hehaved themselves after the manner and fashion of mariners." A fair lady attired in a Spanish dress, in compliment to the Princess Catherine, was a passenger on board this stately vessel, which cast anchor under the walls of the castle; and representing themselves to be ambassadors from a band of knights, who now entered the hall inclosed in a mountain; the crew sent Hope and Desire, with banners displayed, to solicit the fair dames of the castle in their behalf. The ladies denying all knowledge of the knights, refused audience to their envoys, who taking great displeasure at this repulse, threatened the castle with a siege by the suitors so disdainfully rejected. Sailing directly to the mountain, the mariners reported the ill success of their embassy; and the knights advancing instantly to the assault, the ladies, after a faint show of resistance, yielded to their prowess; and the whole party danced together" many goodly dances." Prince Arthur and the Lady Cecil next performed two bass dances; the Princess Catherine and one of her ladies danced together after the Spanish manner; and the Duke of York, leading out his sister, the Lady Margaret, after a time finding himself embarrassed by his cumbrous dress, "suddenly cast off his gown, and daunced in his jacket with the said Lady Margaret, in so goodly and pleasant manner, that it was to the king and queen right great and singler pleasure." After the dance had concluded, spices and wine were presented to the king and his guests by five score couple of earls, barons, and knights, besides squires, having collars and chains of gold about their necks. These noble servitors were followed by the yeomen of the guard, bearing pots of wine to replenish the cups. The spice plates, we are told, were furnished in a most bounteous manner" with the most esteemed condiments of the time, and "the nombre of spice plates goodly and marvellous, which was the more to be wondred, for that the cupboard was nothing touched, but stode complete garnished and fullfilled not once dymynished." Other tournaments and disguisings followed, rivalling those which preceded them in magnificence; and at a banquet given by the king at Westminster, the prizes were bestowed upon the victors. "First, the Duke of Buckingham had given him a rich and precious stone, a diamond of great virtue and price; the Lord Marquis of Dorset a ruby, and the other precious stones and rings of gold most excellently wrought." These festivals ended, the court made preparations for their removal to Richmond. The Hate Book. I will make a prief of it in my Note pook. MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. THE BASTARD DUKE OF NORMANDY. -William was the produce of an amour between Robert the Devil, and a very spirited damsel, a tanner's daughter, named Harlotta, who is supposed to have bequeathed her name to the numerous followers of her vocation.Robert saw her accidentally dancing round a May-pole, he beckoned to her and she flew to his arms. The boy when first born shewed his disposition towards acquiring property, by pertinaciously grasping straws with uncommon force. He was always rather delicate, as to the article of his birth, and having sworn once, "by the splendour of God" (his usual oath) that he would make the people of Alencon suffer for ridiculing his mother, by stretching tanned skins on their walls, he kept his word at the cost of the eyes, hands, and feet of twenty-two of their burghers. Anecdotiana. THE PHRENOLOGISTS AT FAULT.Marshal Marmont, who was no advocate for the science of phrenology, once took it into his head to call in disguise on Drs. Gall and Spurzheim. The two professors did not know his person, and examined the protuberances of his pericranium with all due gravity, and then gave it as their fiat, that he was deficient in the organ of courage, advising him at the same time not to choose a military life. The Marshal still preserving his incognito remarked, that he had never been accused of a want of courage, but bowed to their judgment. On taking leave, Marmont remarked, that perhaps they might wish to know on whose head they had pronounced an opinion, the doctors smiled assent, and the Marshal with a low bow announced his name and title, leaving the two phrenological professors bursting with mortification at the mistake they had committed, for the valour of Marmont had never been doubted. Diary and Chronology. Wednesday, Feb. 22. St. Peter's Chair at Antioch. High Water 12m, aft 6. Mor.-26m. aft, 6 after. Daisies, when the weather is mild, are about this period getting common here and there. And then the Band of flutes began to play, To which a lady sung a virelay; And still at every close she would repeat The burden of the song, "The daisy is so sweet;" "The daisy is so sweet," when she begun, The troops of knights and dames continued on The consort; and the voice so charmed my ear, And soothed my soul, that it was heaven to hear. Thursday, Feb. 23. St. Boisil, Prior of Melrose, Confessor. Moon's last quar. Oh. 22m, after. Our saint was Prior of the famous Melrose Abbey in Scotland. He appeared twice after his death to one of his disciples, in the form of a spirit, about the year 1030. Anniversary of the birth-day of Mason the poet, who has written thereon the following lines, descriptive of the usual weather of the end of February. ON HIS BIRTH-DAY. BY MASON. And now the birds on every budding spray Friday, Feb. 24. St. Matthias the apostle. Sun rises 47m. aft. 6 Morn.-Sets 14m. aft. 5. This saint was one of the seventy disciples; and being eminently distinguished for his devout attention to the discourses of our Saviour, was proposed to the apostles with Joseph, surnamed Barsabas, and Justus, as one of the candidates to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judas Iscariot; the eleven apostles having implored the Almighty to direct their choice between these pious disciples:" they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias," who thereupon was considered as the elect of Providence; which was after. wards amply confirmed by his receiving the Holy Ghost, with the other apostles, ten days after the Ascension. The festival of St. Matthias has been differently observed by the Church on Leap years; sometimes on the 25th of February; and the proper period for holding it is yet far from being generally understood: it is now positively settled a bishop and other persons were trodden to death by the crowd in endeavouring to escape. Three years after, in consequence of discontents in Rome, and the menaces of the Duke of Melun, the Pope was obliged to fly to Florence in the disguise of a monk. Sunday, Feb. 26. SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. Lessons for the Day.-3 ch. of Genesis. 6 ch, of Genesis. The name of the first Sunday in Lent having been distinguished by the appellation of Quadragesima, aud the three weeks preceding having been appropriated to the gradual introduction of the Lent fast, it was consistent with propriety to call the three Sundays of these weeks by names significant of their situation; and reckoning by Decades, the Sunday "preceding Quadragesima received its present title of Quinquagesima, the second, of which we are now speaking, Sexagesima, and the third Septuagesima. Monday, Feb. 27. St. Leander, Bp. of Seville. A.D. 596. Sun rises 44m, aft. 6—Sets 20m, aft. 5. MOSSES.-Professor Rennie, in his delightful notes of a Naturalist, in that very useful and intelligent work," Time's Telescope," states, that “ it may be remarked, that mosses are now in their fullest verdure, and many of them advanced to fructification, being destined, it would appear, to keep up the green tints of nature, when all other vegetation is dead or slumbering, and to protect the roots of larger plants from vicissitudes of cold, as well as of heat, and from too much moisture, as well as too great dryness. Marsh and water mosses have a tendency to produce soil, and to convert morasses into solid land, while they effect the purification of the water in which they grow, by absorbing the putrescent substances with which it may be corrupted, and by exhaling oxygen in exchange." There are but few mosses that send roots into the soil beyond a few lines, so that they cannot impoverish it so much as has been supposed. Mosses, indeed, seem like the air-plant of India, to derive their chief nourishment from moist air; a circumstance which may account for their growing on trees, walls, and bare rocks, where there is little, if any soil to support vegetation. Tuesday, Feb. 28. Martyrs of the Pestilence of Alexandria. A. D. 261. High Water, 12h. 0. m. Morn, Oh. Om. aftern. Now the hedge sparrow sings, as does also the invariably to be celebrated on the 24th of Febru-sky-lark in the morning. And now may be heard ary, as well Leap as in other years. Saturday, Feb. 25. St. Tarasius, Patron of Constantinople. A.D. 806. High Water 11m. aft. 8 Mor.-44m, aft. 8 after. FEB. 25, 1431.-Eugenius IV. was chosen Pope after the death of Martin V. An eclipse of the sun, which occurred at the time, was thought very ominous to the new Pope. The superstition of the times made this opinion be regarded as more certain, by the events which followed. Soon after his succession,bis Holiness was nearly killed by the failure of a beam in the floor of a public hall, and the field-lark enlivening the stubble fields. THE EARLY SPRING DAY. And noble liverworts, that blowing Mother of God in her virginitie. Part 54 will be ready with the Magazines. A few complete sets in Volumes and Parts may now be had. Ellustrated Article. ANNETTE OF ST. PERAU. For the Olio. A few leagues from Nismes, in the late province of Languedoc, is the quiet and retired village of St. Perau. Standing some distance from the high road, it is rarely sought except by those having business with the inhabitants, or, at long intervals, by some pedestrian wandering out of the beaten track in search of those beauties of nature which the bye-ways so often present, and are seen with more heartfelt enjoyment when bursting unawares on the sight of some way-worn searcher of the picturesque, than those more gorVOL. IX. See p. 148 geous views in the high-roads, the description of which has raised the expectation to the highest pitch, merely to shew that the reality always falls far short of the anticipation. It was in this village that Pierre and Annette had passed their infancy; they were respectively the son and daughter of men who had began life together; had followed the same occupation, that of vine-growers, and been for years neighbours and sworn friends; whose common wish too was for a future day to see that friendship more strongly cemented by the marriage of their children. It could not therefore be much a matter of surprise that betwixt their children there was more than friendship. Pierre saw with much delight 232 that few girls for miles around could compete with his little wife, as he called her, either in face or form; and that to be considered like Annette of St. Perau was a compliment many a bright and blue-eyed girl was justly proud of. Annette, too, was never so happy as when in company with Pierre, her partner in the summer dance, or wandering with him beside the river Gardon, listening to his projects for the future, when they were man and wife. When Pierre was about twenty, by the death of his father, he was left alone to cultivate his small "Terrein;" it was more than sufficient to keep him in comfort; and he could therefore carry into effect those plans of happiness he had so long looked forward to. What happiness could be greater than to have his dear Annette as his wife in the same village and very house where he had been born? cares would not be likely to obtrude themselves; for if he were not rich, he could always command sufficient to live in comfort; the man, he thought, who would desire more did not deserve as much. When more than a year had elapsed, he proposed to Annette's father that their union should at once take place. He explained to him frankly his circumstances, and intimated it could be no secret that Annette was not altogether averse to such a match. The proposition on the part of Pierre, though not unexpected, was nevertheless unwelcome to the father of Annette. A year or two previous he had entered into some speculations, for the purpose of carrying on which he had borrowed money of a Mons. Tarnier, a person who had formerly been in trade, but, having amassed what he considered a sufficiency, had retired, and purchased a moderate sized house at St. Perau, which he made his residence. The speculation of Mons. Dumont, much to his surprise, and I believe to the surprise of every one who enters into them, failed. It was very astonishing how it could have happened; and particularly unfortunate that he had not foreseen it, since he might have provided some means of repaying the money; but true it was that paying was entirely out of the question; for he had not only lost what he borrowed, but all his own besides; and as to the sale of his land, that would not be sufficient by one half. He put the best face on the matter; went to Mons. Tarnier, told him all the circumstances, that the speculation had failed, and that he had not wherewithal to repay the loan, Mons. Tarnier did not seem at all surprised that the speculation should have failed, and much less that, having so done, Dumont was unable to pay him what he had lent; he assured him that it was but a trifle; this Dumont denied, because he could not see that when a man owed twice as much as he was able to pay, that it was to be called a trifle. Tarnier informed him that it was in his power to more than pay him twice over. Dumont could not at all perceive how; and the other explained, by saying that the charms of Annette had made such an indelible impression in his heart, that for her sake he would sacrifice every thing; and if he were to become her husband, would not only release Dumont from all claims he had against him, but supply him with money to begin the speculation anew to this arrangement the father acceded; and it was whilst he was debating in his own mind how to gain the consent of Annette, that Pierre inopportunely urged his suit. There was no other way to answer Pierre than by informing him of every thing What was the amount?far, far more than Pierre, by the sale of every thing, could hope to obtain. That he was obliged to admit; but with unusual ardour, he still urged his suit, and the folly as well as heartlessness of forcing the girl to marry one she could never love: it would be to her the source of never ending sorrows, and embitter the whole of a life which might otherwise be passed in content and happiness. Besides, how could he reconcile it to his feelings to sell his only child for money. Pierre was confident that he never loved his daughter, since he could barter her person and affections for gold, as if he were selling a beast of the field. Dumont remained inflexible; but promised that he would wait five years, as Annette was still young; and if, during that time, Pierre could raise sufficient money to release him from his present difficulties, the girl should then be his. This promise he made without the remotest intention of keeping; but the presence and importunities of Pierre became annoying and perplexing, and he was glad to get rid of him on any terms. Pierre sought the object of his affections, and overwhelmed her with grief by informing her of the barrier that was raised against their union; she felt much for her father, who had incon THE siderately plunged himself into difficulties, but more for him whom she had looked forward to as soon having the right of calling her by the fond name of wife. It was with sorrow she listened to his plans for the future; she could not combat them effectually, and yet strove to raise difficulties which she thought might prove insurmountable, though why she scarcely knew. Pierre's intentions were to sell his little plot of ground, place the money raised by the sale in the hands of some friend, and then throw himself upon the world, and endeavour, by the most frugal and parsimonious means, to raise the rest of the money which Dumont owed, long ere the time allowed him had passed. He thought that far from his native home and village, in the large towns and cities, where readier means of gaining wealth are to be found than in the quiet spot where he had passed his early years, some opFortunity might present itself of gaining what he sought. His plans were soon carried into execution, at least so far as regarded the sale of his small plot of land, and placing the money in the hands of a friend; but his resolution almost failed him when the time came to bid adieu to his dear Annette. It was the first time it had been for more than a few hours that they had been apart; and those few hours had seemed like lengthened days, they crept so slowly on; but now it was an absence of years, perhaps for ever, and all before him was uncertainty; he might prosper, he might not. It was a venture in the lottery of life. Annette accompanied him until they reached the main road leading to Paris, and, leaning against a stump of a tree, remained watching him as the rise and fall of the road brought him at intervals to her view; nor was it until the turning of the road shut him from her sight, that she felt she was truly alone; her feelings almost mastered her; but striving to subdue them, she sought the village, which had now lost every charm, and could only bring to mind the remembrance of many happy hours. Intelligence was occasionally received at the village respecting Pierre: the first they heard of him was, that being at Clermont during the time the Conscription was drawing, the son of a rich banker of the town had the misfortune to be drawn, and not being partial to a military life, particularly in the station assigned to him, had OLIO. striven by every means to obtain a It was shortly after the news of |