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that degree, as to show visibly some broad chinks; former grandeur have been torn down for the sake whereupon the enemy surrendered."

of the materials, or for the purpose of building on the same site. The demolition of an ancient structure, when it can be spared, must ever be a subject of regret. The venerable ruins of castles, for instance, are not only historically curious, but, to the reflecting mind, they suggest a pleasing comparison of the present times with those when such prisonlike dwellings were erected, or again brought into use, when this country was harassed by the worst form of war; when the son was armed against the father, and brother slaughtered brother; when the lives, honour, and property of the people were subject to the violence and caprice of foreign barons, and when it could not be said, as in a proper sense it is now not only said, but felt, that an Englishman's house is his CASTLE.

Castles, in process of time, soon became of little use as fortresses: the change in the art of war brought about by the invention of gunpowder, the more settled state of the nation, Scotland becoming part of the dominions of the King of England, the influence of our navy, and the abolition of the feudal system, all tended to diminish the importance of these ancient safeguards; and, with the progress of civilization and national improvement, we trace the gradual change in the construction of castles; till, by the admission of light and air, and some degree of ornament, the harsh and gloomy features of the massive Norman pile became softened down into the refined and comfortable aspect of the castellated house of the time of Henry the Eighth and Elizabeth. In the reign of Charles the First, however, shortly before the civil war, and probably with the prospect of the awful events which followed in view, a commission was appointed to inquire into the state of the ancient castles. Many of these, during the sub-proached the walls. It moved upon four small sequent troubles, were garrisoned and defended. Not a few were afterwards destroyed by order of the Parliament, and others were left to the ravages of time and weather. Some of these monuments of

Having alluded to the attack and defence of these fortified places, we subjoin engravings of two of the principal machines employed on such occasions. One is a Moveable Tower, in which the besiegers ap

wheels, and consisted of different stories, on each of which archers were placed, who annoyed the soldiers on the ramparts, while the men below worked the battering-ram against the walls.

The next is a representation of a terrible engine, called the Catapulta, which, by a sudden jerk, slung large stones and arrows with amazing force. In those dreadful times, there was also a machine in use, by which not only mill-stones but the carcases of dead horses, and even, sometimes, living men, were hurled among the enemy's ranks.

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CATAPULTA.

UPCHURCH, IN KENT.

VIEW OF UPCHURCH CHURCH.

THE village of Upchurch, in the county of Kent, is situated on an eminence commanding an extensive view of the river Medway, and the surrounding country.

As far as eye can strain,

roll the proud waters of the Thames, which, uniting with the Medway at the Nore, are lost in the German Ocean.

It is impossible to forget the beautiful description of this river given by Sir John Denham :

Thames, the most loved of all the ocean's sons
By his old sire, to his embraces runs ;
Hasting to pay his tribute to the sea,
Like mortal life to meet eternity

Tho' with those streams he no resemblance hold,
Whose foam is amber, and whose gravel gold,
His genuine and less guilty wealth t' explore-
Search not his bottom, but survey his shore.
No unexpected inundations spoil,

The mower's hopes, nor mock the plowman's toil;
But, godlike, his unwearied bounty flows,
First loves to do, then loves the good he does.
Nor are his blessings to his banks confin'd,
But free and common as the sea and wind;
When he to boast, or to dispense his stores,
Full of the tribute of his grateful shores,
Visits the world, and in his flying towers,
Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours.
O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream,
My great example, as it is my theme!

Tho' deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull; Strong without rage; without o'erflowing, full. The high road from Dover to London passes about two miles distant. Although the village itself can claim but little interest, the church, and a creek which bounds the parish on the south-west, in which some antiquities have recently been discovered, may excite the curiosity of the antiquary.

The church of Upchurch, of which a sketch is given, is remarkable for the odd construction of its tower, having, as it were, a double roof, the upper one octangular; this, no doubt, was intended to make it a more conspicuous object to vessels navigating the Medway. The length of the church, internally, not including the belfry, is 96 feet, and its width 54. It consists of three aisles, which run the whole length of the building, and contains much more room than is occupied by the present decreased number of inhabitants, the population of the parish amounting only to about 400.

The pavement of the South-east Chancel, which is used as a Sunday-school, is composed of small square tiles, of various patterns; in some instances, several tiles form but one pattern, the circles crossing from one tile to another. They are rapidly becoming obliterated, by the traffic of the children;

but, however the lover of antiquity may regret that these curious remains were not removed to a less frequented spot, the lover of religion will not lament their destruction, when he reflects, that the footsteps of children, assembled in the House of their Maker, to read his holy word, and lisp his praise, and not the hand of violence, as history records has too often been the case, have effaced their impressions.

On the south side of the altar remain three stone seats, divided by arms, which in the Catholic times were occupied by the priests not engaged in the service. The pillars in the great chancel have clusters of small ones surrounding them, similar to those in Canterbury Cathedral, surmounted with capitals of wrought tracery. Under the North-east chancel is a charnel house, containing the mouldering remains of former generations. There is a tradition that a battle took place with the Danes in the neighbourhood of the river, and that the remains of the slaughtered were deposited here, when the Crypt was built; the sexton, probably, in the execution of his office, may have increased their number. The ceiling is ornamented with ribs of freestone.

The visiter of this unfrequented spot may draw a useful lesson from the fragments of mortality with which he is surrounded; and, if of a contemplative mind, will perceive the vanity of those little distinctions which set us here in opposition to each other. The vain-glorious may learn, that pride will not preserve their ashes from mingling, some time or other, with those of their ignoble brethren; for the curse, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," is equally the inheritance of all. The humble-minded Christian will derive, from the same source, "comfort and good hope, being certified that one day they shall revive again, and be united to their kindred spirit, and he will answer in the affirmative this question, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

HASTED, in his History of Kent, remarks, "that the noxious vapours arising from the marshes, subject the inhabitants to continued intermittents, and shorten their lives at a very early period." Agues are certainly prevalent at particular seasons, but he concluded too hastily, in saying that the inhabitants are generally short-lived. At the present time, living witnesses would confute his observation. But since the days of that writer, the surface of the country is very much improved; trees have been felled, and woods grubbed up, whereby a freer current of air has been admitted. A great part of the flint required for the repairs of the streets of the metropolis, is obtained from this parish.

The annexed engravings represent some of the jars and vessels recently discovered at Upchurch, at low water, imbedded three feet in the blue clay. Several pieces have been found fused together, which evidently show that here was a pottery, and not a hastened the ingress of the waters. place of sepulture. This circumstance, no doubt,

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THE MANNER IN WHICH THE EARLY CHRISTIANS TREATED THEIR DEAD. AFTER watching and praying by the sick person, the first care of the early Christians, upon his dissolution, was to shut his mouth, and close his eyes. This was agreeable to that decency and decorum which nature seems to dictate. It likewise corresponded to the usage of the Greeks and Romans, before their conversion to Christianity.

When the eyes and mouth were closed, the body was then laid out, and carefully washed with water. This ceremony, which was common to the Jews, Greeks and Romans, the first Christians also adopted. Thus we read, "Tabitha fell sick, and died; whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber." Washing the corpse is mentioned by Tertullian, Eusebius, and many others. It appears to have been retained in the Western Church for many centuries, not as a mystical ceremony, or religious rite, but as a civil usage, and a decent preparation of the body for its burial.

The next operation was embalming the body, to preserve it from putrefaction. This art the Jews probably borrowed from the Egyptians, by whom it is supposed to have been invented. In Genesis we find that about 1700 years before the birth of Christ, "Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father." Joseph himself was embalmed, and put into a coffin in Egypt. In like manner we read of Asa, that "the bed on which he was laid in his sepulchre, was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices, prepared by the apothecary's art." And to mention a still more memorable instance; after Joseph of Arimathea had taken down the body of Jesus from the cross, " Nicodemus came, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pounds' weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to embalm, or prepare the body for interment.”

The eyes and mouth being closed, and the body washed with water, and anointed with oil or perfumes, and in some cases embalmed, it was then decently clothed with the funeral garments. These were commonly made of fine white linen. Prudentius mentions the white garment, which was the most usual funeral dress. Yet we find that the bodies of the rich were sometimes dressed in magnificent robes, embroidered with gold; and Durant has observed, that at the obsequies of pontiffs, kings and princes, splendid vestments were thought allowable. The funeral vestments of the Christians were always new; upon which Chrysostom remarks, "We clothe the dead in new garments, to signify their putting on the new clothing of incorruption."

The corpse, thus robed in its funeral attire, and prepared for burial, was deposited in a chest or coffin, which was commonly made of wood: for in this instance, the primitive Christians adopted the practice of the Greeks and Romans, in preference to that of the Jews, who only wound up the body in linen clothes. The coffins were at first generally plain, and without any ornamental covering. Constantine, however, was put into a coffin of gold, or at least overlaid with gold; which was covered with. a rich purple pall. At Rome, likewise, the coffins of the nobility, and other opulent citizens, had a covering inwrought with gold thrown over them. There is, however, reason to suppose that pompous and expensive decorations at funerals were not very common in his day.

From the time that the body was put into the coffin, till it was carried out for interment, it was

watched by the relations and friends of the deceased, by charitable neighbours, and other persons religiously disposed. The body in the coffin was sometimes taken into the church. This office was more especially performed in the night-time, during which the company assembled sung hymns, psalms, and praises to God, as they were accustomed to do on the vigils preceding the festivals of martyrs.

The Jews, who did not bury in coffins, but simply wound up the body in linen, carried out their dead on a bier; but the Christians carried theirs on their shoulders. This office was commonly performed by friends or near relations; and oftentimes, in cases of plague or persecution, by charitable persons, of distinction, who chose rather to run the risk of sacrificing both their fortunes and lives, than to leave this last office of Christian charity unperformed. In the first four centuries, we have numerous instances, where men and women of eminent sanctity were. borne upon the shoulders of bishops, and of the clergy of superior order.

Both in the eastern and western Churches, the priests at the funeral procession went before the corpse; and next to it came the more immediate friends of the deceased. After them the rest of the company followed. This order of the funeral procession, divines and moralists have remarked, is admonition to the survivors, that their deceased brother is gone before them to the place whither they must soon follow."

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In peaceable times the corpse was always carried forth with psalmody to the grave. The Apostolic Constitutions direct the bodies of the faithful to be carried forth with singing, and cite some of the passages that were more generally used. Chrysostom likewise acquaints us with various particular portions of the psalms, and of hymns selected from the Old and New Testament, which were sung on these occasions, and observes,-" The object of the psalmody, the prayers, and the solemn meeting of fathers, and the multitude of brethren, is, not to lament and mourn, but to give God thanks for having taken unto himself our deceased brother." Jerome, also, frequently speaks of psalmody as a custom universally received from ancient tradition.

From the more early writers, we learn that the primitive Christians did sometimes offer up both private and public prayers for the dead; that is, for "all the servants of Christ departed this life in his faith and fear." For Saints and Martyrs, and not for ordinary Christians only, they offered up prayer as well as praise. They gave thanks to God, "for delivering the deceased out of the miseries of this sinful world ;" and they prayed that he would receive to himself, to rest and happiness, the souls that he had taken out of this world; and that, at the general resurrection, he would consummate the glory and bliss of his elect, both in body and soul. Orations were likewise very frequently made in honour of those who had been eminent for piety and virtue. A deacon read such portions of Scripture as contained promises of the resurrection; and appropriate psalms and anthems were sung at the interment, as well as during the procession. The Eucharist was likewise commonly celebrated, when the funeral happened to be in the morning; for at that time the communion was generally received by all, fasting.

The prayers and praises offered up to God for the dead, were commonly accompanied with acts of charity to the living. The heirs and relations of the deceased made donations to the clergy, provided entertainments for their friends, and gave alms liberally to the poor. Some likewise gave alms and

entertainments on the anniversary of the funeral; but as great excesses were often committed at these feasts, the practice, in process of time, was laid aside; and for the same reason the festivals, held at the graves of martyrs, were suppressed.

After the body was placed in the coffin, attired in its funeral robes, it was customary for the Greeks and Romans to bedeck it with garlands and chaplets of flowers; and it was not unusual among the early Christians, to strew evergreens and flowers upon the grave.Abridged from SHEPHERD.

A MAN set to watch a field of peas, which had been much preyed upon by pigeons, shot an old cock pigeon, who had long been an inhabitant of the farm. His mate, around whom he had for many a year cooed, and nourished from his own crop, and assisted in rearing numerous young ones, immediately settled on the ground near him, and showed her grief in the most expressive manner. The abourer took up the dead bird, and tied it to a short stake, thinking that it would frighten away the other depredators. In this situation, however, his partner did not forsake him, but continued day after day walking slowly round the stick. The kind-hearted wife of the bailiff of the farm at last heard of the circumstance, and immediately went to afford what relief she could to the poor bird. She told me that on arriving at the spot she found the hen bird much exhausted, and that she had made a circular beaten track round the dead pigeon, making now and then a little spring towards him. On the removal of the dead bird, the

hen returned to the dove-cot.JESSE.

THE study of Nature is ever attended with pleasing reflections, and the study of botany, in particular, independent of its immediate use, is as healthful as it is innocent. It beguiles the tediousness of the road, it furnishes amusement at every footstep of the solitary walk; and, above all, it leads to pleasing reflections on the bounty, the wisdom, and the power of the great CREator.

QUICK TRAVELLING.

THE MITE makes 500 steps in a second, or 30,000 in a minute. Allowing the horse to move at an equal ratio, he would perform 1022 miles an hour. The journey from London to Birmingham would then occupy but six minutes and a fraction. —St. James's Chronicle.

There is another insect which may in some measure rival the above in the celerity of its motion, and is itself unrivalled in strength, in proportion to its size. Although it is generally disliked, and has not a very fair reputation, yet to the eye of the naturalist it is rather a pleasing and interesting object. Its form, as examined by the microscope, is extremely elegant, and has an appearance as if clad in coat of mail. It has a small head, with large eyes, a clean and bright body, beset at each segment with numerous sharp and shining bristles. All its motions indicate agility and sprightliness, and its muscular power is so extraordinary, as justly to excite our astonishment: indeed, we know no other animal whose strength can be put in competition with (its name must come out at last) that of a Common FLEA, for on a moderate computation, it can leap to a distance, at least 200 times the length of its own body. A flea will drag after it a chain 100 times heavier than itself, and will eat ten times its own weight of provisions in a day. Mr. Boverich, an ingenious watchmaker, who some years ago lived in the Strand, London, exhibited to the public a little ivory chaise with four wheels, and all its proper apparatus, and a man sitting on the box, all of which were drawn by a single flea. He made a small landau, which opened and shut by springs, with six horses harnessed to it, a coachman sitting on the box, and a dog between his legs, four persons in the carriage, two footmen behind it, and a postilion riding on one of the fore-horses, which was also easily drawn along by a flea. He likewise had a chain of brass about two inches long, containing 200 links, with a hook at one end, and a padlock and key at the other, which the flea drew very nimbly along. Something of the same kind is now exhibiting in London.Encyclo. Edin.

POPULAR LITERATURE. IMMORAL publications have the same tendency with bad examples, both in propagating vice and promoting infidelity; but they are still more pernicious, because the sphere of their influence is more extensive.

A bad example, though it operates fatally, operates comparatively within a small circumference. It extends only to those who are near enough to observe it, and fall within the reach of the poisonous infection that spreads around it; but the contagion of a licentious publication, especially if it be (as it too frequently is) in a popular and captivating shape, knows no bounds; it flies to the remotest corners of the earth; it penetrates the obscure and retired habitations of simplicity and innocence; it makes its way into the cottage of the peasant, into the hut of the shepherd, and the shop of the mechanic; it falls into the hands of all ages, ranks, and conditions; but it is peculiarly fatal to the unsuspecting and unguarded of the youth of both sexes; and to them its "breath is poison, and its touch is death."

What then have they to answer for, who are every day obtruding these publications on the world, in a thousand different shapes and forms, in history, in biography, in poems, in novels, in dramatic pieces; in all of which the prevailing feature is universal philanthropy and indiscriminate benevolence; under the protection of which the hero of the piece has the privilege of committing whatever irregularities he thinks fit; and, while he is violating the most sacred obligations, insinuating the most licentious sentiments, and ridiculing every thing that looks like religion, he is nevertheless held up as a model of virtue; and though he may perhaps be charged with a few little venial foibles, and pardonable infirmities (as they are called), yet we are assured that he has, notwithstanding, the very best heart in the world. Thus it is that the principles of our youth are insensibly and almost unavoidably corrupted; and instead of being inspired, as they ought to be, with a just detestation of vice, they are furnished with apologies for it, which they never forget, and are even taught to consider it as a necessary part of an accomplished character.BISHOP PORTEUS.

THE following interesting anecdote is given by N. Gould, Esq., in his Notes on America and Canada, made during a visit in 1828. Speaking of some Indians who had been converted to Christianity, he says, "These Indians belong to the Missasaugis, one of the dirtiest and most abject of the tribes. They have now left off their dirt, and put on European garments; and, with their new garments, have put on new habits: many of them are known to have gone considerable distances to pay old contracted debts, for conscience sake. One story of a converted youth is too affecting to be left unnoticed. He had embraced Christianity, and after a short time returned home, where he found his parents debased by filthy drunkenness. He endeavoured, in vain, to persuade them to give up the use of ardent spirits, and become Christians. After residing with them a short time, he sickened, and died. His parents then thought of his dying exhortations, and among their first acts, applied to the Rev. Archdeacon Strahan, of York (Upper Canada), to give their son Christian burial, which was granted, the Archdeacon himself reading the service. They afterwards embraced Christianity."

CHRISTIANITY did not come from heaven to be the amusement of an idle hour, to be the food of mere imagination; to be "as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and playeth well upon an instrument." No; it is intended to be the guide, the guardian, the companion of all our hours: it is intended to be the food of our immortal spirits; it is intended to be the serious occupation of our whole existence.-BISHOP JEBB.

THE SECRET TREASURE.

ANNIVERSARIES IN JULY. MONDAY, 29th.

THE following interesting story is related by Tavernier, in 1567 Coronation of James VI. of Scotland.

his Travels

SHAH ABBAS the First, king of Persia, being one day hunting, and having wandered from his attendants, found a young shepherd playing on a pipe. The king spoke to him, and, after some conversation, was so struck with his solid understanding, that he committed him to the care of teachers, to be properly educated. The shepherd made such wonderful progress, that he excited the admiration of the court and of his patron, who gave him the name of Mohamed Ali Beg, together with the office of Nazar, or intendant of the household. The king sent him twice as ambassador to the Great Mogul, and was much pleased with his negotiations, for he had the firmness to resist bribes, a thing very uncommon among the Persians. The favour he enjoyed raised him up a host of enemies, but none would venture to speak to the sovereign, who had so high an opinion of his fidelity.

After the death of the king, however, the enemies of Mohamed endeavoured to effect his ruin with Sehah Sefi, the successor, who, being a young man, was more easily persuaded. They represented to the king, that as Mohamed had built, at his own expense, several caravanseras, and a magnificent palace, he could not have done so without employing some of the public money. The king, anxious to ascertain the truth of the accusation, ordered Mohamed to settle his accounts within fifteen days; but this faithful intendant begged his majesty to come the next day to the treasury, where the king found every thing in perfect order. Thence he proceeded to Mohamed's house, where he was surprised to find every room furnished in the plainest style, and could not help expressing his admiration at the humility he had shown in so elevated a station. One of the slaves, observing a door fastened with three padlocks, informed the king he had overlooked it. His majesty asked Mohamed what treasure was concealed in that room, which was so carefully shut. Mohamed replied, that the whole of his property was contained there, and every thing else belonged to his majesty. He then threw open the door of the room, in which nothing appeared but his crook, wallet, the goat's skin which he used to fill with water, his pipe, and his shepherd's dress, all suspended from the wall. The Nazar, seeing the king's astonishment, related to him the history of his good fortune, and in what manner he had been brought to court, by order of Shah Abbas, begging his majesty, if his services were no longer required, to allow him to return to his original occupation. The king was so struck with his virtue, that he took off his own dress, and gave it to the Nazar, which is the greatest honour a king of Persia confers on a subject. Mohamed continued in his office, notwithstanding the efforts of his enemies, and died in that employment.

DRAM DRINKING.

THE children of Dram-drinkers are generally of diminutive size, of unhealthy appearance, and sickly constitutions, and in adults this vice is peculiarly destructive in its operation. It deranges the animal economy, weakens the nerves, destroys the digestive powers, obstructs the secretions, and destroys the life; the stomach is kept by it in a state of constant excitement, and, by the frequent application of an artificial stimulus, at length loses its tone, and refuses to perform its office; the appetite becomes vitiated and fails. The more important organs of the body, particularly the liver and lungs, are disturbed in their functions, and frequently become the subjects of incurable disease. Depression of spirits almost invariably accompanies drinking, while the effect produced by every fresh stimulus is only to excite to temporary action, which, when it has ceased, leaves the same languor and depression to be again removed by the same destructive means. Almost all attacks of fever or inflammatory disease are found fatal in the case of dramdrinkers, because the blood of such persons is remarkably destitute of oxygen, and therefore can afford little or no antiseptic resistance to such diseases; in some cases dropsy and consumption, in others paralysis and apoplexy, are evident consequences; while premature old age is observed in most instances, and a miserable existence in all.Evidence of JOHN POYNDER Esq., before the Committee of the House of Commons.

1693 Battle of Landen, near Namur, in the Netherlands, in which the united armies of England and Holland were commanded by William III.

1794 Seventy-one citizens of Paris suffered death in the square of the Revolution, as confederates or abettors of Robespierre. TUESDAY, 30th.

1771

1768 Captain Cook sailed from Plymouth on his first voyage of discovery. Died Thomas Gray, one of our best poets. He was buried in the church-yard which suggested the idea of his Elegy, namely, at Stoke Pogius, in Buckinghamshire.

1556

WEDNESDAY, 31st.

Death of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Order of Jesus, or, as they are usually called, the Jesuits. He was forty years of age when he first conceived the plan of his new society, and it was ten years more before he could obtain the sanction of the Pope; yet so rapid was its progress, that before the death of Loyola, the Jesuits possessed upwards of one hundred colleges, besides professed houses; and, at the commencement of the seventeenth century, it was computed that there were upwards of twenty thousand Jesuits, all subject to one general, who is absolute and perpetual.

THE MONTH OF AUGUST.

AUGUST, the sixth in the Alban Calendar, became, by the arrangement of Numa, the eighth month of the year, but was still called by its original name of sextilis, or sixth, until the time of Octavius Cæsar, better known as Augustus, when the senate, to pay the decreed that this month, in which he had taken possession of his same tribute to him as had already been rendered to Julius Cæsar, first Consulship, in which he had celebrated three triumphs, had reduced Egypt to a Roman province, and given the empire rest from her civil discords, should from him take the name of Augustus, which we call August; and, to render the homage in every respect equal, a day was taken from February and given to August, though by so doing the regular interchange of thirty and thirty-one days, established by Julius Cæsar, was disturbed.

This month was dedicated to Ceres, the Goddess of Corn and Harvest. The Saxons called it Wead Monat wead, signifying a covering or garment, and thus they expressed the beauteous clothing of the ground in harvest. From the earliest ages it has been a time still a sound that gladdens the heart of every Englishman. In of joy and merrymaking with the husbandman, and harvest-home is drawings of a very remote period, August is represented by a carter driving a loaded wain; later pictures of August represent a man reaping, or having a sickle stuck in his girdle: the more classical taste of the present day, following the description of Spenser, represents August under the likeness of a beautiful female, of majestic stature, crowned with ears of corn, and having her hands filled with them, which representation also carries an allusion to the heavenly bodies, as on the 23rd the sun enters the sign Virgo. ANNIVERSARIES.

THURSDAY, 1st.

LAMMAS-DAY IS the second of what are now called Cross Quarters, but which were heretofore as regularly used for the division of the year, as Lady-Day, &c.. The term is said to be derived from Lamb and Mass, it having been customary to offer on this day, at the altars of cathedrals, two young lambs, at which time high mass was celebrated. From the fleece of these animals was afterwards manufactured the pallium, which the Pope transmitted to ecclesiastics when he conferred the episcopal dignity.

1492 Columbus discovered the continent of America.

1589 Henry III. of France murdered at St. Cloud, by a Dominican friar.

1714 Queen Anne, daughter of James II., died at Kensington. 1798 Battle of the Nile, gained by Sir Horatio (afterwards Lord Viscount) Nelson.

FRIDAY, 2nd.

1100 William Rufus shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel, while hunting in the New Forest.

1704

Battle of Blenheim, in which the Duke of Marlborough defeated the united forces of France and Bavaria. The noble mansion of Blenheim was granted as a reward for this and other splendid achievements of that great general.

1802 Buonaparte created perpetual Consul by the senate. SATURDAY, 3rd.

1460 James II. of Scotland killed by the accidental bursting of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh.

1732 The first stone laid of the present building in Threadneedlestreet, which we, emphatically, call The Bank. Till the erection of the present structure, the business was transacted at Grocers' Hall.

1786

An attempt was made to stab his Majesty George III., by a female, named Margaret Nicholson.

1811 A new island appeared in the sea, near St. Michael's, supposed to be produced by a volcanic eruption beneath. SUNDAY, 4th.

NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

1347 Calais taken by Edward III., after a siege of eleven months; it was the last place retained by the English of all their possessions in France, and was lost in 1557.

1598

Died, at a very advanced age, Cecil, Lord Burleigh, the old and tried friend and councillor of Queen Elizabeth.

LONDON

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