Various

“ But a mightier charm than that of gems or metals, the most precious or the most beautiful, connects itself with the chapel of Altenötting—its association with historical names of all ages, from Charlemagne and Otto of Wittelsbach, whose monuments we find inscribed in Runic characters, to Pius the Sixth, whose dedication, "O clemens, O pia Virgo Oettingana!" is graven in a "fine Roman hand." ”

“ The Bussard is the most regular part of the city, and has a number of parallel streets crossing one another, and covered at the top with planks which keep out the rain and sun. Here all the richest and finest goods in Constantinople are put out to show, as a pattern or sample of the merchants' stock, for sale in their warehouses at home. Every street has its particular trade, so that there is no mixture of shops as in other capitals. One street is occupied by goldsmiths, another by silk and brocade merchants; grocers and tailors have also different streets to themselves. ”

“ From Wasserburg, Leopold Mozart writes, "We went up to the organ to amuse ourselves, where I explained the pedals to Wolfgang. He began instantly to make an attempt with them, pushed back the stool and preluded standing, treading the bass to his harmonies as if he had practised for months." The violin-playing of Nardini, whom the party heard at Ludwigsberg, is much praised by Leopold Mozart for the neatness of the execution, and the beauty and equality of the tone. At Frankfort, Wolfgang one morning on waking began to cry. ”

“ It is not only that men are afraid to be wicked when light is looking at them, but they are ashamed also; the reformation is applied to the right place. Where does vice resort? Where it can hide; in darkness, says the preacher, because its deeds are deeds of darkness. Seek it in Pudding-lane, and Dyot-street, and the abysses of Westminster. ”

“ But when we learn that the infant Mozart, at four years of age, began to compose, and by an instinct perception of beauty to make correct basses to melodies; and also that he became a great performer on two instruments, without the usual labour of practice, we cease to be surprised at the mechanical dexterity of his fingers in after-life, when composition and other pursuits had engrossed the time usually employed in preserving the power of execution.
The father of Mozart held the situation of Vice Kapell-meister and violinist in the chapel of the archbishop of Salzburg. ”

“ I thank thee for the summer skies and the green pastures—for the footsteps which no longer crave a helping hand—for the restored faces of my beloved ones—and, above all, O holiest Virgin! I glorify thy name in gratitude for the precious means by which the blessing of sight hath been again vouchsafed me! ”

“ Towards Bologna, the landscape roughens into hills, which grow into Apennines, but Arcadia still breathes from slopes and lawns of tender green, which take their rise in the low stream-watered valleys, and extend up the steep ascent till met midway by the lofty chestnut groves which pale them in. ”

“ Nor did Heaven withhold its blessing from a cause thus hallowed by filial devotion; the operation, which quickly followed his arrival at the farm, was attended with perfect success. For some days, indeed, the old man still maintained his resistance; but when he was assured that Karl had preceded his departure for Munich by a pilgrimage to Altenötting, and that the especial favour of the Black Lady had sanctified his undertaking, he became more passive—the result was a perfect restoration to sight. ”

“ Happy is the man, who, leaving the Alps behind him, has the plains of Lombardy on his right hand and on his left, the Apennines in view, and Florence as the city towards which he directs his steps. His way is through a country where corn grows under groves of fruit trees, whose tops are woven into green arcades by thickly-clustering garlands of vines ”

“ Thieves and rogues are like moths in blankets: bring the sun to shine on them, and they can neither live nor breed. Let the Duke of Wellington place a gas-lamp at every door of these infernal abodes; and since they cannot be smoked out, make their houses as much like glass, on the principle of the old Roman, as we can compass. ”

“ Boasting themselves as gifts of gratitude or invocation from emperors and popes, kings, princes, palsgraves, and all the other minor thrones and dominions of the earth, these splendid offerings form the most plausible illustration of the miraculous power attributed to the image of the Black Lady, which has been deposited in its actual abode since the year of Grace 696. In the course of the Thirty Years' War, this important relic and its treasury were twice removed into the city of Salzburg, for security from the Swedish invaders ”

“ Leopold Mozart writes, "On Tuesday we arrived at Ips, where two Minorites and a Benedictine who accompanied us said mass,4 during which our little Wolfgang tumbled about upon the organ and played so well, that the Franciscan fathers, who were just sitting down to dinner with some guests, left the table, and ran with all their company into the choir, where they were filled with wonder." A little before, he says, "the children are as merry as when they were at home. The boy is friendly with every body, but particularly with military [pg 255] officers, as though he had known them all his life. ”

“ The cat was held in high veneration by the ancient Egyptians. When a cat died in a house, the owner of the house shaved his eye-brows; they carried the cats when dead into consecrated houses to be embalmed, and interred them at Bubastis, a considerable city of Lower Egypt. If any killed a cat, though by accident, he could not escape death. Even in the present day they are treated with the utmost care in that country, on account of their destroying the rats and mice. ”

“ She was yet unmarried; but—no—her once devoted admirer was resolved to follow the lady's advice, and place his "affections upon a worthier object than Caroline Dalton;" and, thought he to himself, she shall at last see that I have found one; nor shall wild Tom, my graceless nephew, who lives upon my fortune, ever more touch one penny of it. The postman rapped, and in a few minutes his housekeeper appeared with many apologies for bringing to him her own newspaper, but perhaps in it he might be able to find the names of some of the new novels that he wished to have. ”

“ The soil being a deposit from the neighbouring mountains, is light, but enriched by manure. The subsoil, which is even more important, is still lighter, being mixed with sand and broken stone; on the contrary, in Drachenstein, where the chief vineyards are at present, the subsoil being clay, the wine receives an unpleasant flavour, the idea of which is inseparably associated with the very name of Cape wine. It is unnecessary to enter into the subject of its manufacture. If the subsoil be bad, so will the wine be. The vine does not require a rich subsoil. ”

“ Trained in the agricultural habits of his forefathers, and destined to succeed to the laborious honours of the Stroerische farm, young Karl, to whom his gray-haired father was an object of the fondest and most reverential affection, beheld with horror the gradual advances of the disease which was about to render the remaining years of life a burden to the sightless man. ”

“ In Italy, flags are laid to prevent the roots from penetrating into clay; and in England, rubbish is thrown in to make a subsoil that shall not be so rich as to produce leaves, instead of fruit. It would be advantageous were premiums offered for wine that had not been produced from clay of subsoil, but had been reared in trellis, as requiring less labour than the standard, and made on a pure and good system, instead of being mixed with Cape brandy, or sulphuric acid, &c. ”

“ There are men always ready inside to draw the water and fill the jugs, which till people come are kept full; these men receive a yearly salary.
The houses are chiefly built of wood, and reach so far over the top that in some of the streets it would be very possible to get from the windows of one house to another across the street. ”

“ A great number of sepulchral crosses were erected in Great Britain and Ireland, soon after prayers for the dead came into use, by the desire of individuals, at their places of interment, to remind pious people to pray for their souls.
The ancient practice of consecrating Pagan antiquities to religious purposes, has been continued to times comparatively modern; thus, Pope Sixtus V. purified the Antonine column and that of Trajan, dedicating them to St. Peter and St. Paul, whose statues, of a colossal size, he placed on their summits. ”

“ Yes, Mr. Hardingham felt vexed he scarcely knew why; and uncommonly discontented he knew not wherefore; but had he troubled himself to analyze such feelings, he would have discerned their origin to be solitude and idleness. Mrs. Honeydew brought tea; she had buttered a couple of muffins superlatively well; and making her master's fire burn exceedingly bright, placed them on the cat before it, and a kettle, which immediately commenced a delicate bravura, upon the glowing coals ”

“ The same man, under the age of thirty-six, is at the head of dramatic, sinfonia, and piano-forte music—is eminent in the church style—and equally at his ease in every variety, from the concerto to the country dance or baby song: he puts forth about 800 compositions, including masses, motetts, operas, and fragments of various kinds; at the same time supporting himself by teaching and giving public performances, at which he executes concertos on the piano-forte, the violin, or the organ, or plays extempore. ”

“ One of the finest buildings in Constantinople is a fountain in an open square, near the seraglio gate; it is a place built and maintained by the Grand Vizier, for the people to come and draw water, who have it served out to them in great jugs by people who are constantly in attendance to fill them; the jugs are chained to the place, and stand in rows about four feet from the ground, between gilt iron bars in front of the building. ”

“ He is the admiration of all." At the Court of Vienna the family was received with great favour, the Emperor Francis I. being mightily pleased with "the little magician," as he used playfully to call young Mozart. "There is nothing wonderful," said the emperor one day, joking with him, "in playing with all the fingers, but to play with one finger and with the keys covered, would really be surprising." ”

“ This lady is at present living in Salzburg, and in 1826 had not entirely given up her occupation as an instructress in piano-forte playing. Many pupils have been brought up under her, who by a peculiar neatness and precision of performance, evince the excellent tuition of Nanette Mozart. ”

“ The city is always shut up at ten at night, so that no one can have entrance or get out after that time. Indeed there is scarcely any one in the streets after dusk, for every one then goes to rest, so that when daylight is gone no business can be transacted ”

“ It contains sepulchral vaults of the families of Wallenstein, Tilly, Montecuculi, besides those of divers electors, archbishops, and archdukes, whose titles speak far less stirringly to the heart; altogether forming an illustration of the past, which brings the dark ages in living majesty before our eyes. ”

“ The empress took Wolfgang on her lap, and kissed him heartily."5 It was at this time that Mozart began to display the feeling of a great artist; just before he commenced a concerto, seeing himself surrounded by people of the Court, he asked the emperor—"is not M. Wagenseil here? he understands these things." ”

“ Crosses were likewise erected where any particular instance of mercy had been shown by the Almighty, or where any person had been murdered by robbers, or had met with a violent death; where the corpse of any great person had rested on its way to interment, as those splendid ones erected by Edward I. in memory of his beloved Queen Elinor; often in churchyards, and in early times at most places of public concourse; in market-places, perhaps to repress all idea of undue gain or extortion ”

“ Jenkins was buried at Bolton-upon-Swale. A handsome pyramid marks his grave, as the oldest Englishman upon record, and in the church is a monument to his memory, with the following inscription, written by Dr. Thomas Chapman:—
Blush not marble! ”

“ The Picture Gallery is but a portion of the improvements contemplated by Lord Grosvenor. The mansion, in the distance of the Engraving is, we believe, to be rebuilt in a correspondent style with the Gallery, and the whole when completed, will be one of the most splendid establishments in the metropolis. ”

“ During the singing he often kissed his father on the top of the nose, (the epicurism of childish fondness) , and as soon as this solemnity was over, he was laid in bed, perfectly contented and happy."
The young artist, in his eighth year, began to show a manly intellect. It was in the third tour through Germany to Paris, London. &c. that the fame of Mozart extended throughout Europe ”

“ On these, representations of the crucifixion were frequently cut, and the name of crosses were given to the boundary stones in general, though remaining without this symbol. Many instances might be given of these termini. At High Cross, on the intersection of the Watling Street and Foss Roman roads, there was formerly a pillar which marked the limits of Warwickshire and Leicestershire—the present column is of modern date ”

“ STONE PILLARS AND CROSSES. (For the Mirror.)
It appears from the accounts of the earliest historians, that single stones, or rude pillars were raised on various occasions, in the most remote ages. Of these we have frequent notices in the Old Testament, as of that raised by Jacob at Lug, afterwards named Bethel; a pillar was also raised by him at the grave of Rachel. The Gentiles set up pillars for idolatrous purposes. The Paphians worshipped their Venus under the form of a white pyramid, and the Brachmans the great God under the figure of a little column of stone. ”