August 10th.--We went to the Isle of Man, a few weeks ago, where S-----
and the children spent a fortnight. I spent two Sundays with them.
I never saw anything prettier than the little church of Kirk Madden
there. It stands in a perfect seclusion of shadowy trees,--a plain
little church, that would not be at all remarkable in another situation,
but is most picturesque in its solitude and bowery environment. The
churchyard is quite full and overflowing with graves, and extends down
the gentle slope of a hill, with a dark mass of shadow above it. Some of
the tombstones are flat on the ground, some erect, or laid horizontally
on low pillars or masonry. There were no very old dates on any of these
stones; for the climate soon effaces inscriptions, and makes a stone of
fifty years look as old as one of five hundred,--unless it be slate, or
something harder than the usual red freestone. There was an old Runic
monument, however, near the centre of the churchyard, that had some
strange sculpture on it, and an inscription still legible by persons
learned in such matters. Against the tower of the church, too, there is
a circular stone, with carving on it, said to be of immemorial antiquity.
There is likewise a tall marble monument, as much as fifty feet high,
erected some years ago to the memory of one of the Athol family by his
brother-officers of a local regiment of which he was colonel. At one of
the side-entrances of the church, and forming the threshold within the
thickness of the wall, so that the feet of all who enter must tread on
it, is a flat tombstone of somebody who felt himself a sinner, no doubt,
and desired to be thus trampled upon. The stone is much worn.
The structure is extremely plain inside and very small. On the walls,
over the pews, are several monumental sculptures,--a quite elaborate one
to a Colonel Murray, of the Coldstreamn Guards; his military profession
being designated by banners and swords in marble.--Another was to a
farmer.
On one side of the church-tower there was a little penthouse, or
lean-to,--merely a stone roof, about three or four feet high, and
supported by a single pillar, beneath which was once deposited the bier.
I have let too much time pass before attempting to record my impressions
of the Isle of Man; but, as regards this church, no description can come
up to its quiet beauty, its seclusion, and its every requisite for an
English country church.
Last Sunday I went to Eastham, and, entering the churchyard, sat down on
a tombstone under the yew-tree which has been known for centuries as the
Great Tree of Eastham. Some of the village people were sitting on the
graves near the door; and an old woman came towards me, and said, in a
low, kindly, admonishing tone, that I must not let the sexton see me,
because he would not allow any one to be there in sacrament-time. I
inquired why she and her companions were there, and she said they were
waiting for the sacrament. So I thanked her, gave her a sixpence, and
departed. Close under the eaves, I saw two upright stones, in memory of
two old servants of the Stanley family,--one over ninety, and the other
over eighty years of age.
August 12th.--J----- and I went to Birkenhead Park yesterday. There is a
large ornamental gateway to the Park, and the grounds within are neatly
laid out, with borders of shrubbery. There is a sheet of water, with
swans and other aquatic fowl, which swim about, and are fed with dainties
by the visitors. Nothing can be more beautiful than a swan. It is the
ideal of a goose,--a goose beautified and beatified. There were not a
great many visitors, but some children were dancing on the green, and a
few lover-like people straying about. I think the English behave better
than the Americans at similar places.
There was a camera-obscure, very wretchedly indistinct. At the
refreshment-room were ginger-beer and British wines.
August 21st.--I was in the Crown Court on Saturday, sitting in the
sheriff's seat. The judge was Baron ------, an old gentleman of sixty,
with very large, long features. His wig helped him to look like some
strange kind of animal,--very queer, but yet with a sagacious, and, on
the whole, beneficent aspect. During the session some mischievous young
barrister occupied himself with sketching the judge in pencil; and, being
handed about, it found its way to me. It was very like and very
laughable, but hardly caricatured. The judicial wig is an exceedingly
odd affair; and as it covers both ears, it would seem intended to prevent
his Lordship, and justice in his person, from hearing any of the case on
either side, that thereby he may decide the better. It is like the old
idea of blindfolding the statue of Justice.
It seems to me there is less formality, less distance between the judge,
jury, witnesses, and bar, in the English courts than in our own. The
judge takes a very active part in the trial, constantly asking a question
of the witness on the stand, making remarks on the conduct of the trial,
putting in his word on all occasions, and allowing his own sense of the
matter in hand to be pretty plainly seen; so that, before the trial is
over, and long before his own charge is delivered, he must have exercised
a very powerful influence over the minds of the jury. All this is done,
not without dignity, yet in a familiar kind of way. It is a sort of
paternal supervision of the whole matter, quite unlike the cold awfulness
of an American judge. But all this may be owing partly to the personal
characteristics of Baron ------. It appeared to me, however, that, from
the closer relations of all parties, truth was likely to be arrived at
and justice to be done. As an innocent man, I should not be afraid to be
tried by Baron ------.