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every little post-office, they have a kind of crane, on which the bag is swung, and from which it is seized by the postman as the train is rushing past.

Instead of advertising letters, as in the United States, boards are hung up in each post-office, on which are placed lists containing the names of persons to whom letters have been sent, and whose residences are unknown. A person seeing his name has only to write his address with a pencil on the remainder of the line, and the letter is presented at his residence the following day.

In connection with the post there is a money order office, from which persons wishing to remit money can get an order, payable at any country post-office in the kingdom which they may designate. The charge for this great public convenience is six cents on all sums not exceeding ten dollars, and on sums above this, not exceeding twenty-five dollars, twelve cents. No larger orders are given than for twenty-five dollars; but persons wishing to send fifty can get two orders, or if one hundred, they can get four. Payments for small orders of this kind, at the London office, amount sometimes to one hundred thousand dollars per day.

The London parks are a great luxury, and most of them are very extensive. Regent's Park contains three hundred and sixty acres, and Hyde Park, the great resort of the nobility, three hundred and ninety-five acres. I took a long stroll in the latter. As I wandered on, careless which way I went, I soon found myself away from the noise of the city, and in fact out of sight of it in every direction. Now I would pass through a little grove, vocal with the music of birds, and fragrant with delightful odors; again, crossing a beautiful stream by a rustic bridge, I would find myself in an open meadow, where cattle were grazing around me. There has been an attempt at variety, and as the grounds are so large, this result has been attained. Carriage roads run through part of it, affording delightful drives for those who can afford to ride, while by-paths, for pedestrians, diverge from these into the Eden wilderness. Under the noble trees are numerous benches for the accommodation of the masses, to whom it must form a delightful retreat from the brick and mortar of this modern Babylon. I did not suppose that so retired and rural a spot could be found in the heart of the world's metropolis.

I had often heard of the British Museum, as who has not? and it was one of the great objects of interest which I had expected to see in London. It is open only on the alternate days of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I sacredly set apart one half day of my short visit for its examination, but how was I surprised to find that this was scarcely sufficient time to walk deliberately through it, without the examination of a single curiosity. Much as I had anticipated, my highest expectations were greatly exceeded. Room succeeded room in almost endless succession, all filled with valuable curiosities. In the basement are the great stone slabs, pillars, images, &c., all elaborately carved, brought home from Nineveh by the indefatigable Mr. Layard. These are placed in the basement, as they are of such prodigious weight that it would not be safe to keep them anywhere else. Above, on the first floor, is a large collection of mummies and mummy cases, or sarcophagi. The latter are hewn out of immense blocks of stone, and are most exquisitely carved. In another room is a great collection of heathen gods. Other apartments contain casts of Roman and Grecian sculpture. A great many rooms are filled with

stuffed animals, preserved fishes, insects, &c. The costly vases form an attractive part of the curiosities. The collection of shells, minerals, and petrefactions seem to be almost endless. In addition to all these is a print room, and a medal room, The two last can only be seen by a few persons at once, and by particular permission. The entire museum, with these exceptions, is free to all who wish to go through it.

This great public institution originated with the will of Sir Hans Sloane, who had, during a long practice as a physician, accumulated, in addition to a considerable library of books and manuscripts, the largest collection of specimens of natural history, and of works of art, of his time. These he bequeathed to Parliament at his decease in 1753. Since that period, constant additions have been made, until around the nucleus thus furnished by the bequest of a single individual, has gradually been gathered, in less than a hundred years, the greatest public museum in the world. The present building, which is of the Grecian order, is still unfinished, and will be, when completed, one of the most imposing edifices in London.

The Tower,

ST. PAUL'S, AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

"The Tower! the Tower!

There, where the captive's breath
Had sighed itself in bitterness away,
Where iron nerves had withered one by one,
And the sick eye, shut from the glorious sun,
Hath grop'd o'er these grim walls till idiocy
Made life like death."

THE Tower of London is the finest relic of the past in Britain; there is no other building so replete with historical associations. It is said that

the first words of Daniel Webster, on his setting foot in London, were, "Drive me to the Tower." It has been, in turn, a prison, a palace, and a fortress, and sometimes all at once. Its history extends so far into the past, that it is difficult to ascertain at what time it was built. Some ascribe it to Julius Cæsar, but it is more generally believed to have been the work of William the Conqueror. In 1215 King John conquered London, but the garrison of the Tower refused to surrender till he had signed the Magna Charta.

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