42 ARRIVAL AT BIRMINGHAM LETTER VII. JOURNEY FROM CHESTER, AND ACCOUNT OF BIRMINGHAM. Inn at Birmingham-Ruse of the Chambermaid-Travelling by Coach-Roads-Coachman and Guard-Beauty of the Country -English Cottages-Beeston Castle-Night scene at Wolverhampton-General appearance of Birmingham-Show Shops of Mr. Jones and Mr. Thomason-Warwick Vase-Shield of Wellington-Political state of the town-News of the passage of the Reform Bill. Hen and Chickens, Birmingham, DEAR VIRGINIA, My present date is less aristocratic, both in look and sound, than some which have preceded it; and it is not improbable, will hurry your associations very unceremoniously to a poultry yard. Were you at the "Hen and Chickens," from which I write, however, you would be very well content with your quarters; and would soon lose all thoughts of a clucking old fowl and her noisy brood, in the bloom and fragrance of a seeming conservatory. In place of a feathered flock, I am surrounded by vases of beautiful flowers, many of them the choice productions of the green house in our rude climate, which ornament and perfume the halls and landings of the staircases, and impart an air bordering on elegance, to the general neatness and comfort of the establishment. AND RECEPTION AT THE INN. 43 The inn at which we are, is said to be the best in this great work-shop of iron and steel; and we have reason to believe such to be the truth, though we were not quite in such good humour with it, as at present, when first set down last night, in a heavy shower of rain, after the travel of the day. On summoning the chambermaid to show us rooms, we were led by her "up stairs and down stairs," from one section of the building to another, till 1 found myself unconsciously repeating the nursery rhyme, beginning with the cognomen, in diminutive, of a bird famed in the annals of Rome, from which the phrase in quotation is an extract. We were at last "brought up all standing," as the sailors say, in a range of little rooms next the sky, with scarce a window, and without a fire-place. We have been already long enough in England to know, that the most indifferent rooms at an inn will be allotted to the first comers, who are willing to put up with them, a better market being thus secured for those that remain; and at once said, "these will not do." "Indeed, sir, they are all we have; the house is quite full," said the maid. Perceiving, however, that we were decided in our refusal, she added, "but I will ask my mistress ;" and away she ran, returning after a little bustle with the report, that she believed there were a couple of rooms yet on the floor below. Down therefore we went. But found these, though better than the first, much inferior to the lofty and airy apartments and spacious beds we had occupied at Liverpool and Chester; and, not very well pleased at the manoeuvering exhibited, refused them also, though again assured that there were none others in the house. "Then we must try the Albion or some other hotel," was our reply: an annunciation that quickly led to a second embassy to the mistress, terminating in the discovery, that "a party had left, but it had been forgotten, and two bed chambers on the second floor, with a parlour adjoining, were vacant." And very neat and pleasant rooms we find them to be-just such as we wished; so that our knowledge of travel, you will perceive, has been shown off, in this instance at least, to good purpose. Had we arrived in a post chaise, we doubtless would have been ushered at once to this suite; coming, however, in, but I forget-1 have brought you to Birmingham as if by a rail-road: and before scribbling farther, must take you in the same style back to Chester, that we may make the intervening journey a little more leisurely together. Soon after our return from Eaton Park, we were mounted on the "Rob Roy" coach for this place. I, in my favourite seat, the box, beside the coachman, the more readily to avail myself of the local intelligence in his possession; and Captain Bolton within reach of conversation on the seat behind me. The unrivalled excellence of the roads in Great Britain, gives to the country a decided superiority over all others in the comfort and pleasure of travelling by public conveyance, not only in regard to safety and rapidity, but particularly, in allowing so great a number of passengers on the outside of the coaches, without any hazard to the much desired equilibrium. The inside seats, six in number, three behind and three in front, are so arranged as to secure to their occupants much of the cushioned ease and freedom of limb enjoyed in a private carriage; but the body of the vehicle being swung low, and the sides entirely close, except the windows above the doors, there is little opportunity of viewing the scenery from them, and a confinement of air that is never agreeable. One feels like a prisoner, or as when below decks in a ship at sea; and a chief luxury to me, in this mode of travelling, consists in the elevation at which you are on the top, where you overlook the whole country, and the purity of the atmosphere you there breathe. Of these outside seats there are usually twelve, except in the royal mails, in which the number is less; one by the coachman, four on the top in front, four behind, with their backs to the horses, and three, beside the guard, over the hind boot or box for luggage, articles of which are also placed in a light frame of ironwork, on the top, between the two rows of passengers in front and rear. The coachman's box, and the two outer seats in the front row overlooking it, are the most pleasant; and, it is a settled point, that whenever we travel in this manner, except it be in heavy rains, or at night, it will be in these seats, if they can be secured. Placed thus upon a handsome carriage, with horses well groomed, neatly harnessed, and in fine condition, and a respectable looking coachman and guard, gaily dressed in frocks of scarlet cloth, trimmed with 46 BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY. black velvet and gold lace, and lace hat bands and rosettes-the king's livery-there was no reason to be dissatisfied with the manner in which we were leaving Chester; and we bade adieu to the ancient city in great cheerfulness and good will. The day was fine, though hazy; and we greatlyenjoyed the drive of eighty miles to this place, through some of the finest parts of Cheshire and Shropshire, and a section of Staffordshire, by the towns of Tarporley, Nantwich, Drayton, Newport, Weston and Wolverhampton. From the haziness of the atmosphere, the prospect was more limited and more indistinct in the distance, than was satisfactory to eyes eager to let nothing within the possible reach of vision, pass unnoticed or unseen; still, over most of the road we were filled with admiration, and feasted with a luxury of pleasure; such was the high improvement, taste, and richness we were constantly passing by, on either hand, and such the freshness and beauty, the fragrance and the bloom, on everything around. The whole, to us, appeared but a succession of lovely pictures, in garden and lawn, in cottage, hamlet, and town-all composed of the same objects, it is true, but in a variety of combination and diversity of form, that precluded weariness or satiety, and called forth the not unfrequent exclamation, "if this be a fair specimen of England, well may the English be proud of their country!" You have read and heard much of the beauty of the cottages in England, but not more than they merit, as constituting a most picturesque and ornamen. tal part of its imagery. Ever since I was a child, 1 |