So My Dinner Consisted Of Crab, And I Was Obliged To Have
Something To Eat On Our Return To The Hotel.
Mr. Childs is very rich,
and gives away immensely.
He showed me a valuable collection of
autographs, &c., given him by Mrs. S. C. Hall, whose husband, now an old
man I believe, he partly supports. We left at half-past eight, and this
morning, _Thursday, 16th_, Mr. Childs called early with his
picture, framed, as a present. Sir William and Lady Thomson, and
probably John and E - -, are going to the Childs' on Saturday till
Monday, and Mrs. B. M - -, who called, is very anxious that they should
see the Keally experiments. I hear John and E - - are going to Boston.
_We_ are starting this afternoon for Woodlawn, New Brunswick, the
Neilsons' place, and to-day I have, an invitation from Mrs. Pruyn of
Albany. We are about to take our berths on board the Cunard steamer
_Oregon_, which starts on 12th November. I had a great pleasure
this morning in receiving from Clara a large photograph of _you_
and Arthur Paley. It is very nice, and I am very glad she arranged so
cleverly for you to be taken! You don't look quite so miserable and
cross, as is your _wont_ in general when being photographed. Clara
and S - - were at a large evening party lately at Euston, where they met
the Princess Frederica of Hanover, whom I have met several times at dear
Katty Mande's, and she inquired about us from Clara.
_Woodlawn, New Brunswick, October 20th_. - We arrived here
Thursday. Mrs. M - - called and kindly took me to the station, and
presented me with some beautiful roses, which I brought here unpacked
and gave to Mr. Neilson. Major R. S - - spoke to me again at the hotel
about the Keally motor, and fervently repeated that after a thorough
inspection of the machinery he is convinced that a new force is at work.
Mr. Neilson and his carriage met us at the station. He is very lively
and full of information, having travelled a great deal, and overflowing
with "_go_." She is very handsome and nice, and nothing can be
kinder than they are. It is a pretty cottage, close to his mother's
house, and with some grounds round them.
_Friday, 17th_. - We took a long drive, Mr. Neilson driving at a
rapid pace, and the river and foliage was pretty, but the scenery here
is not remarkable, and the town of New Brunswick does not look
_rich_, or flourishing. In the evening we went to his mother's, had
tea, oysters and birds, and then a number of people came; Dr. and Mrs.
Cook, Professor of Chemistry, and Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Warren, several
Carpenters, who are cousins of the Neilsons, Admiral and Mrs. Admiral
Boggs, Dr. and Mrs. Hart. He is a Dutch clergyman of the Dutch church
here, and has been at John's laboratory at Cambridge, and talked about
him and his work. I observe the gentlemen stand talking to _each
other_ a good deal as we do in England. Mrs. Neilson _mere_ is a
very nice old lady, with white hair, and something like you. She spoke
about my brother Hedley, and tears came into her eyes as we talked;
everyone here seems to have read his memoirs, and I enclose a scrap out
of the New Brunswick paper, which will show you how he is remembered.
Mrs. T. Neilson seems a capital housekeeper, and the cooking and
everything seems so good and comfortable. Mr. Neilson owns most of the
town, and is delighted when he can _sell_ some of it, and the
neighbours are nearly all his cousins. He says the municipal government
of the town, &c., is at a _dead lock_. Nothing can be done to the
_roads_, (which are disgraceful!) or the streets, which are
dreadful _everywhere_ nearly, that there is perpetual bribery and
corruption, and all owing to universal suffrage, which makes the
respectable people quite helpless! This is the view of all the people I
stayed with or spoke to. On _Saturday, 18th_, we made a long
excursion to Long Branch, going by train to Redbank, a pretty village,
where we got a carriage and drove to Long Branch, a favourite watering
place of this part of the country and New York; miles upon miles of the
sea coast is covered with houses, small and large, in every variety of
style, with no trees and quite flat, with a fine sea beyond the sands.
It looked like a scene on a _stage_! We passed some very pretty
bays and creeks, but though the day was bright, the wind blew a gale,
and we could not sit about. We lunched at the railway station, with our
driver sitting at the next table. It is so funny to find everyone at
your elbow, whatever their position may be, but I must say they behave
very well. We returned by train, and I managed to catch a chill, and
have been in bed most of the morning. The day was so lovely that Mr.
Neilson persuaded me to drive with him in his _buggy_, a very
comfortable carriage like a tea cart, and I enjoyed the sweet _Indian
summer_ and the pretty foliage with peeps of the river. In the
afternoon I went with Mr. Neilson to call on his mother and Mrs.
Carpenter, both fine old ladies, and as I said before, _old_ and
young women are well taken care of here.
_October 22nd_. - Hotel Brunswick, Boston. We left the kind
Neilsons yesterday, and as Dick and I were not well, we took
drawing-room car seats, which, however, were extremely uncomfortable
wicker chairs, which turned round on a pivot with the least movement and
made one feel sick! So I sat on a hard bench usually occupied by
conductors. This is a fine hotel, and John and E - - came to see me last
night after I was in bed; they seem enjoying themselves and are gay,
seeing lots of scientific folk at Baltimore and _here_ at
_Cambridge_. They intend starting home on the 1st.
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