blackbird." After this. Benedict rolled himself in briars and nettles, till he was covered with blood; and his fame spreading still more abroad, several forsook the world to live with him; and he became an abbot, and built twelve monasteries. In one of these, a monk becoming slothful, St. Benedict said, "I will go and correct him myself;" and Butler says, "such indeel was the danger and enormity of this fault, as to require the most speedy and effectual remedy;" wherefore St. Benedict coming to the lazy monk "at the end of the divine office,saw a little black boy leading him by the sleeve out of the church," and applied the "speedy and effectual remedy" to the monk's shoulders, in the shape of a cudgel; and so "the sinner was freed from the temptation" of the little black boy, who was the devil. Then by Benedict's prayers a fountain sprung up; and a monk cleaving wood with a hedging bill, and the iron falling into the water, by holding the wooden handle in the water, the iron miraculously swam up to it of its own accord. Such growing fame brought to Benedict " many who came clad in purple with gold and precious stones." "He seemed," says Alban Butler, "indued with an extraordinary power,commanding all nature, and foreseeing future events; he baffled the various artifices of the devil, with the sign of the cross; rendered the heaviest stone light; by a short prayer raised to life a novice who had been crushed by the fall of a wall;" and after other wonders died, about the year 543, aged 63.* Pope St. Gregory, of whom some account is given on his festival, (see MARCH 12,) wrote the life and miracles of St. Benedict.t This work of many chapters relates how Benedict dispossessed a certain clerk of the devil; how he miraculously discovered the hiding of a flagon of wine; how in a scarcity two hundred bushels of meal were miraculously brought to his monastery; how a boy marvellously cast out of his grave, was miraculously kept in it by St. Benedict putting the host on his body; how a glass bottle cast down on the stones was not broken; how an empty tun was filled with oil by his prayers; how he gave another monk a slap in the face and drove Alban Butler, the English biographer of St. Benedict, and the rest of the saints, died in May, 773, aged 63. Pope St. Gregory's labour is translated under the title of "The Life and Miracles of our Holie Father St. Benedict-Fermissu Superiorum. Printed an. 18mo. the devil out of him; how he saw the soul of his sister in form of a dove; how he foretold his own death; how he performed miracles too many to be here related; all which, however, may be seen in the said life of St. Benedict, by the said pope St. Gregory, who it will be remembered is called by way of distinction St. Gregory the Great. St. Benedict founded the order of monks under his name. A reader who desires to be acquainted with its rules may consult Mr. Fosbroke's "British Monachism," who remarks, that monkery is an institution founded upon the first principles of religious virtue, wrongly understood and wrongly directed. He then proceeds to remark, that, "If man be endowed with various qualities, in order to be severely punished for using them, God is made the tempter of vice, and his works foolish. If voluntary confinement, vegetable eating, perpetual praying, wearing coarse clothing, and mere automatical action through respiration, be the standard of excellence, then the best man is only a barrel organ set to psalm-tunes." 1556. CHRONOLOGY. of Canterbury, was burnt for heresy at of that there is against the south wall of A correspondent, LECTOR,Communicates Camberwell church, an inscription commemorative of "Bartholomew Scott, esq. Surrey," in which he is said to have marjustice of peace in the county ried "Margaret, the widow of the right reverend prelate and martyr, Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterburie." Strype, (Life, p. 418. b. iii. ch. xxviii.) says, that the name of Cranmer's last him, was living towards the latter end of wife was Ann; and that she survived archbishop Parker's time, and "for her hamshire." He does not seem very sansubsistence enjoyed an abbey in Nottingguine on this head, but gives the passage on authority of "a very angry book, England by cardinall Alien." Fox, in his writ against the execution of justice in "Actes and Monumentes," says, that Cranmer's wife was a Dutchewoman, kynne to the wyfe of Osiander ;" and that Cranmer having "sold hys plate, and payed all his debts, so that no man could ask him a grote," left his wife and children unprovided. The marriage of "Bartholo mew Scott, esq." with Cranmer's widow, was certainly an act of noble disinterestedness. He is celebrated for his neverdying virtues, and described as a "valiant, wise, and religious gentleman," of" right worshipful and ancient familie." FLORAL DIRECTORY. Bulbous Fumitory. Fumaria bulbosa. Dedicated to St Bennet. March 22. St. Basil of Ancyra, A. D. 362. St. Paul, Bp. St. Lea, A. D. 384. St Deogratias, Bp. of Carthage, A.D. 457. St. Catharine of Sweden, Abbess, A. D. 1381. CHRONOLOGY. 1687. John Baptist Lulli, the celebrated musician, died, aged 54. He was born at Florence, in 1634, and from being page to madame Montpensier, niece to Louis XIV. became superintendent of music to that monarch. The Plague in London. In March, 1665, London abounded in wealth and grandeur, in comparison with .its state in former ages. Goldsmiths' shops shone with plate all along the south-side of the street called Cheapside, then named Goldsmiths'-row. The Strand then united London and Westminster by a range of palaces, inhabited by the nobility, with gardens in the rear reaching to the Thames, from whence through watergates they descended by stairs to take water. Each of these mansions was named after its owner or occupier; as Essex, Arundel, Norfolk, Salisbury, Worcester, Exeter, Hungerford, Howard, York, and Northumberland. They were built at equal distances from each other, in the grandest style of antique architecture. Such was London in March 1665, when it was visited by the plague, which raged with such unabating fatality, that three, four, and five thousand of the inhabitants died weekly. Deaths increased so fast that the usual mode of interment could no longer be observed; large pits were dug at Hollywell-mount, and in other suburbs of the city, to which the dead were carried in carts, collected by the ring of a bell, and the doleful cry of "Bring out your dead." The bodies were brought out of the houses, and placed in the carts with no other covering than rugs or sheets tied round them, and were thrown into the pits in promiscuous heaps. Trade was at a stand, the shops were shut up, every day had the appearance of a sabbath; grass grew on the Royal Exchange, and most of the public streets; and Whitechapel might be mistaken for green fields. THE SEASON. Dr. Forster observes, in his " Perennial Calendar," that about this time spiders begin to appear in the gardens, for in winter they are only seen in houses; and that the species which inhabits our dwellings, is quite distinct from the garden spider. These are a very interesting tribe of insects, in spite of their ugly appearance, and the general dislike which most persons, especially females, attach to them, in common with earwigs and other unsightly insects. Naturalists have found out this curious propensity in spiders, that they seem remarkably fond of music, and have been known to descend from the ceiling during concerts, and to retire when the strain was finished; of which the following old verses, from the "Anthologia Borealis et Australis," remind us: To a Spider which inhabited a Cell. In this wild, groping, dark, and drearie cove, Joying like me to heare sweete musick play, Wherewith I'd fein beguile the dull dark lingering day. FLORAL DIRECTORY. The Roman Catholic festival of the Peerless Daffodil. Narcissus incompa- Annunciation is commonly called in rabilis. Dedicated to St. Alphonsus. March 24. Cambridge Term ends. St. Irenæus, Bp. of Sirmium, ▲ D. 304. St. Simon, an Infant Martyr. St. William of Norwich. St. Simon, an Infant. The Jews are said to have murdered this infant in 1472. After having deliberated at their synagogue in the holy week, on the preparations for their passover, they came to the resolution of crucifying a child on Good Friday, and having stolen Simon, they made him the victim, and sung around his body while elevated. Whenever an act of cruelty was to be perpetrated on the Jews, fables like these were forged, and the brutal passions of the mob let loose upon the life and wealth of fugitive Israelites. St. William of Norwich, A. D. 1137, Was another of these pretended martyrs to Jewish hatred. Weever states, that "the Jews in the principal cities of the kingdom, did use sometimes to steal away, and crucify some neighbour's male child," as if it were a common practice. Since protestantism, no such barbarities have been imputed to the Jews. England LADY DAY, an abridgement of the old term Our Lady's Day, or the Day of our blessed Lady. This is a "gaudy day" in the Romish church. Deeming the mother of Christ an intercessor and mediatrix, it offers innumerable honours and devotions to her. Hail Mary! resounds in the masses to her praise; and the worshippers of her shrines and resemblances, are excited to a fervour of devotion which would astonish, if it were not known that sculpture, painting, poetry, vocal and instrumental music, have been added to revive the recollection of monkish fables, and early impressions in her behalf. In the Golden Legend, a book formerly read instead of the New Testament, but now, in degree, supplanted by Butler's more voluminous and almost equally miraculous "Lives of the Saints," there is a story in honour of the virgin, concerning a noble and ignorant knight, who, to amend his life, entered an abbey, but was so incapable of learning, that he could say nothing but Ave Maria, which words he continually repeated wherever he was. When this knight died he was buried in the church-yard of the abbey, and there afterwards grew out of his grave a fair fleur de lis, and in every flower grew, in letters of gold, the words Ave Maria; and at the miracle, the brethren marvelled, and opened the sepulchre, and found the root of the fleur de lis came out of the mouth of the said knight; and then they understood that he was to be honoured for his great de vo 193 tion to the virgin, by using the words Ave Muria. There is another story in the "Golden Legend" of" another knyght." He had a fayre place bisyde the hye waye where moche people passed, whome he robbed," and so he did all his life; yet he had "a good custom" of saluting the virgin every day, by saying Ave Maria, and so he went on committing highway robberies, and saluting the virgin day by day, tili his people having put "a holy man" in bodily fear and robbed him, the said 66 holy man desired to be brought before their master,the knight, and seeing him, required him to summon all his attendants, which the knight did; but the "holy man" objected that one of them was not present. Then the knight perceived that his chamberlain was not there, and called for him; and when the holy man saw the chamberlain, he conjured him to declare who he was, and the chamberlain being so enforced answered, "I am no man, but am a devil in the form of a man ;" and he acknowledged that he had abided with the knight fourteen years, and watched him night and day, hoping the knight might leave off saying the salutation Ave Maria, that so he might strangle him, "and brynge him to hell," because of his evil life; but, because there passed no day without the knight saying Ave Maria, the devil could not have him for all his long waiting. Then the knight fell down at the feet of the holy man, and demanded pardon of his sins, and the "holy man commanded the devil to depart; wherefore says the "Golden Legend," "let us pray to the gloryous virgyn Mary, that she kepe us from the devyll." The festival of the annunciation is kept at Rome by sumptuous shows. The author of "Rome in the nineteenth Century" relates the pope's proceedings on the occasion: "We drove through streets lined with expecting crowds, and windows hung with crimson and yellow silk draperies, and occupied by females in their most gorgeous attire, till we made a stop near the church before which the pope's horse-guards, in their splendia full-dress uniforms, were stationed to keep the ground; all of whom, both officers and men, wore in their caps a sprig of myrtle, as a sign of rejoicing. After waiting a short time, the procession appeared, headed by another detachment of the guards, mounted on prancing black chargers, who rode forward to clear the way, accompanied by such a flourish of trumpets and kettle-drums, that it looked at first like any thing but a peaceable or religious preceeding. This martial array was followed by a bareheaded priest, on a white mule, bearing the host in a gold cup, at the sight of which every body fell upon their knees. The pope used formerly to ride upon the white mule himself, and all the cardinals used to follow him in their magnificent robes of state, mounted either on mules or horses; and as the Eminentissimi are, for the most part, not very eminent horsemen, they were generally fastened on, lest they should tumble off. This cavalcade must have been a very entertaining sight. Pius VI., who was a very handsome man, kept up this custom, but the (then) present pope (Pius VII.) is far too infirm for such an enterprise; so he followed the man on the white mule, in a state coach; at the very sight of which, we seemed to have made a jump back of two hundred years at least. It was a huge machine, composed almost entirely of plate-glass, fixed in a ponderous carved and gilt frame, through which was distinctly visible the person of the venerable old pope, dressed in robes of white and silver, and incessantly giving his benediction to the people, by a twirl of three fingers; which are typical of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; the last being represented by the little finger. On the gilded back of this vehicle, the only part that was not made of glass, was a picture of the pope in his chair of state, and the virgin Mary at his feet. This extraordinary machine was drawn by six black horses, with superb harness of crimson velvet and gold; the coachmen, or rather postillions, were dressed in coats of silver stuff, with crimson velvet breeches, and full bottomed wigs well powdered, without hats. Three coaches, scarcely less antiquely superb, followed with the assistant cardinals, and the rest of the train. In the inside of the church, the usual tiresome ceremonies went on that take place when the pope is present. He is seated on a throne, or chair of state; the cardinals, in succession, approach and kiss his hand, retire one step, and make three bows of nods, one to him in front, and one on the right hand, and another on the left; which are intended for him (as the personification of the Father,) and for the Son, and for the Holy Ghost, on either side of him; and all the cardinals having gone through these motions, and the inferior priests having kissed his toethat is, the cross, embroidered on his shoe-high mass begins. The pope kneels during the elevation of the host, prays in silence before the high altar, gets up and sits down, reads something out of a great book which they bring to him, with a lighted taper held beside it; and, having gone through many more such ceremonies, finally ends as he began, with giving his benediction with three fingers, all the way he goes out. During all the time of this high mass, the pope's military band, stationed on the platform in front of the church, played so many clamorous martial airs, that it effectually put to flight any ideas of religious soTemnity.' In England, Lady Day is only remembered as the first quarter-day in the year, and is therefore only kept by tenants who truly pay rent to their landlords. A few years ago a country gentleman wrote a letter to a lady of rank in town, and sent it through the general post with the following address: "To "The 25th of March, "Foley-place, London." The postman duly delivered the letter at the house of Lady Day for whom it was intended. CHRONOLOGY. 1688. Parochial charity schools, for the education of the children of poor persons, were instituted in London and its vicinity. 1748. A fire broke out at one o'clock in the morning in 'Change-alley, Cornhill, London, which raged for ten hours, consuming all the buildings in 'Changealley and Birchin-lane; and in Cornhill, from 'Change-alley to St. Michael's-alley, including several celebrated taverns and coffee-houses, and many valuable shops, including five booksellers. There were eighty houses destroyed by this conflagration. 1809. Anna Seward, the friend of Dr. Darwin, and recollected for her life of him, and for her poetry and correspondence, died in the bishop's palace at Lichfield, aged 66. She was born at Eyan, in Derbyshire. Her poetry is easy, rather than vigorous. Now in many situations may be heard the cuckoo. Its distant note intimating dislike to human approach, comes upon the ear as a soft welcome from a shy stranger :— Hail, beauteous stranger of the grove, Thou messenger of spring! I hail the time of flowers, Soon as the pea puts on its bloom, Sweet bird, thy bower is ever green, No winter in thy year! We'd make with social wing Our annual visit o'er the globe, FLORAL DIRECTORY. Logan. Lurid Henbane. Hyoscyamus Scopolia. Dedicated to St. Braulio March 27. St. John of Egypt, Hermit, A. D. 394, St. Rupert, or Robert, Bp. of Saltzbourg. St. John of Egypt Was a hermit, inured to obedience by an ancient holy anchoret, "who made |