the whole sum at which the goods were valued, and was pleased to leave them in our hands, for our use, till we might be able to re-purchase them. As for the books, several stationers looked on them, but were not forward to buy. At last, Mr. Cooke, a worthy divine of this diocese, gave bond to the sequestrators, to pay them the whole sum whereat they were set, which was afterwards satisfied out of that poor pittance which was allowed me for my maintenance.

As a moralist, Bishop Hall has been entitled the Christian Seneca: his knowledge of the world, depth of thought, and elegance of expression, place him nearer our own times than many of his contemporaries; while he adorned his age by learning, piety, and the uniform exercise of all the Christian graces. It would, indeed, be difficult to name a prelate of more excellent character, or one, of his time, whose talents and sufferings, whose zeal in prosperity, and courage in adversity, deserve more honourable mention. His Meditations' have been often reprinted; and his entire works have lately been collected in a very handsome, correct, and well-arranged edition, in 10 vols. 8vo, by the Rev. Josias Pratt.

14.-HOLY CROSS.

This festival was first observed in the year 615, on the following occasion: Cosroes, King of Persia, having plundered Jerusalem, carried away large pieces of the cross which had been left there by the Empress Helena. Heraclius, the emperor, soon afterwards engaged and defeated him, and recovered the cross: but, bringing it back in triumph to Jerusalem, he found the gates shut against him, and heard a voice from heaven saying, that the King of Kings did not enter into that city in so stately a manner, but meek and lowly, and riding upon an ass. The emperor then immediately dismounted from his horse, and walked through the city barefooted, carrying the cross himself. The holy-rood, or cross, when perfectly made, had not only the image of our Saviour extended upon

it, but the figures of the Virgin Mary and St. John, one on each side; in allusion to John xix, 26,• Christ on the cross saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved, standing by.

17.-SAINT LAMBERT.

Lambert was Bishop of Utrecht, in the time of King Pepin I; but, reproving the king's grandson for his irregularities, he was cruelly murdered at the instigation of an abandoned woman. Being canonized, he obtained, at first, only a simple commemoration in the calendar; but Robert, Bishop of Leeds, in a general chapter of the Cistercian order, procured a solemn feast to his honour in the church in 1240.

*18. 304.-ST. FERREOL BEHEADEd.

The anniversary of this saint and martyr is celebrated at Marseilles with great pomp. The houses are decorated with streamers to the very tops; and the public way is crossed by cords, on which are suspended numberless flags of various colours. The ships are always ornamented with flags and streamers. The procession passes under several arches, hung with boughs, before it stops at the altars or restingplaces, which are covered with flowers: every thing concurs to give to this solemnity an air of cheerfulness. The eye dwells with pleasure on the garlands of beautiful flowers, the green boughs, and the emblem of the Divinity, contained in the flags of the procession. The attendants are extremely numerous; every gardener carries his wax taper, ornamented with the most rare and beautiful flowers; he has also the vegetables and fruits with which heaven had blessed his labour, and sometimes he bears some nests of birds.

The butchers also make a part of this procession, clothed in long tunics, and with a hat à la Henri IV, armed with a hatchet or cleaver; they lead a fat ox dressed with garlands and ribands, and with gilt horns, like the ox at the carnival: his back is cover

ed with a carpet, on which sits a pretty child, dressed as St. John the Baptist. During the whole week which precedes the festival, the butchers lead about this animal: they first take him to the police, where they pay a duty, and then their collection begins, which is very productive: every one wishes to have the animal in his house; and it is a prevailing superstition among the people, that they shall have good luck throughout the year if this beast leave any trace of his visit, however dirty it may be. The ox is killed on the day after the festival. The child generally lives but a short time: exhausted by the fatigue which he has suffered, and by the caresses which he has received, and sickened by the sweetmeats with which he has been crammed, he languishes, and often falls a victim.

A number of young girls, clothed in white, their heads covered with veils, adorned with flowers, and girded with ribands of a uniform colour, are next in the procession. Children, habited in different manners, recal the antient Mysteries.' Several young women are dressed as nuns; these are St. Ursula, St. Rosalia, St. Agnes, St. Teresa, &c. The handsomest are clothed as Magdalens; with their hair dishevelled on their lovely faces, they look with an air of contrition on a crucifix which they hold in the hand: others appear in the habit of the Sœurs de la Charité, whose whole time is devoted to the service of the sick. Young boys fill other parts, such as angels, abbots, monks: among whom may be distinguished St. Francis, St. Bruno, St. Anthony, &c. In the midst of the shepherds marches the little St. John, but half-covered with a sheep'sskin, like the picture of his precursor; he leads a lamb decked with ribands, a symbol of the Saviour who offered himself for us, and died for the remission of our sins. The streets are strewed with flowers; numerous choristers carry baskets full of roses and yellow broom, which they throw, on a given signal,

before the host or holy sacrament: they strew some of these on the ladies who sit in rows to see the procession; these also have baskets of flowers on their knees, which they offer to the host; they amuse themselves with covering the young virgins and little saints with the flowers. The sweet scents of the roses, the cassia, the jessamine, the orange, and the tuberose, mingled with the odour of the incense, almost overpower the senses. The procession proceeds to the port, and it is there that the ceremony presents a sublime character: the people fill the quays; all the decks are manned with seamen, dressed in their best blue jackets, their heads uncovered, and their red caps in their hands. All bend the knee to the God of the Universe: the scamen stretch out their hands towards the prelate, who, placed under a canopy, gives the benediction: the most profound silence reigns among this immense crowd. The benediction received, every one rises instantaneously; the bells begin to ring, the music plays, and the whole train takes the road to the temple from which they came. (See Coxe's Gentleman's Guide through France, p. 200.)

21.-SAINT MATTHEW.

In the year 64 or 65, Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, which was afterwards translated into Greek. After many labours and miracles, he closed his life at Nadabar in Ethiopia, probably by martyrdom.

22.-CORONATION OF KING GEORGE III.

His present Majesty was crowned on the 22d of September, 1761. The form of the oath, and the manner of taking it, may be seen in T. T. for 1814, p. 228-230.

*23. 1738.—DR. HERMAN BOERHAAVE DIED.

Linnæus, when at Leyden, had particularly wished to see and converse with Boerhaave, but in vain. No minister could be more overwhelmed with intreaties and invitations, nor more difficult in granting an audience, than Boerhaave. His menial servants reaped

advantages from this circumstance; for them an audience was always a profitable money-job; by_the weight of gold it could alone be accomplished. Linnæus was quite unacquainted with this method, and had it not in his power to make presents. Owing to Boerhaave's infinite occupations, and the strict regularity which he observed, ambassadors, princes, and Peter the Great' himself, were obliged to wait several hours in his anti-chamber, to obtain an interview. How much more difficult must it have been for the young northern doctor, allowing him his usual spirit of liberality, to aspire at the honour of admittance! Notwithstanding all these obstacles, he accomplished it at last. He sent Boerhaave a copy of his newly published system. Eager to know the author of this work, who had likewise recommended himself by a letter, he appointed Linnæus to meet him on the day before his intended departure, at his villa, at the distance of a quarter of a league from Leyden, and charged Gronovius to give him notice of his intention. This villa contained a botanical garden, and one of the finest collections of exotics. Linnæus punctually attended to the invitation. Boerhaave, who was then sixty-seven years old, received him with gladness, and took him into his garden, for the purpose of judging of his knowledge. He showed him, as a rarity, the Crategus Aria, and asked him if he had ever seen that tree before, as it had never been described by any botanist. Linnæus answered that he had frequently met with it in Sweden, and that it had been already described by Vaillant. Struck with the young man's reply, Boerhaave denied the latter part of his assertion, with so much more confidence, as he had himself published Vaillant's work, with notes of his

1

Boerhaave received visits from three crowned heads, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, William the Third, and Peter the Great, the last of whom slept in his barge all night, over against the house of the illustrious Professor, that he might have two hours' conversation with him before he began his lectures.