A Year in Europe

Before quitting the subject of the relics at Rome, I must give my readers what Hare calls "the extraordinary history of the manufacture of S. Filomena, now one of the most popul...

We reached Rome at a good time for seeing relics, as the special services of the Christmas season were just beginning. One of the most splendid of these ceremonies is the proces...

Naples is the largest, dirtiest and most beautiful city in Italy. From the balconies of our hotel, which stands high on the thickly-built hillside, we have a matchless view--the...

Some months ago, when the kind urgency of my friends made it plain to me that I should go abroad for a while, and when it was decided that certain young students of the Shorter...

We gave only one day to Leyden, ten miles from The Hague, but it was one of the most interesting days we have had in Europe. Taking a guide at the railway station, we traversed...

I had heard of relics before. Years ago I had read Mark Twain's account of the large piece of the true cross which he had seen in a church in the Azores; and of another piece wh...

Only three or four blocks from our hotel stands the Church of the Cappuccini, which contains one of the most gruesome sights in Rome, the celebrated cemetery of the Cappuccini m...

Well, we have seen the Pope. Hearing that a body of Italian pilgrims were to be received by the pontiff at the Vatican, and having assured ourselves that the function was one wh...

It does not follow, from what I said in my former letter about the different forms of service in use among Episcopalians and Presbyterians, respectively, that the latter necessa...

The mention of St. Cuthbert's, where we heard an excellent coronation sermon by Dr. McGregor, reminds me of the prayer offered in St. Cuthbert's by the Rev. Neill McVicar, in 17...

The English Channel is one of the oldest ferries in the world. For two thousand years and more, men have been crossing it in all sorts of craft, but they have never yet found a...

From Stirling Castle we revelled in the view which many consider the finest in Scotland, embracing, as it does, both Lowland and Highland scenery. We drove to the towering, but...

I once received a letter from the late Rev. Dr. William S. Lacy, saying that he had been trying to make use of a certain work in one of the departments of theological study, and...

There is an endless variety of interest in the different countries of the Old World. Each has its own fascination for travellers. But, after all, the strangest, quaintest, clean...

One would think at first view that it would be as easy to write a good book for boys about school life as to write a good story about any other subject. But it does not seem to...

Our farthest north on our European tour was Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, which we reached from Oban by way of the magnificent route through the Caledonian Canal, and...

We had reserved our last day in London for a visit to the eastern part of the great Abbey, where nearly all the kings and queens of England are buried. There is a charge of sixp...

The finest expanses of heather that we saw in Scotland were on the great moors through which our train ran southwards from Inverness, a rolling sea of pinkish purple bloom, stre...

Of the palaces that we visited, the one in which the poet Browning lived, and in which his son now lives, is the best preserved, and illustrates better than any other the almost...

Before saying what I had in mind when I remarked, in a former letter, that in some respects the English cathedrals had proved to be hindrances to vital religion, I wish to cite...

It is the custom of the American Ambassador to England to give a reception every year, on the Fourth of July, to any of his countrymen who may be sojourning in the British metro...

The Cologne Cathedral is the finest Gothic structure in the world. We had a perfect view of the majestic exterior from the windows of our hotel, but, of course, devoted most of...

Soon after leaving Newcastle-on-Tyne, the marked change in the scenery of the country through which we were passing apprised us of the fact that we had crossed the border, and w...

The nominal ruler of the British Empire is His Majesty, Edward VII. The real ruler is the House of Commons. Though I was in Great Britain at the time of the coronation, and saw...

Our stay in Edinburgh has come to an end. It has been a delightful month in spite of the weather. Claudius Clear says, "Edinburgh is so beautiful that, for love of her face, she...

An American traveller says that a sea voyage, compared with land travel, is a good deal like matrimony compared with single blessedness: either decidedly better or decidedly wor...

For one who visits England as a student of history there is hardly a better starting point than Southampton, as the most impressive of the Druidical and Roman remains in Great B...

"A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping, Dirty and dusky, but as wide as eye Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping In sight, then lost amid the forestry...

Unquestionably the most interesting town in the south of England to a student of history is Winchester. It was the ancient capital of the kingdom, and teems with memories of Alf...

There are many indications of a better understanding, and an increasing confidence and regard between the two great English-speaking nations on either side of the Atlantic. One...

The Cathedral route from London to Edinburgh takes one through an interesting stretch of eastern England, part of which is as flat as Holland, with fens and canals and windmills...

The margin of leisure left to a traveller in Europe for the writing of letters is, after all, a very narrow one, as those of my readers who have been abroad will readily remembe...

Southampton, the ancient seaport at which travellers to Europe by the steamships of the North German Lloyd line first set foot on British soil, is a place of considerable intere...

The fog was so thick the morning we steamed down the ill-smelling Clyde, and out through the Kyles of Bute, that we could see nothing whatever, and had to content ourselves as b...

the road, just outside the gate which now bears the apostle's name--a sepulchral monument upon which his eyes must have rested for a moment as he passed out to his own execution...

Beauty and Filth.--Danger and Indifference.--Street Scenes in Naples.--The Blue Grotto of Capri.--The Ascent of Vesuvius.--A Stream of Liquid Fire.--Hard Climbing Through Cinder...

Rome is easily the most interesting city in the world. The subject is simply inexhaustible. Ampere said that by diligence one could obtain a superficial knowledge of it in ten y...

The Miraculous Snow in Summertime.--The Holy Cradle.--The Little Doll that Owns a Large Carriage.--The Wealth and Power of the Miraculous Bambino.--The Communion Table Used by C...

Mark Twain's Animadversions.--The Palladium of Venice.--The Gift of Leo XIII. to London.--The Blood of St. Januarius.--The House of the Virgin at Loretto.--The Wonder-Working Bo...

The Manufacture of St. Philomena.--The Canonization of Buddha.--The Courteous Spaniard.--The Miracles of St. Dominic.--Miracles Wrought by Other Saints and Images.--How the Papa...

The English Channel as a Health Resort.--The External Beauty of the French Capital.--What we Did Not Like About Paris.--The Louvre and its Treasures.--The Boer Generals.--The Hu...

The Birthplace of the Shorter Catechism.--The Coronation Postponed.--Westminster Abbey Still Closed.--The Assembly of Divines.--The Two Places of Meeting.--The Two Types of Wors...

Unique Interest of Holland.--A Land Below Sea-Level.--Water as an Enemy.--Dykes as Protectors.--How Dykes are Made.--Sand Dunes.--Canals.--Wind-Mills.--Polders.--Entering Hollan...

The Most Interesting City in the World.--The Embarrassment of Riches.--Boundless Wealth of Materials.--The Appian Way, the Catacombs, the Ecclesiastical Statues.--The Remains of...

Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby.--The Rugby of To-day.--Our Expedition to Tom Brown's Birthplace.--The Highest Horse we Ever Mounted.--The Roman Camp.--King Alfred's Defeat of...

An Audience with the Pope.--"Long Live the Pope-King!" The Pope's Last Jubilee in St. Peter's.--Our Quarters on the Pincian Hill.--The Sweep of History Seen from the Janiculum.-...

Letter-Writing Under Difficulties.--An Exemplary Traveller.--A Mild Sensation in Leyden.--A German Baby-Cart out of its Element.--Something New in Venice.--No Place for Wheels.-...

A Clean and Comely City.--The Statue of Flora Macdonald.--The Career of a Royal Adventurer.--A Fugitive in the Hebrides.--A Woman to the Rescue.--Feminine Courage and Resource.-...

The Great Siege.--A University as a Reward of Valor.--John Robinson and the Pilgrim Fathers.--Horse Flesh as Food.--Haarlem and the Flower Boom.--Amsterdam's Islands and Canals....

The Use of Written Prayers.--The Huguenot Presbyterians in Canterbury Cathedral.--Scuffle Between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.--The Concomitants of Anglican Worship.-...

The Cappucin Cemetery.--Some Differences Between America and Italy.--The Playful Inquisition.--The Relative Rank of the Deities Worshipped in Rome.--The Fee of the Visitor More...

Ambassador Choate's Reception.--Increasing Friendliness Between America and England.--How the English Now View the American Revolution.--A Fair Statement of the Question and the...

In and Around Perth.--Quhele, Shoe Heel and Maxton.--Crieff and Drumtochty.--Loch Leven.--Ayr and Robert Burns.--Dumfries, Keswick, Skiddaw.--The English Lakes.--Chester.--Lichf...

The Queen of the Adriatic.--The Fallen Campanile.--Fra Paolo Sarpi, the Greatest of the Venetians.--Busy Bologna.--The Leaning Towers.--The Colonnades.--The Oldest University.--...

Cologne and Coblentz.--The Vintage of the Rhine Valley.--Wiesbaden and the German Woods.--The Luther Monument at Worms.--Wintry Weather at Heidelberg.--Strasburg's Cathedral and...

The Real Ruler of the British Empire.--The House of Parliament.--Getting into the Lower House.--The Debate and the Debaters.--Harcourt, Bryce, Campbell-Bannerman, Lloyd-George,...

A Hard-Hearted Verger.--A Courteous Sub-Dean.--The Wax Effigies.--Mutilated Monuments.--Monuments Denied to Notable Persons.--The Objection to Milton.--General Meigs and Preside...

A Sheltered Harbor with Double Tides.--Historical Interest of Southampton: Canute, William the Conqueror, William Rufus, Richard Lion Heart, the Pilgrim Fathers.--The Chief Dist...

Dean Farrar in Westminster Abbey.--Mr. Haweis and Dr. Wace.--Spurgeon, Parker, and Hughes.--Moravian Mission House.--General Booth.--Scottish Mind and Scottish Heart.--Dr. Marcu...

The Wallace Monument.--Memorials of the Martyrs.--Margaret Wilson.--The Covenanters.--The Author of "The Men of the Moss Hags."--Aberfoyle, The Trossachs, Loch Katrine, Loch Lom...

A Unique Prayer for Prince Charlie.--Church-Going in Edinburgh.--The Bibles, the Sermons, the Prayers, the Music.--Jenny Geddes and her Stool.--The Disruption in 1843.--A Sermon...

Rude Seas off the West Coast.--A Difficult Landing.--The Presbyter Abbot, Columba.--The Evangelization of Scotland from Iona.--The Burial Place of the Scottish Kings.--The Basal...

The Land of the Mountain and the Flood.--Melrose, Abbotsford, and Dryburgh.--The Wizard of the North.--Edinburgh.--Temporary Residence in Auld Reekie.--Public Worship in Scotlan...

Original Significance of the Cathedrals.--Their Æsthetic Influence.--Their Romanizing Tendency.--Their Charm for the Greatest of the Puritans.--A Half-Reformed Church.--Relics o...

Former Prejudices Passing Away.--The English Admit that America Holds the Future.--English Candor and English Inconsistency.--A Sectarian Measure in Parliament.--What Scotchmen...

"Mine Own Romantic Town."--The Seamy Side of Edinburgh.--The Cause of Her Wretchedness.--Not Lack of Native Ability, nor Disregard of the Sabbath, but the Curse of Strong Drink....

A Vast and Dingy Metropolis.--The Æsthetic Value of Soot.--Brick versus Stone.--Scotch Cities' Stately, but Gloomy.--Brightness of Paris.--Immensity and Multitude.--The Body is...

The Cathedral Route.--The Two University Towns.--Cambridge More Progressive than Oxford.--The Presbyterian Element.--The Two Most Learned Women in the World.--Westminster Colleg...

A Fascinating Cathedral Town.--Rural Scenery in Southern England.--Impressiveness of Stonehenge.--Other Things of Interest About Salisbury.--What the Bishop Said About the Presb...