392 SUNDRY JOURNEYS AND EXPERIENCES -II 



enigmas.&quot; At this Browning, recognizing fully the 

 comic element in the situation, extended his hand most 

 cordially, saying, &quot;His Excellency is thrice welcome; he 

 is a brother, indeed. 



The month of October was passed in the southwest of 

 England, and there dwell in my mind recollections of 

 Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, and Bristol ; but, above all, of 

 a stay with the historian Freeman at Wells. The whole 

 life of that charming cathedral town and its neighborhood 

 was delightful. Freeman s kindness opened all doors 

 to us. The bishop, Lord Arthur Hervey, showed us 

 kindly hospitality at his grand old castle, which we had 

 entered by a drawbridge over the moat. Of especial in 

 terest to me was a portrait of one of his predecessors 

 dear old Bishop Ken, whose morning and evening hymns 

 are among the most beautiful ties between England and 

 the United States. In the evening, dining with the magis 

 trates and lawyers, I heard good stories, among them 

 some characterizing various eminent members of the pro 

 fession, and of these I especially remember one at the 

 expense of the late Lord Chancellors Westbury and Cran- 

 worth. Lord Cranworth, after the amalgamation of law 

 and equity, was for some time in the habit of going to 

 sit with the new judges in order to familiarize himself 

 with the reformed practice, whereupon some one asked 

 Lord Westbury, &quot;Why does Cranny go to sit with the 

 judges ? &quot; to which Westbury answered, Doubtless from 

 a childish fear of being alone in the dark. 



Next day I was invited to sit with the squires in the 

 Court of Quarter Sessions, and was greatly interested in 

 their mode of administering justice. There was a firm 

 ness, but at the same time a straightforward common sense 

 about it all which greatly pleased me. A visit to Wells 

 Cathedral with Freeman was in its way ideal ; for never 

 in all my studies of mediaeval buildings have I had so 

 good a guide. But perhaps the most curious experience 

 of our stay was an attendance upon a political meeting 

 at Glastonbury, in the Gladstonian interest. The first 



