the parti-coloured poles of the barbers. They are gone, without the assistance of such fierce fanatics as the curate of Creechurch, who, we are informed by Stowe, had the famous May-pole of St. Andrew Undershaft, sawed into logs for fire wood. But there was a time when the curates of our church did not disdain to mingle in the innocent recrea tions of May day. If any of my readers should be sceptical, let them, when they next travel in that direction, inspect the books of the churchwardens of St. Lawrence, Reading, where they will find entries something after this fashion, Item-Paide for V. ells of Canvas for a Coat for maide Marian, at iiid. per ell.-1s, iijd. In the books of the same officers at Kingston-upon-Thames, there occurs an entry of 6s. 8d. paid for two pairs of gloves for Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and 3s. 4d. for two ells of worsted for Maid Marian's Kirtle.

A Tract, printed in the year 1623, informs us that the Cockneys (I have reverence for the word, for Milton was a cockney), had a custom of eating cakes and cream at Hoxton and Islington, when those places were in the country) as may be inferred from this couplet:

To Islington and Hogsdon runs the streame Of giddie people, to eate cakes and creame." Alas! the people of England are too refined now... Who would go to Hoxton or Islington to drink cream, when splendid gin-shops greet them at every turning the "March of improvement' will do wonders ere it come to a halt!

But I am getting prosy. May day is past, and of course, every country lass has by this time washed her ruddy cheeks with May-dew, to make her fair for the remainder of the year!

***

THE INQUISITION IN PORTUGAL.

Concluded from page 279.

ALL authors agree with Paramo respecting the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal. Anthony Souza alone, in his "Aphorismes des Inquisiteurs," doubts the authenticity of Saavedra's history, affirming, that he thought it very probable that this man might accuse himself without being guilty, for the sake of having his name handed down to posterity by the glory which would accrue to him for such an

act.

But in the recital of the affair which Souza substituted in the place of Paramo's, he lays his own veracity open to

suspicion by, quoting two bulls of Paul the Third, and two others also of the same pope to the Cardinal Henry, the king's brother; bulls, which Souza has not only omitted inserting in his own work, but which have never been found among any of the collections of Apostolical bulls; two cogent reasons for rejecting his opinion of the matter, and coinciding with those of Paramo, d'Illescas, de Salazar, de Mendoça, and others.

When the Spaniards passed over to America, they carried the Inquisition. with them; and it was introduced into India by the Portuguese as soon as it was authorized at Lisbon. This makes

Paramo remark in his preface," that this verdant and flourishing tree has extended its roots and branches over. the whole world, and produced the sweetest fruits."

No true idea, however, can be formed of the jurisprudence of the Inquisition without referring to the "Direc tory of Inquisitors," written in Latin by Nicholas Eymeric, grand inquisitor in the kingdom of Arragon about the fourteenth century, and addressed to his brother inquisitors, in virtue of the authority of his office.

A short time after the invention of printing, there appeared at Barcelona in 1503 an edition of this work, which soon got distributed into all the inquisitions. A second edition in folio made its appearance in 1578, with a short exposition and commentaries by Francis Pegna, doctor of divinity and a canon. This edition is dedicated to

Pope Gregory the Thirteenth. The Abbe Marellet gave an abridgment of Eymeric's work in 1762, from which we take the few following quotations—

Eymeric says, page 58, "Commiseration for the wretched condition to which the children of the condemned are reduced, ought not to lessen the scarcity of this office, since, according to all laws both divine and human, "The sins of the fathers are visited upon their children."

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* Page 123, "If an accusation be entered in their annals, though there be every appearance of the said accusation being false, yet the inquisitor must not erase the same from his books, lest what may not be manifested at the time, should ultimately come to light."

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Page 291, "It is necessary that the inquisitor meet the cunning of the heretic with cunning, that he may say

Page 332, "When the culprit has been delivered over to the secular judge, and the latter has pronounced sentence, the criminal shall be conducted to the place of punishment, accompanied by certain pious people, who shall pray with him, and not quit him until he has rendered his soul up to his Creator. But they must be most particular, neither to say nor do any thing that shall hasten the moment of the culprit's death, for fear of committing any irregularity. Thus, for instance, the criminal must not be exhorted to mount the scaffold or present him self to the executioner, neither advise the latter to place the instruments of punishment in a position, that shall facilitate the death of the culprit, and render his sufferings shorter, for this would be an irregularity."

Paramo printed at Madrid in 1598, a book on the 'Holy Office,' which met with the approbation of the doctors, the eulogies of the bishop, and the sanction of the king. In this work, he mentions that the Inquisition put to death above one hundred thousand persons. It is impossible at the present day to conceive any horrors half so extravagant or abominable, but at that time they were considered most natural and laudable acts. All men resemble Louis de Paramo, when they are fanatics. Paramo however, gives with the greatest simplicity, a relation of the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal; which, coinciding exactly with the accounts given by four other historians, we give the substance of what they relate unanimously.

Curious Establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal.-At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Pope Boniface the Ninth had for a length of time appointed certain monks to visit Portugal, and go from town to town to burn all heretics, Mahometans, and Jews; but as these monks were not stationary, the kings even sometimes complained of their oppressions. Pope Clement the Seventh wished to give them a permanent establishment in Portugal, the same as was granted to them in the kingdoms of Arragon and Castile; but there were differences arose between the courts of Rome and Lisbon; minds became embittered, the Inquisition suffered, and in consequence could obtain no firm footing in Portugal.

In 1539, there appeared at Lisbon a Legate from the Pope, who reported that he came to establish the Holy Inquisition upon inmovable foundations. He brought letters from Pope Paul the Third, to King John the Third, and asserted that he had other letters from Rome, for the principal officers about the court; his credentials as Legate were duly signed and sealed, and he shewed indisputable authorities for establishing a grand inquisitor, and the different judges of the Holy Office. All this was the work of an impostor named Saavedra, who had learnt how to counterfeit the various documents, make the false seals, and appropriate them properly, and had brought the whole to perfection at Seville, from whence he had arrived with two other impostors. His retinue was magnificent, being composed of more than a hundred and twenty domestics. In order to support this enormous expense, he and his confidants borrowed at Seville, immense sums, in the name of the Apostolic Chamber at Rome; the whole plan was concerted with the most skilful artifice.

The king of Portugal at first expressed his surprise that the Pope should send a Legate a latere, without previously having given him any notice thereof; to this the Legate haughtily replied, that in so urgent an affair, as the permanent establishment of the Inquisition, his Holiness would allow of no delay, and that the king was sufficiently honoured by the first courier who brought him the intelligence, being a Legate of the Holy Father. This speech silenced the king, who dared not indeed, make any reply; the Legate, on the same day appointed a grand inquisitor, and sent every where to receive the tenths, and before the court could receive any answers from Rome, he had caused two hundred persons to be burnt, and collected upwards of two hundred thousand crowns.

In the mean time, the Marquess de Villanova, a Spanish nobleman, from whom the Legate had borrowed a considerable sum by means of false bills, determined to pay him off according to his deserts; instead, therefore, of making any compromise with this impostor when at Lisbon, he waited until the Legate repaired towards the frontiers of Spain, when he marched thither with fifty armed men, carried Saavedra off, and conducted him to Madrid.

The imposition was soon discovered at Lisbon, and the Council of Madrid condemned the false Legate, Saavedra,

to the whip and ten years at the Galleys; but what is most remarkable of the whole proceeding is, that Pope Paul the Fourth has since confirmed all that this impostor had established; and rectified in the plenitude of his divine power all the little irregularities of the proceedings, and rendered that sacred, which had been purely human.

It is thus the inquisition became permanently established in Portugal; and all the kingdom acknowledged in it the hand of Providence.

Historic Anecdotes.

THEMISTOCLES-Two citizens courting his daughter, he preferred the worthy man to the rich one, and assigned this reason:-"He had rather she should have a man without money, than money without a man." His son being master of his mother, he said, laughing, This child is greater than any man in Greece; for the Athenians command the Greeks, I command the Athenians, his mother commands me, and he commands his mother."

H. S. SOLON.-When he was entertained by Thales at Miletus, he expressed some wonder that "he did not marry and raise a family." To this Thales gave no immediate answer, but some days after he instructed a stranger to say, "that he came from Athens ten days before." Solon enquiring, "What news there was at Athens ?" the man according to his instructions, said "None, except the funeral of a young man, which was attended by the whole city, for he was the son (as they told me) of a person of great honour, and of the highest reputation for virtue, who was then abroad upon his travels."-"What a miserable man he is," said Solon; "but what was his name?"-"I have heard his name,' answered the stranger, "but I do not recollect it; all I remember is, that there was much talk of his wisdom and justice." Solon, whose apprehensions increased with every reply, was now much disconcerted, and mentioned his own name, asking "Whether it was not Solon's son that was dead?" The stranger answering in the affirmative, he began to beat his head, and do and say such things as are usual to men in a transport of grief. Then Thales taking him by the hand, said with a smile, "These things, which strike down so firm a man as Solon, kept me from marriage and from having children; but take courage, my good friend, for not a

word of what has been told you, is true." H. S.

Table Talk.

A VALIANT TAYLOR.-It has been a practice in this and in other countries, for ages past, to ridicule men on account of their craft. An "honourable member," during the last war, strongly objected to a pastry-cook holding a high rank, in a regiment of volunteers. Shakspeare makes up Falstaff's regiment of weavers and tailors. "What trade art thou, feeble ?" enquires Sir John; "A woman's tailor, Sir," is the reply. Yet men of these objectionable trades have proved their mettle ere now, both here, and abroad. When the Savoyards made their disastrous attempt upon the city of Geneva in the year 1600, a Taylor, armed with a twohanded sword, fought like Ajax or Agamemnon, and assisted greatly to rout the intruders.

***

THE STUARTS.-Whatever may be alleged to the contrary, it is évident that mildness and mercy were not predominating qualities in the Stuarts. When the Duke of Buckingham fell beneath the knife of Felton, Charles would have had the assassin racked, or the Duke of Ormond lied in telling the prisoner, that "it was his majesty's pleasure" that he should suffer that punishment. The horrible mutilation of Prynne, could not have been sanctioned by "the best husband, best father, best gentleman," &c. &c. &c. as Charles has been termed. The sensual monarch Charles the Second, was as unrelenting as his father, and every body knows that James the Second never forgave an injury. It was a happy riddance for England when this family was expelled.

***

FULL MEASURE.-A Quaker alighting from the Bristol "leathern convenience," immediately on his entering the inn, called for some porter, and observing the pint deficient in quantity thus addressed the landlord: "Pray, friend, how many butts of beer dost thou draw in a month ?"-" "Ten, Sir," replied Boniface, "And thou would'st like to draw eleven if thou couldst!" rejoined Ebenezer. "Certainly," claimed the smiling landlord, "Then I will tell thee how, friend," added the quaker, "Fill thy measures.

ex

IN the cathedral of Saragossa is the tomb of a famous inquisitor. Six pillars surround this tomb; to each is chained a Moor, as preparatory to being

Dr. Messenger Moncey, Physician to Chelsea College, who died in 1788, aged 94, by his will directed that his body should not have any funeral ce remony, but undergo dissection for the benefit of mankind; after which the remainder might be put into a hole, or crammed into a box with holes, and thrown into the Thames, at the pleasure of the surgeon. The physician was born in Norfolk, and the son of a clergyman. Sir Robert Walpole was on terms of intimacy with him, and knew and valued the worth of his "Norfolk Doctor," as he called him. He knew it, and neglected it. The Prime Minister was fond of billiards, at which the Doctor very much excelled hiin. "How happened it," said Sir Robert, in his social hours, "that nobody will beat me at billiards, or contradict me, but Doctor Moncey ?"—

Diary and

Wednesday, May 2.

OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE TERM BEGINS. SOLAR PHENOMENA.-The northern regions of the earth are arrayed with the beauty of Spring. "The noon exhibits a canopy of boundless azure, the night reveals the wintry constellations sinking in the west, with the advance of those stars to the

mid-heaven, which declare that the time of the singing birds is come, and that the summer is advancing. The flower and the star appear each in its season, and send forth, the one its ray, and the other its fragrance, with unfailing precision The lovely train of Flora delights the senses with its perfume and beauty; the thrush and blackbird fill the woods with melody, and Arcturus in the .east, and Capella in the zenith, shed forth their brightest scintillations; the rose, the nightingale, and bright star in the hand of the virgin, bloom, sing, and shine together; the violet from its shady bank, the lark from "its watch-tower in the sky," send forth their tribute of odour and harmony, as the stars in their soft Pleiades fade away in the glowing twilight of the vernal eve. As the fervid heat of summer increases, and light is more copiously diffused over the northern world, the stars shine with a subdued brilliancy; the melody of the grove ceases; the Aster tribe of flowers, with their diversified radiatious, decorate the field and the garden, and with pure adoration expand their bright flowrets to receive the full effulgence of the summer sun--Time's Telescope.

"They get places," said the Doctor, "I get a dinner and praise, and that would not satisfy them." The Doctor detested family pride, and, by way of ridiculing it, used to relate, when any great man was talking about the ancestry of his family, that the first of his ancestors of any note was a baker and dealer in hops, a trade which enabled him with some difficulty to support a large family. To supply an urgent demand he robbed his feather beds of their contents, and supplied the deficiency with unsaleable hops. A few years afterward a great blight prevailed; hops became scarce and excessively dear. The hoarded treasure was ripped out of the beds, and a good sum was procured for the hops, which in a plentiful season would have been unsaleable; and thus, said the Doctor, our family hopped from obscurity.

Chronology.

will be visible, from its commencement to its termination, to the whole of Europe and a great part of Africa; the ingress will be visible to Asia and the egress to America. The beginning of the transit will be 9 h. 2 m. 57 sec. apparent time, and its end 3 h. 54 m. 31 sec.. In order to see it well, the observer should have, for some time previous to the beginning of the transit, his telescope properly fixed and prepared with dark glasses to defend the eye, which he should keep fixed upon that point of the sun's limb where the planet is suspected to enter. At the instant he suspects the contact to have taken place, he must note the time, and proceed to observe, in order to be certain that he was not mistaken. The last transit of Mercury occurred 4th November, 1822, but invisible in this country; it was witnessed in India by Major J. A. Hodgson, Revenue Surveyor-General, whose account is inserted in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society of London. A very pleasing method of observing the phenomenon will be by transmitting the sun's image through a telescope into a darkened room; the image of the sun can be received on paper, aud the whole transit observed without distressing the sight.

Sunday, May 6.

St. John the Evangelist, Ante P. L.
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.

Lessons for the Day.-23, 24. ch. of Numbers, morn. 25 ch. of Numbers, even,

St. John, in his old age, during the persecution of Domitian, was sentenced to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, for preaching the Christian doctrine, but from which punishment he is said to have remained uninjured. The miraculous event occurred before the gate called, Porta Latina, which is the reason of the letters A. P. L. being put after his name, to this day.

Monday, May 7.

First quarter of the Moon, at 8 morn.
Tuesday, May 8.

The moon in conjunction with Saturn at nine o'clock in the evening. The conjunction will prove an occultation; the immersion will take place at the dark limb of the moon, and about an hour after it has passed the meridian.