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The following extracts are from a book in my possession, entitled "The Magick of Kirani, King of Persia, and of Harpocration;" printed in the year 1685, work much sought for by the learned, but seen by few," and "published from a copy found in a private hand."

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An account of the medical virtues of the stork, which is described as being very good bird," contains this account of a bird-battle. "Presently, when the spring comes, they (the storks) proceed all together, like an army, and fly in divers figures, as wild geese and ducks; and all sorts of birds fly out of Egypt, Lybia, and Syria, and come into Lycia, to a river called Zanthus, and in the same place they engage in battle with ravens and crows, and magpies, and vultures, and with all carnivorous fowl; for they know the time aforehand, and all come hither. The army of storks put themselves in battalia on one side of the river; and the crows, and vultures, and all the carnivorous birds tarry on the other side of the river. And they tarry the whole sixth month for battel, for they know the days whereon they are to engage. And then a cry is heard to the very heavens, and the shedding of the blood of the wounded birds is seen in the river, and the plucking off of many feathers, of which the Lycians make feather beds. And after that the field is cleared they find the crows, and all carnivorous birds, torn in pieces; likewise storks and pelicans, and no small number of such as are of their side; for many of the birds fall down dead in the battel. And this contention among them, and victory, on whether side_soever it falls, is a sign to all men. For, if the army of storks be conquerors, there will be riches, and abundance of bread-corn, and other fruits on the earth; but, if the crows get the better, there will be a multitude of sheep and oxen, and other four

Noble.

footed beasts. And the storks have another certain, excellent, natural quality. For when the parents are grown old, and are not able to fly, their children, on every side, carry them upon their wings from place to place, and also maintain them; and, if they be blind, their children feed them: this retribution, and due gratitude from children to parents, is called antipelargia, i. e. stork-gratitude. And, if any one take the heart of a stork, conqueror in war, and tie it up in the skin of a hawk, or of a vulture, that is conquered, and write on the heart, because I have conquered mine enemies,' and shall tie it to his right arm, he that carries it will be invincible by all, and admirable in war, and in all controversies, and his victory will be irrefragable and great."

Perhaps it would be as well, before proceeding further, to speak a little of the book which furnishes these particulars. Harpocration describes himself as travelling in the country of Babylon, and as coming to little Alexandria, a city seventeen Persian miles distant from Seleutica, and near Babylon, where he met with an old man, a Syrian captive, skilled in foreign learning, who showed him every thing remarkable." And when we came to a certain place, about four miles distant from the city, we saw a pillar, with a great tower, which the inhabitants say they brought from the edifice of Solomon, and placed it there for the health and cure of the men of that city. Looking, therefore, well upon it, I found it was written in strange letters; the old man, therefore, agreed to interpret the letters to me, and expounded them to me in the Eolich tongue." The receipts of this book, then, are from this pillar; those of Kirani are supposed to have been the great gift of the Agarenes to him.

The descriptions of natural history are, in some instances, very singular.-"There is a tree in India called peridexion, whose fruit is sweet and useful, so that doves also delight to tarry in it; and the serpent fears this tree, so that he avoids the shadow of it; for, if the shadow of the tree go towards the east, the serpent flies towards the west; and if the shadow of the tree reach towards the west, the serpent flies towards the east: and the serpent cannot hurt the doves, because of the virtue of the tree; but if any of them straggle from the tree, the serpent, by its breath, attracts it and devours it. Yet, when they fly, or go together, neither the

serpent nor the spar-hawk can, or dares hurt them. Therefore the leaves or bark of the tree, suffumigated, avert all evil that is of venomous beasts."

Every person is acquainted with the popular notion that the pelican feeds her young with her blood, but it was affirmed, anciently, to have been for a much more wonderful purpose. "Paupior is a bird, by the river Nile, which is called a pelican and lives in the fens of Egypt; she loves her brood extremely well, when, therefore, the young ones are hatched, and grown a little, they continually beat the old ones in the face; but they, not being able to endure it, cuff their young ones, and kill them; then, moving the bowels of compassion over them, they lament their young ones, which they killed; the same day, therefore, the mother, to get her children, tears open her sides, and shedding her own blood over her children, she revives them, and they rise again, in a certain natural manner." "1 Heralds should be aware of this, on account of its different signification on certain coats of arms. "But a Peacock is a more sacred bird. Its eggs are good to make a golden color, and so are goose eggs; and when a peacock is dead, his flesh does not decay, nor yield any stinking smell, but continues as it were embalmed in spices."

To continue the extracts-" A swallow which, in the spring, raises all people by singing; and it has such actions as these: If any one take its young ones, and put them in a pot, and when it is luted up, bake them, then, opening the pot, if he considers, he will find two young ones kissing one another; and two turning one from the other. If therefore, you take those two that kiss one another, and dissolve them in oil of roses, or give the ashes in drink, it is a love potion; but you may dissolve this, if you give a little of the ashes of those that turn one from another in oyntment or drink.-If any one cut out the tongue of a goose alive, and lay it upon the breast of a man or woman asleep, they will confess all that ever they have done. For love between a man and his wife. If a man carry the heart of a male crow, and a woman the heart of a female, they will agree between themselves all their life-time; and this miracle is certain. -To open locks, doors, bolts, and to tame wild beasts, and to be beloved of all, and to acquire all things, that whatever you please may be done for you. If you stop the hole of a tree, in which the young

ones of a woodpecker are, he shall carry the herb which he knows, and, touching it, it opens; for, if it be made of clay or chalk, the dirt will fall; if of stone, it bursts; if a wooden board or an iron plate be so fastened with nails, all things cleave and break in pieces, upon the touch of the herb, and the woodpecker opens and takes out her young ones. If any one, therefore, have got this herb, he will do many things which are not now lawful to mention, as of the most divine nature, which man cannot perform. If, therefore, any man engrave a woodpecker on the stone dendrites, and a sea-dragon under its feet, and enclose the herb underneath it which the woodpecker found and carried, every gate will open to him, and bolts and locks; savage beasts will also obey him, and come to tameness; he shall also be beloved and observed of all, and whatever he hath a mind to he shall acquire and perform. Thus far nature: but he that carries it shall learn those things that are in the gods; shall open locks, and loose chains, shall pacify all wild beasts by the will which is in heaven shall assuage the waves of the terrible sea, shall chase away all devils, and shall appear good to all men." So, then, this secret in the tale of master Peter Block, in the German tale of "the Treasure Seeker," which was thought a novelty, has been known for centuries. There is a tale, of a tub being made a receptacle for the dresses of succeeding generations, and at the end of a century turned upside down, opened at the bottom, and lo! they are new fashions.

But, to return the description of a hyena is remarkable." The hyena is a four-footed animal, savage, and ambiguous; for this creature is born female, and, after a year, turns male, and then, for the next year, turns female again, and brings forth, and gives suck and the gall of this animal, being sweet, has efficacy for a miracle; and a great miracle is made of it: and this is the composition :-Take the eyes of the fish glaucus, and the right eye of the said hyena, and all that is liquid of the said hyena; dissolve all together, and pot it up in a glass vessel, covering it well. If, therefore, you will show a great miracle, when you have set a light, mix the fat of any creeping thing, or four-footed beast, you please, with a little of the foresaid composition; if you anoint the wick of the lamp or candle, they will think it is the beast of which it is the fat,

whether of a lion, bull, serpent, or any other creature. If, therefore, you will work a miracle, or a phantom, put a little fat of what animal or wild beast you please, with a little quantity of the confection, upon burning coals, in the middle of the house, and the beast will appear whose fat you mixed with it. And you may do the same with birds. And if you mix a little sea-water with the composition, and sprinkle among the guests, they will all fly, thinking that the sea is in the midst of them.' ,,

These extracts were designed to extend to other curious receipts, but they may be deferred without inconvenience, perhaps, to a future period.

F. W. FAIRHOLT.

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'On the 21st of April, 1142, died Peter Abelard, whose story in relation to Eloisa is rendered familiar by the versification of Pope.

Abelard had some religious opinions at variance with those of the church, and, being condemned by a council held at Sens, set out for Rome, in 1139, to appeal to the pope. Upon reaching the abbey of Cluny, Pierre le Venerable received him with distinction, and dissauded him from prosecuting his journey. He spent two years at this abbey in exemplary piety, when, being attacked by an acute disease, he removed for change of air to the priory of Saint Marcel, near Châlons-sur-Saone, where he died on the 21st of April, 1142, at the age of sixty-three years, and was interred in the chapel of the priory, in a tomb built by Pierre le Venerable.

The remains of Abelard did not repose long in this situation. Heloisa acquainted the abbot of Cluny that her husband had promised that his body should be depoposited at the abbey of the Paraclete, which he himself had founded. Pierre le Venerable caused the body to be disinterred, and conveyed to the Paraclete, where it was deposited in a chapel, called Petit Moustier.

Heloisa died on the 7th of May, 1163, and, in conformity to her will, was buried in the same tomb as her husband. In 1497 their bodies were placed in separate coffins, transferred to the grand church of the abbey, and deposited in tombs at the entrance of choir. In 1630 the abbess Marie de la Rochefoucauld caused the two tombs to be placed in the chapel de Trinité. Madame Catherine de la Rochefoucauld formed the project of erecting a new monument to the memory of the founder and first abbess of her monastery; it was executed in 1779, and consisted of figures, formed of a single block of stone, representing the three persons in the Trinity, upon an equal base. At the dissolution of the monasteries, in 1792, the principal inhabitants of Nogent-sur-Seine went in grand procession to the Paraclete, to transfer the remains of Abelard and Heloisa to a vault in their church, and the rector pronounced an address adapted to the occasion.

In 1799, M. Lenoir, keeper of the Musée des Monumens Français, obtained permission to transport the remains of Abelard and Heloisa to Paris. For this purpose he repaired to the church of Nogent, on the 23rd of April, 1800, aecompanied by the magistrates of the city, and the remains were surrendered to him. They were in a leaden coffin, divided by a partition, and bearing on the sides the names of Abelard and Heloisa. Upon opening the coffin many of the bones of both were found in good preservation. The tomb built for Abelard for Pierre le Venerable at the priory of Saint Marcel was at that time in the possession of a physician at Châlons, who sent it to M. Lenoir. In this tomb, from which the body of Abelard had been removed nearly seven centuries before, the remains were deposited, and placed in a sepulchral chapel, constructed from the ruins of the Paraclete. This chapel is now the most picturesque and interesting ornament in the cemetery of Père la Chaise.*

April 21. Day breaks

Sun rises

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Twilight ends

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Narrow waved Narcissus, Narcissus augustifolius, flowers.

The cuckoo is commonly heard. The wryneck, or cuckoo's mate heard, daily.

History of Paris, iii. 36.

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-It is really a smart shower, but April rain seldom lasts. What a quantity of water! It flows as clear as chrystal.

Look at those children shrinking below their heavy umbrella-the youngest cuddles under the elder one's cloak; putting it aside to let in the fresh warm air, and look out upon all around. I warrant they are merry ones in a fine day, or before a winter's fire.

It a shower, indeed! The thirsty earth eagerly drinks the streams; and in a few days will pay abundantly for its needful refreshment. For these rains we shall have loads of grass and flowers; we may expect a fine summer and good crops of grain and fruit. The huddling young ones think nothing of these matters. Poor things! they are ignorant that momentary deluges in the spring will yield them ample stores of delight by and by; but then, in the sunny days they will overheat themselves in the meadows, and eat fruit to intemperance, and get fevers and in

digestions. Poor things! "The young ones think the old ones fools--but the old ones know the young ones to be so."

But do we know ourselves? In the tempests of life we cling and cower, and see nothing beyond the turmoil; and we drive on to the end of our journey, not ignorant, but regardless that a storm of adversity is often succeeded by a harvest of prosperity. And we call the adversity a trial; but how do we bear the greater trial of prosperity? We then abuse the good within our power, and pamper ourselves; become proud spendthrifts or mean misers; not recollecting what we were, and not knowing what we are. And as we crawl, or bluster towards our graves, we complain of the evils of life--most of them having been of our own making, and the rest not received as lessons for self examination, but as interruptions to a happiness we were continually seeking, and which, when found, was joyless. Are we wiser than children in a shower?

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April 22.

There is a folio sized etching of a whole length portrait of John Bigg, the Dinton Hermit, in a clouted dress, with the following inscription:-" John Bigg, the Dinton Hermit, baptized 22d April, 1629, buried 4th April, 1696.

Browne Willis

gives the following particulars of this man out of a letter written to him by Thomas Herne, dated Oxon, Feb. 12, 1712. He was formerly clerk to Simon Mayne, of Dinton, one of the judges who passed sentence on king Charles the First. He lived' at Dinton (Co. Bucks), in a cave, had been a man of tolerable wealth, was looked upon as a pretty good scholar, and of no contemptible parts. Upon the Restoration he grew melancholy, betook himself to a recluse life, and lived by charity, but never asked for any thing but leather, which he would immediately nail to his shoes. He kept three bottles, that hung to his girdle; viz., for strong and small beer, and milk: his shoes are still preserved: they are very large, and made up of about a thousand patches of leather. One of them is in the Bodleian Repository, the other in the collection of Sir John Vanhatten, of Dinton, who had his cave dug up some years since, in hopes of discovering something relative to him, but without suc

cess.

This print is etched from a picture in the possession of Scroop Bernard, Esq., of Nether Winchendon, Bucks."

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WILKES AND 45.

[For the Year Book.]

On the 23rd of April, 1763, John Wilkes published the "North Britain, No. 45," which was ordered by the House of Commons to be burnt by the hands of the common hangman.

It is a curious coincidence that Wilkes's name, and the offices he was successively elected to fill were composed of 45 letters, as will be found in the following lines:The Right Honourable John Wilkes, Lord Mayor of London.

John Wilkes, Esquire, Sheriff for London and Middlesex.

John Wilkes, Esquire, Knight of the Shire for Middlesex.

John Wilkes, Esquire, Alderman for Farringdon Without.

John Wilkes, Esquire, Chamberlain of the City of London.

HENRY BRANDON.

MARY-LE-BONE GARDENS.

Morley, near Leeds, Yorkshire. MR. HONE,-If your ideas shall correspond with those of a writer in page 318 of your Year Book, a few lines upon the subject of Mary-le-bone may not be unacceptable. My grandfather, a rector of North Tidmouth, in Wiltshire, was, I

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