his main-topmast, as if to signify that he had swept those seas of British ships. But in the February following, the English hero, having employed the interval with admirable diligence in repairing his ships, again put to sea with a fleet of sixty sail, and soon after encountered his old adversary at the head of seventy men-of-war, and having three hundred merchantmen under convoy. The battle this time was far more obstinate than any that had yet been fought between them: for three days the two armaments, running up the Channel together, scarcely intermitted their furious fire; when at last, on the fourth morning, the Dutch, having lost eleven of their ships of war and thirty merchantmen, while only one of the English vessels was destroyed, took flight for the coast of Holland. Several other engagements took place between the two admirals in the course of the same year; and the result, upon the whole, was decidedly in favour of the English. Having thus asserted the dominion of his countrymen over their surrounding seas, Blake returned to England, and was received both by the Protector and the people with all respect and honour. Some time before this Cromwell had dismissed the Long Parliament, and openly assumed arbitrary power; but Blake being at sea when this change took place, grieved and indignant as his noble spirit must have felt, restrained himself from giving expression to his sentiments; and calling his officers together, merely remarked to them, that, with the enemy yet unsubdued, they had clearly in the mean time only one duty to perform: "It is not for us," said he, "to mind state affairs, but to keep the foreigners from fooling us." In the parliament which assembled in September, 1654, Blake was returned for Bridgewater; and he sat in the House till 1656, when he was despatched with a fleet to the Mediterranean, to chastise Spain for certain, insults which that power had offered to the English flag. He acquitted himself in this expedition with his usual ability; but after having done great injury to the marine of the enemy, and taken many rich prizes, he was attacked by an illness which rapidly enfeebled him, and from which indeed he soon felt that he could not recover. He exerted himself, however, as long as his strength would allow, and even engaged in a new enterprise against Santa Cruz, in Teneriffe, which was attended with splendid success, after it had become evident that this would be his last service of gallantry to his country. He then set sail for England; and as life was fast ebbing, the only and constant wish he expressed was that he might but once more rest his eyes, for however short a space, on the coast of his native land before closing them for ever. His wish, and no more, was granted. He expired as the fleet was entering Plymouth Sound, on the 27th of August, 1657. A true model in all things of a British sailor, Blake had been during his life as prodigal of his money among his comrades as of his personal exertions in the service of his country; and notwithstanding the ample opportunities he had had of enriching himself, it was found that he had not increased his paternal fortune by so much as 500l. A magnificent public funeral, and the interment of his body in Henry VII.'s Chapel, in Westminster Abbey, testified the grief of England for the loss of her greatest defender; but among the mean outrages which disgraced the triumph of the Restoration, it was one of the very meanest that Blake's mouldering remains were removed from the honourable resting-place thus assigned to them, and deposited in the neighbouring church-yard of St. Margaret. They could not, however, remove his glory from the page of the national history, nor bury among common and forgotten things the name and actions of one who, as having first taught our seamen that daring and contempt of danger for which they have ever since been famous, deserves to be regarded as, more than any other, the founder of the naval greatness of England.

that education unfits persons for labour, and renders them General Education.-A strange idea is entertained by many dissatisfied with their condition in life. But what would be said were any of the powers of the body to be in a certain case disused? Suppose a man were to place a bandage over his right eye-to tie up one of his hands-or to attach a ponderous weight to his legs-and, when asked the cause were, to reply, that the glance of that eye might make him covetous his feet might carry him into evil company,-might it not -that his hand might pick his neighbour's pocket-or that be fairly replied, that his members were given to use and not to abuse, that their abuse is no argument against their use, and that this suspension of their action was just as contrary to the wise and benevolent purpose of their Creator as their wrong and guilty application? And does this reasoning fail when applied to the mind? Is not the unemployed mental faculty as opposed to the advantage of the individual as the unused physical power? Can the difference of reasoning and of morals? Besides, how is man to be between mind and matter overturn the ordinary principles prepared for the duties he has to discharge?-By mere attention to his body? Impossible. The mind must be enlightened and disciplined; and if this be neglected, the man rises but little in character above the beasts that perish, and is wholly unprepared for that state to which he ought to have aspired-Wilderspin's Early Discipline.

Trade in Bristles.-In 1828, 1,748,921 lbs. of bristles were imported into England from Russia and Prussia, each of which cannot have weighed less than two grains. From this we may fairly conjecture that 13,431,713,280 bristles were imported in that year. As these are only taken from the top of the hog's back, each hog cannot be supposed to have supplied more than 7680 bristles, which, reckoning each bristle to weigh two grains, will be one pound. Thus were killed, to furnish the supply of England with bristles. in Russia and Prussia, in 1828, 1,748,921 hogs and boars

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THIS magnificent city, which, won from the degenerate Greeks of the lower empire, has been for four centuries the capital of the Turkish empire, is situated in 41° 1' 27" north latitude, and in 26° 35' of east longitude.

The ground it occupies is marked out by nature as the site of a great city. A gently declining promontory, secured by narrow seas, at the east of Europe, stretches out to meet the continent of Asia, from which its extreme point is separated by so narrow a strait that in a quarter of an hour a boat can row from one continent to the other. This strait or channel, which is called the Bosphorus, running about fifteen miles from the Black Sea, between the beautiful shores of Europe and Asia, looks like a stately river, until it sweeps by the angle of Constantinople and enters the sea of Marmora. But just before it is lost in that sea, it makes a deep elbow to the right, flowing between the triangle of Constantinople Proper, and its suburbs of Galata and Pera, and forming the port which is called the Golden Horn. This is the most convenient as well as the most beautiful harbour in the world.

A city was built here by a colony of Lacedemonians as early as the year 660 before Christ, or about a century after the foundation of Rome; but this city only occupied the apex of the triangle, or precisely that space now within the enclosures of the Seraglio. It was called Byzantium. The present immense city, called Constantinopolis, or the city of Constantine, after its founder, was built about the year 330 of our era, by the Roman Emperor Constantine, who thought it the best place for the capital of the world.

The triangle which the city now entirely occupies is thus washed on one of its sides (the northern) by the deep waters of the port, and on the other (the south-eastern) by the sea of Marmora. The base of the triangle, or the VOL. I.

ground immediately beyond the walls which attaches it to the European continent, is an open elevated flat, with some trifling inequalities of surface. The area of the triangle is occupied by gentle hills, which are highest towards the land side, and gradually decline to the Seraglio point, shelving off on either side to the sea of Marmora and the port. As Rome was built on seven hills, so the Roman founders of Constantinople called these "the seven hills," though, in fact, if the principal chain only were counted there would be less, and if the minor hills or spurs were taken into the account, there would be more, than seven. On these hills the city stands, presenting on each of the three sides of the triangle the aspect of a stately amphitheatre. The ridge of the first hill, departing from the acute point of the triangle, is occupied by the Seraglio, or vast palace of the Sultan, behind which, a little on the reverse of the hill, the dome of Santa Sophia shows itself. The second hill is crowned by the mosque of the Osmanieh, whose dome is strikingly bold and lofty. The still grander mosque of Soliman the Magnificent towers on the third hill; whilst an ancient aqueduct, whose bold arches have the happiest effect, unites the summits of the third and fourth hills. On the very highest point-of the chain there is a lofty tower, built within these few years by the present Sultan, in which a guard is constantly placed to watch the breaking out of fires, which are very frequent and destructive in a city where all the private habitations are built chiefly of wood. things are more calculated to make an impression on the mind of the stranger than when an accident of this sort occurs at the dead of night, and the immense drum is beaten at the top of the tower, and the voice of the guard is heard shouting, 'Vangar' (fire).

Few

Though there is one principal street, which, with but 2 C

SE A

OF

MARMORA.

few interruptions, traverses the city from the Seraglio, to the inland walls, the houses of Constantinople are not generally massed together, but interspersed with open spaces, gardens, trees, ancient ruins, and isolated mosques,—the tall, slim, arrowy minarets or towers of which, all kept purely white, and tipped with a gilded crescent, contribute greatly to the beauty of the views. The situation of Constantinople upon hills is not only the cause of its beauty, but of its salubrity and comparative cleanliness. It catches all the pleasant breezes from the Bosphorus, the Marmora, and the adjoining plains of Thrace; and the dirt that might accumulate naturally descends the hills' sides to the port or the open sea, in both of which it is carried off by a strong current. To this advantage must be added the immense number of fountains and the quantity of flowing water which is always carrying off parts of the dirt; and the heavy rains which, when they fall, so wash the sides of the hills, that nothing can well be cleaner than the greater part of Constantinople at those seasons. Indeed, at any time, the lower edge of the city that touches the port, and the opposite suburb of Galata (the Wapping of the Turkish capital), may be called filthy places, but the term cannot be correctly applied to Constantinople as a whole.

Some ill-natured travellers have said that the only scavengers here are the unowned dogs which roam about in countless thousands; but we believe in all times there were a set of Turks employed to clean the streets, and the present sultan has certainly a regularly organized corps for that service.

Allowing for the empty spaces, which collectively would form a portion by no means inconsiderable, Constantinople occupies the whole of the natural triangle, whose outline is fringed by old walls flanked by towers. These walls and towers on the side of the sea of Mar nora and the port, where in old times they were not re

quired to be so strong, are now in a very ruinous state and, in some parts, on the Golden Horn, have entirely disappeared. But on the land side, where the defences of art were more called for, Constantinople presents a treble line of most formidable ancient walls which might easily be repaired; and which, in their more dilapidated parts, offer such magnificent and picturesque specimens of mural ruins as no other city can boast of. The length of this latter line of wall, from the head of the port to the Seven Towers on the sea of Marmora, is above four English miles. The form of the triangle, as may be seen by our little plan, is somewhat irregular, having the side from the Seven Towers to the Seraglio considerably the longest. According to the best calculations the population contained within these walls is about 500,000. If we add to this number, as is usually done, the population of the suburbs of Pera and Galata, of Scutari, which, though in Asia, is so near as to be considered a suburb, and of the numerous villages which closely succeed each other on both sides of the channel of the Bosphorus for several miles, we may arrive perhaps at the number of from 700,000 to 800,000 souls, comprising Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Franks.

On whichever side you approach Constantinople,whether ascending by the Dardanelles and the sea of Marmora, or descending from the Black Sea by the Bosphorus,-whether you arrive by crossing the plains of Thrace, or come in sight from the opposite hills of Asia,-she presents herself indeed like "the Queen of Cities." The effect of the first view is almost magical.

The preceding sketch will give some idea of the beautiful outline of part of Constantinople. It is taken from the hill side, above Galata. Near this point was an old Genoese tower, burned down within these three years, from which the view of the city was of surpassing beauty.

[To be concluded in our next Number.]

These nouns are formed from verbs, and generally by the simple addition of the syllable ing. They denote the general act of doing something, and often retain the same place in the sentence with respect to the word following them, that the verb itself does: thus, when we say, "the building of a house," we express in a slightly modified manner the idea of " to build a house."

Some nouns in ing express a collection of things, asCloth-ing. Stabl-ing. Fir-ing-(fuel).

Nouns in tion.

Educate, educa-tion. Ora-tion.

Calculate, calcula-tion. Na-tion, Sta-tion. This termination has been introduced into our language from the Latin, and in some instances differs in meaning very little, or not at all, from that in ing. Thus we could say, calculating, educating, as well as calculation, education. Words like nation, station, &c. are pure Latin words, differing from the nominative case of those in the language from which they are derived, only in having an n at the end of the word.

Nouns in hood, (German, heit).
Man-hood.
Priest-hood.

These words express the abstract notion, as it is called, of the word from which they are formed; that is, they express in the most general way possible the state or condition of being a man, a priest, &c. They are not very numerous, nor, indeed, are they much used, though they are well adapted to convey that general notion which we have assigned to them.

All languages contain certain classes of nouns which are called diminutives, from their being used to express "things of a less kind or degree."

Nouns in ling (German, lein, in some cases, ling). Gos-ling. Found-ling. Dar-ling. Wit-ling. (Goose-ling). Suck-ling. (Dear-ling). Duck-ling. In all these examples a notion of some smallness in the object mentioned, is clearly recognized by common usage. A duck-ling is a little duck; and a wit-ling is a man of little wit.

It may here be necessary to make a remark, in order to caution those who are new at this kind of classification from putting words in the same class merely because they happen to terminate with certain letters that are the same. Thus it would be absurd to class under the head of diminutives such words as, doubling, tippling, troubling, merely because they appear to terminate in ling; they clearly belong to the words in ing, and are formed from the words double, tipple, trouble.

the ear is concerned. Foreigners occasionally, as well as some of our own countrymen, find a difficulty in pronouncing strength, a word containing eight letters, with only one vowel to keep the consonants from quarrelling. It is sometimes incorrectly pronounced strenth.

These words in th may be formed from verbs also, as birth, from the verb to bear; but some, as worth, have no corresponding word in our own language from which they may be derived, though in the case of this word, worth, there is in the Latin language a word (vir), and in the Anglo-Saxon a word (were), which are the parents of our word worth. From the word ear (to plough), we have the word earth, signifying ploughed land, and still correctly pronounced in many parts of England. as a word of two syllables, e-arth. It is written e-orth in the Anglo-Saxon books, which is exactly the pronunciation that the word still has in some parts of Lancashire.

These words are not easy to explain without entering into considerations foreign to the kind of inquiry that we have thought proper to adopt ; nor is it quite certain that all the words we have given strictly belong to the same class, though they happen to terminate with the same letters. We may, however, observe that there is the same relationship between fly or flee, and flight, that there is between see and sight, tie and tight. The reason why these and other similar words contain a g, is, because the words from which they are formed originally contained a g, or at least some letter akin to g. Thus, in German there is a word flug, meaning flight, from which is formed another word flucht, which is nearer in form to our own word flight.

Fear.-Charles Gustavus (the successor of Christina of Sweden) was besieging Prague, when a boor of most extraordinary visage desired admittance to his tent, and, being allowed entrance, offered, by way of amusing the king, to devour a whole hog, weighing two hundred weight, in his presence. The old General Konigsmarc, who stood by the king's side, and who, soldier as he was, had not got rid of the prejudices of his childhood, hinted to his royal master that the peasant ought to be burnt as a sorcerer. "Sir," said the fellow, irritated at the remark, "if your majesty will but make that old gentleman take off his sword and his spurs I will eat him before your face, before I begin the pig." General Konigsmarc (who at the head of a body of Swedes had performed wonders against the Austrians, and who was looked upon as one of the bravest men of the age) could not stand this proposal, especially as it was accompanied by a most hideous and preternatural expansion of the frightful peasant's jaws. Without uttering a word the veteran suddenly turned round, ran out of the court, and thought not himself safe until he had arrived at his quarters.