O ye! who sigh in rural ease to bask,

Dream not our peasant's cot hath aught of bliss ;
Perhaps I could-but 'twere a sorry task-
Pen down his cottage as it really is.

The barley loaf, straw bed, and empty flask,
And hard labour from morn to night are his→→→→
High spirits broken, young old age, and, me!
Sickness, and Famine's stripes-and petty tyranny.
Oh Britain! how it grieves me while I write,
To think my bumble musings are not real;
That things so cheaply bought, and yet so bright,
[The sweetest ornament in England's weal]
Should be so hid in commerce' dusky night!

Tell me, ye great ones, when will Britain heal
This wound, that more rankles in her side,

And boast, oh! once again her peasants' stubborn pride?

J. SMITH.

DECEMBER.

Remarkable Days

In DECEMBER 1820.

6. SAINT NICHOLAS.

NICHOLAS was Bishop of Myra, in Lycia, and died about the year 392. He was of so charitable a disposition, that he portioned three young women, who were reduced in circumstances, by secretly conveying a sum of money into their father's house. The annual ceremony of the boy-bishop, once observed on this day, is described at length in T.T. for 1814, p. 306.

*7. 1772.-DR. MARK Hildesley died. He was Bishop of Sodor and Mann. His whole heart was set upon the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Manks language, and God greatly blessed him in it. On Saturday, the 20th of November, 1772, he was crowned with the inexpressible happiness of receiving the best part of the Bible

Translation, so long and so greatly the object of his ardent prayers: upon which occasion, according to his own repeated promise, he very emphatically sang, Nunc, Domine, Dimittis, in the presence of his congratulating family. The next day, which was Advent Sunday, he officiated in his own chapel, and preached on the uncertainty of human life. In the evening he again called his family together, and resumed the subject. On the next day he was seized with a stroke of apoplexy, and in a few days afterwards calmly resigned a valuable existence in the seventy-fourth year of his age'.

8.-CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

This festival was instituted by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, because William the Conqueror's fleet, being in a storm, afterwards came safe to shore. The council of Oxford, however, held in 1222, permitted every one to use his discretion in keeping it.

*12. 1813.-CAPT. C. W. THOMPSON DIED.

This amiable and excellent young man was in the first regiment of guards, and fell in the action off Bidart, when Lord Wellington was about to enter France from Spain, with the British troops. His memory has been embalmed by Mrs. Opie, in the following beautiful stanzas:

Weep not! he died as Heroes die;
The death permitted to the brave!
Mourn not! he lies where soldiers lie,
And Valour envies such a grave!

His was the love of bold emprize,

Of soldiers' hardships, soldiers' fame;

And his the wish by arms to rise,

And gain a proud, a deathless name.

See Memoirs of his Life by the Rev. Weedon Butler, and Buck's Anecdotes, vol. i, p. 235.

1

For this he burned the midnight oil,
And pored on lofty deeds untired;
Resolved like Valour's sons to toil,
And be the hero he admired.
Yet gentler arts, yet softer lore,
Could lure him to their tuneful page,
And Dante's dread-inspiring power,
And Petrarch's love, his soul engage.
How sweetly from his accents flowed
The Tuscan Poet's magic strains!
But vainly Heav'n such powers bestowed-
He fought, he bled, on Gallia's plains!
No mother's kiss, no sister's tear,

Embalmed the victim's fatal wound;

No father prayed beside his bier,

No brother clasped his arm around!
Amidst the cannon's loud alarms

He fell, as soldiers still must fall;
His bier his toil-worn comrades' arms,
And earth's green turf his funeral pall.
But who is he in arms arrayed

That bids the verdant turf unclose?
Who dares that dread obscure invade?
Who breaks the soldier's chill repose?
A heart he prized, a hand he loved-
The daring deed excuse, impel-
His brother comes, by fondness moved,
To look a brother's last farewell'!
And, lo! to meet his speaking eye,
That silent eye's revealed to light,
And hallowed by his bursting sigh

The earth that hid it from the sight.

This alludes to an affecting circumstance well worthy of record. The brother did not hear of Captain Thompson's death till nine days after the event took place. He then immediately ordered a band of pioneers, proceeded to the Mayor's garden at St. Jean de Luz, and opened his brother's grave, in which two other officers had also been buried: he took a long and last farewell, and, though he could not call back to its mansion the fleeting dust,' he erected a monument of affection, which no storied urn' could have supplied.

So sleep the brave who sink to rest,
By all their country' ishes blest!

See, from his breast his hand removes
The treasured gem be joyed to wear;
The holy theft affection loves,

And feeling holds the spoiler dear.
'Tis done-his long, last look he takes,
And bids the turf for ever close;
His brother's grave he then forsakes,
To meet, like him, his country's foes.
But may that Power whose high behest
Decreed the one an early grave,
Still guard the other's valiant breast,
And him for anxious kindred save!
Yet, why lament? to daring souls

Such patriot deaths of choice belong;
That thought Regret's keen pang controls,
And thus we frame our votive song:

< Weep not! he died as Heroes die,

The death permitted to the brave!
Mourn not!—he lies where soldiers lie,
And Valour envies such a grave!'

13.-SAINT LUCY.

This virgin martyr was born at Syracuse. She refused to marry a young man who paid his addresses to her, because she had determined to devote herself to religion, and, to prevent his importunities, gave her whole fortune to the poor. The youth, enraged at this denial, accused her before Paschasius, the heathen judge, of professing Christianity; and Lucy, after much cruel treatment, fell a martyr to his revenge, in the year 305.

*13. 1818.—LORD ELLENBorough died, æt. 69. His Lordship's advancement to posts of honour was unexampled on the score of rapidity; and in this particular he proved far more fortunate than a Mansfield, a Kenyon, an Eldon, and a Thurlow. The AttorneyGeneralship, the Chief Justiceship, and patent of nobility, were all granted to him in the course of a single year. His original merits consisted in long and painful study; a vigorous and manly address; a strong discriminating judgment; an utter contempt of fear; and a bold and nervous eloquence,

that scorned to stoop to embellishments. These qualities, in addition to powerful connections, all formed by himself, and a nice and lucky combination of circumstances, enabled him in the race for fame, honours, and wealth, to outstrip all his competitors, one only excepted'.

16.- O SAPIENTIA.

This is the beginning of an anthem in the Latin service to the honour of Christ's advent, which used to be sung in the church from this day until Christmas Eve.

*18. 1809.-DR. ALEX. ADAM DIED.

The late Dr. Adam was Rector of the High School of Edinburgh, and chiefly known, in the literary world, by his Roman Antiquities,' which have been translated into the German, French, and Italian languages. While in the capacity of a private teacher to a Mr. Maconochie, he received only one guinea in three months for his services; yet, as he had no other method of raising a sixpence, he contrived to subsist upon this sum, and in a manner which will now appear incredible. He lodged in a small room at Restalrig, in the north-eastern suburbs; and for this accommodation he paid fourpence per week. All his meals, except dinner, uniformly consisted of oatmeal made into porridge, together with small-beer, of which he only allowed himself half a bottle at a time. When he wished to dine, he purchased a penny-loaf at the nearest baker's shop; and, if the day was fair, he would dispatch his meal in a walk to the Meadows, or Hope Park, which is adjoining to the southern part of the city; but, if the weather was foul, he had recourse to some long and lonely stai, which he would climb, eating his dinner at every step. By this means all expense for cookery

'See the Annual Biography and Obituary for 1819, p. 441, for a full account of his Lordship's life.

Cc