“The air is extremely healthy in the elevated positions of the Balkan and in the narrow valleys which lie between its ridges....  On the other hand, there cannot be a more unhealthy country than that which extends from the Balkan to the borders of the Danube and Pruth.  This difference between the climate of the mountains and the plain is the most formidable defence which nature has given Shumla.  While the enemy is encamped in wet grounds and pestilential marshes, in want of wood, of provisions, and sometimes of men in health to take care of the sick; the Turks breathe a keen, dry air, and have an inexhaustible supply of fuel in the forests which surround them.  In summer, Shumla is an agreeable abode; the town is surrounded by pleasant gardens, by vineyards, and a stream running from the mountains maintains the verdure of the fields.  In time of peace it may be entered without hindrance, and the Turks allow the curious to walk about and survey all the posts.  In this there is perhaps a secret pride, joined with the wish to communicate to others the conviction which they themselves feel, that the place is inexpugnable.”

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COURT FLATTERY.

Here is a draught of “delicious essence,” proffered by the lord of the Burmese granaries to the British embassy:—­“The most glorious monarch, the lord of the golden palace, the sunrising king, holds dominion over that part of the world which lies towards the rising sun; the great and powerful monarch, the King of England, rules over the whole of that portion of the world which lies towards the setting sun.  The same glorious sun enlightens the one and the other.  Thus may peace continue between the two countries, and for ever impart mutual blessings to both.  Let no cloud intervene, or mist arise, to obscure its genial rays.”

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A BARGAIN.

The Archbishop of Saltzburg paid, in 1745, 995 scudi for his pallium, and 31,338 for his confirmation; i.e. (roughly speaking) about 7,000_l_.  The pallium consists of two stripes of white wool, cut from two lambs offered up, in St. Agnes’s Church, on St. Agnes’s Day, spun into a sort of cloth by the nuns of St. Agnes, and consecrated by the Pope on the altar of St. Peter’s.

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CITY PAGEANTS.

In the reign of James I. the sober liverymen of London decked themselves, on days of state, with chains of gold, pearl, or diamonds.  The wealthy merchant, Sir Paul Pindar, had a diamond valued at thirty thousand pounds, which he lent to the king on great occasions, but refused to sell.  It was said by the Prince of Anhalt, in 1610, after seeing “the pleasant triumphs upon the water, and within the city, which at this time, were extraordinary, in honour of the lord mayor and citizens,” that “there was no state nor city in the world that did elect their magistrates with such magnificence, except the city of Venice, unto which the city of London cometh very near.”  These exhibitions were more splendid, and, though quaint and whimsical, savoured more of intellect and invention than the similar “triumphs” of the present day.—­Quarterly Review.