maris, in Anglesea. These dry, comfortable, and protected abodes, were envied by the less favoured sparrows of the same place, who embraced the opportunity (while the unsuspected swallows were skimming o'er the wide bosom of the main) and confidently took possession, thinking also to establish an undoubted settlement by depositing their eggs; the swallows finding their rightful mansions engrossed by other tenants, seemed reconciled to the ejectment; but to the astonishment of the lady residing in the house, no sooner had the sparrows hatched their young, than the swallows gathered all their forces and plastered up the entrance of the nest containing the old sparrow and her brood, where they pe rished. In most parts of the country, martins and swallows are considered sacred birds, and to kill one is deemed a greater sin than the killing of other equally harmless birds. Children of all ages in the counties of Berks, Buckingham, and Oxford, repeat the following couplet, which if not taught, is always sanctioned by their parents: The Martin and the Swallow, Are God Almighty's birds to hollow. Mr. Audley says, "It is generally allowed, that Mark, mentioned i Pet. v. 13. is the Evangelist, but it has been doubted whether he be the same as John Mark, mentioned in the Acts, and in some of Paul's epistles. Dr. Lardner thinks there is but one Mark in the New Testament, John Mark, the evangelist, and fellowlabourer of Paul Barnabas and Peter. He was the son of Mary, a pious woman of Jerusalem, at whose house the disciIt is not known at ples used to meet. Christ. His gospel was probably written what period Mark became a follower of about the year 63 or 64, and it has been said, that Mark going into Egypt first preached the gospel which he had written, and planted there many churches. He appear to have been a martyr; but died in the eighth year of Nero, and was does Butler says, buried at Alexandria." "It is certain that he was appointed by St. Peter, bishop of Alexandria," that he was martyred in the year 68, and that when he was discovered by his persecutors, he was " offering to God the prayer of oblation or the mass." So that we are to believe from Butler, that there was the " mass in Mark's time! St. Anianus, A. D. 86. Alban Butler gravely quotes the "Acts of St Mark" to acquaint us that St. Anianus, whom he calls the second bishop of Alexandria, "was a shoemaker of that city, whose hand being wounded with an awl, St. Mark healed when he first entered the city: such was his fervour and progress in virtue and learning, that St. Mark constituted him bishop of Alexandria during his absence; and Anianus governed that great church four years with him, and eighteen years and seven months after his death." Robinson lowers the inflation of Butler's language by stating that Mark, as he was walking in Alexandria, "burst the stitching of his shoe, so that he could not proceed till it was repaired; the nearest cobler was the man; he mended the shoe or sandal, or whatever it was; the man was taught the gospel by Mark; he taught others; and this was the first pontiff of Alexandria, that is, the first regular teacher of a few poor people at Alexandria, who peradventure had no other cathedral than a garret: a teacher of primitive christianity is not to be confounded with a patriarch of Alexandria." This is a very different picture from that of the "great church" represented by Butler. In truth, the early christian pastors were poor and lowly men, and hence the ideas we affix to the denominations which they and their flocks receive from catholic writers should be derived from plain common-sense views of their real situations, so far as they can be ascertained. SHOES AND SANDALS. East, but sandals, which leave the toes bare, very seldom. The Egyptians made their shoes of papyrus or palm leaves. The Greeks and Romans of both sexes wore rich sandals of gold, silk, or other precious stuffs; the soles were of cork, which for that reason was called sandal wood, and they were, in general, at least one finger thick; sometimes they sewed fivoles one over another. They were covered within and without with leather broader than the cork. Sandals were among the early, but not the later, Anglo Shoes or slippers were worn in the Saxons.* 66 The preceding cut is of a very curious sandal," in three different views, from one made of leather, partly gilt, and variously coloured. It was formerly in the possession of Mr. Bailey, leather-stainer, Little Wild-street, Drury-lane, and afterwards in that of Mr. Samuel Ireland, of Norfolkstreet, by whose permission, an engraving on copper was made by Mr. J. T. Smith of the British Museum, and from this the present representation is given. The age of the sandal is not by the writer determinable, but as a remarkable relic of antiquity, its form and make deserve preservation. It will be observed, that it belonged to the left foot of the wearer; so that if other evidence could not be adduced, this is proof that "rights and lefts" are only "an old, old, very old" fashion revived. The shoes of Bernard, king of Italy, found in his tomb, were "right and left:" the soles were of wood, the upper part red leather, laced with thongs, and they fitted so closely, that the order of the toes, terminating in a point at the great toe, might easily be discovered.* Stubbs, the satirist in Shakspeare's time, describes cork shoes or pantofles, (slippers) as bearing up their wearers two .nches or more from the ground; as of various colours, and raised, carved, cut, or stitched; as frequently made of velvet, embroidered with the precious metals; and when fastened with strings, covered with enormous and valuable roses of ribband curiously ornamented. "It is remarkable that, as in the present age, both shoes and slippers were worn shaped after the right and left foot. Shakespeare describes his smith as 'Standing on slippers, which his nimble haste Had falsely thrust upon contrary feet :— and Scott, in his Discoverie of Witchcraft,' observes, that he who receiveth a mischance will consider, whether he put not on his shirt wrong side outwards, or his left shoe on his right foot." "+ Some light may be thrown on the engraving by an extract from an heraldic writer: "He beareth or, two sandals sable, buckles or tyes argent. This was the ancient way of securing the feet of travellers from the hardness of the country passage; and consisted of nothing else but a sole, (either of leather or wood) to which Forbroke's Dict. Antiq. + Dr. Drake's Shakspeare and his Times was made fast 2 or 3 tyes or latches which. was buckled on the top of the foot; the better sort adorned these latches with imbrauthered (embroidered) work, and set them with stones." Whence it appears that the engraving represents such a sandal "of the better sort." The same author mentions three sandals sable, buckled "borne and adorned or, on a field azure by Palmer."* Ladies may be amused by looking at the form, as placed before his readers, of a shoe which the author just cited says was "of the gentest (genteelest) fashion" of his time. This was the fashion that beautified the feet of the fair in the reign of king William and queen Mary. The old "Deputy for the kings of arms" is minutely diffuse on the "gentle craft:" he engraves the form of "a pair of wedges," which he says "is to raise up a shooe in the instep when it is too straight for the top of the foot;" and thus compassionates ladies' sufferings." Shoomakers love to put ladies in their stocks; but these wedges, like merciful justices upon complaint, soon do ease and deliver them." If the eye turns to the cut-to the cut of the sole, with the "line of beauty" adapted by the cunning workman's skill to stilt the female foot-if the reader behold that asso ciation, let wonder cease, that a venerable master in coat-armour should bend his quarterings to the quartering of a lady's shoe, and forgetful of heraldic forms, condescend from his "high estate" to the use of similitudes. EASTER. The difference of opinion respecting the true time of Easter, in the year 1825, and the explanation at p 416 of the error at p. 190, as to the rule for finding this feast have occasioned various letters to the editor, from which he selects three, in order to further elucidate and close the subject. The first is a lively introduction. Holme's Acad. of Armoric. B To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. Sir, In your fourteenth number, you accuse the almanac-makers of having thought good to fix Easter-day on the 3rd of April instead of the 10th, on which day, you say, according to the act of parliament and the rubric of the church, Easterday ought to be celebrated. This statement is calculated to "unsettle the faith of thousands in their almanac-maker;" for, sure enough, the almanac-maker appears to have made Easter-day fall on the day of the full moon, instead of the week after; I therefore fully acquit you of all intention to mislead your readers, and slander the almanac-maker; and yet you most certainly have done both from not sufficiently taking into your consideration the omnipotence of parliament, especially in astronomical matters. You may possibly recollect, that, even a few years back, parliament, for the purpose I think of protecting game from poachers, declared that night should commence, during the summer month, before the sun thought proper to set. Now, in defiance of those matter-of-fact gentlemen, the almanac makers, the act of parliament for the uniformity of worship, has this year appointed the paschal full moon for the 2d of April instead of the 3rd, and thereby converted the 3rd into Easter Sunday. The statute of 14 Car. II. says nothing about Easter Sunday, but it orders the Book of Common Prayer to be joined and annexed to the act, so that the rubric has the force and omnipotence of an act of parliament to alter the course of the moon, and to regulate its wane and increase. The rubric exercises this power, by compelling you to look out for the full moon in certain tables of its own concocting, and does not allow you to consult the almanac. The paschal full moon must be ascertained by discovering the golden number of the year, (for which a rule is given,) and the day set next that Golden Number (in the table before-mentioned,) is, by the omnipotence of parliament, declared to be the full moon day. The Golden Number for the present year is according to the rule 2, and the day fixed against that number is April 2d, and is therefore the paschal full moon in spite of the almanac-makers. The full moon being fixed thus by government, Easter-day is ascertained by finding the Sunday letter by another rule, according to which B is the Sunday letter for the present year, and the day of the month affixed to the first B, after the act of parliament full moon, is Easter Sunday; unluckily this letter B has chanced to fall upon the almanac maker's full moon, viz. the 3rd of April but surely you are too reasonable a mar. to blame them for that: remember, however loyal they may be, they cannot compel the sun to set at eight o'clock on the longest day, nor persuade the moon to at tain her full a moment before it pleases her variable ladyship. I am, sir, Your much amused, and constant reader, CAUSIDICUS. The next communication is in further support of the almanac-maker's Easter. To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. Sir It appears tne autnor of the article "Easter," in the Every-Day Book, p 416, thinks the almanac-makers wrong in fixing Easter Sunday, for 1825, on the 3rd of April, when the full moon took place at 6 h. 23 m. in the morning of that very day. He probably was not aware, that the astronomical day commences at 12 at noon, and ends the next noon. The 2d of April (as an astronomical day,) commenced on the Saturday, and ended on the Sunday at noon. The festivals being regulated according to this astronomical division of time, it follows that the almanac-makers were correct in considering the full moon to take place on Saturday, the 2d of April, and in fixing Easter Sunday for the 3rd of April. Ï trust you will find it worth while to insert this correction of your statement, from A CONSTANT READER. To the atter correspondent's observations, this answer has been received from the gentleman to whom it became the editor's duty to transmit it for consider ation For the Every-Day Book. The object of those who fixed the aay for the celebration of Easter, was to prevent the full moon being on the Sunday on which the offices for the Resurrection were to be performed, and the custom or astronomers has nothing to do with the question. The full moon according to them might be on the twenty-third hour of the Saturday, but this would be eleven c'clock of Saturday, at which time the Romish and English churches would be performing the offices of the Resurrection; this was the point to be avoided, and this is done by the ecclesiastical canon and the act of parliament. THE AUTHOR OF the article on EASTER. In this correspondence Easter is disposed of. The rubric clearly states the rule for finding the festival, and the last letter represents the ground whereon it was deemed expedient that the church should celebrate it according to that rule. CHRONOLOGY. 1595. Torquatus Tasso, the poet, died at Rome. He was born, in 1544, at Sorrento in Naples, wrote verses at nine years of age, became a student at law, and composed the "Rinaldo" at seventeen. Although his celebrated epic " Jerusalem Delivered" is that whereon his poetical fame is chiefly grounded, yet his "Aminta," and other pieces are rich in fancy and beautiful in style; he was also excellent in prose. The most remarkable feature in his character was a hopeless passion for the princess Eleanora, sister of the duke of Ferrara, that he conceived early in life, and nourished till his death. 1800. William Cowper, the poet, died at Dereham, in Norfolk; he was born November, 26, 1731, at Berkhamstead, in Hertfordshire. When a child he was shy and diffident. "His own forcible expression," says Hayley, "represented him at Westminster-school as not daring to raise his eye above the shoe-buckle of the elder boys, who were too apt to tyrannize over his gentle spirit." Fear of personal publicity increased with his years. At thirty-one it was necessary that he should appear at the bar of the House of Lords, to entitle himself to the appointment of clerk of the journals which had been obtained for him, he was incapable of the effort, his terror overwhelmed his reason, and he was subjected to confinement till his faculties recovered. Morbid glooms and horrors of the imagination clouded his mind throughout life, and he more than once attempted self-destruction. When not subjected to these dreadful affections he was cheerful and amiable. Innocence of heart and extreme modesty were the most remarkable features in his character. His poetry is in the hands of every body; its popularity is the best praise of its high merits. He was enabled by his fortune to indulge his love of re- It was here, perhaps, that Cowper wrote his poem on a nightingale, that sung with a thorn in her breast, an affecting allusion to the state of his own feelings. There is another of his productions on the same sweet bird," whom all poets wait on, which is subjoined by way of conclusion to this brief notice of a bard honoured for his talents, and revered for his love of virtue. |