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CURIOUS PARTICULARS

CHARACTERISTIC OF EACH MONTH IN THE YEAR,

Chiefly extracted from the New Edition of Dr. Aikin's
Calendar of Nature.

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CALENDAR OF NATURE.

MAY.

Born in yon blaze of orient sky,
Sweet May! thy radiant form unfold;
Unclofe thy blue voluptuous eye,

And wave thy fhadowy locks of gold.
Warm with new life, the glitt'ring throngs,
On quiv'ring fin and ruft'ling wing,
Delighted join their votive fongs,
And hail thee goddess of the fpring!

FAV

AVOURITE month of more fo in fouthern climes. ftyle too chill; blights and winds.

DARWIN.

poetic defcription, 2. Since the new

In a very elegant poem, entitled The Tears of Old May Day, its rival, our present May Day, is thus defcribed:

Nor wonder, man, that nature's bafhful face

And opening charms, her rude embraces fear,
Is the not fprung of April's wayward race,
The fickly daughter of the unripen'd year?
With fhowers and funshine in her fickle eyes,
With hollow fmiles, proclaiming treacherous peace,
With blushes, harbouring in their thin disguise,
The blaft that riots on the fpring's increafe.

3. Latter part of the month beautiful, green grafs, young corn, trees in verdure, fragrant bloffoms of the

hawthorn

hawthorn, and orchards full of bloffoms. 4. Liable to be cut off by blights. 5. Three kinds of blights.-1. In early fpring a dry frofty wind from north or northeast; the other two affecting apple and pear trees, and corn,--2. Small infects incrufting the young ftems, fuppofed to be conveyed by the wind, generally a north ́cast wind.-3. Preceded by a fouth or fouth-west wind, burning the leaves and fhoots; loftieft fuffer moft, and youngest leaves, oak therefore bad. 6. Cold and windy, May favourable to the corn, wheat brought forward, run into stalk, ears thin. 7. Leafing of trees completed, beginning with willow, poplar, and alder-then lime, fycamore, and horse chefnut-then ends with oak, beech, afh, walnut, and mulberry. S. Wild flowers numerous; cowflips

Whose bafhful flowers

Declining, hide their beauty from the fun,
Nor give their spotted bofoms to the gaze
Of hafty paffenger.

Germander, and yellow crowfoot, called butter cups. 9. Wrongly fuppofed to give a colour to the butter; cows will not touch them-fhould be extirpated, to. Immature goofeberries and currants acceptable, preferved fruits exhaufted. 11. Lateft fummer birds arrive; fern, owl, or goat-fucker, fly-catcher, and fedge bird. 12. Birds hatch and rear their young, affection of the male and female worthy of admiration. 13. Infects are now added; great white cabbage butterfly, May chaffer, horfe fly, moths and butterflies. 14. Beehives fend forth their earlier fwarms. One queen at the head of young and old ones; too numerous for their old habitation, and ftrong enough to provide for themselves. 15. Glow-worm fhines, females without wings and luminous, males vice versa, the light therefore to direct the male, like the Hero of Seftos, to guide Leander. 16. Glow-worms extinguish their lamps between 11 and 12 at night. 17. Old May-day turn out cattle to pas, tures;

tures, milk becomes more copious; making cheese,
Cheshire, Wiltshire, Gloucester. 18. Oak, beech, ma-
ple, fycamore, barberry, laburnum horfe-chefnut, li-
lac, mountain-ath, and Guelder rofe, flower; lily of
the valley, wood-rofe, male orchis, cuckoo flower. 19.
Not a bufy feafon to the farmer, little fowing, weeds to
be plucked up.
20. The husbandman looks forward to
the reward of his industry.

Be gracious, heav'n! for now laborious man
Has done his part.

THOMSON.

SCHOOL FOR PARENTS *.

RESUMED.

BY A. K. ISLEWORTH.

"It is not because novels treat of love that they are ridiculous, but because they treat of nothing: we must not ridicule a paffion, which thofe who have never felt can never defcribe, and which those who laugh at never deferve to feel."

ANECDOTES OF JOHNSON.

NOME time after the demife of Lady Ormfby, Mr.

(whom our may recollect) occa

fion to vifit the metropolis. Ormfby manor was but a few miles out of his route, and he determined to avail himfelf of an opportunity that did not frequently offer of vifiting his friends at that place. It was late in the evening of a beautiful fummer day, when his chaife unexpectedly entered the baronet's yard. George faw him from a window, and eagerly advanced to meet him;

* For the former part of this entertaining and instructive little tale, the reader is referred to the Fifth Volume of THE VISITOR, the re-perufal of which, in conjunction with this addition, will gratify our readers. Ed.

the

the fimile of welcome played over his manly countenance, as he received the cordial falutation of the friend he loved. Surprife, however, fufpended, for a moment, his powers of expreffion, when he faw Mr. Selby turn again to the chaife, faying at the fame time, "I am not alone," and immediately a delicate elegant looking young woman appeared, that he had never before either feen or even heard mentioned. An idea inftantly occurred that she was the wife of his friend; the tender and familiar manner in which he addreffed her ftrengthened his opinion, and before their arrival at the manfion, which was but a few paces, the suspicion in his mind amounted to a certainty. There, however, he was undeceived, for the fair ftranger was introduced to them as the fifter of Mr. Selby. He learnt too, that she had refided with him for fome time, and, that in confequence of declining health, he was now travelling with her to London, in fearch of better medical affistance than he could procure for her in the country.

Catherine Selby was not critically handfome, her complexion was languid, her features wanted regularity, yet fo interefting was her tout ensemble, that no perfon of tafte or fenfibility could behold her without confeffing that the poffeffed, in an eminent degree, thofe powers of attraction that mere beauty itself can never attain. The evening paffed rapidly; former fcenes were repeated, and to ufe a metaphor from Offian,

"They renewed the days that were passed."

The next morning Mr. Selby propofed to continue his journey by easy ftages, but this the Baronet pofitively

d. George added entreaties, and applying to Casation, and I asked if she did not think a few days repofe neGlow-worm recruit her ftrength, before the proceeded toous, males vice don? Catherine fmiled at the earnestness of male, like the H and, after thanking him for his polite at Glow-worms extingeplied that he was not fo ill as to ren12 at night. 17.

der

der travelling inconvenient. "Then you cannot be in immediate want of medical affistance," cried fir James, "and fo fay no more about it, for stay you shall.” The latter part of his fpeech was addreffed to Mr. Selby, who perceived that his hofpitable hoft was too much in earneft to be refufed without offence. For feveral days their departure was, on various pretences, poftponed at length they departed for the capital, though not before fir James had made Mr. Selby promife that he would, on his return to Clayfield, again pass a few days at the manor.

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After their departure George felt a laffitude and uneafinefs that had never before affailed him. The idea of Catherine Selby was for ever prefent to his imagination; her placid fmile, her agreeable converfation, happily free from pedantic knowledge or trifling infipidity, recurred in the midst of every occupation, and rendered irkfome thofe amufements which before had given wings to time. And if he for a moment loft fight of her attractions, the Baronet was fure to remind him of them, either by enumerating her perfections, or regretting the obfcurity of her birth. On fuch occafions hope fled from the bofom of George Ormsby, and he reflected with forrow that the prejudices of his father condemned him to despair. Yet, though he thought them erroneous, he ftrove not to combat them; for weighing the deep root which early opinions take in the human heart, he wifely fuppofed the prejudices of threefcore years could not be easily eradicated; he, therefore, was condemned to fuffer, but he suffered in filence.

In the meantime, perhaps, it may be agreeable to our readers to know fomething more of a woman who had fo entirely fubdued the before invulnerable heart of George. We fhall, therefore, ftate, that Catherine was the youngest of a large family that had been, through the death of their parents, thrown at random on the world's wide stage! A female relation had taken her

into

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