Thursday, September 21st 1854 ~ London

The coronation chair, Westminster Abbey.

Miss Ayres boarding house, 29 Geo St Hanover Square ~ As we drove through the streets from the [?] last evening – the lamps are just lighted and London was in her glory. But I was not as much impressed with the size of the city as I expected to be for we must have driven nearly the whole length of the place and through many of the finest streets. The streets were not fuller than those of New York and most of the buildings we passed no longer or more handsome, but there was a greater uniformity of appearance and there were less small houses placed beside great ones. All was equal and regular in the same locality, whole streets of stately edifices all looking alike. When I woke up this morning, I was much surprised to find the roof of the houses covered with an inch or two of snow. It was not enough to make bad walking however and immediately after breakfast we started out for a walk to Westminster Abbey. We are in a little street running parallel with Regent St. only a few steps from “Regent Circus” toward Cheapside, so that we had only a long half mile to walk through Regent St and the Quadrant. We didn’t come within sight of the old Abbey until we were quite upon it and then of course we recognized it by the peculiar spires that we had so often seen in prints. It is very striking in appearance, more so even than one would suppose from seeing it merely on paper. The parliament houses are just opposite and constitute, with the Abbey, a very imposing group. And now we are about to enter this great mausoleum of England kings and of her most celebrated men, pause we on the threshold and ponder its history. Here most of the sovereign of England have been crowned. It has seen them in adversity as well as in prosperity for it was for a long time the sanctuary of England and during the wars of the roses royalty and the brigand took refuge here together. Cardinals, bishops, and priests owning allegiance to the Pope have administered here. Here the covenant has been supreme. Now the sites of the church of England alone find access to these walls. How many generations of men have worshiped here. From the mail clad Norman, when might made right, to the man in bradcloth of these latter days engaged in commerce, manufacture, and invention. The proportions of the Abbey surprised me, it was more vast than I had imagined. When we entered service was being performed, and we sat down to join in worship before beginning our round of examination. It was performed in a way that did not please us at all. The reading was quick indistinct and monotonous, so much so that it sounded far more like bad chanting. The voice rose and fell in a regular cadence. It was to our unaccustomed ears anything but solemn. After service a virger carried us about and showed us the tombs of Mary Queen of Scots, the mother of Lord Darnly, Queen Elizabeth (these three lay side by side), Henry 7th and his queen, Charles 2nd, Anne, Mary, Addison, Gen. Wolfe, Mers Liddons, Sir Robert Peel,William Pitt, Kimble, Garrick, Sheridan, Dr. Johnson, Shakespeare. This is a full length figure of the great poet bearing in his hand a scroll with the words “the cloud capt towers, the gorgeous palaces etc.” Major Andre in marble size of life. Fox, a beautiful reclining figure. Newton and many hundred other great men. Besides the great assembly of Kings and Princes of whom I have mentioned but a very small part, I could scarcely realize that we were standing on the ashes of men who were so famous in their time and who even now, being dead yet live. The chair was shown us in which all the kings of England have been crowned since the time of Edward 1st. It is a very old rough and uncouth piece of carved oak with arms. We noticed here a monument to Rich and Kane, who died 1679.