Travels in England in 1782 | Page 5

then I had never seen, might have some faint resemblance
with the scene now surrounding me in London.
There are everywhere leading from the Strand to the Thames, some
well-built, lesser, or subordinate streets, of which the Adelphi
Buildings are now by far the foremost. One district in this
neighbourhood goes by the name of York Buildings, and in this lies
George Street, where my two travelling companions lived. There reigns
in those smaller streets towards the Thames so pleasing a calm,
compared to the tumult and bustle of people, and carriages, and horses,
that are constantly going up and down the Strand, that in going into one
of them you can hardly help fancying yourself removed at a distance
from the noise of the city, even whilst the noisiest part of it is still so
near at hand.
It might be about ten or eleven o'clock when we arrived here. After the
two Englishmen had first given me some breakfast at their lodgings,
which consisted of tea and bread and butter, they went about with me
themselves, in their own neighbourhood, in search of an apartment,

which they at length procured for me for sixteen shillings a week, at the
house of a tailor's widow who lived opposite to them. It was very
fortunate, on other accounts, that they went with me, for equipped as I
was, having neither brought clean linen nor change of clothes from my
trunk, I might perhaps have found it difficult to obtain good lodgings.
It was a very uncommon but pleasing sensation I experienced on being
now, for the first time in my life, entirely among Englishmen: among
people whose language was foreign, their manners foreign, and in a
foreign climate, with whom, notwithstanding, I could converse as
familiarly as though we had been educated together from our infancy. It
is certainly an inestimable advantage to understand the language of the
country through which you travel. I did not at first give the people I
was with any reason to suspect I could speak English, but I soon found
that the more I spoke, the more attention and regard I met with. I now
occupy a large room in front on the ground floor, which has a carpet
and mats, and is very neatly furnished; the chairs are covered with
leather, and the tables are of mahogany. Adjoining to this I have
another large room. I may do just as I please, and keep my own tea,
coffee, bread and butter, for which purpose my landlady has given me a
cupboard in my room, which locks up.
The family consists of the mistress of the house, her maid, and her two
sons, Jacky and Jerry; singular abbreviations for John and Jeremiah.
The eldest, Jacky, about twelve years old, is a very lively boy, and
often entertains me in the most pleasing manner by relating to me his
different employments at school, and afterwards desiring me in my turn
to relate to him all manner of things about Germany. He repeats his
amo, amas, amavi, in the same singing tone as our common
school-boys. As I happened once when he was by, to hum a lively tune,
he stared at me with surprise, and then reminded me it was Sunday; and
so, that I might not forfeit his good opinion by any appearance of levity,
I gave him to understand that, in the hurry of my journey, I had
forgotten the day. He has already shown me St. James's Park, which is
not far from hence; and now let me give you some description of the
renowned
St. James's Park.
The park is nothing more than a semicircle, formed of an alley of trees,
which enclose a large green area in the middle of which is a marshy

pond.
The cows feed on this green turf, and their milk is sold here on the spot,
quite new.
In all the alleys or walks there are benches, where you may rest
yourself. When you come through the Horse Guards (which is provided
with several passages) into the park, on the right hand is St. James's
Palace, or the king's place of residence, one of the meanest public
buildings in London. At the lower end, quite at the extremity, is the
queen's palace, a handsome and modern building, but very much
resembling a private house. As for the rest, there are generally
everywhere about St. James's Park very good houses, which is a great
addition to it. There is also before the semicircle of the trees just
mentioned a large vacant space, where the soldiers are exercised.
How little this famous park is to be compared with our park at Berlin, I
need not mention. And yet one cannot but form a high idea of St.
James's Park