Still He
Is Separated From All The Circumjacent Immensity Of Space Only By
One Small Part, Or Insignificant Portion Of That Immensity.
That portion of this space, which I now see surrounding me, is a
most delightful selection from the whole of beautiful nature.
Here
is the Thames full of large and small ships and boats, dispersed
here and there, which are either sailing on with us, or lying at
anchor; and there the hills on either side, clad with so soft and
mild a green, as I have nowhere else ever seen equalled. The
charming banks of the Elbe, which I so lately quitted, are as much
surpassed by these shores as autumn is by spring! I see everywhere
nothing but fertile and cultivated lands; and those living hedges
which in England more than in any other country, form the boundaries
of the green cornfields, and give to the whole of the distant
country the appearance of a large and majestic garden. The neat
villages and small towns with sundry intermediate country seats,
suggest ideas of prosperity and opulence which is not possible to
describe.
The prospect towards Gravesend is particularly beautiful. It is a
clever little town, built on the side of a hill; about which there
lie hill and dale and meadows, and arable land, intermixed with
pleasure grounds and country seats; all diversified in the most
agreeable manner. On one of the highest of these hills near
Gravesend stands a windmill, which is a very good object, as you see
it at some distance, as well as part of the country around it, on
the windings of the Thames. But as few human pleasures are ever
complete and perfect, we too, amidst the pleasing contemplation of
all these beauties, found ourselves exposed on the quarter-deck to
uncommonly cold and piercing weather. An unintermitting violent
shower of rain has driven me into the cabin, where I am now
endeavouring to divert a gloomy hour by giving you the description
of a pleasing one.
CHAPTER II.
London, 2nd June.
This morning those of us who were fellow passengers together in the
great cabin, being six in number, requested to be set on shore in a
boat, a little before the vessel got to Dartford, which is still
sixteen miles from London. This expedient is generally adopted,
instead of going up the Thames, towards London, where on account of
the astonishing number of ships, which are always more crowded
together the nearer you approach the city, it frequently requires
many days before a ship can finish her passage. He therefore who
wishes to lose no time unnecessarily, and wishes also to avoid other
inconveniences, such as frequent stoppages, and perhaps, some
alarming dashings against other ships, prefers travelling those few
miles by land in a post-chaise, which is not very expensive,
especially when three join together, as three passengers pay no more
than one. This indulgence is allowed by act of parliament.
As we left the vessel we were honoured with a general huzza, or in
the English phrase with three cheers, echoed from the German sailors
of our ship. This nautical style of bidding their friends farewell
our Germans have learned from the English. The cliff where we
landed was white and chalky, and as the distance was not great, nor
other means of conveyance at hand, we resolved to go on foot to
Dartford: immediately on landing we had a pretty steep hill to
climb, and that gained, we arrived at the first English village,
where an uncommon neatness in the structure of the houses, which in
general are built with red bricks and flat roofs, struck me with a
pleasing surprise, especially when I compared them with the long,
rambling, inconvenient, and singularly mean cottages of our
peasants. We now continued our way through the different villages,
each furnished with his staff, and thus exhibited no remote
resemblance of a caravan. Some few people who met us seemed to
stare at us, struck, perhaps, by the singularity of our dress, or
the peculiarity of our manner of travelling. On our route we passed
a wood where a troop of gipsies had taken up their abode around a
fire under a tree. The country, as we continued to advance, became
more and more beautiful. Naturally, perhaps, the earth is
everywhere pretty much alike, but how different is it rendered by
art! How different is that on which I now tread from ours, and
every other spot I have ever seen. The soil is rich even to
exuberance, the verdure of the trees and hedges, in short the whole
of this paradisaical region is without a parallel! The roads too
are incomparable; I am astonished how they have got them so firm and
solid; every step I took I felt, and was conscious it was English
ground on which I trod.
We breakfasted at Dartford. Here, for the first time, I saw an
English soldier, in his red uniform, his hair cut short and combed
back on his forehead, so as to afford a full view of his fine,
broad, manly face. Here too I first saw (what I deemed a true
English fight) in the street, two boys boxing.
Our little party now separated, and got into two post-chaises, each
of which hold three persons, though it must be owned three cannot
sit quite so commodiously in these chaises as two: the hire of a
post-chaise is a shilling for every English mile. They may be
compared to our extra posts, because they are to be had at all
times. But these carriages are very neat and lightly built, so that
you hardly perceive their motion as they roll along these firm
smooth roads; they have windows in front, and on both sides. The
horses are generally good, and the postillions particularly smart
and active, and always ride on a full trot. The one we had wore his
hair cut short, a round hat, and a brown jacket of tolerable fine
cloth, with a nosegay in his bosom.
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