JULY.

THIS month received the name of Julius, in memory of Julius Cæsar, who was born on the 12th of July. The sign for it is Leo.

Remarkable Days

In JULY 1829.

2.-VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. THIS festival was instituted by Pope Urban VI, to commemorate the visit of the Virgin Mary to the mother of John the Baptist.

*2. 1820.-CEREMONY OF A NUN TAKING THE

VEIL AT ORVIETO.

We have been present (says the author of Three Years' Residence in Italy) at the ceremony of a nun taking the black veil; but did not see her, or understand a word of what was going on, though we were pleased with the sounds of the nuns' voices proceeding from the place where she now professed to be dead to the world, and lay hidden under that funeral cloth, which, as we were told, is to be her covering when laid on her last bed. The epistle for this day is taken from the fifth Galatians, The world is crucified to me, and I unto the world. The bishop officiated in gold brocaded robes, and a young priest, kneeling before him, supported a large heavy book: the sermon was addressed to the miscredenti; we suppose for our sakes. After the ceremony the usual signal of firing of guns was given; and we went to the convent door to see the newly professed nun. She advanced towards us dressed in black, with a silver crown on her head, attended by two little girls with chaplets of flowers, and with expanded wings made of pasteboard fixed to their shoulders, to represent those ministering spirits who watch around the children of God.

3.-DOG DAYS BEGIN.

By dog days the ancients meant a certain number of days, about forty, some before and some after the heliacal rising of Canicula, or the dog star, in the morning. With us, it simply implies the hottest part of the year, which, in this country, is usually thought to be from July 3d to August 11th.

4. TRANSLATION OF SAINT MARTIN.

This day was appointed to celebrate the removal of St. Martin's bones from a common grave to a splendid tomb. On the translation of relics, see T.T. for 1827, p. 234.

7.-THOMAS A BECKET.

This haughty prelate was born in London, in the year 1119, and was the son of Gilbert, a merchant, and Matilda, a Saracen lady, who is said to have fallen in love with him when he was a prisoner to her father in Jerusalem. The following account of the tomb of Sir William de Tracey, one of the murderers of Thomas à Becket, first appeared in the "Mirror:'

This tomb, unknown to the world, and hidden in obscurity, is situated in the small parish church of Morthoe, on the romantic cliffs of the bay of that name in the north of Devon. The inhabitants of that part of the country, which is rugged and mountainous, are a wild and uncultivated people; and the only tradition they have among themselves concerning the tomb, is, that this Tracey was a monstrous giant in bis day, and was the lord of all the country round. In the parish, situated near the bay of Mort, is a large valley, which is, to this day, called Willacombe Tracey, and an immense estate adjoining is denominated Willacombe, or William's Combe, as the word Combe is very common in Devonshire, and is a name given to every valley. It is also to be observed, that, instead of William de Tracey, they say the giant's name was Willacombe Tracey.

The parish church of Morthoe is very ancient, and the tomb of De Tracey, though it has been very ill-treated, is yet more perfect than might have been expected. There is a thick slab on the top of the vault, surrounded with Saxon letters, nearly all illegible from their being chipped and broken off. A full-length figure of De Tracey himself is engraved on the slab, cut in as if with a chisel, representing him in robes, and holding a cap or chalice in

his hands. All around the vault, are various pieces of sculpture, such as nuns, the crucifixion, &c., together with his arms. About fifty years ago, the curate of the parish and a gentleman who came from London opened the tomb secretly, and took away the skull and principal bones of the body, some of which were very large. The armour, shield, and sword of De Tracey were purloined at the same time. The country around is very mountainous and ro mantic. There are three monasteries in the neighbourhood, all of which are said to have been built by De Tracey to expiate his crime.

*10. 1828.-Public Printing.

The above is the date of a Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons, on printing done for the House. We have introduced this memorial for the purpose of recording the labours of an old and meritorious servant of the public, LUKE HANSARD, Esq., now in his seventy-ninth year. And we do this because we think that the integrity, the skill, and the industry of this eminent printer deserve to be registered in a more permanent volume than a Report printed by order of the House of Commons--which is perused, perhaps, by only a small portion of the members-scarcely seen by the public, and afterwards consigned to the unmerited oblivion of Messrs. Hansards' vast repositories of public do. cuments1. After the many paltry, vexatious, and unprincipled attempts that have been made to rob these gentlemen of their well-earned fame, and to deprive them of the means of supporting themselves and their numerous families by honourable and active exertion, as public servants-we consider it but an act of mere justice to occupy a page or two of our volume with some account of the typographical progress of Mr. Luke Hansard, senior; and to hold

1 There are more than twelve thousand various sets of papers deposited in seven different warehouses; and so deposited, that the destruction of no one warehouse could consume all the copies of any one printed paper. These documents, many of them of the utmost value and importance, are all classed and catalogued, and are supplied, on a very short notice, to members of parliament, whenever they may have occasion for them.

it up to our readers as one of the many instances of that success in life, which never fails to attend those who unite principle with talent and industry, and who, at the commencement of their career, choose for their motto the emphatic sentence-' Probitas verus honos.' The following sketch is extracted from the evidence of JOHN RICKMAN, Esq., clerk-assistant to the House of Commons:

Mr. Hansard has been employed in the service of the House of Commons from the year 1772, and came into the management of the printing business, as a partner of Mr. Hughs, in 1774, so that his experience is now of fifty-four years' standing; and it will be found that his talents have not been suffered to lie dormant for many days during that long period. For half this time, nearly twenty-seven years, I have been the principal channel of communication with him on all occasions which have called for the Speaker's personal attention to this department; and if I have contracted a long habit of esteem for Mr. Hansard's liberal character, and admiration of his industry and acuteness, I trust I shall be able to show that he has not earned my friendship and goodwill too cheaply.

Half a century ago, the printing of the House of Commons was comparatively of small extent, and the types of the printer were oftener employed in the service of booksellers and of authors than at present. Mr. Hansard, early in his career, was employed by Mr. Orme in printing his History of India; and from personally attending that gentleman, and assisting him in the correction of the proofs and revises, he gained a competent knowledge of Indian affairs, which afterwards became highly useful to himself and to the public.

He had, previously, become acquainted with Mr. Burke in carrying through the press for him the early editions of his Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful; so that when Mr. Burke came into public life, and commenced his Indian inquiries at the House of Commons, he was highly pleased to see his humble friend again at hand, and soon found him his most useful assistant in discovering, among the mass of Indian papers (reluctantly furnished to the committee), such as were essential to his purpose, especially the various "Consultations” which developed the secrets of the then policy of our Indian empire. After this, Mr. Burke, of course, employed Mr. Hansard in printing his Essay on the French Revolution; and the large and reiterated impressions were carried through the press with a facility that called forth Mr. Burke's warm commendations.

Dr. Johnson, when in connexion with Mr. Dodsley, preferred Mr. Hansard as his printer, whenever his services could be obtained;

who also carried the original edition of the Hermes through the press, greatly to the satisfaction of Dr. Harris. Mr. Bryant presented Mr. Hansard with a copy of his work, in token of satisfaction in his manner of printing it; and PORSON pronounced him to be the most accurate of Greek printers. Mr. Hansard was, in consequence, employed to print the Port Royal Greek Grammar, Clark's Homer, and a few other works; but the influx of parliamentary business compelled him, in a great measure, to abandon the printing of classical works.

In public employment, Mr. Hansard first attracted Mr. Pitt's notice, when the latter, having drafted in his own hand-writing (which was not remarkably legible) the Report of the Secret Committee on the French Revolution, sent for the printer, and stated to him the pressure of the occasion, doubting, however, the possibility of his reading the manuscript; but the printer was accustomed to the hurried writing of great men, and having read it to Mr. Pitt, immediately undertook to copy it himself for press; when a question of secresy and expedition arising, Mr. Hansard at once showed in what manner the first object was perfectly secure, and the more so among numerous workmen; and as for expedition, Mr. Pitt was astonished at receiving all the proof-sheets early the next morning, and was not slow in expressing his sense of this opportune service. The same thing happened in the case of the Report of 1794, on advancing Exchequer bills in relief of a commercial panic; when expedition was of the last importance for insuring full effect to the aid thus wisely and effectually afforded by a judicious government.

Mr. Hansard next distinguished himself in the service of the Finance Committee of 1796-7. In the next year, the Slave Trade was brought before the Privy Council, and the mass of matter printed at the suggestion of Mr. Wilberforce and Dr. Porteus (afterwards Bishop of London) was such, that three printers were employed, Mr. Hansard planning and distributing the whole.,

After the Union with Ireland, the printing of the House of Commons increased rapidly, and Mr. Speaker Abbot (now Lord Colchester) duly appreciated the merit of Mr. Hansard, already well known to him as chairman of the Finance Committee of 1797; and near the close of his speakership, individually gave the following striking testimony of his good opinion of Mr. Hansard's conduct as printer to the House of Commons:— ' I cannot but repeat (he says, in a letter to Mr. Whittam), upon the present occasion, my admiration and approbation, in the most unqualified manner, of the laborious, accurate, and faithful manner in which Mr. Hansard discharges all the duties of which I am so constantly a witness, and in which he appears to me to combine every consideration of the strictest economy with a due regard to the best means of displaying his matter, by the most methodical arrangement, and the most distinct and perfect typographical execution.'