PREFACE. So complete is the system of English railways, that four weeks judiciously appropriated, during the intervals of business or social engagements, will enable the American, in London, to visit and thoroughly explore a specimen, at least, of what is peculiar in the country; he may thus become acquainted with a large rural domain, a manufacturing district, an ancient castle, a watering-place, and a venerable seat of learning; and these excursions will alternate profitably with metropolitan life. It may seem, however, quite superfluous to record the impressions derived from an experience now become so familiar; and only when a new point of view is adopted, can they be supposed to have any interest for the public. In the present instance, well-known scenes have been examined chiefly through the medium of the associations we derive from English authors, and some new details of |