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 "While acting as American consul in Liverpool from 1853–57, Nathaniel Hawthorne recorded in a journal his various impressions of the ‘Old Home’ of his English forefathers. His ‘many escapes’ from the imprisonment of ‘consular servitude’ to the surrounding cities and countryside are described in sharp detail in The English Notebooks, parts of which were subsequently developed for the collection of sketches, Our Old Home (1863). Hawthorne found that Liverpool was conveniently situated for exploring England, Wales, and Scotland: Chester, the most curious town in England, with its encompassing wall, its ancient Rows, and its venerable Cathedral, is close at hand. North Wales, with all its hills and ponds, its noble sea-scenery, its multitude of gray castles and strange old villages, may be glanced at in a summer-day or two. The lakes and mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland may be reached before dinner-time. The haunted and legendary Isle of Man, a little kingdom by itself, lies within the scope of an afternoon’s voyage. Edinburgh or Glasgow are attainable over night, and Loch Lomond betimes in the morning." |
