FOR FREDERICK DOUGLASS' PAPER

LETTER FROM THE OLD WORLD—NO. III.

LONDON, Aug. 10, 1855.

MY DEAR FRIEND:—I do not wish the U.S. mail of to-morrow to depart, without carrying a scripture from me; but as I have postponed writing to the eleventh hour, my communication must, necessarily, be brief; and I send it more as a practical proof that Rochester, tho' far distant, is not forgotten, than in the hope of its furnishing much entertainment to you and my many kind transatlantic friends.

DickensDickens, Charles

Charles Dickens (1812-70), British novelist and writer, authored many of the most enduring pieces of modern literature. The quintessential Victorian writer, Dickens penned dozens of stories and novels beginning with the Monthly Magazine publication of a short story titled "A Dinner at Poplar Walk" (1833). Many of his works consider the bleak side of human nature and reflect the darker side of life in Victorian England. Among his best-known works are Pickwick Papers (1837), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1850), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1861). Grahame Smith, Charles Dickens: A Literary Life (New York, 1996); DNB, 5:925-37. said, one night, on his return from one of his evening peregrinations in this vast city, "London is a wonderful place!" and so have I said and many times since I came here three weeks ago. I have not known a single day's stillness, nor freedom from excitement since I wrote last: and yet, when I bid a temporary adieu to London and its suburbs, (as I hope to do,) next week, it will be with the somewhat unpleasant recollection of having left many made promises unfulfilled, and

many pledges unredeemed; but where distances are so "," and the invitations so universal, I see no help for this—since it is almost impossible to "guess," with accuracy, how many friends you may or may not be able to see in a limited time, when their domiciles lie in such various directions—and you find yourself one day at Willesdon, the next at Stratford, then at Camberwell, or Highgate, Kew, or Sydenham. This great city has grown immensely during the last six years; indeed it has, on many sides, stretched out so far as almost to have incorporated the poor suburbs and their villas, into its vast bosom; and miles must you now ride from the heart of London, before you may hope to breathe fresh, pure, clean, unadulterated country air, and to feel free from this heavy, oppressive, overpowering yet indescribable London atmosphere. I hear no rumors of cholera as yet, and the admirable sanitary regulations, now rigidly enforced by the proper authorities, must contribute, in no ordinary degree, to the general health of the Londoners. In this connection, all good citizens owe a debt of gratitude to the Earl of Shaftesbury that never can be paid for his unceasing, long, continuous, and thoroughly efforts to better the condition, and to cleanse the habitations, and persons of the London poor. His Lordship's "MODEL LODGING HOUSES" appear (in their exterior) beautifully neat and attractive to the eye; I regret that I must leave my intended visit to them, and to the Ragged Schools, until my return to London in October. "Old Father " (perchance finding himself somewhat

slighted and partly superseded by the more popular and juvenile "") is striving to gain attention by rendering himself exceedingly disagreeable, and by producing strange sensations on the olfactory nerves of all passersby. I am told that it is not wise to make excursions upon his "water," since they are always "troubled." How long it will take to bring this unmanageable old gentleman to his senses and his , I know not. I heard a friend of mine say, "." But every locality of this city has undergone purification, and the has been made the one receptacle for all the nameless offscouring thereof, we need not wonder that its waters do not vie, in brightness, with the glorious waters of the St. Lawrence—nor equal, in beauty of coloring to the Rhone at Geneva.

Through the kindness of Mr. Cobden, M. P.Cobden, Richard

In 1849 M.P. Richard Cobden (1804-65) introduced an unsuccessful motion in the House of Commons in support of arbitration treaties. Known primarily as a free-trade advocate and founder of the Anti-Corn Law League, Cobden joined the peace movement in 1842 after concluding that war was a natural consequence of economic competition. Christina Phelps, The Anglo-American Peace Movement in the Mid-Nineteenth Century (New York, 1930), 36-37, 61, 150-64; DNB, 4:604-10. , I received orders for the Ladies' Gallery of his House of Commons; and in company with one of my Swedish friends, I spent a very pleasant few hours there one night last week, and was so fortunate as to hear Lord Palmerston, Lord John Manners, Sir Charles Wood, General De Lacy Evans, and several gallant old admirals.— (viz:) MERIT, or rather, by whom it was to be conferred, was the subject up for consideration most of the time. You would have been greatly amused to have seen the position of the Ladies' Gallery, as well as the ponderous that separated its occupiers from the Legislators, and that spoke as plainly as gratings ever did speak.

that by great favor alone were the ladies admitted to that hallowed sanctuary. I thought of Senator Brodhead, of Pa, and what I heard him, sneeringly, say of "Senators who spoke to the Ladies' gallery of the Senate Chamber" at Washington. No member of the House of Commons will ever catch a ray of inspiration from that thickly grated, very , little Convent parlor, denominated the British Ladies' Gallery. We saw the ceiling or roof of the House to great advantage, it being brilliantly lighted up; and exquisitely beautiful is the half Gothic, half Moorish architecture which adorns its. The members all conducted themselves (so far as we could see) in a very gentlemanly manner, and Miss Roos and I had a merry time of it; we could laugh when we so pleased, and without constraint, knowing that we could not be overheard.

I enjoyed another evening of last week in

company with Rev. Dr. Campbell and his family. You know the doctor, both personally and by his ";" and you will not, perhaps, be surprised to hear me say that he has one of the most powerful minds with which I ever came in contact. He is a modern . He appears just as thoroughly at home in anti-slavery matter as if he lived in New York; and I was both surprised and proud to hear him say that (busy as he is) he always looks over every column of every number of . He has a high appreciation of the mighty intellect and noble manhood of our common friend, ; indeed, wherever I go, I hear of the powerful impression produced by the preaching and speaking of Mr. Ward. In sober truth, Mr. W. is an intellectual giant; and I never more felt this to be the case, than at the close of a long and delightful evening spent in his company this week.
What mental are people in general when compared with him! It is my decided opinion that Mr. Ward has done more to refute the charge of the negroes' inferiority than any other man, who has visited England, from the United States, during the last eight years. He has preached in the first Congregational pulpits

of the country—he has dined at the first tables of the land—he has been treated as an equal by some of the best and most distinguished peers of the realm—he has been unexpectedly detained in England, by important matters of a personal nature, to which it was his to pay attention; but I understand him aright, (and I do not doubt this) he has never, for a single moment, forgotten the people with whom he is identified, nor their cause; nor will he, in time to com, whether his home be in Canada or in the West Indies, in the States or in England, cease to do all that in him lies, to promote their interests and to give practical evidence of their manhood. Yes! we have all reason to be proud of Samuel Ringgold Ward.

An excellent old friend of mind has just called on me, to show me some Southern letters, or rather, I should say, some letters lately written by an English gentleman, who is travelling in the Southern States. In one, bearing date, Montgomery, Alabama, July 12th, he says: "I have not yet given you my opinion of the Americans; the emotions they excite in me in these Southern States, are unlimited contempt, disgust, and animosity. Their vices are only equaled by their ignorance and self-sufficiency; not an affirmation without an oath; not an oath without the sacred name of God; nor an at without the manifestation of the tyrant, the coward and the bully. Sensible men (viz:) any who have eyes and apprehensions, admit the extraordinary physical, moral, and mental degeneration, already far advanced, and rapidly progressing. * * * * * *

Such are some of the the fruits of slavery; that gigantic upas tree, which is overwhelming here, physical, moral, and mental, and so does Providence attach to great crimes, and open, apparent, consequential and inevitable retribution. The productions of the country are cotton, tobacco, Indian corn, rice, and sugar, watered with the blood of the African race—the , the whole category of crime, from the cold-blooded murder to sanctioned and reiterated incest—the , hypocrisy ineffable, under and ."

Such are a few of the impressions made upon one of the English travelers in the Southern States; and this is the system that my Louisiana fellow-passenger, Dr. Taylor, assured me had been altogether and overstated by the writer of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and others. I do not think I told you, in one of my former letters, that the day before we left the ship "Yorkshire," Dr. Taylor told me he ";" he added that the States could not remain together; they must, in time, be separated; and that "he would, for his part, rather see his State, Louisiana, buried forever—a second —than he would consent to yield one iota of his rights." ," said two friends to me, the other day, who have seen a large number of Southerners during the last two years; "they all want the Union to be dissolved." " will the slaves be ?" is a question I leave for you and others to answer. How curiously sometimes meet! It is nearly past time, and I have not yet told you anything of the wonders of the Crystal Palace,

nor of my visits to the Botanical Gardens at Keer, and the Zoological Gardens in the Regents Park, and of the many attractions and beauties of these lovely places—nor of my interesting meeting with "" at the Gardens, together with the good conduct of those no longer neglected little ones, and of my interview with their teacher. "" say all good people here. "," said Mr. Ward to me, the other evening. "So I have already christened him," I responded.

This is a very hastily-written letter. I cannot even begin to tell the particulars of my goings and doings since last I scribbled a few lines to Rochester. I heard the grand church service at the Temple last Sunday, for the first time since you and I, and others, now gone hence, heard service there eight years ago. There lie the iron knights of the Temple, "like warriors taking their rest," with brows as rigid and immovable as ever. Remember me to all my enquiring friends,

And believe me, yours truly,

JULIA GRIFFITHS.