Which, onward hurling, makes the circling groupe Keen, keener still, as life itself were staked, Begins; near and more near the sounding stones, NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. January 31. King George IV. proclaimed.-Holiday at the Exchequer. Wakes. A newspaper of this day, in the year 1821, relates the following anecdote : All through Ireland the ceremonial of wakes and funerals is most punctually attended to, and it requires some sçavoir faire to carry through the arrangement in a masterly manner. A great adept at the business, who had been the prime manager at all the wakes in the neighbourhood for many years, was at last called away from the death-beds of his friends to his own. Shortly before he died he gave minute directions to his people as to * New Times. Grahame. the mode of waking him in proper style. "Recollect," says he, "to put three candles at the head of the bed, after you lay me out, and two at the foot, and one at each side. Mind now, and put a plate with the salt on it just a top of my breast. And, do you hear? have plenty of tobacco and pipes enough; and remember to make the punch strong. And-but what the devil is the use of talking to you? sure I know you'll be sure to botch it, as I won't be there myself." MR. JOHN BULL, an artist, with poetical powers exemplified in the first volume by a citation from his poem entitled "The Museum," which deserves to be better known, favours the Every-Day Book with the following original lines. The conflict between the cross and the crescent, renders the communication peculiarly interesting to those who indulge a hope that the struggle will terminate in the liberation of Greece from ". worse than Egyptian bondage." * P. 299. THE RAINBOW IN GREECE. By Mr. John Bull. Arch of peace! the firmament Well might the wondrous bards of yore Of thee so sweetly sing; An angel's form to thee they gave, Saw thee now span the light green wave, Yet then, where'er thy smile was seen, On land, or billowy main, Thy brilliant arch, around the sky, Wherewith their souls were cheer'd! But ah! if thou, when Greece was young, Go and return, as minstrels sung What tale, in heaven, hast thou to tell, Oh! when they see thy beauteous bow, Let them unsheath the daring sword, Upon thine arch of hope they'd glance, The "Mirror of the Months" represents of the coming month, that: “Now the Christmas holidays are over, and all the snow in Russia could not make the first Monday in this month look any other than black, in the home-loving eyes of little schoolboys; and the streets of London are once more evacuated of happy wondering faces, that look any way but straight before them; and sobs are heard, and sorrowful faces seen to issue from sundry post-chaises that carry sixteen inside, exclusive of cakes and boxes; and theatres are no longer conscious of unconscious éclats de rire, but the whole audience is like Mr. Wordsworth's cloud, "which moveth altogether, if it move at all." In the gardens of our habitations, and the immense tracts that provide great cities with the products of the earth, the cultivator seizes the first opportunity to prepare and dress the bosom of our common mother. "Hard frosts, if they come at all, are followed by sudden thaws; and now, therefore, if ever, the mysterious old song of our school days stands a chance of being verified, which sings of 'Three children sliding on the ice, Now the labour of the husbandman recommences; and it is pleasant to watch (from your library-window) the ploughteam moving almost imperceptibly along, upon the distant upland that the bare trees have disclosed to you.-Nature is as busy as ever, if not openly and obviously, secretly, and in the hearts of her sweet subjects the flowers; stirring them up to that rich rivalry of beauty which is to greet the first footsteps of spring, and teaching them to prepare themselves for her advent, as young maidens prepare, months beforehand, for the marriage festival of some dear friend.-If the flowers think and feel (and he who dares to say that they do not is either a fool or a phi losopher-let him choose between the imputations!)-if the flowers think and feel, what a commotion must be working within their silent hearts, when the pinions of winter begin to grow, and indicate that he is at least meditating his flight! Then do they, too, begin to meditate on May-day, and think on the delight with which they shall once more breathe the fresh air, when they have leave to escape from their subterranean of this month, they are all of them at prisons; for now, towards the latter end least awake from their winter slumbers, and most are busily working at their gay toilets, and weaving their fantastic robes, and shaping their trim forms, and distilling their rich essences, and, in short, getting ready in all things, that they may be duly prepared to join the bright procession of beauty that is to greet and glorify the annual coming on of their sovereign lady, the spring. It is true none of all this can be seen. But what a race should we be, if we knew and When, in the zodiac, the Fish wheel round, Yoke their strong steers, and plough the yielding soil': To stop the plough, with sudden wintry storms- February 1. Flowers. A good garden in a sunny day, at the commencement of this month, has many delightful appearances to a lover of nature, and issues promises of further gratification. It is, however, in ball-rooms and theatres that many of the sex, to whose innocence and beauty the lily is likened, resort for amusement, and see or wear the mimic forms of floral loveliness. Yet this approach to nature, though at an awful distance, is to be hailed as an impulse of her own powerful working in the very heart of fashion; and it has this advantage, that it supplies means of existence to industry, and urges ingenuity to further endeavour. Artificial wants are rapidly supplied by the necessity of providing for real ones; and the wealthy accept drafts upon conditions which indigence prescribes, till it becomes lifted above poverty to independence. The manufacture of artificial flowers is not wholly unknown in England, but our neighbours, the French, eclipse us in the accuracy and variety of their imitations. Watering-places abound with these wonders of their work-people, and in the metropolis there are depôts, from whence dress-makers and milliners are supplied by wholesale. The annexed literal copy of a French flower-maker's card, circulated during the summer of 1822, among the London shopkeepers, is a whimsical specimen of self-sufficiency, and may save some learners of French from an overweening confidence in their acquisition of that language, which, were it displayed in Paris, would be as whimsical in that metropolis as this English is in ours. • M. MARLOTEAU et Cie. Manufacturers from Paris, 37, MONTMORENCY-STREET, To London 14 Broad street, Oxford street. Acquaint the Trade in general, that they have just established in LONDON, A Warhouse for FRENCH FLOWERS, for each Season, feathar from hat ladies of their own Manufacture elegant fans of the NEWEST TASTE. And of Manufactures of PARIS, complette sets ornaments for balls, snuff boxes scale gold and silver, boxes toilette, ribbons and embroidered, hat et cap, from Ladies of the newest Taste, China, all sorts, etc. He commit generally the articles from Paris, Manufacturers. And send in all BRITISH CITY. Attandance from Nine o'clock in the Morning till five in the Afternoon. NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. Mean Temperature. . .39 70. February 2. Purification, or Candlemas. 1826.—Holiday at the Public Offices. This day, the festival of "the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary," is sometimes called Christ's Presentation, the Holiday of St. Simeon, and The Wives' Feast. An account of its origin and celebration is in vol. i. p. 199. A beautiful composition in honour of the Virgin is added as a grace to these columns. Portuguese Hymn. TO THE VIRGIN MARY. By John Leyden. Star of the wide and pathless sea, We hang within thy holy shrine. We called no other name but thine, Star of the vast and howling main, When dark and lone is all the sky, Star of the dark and stormy sea, Bright rising o'er the hoary wave. The surging seas recede to pave Star of the desert waters wild, Who pitying hears the seaman's cry, On that chaste bosom loves to lie; Star of the deep! at that blest name That made the deep's foundations reel: Ave Maris Stella! Star of the mild and placid seas, Whom rainbow rays of mercy crown, Whose name thy faithful Portuguese O'er all that to the depths go down, Star of the deep! when angel lyres To mingle in the mighty lay! On Candlemas-day, 1734, there was à grand entertainment for the judges, setgeants, &c. in the Temple-hall. The lord chancellor, the earl of Macclesfield, the bishop of Bangor, together with other distinguished persons, were present, and the prince of Wales attended incog. At night the comedy of "Love for Love" was acted by the company of his Majesty's revels from the Haymarket theatre, who received a present of 50%. from the societies of the Temple. The judges, ac cording to an ancient custom, danced "round the coal fire," singing an old French song.* THE COAL AND THE DIAMOND. A coal was hid beneath the grate, "Twas small, and so, perhaps, forgotten; Whilst in the room, and near in size, In a fine casket lined with cotton, In pomp and state, a diamond lies. "So, little gentleman in black," The brilliant spark in anger cried, "I hear, in philosophic clack, Our families are close allied; But know, the splendour of my hue, Should teach such little folks as you * Gentleman's Magazine. |