New Orleans Daily Crescent

From a private letter written by a New Orleans
gentleman, now in Paris, to a friend in this city,
we make the following interesting extracts:

Since arriving in France I have frequently
intended to write you, but the letter-post is so
bad, and the many things to visit and see so enticing,
that you as well as the rest of my friends
have been neglected.

We remained two days at Liverpool, and then
having business with a gentleman who was then in
and just about leaving London, I proceeded thence
and remained there just two weeks. I went first
to the Langham Place Hotel, which was very comfortable,
but the terms higher than I thought worth
while to pay. Lodgings in the rear part of the
city were more desirable and quite as comfortable.
We had three rooms, and the cook of the house,
with the assistance of a young and inefficient girl,
cooked for us, (a party of five,) waited on the table,
brushed the boots, ran the errands, and not only
served us but the other family who kept the house,
and still seemed to have plenty of time besides. What
would a New Orleans servant think of that? We
arrived in London on Saturday afternoon, and
visited Westminster Abbey to attend service the
next day. The services of the church of England
are somewhat different from those of the Episcopal
church of the United States, and the difference
is more apparent in the cathedral where most of
the ritual is chanted. It sounds strange to those
not accustomed to it to hear the psalms and the
Lord's prayer chanted by the choristers. We
did not see much of the Abbey that day, but subsequently
examined the same fully, and were well
repaid for our trouble. I shall not describe what
we saw, as the books contain full descriptions, and
you can easily refer to them, but I must not omit
to say that I saw the statue of Wm. Wilberforce,
the great English philanthropist, "so called," and
never saw a more villainous face cut in marble.
It was truly an ignoble countenance. Some
of the monuments were very fine. That
of Lord Eldon characteristic. They are now
restoring the Abbey, and expect to replace
all the decayed and decaying portions. Windsor
Castle is splendid. It was the first castle we had seen
except the Tower of London. The apartments of
the queen, that is those portions shown us, were
very grand, the Gobelins tapestry astounding, the
pictures being equal to any of those produced by
brush and paint. The queen was absent in
Scotland, or we would not have been permitted to
see anything of the interior of the castle, except
the main London Tower, from the top of which
there is a splendid view. The Tower of London
was another place of great interest that we
visited. The suits of armor are many of them placed
on lay figures, and labelled with the names of various
kings and knights. Most of them appear to have
been made for men below the ordinary height and
of less than ordinary size. But bluff King Henry
the VIII had a suit large enough for most men.
There were few of the suits that I could get into,
and I have since remarked the same of those I
saw in France. We spent a day at Richmond and
another at Hampton Court, both beautiful places.
We saw Twickenham, and the place where Pope's
Villa stood. I visited the House of Lords at Westminster,
and heard an argument or appeal before
that house, which consisted of the Lord Chancellor,
Lord Cairns, or some such name, the late
chancellor, and one bishop—two lawyers in big
wigs and one or two clerks, and such a dull prozy
argument as I heard I hope never to hear again. I
saw the House of Commons in session, and was
present at the prorogation which took place by
commission. Four dukes in cocked hats, and
scarlet cloaks, with swords and tights, looking
like regular greys, represented the queen, and
sat at the upper end of the hall of the House of
Lords, and as far as I could see, did nothing but
sit still and wink their eyes. The House of Commons
was in session and it seemed to me were
playing Parliament, when a grave looking gentleman
in black silk tights, and pumps, a rapier
by his side, his coat laced with braid, and a large
grey wig, appeared at the lower end of the hall of
the house and said some words to me inarticulate,
when the speaker left his chair, the man in black
picked up the mace, and the whole party departed
pell mell. I left the gallery and mixing
among the members, went boldly into the House
of Lords, and looked and listened until I got tired
which was not long. Besides the few noble dukes
above mentioned, there were in the lord's chamber
the Lord Chancellor, the aforesaid individual
in black silk tights, sword and wig; and one
or two clerks. These were all about midway
the hall, between the lords, commissioners
and the members of the house, who
were crowded together at the lower end and outside
of the hall.

We all visited St. Paul's, and on the whole
were much pleased with London, and saw no
fog, and did not mind the rain, which everybody
was prepared for. London is increasing
very rapidly and in every direction. The number
of new houses now going up would be enough to
make a first class town in most countries. I had
no conception of the increase, and as fast as the
houses are built they are occupied.

I did not see any of the courts in session, as
they had adjourned for the long vacation before
my arrival.

I have heard all my life of the fine English beef
and mutton, but I can assure you that we have
just as good in New Orleans and at a less price.
The veal and the fowls are much better than ours.
The bread is poorer, the butter not better than in
the north of the United States, and the coffee is
abominable. So, also, in France. It may be that
the cattle plague has had an injurious effect upon
the meats, but most assuredly I found nothing
to brag of in the two kinds mentioned; but we
do not know what veal is, nor what good poultry
is, as compared with England and France.

We came to Paris about six weeks ago—that is,
we arrived on the 13th August, just in time to see
the emperor's fete. Such a night I never expect
to see again. Such illuminations, such fireworks;
I never dreamed of such. Since then we have
been sight-seeing, and many wonderful things
there are to be seen. The last place we visited
was Fontainebleau, where we spent last Friday.
Paris is a great place, but look out for number
one is the word, and the shopkeepers and all who
have to sell are the biggest rogues that I ever met,
taking them altogether, for they all seem alike.
They go on the Christian principle of greeting a
stranger and taking him in.