THE AUTOMATIC PHYSIOGNOMIST. SCENE—The German Exhibition, near an ingenious machine constructed to reveal the character and future of a person according to the colour of his or her hair, for the small consideration of one penny. A party of Pleasure-seekers are examining it. First Pleasure-seeker (a sprightly young lady of the name of LOTTIE). "Put in a penny and get a summary of your character... more...

THE WARNING OF THE BELLE LOOK OUT FOR THE TRAIN. PATRIOTIC ADORATION. A TALE OF PHILADELPHIA.People of the Quaker City,How the world must stand aghastAt your wondrous venerationFor those relics of the past,Kept in such precise condition,Fostered with such tender care—Don't, oh! don't the PhiladelphiansLove old Independence Square? Splendid are its walks and grass-plotsWhere the... more...

I. SOUTHWEST ANGLE OF THE DUCAL PALACE, VENICE. Although the Ducal Palace is much larger than the other palaces of Venice, and intended for general civic uses as well as a residence for the Duke or Doge, it follows closely the type already described. It has undergone so many changes since its first foundation in about the year 800 (813 according to Ruskin), having been destroyed five times, and as... more...

Our Holidays King Henry IV, Part I. ST. SATURDAY BY HENRY JOHNSTONEOh, Friday night's the queen of nights, because it ushers inThe Feast of good St. Saturday, when studying is a sin,When studying is a sin, boys, and we may go to playNot only in the afternoon, but all the livelong day. St. Saturday—so legends say—lived in the ages whenThe use of leisure still was known and current among... more...

I.—ARION. 1. Arion was a famous musician, and dwelt at the court of Periander, King of Corinth, with whom he was a great favorite. There was a musical contest in Sicily, and Arion longed to compete for the prize. He told his wish to Periander, who besought him like a brother to give up the thought. "Pray stay with me," he said, "and be contented. He who strives to win may lose." Arion... more...

FOUNDATIONS IN QUICKSAND. Foundations in quicksand often have to be built in places where least expected, and sometimes the writer has been able to conveniently span the vein with an arch and avoid trouble; but where it cannot be conveniently arched over, it will be necessary to sheath pile for a trench and lay in broad sections of concrete until the space is crossed, the sheath piling being drawn and... more...

SICILIAN SCENERY AND ANTIQUITIES. BY THOMAS COLE. A few months only have elapsed since I travelled over the classic land of Sicily; and the impressions left on my mind by its picturesqueness, fertility, and the grandeur of its architectural remains, are more vivid, and fraught with more sublime associations, than any I received during my late sojourn in Europe. The pleasure of travelling, it seems to... more...

DOMINGO LOMELYN, JESTER TO HENRY VIII. Shakespeare, in the Second Part of Henry IV. act v. sc. 3 makes Silence sing the following scrap:— "Do me right, And dub me knight: Samingo." And Nash, in his Summer's Last Will and Testament, 1600 (reprinted in the last edition of Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. xi. p. 47.) has "Monsieur Mingo for quaffing doth surpass, In cup, in can, or glass;... more...

NEAR OXFORD. On a fine morning in September, we set out on an excursion to Blenheim,—the sculptor and myself being seated on the box of our four-horse carriage, two more of the party in the dicky, and the others less agreeably accommodated inside. We had no coachman, but two postilions in short scarlet jackets and leather breeches with top-boots, each astride of a horse; so that, all the way along,... more...

The policeman did not return, and the boys slept until an hour after sunrise. They then rowed down the river to the steamboat landing, where they left their boat in charge of a boatman, and went to a hotel for breakfast. The waiters were rather astonished at the tremendous appetites displayed by the four sunburned boys, and there is no doubt that the landlord lost money that morning. After breakfast,... more...