It will be perceived that each triplet, as was customary with the ancient Britons is accompanied by a moral maxim, without relation to the subject of the song. GWILYM SAIS. FLORAL DIRECTORY. Laurastinus. Laurastinus sempervirens. November 2. All Souls; or the Commemoration of the Faithful departed. St. Victorinus Bp. A. D. 304. St. Marcian, ▲. D. 387. St. Vulgan, 8th Cent. All Souls. This day, also a festival in the almanacs, and the church of England calendar, is from the Romish church, which celebrates it with masses and ceremonies devised for the occasion. "Odilon, abbot of Cluny, in the 9th century, first enjoined the ceremony of praying for the dead on this day in his own monastery'; and the like practice was partially adopted by other religious houses until the year 998, when it was established as a general festival throughout the western churches. To mark the pre-eminent importance of this festival, if it happened on a Sunday it was not postponed to the Monday, as was the case with other such solemnities, but kept on the Saturday, in order that the church might the sooner aid the suffering souls: and, that the dead might have every benefit from the pious exer tions of the living, the remembrance of this ordinance was kept up, by persons dressed in black, who went round the different towns, ringing a loud and dismaltoned bell at the corner of each street, every Sunday evening during the month; and calling upon the inhabitants to remember the deceased suffering the expiatory flames of purgatory, and to join in prayer for the repose of their souls.*" Time. Mr. John M'Creery, to whose press Mr. Roscoe committed his "History of Leo X.," and the subsequent productions of his pen, has marked this day by dating a beautiful poem on it, which all who desire to seize the "golden grains" of time, will do well to learn and remember daily. INSCRIPTION FOR MY DAUGHTERS' HOUR-GLASS. Mark the golden grains that pass Brightly thro' this channel'd glass, Measuring by their ceaseless fall Heaven's most precious gift to all! Busy, till its sand be done, See the shining current run; But, th' allotted numbers shed, Another hour of life hath fied! Its task perform'd, its travail past, Like mortal man it rests at last!Yet let some hand invert its frame And all its powers return the same, Whilst any golden grains remain 'Twill work its little hour again.But who shall turn the glass for man, When all his golden grains have ran? Who shall collect his scatter'd sand, Dispers'd by time's unsparing hand ?— Never can one grain be found, Howe'er we anxious search around! Then, daughters, since this truth is plain, That Time once gone ne'er comes again, Improv'd bid every moment passSee how the sand rolls down your glass. Nov. 2. 1810. J. M. C. Mr. M'Creery first printed this little effusion of his just and vigorous mind on a small slip, one of which he gave at the time to the editor of the Every-Day Book, who if he has not like the little busy bee Improved each shining hour, is not therefore less able to determine the value of those that are gone for ever; nor therefore less anxious to secure each that may fall to him; nor less qualified to enjoin on his youthful readers the importance of this truth, "that time once gone, ne'er comes again." He would bid them remember, in the conscience - burning words of one of our poets, that— 66 Time is the stuff that life is made of." Brady's Clavis Calendaria. FLORAL DIRECTORY. Winter Cherry. Physalis. Dedicated to St. Marcian. November 3. St. Malachi, Abp. of Armagh, a. D. 1148. St. Hubert, Bp. of Leige, A. d. 727. St. Wenefride, or Winefride. St. Papoul, or Papulus, 3d. Cent. St. Flour, A. D. 389. St. Rumwald. Without being sad, we may be serious; and continue to-day the theme of yesterday. poetical works several citations have alMr. Bowring, from whose former ready glistened these pages, in a subsequent collection of effusions, has versified to our purpose. He reminds us thatMan is not left untold, untaught, Untrain'd by heav'n to heavenly things; In life, in death, a voice is heard, On wand'ring thought, on wild'ring sense, Another poem is a translation FROM THE GERMAN. Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig! O how cheating, O how fleeting Are our days departing! O how cheating, O how fleeting Are the world's enjoyments! Is all earthly beauty! O how cheating, O how fleeting Is the strength of mortals! Yet what overthrows betide them! O how cheating, O how fleeting Is all earthly pleasure! "Tis an air-suspended bubble, Blown about in tears and trouble, Broken soon by flying stubble. O how cheating, O how fleeting He who wields a monarch's thunder, O how cheating, O how fleeting O how cheating, O how fleeting O how cheating, O how fleeting O how cheating, O how fleeting O how cheating, O how fleeting O how cheating, O how fleeting The same writer truly pictures our fearful estate, if we heed not the silent progress of the enemy," that by proper attention we may convert into a friend. Time. On! on our moments hurry by He sports, he trifles time away, Till time is his to waste no more: Heedless he hears the surges play; And then is dash'd upon the shore. KING WILLIAM LANDED. So say our almanacs, directly in opposition to the fact, that king William III. did not land until the next day, the 5th: we have only to look into our annals and be assured that the almanacs are in error. Rapin says, "The fourth of November being Sunday, and the prince's birthday, now (in 1688) thirty-eight years of age, was by him dedicated to devotion; the fleet still continuing their course, in order to land at Dartmouth, or Torbay. But in the night, whether by the violence of the wind, or the negligence of the pilot, the fleet was carried beyond the desired ports without a possibility of putting back, such was the fury of the wind. But soon after, the wind turned to the south, which happily carried the fleet into Tor bay, the most convenient place for landing the horse of any in England. The forces were landed with such diligence and tranquillity, that the whole army was on shore before night. It was thus that the prince of Orange landed in England, without any opposition, on the 5th of November, whilst the English were celebrating the memory of their deliverance from the powder-plot about fourscore years before," &c. Hume also says, "The prince had a prosperous voyage, and Landed his army safely in Torbay on the 5th of November, the anniversary of the gunpowder treason." These historians ground their statements on the authority of bishop Burnet, who was on board the fleet, and from other writers of the period, and their accuracy is provable from the public records of the kingdom, notwithstanding the almanac-makers say to the contrary. It must be admitted, however, that the fourth is kept as the anniversary of the landing of king William, a holiday at different public offices. FLORAL DIRECTORY. Strawberry-tree. Arbutus. Dedicated to St. Brinstan. November 5. St. Bertille, Abbess of Chelles, A. D. 692. Powder Plot, 1605. This is a great day in the calendar of the church of England: it is duly noticed by the almanacs, and kept as a holiday at the public offices. In the "Common Prayer Book," there is "A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving, to be used yearly upon the Fifth day of November; for the happy deliverance of King JAMES I., and the three Estates of England, from the most Traiterous and bloody-intended Massacre by Gunpowder: And also for the happy Arrival of His late Majesty (King WIL LIAM III.) on this Day, for the Deliverance of our Church and Nation." GUY FAWKES. There cannot be a better representation of "Guy Fawkes," as he is borne about the metropolis, " in effigy," on the fifth of November, every year, than the drawing to this article by Mr. Cruikshank. It is not to be expected that poor boys should be well informed as to Guy's history, or be particular about his costume. With them "Guy Fawkes-day," or, as they as often call it, "Pope-day," is a holiday, and as they reckon their year by their holidays, this, on account of its festivous enjoyment, is the greatest holiday of the season. They prepare long before hand, not "Guy," but the fuel wherewith he is to be burnt, and the fireworks to fling about at the burning: "the Guy" is the last thing thought of, "the bonfire" the first. About this time ill is sure to betide the owner of an ill-secured fence; stakes are extracted from hedges, and branches torn from trees; crack, crack, goes loose paling; deserted buildings yield up their floorings; unbolted flip-flapping doors are released from their hinges as supernumeraries; and more burnables are deemed lawful prize than the law allows. These are secretly stored in some enclosed place, which other "collectors" cannot find, or dare not venture to invade. Then comes the making of " the Guy," which is easily done with straw, after the materials of dress are obtained: these are an old coat, waistcoat, breeches, and stockings, which usually as ill accord in their proportions and fitness, as the parts in some of the new churches. His hose and coat are frequently "a world too wide;" in such cases his legs are infinitely too big, and the coat is "hung like a loose sack about him." A barber's block for the head is "the very thing itself;" chalk and charcoal make capital eyes and brows, which are the main features, inasmuch as the chin commonly drops upon the breast, and all deficiencies are hid by "buttoning up :" a large wig is a capital achievement. Formerly an old cocked hat was the reigning fashion for a " Guy;" though the more strictly informed "dresser of the character" preferred a mock-mitre; now, however, both hat and mitre have disappeared, and a stiff paper cap painted, and knotted with paper strips, in imitation of ribbon, is its substitute; a frill and ruffles of writing-paper so far completes the figure. Yet this neither was not, nor is, a Guy, without a dark lantern in one hand, and a spread bunch of matches in the other. The figure thus furnished, and fastened in a chair, is carried about the streets in the manner represented in the engraving; the boys shouting forth the words of the motto with loud huzzas, and running up to passengers hat in hand, with "pray remember Guy! please to remember Guy!' |