CHAPTER I.—THE MOOR. Crimson and gold. As far as one could see across the moor it was one broad expanse of purply heather, kindled into a glowing crimson by the blaze of ruddy sunshine, and lighted here and there by bright patches of the thorny golden rod. Dame Nature had evidently painted out of her summer paint-box, and had not spared her best and brightest colours. Crimson-lake, children; you know... more...

orrible though the civil war was, heartrending though it was that brother should fight against brother, there remains as an offset the glory that has accrued to the nation by the countless deeds of heroism performed by both sides in the struggle. The captains and the armies who after long years of dreary campaigning and bloody, stubborn lighting brought the war to a close have left us more than a... more...

LORD GROSVENOR'S GALLERY, PARK LANE. At the commencement of our Twelfth Volume, we took occasion to allude to the public spirit of the Earl of Grosvenor, in our description of his splendid mansion—Eaton Hall, near Chester. We likewise adverted to his lordship's munificent patronage of the Fine Arts, and to the erection of the Gallery which forms the subject of the annexed Engraving. The... more...

THE WONDERS OF WORDS. Every nation has its legend of a 'golden age'—when all was young and fresh and fair—'comme les couleurs primitives de la nature'—even before the existence of this gaunt shadow of Sorrow—the shadow of ourselves—that ever stalks in company with us;—an epoch of Saturnian rule, when gods held sweet converse with men, and man primeval bounded with all... more...

NOTES UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF HORACE WALPOLE I have the pleasure of inclosing to you (I believe) an unpublished letter of Horace Walpole's. It was found among the papers of the late William Parsons, one of the Della Cruscan poets. That it is genuine I have no doubt. The handwriting is precisely similar to a note sent with a copy of the Mysterious Mother to Mr. Parsons, in which Horace Walpole... more...

HADDON HALL. The locomotive facility with which the aid of our graphic department enables us to transport our readers, (for we have already sent them to Sydney,) is somewhat singular, not to say ludicrous; and would baffle the wand of Trismegistus, or the cap of Fortunatus himself. Thus, during the last six weeks we have journeyed from the Palace at Stockholm (No. 277) to that of Buckingham, in St.... more...

OLD SARUM Among the earliest antiquarian records, Old Sarum is described as a city of the Belgae; and its historical details have proved an exhaustless mine for the researches of topographical illustrators. Thus, Sir R.C. Hoare describes it as "a city of high note in the remotest periods by the several barrows near it, and its proximity to the two largest Druidical temples in England, namely,... more...

DINARD, a seaside town of north-western France, in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine. The town, which is the chief watering-place of Brittany, is situated on a rocky promontory at the mouth of the Rance opposite St Malo, which is about 1 m. distant. It is a favourite resort of English and Americans as well as of the French, its attractions being the beauty of its situation, the mildness of the climate... more...

POPE'S TEMPLE, AT HAGLEY Reader! are you going out of town "in search of the picturesque"—if so, bend your course to the classic, the consecrated ground of HAGLEY! think of LYTTLETON, POPE, SHENSTONE, and THOMSON, or refresh your memory from the "Spring" of the latter, as— Courting the muse, thro' Hagley Park thou strayst. Thy British Tempe! There along the dale, With... more...

A GLANCE AT THE SCIENCE. The purpose of this article is to present, in a brief and simple manner, the leading principles on which the science of Meteorology is founded,--rather, however, in the spirit of an inquirer than of a teacher. For, notwithstanding the rapid progress it has made within the last thirty years, it is far from having the authority of an exact science; many of its phenomena are as... more...