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1844.]

and good autors such as have the verrye Romayne eloquence joyned with wisdom, specially Cristen autors, that wrote their wisdome with clean and chaste Laten, other in verse or in prose, for my intent is by this scole, specially to encrease knowledge & worshippinge of God & our Lord Christ Jesu, and good Cristen life and maners in the children.

And for that entent I will the children learne first above all the catechizm in Englishe, & after the accidens, that I made, or some other, yf any be better to the purpose, to induce children more spedily to Latin speeche. And then Institutum Christiani Hominis which that learned Erasmus made at my requeste, and then the boke called Copia of the same Erasmus. And then other authors Christian, as Lactantius, Prudentius, and Proba, and Sedulius, and Juvencus, and Baptista Mantuanus, and suche other as shall be thought convenient and most to purpose unto the true Laten speeche. All Barbary, all corruption, all Laten adulterate which ignorant blinde foles brought into this worlde, and with the same hath dystained and poysonyd the olde Laten speche, and the veraye Romayne tonge, which in the tyme of Tully, and Salust, and Virgell, and Terence, was used, whiche also Sainte Jerome, and Sainte Ambrose, and Sainte Austen, and many holy doctors lerned in theyre tymes. I saye that fylthiness and all suche abusion whiche the later blinde worlde brought in, which more rather may be called Blotterature than Litterature, I utterly abannyshe and exclude out of this scole, and charge the maisters that they teche alwaye that is beste, and instruct the children in Greke and redynge Laten, in redynge unto them suche autors that hathe with wisdome joyned the pure chaste eloquence.

To the Honourable Company of Mercers of London, and all the assistance of "The Felowshyppe," are entrusted the care and charge, rule and governance of the school: and they are charged to elect eleven persons annually, free of their company, as "Surveyors of the Scole." These persons are to receive the rents of the endowments, and to transact all affairs relating to them and the school. The sum of twenty shillings per annum is to be bestowed upon the "Renter," and a gown of the value of 13s. 4d. The surveyors are also commanded to pay the different salaries in the school quarare audited, terly; and when the annual accounts which is some time about Candlemas, an assembly is to be appointed, and "a litell dinner ordeyned by the surveyors, not exceeding the price of fower nobles." The master warden of the Mercers, if present, was to have a noble, and the wardens five shillings each. The surveyors were to have each eleven shillings for his labour for one year; and the same sum if they rode to visit the estates. The bailiffs were to renew their rentals every year, and the lands of the school were to be let by the space of five years.

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After giving permission to the governors to call in to assist them in "good lettered and learned men making such additions and alterations in the statutes as may in the course of time be required, he charges them in solemn language to be true to their trust. Calling the dredefull God to loke uppon them in all suche besynes, and exorting them to feare the terrible judgment of God whiche seeth in darknes, and shall render to everye man accordynge to his workes. And finally, prayinge the great Lorde of Mercye for theyre faythfull dealing in this matters, now and alweye to send unto them in this worlde muché wealthe and prosperyte, and after this lyfe much joye and glorye."

The clearing of the site, and the erection of the buildings, seems to have been begun towards the close of the reign of Henry the Seventh. According to Alexander Nevyl and Polydore Virgil, the building was commenced in 1508; Grafton and George Lilly state it to be in 1509, and Cooper and Hollinshed 1510.

It is pro

bable that the building was finished during the last year, as the following inscription was placed on the front next the church:"Schola Catechisationis puerorum in Christi opt. max. fide et bonis literis, anno Christi M.D.X." Wood, however, makes the date 1512, when Dean Colet was at the charge of 4 5007. for the founda

tion of the school, and endowed it with 1207. yearly for the maintenance thereof. In the prologue to the statutes of the school it is said to be "bylded in 1512;" and this date was given in evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, in 1816, as the correct date of foundation. The confusion in dates probably arises from a misconception of the word "foundation." The building was probably commenced in 1508, and finished in 1510; the formation of the statutes for the regulation and government of the school, the providing of suitable masters, and the settling its ample endowments in trustees, probably prevented the permanent settlement of the establishment before 1512, in which sense the term " "bylded" may be received.

The first masters of this school were selected by the dean himself. On the recommendation of Erasmus he chose Mr. William Lily as a person qualified by his learning, talents, and virtues, to be head-master. The name of the sur-master was Mr. John Righthouse.

AUTUMNAL SUNSET.

How beautiful the setting sun's rich, deep, autumnal beaming.
On the grandeur of sublunar things celestial glory streaming,
To mountains, woods, and waterfalls, imparting golden dye,
And steeping all the clouds in fire-a gorgeous pageantry.
It dashes on the distant rock's bold, bare, projecting brow,
That back reflects the glistening sheen o'er the bosky glooms
below;

It glows upon the crimson bells that deck the moorland hills
And teemeth molten gold among the waters of the rills.
The Forest Monarch's myriad leaves in the radiance twinkle
bright,

The gentle "Lady of the Woods" her tresses bathes in light;
It pierces through the dusky pines, thick-massed with bristling
wire,

And glares beyond as if all space were one vast furnace fire.
On mingled woods, so richly dight, green, orange, red, and

brown

And on the garden's loveliness-the glory teemeth down;
It shines in parks on sportive deer, on calm domestic herds,
On simple sheep mid chalky downs, on sweet pathetic birds.
O'er waving seas of precious corn a benediction flinging,
As the joyous reapers, wending home, their even-song are
singing;
And like a flood on fallow fields, the streaming splendour

comes

On meadows green, on pasture lands, on round red clover blooms.

Where sleeps the lake among the hills, lull'd with its trees and flowers,

It paves a path of golden light deep down to crystal bowers;
And through the greenwood's whispering leaves sends forth a
quivering ray,

To solemn, cool, secluded spots where raptured lovers stray.
It burnishes the window-panes of marble-pillar'd hall,
And smiles on blushing eglantine by peasant's cottage wall.
It strikes upon the village spire, and tips it with a star-
On city domes and minarets-quick flashing from afar.
And thus it shines o'er many a land, on many a kindred mind,
That wanders forth this eventide to brood o'er thought re-
fined;

came,

The lonely exile sees it gild his own loved native sky,
And his heart is like a little child's, a tear is in his eye.
And thus it shone in days of old when holy prayers were said
And vesper song was sweetly sung in pile now mouldered;
Through windows dim and beautiful with soften'd power it
Commingling, like the soul of God, with rapt devotion's flame.
The fiery chariot proudly rolls slow down the western hill,
And deeper hues of gorgeousness the prospect widely fill;
The eastern sky is cold and blue, and starlets faintly shine;
Along the west huge shadows stretch-like giants laid supine.
They deepen yet, still sadder hues come gradual o'er the sky,
And gleams of red and lurid gray wild intermingled lie ;
Till all the rich magnificence is palled and lost to sense,
Yet leaves on lonely traveller's mind a holy influence.-J.W.

785-2

THE ART OF READING.

III. ATTEMPTS AT IMPROVED METHODS OF TEACHING.

knowing in what circumstances to obey, and in what to disregard the contradictory injunctions imposed upon him, he pronounces sounds at hazard, and adheres positively to the last ruled case, or maintains an apparently sullen or truly philosophic and sceptical silence.'

PEOPLE generally suppose the art of reading to be much more easy of acquisition than it really is. Forgetful of by which a knowledge of the alphabet and of reading It is unnecessary to notice the various contrivances their own childish difficulties, or thinking lightly of by which a knowledge of the alphabet and of reading what, at an early age, was a serious trouble and annoy-letters, in others their sizes, have been taken advantage has been communicated. In some cases the shapes of ance, they are now disposed to imagine that any one may teach reading, and that any one may learn it, simply by exercising a little patience. Thus we often see this important branch of instruction committed to persons who, on account of old age, early youth, or general ignorance, are wholly unfitted for it. It does not require much experience, however, to prove that reading is to the majority of children a very difficult art, and that it requires much skill on the part of the teacher, that it may be so communicated as to perform

the office in education which it seems destined to accomplish. A lady of superior attainments, known to the writer of this notice, was so possessed with the general idea of the simplicity, if not of the pleasurable nature of the task of teaching to read, that she voluntarily undertook it in behalf of a little niece, whose abilities were as good as those of most children of the same age. But a short trial presented the dif

ficulties of the task in so formidable a light, that the lady not only shrank from her self-imposed duties, but expressed her highest surprise that any one could be

induced to undergo, as a teacher, similar toil, or, as a learner, a series of painful efforts altogether opposed to the natural feelings of childhood. The experience of this lady has been that of numbers of teachers on their first attempt to communicate this art to others, especially where either neglect or over-indulgence has done its work to render the pupil petulant and intractable. Various means have been tried to lessen the early difficulties of the task, and to render the alphabet and lessons attractive to the pupil. Pictures were early resorted to, and have always remained in favour, since they are found to engage the attention of children in a remarkable degree. But pictures, as generally employed, merely enable the child to learn the names of the letters of the alphabet, a species of knowledge which is of no real use to him in reading, except in the case of a few of the letters in which the name and the

sound of the letter are the same; for instance, in "

stands for ape," the child has some assistance to the sound of a, because the name of the letter is the same

as its sound in ape; but in "b stands for bat, e for cat,"

&c., the name of the letter is so different to its sound in

the word, that it is not of any service to the child to learn it. In fact, the old method of teaching reading has custom on its side, but everything else against it. It not only loads the memory unnecessarily, but does not deal fairly with the child's perceptive faculties; for if spelling is not what it ought to be, namely, a faithful analysis of the word to be pronounced, why spell at all? why trouble a child with parts which do not make a whole? why act so dishonestly as to lead the child to expect that by spelling a word he will be able to pronounce it? Mr. Edgeworth called the process of reading on the old method "a dreadful task to learn, and, if possible, a more dreadful one to teach." "To begin," he says, "with the vowels; each of these has different sounds, and consequently ought to have several names or different signs, to distinguish them in different circumstances. In the first lesson of the spelling book, the child begins with a-b makes ab, b-a makes ba. The inference, if any general inference can be drawn from this lesson, is, that when a comes before b it has one sound, and after b it has another sound; but this is contradicted byand-bye, and it appears that a after ò has various sounds, as in ball, in bat, in bare. The letter i in fire, is i as we call it in the alphabet, but in fir it is changed, in pin it is changed again; so that the child being ordered to affix to the same sign a variety of sounds and names, and not

for the same purpose, and we know not whether here, of rhymes have been sought, playthings invented have been employed, of forming the alphabet in sugared as formerly on the Continent, the method may not This was of course a favourite method with the little cakes, so that the child literally devoured its letters. folks themselves, but what were its results on their studies we have been unable to learn. Among the games by which reading was to be taught, that of Campe (the Edgeworth of Germany) is too comprehensive to be passed over. It was published in 1778, under the and pleasantly to Read. It consisted of the game of title of A new Method of Teaching Children easily the alphabet, the game of syllables, the game of gossip, and the game of rhetoric. We suspect that children would soon find this a cumbersome game, and would throw it up in disgust, from the conviction that the teacher was trying to entrap them into learning when he promised them sport.

played in school. We think it hopeless to attempt it Campe himself says, that these games must not be

out of school. The endeavour to blend instruction failure. Lessons may be made intelligible and pleasing with the ordinary sports of childhood is generally a lessons; and the teacher must have sufficient authority to a diligent child, but they must always be treated as devoted to study. If the child be entrapped into learnto produce submission and attention during the hours ing under the professed form of a game, he will soon begin to poach for his amusement on forbidden grounds. suspect every new game as a wisdom-trap, and will

The games invented by Campe, however ingenious tney may have been, did not aim at the improvement of after their publication, there was a general feeling against the system of teaching, but it appears that very soon the spelling method, and many German writers were making attempts to set forth a better method. The plan of teaching at once from what were called easy words, without learning either the AB C, or the spelling lesson, began to prevail. This plan is often resorted to in the spelling method, but by it the process of reading our own country, and it is certainly less laborious than although greater assistance is given by the early facility remains as much a work of the memory as ever, of reading short sentences. classification of words under this method, is in supposing A general fault in the that the easiest words are always those of one syllable. Children's first books are often carefully written entirely in words of one syllable; from which they proceed to two or more syllables in regular progression; but in our language a large proportion of monosyllables contain the short vowel sounds, which are the most difficult, because the most variable sounds in the language. A account of the complexity of its composition: short word is not difficult on account of its length, but on vowel sounds, and two or more consonant sounds united in a short word, are far more difficult than a long word in which a long vowel sound is united with a single consonant sound in the same syllable.

The name of Pestalozzi is so prominent, as it respects the different branches of instruction, that we might have expected to find his method of teaching reading almost unexceptionable; but this is far from being the case. His biographer justly remarks, that the reading-book invented by him was most un-Pestalozzian, requiring of the child the deadening process of reading over and over again long columns of unconnected words, and

partly even unmeaning syllabies. Pestalozzi began his instruction in the sounds of speech in the earliest infancy. "It is incredible," he says, "to those who have not seen it, how much the attention of babes is excited by the repetition of a few simple sounds and their combinations, such as ba ba ba, da da da, ma ma ma, la la la, &c. But the charm it has for them is not the only advantage; it contributes to the development of their faculties, and prepares them for future exertions." After these cradle-teachings a spelling-book was introduced, the advantages of which are stated by its inventor to be, that it dwells on the spelling of single syllables, sufficiently long for the child to acquire practical facility in their pronunciation; that it repeats the same combinations of sounds so as to impress them lastingly upon the mind; that it enables children very rapidly to pronounce every new word by the addition of a consonant to syllables with which they are already acquainted. Various exercises were also given, on the principle that the basis of every syllable is the vowel, to which consonants were prefixed and affixed. Pasteboard letters were provided, and the child taught to lay down the vowel first, and then add consonants, as, for instance, a, ap, pap, lap, &c. Spelling tablets were hung against the wall with grooves, in which the letters might slide easily backwards and forwards. This latter part of the instruction was apparently the most valuable, and to it, probably, as a means of employing and interesting the children, was Pestalozzi's success principally due. This teacher had a curious method of exercising the more advanced children in spelling. If the word "fender" was to be spelt, the child began at the first letter and added the other letters one by one, thus, f, fe, fen, fend, fende, fender, and then reversing the process began at the end, thus, r, er, der, nder, ender, fender.

The system of education propounded by M. Jacotot, under the attractive title of "Intellectual Emancipation," here requires some notice, as respects its application to reading. The grand principle with this teacher was, "Learn something thoroughly, and refer everything else to it." This principle is a valuable one, and no one has made much progress in any department of science without applying it to practice. But the mode of applying it to reading is one which the majority of parents and teachers would hesitate to adopt with their children. Jacotot, indeed, took the right step at the commencement, by setting aside the dull routine of alphabet and spelling-book, and did not require his pupils to wade through primers and first reading-books of the ordinary kind, but he took a more questionable step when he introduced a child at once to some standard classical work, such as Telemachus, instead of putting in his hands a simpler and more elementary book. His plan of proceeding is illustrated by the exponent of his system in the following manner. Supposing an English translation of Telemachus to be employed, the opening sentence is thus used:-"The grief of Calypso for the departure of Ulysses would admit of no comfort." Pointing to the word "the," the master pronounces it in a very distinct tone, and directs the pupil to repeat it after him. He then recommences with the first word, and adds the second, and the two vords are repeated in succession by the pupil. Beginning again, the third word is added, and the three are repeated by the child accordingly. The same process is used with the fourth word, still recommencing with the first. A pause is now made, and the pupil is at once called upon to exercise his faculty of noticing resemblances and differences. He is asked to point out the respective situations of the words "Calypso," "grief," "of," "the," the interrogation after this manner being continued till he can show, without the slightest hesitation, the place of each. The remaining words of the sentence are dealt with in the same manner. Subsequently the syllables are divided, and the pupil is also

made acquainted with the name of every letter. By this method it is intended to obviate the fatigue and disgust usually felt by the child in learning to read; first, by actively employing him in noticing resemblances and differences, in judging, analysing, and generalising; and, secondly, as a consequence of this, by inciting him cheerfully to strive at overcoming difficulties, from a certainty that his labours will meet with their reward. This is certainly an improvement on the old plan, but still involves the necessity for an extraordinary cultivation of memory. Indeed, Jacotot's plans were gigantic in this respect. At a later period grammar was to be taught by first committing to memory the first six books of Telemachus, without omitting a single word! Efforts of this nature require an amount of diligence and perseverance, on the part of the scholar, that is not commonly met with. Were they universally enforced, they would become burdensome in the highest degree.

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THE curious antique corn measures represented above, stand on the floor of the market-place at Aisme, a small town in the Val Tarantaise, which there is every reason to suppose was the Axyma of the ancient Centrones, occupied by Hannibal during his passage over the Alps. The above interesting relic, which does not seem to be generally known, was described by an anonymous writer in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1842, from which we gather the following particulars:

These measures appear to have been originally mounted on a pedestal: they are four in number, varying in size from half a bushel to two bushels, and, with the exception of the largest, are perfect enough to be still used. They have all been excavated out of a single block of marble, upon which are sculptured in relief, two shields, one with the arms of Savoy, gules, a cross argent; and the other with a lion rampant sinister, the bearing probably of the lords of Tarantaise, or of the township of Aisme. These shields were no doubt meant to legalize these measures, in the same way that the royal seal, upon our wooden measure of Henry the Sixth's time, denoted it to be the "Commune bushell enseallé et accordant a le standard de l'Eschequer."

Each cavity has within its front a perpendicular groove, communicating at its bottom with a square hole, opening outward, but which, during the measurement of the corn, was closed by a flat board that was afterwards slidden up, in this groove, for the exit of the corn. Near the base is an iron bar, furnished with rings, the use of which was probably to hold the strike, which instrument, at the period when these measures were set up, was probably, as recently (5th George IV.) enacted to be, "a round stick or roller, straight, and of the same diameter from end to end," so that by its equably rolling pressure, it might at once ensure the fulness of the measure, and also strike from the surface any excess or heap, unless where the lord of the manor took his rents

and fines in heaped measure; or, as in certain counties palatine and chartered boroughs, striked measure-mensura rasa-was not customary.

At Rhodez, in Guienne, the public corn measures are of stone, and nearly similar to those at Aisme, except in being attached to an inside wall of the meter's office, through apertures in which the corn is delivered to the buyer on the open market-place outside.

English corn measures of stone are very rare; for all our several statutes concerning measures from the reign of Edgar to that of Henry the Seventh, when they were first made of brass, refer evidently to vessels of wood. At Bodmin is a stone vessel that was long "us'd as a measure for corn;" but this is also stated to have been "us'd formerly for baptization," in the Franciscan church of St. Nicholas there, which after the Dissolution was converted into a shire-hall and market-house. At Athens the public measures also, most probably of stone, were placed on the old and greater marketplace. At Rome they were kept in the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. These measures were found in a recess of certain buildings at Pompeii during the modern excavations. Among the Jews the measures were in custody of the priesthood; and among the early Christians they were preserved in churches, in accordance with the 128th Constitution of Justinian.

In England the standard bushel was anciently deposited at Winchester, but for many centuries since it has been in charge of the chamberlains of the Exchequer at Westminster. Heaped measure is now quite abolished. Our new imperial standard bushel, as also the verified copies of it provided for market towns, are of metal, and the substance employed at the Exchequer for comparing their respective capacities is distilled water, a bushel of which at a temperature of 62° Fahr., and when the barometer is at 30 inches, weighs exactly eighty pounds avoirdupois. The exchequer strike is a piece of thick plate glass, the edge of which being carefully pressed down upon and carefully passed over the brim of the measure, removes all the convexity of surface that water naturally assumes when quiescent, in a vessel completely filled, the upper edge of which remains unwetted.

Our informant suggests that if happily the measures of Europe and America be ever equalized, the wooden measure of our markets, as well as the metallic standard, should, on account of the great liability of their materials to variation from atmospheric causes, be altogether superseded by measures of hard stone, similar, if not of the same form, to those noticed above.

THE entire series of rocks within the scope of human examination, is estimated at a thickness of from fifteen to twenty miles, reckoning from the summits of the highest mountains to the greatest depth hitherto penetrated; and as this thickness is scarcely equal to 1-400ths of the diameter of our globe, it is familiarly termed the earth's crust. The substances of which the strata are composed appear to have been deposited by the action of water, and subsequently more or less modified in structure and composition by heat, and by electro-chemical forces. When these materials occur as irregular accumulations of water-worn detritus, consisting of gravel, boulders, sand, clay, &c., they are termed Drift, or alluvial and diluvial deposits. When the layers or strata in which they were successively thrown down are obvious, they are said to be stratified; when the nature of the materials has been altered by igneous action or high temperature, but the lines of deposition are not wholly effaced, they are denominated metamorphic (transformed) rocks. When all traces of organic remains are lost, and the mass is crystalline, and composed of substances which are known to be the products of igneous action, such rocks are named plutonic, as granite, sienite, and the like. Lastly, rocks resembling the lavas, scoriæ, and other substances emitted by burning mountains still in activity, are called volcanic.-MANTELL'S Medals of Creation.

BACON, THE SEXTON OF YARMOUTH, AND HIS WIFE.

THE gravedigger and sexton of Yarmouth in the time of Dr. Cooper, familiarly called Nat Bacon, was an odd eccentric man, as well in his appearance as character, and from his simplicity and love of drinking became a frequent butt for the amusement of Astley and his companions. Nat Bacon was short in stature, and disproportionably broad; his countenance, ridiculous enough from its set of small features pimpled and vermilioned by his frequent devotions to the bottle, was made still more ridiculous by a cast in one eye; while the irresistible drollery of his aspect was completed by his decorations derived from the Doctor's liberality, who always used to bestow on him his old hats and wigs, and other cast-off apparel, without much regard for their aptitude to his person. The better half of this individual was as much an oddity as himself, and husband in ridding herself of care by indulging in that was well known to take at least equal delight with her pleasing forgetfulness, which is usually consequent on liberal potations. Their tête-à-tête indulgencies of this nature were not always, however, crowned with the happiest termination; but, on the other hand, too frequently led to little domestic altercations, in which, as his wife's temper when excited was not remarkable for its mildness, poor Nat seldom played other than an inferior part. Circumstances, however, kindly provided him with a retreat from these afflictions, no less secure than strange; for whenever Mrs. Bacon became extremely unconscionable, Nat would retire into the clock-case of the church, (willing to exchange the clatter of the machinery and the occasional striking of the hours, for the more harsh infliction of the one, and the more personal application of the other inconvenience at home,) and in this place, secure from interruption, contrived to enjoy that quiet which he in vain sought in the society of his spouse. Occasionally after a severe storm, having provided himself with certain means of enjoyment, he would remain in his retreat for several hours; a protracted absence which at first caused alarm, but on subsequent occasions merely excited the displeasure of the Doctor for the neglect of his duty which was the consequence; and this, Nat's piteous recital of his domestic afflictions, his description of the temper and inebriety of his spouse, would without much difficulty soften or remove. Upon one occasion, when his wife had indulged with her usual freedom, Nat on his way to the clock-case met young Astley, and despondingly related to him a sad story of his spouse, and the disgraceful state in which he had just left her. While Nat was relating this, a thought struck Astley, which he determined, as soon as it grew dark, to put into execution. Accordingly, having dressed himself in an old cassock of his father's, and otherwise disguised himself as well as he could to represent the form of himself before her, when, to his surprise, the old lady, inhis Satanic majesty, he entered her cottage, and presented stead of being dreadfully alarmed, in a few moments seemed to lose all fear, and nothing daunted, her potation having been somewhat stronger than "tippeny," perhaps not much weaker than "usquebah," freely entered into conversation with him. He therefore told her that as she would be his know want nor care of any kind, but that everything she property after death, in this life she should never again could desire he would provide for her. He then presented her with some money in token of his good will, and leaving her to her cogitations, suddenly disappeared. It seems that after this interview she fell into a profound slumber, in which she remained until the bright sun falling on her through the casement, roused and woke her. At first she thought only of headach, thirst, and other inconveniences with which she was too familiar not to be able easily to

account for then came a confused recollection of what she in the first place thought a dream, but which by degrees assumed the appearance of reality, until at last the evidence of the money in her possession, and the recollection of the remarks which accompanied it when presented to her, converted the whole affair into a serious matter of certainty, and she became very wretched. On her husband's return she related to him the whole occurrence, and he, fully convinced of her lost condition, fell into a state of misery and doubt, in which they would probably have remained for some time, had no further notice been taken of it. But their alarm and sorrow was too deep and sincere to be allowed to be maintained for any length of time, and Astley felt as much pleasure in relieving the poor folks from their wretchedness as he had previously in the trick by which it had been caused.-Life of Sir Astley Cooper.

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WHILE vegetation is everywhere fading around us, and the trees and deciduous shrubs are arrayed in their latest glories, or have already begun to shed their foliage on the earth, the humbler tribes of plants partake the change, and the shabby appearance of many of our gardens, sensibly brings before us the approach of winter. The gardener fails not to remember, while attending to the constant removal of withered leaves, and various descriptions of litter, that this is the season for collecting materials which shall afford valuable soil for the renovation of his ground, or for the formation of hotbeds, if required. The compost heap ought to receive large additions during this month. The vegetable substances capable of being converted into manure are too numerous to be detailed. Green succulent plants and weeds of every description, (to which sea-weed may be added, if within reach,) should be dug into the ground in a fresh state, because if exposed to the air they ferment and consume almost to nothing. Pond weeds, parings of hedges and ditches, or any kind of fresh vegetables, require no preparation to fit them for manure, but dry straw or hay, wood, stalks of plants, and other fibrous substances, peat, and tanner's bark, all require to undergo the process of fermentation before they can be used as manure. All manure of this kind applied to gardens ought to lie in heaps until it be thoroughly decomposed, unless it be buried deeply in trenches, or applied to the boles of trees, &c., where long litter and half-decayed leaves are not objectionable. The sowings to be performed in the month of October are not large. A crop of Mazagan beans, and of early frame peas, may be sown at the end of the month, and in some cases small salading, lettuces, and radishes, may be sown in the first and second week. If a succession of cress is wanted throughout the winter, it must be sown in a moderate hot-bed, or raised in boxes, &c., within doors. Both cress and mustard are occasionally raised on porous earthenware pyramids, with gutters or ledges on the sides. They may also be raised on a piece of wet flannel in a dish. From the last fortnight in October till the first of March it will be mostly fruitless to sow mustard and cress in the open garden.

Where the stalks of the herb angelica are required for candying, this crop must also now be sown. It is propagated by seed, which is sown very soon after ripening, because it does not keep well through the winter. When this seed has been left to be sown in the spring, not one in forty is found to have preserved its vegetative powers. Angelica, though cultivated in gardens, is also found wild. It was formerly blanched and eaten like celery; but at present the tender stalks only are of use, these being preserved in sugar, to form an addition to the winter dessert. The roots, which are large, fleshy, and aromatic, were once employed for the same purpose. The plant flowers in July and August, and the roots perish after the seed has ripened. The stalks are smooth, and much branched; they grow to the height of six or seven feet, and bear large clusters

of small white flowers, growing in globular umbels. These hardy plants will thrive in any soil or situation, but flourish most in moist places, so that the banks of ponds and ditches are usually allotted to them. The seed is sown either broadcast or in drills, moderately thin, and about half an inch deep. When five or six inches high, the young plants are thinned, and set out at the distance of two feet and a half from each other, as the leaves spread very widely. They flower in the second year, and if cut down without being allowed to perfect their seed, they sprout again, and will in this way last three or four years; but if allowed to go to seed they perish.

Angelica was formerly much esteemed for its medicinal virtues, and hence its name. "In times of heathenism," says Culpeper, "when men found out any excellent herb, they dedicated it to their gods; as the bay-tree to Apollo, the oak to Jupiter, the vine to Bacchus, the poplar to Hercules. Following these, the papists dedicate to their saints; as our lady's thistle to the Blessed Virgin, St. John's wort to St. John, and another wort to St. Peter, &c. They gave names to herbs for their virtue's sake, not for their fair looks; and therefore some called this an herb of the Holy Ghost; others, more moderate, called it Angelica, because of its angelical virtues, and that name it retains still, and all nations follow it, so near as their dialect will permit." The 66 angelical virtues" of this plant are now seldom alluded to, but the uses to which it was formerly applied were as follows:-The seeds, which are the most powerful, were bruised, and were reckoned to have cordial and sudorific properties. Three table-spoonsful of the distilled water was a remedy for flatulence and pains of the stomach. The dried and powdered root was employed to make drinks in pestilential fevers, and in diseases of the liver. A paste of the fresh angelica root beaten up in vinegar, used to be carried by physicians in times of great contagion, and applied to the nose. A piece of the dry root was also held in the mouth for the same purpose. The plant has, in fact, always been celebrated as preventing contagion. Among the Laplanders the stalks are eaten as a great delicacy, being boiled or baked until they are extremely tender.

Another crop which, like angelica, requires to be sown soon after the seed is ripe, is that far more useful one, the rhubarb. If kept out of the ground until the spring, the seed of this plant will in all probability lie dormant for twelve months. Therefore October is the best time for sowing, and the best mode of insertion is in drills three feet apart and an inch deep, the plants to remain where raised. Rhubarb is also propagated by cuttings, but sowing is in most cases preferred. A light rich soil should be chosen for this crop; and when the young plants make their appearance in the spring they must be thinned and cleared of weeds, and the surface of the ground loosened by the hoe. A second thinning takes place during the summer. It has been accidentally discovered that the stalks of rhubarb may be blanched with great advantage: they are thereby improved in appearance, and in flavour, and require less sugar to be rendered palatable. Therefore some of the plants in a bed of rhubarb may be advantageously covered with earth about a foot thick; but this covering must be removed when the cutting ceases, otherwise the root is apt to decay.

The digging and storing of potatoes for winter use must now receive attention. Early potatoes continue to to be dug up throughout the summer, in small quantities for present use, (if possible, they should be cooked on the same day that they are dug up ;) but the main crop lies undisturbed in the ground till the haulm decay, which will generally be at the end of October or beginning of November, at the first arrival of frost. Some persons clear off all the haulm before they begin digging. The best instruments for taking up potatoes is a flat three-pronged fork: with this the potatoes are regularly

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