the Scholars of the said Hospital, for whom were provided three pens; the best pen of silver and gilt at is won by a Scholler of St. Anthonie's School, and the Master of that School had vi viiid, &c.'Poor Robin, in his Almanack for 1684, says-' We predict by the stars a great number of roasted piggs at Bartholomew Fair;-and such ladies as "long for pig," are desired to repair to Smithfield, where, says our humorous calendarist, 'There's choice for rich or poor.' *24. 1572.-MASSACRE OF FRENCH PROTESTANTS. This horrid carnage commenced at Paris on this day, by the secret orders of Charles IX, King of France, at the instigation of the Queen Dowager of Medici. About day-break, says Thuanus, upon the toll of the bell of the church of St. Germain, the butchery began. Coligni, admiral of France, was basely murdered in his own house, and then thrown out of the window, to gratify the malice of the Duke of Guise: his head was afterwards cut off, and sent to the king and queen-mother; and his body, after a thousand indignities offered to it, hung up by the feet on a gibbet. After this, the murderers ravaged the whole city of Paris, and butchered in three days above TEN THOUSAND lords, gentlemen, presidents, and people of all ranks. A horrible scene of things, says Thuanus, when the very streets and passages resounded with the noise of those that met together for murder and plunder: the groans of those who were dying, and the shrieks of such as were just going to be butchered, were every where heard ; the bodies of the slain thrown out of the windows; the courts and chambers of the houses filled with them; the dead bodies of others dragged through the streets, their blood running down the channels in such plenty, that torrents seemed to empty themselves in the neighbouring river; and, in a word, an innumerable multitude of men, pregnant women, maidens, and children, were all involved in one common destruction, and the gates and entrances of the king's palace besmeared with their blood. From the city of Paris the massacre spread almost throughout the whole kingdom. In the city of Meaux they threw above two hundred into jail; and after they had ill-treated and killed a great number of women, and plundered the houses of the Protestants, they exercised their fury on those they had imprisoned, and calling them out one by one, they were killed, as Thuanus expresses it, like sheep in a market; the bodies of some were flung into ditches, and of others into the river Maine. In Orleans, they murdered above five hundred men, women, and children, and enriched themselves with their spoil. The same cruelties were practised at Angers, Troyes, Bourges, La Charité, and especially at Lyons, where they inhumanly destroyed above eight hundred Protestants; children hanging on their parents' necks; parents embracing their children; putting ropes about the necks of some, dragging them through the streets, and throwing them, mangled, torn, and half dead, into the river. It would be endless to mention the butcheries committed at Valence, Romaine, Rouen, &c. We shall therefore only add, that, according to Thuanus, above thirty thousand Protestants were destroyed in this massacre; or, as others with greater probability affirm, above ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND. In the words of Job, chap. iii, ver. 3, &c. we would say, 'Let that day perish; and let it not be joined unto the days of the year. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it,' &c. And yet, as though this had been the most heroic transaction, and could have procured immortal glory to the authors of it, medals were struck at Paris in honour of it. But how was the news of this butchery received at Rome, that faithful city, that holy mother of churches! How did the vicar of Christ, the successor of St. Peter, and the father of the Christian world, hear it? Let Thuanus tell the horrid truth. When the news, says he, came to Rome, it was wonderful to see how they exulted for joy. On the 6th of September, when the letters of the pope's legate were read in the assembly of the cardinals, by which he assured the pope that all was transacted by the express will and command of the king, it was immediately decreed that the pope should march with his cardinals to the church of St. Mark, and in the most solemn manner give thanks to God for so great a blessing conferred on the see of Rome and the Christian world; and that, on the Monday after, solemn mass should be celebrated in the church of Minerva, at which the pope, Gregory XIII, and cardinals, were present; and that a jubilee should be published throughout the whole Christian world, and the cause of it declared to be, to return thanks to God for the extirpation of the enemies of the truth and church in France. In the evening, the cannon of St. Angelo were fired, to testify the public joy; the whole city was illuminated with bonfires; and no one sign of rejoicing omitted that was usually made for the greatest victories obtained in favour of the Roman church.-See the Memoirs of the Court of Henry the Great,' 2 vols. for a fuller account of this horrid massacre. 28.-SAINT AUGUSTINE. 6 Saint Augustine was the most voluminous writer of all the Fathers. He was born in the year 354; in 391 was chosen Bishop of Hippo; and died in 430, at the age of 76. For accounts of the life of Augustine, and of his numerous writings, consult. Cave, Dupin, and Milner. Mosheim says, 'he possessed a sublime genius, an indefatigable application, an invincible patience, a sincere piety, and a subtle and lively wit.' 29.-JOHN BAPTIST BEHEADED. This day was formerly denominated Festum Collectionis Sancti Johannis Baptista; or the feast of gathering up St. John the Baptist's relics. His nativity is celebrated on the 24th of June, which see. Consult also T. T. for 1823, p. 234. Under this day, it may be observed, with reference to Baptism, that the ancients had a solemne time of giving names equivalent to our christenings; and those taken, very probably, from the custom of circumcision among the Jews, received also by several other nations. Thus we find in Alexander ab. Alex., Varro, and others, that 'twas the custom among all civilized nations to give the name on a certain day, the seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth, according to the manner of the place; and that this was always performed with great solemnity, and, among the Greeks, with feasts and sacrifices.'-Athenian Mercury, Feb. 5, 169. *AUG. 1625.-DIORAMA AT AMIENS. In Dr. Heylin's account of the Church of Nôtre Dame at Amiens, is the following description of a contrivance, designed to have something like the effect of the modern Diorama.-'In the massing closet, over the altar, (he observes) there was hanged a tablet, which, by the many lines and shadows drawn on it, seemed to represent some piece of building. Moving my hand towards my eye,” in the nature and kind of a perspective glass, I perceived it to be the representation of that church wherein I stood to see it, and it was done with that cunning, that it would almost have persuaded a man out of himself, and made him believe that he had been in the churchyard; so perfectly did it show the majesty of the Front, the beauty of the Iles, the number of the Pillars, and the glory of the Quire; a kind of work, in my opinion, of all others the most excellent, and such as would infinitely delight an Optick. Had not such pieces been vulgar to me, it had more affected me: but in the gallery of Mr. Crane at Cambridge, once belonging to that humorous physician, Mr. Butler, and in that of Sir Noel Caron, late Leiger for the States, at Lambeth, I had seen divers of them, whereof some perfecter.'-France painted to the Life by an able and impartial Hand, 12mo, 1656, cited in the SCIENtific Gazettв, No. 8, p. 105. Astronomical Occurrences In AUGUST 1826. A cloud lay cradled near the setting Sun, To whose white robe the gleam of bliss is given; SOLAR PHENOMENA. WILSON. THE Sun enters Virgo at 2 m. after 6 in the evening of the 23d of this month; and he rises and sets, during the same period, as in the following table. For other days, see the preceding months. TABLE Of the Sun's Rising and Setting for every fifth Day. August 1st, Sun rises 19 m. after 4. Sets 41 m. after 7 6th, 11th, 7 25 .... ........... 7 16 7 7 ......... 26th, ........ 2 ........ 5 .... 58 6 Equation of Time. The best way of regulating a clock, for such as have not the means of making observations on the heavenly bodies, is to observe when it is exactly 12 o'clock by a good sun-dial, and then to correct this for the equation of time, according to the following table, and the preceding observations. TABLE Of the Equation of Time for every fifth Day. m. S. Tuesday, August 1st, to the time by the dial add 5 58 Sunday, 6th, Friday, .........11th, Wednesday, 16th, Monday,..... 21st, New Moon...... 3d day, at 21 m. after 7 in the evening First Quarter 10th 14 ......... 6 Moon's Passage over the Meridian. The following times during this month will afford opportunities for observations on the Moon's transit, should the weather prove favourable. August 11th, at 36 m. after 6 in the evening 12th, 34 13th, ... ...... ...... ................ 7 ................. Time of High Water at London for every fifth Day. As the time of full tide at London Bridge varies, it is given in the following table for every fifth day |