chair in which her majesty and preceding sovereigns were crowned.

"From the abbey we drove to the celebrated British Museum, a vast receptacle of millions of wonders both of art and nature. Here the rest of the day was profitably consumed. We had only time to take a short drive through Hyde Park before dinner. We were too much fatigued to visit any place of amusement in the evening, and retired early.

"Early on Thursday morning we drove to Kensington Gardens, which adjoin Hyde Park. There is a lovely quietude about these beautiful gardens, which contrasts strangely with their noisy and more fashionable vicinity. Kensington Palace, to which the gardens are attached, was the former residence of the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria. It has little pretensions to grandeur is built of old-fashioned looking brick, and reared with neither elegance nor taste.

"From the gardens we drove to Richmond, enchanting Richmond! Thomson's Seasons were in our minds and on our lips, and their delightful association enhanced the charm of every prospect. I think this was the most agreeable drive I have ever yet taken. We all declared that there was no place we cared to visit after Richmond; and there we spent the remainder of the day, wandering about in a state of dreamy delight, and chiding the setting sun (which we viewed from Richmond Hill) for warning us to return homewards.

"On Friday we were occupied in packing. We were to leave for Hamburg in the evening. As we stood in the midst of an army of trunks, in the 'very heat of battle,'-a battle waged against the impossi

STANDING "IN WAIT FOR THE QUEEN. 87

bility of making them contain more than they could hold, H- - entered hastily and told us that the queen was expected to visit the National Gallery of Paintings. A crowd had already collected at a short distance; if we made haste, we might see her. Our toilets were rapidly completed, and we soon formed a portion of the expectant crowd. For an hour and a half we stood patiently waiting, listening to the doubts. expressed by some, and the confident assurances of others, that her majesty would shortly pass. We then walked to St. James's Square, (more than a mile off,) in the hope of seeing her there. Again disappointed, we returned to our former station; but after remaining there another hour, we were forced to return to the hotel to finish our packing. The queen passed three hours afterwards.

"On the loveliest moonlight night I ever beheld, we bade adieu to London, with the earnest hope that we might one day return."

Hamburg.

CHAPTER V.

Bremen.- American Ladies supposed to be black.Incident at a Dinner Party. - Bridal Address translated into German. Usages and Manners of the Northern Germans. Dinner Parties. Funeral Customs. ·Betrothal and Bridal Customs. Bremen Cathedral. — Peculiarity of the Vault.- Corpses four Centuries old in a State of Preservation. Robbing the Student of a Lock of Hair. Frei Markt. Our Housekeeping in Germany. Studies. - Arrival of Mr. Mowatt. His long Illness. Departure for Paris.

TWENTY-FOUR hours after our departure from London, we reached Hamburg by steamboat. Our passage across the North Sea was smooth and pleasant. In Hamburg we remained one week, visiting all places of interest and of public amusement within our reach. We were so constantly "on the wing" that I had no leisure to keep any record of our swallow-like flights. From Hamburg we proceeded to Bremen, travelling part of the way by schnell post. One of our party, who did not comprehend German, remarked that probably schnell post meant snail post, judging from the slow and tedious mode of progression. She was particularly indignant when the swiftness implied by the word schnell was translated to her, but consoled herself with the reflection that the expression was probably used in irony.

In Bremen resided the parents and relatives of our new brother-in-law. An amusing incident took place when he first presented to them his young wife. A

AMERICAN LADIES SUPPOSED TO BE BLACK. 89

servant, who had resided some time in his father's family, concealed herself behind the street door to catch the first glimpse of my sister. During the tender embraces with which she was welcomed by her warmhearted relatives, the servant could not see her face, which was shadowed by a profusion of long, dark ringlets; but when the greeting was over, and she was conducted into the drawing room, and her bonnet removed, the girl had a full view of her countenance. As her mistress passed out of the room, she rushed to her, exclaiming in German, “O, she's white! she's not black-only her hair. I thought Master H- had married an American woman, and brought you home a black daughter-in-law!" More intelligent individuals than this German mädchen were possessed with the belief that America produced only a race of negroes.

In Bremen our time passed most delightfully. My sister was fêted and courted for her own sake, as well as on account of her husband's position as a popular and influential merchant. My aunt and I shared in the hospitalities offered to them.

At the first large dinner party given to my brother and sister, when the healths were proposed, a gentleman rose and recited to them a poem in German. There was a great deal of applause their glasses were touched by all present, and their healths drunk. Immediately afterwards the health of the "dichterin' (poetess) was offered. What was my astonishment when all eyes were turned upon me! I could only look with a questioning stare into the face of the gentleman who, having proposed the health, addressed me in a then unknown tongue. My surprise and confusion were not lessened when I perceived a host of outstretched

hands, every one holding a wine glass towards me. I looked at the challenging wine glasses in amazement then at my own, which I did not attempt to lift to meet theirs then at my brother-in-law, petitioning in dumb show that he would explain what was expected of me. He was seated at some distance, but made a sign for me to touch my glass to the offered glasses. I did so, and the health of the "dichterin ” was drunk. I joined in, and stupidly drank my own health, for I had not then discovered that I was the "dichterin."

A gentleman at my side, who could only speak a few words of English, enlightened me by saying, "Dichterin, dat is you—you pretty poem you pretty poem write your sister

Mr. B― make German of.”

The Bridal Address which was recited at my sister's nuptials had been translated into German without her knowledge or mine. These were the verses addressed to her when her health was proposed. Our kind German friends were very enthusiastic in regard to the poem, for which I was probably indebted to the translator. As for the original, it could only have been to them

"Like inarticulate breathings from a shrine
Their fancy took for granted was divine.”

Soon after this, to my great surprise, the Bridal Address appeared in the London Weekly Gazette. It was inserted (at least, I so believe) by the editors, without the influence or knowledge of any of my friends, as an American production worthy of being quoted; all which to a youthful authoress was sufficiently gratifying. From that moment the self-mistrust which had always chilled me, when I was persuaded to make public what I wrote, began to melt away. I continued to