SOUTHAMPTON
October 11th.--We all left London on Sunday morning, between ten and
eleven, from the Waterloo station, and arrived in Southampton about two,
without meeting with anything very remarkable on the way. We put up at
Chapple's Castle Hotel, which is one of the class styled "commercial,"
and, though respectable, not such a one as the nobility and gentry
usually frequent. I saw little difference in the accommodation, except
that young women attended us instead of men,--a pleasant change. It was
a showery day, but J----- and I walked out to see the shore and the town
and the docks, and, if possible, the ship in which S----- was to sail.
The most noteworthy object was the remains of an old castle, near the
water-side; the square, gray, weed grown, weird keep of which shows some
modern chimney-pots above its battlements, while remaining portions of
the fortress are made to seem as one of the walls for coal-depots, and
perhaps for small dwellings. The English characteristically patch new
things into old things in this manner, materially, legally,
constitutionally, and morally. Walking along the pier, we observed some
pieces of ordnance, one of which was a large brass cannon of Henry
VIII.'s time, about twelve feet long, and very finely made. The bay of
Southampton presents a pleasant prospect, and I believe it is the great
rendezvous of the yacht-club. Old and young seafaring people were
strolling about, and lounging at corners, just as they do on Sunday
afternoons in the minor seaports of America.
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