Three Years in Europe: Places I Have Seen and People I Have MetBrown, William Wells
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Three Years in Europe: Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met
Brown, William Wells
Great Britain -- Description and travel
In natural productions and provisions, America stands alone in her
glory. There lies her pile of canvassed hams; whether they were wood or
real, we could not tell. There are her barrels of salt, beef, and pork,
her beautiful white lard, her Indian-corn and corn-meal, her rice and
tobacco, her beef tongues, dried peas, and a few bags of cotton. The
contributors from the United States seemed to have forgotten that this
was an exhibition of Art, or they most certainly would not have sent
provisions. But the United States takes the lead in the contributions,
as no other country has sent in provisions. The finest thing contributed
by our countrymen, is a large piece of silk with an eagle painted upon
it, surrounded by stars and stripes.
After remaining more than five hours in the great temple, I turned my
back upon the richly laden stalls and left the Crystal Palace. On my
return home I was more fortunate than in the morning, inasmuch as I
found a seat for my friend and myself in an omnibus. And even my ride
in the close omnibus was not without interest. For I had scarcely taken
my seat, when my friend, who was seated opposite me, with looks and
gesture informed me that we were in the presence of some distinguished
person. I eyed the countenances of the different persons, but in vain,
to see if I could find any one who by his appearance showed signs of
superiority over his fellow-passengers. I had given up the hope of
selecting the person of note when another look from my friend directed
my attention to a gentlemen seated in the corner of the omnibus. He was
a tall man with strongly marked features, hair dark and coarse. There
was a slight stoop of the shoulder--that bend which is almost always a
characteristic of studious men. But he wore upon his countenance a
forbidding and disdainful frown, that seemed to tell one that he thought
himself better than those about him. His dress did not indicate a man of
high rank; and had we been in America, I would have taken him for an
Ohio farmer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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