estimated the printer gained £5. a day, for printing a line onely, at sixpence a name, besides what he got by ballads, &c. Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other staires to and fro, as in the streetes; sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays and interludes, cookes, tipling, and other lewd places, so that it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water; whilst it was a severe judgment on the land, the trees not onely splitting as if lightning-struck, but men and cattle perishing in divers places, and the very seas so locked up with ice, that no vessells could stir out or come in. The fowles, fish, and birds, and all our exotiq plants and greenes universally perishing. Many parkes of deer were destroied, and all sorts of fuell so deare that there were greate contributions to preserve the poore alive. Nor was this severe weather much lesse intense in most parts of Europe, even as far as Spaine and the most southern tracts. London, by reason of the excessive coldnesse of the aire hindering the ascent of the smoke, was so filled with the fuliginous streame of the sea-coale, that hardly could one see crosse the streetes, and this filling the lungs with its grosse particles, exceedingly obstructed the breast, so as one could scarcely breath. Here was no water to be had from the pipes and engines, nor could the brewers and divers other tradesmen worke, and every moment was full of disastrous accidents'.'

*7. 1796.—Princess charlotte of WALES BORN, Cold is her heart, so lately warm,

That now the colder urn incloses;

And stretched at length the fairest form

That now in coffined shroud reposes.

'For an account of the remarkable Frost of 1814, see an interesting little volume entitled Frostiana.

Oh, ever-loved! too early fled;

Thus numbered with the silent dead;

And with thee gone, from earth beguiled,
Our infant hope, thy cherub-child!

Oh, early lost! just loved, and snatched away!
Politely learned, and elegantly gay!

Blest with each charm the British heart to gain,
To all most dear—to England dear in vain.

Daughter of Joy! the scene is past,
Which we must shortly prove;

Though Hope reserved Thee for the last
Of ALL a people love!

The scene is past-and we may weep
Till anguish lull our grief asleep.

8.-SAINT LUCIAN.

Lucian, a native of Syria, was celebrated in his youth for his eloquence, and intimate acquaintance with polite literature. After the death of his parents, he gave all his fortune to the poor, and confined himself to the study of the scriptures. He was a proficient in the Hebrew, and revised the Septuagint version of the Bible. He wrote an apology for the Christians, and presented it to Maximinus II. After having undergone various torments at the instigation of this emperor, he was martyred in the year 312.

*9. 1818.-JOHN SMITH DIED, ÆT. 99.

Individuals possessing rank and talents in society have the fairest claim to biographical distinction. But where these are wanting, eccentricity of character alone will sometimes produce a narrative both amusing and instructive; and accordingly the names of persons in humble stations have often been recorded merely on account of some singularity which attends them, not generally observed in others in the passing scenes of life. John Smith, born in or about the year 1719, although not destined to fill an elevated station, was by no means obscure; for few men were better known in the great circle of his movements. But little can be learned of his early B

life; and it was not until he had the good fortune to be admitted into his Majesty's printing office, as 'errand carrier,' which title he converted into 'king's messenger,' that he became a conspicuous character, From that moment his conduct corresponded to the idea he entertained of his own importance. After the appointment he assumed a singular appearance, and affected a dignity of manner which he never laid aside. His official duties frequently called him to both chambers of Parliament, as well as to all the great public offices connected with the crown; and Old John,' as he was familiarly called, generally excited a smile from the great officers of state, as well as the heads of the various departments, in succession, during a period of fourscore years.

It was the business of his humble station to carry on his back a bag loaded with his Majesty's speeches, bills, addresses, proclamations, &c., on which occasions the privacy of the inner chambers of the Treasury and Exchequer was not sacred from his intrusion. The doors of a secretary of state, and the gates of the palace at Lambeth, flew open on his appearance. His antiquated and greasy garb corresponded with his grotesque shape, and an immense cocked hat was in continual motion, to assist him in the bows of the old school: the recognition or nod of great men in office was his delight. But he imagined that this courtesy was due to his character, as being identified with the state; and the Chancellor and the Speaker were considered by him in no other view than as persons filling departments in common with himself; for the seals of the one, and the mace of the other, did not, in his estimation, distinguish them more than the bag used by himself in the transmission of the despatches entrusted to his care. The imperfect intellect given to him, seemed only to fit him for the situation he filled. Take him out of it, he was as helpless as a child, and easily became a Pune to those who were inclined to impose upon

him. With a high opinion of his own judgment, however, he diverted himself and others by mimicking the voice and manner of his superiors, when he thought he perceived any assumption of character. John could imitate the strut and swell of the great man, and even the frivolity of the fop. Seeing in his time packets to the same individuals addressed from plain Mr.' to 'the Right Honourable,' afforded him subject for much joke; and he frequently used to observe, that it would shortly come to Old John's turn to become an Esquire or Knight himself.

Like the leaves of autumn, generations of men are swept away, and are soon forgotten; and though the station of this singular being was humble, yet as his hand has conveyed papers of state to most of the great men of the last and present century, ministered with fidelity in this way from the days of Sir Robert Walpole, beyond the time of the second William Pitt, and bearing on his back the mighty results of their labours, poor Old John, who was as important in his own conceit as any statesman of his time, may put in his claim also for his share of renown.(Annual Biography and Obituary for 1819, p. 386.)

10.-PLOUGH MONDAY.

On this day, or about this time, in the north, in Cambridgeshire, and in some of the midland counties, the fool-plough goes about, a pageant that consists of a number of sword-dancers, dragging a plough, with music, and one, sometimes two, in a very fantastic dress; the Bessy, in the grotesque babit of an old woman, and the fool, almost covered with skins, wearing a hairy cap, and the tail of some animal hanging from his back. The office of one of these characters is, to rattle a box among the spectators of the dance, in which he collects their little donations.

Hilary was born at Poictiers in France, of an

illustrious family; and of this place he was chosen bishop in the year 353. Having taken an active part against the Arians, he was banished to Phrygia, by order of the Emperor Constantius, in 356, where he remained for three years. After various travels in different parts, and many sufferings, Hilary died at Poictiers in 368. He was an excellent orator and poet; his style abounds with rhetorical figures.

*13. 1819.-DR. WOLCOTT DIED, ET. 81,

Well known to the literary world under the name of Peter Pindar. It is needless to expatiate on the character of his works, as they are universally known. Nature has seldom afforded a more original genius, and his mind was stored with various knowledge. He was well acquainted with the Greek language, and was a sound scholar in Latin. He spoke French with facility, and had made con-siderable progress in Italian. He drew his imagery from Nature and Life, which he had observed with vigilance and accuracy. Perhaps hardly any Poet since Shakspeare has illustrated his works with more abundant allusions derived from the sources of Nature. He had seen much of the world in various parts, and excelled in the imitation as well as delineation of character. His satirical humour was exuberant; and in reference to our revered Sovereign, it is impossible to palliate, or rather, not strongly to reprobate, the freedom, to use the mildest word, which he took with the Royal Character; but such is the ignorance, malevolence, and bad taste of the world, that his works were more popular on that account than for the original humour, wit, tenderness, and often sublimity, by which they are characterised. He never attacked any person after he became acquainted with him. He retained his faculties to the last, and was able, till within a very few days of his death, to dictate verses from his bed, which were strongly marked by his former strength and humour.