Visits in England. 269 



battle of Camperdown. I had a joyful meeting 

 with my son and his wife, and we went to see 

 many things that were new to me. One of our 

 first expeditions was to the British Museum. I had 

 already seen the Elgin marbles, and the antiquities 

 collected at Babylon by Mr. Eich, when he was 

 Consul at Bagdad, but now the Museum had been 

 enriched by the marbles from Halicarnassus, and 

 by the marvellous remains excavated by Mr. Layard 

 from the ruins of Nineveh, the very site of which 

 had been for ages unknown. 



I frequently went to Turner's studio, and was 

 always welcomed. No one could imagine that so 

 much poetical feeling existed in so rough an exterior. 

 The water-colour exhibitions were very good ; my 

 countrymen still maintained their superiority in that 

 style of art, and the drawings of some English ladies 

 were scarcely inferior to those of first-rate artists, 

 especially those of my friend, Miss Blake, of 

 Danesbury. 



While in England I made several visits ; the first 

 was to my dear friends Sir John and Lady Herschel, 

 at Collingwood, who received me with the warmest 

 affection. I cannot express the pleasure it gave me 

 to feel myself at home in a family where not only 

 the highest branches of science were freely discussed, 

 but where the accomplishments and graces of life 



