tendency to flirtation, which we cannot justify, and which set the worst example to her maids of honour, and caused King Oberon great uneasiness; indeed, on one occasion, had well nigh cost him his life. This was his duel with Pigwiggen; but as, doubtless, our readers are well acquainted with the circumstances of this celebrated fracas, we need not here enlarge upon them. We shall have pleasure, however, in doing so hereafter, should it be desired, and also in referring more particularly to some of the remarkable personages of King Oberon and Queen Titania's court circle.

Poetry.

In Original Poetry, the Name, real or assumed, of the Author, is printed in Small Capitals under the title; in Selections, it is printed in Italics at the end.]

MARY'S MOTHER

FIVE little girls there are who sing
In simplest village grace,
Glad Christmas carols; and they bring
A pride upon the place.

On Christmas eve they take their round,
And every household greet;

And kindness stirs at that old sound;
And friendly looks they meet.

Each mother gazes on her own,

And while the stream runs on, Sweet expectation often smiles, And present cares are gone.

And when the children go away,

They turn, and with a sigh,

'Tis not of grief-but one would say— For mere sobriety.

Six little girls there were before

Young Mary died; now five. Her mother met them at her door, When Mary was alive.

And straight toward her cot they take
Their usual pathway still;

They pass beside the tranquil lake,
And then ascend the hill.

And Mary's mother raised her head,
This little band to see;

She loved them every one, but said,
"Let them not sing to me."

And quick despatched a messenger,
Who bid them not to come;
And she uprose and shut the door
Of that small quiet home.

And round the vale, with merry cheer,
They sung where'er they're known,
While Mary's mother shed a tear,
For she was all alone.

Miscellaneous.

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

FAME CONTEMNED.

ALL men are fond of glory, and even those philosophers who write against that noble passion prefix their names to their own works. It is worthy of observation, that the authors of two religious books, universally received, have concealed their names from the world. The "Imitation of Christ" is attributed, without any authority, to Thomas A'Kempis; and the author of the "Whole Duty of Man" still remains undiscovered. Millions of their books have been dispersed in the Christian world. To have revealed their names would have given them as much worldly fame as any moralist has obtained--but they contemned it! There, religion was raised above all worldly passions! Some profane writers, indeed, have also concealed their names to great works, but their motives were of a very different cast.-D'Israeli's “ Curiosities of Literature."

SLANDER.

Or the many revengeful, covetous. false, and illnatured persons which we complain of in the world, though we all join in the cry against them, what man amongst us singles himself out as a criminal, or even once takes it into his head that he adds to the number? or where is there a man so bad, who would not think it the hardest and most unfair imputation to have any of those particular vices laid to his charge? If he has the symptoms ever so strong upon him, which he would pronounce infallible in another, they are indications of no such malady in himself-he sees what no one else sees, some secret and flattering circumstance in his favour, which no doubt makes a wide difference betwixt his case and the parties which he condemns. What other man speaks so often and so vehemently against the vice of pride, sets the weakness of it in a more odious light, or is more hurt with it in another, than the proud man himself? It is the same with the passionate, the designing, the ambitious, and some other common characters in life; and, being a consequence of the nature of such vices, and almost inseparable from them, the effects of it are generally so gross and absurd, that where pity does not forbid, it is pleasant to observe and trace the cheat through the several turnings and windings of the heart, and detect it through all the shapes and appearances which it puts on.-Sterne.

HISTORICAL NOTICE

OF

ST. KATHERINE'S HOSPITAL,

IN THE REGENT'S PARK, LONDON.

CONSIDERABLE sensation was excited some years ago, by the destruction of a fine old collegiate church, and the removal of the establishment connected therewith, to make way for the new docks, now known as St. Katherine's. A new site was chosen for the establishment, on the east side of the Regent's Park, where the Church and Hospital of St. Katherine are beautiful and conspicuous objects. This is the oldest ecclesiastical community in England which has survived the Reformation, and presents in its history several remarkable particulars.

In the year 1148, Queen Matilda, with the consent of her husband, Stephen, King of England, founded and richly endowed, upon the east side of the Tower of London, and on the north bank of the river, a hospital

dedicated to St. Katherine, "in pure and perpetual alms," to secure the repose of the souls of her children, Baldwin and Matilda, who were buried within it before her own decease. The foundation consisted of a master, brothers, sisters, and alms-people. The Queen purchased the site, together with a mill, from the Priory of the Holy Trinity, Aldgate, in exchange for a yearly rent of six pounds, out of the manor of Braughing, in Hertfordshire. This monastery, consisting of canons regular, of the Order of St. Austin, then newly brought into England, was very rich, possessing property in not less than eighty-eight parish churches within the city of London. These monks being then in high repute, Queen Matilda granted them the perpetual custody of this hospital, reserving to herself and her successors, the future queens of England, the nomination of the master, or custos of the hospital, upon every vacancy.

Soon after the establishment was settled, William de Ypres granted a tract of ground, called "Edredeshede," since named "Queenhithe," to the Priory of the Holy Trinity, charged with a payment of 20l. to the Hos

:

pital of St. Katherine; and thus it continued till the year 1255, when Queen Eleanor, consort of Henry III., brought a suit against the prior and convent, in order to deprive them of their interest therein. By the civil jurisdiction the right of the prior and convent was confirmed; whereupon the Queen addressed letters to the Bishop of London, stating that the patronage of the hospital had belonged to her and her predecessors; that it was become destitute of all discipline; that the goods thereof were wasted by the prior and canons of the Holy Trinity; that her many complaints had produced no amendment and she concluded by praying the bishop to make due inquiry. This was accordingly done, and in the course of it, it appeared, amongst other things, that the brothers of the hospital were frequently inebriated and very quarrelsome. The result of the inquiry was a decree published by the bishop, excluding the prior and convent from all further concern with the hospital. In the year 1261, in consequence of some further proceedings, but chiefly by intimidation, the hospital and the estates thereof were surrendered to the Queen. She did not, however, dissolve the hospital until 1273, when, by her charter dated 5th July of that year, she did so, and founded the present royal hospital, also dedicated to St. Katherine, for a master, three brethren, three sisters, ten poor women, called bedes-women, and six poor scholars with endowments; and she reserved to herself, and the Queens of England, the nomination of the master, three brothers, priests, and three sisters, upon all vacancies. The bedes-women were to receive their sustenance from the alms of the hospital, and lodge within it, for which they were required to pray for the foundress, her progenitors, and the faithful. She also directed that, on the Feast of St. Edmund, (the 20th of November, that being the day of her husband's decease,) one thousand halfpence were to be distributed to one thousand poor men.

During subsequent reigns the hospital was enriched with many benefactions, the most interesting of which need only be noticed here. In the beginning of the reign of Edward III., Raymond Lully, the famous alche mist, resided in or near the hospital. Oldys says of him, that "being a famous alchymist, he pretended to have found out the art of making gold, but happening to counterfeit the coin of this kingdom, he is said to have been banished by the king."

Queen Philippa. consort of Edward III., was a great benefactress to this hospital. She enriched it with further endowments, and gave statutes for its regulation. These statutes, which are valuable illustrations of the manners of the period when they were promulgated, contain, amongst other things, directions for the clothing of the brethren and sisters, their diet, stipend, the number of masses to be said daily, the visitation of the sick, and many other regulations. Our space will not admit of more than two short extracts from these statutes. And first, respecting the costume of the brothers,-"They shall wear a strait coat or cloathing, and over that a mantel of black colour, on which shall be placed a mark, signifying the sign of the Holy Katherine; but green cloaths, or those intirely red, or any other cloths tending to dissoluteness, shall not at all be used. And that the brethren or clerks there assembled, shall have the crowns of their heads shaved in a becoming manner."

The following relates to the diet of the sisters :"Each of the sisters shall receive her whole allowance in her chamber, to wit, every day two loaves, one of them to be white, of the weight of sixty shillings, and the other brown, of the same weight, and one flagon of ale, or one penny in lieu thereof; and two pieces of different sorts of flesh meat, of the value of one penny and a halfpenny, or fish of the same value, and besides, a pittance or portion of the value of one penny." Fif

(1) No persons answering to this description have formed part of the institution for a very long period.

teen days in the year were appointed on which a double portion was to be given.

The statutes also notice the rebuilding of the church by William de Erldesby, master of the hospital, who began that work about the year 1340; to which building the queen was a liberal contributor. They also direct that all savings which should be made out of the revenue of the hospital, and such benefactions as should afterwards be obtained, should be laid out in completing the church.

Queen Philippa died in 1369, and in 1376 Edward III. erected in honour of her memory a chantrey, dedicated to St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, and endowed the chaplain thereof with an annual stipend of ten pounds. In the reign of Henry VI., Thomas de Beckingham, afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells, was appointed master, and he proved a most liberal benefactor. Finding the revenues of the hospital insufficient to maintain the members, he obtained from the king a charter, whereby the precincts were clearly defined, and declared free from all jurisdiction, secular and ecclesiastical, except that of the lord chancellor. The king also granted this hospital an annual fair, to be held upon Tower-hill, for twenty-one days, with protection to all merchants and their goods coming to it. The king also granted to the master a Court-leet,' and view of frank pledge, within the limits of the said hospital. Several other privileges were also granted, which at the time were valuable.

In the reign of Henry VIII. the guild or fraternity of St. Barbara was founded here by the King, and by Queen Katherine, his first wife, on the 1st December, 1518. It was governed by a master and three wardens, and consisted of many of the nobility of both sexes.

By an account of the revenues of this hospital, taken from the royal survey, twenty-sixth Henry VIII., 1534, it is probable that the king intended at the time to dissolve this house, which it is supposed escaped suppression at the request of Queen Anne Boleyn.

In the time of Philip and Mary (1558) Calais being taken by the Duke of Guise, together with Guisnes and the castle of Hames, and the English being compelled to depart from Calais, many of the inhabitants of the two other places followed them, and settled within the precincts of this hospital, in a place which then acquired the name of Hames and Guisnes Lane, afterwards, by a strange corruption, called Hangman's Gains.

In the reign of Elizabeth, Dr. Wylson, one of the Queen's secretaries, was appointed master of the hospital, and abused the trust reposed in him. He surrendered up the great charter of Henry VI. and obtained a new one, in which was omitted the right to hold the fair granted to this hospital. The object of this omission was to enable him to sell the fair to the Lord Mayor and Commonalty of the City of London, for seven hundred marks (4667. 138. 4d.) which he appropriated to himself. He was also about to dispose of some other of the property of the hospital, when, in October 1565, the members presented a very spirited petition to the secretary, Sir William Cecil, which had the effect of stopping Dr. Wylson's proceedings. The original petition is still in the State Paper Office.

In 1705 a school for the education of poor children belonging to this precinct was instituted. Thirty-five boys and fifteen girls were taught reading, writing, and the first four rules of arithmetic. They were annually clothed, and at the termination of the school course the boys were apprenticed, and the girls sent to service. The school was not part of the institution, only that the chapter, in December 1705, granted a lease to the trustees for the purpose of building a school on some

(1) A court of record, having the same jurisdiction within some particular district, as the sheriff's court has in the county.

(2) The office which the sheriff in his county court, or the bailiff in his hundred, performs in looking to the king's peace, and seeing that every man be in some pledge. The view of frank pledge now exists only as a form.

discourse no allusion was made to the demolition of the church. "After the concluding Amen,' the whole congregation pressed forward through the arch which once sustained the rood-loft, to the chancel, and that portion of the building soon exhibited a moveable mass of people filling up every corner." The people expressed their regret at the fate of the building," and more particularly when the majestic organ, to be broken up on the morrow, pealed forth the anthem of God save the King. So warm were the feelings of the admirers of the old church, that even a relic of it seemed a valuable acquisition; and some paltry modern Gothic ornaments attached to the altar rails were eagerly snatched off by the first who could get them; and a piece of red velvet at the altar, with a tarnished glory, was pulled down and distributed among the many who sought for a remembrance of the venerated building."

The new site chosen for the hospital was on the east side of the Regent's Park. Mr. Poynter was the architect who completed the buildings as they now stand. The west front of the church and the houses of the brothers and sisters, comprise the three sides of a quadrangle, the public road being the fourth. The chapel is built in the style of architecture which prevailed at the commencement of the fifteenth century. It consists of a nave only, without side aisles, the small wings seen from the outside, which have the appearance of side aisles, being the chapter house and school of the establishment. The magnificent west window is a correct and elegant composition. The houses of the brothers and sisters are built in the domestic style of the sixteenth century, of brick, with stone dressings, producing a very pleasing effect. In front of the chapel is a pump, a neat design executed in stone, and has the appearance of an ancient conduit. The master's house is erected on the other side of the road, facing the college buildings. It is in the same style as the brothers' and sisters' houses, but more highly decorated. It stands upon two acres of ground, which is laid out in ornamental gardens and shrubberies. In the conveyance of the site for all these buildings by the Commissioners of His Majesty's Woods and Forests, the sum of 2,000l. paid by the Dock Company for the purchase of a site, was presented to the hospital.

Some time after the buildings were completed, the foundations were found to be insecure, and large sums of money were expended in repairing them. The dry rot was found to have made considerable progress in the houses of the master and brothers.

The ancient and valuable monuments transported at the expense of the Dock Company to the Regent's Park, were restored at an immense expense: the Exeter monument alone cost more than 1,000l. to restore and re-edify. Indeed, the chapter found it necessary, in addition to the grant by the Dock Company, to expend large sums on the interior of the chapel, and upon certain ornamental works and improvements about the grounds and buildings.

In the year 1837, the Commissioners of Charities published a report on this hospital, from which we gather some additional particulars respecting this interesting establishment.

in which he is assisted by a gentleman called the reader, who is paid 1007. a year.

The sisters are usually spinsters: instances have occurred of a widow being appointed, but they are rare. Each sister has an annual allowance of 2001. and a separate house, but they do not in general reside in the hospital, in consequence of a privilege, or rather an indulgence, sanctioned only by custom. They are allowed to let their houses, and at the period of the inquiry two of them were let at 907. a year each, which the sisters received in addition to other emoluments and privileges.

At the time of the inquiry, the yearly income of the hospital amounted to 5,5047. 18s. 4d. derived from land, houses, and funded property. In many instances the rentals were found to be the same as at the time of the survey in the reign of Henry VIII., the increase being in the amount of fines received on the renewal of leases. Such fines, which sometimes amount to large sums, are distributed in certain proportions between the master, brothers, and sisters.

At the time of the reinoval of the hospital to its present site, the Dock Company took possession of the school, and allowed it to be carried on in a spot adjoining the old site, until the remaining scholars were provided for, when it ceased altogether. It was, therefore, recommended, in order to add to the respectability of the establishment, and the extension of the objects for which the endowment was originally made, to appropriate a portion of the surplus income to the support of a school of thirty-six boys, or twenty-four boys and twelve girls, to be clothed and educated free of all charge to their parents, and to be apprenticed in the proportion of six in each year, with premiums of from 157. to 251. It was further recommended to add to the establishment ten bedes-women, and twenty bedes-men, at 10l. each. These suggestions were adopted on the proviso, that the two situations of bedes-men and bedes-women should not be held at the same time by any two persons standing in the relation of husband and wife to each other. The annual charge for the forty bedes-people is 4007. and for the school and apprenticing, 3007. The bedes-people are appointed solely by the master: they consist, for the most part, of decayed small tradespeople, old servants of good character, and infirm aged people. They have no residence in the hospital, and no duties to perform, but simply an annual allowance of 107. each.

The children attend divine service in the chapel on Sundays, and between the services they are allowed a dinner of cold roast beef and pudding.

The brothers are clergymen of the Established Church, and are not restrained from marriage. Each brother has a separate house, and a yearly allowance of food. One brother is required to be in residence constantly, in order to conduct the service of the chapel,

plus income of the charity, it will be most desirable that this important subject should have due consideration, and the utmost encouragement."