548 LETTERS FkOlrt ENGLAND. 



which made a much stronger impression upon me. I mean the 

 grand and beautiful garks of London., 



If every thing one sees in England leads ^ne to the conviction 

 that the English do pot, like the French and (lermans, possess the 

 genius of high art, there is no denying that they far surpass all 

 othei" nations in a profound sentiment of nature. Take, for exam- 

 ple, the West end of London, and what do you" see there ? Mag- 

 nificent palaces, enormous piles of dwellings, in the shape of " ter- 

 races," " squares,", aiid " places "-^the same costly town architecture, 

 that you find every where iti the better portions, of populous and^ 

 wealthy capitals. But if you ask me what is the peculiair and dis- 

 , tinguishin'g luxury of this- part of London, I aiiswer, in its holding 

 the countjy in its lap. ,In the inidst of London lie, in an almost 

 connected series, the great parks. ^Hyde Park, Regent's Park, St. 

 James's and Green Parks. ' These names, are almost as familiar to 

 you as the Battery and Washington Sqiiare, and I fear y6<i labor 

 under the delusion that the formei" are only an enlarged edition of* 

 the latter. Believe me, you have fallen into a^ great an error as if 

 you took the " Brick meeting-hotise "fora. suggestion of St. Peter's. 

 The London parks'are actually like districts Of open' country — ^mead- 

 ows and fields, countiy estates, lakes "^and- streams, gardens and 

 shrubberies, with as much variety as if you were in the. heart of 

 Cambridgeshire, and as much seclusion in some parts, at certain 

 hours, as if you were on a ferm in the interior of Pennsylvania. 

 And the whole is laid out and tfeafed, in the main, with a broad 

 and noble feeling of natural beauty, quite the reverse of what you 

 see in the public parks of the contiiiental cities. This makes these 

 parks doubly refreshing to citizens tire"d of straight lines and for- 

 mal streets, while the contrast heightens the natural charm. Unac- 

 customed to this breadth of iniitation of iiature — this oreatinl^a 

 piece of wide-spread country large enough to shut out for the time 

 all trace of the houses, though actually in the midst of a city, an 

 American is always inclined to believe (notwithstanding the abun- 

 dance of evidence to the contrary)' that the London parks are a bit 

 of the native counti'y, surprised and fairly taken prisoner by the 

 outstretched arms of this giant of modern cities. 



St. James's Park and Green Park are enormous pieces of' real 



