Chapter LXI: Conclusion (4)

_For the Every-Day Book._

A Model Lottery is drawn on the 30th of November, at Mr. Oldershaw’s office, Lower-street, Islington. Several capital prizes are made, the principal of which is Fonthill Abbey, valued at 5_l._ There are others less valuable, Islington church, Cannonbury Tower, the Queen’s Head, Sir William Curtis’s villa, at Southgate,--the house in which Garrick was born,--many Italian buildings, and a variety to the number of 500. Each adventurer, by paying three shillings, draws a share which is equal, in the worst chance, to the deposit. The scheme is contrived by an ingenious artist and his wife, whose names are Golding. Previously to the drawing-day, three days are allowed for friendly inspection. It is laudable to see this Model Lottery patronised by the most respectable ladies and gentlemen in the vicinity where it takes place. This is the second year of its existence.

P.S. For Bradenstock, p. 1371, read Bradenstoke; and for Brinkworth, p. 1373, read Bremhill. Dr. Allsop, of Calne, was the gentleman who cut out the “White Horse at Cheverill,” at which place and time a revel was most merrily kept.

J. R. P.

CORRECTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

_For the Every-Day Book_.

Your correspondent in his account of “Clack Fall Fair,” p. 1371, has fallen into a few mistakes.

Bradenstoke was not an _abbey_, but a _priory_.

He might have inquired some further particulars of the Golden Image, said to have been found. In whose possession it now is? It is believed the circumstance, if true, is not generally known in the neighbourhood. _Query_, the name of the Carpenter?

The idea of a subterraneous passage from Bradenstoke Priory to Malmsbury Abbey, a distance of eight or ten miles, intersected by a deep valley, through which the Avon meanders, is absurd, and can only be conceived as one of the wild traditions derived from monkish times.

Can your correspondent furnish further particulars of the horrible story of the boy murdered by his schoolmaster, when and whom?

His account of “Joe Ody’s” exploits may be very correct. He is well remembered by the elder peasantry.

It is presumed, your correspondent meant to say, that the song was attributed to _Bowles_ of _Bremhill_, not _Brinkworth_. The Rev. W. L. Bowles is rector, or vicar, of Bremhill, about five or six miles from Clack Brinkworth, about the same distance in the opposite direction.

Your correspondent might have noticed the mound called _Clack Mount_. Perhaps he will favour you with further recollections of the localities of Clack, and its vicinity.

The remains of a _may-pole_ are visible at Clack; but the pole itself is believed not to be remembered by any person now living, or, if remembered, by very old persons only.

A READER.

While I have a home, and can do as I will,
December may rage over ocean and hill,
And batter my door--as he does once a year--
I laugh at his storming, and give him good cheer.
Derry down, &c.

I’ve a trencher and cup, and something to ask
A friend to sit down to--and then a good flask:
The best of all methods, to make Winter smile,
Is living as I do--in old English style.
Derry down, &c.

Now--whoever regards a comfortable fire, in an old-fashioned cottage, as a pleasant sight, will be pleased by this sketch, as a cheerful illustration of the dreary season; nor may it be deemed too intrusive, perhaps, to mention, that the artist who drew and engraved it, is Mr. SAMUEL WILLIAMS.

In this, the last, month of the year “the beautiful Spring is almost forgotten in the anticipation of that which is to come. The bright Summer is no more thought of, than is the glow of the morning sunshine at night-fall. The rich Autumn only just lingers on the memory, as the last red rays of its evenings do when they have but just quitted the eye. And Winter is once more closing its cloud-canopy over all things, and breathing forth that sleep-compelling breath which is to wrap all in a temporary oblivion, no less essential to their healthful existence than is the active vitality which it for a while supersedes.” Yet among the general appearances of nature there are still many lively spots and cheering aspects. “The furze flings out its bright yellow flowers upon the otherwise bare common, like little gleams of sunshine; and the moles ply their mischievous night-work in the dry meadows; and the green plover ‘whistles o’er the lea;’ and the snipes haunt the marshy grounds; and the wagtails twinkle about near the spring-heads; and the larks get together in companies, and talk to each other, instead of singing to themselves; and the thrush occasionally puts forth a plaintive note, as if half afraid of the sound of his own voice; and the hedge-sparrow and titmouse try to sing; and the robin does sing still, even more delightfully than he has done during all the rest of the year, because it now seems as if he sang for us rather than for himself--or rather to us, for it is still for his supper that he sings, and therefore for himself.”[519]

* * * * *

The “Poetical Calendar” offers a little poem with some lines descriptive of the month, which are pleasant to read within doors, while “rude Boreas” is blustering without:--

DECEMBER.

Last of the months, severest of them all,
Woe to the regions where thy terrors fall!
For lo! the fiery horses of the sun
Thro’ the twelve signs their rapid course have run,
Time, like a serpent, bites his forked tail,
And Winter on a goat bestrides the gale;
Rough blows the north wind near Arcturus’ star,
And sweeps, unrein’d, across the polar bar,
On the world’s confines where the sea bears prowl,
And Greenland whales, like moving islands, roll:
There, on a sledge, the rein-deer drives the swain
To meet his mistress on the frost-bound plain.
Have mercy, Winter!--for we own thy power,
Thy flooding deluge, and thy drenching shower;
Yes--we acknowledge what thy prowess can,
But oh! have pity on the toil of man!
And, tho’ the floods thy adamantine chain
Submissive wear--yet spare the treasur’d grain:
The peasants to thy mercy now resign
The infant seed--their hope, and future mine.
Not always Phœbus bends his vengeful bow,
Oft in mid winter placid breezes blow;
Oft tinctur’d with the bluest transmarine
The fretted canopy of heaven is seen;
Girded with argent lamps, the full-orb’d moon
In mild December emulates the noon;
Tho’ short the respite, if the sapphire blue
Stain the bright lustre with an inky hue;
Then a black wreck of clouds is seen to fly,
In broken shatters, thro’ the frighted sky:
But if fleet Eurus scour the vaulted plain,
Then all the stars propitious shine again.

[519] Mirror of the Months.

~December 1.~

OBESITY.

Mr. Edward Bright, of Maldon, in the county of Essex, who died at twenty-nine years of age, was an eminent shopkeeper of that town, and supposed to be, at that time, the largest man living, or that had ever lived in this island. He weighed six hundred, one quarter, and twenty-one pounds; and stood about five feet nine inches high; his body was of an astonishing bulk, and his legs were as large as a middling man’s body. Though of so great a weight and bulk, he was surprisingly active.

After Bright’s death, a wager was proposed between Mr. Codd and Mr. Hants, of Maldon, that five men at the age of twenty-one, then resident there, could not be buttoned within his waistcoat without breaking a stitch or straining a button. On the 1st of December, 1750, the wager was decided at the house of the widow Day, the Black Bull in Maldon, when five men and two more were buttoned within the waistcoat of the great personage deceased. There is a half-sheet print, published at the time, representing the buttoning up of the seven persons, with an inscription beneath, to the above effect.

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 41·10.

~December 2.~

WINTER.

Winter may be now considered as having set in; and we have often violent winds about this time, which sweep off the few remaining leaves from the trees, and, with the exception of a few oaks and beeches, leave the woods and forests nothing but a naked assemblage of bare boughs. December, thus robbing the woods of their leafy honours, is alluded to by Horace, in his Epod. xi.:--

Hic tertius December, ex quo destiti
Inachiâ furere,
Sylvis honorem decutit.

Picture to yourself, gentle reader, one of these blustering nights, when a tremendous gale from south-west, with rattling rain, threatens almost the demolition of every thing in its way: but add to the scene the inside of a snug and secure cottage in the country,--the day closed, the fire made up and blazing, the curtains drawn over a barricadoing of window-shutters which defy the penetration of Æolus and all his excarcerated host; the table set for tea, and the hissing urn or the kettle scarce heard among the fierce whistling, howling, and roaring, produced alternately or together, by almost every species of sound that wind can produce, in the chimneys and door crannies of the house. There is a feeling of comfort, and a sensibility to the blessings of a good roof over one’s head, and a warm and comfortable hearth, while all is tempest without, that produces a peculiar but real source of pleasure. A cheerful but quiet party adds, in no small degree, to this pleasure. Two or three intelligent friends sitting up over a good fire to a late hour, and interchanging their thoughts on a thousand subjects of mystery,--the stories of ghosts--and the tales of olden times,--may perhaps beguile the hours of such a stormy night like this, with more satisfaction than they could a midsummer evening under the shade of trees in a garden of roses and lilies. And then, when we retire to bed in a room with thick, woollen curtains closely drawn, and a fire in the room, how sweet a lullaby is the piping of the gale down the flues, and the peppering of the rain on the tiles and windows; while we are now and then rocked in the house as if in a cradle![520]

_For the Every-Day Book._

DECEMBER MUSINGS.

SONNET STANZAS.

Ανεμων πνεοντων την ηχω προσκυνει.

PYTHAGORAS

_Quam juvat immites ventos audire cubantem--
Aut, gelidas hybernus aquas cum fuderit auster,
Securem somnos, imbre juvante, sequi!_

TIBULLUS.

I love to hear the high winds pipe aloud,
When ’gainst the leafy nations up in arms;
Now screaming in their rage, now shouting, proud--
Then moaning, as in pain at war’s alarms:
Then softly sobbing to unquiet rest,
Then wildly, harshly, breaking forth again
As if in scorn at having been represt,
With marching sweep careering o’er the plain
And, oh! I love to hear the gusty shower
Against my humble casement, pattering fast,
While shakes the portal of my quiet bower;
For then I envy not the noble’s tower,
Nor, while my cot thus braves the storm and blast,
Wish I the tumult of the heavens past.
Yet wherefore joy I in the loud uproar
Does still life cloy? has peace no charms for me?
Pleases calm nook and ancient home no more,
But do I long for wild variety?
Ah! no;--the noise of elements at jar,
That bids the slumbers of the worldling close,
Lone nature’s child does not thy visions mar,
It does but soothe thee to more sure repose!
I sigh not for variety nor power,
My cot, like castled hall, can brave the storm;
Therefore I joy to list the sweepy shower,
And piping winds, at home, secure and warm:
While soft to heaven my orisons are sent,
In grateful thanks for its best boon, CONTENT!

W. T. M.[521]

THE SEASON.

The gloominess of the weather, and its frequently fatal influence on the mind, suggest the expediency of inserting the following:--

DISSUASIONS FROM DESPONDENCY.

1. If you are distressed in mind, _live_; serenity and joy may yet
dawn upon your soul.

2. If you have been contented and cheerful, _live_; and generally
diffuse that happiness to others.

3. If misfortunes have befallen you by your own misconduct, _live_;
and be wiser for the future.

4. If things have befallen you by the faults of others, _live_; you
have nothing wherewith to reproach yourself.

5. If you are indigent and helpless, _live_; the face of things may
agreeably change.

6. If your are rich and prosperous, _live_; and enjoy what you
possess.

7. If another hath injured you, _live_; his own crime will be his
punishment.

8. If you have injured another, _live_; and recompence it by your good
offices.

9. If your character be attacked unjustly, _live_; time will remove
the aspersion.

10. If the reproaches are well founded, _live_; and deserve them not
for the future.

11. If you are already eminent and applauded, _live_; and preserve the
honours you have acquired.

12. If your success is not equal to your merit, _live_; in the
consciousness of having deserved it.

13. If your success hath exceeded your merit, _live_; and arrogate not
too much to yourself.

14. If you have been negligent and useless to society, _live_; and
make amends by your future conduct.

15. If you have been active and industrious, _live_; and communicate
your improvements to others.

16. If you have spiteful enemies, _live_; and disappoint their
malevolence.

17. If you have kind and faithful friends, _live_; to protect them.

18. If hitherto you have been impious and wicked, _live_; and repent
of your sins.

19. If you have been wise and virtuous, _live_; for the future benefit
of mankind.--And lastly,

20. If you hope for immortality, _live_; and prepare to enjoy it.

These “DISSUASIONS” are ascribed to the pen of a popular and amiable poet.

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 40·17.

[520] Perennial Calendar, Dec. 2.

[521] These stanzas are very little more than an amplification of the
well known lines of Lucretius,

_Suave mari magno turbantibus æquora ventis,
E terrâ magnum alterius spectare laborem._

Cicero has expressed the same sentiment in his “De Natura;” see also
lord Bacon and Rochefoucau amongst the moderns.

W. T. M

~December 3.~

1826. Advent Sunday.

CHRONOLOGY.

On the 3rd of December, 1729, died at Paris, John Hardouin, a learned Jesuit, especially celebrated for his condemnation of the writings of almost all the Greek and Latin authors as forgeries in the middle ages. He supposed that all history, philosophy, science, and even divinity, before the middle of the XIVth century, had been forged in the abbies of Germany, France, and Italy, by a set of monks, who availed themselves of the taking of Constantinople by the French in 1203, its recovery by the Greeks 1261, and the expedition of St. Louis to the Holy Land, to make the world believe that the writings of the Greeks and Romans were then first discovered, and brought into the west: whereas they had been compiling them in their cells, and burying them in their libraries, for their successors to draw forth to light. Though he was ably refuted by Le Clerc and other distinguished writers, and recanted his opinions, in consequence of the superiors of his church proscribing his works, yet he repeated these absurd notions in subsequent publications.[522]

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 40·62.

[522] Gentleman’s Magazine.

~December 4.~

THE WALKING POST.

In December, 1808, was living William Brockbank, whose daily pedestrian achievements occasioned public notice of him to the following effect. He was the Walking Post from Manchester to Glossop, in Derbyshire, a distance of sixteen miles, which he performed every day, Sundays excepted; returned the same evening, and personally delivered the letters, newspapers, &c. in that populous and commercial country, to all near the road, which made his daily task not less than thirty-five miles, or upwards. What is more extraordinary, he

“This daily coarse of duty _walk’d_”

in less than twelve hours a day, and never varied a quarter of an hour from his usual time of arriving at Glossop.

Brockbank was a native of Millom, in Cumberland, and had daily walked the distance between Whitehaven and Ulverstone, frequently under the necessity of wading the river at Muncaster, by which place he constantly went, which is at least three miles round. Including the different calls he had to make at a short distance from the road, his daily task was not less than forty-seven miles.[523]

THE WEATHER.

Now is the time when, in some parts of England, a person of great note formerly, in every populous place, was accustomed to make frequent nocturnal rambles, and proclaim all tidings which it seemed fitting to him that people should be awakened out of their sleep to harken to. For the use of this personage, “the Bell-man,” there is a book, now almost obsolete as regards its use, with this title explanatory of its purpose,--“The Bell-man’s Treasury, containing above a Hundred several Verses fitted for all Humours and Fancies, and suited to all times and seasons.” London, 1707, 8vo. From the riches of this “treasury,” whence the predecessors of the present parish Bell-man took so much, a little may be extracted for the reader’s information. First then, if the noisy rogue were thereunto moved by a good and valuable consideration, we find, according to the aforesaid work, and the present season, that we ought to be informed, by sound of bell, and public proclamation,

_Upon a Windy Night._

Now ships are tost upon the angry main,
And Boreas boasts his uncontrolled reign:
The strongest winds their breath and vigour prove,
And through the air th’ increasing murmurs shove.
Think, you that sleep secure between the sheets,
What skies your _Bell-man_ tempts, what dangers meets.

Then, again, according to the book of forms, he is instructed to agitate us with the following

_Upon a Star-light Night._

Were I a conjurer, such nights as these
I’d choose to calculate nativities;
For every star to that degree prevails,
One might e’en count, and then turn up their tails.
This night will _Flamstead_, and the _Moorfields’_ fry
Such knowledge gain, they’ll seldom tell a lye.

As an amplification of the common cry of watchmen, may be produced the ancient Bell-man’s.

_Upon a Night of all Weathers._

This night, so different is the changing _weather_,
Boisterous or calm, I cannot tell you whether
’Tis either fair or foul; but, altogether,
Just as to cry a star-light night I study,
Immediately the air grows dark and cloudy:
In short, the temper of the skies, if _any_,
Is _all_, and nature makes a _miscellany_.

MEN IN THE MOON.

A few years ago, professor Gruithausen, of Munich, wrote an essay to show that there are many plain indications of inhabitants in the moon. In answer to certain questions, the “Munich Gazette” communicates some remarkable results, derived from a great number of observations--

1. In what latitude in the moon are there indications of vegetation?

2. How far are there indications of animated beings?

3. Where are the greatest and plainest traces of art on the surface of the moon?

With respect to the first question, it appears from the observations of Schroter and Gruithausen, that the vegetation on the moon’s surface extends to fifty-five south latitude, and sixty-five north latitude. Many hundred observations show, in the different colours and monthly changes, three kinds of phenomena which cannot possibly be explained, except by the process of vegetation.

To the second question it is answered, that the indications from which the existence of living beings is inferred, are found from fifty north latitude, to thirty-seven, and perhaps forty-seven, south latitude.

The answer to the third question, points out the places on the moon’s surface in which are appearances of artificial causes altering the surface. The author examines the appearances that induce him to infer that there are artificial roads in various directions; and he describes a colossal edifice, resembling our cities, on the most fertile part near the moon’s equator, standing accurately according to the four cardinal points. The main cities are in angles of forty-five degrees and ninety degrees. A building resembling what is called a star-redoubt, the professor presumes to be dedicated to religious purposes, and as they can see no stars in the daytime (their atmosphere being so pure) he thinks that they worship the stars, and consider the earth as a natural clock. His essay is accompanied by plates.

* * * * *

The sombre sadness of the evening shades
Steal slowly o’er the wild sequester’d glen,
And seem to make its loneliness more lonely--
In ages past, nature was here convuls’d,
And, with a sudden and terrific crash,
Asunder rent the adamantine hills--
Now, as exhausted with the pond’rous work,
She lies extended in a deathful trance--
The mountains form her couch magnificent;
Heaven’s glittering arch her canopy;
The snows made paler by the rising moon,
Her gorgeous winding sheet; and the dark rocks
That cast deep shadows on the expanse below,
The sable ’scutcheon of the mighty dead--
The roar of waters, and the north wind’s moan
Give music meet for her funereal dirge.

Yon giant crag, the offspring of her throes,
Has rear’d his towering bulk a thousand years,
Grown hoary in the war of elements,
And still defies the thunder, and the storm
But in his summer pride, his stately form
Is mantled o’er with purple, green, and gold,
And his huge head is garlanded with flowers.

PENNY LOTTERIES AT BROUGH, WESTMORELAND.

About this time, when gardens look in a dormant state, there are frequently Penny Lotteries in the north of England; and very often a whole garden is purchased for one penny. There are sometimes twenty tickets or more, as the case may be, all written on them “blank,” save “_the prize_.” These are put into a hat, and a boy stands on a form or chair holding the hat on his head, while those who have bought a ticket ascend the form alternately, “one by one,” and, shutting their eyes, take a ticket, which is opened by a boy who is at the bottom for that purpose. The tickets are only a penny each, and sometimes a garden (worth a few shillings) or whatever the sale may be, is bought for so trifling a sum.

W. H. H.

* * * * *

_For the Every-Day Book._

SONNET TO WINTER.

WINTER! though all thy hours are drear and chill,
Yet hast thou one that welcome is to me
Ah! ’tis when daylight fades, and noise ’gins still,
And we afar can faintly darkness see;[524]
When, as it seems too soon to shut out day
And thought, with the intrusive taper’s ray,
We trim the fire, the half-read book resign,
And in our easy chairs at ease recline,
Gaze on the deepening sky, in thoughtful fit
Clinging to light, as loath to part with it
Then, half asleep, life seems to us a dream,--
And magic, all the antic shapes, that gleam
Upon the walls, by the fire’s flickerings made;
And, oft we start, surpris’d but not dismay’d.
Ah! when life fades, and death’s dark hour draws near,
May we as timely muse, and be as void of fear!

W. T. M.

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 39·90.

[523] Sporting Magazine.

[524] Darkness visible.--_Milton._

~December 5.~

ST. NICHOLAS’ EVE.

The versifier of ancient customs, Naogeorgus, relates through the English of his translator, Barnaby Googe, a curious practice on the vigil of this festival:--

Saint Nicholas money usde to give to maydens secretlie,
Who, that he still may use his woonted liberalitie,
The mothers all their children on the Eeve doe cause to fast,
And when they every one at night in senselesse sleepe are cast,
Both Apples, Nuttes, and Peares they bring, and other things beside,
As caps, and shooes, and petticotes, which secretly they hide,
And in the morning found, they say, that this saint Nicholas
brought:
Thus tender mindes to worship saints and wicked things are taught.

A festival or ceremony called Zopata, from a Spanish word signifying a shoe, prevails in Italy in the courts of certain princes on St. Nicholas’ day. Persons hide presents in the shoes and slippers of those they do honour to, in such manner as may surprise them on the morrow when they come to dress. This is said to be done in imitation of the practice of St. Nicholas, who used in the night time to throw purses in at the windows of poor maids, for their marriage portions.[525]

Mr. Brady says, that “St. Nicholas was likewise venerated as the protector of virgins; and that there are, or were until lately, numerous fantastical customs observed in Italy and various parts of France, in reference to that peculiar tutelary patronage. In several convents it was customary, on the eve of St. Nicholas, for the _boarder_ to place each a silk stocking at the door of the apartment of the abbess, with a piece of paper enclosed, recommending themselves to ‘_great St. Nicholas of her chamber_:’ and the next day they were called together to witness the saint’s attention, who never failed to fill the stockings with sweetmeats, and other trifles of that kind, with which these credulous virgins made a general feast.”[526]

PIG-ALLS.

A correspondent remarks, that it is now customary for boys to take their pigs by the hedgeways in the country to feed upon the ‘haws,’ which in the west are called _pegalls_, or _pigalls_. The boys go foremost with long poles, and beat the hedges, while the swine, after hearing where they fall, work most industriously for their provender till dusk, when they are driven home till daylight.

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 40·70.

[525] Brand.

[526] Brady’s Clavis Calendaria.

~December 6.~

ST. NICHOLAS.

_To the Editor of the Every-Day Book._

Sir,--In your fiftieth number, p. 1566, under the head

“St. Nicholas in Russia,”

you give a very correct account of the festivities which usually enliven the 5th December in _Holland_, but not a word of _Russia_. It appears you have mistaken the situation of Leeuwarden, which is not a Russian, but a Dutch town. Friesland was one of the Seven United Provinces. Perhaps you may think it worth while to correct this error.

N. N.

_December 18, 1825._

* * * * *

“At the Est ende of the Chirche of Bethlem ys a cave in the grounde wher sumtyme stod a Chirche of Seynt Nicholas. In the same cave entred ower blyssid lady with hyr Sone, and hyd hyr for ffer of Kyng Herrod. The gronde ys good for Norces that lake mylk for ther Childern.”[527]

* * * * *

On the 6th of December 1826 _The Times_ newspaper contained the subjoined article:--

_M. BOCHSA._

The following is an extract from the _French Moniteur_ of Thursday, February 19, 1818:--

COURT OF ASSIZE AT PARIS.

SITTING OF FEB. 17.

CASE OF THE COMPOSER BOCHSA.

The Court condemned, in contumacy, Nicholas Bochsa, composer of music and harp-player, whose disappearance about a year ago, it will be recollected, made so scandalous a noise. He was accused--

1. Of having, on the 26th of last September, committed the crime of private forgery, by counterfeiting, or causing to be counterfeited, a bond for four thousand francs, and by signing it with the forged signatures, Berton, Mehul, Nicolo, and Boyeldieu.

2. Of having, on the 13th of October, 1816, committed a private forgery, by counterfeiting a resolution and receipt of the committee of the shareholders of the theatre Feydeau, and by signing them with the forged signature Rezicourt.

3. Of having, on the 20th of January, 1817, committed a private forgery, by counterfeiting a resolution of the shareholders of the theatre Feydeau, with the same forged signature.

4. Of having, on the 1st of March, 1817, committed a commercial forgery, by fabricating a bill of exchange for 16,500 francs, and signing it with the forged signatures, Despermont, Perregaux, Lafitte and Company, and Berton.

5. Of having, on the 9th of March, 1817, committed a private forgery, by counterfeiting an invoice of musical instruments, and a bond for 14,000 francs, and signing them with the forged signature of Pozzo di Borgo.

6. Of having, on the 11th of March, 1817, committed the crime of private forgery, by fabricating three bonds for different sums, and signing them with the forged signatures, Count Chabrol, and Finquerlin.

7. Of having, on the 11th of March, 1817, committed a private forgery, by fabricating two bonds, one for 10,000 francs, the other for 5,000 francs, upon the funds of the English legation, and by signing them with the forged signatures, Stuart, Amaury, and Wells.

8. Of having knowingly made use of all these forged documents.

Besides these forgeries, Bochsa appears to have fabricated many others, particularly bonds bearing the forged signatures of M. le Comte De Cazes, and of Lord Wellington.

The Court pronounced him guilty of all these private and commercial forgeries, and condemned him to twelve years of forced labour, to be branded with the letters T. F., to be fined 4,000 francs, &c.

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 41·10.

THE BOY BISHOP.

In addition to the particulars respecting the institution of a child to “the office and work of a bishop,” in the Romish church, on St. Nicholas’s day, the following is extracted from the English annals.--“The Boy bishop, or St. Nicholas, was commonly one of the choristers, and therefore in the old offices was called _Episcopus Choristarum, Bishop of the Choristers_, and was chosen by the rest to this honour. But afterward there were many St. Nicholases: and every parish, almost, had its St. Nicholas. And from this St. Nicolas’s day to Innocents’ day at night, this boy bore the name of a bishop, and the state and habit too, wearing the mitre and the pastoral staff, and the rest of the pontifical attire; nay, and reading the holy offices. While he went his procession, he was much feasted and treated by the people, as it seems, much valuing his blessing; which made the people so fond of keeping this holyday.”[528]

It appears from the register of the capitulary acts of York cathedral, that the Boy Bishop there was to be handsome and elegantly shaped.[529]

He lived longer than men who were stronger,
And was too old to live any longer.

On the 6th of December, 1670, died Henry Jenkins, aged one hundred and sixty-nine years.

Jenkins was born at Bolton-upon-Swale in 1500, and followed the employment of fishing for one hundred and forty years. When about eleven or twelve years old, he was sent to Northallerton, with a horse-load of arrows for the battle of Flodden-field, with which a bigger boy (all the men being employed at harvest) went forward to the army under the earl of Surrey; king Henry VIII. being at Tournay. When he was more than a hundred years old, he used to swim across the river with the greatest ease, and without catching cold. Being summoned to a tithe cause at York, in 1667, between the vicar of Catterick and William and Peter Mawbank, he deposed, that the tithes of wool, lamb, &c. were the vicar’s, and had been paid, to his knowledge, one hundred and twenty years and more. And in another cause, between Mr. Hawes and Mr. Wastel of Ellerton, he gave evidence to one hundred and twenty years. Being born before parish registers were kept, which did not come into use till the thirtieth of Henry VIII., one of the judges asked him what memorable battle or event had happened in his memory; to which he answered, “that when the battle of Flodden-field was fought, where the Scots were beat, with the death of their king, he was turned of twelve years of age.” Being asked how he lived, he said, “by thatching and salmon fishing;” that when he was served with a subpœna, he was thatching a house, and would dub a hook with any man in Yorkshire; that he had been butler to lord Conyers, of Hornby-castle, and that Marmaduke Brodelay, lord abbot of Fountains, did frequently visit his lord, and drink a hearty glass with him; that his lord often sent him to inquire how the abbot did, who always sent for him to his lodgings, and, after ceremonies, as he called it, passed, ordered him, besides wassel, a quarter of a yard of roast-beef for his dinner, (for that monasteries did deliver their guests meat by measure,) and a great black jack of strong drink. Being further asked, if he remembered the dissolution of religious houses, he said, “Very well; and that he was between thirty and forty years of age when the order came to dissolve those in Yorkshire; that great lamentation was made, and the country all in a tumult, when the monks were turned out.”

In the same parish with Jenkins, there were four or five persons reputed a century old, who all said he was an elderly man ever since they knew him. Jenkins had sworn in Chancery and other courts to above a hundred and forty years’ memory. In the king’s remembrancer’s office, in the exchequer, is a record of a deposition taken, 1665, at Kettering, in Yorkshire, in a cause “Clark and Smirkson,” wherein Henry Jenkins, of Ellerton-upon-Swale, labourer, aged 157 years, was produced and sworn as a witness. His diet was coarse and sour; towards the latter end of his days he begged up and down.

Born when the Roman catholic religion was established, Jenkins saw the supremacy of the pope overturned; the dissolution of monasteries, popery re-established, and at last the protestant religion securely fixed on a rock of adamant. In his time the invincible armada was destroyed; the republic of Holland was formed; three queens were beheaded, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Mary queen of Scots; a king of Spain was seated upon the throne of England; a king of Scotland was crowned king of England at Westminster, and his son and successor was beheaded before his own palace; lastly, the great fire in London happened in 1666, at the latter end of his wonderfully long life.

Jenkins could neither read nor write. He died at Ellerton-upon-Swale, and was buried in Bolton church-yard, near Catterick and Richmond, in Yorkshire, where a small pillar was erected to his memory, and this epitaph, composed by Dr. Thomas Chapman, master of Magdalen-college, Cambridge, from 1746 to 1760, engraven upon a monument in Bolton church.

INSCRIPTION.

Blush not, MARBLE!
To rescue from oblivion
The Memory of
HENRY JENKINS;
A person obscure in birth,
But of a life truly memorable:
For,
He was enriched
With the goods of Nature
If not of Fortune;
And happy
In the duration,
If not variety,
Of his enjoyments:
And, tho’ the partial world
Despised and disregarded
His low and humble state,
The equal eye of Providence
Beheld and blessed it,
With a patriarch’s health, and length of
days:
To teach mistaken man,
These blessings
Were intail’d on temperance,
A life of labour, and a mind at ease.
He liv’d to the amazing age of
169,
Was interr’d here _December_ 6th,
1670;
And had this justice done to his memory
1743.[530]

There is a large half sheet portrait of Henry Jenkins, etched by Worlidge, (after an original painting by Walker,) from whence the present engraving is copied, and there is a mezzotinto of him after the same etching.

[527] From the MS. Diary of sir Richard Torkington, quoted in Mr.
Fosbroke’s “British Monachism,” 51, from the “Gentleman’s Magazine”
1812.

[528] Strype’s “Memorials.”

[529] Brand.

[530] Gentleman’s Magazine, 1814. Inscription beneath Worlidge’s
print.

~December 7.~

OLD SIGHTS OF LONDON.

In December, 1751, the following “Uncommon Natural Curiosities” were exhibited in London.

1. A _Dwarf_, from Glamorganshire, in his fifteenth year, two feet six inches high, weighing only twelve pounds, yet very proportionable.

2. _John Coan_, a Norfolk dwarf, aged twenty-three; he weighed, with all his clothes, but thirty-four pounds, and his height, with his hat, shoes, and wig on, was but thirty-eight inches; his body was perfectly straight, he was of a good complexion, and sprightly temper, sung tolerably, and mimicked a cock’s crowing very exactly. A child three years eight months old, of an ordinary size, with his clothes on, weighed thirty-six pounds, and his height, without any thing on his head, was thirty-seven inches seven-tenths, which on comparison gives an idea of the smallness of this dwarf.

3. A _Negro_, who by a most extraordinary and singular dilatation and contraction of the deltoid and biceps muscles of the arm, those of the back, &c., clasped his hands full together, threw them over his head and back, and brought them in that position under his feet. This he repeated, backwards or forwards, as often as the spectators desired, with the greatest facility.

4. A _Female Rhinoceros_, or true Unicorn, a beast of upwards of eight thousand pounds weight, in a natural coat of mail or armour, having a large horn on her nose, three hoofs on each foot, and a hide stuck thick with scales pistol proof, and so surprisingly folded as not to hinder its motion.

5. A _Crocodile_, _alive_, taken on the banks of the Nile in Egypt, a creature _never seen before alive in England_.[531]

This is a verbatim account of these sights published at the time; the prices of admission are not mentioned, but they were deemed worthy of notice as remarkable exhibitions at the period. In the present day the whole of them would scarcely make more than a twopenny show; and, at that low rate, without a captivating showman, they would scarcely attract. London streets are now literally “strewed with rarities,” and “uncommon things,” at which our forefathers stared with wonder, are most common.

A PARTICULAR ARTICLE.

“A READER,” at p. 1584, should have had “Lyneham, Wilts,” as the place of his residence, attached to his remarks on an account of “Clack Fall Fair,” at p. 1371, which was supplied by “an old correspondent,” with whose name and address the editor is acquainted, and whose subjoined communication claims regard. He writes in explanation, and adds some very pleasant particulars.

CLACK FALL FAIR.

_To the Editor of the Every-Day Book._

Dear Sir,--I cannot allow your pages to close without replying to the “Corrections and Illustrations,” p. 1584, made by “A Reader” respecting “Clack and its vicinity.”

_First._ I observe that Bradenstoke priory is usually called the “Abbey,” in the neighbourhood,--not the “Priory.” There is a tree growing upon the tower, and a legend respecting it. I was once taken up to see it blossom, having slept in the room under it with my schoolfellow, John Bridges, whose mother, at that time a widow, kept the farm, and a most excellent woman she was.

_Secondly._ I should have considered the stating, “that a carpenter, while digging, struck his spade against an image of gold, and has it in his possession,” was sufficient, without further inquiry or remark. I repeat the fact for a truth. I _know_ the _man_, and have _seen_ the IMAGE. As an antiquary myself, I assure you, sir, I could fain dig for similar hidden treasures in the hope of like reward. The person who owns the image is not needy, he therefore would not part with his weight of gold for more sovereign current weight.

_Thirdly._ When young, I descended several feet into the “subterraneous passage” referred to by your “Reader.” Though I am willing to admit the possibility of monkish imposition--such a passage has, however, been believed to have existed by the oldest people of Clack. Similarly, it is conjectured, that a passage once ran from Canonbury-tower, Islington, to the palace Kensington. Your “Reader” is rather too sceptical to challenge me to a proof, which I take only in a topographical sense. Of whatever effect tradition may be, much historical truth is notwithstanding embodied in it: furthermore, it is well known, that subterraneous passages led from place to place, when castle building was in vogue.

_Fourthly._ The oldest man living in Seagry, at the time I was shown the stone in Malmsbury abbey, whose name was Carey, was the occasion of my going to that place to see the stone: I paid sixpence to the person who gave me a view of it. He represented it to have been done by “Geoffry Miles”--the boy was a choirister: this is his information, not mine. The impression ever after guarded my conduct in school.

_Fifthly._ As to “Joe Ody,” your “Reader’s” own words prove the truth of what I have said of him, and the “_may be correct_” is not called for. The lord chancellor could not have been more doubtful than your anonymous “Reader,” as to my information and communication. Some of the Ody family are now residing in Camberwell, whither your “Reader” may resort, should he be desirous of learning more of Joe’s merry-andrewism, who was no mean disciple of the rev. Andrew, his patron.

_Sixthly._ Your “Reader’s” hit at “Bowles” is corrected by me at the page in which his reference stands. Would that the “Bowles’ controversy” with Byron and Roscoe, respecting Pope, had been as easily terminated, and with as little acrimony and as much satisfaction!

_Seventhly._ The room I have already occupied in this paper prevents my stating much concerning “Clack Mount;”--this mount is, however, remarkable for two things,--the resort of bonfire makers, November 5, and the club at Whitsuntide. At the time of the _ox-roasting_ many years since, in peaceful-ending times and rejoicing, this “mount” was a scene of delight and festivity. A band of music resorted thither, a line was formed as on club-day, beer was given round, and the collected people of both sexes, young and old, joined in the hilarious jubilee; after which the band, graced by every pretty girl, paraded to the priory, and played there in the best room. Its furniture, I remember, looked clubbed, dark, and glossy; it seemed, to me, a pity to tread on the shining floor, it was so antiquely neat and sacred. Given to kissing, when very young, I shall never forget touching the rosy cheeks of Miss Polly Bridges behind the awful door of the sacristy, at which theft I was caught by her laughing mother;--I beg to apologise to your “Reader,” sir, for this (digression) _confession_, but as my ancestors came from the priory, and _Christmas_ being near, I trust he will _pardon_ me, as Polly’s mother gave me _absolution_. On this ox-roasting occasion, Clack seemed really rising out of the stones. Dancing, music, holyday, and mirth, pervaded every house; and, very unusual, every poor person that brought a plate for the portion of slices of sheep, roasted opposite at baker Hendon’s, pretended to have _more_ children than there were at home; some families imposed on the cook by two and three applications.--Who does not recollect the ox and sheep roasting? I can hardly resist a description of the many scenes I witnessed several days successively in the various villages--of the many happy hearts, and their intimate enjoyments. I could almost follow the example of “Elia” himself, and at once be jocose, classical, and fastidious. But mercy on your readers’ patience denies me the pleasure.

Therefore, _Lastly_, “The Maypole.” It was standing, fifteen feet high, thirty-six years ago. The higher part was cut off at the request of Madam Heath, before whose house, and the Trooper, it stood. I once myself saw the “morris-dance” round it, when cowslips, oxlips, and other flowers were suspended up and down it: nails were driven round the lower part to prevent a further incision. Unfortunately for the writer, the land which lies from “Clack to Barry-end,” a distance less than two miles, once belonged to my forefathers. Maud Heath, who caused a _causeway_ to be made and kept in order to this day, from Callaway’s-bridge to Chippenham, was one of my collaterals.

Thanking you, sir, for your indulgence, and a “Reader” for his giving me an opportunity of illustrating his positions,

I am,

truly yours,

AN OLD CORRESPONDENT.

_Dec. 11, 1826._

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 38·82.

[531] Gentleman’s Magazine.

~December 8.~

CONCEPTION B. V. M.

This day is so marked in the church of England calendar and almanacs. It is the Romish festival of “_The Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin_,” whom that church states to have been conceived and born without original sin. A doctrine whereon more has been written, perhaps, than any other point of ecclesiastical controversy. One author, Peter D’Alva, has published forty-eight folios on the mysteries of the Conception.

The immaculate conception and happy nativity of the Virgin are maintained to have taken place at Loretto, about 150 miles from Rome; and further, that at that particular place, “hallowed by her birth,” she was saluted by the angel Gabriel, and that she there nurtured our Saviour until he was twelve years of age. The popular belief readily yielding to that which power dictated, Loretto became one of the richest places in the world, from the numerous pilgrimages and votive presents made to the “_Sancta Casa_,” or “Holy House,” to enclose which, a magnificent church was erected and dedicated to the Virgin, hence generally styled “our Lady of Loretto.”

Peter the Lombard originally started the mystery of the immaculate conception in the year 1060; though Baronius affirms, that it was “discovered by Revelation” in the year 1109, to one, (but his name is not recorded,) “who was a great lover of the Virgin, and daily read her office.” On the day he was to be married, however, he was “so much occupied,” that this usual piece of devotion escaped his attention until he was in “the nuptial office,” when, suddenly recollecting the omission, he sent his bride and all the company home while he performed it. During this pious duty, the Virgin appeared to him with her son in her arms, and reproached him for his neglect, affording, however, the glorious hope of salvation, if he would “quit his wife and consider himself espoused to her,” declaring to him the whole of the circumstances of her nativity, which he reported to the pope, who naturally caused her feast immediately to be instituted.

The canons of Lyons attempted to establish an office for this mystery in the year 1136, but Bernard opposed it. The council at Oxford, in 1222, left people at liberty either to observe the day or not. Sixtus IV., however, in the year 1476, ordered it to be generally held in commemoration, although the alleged circumstances attendant upon this immaculate conception are not, even in the church of Rome, held as an article of faith, but merely reckoned a “pious opinion.” The council of Trent confirmed the ordinances of Sixtus, but without condemning as heretics those who refused to observe it; and Alexander V. issued his bull, even commanding that there should not be any discussion upon such an intricate subject. The Spaniards, however, were so strenuous in their belief of this mystery, that from the year 1652, the knights of the military orders of St. James of the sword, Calatrava, and Alcantara, each made a vow at their admission to “defend” the doctrine.

In the popish countries, the Virgin is still the principal favourite of devotion, and is addressed by her devotees under the following, from among many other titles, ill suiting with the reformed sentiments of this country.

_Empress of Heaven!_

_Queen of Heaven!_

_Empress of Angels!_

_Queen of Angels!_

_Empress of the Earth!_

_Queen of the Earth!_

_Lady of the Universe!_

_Lady of the World!_

_Mistress of the World!_

_Patroness of the Men!_

_Advocate for Sinners!_

_Mediatrix!_

_Gate of Paradise!_

_Mother of Mercies!_

_Goddess! and_

_The only Hope of Sinners!_

Under the two latter, they implore the Virgin for salvation by the power which, as a mother, she is inferred to possess of “commanding her son!” The legends afford tales in support of the opinion, that she not only possesses, but actually exerts such authorities.--“O Mary,” says St. Bonaventure, “be a man never so wicked and miserable a sinner, you have the soft compassion of a mother for him, and never leave him until you have reconciled him to his judge.” One instance of which peculiar protection of sinners is recorded from father Crassett, who with much solemnity states, that “a soldier, hardened by his occupation, had not only renounced Christ, but given himself up wholly to the devil and the most vicious courses, though, as he did not also renounce the Virgin, he in a time of much necessity fervently prayed for her intercession.” This application, he adds, “was instantly attended to, and the man heard the benevolent mother of our Lord desire her son to have mercy upon him; who, not to refuse his parent, answered, he would do it for her sake, notwithstanding he had himself been wholly forgotten and unnoticed.”

The first who was particularly noticed as introducing this worship of the Virgin, is Peter Gnapheus, bishop of Antioch, in the fifth century, who appointed her name to be called upon in the prayers of the church. It is said that Peter Fullo, a monk of Constantinople, introduced the name of the Virgin Mary in the public prayers about the year 480; but it is certain, she was not generally invoked in public until a long time after that period.[532]

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 38·22.

[532] Mr. Brady’s Clavis Calendaria.

~December 9.~

JEWISH MARRIAGE CEREMONY.

On the 9th of December, 1809, the following cause was tried in the court of King’s-bench, Guildhall, London, before lord Ellenborough and a special jury.

_Holme_ and others v. _Noah_.

Mr. Garrow stated this to be an action upon a bill of exchange for a small sum of money for coals, which the plaintiffs, who were coal-merchants, had furnished to the defendant, who was an ingenious lady, employing herself in drawing pictures. The bill, when due, had not been honoured.

Mr. Park, in defence to the action, maintained, that the defendant was a married woman, and said he held an excellent treatise in his hand, called “_Uxor Hebreiaca_,” from whence he cited in behalf of his client, who was a Jewess, whose husband was alive.

Mr. Philips, reader of the Synagogue of the Jews in Leadenhall-street, proved the marriage to have taken place in the year 1781; he was present at it. The proper priest, now dead, officiated in the usual form and solemnity, and these parties were duly united in lawful marriage, according to the Mosaic form. He was one of the attesting witnesses of the entry of the marriage in the book of the priest.

Mr. Levi proved that he knew the husband and wife; was present at the marriage, he being then only thirteen.

Jos. Abidigore, a teacher of the Hebrew language, read in English the entry in the priest’s book of this marriage; the ceremony was executed by the priest. The entry in English was thus:

“Fourth day of the week, in the second month Neron, in the year 5541 after the creation of the world, according to the reckoning here in London. Henry Noel said to Emily--“Become thou a wife unto me, according to the law of Moses, and I will ever after maintain thee according to the rites of the Jews;” and the priest said, “I heard him account her wife, and she shall bring to him the dowry of her virginity according to the law, and she shall remain and cohabit with him.” To which the lady did consent and become unto him his wife, and she offered him presents consisting of silver and gold, and splendid ornaments of gold, and 100 pieces of fine silver; and the bridegroom accepted these presents of the bride, and brought also 100 pieces of the like gold, ornaments, and fine silver; the whole amounting together to 200 pieces of gold and fine silver; and the bridegroom doth take all the responsibility of the care of all for himself, for his bride, and for their children. And their maintenance to be had out of the property which he doth possess, under this solemn union.”

_Lord Ellenborough._--This marriage being proved to be duly had according to the solemnities of the Mosaic law, the plaintiffs must be called.--_Plaintiffs non-suited._

NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.

Mean Temperature 37·85.

~December 10.~

A WELSH BAPTISM.

_For the Every-Day Book._