sion to light theirs from three, if it will | improve them, but the difference lies elsewhere." Mendelssohn's Letters. "The God of Day is seated on his chariot, surrounded by a choir of dancing Hours, preceded by the early morning Hour, scattering flowers. The deep blue of the sea, still obscure, is charming. There is a joyousness, a complete pagan amplitude, about these blooming goddesses, with their hands interlinked, and all dancing as if at an antique festival." Taine, Trans. What is Guido's Rospigliosi Aurora but a morning thought, as the horses in it are only a morning cloud. Emerson. 2. A well-known fresco-painting by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino (1590-1666). In the Villa Ludovisi, Rome. "The Aurora of Guercino fills the ceiling and its curves. She is a young, vigorous woman, her vigor almost inclining to coarseness. Before her are three female figures on a cloud, all large and ample, and much more original and natural than those of the Aurora of Guido ... A ray of morn.ing light half traverses their faces, and the contrast between the illuminated and shadowed portions is charming. ... Guercino did not, like Guido, copy antiques: he studied living models, like Caravaggio, always observing the details of actual life, the changes of impression from grave to gay, and all that is capricious in the passion and expres sion of the face." Taine, Trans. "The work of Guido [see supra] is more poetic than that of Guercino, and luminous and soft and harmonious." Forsyth. An Aurora by Jean-Louis-Hamon (1821-1874) is known through reproductions. Aurora, The [of Michael Angelo]. See MORNING, THE. Aurungzebe Mausoleum. A celebrated tomb erected by Aurungzebe to his daughter, in Aurungabad, Hindostan. It has clustering domes of white marble similar to those of the Taj Mahal, but inferior to the latter in size and splendor. See TAJ MAHAL. Austerlitz, Battle of. See BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ. Austin Friars. The name given to a court or place in London, in which formerly stood a celebrated Augustinian convent, now converted into a Dutch church. Austria, The. A screw steamer sailing from Hamburg, Germany, destroyed by fire on the open sea in 1858, with a loss of nearly 400 persons, for the most part Ger mans. Auto da Fé. A noted picture by Francisco Rizi (1608-1685). In the gallery at Madrid, Spain. Avalon. The poetical name of Glastonbury, Somersetshire, England, spoken of as an island, which, it is conjectured, the place may once have been at certain seasons. Avalon is intimately connected with the romances of King Arthur. Clustered upon the western side Her ancient homes and fretted towers Henry Alford. Ave-Cesar-Imperator. "Mount Aventinus indemnifies the mind for all the painful recollections the other hills awake; and its aspect is as beauteous as its memories are sweet. The banks at its foot were called the Lovely Strand (pulchrum littus). Poetry also has embellished this spot: it was there that Virgil placed the cave of Cacus; and Rome, so great in history, is still greater by the heroic fic. tions with which her fabulous origin has been decked." Madame de Staël. | Abelard had his school, his camp as he called it, upon the mountain, then almost deserted, where now rises the temple of St. Geneviève. This was the Aventine Mount of a nation of disciples leaving the ancient schools in order to listen to the fresh and strong words of Abelard. Lamartine. Trans, Amidst these scenes. O pilgrim! seek'st thou Rome? Vain is thy search, -the pomp of Rome is fled; Her silent Aventine is glory's tomb; dead. Francisco de Quevedo, Trans. Avoca. A beautiful valley in the county of Wicklow, Ireland, celebrated in the verse of Moore. The name signifies the "meeting of the waters." There is not in the wide world a valley 80 B. Babel, Tower of. See BIRS NIMROOD and TOWER OF BABEL. Babele, Tor di. See TOR DI BA BELE. See SUBLIME Babi Humayon. 2. A picture by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), now at Blenheim, England. Bacchante. A famous picture by Annibale Caracci (1560-1609). In the Tribune at Florence, Italy. Bacchus. 1. A famous relic of ancient sculpture, a masterpiece by some attributed to Phidias. In the Museum at Naples, Italy. [Also called the Torso Farnese.] 2. A celebrated colossal statue in the Vatican, Rome. "The same personality [Antinous], idealized it is true, but rather suffering than gaining by the process, is powerfully impressed upon the colossal Dionysus [Bacchus] of the Vatican. What distinguishes this great work is the inbreathed spirit of divinity." J. A. Symonds. 3. A statue by Jacopo Sansovino (1477-1570), pronounced" one of the finest statues conceived by any modern in the style of the antique." It is in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. Bacchus. See DRUNKEN BACCHUS and NARCISSUS. Bacchus and Ariadne. An admired mythological picturé by Titian (1477-1576), now in the National Gallery, London. "The creation of the Bacchus and Ariadne may be said to make a third with that of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream and Milton's Comus; each given in their own proper language." Eastlake. "Is there any thing in modern art in any way analogous to what Titian has effected in the wonderful bringing together of two times in the Ariadne of the National Gallery?" Charles Lamb. Back Bay. An expansion of Charles River, the principal stream flowing into Boston Harbor. On the new made land in this region of the city (to which quarter the name Back Bay is commonly applied) are some of the finest streets and buildings. The crowds filled the decorous streets, and the trim pathways of the Common and the Public Garden, and flowed in an orderly course towards the vast edifice on the Back Bay, presenting the interesting points which always distinguish a crowd come to town from a city crowd. W. D. Howells. Bacon's Brazen Head. See FRIAR BACON'S BRAZEN HEAD. Badia, La. A celebrated abbey church in Florence, Italy. It was founded in the middle of the thirteenth century. In the immediate neighborhood of Florence is another church built by the Medici, in the fifteenth century, known as La Badia di Fiesole. Badminton. The seat of the Duke of Beaufort, 10 miles from Chippenham, England. Bagnigge Wells. Formerly a noted mineral spring in Islington, London. It was much visited by Londoners in the latter part of the eighteenth and first part of the nineteenth century. Its gardens were extensive, and laid out in the fashion of the times; but its mineral springs were the principal attraction. Miss Edgeworth alludes to it as a place of popular resort, and it is often spoken of by authors of the last century. It has ceased to exist. "Bagnigge Wells were situated on a little stream called the River Bag nigge, though scarcely better than a ditch. The House of Bagnigge was at one time inhabited by Nell Gwynn. On an inscription on the front of it stood: T. S. This is Bagnigge House near the Pindar a Wakefeilde, 1680."" W. Howitt. Baiæ, Bay of. See BAY OF BAIE. Bailey, Old. See OLD BAILEY. Baker Street. A well-known street in London, leading north from Portman Square. In Baker Street is Madame Tussaud's celebrated exhibition of wax-work figures. See MADAME TusSAUD'S EXHIBITION. What would they say in Baker Street to some sights with which our new friends favored us? Thackeray Balbi Palace. [Ital. Palazzo Balbi.] A well-known palace in Genoa, Italy, containing some treasures of art. Balbi. See STRADA BALBI. Baldacchino. [The Canopy.] The bronze canopy which covers the high altar in St. Peter's Church, Rome. It was cast after designs by Bernini in 1633, and made chiefly from the bronze taken from the Pantheon, and partly from metal which Pope Urban VIII. procured from Venice. "It is difficult to imagine on what ground, or for what purpose, this costly fabric was placed here. It has neither beauty nor grandeur, and resembles nothing so much as a colossa! four-post bedstead without the curtains. It is a pursuing and intrusive presence. We wish it anywhere but where it is, under the dome, rearing its tawdry commonplace into that majestic space, and scrawling upon the air its feeble and affected lines of spiral." Hillard. Baliol College. A noted college in Oxford, England, being one of the nineteen colleges included in the University. It was founded about the year 1263. 1637. 10 May, I was admitted a fellow communer of Baliol College. ... The fel low communers were no more exempt from exercise than the meanest commoners there. John Evelyn, Diary. Ball's Cave. A natural curiosity in Schoharie County, N.Y. It is traversed in boats which follow the course of a subterranean river at a depth of one hundred feet below the surface of the ground. Ballybunian. A series of noted caves which are among the most remarkable of the natural wonders of Ireland. They are situated not far from Tralee, in the county of Kerry, Ireland. Balmoral Castle. A castle in Scotland, on the river Dee, about 40 miles south-west of Aberdeen, belonging to the Queen of England, and occupied by her as a Baltimore Street. A main avenue Highland residence. in Baltimore, Md., and a favorite promenade. at Baltony. A Druidical temple in the county of Donegal, Ireland, somewhat resembling that Stonehenge in size and structure. Bambino Santissimo. [The Holy Infant.] A wooden figure of the infant Saviour, preserved in the church of Ara Coeli at Rome, whose miraculous powers in curing the sick have caused it to be held in wonderful repute. According to the legend it was carved by a Franciscan pilgrim out of a tree from the Mount of Olives, and was painted by St. Luke while the pilgrim was sleeping over his work. The image is extremely rich in gems and jewelry, and is held in such esteem in cases of severe sickness that it has been said by the Italians to receive more fees than any physician in Rome. The festival of the Bambino, which occurs at the Epiphany, attracts crowds of peasantry from all parts of the surrounding country. "The disposition of the group and the arrangement of the lights are managed with considerable skill. On this occasion the church is always thronged, especially by peasants from the country." G. S. Hillard. "The miraculous Bambino is a painted doll, swaddled in a white dress, which is crusted over with magnificent diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. The Virgin also wears in her ears superb diamond pendants. The general effect of the scenic show is admirable, and crowds flock to it and press about it all day long." W. W. Story. Garnished from throat to foot with rings for you must know T. B. Aldrich. Banbury Cross. In Oxfordshire, England. The place was famous for its cakes and ale, and also for its Puritanic zeal. In the latter part of Elizabeth's reign an attempt was made to revive the shows and pageants of the Catholic Church in Banbury; but when the performers reached the high cross in Banbury, a collision occurred between them and the Puritans, in which the latter were victorious. The high cross, and three smaller ones, were cut down and hacked in pieces. The magnificent church met with a similar fate. Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, To see a fine lady ride on a white horse, Rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes, That she may make music wherever she goes. Mother Goose. Phoenician architecture. Portions of the building are of the period of the Middle Ages. It was occupied by the Christians at the time of the Crusades, after which it fell into the hands of the Moslems, and in the seventeenth century was allowed to go to ruin. [Called also Castle of Subeibeh.] Bank of England. The great national moneyed institution of England, and the principal bank of deposit and circulation in the world, situated in Threadneedle Street, London. It is sometimes jocularly styled "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street." It was founded in 1694. The process of weighing gold and printing banknotes is one of the most wonderful results of mechanical invention. The chief halls of the Bank are open to the public. The finished glaze of life in Paris is less invariable, and the full tide of trade round the Bank of England is not so inexorably powerful. Anthony Trollope. Bank of Ireland. A noble building-formerly the Houses of Parliament-in Dublin. "The Bank of Ireland is universally classed among the most perfect examples of British architecture in the kingdom; and indeed is, perhaps, unsurpassed in Europe. Yet, strange to say, little or nothing is known of the architect the history of the graceful and beautiful structure being wrapt in obscurity almost approaching to mystery. It is built entirely of Portland stone, and is remarkable for an absence of all meretricious ornament, attracting entirely by its pure, classic, and rigidly simple architecture. In 1802 it was purchased from government by the governors of the Bank of Ireland, who have since subjected it to some alterations, with a view to its better application to its present purpose. These changes, however, have been effected without impairing its beauty either externally or internally; and it unquestionably merits its reputation as the grandest, most convenient, and most extensive edifice of the kind in Europe.'" Mr. and Mrs. Hall. Banks, The. A name familiarly given to the shoal, or submarine table-land, extending some 300 miles eastward of Newfoundland, and much frequented by |