their 
 command of English by declaring the donkey ' ' exqusite " " very 
 good " " very fine ' ' " that all the same " " better than steamboat. ' ' 
 The others all followed and in long cavalcade we wound through the 
 Arab village first, and then between fields of beans and wheat and 
 palm groves till we entered the avenue of headless sphynxes which 
 led us to the Pylon or gate-way, which stands about sixty feet high 
 covered with sculptured figures representing the triumphs of Rameses, 
 clear and fresh as are all the remains in this wonderful climate except 
 some of the granite which, when broken, is decomposed by the atmos- 
 phere acting on the feldspar. This temple is built of sand stone. 
 Now when I tell you that it enclosed an area oi forty acres and that 
 this extent is strewn with fallen stones of immense size or stands 
 thickly covered with gigantic columns and that every stone and col- 
 umn whether standing or fallen is covered with sculpture of the same 
 colossal proportions as the temple itself or with hieroglyphics deeply 
 cut into the face, you will realize how absurd would be any attempt at 
 detailed description and how wearied j'ou would be by the effort to fol- 
 low it. 
 
 In one hall stood more than 200 columns sixty feet high with 
 swollen capitals and from one to the other were stretched huge square 
 stones which formed the roof, and on the lower side of which some 
 had deeply cut hieroglyphics and some were painted blue with golden 
 stars to represent the heavens, the blue and gold still clean and bright 
 though nearly 4000 j-ears are supposed to have passed since the colors 
 were applied. Though this may not be true it is certain that the 
 temples were first erected at that early period and many of the sculp- 
 tures date back to it ; others were added by later monarchs down to 
 the time of the Ptolomies, about half a centurj' before the Christian 
 era, and in some parts figures of Alexander the Great and even of 
 Cleopatra are still to be recognized. Even this later date gives them 
 more than 2000 j'ears. 
 
 There sat in solemn state guarding the entrance to the inner temple 
 the colossal figures, some in white marble, some in red granite, some 
 in sandstone and alabaster, while the walls were covered with represen- 
 tations of Gods with the sun over their heads, or with crowns of 
 animal's heads; and monarchs and priests kneeling and offering 
 sacrifices. We could distinguish the different fruits and flowers and 
 birds and beasts which were being presented. On other walls were 
 sculptured the conquering king driving his chariot over hosts of fallen 
 enemies who extended their suppliant hands, cr3'ing for quarter, while 
 his uplifted hand swayed the battle axe above their heads. The name 
 of Shishak, which is clearly written by one of these conquering heroes, 
 
 416
 
 and the peculiar physiognoni}' and costumes of the prisoners, who are 
 led before him, give ample authority for the assurance that he is the 
 Shishak who carried away the golden shields from the temple at 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Abraham's visit, it is probable, was made while the seat of Empire 
 was at Memphis, and so was the viceroyship of Joseph exercised over 
 lower Egypt, else it would not be improbable that these halls might 
 have witnessed all these various incidents in the history of the chosen 
 people of God. These temples were standing during all these long 
 years. The beaut}^ of the hieroglyphics is entrancing ; I would were I 
 alone to give myself up to the study. Hawks, owls, birds of various 
 kinds, bees, scarabei, and animals are all used in signs and are most 
 perfectly and beautifully carved on the granite obelisks which rise still 
 among the columns. Some have been thrown down and are broken 
 into fragments. An earthqttake could not have overthrown some and 
 left others so upright, nor could the mere fall to the earth have 
 shattered those which are prostrate into so many and so irregular 
 fragments. The agenc3' of lightning has been suggested bj' some 
 but that is as unlikel}^ as any other. The natives use some of the 
 fragments for mill stones. The lintels and jambs of one door way are 
 of a black granite and these appear to be crumbling as they might do 
 if they had been subjected to intense heat. But a week might be 
 passed in exploring the various chambers of this great temple and 
 examing the records on its walls, and each hour would present a fresh 
 object for investigation. 
 
 There were four avenues ot Sphj'nxes, most of which are still 
 buried in the sand and debris. Colossal heads of rams without bodies, 
 show that the bodies are somewhere buried. Not onl}^ do the sculp- 
 tured birds and beasts correspond exactly with the living creatures of 
 the present daj- and the figures and costumes prove that the habits of 
 the common people remain unchanged, though the Royal and priestlj- 
 element has disappeared, but the implements used then resemble those 
 we see dail}' and an enormous Dahabej'ah with the elevated cabin and 
 elongated prow, is being propelled b)' oars and poles on the wall of one 
 of the oldest portions. 
 
 I have not attempted to read up on the subject of this temple and 
 that at Luxor, near which we lie, as v^'e shall be better able to do so 
 after this visit. I find reading descriptions gives no idea of realities 
 and therefore do not inflict them on you. Photographs are better but 
 the^' are but dim shadows failing to give an adequate impression. 
 Think of getting forty acres into the field of a camera. 
 
 On our return Wistar and I called on Mr. Smith the American who 
 has been fourteen j-ears resident here. We found him occup3dng two 
 rooms opening on the terrace of a large house surrounded by a garden 
 of many acres filled with fig, pomegranite and peach trees, and roses 
 and other flowers blooming in the borders. He was seated amid 
 
 4^7
 
 astronomical tables and figures and witii a rougli telescope. A mummy 
 stood in the corner and fragments of Gods and other remains from the 
 tombs were scattered in bachelor-like disorder about the floor and 
 divans. After sitting some time we invited him to return with us 
 and dine on board. He laid aside his native garb (not elegant demi- 
 toilette) and putting an old coat over a vest, with his muslin pants, a 
 mere loose pair of drawers, he put in his pocket a revolver and took in 
 his hand a staff" about 8 feet long and sallied out with us. As we passed 
 along the terraced roof, supported on arches about 20 feet high on 
 which the entire house is supported, I drew his attention to a palm 
 tree which grew up directly through the roof. He said yes I sleep 
 under it on this roof in the summer and I gathered a good crop of 
 dates from it a few months since. As we passed out of the garden 
 gate the gardeners handed Wistar and mj-self each a bunch of flowers 
 containing rose-buds and a mint of some species and very strong 
 scented, taking a small backsheesh in acknowledgment of the civility. 
 Some savage dogs assailing us with loud barking. ISIr. S. explained the 
 use of the pistol as a protection from their assaults at ?iight. We did 
 not take in the whole meaning of the explanation at that moment. 
 Dinner was served and American politics, Egj'ptian antiquities, and 
 personal anecdotes served to beguile the time during the several 
 courses. After which he filled his pipe and took his place on one of 
 the divans on the deck under the awning. Hour succeeded hour. 
 Wistar and I were both of us stupid and sleepy from the morning's 
 toil and excitement, and the ladies thoroughly tired out. When it 
 became dark lanterns were lighted under the awning, and I made an 
 apology for leaving him and was rowed to the other Dahabej^ah to 
 visit Mr. Betts (who is ver>^ ill) ; made ni}^ visit and returned, only to 
 find the tea-table spread and ISIr. Smith waiting to share our meal. 
 ISIary lay down on the divan, Holly was put to bed. I suggested to the 
 ladies generally that they must be wearied and had better retire. 
 Mustapha Aga called and made a visit and bade us good-bye, but 
 nothing moved our guest. I visited one of the waiters who is sick 
 and at Friezier's suggestion the other brought Wistar' s bed and made 
 it on the divan where he sleeps in the saloon. This at last got him to 
 his legs and he left us, wondering he had not gone earlier and wonder- 
 ing still more what can induce an educated man with mother and 
 sister corresponding with him, and receiving the New York Tribune 
 weekly, to immure himself here. 
 
 The native dealers in antiquities accuse him of being a manu- 
 facturer of modern antiques which he sells to travellers as genuine for 
 large prices; while he denounces their "real ancient" as spurious. 
 He in return says they are very clever imitators but did not hesitate to 
 recognize some which we bought of them while he was present as 
 being genuine. So that we feel satisfied with our purchases though 
 they are ugl}^ somewhat broken and cost large prices. He and 
 
 418
 
 Mustapha are not very' friendlj', though they managed to interchange 
 some observations from which we gathered that the yield of wheat is 
 better than he had told us j^esterday. Mustapha Aga says 20 bushels 
 per acre and worth $1 a bushel. It is the most profitable crop and 
 after that, Mustapha Aga said, " Indian Corn. " He has travelled as 
 far as London, Mr. Smith say-s, as servant of an English gentleman. 
 However he maj' have acquired it he has the deportment of an Arab 
 gentleman. 
 
 There are about 2000 inhabitants of Luxor, one-third of whom are 
 Copts who have a church and burial-ground iu which lie the remains 
 of about a dozen Englishmen who have died here. All but one, Mr. S. 
 told us, victims to their own intemperance. The Moslems are said to 
 have a smothered hatred of foreign Christians which occasionally shows 
 itself in suppressed curses and expressions of contempt, and their 
 feeling toward the Copts is said to be much that which is so common 
 on the parts of Christians toward the Jews throughout Europe. On 
 our return from Karnac our route lay through the place where the 
 market is held every Tuesday. It was crowded and presented a strange 
 scene. Half clad and not at all clad men, women and children 
 were squatted on the ground among the shoes and pots and pipes and 
 skins and small wares and fruits and vegetables and roots and grass 
 and sugar-cane and cloths, all lying on rags spread on the ground ; 
 while camels and donkeys and sheep and cows and buffaloes were all 
 crowded in the midst. Through all this our donkey drivers pushed 
 our donkeys and so close was the crowd that it seemed impossible to 
 avoid running over them and being run down ourselves b}' the camels 
 with their great overhanging bundles of cane. No one thought of 
 turning out or took the trouble to draw up his legs or move his 
 position in the least. We had been stunned and worried by the cry 
 for backsheesh which was dinned into our ears at every turn amid the 
 ruins, and now were not less disturbed by the seething mass of 
 wretchedness through which we wormed our way. 
 
 You will be thankful to know that your mother is none the worse 
 but rather the better for it all. And this morning she and I joined 
 with the others in a visit to INIourad Ali who has been appointed Con- 
 sular agent in room of Mustapha. He had called and requested us to 
 visit his curiosities and insisted on presenting us with many. Our 
 party is large, so that a few to each| made a large number. Somie of 
 them are valuable and he positively refused any compensation. I had 
 a pound in my hand to give him on shaking hands at parting but 
 Wistar was first and he dropped the money and would not receive it 
 when offered again, so I thanked him heartily. He was the partner 
 of Mustapha Aga in farming and had been left by him as his agent 
 in the office during an absence down the river. Mr. Butler came up 
 at the same time and INIustapha accuses INIourad of having bribed 
 Mr. Butler. This is the occasion of Genl. Stanley's visit of investi- 
 
 419
 
 gation. Mustapha Aga shewed me his protest. It all rests on hear- 
 say evidence and the witnesses prevaricate and endeavor to throw the 
 story off on each other. Mr. Smith says neither can be depended on, 
 that both are playing a deceitful game and neither of any service. 
 As it is I think it is a mere personal struggle for the position of Con- 
 sular Agent between the two old partners. The position protects the 
 holder against the Khedive and as there are no duties and no fees this 
 constitutes the only advantage, but it is a great one. While we were 
 at INIourad's the Reis hurried up to say the wind was fair and we set 
 sail ; and the weather is warm for the first time since we landed in 
 Egypt. Mr. S. says it has been unusually cold and accounts for it by 
 our being probably in the track of a storm. A boat which came down 
 yesterda}' reports the weather oppressively warm at Assouan so that 
 we may have to suffer from the exhaustion of heat instead of the cold, 
 of which we have been so intolerant. Strange as it may seem it is 
 now three days since we received our mail. We at once devoured our 
 letters but have not yet opened our newspapers so fully have we been 
 occupied b}' the sights of Luxor and Karnac and we have left with the 
 impression that we have onl}' touched the margin. 
 OrjcBut two bo3^s busily chewing sugar cane stand on the bank above 
 me exhibiting statuary and as I have been writing two hours I will go 
 on deck and see what is being watered by the shadoofs whose creaking 
 sound is scarce ever out of our ears. Large cotton plants, the pod 
 nearly ready to open, tell what it is before I rise. The bank is about 
 twenty feet high and the shadoof is in three stages each with its man 
 lifting twice his own height. I say lifting, the water is raised by the 
 weight which balances the bucket ; the man drawing it down and 
 filling it, but expending no force in the lift. The Sakkias have been 
 very numerous to-daj' indicating a well cultivated plain but the water 
 has fallen so much that we cannot see the nature of the crop, even 
 when mounted on a table which stands on the deck. Our progress 
 has been slow as what wind there is is ahead and we have been depend- 
 ant on the arms of the crew ; either drawing or poling. ] 
 
 We passed limekilns being burned with fine coal imported from 
 England. 
 
 The heat is such as to require all the air we can get and if it con- 
 tinues will soon strip us of our winter garments. There are more 
 flowers in sight on the bank ; convolvulus and a kind of daisy and the 
 rape with its 3'ellow head. 
 
 January 11, 1872. 
 We made but little headway yesterday and this morning the three 
 companion boats are all hdng staked under a high bank on the Lybian 
 side with the placid surface of the ever flowing Nile, disturbed by 
 neither wind nor perceptible ripple (though its current is as rapid as 
 ever), smiling in the newly born light of morning. I climbed the 
 
 420
 
 high bank and found myself in a wide spreading field, green with the 
 wheat crop about six inches high, glistening with the light on the 
 dew drops. In the distance on our right rose the tall chimney of a 
 pumping machine to irrigate the cane plantation of the Khedive 
 which lies near ; and moored beside lay three or four large 
 barges. We had passed them yesterday afternoon taking in sugar 
 cane to be floated to one of the mills lower down. It was striped 
 entirely of the leaves which were being carried away on camels and 
 donkeys, while the heavy cane was piled on the barges like wood. 
 On the left of the stretch in view this morning was a village bosomed 
 in Palm trees, from which emerged more than loo camels with their 
 awkward forms moving in single file along a narrow pathway through 
 the wheat field, on the way to their daily labour in carrying the cane to 
 the boats. It was an animating and beautiful scene and the atmos- 
 phere was exilarating and the temperature most genial. 
 
 We are on a large island of Erment, the position once occupied by 
 the city of Hermonthis, at which are the ruins of a temple built by the 
 Cleopatra who made the name so infamous. There are also the 
 remains of a Christian church dating from about the da3's of Constan- 
 tine, when the profession of faith in Jesus became the religion of the 
 Roman Empire and it was recognized as such here in this far distant 
 province now, as then, dependant on the power enthroned at Constan- 
 tinople, to which the empire of the East had been transferred from 
 Rome. Now, as then, holding the faith of the Sovereign. Is not that 
 power trembling to its fall? Here are Copts still, and when the 
 government shall be transferred to Russia and toleration is extended 
 to all religions, may we not hope that a purified Egyptian church may 
 yet realize how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in the believer's ears, 
 and their grain and corn and cane fields yield them fruit, not to the 
 profit of the oppressor, but to the comfort of the labourer and the 
 glory of the Redeemer. It is a lovely valley with soft and smiling 
 skies above and green fields beneath, even if savage deserts lie on 
 either side. 
 
 Nii.,e;, January 15, 1872. 
 
 Dahabeyah ' ' America. ' ' 
 3/y Dear Children : 
 
 On my return home last evening I was told there might be an 
 opportunity to send a letter from Assouan which we hope to reach this 
 evening ; and as I shall in all probability be called away again this 
 morning I avail niN'self of the first dawn to write you. You will be 
 startled at my first sentence I presume, but will understand it when 
 I tell you that I spent yesterday on board one of the other boats pro- 
 fessionally. There is a gentleman very ill to whom I have been ren- 
 dering such service as was in my power, visiting him generally twice 
 daily. Yesterday they signalled for us soon after we had sailed and I 
 
 421
 
 remained with them all day ; leaving him better last night. A 
 Dr. Kingsley from another Dahabej'ah unites with me in services. 
 He is a brother of the author of the Water Babies, and is travelling 
 with Lord Pembrooke, a youth who is compelled to sail about the 
 world in pursuit of health. They have spent five years in Australia, 
 New Zealand, the Fiji Islands and other outlying lands, having been 
 shipwrecked among the cannibals, and are ver}' intelligent, agreeable 
 people. Lord Pembrooke is son of Lady Herbert, who published some 
 books of travels. The sick gentleman is a Mr. Betts, in someway 
 connected with railroad engineering. He has with him his wife and 
 son and daughter, all nice people to whom it is a pleasure to be able to 
 render service ; so you see I am in harness even here. 
 
 We are now entering the region of the sand stone quarries from 
 which were taken the great masses of which the temples were built. 
 Yesterdaj^ morning we were abreast of Edfoo having reached that 
 point after dark the previous night. Look at the photographs of 
 Egypt and j'ou will find the Pylon of the temple there — the first 
 object which met my gaze as I looked out of my cabin window before 
 rising. It is very grand, and as we sailed by it we could see distincth', 
 by the aid of the glass which INIrs. Caldwell K. Biddle kindl}^ ga^e 
 me on leaving home, the winged globe over the portal and the columns 
 of the pronaos and the colossal sculptures with which the Pylon and 
 sides of the temple are covered. Being the Lord's da^- we should not 
 have visited it even if the wind had not favoured the sailing which is 
 done bj' the Reis without reference to us and can be accomplished 
 without any further violation of the sacredness of the day than lying 
 by. Yesterdaj' we made but little progress as the wind was light. 
 As we passed one of the green sloping banks our attention was arrested 
 by a collection of people around a flag. They were in their best attire 
 and sounds of song and beating of tomtoms indicated some excite- 
 ment. Our dragoman said it was the departure of a band of Hadjees 
 for ^lecca, and another that it was a marriage and this the party of the 
 groom or bride seated on the shore awaiting the approach of the other 
 from the opposite side of the river where we saw a similar company 
 was assembled. The fields in this upper district are in some places 
 ver>' wide but the desert is alwa3-s in view on both sides. Those who 
 are familiar with Nile travel tell us that we can see a long distance and 
 that in shooting they must allow quite one-third, as objects they think 
 only loo yards distant being at least 150. This same allowance must 
 be made in estimating the breadth of the valley and the approach of 
 the desert and the mountains. 
 
 Just at this time as the light has now become strong, and the sun 
 is just falling on the hills, the}'' appear verj' near us and the slip of 
 wheat and lupins in flower is almost like the foot way only of our 
 cities. Telegraph poles and wires contrast strongly with the sand- 
 stone quarries of 4000 years ago and the shadoofs and sakkias, for 
 
 422
 
 raising the water to irrigate the fields, which have the same shape 
 and construction as they had in the days of the earliest Pharoahs. 
 Large sugar mills and cane plantations and steam engines to pump up 
 water to irrigate these are found at frequent intervals even thus far. 
 They all belong to the Khedive, and depots of English coal are placed 
 on the shore for the supply of the steamboats which ply up and down 
 tugging barges filled v.'ith thousands of conscripts taken down the 
 river to labour on these plantations and his various works. These 
 boats have distiirbed the crocodiles so that they are no longer found 
 north of the ist cataract, beyond which the steam boats do not ascend. 
 We hope to reach that point to-day and to-morrow we may see one of 
 the sacred animals of the Nile. 
 
 Poll ! just at that moment a shock told i:s we had run on a sand 
 bank and now the noisy sounds v,'hich indicate that the men are poling 
 and probably some of them in the water pushing us off makes one 
 glad that there are no ravenous jaws opening to devour them and as it 
 occasions me to look out, reveals the perfectly arid hillsides which 
 come down to the veiy shore. From the opposite window there ma}' 
 be a view smiling like the garden of Eden. 
 
 The weather is still so cool that our warm clothing is tolerable even 
 in the hottest part of the day and absolutely required morning and 
 evening. I was cold last night with two blankets and my double flannel 
 wrapper. To i:s this is a great advantage, much more invigorating 
 than heat would be. To those invalids who have been sent here in 
 quest of a uniform temperature and warm weather it is not onl}' 
 disappointing but verj^ injurious. But I nmst rise and dress or I shall 
 not be read}' for breakfast. 
 
 We shall stop on our return and visit the temple of Edfoo and 
 any other objects of interest which may claim our attention. It is 
 important to lose no time in ascending, as the river is falling rapidl}' 
 and there is some doubt lest the Reis of the Cataract may refuse to 
 take this large boat up. There are ever recurring objects of interest 
 in the varieties of culture and the beaut}' of the birds. We have just 
 passed quite a flock of beautiful and large white pelicans. They sit 
 on the water as gracefully as swans and the large pouch and projecting 
 bill are proportioned to their bodies when thus floating. 
 
 I am constantly interrupted in my reading and writing by the 
 objects of attraction which presents themselves. Yet I contrive daily 
 to record something for your amusement which I would gladly send 
 you now if I had sufficient confidence in its reaching you, as I fear it will 
 prove uninteresting hereafter, though if you had it during our absence 
 it would derive some interest from the affection with which you regard 
 us. 
 
 This morning a descending Dahabeyah was hailed by our Reis and 
 gave us the discouraging information that the water at Assouan 
 is so low that it was impossible to ascend. As that boat was not half 
 
 423
 
 so large as ours we feel as though we were probably near the extreme 
 point of our journej'^ and may be compelled to rest content with riding 
 to Phite and omit more interesting temples higher up the river. We 
 have already seen enough to realize mj' most extravagant anticipa- 
 tions and still have much to investigate on our return. 
 
 I cannot better illustrate our life than b}' telling you that at the 
 last period I raised mj' eyes and find before me the sculptured rocks 
 and temples and tombs of Silsilis, the quarries from which the earlievSt 
 temples of Lower Egj'pt were built. Sculptured and coloured entabla- 
 tures and columns and lintels stand before me, some retaining the 
 j-ellow and blue colors with which parts of the figures were covered. 
 We are within 40 miles of the ist cataract at Assouan. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar iNIorris. 
 
 " The Amf.rica " on the Nile. January 14, 1872. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 Mine from Thebes of this daj' week will I know make 3^ou some- 
 what anxious to hear from your father. I wish there was any way of 
 relieving you promptly ; but there is not. So I will have this ready in 
 case we meet a boat, and am glad to tell you he is quite well, and were 
 it not for the responsibility and care of a very ill patient (a Mr. Betts 
 in a boat v/hich keeps just at our side) he would be enjoying himself 
 to the full. This gentleman has been sent here in consumption, and 
 has some complication of diseases, and to be on a Nile boat in that 
 condition is most trying, notwithstanding all they have done to pro- 
 vide all that could be anticipated. To your father's great relief he has 
 found on board Lord Pembrooke's boat, a most accomplished physi- 
 cian in Dr. Kingslej', brother of the author, so the\' are both attending. 
 Your father was called up in the night and to his own great comfort 
 was able to afford relief. The boats lie side by side at night. 
 Mrs. Betts, son and daughter are with him. 
 
 We are getting up the river as fast as was to be expected and 
 they tell me that much dreaded cataract will be reached now in two 
 daj-s. I shall not attempt to ascend in the boat, but if I must go with 
 them, take a donkej' and go round ; as the ascent consists in the boat 
 being pulled up a series of rapids over huge rocks ; in one place six 
 feet perpendicular. This is done by from sevent}' to one hundred 
 Nubians. 
 
 Well, preparatory to that ride, if it must be taken, listen now to 
 a description of one I did take to see the ruins of Karnac, the distance 
 two miles. Well I was put on a little donkey, for they are all very 
 small here, and how thej' carr}- such a load as me I can't tell. A 
 donkey boj' was at his head to lead him, a man on each side of me 
 
 "424
 
 walking- or trotting as the case might be. The one on my left insisted 
 on holding me, unless I kept my hand on his shoulder. The one on 
 the right held a large umbrella over me. Each of the ladies of the 
 party wese escorted in the same waj'. The gentlemen only had a 
 donkey boy, but oh, so man}- out-runners. I did not count them; each 
 had one garment on, and all these donkey- bo3'S pick up a few words of 
 English and use them incessanth^ "good donkey," " good donkey 
 boy," "good lady." I then said old lady, and he repeated it very 
 often both to himself and the others. 
 
 The ruins were well worth the effort to get there, and it was a 
 great one to me, you may be sure. I will spare you all descriptions as 
 your father will do all that far better than I can. I will also take to you 
 Gadsby's Book, which we read with much interest. 
 
 I am right sorry I did not let the photographer at Thebes take 
 mine on the donkey. We met him on the road and I did not think 
 quick enough. The weather is now very fine and I am more on deck 
 and there are objects of interest passing all the time. We just counted 
 200 camels loaded with sugar cane and are sure we did not count half. 
 Last night we distinctly heard the jackalls and hj^enas again, and 
 immediately the boats, all four, for we have three neighbors, put out 
 into the stream. 
 
 Afternoon. 
 
 Your father has been nearly all day with our sick neighbour 
 and I have been reading over for the third time our last package of 
 letters received a week ago, to the 5th Dec, and enjoying each one, my 
 dear children and grandchildren. I shall welcome Harry's when it comes 
 even if it is crossed four times, provided he writes small (he has a 
 great objection to such epistles). I will give the list I have been read- 
 ing. Ches, Is. and Annie, Gal. and Han., Mary, Cornelia, Mary D., 
 Robert, Henr}^ and Sall3^ I can hardly bear tho' to think of our being 
 without now for six weeks. The truth is we are spoiled. 
 
 Monda}' 15th, Evening. 
 We have had a fine run to-day and just got into Assouan. Now 
 comes the tug up the cataract. There are three boats before us so I 
 suppose we'll see them. The shore is lined with people bringing in 
 things for sale ; baskets, feathers, etc., but they don't look inviting. 
 Some of the temples and ruins are near. Friezier has just come in to 
 tell us a boat leaves this evening for Cairo, who will take our letters. 
 So farewell ; with much love to all. 
 
 Yours most truly and affectionately, 
 
 A. C. Morris. 
 
 I do hope this will reach you as t'will relieve 3'ou about j-our 
 father, he is quite well, for which I do feel very thankful. 
 Send these to your sister. 
 
 425
 
 Dahabeyah "America," January 7, 1872. 
 Afy Dear Children: 
 
 Though I have written daily and have a dozen or more sheets of 
 letters to you in my portfolio, I shall not venture to send them by the 
 uncertain post from these remote regions. We have just passed 
 Negadeh where is a large Romish convent marked by a cross, and are 
 sailing with a spanking breeze directl}^ on our course, and are told we 
 may reach Luxor, Karnac, Thebes, which are all several names for 
 the same place, this afternoon ; and that we must have letters read}-. 
 I therefore hastily summarize the facts of our jovirney or rather vo3'age. 
 This being the Lord's day we have as usual devoted to a meeting in 
 the saloon, with reading God's Holy Scripture and a sermon ; and now 
 about 12.30 Bi. we are passing through a wide and fertile plain, with 
 most luxuriant wheat fields interspersed with cotton, tobacco, beans, 
 lupins and other garden growths ; while noble groves of palm of both 
 species, the date shooting up its lofty column and crowned with 
 immense leaves, and the Dliom, bifurcating at a short distance above 
 the earth and again dividing into branches having fan-like leaves at 
 the end, are standing thickly along the shore ; each grove sheltering 
 a village. These villages are. more picturesque than those of lower 
 Egypt. The houses are larger ; and while the people occupy only the 
 lower stories they raise them to a considerable height, and divide the 
 upper part into several stories by ranges of holes built into the middle 
 mud walls in regular line ; each with a stick projecting below it. 
 These upper stories are whitewashed ; while that occupied by the 
 people themselves is of the color of the mud of which the entire 
 building is composed ; having straw and doura stems mixed with the 
 mud to strengthen it. The upper part is whitened in order to attract 
 the immense flocks of a pigeon peculiar to the country-, which roost in 
 these upper stories. The Arabs do not kill them for food, but attract 
 them thus in order to collect the Guano, which is sold to the Khedive 
 to manure his cane fields, which are often very extensive. (We are 
 now pa.ssing one of some hundreds of acres in extent.) It is impossi- 
 ble to give an}' idea of the wondrous beauty of the Valley of the Nile 
 with its fertile plains, its grand mountains ranges and savage deserts ; 
 through all which flows the wide spread stream, whose m3'sterious 
 source, immense volume of water, inexhaustible store of fertile mud, 
 1:)rought from no one knows where and deposited age after age, are as 
 full of interest now as subjects for speculation, as they were four 
 thousand years since ; during all which period thej' have claimed the 
 investigation of successive generations of men, who have lived upon 
 the products and exported them to other less favoured lands. We 
 have not paused on our upward course to inspect any of the remains 
 of former grandeur. The winds have been unusually favourable since 
 we left Siout at which my last letters were mailed, and it is important 
 to avail ourselves of them to stem the current as the river is falling 
 
 426
 
 with its usual rapidity and if we pass the cataract at Assouan it is 
 important to do so while there is sufficient water to float this large boat. 
 
 As I lift my eyes to fill my pen I see sloping banks of lupins, 
 (O ! so green) and great fields of cane beyond; while a "shadoof" 
 ever}' hundred yards shows how much labour is required to irrigate 
 these fields. Pole after pole swings unceasingly, with its skin bucket 
 dipping the water from the river and raising it stage after stage by 
 three levels to the top of the bank. This is a clear bright day and the 
 temperature that of October with us, the sun hot, the v/ind cold. The 
 nionkej^ has broken our thermometer so that we are dependent on 
 sensation only. We have suffered with the cold, not only our own 
 party but the crew. Earache, toothache, coughs, have troubled more 
 or less every person on board, and yet I am more than satisfied. Some 
 object of interest presents itself every moment and the da^-s fly past 
 with a rapidity which is astonishing. If there were nothing but the 
 glories of the sun setting and sun rising these are so unspeakably 
 impressive in their grandeur that they would afford compensation for 
 every inconvenience attending the voyage, except that one for which 
 there is no possible compensation, the separation from )'ou all. 
 
 As we look through vistas of palm trees over fields of undj'ing 
 verdure, and see the bosom of the river glowing like molten gold, 
 while the heavens above are a canopy of blue, and crimson, and 
 scarlet, and violet, with hangings of fleecy clouds changing ever}^ 
 moment ; and see beyond, the lofty mountain ranges reflecting the 
 splendor from on high, our imagination is ravished with the thought 
 of the sapphire and topaz and pearl, and streets of shining gold, and 
 walls of adamant, and bulwarks of salvation, till we feel that it is 
 good to be alone ; and every word of admiration even, jars on the 
 subdued feeling of devotion with which it must inspire the least sensi- 
 tive soul. Such was the scene last evening and the sunrising this 
 morning was equally sublime. 
 
 The iincertainty of pi'ogress here is illustrated by our present 
 experience. A bend in the river is reached which makes the strong 
 wind by which we have been so rapidly propelled thus far to-da}-, 
 unfavourable, and we are obliged to anchor in mid river; furl our sail 
 and warp the boat to lee shore for harbour. This disappoints our 
 expectation that we might receive letters from home to-night or to- 
 morrow. We seek for grace to enable us to entrust all that we love 
 and hold dear on earth to the good providence of our Father in Heaven, 
 br.t feel as though it were a very long time since we had any accounts 
 of your welfare ; and think of 3'ou in the depth of winter, with the 
 3-oung people just resuming their studies, we trust animated to renewed 
 diligence by the recreation of the Christmas holidays. Ours passed 
 with little commemoration though some English parties, whose 
 Dahabeyahs keep us company, decked their boats with palm leaves ; 
 which did not occur to ourselves. 
 
 427
 
 8th. 
 We are again underway with a favouring breeze a clear sunshine 
 and, as we are within fifteen miles of the Thebes, the hope that before 
 night we ma}' have letters. Each day the beauty of the scene ravishes 
 me more and more. I quite forget everj'thing in the sense of enjoy- 
 ment. Dear Mellie must have been disgusted by my earlier letters. I 
 hope we shall find more and more to interest and instruct us. The 
 beauty of palm groves and the indescribable luxuriance of the wheat 
 and clover fields and cane plantations set, as the picture is, in bounda- 
 ries of sterile desert and lofty mountain ranges, is wondrous ; and the 
 changing course of the river causes them to shift their positions in the 
 light and shade giving rise to endless variety. Then the people in 
 their flowing robes, the camels, the buffaloes, the sakkias, and the 
 shadoofs which dip up the water every loo 3-ards to distribute it on 
 the fields, are all interesting. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Noon. January 8th. 
 
 P. S. I have just been feasting my e3-es with the colossal figures 
 of Amunoph on the one side and the Propylous of the temple of 
 Karnac on the other. The crew are singing and dancing nierril}' — our 
 flags are being displa3-ed and the dragoman about to salute the other 
 dahabeyahs. I leave your mother watching while I add this post- 
 script. , 
 
 Dahabeyaii " America," January- 7, 1872. 
 My Dear Brother : {Galloway Cheston.) 
 
 As we are approaching Thebes, the last point at which we can 
 receive letters from home and the last at which we can send them 
 there (unless we shall meet with some returning boat to which we 
 maj' entrust them to be mailed at Cairo), I tear m5'self awaj' from the 
 interesting objects which crowd upon us, momentarilly demanding our 
 attention, to conve}' to you the information which will I know be 
 most acceptable to dear Margaret and 3'ourself, of our well being. 
 God has been very gracious to us in the health of our entire part}'. It 
 has been generalh' good through the six months which we now num- 
 ber, within a few da3's, since we left home and is now without any ex- 
 ception good. The temperature in Egypt instead of being warm, as 
 we had anticipated it would be, has thus far been cold, requiring all our 
 winter garments and calling for overcoats, shawls and blankets when 
 exposed to the wind, which is ver}- piercing. As we advance to the 
 south we shall probabU' reach a different climate and I look with some 
 solicitude on Anne's account to the exhaustion of the heat, and 
 indulge the hope that it may be found too late for us to attempt 
 
 428
 
 ascending the Nile beyond the first cataract, though many remains of 
 temples attract us there. Thus far we have visited none of the ruins 
 or tombs. This is reserved for the return down the river. Now it is 
 too important that we should avail ourselves of every breath of wind 
 which will enable us to stem the current, which will bring us down 
 through it is difficult to ascend. The wondrous beaut}^ of the unri- 
 valled scenery of Egypt cannot be exaggerated. 
 
 The contrast between the fertility of the narrow valle}', and the 
 wild sublimity of the desert which is always in sight, and the savage 
 grandeur of the mountain ranges which often run directly along our 
 course is most imposing. Then the glory of the rising and setting 
 sun is inconceivable. We never witness it without a renewed, I might 
 say truly, an ever increasing sense of its sublimity. The rich imagery 
 of the poetry of scripture falls short of its awful grandeur and the 
 most undevout must feel subdued by its evidence of the majest}^ of 
 Him who said ' ' let there be light, ' ' and all this richness of splendor 
 burst into being. 
 
 8th. 
 
 We were disappointed of our hope to reach Thebes last evening. 
 The wind rose to a gale bearing with it clouds of fine sand from the 
 desert, making us think of "Simoons." The raj's of the sun were 
 veiled as b}' a cloud and we were compelled to cast anchor in the 
 stream ; furled our sail with difficulty ; warped into the shore and are 
 now, in companj^ with two other Dahabe3'ahs, h'ing moored under a 
 bank crowned with a grove of Palm, Acacia, and Tamarisk trees, in 
 which the warbling birds welcome the rising sun, whose rays are just 
 gilding their branches which are so motionless that it is evident we shall 
 not be able to move. This is a trial of patience to which travellers on 
 the Nile must reconcile themselves. One of our predecessors records 
 having been detained during three days at or near this very spot feel- 
 ing, as we do, that it had been long since he had heard from home. 
 Thebes is the last point at which we can hear, and our hearts are 
 divided between hope and fear as to the contents of those letters we 
 suppose await us there. From yourself we have not heard for a longer 
 time than from the children, and only build our hope that 3'ou got 
 safely to town and are not worse than usual from their report, Mary 
 having mentioned in one of her latest that her uncle had been in town 
 and reported 3'ou as usual. 
 
 The wheat crops now growing are the most luxuriant I ever saw 
 or dreamed of. Sugar cane and cotton and tobacco are also fine ; and 
 the clover, beans, lupins, and lentils var}- the shades of green with 
 their peculiar growth. I am exceedingly interested b}* the manifesta- 
 tions of the industr}' and untiring energj' of the people and with their 
 cheerful submission to the tyranny- and oppression of the government. 
 We see them descending the river by thousands to labor on the canals 
 
 429
 
 and other works of the Khedive who has conscripted one in every 
 three of the male population. They carry with them their own bread 
 and implements. The land tax has been collected six years in advance 
 at the rate of $5.00 per acre. There is also a tax of ten per cent, on 
 the profits of merchants. Such a drain must exhaust the country 
 before many 3'ears. Lower down the Khedive has large sugar works 
 and cane plantations of his own, and tall chimneys at short intervals 
 show where steam engines, fed by coal brought from England, are 
 used to pump up water from the river for irrigating his fields. 
 
 In this upper part the pumping is done by wheels turned b}' oxen 
 treading in a circle, and raising water jars fastened to a rope which 
 passes over a wheel at the level of the bank, where the jars are tipped 
 and empty their contents into a basin from which it is distributed by 
 small channels through the fields, which are laid out in squares, 
 divided by gutters for this purpose. The paintings on the tombs of 
 Eeni Hassan, which were executed 4000 3'ears ago, shew the same 
 arrangement of the ground and the same wheels and jars i;sed in rais- 
 ing the water. It is sometimes raised to the height of more than 
 20 feet. The creaking of the wheel and the monotonous song of the 
 driver of the beasts is heard long after darkness shrouds them from 
 our view, thus adding proof, to the many which present themselves 
 in other v.'ays, of the indu.stry and energy of the fallaheen. The cattle 
 were swept away in whole hecatombs b}* a murrain a few years since, 
 (and onh' now slowly increasing) so that in large districts they are 
 dependant on hunran labor for raising the water, which is done b}- skin 
 buckets or palm leaf baskets hung on the one end of a pole, with a 
 lump of clay at the other end by which the weight is lifted ; the man 
 merely drawing the empty bucket down again and filling it. The}^ 
 stand in three or sometimes four stages one above another each raising 
 it about his own height. The course of the river is very tortuous and 
 is constantly changing, washing awa}' banks and undermining villages 
 at one point and making new deposits at another. The feathery 
 crowned lofty palm trees always collected in groves ; the delicate 
 acacia and tamarisk and huge sycamore fig trees, which are grouped 
 around the villages, add greatly to the beauty of the landscape and 
 when 3'ou introduce the loaded camels in long strings and beautiful 
 little donkej'S ambling along with turbaned Arabs, in flowing robes, 
 seated gracefull}' on them, and large flocks of brown and black sheep 
 and goats tended by their several keepers, we have a picture which 
 one sees again and again repeated without becoming palled by the 
 sight. 
 
 With love to dear Margaret in which Anne I know unites though 
 she is sitting in her own cabin as I am in mine. 
 
 Your loving and grateful brother, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 430
 
 January ii, 1872. 
 While at breakfast two steam boats passed us. One a tug belong- 
 ing to the Khedive to tow the barges loaded with cane to a sugar mill 
 whose chimney is throwing up great volumes of black smoke some 
 miles above us, and the other bound down and flying both American 
 and British colors but whether one of the excursion boats which ply 
 up and down regularl}^ during the winter between Cairo and Assoixan 
 or that of I\Ir. Morgan and his part}^ which passed us on its way up a 
 week since we could not decide. While the crew ate their morning 
 ir.eal Wistar and I took a little stretch along the shore and I plucked 
 from the bank a prett}' handful of grasses, clover, wild vetch and con- 
 volvulus. Some of them, especially the last, reminding us strongly 
 of their congeners at home. Acacia trees in full bloom with golden 
 balls tipping the ends of gracefully fringed boughs of delicate green 
 foliage. A large leaved variety with long pendulous 5-ellow seed 
 vessels. Dhoui palms with their rounded heads of compact foliage, and 
 date palms towering above them all and waving their victorious fronds, 
 gave great and peculiar beauty to the view. No wind and a clear sky 
 without a cloud, in which vultures swing around in curves so graceful 
 and majestic that one forgets their loathsome appearance as the}' sit 
 on the shore, give promise of a sultry day. 
 
 4 p. M. 
 That promise was realized so far as the absence of wind was con- 
 cerned, until now when a nice favouring breeze fans us and slowl}' pro- 
 pels the ' ' America. ' ' Not so strong however, but that the regular sound 
 of the plashing of the poles proves that human strength is added to 
 that of the wind. We have realized to-day for the first time the delight 
 of the Nile weather which is so generally vaunted by travellers. It is 
 perfect! — We have sat alternately in our cabin below, your mother with 
 her worsted work while I read the history of Egypt, and under the 
 awning on the upper deck watching the shadoofs andsakkias on shore 
 and enjoj'ing the views on either side. Our neighbours landed and 
 shot various birds. Among them the white Ibis which is very beauti- 
 ful. We have been very near all day, too near as at one time we could 
 have shaken hands from one to the other, and at another I returned a 
 book they had kindly lent us some days since reaching it from our 
 boat to one of the servants on theirs. Finalh' the two came into 
 violent collision and their boom carried away some of our iron 
 stanchions and thereon ensued such a series of pantomime and gesti- 
 culation and verbal altercation as beggars description. The damage 
 is not serious enough to subject us to any inconvenience. The gentle- 
 men and ladies had a good time in exchange of improvised speeches ; 
 the Reises blew out their anger and after a time helping each other off 
 we got again under weigh and I hope shall keep a little further apart. 
 There is an evident rivalry and struggle for the lead between the two 
 
 43 1
 
 Reises. Both boats belong to the same owner so that it is not of much 
 importance, each will tell his own tale ; but the Dragoman of the other 
 boat sa3^s their own captain is in fault. At one point we passed 
 extensive sugar works of the Khedive, no less than five steam engines 
 crushing the cane and evaporating the juice, and we counted not less 
 than 500 camels loaded with cane moving slowly in a long line from 
 the field to the mill. There was certainly want of management as 
 they were jammed together waiting at the mill to be unloaded thus 
 losing time and labor also. Telegraph poles and wires connect the 
 various works. 
 
 Januar}^ 12th. 
 The morning finds us moored to the bank at Esne one of the 
 regular halting places on the Nile tour. The crews of the boats which 
 design to ascend beyond the first cataract here bake bread enough for 
 six weeks' consumption so;that they ma}' not exhaust their stock 
 before their return here on the way down. It is a large town as laid 
 down on the map. We have yet seen nothing of it as we must be 
 lying at one or other side and I have not yet been on deck. A wide 
 sand bank lies before ni}- cabin window which is evidently a thorough- 
 fare as many passengers are coming and going by it. Among others 
 several Turks in militar}- costume. The}- are white as ourselves and 
 wear a dress entirely different from that of the Eg3'ptians; tight fitting 
 laced vests and very large full lower garment of colored material 
 plaited at the waist and gathered in at the ankles. The}^ carry the 
 curved scimitar with which we alwa3-s associate the Saracen. On 
 going on deck we saw a large English Dahabeyah being rowed down. 
 They have accomplished their vo^-age and are homeward bound. 
 Their j^ards are struck and fastened lengthwise of the boat and with 
 cheery song the crew rise regularly' to their oars. We are quite dis- 
 appointed by being told that ' ' the five American gentlemen whom we 
 saw at Naples" went down in the night. I had designed entrusting 
 to them the many sheets of letters, which have accumulated and which I 
 now fear we must carr}- home with vis when thej^ will have lost their value 
 as the}' have not body enough to improve by age. The temperature 
 is low but wind light. We came to the bank lower down the stream 
 soon after sunset last evening. It was too dark for us to see what was 
 the character of the place but while we were at tea I recognized the 
 bark of jackalls and the howl of the h3'aena which sufiicientl}' proved 
 that was a desert place and soon after we found our boat afloat and 
 heard the unfurling of the sail which proved that our Reis was not 
 satisfied and we sailed and poled all night until we reached this place. 
 The costume of the people as they pass m3' window differs greatly 
 from that we have been used to in the last month. White robes take 
 the place of the blue which has been the universal color, and they are 
 worn more as shawls wrapped around the person. There are still 
 
 432
 
 many of the long shirt-like loose blue robes, also. Our reading last 
 evening confirmed the opinion I have already expressed that the dress 
 and dwellings and habits of the fellaheen are the same as they have 
 been from the earliest period ; the same as they are represented on the 
 walls of the most ancient tombs. An apron around the waist which 
 is never laid aside and constitutes the only garment of the hours of 
 toil. When not engaged in labor the long loose shirt and when 
 dressed a shawl thrown loosely around the shoulders and hanging down 
 the back where it terminates in a deep fringe sometimes of bright 
 color. When thej^ are walking or at anj' work which permits the 
 erect attitude they gird the loose robe around the waist with a sash or 
 girdle which is of silk, if the wearer can afford it, if not it maj' be 
 either a leather strap or piece of cord. The variety of birds on the 
 Nile is very great. We have left behind us the flocks of wild geese, 
 the pelicans and the storks and the vultures and parti-colored crows. 
 We still have the hawks, and the beautiful white Ibis flies in flocks or 
 sits on the shore pure as snow. I had scarcel}^ penned the above 
 sentence when we saw two men dragging between them an immense 
 vulture with white head alnicst like that of a bald eagle. It must 
 certainly measure eight feet from tip to tip. They carried it to each 
 boat in succession hoping to sell it. Beautiful plover skim the water 
 with their shrill ary and there are immense flocks of sparrows a little 
 larger but in other respects just the same as the English sparrow. We 
 also see many specimens of a fly catching bird of emerald green 
 plumage, and many king-fishers. 
 
 Jany. 12th. 
 We this morning visited the temple of Esne which is of a late 
 date ; that of the early Caesars ; Tiberius, Germanicus and Vespasian 
 having their names on the portico, and Trajan, Hadrian and Anto- 
 ninus within. Esne stands on the site of Latopolis and the temple 
 was dedicated to the worship of an electric fish called Latus. The 
 figure which is most frequently repeated, as the God receiving hom- 
 age, is a ram-headed figure to whom offerings are being made of every 
 variety by crowned figures representing kings. The entire surface of 
 the columns is covered either by sculptured figures or by hieroglyphic 
 inscriptions. From the midst of tmburnt brick houses j-ou climb 
 what appears to be a moderate hill and entering through a gate, which 
 appears to open on a mere court of a house, we found ourselves on a 
 level with the architrave of the portico. The capitals of the columns 
 were of enormous size and had the shape of the Lotus while the archi- 
 trave was covered with sculpti:re, much of it still retaining the blue 
 and red paint with which it had been originally covered. Descending 
 a few steps we found ourselves gazing into the cell of a temple about 
 100 feet square with winged globes and other emblematic figures 
 on the lintel over the door and repeated on the ceiling walls and 
 
 433 
 
 L
 
 pillars with constant repetition. On one part of the wall was deline- 
 ated the drawing of a net enclosing water fowl as well as fishes of 
 various kinds "good and bad," and on another a king is receiving 
 tribute from a figure who stands before him grasping in his left hand 
 some stalks of wheat which he is cutting with a sickle held in his 
 right. Figures of the ram-headed God Kneph, and others with croco- 
 dile heads, are frequent as also that of Amun Ra with the round globe 
 of the sun crowning his head. The rear wall is covered with figures 
 sunk in the stone and has in it a large door way now built up with 
 rough brick, evidently opening into some something beyond and 
 though the area of the temple has been entirely excavated below the 
 plinths of the columns to the floor there are openings in it which 
 convey the idea of something below, and at the one side is a sort of 
 closet of stone, with a winged globe over the door of entrance, and 
 many hieroglyphics on the walls both within and without. The 
 columns are massive and very perfect and in many parts the colors 
 still remain on the figures, which have none of the elegant grace of 
 Greek or even Roman statues, but are imposing despite the con- 
 ventional form in which they correspond with all Egyptian sculpture. 
 The visit here gives us a ke}' to the sculpture and figures on other 
 temples of greater size we shall visit hereafter. The figures of 
 Cleopatra do not give her beauty, nor do the}'^ represent her with 
 Grecian features as she is represented in the temple of Dendera. 
 The acts of worship of the gods by the kings and queens are very 
 easily understood and in one compartment of the ceiling is a funeral 
 procession with the boat of Charon, waiting to receive the newly 
 arrived spirit, and Cerberus guards the gates of Hades. On our way 
 to the temple we passed through the bazaar and market place and the 
 streets of the cit}'. Dancing girls tricked out in all their finery 
 displayed themselves to attract attention, and mosques stood open to 
 invite worshippers, and caravanserai to receive travellers. Coffee 
 shops displa5-ed their arrangements for refreshment, and cook shops 
 sent forth savourj' odors from the stew pans which steamed on the 
 counter. In front of the little closet-like shops Birmingham and 
 Sheffield ware offered its attractions, and Manchester blue cotton 
 shawls were receiving a crimson silk border at the end, among the 
 fringe, at the hands of native weavers. Camels and buffaloes and 
 cows and donkeys mingled with the crowd in the narrow streets, 
 which ran between blank walls enclosing the courts on which opened 
 the windows of the apartments. We saw but one Minaret but our 
 ears had welcomed the call of the muezzin during the night and we 
 suppose there are more. As we passed through the streets we met a 
 funeral procession with its crowd of wailing women and a large 
 number of men following. The corpse was wound in a white sheet 
 around which was folded a scarlet wrapping as it lay on the bier. 
 No coffin is used, indeed it would be impossible to find wood from 
 
 434
 
 which they could be made. We suppose the colored wrapping is not 
 interred with the bodj^ but used only as a pall. 
 
 13th. 
 
 Earl}' this morning the bread of the crew was brought on board 
 and the purchase of sheep, turkeys, chickens and vegetables being 
 made we prepared to sail. We had passed the mills grinding the flour 
 from which the bread for all the crews of the Dahabeyahs which had 
 arrived with us was to be made. None is kept on hand. The mills 
 were worked by horse power the stones being placed on the floor and 
 the meal is used just as it is ground. The bread is kneaded in troughs 
 just such as were used by the Ivgyptians and Jews alike in the da3's of 
 the Exodus. The Jews are said to preserve the form in the shape of 
 the ceilings of their synagogues in all parts of the world. We saw 
 many cattle on the shore tethered and being fed with the lettuce, which 
 grows abundantl}^ among the wheat and is weeded out for the purpose 
 of feeding the animals, who devoured it greedily. We saw in the 
 bazaar lettuce seeds being cleansed for sale. It is used to furnish oil 
 by pressure as flaxseed is also; to-day we have seen large fields of it 
 ready to seed. We have also passed large fields of Doura standing- 
 ripe and iingathered as though the labour was deficient. Cotton and 
 wheat and cane fields were lying on either side of the river. The strip 
 of fertile land is not wide but looked well. At one place the desert 
 and the mountain came direct!}' down to the shore and we were long 
 watching with our glasses the many men scattered over the side of the 
 hill and also marching in long lines along beaten paths across the 
 sand. When we came near enough we found each man in the procession 
 toward the bank carried something on his head which gave a peculiar 
 ringing metallic sound when it was thrown down on the heap which 
 was being raised on the shore near a vessel waiting for a cargo. We 
 find from Murray's Eg5'pt that somewhere in this vicinitj' a stone is 
 found containing subcarbonate of soda and we suppose it may be this. 
 As we passed one very extensive wheat field our attention was arrested 
 by a large company collected on the bank above it who maiched 
 through it with curious evolutions some of them extending their arms 
 in a cross like attitude. When they reached a certain point they all 
 gathered in a circle and were evidently busy in something of general 
 interest. 
 
 After standing grouped some ten or fifteen minutes they separated 
 and marched back toward the town leaving a bundle of Doura stalks 
 set on end at the point they were assembled at. They were all clad in 
 long loose blue robes with white turbans which is the dress of the 
 better classes. Birds of all sorts have been numerous to-day; geese, 
 vultures, ducks, cranes, herons, have succeeded each other in large 
 flocks and this morning as I walked on the shore the beautiful plover 
 were abundant and so tame that I might almost knock them over with 
 
 435
 
 a long stick. An extempore boat yard was near by but the move- 
 ments of the workmen were unheeded. The boat yard affords a good 
 illu.stration of the way in which everything is done here. A heap ot 
 acanthus brush encloses a square of about loo feet each way on the 
 sandy beach. In one corner some doura stalks, stood on end and 
 wattled together, form a dwelling. A pit saw and an adze are the only 
 implements. The timber, the irregular trunks and limbs of the 
 acanthus or mimosa tree. From this material and with these imple- 
 ments with no mould or frame or ways they are building a boat for 
 burden. The timbers are of all sizes and shapes and curves so that 
 before the sides are pitched the seams run as irregularly as the stripes 
 on the national banner as it floats in a breeze. Among other objects 
 of interest passed to-day was quite a grove of pomegranite shrubs 
 adjoining an extensive cotton field of large growths. We also met a 
 large Dahabeyah on its way down. Our progress southward is indi- 
 cated by the greater advance of vegetation. Lupins are quite large 
 and in full flower. But among the incongruous objects have been two 
 large deposits of bituminous coal from England lying on the bank, far 
 from any pumping engine or sugar works and designed we suppose 
 for steamboats to replenish their stocks as they pass up and down the 
 
 14th, Thermometer 54°. 
 
 The P3'lon of Edfoo towers above the houses of the modern town 
 sublime in the awful majesty of immense size, perfect proportion and 
 venerable antiquity. It is onlj' an affectation of Archaeological purism 
 which smiles at the age of the Ptolemies as modern; and assumes that 
 the remains of structures which were erected 300 to 500 years before 
 the Christian era are unworthy of notice because they were not ancient 
 in the days of Moses or contemporaneous with Abraham. We are 
 detained here bj' calm. If it were not the hallowed day of rest we should 
 avail ourselves of the opportunity to visit the temple which is hidden 
 from our view amid Egyptian hovels but is said to have been entirely 
 laid open under the direction of the Khedive and superintendence ot 
 M. Mariette. 
 
 But without seeing more than is now before us lying as we do on 
 the opposite side of the river there is enough to excite strong emotions 
 as one traces the course of human history back from the present up to 
 the dim obscurity in which it has its rise, taking as the standard of 
 measure the knowledge and worship of God. Now we have the Moslem, 
 sunk in ignorance of all human science and art ; ignorantly worshiping 
 one God of whose attributes he recognizes nothing but power and 
 knowledge, to which he renders homage by the mere formal repetition 
 of the assertion that " He is God and beside Him there is none else." 
 Mingled with these, of foreign race, once conquering but now like him- 
 self held in bondage by another conqueror, are the descendants of the 
 
 436
 
 ancient people who after having during tmtold ages worshipped a 
 multitude of Aeons, or attributes of power, under varied forms and with 
 various rites and ceremonies, to which they adhered with a pertinacity 
 which always attracted notice, rejecting the God of Israel as well as 
 the Gods of the other nations who added those of Egypt to their 
 already " gods many and lords many," though the Egyptians never 
 reciprocated the honour thus done to their deities. Through all these 
 changing forms of faith Egyptian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Christian 
 in purity debased, Christian superstition and Mohamedanism, the habits 
 and customs and costumes, the implements of labor and products of the 
 soil have varied little if at all. Kings have lived and governed, have 
 carried on conquests and resisted invasion, have yielded each in their 
 turn as prosperity brought weakness, leaving each the record of their 
 triumphs and successes graven on obelisks of granite and walls of tem- 
 ples, or represented in colossal figures. Priests have accompanied their 
 sovereigns or governed them and left the traces of their power sculp- 
 tured on the face of the same rock. Gods and Goddesses have under- 
 gone mutations and superseded each other in the esteem and veneration 
 of succeeding generations or have been rivals and competitors for 
 honor on adjacent territory-, but through all these fluctuations and 
 rising and falling dynasties and superstitions the common life, like the 
 ever flowing never exhausted, because ever replenished, stream of the 
 river, with its muddy deposit renewing each year the soil exhausted 
 by the crop of the past, has flowed unchangingly on. The culture is 
 the same, the implements are the same. The wheel of the Sakkia and 
 the reed and mud column and lever ot the shadoof, are unchanged. 
 (Is not this mud pillar the original type from which the colossal column 
 of the temple has been developed ?) The leeks and onions and radishes 
 and melons of to-day are the product of seeds in unbroken lineage 
 from those which were grown on the same soil when Abraham, though 
 rich in cattle and in gold, came down into Egypt to escape the famine 
 in the land of Canaan. The pottage of red lentils on which our crew 
 now support their strength is the same as that for which the grandson 
 of Abraham madly sold his birthright. The same lentils and beans 
 adorn the fields with their varied blossoms and beautiful foliage, and 
 these luxuriant waving fields of living green are the active develop- 
 ment of the vital germ whose continuity has never been broken since 
 the seed was given out from the granaries of Joseph, in which it had 
 been treasured during the years in which the Nile, failing to overflow, 
 the land gave no increase ; a portion of the same as that which filled 
 the sack of Benjamin covering the fatal "cup wherewith my Lord 
 divineth," which gave occasion to the utterance of that most pathetic 
 of all laments, the address of Judah to the governor of the land. The 
 sandy desert and the barren rocks still shut in the favoured valley 
 which was the nursery if not the birth place of our civilization, trans- 
 mitting it with letters through Phenicia to Greece, Rome and our 
 
 437
 
 western world. Where was its birth place ? Not in Assyria. That 
 copied after Egypt in later ages. It is not therefore likely that on its 
 plains was the cradle of iscience rocked. It must have had a still 
 more eastern and southern origin. The cattle here are Indian and so 
 are the buffaloes. These like the words which express common daily 
 wants and articles of necessity are radical and indicate connection. 
 Then the well known incident of the Sepoy army sent to the valley of 
 the Nile,about the first years of this centur}^ across the desert from the Red 
 Sea, performing pooja (prayer. — Eds.) in the first temples they saw here 
 struck with their resemblance to their own massive temples in the 
 peninsular of India beyond the Ganges, gives some confirmation to the 
 suggestion. Such themes for speculation rise up continually as one 
 object after another suggests them to the mind. As we sailed by 
 Edfoo we could readily trace on the Pylon the sculptured winged globe 
 and see, opening behind it, the massive columns which form the Pronaos 
 while colossal sculptures were to be recognized covering the walls. It 
 is said to be one of the most perfect remains in the valley of the Nile. 
 It has been recently perfectly excavated and gives the best idea of an 
 Egyptian temple being ' ' covered with hieroglyphics, sculpture and 
 painting." It was founded in the time of the early Pharoahs but the 
 Ptolemies contributed to its enlargement or completion. The latest 
 portions are therefore not less than twenty-five centuries old and yet 
 retain the colour then applied. As we looked back at it we could see a 
 party of English Christians standing on the summits of the Pylon. 
 
 Jan. 15th. 
 The wind yesterday was light and our progress was small but full 
 of interest. The valley of the Nile contracts as we advance and the 
 desert becomes if possible more deserted looking. Often times it 
 leaves so small a margin of alluvial deposit as to remind us of the side 
 walks of one of our cities. Yet even this is planted with beans, lupins 
 or wheat and watered by hand from skins. Wherever it is wider, 
 sakkias or shadoofs are found ever3^ hundred feet or so. The creaking 
 of the wheels of the sakkia is sometimes so like the sound of bells 
 that your mother once asked if it could possibly be so. The distances 
 here are very deceptive. Sportsmen say that when elsewhere they 
 would take their range for 100 yards they must here calculate for at 
 least 150. We must make the same allowance for the distances of 
 larger objects. As we yesterday passed one of the wider levels covered 
 with a most luxuriant growth of wheat our attention was caught by 
 the soutid of tom-toms and singing which proceeded from a crowd on 
 the shore standing around a red flag. On making inquiry on board 
 the boat on which I was we were told it was a wedding part}' awaiting 
 the arrival of the bride or groom who was coming from the opposite 
 shore, on which we saw two boats and a similar crowd .Our dragoman 
 informed 3'our mother it was a party of Hadji starting on pilgrimage 
 
 438
 
 to Mecca. It is one of the peculiarities of these people that they 
 always have an answer. Omar, the dragoman of Mr. Betts' boat, was 
 the favourite servant of Lady DuflF Gordon who spent so many years at 
 Luxor and one would therefore suppose less likely to retain the habit 
 of disregarding truth. It was he who said it was a wedding. Lord 
 Pembroke's boat is called the " Arawa." Omar was asked what that 
 meant. He stammered and hesitated as though seeking a word by 
 which to render it in English and then said ' ' It means something very 
 pleasant." Lord P. was on our boat in the evening and told us it is a 
 Maori word and the name of the Canoe in which the first Maori 
 arrived in New Zealand. Omar supposed it must be Arabic and that 
 he must give a meaning. 
 
 I am still strongly impressed by the sedulous use of every inch 
 of ground as the river subsides. Sometimes we see no less than three 
 successive stages of the same crop ; that on the upper bank approach- 
 ing maturity while on the edge of the water it is only just sprouting. 
 This morning we have seen a great variety of leguminous plants, some 
 climbing and with great variety of colored blossom. Even at this re- 
 mote portion of the empire we see telegraph poles and wires stretching 
 across sandy wastes and through green wheat fields. Soon after dinner 
 to-day we saw quite an interesting scene. Our attention was arrested 
 by a crowd of boj'S and men running across the sand toward our 
 Dahabe3'ali which soon stood in to the shore and brailed up its sail 
 running quite close to a sand bank. On enquiring w'hat it all meant 
 we found it was the home of our second Reis or steersman and these 
 were his family and friends running down to meet him. As he passed 
 me he made the usual sign of respect by touching first his forehead 
 and then his heart. I gave him my hand to shake. He is to join us 
 to-morrow at Assouan. We should miss him exceedingly as he is an 
 intelligent fine looking man. There was a large plantation of pumpkins 
 near the shore growing most luxuriantly and very full of flower. But 
 the sand was drifting over them, and threatening to bury them. The 
 whole country looks as though it were covered with dirtj^ snow and 
 my paper feels grity under my fingers as they pass over it in writing. 
 Twenty-two miles above Edfoo we reach a point at which the river 
 passes through a range of sandstone and is only about looo feet wide. 
 I was sitting in my cabin writing and suddenly on raising my ej'es 
 to fill my pen I discovered the old quarries from which the sandstone 
 for all the temples at Thebes, and between this point and that, have been 
 taken. It is evident that they marked out the size of the block they 
 wished to separate and cut a narrow groove all around and beneath it. 
 On the face of the rock toward the river were many openings like those 
 of the tombs at Beni Hassan and looking into them with the aid of 
 the glass we could see in each a rudely cut sitting figure. There were 
 hieroglyphics and larger sculptures on tablets on the face of the rock 
 and one temple was hewed in the rock having a number of columns 
 
 439
 
 and enters into a long corridor, the walls of wliicli as well as the 
 stone outside are covered with hieroglyphics and sculpture. We 
 passed so near that we could see them with the unaided eye, and with 
 the glass very plainly. It is more than 3000 years old. It represents 
 a scene of conquest over the Ethiopians. The presiding deity was the 
 crocodile-headed god, and the god Nilus also received special honour. 
 This was probably due to the entire dependence of this district on the 
 inundations of the river, as great as that of the lowlands, while these 
 owed their fertilit}^ and power to reward the toil of the cultivator to 
 the water. So the riches of vSilsilis lay in its stone quarries and it 
 was only by the rise in the river they could float their stone down to 
 the lower regions of Thebes and Edfoo and Esne. The blocks cut out 
 in the manner I have mentioned, they were floated down on rafts. 
 Wilkinson, however, says the larger masses were not taken down by 
 water and refers to the History of Herodotvis who says they were 
 transported by land and asserts that in the reign of Amasis, 500 years 
 B. C, 2000 men were occupied three j-ears in transporting one block 
 from Assouan to Sais. (While I am writing we are passing through 
 sad encroachments of yellow sand, which is drifted like snow banks 
 from the gorges in the hills, covering the cultivated fields till nothing 
 is seen but the top of the lupin or a tuft of wheat rising here and 
 there above the ^-ellow surface. To us it looks appalling, to the poor 
 owner and cultivator it must be the cause of litter despair. It can 
 never melt and will not blow away in time to save this j-ear's crop 
 whatever may be the result for another.) 
 
 One of the grottos at Silsilis had a beautiful carved cornice 
 richly coloured. These colours are laid on with water and as the sand- 
 stone would absorb them, and they would be lost, the part designed to 
 receive colour was first coated lightly with plaster. The chief colours 
 are red. yellow and blue; the first Ochre and the last a salt of copper. 
 It is supposed by geologists that there was formerh^ a cataract at 
 Silsilis. About sixteen miles further south as I was sitting writing, 
 your uncle Wistar called to me we were passing ruins and looking up 
 I saw as near me as the custom house to the carriage way on Chestnut 
 Street a magnificent temple much shattered, it is true, and likely soon 
 to be further undermined by the river and totall}- overturned. It is 
 the temple of Kom-Ombos. It is of the Ptolemaic period but its 
 massive columns and architraves and beautiful sculptures were mo.st 
 attractive as we passed. A gang of Arabs were busily occupied in 
 clearing out the sand. We shall I suppose, stop and explore a month 
 hence. We are now in the part of the river which formerly abounded 
 in crocodiles which basked in the sun on the sand banks which abound 
 in this first spread of its bosom after passing the cataract. The weather 
 is cold and the skj- overcast and there is therefore no inducement 
 for the scalj' monster to show his repulsive form. Our dragoman 
 announced this morning that he saw one. But this is one of the 
 
 440
 
 duties of office and they do not acquit themselves properly if they 
 cannot show one, or at least see one. They are very prompt in settling 
 down in the water on the least alarm and do not rise in a long while. 
 Dr. K described to me his having stolen near two lying across each 
 other and lying on the sand studying the habits of the creature he 
 was disgusted by hearing an Arab cry " Temsah,'"' from the opposite 
 bank and they were both gone before either he or the Duke of New- 
 castle could fire. 
 
 Assouan. Syene, January i6, 1S72. 
 Granite quarries ; the boundary line between upper Egypt and 
 Ethiopia; The southern limit of the Roman Empire! Here are we 
 looking out on the savage rocks which rise in the bed of the river and 
 which made the heart of the exile sink within him and become like 
 stone as he looked at their wildness. What great armies have marched 
 through this narrow valley ! Through this very spot passed Tirhakah 
 king of Ethiopia leading his forces against the king of Assyria when 
 he became the unconscious sword in the hand of the Almighty for the 
 deliverance of Hezekiah from the violence of Rabshakeh. Here too 
 the mad Cambj-ses rushed up toward ]\Ieroe with his forces ; destined 
 to return after most of them had perished in Nubia, and those who 
 survived had been reduced to the fearful extremity of decimation that 
 nine might live of the bod}^ of their tenth comrade, and to learn that 
 the division he had sent through the desert had perished to a man. 
 From these granite hills the great conquerors cut out the obelisks to 
 which they entrusted the story of their victories and conquests and 
 which now at the end of forty centuries stand to excite our wonder, to 
 point a moral for the story of human greatness, and to excite our 
 astonishment at the mind that could design and the power that could 
 accomplish such wonders. We coi;ld not hew such blocks from their 
 eternal beds nor grave upon them the story of the present. What 
 must have been their proud conception of future time that it was 
 necessary to select such material to endure ' ' for ages to come. ' ' The 
 Roman emperors when they cast down and destroyed the temples and 
 palaces of their predecessors to erect their own on the ruins, must 
 have thought only of contemporary grandeur and display. These old 
 Egyptians looked to future ages and transmitted to them the record 
 of their acts, the story of how they poured themselves out of this 
 narrow valley, shut in by pathless oceans and pathless deserts, and 
 brought into subjection the fertile plains of S)'ria and Assyria and 
 Persia, and extended their conquests even to Scythia. Rameses with 
 his statues so well proportioned and 3'-et so colossal (sixty feet high) is 
 as familiar to our ears and as well recognized by our sight as the 
 names and figures of Alexander and Cpesar or Napoleon, though three 
 thousand revolutions of the earth around that sun which he worshipped 
 have seen one hundred generations perform their destined functions 
 
 441
 
 on its surface, and disappear. It was through this valley he led his 
 forces to the conquest of Ethiopia, the accomplishment of which he 
 signalized and transmitted the record of to this remote age by the 
 colossal figures at the temple of Aboo Simbel and the sculptures on 
 the temple at Dendoor in the regions beyond, as well asb}' those at his 
 own capital city of Thebes, on the walls of the temple of Karnac. 
 
 17th. 
 
 A stream of gold flows beside us reflecting from its burnished 
 surface the graceful Dahabeyahs and the green crowns of the palm 
 groves, and lighting up the savage grandeur of the desert mountains 
 beyond, while from its midst rises a mass of granite rock washed and 
 worn by the perpetual rushing of the ancient river. Yesterday 
 Dr. Kingsle}^ kindly called for me in their felucca with a good crew 
 and rowed me up to the middle ' ' gate ' ' of the Cataract. We passed 
 between great masses of granite rock rising abruptl}' from the water's 
 edge, worn into rounded forms of every variety of size, from immense 
 masses down to a foot in diameter. Some lying like boulders on the 
 cliffs, but more still attached to the cliff's at the shore or rising 
 abruptly from the bed of the river. Those still "in situ" were 
 covered with hieroglj'phics quite down to the water's edge. They 
 must be covered by the stream at high water. Two tliousand years at 
 least have they been thus exposed to the vicissitudes of sun and 
 water. Yet they are as plainly legible as though cut by the present 
 generation. The top of the cliffs one hundred feet above them are 
 covered with projecting rounded masses of granite evidently water 
 worn. From a distance the}^ present a close resemblance to a Maho- 
 medan cemetery. They are truly the monumental tombs of ages. 
 Black and polished they stand as they have stood, one can shudder to 
 think how long. Were it not for these works of man to which we 
 can affix a date so ancient that even that is lost in obscurity one 
 would shrink from the estimate of the age of the rocks which thus 
 forces itself upon us. This is not, however, the only ground on 
 which one is forced to admit it. 
 
 There are Islands of rocks standing out of the river which have 
 precisely the appearance of the pieces of stone taken from the break- 
 waters on the coast of England, looking like honey comb. Only these 
 are bored bj- augers so gigantic that the holes are feet, sometimes yards 
 in diameter. These perforations are almost all in lines perpendicular 
 to the level of the river and are some of them yards in depth. Some 
 are still perfect cylinders ; from some the side next the stream has 
 been washed out. The rocks resemble great masses of timber from a 
 ship's bottom, perforated in all directions by the Teredo iiavalis. These 
 rocks are all granite but so polished by the attrition of the sand in the 
 water that they all look as though an army had devoted their toil with 
 
 442
 
 stove black and brushes to giving them the highest lustre of stoves for 
 sale in our warehouses. How long has it required to give this polish ? 
 There are still to be seen the rows of holes cut in the face of the cliflF 
 into which wedges of dry wood were driven and then swollen by water 
 in order to split off the selected portions ; in some places the fragment 
 has been removed and there the color of the stone is natural ; now 
 these works are not later than the Roman period. During these 1500 
 years it has still retained its fi'eshness. How long then must the 
 rounded pebble have rolled around the cavit}' in the rock to wear the 
 holes some twent}' or thirt}^ feet in perpendicular depth ? It makes 
 me shudder to think of the ages that have passed, and settles the ques- 
 tion in ni}' mind as to the generally received chronology of the sacred 
 scriptures. " In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth." 
 This is a grand, a solemn, an incontrovertible truth. The wit of man 
 may assert his vaunted wisdom, bi:t it is unassailable. But who has 
 fixed the era of "the beginning" and claimed for the dogma the 
 authority of inspiration ? This is human interpretation made at a 
 period when human knowledge was limited and human science imper- 
 fect and we do sad injustice to the truth when we allow the dicta of 
 superstition and ignorance to challenge our obedience as though it 
 were divine authority. 
 
 Assouan, January 16. 
 That God made the earth and created man in His own image to 
 dwell upon it I know assuredly; that man has lost this image and 
 fallen is as sure. That God hath sent His Son into the world to 
 redeem the world and that there is ' ' none other Name under Heaven 
 given among men " by which we may be saved is a blessed truth on 
 which hangs suspended all my hope for the future and all my comfort 
 for the present life. But the age of the world is no more connected 
 with these blessed truths than with the dogma of the monks that the 
 sun moved round the earth, and it is as unwise now to assert it does as 
 it was eight centuries ago to chain the living truth to the deady body 
 of an exploded theory. These lofty blackened cliffs are crowned with 
 projecting water worn points at least sixty feet above the present level 
 of the Nile and careful explorers tells us they find alluvial deposits at 
 that elevation. When did the stream flow there ? Not in the days of 
 Osirtasen 2000 years before the Christian era, nor in that of Rameses 
 700 years later, nor in that of Camb3'ses nearly a thousand years later 
 still, nor in that of the Ptolemies 500 years before our era. These have 
 all left their names inscribed on the rocks at the present level. Their 
 temples have fallen into ruin, their statues are overthrown or defaced, 
 succeeding conquerors have done their best, and not without some 
 success, to obliterate the traces of the greatness of their precursors, but 
 these remain unchanged. Time appears to have no power over them. 
 As we rowed along the river it was interesting to see perpendicular 
 
 443
 
 fissures running from top to bottom of the granite cliff, filled up by a 
 rock of different composition. One sucli runs entirely across the stream 
 like a wall some eight or ten feet high above the water and four or five 
 in thickness. Near the centre of the stream there is a vacant space 
 through which the water rushes forming one of the gates of the 
 cataract. We landed on a sandbank collected below one of the rocky 
 islands, with the water rushing on either side and climbed to the top 
 of the rocks. It was a wild scene of rushing water. Calm it is true 
 when contrasted with the rapids of the St. Lawrence whether above or 
 below the falls. The amount of water is trifling compared with the 
 incalculable volume which our inland seas pour through that river to 
 the ocean and the fall is much less per mile than that of the tamest 
 part of those rushing floods. But with the wild hills, the boundless 
 wastes of shifting yellow sand heaped up into drifts like the snow in 
 mountain passes, the projecting masses of black and polished and 
 perforated stones, it is savage enough to fill the least susceptible imag- 
 ination with awe. A Nubian family lives on the island and soon made 
 us aware of their claim to possession, following our steps most pertin- 
 aceously. One only wrapped his clothing round his head and com- 
 mitted himself to a log to be carried across to the mainland. As the 
 river subsides the}' plant some leguminge, vetches lupins and beans, on 
 the deposit and thus maintain themselves. A few Sont or acacia trees 
 (the shittim wood of the Bible) grew in the clefts of the rock, covered 
 entirely by a gossamer veil of caterpillars' web; and here and there a 
 bush of the Asclepias Gigas, the apple of Sodom, thrust out its long 
 stem covered with large ovate opposite leaves, weeping large tears oi 
 acrid milky juice when broken, and having a few of the dry pods like 
 large apples hanging to them. The people were not so dark as the 
 real Nubians and had straight hair and well formed features so that 
 though their language was Nubian the}' miist be Arab. So soon as 
 we had finished our exploration and turned to leave they demanded 
 money as "keepers of the cataract." A small sum satisfied them 
 and we left on our return to our dahabeyah. It was a wild rush through 
 the gate, but we enjoyed the delight of the Arab crew ; indeed during 
 the entire afternoon they were full of song and laughter. The Earl 
 of Pembroke was floating about in his little skiff in which he rows 
 himself many hours every day, and he frequently challenged our men 
 to trials of speed which they enjoyed amazingly. He always distanced 
 them with ease. Though his frame is very slight, his legs slender 
 and delicate, his height six feet six, I never saw such muscles as those 
 his arm and forearm display as, with sleeves rolled up, he sits and 
 pulls his sculls as though they were feathers, and as he came running 
 to us on the island, his face beaming with good nature while the sweat 
 rolled in torrents down his face, I could not withhold my admiration 
 of his manly beauty. He is here for the purpose of forming a third 
 collection of the skins of rare birds, having alread}- lost two. One ver}' 
 
 444
 
 w 
 
 large one when shipwrecked near the Fiji Islands, the work of years 
 of adventuroiis voyaging. The other he had sent consigned to some 
 Taxidermist to be set up, and on reaching home found the man had 
 become bankrupt and the Earl's collection had been seized and sold, 
 so that it was irrecoverably lost. Yet here he is at only twenty-one 
 with the pertinacity of a most determined character looking after a 
 third. Should his life be spared his rank will open to him a career in 
 the service of the state for which his moral character and the training 
 he is acquiring 
 
 (N. B. — Nothing missitig here. He was evidently interrupted here 
 to start for Philtc. — Eds.) 
 
 19th Jany. Evening. 
 I have just returned from a visit to Philse in company with 
 Mrs. Roosevelt, who was a Miss West, (daughter of the gentleman who 
 formerly occupied the pew directly in front of us in the church of the 
 Epiphau}' in Dr. Tyng's da3's), and Miss Lewis her cousin, sister of 
 Dr. Erank Lewis. It has been a nice day but I am too wearied to 
 think, much less write. They are kind enough to carry these letters 
 to Cairo. INIy poor patient Mr. Betts lies unconscious. He may linger 
 so some time but must die and be left here. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 I have not time to read over these hastily written and disconnected 
 sheets which I send to you all as the passing pictures of my thoughts. 
 You must pardon their imperfections in other respects, and not be dis- 
 heartened b}^ the difficulty of deciphering the manuscript. I left my 
 pen carelessly one day lying on my writing desk and when I next 
 wished it I found it (as I feared) irremediably ruined. I have 
 endeavored to repair it and can manage to make marks with it. I am 
 sorry to be obliged to confess to a scarcely legible hand at the best. 
 But these sheets are worse than ever. I have distributed the letter in 
 three parcels one directed to each of j'ou, which will enable you to 
 read them simultaneously, as so far as I can remember they are discon- 
 nected and I fear there are many repetitions. You must make 
 allowances also for their being first impressions which may be modified 
 by further investigation. 
 
 Assouan, January 18, 1872. 
 My Dear Childre7i : 
 
 I find your uncle has decided to trust to the Arab mail and there- 
 fore avail myself of the same opportunity hoping my letter may reach 
 3'ou perhaps even sooner than one written a few da3-s since and entrusted 
 to an English party descending the river. This is in the extreme 
 southern point of our journey. We had designed to ascend the first 
 
 445
 
 cataract and the contract for the Dahabeyah stipulated that in case this 
 one was too large to be carried iip, the owner would provide at his ex- 
 pense two smaller to take us as far as Aboo Simbel and bring us back 
 to this, which would await us here. Wistar rode up to inspect them 
 yesterday, and agreed with the ladies of another party who made the 
 same inspection that they were not suitable, so that we shall forego the 
 pleasure of a Nubian voyage and the sight of the rock hewn temple, 
 with its colossal figures hewn out of the solid rock, by which the great 
 conqueror Rameses marked his possession of Ethiopia some 3000 
 years ago. These figures are four in number, hewn out of grit stone 
 rock, each more than sixtj^ feet in height, and w^ell proportioned, sup- 
 posed to be the portrait of the features of Rameses. The ear is more 
 than three feet high ; the arm from the inside of the elbow to the end 
 of the forefinger five j'^ards. It would have given us great pleasure to 
 accomplish our original purpose ; but that pleasure would be dearly 
 bought at the price of fot:l boats, transmitting their foulness to this on 
 our return. We shall therefore descend the river leisurely as your 
 uncle has engaged the boat till the first of March, and contracted with 
 the dragoman to furnish our board till that time. That is moreover 
 the earliest period at which it is safe to leave for S5Tia, if we are not 
 compelled to abandon that also, which we cannot decide iintil we get 
 back to Cairo and can learn something about Cholera and quarantine. 
 This is the ancient Sj'ene, the limit of upper Egypt and of the power of 
 Thebes. Camb\\ses brought his army here and sent one division to 
 conquer the inhabitants of the oasis in the Lybian desert, and at- 
 tempted the conquest of Ethiopia with the other. This latter soon 
 returned to this place after having been reduced to such straights by 
 starvation that they decimated the army, each tenth man being 
 devoured by his nine companions. The other division was never 
 heard of ; perished to a man in the desert. This was also the extreme 
 southern limit of the Roman Empire and amid its wild scenes Juvenal 
 the satirist died in exile, holding some office it is true but not the less 
 an involuntary- dweller here. I am not familiar with his works but if 
 he had any conception of the wild in nature and the grand in art he 
 might have found much to compensate him for the loss of the society 
 of even Rome in its glor>'. The grand ever-flowing river, the savage 
 granite rocks, which are still piled up in the midst of its rushing tor- 
 rent, covered with unobliterated hierogl3'phics which even in his day 
 were centuries old ; the massive temples which then covered the island 
 of Elephantine, which here divides the stream, and which now lie 
 great sharpless mounds of rubbish with here and there a broken arch 
 to shew how massive and grand they once were ; the narrow strip of 
 cultivated soil, just dividing the river from the desert, fringed with 
 noble groves of towering palms ; the rock obstructed stream just 
 above where walls of granite tower on either side of the rapids which 
 cover the immense blocks of granite in the bed of the river ; the un- 
 
 446 
 
 I
 
 r 
 
 known arid wastes beyond, across which caravans of camels brought 
 the products of India and Ab3'ssinia to be shipped at this point down 
 to Alexandria and thence to Rome. The crocodiles, the hippopatmus, 
 the cameleopard, which were collected here to supply the shows of 
 Imperial Rome, must all have furnished subjects of curious observa- 
 tion; while the mysteries of the ancient history and still more ancient 
 religious rites of the people would have supplied ample occupation for 
 the most active mind. But you will take a livelier interest in the 
 description of its present condition. This is the point where the 
 granite rock first makes its appearance and at which the obelisks and 
 granite statues of the Gods were worked from the quarries and trans- 
 ported to the lower country. All the granite obelisks which, after 
 having received the hieroglyphic record of the deeds of the heroes, 
 stood for ages in the temples of the Gods of Eg3'pt and M'ere then 
 transported by Romans to Rome and Constantinople and more recently 
 b}' the French to Paris as tokens of their conquest, were cut from these 
 hills and there still lies in one of the quarries an unfinished block 
 which no modern skill could have separated from its bed and which 
 even with the aid of steam, modern power is not capable of transport- 
 ing to the sea. I have not 3'et been able to see much being detained 
 about the boat b}' the illness of an English traveller. The others have 
 gone to Philae to-da}-, except j^our aunt Hannah, who did not feel 
 equal to the exertion, and your mother who certainly could not enjoy 
 a ride of three hours on donkeys. I have been rowed up the river to 
 near the cataract (a misapplication of terms) and have seen the masses 
 of granite on the shore and in the stream, worn by the stream and pol- 
 ished to a degree which no human skill could accomplish merely by 
 the attrition of sand held suspended in the water, which has been rush- 
 ing by since the creation of the world. The hierogh^phics, the latest 
 of which were carved in these rocks 2000 years ago are still unobliter- 
 ated. The lines of holes cut into the face of the cliff to receive the 
 wedges of dry wood which were driven in forcibly and then wet with 
 water that they might break ofi" the blocks in the size and shape 
 required, have still the square edge given by the tool of. the workman. 
 The face from which the block has been removed still has its granular 
 surface and fresh color. What time has been reqiiired to give polish 
 and blackness to the rock ! 
 
 This is not all, in the river are masses, rising high above the 
 present level, which look like pieces of wood perforated by the teredo. 
 They have been worn into deep holes from one to ten feet in diameter 
 and sinking twenty or thirty feet into the rock perpendicularl}^, the 
 surface of the interior polished like the outer surface of the rock. 
 This has been done by the attrition of stones which settling into 
 little fissures have been turned by the water until they have bored 
 these holes. How many ages have been required ? One's mind quails 
 before the consideration. Wherever we turn we see these hieroglj'- 
 
 447
 
 phics on the rocks. Broken Roman arches, partly brick and partly 
 stone, shew where their quays and moles were built. Saracenic arches, 
 tumbling into ruin, mark the possession by the Arab conquerors of 
 this countr}" in the seventh centurj-. Nubian hovels of mud and 
 i:nburned brick and a few houses, of larger size but the same material, 
 occupied by the Governor and oificers of the Pasha, are now the repre- 
 sentatives of the grand and solid buildings of ancient da3'S. While I 
 v.'rite this word I am startled by the sound of the whistle of a steam- 
 boat which is just coming up stream, the representative of modern 
 power amid these relics of fallen grandeur of four thousand j^ears. 
 Unhappily it is the representative of modern want of principle. The 
 shores of the Nile are strewn with worthless machinery for which the 
 Khedive, has paid immense sums, wrung from the poor cultivators of 
 the soil, to enrich the scheming machinists of Europe and America 
 who have made great fortunes out of them and they are left to rust 
 and rot. I do not send you my journal letters as I fear they might 
 miscarr3' and I wish to have them for future reference if it pleases our 
 Heavenly Father to restore us to 3^ou. Into His hands your mother 
 and I desire to commend j-ou and ourselves, with much love to each 
 as though individually named. 
 
 Yours affectionate father, 
 
 Caspar Morris. 
 
 Jany. 17th. 
 The impossibility of carrying this Dahabeyah above the cataract 
 and the necessity for occupying the ninety daj^s of the contract before 
 reaching Cairo on our return, induced brother Wistar to decide on 
 going above the cataract to examine the character and condition of 
 the boats which can be had there to ascend the river. While I was 
 absent yesterday he had a visit from the governor attended by "the 
 American Consul " and it was arranged that he should breakfast with 
 us and go with us in the morning to see about the boats. We waited 
 half an hour bej'ond the time appointed and then took our seats. When 
 we were nearly through our meal he entered, a very dignified looking 
 gentleman making his salaam to us and announcing through the 
 dragoman that he had already breakfasted. He took his place at table 
 and chose a cup of tea. I found from the dragoman he was a Copt. 
 He has a very fine face expressive of great gentleness and some intelli- 
 gence. He took some toast and sweetmeats after which I sat down 
 by him and by pantomime, pointing to little Mary and then to himself, 
 learned he has five children. Advancing further by holding up my 
 four fingers and pointing to her I designated three as sons and one 
 daughter which he evidently understood and was much pleased. I then 
 advanced further and made him understand that I had two in heaven. 
 
 448
 
 He then showed me he had one there also, I then made the sign of the 
 cross and looking up and la3-ing it on my heart endeavored to express 
 by mj' countenance the comfort I derived from the hope that gave me. 
 I cannot be sure that he comprehended, but believe he did. When we 
 were all through our meal Wistar read the scriptures as usual while 
 we all sat reverently. After which I took the Bible in my hand and 
 making the sign of speech with my mouth while I pointed to Heaven 
 with one hand and laid the other on my heart endeavouring thus to 
 express my reverence for the book we had read as coming from God. 
 He then rose and left with brother Wistar. I learned from him that 
 there are here about loo Copts with one priest and that they keep the 
 Lord's day. I shall make an effort to visit him and learn more about 
 them. To my inquiry about their occupation he said they were 
 writers or clerks but had land elsewhere on the produce of which they 
 are maintained. If I can get an interpreter I will go to their church 
 and see their priest. 
 
 1 8th. 
 I had scarcely signed ni}- name to my letter, which was designed 
 to be iorwarded bj- the Governor, when ]\Ir. Roosevelt of New York 
 was announced. He had come up by the steamer whose whistle had 
 furnished the theme of the last sentence with his mother and children 
 and Miss Lewis of Philadelphia, sister of Dr. Frank Lewis and inti- 
 mate friend of the Dunlaps. What wondrous chances occur in the 
 course of our lives. Mrs. Roosevelt's father owned and occupied the 
 pew in the church of the Epiphany immediately in front of ours and 
 the two families thus worshipped together for years. The father of 
 Miss Lewis was a fellow voyager of your mother and m3^self on our 
 visit to England in 1836, and here now we drift in together on the 
 Nile amid these ancient ruins, the representatives of America. We 
 fly our flag on our own boat. They are on board a steamboat belong- 
 ing to the Khedive and float theirs surreptitiously. They report an 
 incident on board Mr. INIorgan's steamer which is unpleasant. He 
 wished to fly the American flag but the captain said the boat belong-ed 
 to the Knedive and it could not be done. That the Khedive was 
 already jealous of the audacity of foreigners. Notwithstanding' this 
 Mr. M. raivSed it on a short staff amidships. The Captain hauled it 
 down for which Mr. M. knocked him down. The Roosevelt party had 
 a small American flag fl3dng at the bow of the boat when they met 
 Mr. Morgan on his way down. He immediately had his raised there 
 also. The Captain assured him he should lose his position and I sup- 
 pose there is reason to fear he may. The Khedive is accustomed to 
 order and be obeyed. It is said that sometime since as he came itp 
 the river he saw a steam boat aground and had the Captain bastinadoed 
 on the spot. A motl}' group is seated on the shore before our win- 
 dows. Nubians most intensel}- black mingled with light colored Arabs, 
 
 449
 
 some with little more costume than nature bestows, some with white 
 shawls rolled in folds around the red tarboosh or skull cap, some 
 with black robes and some with blue, hanging loosely from their shoul- 
 ders to their feet, some with dirty white robes of the same kind. 
 One has on his head -an immense expanse like an umbrella made of 
 grass like a basket, some have chickens for sale, some turkeys, some 
 black sheep looking fierce and wild as though they were beasts of prey, 
 some eggs, some Ostrich eggshells plain and ornamented. Some 
 girdles of leather cut in thongs like our leather fly drivers, ornamented 
 with shells strung on the thongs, some with clubs of ebony, some 
 with Nubian spears, some with boxes and baskets of coarse and heavj' 
 straw work, some with ostrich feathers, some with ankle and arm 
 ornaments of rough workmanship. Nothing worth buying in the 
 whole display, even at reasonable prices ; but all held at £ and shill- 
 ings of such amount as would soon strip us of all we brought up. 
 Each day there are fresh arrivals and the same process is repeated for 
 every boat. It is amusing and at the same time perplexing. Your 
 mother is just now bargaining with a party of four of them for some 
 feathers. They ask large prices and gradually come down little by 
 little. One hates to offer them the trifling sums to which they will 
 come down when they find you will not take them at the prices offered. 
 They have learned to count and the word " good, good " which they 
 repeat unceasingly. The dragomen who come here annually make a 
 large profit by carrying these feathers to Europe with them and selling 
 them at large prices. Your mother has just returned to the cabin 
 utterly exhausted by her unavailing efforts to procure such as please 
 her at reasonable cost. I find I cannot aid her but rather add to her 
 confusion by any attempt to do so and therefore keep out of the way. 
 The weather is warm to-day for the first time since we came on the 
 Nile. It's noon and the Thermometer is in the saloon 72°F. Yesterda}' 
 was very cold, and this morning I sat with my overcoat on and all the 
 windows and doors closed. This is no place to which to send an invalid. 
 The vicissitudes of temperature are too great, and elegant as is our 
 Dahabeyah and good as is the cooking, the privations of sickness are 
 very great. The noise inseparable from the working of the boat is 
 very great, and there is no mode of warming the cabins or staterooms 
 or of excliiding draughts of cold air. I have determined to avail 
 myself of INIr. Roosevelt's kindness and send my accumulated journal 
 to Cairo to be mailed there. 
 
 Your loving father, Caspar Morris. 
 
 January 19th. 
 My Dear Childreti : 
 
 Having just closed up one series of my Journal on the Nile to be 
 dispatched to you by the Roosevelts, and about to commence another, 
 I cannot avoid a repetition of the old expression of admiration of the 
 
 450
 
 morning light on these savage hills and deserts and skirt of palm. It 
 is like the tender mercy from on high visiting the lost world, and the 
 river of life flowing through its desolation and causing grass to grow for 
 the service of man and corn and fruits to gladden his heart. The 
 beauty of the starry heavens was inexpressible as I kept the night 
 watches, and the moonlight was as clear and strong as when in our 
 winter it is reflected from the snow clad surface of the earth. The 
 southern cross rises above the horizon on the south and is visible about 
 4 A. M. to those who are abroad. As my window does not look out in 
 that direction I must be content with the memorj^ of its beauty. 
 Dr. Kingsle\- amused me by his expression of ' ' wonder if when Aus- 
 tralia becomes the centre of a widespread civilization the Savants there 
 will claim that the needle points to the South." Yesterday the Mar- 
 quis of Bath challenged me to a walk and we sauntered through the 
 village as far as the granite quarries where lies the unfinished obelisk, 
 and where, buried in the debris of the old town, the portal of a temple 
 is half itncovered. We slid down the slope and entered the small por- 
 tion which has been excavated. The sculptures and hieroglyphics 
 were poor originally and have been sadly hacked and mutilated, it is 
 supposed by the early Christians. The Marquis expressed warmly 
 his admiration for the Copts as their descendants, retaining still their 
 profession of faith in Christ, notwithstanding the ferocious persecution 
 to which they were subject from the IMahomedans; and imperfect as is 
 their knowledge I cannot but have feeling akin to veneration for them. 
 There is a large Mahomedan Cemetery close b}^ in which yesterday 
 there was the burial of the body I saw brought down to the shore on 
 the island of Elephantine with such loud and long lamentations. This 
 was still continued at the grave as our party rode past on their way to 
 Philse and there was also much gesticulation (which they thought was 
 dancing) tomtoms were beaten also. In the cemeter}' is one tomb at 
 which the passer whoever he may be casts a stone. Whose body lies 
 there ? The ignorant people say the devil, but in all probabilitj^ it may 
 be that of some witness for Jesus who of old counted not his life dear 
 to himself and sealed his testimony with his blood. The heap does 
 not increase, as pressent superstition is content with lifting the stones 
 of former generations as they lie, and casting them down again. 
 
 Januar}' 20th. 
 The duties I owe to the sick Englishman are incongruous with the 
 pursuit of pleasure and information from looking at the ruins of past 
 ages here. Yesterday I went on board the steamer to ascertain whether 
 it would be possible to have them take in tow the Dahabeyah of 
 Mr. Betts and found it was prohibited from doing so bj' a special 
 restriction in the contract. That party was about starting for a visit 
 to Philse. I availed myself of the opportunity to accompany them. 
 We were mounted on donkeys except Mrs. R. who had a large chair 
 
 451
 
 suspended between two donke5\s one before and the other behind. Ont 
 route lay first through the town of Assouan. The houses are largei 
 than those we [have seen in other towns. The walls well built of sun- 
 burnt bricks, and entered by a gate way with an ornamented entabla- 
 ture and each having a lamp suspended over it. One was occupied as 
 a grocery store by a Greek whose white children dressed in French cos- 
 tume, with velvet sacks trimmed with white ermine, were playing 
 about in the dirt before the door. This led us through the mounds of 
 the ancient city. Great holes are excavated exposing the massive 
 walls of old structures which are entombed in the debris of the dwell- 
 ings of the generations which have built first amid and then upon 
 them. The sand and dust which has accumulated in them is found to 
 be impregnated with nitrate of potash in varying proportions. Some 
 so rich that the Khedive has found it pa}^ to have it washed and the 
 nitre thus dissolved and collected bj' evaporation is used in making 
 gun powder. That which will not pay for this is used for its fertiliz- 
 ing property. We find these excavations being made at many points 
 but particularly at Thebes and here, and we see the nitrous earth 
 landed at various points on the shore and loaded up on donke3^s and 
 spread on the wheat fields. Were it not that none are offered us for 
 sale here I should have thought that coins and other relics would be 
 disinterred here in these excavations. 
 
 Passing be3'ond these we came at once upon the desert. Rock 
 piled on rock, in savage grandeur amid the desolate sand contrasted 
 strongl}' with the rich green wheat fields and palm groves which 
 fringed the shore with a very narrow belt of fertility'. We at once 
 struck off on what is evident!}' the great track of the Caravan to 
 Nubia. A wide well trodden road. It led through the Moslem ceme- 
 tery with its tombs of Sheiks, little domes mounted on square bases 
 like miniature mosques, which stood surrounded by the humbler 
 graves marked only by small elevations of sunburnt bricks about the 
 size of a human body. When we had gone through these there was 
 nothing but rocks and sand which has drifted into the beds of the old 
 quarries from which were taken the obelisks and all the granite 
 columns and images of the Gods and heroes which are cut in granite 
 and are still found in lower Egj'pt. We see, as I did from the river 
 the mark of the work of the men in the quarries fresh and clear ; 
 and at one spot lies the great unfinished obelisk. It is nearl}' a loo 
 feet in length and at the base about 12 feet square. What is the 
 weight of this immense mass of granite? And how tedious must 
 have been the process by which it was to have been dragged by bands 
 of men from this to some temple down the river. Two thousand men 
 were engaged three years in transporting one of much less dimension 
 before the days of Herodotus. On the face -of the rock around are 
 many hieroglyphics and tablets, with inscriptions telling in whose 
 reign the quarries were worked. IMau}' of them have dates reaching 
 
 452
 
 ^>ack earlier than 2000 years before the birth of otir Lord and are still 
 legible. Others are of the date just prior to the invasion of Cambyses, 
 who must have marched his forces by this very road on his mad 
 expedition for the conquest of Nubia, five hundred years before our 
 era. Whichever way we turn we see these figures and inscriptions, 
 some nearly obliterated, others still fresh and clear. The road led directlj^ 
 beside the line of crude brick wall which was erected along the eastern 
 side of the valley of the Nile by Sesostris, according to Herodotus, who 
 attributes all the wonderful works of Egj^pt to this IMythical person- 
 age. These ruins are certainly of a late date, but they may have been 
 erected on the site of the older. The wall runs for some mile or more 
 and is composed of fragments of stone built in with the brick. It 
 must have been for some military purpose. It can have had no other 
 object running from one mass of precipitious rock to another. The 
 bed of the roadway lies across masses of granite, which is being decom- 
 posed, and the quartz and feldspar lie like small gravel, some white and 
 some of a pink colour.while the dark fragments of hornblende mingling 
 with them prove that it is svenite and not granite. 
 
 The proportions in which these ingredients mingled in these 
 rocks varied much and with this variation there was diversity of colour 
 as well as of durability. My knowledge of geology is very slight but 
 I am confident that lying above this granite and S3^enite are huge 
 masses of volcanic rock closely resembling the boulders known in the 
 neighbourhood of Green Hill farm as ' ' Nigger Head ' ' ; round masses 
 scaling off" in concentric layers and of very close texture. These are 
 here piled on each other like cyclopean walls so that j'ou can with 
 difficulty be persuaded they have not been the work of man. 
 
 Through these scenes of utter desolation, into which one would 
 not suppose man had ever intruded were it not for the inscriptions 
 which assure us he did, we passed on till we came suddenly on the 
 neat enclosure of a convent, now entirely deserted but long supported 
 by the Romish church sending Monks here from Europe. The last 
 was a German. On a corner of the wall is a Latin inscription to the 
 memorj^ of a student of the Mission "Nilo submersus." I did not 
 examine when, but the freshness of the inscription shows it was quite 
 recent. 
 
 Near by rose a beautiful spreading sycamore whose welcome shade 
 was most grateful to us, wearied by the long ride in the hot sun. On 
 our way we had paused for a short rest beneath one of the masses of 
 rock. I have often admired the beauty of comparison of the favour of 
 God to the ' ' shadow of a great rock in a weary land. ' ' Here we had 
 it. In the sun the heat was distressing not only beating down from 
 above but reflected from the glaring surface of the sand below. The 
 moment we passed into the shadow we felt cool, and as we sat there 
 and talked I begged the little Roosevelts (very nice boys) to think of 
 it when next they heard the passage read. 
 
 453
 
 As we stood under the sycamore tree the island of Philae with its 
 beautiful ruins, backed by a line of palm trees, lay before us. Two 
 perfect Roman arches built of sand stone stood on the nearest shore 
 before us, the remains of some temple of the time of the Caesars. Just 
 be5^ond them rise the verj^ beautiful columns of the temple of Athor 
 built by Ptolemy Euergetes II., about one century before the Christian 
 era. 
 
 Behind these lie spread the massive remains of the temple of Isis 
 and Osiris, hall after hall, one range of columns after another, each 
 rivalling the grandeur of the other and all covered with colossal 
 figures of the Plotemj' bj' whom they were erected and his wife and 
 sister, each represented as the god receiving the homage of the priests 
 of the temple and the tribute of the people. Pylons and propylons 
 rear their massive structures, still perfect, with stairs of eas3' grade 
 rising within them and leading to the summit, from which the eye 
 ranges over the course of the river broken into rapids as it rushes 
 through the masses of rock which I have alread}' mentioned when 
 describing my trip up the river some days since. 
 
 Far as the e3'e can reach it takes in an expanse of desert studded 
 with rocks all evidently rounded and worn by the action of water, and 
 proving that this has been the bed of a great lake at some early period 
 before it had worn down the channel of the river to its present bed. 
 Above the so called cataract the river now spreads itself with a lake 
 like surface, from which this little island rises crowned with its 
 temples. 
 
 It was in the mythology of Egypt a spot of especial sanctity, the 
 most sacred of all the places at which portions of the dismembered 
 Osiris were concealed by the malignant Typhon. Three hundred and 
 sixty libations of milk were daily poured out to him from as many 
 vessels. 
 
 A temple had been here from the older dj'nasties. That whose 
 remains now attract the voj^ager was begun by Ptoleni}^ Philadelphus. 
 Its columns are massive and have capitals on which the lotus appears 
 sculptured in various stages of advance from the bud to the full grown 
 flower. Many of these capitals still retain their beautiful green and 
 blue color, and the flat ceiling or under surface of the roof of solid 
 stone work is still covered with blue and studded with stars, among 
 which are sculptured the winged globe with the serpent's heads rising 
 on either side like horns. 
 
 This is said to have been the cradle of monachism. The long 
 ranges of columns stretch from before the pylon to the margin of the 
 stream, forming a corridor into which open cells in the wall which were 
 occupied by the priests. Sharpe says " no oath was so binding as that 
 taken in the name of him who lies buried in Philsp ' ' None but priests 
 were allowed to set foot on the island, which was held sacred. One of 
 the duties of the priest was to throw a piece of gold once a j'ear into 
 
 454
 
 the river in order to purchase of it it's annual blessing of a bountiful 
 overflow. This was usually in the form of a ring-. 
 
 The priests were divided into several orders, and when once they 
 entered the service of the temple never left the island. Like their 
 imitators in later times among Christian recluses they neglected clean- 
 liness, did not change their garments, tortured their bodies, and 
 ' ' thought that sitting on the ground in idleness with the knees to the 
 chin was one of the first religious duties." 
 
 There are openings in the walls which evidently led to secret 
 places in which the vessels and treasures of the temples were kept, and 
 an inscription which is now at Paris was found on an obelisk in this 
 temple which illustrates the perpetuitj^ of the habits of these people. 
 Now, the Reis of the cataract has the power of calling on all the people 
 of the district to draw up the boats of travellers ascending the cata- 
 ract. No matter what their personal interest in gathering a crop or 
 preparing the soil, at his summons they must desert it all. So, of old, 
 these priests had the same power, but were compelled to use it to con- 
 vey ever3^one who could in any waj' claim to be in the service of the 
 government. The priests petitioned that their temple might be 
 relieved from the heavy and vexatious charge which they said lessened 
 their power of rightly performing their appointed sacrifices. They 
 begged to be relieved and to have the power to set up a monument to 
 record the grant of the desired boon. Their praj-er was granted and 
 the petition with the grant of relief was engraved on an obelisk which 
 was found here by the French and carried to Paris. 
 
 In the pjdon has been built up a portion of the granite rock on the 
 face of which is a long hieroglyphic inscription. The figures of the 
 Gods have been very much defaced. Great pains have been taken to 
 cut them out almost entirely. Scaffolds must have been erected for 
 this purpose. I am inclined to attribute this work to the Saracens. 
 The Iconoclastic spirit of the earlier followers of the Prophet is well 
 established and I know nothing but the vengeful spirit of a con- 
 querer which incites and sustains the performance of so laborious 
 destruction. 
 
 The Marquis of Bath joined me as I was wandering around, while 
 the Roosevelts were lunching in one of the apartments of the Temple, 
 and in reply to my remark attributed it to the Christians and drew 
 my attention to several Greek inscriptions, one of which claimed that 
 ' ' Ton ergon touto?i ' ' (this work) was done by Theodonis our Bishop. 
 But I do not see any reason to believe that ' ' this work ' ' was the 
 defacing the figures. I should rather assign that expression to the 
 construction of a Christian church among the columns. There lay 
 before us an altar having on it a Greek cross, and in the wall above it 
 was a Piscina with the same emblem, which was also repeated on 
 many of the columns which undoubtedly were included within the 
 walls of the church. I could not but be grateful to the Marquis for 
 
 455
 
 his condescension to a stranger nor withhold my admiration of the 
 literarj' taste and ctiltnre he manifested with an entire freedom from 
 display. 
 
 As we rode back to Assouan Mr. Roosevelt and myself had a long 
 and interesting conversation on the immortality of the human soul 
 with a young Syrian, the physician of the steamboat, who has been 
 educated in Paris and in being emancipated from the superstition of 
 his early years, has unhappily been entangled in the snares of philo- 
 sophical speculation, and because he cannot comprehend the mode of 
 existence and nature of the soul, denies it. These old Egyptians did 
 not so. I saw man}- repetitions of the figure which I understand to 
 represent the principle of life having two hands each grasping one of 
 Anubis, the god of death ; and on many places are representations 
 which confirm the idea that the preservation of the body was desired 
 only to secure it for the return of the soul after its migrations in other 
 forms. 
 
 On the Nile, Assouan, January 19, 1872. 
 My Dear Children : 
 
 We reached here four days ago and have been visited by Consul, 
 Governor, Sheik and Reis of the cataract ; and a committee of the 
 Arab dignitaries was sent to the cataract to see if there was sufiicient 
 water for so large a boat as this to pass, they decided that we might 
 go up but could not return three or four weeks hence which is the time 
 required, about. They offered two smaller boats, but as they are 
 dirt}^ we have declined, somewhat to the disappointment of some, 
 but not to me, as I had had a hard conflict to obtain resignation on the 
 subject, I am more than content. Yesterday all except ourselves and 
 aunt Hannah went on donkeys to Philae, seven miles, to visit ruins and 
 see the cataract. They returned at the end of eight hours a verj' tired 
 party though they think 'twas well worth the eflfort. Your father was 
 detained by the illness of his patient, who now has paralysis. We 
 all feel much for them. A steamer arrived, landing just behind us, 
 and immediately a young gentleman, a IMr. Roosevelt, called to see us 
 saying his mother was aboard and a Miss Lewis (Dr. F. Lewis's sister) 
 and a Miss Mitchell, all of whom would like to call on us. Of course 
 we gladly welcomed them and showed them our Dahabeyah. They 
 had had no opportunity of seeing one was an object of interest. 'Tis 
 very pleasant in this remote corner to see Americans and your father is 
 so well known that they seek him. Mrs. R. was a INIiss West, and sat 
 some twentj'-five or thirty years ago in the pew behind us. They 
 have gone to-daj^ to Philae and your father has gone with them 
 (Dr. Kingsley staid with Mr. B.). They will take our packages of 
 letters as far as Cairo for us, and so we are all glad to avail ourselves 
 of the opportunity. Since writing I have been to call on the consul. 
 
 456
 
 I 
 
 an Arab of course. He has breakfasted with us twice and on your 
 father asking how manj^ children he had he said four, all sons. He 
 admired H0II3', kissed her and said she should have one of his sons 
 and to-day when we were at his house the boy was brought out and 
 introduced as the one for her, a handsome mulatto. His hoi:se for this 
 country is a fine one, floor covered with Turkey carpet ; also the divan 
 with Turkish rugs ; and windows in it. He took us ladies into the 
 part to see his wife and children and grand children, but of course the 
 gentlemen could not see them. The women uncovered their faces for 
 us, we talked by signs, they gave us coffee and dates, then on our way 
 thro' the town. All the houses are of claj^ no chimneys, no windows 
 and flat roofs, on which they sleep; look just like large lumps of clay 
 thrown together without any order ; and walks of about three feet 
 between them. You can hardly call them streets, and 'tis right on 
 the desert, no sign of vegetation and not a tree to be seen. I think 
 the people amiable, industrious, and cleanl}^ ; they certainly wash a great 
 deal. 'Tis well, poor creatures, that the}'- require but little clothing, 
 for it must be as much as they can do to get food. We are beset by a 
 crowd hanging around the boat with various things for sale, feathers, 
 earthen ware, war implements, Nubian dresses, etc. , and while I pity 
 them the}' are not things I think any of you would like to have. 
 
 I am glad to tell j^ou your father seems quite well and were he not 
 so interested in the Betts' would be enjo3dng himself 
 
 Our ladies have not tried camels yet but the}^ intend it. Mrs. 
 Roosevelt has a chair which is carried by men, but she says 'tis very 
 uncomfortable, they don't keep step. Donkeys are preferred and 'tis 
 astonishing to see the weight the little things will carry. 
 
 As this boat is chartered for the three months we shall go down 
 the river ve7y leisure!}', stopping often to see every object of interest, 
 and cannot, until we get to Cairo, decide on our future course. We will 
 not run any risk of going into Cholera, and if some of them undertake 
 to cross the desert on camels and lodge in tents for a month we will 
 not go with them. We could not do it. They can endure more than 
 we can. At the same time they are very unwilling to separate from 
 us, but I do not intend to be led into rash acts. Your father is sending 
 his series of letters, some to each, lest they should be lost. Of course 
 you will let your sister have them and take care of them. With much 
 love to one and all of you. 
 
 Yours most truly and affectionately, 
 
 A. C. M. 
 
 I dare say Uncle G. would like to have the reading of these also 
 to Aunt Margaret. Offer them. Remember to charge the postage of 
 our letters to West River to us. 
 
 457
 
 January 21. 
 What a blessed gospel is that which brings life and immortality to 
 light ! How great its comforts and consolation even for the life that 
 now is ! I have been witness to this truth again and again and now 
 have renewed reason to value it from the exhibition of its power in the 
 support of poor Mrs. Betts in her sad bereavement. Mr. B. died 
 last night and while she realizes to its full extent the sadness of the 
 bereavement under any circumstances, and the great aggravation of 
 the sorrow here, separated from friends, she knows in whom they 
 have believed and enjoys the support which Jesus gives by the indwel- 
 ling presence of the Spirit which He hath given them. It is a high 
 privilege to be permitted to minister in any way to the servants of 
 Jesus, and here amid the graves of Christian martyrs and surrounded 
 by the gloom of decayed Christianity and IMohamedan intolerance the 
 brightness of Divine truth and power shines the more clearly. 
 
 Januar}- 2 2d. 
 
 Though still so dark that I am writing like a blind man guessing 
 at the lines and unable to see a word that is written, the Sakkia still 
 sends forth its unceasing sound, which has not been once interrupted 
 during our sta}' here, so constant is the demand for labour to main- 
 tain the population. 
 
 The river is rapidly falling so that we are obliged daily to move 
 our Dahabeyah which is found each morning left dry on the shore 
 where yesterday it floated, and as the water recedes the husbandman 
 follows it b}^ his lupins and wheat, so that what a few daj's since were 
 barren sand banks or muddj' ooze are now clothed with verdure, and 
 where the river now rolls its turbid current similar banks will soon 
 undergo a similar transformation. Thus death and life ever being 
 perpetually transmuted, the one into the other, before the eyes of the 
 contemplative priests of old, who led the mind and formed the char- 
 acter and transmitted bj'^ their temples and monuments the history of 
 Egypt which has so occupied the attention and puzzled the ingenuit}' 
 of thinking strangers in all past ages. 
 
 Yesterday was one of rest to our party, to m3^self especially. 
 Troubled b}^ toothache, wearied by a sleepless night in watching with 
 Mr. Betts, and exhausted bj' sympathy in their sorrows, I was glad to 
 escape from the sight of the noisy crowd on the shore and the sight 
 of the preparations being made for the transportation of the remains 
 to England, and remained in my room all da3^ The temperature was 
 most genial, while a slight breeze just gave sufficient motion to the 
 atmosphere to give a sense of luxurious delight, and a book appro- 
 priate to the day enabled me to enjoy the repose. To-day will be one 
 of bustle. I must superintend the final adjustment of the body in 
 cases of tin and wood, packed in powdered charcoal, which will, we 
 hope, enable the friends to carry it with them to Cairo ; and when that 
 
 458
 
 is done we shall all turn our faces homeward. Though the loved spot 
 is so distant and our approaches to it will be so gradual, irregular, and 
 uncertain, and though there is so much, so very much here still unex- 
 plored and attracting with almost irresistible power, so mitch that if 
 I were alone and had the undisptited control of my own movements I 
 could not leave unexplored, I yet rejoice in the mere turning of the 
 card of the compass so that the quivering needle settles with its point 
 in the line corresponding with that of the pole there marked. The 
 soft light of the morning now once more lends its passing color and 
 life to the grim outlines of the desert ; smiles on the rocks whose 
 seamed, and blackened and perforated masses, tell how ages have 
 rolled around renewing day by day the same song of praise to the 
 Orainipotent Creator who placed them here. The tufted and flowing 
 crowns of the palm rise with an indescribably attractive majesty along 
 the winding shore of the flowing stream ; the wheat fields spread their 
 living green bosoms around their bases ; the lupins with their deeper 
 color and their rotinded heads, tipped with bloom, interpose a line of 
 color between these and the surface of the water, just glowing with 
 the reflection of the colour of the light clouds which herald the coming 
 of the Lord of day. Truly every prospect pleases and it is sad to be 
 obliged to finish the couplet, but at this moment the shouts of the 
 rowers who are carrying across the ferry the first cargo of living men, 
 who swarm here and are going to and fro unceasingly all day, brings 
 it before me ; Man is vile. This is a great mart, and human expe- 
 rience in all ages confirms the utterance of Solomon, made contempo- 
 raneously with the erection of some of the grand temples whose ruins 
 now exhibit the vanity which he inscribed on all human grandeur, 
 that as a " nail in a sure place so is sin between the buyer and seller." 
 
 It is still a slave mart. Hundreds are brought here annually and 
 sent down to Cairo, and however the apologists for the trafiic may 
 attempt to moderate our expression of disgust at its abomination, by 
 reminding us that Mahomedan justice makes the state of slavery less 
 intolerable than it is rendered by human depravity when it breaks 
 through the law of Christian love and tramples on the control of the 
 selfishness of our nature which that imposes in more favoured lands, 
 still, slavery is an infamous wrong. One man tramples on the right 
 of another, the fellow who is, in the sight of God, his equal. The 
 price here now runs from ten to fifteen pounds and there are many 
 wealthy traders here, Copt and Moslem. 
 
 This being also the point where the Caravans from Nubia and 
 Abyssinia bring the products of those regions to be shipped, renders it 
 a busy place. Boats are being built and repaired on the shore. Boxes 
 and mat bags of gum and dates and other produce lie heaped high on 
 the bank ; and the sand near our boats presents a busy scene from the 
 crowds who assemble daily, offering their refuse ostrich feathers a:: i 
 spears, and clubs, and skins of leopards, and girdles of shell strung 
 
 459
 
 on leather thongs, and ostrich eggs and similar worthless trash to the 
 buyers on board the dahabeyahs, no less than six of which are lying 
 here close together. B\- this time to-morrow we shall all have left, but 
 doubtless others will take our place to be pestered by the anno5-ing 
 pertinacity of these poor creatures whose misery moves one's compas- 
 sion, while their cunning excites only a feeling of increased pity for 
 their hopeless degradation, which is I fear becoming yearly greater 
 and less hopeful. But I must address mj'self to preparation for the 
 day's duties. 
 
 Januarv' 2 2d. 
 The temperature to-day is most genial. We can quite enter into 
 the enthusiasm with which others have spoken of it. But our obser- 
 vation here confirms our experience elsewhere of the uncertainitj' of 
 the climate everj'where and would deter me from exposing to its 
 vicissitudes a sick patient. 
 
 23d. 
 
 Dense heavy leaden clouds entirely cover the sky and give the 
 impression of certainty of a rain}- day like our September equinoctial 
 weather. The wind during the night was high and I was greatly 
 deceived if I did not hear the patter of rain drops. Miss Betts, who 
 was sketching the view of the scene of her father's death yes- 
 terday, told me there had been a slight sprinkling shower. Instead 
 of the warm weather, which we supposed we had entered on, we were 
 obliged to be on our guard against taking cold. Some of the Arab 
 crew have done so and Friezier is again suffering with violent neuralgia, 
 whether miasmatic in its origin, and thus periodical, or depending on 
 defective teeth and renewed cold, I find it difficult to decide. Thus is 
 dissipated the dream of a resort for the consumptive in the dry atmos- 
 phere and equable temperature of a Nile voyage. 
 
 My time 3'esterday was wholly' occupied in the superintendence 
 of the arrangements for the transportation to Cairo of the body of 
 Mr. Betts. Soon after breakfast I wrote a professional certificate that 
 he had died from Cerebro meningitis in the later stage of tubercular 
 consumption, and went with Ali, the intelligent and gentlemanly 
 dragoman of Mr. Richardson's boat, to ascertain whether any certifi- 
 cate of the Governor of Assouan, founded on mine, would be of ser- 
 vice on the arrival of the body at Cairo. We went to the Governor's 
 house and were ushered into a small square apartment, at the opposite 
 side of the court, into which we entered from the open square in front 
 of his residence. This apartment was provided with low wide divans 
 running around three sides. At the right hand was seated the Gover- 
 nor's Secretary with a long stem of cherry wood and a large amber 
 mouth piece to his small bowled earthen-ware pipe ; and a yellow silk 
 shawl with long knotted fringe thrown over his red tarboosh. He sat 
 alone. 
 
 460
 
 opposite to the entrance vSat two persons one light coloured, and 
 dressed in the usual turban and robes of the country, the other darker 
 and older, but neither giving me the impression of authority. 
 
 On the third side the divan was crowded with some half dozen 
 5^ouths whose countenances gave one the impression one would have 
 from a body of newspaper reporters at home ; and the ink stands lying 
 one before each, and the blank book at their knees, as they sat cross- 
 legged, indicated clearly enough that they were the scribes. Here was 
 the office of the Governor, but he was then occupied elsewhere. 
 
 The Secretary offered me a seat beside him on his Persian rug. 
 Ali speaking in Arabic declined it for me and took me to that opposite 
 to the door, and seated me and himself beside the two who were there 
 on a mattress and ragged silken cover. I was suffering with severe 
 toothache myself and glad of a seat anywhere that I might cover the 
 side of my face with my hand. 
 
 Ali at once entered on an explanation of the object of our call with 
 much graceful gesticulation, and the animated countenance of the 
 Secretary proved that he entirely comprehended the business. His 
 answer was perfectly simple and correct, ' ' If the gentleman had had 
 any difficulty with the governor's subjects and had been injured or 
 killed it would be the governor's duty to attend to the matter, but as 
 he died under the care of his own friends and countrymen and of a 
 disease which the}^ knew him to suffer from, and about which the 
 Governor could know nothing but what they told him, no certificate 
 from him could be of any value." It was done with great manifesta- 
 tion of interest and civility. 
 
 I apoligized for my deportment by requesting Ali to mention my 
 suffering for which they expressed a sympathy, founded on their own 
 experience, and said " Hakim could help another but could not pull 
 his own tooth." I then enquired of Ali if I could have it pulled, but 
 he gave no encouragement to try the "barber surgeon," who occupies 
 here the same position still, as of old in Europe. We then took our 
 leave by shaking hands, as we had commenced our interview with a 
 salaam all around after taking our seats. As we came out Ali told 
 me the gentlemen on the divan with us were a governor and vice- 
 governor from an upper district, now here on a visit. 
 
 On our return to the shore we passed large piles of bags, bales 
 and boxes of merchandise. The bags contain Gum Arabic and vSenna, 
 brought down from Nubia ; and the boxes and bales cotton goods 
 from Manchester and spirits from somewhere in Europe, to be carried 
 back. These with Ivory and Ostrich feathers are the only merchan- 
 dise except the slaves, and the trade in them is surreptitious. Ali 
 
 denies its continuance. 
 
 January 23rd. 
 
 The high north wind keeps us bound here. This is not pleasant 
 as the uncertainty of the moment at which we might vStart renders it 
 improper to leave for any length of time, and we have already 
 
 461
 
 exhausted the objects of interest around us, and are annoyed by the 
 perpetual appeals for ' ' backsheesh, ' ' and offer for sale of articles of no 
 value for beauty or use. All the boats left last evening except the 
 Gazelle and ourselves, so that we shall probably not meet again before 
 reaching Luxor, even if then. I cannot avoid some anxiety lest we 
 should find some imperfection in the work of yesterday which may 
 compel the interment of Mr. Betts before they can reach Cairo, and, 
 all others having gone, the whole responsibility will rest on Wistar 
 and myself 
 
 I should take great pleasure in having your mother go up the 
 river some miles in the boat if it were not so cold. The views of the 
 rocks and river and desert, and the hieroglyphics on the rocks are full 
 of interest. The island of Elephantine has on it some few squared 
 Roman ruins above ground and is covered with mounds under which 
 lie buried temples and palaces. Immediately behind our boat there is 
 the abutment of a Roman bridge with several burned brick arches. 
 This is said to have connected the island with the mainland. If so it 
 must have been a very strong and high structure to resist the current, 
 and rise above the flood. 
 
 January 24th. 
 
 We have spent the night under a high bank clothed with lupins 
 planted terrace above terrace, as the subsiding water gave opportunity 
 for culture, and crowned with palm trees whose glories waved cease- 
 lessly in the breeze and made shadows on the ground in the flood of 
 silver light which la}- softl}' diffused over all. Acacia trees in clumps, 
 and the rounded forms of the sycamore fig, and the soft delicate foliage 
 of the pale green tamarisk, and the scalloped leaves of the Ricinus give 
 variety, while the turbaned heads of the Arabs as they move up and 
 down the bank add to the picturesque effect. 
 
 We lay all day 3'esterday at Assouan, detained b}' the force of the 
 wind which blew strongly from the north, carrying boats laden with 
 merchandise and crowded by native passengers up the stream and 
 through the cataracts which we had so earnestly but vainly wished to 
 ascend. I availed myself of the opportunity to visit the Coptic church, 
 taking with me our dragoman, whose imperfect knowledge of English 
 and utter ignorance of what I wished to learn made it unsatisfactory. 
 As we reached the level of the bank above which the water does not 
 rise, we found piled above us mounds of rubbish not less than thirty 
 (I might safely say fifty) feet, in perdendicular height, on the top of 
 which stood the houses of the present generation, built, as were those 
 of every preceding one, of sun dried brick and Nile mud. Each gen- 
 eration occupies its house so long as it is tenable and then it is partly 
 filled with rubbish and prostrated, to afford a surface on which another 
 is built. Thus there is accumulated a mound of brick bats and broken 
 jars and pottery and other rubbish. The present generation is avail- 
 ing itself of the fertilizing property of the finer portions of this refuse 
 
 462
 
 I 
 
 to spread on the wheat and bean fields and here at Assouan hundreds 
 of men and boys are busily engaged in loading it in panniers on don- 
 kej^s and carrjnng it to the water's edge for transportation. 
 
 Our attention was soon arrested by the numerous fragments of 
 columns and capitals of granite stone, but of light Roman and Grecian 
 style of architectiTre, which were scattered on the ground and as we 
 advanced we saw several standing erect. It is evident that if this 
 process is allowed to go on, in a few years many relics of the former 
 grandeur of Syene will be disinterred and future travellers will enjoy a 
 privilege denied to us. 
 
 We found the Coptic Church on the highest point of the present 
 town. A building not in an}^ way differing in its exterior from the 
 dwellings around it. As we crossed the court j^ard my ear caught the 
 sound of the school taught there by the priest, and a dozen boys of 
 some twelve years old rose to their feet as we entered what would 
 perhaps be called the nave of the church. They were reciting from 
 tablets of tin plate on which were inscribed sentences from the service 
 book (the bible, our dragoman called it) in Arabic characters. The 
 Coptic merchant who calls himself Consular agent accompanied us. 
 Through him I asked to see their books. Three or four small quartos 
 of neat manuscript in Coptic and Arabic were shown me with rude 
 coloured illuminations. They were evidentl}^ modern, comparatively 
 speaking, and the work of monks. The priest here is not a monk but 
 married and lives with his family in rooms attached to the church. 
 He is at least a foot taller than I and has a fine form and good counte- 
 nance. His pupils were pretty nice looking lads. At my request one 
 of them, a son of the consul, recited from the book, in chant, a portion 
 of the service, and he (as well as his father) was highlj- gratified when 
 I took my pocket knife from m^' vest and gave it to the boy. 
 
 At one side of the room, I believe the eastern, were three pointed 
 arches before which were hung curtains covering recesses, in one of 
 which was an altar covered with an old faded cloth having on it three 
 candle sticks but no crucifix. Over the crown of each arch was hung 
 a small rude painting. Over the centre one St. George and the dra- 
 gon, and on the one side the Blessed Virgin and babe and on the 
 other St. Michael and the devil. A very rude wooden lectern stood 
 before the central arch. Crosses were embroidered on the curtains. 
 This building is only 15 3'ears old. To my question how long 
 there had been a Coptic chi:rch here the consiilar agent replied it was 
 the first in Egypt. 
 
 Late in the afternoon Miss Harris and Mr. Longstreth, wearied of 
 waiting took the small felucca and rowed down the river. They had 
 not been gone many minutes when we saw evident signs of preparation 
 for our own moving and amid the songs of the crew and the pressing 
 cries for backsheesh, and final offer of feathers from the crowd on 
 shore, we pulled up our stake and floated off". ^\'e supposed Mr. 
 
 463
 
 Longstreth and IMiss H. had continued down the river till we passed 
 the lower point of the Island of Elephantine when we were obliged to 
 conclude that the}^ had pulled up the other channel around it, as the 
 boat was nowhere visable. Our only consolation was the brightness 
 of the moonlight and that they would have the current in their favour. 
 The nature of the channel was such as to forbid our stopping or turn- 
 ing ; we could do nothing but go forward with no little anxiety on 
 their account. We finally cast anchor and awaited their coming with 
 no little anxiety and were all greatly relieved when in about an hour 
 they dropped along side. 
 
 This morning we are drifting side ways, stern foremost, an5rway 
 the current will carry us. We have already (at 9 A. M.) got below the 
 granite region and are among sand stone cliffs and heaps of driving 
 yellow sand in which we see man}'^ plants of the Asclepias Gigas, or 
 apple of Sodom, growing among tuft of Halfah grass just beyond the 
 narrow green strip of lentil and lupin ; and already we find the bifu- 
 reated trunks of the Dhom Palm. The date palm grew more luxu- 
 riantly' at Assuoan than it does in the more northern parts. I was 
 quite surprised to find it send up shoots from the central trunk so that 
 in some instances there are as manj'^ as ten or twelve trees growing 
 out of the same root. They are just at this season shooting up the 
 spath with its blossom, and require six months to mature the fruit. 
 
 It is with a positive feeling of regret that I leave the region of 
 Assouan so rich in its historic associations and so grand in its 
 ruined temples. So awfully interesting in its rocks and deserts and 
 j-et so beautifully attractive in its verdant palms and groves. No spot 
 in our travel has been more interesting. 
 
 The weather this morning is quite as cold as our October. Just 
 the temperature for perfect enjoyment for those in health and able to 
 take exercise in rowing or hunting, but too cold for the feeble and 
 invalid. Your mother had lost her cough and breathed comfortably 
 while at Assouan but has a return of cough and some oppression to- 
 day. 
 
 2 p. M. January 24th. 
 
 This is certainly to us a novel mode of advancing. The wind is 
 from the North strong and cold. The current running strongly to the 
 north also ; so strong that the river has fallen at least two feet since 
 we were here on our way up. The boat is rowed slowlj' from one 
 bank to the other thus keeping its broadside to the stream by which it 
 is carried down. This mode of progress affords us ample time to inspect 
 the crops on the banks and to examine through our glasses any object 
 of interest. 
 
 We certainly saw a very large crocodile. Wistar asked me what 
 was an object lying at the end of a sand bank. I said at once I should 
 decide it to be a crocodile if it were not too light colored, and called 
 the dragoman who took my glass and said "no it is a bundle of 
 
 464
 
 Doura" and handed me back the glass. Wistar said " it is too large 
 to be a crocodile' ' as I looked again it had gone. We all had seen it a 
 moment before and its disappearance proved its animation and settled 
 the question. We should have been glad to see more of him. 
 
 We have been passing through a range of sand stone hills. The 
 yellow sand of the desert beyond has drifted over the range and lies 
 like great drifts of snow streaked and seamed by the changing currents 
 of wind. 
 
 25th. 
 
 A cloiidy morning with a cold leaden sky found us lying fast to 
 the Lybian shore. Before the sun rose we pulled out into the stream 
 and floated rapidly down, and before 8 A. M. found ourselves nearKom 
 Ombo and are now staked to the Arabian shore, with the crude brick 
 wall with some sandstone lintels and square stones, just emerging 
 from an interminable drift of yellow sand which covers the temple and 
 stretches awaj- to the eastward till it is lost in the pathless desert from 
 which it has been raised by the wind. We find the Marquis of Bath 
 beside us, and soon after we stopped our friends of the Gazelle pulled 
 in after us. So soon as we have breakfasted we shall address ourselves 
 to the task of exploration amid the din of the Arabs and the dust and 
 dirt which are always annoying. 
 
 January 25th, noon. 
 
 We have climbed to the top of the mound which covers the temple 
 and have stood beneath the adytum, on the under surface of the stones 
 of which are winged globes with serpents heads, the colour (blue and 
 green) still fresh though on the front are inscriptions which indicate that 
 this temple was erected for King Ptolemy and Queen Cleopatra and 
 their children by the military forces stationed here, in honour of the 
 great god Arocris (Apollo) and to the contemplar gods for their benevo- 
 lence to them. It is diificult to frame any description of this spot. 
 The river rushes with a most impetuous current which has swept 
 away a portion of the bank and now approaches so near the foundation 
 of the wall that a portion of it trembles to its fall. 
 
 We landed a short distance above and crossed a tobacco lot the 
 owner of which had cut it and was busily engaged with his family in 
 stripping it while green and laid the leaves in heaps where of course 
 it undergoes fermentation and is spoiled. I tried myself by pantomine 
 to show him how to hang it and dry it before stripping it but could 
 get nothing in reph' but ' ' backsheesh Hawadgi. ' ' I then endeavoured 
 to prevail with the dragoman to explain it to him but in vain. He 
 said he had tried before but they would have their own way. I do not 
 believe him as I think him entirely unreliable. This tobacco lot lay 
 immediately beside the edge of the heap of yellow sand which covers 
 the ruins of Ombo. 
 
 We climbed the hill, which was just like wading up a hill covered 
 with drifting snow. Beside us on the left hand was the wall of half 
 
 465
 
 burned or unburned brick which must at one time have had a casing 
 of sandstone as at about half way up there was a large window, the 
 frame of dressed sandstone and covered with hieroglyphics, within 
 which were arches turned of the same brick work, opening on passages 
 which are filled with sand. Climbing still higher we came to the top 
 of the wall, which is of great thickness, and has numberless fragments 
 of broken pottery wrought into the clay of which the bricks are com- 
 posed thus proving that whether a part of the temple whose ruins 
 now attract visitors, or of more modern date, they certainly are com- 
 posed of the debris of still older structures. When we had climbed to 
 the top we found the foundations of modern huts and looked down 
 into the basin in which rose the capitals and architraves of the 
 temple. 
 
 Near the river, half ruined, stands one pyramidal propylon on the 
 front of which are the figures of the crocodile-headed god Savak and 
 many figures of Arocris, and of kings and queens in the attitude of 
 offering. Many of them here as at Philae have been deliberately and 
 laboriously defaced. There are some ten or twelve immense shafts 
 with huge capitals, ornamented with papyrus and lotus buds and 
 covered with hieroglyphics inscription, evidently of very inferior exe- 
 cution to some we have already seen. The figures both in the sculp- 
 ture and in the hieroglyphics are the same but they are less cleanly 
 cut. In two or three places thej' are unfinished and the red lines by 
 which the surface of the stone was divided into squares of about two 
 inches each way shews that a plan was first drawn and then the 
 labourers worked by measure as the ladies do their canvas worsted 
 work by stitches. 
 
 We wandered around amid the columns and speculated as to the 
 mechanical means by which the great blocks of squared stone, which 
 lie across these capitals and formed the roof of the temple, could have 
 been raised to so great a height. We found the lower stones had been 
 laid in cement and in one, which had been fractured, Wistar saw the 
 impression of a fossil. 
 
 As I walked about the drifting heaps of sand I could not avoid 
 speculating also about the immense accumulation of potsherds which 
 where the sand is blown away from them are sufficientl}^ numerous to 
 give a ruddy hue to the surface of the mound. Pliny sa3'S when he 
 saw the quarries he had no difficulty in asserting there must have 
 been a great people from the work they had accomplished in carrying 
 away such masses of material to build. By a converse process of 
 reasoning I find in these broken pieces of clay the positive evidence 
 that these temples were not built in the desert, nor by magic power, 
 but by human beings with the same wants and habits as ourselves. 
 They have buried their most magnificient buildings in the w^aste of 
 successive generations. 
 
 466
 
 From the top of the brick wall which formed the sacred enclosure 
 in which still stand these mined tokens of departed power, the eye 
 ranges over pathless waste of sand till at the eastern horizon it rests 
 on the mountains which skirt the western coast of the Red Sea. All 
 between is waste, howling desert. The Nile pursues its winding course 
 north and south, its line marked by the Palm groves which give the 
 only token of life in the desert. Even among these we can see the 
 sand driving like drifting snow and as I write my paper feels gritty 
 under my fingers. 
 
 I looked in vain for any relic I might bring away and was com- 
 pelled to be content with the dried "Apple of Sodom," which was 
 drifting before the wind. Large bushes of the asclepias on which it 
 grows skirted the ruined wall. 
 
 4 p. M. 
 The stor}' that it never rains on the Nile is a pure fiction. While 
 we were in the ruins at Onibo there v.'as a slight shower and about two 
 o'clock I drew Wistar's attention to a dark cloud which I remarked 
 would at home surely give us rain. We soon after passed close to a 
 pebbly bank and I asked to be put ashore to look among the stones for 
 Carnelians or Agates. The Reis happily made it an ajDology for 
 stopping and we are now having a regular thunder storm with heavy 
 wind, rolling in a strong wave on the shore, and vivid lightning, roll- 
 ing thunder, and rain enough to wet everybody and everything on 
 deck. We are quite thankful that we are not exposed to it in mid 
 stream. Your mother to my surprise followed me and soon all hands 
 were busy and each came back to dinner with pockets filled with 
 agates or carnelians or jaspers or some such pebbles. They lie in a 
 stratum along the shore mingled with pebbles of larger size and various 
 composition. These strata are very curious, too hard to be alluvial, 
 and filled with a sort of calcareous concretion which looks like those 
 found in the green sand of our own country ; and among them sand- 
 stones shapes which might be thought huge fossil bones. 
 
 Jany. 26th. 
 I suppose our experience of Nile weather is without example. At 
 least we find no notice of such in any of the works on the subject and 
 our dragoman saj^s he never met with such. Soon after the entry of 
 last evening the storm which had been threatening burst on us with 
 lightning, thunder, heavy wind, and pouring rain, not without a suspicion 
 of some hail. This is most distressing to our Arabs who have no 
 shelter for themselves or their provisions, which consists of bread, dried in 
 the sun, and lentils, and I fear is all ruined. They crept under the boards 
 of the lower deck, but this afforded but imperfect shelter for themselves. 
 Our trunks are on deck and we fear the cover of canvas thrown over 
 them will not have been impervious. The water from the deck came 
 
 467
 
 pouring into the saloon. Happily we were at the shore and though it 
 was a lee shore it was safer and more comfortable than we should have 
 found the mid-stream, which was lashed into waves by the opposing 
 wind and current. Toward midnight the wind fell and the moon 
 light was sufl&cient to induce the Reis to move. Our boat had been 
 driven by the wind so high that it was with no little effort of the crew 
 in the water, shouldering us off, that we finally got afloat. 
 
 This morning finds us near a sandbank ; with a leaden September 
 sky and cold north wind, not promising much comfort for the day. 
 A few Dhom and Date Palms skirt the shore, and beyond stretches a 
 mountain range to the east, which I suppose to be that of the sand- 
 stone region of Silsilis which was to be our place of stopping to 
 examine quarries, and temples, and tombs. As the sun rises there 
 is some clear sky at the horizon ; we shall be thankful to be spared 
 more rain. One of our servants was crippled with rheumatism before 
 the rain, j^our Aunt Mary complaining and I a little threatened. I 
 am specially thankful that I do not hear your mother cough as she 
 often does in the morniug. I see the Gazelle, which left Kom Ombo 
 an hour before us yesterday and was out of sight when we took the 
 storm, lies now near by us. 
 
 9 A. M. 
 
 Clear, bright and cold, with a north wind so strong as to neutral- 
 ize the power of the current, so that we make little or no advance. 
 The Luxor, which left Assouan twenty-four hours before we did, is 
 now behind us. We are greatly relieved by being told that the bread 
 of the crew did not become wet, and hope we shall find our trunks 
 escaped. The deck is still too wet for us to venture out. The beauty 
 of the palm groves and cotton fields, and lupin and wheat patches, as 
 they reflect the varied shades of green in the morning sun, is so 
 bewitching that I confess notwithstanding all the little discomforts it 
 is with a sincere feeling of regret I realize that we shall never look on 
 this again. 
 
 II p. M. 
 
 We lay all daj' windbound beneath the bank at which we arrived 
 last evening, and this evening after the full moon had risen we 
 dropped slowl}^ down to Silsilis where we now lie, with the sandstone 
 wall rising perpendicularly above us, bathed in the soft light ; crickets 
 chirping in the clefts, h3'enas howling in the desert ; these the only 
 sounds breaking the solemnity of the profound stillness which now 
 prevails where 40 centuries ago the hum of human industry prevailed, 
 leaving as its result the great cavities from which were cut the pillars 
 of temples of gods, and caverns with columns, which lie against the 
 face of the rock above our heads, inscribed with dedications to the 
 same inconceivably monstrous objects of worship. We shall explore 
 them to-morrow. 
 
 46S
 
 SiLSiLis, January' 27th. 
 
 Aroused early bj' the movements of others to look at the Southern 
 Cross, I lay watching the moon as it came down to the level of the 
 sandstone cliflF above my cabin window ; and so soon as its whiter 
 light began to yield to the stronger rays of the approaching day I 
 dressed and started for an exploration. I soon found myself in a space 
 of about an acre in area, surrounded by sandstone walls as smoothly 
 cut as the art of man can accomplish, the mark of the tool still 
 plainly seen. This is one of the chambers out of which the blocks we 
 have seen in the columns and temples have been hewn. Open to the 
 river, and backing against the desert, it is protected from the wind and 
 sand. Every point to which these have access is black and polished ; 
 contrasting strongly with the clear j^ellow of the cut surface. 
 
 I soon found a stairw^ay which was worn by the ascending feet of 
 generation after generation of quarry men which, during the ages 
 which preceded the Christian era, had here laboured. It was still the 
 gray of the morning. The moon hovered above the sharp edge of the 
 rocky wall directly before me as I climbed, and, mounting stage after 
 stage these flights of stone stairs, I reached the summit of the cliff. 
 Turning round I saw the valley of the "Ancient River" through 
 which, a broad silver ribbon, it wound its way, skirted by palm groves 
 and cultured fields, with here and there a slight smoke indicating the 
 fires of the watchmen, still at their posts. Across the stream the east- 
 ern sky was just glowing with promise of the rising sun. Far as the 
 eye could range it met only with the horizon, and passed over nothing 
 but rolling heaps of desolation. I determined to mount to the next 
 height beyond me to the west, that from it I might hail the rising sun. 
 As I did so I saw two beautiful Jackals scampering away before me. 
 When they reached the height they turned round and stood gazing at 
 me. The surface of the height on which I stood was thickly strewn 
 with black pebbles, some rounded like balls ; some elongated ; some 
 flattened. 
 
 The upper surface of the sandstone, which was soft, and in thin 
 layers, breaking beneath mj- feet, was polished by the sand and wind ; 
 but what was most unlooked for, there were deep ravines evidently 
 worn by rushing streams of water. There could be no mistake about 
 it. The eddies had left holes in the sandstone, and the mark of the 
 water was as plain as it is along the present bank of the river. 
 
 I slowly climbed still higher, only to reach a plateau over which 
 the wind, blowing freshly, denuded it of sand and disintegrated the 
 very soft layers of sandstone, leaving the black pebbles which are 
 found in it, strewn as thickly as the sand on the shores. At several 
 points around me lay bones bleached and decomposing, and I realized 
 that I was an intruder into the domain of the beasts, at an hour when 
 it was theirs by unquestionable right ; and that though I might assert 
 my superiority over the Jackals by aid of the stones which were so 
 plentifully provided, my strength and skill would be of no avail should 
 I rouse up one of the hyenas whose howl had sounded mournfully in 
 
 469
 
 my ears during the night. I therefore determined to advance no further 
 before the rising sun should proclaim my right to the possession of the 
 earth, and send back to their dens the beasts of the desert. I there- 
 fore took my stand on the ridge till the sun rose above the hills on the 
 eastern shore, after which I moved on toward the western desert, pick- 
 ing up here and there specimens of the very curious nodules which 
 lay strewn around me. I crossed several dry water courses cut deep 
 into the sandstone rock, in the clefts of which the loose yellow sand 
 had drifted, and my feelings were akin to those of Robinson Crusoe 
 M'hen he first descried the print of a human foot on the sand of his 
 island when I found the unmistakable clear and freshly made track of 
 a hyena. As the hour was even then a debatable one I did not hesitate 
 to turn back, and following the bed of the torrent soon reached the 
 shore. 
 
 When did water run through this desert ? From the time of the 
 Father of History to our own period, when Lj'ell assures us that no 
 tributary ever fell into the Nile in the 1700 miles above its mouth, we 
 have no record of any such stream, and the unburned brick houses 
 which have sheltered its inhabitants all these generations prove most 
 incontestably that it has been so. 
 
 The geological structure is verj- peculiar. As we lie here on the 
 shore we have on the present level of the water, a stratum some eight 
 or ten feet thick, lying horizontal, of black .semi- vitrified sandstone. 
 Over this lies about 20 feet of the yellow sandstone which was worked 
 for building purposes by the ancients. Acres of it have been cut out 
 leaving the unbroken stone clean and square, with the face as fresh as 
 though it had been exposed to the sun onh' yesterday, and the face as 
 neatly dressed as though it were designed for ornament ; the marks of 
 the tool still there. The process of quarrs-ing must have been to mark 
 out the intended size and shape of the block, and cut all around it and 
 then wedge it up. In all probability they cut down to the lower edge 
 of the stratum. In the comers left are still to be found eyes, cut 
 through from side to side, through which were passed the ropes which 
 guided and steadied the block as it was slid down to the water's edge 
 on an inclined plane. In the face of this .stratum looking toward the 
 river are grottoes, having columns and architraves sculptured on the 
 rock. On the architraves are sculptured the winged globe with the 
 serpent's head, beneath it the same is repeated and is there most richly 
 coloured red and 3"ellow and green and blue. Within on the walls are 
 sculptures representing gods and kings and priests with offerings of 
 lotus flowers, fruits, boxes of ointments, &c., and in niches within are 
 found bas-reliefs, sitting figures, now much defaced, but resembling in 
 their attitudes the colossal figures before the temples and giving me the 
 impression of the design to represent b}^ them the same immutable 
 quiescence and abstraction as the figures of the Buddha in India. They 
 are invariably grouped in triads. Tablets beside them contain hiero- 
 glyphic inscriptions, and cartouches indicate the name of the kings in 
 whose reign they were constructed. 
 
 470
 
 On the eastern side of the river are more extensive quarries. 
 Here they have all been worked from the top. There they have been 
 carried hundreds of feet into the side of the hill, and the ceiling is sup- 
 ported by columns left standing. Between them and the river's margin 
 lie great heaps of chips and refuse like the culm banks of coal mines. 
 The inscriptions and figures on these rock shrines are of the date of 12 
 to 1500 years before the birth of our Lord, but the quarries continued 
 to be the source of supply for temple building down to the days of the 
 Romans. 
 
 We are quietly spending the Sabbath at Silsilis. The morning 
 cloudless; the temperature most genial; no wind to disturb us. I was 
 about to add nothing but the desert around us when the sharp report 
 of fire arms broke upon the silence. I thought it was our dragoman, 
 but lifting my eyes from the paper, see a tall Bedouin stalk by the 
 window with his long gun across his back. From the top of the cliff 
 we can see a large cultivated plain on the opposite side of the river 
 and small patches above and below on this side, but they are separated 
 from the point at which we lie by desert behind, and projecting cliffs 
 above and below. Yet to our surprise we saw donke3-s come down 
 paths we should have said were made only b}' wild beasts. 
 
 Wistar and all, except Anne and myself, crossed the river j^ester- 
 day afternoon. The boat would not carry all, so we were content to 
 remain. They report the quarries there more extensive far than 
 those on this side, and Wistar thinks the excavation, with its solid 
 pillars of twenty feet through, was designed to be converted into a 
 temple but was left unfinished. They appear to have been greatly 
 impressed by the view of the desert and valley of the river as being 
 more grand and impressive than that I had from the point to which 
 I climbed yesterday morning. I am quite satisfied with my own 
 observation. 
 
 When contrasted with the winter weather of Great Britain or 
 our own, this is certainly genial, and presents advantages for an 
 invalid. But the violent catarrhs of the Arab crew and the rheuma- 
 tism and neuralgia and the toothaches of the whole party prove that 
 some more protection than that furnished by the Dahabeyah, with all 
 its elegance, is needed before a Nile trip can be advised for the con- 
 sumptive. The steamers present still less comfort as at present 
 fitted up. 
 
 As we sit and gaze on these wondrous excavations and think of 
 the wealth and power of the Royal and Priestly caste of Egypt in the 
 days in which the stones were carried away, and the purpose to which 
 they were applied, the mind involuntarily reverts to Moses, the chosen 
 servant of the Lord who, brought up as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 
 heir of the treasures which were accumulated by the King, and learned 
 in all the wisdom of Egypt, was without a doubt also, initiated into 
 the most sacred mysteries of their religion and participated in their 
 most solemn, imposing ceremonies. Familiar with their gods, many 
 and monstrous, and accustomed to look at the figures by which they 
 
 47^
 
 represented the attributes of Power in the dark temples and lofty 
 ranges of columns which they built for their residence, how wonderful 
 the contrast afforded by the sublime and awful simplicity of the utter- 
 ance of Sinai, "The Lord thy God is one Lord," " Thou .shalt not make 
 to thyself any graven image the likeness of anything in Heaven above 
 or in the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth," and how 
 absurd the foU}^ of those who because they find some few points of cere- 
 monial in which the Hebrew service corresponded with that of the 
 Egyptian worship assume that Moses merely adopted the Eg3'ptian 
 rites and ordinances ! 
 
 On the other hand it appears to me that nothing could give 
 stronger confirmation to the claim of Divine teaching than this very 
 strong contrast. The institution of the Passover, as a type of the great 
 Paschal sacrifice on Calvarj^ and the service of the high priest in 
 entering into the Holy of Holies, sacrificing " the abomination of the 
 Egyptians," could never have originated in the habit of worship to 
 which Moses was accustomed, and had its origin in the same Divine 
 call, teaching, and power, which led him to forsake Eg3'pt, " not from 
 fear of the king but because he esteemed the reproach of Christ of 
 more value than all its treasures." I have never read the account of 
 these temples and the riches of the treasuries of the kings, and the 
 evidence of the wisdom afforded by these ruins, and the recorded fact 
 that from Pj'thagoras and Solon down to the time of the Roman 
 Empire the wise of other peoples resorted here for instruction, without 
 thinking how wondrous must have been the faith of Moses which 
 counted it all of no value for the reproach of Christ, and forsook it all. 
 
 This impression is infinitely greater here on the spot with the 
 palpable evidence before us how great was that wisdom and incalcula- 
 ble those riches, nor does the knowledge we have of the fact that the 
 kingdom did descend sometimes in the female line render improbable 
 the belief, transmitted by tradition, that Moses, as the adopted son of 
 the daughter of the king, was heir of all the power the possession of 
 which inflated the pride of Pharaoh and led him to despise the judg- 
 ments of the God of the Hebrews. It was Divine power working in 
 Moses to will and to do of His good pleasure, and that alone, which 
 enabled him to overcome by faith the visible present power of the great 
 king ; whether he were Rameses or Setho or some less noted Pharaoh 
 matters but little. 
 
 29th. 
 The song of the morning greeted our ears as we lay quietly 
 under the sandstone cliffs on the Lybian side of the Nile at Silsilis, 
 reminding me of the thought I so delight in, that as moment by 
 moment the earth turns round in its diurnal revolutions on its axis, 
 bringing the dawn in unceasing renewal every where on its surface, 
 so from some part of its habitable parts this song arises eternally. 
 Curlews and plover led the strain with their cry, and as we drifted into 
 the fringe of palms and acacia on the opposite shore the softer notes 
 
 472
 
 of the warblers and the deep bass of the wild geese filled up the 
 diapason. 
 
 As we loosed from the shore the soft light of the morn lay quietly 
 sleeping on the sandstone and illuminating the recesses of the ancient 
 quarries, and casting shades into the openings of the grottoes, but soon 
 the dark curtains of the morning which hung over the Arabian shore 
 were all aglow, changing from rose to amber, and coloring the wide 
 spread bosom of the Nile as deeply as when under the uplifted rod of 
 Aaron its waters became blood indeed. Then the soft saffron yielded 
 to the clear blue, and these glories lingered till the " wheels of amber 
 and of gold " rolled above the horizon, and palms and acacias and 
 sycamores laughed in the fresh glory of the new-born day. 
 
 We had drifted with the silent majestic current, out of the savage 
 cliffs, into the wide expanse of the cultivated plain. The hills on the 
 Arabian side receding here some miles, and the desert itself yielding to 
 the vivifjnng influence of the life-giving water, and smiling and blos- 
 soming as the rose. It is the fertile plain I had overlooked from the 
 top of the cliffs on Saturday morning. 
 
 We have passed beyond the region of crocodiles and shall be 
 obliged to content ourselves with the sight Wistar and I caught of the 
 monster a day or two since. This is a grievous disappointment to 
 those who were less fortunate and who had fancied them strewn along 
 the bank " thick as the leaves in Vallambrosa," and fancied here and 
 there a Hippopotamus disporting in the stream. The variety of birds 
 is great and the beauty of the strip of fertile land unwearying though 
 the same. 
 
 12 M., January 29. 
 
 The calm majestic current of the stream has borne us ver3- rapidly 
 down, until we have already pa.ssed the ruins of the Saracenic fortified 
 town on the east bank which stands half way between Edfoo and 
 Silsilis. There has been much cotton planted, now nearly ripe on both 
 banks, and many very beautiful groves of trees. The shadoofs are 
 placed every hundred yards at the furthest, and are kept busily at 
 work. 
 
 This is the first day we have felt warm since we landed in Egypt. 
 It is perfectly calm, the sun so hot as to drive us from the deck, and 
 even in the cabin I am more comfortable without my coat than with it. 
 There has not been an hour before since we left Cairo in which I 
 could not have borne my overcoat, and very few in which it would not 
 have added to nij^ comfort when sitting quiet. We met a dahabeyah on 
 its way up, flying the Stars and Stripes, and cross of St. George. We 
 therefore infer she carries a mingled company of both nations. Three 
 others are in sight, descending like ourselves. The whole day was a 
 fine summer temperature. The thermometer we have is not very 
 reliable, but indicated 78° in the saloon of the cabin.
 
 We reached Edfoo about 2 p. m., having made 22 miles in 8 hours, 
 passing through scenes varied from the most savage wildness to the 
 highest culture. Cotton, wheat, lupins, and sugar cane. We have 
 just returned to the district to which the latter culture extends from 
 the north. It is not seen further south than Edfoo. The Sakkia is 
 less common here than it is further south. Where the Khedive has 
 cane plantations he has erected steam pumping machinery. All other 
 culture is watered by the Shadoof 
 
 The permanence of race and independence of color or climate and 
 solar influence is very striking!}' exhibited. I have seen nude men as 
 white as myself working at the shadoof, fully exposed to the direct 
 rays of the sun and atmosphere, directly associated with Nubians as 
 black as my coat, and Arabs of a dark copper color, and Copts of a 
 hue intermediate. This could not be if color and form were depen- 
 dent on climate and exposure. The influence of the kind of labour in 
 developing form is I suppose equalh' manifest. The movement at the 
 shadoof, which is the greatest and most uniform labour, is well 
 adapted to bring into play all the muscles equally. It is hard labour 
 and also requires skill. The force is expended in pulling down the 
 empty skin bucket. The weight of the body is thrown on the pole as 
 an assistant to the muscular povi-er in overcoming the weight of the 
 mass of hardened cla}- at the end of the lever, which raises the bucket 
 filled with water by the mere gravitation of its mass, the muscles being- 
 then used only in guiding the bucket and steadying it in its ascent 
 and then emptying it. The height of lift of each stage is from 12 to 
 15 feet. This motion is repeated without cessation during the entire 
 da3^ The bodies of the men shine in the sun with the perspiration, 
 and their feet and legs are drenched unceasingly with the water which 
 leaks or flows over the rude skin bucket, or in some cases palm leaf 
 mat basket. 
 
 It is certainly true that these poor fellow men earn their bread by 
 the sweat of the brow, and little it is they earn for themselves. Their 
 clothing can give them no " anxious thought," it consists of nothing 
 more than a half j-ard of cotton cloth worn as an apron, most care- 
 fully and unceasingl}' it is true, and their appetites must be small and 
 their taste limited within the most narrow bounds. A leek, an onion, 
 some green leaves of lettuce or radish, or sweet pea, or clover, consti- 
 tutes the variety ; and a dried date the luxury, while hard bread of 
 doura or millet, and lupins or coarse beans, are the staple. In the cane 
 districts they indulge in sucking the cane, as we do in common fruits, 
 as a luxury of indulgence. 
 
 The sakkia worked b}'^ oxen, cows, or buffaloes, raises more water 
 for irrigation, but requires more capital. Rude as is the wheel, in a 
 country where wood is so scarce and money scarcer still, it is a costly 
 machine. Any but an Egyptian would stand aghast if asked to form 
 a wheel, no matter how irregular its radii, of such materials. It has a 
 central hub, and branches of ever}' kind but straight radiate from it ; 
 and the periphery does end where it began, thus closing the circle, 
 
 474
 
 but if laid out it would form anything but a straight or even regularly 
 serpentine line. Between the outer end of each of the radii a jar is tied 
 on an endless rope, while the projecting end catches like a cog, in a per- 
 pendicular wheel in a similar projection from a similar wheel, which 
 works horizontally, a little above the surface of the ground. Levers 
 are fixed to the hub of this horizontal wheel, a foot or more above it, to 
 which the cattle are fastened and travel in a ceaseless round. There 
 are relaj^s of cattle standing by, and the driver who sits on the 
 horizontal wheel must be relieved also. Every joint of the rude 
 machine creaks with the strain, and we hear night and day the not 
 unmusical sound. 
 
 Sister Jane this morning asserted that the music of the statue of 
 the young INIemuon was no fiction, and ma}^ still be heard by any one 
 who watches the dawning daj' and listens. I hear "the song of early 
 bird," but she insists it is not that, and rejects scornfully my sug- 
 gestion of the sakkia as its source. But in the perfect absence of 
 all other sound, borne from the distance on the surface of the water, it 
 is truly a melody much more to m}' taste than the quartette singing 
 of our maltese servants. 
 
 But O ! these sweet warblers ! so numerous, so beautiful and, 
 sure of no disturbance, so tame. The early day is full of the song of 
 the various warblers, who here find refuge from the rigor of more 
 Northern climes, to which they resort in turn when the heat of sum- 
 mer drives them from this more hospitable home. Some do not 
 migrate. We saw yesterday two beautiful Hoopoes. They were fight- 
 ing and therefore so absorbed that we could stand and admire their crests 
 erected, spread like the tail of a peacock, and their beautiful varied 
 white and blue-black plumage. Then every sand-bank is an aviary on 
 which cranes of many sizes and colors, from pure white through all 
 the shades of blue and gray, are standing in rows ; and flocks of geese 
 with white bodies and black wings, lie along the shore ; while vultures 
 soar above, and hawks and kites skim gracefully through the air, and 
 king-fishers hover over the water and drop upon their prey. 
 
 EdFOO, Jany. 30. 
 We reached the bank at which travellers always stop to visit this 
 temple about 2 p. m. yesterday. Very soon after the dragoman handed 
 me a note dated i p. m. from Mrs. Betts expressing their great regret 
 that they should leave before our arrival and kindly suggesting a way 
 by which your mother could visit the Temple which is a mile and a 
 half distant. The bank is here so high that she could not climb it and 
 she would not consent to be carried up. Mrs. B. had found another 
 landing place to which she was taken in the felucca and from which 
 she had walked, and thought your mother could ride. Both Friezier 
 and the dragoman rudely asserted it could not be as Mrs. Betts said, 
 
 475
 
 so I determined immediately after dinner to trj"^ for myself; and your 
 Uncle and I started off to explore. 
 
 In doing so we visited the Temple itself, having first found the 
 other road and decided that even by it your mother must be carried 
 either on donkeys or by men. I was quite exhausted myself by the 
 fatigue, but felt the compensation so perfect that I would gladly have 
 prevailed on your mother to make the experiment. Mr. Longstreth 
 and Miss Harris took the boat to learn what the landing place was 
 like and reported that she must be carried ashore by men. She has 
 therefore given up the greatest pleasure of the voyage, which I regret 
 greatly. 
 
 This temple, though not ancient for Egypt, having been erected by 
 the later Ptolemies during the two centuries before the birth of our 
 IvOrd (I am learning to love and prize more highly that mode of ex- 
 pressing an epoch) on the site of an older one of the date of the early 
 Pharaohs, still stands so little injured by time that it furnishes a per- 
 fect pattern of the Egyptian place of worship of all the ages during 
 which they did honor to their gods and their successive sovereigns, of 
 whatever dynasty, as the children and representatives of their gods. 
 There seems to have been no hesitation about the transfer of the Divine 
 with the sovereign right by possession, and unhappily here as else- 
 where the ei-asure, by the de facto possessor, of the figures of prede- 
 cessors, has sadly defaced the temple. 
 
 The Pylon, like the great Cathedral of Milan, towers above everj' 
 surrounding object, and its twin truncated p^^amids may be seen from 
 the river for manj^ miles. As one approaches it by land traversing 
 wheat fields laid off in small squares by the arrangements for irrigation, 
 and glowing with the most vivid green, one soon detects the winged 
 globe of immortalit}' hovering over the gateway which lies between 
 them ; and sees the gigantic figures of the kings and queens and gods 
 sculptured on the exterior faces of the ma.ssive walls sloping from 
 before and from either side, and rising to the height of at least sixty 
 or eighty feet. As you draw nearer the lower portions are concealed 
 by the huts of the present village raised on mounds composed of the 
 ruins of the dwellings of former generations. 
 
 A canal which carries the water of the river at its flood so as to 
 irrigate i' e more remote fields, but which is now nearly empt}-, we 
 crossed b}' a bridge laid for the Prince of Wales on occasion of his 
 visit ; and mounting between one storied huts of sun dried brick, 
 amid clustering crowds of children of all ages, destitute of even the 
 fig leaf clothing of the shadoof workers, while their mothers and 
 fathers sit within the little court yards, which open by door ways only 
 on the street, and with goats and sheep and turke3'S and chickens and 
 pigeons, none of them disposed to move at our approach, we could 
 see directly into their houses as we passed. They are furnished with 
 water jars, we could see nothing more ; and sheep, goats, donke3-s, 
 fowls and lords of the creation would seem to hold possession in com- 
 mon, within the walls as well as without. 
 
 476 
 
 I
 
 Through lane after lane we followed a self-constituted guide till 
 reaching the top of the mound, which is entirely covered by such 
 houses, we saw the temple at our feet in the midst of a hollow which 
 has been excavated within a few years by Mons. Marietce, under the 
 patronage of the Khedive ; and at the cost of some four or five thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 We descended by a rude flight of steps and found ourselves on the 
 pavement of sandstone which had been trodden by the priests and 
 worshipers of two thousand years ago and has lain buried in rubbish 
 certainly during 70 or 80 generations. Along the lower ranges were 
 sculptured smaller figures of gods and kings, intermingled with stela 
 and hieroglyphic inscriptions, while above in successive stages were 
 larger figures of conquering heroes, with uplifted battle-axes, while 
 cowering suppliants knelt before them with outstretched arms, ask- 
 ing for mercy. Tiaras and caps, emblematic of the crowns of Upper 
 and Lower Eg5'pt, towered above the heads of the kings, while Ibis 
 heads and Crocodile heads and figures of the Sun and Moon crowned 
 and designated the several gods. 
 
 Of some the faces were beautiful, all were well executed, but the 
 hand of the spoiler had been at work, in man}^ cases having erased 
 the features entirely, and in others so hacked and disfigured them that 
 nothing was left beyond the mere outline. The hieroglj'phic signs of 
 immortality, and life, and power, were repeated ever3'where, while kings 
 and queens, in the character of gods, received homage in some places, 
 and in others themselves made offerings of lotus, and papyrus, and 
 fruits, and birds, to the gods. Though some parts of the upper portions 
 of the Pylon have fallen, and some stones are said to have been iised 
 for building by the modern rulers, the entire outline of the temple 
 stands unbroken. 
 
 The front is about 200 feet wide. In the centre is the gate wa}^ 
 about 50 feet wide, through which one looks into the inner court, 
 across which, at a distance of 100 feet, stretches a row of columns with 
 richly sculptured capitals ornamented with lotus and papyrus and 
 palm leaves and united about half their height b}^ a screen, each 
 division of which is crowned by a sculptured winged globe, the wings 
 of one touching, with their tips, those of their fellows, as did those of 
 the cherubim covering the Mercy Seat. 
 
 On either side of the Pylon was a narrower door way b}- which 
 one enters a passage about eight feet wide and well paved, which goes 
 entirely around the cell of the temple. The inner side of the ot:ter 
 wall and the outer side of that of the cell of the temple are covered 
 with sculptures and hieroglyphics, some beautifully executed, even 
 when almost as small as the letters of our own print. Many of the 
 figures are represented in boats engaged in spearing hippopotami. 
 Chains, with well formed oval and twisted links, are clearly cut ; and 
 the forms of the animals, birds, beasts, fishes, and serpents, are faith- 
 fully represented. High up near the top of the wall of the cell of the 
 temple blocks project on an uniform level, each having on it the figure 
 
 477
 
 of a sphynx. At the end of the lateral passages a transverse one 
 passes across the rear of the cell of the temple proper. 
 
 Here there is a very long and elaborate inscription in hieroglyphics. 
 At either side is an entrance into chambers in the rear of the temple, 
 which are still covered by stone roofs adorned on the inner side by 
 stars and winged globes. 
 
 These roofs are pierced by square openings at regular intervals 
 allowing a dim religious light to fall into the chambers, half reveal- 
 ing the sculptures and hieroglj'phics with which the walls are covered 
 from the floor to the ceiling. These chambers open into each other 
 and also into the larger sanctuary which stands in the midst directly 
 opposite to the gate wa}' through the Pylon. 
 
 This middle one is larger and better lighted than the others and 
 has standing in one corner a shrine of black syenite resembling an 
 immense chest set on end, or a closet. The mass is about 20 feet 
 high by about 12 feet square ; a single block, cracked at one corner, 
 but still perfect. It is covered within with hieroglj-phic inscriptions. 
 A winged globe stretches above the door M'ay and the frame is covered 
 by them also. It has certainly been brought into this inner sanctuary 
 since it was completed as it stands on the stone pavement and the 
 wall behind it is covered with sculptures and hieroglyphics as fully 
 as in other parts. 
 
 From this inner sanctuary- we emerged into the court into which 
 the outer entrance through the Pylon leads. It is separated from the 
 inner sanctuary bj' the screen and columns to which I referred when 
 I described the appearance presented as we entered the first gate way. 
 At both the inner and outer door ways are corner holes to receive the 
 pivots on which the doors revolved with a semi-circular ledge or tram 
 way on which it traversed as it was opened and shut. A hole in the 
 centre of the threshold was evidently designed to receive the bolt by 
 which it was secured when closed. 
 
 The outer court was, I should think, 100 feet square. The one side 
 was formed by the inner wall of the towers of the Pylon, sculptured 
 with colossal figures of gods and heroes in attitudes of offering and 
 receiving gifts. That which faced the opening was formed of columns 
 with capitals and the screen rising to about 12 feet, or half the height 
 of the columns. There were 16 columns on either side covered by an 
 entablature running around, like the cloisters of monasteries, or the 
 colonnade in front of St. Peter's. These columns were about 24 feet 
 high and each crowned with a richly sculptured capital ; those opposite 
 to each other corresponding in device. 
 
 The design of the temple is simple. An outer court by which you 
 approach, which at Karnac and elsewhere is lined b}^ sphynxes or 
 other mj'thological figures. Then the P3'lon with its lofty towers in 
 which are stair ways by which one can ascend to the summit. Through 
 the central gateway in this, entrance is had to the court surrounded 
 by a covered way with supporting columns. Directly opposite to the 
 entrance is a sanctuarj^ the entrance into which is flanked by columns, 
 
 478
 
 between which rises a screen to shut off from vulgar eyes the abode of 
 the priests and the shrine of the gods. 
 
 Opening from this, chambers, like the chambers of imagery which 
 the prophet* saw intruded by the idolatrous priests into the very- 
 sanctuary of the temple of the living God, and what is more closely to 
 the purpose, dark as are these chambers with their stone roofs exclud- 
 ing the day, except as its light falls through a small opening from 
 above, there are in the floor openings, which evidently descend to 
 deeper and darker chambers below. If one wishes to prize the liberty 
 wherewith ' ' Christ has made us free ' ' let him visit one of these tem- 
 ples, the fossil remains of a blinding superstition which held in bond- 
 age to the tyranny of human power the possession of the few, the will 
 and conscience of the many ; substituted for the judgment seat of 
 Christ, the tribunal of Osiris ; and for the one Advocate and Interces- 
 sor ofl^ering His own blood, the intercession of minor gods and the 
 offerings of men of like passions with ourselves. 
 
 The type of all false religions and superstitions is the same ; each 
 has its sacred shrine ; its class of priests ; its powerful advocates ; its 
 terrors of punishment ; its burdensome rites and ceremonies ; its costly 
 offerings ; and, where accumulated wealth permits, its more or less 
 magnificent temples. But the teaching of the Apostle when, standing 
 on Mars Hill, he had before his view the highest perfection of beauty 
 to which this type ever attained, spoiled its glory by the grand enun- 
 ciation : " God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that 
 he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with 
 hands, neither is worshipped with men's hands as though He needed 
 anything, seeing Yl&givcth to all life, and breath, and all things." The 
 blessed liberty wherewith " Christ hath made us free" from the bon- 
 dage of superstition, is an inheritance most highly to be prized and 
 most sacredly kept. The high and might}- one who inhabiteth eteriiity, 
 looks to the contrite one that trembles at His word ; and we have " one 
 Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who gave Him- 
 self once an offering for us all and ever liveth to make intercession 
 for us." 
 
 The massive grandeur of this temple of Edfoo with its lofty P3don, 
 its first court surrounded by columns with sculptured shafts and capi- 
 tals, separated by a row of other columns from the inner court and 
 more sacred shrine, and these surrounded again by cells all covered 
 with hieroglyphics, is certainly imposing to the senses, but is destitute 
 of attraction for the affections. It moves awe, not love. 
 
 We got under way from Edfoo about noon. The sun was very 
 powerful, the w-ater looking still as a lake, yet flowing with a current 
 of some five miles an hour ; just breeze enough to give a pleasant sense 
 of fanning to the surface of the body and keep it cool. The grand old 
 temple stood majestically as though, like a dignified host, it would see 
 the last of its transient guest and wish him silently God speed ; the 
 
 *Bzekiel, 8th chap., 12th verse. 
 
 479
 
 green banks of the river were like an emerald setting to a diamond 
 band, and the beautiful rows of tamarisk trees with feathery plumage 
 of a grayish hue, lay between the deep rich green of the wheat clad 
 shore and the everlasting desolation of the desert and the mountains, 
 which shut in the whole like a garden well watered and well guarded. 
 Far away above us stretched the valley of the Nile with its palm 
 groves fading in the long-drawn vista of the distant perspective. Be- 
 fore us, as we turned our faces Northward, lay boundless stretches of 
 yellow sand and the rugged outline of sandstone hills. 
 
 The river has fallen perceptibly since we went up a month ago, 
 the wheat is heading and the cotton ripening its boles, while the tufted 
 lupin patches are relieved by the beautiful blue flowering pea which is 
 now just perfect, and is being cut and carried away on donkeys which 
 are hidden beneath, their green burdens, tinted with blue. 
 
 January 31, 1872. 
 
 This has been one of the most interesting days in Egypt. About 
 sun.set last evening we reached El Kab, the ancient Eileith3das, a very 
 old city of which now nothing remains but the crude brick wall by 
 which it was enclosed. A tablet was found here having on it the date 
 of one of the kings of the 12th Dynast}-, which reigned at Thebes from 
 the year 2020 to i860 before the coming of our lyord, that is, according 
 to the received chronology, about the date of Abraham. In this valley, 
 at a short distance, are found the ruins of a small temple of a later 
 though vStill ancient date, which possesses no special attraction beyond 
 its antiquit\', as we still see on a tablet the fresh inscription, in hiero- 
 glyphic characters, by which it is dedicated by Rameses II (the great 
 conqueror who lived 1300 years before the Christian era) to the worship 
 of Ra, or the Sun. 
 
 Our way to these temples lay across a plain the entire soil of which 
 is filled with some alkali which gives a white appearance to the surface 
 and crunches under our feet as we walked, precisely as a thin fall of 
 snow covered by a frozen surface does in earh' winter at home. I put 
 some into my mouth, which has not yet lost its saline taste, after the 
 lapse of more than an hour, and having chewed a dry biscuit. 
 
 There were evident traces of torrents having washed gullies in 
 various places, and the light shower we had on the river last evening 
 must have been a heavy fall of rain on the desert, as it had not only 
 run in some places but stood in pools in others, and in some the sand 
 was still moist enough to take the impression of the foot of the pas- 
 senger. Scattered over the face of the desert were nodules of flint and 
 other stones rolled and evidently brought there b}' water. I gathered 
 my pockets full, though I suppose they may prove nothing but flints, 
 perhaps agates. They will at least serve as paper weights from the 
 land of the Pharaohs. 
 
 480
 
 After looking at the ruins of the temple, and the inscriptions on 
 the tablets there, we followed our guide along the edge of the sand- 
 stone cliff, which is pierced by many holes which have been tombs. 
 He led us to one in an upper range, which we entered, and found our- 
 selves introduced into a contemporaneous representation of the habits, 
 and manners, and religious rites of the people who dwelt here in the 
 days of Moses. 
 
 Sculptured figures on the lintels and door frames which are cut in 
 the rock, tell us that it is the tomb of a captain of the fleet. As j'ou 
 enter, on the left are parallel lines of figures arranged in rows. On 
 one we see a chariot and pair of horses in which the owner of an estate, 
 supposed to be him for whom the tomb is designed, enters a field in 
 which labourers are working with hoes (just such as they use to-day), 
 ploughing with oxen, and sowing wheat, On the next line above, the 
 labourers are reaping wheat with sickles, and pulling doura by the 
 stalk, and binding both in bundles which are being carried away on 
 their heads. On the next line they are threshing the wheat by driving 
 oxen over it ; in another compartment, winnowing it by throwing it up 
 in the wind ; in another measuring it into bags, while a clerk takes 
 record of the quantity, which is then carried to granaries to be stored 
 in heaps. In still another line are scales in which men are weighing 
 gold money, which is represented in rings. A weight is in the one 
 scale and the money in the other, while the weigher is moving a pea 
 along the balance lever with his hand. 
 
 On the same side, further toward the inner end, are represented 
 funeral services and ofiferings ; below which nets are being drawn, from 
 which fishes are taken. The process of taking off" the scales and 
 putting them in jars with salt, is shown very clearly. Other servants 
 are bringing geese and ducks and antelopes, apparently designed for 
 sacrifice. 
 
 The figures are not so beautiful as those sculptured on the obelisks, 
 but sufficiently well executed to leave no room to question what object 
 they are designed to represent. In another compartment is an exceed- 
 ingly interesting series representing the culture and gathering of 
 grapes, pressing them, and putting the wine into jars. The vine is not 
 now known in Egypt. But the trellis work on which it is trained, the 
 peculiar foliage and bunches of grapes are very distinctly represented. 
 Men are emptying the grapes from baskets into a vat, in which others 
 stand trampling them with their feet while they steady themselves by 
 ropes suspended from a beam above their heads. In another compart- 
 ment, still on the same side of the grotto, sheep, asses and pigs are 
 being numbered. It is as if an inventory of the possessions of the 
 deceased inscribed on the wall of his tomb ; and then follows the 
 lesson of the transfer of himself across Acheron to the land Amenti. 
 
 The rear end of the grotto is occupied by a deep niche in which are 
 three figures the size of life, seated, but their heads have been so 
 entirely defaced that I could not satisfy myself which of the Triads it 
 was designed to represent.
 
 At the rear of the right hand wall, seated on massive arm chairs, 
 are a man and woman supposed to represent the possessor of the tomb 
 and his wife. The legs of the chairs are gracefully curved like those 
 of our old-fashioned mahogany chairs, and like them the feet are 
 carved. To one of them a monkey is tied. The pet of our dragoman 
 might have been the original. The band passes around his body at the 
 same place in his loins, and he sits in the same attitude as this assumes 
 almost hourly. Just before this picture there is an opening in the wall 
 which communicates with other vaults on a lower level and at the 
 entrance are square openings about 2 by 6 feet which descend perpen- 
 dicularly at least 20 or 30 feet. 
 
 The whole side of the mountain is excavated and there are galleries 
 by which the different grottoes or caverns or tombs communicate, not 
 only with those on the same level but above and below them. As we 
 follow the right wall, after passing the doorway mentioned, we see 
 guests seated at an entertainment ; men in one row and women with 
 bouquets of lotus flowers in another. A harp and flute and cymbals 
 are represented near the host and hostess, behind are servants bearing 
 viands of man}' varieties from the place where they are being prepared. 
 Near the door is a representation of a dahabeyah with its raised cabin 
 gaily painted and the rowers seated near the prow. As we rode back 
 to the dahabeyah we saw green wheat fields being watered ; near this 
 the stumps of doura stalks which had been just gathered ; a threshing 
 floor over which a man was driving oxen, cows and donkeys to tread 
 out the grain. The house of the owner was shaded by a noble syca- 
 more fig tree. The beautiful acanthus lined the way to it along the top 
 of the bank of the Nile, and people were squatted on the shore in the 
 same attitude and attire as the labourers in the picture in the tomb of 
 4000 years ago. 
 
 February i, 1872. 
 The wind blew such a hurricane yesterday afternoon that we were 
 compelled, nothing loth it is true, to lie at the shore of El Kab with its 
 beautiful S3'camore trees sheltering the one house, occupied by a tribe 
 of natives, whose wheat and doura plantations responded lovingly to 
 the ample supply of water which they labouriously poured upon it ; 
 while acanthus trees hung their golden buttons amid the delicate 
 foliage along the line which separated the desert, as they did of old 
 when as shittim wood their congeners furnished the bush that "burned 
 but was not consumed," on the edge of another desert near the mount 
 of God, and supplied the material from which was made the ark of the 
 Covenant, the table, and the altar. Common earth born wood to be 
 overlaid with gold, beautiful type of human souls covered with Divine 
 glory by the power of the Holy Ghost.
 
 The wind sank with the setting sun, who now pours his golden 
 glory as he rises to another day above a wild looking mountain range ; 
 and lights into the smiles of exquisite beauty the green slope which 
 extends beside us as we lie waiting for the man dispatched to seek 
 milk at the village, hidden by the grove of palm trees which stands 
 be5-ond. How strongly such a scene revives the lesson of our Lord 
 who teaches that God makes his sun to shine on the unthankful and 
 evil ! There lies the desert burning with her noon day influence and 
 yielding nothing in return for the soft benizon of his morning raj^, 
 while here blossoms with verdure and laughs with fertility the narrow 
 strip which, drinking in the grace of the river, brings forth fruit to the 
 glory of the giver and reward of the labourer. 
 
 We have here, now, a fresh illustration of the inadaptabilit}' of the 
 Nile vo3'age to serious invalids. Yesterday was a day to be marked 
 with a white stone so genial was the temperature notwithstanding the 
 high wind. When we retired last night we decided it was an unrivalled 
 da}'. This morning it is positively cold, requiring all the warm wraps 
 we have with us for the comfort of those in perfect health. Another 
 dahabe3^ah on its way down lies beside us in mid stream, the strength 
 of the current and the force of the wind balancing each other so that 
 even oars give but little progress, and I hear them announce a steam 
 boat in sight having a dahabe5-ah in tow on its way up the river. As 
 I lift my ej^es to see them pass they rest upon an utterly barren waste 
 of sand. Strong contrast with the beautiful verdure I saw but a few 
 minutes ago in close proximity. To that man has applied the bounty 
 of the river, thus causing it to bring forth food for the sower, and it is 
 said that water applied to any part of the surface will cause it to bear 
 fruit. God's grace needs man's acceptance and voluntary use of it, not 
 once only but continually, or it flows by us in vain. 
 
 12 Noon, February ist. 
 
 The strong cold North wind driving against the current raised so 
 rough a sea that I have been quite " sea sick " all the morning. Our 
 progress has been but slow, yet we have drifted around the rugged 
 range, on the south side of which are the temples and grottoes we 
 visited j-esterday, and find ourselves abreast of the spot where on our 
 way up we saw the people gathering the stones which are said to con- 
 tain soda which is used in some waj'' in making the water jars. We 
 thus learn the source from which the deposit on the plain on the oppo- 
 site side is derived. After we came on board some of the part}' wan- 
 dered around the old walls and picked up ver}' beautiful purple agates. 
 Your mother and I did not hear of it till late at night or I should have 
 gone ashore and sought some also. 
 
 The wind became so strong, loaded with the fine dust of sand, that 
 we are obliged to come to the shore some miles above Esne, which is 
 concealed from view by the driving clouds of sand. I landed and 
 
 483
 
 walked across a field from which a crop of doura has been gathered 
 recently. Castor oil plants are scattered about among the ridges, on 
 the boughs of which the beautiful green Merops sit warbling, almost 
 regardless of our approach. The ground is covered with a short 
 growth of diminutive pretty, pale pink-coloured convolvulus, lettuce, 
 diminutive Solanum, and some Cummin or Anise, with a very pretty 
 light lilac-coloured flower, which we saw cultivated near the house of 
 the proprietor in a large bed. The appearance of the plant resembles 
 fennel, but it is small and the seed vessels are round while those of the 
 sweet fennel are oblong and flattened. 
 
 The proprietor must be of the richer order, as he has a field of 
 sugar cane, and one of cotton still growing. When we approached the 
 house we saw a cloud of dust which we found arose from the winnow- 
 ing of the doura. Oxen were being driven around a central stake to 
 which three or four were tethered by a cord, thus treading out the seed 
 from the head, which had been plucked from the stalk, and men with 
 many-pronged wooden forks were tossing it in the air from a similar 
 floor which lay adjoining ; thus exhibiting the practice of to-day, 
 unchanged from that of 3000 years ago. So soon as he saw our 
 approach the chief man, in noway distinguished from the others, prob- 
 ably his children and slaves, came forward with much talk, which we 
 of course could not understand, but calling to the dragoman he told us 
 it was an offer of eggs for sale. There was nothing more to be seen, so 
 I returned to the boat where your mother sits quietly embroidering a 
 canvas pattern with worsted and silk, while I read to her, when my 
 attention is not withdrawn by some object passing on the high bank. 
 Just at this moment your mother drew my attention to "some sticks 
 of wood the}- are bringing" ; on looking I find it is bundles of sugar 
 cane. I had told the crew I would pay for as much as they wanted, 
 and find they have brought a dollar's worth. On my paying for it they 
 cheered me most lustilj'. and sat down to it like so many children 
 round an emptied sugar hogshead before a grocer's door ; laughing 
 heartily when I made signs to them which indicated my conviction 
 of the painful consequence of their indulgence. 
 
 February 2d. 
 Yesterday was so cold that we gladly sat below, shut up in our 
 several rooms and wrapped in heav\- clothing. The atmosphere was 
 filled with the fine dust of sand, obscuring the sun. The dragoman 
 shot some pretty green merops and two or three larger birds with top- 
 knots and burnished plumage which he calls " carawan." About 7 in 
 the evening we got off and drifted slowly down to Esne near which we 
 saw a steamboat and dahabeyah, gaily lighted within and without with 
 lanterns. It is said to convey Lord Dudley who having extended civili- 
 ties to the Khedive was at Cairo as his guest, occupying one of the 
 
 484
 
 I 
 
 palaces when we passed through, and is on his way up the river. 
 This morning the wind has not yet risen, but we lie at Esn^, as the 
 dragoman has some sugar to buy and nothing can be had before lo 
 A. M. at which time the faithful go to the mosque before they open the 
 Bazaar. . 
 
 We visited the temple here on our way to Assouan. It is of the 
 days of the Ptolemies and Caesars. It is in good preservation, but 
 buried in the accumulated rubbish of the ages which have passed. 
 The portico has been disinterred and a small portion of the body of the 
 temple, which is used by the Khedive as a warehouse. We looked 
 down into it and admired the massive pillars covered with sculp- 
 tured figures of the God Amunoph who is represented with a Ram's 
 head, though this is said to have been the special place of worship of 
 a fish called Latus which had the power of giving a shock to whatever 
 touched it. It is said still to be found in the Nile, but Dr. Kingsley 
 was vainly offering backsheesh to any one who would bring one to 
 him. There is a Romish convent here and it is said to have been the 
 site of martj'rdom of Christians in the persecution of Diocletian. 
 Shall our descendants ever fall from the profession of the faith of 
 Christ and our land become as dark as this now is, where once shined 
 the light of the glorious gospel and was so prized that men died rather 
 than deny him ? 
 
 12 Noon. 
 
 We are destined to little progress to-day. Soon after breakfast we 
 started. The sun was bright and warm, the wind cool and strong. 
 Your mother, who wears her thickest flannel undergarments and her 
 thick winter dress, put on all her quilted wrappers, her water proof 
 cloak, my blanket shawl, and a black woolen handkerchief around her 
 neck and a brown barege veil over her head, then dear Mellie's silk 
 hood, and over all her Leghorn flat tied down under her chin, with a 
 thick muslin cover outside of this descending in a long veil behind 
 and before. Thus equipped she took her seat on the sofa on deck 
 when I tucked around her the carriage blanket and raised over her my 
 umbrella to screen her from the sun and wind as best I could, while 
 she drove her needle as usual through her embroiderj^ and we listened 
 to your aunt Jane reading, alternating these occupations with watch- 
 ing the passing panorama. 
 
 Between the strength of wind and water contending with each 
 other, we were whirled round and round like a chip in a stream and 
 made perhaps about 5 miles of progress, during all which we have 
 been still in sight of Esn^ with its minaret and palaces. This is a 
 strong expression, but it possesses the residence of a governor, and a 
 very beautiful house and garden, formerly the residence of and owned 
 by the grandfather of the Khedive. It appears to be kept in good 
 order and presents a very attractive aspect. 
 
 485
 
 Two dahabeyahs floated like ourselves at the mercj^ of the wind 
 and current, and thus proved how large is the number of foreigners 
 resorting here every winter. Two steamboats were also in sight at one 
 time, as well as the chimnej'S of a pumping engine ; all fed with coal 
 imported from England. 
 
 So soon as we were compelled to stake our boat I stepped ashore. 
 Fields of wheat, cucumbers, tobacco, lentils, and lupins were spread 
 around as I walked some distance, and could not but admire the patient 
 industry of the people. Every inch is literally watered by the foot of 
 the cultivator. The land is laid out in squares of about 6 or 8 feet 
 each wa5^ divided by ridges. Through these run channels which are 
 supplied with water from the shadoofs. We certainly should despair 
 of our supplies were we dependent on such labourious culture. We saw 
 them bringing on donkcA's, panniers full of fertilizer to spread as a top 
 dressing to the wheat fields, but could not ascertain whether it is the 
 earth dug out of some ruined town, or earth mingled with pigeon dung. 
 Thousands of these flocked on every side, and the air was filled with 
 the music of the little warblers, who sat upon the ground, as there 
 were no plants on which the}^ could rest. The vetches were in flower 
 and there were enough of the beautiful flowers of convolvulus to give 
 as much grief to the cultivator as Harry finds from the same plant at 
 Ivy Neck. 
 
 The dr}' channel of a canal for carrj'ing water to the more distant 
 fields at the time of highest inundation, was used as a fold for sheep 
 and camels and donkej^s who grazed on the verj' short growth of grass 
 and were fed with the lettuce and other weeds which were plucked from 
 the wheat and bean fields. 
 
 Soon after dinner the wind lulled a little and our Reis gave the 
 order to "up stakes," and the crew took their places at the oars. 
 The}' pulled just enough to give headway to the boat, so that the pilot 
 may steer her, and we slowly floated along through the usual green 
 slopes and shadoofs and sakkias. Toward sunset we came in front of 
 one of the establishments of the Khedive, a series of lime kilns, and 
 some very extensive sugar works. Large barges lay at the shore dis- 
 charging their loads of cane which were carried on men's shoulders to 
 the mills. These were built of very fine dark coloured brick, which 
 were laid beautifully, and the plan of the buildings must have been 
 designed bj- an accomplished architect. There were several tall brick 
 chimne3-s as well proportioned and ornamental as those of Mr. Whit- 
 ney's works on Callowhill Street, and the arches of the doors and win- 
 dows were as well turned as those of the Academy of Music on Broad 
 Street. There were not less than a dozen tall iron chimneys in stacks 
 or ranges. The buildings must have had a front of looo feet. 
 
 ImmediateU^ joining them was the residence of the superintendent 
 which was built with an arcade in front and a second storj- retired 
 some twent}' feet. It was in a very large garden, enclosed by a high 
 wall, except immediately in front of the house there was an iron rail- 
 ing and handsome gate wa}-. Banana and pomegranate trees could be 
 
 486
 
 distinguished among the plants and the enclosure, proving that there 
 was attention to more than the mere necessary supplies for support. 
 It was a very attractive spot and under any other circumstances would 
 have been an indication of prosperity. Here we could only see the 
 power of the Khedive to overcome obstacles, by no matter what cost. 
 We were surprised to see the huge stream of waste water turned back 
 into the river — certainly it might be utilized for irrigation. The sun- 
 set was one of peculiarly soft beauty, but though the wind had lulled, 
 all the wrapping j-^our mother had on (as described this morning) was 
 insufficient to make her warm enough and we returned to our rooms. 
 Separated only by the river from the scene of agricultural and manu- 
 facturing prosperity I have described, stretched a range of savage cliffs 
 in alternate strata of red and yellow sandstone, flanked by rolling 
 heaps of sterile yellow sand which ran far away in the distance, and 
 were lost in the pathless desert which stretches away to the Red Sea. 
 
 February 3rd, Daybreak. 
 
 We are once more at Thebes ! that great city, mysterious and 
 famous in the dajs of Homer and Solomon. Familiarity with the 
 grand and solemn does not diminish its majesty. The sun's rays fall 
 on the sacred front of the awful range of hills which stretches away 
 along the western horizon, revealing the varied lines of white, and 
 yellow, and red, which add beauty to its sublimity. It stands there 
 like an impassable barrier to unknown regions beyond. All the inter- 
 vening vallej' is now shrouded in darkness except the broad line of the 
 mysterious River whose smooth surface reflects the glory of the molten 
 light which clothes these stern guardians of its flood passing silently, 
 solemnly, irrisistibly, on, on, on, like that narrow stream flowing 
 between the impassable barriers which guard the entrance and outlet 
 of earthly existence, which unites the incomprehensible oceans of a 
 past and a future eternity. I feel the deep and solemn awe with which 
 the sight firvSt impressed me, intensified bj^ the increased power to 
 comprehend all its associations acquired by the daily renewal of 
 similar scenes on our voyage to Assouan and back. 
 
 While I have thus recorded the impression made on me as I first 
 looked from my cabin window, the growing day has cast its light 
 upon the clouds above, and converted them into a canopy of purple 
 and gold, shutting out the fading stars ; throwing shadow on the 
 coloured barrier of the mountain range, revealing the palm groves and 
 green fields which border the river, and making its turbid stream a 
 stream of gold. Another change ! The rays of the sun have touched 
 the tips of the mountains, and they now shine, rather than glow as 
 they did when I first saw them, clothed with a uniform living mantle 
 of glorious light. Now there are points which shine supported by 
 deep dark shadows. Again a change ; and the tops of the palms have 
 caught the coming day and wave their feathery crowns, and bow 
 
 487
 
 before the breeze as in solemn adoration, while above all the clear 
 vault of heaven is spread in its unchangeable sublimity of depth, 
 with the clouds, so lately like gorgeous hangings, melting away into 
 solemn gray. It is a sight which once seen can never be forgotten. 
 
 The increasing daj'- now shines on the entire valley, and the silvery 
 sheen of the light from heaven conceals the turbid muddiness of the 
 river, while it shows us no less than six other dahabeyahs fastened to 
 its shore, from some of which the hum of voices proves that we have 
 fellow creatures in the midst of what was so recently our own in its 
 solitude and grandeur ; while the multitudes of the sweet little birds, 
 which chirp as they flit by the window, add their morning song to 
 the eloquence which would justify the m3^thic story of music from the 
 lips of the colossal statue of Amunoph which still stands, though in 
 fragmentary ruin, against those solemn hills in which lie the mum- 
 mified remains of the humming multitude who for so many genera- 
 tions peopled this 7iow solitary wilderness, during so many ages before 
 history began to chronicle the deeds of man except on the pages of the 
 rock which transmit their names and deeds to our day. 
 
 Feby. 5th. 
 
 How wonderful are the incidents of human life ! Here am I in the 
 eventide of life, seeking release from its responsibilities and cares and 
 anxieties, engaged in rendering professional services to Copts and 
 Arabs in unburned brick dwellings built around the columns of the 
 temple of Luxor ; those columns cut from the sandstone quarries of 
 Silsilis two thousand 5'ears before the Christian era and covered with 
 the sculptured figures of Egjptian gods. I, an American Protestant 
 believer in Jesus, some of m}' patients followers of Mahomet, others in 
 their delirium murmuring " Christiani " to elicit my sympathy; 
 all children of one Father and objects of the mercy and love of one 
 Redeemer who died not for me onl}' but gave himself a ransom for all, 
 pra^-ing even for those by whose wicked hands He was crucified and 
 slain. 
 
 Your dear mother has been confined to her bed by a pleurisy and 
 I have therefore not accompanied the others to Medinet Aboo and the 
 Rameseum where the}' spent the da3^ In going to my patients I pass 
 the grand Colonnade of the temple of lyiixor, and several isolated 
 figures of gods in black granite ; sitting figures of men with heads of 
 hawks, and dogs, and rams. Among the hovels, which are clustered 
 together like so many cells in a bee's nest in the great halls of the tem- 
 ple, I find cattle folded, donkeys stabled, poultrj' roosting, with their 
 owners. Yet amid this my " Christiani " patient lies on Turkey rugs 
 carefully tended by loving women. Her brother is one of the rich 
 men, has immediatelj- adjoining a mill for grinding wheat, another for 
 making oil from cotton seed. They are simple enough. The flour- 
 
 488 
 
 I
 
 mill consists of a large stone lying on the ground, bevelled from the 
 centre toward the circumference, on the upper surface of which revolves 
 another, which is concave on the lower surface, having a shaft attached 
 to a lever, and made to revolve by a horse who walks around the lower 
 stone. The wheat is supplied through a hole in the centre of the upper 
 stone and the meal removed from the edge of the lower. These stones 
 are brought from " the Houran or land of the Moabites," east of Jor- 
 dan, and are very hard and of fine grain. The cotton seeds are ground 
 in a similar mill, except that here the lower stone is concave and the 
 upper one revolves on the edge thus retaining the oil in the basin in 
 which the seed is ground. It is afterward pressed by a screw turned by 
 lever. The works though simple are all good. The oil is used for 
 mingling with their food, and by the Nubians for anointing the body. 
 I had quite a dispensary of rheumatism, dysentery, and typhoid- 
 pneumonia and ophthalmic cases. But if I shrink from responsibility 
 where I can understand the language of patients, what shall I do here, 
 not only dependent on an imperfect interpreter, but with no remedies 
 appropriate to the cases ? 
 
 February 6th. 
 
 I am more and more impressed with the unsuitable character of 
 the Nile climate as a resort for invalids. Yesterday was warm, and in 
 the shade, with a light breeze, very genial. The sunset clear and 
 glorious. This morning a dense grey fog envelopes everything so 
 that I cannot see the mountain range which rises across the river. 
 The palm trees look through the veil like mere shadows, and ever}'- 
 thing wears an aspect of cold, cheerless storm. My cabin window 
 looks out upon the river and the western shore, which is at this place 
 a wide sandy beach intervening between the beautiful green wheat 
 fields and patches of beans and lentils which cover the site of the 
 Thebes of ancient glory. Each preceding morning the distant moun- 
 tains, the majestic ruins, and the superb groves of palm and acacia 
 trees, have claimed the eye and homage of the mind even from the first 
 dawn of day. The sunset last evening, clear as I ever saw it amid that 
 soft light which is so entrancing to the feelings, and with a tempera- 
 ture and atmosphere which made it a source of pleasure merely to live. 
 
 During the night the wind blew a perfect gale, and this morning 
 the fog conceals all beyond the sand bank, so that the e3'e rests there 
 on a curious spectacle which presents itself it is true each morning, 
 but is overlooked amid the exceeding interest of things beyond. There 
 is collected there a crowd of donkeys with their attendant drivers and 
 guides, and the motley group of followers which throng around us 
 everywhere with the unceasing petition for "backsheesh." The gay 
 crimson saddle cloths on the backs of the black and mouse colored 
 donkeys, gives color to the picture which contrasts strongly with the 
 
 489
 
 white turbans and blue robes of some and the white robes of others, 
 and the brown skins of those who cannot afford to cover their native 
 hue. It is a pretty object always in the foreground of the grand pic- 
 ture. To-day it claims undivided attention. 
 
 As the fog was dispersed the clouds of sand usurped its place, 
 obliging us to close windows and doors, and covering everj^hing with 
 an almost impalpable powder, which grits under my fingers on the 
 paper. Every day convinces me that it is no place for a sick person, 
 however desirable it may be to escape the harder rigors of a Northern 
 winter. Our dahabeyah is the env3' of all our fellow-voyagers, but I 
 find it impossible to screen your mother from draughts or to secure 
 the repose which is so essential. The direct rays of the sun are scorch- 
 ing, the wind strong and penetrating. The other members of the 
 party are resting from the fatigue of ^-esterda}' which they spent among 
 the ruins of JMedinet Aboo and the Rameseum, except Wistar and Mr. 
 Longstreth, who have walked alone to those of Karnac. 
 
 So soon as I had dressed your mother's blister and secured as 
 much quiet as possible I visited m3' patients. They live in houses 
 built of unburned brick amid the ruins of the temple of Luxor con- 
 structed by the great conqueror Rameses, about 1300 3'ears before the 
 birth of our Lord, as a memorial of his glorious conquests, and con- 
 nected with the great temple of Karnac whose Pylon, built by his son, 
 still stands at the distance of a mile or more, terminating an avenue 
 of Sphynxes which lined either side of the wide passage from the one 
 to the other, forming one of the great streets of Thebes. That inter- 
 vening space is now heaps of fallen dwellings and potsherds, in some 
 places covered with bean and wheat fields, in others turned up by the 
 excavations for nitrous earth which abounds amid these accumulations 
 of deca3% and is here washed by the Pasha to procure potash for his 
 powder manufactory. 
 
 It would be absurd to attempt any description of these ruins. The 
 books of Wilkinson and Champollion give them, but who can under- 
 stand them by written accounts ? They must be visited again and 
 again day after day by those who have learned to decipher the sculp- 
 tures and read the hieroglyphic inscriptions. I must be content with 
 the effort to communicate the impression they produce on my unedu- 
 cated mind. I passed the noble portico with its massive columns still 
 nearly as perfect as when brought down from Silsilis, distant nearly 
 100 miles ; 3000 5'ears ago they were erected here. Perched on a wall, 
 built of the stones of the temple, stands the roomy and elegant house 
 of Mustapha Aga as though the stones of some of the out buildings of 
 Girard College were to be used 3000 years hence to build a house 
 among the capitals of that noble colonnade which fronts the gateway. 
 The debris has been cleared from before it so that the front stands well 
 exposed and a flight of steps rises to the entrance to Mustapha's 
 house. Well might the Prince of Wales say that he had no such 
 palace. But while the front is thus opened you must imagine all the 
 interior of the main collejre building with the side colonnades buried in 
 
 490 
 
 (
 
 the masses of unbiirned brick houses which daring 1500 5'ears have 
 been built, one over the ruin of the other, until they have accumulated 
 so that the only parts of the columns to be seen are the capitals ; the 
 shafts all buried. On the level of these capitals build houses, each 
 consisting of one room only, of one story, and that not high enough to 
 permit me to stand upright, and placed with no rule as to size or dis- 
 tance from each other ; indeed opening from one to another in inextri- 
 cable confusion. In some rooms, and in the court yards between others, 
 these magnificent capitals rise on every hand. Buffaloes and donkevs 
 are stabled around them ; hens and pigeons roost amid their sculp- 
 tured projections. Stooping low and entering one of the houses, to 
 which no light enters but by that low door, 3'ou will find the sick Ij'ing 
 on fine Persian rugs watched and attended with affectionate assiduity. 
 Beyond are large mud-built receptacles for grain and beans, and smaller 
 earthen pots or jars in which are stowed away the wealth of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 There are no medicines to be purchased and no physician of any 
 kind lives here. Is not the contrast sufficient to satisfy the most 
 unthinking that the prophecy uttered by the prophet of God when 
 that temple was in its proudest perfection and the representative of the 
 power of Egypt that she should "become the basest of kingdoms," 
 was the voice of inspiration and has been fulfilled ? 
 
 Feby. 7th. 
 Your dear mother is still suflfering from the pleuritic stitch, and 
 has a little fever. The whole party except ourselves have gone for the 
 day to the Tombs of the Kings. I do not feel able even to think of 
 that which is near much less to leave her for the day, and shall prob- 
 ably be compelled to rest satisfied with what I have already seen. I 
 am glad I went with Mrs. Betts, the first day we were here. I 
 went to induce her to go, and thus had an opportunity of seeing the 
 remains of the Memnonium and the tombs in the Assaseef, a hill which 
 rises behind those ruins. 
 
 Feby. 8th. 
 
 Your mother appears relieved this morning. The blister I applied 
 yesterday morning rose toward evening and, following the cupping and 
 former blister, appears to have arrested the pleurisy, though she still 
 has some catch in her breath. 
 
 The party returned last evening highly gratified by the day's 
 excursion, though very much fatigued. They slept well and are all 
 bright to-day and ready for a fresh enterprise. They rode 5'esterda3'^ not 
 less than 12 miles and crossed a mountain ridge on foot, scrambling 
 among loose flint stones and pebbles. It is wonderful they should not 
 one and all be laid up — Mary especially ; — she appears able to endure 
 
 491
 
 more than Wistar. Their report of the beauty of the sculpture and 
 painting in the tombs of Belzoni and Bruce is very interesting. Even 
 Friezier who has been disappointed thus far and dissatisfied acknow- 
 ledges that these are worth visiting. I am glad they were to go and 
 enjoy it. 
 
 February 8th. 
 Thankful for 3'our dear mother's improvement I started off with 
 your Uncle and Mr. Longstreth for a walk. The weather just such as 
 to invite it. Our October in temperature, the only discomfort a Novem- 
 ber wind. We could see the clouds of sand drifting before it on the 
 Western shore of the River. We walked first through mud walls about 
 4 feet high enclosing gardens containing lemon, fig and banana trees, 
 and palm groves with wheat fields, and leaving these enclosures came 
 out on the open plain spreading widely in every direction and richlj^ 
 clothed with barlej' and wheat, through which we walked on ; leaving 
 Luxor W'ith its columns and obelisk behind us. 
 
 Our way la}' along the water courses and past the wells with their 
 Sakkias by which these fields are watered. We clambered over mounds 
 of broken pottery and crumbling unbnrned bricks, and after walking 
 about two miles found ourselv^es on a bank which looked down upon 
 a large pool of water some twent\' feet below us. It was evidently an 
 artificial excavation and had a peculiar shape as though it had been 
 oval with a projecting bank into one side. On looking carefully at this 
 projection we saw that it evidently was composed of ruins, and fol- 
 lowing the margin round to it, we found ourselves in the midst of the 
 halls of a temple built 1500 3'ears before the Christian era with colossal 
 marble statues guarding the entrance. Within, the courts were sur- 
 rounded by sitting figures of the Goddess Pasht with her cat head. 
 They were above the human size, of black basalt and were placed 
 around what had been the walls of a square court, almost touching 
 each other. 
 
 As we looked towards Karnac we recognized it at the distance of half 
 a mile ; with a .straight avenue of enormous Sphynxes, in sand stone, 
 lining it on each side. This avenue evidently connected these two 
 temples in such a way that its line continued ran directl}' through the 
 P3'lonsof the great Temple and the centre of the halls of this, on to the 
 Lake, and be3ond that struck the P3don of the Temple of Luxor. As 
 these buildings had all been erected about the same time by Amunoph, 
 Tothmes, and Rameses, it is certain the3^ had a common design. Many 
 later additions had been made to each of them, down even to the times 
 of the later Ptolemies. But in each the grandest portions bore the 
 names and figures of the older date. Even on the spot, and in their 
 dilapidated condition, it is impossible to form a proper conception of 
 their plan and arrangement ; but this does not prevent the impression 
 of the majestic grandeur of the whole. The Sphynxes were some 
 
 492
 
 twenty feet, or perhaps thirty, in length from the paws to the rump, and 
 perfect in their proportions. Some with the heads of men or women, 
 some with that of a ram with fine features and large curling horns, 
 they stood facing each other and with not more than twenty feet 
 between them side by side. The avenue was about fift}^ feet wide. 
 When filled with the processions of richly dressed priests bearing 
 costly offerings and attended by flags and banners, the spectacle must 
 have been most imposing. The entire space, some mile and a half in 
 circuit, was enclosed by crude brick walls, the mound formed by its 
 crumbling masses being still easily traced. 
 
 We wandered from point to point examining the sculptured figures 
 of gods and heroes and queens and priests and the hieroglyphic records 
 of the names and actions, and then walked by the Avenue as far as the 
 Pylon of the Temple of Karnac, which rears its lofty front almost 
 unbroken. The gateway is not less than 50 feet high. In each corner 
 above is the opening which received the pivot on which the gates 
 revolved, and below, the circular ledge on which it turned. How mas- 
 sive must have been those gates ! We wandered around the heaps of 
 rubbish, picking up agates which seemed to abound in these ruins. 
 Whence they were brought and with what purpose no one can con- 
 jecture. They are thrown out of the rubbish which is carried away to 
 the fields as a top dressing to the wheat, by the hundred. Some of these 
 heaps are so full of Nitrate of Potash that it gives a frosty look to the 
 surface and crunches under the feet like thin ice. The Pasha has a 
 very large tank and evaporating pans here. The earth is thrown into 
 receptacles into which the water is turned, and when it has dissolved 
 the nitre it is drawn off into large shallow tanks where it evaporates, 
 leaving the crude saltpetre which he uses in his powder manufactory. 
 
 As I visited one of my patients this morning I saw in the court 
 yard on which opened the door of the dwelling, the stable of the cows 
 and donke3'S, and in which the chickens and pigeons were walking 
 about freely, some dozen or more unburned dishes of mud in each of 
 which was a cake of wheat dough. They were placed there until they 
 should rise before being baked. The cattle walked and the pigeons 
 flew over them, and the wind brought clouds of fine sand and dust. 
 
 The wheat grown here is very white, and has a fine, round, heav}-, 
 plump grain, and some of the party who accepted an invitation to dine, 
 a'-l'-Arabe, with Mourad Ali, the American Consular Agent, yester- 
 day, report the bread and pastry very sweet and nice. I was specially 
 and urgently invited, but was not willing to leave your mother. The}'^ 
 sat on the floor, spread with Persian rugs, round a tray raised a few 
 inches from the floor. They had not less than a dozen courses, begin- 
 ning with soup, followed by various side dishes, which they ate by 
 dipping the bread into them. The turke}- was pulled apart by the host 
 and handed to them in his fingers, and they ate from theirs. When he 
 found a nicer part, he would take from them that they were eating and 
 place it on the dish, giving them the better. Goose and lamb followed 
 the turkey, each being brought on by itself and eaten in the same 
 
 493
 
 manner. The meats were followed by preparations of spinach, and 
 that by sweetmeats. It concluded with an infusion of dates and raisins 
 in one dish and rice in another, which was eaten with wooden spoons 
 with long handles, each dipping first into the sweet and fishing for a 
 raisin or date, and then putting the spoon into the dish of rice to get 
 some of that with the sweet. This he assured them was so medicinal 
 that it would prevent any uncomfortable results from the previous 
 indulgence. Coffee was then handed in a little cup, after which the 
 Chibouque, which all but Wistar pulled at. Then coffee again, and an 
 offer of tea if the}' would only wait half an hour longer. Water was 
 poured over their hands from an ewer into a basin, and each had a 
 napkin during the meal and a towel to wipe after washing. A ball of 
 fine soap was on a rest in the centre of the basin, so that they could rid 
 their fingers and mouths of all traces of the meats before taking the 
 coffee and pipe. They all returned highly pleased. 
 
 Februar}' 9th. 
 The morning opens on us more genial. There is yet no wind. 
 We have had three days of very cold weather. The natives have been 
 carefully wrapped in their warmest garments. Two steamboats have 
 gone up the river. One had in tow the dahabeyah, "Bessie Camac," 
 with Lord Dudley on board. The other was towing several barges 
 loaded with iron. I suppose beams for the sugar works. 
 
 Evening. 
 Your mother being better, I left her this morning and went with 
 the other members of the family to repeat my visit to the colossal 
 figures, the Memnonium and the Tombs on the western side of the 
 river. We first rode through the wheat and bean fields to the edge of 
 the desert, and then across a waste stretch of debris, nodules of flint, 
 and fragments of limestones, to the foot of the hills which contain the 
 Mummy pits, the tombs of the kings, and the private tombs of per- 
 sons of affluence from the earliest period of Egyptian history. The 
 entire mountain is penetrated and bored, storj' after stor^', tier above 
 tier, and below tier too, for it sounds under the feet of the donkeys as 
 we trot over the flinty soil, so that the frequent sunken pits through 
 which we pick our way are not needed to prove that we ride through 
 and over the Cit}' of the Dead. But the sun is setting in glory behind 
 those hills, and night lets fall its curtain so suddenly that I must lay 
 aside my pen, though I fear the power to describe the objects of 
 interest we have visited may be lost during the night. 
 
 February loth. 
 The last object visited was the tent of Mr. McCallum, a Scotch 
 artist, which is pitched in front of the colossal statues, that he may 
 there, on the spot, paint them as they appear when the sun's rays first 
 
 494
 
 fall on tliem ; and now as I lie in ray berth and watch the glow which 
 clothes the mountain top, and gradually descends to illuminate their 
 gigantic features, I enter fully into his enthusiam and feel that my 
 criticism uttered in the involuntary expression " It must sing," was 
 hardly exaggerated. As I stood yesterday on the enormous mono- 
 lithic pedestal, still 8 feet above the surface of the ground, and looked 
 at the inscriptions Greek, Latin and Modern by which various visitors 
 of all ranks and in all ages from the time of the Roman Emperor 
 Hadrian down to Irby and Mangles and those less known of our own 
 day, have testified, some that they heard the song of Memnon and all 
 to the sense of gratification they have enjoyed, I could not but realize 
 there is something natural, some instinct implanted in us as b}^ Him 
 who gave us our life and the power to appreciate and love the beautiful 
 and be awed by the grand and solemn, which stimulated the builders 
 so many ages ago to express itself in the mythic song, which has 
 struck a responsive chord in so many hearts. So now this morning as 
 I lie and see the drama of the opening day pass, act after act, before 
 me, and remember that it has been thus repeated through all ages, I 
 cannot but join in the song of the morning with the higher note ; 
 
 "All thy works praise Thee and thy Saints give thanks to Thee." 
 
 If I felt saddened by the thought I should never again look on 
 the scene at Syene, what will be my feelings when, as we soon must, I 
 turn my back on the City of the Dead at Thebes, glowing as it now 
 f.oes ? In the language of Beattie : 
 
 " On the pale cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, 
 And beauty immortal awakes from thy tomb." 
 
 It is the Gospel only which brings this ray of life and immortality 
 and gives us the privilege to see, 
 
 " Peace, Love and Mercy in triumph descending," 
 
 to give a richer glow to the deeper shadow of a more fearful death. 
 
 Among the most interesting objects we visited 5'esterday was a 
 small temple built amid the tombs high up on the hillside, on a plateau 
 overlooking the whole valley of the Nile in its widest extent, including 
 the temples of Medinet Aboo, the Memnonium, Goorneh, Lvixor and 
 Karnac. In the day when it was first erected the prospect must have 
 been grand, as it took in the colossal figures and rising Obelisks and 
 sculptured Pylons of these Temples and the immense masses of human 
 habitations. The portico was not large and had but four columns joined 
 by a screen, behind which was a vestibule, or Naos, as it is called in 
 the books. The walls are covered with sculptured figures of Ptolemies 
 and Cleopatras worshipping Athor and other gods. The colors are 
 still fresh and bright. Behind these are three recesses entered b}'- 
 doorways each ornamented with devices of various acts in honour of 
 different gods. On the wall of the easternmost is a curious scene 
 representing Osiris sitting in judgment. Before him stands the figure 
 of Chem, the Ram Headed God, as a scribe reading from a tablet the 
 
 495
 
 record of the acts of one who stands far behind supported by other 
 secondary gods. Between them and the figure of Chem a balance is 
 erected beside which stands the figure of Justice. The balance is 
 large and stands perfectly even with the hieroglyphic of truth or per- 
 fection on the one scale and a vessel containing the merits of the 
 candidate for admission to the realms of Osiris in the other. The 
 aspirant, however, is proved to be worthy by the fact that a weight is 
 placed on the arm of the balance which supports the emblem of truth, 
 proving that he has supererogatory works. The figure is that of one 
 of the Ptolemies, I believe the one who was called Philometer, not, it 
 is said, for his actual desert of so honorable a title, lover of his mother, 
 but rather in irony. I am reminded of the possibility that I may have 
 mentioned this scene in a previous record, as I did visit this temple the 
 first day we were at Thebes in company with poor INIrs. Betts. 
 
 I feel as though these are very disjointed notes. They are written 
 under ever}- conceivable disadvantage. Often I have scarcelj^ seated 
 myself when I am called away, if not to some duty, to some gratifica- 
 tion of the moment, which must be enjoyed then or the opportunity is 
 gone. In the absence of the pressure of settled purposes and appointed 
 duties controlling the emplo3'ment of time, trifles turn us out of the 
 way just as the lightest breath changes the course of the thistle dowm, 
 or the gossamer which floats on the air, whose currents are unheeded 
 b}^ the earnest labourer in the path of duty. 
 
 Thebes, February' lo, 1872. 
 
 It seems almost impossible to find time to write. Every hour 
 brings with it some interruption or occupation. It is now nearly bed 
 time; I have not yet had a moment to spare. 
 
 Just as I seated myself this morning we were sadly disturbed by 
 learning that a man was to be " sticked " for having misbehaved to 
 us yesterday at the tombs. Just as we were leaving he presented him- 
 self to niN'self first and then to Wistar demanding " backsheesh," as 
 Sheik of the tombs. We referred him to Joseph, who refused to give 
 him any, though our guide said it was right to give it. A violent 
 altercation ensued between the claimant and Joseph, but we thought 
 no more of it till this morning, when we heard that Joseph had made 
 complaint against him before the Governor for having been violent 
 with us. Wistar and I at once repaired to the Consular Agent and 
 found the whole affair was mingled with jealousy on the part of All 
 Effendi, because Mustapha Aga had spoken to us about it. After long 
 conference we succeeded in procuring the release of the culprit, who 
 came to the dahabe3'^ah to apologize to sister Mary and solicit her par- 
 don. It is difficult to determine the right and wrong in the case. He 
 probably had no claim for a present, and it ma}^ be important for the 
 protection of future visitors to resist such appeals. Still it was ter- 
 rible to think of such a punishment being visited to a poor fellow for 
 
 496
 
 so simple an act as soliciting a few coppers from those who are natur- 
 ally enough thought to have more than they need, as they spend so 
 much in coming here to look at objects which must seem so uninter- 
 esting to them. Much time was thus consumed, as well as some coflfee 
 and tobacco. 
 
 Then my patient required a visit. She is convalescent and rose 
 up from her Persian carpet to ask me if she might be washed, as she 
 "could not bear to be so dirty." I hope your mother maybe well 
 enough to make her a visit before we leave. 
 
 As I was on my way my attention was arrested by a number of 
 camels and donkeys, loaded, entering through a gate way into an open 
 court enclosed by a high brick wall. My curiosity led me to enter, and 
 I found the modern repetition of one of the scenes we had seen 
 depicted on the walls of a tomb. It is the granary of the Khedive. 
 In the midst was an immense heap of beautiful white plump round 
 heavy wheat Bag full after bag full was being added to it while a 
 clerk was standing keeping record of the measure. It is said to be 
 worth about one dollar per bushel and to be taken as pa^^ment, in kind, 
 for the taxes. The stem of a palm tree la}^ upon one side of the heap 
 up which the people carried their wheat and deposited it at the top. 
 Similar heaps and actions are represented on the oldest tombs. 
 
 Both Mustapha Aga and his rival Ali have been very attentive to 
 us and have given us several articles of interest. Your mother sent 
 to the old man the large bead purse Annie so kindly gave her, with 
 which he was amazingly delighted, and insisted on my taking an 
 amulet which had been round the neck of some royal or priestly 
 mummy, showing me how it could be set in a brooch, and also a frag- 
 ment of some statue covered with hieroglyphics. How we shall be 
 able to carry these away is a serious question, as they are all contra- 
 band and liable to seizure by the government. Your uncle Wistar and 
 Mr. Longstreth walked to Karnac while I was thus occupied. 
 
 This afternoon I have given to your mother, and this evening we 
 have been honored by a visit from the Earl of Pembroke and Dr. Kings- 
 ley. The Earl is an unsophisticated natural character, expressing his 
 opinions without embarrassment and with much intelligence. He had 
 rowed twenty miles this morning. Dr. K. is intelligent, highly edu- 
 cated and having seen much of the world has most agreeable conversa- 
 tional powers. 
 
 The glory of the sunset was so great that at the risk of appearing 
 foolish I must mention it. I never, even here, saw so rich a golden 
 horizon or such a resplendent sea of glass ; over which the new moon 
 hung her faint white bow in the purest blue arch of the heaven. 
 
 i2th. 
 Yesterday was spent in the quiet which belongs to the Lord's da}', 
 except a visit early in the morning to the Coptic church. It is the most 
 substantial structure in Luxor with the exception of the houses of the 
 
 497
 
 Consular agents. It has the usual division into nave and chancel and 
 apse. The chancel screened off from the nave by lattice work, and 
 the apse from the chancel b}^ a solid screen, ornamented by crosses. 
 A door through this screen exhibits the altar. A priest was at this, 
 clothed in white garments having crosses rudely embroidered on it. 
 I/ights were burning on the altar and also at the lectern, which was a 
 rude wooden stand with books on it, in the chancel. There were many 
 priests present in the chancel and some dozen boj'S from lo to 12 years 
 old. All were clothed in their usual dress except the officiating priest. 
 The service consisted in chanting, processions round the altar, bow- 
 ings, and prostrations, and burning incense, which was thrown toward 
 the altar first and then toward the priests, and afterward to the people. 
 The hand of the priest was frequently passed through the incense and 
 then laid on the head of some one of the other priests or people. The 
 lessons were read in Arabic which the people understand. The chants 
 were Coptic and much of them consisted in inarticulate sounds. During 
 the service a lamp was lighted in a recess in the apse and a part of the 
 chant was accompanied by cymbals. To some part of the service there 
 were responses by the people, and I was delighted to see the parental 
 affection they displa5-ed, and one little fellow nestled in his father's 
 bosom most lovingly. Part of the service was read by one of the boys. 
 Judicious teaching would find a good opportvinit}' among these people, 
 so long down trodden and oppressed. With what glad acclaim will 
 these and such as these ever3where hail the coming of the day of the 
 Lord when their chains shall be broken and their redemption draw 
 nigh ! 
 
 The first thing on which my e3'e lighted this morning was a fresh 
 arrival during the night, with the stars and stripes floating, and before 
 I was dressed a message was brought me, the compliments of Edwin 
 T. Greble. We exchanged similar compliments as they went up about 
 two weeks ago ; I sent him mj- card with the Ledgers. While we 
 were at breakfast Mr. Greble called and we found he left Philadelphia 
 only eight weeks since. It seems incredible. Mr. and Mrs. Mark 
 Reeves of Richmond, Indiana, are in the same boat. Thej' must cer- 
 tainly be Friends. Mr. G. made a very hasty visit, as we told him 
 w-here he should inquire for letters. Wistar called soon after, but they 
 were about starting for Medinet Aboo. 
 
 This morning sisters Hannah and Jane and Mr. Longstreth and 
 myself took the boat and were rowed about 20 minutes down the river 
 and from there walked through wheat fields about 15 minutes to 
 Kamac. Wilkinson himself declines any attempt at description of 
 this wonderful ruin. How could words convey any idea of a biiilding 
 one mile and a half in circuit, erected by various monarchs, each add- 
 ing to the work of his predecessor ? The oldest part dates from the 
 days of Osirtasen, 2000 years before the Christian era. The larger and 
 most imposing from that of Rameses the Second, 800 5^ears later. 
 
 Sheshonk or Shishak has inscribed his name and deeds on other 
 parts ; and his triumph over Rehoboam King of Judah is recorded on 
 
 498
 
 the outer wall. He is represented riding in his chariot while the Jews 
 are bound and led captive. They are plainly recognized by their 
 countenances and costume, but all doubt is removed by the hiero- 
 glyphic which asserts one of the figures to be the king of the Jews. 
 P5'lons and Propylons and columns and obelisks, some standing and 
 others thrown down, with figures of gods and colossal figures of kings, 
 are strewn in inextricable confusion over the vast area. 
 
 The part in best preservation is also that which must have been 
 most imposing — the hall of columns. No where on earth are so many 
 columns grouped together — no where are they loftier or more impos- 
 ing. No where else have such stones been raised to so great a height. 
 In this hall of 330 feet long by 1 70 feet wide stand not less than 1 50 
 columns, twelve of which arranged along the centre are 62 feet high, 
 without the plinth or abacus, and 11 feet 6 inches in diameter ; one 
 hundred and twenty other columns, each 42 feet in height between 9 
 and 10 feet in circumference, stand in parallel rows along either side 
 of these gigantic supports of what might be called the nave, these 
 supporting the side aisles. The roof, where there was an}', was formed 
 of immense squared masses of sandstone, some of them more than 40 
 feet long and of proportional breadth and thickness. The entire sur- 
 face of the columns and under side of the lintels, and roof stones 
 which remain, were deeply cut with figures of gods and men and 
 hieroglyphic characters not less than two or three inches deep and of 
 size appropriate to that of the building and its parts. Some ofiFering 
 to Amun-re, the producing power — father of gods and men ; — being 
 represented every where. The offerings are made by the sovereign, 
 who is attended often by some of his family, and Amun-re has with 
 him attendant gods of all grades. Ibis headed, Hawk headed, Crocodile 
 headed, Cat headed ; each in their several respective functions. 
 
 In many places the color is as bright apparently as when first 
 applied to these figures, and when the}- all were fresh the blue, red and 
 yellow so profusely scattered over almost the entire surface of roof 
 wall and column, must have produced a gorgeous effect. One cannot 
 even now stand or sit in its cool retreat without the sense of awe its 
 colossal size and wonderfully perfect proportions are so well adapted 
 to produce, and the thought of the ages during which it has stood is 
 overwhelming. Not less so is that which is kindred to it. What 
 thousands of fellow men must have expended their strength in the 
 construction, and what treasures were lavished on it ! Then comes 
 the humiliating reflection that fellow men, evidently with like passions 
 as ourselves, and bj' the token of these verj^ structures possessed at 
 least of an equal degree of intelligence, and some knowledge of power 
 we do not possess, they yet bowed down and worshipped the work of 
 their own hands and served the creature more than the Creator; dedi- 
 cating to them that are no gods the honour and wealth and service due 
 only to Him who is God, over all blessed forever. Shall we judge 
 them even ? much less condemn them ? The question of the apostle 
 to the gentiles to the self-righteous of his day furnishes a reply still 
 
 499
 
 as appropriate now as 1800 5^ears ago, "Are we better than they ? In 
 no wise," and his caution "thou that judgest another condemnest 
 thyself," finds a ready response in the whisper of the Spirit of God to 
 our own conscience, so that here amid these columns in this glorious 
 monument of human power and greatness, 
 
 "Loudest tongues at once are hushed, 
 Pride in all its writhings crushed." 
 
 I found myself under an impulse of which I was scarcel5' conscious, 
 singing the hymn 
 
 "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
 Does his successive journeys run," 
 
 and 
 
 " Our glad Hosannas, Prince of Peace, 
 Thy coming shall proclaim." 
 
 Then the temples shall no more be defiled with abominations, and the 
 triumphs shall not be marked bj' uplifted swords over suppliant crowds 
 of cowering captives. 
 
 From the centre of this hall of columns we look out on four grand 
 avenues leading one toward the river, and the similar temple and palace 
 on the western side, another toward the noble pile that rears its mas- 
 sive portico at Luxor, some three miles distant, its huge columns still 
 buried in the waste of ages which has accumulated in its courts. These 
 avenues were all lined by sphynxes, some still remaining half buried, 
 some half-consumed by time, others entirely destroj-ed ; their bases 
 sunken in the earth proving that these were grand approaches for pro- 
 cessions and triumphal celebrations. 
 
 Around this central hall others of var3dng st3de and size clustered 
 themselves, some surrounded bj^ colossal figures of Osiris, others con- 
 taining obelisks of granite, some of great beauty of sculpture and 
 rising to nearly 100 feet in height ; others smaller, though not less 
 graceful, and covered with inscriptions cut with consummate skill. 
 There were no less than 17 of these. Some still stand as fresh as when 
 first erected. Some have been removed to European capitals, others 
 lie in fragments, tokens now of man's power to destroy, as they once 
 were of his skill to construct. 
 
 It is supposed the work of destruction was effected by some of the 
 Ptolemies, though it may have been begun by "the great Persian 
 conqueror, Cambyses." These huge masses of granite still retain the 
 traces of the grooves cut into them to receive the wedges by which 
 they were split in order to overthrow them ; and while, where the 
 polish is undisturbed, they retain their beauty and freshness, wherever 
 the surface is broken and an access for atmospheric influence opened, 
 the rough surface shows the disintegrating power of air and time. 
 Some of the colossal figures are seated, some standing ; some of red 
 granite, some of white marble, some of alabaster, some of black 
 granite. All colossal, some immensely large. 
 
 ''>-
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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