To Henry Ward Abbot
London, England. March 23, 1887
I have been two weeks in London now, and enjoyed myself very much. I like the place, and above all I like the people. They are handsome, gentle, manly, and courteous. There may be machinery all over this cathedral, but it is a cathedral still. This beautiful English temper is what has been gained by not breaking with the past, but by keeping up every institution until it absolutely refused to be kept up.
. . . . I have already seen the main sights, but as you know I care little for “places of interest” unless there is something beautiful or impressive about them. I like the Tower, and Westminster Abbey, but I don’t like the British Museum. Perhaps the best sight is London itself, which I always imagined I should like. It is more like an American than like a European city, and makes me feel safe and comfortable again. There was a certain isolation for me at Berlin, on account of the language and the barbarism of the inhabitants; here I stand on my own feet, and can go into things if I like.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book One, [1868]-1909. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001.
Location of manuscript: Butler Library, Columbia University, New York NY