These two parties are so opposed to each other that nothing but a real miracle could cause them to become united. Many causes contribute to this anim… - César-François de Saussure

At the end of the Strand is a fine large gate called Temple Bar, having four statues in niches. This gate is the first of the City, and when any proclamation has to be made of peace or of war, of the death of a king or of the accession of his successor to the throne, the Herald-at-Arms and his officers find the gate closed; they knock at it thrice, and my Lord Mayor, who is on the other side with his aldermen, inquires, "Who is there?" The officers of the King make answer that they are ordered to proclaim such and such a thing, my lord permitting. The Lord Mayor then consults his aldermen as to whether they can consent or not, and as you may believe, the answer is never in the negative.

I consider that cock-fights are much more diverting. The animals used are of a particular breed; they are large but short-legged birds, their feathers are scarce, they have no crests to speak of, and are very ugly to look at. Some of these fighting-cocks are celebrated, and have pedigrees like gentlemen of good family, some of them being worth five or six guineas. I am told that when transported to France they degenerate—their strength and courage disappear, and they become like ordinary cocks.

Presbyterian ministers never study in universities, and they are generally not only ignorant, but also pedantic, rigid, and severe; they scarcely ever smile, they cannot tolerate a jest or a joke, and they are so easily scandalised, and altogether so very "saintly," that you cannot refrain from wondering whether it is entirely sincere. Some of these ministers have been known to write good and useful books, but their number, when compared with their Anglican brethren who have studied deeply at the universities, is very limited.