Political History-Site of Amsterdam-The Harbour-History of the City-Commerce-The Great Canals-The Dam-The Palace-The Exchange and its Legend-The Churches of Amsterdam-Monument to De Ruyter- -The Museum-Manners and Customs in Amsterdam-Charitable Institutions-Environs-Broek-Zaandam— MELBOURNE AND THE GREAT TOWNS OF VICTORIA. The Great Gold Rush-What came of it-Melbourne as it is-Its Main Streets and Thoroughfares-Monu- ment to Burke and Wills-Story of their Expedition-The Government of Victoria-Government House- Education in Victoria-The University-Museum-Public Library-The First Public Religious Service in Melbourne-The Churches and Chapels of To-day-Benevolent Institutions-Markets-Cheap Mutton-Botanical Gardens-Suburbs of Melbourne-The Great Reservoir. GEELONG:-The Wool Trade-The Harbour. BALLARAT :— Its Disfigurements-First Discovery of Gold-Stories of "Lucky Finds"-The Present Modes of Working for liness and Costume-The Church of St. Lawrence-Erasmus-Boyman's Museum-The Park-Statue of Tollens -Schiedam-A Trekschuit Trip. DELFT:-Its History-The Oude Kerk-The Nieuwe Kerk-Story of Hugo Grotius-The Tomb of William the Silent-The Prinsenhof-The Assassination of the Prince of Orange. The Wilderness-The Puritans-Early Ways-England's no more-The Siege-Many Nations-The City of Notions- The Literati-The Divisions of the City-The North End-Christ Church-The Battle of Lexington-Faneuil Hall--The Markets-The Hub of Gold-The State House-Beacon Hill-The Clubs-Men of Letters-Louisburg -Boston Common-The Soldiers' Monument-Bits of History-The Public Garden-Floral Splendour-A Group The Old Cemeteries-Books and Newspapers-The Old South Church-The Old State House-State Street—The -The Public Schools-The West End-Commonwealth Avenue-The Museum of Fine Arts-Trinity Church- ments-Cambridge and Harvard University-Venerable Houses-Mount Auburn A Cosmopolitan Empire-Treaties-The House of Hapsburg-Early History of Vienna-The Modern City-Its Situation-Inundations-Climate-Streets and Houses-The Cathedral-Other Churches-The Imperial Palace- Theatres, and Public Resorts-The Suburbs-Wilden-Schönbrunn-The Villa of Haydn-A Sketch of his Life- CITIES OF THE WORLD. INTRODUCTION. UR subject is a vast one; the field is the world, and from its great cities we shall gather in our harvest of information. Untrammelled by any given routes, unappalled by intervening distances, we shall roam from place to place as fancy or convenience may dictate, passing, it may be, from the hoary monuments of Egypt, or the classic memorials of Greece and Rome, to the cities of the New World or of our far-away colonies; turning from the contemplation of curious customs in cities like Damascus or Bagdad, to watch the stream of life in the Boulevards of Paris, the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, or under the lindens of Berlin. We shall, as far as possible, try to tell the story of the birth, infancy, development, and struggles of each city as it comes under review; of the great men who have made or marred its progress; of the sources of its material strength or weakness; of its trade and manufactures, and its commercial relations with other cities and nations; its distinctive legends and traditions; its principal objects of interest, ancient and modern; its domain in science, literature, and art; its folk-lore, fêtes, festivals, and special characteristics. We shall place under contribution the personal experiences of many years of travel, and avail ourselves of the writings of all travellers of all countries and of all times, to throw light on the cities to be described. We shall draw largely, too, on the resources of art to depict scenes which the "clairvoyance of the imagination," clairvoyance of the imagination," as Lord Lytton calls it, would fail to picture. It is not always desirable to let a reader see the foundations on which a writer intends to build his work, but in the present instance they are so simple, and we venture to think so sound, that we make no secret about them. We shall, then, as far as possible, take the existing monuments in a city as clues to guide us through the labyrinth of the past, and give us a deeper interest in the present. For example:-In Venice, that strange city, founded in the fifth century by a band of fugitives who fled from the devouring sword of Attila, King of the Huns, we hail a gondola and glide along the Grand Canal. There rises before us the magnificent Palace of the Doges, and we are introduced to the political history of Venice, with its strange stories of the Council of the Ten and the dreaded Tribunal of the Three. Close by is the Church of St. Mark, where, according to tradition, rests the body of the Evangelist, piously stolen in 829 by Venetian citizens from the Temple at Alexandria. Here we may trace without any difficulty the ecclesiastical history of the city. A little farther on, and we come to the Academy of Arts, around which clusters a host of tales concerning artists and art. At Salviati's, or any of the other tempting manufactories, we are reminded of the specialties of the city-Venetian glass, mosaics, and beads. Passing under the Rialto, "where merchants most do congregate," and where descendants of Shylock may still be found, we tarry to tell of the commercial history of Venice, how from small beginnings it grew to be the grand focus of the entire commerce of Europe; how the Queen of the Adriatic held "the gorgeous East in fee," and how her merchantkings with their overflowing wealth were able to rear the costly monuments which even in their ruin grace the city and are the admiration of all the world. On broad lines such as these we shall proceed, and on our way we shall be brought into contact with stories about Venice and the Crusades, the defeat of Barbarossa, the conquest of Constantinople, the acquisition of Candia, the sea-victories over Genoa and Pisa, the oft-told-and often incorrectly told-story of the treason of Marino Faliero, of the melancholy fates of Carrara, Carmagnola, and the two Foscari, the marriage of Catharine Cornaro, the acquisition of Cyprus, wars with the Turks, and the naval battle of Lepanto. We shall see Galileo introducing his telescope, Loyola organising the Order of Jesus, and Gian Bellini establishing portrait-painting. We shall overhear Titian talking with the notorious Pietro Aretino, and tell stories of their contemporaries, Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese. And then we shall look at Venice as it is, and describe the comparatively near past, when the French took possession of the city and the Austrians held sway; the struggles for freedom from the hateful rule, during the presidency of Manin; of the great siege of fifteen months by the Austrians, during which time they lost 20,000 men; and of the union with Italy in 1866. of |