Various

“ But it is a very silly, vain thing for a young girl to dye her eyebrows, especially as the attempt at deception of such a kind is so complete a failure. That no one knows your secret is a mere delusion. ”

“ In our day, nobody seems to be ashamed to make a little money; on the contrary, they show a great deal of honest pride if they are fortunate enough to be able to do so; and in my experience—and depend upon it, girls, it will be yours too, no money is so sweet in the spending as that which is earned.
But few things that are very good, or very pleasant, are to be procured without trouble. Competition is so keen now, that it is no easy matter to make a few pounds, or even a few shillings, without some special talent, or, better still, some special training. ”

“ We rose early on the day after our arrival at Verona, as we were anxious to see as much as possible of the city before going on to Padua and Venice. As early as nine o’clock we had finished our breakfast and were starting out to see if, on second sight, Verona would delight us as much as its first impression had. ”

“ I thought you had floored me, but I see it now. ‘Speech is silvern,’ and ‘silence is golden;’ but ‘a soft answer turneth away wrath.’ Although Cissy might gain apparent victories by retorting, she would in reality only draw upon herself greater antagonism, whilst, on the other hand, her silence both irritates them and makes them think her craven-spirited. If she were great enough to show her superiority by explaining, or apologising for her blunders, she would very soon put to rout all their hostility and win their hearts: that is, unless girls are made of very different stuff from boys. ”

“ Within the year of the Restoration the Duchess of Angoulême found new work to her hand. Ten months after Louis XVIII.’s entry into Paris came the tidings that Napoleon had escaped from Elba, and once more landed on French soil. The hearts of the French people, never aroused to enthusiasm for Louis XVIII., turned instinctively to the Emperor. The Duchess of Angoulême was at Bordeaux when the news reached her. The men of the city were loyal to the monarchy, but the soldiers of the line awaited the course of events in silence. It was to win these that the duchess bent all her energy. ”

“ It is a well-known fact, established long, long ago, that all such plagues as cholera, for instance, or typhoid fever, are caused by germs of disease afloat in the air, or in the water, and through these media introduced into the human system. These germs are ferments so strong, poisons so powerful, that if they once succeed in gaining ingress to the blood, hardly can all the skill of medicine destroy them or render them innocuous. Yet we daily hear of medical men and nurses walking about in the midst of plague and pestilence, but coming through the outbreak all unscathed. ”

“ Perhaps if he had had another daughter to take the place of the lost one he might not have hankered after the sleeping baby he had so ruthlessly torn from its luxurious home to be cast upon the waves of a wicked world. But no other daughter had come, and, though her three fine boys satisfied the baroness’s heart, there always remained an empty place in her husband’s. ”

“ But the orphan of the Temple—the filia dolorosa of France—had had bitter experience of the fickle, easily-swayed French people. Was it matter for wonder if she withdrew more than ever into herself, and appeared more than ever cold and austere? Taking as little part as possible in Court festivities, she led a simple, retired life. Rising early in the morning, she lit her fire and made her early breakfast with her own hands. At seven o’clock she went to mass in the chapel of the palace. ”

“ For it is strange but true enough, that so great is the struggle for existence in this world—I do not mean among human beings, but among the living though invisible germs which—everywhere and at all times surround us in clouds, that no sooner does the health of anyone of the higher forms of animal life fall below par, than it is attacked by these, and if the weakness is extreme he falls a victim, and severe illness, that may even end fatally, is the result. ”

“ Antonio the bachelors were astonished to find the sky overcast, and to notice the suspicious gusts of wind which generally precede a storm. The latter, however, did not approach Padua, but contented itself by grumbling about in the distant Alps. We were only too glad to be spared its visitation, especially as we were anxious to have a moonlight night by which to form our first impression of Venice.
Scarcely any Englishman ever visits Italy without bothering his friends about his first impression of Venice. ”

“ If any of you send your shilling in the hope of obtaining your horoscope or any revelation as to your future life, based on the information you furnish as to your height, colour of hair, eyes, and date of birth, even supposing you receive any reply at all, you will very surely have wasted your money. None of these folks know any more of your future than The Home Philosopher, and if I could tell the future, I should know what stocks were going to rise, and what horse will win the next Derby, and thereby make more money in a week than the fortune-tellers, if they had ten lives. ”

“ One might as well talk about a cypher being of more value than a unit. Why weren’t we all born dumb?”
“I know who wasn’t!” exclaimed a voice that seemed for the moment to come out of the sky itself; and almost before the girls could turn, Hubert Daventry had swung himself down from one of the larger boughs, and was descending the trunk.
Mabel and Merry sprang to the ground with a startled air, but Eva kept her seat, looking up into her brother’s face with an admiring glance. They were “only” brother and sister, and thought a great deal of each other. ”

“ It is by constant use, and not by age only, that a violin becomes mellow in tone; but a great deal depends on the maker. It is true that Cremonas and other violins which have been in constant use for many years have acquired a character for superiority beyond most others, consequently they often fetch a larger price—more, perhaps, from having been in the possession of first-rate performers than from any intrinsic value in the instruments themselves. ”

“ Cissy never answers back,” repeated Mabel, poking in the hawthorn-bush with her sunshade and then bending over her books to readjust the strap in which she was carrying them; “she would be easier to deal with if she did. She’s a splendid sample of Christian patience,” she added, with a sneer.
“‘Patience on a monument, smiling at grief,’” jeered Merry. “She wears a sour enough face over it. For my own part, I hate dumb people. ”

“ Like all lovers, Rex felt the next best thing to being with his beloved was to be with someone to whom he could openly discourse upon her perfections; moreover, he had great hopes of winning the baroness to take his part in the matter, in which case perhaps she might be prevailed upon to invite Fairy to come and stay at Château de Thorens, and he felt confident if his people could only see her apart from her foster family, they could not in reason object to her as a daughter-in-law. ”

“ It is certainly a matter for regret that the Renaissance architecture of Italy did not stand still at this beautiful epoch, instead of developing into the wildness and eccentricity of the later school. ”

“ But with Venice who shall say? The mind of man can call up palaces which are more beautiful than hands have ever raised. The imagination can raise up air-built structures which no architect, however able, or builder, however skilful, can execute: and, therefore, every city about which one has thought much must be to a certain extent disappointing at first, and it requires a touch of reality to restore the mind to its proper equilibrium ”

“ I can’t in honesty include Eva in the competition after her last remark. When people affect contempt for any particular gift, you may make pretty sure they don’t possess it. It lies between you two.”
“I, for one, don’t want to examine the lining of your pockets!” exclaimed Mabel, saucily.
“I assure you, I didn’t contemplate turning them inside out for inspection,” returned Hubert, mischievously. “What’s in will come out without such strong measures.”
“Of course!” exclaimed Merry. “He has been robbing a nest. I wouldn’t see the poor little creatures for the world. ”

“ It has always been a question whether the enjoyment which one experiences in seeing a place of great interest about which one knows nothing from pictorial representations, or that experienced upon arriving at one of which every street—nay, almost every stone—has been made familiar by representations, is the greater. ”

“ That’s a settled question, so there’s no crying off; it’s simply a matter of competition. Come, now!”
But neither Mabel nor Merry responded to the challenge. It was evident that Hubert had overheard their remarks about Cissy, and it is a speaking fact that, however much girls may indulge in backbiting when by themselves, they inevitably “feel small” if they chance to be caught at it by their boy friends. They know that it is small, and they are ashamed of it. Mabel glanced at Merry, and Merry at Mabel, and both looked down and were silent. ”

“ Giotto was also the first to introduce anything approaching to dramatic effect in the art of painting, for which and other reasons he made a reputation far greater than had yet been made in painting—so great, in fact, that it was not surpassed until the age of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michel Angelo, the great trio of Italian artists, who may be said to have perfected that style of painting of which Giotto was the first representative. ”

“ Too great heat, however, will often render the wood brittle, and make it difficult to produce the tone with the best effect, as the strings are apt to become dry, so that it is not easy to bring out that delicacy of tone which is one of the charms of the instrument. To carry the violin to any distance from home in cold weather, it should always be put into its case, or else it is apt to condense moisture when brought into a warm room, and to cause dust to accumulate both inside and outside of it. ”

“ Our satirists a generation back were never tired of depicting the narrowminded prejudices of the English abroad, but we cannot help thinking that many of these prejudices have disappeared, and this seems to be borne out by the undoubted increase of friendly feeling shown to our countrymen when travelling on the Continent, notwithstanding that in many cases we have not so much money to spend as our travelling forefathers had. ”

“ It might, under exceptional circumstances, when needlework is ordered, be necessary to deposit a few shillings as a guarantee that the materials sent to you will be duly returned or paid for; but if your writings require a deposit of any kind to get them read or published, the waste-paper basket is the best place for them, however highly you may yourself value them. Literature, after all, is a very open market, and fresh blood is always needed, though it may be a difficult matter to get your first step on the ladder. ”

“ The princess was, at her own request, left alone with the abbé, that she might learn from him the details of her father’s last moments. She ever cherished for the good man the warmest regard, and when, some years after, a dangerous fever broke out at Mittau and numbered him among its victims, it was Madame Royale who took her place by his bedside, closed his dying eyes, and followed his remains to the grave. ”

“ There are no two places in the world the approach to which excites one so much as Rome and Venice. Rome, according to all{331} account, and notwithstanding the stupendous remains of its ancient monuments and the wonders of its churches, seems always to disappoint. ”

“ Few well-established publications need to advertise for contributors, and it certainly is not necessary for you, a tyro in the art, to subscribe towards the publishing of a magazine in which your productions are to appear. ”

“ People no sooner read the bulletin, “Very low to-day,” than they empty their purses, collect their savings, write cheques for their balance at the bankers, and come and lay all at the feet of my children. ”

“ Now the two great enemies to the health of the delicate during the spring months are cold and damp, and just as often as not they both attack one at the same time. Nor is it the delicate in constitution alone who have to fear the evil influence of these foes to life and comfort, for strong men and women, too, must be careful. ”

“ This is very like the monument to the Scaligers, and, with the façade of the church, makes a very picturesque subject. The church of St. Anastasia has always been considered as an ideal of Italian Gothic architecture. Street and other experts are never tired of describing its beautiful colour and wonderful symmetry. To the left of the choir is the huge tomb to General Sarego, which has given rise to some controversy. Of the magnificence of the monument there can be no doubt; but it may be questioned whether its gigantic scale does really injure the effect of this fine interior. ”

“ Cissy is always getting into hot water with the girls,” explained Eva; “through sheer blundering, you know, for she’s a good creature at heart; only she has always had a governess at home, and doesn’t understand the ways of school life, some of which are decidedly unchristian, to my thinking,” added Eva, confidentially. “Then the girls get regularly mad, and do all they can to lash her into a fury. But it is of no use, as they said just now; Cissy never answers back, and it generally ends in her getting sent to Coventry. Poor Cissy! that hurts her more than anything, I believe ”

“ This huge church would not be particularly remarkable if it were not for its fine frescoes adjoining the right transept. The best of these are by Andrea Mantegna, a great Paduan master of the end of the fifteenth century, celebrated for his “lifelike” work. But the interest attached to these frescoes sinks into insignificance when compared with those by Giotto in the Arena chapel close to the church of the Eremitani, the importance of which can scarcely be overrated. ”