Various

“ The freshness of the air, the beauty and picturesque situations of the houses surrounded by lofty and fine trees, the over-teeming fertility of the soil, and the laughing fields, where golden Ceres still lingers, unwilling to quit her favourite abode, intersected by courses of lava, as yet unproductive, make this view one of the most beautiful and interesting that can be imagined. ”

“ Nay, we see no reason to prevent such improvement in steam-carriages as shall fit them up like steam-boats, the campaigning carriage of Napoleon, or the travelling long coach of the present Duke of Orleans, with beds, and a furnished table. We have besides safety for danger—accelerated speed without inhumanity—gain of time—of accommodation—of money—and over and above all, as a non-consumer of food, we have by the substitution what will remove the host of Malthusian ills to a period of almost indefinite duration. ”

“ After dinner, we all retired to one table in the inner room, at which we, though sheriffs, were placed underneath all the aldermen; for whatever rank an alderman may be in point of seniority, yet during the year he serves as sheriff, he is to give place, and follow the rest of his brethren, both at the court, and all processions and entertainments. About six o'clock, the late sheriffs, having left the Lord Mayor at his house, attended us to Guildhall, where we were met by our own and the former under-sheriffs, together with the secondaries and keepers of the prisons ”

“ From hence, to an almost interminable extent, there is a most superb view of the surrounding country; nothing can be more varied, grand, and sublime; every spot spared by the all-devastating lavas, is highly cultivated; the vines and other productive fruit-trees are seen laden with the most delicious fruits; the groves of olives, the towns and villages, in almost endless aerial perspective, all terminated by the distant and deep-blue sea, form a scene the most enchanting that can be conceived. We remounted about ten o'clock, P.M., our trusty mules, and pursued or journey. ”

“ The biography of so distinguished an individual must have innumerable good tendencies: it at once inculcates the wholesome truth that "every man is the architect of his own fortune;" and it presents us, moreover, with the encouraging picture of a well-regulated life, and its healthful energies so employed in the discharge of important duties as to entitle the subject to high rank among the worthies of his country.
John Scott, Lord Eldon, is the third son of William Scott, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. ”

“ Oxalic acid can be prepared by an artificial process, with great ease, from sugar, and six times its weight of nitric acid,—the former affording the carbon necessary to its formation, and the latter the oxygen. It is only necessary to heat the nitric acid on the sugar; the sugar dissolves, and there is a violent effervescence, which must be moderated by immersion in cold water: when the mixture cools, crystals of oxalic acid form in abundance, which may be purified by a second crystallization. ”

“ Giovanni della Punta, the road is constantly over the lava, and the country on either side is delicious. Trecastagne, nine miles from Catania, is seated on the acclivity of a high volcanic mountain. The scene here is beautiful and picturesque. Near the principal church the view is most extensive. Towards the east the mountains of Calabria, the sea stretching from Taormina to Catania, bathing the sides of Etna, covered with vineyards, woods and villages: northward rises the mountain itself, surrounded by its progeny of pigmy mountains ”

“ The amazing expanse of his views, the inexpressible niceness of his discrimination, his unrelaxing anxiety to do justice in every individual case, the kindness of his heart, and the ductility of his ideas, all ensure that attention to every suitor which must necessarily obtain the unbounded admiration and attachment of the virtuous and the wise. ”

“ But we do not witness all the misery of the noble and the generous steed. When the shades of night impend, the reproaches of the feeling, or the expostulations of the timid traveller no longer protect him from the lash ”

“ In viewing the moral advantages which must result from steam-carriages, we find them of no less importance. There are but few so constitutionally indifferent to acceleration in travelling as the Hollander, who delighted in the "old, solemn, straight-forward, regular Dutch canal speed—three miles an hour for expresses, and two for joy or trot journeys." ”

“ Philosophers and certain religious people have for ages reckoned fasting as a service which led to important results, and a duty which could not be dispensed with without causing the wrath of God to fall upon the heads of the nation. ”

“ Acceleration in the speed of travelling, if unaccompanied by danger, is eagerly sought after, because the period of discomfort is lessened. But steam-carriages will not only lessen the discomfort by shortening its duration; they can be so equipped that positive comfort, nay, luxury, may be enjoyed. A steam-engine is perfectly under control, and consequently much more safe than horses. The life of the traveller cannot be jeoparded by the breaking of a rein, horses being frightened, running off, &c. ”

“ Etna is entirely composed of volcanic rocks, and rises in imposing grandeur to the height of 10,000 ft. above the level of the sea. It is about 180 miles in circumferences, and is surrounded on every hand by apparently small volcanic cones, though of no inconsiderable size, which tend in a great degree to increase the apparent dimensions of the central mountain. Some of these cones are covered with vegetation, but others are arid and bare. From this variety in the progress of vegetation, some persons have endeavoured to calculate the relative ages of the cones ”

“ Heat is admitted by the philosophers of the present day to be the principle concerned in repulsion; and heat and cold are known to produce expansion and contraction in all bodies. Heat is, therefore, the antagonist of cohesion. ”

“ When this process is duly effected, the cactus opuntia, or prickly pear, is planted, which hastens the desired event, and has the power to break up the lava, and render it fit for productive purposes. Five miles from Trecastagne is Nicolosi, a small village which has often suffered from the fire-vomiting mountain. Here we supped, and baited the mules for two hours. Nicolosi, according to Signor Gemmellero, a Sicilian physician, long resident at Catania, is two thousand one hundred and twenty-eight feet above the level of the sea, and its mean temperature 64° Fahr. ”

“ Martin's act ceases to effect for a time its beneficent purpose; when the stiffened joints—the cracked hoofs—the greasy legs—and stumbling gait of the worn-out animal are all put into agonized motion by belabouring him upon the raw! ”

“ We do not advocate any thing so preposterous as the change of the whole animate power of Great Britain into inanimate, though in this the political economist can see the solution of all our Malthusian difficulties to an indefinite extent and duration. ”

“ The eastern Brahmins are remarkable for their fasting; but as the people believe they regale themselves with the good things of this life, in secret, their example gains not many followers. That nation which reckons itself infinitely superior to us "poor barbarians," the Chinese, also observe stated seasons of fasting and prayer. The Mahomedans likewise strictly observe fasting and prayer, and the exactness with which the dervishes perform them, and the lengths of time of their fasts are very remarkable. ”

“ What we urge is merely the partial adoption of the thing to such an extent as will relax the present pressure, and restore us to a wholesome state of national prosperity. This will occasion no dangerous experiment, and will be gradually followed up by a progressive conversion, by which all the conflicting interests of society will be neutralized, and the aggregate wealth, and prosperity, and happiness of the empire be equalized. ”

“ On the other hand, were the atmosphere wholly composed of azote, life could never have existed, whether animal or vegetable, and the objects of the Creator in forming this world would not be fulfilled. But the atmosphere is a wholesome mixture of these two formidable elements, each neutralizing the other's baneful influence. The life of animals quietly runs through its allotted space ”

“ Halted at the upper boundary of the forest region, to refresh our mules, and exchange our light clothing for garments of a warmer texture, as the wind now blew cool and somewhat chilly; for the temperature of this spot was about 50°, while that of Catania, which [pg 203] we had only left a few hours ago, was about 84° Fahr.
The road, on leaving our resting-place, became tedious and cheerless; hardly any vegetation was discoverable, and still wilder regions appeared above us. The path now lay over masses of rough lava ”

“ The method of voting is, by each alderman going up to the recorder and town clerk, who sit at a separate part of the room, and telling the person he would choose, a scratch is made under each respective name. ”

“ The recorder made a speech to the livery-men, 'apprising them of the custom and manner of choosing a lord mayor; which, he observed, was for the Common Hall to nominate two of the aldermen who had served sheriffs, to the Court of Aldermen, who had then a right to elect either of them into that great office, and which ever that the court so fixed on, the Common Hall was bound to accept.' When he had ended, the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen retired into the Council Chamber, and left us to preside at the election, attended by the Common Sergeant and other officers. ”

“ They are over-well fed, in order that a supernatural energy may be exerted. The morrow comes when their galled withers are again to be wrung by the ill-cushioned collars, and the lumbering of the wheels. ”

“ They publish the above Journal quarterly, assembling acts of atrocity which make the blood curdle in our veins, and remind us that "all are not men that wear the human form." The funds of the society are not in a prosperous condition; the sand of their philanthropy is well nigh run out, and fresh appeals are to be made. Let us glance at the contents of, the Voice before us. The subject "Abattoirs contrasted with Slaughter-houses and Smithfield-market," is continued—a plan which we illustrated in The Mirror about five years since. True enough the Society write, but the people do not consider ”