This sort of prospect, far the most' delightful which the surface of the earth can supply, is enjoyed on a grand scale from any great elevation in London, but the view is too vast to admit of any attention to beauties of detail: works of sculpture and architecture even form a more subordinate portion of the whole; hence that train of ideas which carries back the imagination to classical antiquity, is less necessarily and less powerfully excited; but the immeasurably wider extent of builded space, houses rising above houses, streets stretching beyond streets, palaces, theatres, temples climbing from among the endless mass of edifices, further than the eye can trace in any direction; and more than all, the majestic Thames, with the ideas of world-encompassing commerce and empire which its forest of masts is adapted to excite, give it on the whole a more stimulant effect. A view of Paris is the most beautiful, that of London is the most sublime.

REULLURA.*

(From the New Monthly Magazine.) THE Culdees were the primitive clergy of Scotland, and apparently her only clergy from the sixth to the eleventh century. They were of Irish origin, and their monastery on the island of Iona or Ikolmill, was the seminary of Christianity in North Britain. Presbyterian writers have wished to prove them to have been a sort of Presbyters, strangers to the Roman church and Episcopacy. It seems to be established that they were not enemies to Episcopacy;-but that they were not slavishly subjected to Rome like the clergy of later periods, appears by their resisting the Papal ordonnances respecting the celibacy of religious men, on which account they were ultimately displaced by the Scottish sovereigns to make room for more Popish

canons.

STAR of the morn and eve,
Reullura shone like thee,

And well for her might Aodh grieve,
The dark-attired Culdee.

Peace to their shades! the pure Culdees
Were Albyn's earliest priests of God,
Ere yet an island of her seas
By foot of Saxon monk was trode,
Long ere her churchmen by bigotry
Were barr'd from holy wedlock's tie.
"Twas then that Aodh, famed afar
In Iona preach'd the word with power,
And Reullura, beauty's star,
Was the partner of his bower.

• Reullura, in Gaelic, signifies "beautiful

star."

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But, Aohd; the roof lies low,
And the thistle-down waves bleaching,
And the bat flits to and fro
[ing;
Where the Gael once heard thy preach-
And fall'n is each column'd aisle
Where the chiefs and people knelt.
"Twas near that temple's goodly pile
That honour'd of men they dwelt.
For Aodh was wise in the sacred law,
And bright Reullura's eyes oft saw
The veil of fate uplifted.
Alas, with what visions of awe
Her soul in that hour was gifted.-
When pale in the temple and faint,
With Aodh she stood alone
By the statue of an aged Saint!
Fair sculptured was the stone,
It bore a crucifix;

Fame said it once had graced
A Christian temple, which the Picts
In the Britons' land laid waste;
The Pictish men, by St. Columb taught,
Had hither the holy relic brought.
Reullura eyed the statue's face,
And cried, "It is, he shall come,
"Even he in this very place,
"To avenge my martyrdom.
"For, woe to the Gael people!
"Ulvfagre is on the main,
"And Iona shall look from tower and
steeple

"On the coming ships of the Dane; "And, dames and daughters, shall all your locks

"With the ruffian's grasp entwine? "No! some shall have shelter in caves

and rocks,

"And the deep sea shall be mine. "Baffled by me shall the spoiler return, "And here shall his torch in the temple burn,

"Until that holy man shall plough "The waves from Innisfail. "His sail is on the deep e'en now, "And swells to the southern gale." "Ah! knowest thou not, my bride," The holy Aodh said, [beside "That the Saint whose form we stand Has for ages slept with the dead?" "He liveth, he liveth,” she said again, "For the span of his life tenfold extends "Beyond the wonted years of men. "He sits by the graves of well-loved friends

"That died ere thy grandsire's grandsire's birth;

"The oak is decay'd with old age on

earth, [him; "Whose acorn-seed had been planted by "And his parents remember the day of dread

"When the sun on the cross look'd dim, "And the graves gave up their dead.

A remnant was call'd together,
A doleful remnant of the Gael,
And the Saint in the ship that had brought
him hither

Took the mourners to Innisfail.
Unscathed they left Iona's strand, [sky,
When the opal morn first Aushed the
For the Norse dropt spear, and bow, and
brand,

And look'd on them silently;
Safe from their hiding-places came
Orphans and mothers, child and dame:
But alas! when the search for Reullura
spread,

No answering voice was given,

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nated the ring finger. Gold rings had come into fashion anterior to the battle of Cannæ, after which Hannibal sent to the Carthaginian senate a whole bushelfull of them. The Roman senators likewise wore gold rings; and Florus relates, that after the disastrous battle just mentioned, the Roman senate possessed no other gold than that of its rings. The plebeians soon began to follow the fashion, but at first with iron rings; gold ones were only granted to them as distinctions. Under the emperors, however, soldiers, nay even freedmen, were seen with gold rings. They were origi

HANDS AND RINGS.

(From Ackermann's Repository.) AMONG the Romans a handsome hand, as well as a handsome foot, was considered as a great beauty. In speaking, they gesticulated a great deal, for the purpose of displaying the hand in every graceful movement. The Italians even at the present day express a great number of ideas by mere gestures. As it was not then customary to wear gloves, so much the more attention was paid to the delicate appearance of the hand: it was above all required that the nails should be nicely cut, and shine as if polished. Ovid says, in his Art of Love, a fair lady with clumsy fingers and coarse nails must not gesticulate much. In large families there was a female slave expressly to keep the fingers and nails in order. The nails were cut with a small knife; the parings were preserved, and used for sympathetic cures. Pliny says, "If you mix the parings of nails with wax, make it up into a little ball, and stick it against the door of a strange house, the fever will infallibly remove from your house to the other." Those who were not rich enough to keep slaves applied to a barber, whose business embraced the cutting of nails. Nobody took the trouble to do it himself.

Thus too the wearing of rings was adopted for adorning the hand. The origin of this practice is so old, that it is lost in the obscurity of remote antiquity. It passed from Egypt to the Greeks, from the Greeks to the Hetruscans, and so to the Romans. The first rings were of iron, and were worn only by soldiers, and that on the third finger of the hand, which was thence denomi

unless presented to them by the emperor himself. Justinian, however, weary of the numerous petitions soliciting this favour, permitted all who pleased to give them away. Hence none but gold or at least gilt rings were worn: many of them are to be found in antique collections. When none but iron rings were allowed, to such a length was vanity carried, that people endeavoured to give to gold the colour of iron, that that they might at least not wear real

iron.

SONNET. THE BRIDE,

A holy softness glisten'd in her eyes,

As bright in tearful smiles the new-made bride Survey'd the wedded lover by her side,

Now linked to her for ever with the ties Of Heaven's own blest cementing; and with sighs

That breathed of speechless fondness, she replied

To his enraptured words, and strove to hide Those sweet effusions which at times would rise

To dim her radiant glances, like the dews

That fall on summer mornings, and bespeak The heart's o'erflowing transport, while the hues Of love's celestial painting softly break O'er her fair cheek, and add a blushing grace To each divine expression of her face. A. S.

SUPERSTITIONS

Of the Peasantry of Westphalia.

(From Ackermann's Repository.) THE peasants of Westphalia ascribe supernatural influence to the cross. It expels evil spirits, and thwarts the malicious designs of witches againt cattle. They never cut a loaf till they have crossed the surface of it with the knife.

pains, so that he must either give up l< plunder, or die without retrieve.

To ascertain whether a person will die in the current year, the country folk in some places, about Midsummer, pluck some St. John's wort before sunrise in the morning, and hide it in the walls in various parts of the house. The bunches which immediately droop announce with certainty the speedy death of those who placed them there; but if the herb remains fresh and green, then the person who deposited it will not die during that year.

numbers.

It is very pernicious to men and cattle when a person who sees them for the first time, praises them without adding the words, "God bless them!"

Many persons have such a malignant eye, that by merely looking at men and cattle, they unknowingly bring them into great danger of their lives.

The peasants of Westphalia are so thoroughly convinced, that there are persons who, by muttering certain formulæ, are able to stop a horse in full speed, to silence a vigilant dog, to prevent fire from spreading, to staunch blood, and to do many other wonderful things, that nothing can persuade them to the contrary.

In some Catholic provinces, the farmer obtains and takes some consecrated wine, or a consecrated wafer, as a remedy for diseases among his cattle.

Many a housewife hangs her husband's small-clothes or cap on the horns of an ailing cow, for the purpose of curing the 'animal.

A few years since, in Prussian Westphalia, a countryman, if it was foretold that any misfortune should befal him, caused prayers to be offered in the church, that it might be averted. Though this silly practice has been prohibited by the government, it still takes place here and there,

1

In some of the provinces, for instance, in the county of Ravensperg, many believe that they car recover stolen goods, if they fill a bag with the earth on which the thief stood when committing the -depredation, and beat it with a stick twice or three times a day, till the dust flies out. The thief is supposed to be ympathetically affected with excessive

When horses drawing a corpse happen to meet with any obstruction, another of the family will soon die.

If a clergyman makes a mistake in naming a child, or changes for instance the Low German into the High German name, the child is sure to be sickly.

If a pregnant woman stands godmother to a child, either that or her own unborn infant will die young.

If a bride turns pale during the marriage ceremony, it is the sign of a death that will soon happen.

Young females knock on Christmas-eve at the hen-house. If a hen first cackles, they relinquish all hope of being married during the ensuing year; but if a cock crows, the fulfilment of their wishes is at hand.

Even in the present century almanacs were printed in Westphalia, in which the good or ill fortune of children were getermined by the months in which they were born.

There are certain days on which, in the opinion of these people, the state of the weather for some time depends. Thus, if it rains on the festival of St. Ægidius (Sept. 1.), on Midsummer-day, and espe cially on the following Sunday; and on the Visitation of the Virgin Mary (July 2), there will be rain for the four ensuing weeks. The animals which announce rain are the cuckoo, the swallow, the cock, and fish.

The notion of lucky and unlucky days is almost universal. On Monday no business of importance is commenced. Servants do not go to place; neither do parents send their children for the first time to school; nor are weddings or betrothals held on that day. Thursday also is considered as an unlucky day. Friday is the luckiest day for marrying, and Tuesday for servants entering on their service. Wheat sown on Sunday is sure to be mildewed. In short, there is no end to the superstitions of this kind.

DESCRIPTIVE HISTORY OF
THE STEAM ENGINE,

From its original invention to the
present time.

Elementary definitions necessary to the young reader.-Date and circumstances of the Invention. The Engine of the Marquis of Worcester-Uncertainty as to its nature. First definite construction of a Steam Engine by Savary. Particular organization and action of his machine.-The elasticity of Steam, his first mover.-Defects of Savary's Engine.-Newcomen's Engine, the second step of improvement.-General principles. Particular organi zation and action of the Newcomen Engine. - His introduction of the working-beam, pneumatic cylinder and piston. His first mover the pressure of the atmosphere.-Imperfection of Newcomen's Engine.-Minor improvements by Beighton.-Statement of the practical advances of the Steam Engine, its remaining desiderata, and general condition, to the date of Mr. Watt's earliest attention to the subject.

So sang a poet, who, with the methodical calculations of a practical philosopher, had the rarer possessions of an extensive and clear-sighted knowledge of human capabilities, and an enthusiastic imagination. His prediction, made before the earliest projection, nay, even the abstract idea of Steam navigation, now becomes interesting; it has an air absolutely oracular.

The progressive advances and applications of the steam engine form a curious and extensive field of research and inquiry, and we bow to the repeated invitations of our best friends and subscribers, in opening a series of papers on the subject, which shall be really popular. We of course begin with the early arrangements of the engine itself, and shall continue through all its important and rapid strides towards perfection. We are of opinion with more than one of our intelligent correspondents, that the probable applications of the steam engine, are, as well as its probably yet unknown powers, completely such as to set all ordinary calculations at defiance. We have engaged the same scientific pen which has afforded our readers so much interest (and ourselves so much honourable praise) in his account of the Hydraulic Orrery; and proceed in the same path with an alacrity proportioned to the high encouragement with which we are distinguished. In this particular branch of our undertaking, we bring to the task an ardent love of Science; a throbbing desire to contribute effectively, to the best improvement of the rising

55

generation; and a thirst for honest celebrity, which is the safest guarantee a Publisher can give for useful exertion.

Elementary Definitions.

WHEN water is heated under the pressure of the atmosphere, or in the usual way in the common operations of life, to 212 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, it becomes gradually converted into steam. Steam may be familiarly described vapour of extraordinary elasticity, and exerting irresistible force under confinement in any closed vessel. It is capable, however, of being heated after production, much beyond 212 degrees, the point at which it is produced from boiling water, and at such higher temperatures has the property of being immensely increased both in its power and elasticity; in these extensions of its powers, its temperature is the measure of its elasticity.

If a vessel already filled with common air, be suddenly and completely filled with steam, the steam must first bave driven the air out, and next have occupied its place. If after this, cold be applied to the same vessel, by any contrivance, as exposure to the atmosphere, or immersion in cold water, the steam which occupies it will be instantly condensed, i. e. converted into water, occupying evidently but an extremely small proportion of the vessel's capacity, and of course leaving its much greater part in

a state of vacuum.

If, to the knowledge of this circumstance be added that of the principles of the common pump, we may reasonably conclude that our young readers, or any person previously uninformed on the subject, will read the following historical and descriptive sketch of the steam engine with interest and advantage.

Whilst we state that our views of this vast and important agent, in all our mechanical engagements, is written expressly for this class of readers, we must also observe, that we address ourselves in equal confidence to the mechanical and more extensively informed orders of the reading community, looking for their approval, for the faithful condensation of a subject, which they will most readily admit, cannot be too extensively explained; while we earn the thanks of the former class, for a more simple and intelligible statement than has been presented them through any channel of easy access, of a highly amusing subject, which, perhaps, they have hitherto too hastily avoided as abstruse and laborious.