Worn out with age and dire disease, a cat,
Friendly to all, save wicked mouse and rat :
I'm sent at læst to ford the Stygian lake,
And to the infernal coast a voyage make.
Me PROSERPINE receiv'd, and smiling said,
"Be bless'd within these mansions of the dead;
Enjoy among thy velvet-footed loves,
Elysium's sunny banks and shady groves."
"But if I've well deserv'd, (O gracious queen,)
If patient under sufferings I have been,
Grant me at least one night to visit homé again
Once more to see my home, and mistress dear,
And purr these grateful accents in her ear.
Thy faithful cat, thy poor departed slave,
Still loves her mistress ev'n beyond the grave.""

S. Eusebius, 3rd Cent, St. Eusebius,
Priest.

It is stated in The Times, on the authority of an "Evening Paper," that two beautiful old trees in Nottingham park during the hot weather (of July and August, 1825,) shed all their leaves, and were as completely stripped as they are usually in November. Their appearance afterwards was more surprising. weather came, they put forth new leaves and were as fully clothed in August as they were before the long season of the dry hot weather.

THE WITHERED LEAF.

Sever'd from thy slender stalk,
Wither'd wand'rer! knowest thou?
Would'st thou tell, if leaves might talk,

Wet

Whence thou art?-Where goest thou?"

Nothing know I-tempests' strife

From the proud oak tore me;

Broke my every tie to life,

Whelm'd the tree that bore me.

Zephyr's fickle breath,-the blast
From the northern ocean,
Since that day my lot have cast
By their varying motion.

From the mountain's breezy height
To the silent valley,
From the forest's darksome night
To the plain I sally.

organ," which he accompanied by beating the long drum; after him followed the theatre, consisting of a square frame-work about ten feet high, boarded in front, and painted as represented in the print, carried by a man within the frame; the theatrical properties were in a box strapped on the inside towards the bottom. The musician was preceded by a foreignlooking personage-the manager. As soon as he had fixed on a station he deemed eligible, the trio stopped, the theatre was on its legs in a minute, and some green baize furled towards the top, of each side, and at the back, was let down by the manager himself, who got within the frame and thus concealed himself. The band of two instruments was set in motion by its performer, who took his station on one side, and the carrier of the theatre assuming the important office of money collector. "Come ladies and gentlemen," he said, " we can't begin without you encourage us-some money if you please please to remember what you are going to see!" Boys came running in from the fields, women with children got good places," windows were thrown up and well filled, the drummer beat and blew away lustily, the audience increased every minute, a collection was made, and the green curtain at length drew up, and discovered a stage also lined with green cloth at the top, bottom, and sides. In about a minute the tune altered, and the show began.

Scene 1. A jolly-looking puppet performed the tricks of a tumbler and posture master with a hoop.

Scene 2. The money taker called out, "This is the representation of a skeleton." The music played solemnly, and the puppet skeleton came slowly through a trap door in the floor of the stage; its under jaw chattered against the upper, it threw its arms up mournfully, till it was fairly above ground, and then commenced a "grave" dance. On a sudden its head dropped off, the limbs separated from the trunk in a moment, and the head moved about the floor, chattering, till it resumed its place together with the limbs, and in an instant danced as before; its efforts appeared gradually to decline, and at last it sank into a sitting posture, and remained still. Then it held down its skull, elevated its arms, let them fall on the ground several times dolorously; fell to pieces again; again the head moved about the stage and chattered; again it

resumed its place, the limbs reunited, and the figure danced till the head fell off with a gasp; the limbs flew still further apart; all was quiet; the head made one move only towards the body, fell sideways, and the whole re-descended to a dirge-like tune. Thus ended the second

scene.

Scene 3. This scene was delayed for the collector again to come round with his hat:-"You can't expect us to show you all for what you've given. Money if you please; money; we want your money!" As soon as he had extracted the last extractable halfpenny, the curtain drew up, and enter a clown without la head, who danced till his head came from between his shoulders to the wonder of the children, and, almost to their alarm, was elevated on a neck the full length of his body, which it thrust out ever and anon; after presenting greater contortions than the human figure could possibly represent, the curtain fell the third time.

Scene 4. Another delay of the curtain for another collection, "We have four and twenty scenes," said the collector, "and if you are not liberal we can't show 'em all-we must go." This extorted something more, and one person at a window, who had sent three-pence from a house where other money had been given, now sent out a shilling, with a request that "all" might be exhibited. The showman promised, the curtain drew up, and another puppet-tumbler appeared with a pole which, being placed laterally on the back of two baby-house chairs, he balanced himself on it, stood heels upwards upon it, took the chairs up by it, balanced them on each end of it, and down fell the curtain.

Scene 5. A puppet sailor danced a hornpipe.

Scene 6. A puppet Indian juggler threw balls.

Scene 7. Before the curtain 'drew up the collector said, "This is the representation of Billy Waters, Esq." and a puppet, Billy Waters, appeared with a wooden leg, and danced to the sound of his fiddle for a minute or two when the curtain dropped, and the manager and performers went off with their theatre, leaving the remaining seventeen scenes, if they had them, unrepresented. On the show was painted, "Candler's Fantoccini, patronised by the Royal Family." Our old acquaintance, " Punch," will survive all this.

August 15.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. St. Alipius, Bp. A. D. 429. St.
Arnoul, or Arnulphus, Bp. A. D. 1087.
St. Mac-Cartin, or Aid, or Aed, Bp. of
Clogher, A. D. 506.

Assumption, B. V. M.

So stands this high festival of the Romish church in the church of England calendar. No reason can be imagined for its remaining there; for the assumption of the virgin is the pretended miraculous ascent of her body into heaven. Butler calls it "the greatest of all the festivals the Romish church celebrates in

her honour." In his account of this day,
he especially enjoins her to be invoked as
a mediator. The breviaries and offices
of her worship embrace it as an opportu-
nity for edifying the devotees with stories
to her honour; one of these may suffice.
There was a monk very jolly and light
of life, who on a night went forth to do
his accustomed folly; but when he passed
before the altar of our lady, he saluted
the virgin, and then went out of the
church; and as he was about to pass a
river he fell in the water, and the devils
took his soul. Then angels came to res-
cue it, but the devils maintained that it
was their proper prey. And anon came
the blessed virgin, and rebuked the de-
vils, and said the soul belonged to her;
and they answered, that they had found
the monk finishing his life in evil ways;
and she replied, that which ye say
false, for I know well, that when he went
into any place, he saluted me first, and
that when he came out again he did the
same, and if ye say that I do you wrong, let
us have the judgment of the sovereign
king thereon. Then they contended be-
fore our Lord on this matter; and it
pleased him that the soul should return
again to the body, and that the monk
should repent him of his sins. In the
while, the monks had missed their bro-
ther, for he came not to matins, and they
sought the sexton and went to the river,
and found him there drowned; and when
they had drawn the body out of the water,
they knew not what to think, and mar-
velled what he had done. Then suddenly
he came to life, and told them what had
happened to him, and finished his life in
good works.*

* Golden Legend

is

Durandus, the great Romish ritualist, anxious for devotion to be maintained to the virgin, observes, that though her office is not to be read on the Sundays between Easter and Whitsuntide, as on every other Sunday, yet there is not any danger to be apprehended for introducing it on the Sundays not appointed. A priest once did actually intrude the virgin's office on one of these non-appointed Sundays, for which the bishop suspended him; but he was soon forced to take off the suspension, in consequence of the virgin appearing to him, and scolding him for his unjust severity."

It is stated by Mr. Brady, that the festival of the assumption of the Virgin Mary was first regularly instituted in 813; and, that the assumption commemorated actually took place, is what none within the power of the late Inquisition would dare to disbelieve; and, that since its first introduction, further, there has been a zeal displayed on this holiday, which must be considered truly commendable, in all those who believe in the fact, and are amiably desirous of convincing others. The pageantry used in celebrating this festival has often been the subject of remark by travellers, but that at Messina seems for its grandeur and ingenuity to claim the preference: Mr. Howel, in his descriptive travels through Sicily, gives a very particular account of tival is kept by the Sicilians under the the magnificent manner in which this fesof the machine he describes, is also, it aptitle of Bara; which, although expressive pears, generally applied as a name of the feast itself. An immense machine of about fifty feet high is constructed, designing to represent heaven; and in the midst is placed a young female personating the virgin, with an image of Jesus on her right hand; round the virgin twelve little children turn vertically, representing so many seraphim, and below them twelve more children turn horizontally, as cherubim; lower down in the machine a sun turns vertically, with a child at the extremity of each of the four principal radii of his circle, who ascend and descend with his rotation, yet always in an erect posture; and still lower, reaching within about seven feet of the ground, are placed twelve boys, who turn horizontally without intermission around the principal figure, designing thereby to exhibit the twelve apostles, who were collected from all corners of the earth, to be present at

August 16:4

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the decease of the virgin, and witness her miraculous assumption. This huge machine is drawn about the principal streets St. Hyacinth, A. D. 1257. St. Roche, A. D. by sturdy monks, and it is regarded as a particular favour to any family to admit their children in this

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dod lac tabloda od jesusb won Dods although the poor infants themselves do by 19 long to enjoy the honours they both

nive as seraphim, cherubim, and apos-br

tles; the constant twirling they receive in the air making some of them fall asleep, many of them sick, and others more grievously ill.

80 gaitas 91 grudion Word I It is stated of a poor French woman a century ago, when invention was not so quick as it is in the present generation, that finding herself really incapable, from extreme poverty, of nourishing her infant, she proceeded with it near the church of Notre-Dame at Paris, during the procession in honour of the virgin, on the 15th of August; and holding up her meagre olayl infant, whilst the priest was giving his solemn benediction to the populace, bee sought him so m so earnestly to bless the chat the crowd instinctively made

that the infant became appendixed to its rich mother-the church.gai di hosubong -19 semilliVM of

In a very rare print of the Death of the Virgin, by Wenceslaus of Olmutz, she is drawn surrounded by her family and others; St. John places a holy candle in her right hand, St. Peter with a brush sprinkles holy water upon her before the Romish church existed, and therefore before that devise was contrived; and another apostle with an ink-horn hanging from his side, looks through a pair of spectacles, to assist his sight, before spectacles were invented, in reading a book which another person holds. This subject has also been represented by Martin Schoen, Israel van Mechelen, and other artists.

FLORAL DIRECTORY.

Virgin's Bower. Clematis Vitalba. Dedicated to the Assumption, B. V. M.

* Clavis Calendaria.

banud vio

Sound as

as a roach."

All that Butler can affirm of him is, that making a pilgrimage from Montpellier to Rome, during a pestilence, he devoted himself to the sick, became infected, made a shift to crawl into a neighbouring forest, bore incredible pains with patience and joy, returned to France, practised austere penance and piety, and died at Montpellier.

In the "Golden Legend" he is called St. Rock; and it relates that when infected by the pestilence, and lacking bread in the forest, a hound belonging to one Gotard daily took bread away from his master's board, and bare it to Rock, whom Gotard thereby discovered, and visited, and administered to his necessi ties; wherefore the hound came no more; and Rock was healed by revelation of an angel; and with touching and blessing he cured the diseased in the hospital, and healed all the sick in the city of Placentia. Being imprisoned, and about to die, he