since the Conquest, that our venerable Monarch has attained a greater age than any of his royal predecessors, with the exception of HENRY the First and GEORGE the Second; and that he has reigned for a longer period than either of those Sovereigns, HENRY the Third alone excepted.

CRISPIN alone stands marked in our almanac for remembrance on this day, though his brother CRISPIANUS appears to have an equal claim to that respect. Their history is only imperfectly known, and affords nothing particularly interesting; but the immortal SHAKESPEARE has given a speech to our gallant HENRY the Fifth, before the celebrated battle of Agincourt, that will mark the day of celebration of ST. CRISPIN to the latest posterity.

"This day is call'd the feast of CRISPIAN :
He that out-lives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouze him at the name of CRISPIAN :
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

And

say, to-morrow is SAINT CRISPIAN.

Then will he strip his sleeve, and shew his scars :

Old men forget; yet shall not all forget,

But they'll remember, with advantages,

What feats they did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in their mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford, and Exeter,
Warwick, and Talbot, Salisbury, and Glo'ster,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son :
And CRISPIN CRISPIAN shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers:
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me,
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition.

And gentlemen in England now a-bed,

Shall think themselves accurs'd, they were not here; And hold their manhoods cheap, while any speaks, That fought with us upon ST. CRISPIAN'S day."

Our two Saints appear to have been born at Rome, from whence, A. D. 303, they travelled to Soissons, in France, to preach the doctrine of Christianity; though their efforts were but of short duration, RICTIONARIUS, the governor of that place, having caused them to be beheaded immediately upon discovering the object of their pious endeavours. It is difficult to account for the origin of the Kentish tradition, that they were buried near Lydd, which is however the popular belief of that place; and a heap of stones on the

beach near a spot called STONES END, is to this day shewn as the place of their interment.

These holy men, while at Soissons, exercised the trade of SHOE-MAKERS, to avoid being chargeable to others for their maintenance; and from such cause, probably, they have been selected as the tutelar saints or patrons of that CRAFT. In an old romance, a prince of the name of CRISPIN is represented as having exercised the profession of a Shoe-maker, and thence is supposed to be derived the expression of the GENTLE CRAFT, as applied to that art; while the vulgar application of the term CRISPIN to a Shoe-maker, is unquestionably referable to the tutelar saint or patron of that profession.

However cruelly our brethren saints were used, succeeding generations were not forgetful of their meritorious endeavours and lamented fates. At Soissons, in particular, the site of their sufferings, many churches and religious houses were dedicated to them; and it is worthy of notice, that in France as well as in this country, they were not only considered as the PATRONS of the SHOEMAKERS, but that two societies were established bearing the titles of FRERES CORDONNIERS, BROTHER SHOE-MAKERS, the one under the protection of ST. CRISPIN, the other of ST. CRISPIANUS; the produce of whose labours was paid into a common stock, to furnish necessaries for the support of the monks of each society, and the surplus appropriated to the benefit of the

poor.

Proclamation

Of KING GEORGE the Third.

(26TH ОСТОВER.)

Immediately on the decease of the late King, GEORGE the Second, on the 25th of October 1760, his present Majesty, as heir-apparent, ascended the throne, although, as shewn page 163, he was not crowned until the 22d of September, in the following year. On the day succeeding his Majesty's Accession, that important event was publicly PROCLAIMED; and the 25th of October the day of ACCESSION, the 26th of October when that circumstance was ANNOUNCED, and the 224 of September when his Majesty and his Royal Consort were solemnly CROWNED, have ever since been held respectively as public holidays, or periods for rejoicing throughout the kingdom.

The following Table shews his Majesty's descent from EGBERT, the first Monarch of England, or of the united Anglo-Saxon nation; as well as from WILLIAM the First, surnamed the Conqueror.

PEDIGREE OF GEORGE THE THIRD,

IN A DIRECT LINE FROM PARENT TO CHILD. Egbert, King of England.