tive, there was still a manifestation of hope. Our fate, however, yet hung in suspense, for not in the smallest degree did the ship right; happily for us there was a dead calm, which permitted us to examine the berg." This proved to be four fathoms thick in the part where it could be got at, and along this it was determined to eut, if, providentially, time should be spared for the operation. The men, assisted by the officers, worked night and day, with such success, that at length the ponderous mass broke off, and the good ship was once more in her own element, and subject to the will of man.

"Having unloaded and hoisted up the boats, the termination, as we hoped, of our weary anxieties was celebrated by the distribution of a little grog to the crew, who, after three cheers, which they requested permission to give to myself and the officers, the fine fellows were sent to their hammocks."

Captain Back still hoped to be able to attain the objects of the expedition, but the enfeebled health of the crew, and the crazy, broken, and leaky condition of the ship, left him no choice; therefore, after consulting the officers, he assembled the crew on the quarter deck, and told them they were about to proceed home. "It may well be pardoned, then, that their countenances brightened at the intelligence, and their feelings were manifested by three hearty cheers."

The ship continued to sail slowly among loose masses of ice, and did not escape them till the beginning of August. The change was marked by a peculiar gloom of a leaden grey tinge, the effect of a dark sky on open water, which seemed unusually dull and heavy to eyes inured to a twelve months' glare of Polar ice. But it had not power to damp the joy that beamed on every countenance at the long wished for liberation that now quickly broke upon us. Our invalids became animated; and even the few who were seriously affected, and had long worn the sallow livery of disease, raised their feeble frames from their beds, and, with a smile, once more thought of home."

All honour to Captain Back and his brave associates! Their conduct was worthy of British seamen: they saved their ship, and earned the admiration and gratitude of their country. Captain Back received the honour of knighthood, and several of his officers were promoted.

The good ship Terror has also survived all her troubles. She has made a three or four years' acquaintance with the ice of the Antarctic ocean, and

is now with Sir John Franklin once more in the Polar Seas.

POPULAR YEAR BOOK.

June 7.-Trinity Sunday, (1846.)

This festival is observed by the Anglican and Roman churches, on the Sunday next following Pentecost, or Whitsuntide. It was not established at Rome nor in France till the fourteenth or fifteenth century.

OLD CUSTOM.

come to the door of the hayward's house, the door was struck thrice, in honour of the Holy TRINITY. They then entered, and the bell was rung, after which, silence being ordered, certain prayers were offered. Then was a garland of flowers "made upon an hoop," brought forth by a maiden of the town upon her neck, and a young man, a bachelor, of another parish, saluted her thrice, "in honour of the TRINITY, in respect of GOD the FATHER." Then she placed the garland upon his neck, and kissed him three times "in honour of the TRINITY, particularly GoD the SoN." He next replaced the garland on her neck, and repeated the triple salutation, in respect of the HOLY TRINITY, and particularly the HOLY GHOST." Then he took the garland from her neck, and gave her a penny at least. "The method of giving the garland was from house to house annually, till it came round; in the evening every commoner sent his supper to this house, which is called the Eale-house and having before laid in there equally a stock of malt, they supped together, and what was left was given to the poor."

June 8.-We learn from Blount's "Jocular Tenures," that it is customary at Kidlington, Oxfordshire, on Monday after Whitsun week, (which in the current year falls on the above day of June,) to provide a fat live lamb, "and the maids of the town, having their thumbs tied behind them, run after it, and she that with her mouth takes and holds the lamb is declared Lady of the lamb, which being dressed, with the skin hanging on, is carried on a long pole before the lady and her companions to the green, attended with music and a moresco dance of men, and another of women, where the rest of the day is spent in dancing, mirth and merry glee. The next day the lamb is part baked, boiled, or roast, for the lady's feast, where she sits majestically at the upper end of the table, and her companions with her, with music and other attendants, which ends the solemnity."

June 14.-Corpus Christi Day, (1846.) The institution of the Holy Eucharist was formerly celebrated with solemn thanksgiving to the Divine goodness on Maunday Thursday, in Holy Week; but that season being mostly occupied in commemorating the sufferings of CHRIST, a proper festival was appointed in honour of this great mystery. Pope Urban IV., in 1264, fixed it on the Thursday after the octave of Whit-Sunday, commanding it to be observed over the whole Church with a solemnity equal to the four great festivals of the year. In Roman Catholic countries the Host is on this day carried on under a splendid canopy in grand procession. The streets of populous cities are made fragrant with odoriferous shrubs, while the eye is refreshed with leaves and garlands, and mingled rain of herbs and flowers; and every domestic heir-loom of rare and costly device is brought forth to hail the passage of the blessed Sacrament.

The author of the " Popish Kingdom" gives the following account of the ceremonies of this day, in England, prior to the Reformation.

Then doth ensue the solemn feast of Corpus Christi Day,
Who, then, can shew their wicked use, and fond and foolish play P
The hallowed bread, with worship great, in silver pix they bear
About the church, or in the city passing here and there;
His arms that bears the same two of the wealthiest men do hold,
And over him a canopy of silk or cloth of gold
Four others used to bear aloft, lest that some filthy thing
Should fall from high, or some mad bird her dung thereon should
fling.

CHRIST'S Passion here derided is with sumptuous masks and plays,
Fair Ursley, with her maidens all, doth pass amid the ways;
And valiant George, with spear thou killest the dreadful dragon
here;
The devil's house is drawn about, wherein there doth appear
A wondrous sort of damned sprites, with foul and fearful look;
Great Christopher doth wade and pass with CHRIST amid the
brook:

Sebastian, full of feathered shafts, the dint of dart doth feel,
There walketh Kathren, with her sword in hand and cruel wheel;
The chalice and the singing cake with Barbara is led,
And sundry other pageants played in worship of this Bread,
That please the foolish people well: what should I stand upon
Their banners, crosses, candlesticks, and relicks many, on
Their cups and carved images, that priests with count'nance high,
Or rude or common people, bear about full solemnly?
Saint John before the Bread doth go, and pointing towards him,
Doth show the Lamb to be the same that takes away our sin :
On whom two clad in angels' shape do sundry flowers fling;
A number great with sacring bells with pleasant sound do ring;
The common ways with boughs are strewed, and every street
beside,

And to the walls and windows all are boughs and branches tied.

In villages the husbandmen about their corn do ride, With many crosses, banners, and Sir John, their priest, beside; Who in a bag about his neck doth bear the blessed Bread, And oftentime he down alights, and Gospel loud doth read." The religious plays alluded to in the foregoing lines have been already referred to. Corpus CHRISTI Day is still celebrated in London, by the Worshipful Company of Skinners, who (attended by a number of boys, which they have in CHRIST'S Hospital School, and girls strewing herbs before them) walk in procession on the morning of this festival from their hall on Dowgate-hill, to the Church of St. Antholin's, in Watling-street, to hear service. This custom has been observed time out of mind.

Poetry.

Miscellaneous.

"I have here made only a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of my own, but the string that ties them."-Montaigne.

EFFECT OF IMAGINATION ON THE PHYSICAL FRAME.

MANY years ago, a celebrated physician, author of an excellent work on the effects of imagination, wished to combine theory with practice, in order to confirm the truth of his propositions. To this end, he begged the Minister of Justice to allow him to try an experiment on a criminal condemned to death. The minister consented, and delivered to him an assassin of distinguished rank. Our savant sought the culprit, and thus addressed him:-"Sir, several persons who are interested in your family, have prevailed on the judge not to require of you to mount the scaffold, and expose yourself to the gaze of the populace. He has therefore commuted your sentence, and sanctions your being bled to death within the precincts of your prison; your dissolution will be gradual, and free from pain."

The criminal submitted to his fate; thought his family would be less disgraced, and considered it a favour not to be compelled to walk to the place of public execution. He was conducted to the appointed room, where every preparation was made beforehand; his eyes were bandaged; he was strapped to a table; and, at a preconcerted signal, four of his veins were gently pricked with the point of a pen. At each corner of the table was a small fountain of water, so contrived, as to flow gently

printed in Small Capitals under the title; in Selections, it is printed in Italics at the end.]

LINES ON A RUINED CHURCH.

W. T. Y.

WHAT though no voice disturbs this roofless aisle,
Nor human footsteps mark the mouldering pile,
Its wasted shafts and columns worn and rent
Shall of oblivion be a fading monument.
Creeps now grey moss where gilded cornice shone;
And where the hymn, with circling incense, rose,
Croaks the dull raven to the winds' low moan,
Through leaves that fold this wreck in their repose.
Yet to the musing mourner thou shalt be
A mourner too, of glory gone, while he
Leans on thy shattered walls, and drops a tear
O'er the lost hopes of many a happy year,
Till loitering long, he treads his tear-wet way,
Nor sees the twilight come though daylight fades away.

"THE YOUTHFUL WARRIOR."

"My charger stands saddled-my comrades are goneThey call me to follow where glory is won; "Tis mine to be foremost in danger's career, So give me thy blessing, and spare me that tear." "My son, though this heart is now widowed and old, 'Tis thy country that summons, I will not withhold; My blessing thou hast-mid the strife of the field Be the GOD of our fathers thy guardian and shield!" "Then fare-thee-well, mother, and banish thy fears, I'll play a man's part, though a stripling in years; My armour, now burnish'd and silvery bright, In the blood of the foe shall be gilded cre night." He springs on his charger, his spurs in his sideHe's off in the strength of his manhood and prideFrom the causeway the hoofs of his war-steed strike fire, And hope in his bosom burns higher and higher. The battle is over, and hushed is the strife, But where's he who entered it buoyant with life? 'Mid yon heap of carnage that festers the skies, Go seek him-a prey to the raven he lies!

that it was his blood he heard flowing, gradually became weak; and the conversation of the doctors in an undertone, confirmed him in this opinion.

What fine blood!" said one. "What a pity this man should be condemned to die! he would have lived a long time."

"Hush!" said the other: then approaching the first, he asked him in a low voice, but so as to be heard by the criminal, "How many pounds of blood are there in the human body?"

"Twenty-four. You see already about ten pounds extracted; that man is now in a hopeless state."

The physicians then receded by degrees, and continued to lower their voices. The stillness which reigned in the apartment, broken only by the dripping fountains, the sound of which was also gradually lessened, so affected the brain of the poor patient, that although a man of very strong constitution, he fainted, and died without having lost a drop of blood.

No. 34.]

THE PICTURE OF A PERIOD. FREQUENTLY, about the commencement of the present century, the reports of the French having invaded, or being on the eve of invading, the country, resounded through the land, and agitated the people in an unprecedented degree. Not only did these alarms reach persons at the head of affairs, or who possessed the best means of ascertaining their truth and the magnitude of the threatened danger, but, wherever newspapers sped, or hearsay could be wafted, whatever was most dreadful or conjecturable was sure to penetrate, and was transmitted with a strength and terror that increased and accumulated at a rate proportioned to the dis

tance at which the parties were placed in relation to the fountain of information.

In 1805, twelve summers had shone upon me, and therefore it may be fairly presumed that I retain a lively recollection of the state of feeling, and the style of conduct, that pervaded the immediate neighbourhood of my home at that remarkable epoch; for, although the place forms but a narrow section of our loyal and chivalrous territory, it may yet be taken as having formed a specimen that was illustrative of the entire empire. That home was situated in a sequestered corner of the Western Lowlands of Scotland, within a few miles of the expanded Clyde, but before it can rightfully

our venerable pastor had addressed himself explicitly and wholly to the signs and exigencies of the time, and, with more than his wonted fervour, pathos, and eloquence, he had striven to spirit on his flock to active and immediate measures. He spoke, at the close, to this effect:

"Waste not your hours, my dear children and brethren, in vain laments and speculation, but rather, in the scourge that menaces us, recognise the teachings of a Father, who wills that we should he tried, in order that those who are at ease, and falsely secure in Zion, may be aroused, and that the pious may be invigorated in their pilgrimage to another and a better world. This is not the period when glad tidings from earthly potentates are proclaimed. We must reverse the language of the prophet, and turn our ploughshares into swords, and our pruning-hooks into spears. The Corsican threatens: he may be within our gates ere another moon lightens our land. Were I of the young and the robust, I would respond to my beloved Sovereign's call, and buckle on the weapons of war without a day's delay. I would come, if the danger required it, to this watch-tower, for heaven's King, wearing the insignia and accoutrements for mortal conflict, believing that he well serves God, who faithfully loves and strenuously defends his neighbour and country. But, though stricken in years, I will not, if life and health be vouchsafed to me, be a mere looker-on. Let my equals in age, the elders of the congregation, assemble with me in this sacred house to-morrow and take counsel together. It is not property, nor limb, nor name, nor nation, that are alone in jeopardy, but our religion."

In this strain did the holy and zealous man address his flock,-indignant, tender, and magnanimous by turns,-arousing all who listened to him to an unwonted pitch of patriotic enthusiasm. On the preceding day, Captain D———, who was the principal resident proprietor in the parish, had convoked a meeting of the able-bodied inhabitants, and appealed to them in a different though harmonious tone, as indeed became an old military officer. But the veteran's address required to be backed by our revered pastor, as was most effectually done; for, before a fortnight had elapsed, many in the parish were, not only in principle, but practice, in heart, and habit, volunteer-recruits.

But, to return to my father's fireside:

-:

"Robert," said he, to the eldest of his children, "what think you of it?" alluding thus indefinitely in point of terms to that which each one present felt to be too well understood to require a fuller enunciation.

and resolute declaration, when he added, “I also shall be of the armed host;" for she, whom it most concerned, arose to withdraw, only able to articulate, "And I am to be a widow and childless!"

"No, Marion," my father replied, “ you and our youngest will tend our flocks, and keep a home for the survivors when they return from battle."

Thus ended that evening's colloquy, on which the simple but overcharged hearts of a united family, who spoke under the influence of solemnized and exaggerating fancics, mingled their yearning and patriotic emotions, in a manner not more alien to their ordinary intercourse and style of speech, than illustrative of the spirit that pervaded the " period." If I remember rightly, in the self-same week that thus opened, about fifty of the likeliest men and youths of our parish enrolled themselves as volunteers. Only two of my brothers, however, at this early date, joined the corps; more matured reflection, and my mother's sway, rendering a larger sacrifice at the time unadvisable, at least as regarded the most efficient of the armed volunteer associations of that precise time; for I must not forget to do my father's courage and consistency justice, and to state that he was as good as his first declarationpromised, becoming a strenuous supporter of our reverend and venerable pastor, at the Monday meeting named from the pulpit. Nor were there fewer than thirty grey-headed men in this association of ancients, some of whom, though hale and vigorous, could number threescore and ten winters. This corps took to themselves the imposing title of "The Army of Reserve;" but the wags of the parish dubbed them "The Hams," in allusion to the sort of domestic onslaught, or guardianship rather, which they were the most likely to perform. Their armour consisted of spears or pikes, of formidable length. Nor did these bands exhaust the whole of our pug nacious volunteers; for a goodly number of boys, of an age like my own, incontinently took to imitating their elders in everything that their rivalship. and ingenuity could reach; and, indeed, they played at soldiers with marvellous dexterity, especially in wheeling, marching, and counter-marching; their wooden muskets and tin bayonets being, as in the case of other pretenders, more formidable to the eye than effective if put to action. These were not yet all the associations which banded in my native parish at the "period."

As it was deemed possible that an invading army might land on the adjacent coast, the most influential men of the district went from house to house, and put it to men and women how and what they were likely or willing to act in the case of such a dire emergency. It was at the same time explained that to cut off all the means of supply which the enemy might calculate upon would become an imperative duty; and that, therefore, all the grain and provisions which could not be conveyed to the interior, would have to be destroyed by the inhabitants