loue rather than a rodde doth more good and we shall do indiscreetly, to deale roughly with such. For as the water of a spacious and deepe lake, being still and quiet by nature, by ruffling windes is moued and disquieted; so a people tractable by nature, by the rough behauiour of the Minister may be as much turmoyled and altered from his nature." p. 95, &c. "The fisherman baiteth not his nooke that the fish might only take it, but be taken of it. The red-worme, the caseworme, maggot-flies, small flie, small roche, or such like, are glorious in outward appearance to the fish. So the riches, prioritie, authoritie, of the world, are but pleasant bayts laid out for our destruction. The fisherman's bayte is a deadly deceite: so are all the pleasures of the world. As all the waters of the riuers runne into the salt sea, so ali worldly delights, in the saltish sea of sorrowes finish their course. Wherefore mistrust worldly benefits as baites, and feed not upon them in hungry wise. Their pleasings are leasings, and their friendships fallacies. Have we lesse or more, it is all one, we are never contented. The smaller are a prey to the greater fish: so is the poore to the Potentate; the meaner to the mightier. If there were not lawes to curbe our crooked and cruell natures, each man's sword would be in his fellow's bosome, and right should yeeld to might; and titles would bee tryed at the pike's point: a malignant masterie should manage matters among men, as it doth among fishes in the element. It is every way commodious to the life of the fish to bee wholly in the water; but it is euery way hurtfull to the soule of man to be given vp wholly to the world. The water sufficeth the fishes in their appetites: but when we haue whatsoeuer the world can afford vs, wee are not contented. The world rather feedeth than slacketh our The appetites, as oyle doth the fire. worldling riseth early, and goeth to bed late, and eateth the bread of sorrowe, labouring to labour, and caring to take care: plowing vpon the rockes, and rowling the stone of Sysiphus, and is never at rest. Solomon gave a blowe to the worlde on both cheeks, when he doubled the word Vanitie upon it: and when hee it, hee shewed that hee knew what hee spake : and that hee would not repeale it. And Ionas doth not nickname them at all when hee termeth all the delights of it Tysing vunities. It is Iehovah, onely which is his name for euer, that sufficeth vs for euer. The Rabbins doe obserue that all the letters in that his Name, are Litera quiescentes: from whence, they expressed this mysticall meaning, that all creatures haue from God their rest. Hee is God of all: not that those things are of that nature as hee; but because of him, by him, and in him, are all things. A stone that is cast out of a sling, or bowe, neuer resteth vntill it commeth to his center; so God, whose center is euery where, and circumference no where, is our onely rest, and without him onely infinite, our desires are neuer satisfied that are infinite. Fur ther, if wee consider of men and fishes in their naturall stoliditie, wee shall finde agreeable correspondencie betweene them. Whereas other creatures, as well birds in the ayre, as such as walke vpon the ground, giue many outwarde shewes and tokens of witte: onely the fish is a foolish creature altogether indocible. So as by the name of a fish, they vnderstood a man of absolute follie among the Egyp tians."-p. 128, &c. This exceedingly curious volume is in the possession of the Rev. Henry S. Cotton, the local duties of whose awful office, as ordinary of Newgate, restrain him from a pastime in which he once delighted. That gentleman's collection of "Angling Books" affords me the opportunity of extracting a stanza, suitable to the season, from "The Tyne Fisher's Farewell to his favourite stream on the approach of Winter. Newcastle: Printed for Emerson Charnley, 1824:"— Mine own sweet stream! thy rugged shorcs Where grace and loveliness have been ! Thy shores so bleak, so barren now; They seem as though thy joys were dead, And cloud with care my anxious brow! In the same collection is a series of eleven Newcastle tracts, called "The Fisher's Garland," consisting of successive poems, printed annually from 1821 to 1831, by Mr. Charnley: also, from the same press, there is "The Angler's Progress, 1820," in six stanzas, the first of which is the following:— When I was a mere school-boy I felt an itch for angling In every little brook; An osier rod, some thread for tine, There I'd watch the speckled trout," In the water play about, At a fly. Let a steeple stand in view, That should be: And the poor man's cottage too, 'Twill remind me what to do In charity. As my poultry, let the poor, Without dread, Thus my time I'd pass away With delight: Blithe as lambkins at their play, Morn and night. Think not this a fancied view You'll be wrong: From a well-known spot I drew, And of me you've nothing new, But a song. THE WREN! THE WREN! [To Mr. Hone.] December 17, 1827. Sir,-An aged, respectable, and duteously respected native of Middleton, in Cork, has often amused and delighted me with the "legendary lore" of that part of Ireland. I have often heard her relate, that within her remembrance it was a custom, upon St. Stephen's day, for the young men of the vicinity, in their holiday attire, decorated with gay and various colored ribbons in their slieves and hats, and one of them carrying a furze bush in which a wren was secured, to parade the town and contiguous places. Stopping opposite the mansions of the gentry, one of the party repeated these lines :The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, Was caught St. Stephen's day in the furze; Although he's little, his family's great, Then pray, kind gentlefolks, give him a treat. Instantly, in the true spirit of Irish hospitality, open flew the gates; and the little "king of all birds," entering with his attendants, found the trate (as the rhyme and the national accent would have it,) prepared for him. Whether his aerial majesty condescended to partake of the good cheer spread for his welcome, I have not learned; but this is certain, his gay retinue were never suffered to depart till their entertainers had generously proved in how high esteem the honour of his gracious visit was held. 66 am ignorant of the origin of Saint Stephen's Boxing Day" in Ireland, as it is in England; but the reason for the Irish boys having assumed the dress of the joyful "mummers" of May, and carrying with them a wren, and in his name making their claim upon the liberal, was grounded on the following tradition: During one of those dreadful periods when Ireland writhed in the agonies of rebellion, a party of royalists, having been harassed by their enemy and exposed to imminent danger, insomuch that they could obtain no rest for several days and nights, worn out with hardships, and incessant watchfulness, they bivouacked in a secluded valley which they considered a place of safety. They lay stretched upon the turf in deep sleep, and even the sentinel yielded to its influence. In vain he strove to listen and watch for the foe; he heard the strong breathing of his comrades, and sank down among them. While they lay thus, as dead men, the enemy, aware of their exhausted state and suspecting the place of their retreat, were silently bearing down upon them with bloody purposes and ready weapons. They were within musket-shot of their intended victims, when a wren tapped with its bill three times upon the drum. The sound startled the sentinel; he sprang up, saw the retiring bird, and the advancing multitude; and alarmed his sleeping comrades to arms. Rendered desperate by the danger of their situ. ation and the suddenness of the surprise, they met the confused and disappointed foes and conquered. The custom described above, has, I am informed, been for a long time dis:ontinued; but surely, sir, you will afford to record this exploit of St. Stephen's day. The story is worthy remembrance among that class of the warm-hearted children of Erin, on whose strong and ardent imaginations every thing of the wild and wonderful makes an indelible impression, and among whom the legends of their fathers are retained with religious reverence. "The wren! the wren! the king of all birds !" cried the youths at Middleton. Perhaps, sir, if you are as little versed as the generality of our countrymen in the heraldry of the feathered tribes, you will smile-a kind smile though it beto think how favors exalt the doer in the estimation of the favored; but, I do assure you, the wren has other titles than those which gratitude has bestowed upon him to the sovereignty of the air. He is, indeed, "king of all birds" by right of election. It is true, that another exercises the regal power; but he is an usurp er, tyrannising in his strength and bigness. The following legend will substantiate my statement:--though my grandmother is not acquainted with it, I have heard 1 both from an Irishman and a German. It is, I believe, popular among the peasantry of both countries; and to what better authority can I refer you? At the time when the birds had determined on having a king, it was decided that he who flew highest in the air should be invested with the powers and attributes of majesty. The competition was witnessed by a general assembly of the tenants of air. Several candidates "started for the prize," among them the eagle, the length and strength of whose pinions, together with the majesty of his bearing, bespoke him the future monarch. The wren, however, determined to make up by a stratagem for what he was deficient in size and power, managed, though there were many hawks' eyes in the assembly, just as their wings were spread to beginthe last heat I should suppose to hop unperceived upon the eagle's back. The great and ambitious bird felt not the weight; but soared up, up, up, till all his antagonists were out-wearied, and he was "out of sight" to most of the assembly. At last he began to descend: when the wren sprang from his back, and stretching the utmost reaching of his soul, attained to an extra elevation of some consequence. He was seen by some of the sharp-sighted gentlemen below, at a greater height in the air than either of the other candidates had reached; how he got there puzzled all;-but, that he was there, none could deny; and he was, accordingly, declared and proclaimed, with all due solemnity and ceremonies, "king of all birds." I remain, most respectfully, &c. W. D. K. THE PRIMROSE. From "Goldingham's Garden Plot" dedicated to Queen Elizabeth-Harl. MS. 6902. Well may I prayse, and yette not parcyall seeme. Where truthe (quothe he) doth boldly beare me owte, Yf so I may, then must I beste esteme Thys galant flower for vertue, out of doubte; My Prymrose sweet ys, lol a true-love rare, As showes her leaves, so even thyrd whytt they are. My Prymrose is the lady of the Sprynge, The lovely flower that fyrst doth show her face; Whose presence sweet the wynter's colde doth chase: LANTERN AND CANDLE-LIGHT. [To Mr. Hone.] As a farther illustration of the custom mentioned at p. 23, I transcribe an anecdote from "The Pleasant Conceits of Old Hobson, 1607." an In the beginning of queene Ellzabeth's raigne, when the hanging out lanthorne and candell-light was first of all brought up, the bedell of the warde where Maister Hobson dwelt, in a dark evening cane crieing up and downe, hang out your lanthornes! hang out your lanthornes !' using no other wordes; whereupon Maister Hobson tooke emptie lanthorne, and, according to the bedell's call, hung it out.-This flout, by the Lord Mayor was taken in ill part, and Hobson for the same offence was sent to the Counter, but, being released, the next night following the bedell, think ing to amend his call, cried out with a loud voice, hang out your lanthornes and candells !' Maister Hobson hereupon hung out a lanthorne and candel unlighted, as the bedell commanded; whereupon he was sent again to the Counter; but, the next night, the bedell being better advised, cryed, hang out your lanthornes and candell-light! hang out your lanthornes and candell-light!' which Maister Hobson at last did, to his great commendacions: which cry of lanthorne and candell-light is in like manner used to this day." Here it may appropriately be mentioned that, till the middle of last century, the lamps in London streets were "few and far between;" and that, when the moon shone, they were not lighted at all. J. B Staffordshire Moorlands. -n. reached to £20; yet out of this, by the help of his good wife, he brought up their four children well, and died at the age of eighty-three, grandfather to eighteen children, and worth £1000 sterling. ADVICES, AND REMARKS 1. Never put off till to morrow what you can do to-day. 2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. 3. Never spend your money before you have it. 4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will be dear to you. 5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold. 6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened. OLD STOWE, the elder. The following is a copy of the will of Thomas Stowe, father of the celebrated historian John Stowe. "In the name of God amen, in the year of our Lord God 1526, the last day of December, I Thomas Stowe, citizen and tallow chandler of London, in good and hole mynde, thankes be to our Lord Ihu make this my present testament, Fryrst I bequayth my soul to Jhu Christ, and to our blessed lady seynt Mary the virgin, &c., my body to be buryed in the little grene church yard of the parysse of seynt Myghel in Cornehyll, betweene the crosse and the church wall, nigh the wall as may be, by my father, and mother, systers, and brothers, and also my own childrene "Alsoe I bequayth to the hye aulter of the foresaid church for my tythes forgeten 12d. Item to Ihus brotherhedde 12d. I give to our lady and seynts brotherhedde 12d. I give to seynt Cristopher, and seynt George, 12d. Alsoe I give to the seven aulters, in the church aforeseyd, in the worship of the seven sacraments, every year, during iii years, 20d. Item v. sh: to have on every aulter a wacching candell, burning from vi. of the clocke till it be past vii., in worship of vii sacraments; and this candell shall begyne to burne, and to be set upon the aulter, upon allhaloam daye tyle it be candlemas day following; and it shall bee wacching candle of viii in the pound. Alsoe, 1 give to the brotherhedde of Clarks, to drynke 20d. Alsoe I give to them that shall barye me to church, every man 4d. Alsoe, I give to a pore man and woman, every Sunday in one yeare, 1d. to say v. prayers, nosters, and aves, and a crede, for my soule. Alsoe, I give to the reparations of polls (St. Paul's cathedral) 8d. Alsoe, I will have vi. nue torches, and ii. of seynt Myghel, and ii. of seynt Anne, and ii. of seynt Christopher, and ii. of Ihus, of the best torches." “Alsoe, I bequayth Thomas Stowe my sonne xx. lb. in stuff of houshold, as here followith, that is to say, my grete melting panne withal the instruments that belongeth thereto. “Alsoe, I bequayth my sonne Thomas vi.l. xiii.s. iiii.d. in plate as hereafter followith, that is to say, a nut of sylver and gylt lii sh: iiiid. Item a pounced piece weiing vi. ounces and more x/ Item a mass of pynt xxvi sh: viiid. Item a little maser xiii. sh. iiiid. Item of this my present testament I make Elizabeth my wife mine executrix, and Thomas Stowe my sonne my overseer, and Mr. Trendal as a solicitor with my sonne Thomas, and he to have for his pains xsh." This will is extracted from the office of the registrar to the bishop of London. THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR. [To Mr. Hone.] SIR,-Although your Every-Day Book and Year Book contain a great variety of very interesting matter, yet I do not recollect reading in either of them, an account of a local custom with which I became acquainted last New Year's Day. On the last day of the old year, I went to pay a visit to some friends at Cam bridge, and in the evening accompanied them to a dance, where we tripped it until long after the ringing of the various church bells had announced the coming in of the new year; on our return home late we retired to rest, not a little fatigued, but I was disturbed about seven o'clock by the well known Good Friday cry of “ One a penny, buns! two a 'penny, buns! all hot!" I could scarcely believe my senses, and, in fact, I rather suspected I had been dreaming, and so I dropped off to sleep again. At last I made my appearance at the breakfast table, and there, among other things provided by my kind friends, were some "buns," which brought to my recollection what I had heard in the early part of the morning. Upon enquiry, I was told that they were New Years' cakes -that it was the custom at Cambridge to have them every New Year's day, and that they were always cried and sold in the streets in the manner of buns ou Good Friday; the only difference being that the buns were not crossed. I understand that, on Plough Monday, the country folks round Cambridge were in the habit of carrying ploughs through the streets and raising contributions to enable them to keep the afternoon as a holiday. I am, Sir, &c., ROBERT MEGGY. 19, Blackman-street, Southwark, 18th March, 1831. PARISH LAW. In nine cases out of ten, people consult attornies upon affairs which are not properly matters of law, and, consequently, derive no other advice than would be given by any persons of ordinary common-sense upon such affairs of business. Even upon legal matters the time of the profession would be much spared if a little more knowledge were gained by their clients. ves There are a few law books which every housekeeper should possess; and, chiefly, an excellent work on "Parish Law" by John Steer, Esq., of Chancery Lane, barrister at law. Mr. Steer's "Parish Law," is a clear and satisfactory compendium of the laws relating to churches, ministers, churchwardens, overseers, parish-clerks, constables, tries, relief, &c. of the poor, parish and county-rates, watching and lighting, and all the various affairs belonging to parishes. To parish officers in particular, to all who are qualified to serve, and in general to every parishioner, this is a most valuable book of reference; because the law, upon every point connected with parochial duties and business, is so plainly stated, that the reader is enabled to come to a safe decision without the trouble and expence of obtaining professional advice. It has a very copious index, and, the statutes and cases being carefully cited, the required information is easily obtained, and the authorities may be relied upon. PARISHES. A parish is that circuit of ground committed to one parson, vicar, or other minister, having cure of souls therein. The boundaries mostly depend upon immemorial custom; and hence, in most places, perambulations were, and are, made. In ancient times, these processions were made with banners flying, handbells, lights, and other pageantry; and |