Rabbi Hananiah, burnt alive by the Romans and the Law with him.

4. KING GEORGE III BORN.

His most gracious Majesty was born on the 4th of June 1738. The following are the living branches of his family :-HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT born August 12, 1762;-Duke of York, Bishop of Osnaburgh, born August 16, 1763 ;Duke of Clarence born August 21, 1765;-Queen of Wirtemberg born September 29, 1766 ;—Duke of Kent born November 2, 1767;-Princess Augusta Sophia born November 8, 1768;-Princess Elizabeth born May 22, 1770;-Duke of Cumberland born June 5, 1771;-Duke of Sussex born January 27, 1773;- Duke of Cambridge born February 24, 1774; Princess Mary born April 25, 1776;Princess Sophia born November 3, 1777.

5.-SAINT BONIFACE.

Boniface was a Saxon presbyter, born in England, and at first called Winfrid. He was sent as a missionary by Pope Gregory II into Germany, where he made so many converts, that he was distinguished by the title of the German Apostle. He was created Bishop of Mentz in the year 145. Boniface was one of the first priests of his day, and was also a great friend and admirer of the Venerable Bede. He was murdered in a barbarous manner by the populace near Utrecht, while preaching the Christian religion. 9.-TRINITY SUNDAY.

Stephen, Bishop of Liege, first drew up an office in commemoration of the Holy Trinity, about the year 920; but the festival was not formally admitted into the Romish church till the fourteenth century, under the pontificate of John XXII.

13. CORPUS CHRISTI.

This festival, the body of Christ,' was appointed in honour of the Eucharist, and always falls on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. This day, termed the Fête Dieu, is one of the greatest festivals of the

Romish church, beginning on Trinity Sunday, and ending on the Sunday following.-See T. T. for 1815, pp. 172, 173, for an account of some most strange and ridiculous ceremonies, formerly observed, on this and St. John's-day.

11.-SAINT BARNABAS.

Our saint's proper name was Joses; he was descended of the tribe of Levi, and born at Cyprus. His parents being rich, had him educated at Jerusalem, under the care of Gamaliel, a learned Jew; and, after his conversion, he preached the Gospel with Paul, in various countries, for fourteen years. Barnabas suffered martyrdom at Salamis, in his native island being shut up all night in the synagogue by some Jews, he was, the next morning, cruelly tortured, and afterwards stoned to death. The Epistle which he wrote is considered genuine, though not admitted into the canon of the church.

On the 14th and 15th of June, answering to the sixth and seventh of the month Sivan, the Jews celebrate Shevooth, or the Feast of Weeks, so called from its being reckoned by the weeks; that is, seven full and complete weeks from the second day of Passover, according to Leviticus xxiii, verse 9 to 22, and Deuteronomy xvi, 9.-The Jews on the 50th day were to bring a sheaf offering of the first of the harvest, and also two leaves of fine new flour for an offering; but, as they are forbidden to offer any sacrifice out of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, they now omit the 50th day, and only count 49, which they call Sephiroth Omer. The first day of Shevooth is celebrated as that on which God gave his law from Mount Sinai : Exodus, chapter xix.

17. SAINT ALBAN.

St. Alban, the first Christian martyr in this island, suffered in 303. He was converted to Christianity by Amphialus, a priest of Caerleon in Monmouthshire, who, flying from persecution, was hospitably entertained by St. Alban, at Verulam, in Hertford

shire, now called, from him, St. Albans. Amphialus being closely pursued, made his escape, dressed in St. Alban's clothes. This, however, being soon discovered, exposed St. Alban to the fury of the Pagans; and our saint, refusing to perform the sacrifice to their gods, was first miserably tortured, and then put to death.

20.-TRANSLATION OF EDWARD, King of the West

Saxons.

Edward, being barbarously murdered by his mother-in-law, was first buried at Warhain, without any solemnity; but, after three years, was carried by Duke Alferus to the minster of Shrewsbury, and there interred with great pomp.

21.-LONGEST DAY.

This day is, in London, 16 h. 34 m. 5 s., allowing 9 m. 16 s. for refraction.

24.-SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST, and MID

SUMMER DAY.

The nativity of Saint John the Baptist is celebrated by the Christian church on this day, because he was the Forerunner of our blessed Lord, and, by preaching the doctrine of repentance, prepared the way for the Gospel. His birth was foretold by an angel; and his peculiar office of Harbinger of Christ was predicted by the prophets. He passed an ascetic life, and, until the time of his preaching, retired into a wilderness, subsisting upon locusts and wild honey: his apparel was suitable to his hermitical life, being only a rough garment of camel's hair, tied with a leathern girdle. He was imprisoned by Herod for preaching against his marriage with his brother's wife, and was afterwards beheaded by the arts of that enraged woman. This festival is first noticed by Maximus Tauricensis, who lived about the year 400.

Several superstitious observances, formerly practised on Midsummer-eve, are noticed in T. T. for 1814,

pp. '142-146.

In the Cottage Girl' are the following lines on gathering the Rose on Midsummer

eve.

The Moss-rose that, at fall of dew,
(Ere Eve its duskier curtain drew)
Was freshly gathered from its stem,
She values as the ruby gem;
And, guarded from the piercing air,
With all an anxious lover's care,
She bids it, for her shepherd's sake,
Await the new year's frolic wake:
When, faded, in its altered hue
She reads the rustic is untrue!
But, if it leaves the crimson paint,
Her sick'ning hopes no longer faint;
The Rose upon her bosom worn,

She meets him at the peep of morn.

Saint John's-eve was celebrated among the antient Goths and Swedes with great festivity, and with a degree of freedom peculiar to the northern nations: this custom also partook so much of a duty, that it was enjoined upon posterity to continue it. The people at large being called upon to meet in the public parts of the cities or in the fields, large fires were lighted, round which it was the custom to exhibit the noble actions of famous men and women by singing their praise, particularly those females who had been eminent for their chastity. This period was also a kind of Saturnalia, as it was then allowable for the people and the peasantry to adjust to their rustic rhymes, pipes, &c. the actions of the degenerate nobility, cruel oppressors, or infamous women. Females, married and single, were also permitted to disclose in singing the unfaithfulness of their lovers or the faults of their husbands, whether in playing at dice, or frequenting taverns, keeping bad company, or extravagance in clothes. The men on their part, of all ages, were also permitted to expose by singing the infidelity of their wives or lovers. It was equally lawful for them, at the same time, to expose the

P

frauds of mechanics, artificers, merchants, seamen, and even the malpractices of persons of the highest rank. These songs, being accompanied with musical instruments of various kinds, were highly attractive; though the object of the festival was professedly to encourage youth in the cultivation and practice of virtue, by exposing the baseness and deformity of vice.

29.-SAINT PETER.

Peter's original name, Simon, was not abolished by Christ, but that of Cephas was added to it, which, in Syriac, the vulgar language of the Jews, signifies a stone, or rock; hence the Greek Пérgos, and our Peter. The apostle's father was Jonah, probably a fisherman of Bethsaida. His brother Andrew, being first converted, was said to be an instrument of Peter's conversion, John i, 40, 41.

Some writers assert that Nero, being attached to the practices of the magicians, and resenting Peter's opposition to them, was not only the cause of his imprisonment, but also of his martyrdom, which was put into execution in the following manner: Peter was first scourged, and then led out to be crucified upon the hill called Janiculus, desiring to be fastened to the cross with his head downwards, alleging that he thought himself unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord and Master.

History of Astronomy.

[Continued from p. 142.]

Astronomy of Modern Europe.

Of all the learned societies, the two most celebrated for the number and importance of their discoveries in the sciences, and particularly in astronomy, are the Academy of Sciences in Paris, and the Royal Society in London. They were both established at nearly the same time, the former by Louis XIV, in the year