Imatges de pàgina
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APOTHEGMS.

AMBITIOUS MEN

Who meet with disappointments, either become quite desperate, or sink into a state of indolence and insensibility.

METAPHYSICS,

However useful to detect the subtilty of the arguments of others, are often very detrimental to the proficients in them Reason herself may be lost by refinement.

MIRTH, Compared with cheerfulness, is as the huzza of a mob to the sober applause of a thinking people.

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"Hall or Mansion of the family of the Basings," which stood on the site of Blackwell Hall. Mere,' from Meere, meaning a lake or pool. Sepulchre, comes from the Saxon word 'Slapigrava,' which meant a sleep-grave. 66 Rood," means a Cross; therefore the expression by the Rood," meant by the Cross; Holy-rood, the chapel of which may be construed, the chapel of Holy Cross."Steeple," from "Stipel," a high tower. "Taberd or Tabard," a short gown, anciently worn, which reached down below the knee; it is now applied to the Herald's Coat. Tomboy," a romp, from the "Tumbe or Tumbod of the Saxons," which word meant to dance. 'Wald, Weald or Wold," means a forest, or woody part, as the Weald of Kent, which implies the forest part of the county."Whitsunday," from " Wied-Sunday; Wied, or Wihed," meaning sacred: hence Whitsunday may be termed Sacred Sunday. "Bury-street" by Saint Mary Axe, so called from a court and gardens belonging to the Abbot of Bury in Suffolk. Giltspur-street," from the knights riding through into Smithfield to jousts and Means, I expect much more than I can in tournaments, with their gilt spurs on.reason ask for.

MEN

Often complain of the fickleness of fortune the error lies in their mistaking her benefits for perpetual gifts, instead of being grateful for a temporary loan.

COUNTY RACES

Are meetings where the men assemble to quarrel about horses, and the women about precedence.

EDUCATION

Should be the mirror of former prejudices.

"WHAT YOU PLEASE,"

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"Shore

"Idle lane," from its being the residence
of Idol-makers and Carvers.
ditch," according to Weever, was so

DERIVATIONS OF NAMES AND called from Sir John Shoreditch and his

PLACES.

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"ADDLE-STREET, an alteration of "King Adel-street," so called from "King Athelstan or Adelstan." dermanbury," so termed from the "Al

"Al

family, who were lords thereof in the reign of Edward the Third, and not from the fabulous story of Jane Shore.

derman's Court Bury" being held there. Ellustrations of History.

"Aldersgate," from its being " calder or
older than Aldgate." The Almonry,
Westminster," from its being the "Elee-
mosynary, or place where the alms of the
Abbey were distributed."
"Austin
Friars, the name derived from a religious
house or monastery standing on the spot,
dedicated to St. Austin, which monastery
was dissolved 13th Hen. VIII.” "Bar-
bican," from "Barbacan, or Beacon, a
Watch Tower." "Kingdom," from the
Saxon "Cyningdome, which signified
jurisdiction and dominion." "Clough,
this word implies the side of a hill.”-

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THE DISCOVERY OF PRINTING.

THE useful art of Printing was disco vered at Haarlem, in Holland, by Coster; and the printing of the first book took place in the year 1430. It was a piece of Dutch Theology, printed only on one side of the page, to resemble manuscript.

The first attempt at printing was upon loose leaves, the printed part being accompanied with cuts engraved upon soft wood, somewhat in the manner of the ballads of the present day. Coster's method was to cut out the letters upon a wooden block. He took an apprentice, John Faust, and bound him to secrecy ; but Faust ran away with the secret, and set up for himself at Mentz. He had a servant named Peter Schoeffer, who was the first inventor of metal types. With these novel types Faust was so delighted that he gave him his daughter in marriage and made him his partner in trade. The first book printed by them is said to have been Cicero de Officiis, which bears the

date of 1465; but other books are mentioned with earlier dates, 1457, 1442. By them was printed a number of bibles in imitation of manuscript, which were carried by Faust to Paris for sale. The people of Paris to whom they were shown was literally astounded; they carefully examined and compared together the different copies, and found them such exact counterparts of each other, that they were all of one opinion, and that was their being produced by some diabolical art, and accused Faust as a wicked practicer. Poor Faust, upon seeing how matters stood, was compelled at once to discover the important secret. The accusations preferred against Faust, gave rise to the story of the Devil and Dr. Faustus.

After the discovery of the art of printing, thus brought about at Paris, it was soon propagated over the whole of Europe, The first book printed in England, is said to have been Rufinus on the Creed, printed

at Oxford in 1468.

At first the impression was taken off with list, coiled up, such as the card-makers use at this day. But when single types came into use, they employed stronger paper, with vellum and parchment. At last the press was introduced and gradually improved, until it arrived at its present state of perfection. The same observation applies to the ink: at first, the common writing ink, extracted from nut-galls and other materials, was employed; and the printing ink of lampblack and oil, at present used, was introduced by degrees. Rolling press printing, or the press for taking impressions from copper-plates, was not used in England till the time of King James the First, and then it was brought over from Antwerp, by the industrious John Speed, the old English historian and map publisher.

Customs of Various Countries.

ST. PAUL'S DAY.

THIS day being the first festival of an apostle in the year, a curious custom was observed in the olden time, by sponsors or visitors at christenings, of presenting spoons, called apostle spoons, from their having representations of the Apostles carved on the top of them. Those who were opulent presented to their god-children a set of these articles, amounting to twelve in number, others a smaller number, and poor persons offered the gift of one, with the figure of the saint upon the

top of the handle, after whom the child was named.

The festival of the conversion of Saint Paul, whatever the reason may be, has always been reckoned as particularly ominous of the future weather of the year. If the day were fine and clear, there would be a year of plenty; if gloomy, it presaged the death of the cattle; if snow descended, there would be a scarcity of produce; if blusterous and windy, it was with our forefathers a sure sign of war. In Bournes's antiquities is the following:

If St. Paul's day be fair and clear,
It doth forebode a fruitful year.

ORIGIN OF THE LOAF CUSTOM AT
COVENTRY.

THIS custom originated many years ago, from the circumstance of a poor and destitute weaver passing through the town of Devizes, and being overtaken by hunger, and in the utmost need, applied for charity to a baker, who kindly relieved him with the gift of a penny-loaf. The weaver thus relieved was enabled to reach Coventry, where, after many years of successful industry, he became a man of considerable wealth, and by his will, in remembrance of the bounty of the Devizes' baker, he bequeathed a sum in trust for the purpose of distributing, on the anniversary day when he was so relieved, a halfpenny loaf to every person in the town, and to every traveller that should pass through the town that day a penny-loaf. The will is faithfully administered, and the Duke of Austria, and his suite, in the year 1786, passing through the town on the day of the Coventry loaf, in their way from Bath to London, a loaf was presented to each of them, of which the Duke and Duchess were most cheerfully pleased to accept. The custom struck the Archduke so forcibly, as a curious anecdote in his travels, that he minuted down the circumstance. The high personages took delight in breakfasting on the loaf given, considering it as a tribute of gratitude for the favour seasonably conferred. It may truly be said, that on the anniversary of this custom, no person is in want of the staff of life.

SINGULAR TENURES.

AT Langsett, in the parish of Peniston, in the county of York, a farm, at Broad House, pays yearly a snow-ball at M dsummer, and a red rose at Christmas; the snow-ball not being easily obtained at Midsummer, accordingly the flower

called snow-ball, a vulgar name for the guelder rose, is allowed as a substitute.

ONE Solomon Attfield held land at

Repland and Atterton, in the county of Kent, upon condition, that as often as our Lord the King should cross the sea, the said Solomon and his heirs should go along with him, to hold his head on the sea, if it was needful.

In the reign of the third Edward, one John Compes had the manor of Finchfield given him, for the service of turning the spit at his coronation.

Anecdotiana.

ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT, Monarch of Syria, after having been conquered by Scipio Asiaticus, and deprived of a considerable portion of his dominions, was often heard to acknowledge himself much obliged to the Romans for that privation, as for an important service; since, by narrowing the boundaries of his kingdom, they had relieved him from the laborious management of too extensive an empire.

POWER

Will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads. No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with unlimited power; for whatever qualifications he may have evinced to entitle him to the possession of so dangerous a privilege, yet, when possessed, others can no longer answer for himself.

LOOK AT HOME.

The hint given to Thales, the Milesian philosopher, was a powerful one, and well intended, though roughly executed. A girl of dubious character, seeing him gazing at the heavens as he walked along, and perhaps piqued at his not casting an eye at her attractions, put a stool in his path, over which he stumbled and broke his shins. The excuse she made was, that she meant to teach him to look at home before he indulged himself in stargazing.

EPITAPH ON WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. This curious relic of history was found by the Bishop of Bayeux, in the tomb of William the Conqueror, in the Abbey of St. Stephen, at Caen in Normandy, where

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OVIEDO, in his General History of the Indies, observes that "Indian sculls are four times as thick as other men's, so that coming to handy strokes with them, it shall be requisite not to strike them on the head with swords, for many have been broken on their heads with little hurt done." Dr. Bulmer observes, from Purchas, "that blockheads and loggerheads are in request in Brazil, and helmets are of little use, every one having a natural morion of his head; for as to the Brazilians' heads, some of them are as hard as the wood that grows in the country, that they cannot be broken." Stowe, in his Survey of London, speaks of the scull of a man above three-quarters of an inch thick, found at St. Catharine's Cree

church.

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This witty character, at times, spared neither friend nor foe. He had little regard for the feelings of others; if he thought of a witty thing that would create laughter, he said it. He had never availed himself of the good advice given him by Henry the Fifth to Falstaff," Reply not there is an example extant. to me with a fool-born jest ;" and of this If.. Foote ever had a serious regard for any one, it was for Holland; yet at his death, or rather indeed after his funeral, he violated all decency concerning him. Holland was the son of a baker at Hampton, and on the stage was a close imitator of Garrick, who had such a respect for him, that he played the Ghost to his

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In a cause once tried at the Derby assizes, respecting the validity of a will, evidence was adduced to prove the testator (an apothecary's wife,) a lunatic; and, among many other things, it was deposed that she had swept away a quantity of pots, phials, lotions, potions, pills, boluses, and clyster-pipes, into the street, as rubbish. I doubt," said the learned judge, whether sweeping physic into the street be any proof of insanity.' "" True, my lord," replied the counsel; but sweeping the pots and clister-pipes away, certainly was.'

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Being seated in an elegant apartment, quaffing Noyeau, and talking infidelity, was cautioned as to the danger which such doctrines might bring upon society. "Sir," said the historian," the doctrines we are now discussing, are not unlike the liquor we are drinking;-safe, pleasant, and exhilarating to you and I, that know how to use, without abusing them; but dangerous, deleterious, and intoxicating, if either were broached in the open streets, and exposed to the discretion of the mob."

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DR. PERCY AND MR. GARRICK.

Dr. Percy, who was on intimate terms with this great actor, wrote to him for an admission to his theatre. Mr. Garrick had then adopted a rule, never to receive either note or letter in his dressing-room, when he was just ready to appear upon the stage, and this slight circumstance caused a lasting quarrel between the two former friends. Great pains were taken to effect a reconciliation between them, but Dr. Percy always most indignantly replied,"that he had put it once into Mr. Garrick's power to have obliged him, but as he had chosen to neglect it, he should not give him a second opportunity."

DR. JENNER'S EPITAPH.

The following epitaph was engraved on the tomb of Dr. Jenner, whose remains are interred in the chancel of the parish church of Berkeley, in Gloucestershire .

Within this tomb hath found a resting place,
Immortal Jenner! whose gigantic mind
The great physician of the human race-

Brought life and health to more than half mankind.

Let rescued infancy his worth proclaim,
And radiant beauty drop her saddest tear,
And lisp out blessings on his honour'd name;
For Beauty's truest, trustiest friend lies here!

LORD NELSON'S NIGHT-CAP. Dr. Burney, who wrote the celebrated anagram on Lord Nelson, after his victory of the Nile," Honor est a Nilo." (Horatio Nelson,) was shortly after on a visit to his Lordship, at his beautiful Avilla at Merton. From his usual absence of mind, he forgot to put a night-cap into his portmanteau, and, consequently, borrowed one from his Lordship. Previously to his retiring to rest, he sat down to study, as was his common practice, and was shortly after alarmed by finding the cap in flames. He immediately collected the burnt remains, and returned them to his Lordship with the following lines:—

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"Take your night.cap again, my good Lord, I desire,

I would not detain it a minute; What belongs to a Nelson, wherever there's fire,

Is sure to be instantly in it."

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Jan. 23. This saint was born, in 1175, at the Castle of Pegnafort in Catalonia: so fond was he of his religious profession, that he changed the edifice in which he was born into a convent of the order of St. Dominick. His death happened A.D. 1275. 1570.-On this day, James, Earl of Murray, Regent of Scotland, during the minority of James VI. was deliberately shot at Linlithgow by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, in revenge, it is supposed, for having.debauched his wife.

24 St. Timothy was a disciple of St. Paul, by whom he was made Bishop of Ephesus, A.D. 64. This saint was stoned to death in the year 97, by order of the Emperor Nero.

70.-Born at Rome on this day the Emperor Adrian. This illustrious Roman, when visiting Britain, caused a wall to be built, extending from the Frith of Forth to the river Tyne. He died in his 62nd year, A.D. 139. On his death-bed he com. posed his celebrated address to his departing soul. 25 This saint was beheaded at Rome A. D. 66. by order of his persecutor the infamous Nero. The festival of the conversion was instituted very early. Pope Innocent III. ordered it to be kept as an holiday of obligation. In England mention is made of its being a solemn festival in the time of Henry III. 1759.-Born on this day, near Ayr, the admired poet of nature, Robert Burns. This talented indi- ' vidual, like the great Shakspeare, has rendered immortal, by his verse, the banks of the river which watered his native place. His labours have gained him posthumous renown, though during his life be experienced the most chilling neglect. 26 St. Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna; he suffered for his religion A. D. 166.

1815.-On this day the ex-Emperor Napoleon escaped from Elba, and landed in France." 27 This saint was Archbishop of Constantinople A. D. 407, at which place he died in 409. His eloquence obtained him the surname of Chrysostom or Goldenmouth: he was one of the most strenuous defenders that the Catholic Church had in the 4th century.

1773.-Born on this day H. R. H. the D. of Sussex. 28 This saint was the daughter of Bala IV. King of Hungary. She died A. D. 1271, her relics are still preserved at Presburg. 1696-On this day died on board of his own ship, near Nombre De Dios, Sir Francis Drake, our first circumnavigator. Fuller observes of him, that "he lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it."

29 St. Sulpicius was a disciple of St. Martin; he died A D. 426.

1820.-This day died our greatly revered Monarch Geo. III. ET. 81. The reign of this Sovereign was the longest of any that ever held sway in England, and the most pregnant with great

events.

Accession of his present Majesty Geo. IV. 30 This saint, who was a Roman Virgin of noble origin, was beheaded for her faith, after having been tortured by command of the Emperor Alexander IV. A. D. 228.

1643.-Anniversary of the beheading of Charles I. This Monarch's downfall is ascribed to his sinis. ter and illiberal conduet towards his opponents. 81 This saint was born at Languedoc. He died A. D. 1258. Saint Peter was the founder of the order of our Lady of Mercy, the founding of this order is stated to have been occasioned by the Virgin Mary's appearing to him in a vision. !820.-Ou this day the proclaiming of Geo. IV King of England took place,

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