We took dinner one day at Soyer's Symposium, at Gore House. Soyer is the great master of ceremonies in London for all matters of the _cuisine._ Gore House was once the home of Wilberforce and Lord Rodney, but is better known as the residence of the late Countess of Blessington. It is now a hotel. The grounds are extensive, and the trees are some of the finest around London, and I have never seen a lovelier spot of the same size. It is alive with blackbirds, thrushes, linnets, and goldfinches. As you enter, you find a vestibule, which is called the cupola of Jupiter Tonans. Through this you pass to "the hall of architectural wonders," then to "the Blessington Temple of the Muses." This apartment leads to "the Transatlantic Ante-Chamber," which is adorned with all sorts of American emblems. Then there are, in succession, "the Alcove of White Roses," "the Birth of Gems," and other rooms of great gorgeousness. One room is the "Palace of the North," which is apparently made entirely of ice, and out of the wall of which is issuing a polar bear. In the pleasure grounds is a "baronial hall," one hundred feet long, fifty broad, and thirty high; and besides this an enormous tent, called "the Encampment for all Nations." Here, at a table four hundred feet long, fifteen hundred persons can be dined at a cheap rate. A table-cloth for this affair cost Soyer two hundred pounds sterling. We had a very pleasant dinner with the Rev. Dr. Harris, President of New College, whose works are so well known in America. The room we occupied was "the Alcove of White Roses." The Symposium stands near to the Crystal Palace, and accommodates the strangers admirably. That dinner was two days ago, however; and I am reminded that another is necessary today, and must leave off to prepare for it.