April 7.

St. SixtusI., Pope, 2d Cent. 120Persian Martyrs,A. D.345.St. Celestine, Pope,A. D.432.St. William, Abbot of Eskille,A. D.1203.St. Prudentius, Bp.A. D.861. St. Celsus, in IrishCeallachAbp.A. D.1129.

1348. Laura de Noves died. She was born in 1304, and is celebrated for having been beloved by Petrarch, and for having returned his passion by indifference.He fostered his love at Vaucluse, a romantic spot, wherein he had nothing to employ him but recollection of her charms, and imagination of her perfections. These he immortalized in sonnets while she lived; Petrarch survived her six and thirty years.

Francis I., who compared a court without ladies to a spring without flowers, caused Laura’s tomb to be opened, and threw verses upon her remains complimentary to her beauty, and the fame she derived from her lover’s praises.

1803. Colonel Montgomery and captain Macnamara quarrelled and fought a duel at Primrose-hill, because their dogs quarrelled and fought in Hyde-park. Captain Macnamara received colonel Montgomery’s ball in the hip, and colonel Montgomery received captain Macnamara’s ball in the heart. This exchange of shots being according to the laws of duelling and projectiles, Colonel Montgomery died on the spot. Captain Macnamara was tried at the Old Bailey, and, as a man of honour, was acquitted by a jury of men of honour. The laws of England and the laws of Christianity only bind honourable men; men of honour govern each other by the superior power of sword and pistol. The humble suicide is buried with ignominy in a cross road, and a finger-post marks his grave for public scorn; the proud and daring duellist reposes in a christian grave beneath marble, proud and daring as himself.

Starch Hyacinth.Hyacinthus racemosus.Dedicated toSt. SixtusI.

St. Aphraates, 4th Cent.St. Hegesippus,A. D.180.St. Aibert,A. D.1140.B. Herman Joseph,A. D.1226.St. Finanof Keann-Ethich.

1520. Raphael d’Urbino died on the anniversary of his birth-day which was in 1483.

1807. Lalande, the astronomer, died at Paris, aged 70.

Wood Anemony.Anemone Nemorosa.Dedicated toSt. Aphraates.

St. Dionysius, Bp. of Corinth, 2d Cent.St. Ædesius,A. D.306.St. Perpetuus, Bp.A. D.491.St. Walter, Abbot,A. D.1099.B. Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem,A. D.1214.

1341. The expression of Petrarch’s passion for Laura, gained him such celebrity, that he had a crown of laurels placed upon his head, in the metropolis of the papacy, amidst cries from the Roman people, “Long live the poet!”

1364. John, king of France, who had been brought prisoner to England by Edward, the Black Prince, in his captivity, died at the Savoy-palace, in the Strand.

Ground Ivy.Glecoma hederacea.Dedicated toSt. Dionysius.

St. Maryof Egypt,A. D.421.The Massylitan Martyrsin Africa.St. Eupsychius.The Roman Captives, Martyrs in Persia, year of Christ 362, of Sapor 53.St. Waltrude, orVautrude, commonly calledVaudru, Widow,A. D.686.St. Gaucher, orGautier, Abbot,A. D.1130.St. Dotto, Abbot.

1483. The great lord Bacon died, aged 66. He fell from distinguished station to low estate, by having cultivated high wisdom at the expense of every day wisdom. “Lord Bacon,” says Rushworth, “was eminent over all the christian world for his many excellent writings. He was no admirer of money, yet he had the unhappiness to be defiled therewith. He treasured up nothing for himself, yet died in debt.” His connivance at the bribery of his servants made them his master and wrought his ruin. The gifts of suitors in the chancery rendered him suspected, but his decrees were so equitable that no one was ever reversed for its injustice.

Let him who lacking wisdom desires to know, and who willing to be taught will patiently learn, make himself master of “Bacon’s Essays.” It is a book more admired than read, and more read than understood, because of higher thought than most readers dare to compass. He who has achieved the “Essays” has a master-key to Bacon’s other works, and consequently every department of English literature.

1747. Lord Lovat was executed onTower-hill, for high treason, at the age of 90. He was a depraved, bad man; and the coolness with which he wrought his profligate purposes, throughout an abandoned life, he carried to the scaffold.

1807. John Opie, the artist, died. He was born in Cornwall in 1761; self-taught in his youth he attained to high rank as an English historical painter, and at his death was professor of painting at the Royal Academy.

Red Polyanthus.Primula polyantha rubra.Dedicated toSt. Mary.

St. Bademus, Abbot,A. D.376.B. Mechtildes, Virgin and Abbess, after 1300.

Low Sunday.

The Sunday after Easter-day is calledLowSunday, because it is Easter-day repeated, with the church-service somewhat abridged orloweredin the ceremony from the pomp of the festival the Sunday before.

Pale Violet.Viola Tonbrigens.Dedicated toSt. Mechtildes.

St. Leo the Great, Pope,A. D.461.St. Antipas.St. Guthlake,A. D.714.St. Maccai, Abbot.St. Aidof Eacharaidh, Abbot.

1713. The celebrated peace of Utrecht was concluded, and with it concluded the twelve years’ war for the succession to the throne of Spain.

Dandelion.Taraxacum Dens Leonis.Dedicated toSt. Leo.

St. Sabas,A. D.372.St. Zeno, Bp.A. D.380.St. Julius, Pope,A. D.352.St. Victor, of Braga.

65. Seneca, the philosopher, a native of Corduba in Spain, died at Rome, in the fifty-third year of his age. His moral writings have secured lasting celebrity to his name. He was preceptor to Nero, who, in the wantonness of power when emperor, sent an order to Seneca to destroy himself. The philosopher complied by opening his veins and taking poison. During these operations he conversed calmly with his friends, and his blood flowing languidly he caused himself to be placed in a hot bath, till Nero’s soldiers becoming clamorous for quicker extinction of his life, it was necessary to carry him into a stove and suffocated him by steam.[87]A distinguished French writer[88]quotes a passage from Seneca remarkable for its christian spirit; but this passage is cited at greater length by a living English author,[89]in order to show that Seneca was acquainted with christian principles, and in reality a christian.

We may almost be sure that it was impossible for Paul to have preached “in his own hired house,” at Rome, without Seneca having been attracted thither as an auditor, and entered into personal communication with the apostle. There exists a written correspondence said to have passed between Paul and Seneca, which, so far as regards Seneca’s epistles, many learned men have supposed genuine.

While Nero followed Seneca’s advice, Rome enjoyed tranquillity. This emperor, who was tyrannical to a proverb, commenced his reign by acts of clemency, his sole object seemed to be the good of his people. When required to sign a list of malefactors, authorizing their execution, he exclaimed, “I wish to heaven I could not write.” He rejected flatterers; and when the senate commended the justice of his government, he desired them to keep their praises till he deserved them. Such conduct and sentiments were worthy the pupil of Seneca, and the Romans imagined their happiness secure. But Nero’s sensual and tyrannical disposition, which had been repressed only for a time, soon broke forth in acts of monstrous cruelty. He caused his mother Agrippa to be assassinated, and divorced his wife Octavia, whom he banished to Campania. The people, enraged at his injustice toward the empress, so openly expressed their indignation that he was compelled to recall her, and she returned to the capital amidst shouts of exultation.

The Empress Octavia’s return from Exile.

The popular triumph was of short duration. Scarcely had Octavia resumed her rank, when Nero, under colour of a false and infamous charge, again banished her. Never exile filled the hearts of the beholders with more affecting compassion. The first day of Octavia’s nuptials was the commencement of her funeral. She was brought under a sad and dismal roof, from whence her father and brother had been carried off by poison. Though a wife, she was treated as a slave, and now she suffered the imputation of a crime more piercing than death itself. Add to this, she was a tender girl in the twentieth year of her age, surrounded by officers and soldiery devoted to her husband’s will, and whom she viewed as sad presages of his ferocious purposes. Almost bereft of life by her fears, and yet unwilling to surrender herself to the rest of the grave, she passed the interval of a few days in unspeakable terror. At length it was announced to her that she must die; but while she implored that at least her life might be spared, and conjured Nero to remember the relationship which before marriage they had borne to each other, by descent from a revered ancestor, she only exemplified the utter inefficacy of crouching to a truculent tyrant. Her appeals were answered by the seizure of her person, and the binding of her limbs; her veins were opened, but her blood, stagnant through fear, issued slowly, and she was stifled in the steam of a boiling bath. “For this execution the senate decreed gifts and oblations to the temples; a circumstance,” says Tacitus, “which I insert with design, that whoever shall, from me or any other writer, learn the events of those calamitous times, he may hold it for granted, that as often as sentences of murder and banishment were pronounced by the prince, so often were thanksgivings by the fathers paid to the deities.” Every decree of the senate was either a new flight of flattery, or the dregs of excessive tameness and servitude.

Nero and the Roman Senate.

From this moment Nero butchered without distinction all he pleased, upon any idle pretence, and after an indiscriminate slaughter of men signal in name and quality, he became possessed with a passion to hew down virtue itself. His crimes would be incredible if they were not so enormous that it is scarcely possible imagination could invent atrocities of so foul a nature. He had attained to such indulgence in bloodshed, that the dagger itself was dedicated by him in the capitol, and inscribed toJupiter Vindex, Jove the Avenger. Yet to this monster one of the consuls elect proposed that a temple should be raised at the charge of the state, and consecrated to the deified Nero as to one who soared above mortality, and was therefore entitled to celestial worship. This, though designed as a compliment to the tyrant, was construed into an omen of his fate, “since to princes,” says Tacitus, “divine honours are never paid till they have finally forsaken all commerce with men,” or, in other words, have ceased to be useful to them. Suetonius relates, that somebody in conversation saying, “When I am dead let fire devour the world”—“Nay,” rejoined Nero, “let it be whilst I am living;” and then he set Rome on fire, in so barefaced a manner, that many of the consular dignitaries detected the incendiaries with torches and tow in their own houses, and dared not touch them because they were officers of Nero’s bedchamber. The fire, during six days and seven nights, consumed a prodigious number of stately buildings, the public temples, and every thing of antiquity that was remarkable and worthy of preservation. The common people were driven by this conflagration to the tombs and monuments for shelter; and Nero himself beheld the flames from a tower on the top of Mæcenas’s house, and sung a ditty on the destruction of Troy, in the dress which he used to perform in on the public stage. This atrocious want of feeling occasioned the saying—“Nero fiddled while Rome wasburning.” To divert the hideousness of this crime from himself, he transferred the guilt to the Christians. To their death and torture were added cruel derision and sport; “for,” says Tacitus, “either they were disguised in the skins of savage beasts, and exposed to expire by the teeth of devouring dogs; or they were hoisted up alive and nailed to crosses; or wrapt in combustible vestments, and set up as torches, that when the day set, they might be kindled to illuminate the night.” For this tragical spectacle Nero lent his own gardens, and exhibited at the same time the public diversions of the circus, sometimes driving a chariot in person, and at intervals standing as a spectator amongst the vulgar in the habit of a charioteer; and hence towards the miserable sufferers popular commiseration arose, as for people who were doomed to perish to gratify the bloody spirit of one man. At length, while plotting new and uncommon barbarities, an insurrection broke out amongst the troops, and the senate, who had truckled to his wishes, and made him a tyrant by submitting to be slaves, took heart and issued a decree against him. He committed suicide, under circumstances of such mental imbecility, that his death was as ludicrous as his life was horrible.

1765. Dr. Edward Young, author of the “Night Thoughts,” died.

1782. Admiral Rodney defeated the French fleet under count de Grasse, in the West Indies.

1814. A general illumination in London, on three successive nights, for the termination of the war with France.

Great Saxifrage.Saxifraga crassifolia.Dedicated toSt. Zeno.

An Epitaph.(Written on a chimney-board.)

Here lie entombedTHE ASHESof aBRIGHT AND SHINING GENIUS,whoin his youth it is confesseddiscovered some sparksof a light and volatile nature,but was in maturityof a steady and a grateful dispositionand diffusive benevolence.Though naturally of a warm temper,and easily stirred up,yet was he a shining exampleof fervent and unreserved benignity.For though he might have beenthe most dangerous and dreadfulof enemies,yet was he the best and warmest offriends.Nor did he ever look cooleven on his worst foes,though his friends too often,and shamefully indeed,turned their backs upon him.Oh! undeserving and licentious times,when such illustrious examplesare wantonly made light of!Such resplendent virtuebasely blown upon!Though rather a promoter of a cheerful glassin others,and somewhat given to smoking,yet was he himself never seenin liquor,which was his utter abhorrence.Raking,which ruins most constitutions,was far from spoiling his,though it often threw himinto inflammatory disorders.His days, which were short,were ended by a gentle decay,his strength wasted,and his substance spent.A temporal periodwas put to his finite existence,which was more immediately effectedby his being seizedwith a severe cold,and no help administered,in some of the warm daysof the fatal month ofMay.His loss and cheerful influenceare often and feelingly regrettedby his sincere admirers,who erected this monumentin memoryof his endearing virtue,till that grateful and appointed day,whenthe dormant powersof his more illustrious natureshall be again called forth:When,inflamed with ardour,and with resplendence crowned,he shall again risewithsongs of joy and triumpho’er the grave.

[87]Lempriere.[88]Bayle, Art. Pericles,note.[89]Dr. John Jones, “On the Truth of the Christian Religion.”

[87]Lempriere.

[88]Bayle, Art. Pericles,note.

[89]Dr. John Jones, “On the Truth of the Christian Religion.”

Oxford and Cambridge Termsbegin.

St. Hermenegild, Martyr,A. D.586.St. Guinoch, about 838.St. Caradoc,A. D.1124.

1517. Cairo taken by the sultan Selim, who thus became sole master of Egypt.

1748. The rev. Christopher Pitt, translator of Virgil, died at Blandford in Dorsetshire, where he was born in 1699.

1814. Charles Burney, Mus.D. F.R.S. &c. author of the “History of Music,” and other works, which stamp his literary ability, and his scientific character as a musician, died at Chelsea, aged 88.

A good-humouredjeu d’esprit, intended to produce nothing but corresponding good humour in the persons whose names are mentioned, appeared inThe Timeson the 25th of January, 1816. This being the first day of Cambridge Term, the “freshmen” who have seen recent imitations may be much amused by perusal of the original witticism.

Parody of a Cambridge Examination.Utopia University.UNDECEMBER 9657.

1. Give a comparative sketch of the principal English theatres, with the dates of their erection, and the names of the most eminent candle-snuffers at each. What were the stage-boxes? What were the offices of prompter—ballet-master—and scene-shifter? In what part of the theatre was the one-shilling gallery? Distinguish accurately between operas and puppet-shows.

2. Where was Downing-street? Who was prime-minister when Cribb defeated Molineux—and where did the battle take place? Explain the terms milling—fibbing—cross buttock—neck and crop—bang up—and—prime.

3. Give the dates of all the parliaments from their first institution to the period of the hard frost on the Thames. In what month of what year was Mr. Abbot elected Speaker? Why was he called “the little man in the wig?” When the Speaker was out of the chair, where was the mace put?

4. Enumerate the principal houses of call in and about London, marking those of the Taylors, Bricklayers, and Shoemakers, and stating from what Brewery each house was supplied with Brown Stout. Who was the tutelary Saint of the Shoemakers? At what time was his feast celebrated? Who was Saint Swithin? Do you remember any remarkable English proverb respecting him?

5. Give a ground plan of Gilead-house. Mention the leading topics of the Guide to Health, with some account of the Anti-Impetigines—Daffy’s Elixir—Blaine’s Distemper Powders—Ching’s Worm Lozenges—and Hooper’s Female Pills.

6. Give characters of Wat Tyler, Jack Cade, and sir Francis Burdett. Did the latter return from the Tower by water or land? On what occasion did Mr. Lethbridge’s “hair stand onind”? Correct the solecism, and give the reason of your alteration.

7. Enumerate the roads on which double toll was taken on the Sundays. Did this custom extend to Christmas-day and Good Friday? Who was toll-taker at Tyburn, when Mrs. Brownrigg was executed?

8. Distinguish accurately between Sculls and Oars—Boat, and Punt—Jack-ass, and Donkey—Gauger, Exciseman, and Supervisor—Pantaloons, Trowsers, Gaiters, and Over-alls.—At what place of education were any of these forbidden? Which? and Why?

9. Express the following words in the Lancashire, Derbyshire, London, and Exmoor dialects—Bacon—Poker—You—I—Doctor—and Turnpike-gate.

10. Mention the principal Coach Inns in London, with a correct list of the Coaches which set out from the Bolt-in-Tun. Where were the chief stands of Hackney Coaches?—and what was the No. of that in which the Princess Charlotte drove to Connaught-house? To what stand do you suppose this removed after it set her down?

11. Give a succinct account, with dates, of the following persons—Belcher—Mr. Waithman—Major Cartwright—Martin Van Butchell—and Edmund Henry Barker.

12. Draw a Map of the Thames with the surrounding country, marking particularly Wapping, Blackwall, Richmond, and the Isle of Dogs. Distinguish between Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Newcastle-under-Line—Gloucester and Double Gloucester—and the two Richmonds.What celebrated teacher flourished at one of them?—and who were his most eminent disciples?

13. What were the various sorts of paper in use amongst the English? To what purpose waswhited-brownchiefly applied? What was size? Distinguish between this and college Sizings, and state the ordinary expense of papering a room.

14. “For every one knows littleMatt’san M.P.” Frag. Com. Inc. ap. Morn. Chron. vol. 59, p. 1624.

What reasons can you assign for the general knowledge of this fact? Detail at length, the ceremony of chairing a Member. What were the Hustings? Who paid for them? Explain the abbreviations—Matt. M.P.—Tom—Dick—F.R.S.—L.L.D.—and A.S.S.

15. What was the distinguishing title of the Mayors of London? Did any other city share the honour? Give a list of the Mayors of London from Sir Richard Whittington to Sir William Curtis, with an account of the Cat of the first, and the Weight of the last. What is meant by Lord Mayor’s day? Describe theApothecaries’ Barge, and give some account of Marrow-bones and Cleavers.

16. When was Spyring and Marsden’s Lemon Acid invented? Distinguish between this and Essential Salt of Lemons. Enumerate the principal Patentees, especially those of Liquid Blacking.

17. Scan the following lines—

But for shaving and tooth-drawing,Bleeding, cabbaging and sawing,Dicky Gossip, Dicky Gossip is the man!

What is known of the character and history of Dicky Gossip?

Green Narcisse.Narcissus Viridiflorus.Dedicated toSt. Hermenigild.

Sts. Tiburtius,Valerian, andMaximus,A. D.229.Sts. Carpus, Bishop,Papylus, andAgathodorus,A. D.251.Sts. Antony,John, andEustachius,A. D.1342.St. Benezet, orLittle Bennet,A. D.1184.B. Lidwina, orLydwid,A. D.1433.

1471. The battle of Barnet was fought in the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, and the earl of Warwick, called “the king-maker,” was slain on the field.

1685. Thomas Otway, the dramatic poet, died, at a public-house in the Minories, of want, by swallowing bread too eagerly which he had received in charity.

1759. George Frederick Handel, the illustrious musician, died. He was born at Halle, in Saxony, in 1684.

1793. Tobago, in the West Indies, taken by the English.

1809. Beilby Porteus, bishop of London, died at Fulham, aged 78.

Borage.Borago Officinalis.Dedicated toSt. Lidwina.

The Floral appearances of the year are accurately described by Dr. Forster in his “Perennial Calendar.” He says, “In order to ascertain the varieties in the seasons, as indicated by the flowering of plants, we ought to become accurately acquainted with their natural periods, and the average time of flowering which belongs to each species. I have of late made an artificial division of the seasons of different plants into six distinct periods, to each of which respectively a certain number of species belong. Dividing then the reign of the goddess of blooms into six principal portions, we shall begin with the first in the order of phenomena. The Primaveral Flora may be said to commence with the first breaking of the frost before February; it comprehends the snowdrop, the crocus, the coltsfoot, all the tribe of daffodils, narcissi, jonquils, and hyacinths, the primrose, cyclamen, heartsease, violet, cowslip, crown imperial, and many others. The Equinox being also past, and the leaves beginning to bud forth amidst a display of blossoms on the trees, another period may be said to begin, and May ushers in the Vernal Flora, with tulips, peonies, ranunculi, monkey poppy, goatsbeards, and others: at this time, the fields are bespangled with the golden yellow of the crowfoot, or blue with the harebells. The whole bosom of earth seems spread with a beautiful carpet, to soften the path of Flora, at this delicious season. By and bye, towards the middle of June, the approach of the Solstice is marked by another set of flowers; and the scarletlychnis, the various poppies, the lilies and roses, may be said to constitute the Solstitial Flora. As the year declines, the Aestival Flora, corresponding to the Vernal, paints the garish eyes of the dog-days with sunflowers, China asters, tropoeoli, African marigolds, and other plants which love heat. The Autumnal Flora, answering to the Primaveral, then introduces Michaelmas daisies, starworts, and other late blowing plants, with their companions, fungi and mushrooms, till at length bleak winter shows only a few hellebores, aconites, and mosses, belonging to the Hibernal Flora of this dreary season. Thus, in this our temperate climate, have we a round of botanical amusements all the year, and the botanist can never want for sources of recreation. How different must be the order of phenomena about the poles of the earth, where summer and winter are synonymous with day and night, of which Kirke White has given us a very fine description:—

On the North Pole.Where the North Pole, in moody solitude,Spreads her huge tracts and frozen wastes around,There ice rock piled aloft, in order rude,Form a gigantic hall; where never soundStartled dull Silence’ ear, save when, profoundThe smoke frost muttered: there drear Cold for ayeThrones him,—and fixed on his primæval mound,Ruin, the giant, sits; while stern DismayStalks like some woe-struck man along the desert way.In that drear spot, grim Desolation’s lair,No sweet remain of life encheers the sight;The dancing heart’s blood in an instant thereWould freeze to marble, Mingling day and night,(Sweet interchange which makes our labours light,)Are there unknown; while in the summer skies,The sun rolls ceaseless round his heavenly height,Nor ever sets till from the scene he flies,And leaves the long bleak night of half the year to rise.”

On the North Pole.

Where the North Pole, in moody solitude,Spreads her huge tracts and frozen wastes around,There ice rock piled aloft, in order rude,Form a gigantic hall; where never soundStartled dull Silence’ ear, save when, profoundThe smoke frost muttered: there drear Cold for ayeThrones him,—and fixed on his primæval mound,Ruin, the giant, sits; while stern DismayStalks like some woe-struck man along the desert way.In that drear spot, grim Desolation’s lair,No sweet remain of life encheers the sight;The dancing heart’s blood in an instant thereWould freeze to marble, Mingling day and night,(Sweet interchange which makes our labours light,)Are there unknown; while in the summer skies,The sun rolls ceaseless round his heavenly height,Nor ever sets till from the scene he flies,And leaves the long bleak night of half the year to rise.”

In that drear spot, grim Desolation’s lair,No sweet remain of life encheers the sight;The dancing heart’s blood in an instant thereWould freeze to marble, Mingling day and night,(Sweet interchange which makes our labours light,)Are there unknown; while in the summer skies,The sun rolls ceaseless round his heavenly height,Nor ever sets till from the scene he flies,And leaves the long bleak night of half the year to rise.”

St. Peter Gonzales, orTelm, orElm,A. D.1246.Sts. BasilissaandAnastasia, 1st Cent.St. Paternus, Bishop, orPatier,Pair, orFoix, 6th Cent.St. Munde, Abbot,A. D.962.St. Ruadhan,A. D.584.

Average day of arrival of Spring Birds from a Twenty years’ Journal.

April 3. Smallest Willow Wren.Ficaria pinetorumarrives.

April 10. Common Willow Wren.Ficaria Salicumarrives.

April 14. CalledFirst Cuckoo Dayin Sussex. The Cuckoo,cuculus canorus, sometimes heard.

April 15. CalledSwallow Day. The Chimney Swallow,Hirundo rustica, arrives.

April 19. The Sand Swallow.Hirundo ripariaarrives.

April 20. The Martin.Hirundo terbicasometimes seen.

April 21. The Cuckoo, commonly heard.

April 30. The Martin, commonly seen.

The other vernal birds arrive between the 15th and 30th of the month.[90]

Green Stitchwort.Stellaria holostea.Dedicated toSt. Peter Gonzales.

An April Day.Original.Dear Emma, on that infant brow,Say, why does disappointment low’r?Ah! what a silly girl art thou,To weep to see a summer show’r!O, dry that unavailing tear,The promis’d visit you shall pay;The sky will soon again be clear,For ’tis, my love, an April day.And see, the sun’s returning lightAway the transient clouds hath driv’n,The rainbow’s arch with colours brightSpreads o’er the blue expanse of heav’n;The storm is hush’d, the winds are still,A balmy fragrance fills the air;Nor sound is heard, save some clear rillMeandering thro’ the vallies fair.Those vernal show’rs that from on highDescend, make earth more fresh and green;Those clouds that darken all the airDisperse, and leave it more sereneAnd those soft tears that for awhileDown sorrow’s faded cheek may roll,Shall sparkle thro’ a radiant smile,And speak the sunshine of the soul!While yet thy mind is young and pure,This sacred truth, this precept learn—That He who bids thee all endure,Bids sorrow fly, and hope return.His chast’ning hand will never breakThe heart that trusts in Him alone;He never, never will forsakeThe meanest suppliant at his throne.The world, that with unfeeling prideSees vice to virtue oft preferr’d,From thee, alas! may turn aside—O, shun the fawning, flatt’ring herd!And while th’ Eternal gives thee healthWith joy thy daily course to run,Let wretches hoard their useless wealth,And Heav’n’s mysterious will be done.With fair Religion, woo content,’Twill bid tempestuous passions cease;And know, my child, the life that’s spentIn pray’r and praise, must end in peace.The dream of Life is quickly past,A little while we linger here;And tho’ the Morn be overcast,The Ev’ning may be bright and clear.Islington.D. G.

An April Day.

Original.

Dear Emma, on that infant brow,Say, why does disappointment low’r?Ah! what a silly girl art thou,To weep to see a summer show’r!O, dry that unavailing tear,The promis’d visit you shall pay;The sky will soon again be clear,For ’tis, my love, an April day.And see, the sun’s returning lightAway the transient clouds hath driv’n,The rainbow’s arch with colours brightSpreads o’er the blue expanse of heav’n;The storm is hush’d, the winds are still,A balmy fragrance fills the air;Nor sound is heard, save some clear rillMeandering thro’ the vallies fair.Those vernal show’rs that from on highDescend, make earth more fresh and green;Those clouds that darken all the airDisperse, and leave it more sereneAnd those soft tears that for awhileDown sorrow’s faded cheek may roll,Shall sparkle thro’ a radiant smile,And speak the sunshine of the soul!While yet thy mind is young and pure,This sacred truth, this precept learn—That He who bids thee all endure,Bids sorrow fly, and hope return.His chast’ning hand will never breakThe heart that trusts in Him alone;He never, never will forsakeThe meanest suppliant at his throne.The world, that with unfeeling prideSees vice to virtue oft preferr’d,From thee, alas! may turn aside—O, shun the fawning, flatt’ring herd!And while th’ Eternal gives thee healthWith joy thy daily course to run,Let wretches hoard their useless wealth,And Heav’n’s mysterious will be done.With fair Religion, woo content,’Twill bid tempestuous passions cease;And know, my child, the life that’s spentIn pray’r and praise, must end in peace.The dream of Life is quickly past,A little while we linger here;And tho’ the Morn be overcast,The Ev’ning may be bright and clear.Islington.

Dear Emma, on that infant brow,Say, why does disappointment low’r?Ah! what a silly girl art thou,To weep to see a summer show’r!

O, dry that unavailing tear,The promis’d visit you shall pay;The sky will soon again be clear,For ’tis, my love, an April day.

And see, the sun’s returning lightAway the transient clouds hath driv’n,The rainbow’s arch with colours brightSpreads o’er the blue expanse of heav’n;

The storm is hush’d, the winds are still,A balmy fragrance fills the air;Nor sound is heard, save some clear rillMeandering thro’ the vallies fair.

Those vernal show’rs that from on highDescend, make earth more fresh and green;Those clouds that darken all the airDisperse, and leave it more serene

And those soft tears that for awhileDown sorrow’s faded cheek may roll,Shall sparkle thro’ a radiant smile,And speak the sunshine of the soul!

While yet thy mind is young and pure,This sacred truth, this precept learn—That He who bids thee all endure,Bids sorrow fly, and hope return.

His chast’ning hand will never breakThe heart that trusts in Him alone;He never, never will forsakeThe meanest suppliant at his throne.

The world, that with unfeeling prideSees vice to virtue oft preferr’d,From thee, alas! may turn aside—O, shun the fawning, flatt’ring herd!

And while th’ Eternal gives thee healthWith joy thy daily course to run,Let wretches hoard their useless wealth,And Heav’n’s mysterious will be done.

With fair Religion, woo content,’Twill bid tempestuous passions cease;And know, my child, the life that’s spentIn pray’r and praise, must end in peace.

The dream of Life is quickly past,A little while we linger here;And tho’ the Morn be overcast,The Ev’ning may be bright and clear.

D. G.

An Evening in Spring.Now the noon,Wearied with sultry toil, declines and fallsInto the mellow eve:—the west puts onHer gorgeous beauties—palaces and hallsAnd towers, all carved of the unstable cloudWelcome the calmy waning monarch—heSinks gently ’midst that glorious canopyDown on his couch of rest—even like a proudKing of the earth—the ocean.Bowring.

An Evening in Spring.

Now the noon,Wearied with sultry toil, declines and fallsInto the mellow eve:—the west puts onHer gorgeous beauties—palaces and hallsAnd towers, all carved of the unstable cloudWelcome the calmy waning monarch—heSinks gently ’midst that glorious canopyDown on his couch of rest—even like a proudKing of the earth—the ocean.

Bowring.

[90]Communicatedby a scientific gentleman, whose daily observations and researches in Natural History, stamp value upon his contributions.

Eighteen Martyrs of Saragossa, andSt. Encratis, orEngratia,A. D.304.St. Turibius, Bp. 420.St. Fructuosus, Abp.A. D.665.St. Druon, orDrugo,A. D.1186.St. Joachimof Sienna,A. D.1305.St. Mans, orMagnus,A. D.1104.

If such a creature as thevenerableB. J. Labre can be called a man, he was one of the silliest that ever lived to creep and whine, and one of the dirtiest that ever “died in the odour of sanctity;” and yet, for the edification of the English, his life is translated from the French “by the rev. M. James Barnard, ex-president of the English college at Lisbon and Vicar General of the London district.”

From this volume it appears that Labre was born at Boulogne, on the 26th of March, 1748. When a child he would not play as other children did, but made little oratories, and “chastised his body.” Having thus early put forth “buds of self-denial and self-contempt,” he was taught Latin, educated superior to his station, did penance, made his first general confession, and found his chief delight at the feet of altars. At sixteen years old, instead of eating his food he gave it away out of the window, read pious books as he walked, turned the house of his uncle, a priest, into “a kind of monastery,” observed religious poverty, monkish silence, and austere penance, and, by way of humility, performed abject offices for the people of the parish, fetched provender for their animals, took care of their cattle, and cleaned the stalls. The aversion which he entertained against the world, induced him to enter into a convent of Carthusians; there he discovered that he disliked profound retirement, and imagined he should not be able to save his soulunless he embraced an order more austere. Upon this he returned home, added extraordinary mortifications to his fasts and prayers, instead of sleeping on his bed lay on the floor, and told his mother he wished to go and live upon roots as the anchorets did. All this he might have done in the Carthusian convent, but his brain seems to have been a little cracked, for he resolved to go into another Carthusian convent, the prior of which would not admit him till he had studied ‘philosophy’ for a year, and learned the Gregorian chant. Church music was very agreeable to him—but it was not so with regard tologic; “notwithstanding all his efforts, he was never able to conquer his repugnance to this branch of study;” yet he somehow or other scrambled through an examination; got admitted into the convent; “thought its rules far too mild for such a sinner as he looked upon himself to be;” and after a six weeks’ trial, left it in search of admission into the order of La Trappe, as the most rigid of any that he knew. The Trappists would not have him; this refusal he looked upon as a heavenly favour, because the monastery of Sept-Fonts surpassed La Trappe in severe austerities and discipline, and there he became a “novice” till the life he fancied, did not agree with him. “Having a long time before quitted his father’s house he could not think of returning to it again;” and at two and twenty years of age he knew not what to do. His biographer says, that “little fit for the cloister, and still less fit for the world, he was destitute of the means of getting a livelihood; and being now persuaded of what were the designs of God concerning him, he resolved to follow the conduct, the light, and inspirations of the holy spirit, and to submit himself to all the sufferings and afflictions which might await him.” If in this condition some one had compelled him to eat a good dinner every day, made him go to bed at a proper hour and take proper rest, and then set him on horseback and trotted him through the fresh air and sun-shine every forenoon, he might have been restored; or if his parents, as in duty they ought, had bound him apprentice at a proper age to a good trade, he might have been an useful member of society. These thoughts, however, never appear to have entered Labre’s head, and in the dilemma represented “his love of humility, poverty, and a penitential life, presented to his zealous mind the practice of that kind of piety which he afterwards put in execution.” His first step to this was writing a farewell letter to his parents, on the 31st of August, 1770, “and from that time they never received any account of him till after his death.” His next steps were pilgrimages. First he went to Loretto “from tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin, whom he looked on as his mother;” next to Assissium the birthplace of St. Francis, where he, “according to custom, got a small blessed cord which he constantly wore;” then he went to Rome where he sojourned for eight or nine months and wept “in the presence of the tomb of the holy apostles;” afterwards “he visited the tomb of St. Romuald at Fabrieno, where the inhabitants immediately began to look upon him as a saint;” from thence he returned to Loretto; he then journeyed to Naples, and had the pleasure of seeing the blood of St. Januarius which would not liquify when the French entered Naples, till the French general threatened the priests who performed the miracle that the city would suffer, if the saint remained obstinate; “and in short,” says the rev. Vicar General of the London district, “there was hardly any famous place of devotion in Europe which was not visited by this servant of God;”—the Vicar General’s sentence had concluded better with the words “thisslaveofsuperstition.” To follow Labre’s other goings to and fro would be tedious, suffice it to say that at one of his Loretto trips some people offered him an abode, in order to save him the trouble of going every night to a barn at a great distance; but as they had prepared a room for him with a bed in it he thought this lodging was too sumptuous; and he therefore retired into a hole “cut out of the rock under the street.” Labre at last favoured the city of Rome by his fixed residence, and sanctified the amphitheatre of Flavian by making his home in a hole of the ancient ruins.

In this “hole of sufficient depth to hold and shelter him in a tolerable degree from the weather,” he deposited himself every night for several years. He employed the whole of every day, “sometimes in one church and sometimes in another, praying most commonly upon his knees, and at other times standing, and always keeping his body as still as if he were a statue.” Labre’s daily exercise in fastingand lifelessness reduced him to a helpless state, that a beggar had compassion on him, and gave him a recommendation to an hospital, where “by taking medicines proper for his disorder, and more substantial food, he soon grew well;” but relapsing into his “constant, uniform, and hidden life,” he became worse. This opportunity of exhibiting Labre’s virtues is not neglected by his biographer, who minutely informs us of several particulars. 1st. He was so careful to observe the law of silence, that in the course of a whole month, scarcely any one could hear him speak so much as a few words. 2dly. He lived in the midst of Rome, as if he had lived in the midst of a desert. 3dly. He led a life of the greatest self-denial, destitute of every thing, disengaged from every earthly affection, unnoticed by all mankind, desiring no other riches than poverty, no other pleasures than mortification, no other distinction than that of being the object of universal contempt. 4thly. He indulged in rigorous poverty, exposed to the vicissitudes and inclemencies of the weather, without shelter against the cold of winter or the heat of summer, wearing old clothes, or rather rags, eating very coarse food, and for three years living in the “hole in the wall.” 5thly. To his privations of all worldly goods, he joined an almost continual abstinence, frequent fasts, nightly vigils, lively and insupportable pains from particular mortifications, and two painful tumours which covered both his knees, from resting the whole weight of his body on them when he prayed. 6thly. “He looked upon himself as one of the greatest of sinners;” and this was the reason why “he chose to lead a life of reproach and contempt,” why he herded “among the multitude of poor beggars,” “why he chose to cover himself with rags and tatters instead of garments, why he chose to place a barrier of disgust between himself and mankind,” why “he abandoned himself to the bites of disagreeable insects,” and why he coveted to be covered with filthy blotches.

Labre’s biographer, who was also his confessor, says that his “appearance was disagreeable and forbidding; his legs were half naked, his clothes were tied round the waist with an old cord, his head was uncombed, he was badly clothed and wrapped up in an old and ragged coat, and in his outward appearance he seemed to be the most miserable beggar that I had ever seen.” His biographer further says, “I never heard his confession but in a confessional, on purpose that there might be some kind of separation between us.” The holy father’s lively reason for this precaution, any history of insects with the word “pediculus” will describe accurately.

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