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Page 26
A few days after my arrival in London, I received an invitation from
John Lee, Esq., LL.D., whom I had met at the Peace Congress in Paris, to
pay him a visit at his seat, near Aylesbury; and as the time was "fixed"
by the Dr., I took the train on the appointed day, on my way to Hartwell
House.
I had heard much of the aristocracy of England, and must confess that I
was not a little prejudiced against them. On a bright sunshine day,
between the hours of twelve and two, I found myself seated in a
carriage, my back turned upon Aylesbury, the vehicle whirling rapidly
over the smooth macadamised road, and I on my first visit to an English
gentleman. Twenty minutes' ride, and a turn to the right, and we were
amid the fine old trees of Hartwell Park; one having suspended from its
branches, the national banners of several different countries; among
them, the "Stars and Stripes. I felt glad that my own country's flag had
a place there, although Campbell's lines"--
"United States, your banner wears,
Two emblems,--one of fame;
Alas, the other that it bears,
Reminds us of your shame.
The white man's liberty in types,
Stands blazoned by your stars;
But what's the meaning of your stripes,
They mean your Negro-scars"--
were at the time continually running through my mind. Arrived at the
door, and we received what every one does who visits Dr. Lee--a hearty
welcome. I was immediately shown into a room with a lofty ceiling, hung
round with fine specimens of the Italian masters, and told that this was
my apartment. Hartwell House stands in an extensive park, shaded with
trees, that made me think of the oaks and elms in an American forest,
and many of whose limbs had been trimmed and nursed with the best of
care. This was for seven years the residence of John Hampden the
patriot, and more recently that of Louis XVIII., during his exile in
this country. The house is built on a very extensive scale, and is
ornamented in the interior with carvings in wood of many of the kings
and princes of bygone centuries. A room some 60 feet by 25 contains a
variety of articles that the Dr. has collected together--the whole
forming a museum that would be considered a sight in the Western States
of America.
The morning after my arrival at Hartwell I was up at an early hour--in
fact, before any of the servants--wandering about through the vast
halls, and trying to find my way out, in which I eventually succeeded,
but not, however, without aid. It had rained the previous night, and the
sun was peeping through a misty cloud as I strolled through the park,
listening to the sweet voices of the birds that were fluttering in the
tops of the trees, and trimming their wings for a morning flight. The
silence of the night had not yet been broken by the voice of man; and I
wandered about the vast park unannoyed, except by the dew from the grass
that wet my slippers. Not far from the house I came abruptly upon a
beautiful little pond of water, where the gold fish were flouncing
about, and the gentle ripples glittering in the sunshine looked like so
many silver minnows playing on the surface.
While strolling about with pleasure, and only regretting that my dear
daughters were not with me to enjoy the morning's walk, I saw the
gardener on his way to the garden. I followed him, and was soon feasting
my eyes upon the richest specimens of garden scenery. There were the
peaches hanging upon the trees that were fastened to the wall;
vegetables, fruit, and flowers were there in all their bloom and beauty;
and even the variegated geranium of a warmer clime, was there in its
hothouse home, and seemed to have forgotten that it was in a different
country from its own. Dr. Lee shows great taste in the management of his
garden. I have seldom seen a more splendid variety of fruits and flowers
in the southern States of America, than I saw at Hartwell House.
I should, however, state that I was not the only guest at Hartwell
during my stay. Dr. Lee had invited several others of the American
delegation to the Peace Congress, and two or three of the French
delegates who were on a visit to England, were enjoying the Doctor's
hospitality. Dr. Lee is a staunch friend of Temperance, as well as of
the cause of universal freedom. Every year he treats his tenantry to a
dinner, and I need not add that these are always conducted on the
principle of total abstinence.
During the second day we visited several of the cottages of the work
people, and in these I took no little interest. The people of the United
States know nothing of the real condition of the labouring classes of
England. The peasants of Great Britain are always spoken of as belonging
to the soil. I was taught in America that the English labourer was no
better off than the slave upon a Carolina rice-field. I had seen the
slaves in Missouri huddled together, three, four, and even five families
in a single room not more than 15 by 25 feet square, and I expected to
see the same in England. But in this I was disappointed. After visiting
a new house that the Doctor was building, he took us into one of the
cottages that stood near the road, and gave us an opportunity, of
seeing, for the first time, an English peasant's cot. We entered a low
whitewashed room, with a stone floor that showed an admirable degree of
cleanness. Before us was a row of shelves filled with earthen dishes and
pewter spoons, glittering as if they had just come from under the hand
of a woman of taste. A Cobden loaf of bread, that had just been left by
the baker's boy, lay upon an oaken table which had been much worn away
with the scrubbing brush; while just above lay the old family bible that
had been handed down from father to son, until its possession was
considered of almost as great value as its contents. A half-open door,
leading into another room, showed us a clean bed; the whole presenting
as fine a picture of neatness, order, and comfort, as the most
fastidious taste could wish to see. No occupant was present, and
therefore I inspected everything with a greater degree of freedom. In
front of the cottage was a small grass plot, with here and there a bed
of flowers, cheated out of its share of sunshine by the tall holly that
had been planted near it. As I looked upon the home of the labourer, my
thoughts were with my enslaved countrymen. What a difference, thought I,
there is between the tillers of the soil in England and America. There
could not be a more complete refutation of the assertion that the
English labourer is no better off than the American slave, than the
scenes that were then before me. I called the attention of one of my
American friends to a beautiful rose near the door of the cot, and said
to him, "The law that will protect that flower will also guard and
protect the hand that planted it." He knew that I had drank deep of the
cup of slavery, was aware of what I meant, and merely nodded his head in
reply. I never experienced hospitality more genuine, and yet more
unpretending, than was meted out to me while at Hartwell. And the
favourable impression made on my own mind, of the distinguished
proprietor of Hartwell Park, was nearly as indelible as my humble name
that the Doctor had engraven in a brick, in the vault beneath the
Observatory in Hartwell House.
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