General Books

Notes. ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHAUCER, NO. VI. Unless Chaucer had intended to mark with particular exactness the day of the journey to Canterbury, he would not have taken such unusual precautions to protect his text from ignorant or careless transcribers. We find him not only recording the altitudes of the sun, at different hours, in words; but also corroborating those words by associating them with physical... more...

WILLIAM BLAKE. My antiquarian tendencies bring me acquainted with many neglected and obscure individuals connected with our earlier English literature, who, after "fretting their hour" upon life's stage, have passed away; leaving their names entombed upon the title-page of some unappreciated or crotchetty book, only to be found upon the shelves of the curious. To look for these in Kippis,... more...

CHAPTER V. AT ROSE COTTAGE. On regaining my senses I found myself in a cozy little bed in a cozy little room, with an old gentleman sitting by my side gently chafing one of my hands—a gentleman with white hair and a white moustache, with a ruddy face and a smile that made me all in love with him at first sight. "Did I not say that she would do famously in a little while?" he cried, in a... more...

LYDFORD BRIDGE.Lydford Bridge. LYDFORD BRIDGE. This is an interesting scene from the wild and wonderful in Nature. Its romantic luxuriance must win the attention of the artist, and the admiration of the less wistful beholder; while the philosophic mind, unaccustomed to vulgar wonder, may seek in its formation the cause of some of the most important changes of the earth's surface. Our esteemed... more...

PARTY-SIMILES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY—NO. I. "FOXES AND FIREBRANDS." NO. II. "THE TROJAN HORSE." With Englishmen, at least, the seventeenth was a century pre-eminent for quaint conceits and fantastic similes: the literature of that period, whether devotional, poetical, or polemical, was alike infected with the universal mania for strained metaphors, and men vied with each other in... more...

Minor Notes. Tippet.—The origin of words signifying articles of dress would be a curious subject for investigation. Tippet is derived by Barclay from the Saxon tæppet; but I find the following passage in Captain Erskine's Journal of his recent Cruise in the Western Pacific, p. 36. He is writing of the dress of the women at the village of Feleasan, in the Samoan Islands: "And occasionally a... more...

THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE GENERAL.By Charles H. Woodman.Far down the Carolina coast lies the lovely island of St. John, where stood, one hundred years ago, a noble brick-built mansion, with lofty portico and broad piazza. Ancient live-oaks, trembling aspens, and great sycamores, lifted a bower over it to keep off the sun. Threading their way through orange-trees and beds of flowers, spacious walks played... more...

THE "AGAPEMONE" OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. As it is not generally known that the "Agapemone" had a prototype in the celebrated Family of Love, some account of this "wicked sect" may not at this moment be without interest to your readers:— "Henry Nicholas, a Westphalian, born at Munster, but who had lived a great while at Amsterdam, and some time likewise at Embden, was the... more...

Notes on Midland County Minstrelsy. It has often occurred to me that the old country folk-songs are as worthy of a niche in your mausoleum as the more prosy lore to which you allot a separate division. Why does not some one write a Minstrelsy of the Midland Counties? There is ample material to work upon, and not yet spoiled by dry-as-dust-ism. It would be vain, perhaps, to emulate the achievements of... more...

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.BY JNO. B. DUFFEY.( ) As, wandering forth at rosy dawn,When sparkling dew-drops deck the lawn,From glen and glade, and river-side,We bring young flowers—the morning's pride. And, bound in wreaths, or posies sweet,With flowers our favored ones we greet;For flowers a silent language own,That makes our maiden wishes known. A language that by love was wrought,And by fond love... more...