stone; to which she replied with a deep sigh, Ah oui, c'est un morceau de Saint Jean, "Ah yes, 'tis a piece of Saint John." The old lady seemed to think that the saint's intercession in her behalf, mutilated as he was, might still be of some avail. In Xylander's Plutarch there is a passage in Greek, relative to the "Feast of Fools," celebrated by the Romans, to this effect, "Why do they call the Quirinalia the Feast of Fools? Either, because they allowed this day (as Juba tells us) to those who could not ascertain their own tribes, or because they permitted those who had missed the celebration of the Fornacalia in their proper tribes, along with the rest of the people, either out of negligence, absence, or ignorance, to hold their festival apart on this day." The Romans on the first day of April abstained from pleading causes, and the Roman ladies performed ablutions under myrtle trees, crowned themselves with its leaves, and offered sacrifices to Venus. This custom originated in a mythological story, that as Venus was drying her wetted hair by a river side, she was perceived by satyrs, whose gaze confused her : But soon with myrtles she her beauties veiled, From whence this annual custom was entail'd. Ovid. "Ordered that All-Saints have the metal belonging to the horse of the said statue, except a leg thereof, which must go towards the casting of a new bell for St. Andrew's parish." A print of the statue was published "on two large sheets of Genoa paper,' price 58. by Joseph Barber of Newcastle. There is an engraving from it in " Local Records, by John Sykes, bookseller, Newcastle, 1824," a book which consists of a chronological arrangement of curious and interesting facts, and events, that have occurred exclusively in the counties of Durham and Northumberland, Newcastleupon-Tyne, and Berwick, with an obituary and anecdotes of remarkable persons. The present notice is taken from Mr. Sykes's work. NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. Mean Temperature . . . 44. 17. April 2. CHRONOLOGY. On the 2d of April 1755, Severndroog castle, on the coast of Malabar, belonging to Angria, a celebrated pirate, was taken by commodore James. His relict, to commemorate her husband's heroism, and to testify her affectionate respect to his memory, erected a tower of the same name on Shooters-hill, near Blackheath, where it is a distinguished land-mark at an immense distance to the circumjacent country. NEWCASTLE. Extract from the Common Council Book. 66 April 1, 1695. All-Saints' parish humbly request the metal of the statue, towards the repair of their bells." This refers to a statue of James II. pulled down from the Exchange in consequence of lord Lumley having entered the town and declared for a free parliament. It was an equestrian figure in copper, of the size of Charles I. at Charing-cross. The mob demolished the statue, dragged it to the quay, and cast it into the river. As the parish of All-Saints desired to turn the deposit to some account, the parish of St. Andrews petitioned for a share of the spoil, and it appears by the subjoined extract from the council books, that each was accommodated. It is noticed on this day in the "Perennial Calendar," that the birds are now arriving daily, and forming arrangements for the hatching and nurture of their future young. The different sorts of nests of each species, adapted to the wants of each, and springing out of their respective instincts, combined with the propensity to construct, would form a curious subject of research for the natural historian. Every part of the world furnishes materials for the aerial architects: leaves and small twigs, roots and dried grass, mixed with clay, serve for the ex ternal; whilst moss, wool, fine hair, and the softest animal and vegetable downs, form the warm internal part of these commodious dwellings :— Of vernal songsters-some to the holly hedge, : Their food its insects, and its moss their nests: Or roughening waste, their humble texture weave: Beat by unnumbered wings. The swallow sweeps The cavern-loving wren sequestered seeks Or hollow, trodden by the sinking hoof; Which age has caverned, safely courts repose: Roofs o'er her curious nest with firmwreathed twigs, And sidelong forms her cautious door; she dreads Thomson. Bidlake. April 4. CHEAP WEATHER GUIDE. To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. Cornhill, March, 1826. Sir,-The following observations on the leechworm were made by a gentleman who kept one several years for the purpose of a weather-glass : A phial of water, containing a leech, I kept on the frame of my lower sash window, so that when I looked in the morning I could know what would be the weather of the following day. If the weather proves serene and beautiful, the leech lies motionless at the bottom of the glass, and rolled together in a spiral form. If it rains, either before or after noon, it is found crept up to the top of its lodging, and there it remains till the weather is settled. If we are to have wind, the poor prisoner gallops through its limped habitation with amazing swiftness, and seldom rests till it begins to blow hard. If a storm of thunder and rain is to succeed, for some days before it lodges, almost continually, without the water, and discovers very great uneasiness in violent throes and convulsions. In the frost, as in clear summer weather, it lies constantly at the bottom; and in snow, as in rainy weather, it pitches its dwelling upon the very mouth of the phial. What reasons may be assigned for these circumstances I must leave philosophers to determine, though one thing is evident to every body, that it must be affected in the same way as that of the mercury and spirits in the weather-glass. It has, doubtless, a very surprising sensation; for the change of weather, even days before, makes a visible alteration upon its manner of living. Perhaps it may not be amiss to note, that the leech was kept in a common eight-ounce phial glass, about threequarters filled with water, and covered on the mouth with a piece of linen rag. In the summer the water is changed once a a week, and in the winter once a fortnight. This is a weather-glass which may be purchased at a very trifling expense, and which will last I do not know how many years. I am, &c J. F. Our friend J.H. H. whose letter on wildfowl shooting, from Abbeville, is in vol. i. p. 1575, with another on lark shooting in France in the present volume, p. 91, writes from Southover, near Lewes, in Sussex, on this day, 1826, “How delightful the country looks! I shall leave you to imagine two swallows, the first I have seen, now preening themselves on the barn opposite, heartily glad that their long journey is at an end." The birds come to us this year very early. Pump with two Spouts. In a letter of the 5th of April, 1808, to Dr. Aikin, inserted in his "Athenæum," Mr. Roots says,—“In the year 1801, being on a tour through the Highlands of Scotland, I visited the beautiful city of Glasgow, and in passing one of the principal streets in the neighbourhood of the Tron church, I observed about five-and-twenty or thirty people, chiefly females, assembled round a large public pump, waiting their separate turns for water; and although the pump had two spouts for the evacuation of the water behind and before, I took notice that one of the spouts was carefully plugged up, no one attempting to fill his vessel from that source, whilst each was waiting till the rest were served, sooner than draw the water from the spout in question. On inquiry into the cause of this proceeding, I was informed by an intelligent gentleman residing in the neighbourhood, that though one and the same handle produced the same water from the same well through either of the spouts, yet the populace, and even better informed people, had for a number of years conceived an idea, which had been handed down from father to son, that the water when drawn from the hindermost spout would be of an unlucky and poisonous nature; and this vulgar prejudice is from time to time kept afloat, inasmuch, as by its being never used, a kind of dusty fur at length collects, and the water, when suffered from curiosity to pass through, at first runs foul; and this tends to carry conviction still further to these ignorant people, who with the most solemn assurances THE POET'S PEN. (From the Greek of Menecrates.) I was an useless reed; no cluster hung I SPOKE! My words were flame and living power, High as the hills with thunder clouds are pall'd. To me the mighty sceptre was a wand, The roar of nations peal'd at my command; To me the dungeon, sword, and scourge were vain, April 7. SAINTS. NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. Our old acquaintance with the saints is not broken: but they are sad intruders on the beauties of the world, and we part from them, for a little while, after the annexed communication of an attempt to nonour them. Pulci. SERMON AT ST. ANDREW's. For the Every-Day Book. The following anecdote, under the article "Black Friars," in Brand's "History of Newcastle-upon-Tyne," as a specimen of the extreme perversion of mind in the Romish clergy of former times, is curious, and may amuse your readers as much as it has me. ," &c. Richard Marshall, who had been one of the brethren, and also prior of the house, in the year 1521, at St. Andrew's, Scotland, informed his audience there, that Pater noster should be addressed to God and not to the saints. The doctors of St. Andrew's, in their great wisdom, or rather craftiness, appointed a preacher to oppose this tenet, which he did in a sermon from Matt. v. 3. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." "Seeing," says he, "we say good day, father, to any old man in the street, we may call a saint, pater, who is older than any alive: and seeing they are in heaven, we may say to any of them, hallowed be thy name;' and since they are in the kingdom of heaven, we may say to any of them'thy kingdom come:' and seeing their will is God's will, we may say, thy will be done,' When the friar was proceeding further, he was hissed and even obliged to leave the city. Yet we are told, the dispute continued among the doctors about the pater. Some would have it said to God formaliter, to the saints materialiter; others, to God principaliter, to the saints minus principaliter; or primario to God, secundario to the saints; or to God strictè, and to the saints latè. With all these distinctions they could not agree. It is said, that Tom, who was servant to the subprior of St Andrew's, one day perceiving his master in trouble, said to him, "Sir, what is the cause of your trouble?" The master answered, "We cannot agree about the saying of the pater." The fellow replied, "To whom should it be said but to God alone?" The master asks, "What then shall we do with the saints?" NATURALISTS' CALENDAR April 8. FLOWERS. On this day in the "Perennial Calen- Warm the soft air, and animate the vales. A brilliant carpet, of unnumbered dyes, With sweet variety enchants the eyes. Thick are the trees with leaves; in every grove The feathered minstrels tune their throats to love. DOMESTIC ANTIQUITIES, and a LETTER OF LORD THURLOW's. A gentleman indulges the editor with the following account of a singular household utensil, and a drawing of it, from whence a correct engraving has been made; together with a letter from the late lord chancellor Thurlow, which from his distinguished hand on a singular occurrence, merits preservation. Kleist. To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. Sir, I shall be happy to communicate any thing in my power, connected with antiquities to the Every-Day Book, which I have taken from the beginning, and been highly pleased with; and, first, I send you a drawing for insertion, if you think it worthy, of a carving, in my possession, on an ancient oak board, two feet in diameter. |