of information was unusually extensive for his years, and his judgment was extensive. He had already written several treatises which were much esteemed; and, with his research and sagacity, and uncompromising love of truth, had his life been spared, he could not have failed to become one of the chief ornaments of his age."

30. SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.

Easter-day is not only the centre, but also the rule of all the other Feasts of the year, except that of Advent. Septuagesima is literally designed to signify the seventieth day before Easter, about which period it always falls. The earliest time at which it can arrive is the 18th of January, and the latest, the 22nd of February.

30. 1649. KING CHARLES I., MARTYR.

On this day the unfortunate Charles was beheaded before Whiteball. The sheet which received his head after decapitation is still very carefully preserved with the communion plate in the church of Ashburnham in Sussex; the blood with which it has been almost covered, now appears nearly black. The King's watch is also deposited with the linen, the movements of which are still perfect. These relics came into the possession of Lord Ashburnham immediately after the King's death.

His remains were taken to Windsor for interment. This fact was doubted until the year 1814, when his body was discovered by Sir Henry Halford, during some alterations and repairs at Windsor; the coffin bore an inscription" King Charles, 1648.”

THE FUNERAL OF CHARLES I. AT NIGHT IN ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR.*

BY THE REV. W. LISLE BOWLES.

The Castle-clock had tolled midnight,

With mattock and with spade,
And silent, by the torches light,
His corse in earth we laid.

The coffin bore his name, that those
Of other years might know,

When Earth its secret should disclose,
Whose bones were laid below.

"PEACE TO THE DEAD" no children sung,
Slow pacing up the nave;

No prayers were read, no knell was rung,
As deep we dug his grave.

We only heard the winters' wind,
In many a sullen gust,

As o'er the open grave inclin'd,
We murmur'd, "Dust to Dust!"

A moon beam from the arches' height
Stream'd, as we paced the stone;
The long aisles started into light,
And all the windows shone.

We thought we saw the banners then,
That shook along the walls,

While the sad shades of mailed men

Were gazing from the stalls.

* As this composition might appear, in some terms of expres sion, to resemble a celebrated military funeral dirge (the death of Sir John Moore), I can only say, it was written soon after the account of the late disinterment of Charles. The metre and phrase is the same as some lines published twenty years ago:

O'er my poor Anna's lonely grave

No dirge shall sound, no bell shall ring.
Spirit of Discovery.

And buried Kings, a spectre train,

Seem'd in the dusk to glide,
As fitful, through the pillar'd fane,
Faint MISERERES died.

'Tis gone! again, on tombs defac'd,*
Sits darkness more profound,
And only, by the torch, we trac'd
Our shadows on the ground.

And now the chilly, freezing air,
Without, blew long and loud;
Upon our knees we breath'd one pray'r t
Where HE-slept in his shroud.

We laid the broken marble floor-
No name, no trace appears-
And when we closed the sounding door
We thought of him with tears.

1830. CAPTAIN BOTELAR DIED.

The death of this enterprising officer in January, who was employed by the government to survey the coast of Africa near Sierra Leone, in His M. S. Hecla, was preceded by the deaths of all his officers. Lieutenants Tambs and Wilson, with the master, surgeon, purser, and all the midshipmen, fell victims to the effects of the climate. Captain Botelar was one of the few surviving officers who accompanied Captain Owen on his survey of the eastern coasts of Africa and Madagascar, and for his services in which he was promoted to the rank of commander, and appointed to the service on which he unfortunately died.

BLESSING THE NEVA.

Mr. W. Rae Wilson, in his Travels in Russia, gives the following particulars of a curious ceremony, practised annually every January in that country:

During winter an odd ceremony takes place, namely

Every thing in the chapel was defaced.

The service of the prayer-book was forbidden.

that of pronouncing a benediction on the Neva. This religious rite, at which the imperial family are always present, is marked with extraordinary pomp. A temple of wood is erected on the ice, near the admiralty, with an effigy of John the Baptist, and ornamented with paintings representing various acts connected with the life of our Saviour. In the centre is suspended a figure of the Holy Spirit over a hole perforated in the ice, around which carpets are spread. The military are formed into line along the river; the bells of the churches are rung; cannon are fired; while the metropolitan, accompanied by a number of dignified ecclesiastics, enter this sanctum sanctorum. The metropolitan dips a crucifix into the aperture in the ice three times, uttering at the same time a prayer or ejaculation; and on this occasion St. Nicholas comes in for his share of adoration, as an indispensable part of the ceremony, a prayer being especially addressed to him. The pontiff then sprinkles the water on the people around, and also upon the colors of the regiments. On departure of the procession, a scramble takes place among the crowd, every one striving to kiss the sacred aperture. Nor do they omit, likewise, to carry away with them to their homes some of the water itself, to which they ascribe great virtue, particularly for purifying those infected with certain diseases. This ludicrous exhibition takes place in the month of January. It may be further mentioned, that it is a practice in the Greek church to extend its blessings even to inanimate objects, and it is supposed that the safety or destruction of those depend on the degree of fervour with which the benediction is bestowed."

FEBRUARY.

You have such a February face,

So full of frost, of storms, and cloudiness.

Shakspeare.

When Numa Pompilius was chosen by the people of Rome to succeed Romulus, he placed this month second in the year, and named it after the god Februs, who presided over the purifications, or from Juno, otherwise called Februa, Februaca, or Februalis, to whom the Lupercalia was celebrated in honor, when the women were purified by the priests of Pan Lycoeus, who were called Lupercals. During this month also the Romans held their feast called Terminalia in honor of Terminus, the god of Bounds. They also held their feast Equiria in the Campus Martius, which was solemnized with a horse racing. The month was dedicated by Numa to Neptune, the god of waters.

Verstegan says, "the Saxons called February sproutkele, by kele meaning the kele-wurt, which we now call the colewurt, the greatest pot-wurt in time long past that our ancestors used, and the broth made therewith was thereof also called kele; for before we borrowed from the French the name of potage, and the name of hearbe, the one in our own language was called kele, and the other wurt; and as this kele-wurt, or potage