Chapter 8

_Wednesday, 15th_.--At two o'clock we met Mr. Childs at the station, and went with him to Bryan Maur by rail, and then his carriage met us and took us to his farm and stables, &c., and then to his house; it is all very new and very tidy and pretty. He told his wife to buy any land she liked four years ago, and build anything she liked on it, and now he has paid the bills and handed her the deeds, and it is all her own. That's the way husbands do things in America! The wives and children have a good time here, and the working classes, too, have many privileges, or perhaps, I should say, that they _share_ them with the richer and more educated people; everywhere, in the trains and trams and restaurants of stations and waiting rooms there is _equality_, and considering all things one does not suffer much by the mixture excepting that they "_level down_," and one misses the comforts and _quiet_ of the English railroads. Some of the working men are remarkably fine and intelligent looking, and always quiet and well behaved. I do not observe any very great politeness to women, which I was led to expect was the prevailing habit in the United States, but I notice that the fathers are wonderfully gentle and helpful with the children. Mrs. Childs is a bright little woman, and sings well, which you would scarcely expect when hearing her voice in speaking. It is a pity that so many of the women have such unpleasant voices, and the _men_ have generally nothing harsh in their tones. A captain of one of the Cunard steamers sat next me, and seeing my distress over a plateful of very large oysters, whispered, "you need not eat them." We had carefully abstained from luncheon, as dinner was at four o'clock, and this was the menu for dinner: soup, _big_ oysters, boiled cod, then devilled crab (which I ate, and it was very good), then very tough stewed beef-steak, large _blocks_ of ice-cream, and peaches, and that was all! So my dinner consisted of crab, and I was obliged to have something to eat on our return to the hotel. Mr. Childs is very rich, and gives away immensely. He showed me a valuable collection of autographs, &c., given him by Mrs. S. C. Hall, whose husband, now an old man I believe, he partly supports. We left at half-past eight, and this morning, _Thursday, 16th_, Mr. Childs called early with his picture, framed, as a present. Sir William and Lady Thomson, and probably John and E---, are going to the Childs' on Saturday till Monday, and Mrs. B. M---, who called, is very anxious that they should see the Keally experiments. I hear John and E--- are going to Boston. _We_ are starting this afternoon for Woodlawn, New Brunswick, the Neilsons' place, and to-day I have, an invitation from Mrs. Pruyn of Albany. We are about to take our berths on board the Cunard steamer _Oregon_, which starts on 12th November. I had a great pleasure this morning in receiving from Clara a large photograph of _you_ and Arthur Paley. It is very nice, and I am very glad she arranged so cleverly for you to be taken! You don't look quite so miserable and cross, as is your _wont_ in general when being photographed. Clara and S--- were at a large evening party lately at Euston, where they met the Princess Frederica of Hanover, whom I have met several times at dear Katty Mande's, and she inquired about us from Clara.

_Woodlawn, New Brunswick, October 20th_.--We arrived here Thursday. Mrs. M--- called and kindly took me to the station, and presented me with some beautiful roses, which I brought here unpacked and gave to Mr. Neilson. Major R. S--- spoke to me again at the hotel about the Keally motor, and fervently repeated that after a thorough inspection of the machinery he is convinced that a new force is at work. Mr. Neilson and his carriage met us at the station. He is very lively and full of information, having travelled a great deal, and overflowing with "_go_." She is very handsome and nice, and nothing can be kinder than they are. It is a pretty cottage, close to his mother's house, and with some grounds round them.

_Friday, 17th_.--We took a long drive, Mr. Neilson driving at a rapid pace, and the river and foliage was pretty, but the scenery here is not remarkable, and the town of New Brunswick does not look _rich_, or flourishing. In the evening we went to his mother's, had tea, oysters and birds, and then a number of people came; Dr. and Mrs. Cook, Professor of Chemistry, and Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Warren, several Carpenters, who are cousins of the Neilsons, Admiral and Mrs. Admiral Boggs, Dr. and Mrs. Hart. He is a Dutch clergyman of the Dutch church here, and has been at John's laboratory at Cambridge, and talked about him and his work. I observe the gentlemen stand talking to _each other_ a good deal as we do in England. Mrs. Neilson _mere_ is a very nice old lady, with white hair, and something like you. She spoke about my brother Hedley, and tears came into her eyes as we talked; everyone here seems to have read his memoirs, and I enclose a scrap out of the New Brunswick paper, which will show you how he is remembered. Mrs. T. Neilson seems a capital housekeeper, and the cooking and everything seems so good and comfortable. Mr. Neilson owns most of the town, and is delighted when he can _sell_ some of it, and the neighbours are nearly all his cousins. He says the municipal government of the town, &c., is at a _dead lock_. Nothing can be done to the _roads_, (which are disgraceful!) or the streets, which are dreadful _everywhere_ nearly, that there is perpetual bribery and corruption, and all owing to universal suffrage, which makes the respectable people quite helpless! This is the view of all the people I stayed with or spoke to. On _Saturday, 18th_, we made a long excursion to Long Branch, going by train to Redbank, a pretty village, where we got a carriage and drove to Long Branch, a favourite watering place of this part of the country and New York; miles upon miles of the sea coast is covered with houses, small and large, in every variety of style, with no trees and quite flat, with a fine sea beyond the sands. It looked like a scene on a _stage_! We passed some very pretty bays and creeks, but though the day was bright, the wind blew a gale, and we could not sit about. We lunched at the railway station, with our driver sitting at the next table. It is so funny to find everyone at your elbow, whatever their position may be, but I must say they behave very well. We returned by train, and I managed to catch a chill, and have been in bed most of the morning. The day was so lovely that Mr. Neilson persuaded me to drive with him in his _buggy_, a very comfortable carriage like a tea cart, and I enjoyed the sweet _Indian summer_ and the pretty foliage with peeps of the river. In the afternoon I went with Mr. Neilson to call on his mother and Mrs. Carpenter, both fine old ladies, and as I said before, _old_ and young women are well taken care of here.

_October 22nd_.--Hotel Brunswick, Boston. We left the kind Neilsons yesterday, and as Dick and I were not well, we took drawing-room car seats, which, however, were extremely uncomfortable wicker chairs, which turned round on a pivot with the least movement and made one feel sick! So I sat on a hard bench usually occupied by conductors. This is a fine hotel, and John and E--- came to see me last night after I was in bed; they seem enjoying themselves and are gay, seeing lots of scientific folk at Baltimore and _here_ at _Cambridge_. They intend starting home on the 1st. We are arranging for berths in the "Oregon," on the 12th, Last night I was surprised to get a letter from Liza, which had been sent to Evelyn, dated October 5th, telling me that No. 90, O--- G--- was let to Mr. Scott Holland till 8th December! I suppose some letter from Liza has been lost, for I have never heard a word of it before. The road yesterday was very pretty, crossing two or three rivers with beautiful colored foliage on their banks, and some fine towns. I enjoy scenery more and more as I get older, and feel more _one_ with Nature, and Nature's God; the sense of the _Eternal_ and _Infinite_ deepens in my heart, and the grandeur of sky and mountain and river _with God over all_ fills me with calm and peace. I am not at all well just now, and have to _starve_ nearly. It is difficult at hotels to get the right kind of food when one is out of sorts.

DISTINGUISHED PEOPLE IN TOWN.

_To the Editor of the "Home News".--_

It may be of some interest to your readers to know that we have at present in our midst some distinguished people. Not indeed because they happen to be people of high rank in their own country, but because they represent names standing preeminent in the fields of science on the one side of their house, and on the other a name cherished in every household as the very embodiment of Christian chivalry, that of a veritable soldier of the cross.

The Dowager Lady Rayleigh (mother of Lord Rayleigh, the President of the British Association), is at present the guest of Mr. and Mrs. James Neilson, at their residence, Woodlawn. She is accompanied by her two sons, the Honorables Richard and Hedley Stratt. The former is married to a daughter of Lord Bragbrook, a member of the Cornwallis family. The Dowager Baroness is a sister of Hedley Vicars, the soldier-missionary of the Crimea, a name as well known and honoured in the households of America as those of Great Britain.

The party came out to attend the Scientific Convention of Canada, and have since travelled largely through the great West. They express themselves enthusiastically as to our progress, material as well as intellectual.

We take the occasion to congratulate our English cousins upon the phenomenally fine season which they have selected, and trust that they may remain long enough to enjoy the loveliness of our American autumn and Indian summer.--_The Brunswick Daily Home News, Thursday, October 16th, 1884._

LETTER No. 10.

_October 25th, Newport, at "Madame Robertson's."_

Hedley and I and Gibson came here on Thursday, just to see the place, of which I had heard so much, and to acknowledge the offered civilities of some of the people there. We left Dick at Boston not very well, and indeed, _I_ have been quite a wretch lately. Wednesday morning, E--- brought Professor Pickering, and he asked us to join John and E--- at his Observatory, and at a party given afterwards by Mrs. Pickering, so at 3.30 we set off all in a tram, and Professor Pickering met us about a mile from the house, and a carriage took us to the Observatory, where we saw curious things, and above all, the crescent moon, through a powerful telescope, which, oddly enough, I had never seen before. Mrs. Pickering had a large gathering, and I was introduced to quantities of people, some very nice looking and English in tone and manner. In this part of America one would scarcely know that you were not living among the present generation of English transported across the Atlantic quite recently; the manners of the _coloured_ servants are _very_ objectionable, and the porters of the cars quite odious; they march up and down, even in the more select Pulman cars, slam the doors, awakening one out of a much needed doze, and throw themselves down on the chairs and pick their teeth! "Dressed in a little brief authority, they strut before High Heaven," and make one wish they had never been _evolved_ but remained altogether _apes_. The _waiters_ at hotels are often pleasant enough, but the dislike of the white Americans to domestic service has given a monopoly of this employment to the coloured people, (shared in many parts by the Irish), and they give themselves airs accordingly. Dr. Wendel Holmes, of literary celebrity, was at the Pickerings, and I had a short talk with him, but as every minute some new introduction came off, I could never have a pleasant chat with any one. Mrs. Horsford, who was giving a large evening party, asked us to go there, and the Pickerings wanted me to stay with them till the time arrived, but I was not equal to this exertion, and we three returned in trams, which ought to be called _crams_, for they are invariably in that condition. I was also asked to join John and E--- with a party going to a place called Beverly, but I decided to come here, as people were expecting us, and we arrived about ten minutes to three, and I found cards and notes, asking me to lunch and dine, and drive, and my landlady said the bell had been ringing all the morning, and the whole place was in excitement about our coming and its frequent delays! I got a carriage (it was too late to lunch out or drive), and left some cards and notes of explanation, and as we were leaving one at Mrs. Belmont's, she drove up in a well appointed drag, so we got out, and I found her a fair and light little person, very nice, and wonderfully young looking. She then drove us in her beautiful park phaton to Mrs. Bruen's, where there was an afternoon party for my benefit--such a charming old lady! I told her I had a mother of eighty-one, and she said "Oh I am more than _that_, but no one knows my age, and I don't think about it, but am ready when the call comes." I have heard since, she is past ninety! She is small and thin, full of life and interest in everything, and her brains as active as ever,--seems to have known every one of interest. I went there again to tea-dinner last evening, and we talked about everything and everybody under Heaven nearly! Her clever daughter and very pretty grand-daughter, Miss Perkins, have read widely, and our subjects of discussion were endless. Of course at the afternoon party there were numbers of people, and they told me they were quite delighted at my arrival, for the place was very dull now, and it was quite an excitement! Last evening a Professor Shields was at Mrs. Bruen's, and gave me his book on "Science and Faith." I have had three invitations to dine _to-day_, which, of course I had to decline. To go on with yesterday's journal, we lunched with a Mrs. Bell, and met there Miss Perkins and another nice young lady, and a queer specimen, a Mr. W---, who travels about the Continent with eight children, and aggravated me by saying he was more at home in France than in England. We had several made up dishes, chiefly fish, but little I could eat! Three children came down afterwards and were made very much of, as usual; then Mrs. Belmont called for us in her barouche, and took us a delightful drive by the sea, but it was very cold, and as I had not brought my only warm wrap to Newport, I borrowed a seal skin jacket from Mrs. Bell; I find I have only brought _one_ gown that I could have well done without, but I should be glad of two or three more things.

This place is something like _Ryde_, with numbers of villas, which in summer weather have beautiful lawns and gardens, and are filled with all the smart people from New York and Boston, &c.; in the season, they say it is wonderfully pretty and gay, and the few people remaining are so sorry I did not see Newport in all its glory, but I can guess what it would be, and I should dislike the kind of life they lead and the intense frivolity and absence of any kind of occupation, excepting dressing and flirtation! I think the _cream_ had been left behind. This morning Professor Shields took us a drive to the two _Beaches_, two little bays with bathing sands, and then we drove to Miss Mason, who lives in a very pretty villa with her sister, and is very rich, and we all walked together to the _Cliff_, where there is a fashionable promenade, with rocks and sea on one side and green turf and the villas with their gardens all open on the other. If any one has a pretty house or place here it is all exposed to the public gaze, and even _use_, a great deal! We then drove to Mrs. Bruen's, where Hedley and I lunched. I am surprised to find how _fresh_ the memory of my brother Hedley still remains in the minds of people, who I thought would have been too young to have heard of him at the time of his death, or too old to remember now what they had heard and read. Miss Mason and her friend spoke about him with such real feeling, and said they had been _brought up_ on his "memoirs." Mrs. Bruen and her family, and Professor Shields and many others speak to me as if I was quite a _friend_, because of my relationship to Hedley! Isn't this curious after thirty years? They all asked about _Lucy_, and were so romantic as to be rather distressed that she had ever married; but I told them what a good man her husband was, and that she was so active and useful, and that it would have been a great pity if she had been _lost_ as a wife and mother, &c. Mrs. Bruen, among other things, spoke of spiritualism, and said she knew from personal experience there was much truth in it. A relation and intimate friend was a powerful medium, and many extraordinary things, such as moving of furniture, (heavy chairs and tables, &c.) and raps, &c., took place under circumstances which made imposition impossible, there being frequently no one present but Mrs. Bruen and her two daughters and this lady medium. A table at the _end_ of the room would suddenly tilt up and rap. A large dining room table would tilt up, while all the things arranged for dinner on it would remain immovable--the lady not touching it. They all seemed to think that spiritualism had a bad influence, and Mrs. Bruen thinks _bad_ spirits are at work. She is a wonderful old lady, past ninety, but full of energy and interest, moving large trees and making alterations constantly in her house and garden. She kissed me at parting, and I said "I shall tell my mother what a charming old lady you are," and she said, "give her my kind regards, and tell her how glad I was to see you." Well, at last with many hand-shakes and all talking at once, we parted, and I met Gibson at the station, and we returned to Boston yesterday, October 25th. I am now writing to you on Sunday from the Hotel Brunswick. Last evening Dick was out when we arrived, with Evelyn at a concert, for which I had tickets, but I was too tired to go; this morning we went to hear Dr. P. Brooks, the great preacher who everyone was raving about last spring in London, (or was it _last_ year?) his church is like a great _temple_, or public hall, and cost [pound symbol]180,000. Mr. Winthrop gave us his pew, so we were well placed, and as he is _very_ rapid and not very loud, the strain to hear his discourse would have been very great if we had not been near. "In such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh." Christ comes to us in many ways, and through the long ages of the Old Testament and Christian dispensations he has been continually _shewing_ Himself,--all great events and promises have partial fulfilments,--little _milleniums_ have taken pace, and heavenly Jerusalems have been raised in many a church, in many a gathering of God's people,--all foreshadowing the _Great Event_ which, will bring God to man. Then he went on about a _King Idea_, the ruling object in every profession, in every life; how the _best_ of _that_ idea,--justice in a lawyer, holiness in a clergyman, and so on,--was brought home and revealed at times with great power. The reformations and revivals in the world are the _coming_ in this sense. He spoke of _unconscious_ love and devotion: that many a person thinks because they cannot always _feel_ Christ present and cannot consciously recognize that they act for _Him_ in their daily life, that they do not love or serve Him; they have given _themselves_ to Him, but it seems as if He was forgotten while their daily work and employments _press Him out_. All the time, as with earthly love and care, the _heart_ is full of Him, and every now and then strong religious exercises or unusual events excite the mind; He _comes_ to it in full power, and then they recognize their Lord. Some of the sermon struck me as too _abstract_, but it was very suggestive; the music, too, was beautiful. He is a large stout man with fine well-cut features and beautiful expression. Coming out we met John and E--- and the Pickerings, who had been elsewhere. I think they are both tired of America, at least E--- is, and John wants to get to his work! I am not tired of Americans, but I could not _live_ in this country; the system political is to me odious, much of the social system ditto; and the society is so disunited, so patchy, so apparently without bonds of union or common interests, the life they lead so dull and without the charms of society at home, and yet there are many as nice and clever and good as we can find anywhere. I dare say the missionary and charitable organizations, and educational institutions, &c., give some interest and occupation to the energetic and pious ones, but there cannot be much of what _we_ call _parish_ work, or care of the poor, though there are plenty of poor in the large cities, and much distress as in older countries. Mrs. Bruen gave me Lowell's discourse on "The Democracy," which he delivered lately in Birmingham, and asked me for my candid opinion, without regard to _her_ politics. So I said, "candid I shall be, and first of all being devoted to my country's old constitution, the democracy has to me a very unpleasant sound; by that I mean the Government of the many and from _below_, and _that_ form of Government to me is highly objectionable. I think with Carlyle, that God meant the rulers of the world to be those men best fitted by their education and occupations and experiences to cope with the immense difficulties which encompass good government. So you see, I can't agree with much Lowell says, but some things are very good and I have ventured to mark them," upon which she handed the paper to Professor Shields, and told him to read it, and tell her what I had marked at a future time, as she wanted to go on talking! I found Professor Shields quite agreed with me when discussing the matter next day, but he said, "_we_ can't help ourselves now, take care _you_ don't get into the same difficulties." Mrs. Bruen made me give a resume of all the reasons why the Lords opposed the passing of the Franchise Bill until the Redistribution Bill appeared. I must stop. We have been to hear Dr. Brooks again, this time _un_-written and not so interesting.