who, as a man dead since 1618, was simply to be identified, but not conciliated by any titular compliment. The "Eglogue" is marked as having been written by T. Randolph, gent.; a form which indicates that the fame of Randolph, as that of a young man, had had no time to mellow, and that it was necessary to give his name in full; and to be also complimentary to him as yet living and vigorous. The "Hymnes or Carrols are marked by the initials W. A., Esq. Comparing the style employed with regard to him with that used with reference to the other contributors, we observe that W. A. must have been used to designate a person with whom Sir Francis Ashley was or had been familiar; and again, that the Esq., a title of honour, is given either as a compliment to Sir Francis, or is the natural expression of a veneration which was or had been cherished towards W. A., living or dead. These considerations point to W. A. as the deceased brother of Sir Francis Ashley, whose “unfortunate servant” Crane had been. The presumption is, as we said, a slight one, but it may be sufficient to relieve the minds of persons who have a tendency to alarm at the anonymous; and if any one, after an elaborate search of registers, should discover that Sir Francis Ashley had no brother whose Christian name began with W., we may, whilst accepting the information, calmly retort that his jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle A CHRISTMAS CAROL. All this night shrill chanticlere Heaven is under: From the earth is risen a sun Wake, O earth! wake every thing, Still stand gazing: Angels, powers, and all that be, Hail, O Sun! O blessed Light, God and man, we do confess : HENRY PEACHAM was born at North Mims, near St. Alban's; and was the son of the Reverend Henry Peacham, of Leverton, near Boston, Lincolnshire, who probably wrote the "Garden of Eloquence," a work which is sometimes, with a very confusing effect upon chronology, attributed to his son. Peacham received his elementary education at the place of his birth; and was afterwards of Trinity College, Cambridge, of which university, according to his own account, he was a master of arts. He acquired a considerable knowledge of the theory and practice of music, and was also of some note as an amateur painter and engraver. His literary activity was extended over a long period of time, and his productions were extremely varied. It is known from his works that he travelled in the Netherlands; and that he was for some time Master of the Grammar School at Wymondham, near Norwich. He is best known by his " Complete Gentleman,” a quarto volume, first published in 1622, and which in nine years went through five editions. It is an encyclopædia of the learning and accomplishments necessary to the cultivated and well-bred man. In 1612 he published "Minerva Britanna; or a Garden of Heroical Devices furnished and adorned with Emblems and Impresas of Sundry Natures, newly Devised, Moralized, and Published." It is difficult to say whether, in these Emblems, the poetry or the art was subservient. This work, from which the following extracts are taken, was dedicated to Prince Henry; for whose benefit Peacham also translated the "Basilicon Doron" of King James into Latin verse. Peacham's life seems to have been longer than his art of sustaining himself in competency, if it be true that he was "reduced to poverty in his age, and wrote penny pamphlets." PENITENTIA. There sits Repentance, solitary, sad, Her solemn cheer, and gazing in the fount, HUMILIBUS DAT GRATIAM. The mountains huge, that seem to check the sky, So God oft-times denies unto the great WILLIAM ALEXANDER, an eminent nobleman, statesman, and poet of the reigns of James I. and Charles I., was born in 1580. His family possessed the small estate of Menstrie, near Stirling; and he rose by the favour of the above-named princes from the rank of a small landed proprietor to the dignity of an earldom. About the time of James's accession to the English throne, Alexander repaired to London, where, in 1604, he published a century of sonnets, under the title of " Aurora, containing the First Fancies of the Author's Youth." Royal favour promoted him in 1614 to the honour of knighthood, and to the office of Master of Requests. In 1621, the king gave him a grant of the province of Nova Scotia, his magnificent scheme for colonizing which dependency degenerated at G last into a mere means of raising money by the sale of titles. Sir William Alexander was made Secretary of State for Scotland in 1626; in 1630, he was raised to the peerage with the title of Viscount Stirling; and in 1633, at the coronation of Charles I. in Holyrood Chapel, he was promoted to the rank of an Earl under the same title. In 1637, the Earl of Stirling published a complete edition of his poetical works, under the general title of "Recreations with the Muses." This collection contained his four "Monarchick Tragedies," founded upon the histories respectively of Darius, Alexander, Croesus, and Cæsar; "Paronesis to Prince Henry;" Jonathan, an Heroick Poem, intended, the first book;" together with his largest and perhaps his most meritorious production of “Doomsday, or the Great Day of Judgment," which first had appeared at Edinburgh in 1614, and from which the following stanzas are extracted. It is to the Earl of Stirling that we are also indebted for the greater part of the Psalter known by the name of King James's. He died in 1640. His muse is vigorous; and, for his time, not inelegant; and his works are always less or more penetrated with a spirit of pious solemnity. 66 GOD VISIBLE IN HIS WORKS. The stately heavens, which glory doth array, There, whence forth spreads the night, forth springs the day, He fixed the fountains of this temporal light, Where stately stars enstalled, some stand, some stray, All sparks of his great power (though small yet bright), By what none utter can, no, not conceive, All of his greatness, shadows may perceive. What glorious lights through crystal lanterns glance, |