the vapour-laden winds, and that their own fertility might be economically secured. By supplying an impenetrable subsoil of glazed tiles, and thus rendering it possible to improvise a fountain in almost any thirsty spot, Palissy's ingenious mind worked more beneficently than when with such lifelong pains he modelled and baked his own beautiful cups and vases.

There was a remarkable book, first published at Frankfort in 1615, and reprinted at Paris in 1624, entitled, "The causes of making forces with divers machines and many designs of grottoes and fountains." Its author, Salomon de Caus, was born in Normandy, towards the end of the previous century. He dedicates his work to the Electress Palatine Elizabeth. Much of his life seems to have been passed in foreign lands, in the character of an engineer and architect; and it is for Salomon de Caus that the French claim the merit of at least anticipating the discovery of the steam-engine. A drawing of what Salomon is pleased to call "Une fontaine rustique" is there given as a specimen of the state of French taste at that period. He himself says: "This fountain is suited to be placed in the middle of a garden; and you may also place therein a ball of copper which the water will elevate on high, and which will give great pleasure to the sight. The said fountain may be built partly of rustic stones, as the design demonstrates, which will be of small cost, if so be that the said stones be found conveniently on the spot, and in default of the said natural stones, one may cut them artificially."

To glance at England in the reign of Henry VI, we see that the citizens of London, in the year 1439, secured from the Abbot of Westminster the perpetual grant of a fountain in the manor of Paddington, with the power to break ground for the laying of pipes, for the annual rent of two pounds of pepper. The king, in confirming the grant, authorized the breaking up of any roads or ground belonging either to himself or to any private person. Permission was also given to impress into the public service such plumbers, masons, or other skilled workmen as might be required. Such was the style in which public works were carried on at that period. The splendid monastic foundations of our own and other lands, those beautiful abbeys and convents which always rooted themselves in such happy spots as were living with bursting springs or gently watered by quiet rivulets, availed themselves at an early period of the delicious luxury of fountains. Borrowing a fiction from the poetic mythology of Greece and of Rome, instead of placing a viewless nymph, an Egeria or an Arethusa, to preside over the fountain, they invoked the presence of some favourite saint; and thus, under the cover of a christian name, virtually effected the apotheosis of the spring.

The Mahomedan, who is at least free from this kind of idolatry, places some such inscription as the following on a marble slab above the fountain, on whose florid arabesques he has lavished the best skill of his chisel: "As long as Allah causes a drop of rain to descend into its reservoir, the happy people who participate in its inestimable benefits shall waft praises of its virtue to that sky from whence it came

down." "This exquisite work is, before Allah, a deed of high merit, and indicates the piety of the Sultan Mahmoud." The Turks have a remarkable proverb, and it is full of meaning: "Do good, and throw it into the sea; and if the fish do not see it, Allah will." Some of the fountains which grace Constantinople are splendid erections, richly decorated with arabesques; but neither is the Pera fountain which refreshes the picturesque groups of an Eastern market-place, nor the beautiful one which charms the suburb of Galata, an object of so much attraction to the Turkish households as is the fountain of Guyuk Suy, in the famed "Valley of the Sweet Waters." This is the chosen scene of the Stamboul pic-nics. But where, amidst our quiet wood-walks or our cloud-tempered lakes, could we present such brilliant elements for the compositions of the artist, as crowd around the glittering marble fount of Guyuk Suy, under its double avenue of trees that cool the shining rim of the Bosphorus ? To drink the "sweet water" is the pleasant fiction which brings all those bright-coloured holiday folk to the festal valley; which fills the little fleets of caïques that are dancing on the swell beyond; which makes the clumsy araba creak under its load of veiled beauties, who are looking out and laughing from under their awning of rich velvet; and which sends the slaves of the fruit-dealers hurrying in all directions with their silver cups and crystal vases. Constantinople has disputed with Rome the graceful name of the "City of Fountains," so delightfully do they abound in all directions. Every mosque is attended by one of these graceful handmaids, for ablutions form a vital part of a Turk's devotions. There is often an endowment which provides that attendants shall be always ready with cups full of cool clear water for the refreshment of passers-by. The supply itself is carried by subterranean watercourses from lake-like reservoirs in the forest of Belgrade, at ten or twelve miles distance. A curious machinery of hydraulic columns, placed at regular intervals along the way, triumphs over the inequalities of surface.

But it is underneath the city that the most extraordinary provision has been made, which, if properly kept in repair, would have made the inhabittants independent of supplies from without during the time of siege. There are vast cisterns excavated by the Greek emperors, the roof of which is supported by a multitude of pillars. This subter ranean city of waters, which the Turks by an orientalism call "The place of a thousand and one pillars," has been so neglected that its alleys and colonnades are now dry; and not only may the tra veller take a gloomy walk in these midnight streets, but he even finds that they have been chosen as workshops for some of the industrial trades. There is another grand excavation which is still partially filled with water-a "subterranean palace," to use the name by which the Turks describe it; but Dr. Walsh calls it more correctly "a subterraneous lake," extending beneath several streets of the city, with an arched roof reposing on 336 magnificent pillars of marble. Many people have been lost in attempting to navigate the watery halls and courts of this black palace of silence! but from the utter

sameness of the spot, pillar resembling pillar, alleys repeating themselves in drear perspective, and greedily swallowing the flicker of the dying torches, the bewildered mariner has never returned to the light of day.

To return to Europe: there is a most quaint fountain in the old city of Nuremberg. It is surmounted by a bronze figure of a peasant man carrying a goose under either arm, and each publicspirited bird vigorously spouts a jet of water from his long beak. The statue is by Peter Vischer, and goes by the name of the " Gansemann," (gooseman). A little episode in the Story of Fountains may here be recorded. In the sixteenth century, in the time of old Hans Holbein, the artisans of Basle were engaged in building a public arsenal. From day to day during the long hours of work, an old peasant used to come and play on his pipe the beautiful airs of his mountain-land. This continued until the undertaking was completed; and then the aged minstrel died. To perpetuate his tuneful memory, a statue representing himself and his pipe was placed on the top of a tall column which crowned the fountain; and thus the little spring of refreshment, whose musical cadences revived the spirits of the weary workmen three hundred years ago, still ministers on a larger scale to the refreshment of the tired and the thirsty.

But after all, it is in modern Rome, more than in any other city, that fountains form so very beautiful and sparkling a feature. The design is often

extravagant, and the leading idea, graceful in itself, is often overlaid with encumbering ornament; but go to the Janiculum Hill and watch the grand rush of the waters in the "Fontana Paolina," from niches formed by the six columns of red granite from the ancient forum of Nerva, into their magnificent basin, and then turn to the fallen mistress of the world, sleeping beneath you amidst her ruins or stand to see how the torrents leap over the piled rocks in the beautiful fountain of Trevi, and pardon Neptune and his tritons for their disturbing intrusion, if you can: or let your dazzled eyes watch the play of the noble fountains in the magnificent piazza of Saint Peter, especially when the flying spray blazes to the lamps on the great night of illumination, when the church decks itself from forehead to feet with its thousands of fiery jewels: mark these and many others in Rome, and you will not be disposed to dispute her claim to be named "the city of fountains."

This paper may be closed by a reference to a brilliant illustration of the universal law by which water struggles to attain its own level. A great aqueduct has been made to convey a whole river of water into the city of New York. This river, the Croton, called by the Indians "The Clear Water," is dammed up at its source, forty miles from the city, and forms there a vast reservoir amid its native hills and woods. A great water-course, built of squared stones, and mounted on piers of stone-work, traverses these forty intervening miles, now striding boldly across a valley, now penetrating a hill, and again stepping bravely over a river. The channel is covered over throughout its adventurous course, and it pours a mile and a half of fine water" into

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New York every hour. This is truly a Roman-like work; but now for the impromptu fountain. Just where the aqueduct steps across a valley, the engineer perforated the water-course by making an opening of about seven inches in diameter; and instantly there leaped up towards the sky a magnificent column of water, 115 feet high, forming perhaps the very grandest jet d'eau which has been ever beheld. The pillar of water spread itself out like a tree waved by the winds, and shivered itself into a thousand leaflets of diamond spray, shaking its glittering boughs amongst the quiet woods and the sleeping hills.

In this eager day, when everything is rapid, when life is so busy, when man is so swift of foot, and there is so little time for the languid luxury of repose, let the benefactors of their own species, and those who can spare a drop of sympathy even for the tired beast, give free course to their benevolent impulses and let water flow forth in the hot thoroughfares of our towns and cities. They have only to open the life-giving veins of nature, and let the world's wayfarers drink and be thankful.

A FAVOURITE argument of the American pro-slavery advocates, in defence of one of the privileges of their "peculiar institution "-viz., the legal right of the owner to cruelly ill-treat, torture, and maim his slave-is, that he will certainly abstain from so doing, not merely on the score of humanity, but of obvious self-interest. No man in his senses, say they, even although he be hard-hearted and indifferent to the infliction of suffering, will depreciate or destroy his own property; therefore, he will not injure or kill his slave, a valuable property. Now experience has long shown that this particular rea

soning is utterly fallacious. In numberless instances slave-owners have so injured their bondsmen by downright savage cruelty, as to very materially lessen their value as property, to their own manifest pecuniary loss. Yet more, examples are by no means infrequent of owners absolutely destroying, murdering their slaves, by whipping them to death or shooting them. Thus, facts show that self-interest will not alone prove an impregnable safeguard against the abuse of powerfury, revenge, or other passions nullifying its influence.

Just so is it, on a gigantic scale, between different countries. No one pretends to assert that war between two nations, tolerably equal in military power, can be anything else than excessively detrimental in its immediate and inevitable results to their several and mutual interests, insomuch that an immense amount of direct money loss in war expenditure is certain on both sides, without reckoning the indirect and incalculable loss from the suspension of commercial relations, the withdrawal of men from profitable peaceful avocations, and the money-value of the tens of thousands of killed and* maimed soldiers. We have no mission here to enter on the abstract question of the sinfulness and folly of war per se, and we do not condemn those cases when war in self-defence becomes a virtue and a necessity. Our observations are restricted to wars which are clearly avoidable by mutual consent. Yet, during long centuries wars of this kind have from time to time been waged by nation against nation, and there is little prospect that it will be otherwise until a great change ensues in the nature of mankind. This too clearly proves that self-interest, and national interest, will not restrain men from incurring certain loss of money and of life.

Once more Europe rings with the din of a tremendous war. We do not intend to speculate on its objects and probabilities, but it will be interesting to gather some illustrations of the awful cost of that "game," concerning which Cowper long ago remarked-

Every country in Europe, we believe, (and many in other quarters of the globe,) have national debts, in nearly all instances of most serious amount, in proportion to their population and resources; and the origin of these national debts was almost invariably war; their gradual augmentation was caused by war; their perpetuity (humanly speaking) is solely attributable to war and warlike armaments. Everybody reads, from time to time, of new inventions and improvements in the "deadly art of war;" but it may not be so generally known that they are far more costly than the simple and less effective implements of destruction in use half a century ago. The various kinds of improved rifles cannot be supplied at the price of superannuated "Old Brown Bess"--the common flint musket of former days; and as an example of the vastly increased costliness of actual warfare, we may mention that, during the great conflict which terminated in the final overthrow of the first

Napoleon, solid shot was the missile almost invariably fired from cannon, whereas shells are now usually preferred, as being much more destructive. A 32lb. ball cost only 5s., but a 321b. shell, filled ready for firing, costs 20s., and its charge of pow der and wadding 12s.-in all 32s.! a 68lb. shell, powder, etc., costs 38s., and the guns to fire it (weighing each from three to five tons, in round numbers) cost £65 to £95 each. The "standing armies and navies" of Europe, even on what is drolly enough called the "Peace Establishment," are on a prodigious scale. The following summary appeared lately in the newspapers; and although we cannot vouch for its perfect accuracy, we believe it may be accepted as tolerably correct. We must premise that it does not take into account the recent heavy increase of forces in several countries, to put their armaments on the footing of an armed neutrality, or, in other words, to be prepared for the possibility of being involved in actual war:

FRANCE.-Army, 570,000 men, 169 field batteries; gendarmes, 25,572 men. Navy, 417 vessels, of which 300 are sailing vessels and 117 steamers; 27,000 sailors.

AUSTRIA.-Army, 670,477 men, of which 520,400 are infantry, 70,300 cavalry, 57,292 artillery, 11,116 engineers and staff, 9217 pontoneers. Navy 101 vessels.

PRUSSIA.-Army, 525,000 men, of which 410,000 are of the active army and of the landwehr of 1st ban; 115,000 of the landwehr 2nd ban. Navy, 50 vessels, 3500 sailors.

ENGLAND.-Army, 223,000 men, including the colonial troops, Navy, 600 vessels, of which 309 are sailing ships, 251 steamers, 40 ships of the line, carrying 17,291 guns and 69,500 sailors. RUSSIA.-Army, 1,067,600 men, including the reserve, besides 226,000 irregular troops. Navy, 177 vessels, 62,000 sailors and

gunners.

TURKEY.-Army, 178,000 men; reserve, 148,680; irregular troops, 61,000; various contingents, 110,000; total, 319,C80. Navy, 70 vessels, 38,000 sailors and gunners.

SPAIN.-Army, 75,000 men; militia and reserves, 500,600 cen. Navy, 410 vessels, 15,000 sailors.

SARDINIA.-Army, 50,000 men. Navy, 40 vessels, 2860 sailors. Two SICILIES.-Army, 110,000 men, of which 10,000 are Swiss. Navy, 60 vessels, of which 32 are sailing ships and 23 steamers; 100 gunboats; 6362 sailors.

MODENA.-Army, 3800 men,
PARMA.-Army, 2502 men.
ROME.-16,000 infantry; 1315 cavalry.
TUSCANY-Army, 16,000 men.

Navy, 126 vessels.
DENMARK.-Army, 60,000 men. Navy, 126 vessels.

SWEDEN AND NORWAY.-Army of Sweden, 141,000 men; arty of Norway, 21,000. Navy, 349 vessels and 126 gunboats. PORTUGAL.-Army, 35,000 men, including colonial troops. Navy,

41 vessels.

HOLLAND.-Army, 58,617 men. Navy, 72 vessels, 58 gunboats, 7000 sailors.

BELGIUM.-Army, on peace footing, 31,400 infantry, and 7821 cavalry; war footing, 81,000 infantry, and 11,000 cavalry. Navy, 1 brig of 20 guns, 1 schooner of 10 guns, and 2 gunboats. SWITZERLAND.-Army, 125,000 men; including reserves, land

wehr, 150,000 men.

GREECE.-Army, 10,000 men. Navy, 25 vessels. GERMAN STATES.-Federal army, 250,000 men. GERMANIC CONFEDERATION.-Army, 525,000 men, besides 40,500 cavalry, including the contingents of Austria and Prussia.

Millions of men, and thousands of ships, kept constant preparation for war! Fifteen per cent. of the adult male population of Europe are said to be required to supply the complements of standing armies and navies; and what a terrible comment on the spirit of this boasted era of civilization is the single portentous fact, that the newly completed naval arsenal of Cherbourg, in France, has cost, from first to last, (on the able authority of the Revue des Deux Mondes,") the astounding sum of £7,611,000 sterling!