PREFACE This book of verse for boys is, I believe, the first of its kind in English. Plainly, it were labour lost to go gleaning where so many experts have gone harvesting; and for what is rarest and best in English Poetry the world must turn, as heretofore, to the several ‘Golden Treasuries’ of Professor Palgrave and Mr. Coventry Patmore, and to the excellent ‘Poets' Walk’ of Mr. Mowbray... more...

TANFIELD ARCH, DURHAM. Tanfield is a considerable village, situated seven miles from Gateshead, in the county of Durham, and eight miles in a south-west direction from Newcastle-on-Tyne. The above arch is about a mile from the village, and crosses a deep dell, called Causey Burne, down which an insignificant streamlet finds its sinuous course. The site possesses some picturesque beauty, though its... more...

THE TEMPLE ON THE ACROPOLIS BURNT BYTHE PERSIANS. The excavations conducted by the Greek Archæological Society at Athens from 1883 to 1889 have laid bare the entire surface of the Acropolis, and shed an unexpected light upon the early history of Attic art. Many questions which once seemed unanswerable are now definitively answered, and, on the other hand, many new questions have been raised. When, in... more...

General Prescott, commanding the British forces on Rhode Island in 1777, was a petty tyrant, imperious, irascible, and cruel. He would command citizens of Newport who met him on the streets to take off their hats in deference to him, and if not obeyed, he would knock them off with his cane. If he saw a group of citizens talking together, he would shake his cane at them, and shout, "Disperse, you... more...

VOCES POPULI. AT THE REGENT STREET TUSSAUD'S. Before the effigy of Dr. KOCH, who is represented in the act of examining a test-tube with the expression of bland blamelessness peculiar to Wax Models. Well-informed Visitor. That's Dr. KOCH, making his great discovery! Unscientific V. What did he discover? Well-inf. V. Why, the Consumption Bacillus. He's got it in that bottle he's... more...

NOTES. ROBERD THE ROBBER. In the Vision of Piers Ploughman are two remarkable passages in which mention is made of "Roberd the robber," and of "Roberdes knaves." "Roberd the robbere, On Reddite loked, And for ther was noght wherof He wepte swithe soore." Wright's ed., vol. i. p. 105. "In glotonye, God woot, Go thei to bedde, And risen with ribaudie, The Roberdes... more...

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, REGENTS'S PARK.Emu EnclosurePelican EnclosureAviary for Small BirdsOur strolls to this scene of intellectual amusement, (or "the gardens with a long name," as Lord Mulgrave's new heroine naively calls them,) are neither few nor far between. The acquaintance is of some standing, since The Mirror was the first journal that contained any pictorial representation of... more...

AN ENCYCLOPÆDIA OF VENTILATION. "The House [of Commons] met to-day [27th April] after the Easter holidays—and honourable members, on entering, seemed highly to appreciate the unusual luxury of a little fresh air."—The Times, 28th April. The failure of some late attempts to ventilate public buildings invites me to set forth an Encyclopædia of ventilation—at a cheap rate, and in a... more...

HANSA, THE LITTLE LAPP MAIDEN.BY KATHARINE LEE. Once upon a time, in a very small village on the borders of one of the great pine forests of Norway, there lived a wood-cutter, named Peder Olsen. He had built himself a little log-house, in which he dwelt with his twin boys, Olaf and Erik, and their little sister Olga. Merry, happy children were these three, full of life and health, and always ready for... more...

MR. E. H. PLUMACHER, U. S. Consul at Maracaibo, sends to the State Department the following information touching the wealth of coal and petroleum probable in Venezuela: The asphalt mines and petroleum fountains are most abundant in that part of the country lying between the River Zulia and the River Catatumbo, and the Cordilleras. The wonderful sand-bank is about seven kilometers from the confluence of... more...