General Books

TREES IN ASSEMBLAGES. The subject of Trees cannot be exhausted by treating them as individuals or species, even with a full enumeration of their details. Some trees possess but little interest, except as they are grouped in assemblages of greater or less extent. A solitary Fir or Spruce, for example, when standing in an inclosure or by the roadside, is a stiff and disagreeable object; but a deep forest... more...

SION HOUSE. SION HOUSE. Taylor, the water poet, or Samuel Ireland, the picturesque Thames tourist, could not, in all their enthusiasm of jingling rhymes and aquatint plates, have exceeded our admiration of Sion House. Its whitened towers and battlemented roof are known to all the swan-hopping and steam navigators of our day, and none who have floated To where the silver Thames first rural grows,— can... more...

DAPHNAIDES:OR THE ENGLISH LAUREL, FROM CHAUCER TO TENNYSON. They in thir time did many a noble dede,And for their worthines full oft have boreThe crown of laurer leavés on the hede,As ye may in your oldé bookés rede:And how that he that was a conquerourHad by laurer alway his most honour.             DAN CHAUCER:The Flowre and the Leaf.It is to be lamented that antiquarian zeal is so... more...

HANOVER TERRACE, REGENT'S PARK. "The architectural spirit which has arisen in London since the late peace, and ramified from thence to every city and town of the empire, will present an era in our domestic history." Such is the opinion of an intelligent writer in a recent number of Brande's "Quarterly Journal;" and he goes on to describe the new erections in the Regent's... more...

The Limoeiro, at Lisbon. Locks, bolts, and bars! what have we here?—a view of the Limoeiro, or common jail, at Lisbon, whose horrors, without the fear of Don Miguel in our hearts, we will endeavour to describe, though lightly—merely in outline,—since nothing can be more disagreeable than the filling in. For this purpose we might quote ourselves, i.e. one of our correspondents, or a host of... more...

THE WILD BEES' HOME.Wildbees of the wood are we;But our hive you must not see:Here behold our happy home,Where we labor, where we roam.Brooks that on their shining bosomsCatch the overhanging blossoms;Banks all bright with clustering flowers,—Here is where we pass our hours. Seldom on this solitudeDoes a girl or boy intrude;Few among you are awareWhat a home is ours, so fair!In the brook are... more...

MEMOIR OF THOMAS CAMPBELL, ESQ. Of the subject of this memoir, it has been remarked, "that he has not, that we know of, written one line, which, dying, he could wish to blot." These few words will better illustrate the fitness of Mr. Campbell's portrait for our volume, than a laudatory memoir of many pages. He has not inaptly been styled the Tyrtaeus of modern English poetry, and one of... more...

'THE CONSTITUTION AS IT IS—THE UNION AS IT WAS.' This has been a pet phrase, in certain quarters, ever since the rebellion broke out. The men who use it are doubtless well aware of the prodigious power of such cries adroitly raised. The history of their influence over the unreflecting masses in all ages would be one of the most curious chapters in the history of human nature. The phrase has... more...

THE DUTY AND IMPORTANCE OF SPECIAL EFFORTS FOR THE CONVERSION OF CITIES. Luke xxiv. 47.—And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Here the apostles receive from Christ a commission to commence in one of the chief cities of the world the great business of preaching the gospel to mankind. The fulfilment of prophecy required them... more...

THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS. The condition of our railways, and their financial prospects, should interest all of us. It has become a common remark, that railways have benefited everybody but their projectors. There is a strong doubt in the minds of many intelligent persons, whether any railways have actually paid a return on the capital invested in them. It is believed that one of two results... more...