following curious and pleasing account of the ceremonies of Twelfth-night, as we may suppose them to have been then observed in almost every private family: TWELFTH NIGHT; or, KING and QUEEN. With the cake full of plums, Where Beane's the king of the sport here; The Pea also Be Twelfe-day Queene for the night here. Which knowne, let us make And let not a man then be seen here, To the base from the brink A health to the King and the Queene here. With store of ale, too; And thus ye must doe Give then to the King And Queene wassailing ; And though with ale ye be whet here; As free from offence, As when ye innocent met here. During the reigns of Elizabeth and James I, the celebration of Twelfth-night was, equally with Christmas Day, a festival through the land, and was observed with great ostentation and ceremony in both the Universities, at Court, at the Temple, and at Lincoln's and Gray's Inn. Many of the Masques of Ben Jonson were written for the amusement of the Royal Family on this night; and Dugdale, in his Origines Juridicales, has given us a long and particular account of the revelry at the Temple on each of the twelve days of Christmas, in the year 1562. It appears from this document that the hospitable rites of St. Stephen's Day, St. John's Day, and Twelfth Day, were ordered to be exactly alike; and as many of them are, in their nature, perfectly rural, and were, there is every reason to suppose, observed, to a certain extent, in the halls of the country gentry and substantial yeomanry, a short record here of those that fall under this description cannot be deemed inapposite. The breakfast on Twelfth Day is directed to be of brawn, mustard, and malmsey; the dinner of two courses, to be served in the hall; and after the first course 'cometh in the Master of the Game, apparalled in green velvet; and the Ranger of the Forest also, in a green suit of satten, bearing in his hand a green bow and divers arrows, with either of them a hunting horn about their necks, they pace round about the fire three times. Then the Master of the Game maketh three curtesies, kneels down, and petitions to be admitted into the service of the Lord of the Feast. This ceremony performed, a huntsman cometh into the hall with a fox, and a purse-net with a cat, both bound at the end of a staff, and with them nine or ten couple of hounds, with the blowing of huntinghorns. And the fox and cat are by the hounds set upon, and killed beneath the fire. This sport finished, the Marshal (an officer so called, who, with many others under different appellations, were created for the purpose of conducting the revels) placeth them in their several appointed places.' antientest of the After the second course, the Masters of the Revels singeth a song, with the assistance of others there present;' and, after some repose and revels, supper, consisting of two courses, is then served in the hall, and, being ended, the Marshall presenteth himself with drums afore him, mounted upon a scaffold, born by four men; and goeth three times round about the harthe, crying out aloud A Lord, a Lord,' &c.; then he descendeth, and goeth to dance. This done, the Lord of Misrule addresseth himself to the Banquet, which ended with some minstralsye, mirth, and dancing, every man departeth to rest.'-See Dr. Drake's admirable Illustrations of the manners and customs of these times, in his Shakspeare,' vol. i, p. 131, and the authors there cited. The customs on this day in Northumberland, France, and at Rome, are described at length in T. T. for 1815, p. 5. On the Epiphany, the King of England offers annually, by proxy, at the chapel royal, St. James's, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The day after Twelfth Day was called St. Distaff's Day.' *6. 1684.-THE THAMES FROZEN. Mr. Evelyn in his Memoirs' affords some curious particulars of this remarkable frost. Jan. 9. I went crosse the Thames on the ice, now become so thicke as to beare not only streetes of boothes in which they roasted meate, and had divers shops of ware quite across as in a towne, but coaches, carts, and horses passed over.-16. The Thames was filled with people and tents, selling all sorts of wares as in the city.-24. The frost continuing more and more severe, the Thames before London was still planted with boothes in formal streetes, all sorts of trades and shops furnish'd and full of commodities, even to a printing presse, where the people and ladyes tooke a fancy to have their names printed, and the day and yeare set down when printed on the Thames; this humour tooke so universally, that 'twas 1 See some lines on this subject in T. T. for 1814, p. 4. estimated the printer gained £5. a day, for printing a line onely, at sixpence a name, besides what he got by ballads, &c. Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other staires to and fro, as in the streetes; sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays and interludes, cookes, tipling, and other lewd places, so that it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water; whilst it was a severe judgment on the land, the trees not onely splitting as if lightning-struck, but men and cattle perishing in divers places, and the very seas so locked up with ice, that no vessells could stir out or come in. The fowles, fish, and birds, and all our exotiq plants and greenes universally perishing. Many parkes of deer were destroied, and all sorts of fuell so deare that there were greate contributions to preserve the poore alive. Nor was this severe weather much lesse intense in most parts of Europe, even as far as Spaine and the most southern tracts. London, by reason of the excessive coldnesse of the aire hindering the ascent of the smoke, was so filled with the fuliginous streame of the sea-coale, that hardly could one see crosse the streetes, and this filling the lungs with its grosse particles, exceedingly obstructed the breast, so as one could scarcely breath. Here was no water to be had from the pipes and engines, nor could the brewers and divers other tradesmen worke, and every moment was full of disastrous accidents'.' *7. 1796.-PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES BORN. Cold is her heart, so lately warm, That now the colder urn incloses; And stretched at length the fairest form That now in coffined shroud reposes. For an account of the remarkable Frost of 1814, see an interesting little volume entitled Frostiana. Oh, ever-loved! too early fled; Thus numbered with the silent dead; And with thee gone, from earth beguiled, Oh, early lost! just loved, and snatched away! Blest with each charm the British heart to gain, Daughter of Joy! the scene is past, Though Hope reserved Thee for the last The scene is past-and we may weep 8. SAINT LUCIAN. Lucian, a native of Syria, was celebrated in his youth for his eloquence, and intimate acquaintance with polite literature. After the death of his parents, he gave all his fortune to the poor, and confined himself to the study of the scriptures. He was a proficient in the Hebrew, and revised the Septuagint version of the Bible. He wrote an apology for the Christians, and presented it to Maximinus II. After having undergone various torments at the instigation of this emperor, he was martyred in the year 312. *9. 1818.-JOHN SMITH DIED, ÆT. 99. Individuals possessing rank and talents in society have the fairest claim to biographical distinction. But where these are wanting, eccentricity of character alone will sometimes produce a narrative both amusing and instructive; and accordingly the names of persons in humble stations have often been recorded merely on account of some singularity which attends them, not generally observed in others in the passing scenes of life. John Smith, born in or about the year 1719, although not destined to fill an elevated station, was by no means obscure; for few men were better known in the great circle of his movements. But little can be learned of his early B |