lerie; the Marquess in the Rue Neuve; the Abbé at St. Silair, comprehending part of Taillefer and the Aiguillerie. To each of which officers, the said Abbé excepted, they give seven sous six deniers (34d. and a fraction), as a pledge and pension once paid; and to the said Abbé every butcher is to give two pounds of beef. As soon as they are appointed, every one must take off his hat or cap when he sees them, from the eve aforesaid to the Sunday after St. John's Day, even if they happen to be seated; in default whereof, the offenders shall be soundly beaten by all and every one of the said officers. There is also due to them, from the married women of the town and neighbourhood, in manner and form following; that is to say, by her who was married in the year preceding the same eve, a square pincushion, lozenged with cloth or leather of different colours, and ornamented with flowers'; and a lunch to be given by her on whom this duty devolves, whether to the King or to the others: but this may be compounded for in money. The woman who has been twice married is bound to furnish an earthen pot, with thirteen sticks taken from different fruit trees, which pot the said officers, each in bis jurisdiction, are to fix to the end of a pole, the Sunday after the said feast; and certain persons, who offer themselves, are to be presented with the said sticks, their eyes being closed, and are to try to strike the said pot; and he who breaks it, is to have two sous six deniers (1d. and a fraction), the said sum of money to be paid by the others who have not broken the said pot: further, there is due from the woman who has been married three times, a basket of cinders sifted thirteen times, and thirteen spoons, to be made of the wood of thirteen different fruit trees; and the woman who has been married FOUR times, shall provide a house on the river Isle, with thirteen rafters to it, in which thirteen men clad in white shall lodge, at the expense of the said woman; she who has had FIVE husbands must pay a tub full of the dung of the white hen. The men are exempt from these duties.

The order to be observed in initiating the said officers (besides the devotional service attached to the ceremony), is, that the mayor and consuls take the proper oath to each; and, on the eve of the said feast, the mayor and the consuls, in their hoods, meet in the house of the consulate, with the principal inhabitants and others, who, having branches and the herbs of Saint John in their hands, go to fetch, one after the other, the said officers,-conduct them with hautboys and tambourins to the Place de la Clautre, and cause them to sit down in a row, one after the other, round a May-tree; and there is due, on this account, a rent from the inhabitants of Puy the said officers having their faces turned towards the company. And then the said mayor

.

The women still use these pincushions to ornament their toilets.

and consuls walk in procession, singing the song made on the birth of St. John the Baptist, in the Perigourdin dialect, and the religious people, praying to God, make a procession all round the place, and bring little children and girls with them. This being done, the said officers and the inhabitants go to the house of the consulate, where a collation is prepared at the expense of the town. There is also due from the tenants of the house of Ribeyrols des Plantiers, a rent to the said officers; that is to say, a barrel of wine and two large white loaves, which are presented to them in the street, on a table covered with a cloth. Then the said officers of St. John, emperor, king, &c. singing the undermentioned song in the evening, round a fire made in front of the said consulate house, at the expense of the said tenants, &c."

The titles of Emperor, King, Duke, Marquess, and Abbé, borne by the officers of St. John, are supposed to designate the illustrious persons who formerly met at Perigueux; and it is probable that they were intended to represent Charlemagne, his son, the Duke of Aquitaine, and some celebrated persons who accompanied this great man in his expedition to Spain; the Abbé was, no doubt, intended for Brantome. And there appears considerable foundation for this conjecture, when we reflect that Charlemagne, and even Pepin his father, were benefactors of the ancient and celebrated abbey of Perigueux. This curious custom was probably instituted about the year 778, the period at which Charlemagne made the conquest of a part of Spain.

29.-SAINT PETER.

The festival in honour of this apostle was instituted in the year 813. Hegesippus, Eusebius, and other early historians, say that he was crucified with his head downwards.-For an account of the Cock Mass, as celebrated in Columbia on this day, see our volume for 1826, p. 158. A description of the illumination of St. Peter's, at Rome, as lately witnessed by an English traveller, is given in T. T. for 1827, p. 201.

Characters of King Philip and Queen Mary. KING PHILIP.-He is of short stature, but his person appears to advantage, both when armed and in common attire. Though of great affability and politeness, his character is marked with gra vity. His understanding is good, and his judgment correct. Besides Spanish, he knows Latin, Italian, and French. He is also liberal and religious, but without possessing either the dignity, or the ambition of his father. He abhors war to such a degree that he never takes the field in person, imitating therein his greatgrandfather Ferdinand, who obtained greater advantages and more glory through the exploits of Sr. Prospero, the Marchese di Pescaro, Antonio di Leyva, and other generals, than he could have done by his own exertions. He is hated by all nations, the Spanish not excepted; and much envied by the house of Austria. Neither is he the richer for not being fond of war. Being however, as it were, forced to war by the French, he affects valour and impetuosity, lest the enemy should slight him, and prove still more unceremonious in breaking truces and agreements. As to his authority in England, your Serene Highness may be assured, that in all affairs of importance, whether public or private, he is made to act precisely the same part as if he were the natural king of England; and this on account of the great respect and love with which he is treated by the Queen and Cardinal Pole. Sensible, however, that he is new in this kingdom, he modestly, and wisely too, leaves every thing to the management of the Queen and the Cardinal. He receives petitions, but more in the character of mediator than as a patron, letting justice take its course in criminal cases, but frequently stepping forward to procure pardon or mitigation of punishment after conviction. He, moreover, has always maintained himself, and his whole court, entirely at his own expense; and even allows pensions, amounting to upwards of fifty-four thousand scudi in gold, to some Englishmen who remained faithful to the Queen in the conspiracy of Wiat, without receiving any farther services from them. His coming to England has proved more useful to the country than any thing that has lately happened; for it has been calculated, that the money which he, together with other foreigners who came hither for his sake, have spent here, in little more than one year, amounts to a million of gold, the whole of which remains in the island. With all this he cannot live with dignity in this country, on account of the insolence with which foreigners are treated by the English, and which it is not in his power to obviate.

QUEEN MARY.-She is the daughter of Henry VIIIth and of his Queen Catherine, daughter of Ferdinand the Catholic, King of Arragon ; is a Princess of great worth. In her youth, she was rendered unhappy by the event of her mother's divorce; by the ignominy and threats to which she was exposed after the change of religion in England, she being unwilling to bend to the new one; and

by the dangers to which she was exposed by the Duke of Northumberland, and the riots among the people when she ascended the throne. She is of short stature, well made, thin and delicate, and moderately pretty; her eyes are so lively that she inspires reverence and respect, and even fear, wherever she turns them; nevertheless she is very short-sighted. Her voice is deep, almost like that of a man. She understands five languages, English, Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian, in which last, however, she does not venture to converse. She is also much skilled in ladies' work, such as producing all sorts of embroidery with the needle. She has a knowledge of music, chiefly on the lute, on which she plays exceedingly well. As to the qualities of her mind, it may be said of her, that she is rash, disdainful, and parsimonious rather than liberal. She is endowed with great humility and patience, but withal high-spirited, courageous, and resolute; having, during the whole course of her adversity, been guiltless of any the least approach to meanness of comportment; she is, moreover, devout and staunch in the defence of her religion.

The cabal she has been exposed to, the evil disposition of the people towards her, the present poverty and the debt of the crown, and her passion for King Philip, from whom she is doomed to live separate, are so many other causes of the grief by which she is overwhelmed. She is, moreover, a prey to the hatred she bears my Lady Elizabeth, and which has its source in the recollection of the wrongs she experienced on account of her mother, and in the fact that all eyes and hearts are turned towards my Lady Elizabeth as successor to the throne.-See Michele's Report, in Mr. Ellis's Original Letters, Second Series, vol. ii, pp. 236-238.

Astronomical Occurrences

In JUNE 1828.

SOLAR PHENOMENA.

THE Sun enters Cancer at 8 m. past 12 on the 21st of this month; he also rises and sets, during the same period, as in the following

TABLE

Of the Sun's Rising and Setting for every fifth Day.

June 1st, Sun rises 53 m. after 3. Sets 7 m. past 8

8

Equation of Time.

In the ordinary concerns of life, it frequently happens that it is required to reduce apparent into mean time, or that which should be indicated by a wellregulated clock, which is done by the following

TABLE

Of the Equation of Time for every fifth Day.

m. S.

Sunday, June 1st, from the time by the dial sub. 2 23

Friday

6th

Wednesday 11th

.......

1 43

0 46

Monday.... 16th to the time by the dial add 0 17

Saturday.... 21st

Thursday... 26th

Last Quarter,

New Moon

.....

LUNAR PHENOMENA.

1 22

2 25

4th day, at 2 m. after 11 at night

11th

First Quarter 20th

Full Moon 27th

......

11 in the forenoon

Moon's Passage over the Meridian.

The following transits will afford good opportunities for observation this month, should the weather prove favourable at the time: viz.

June 3d, at 36 m. after 4 in the morning

Time of High Water at London for every fifth Day.

The following are the respective times of full tide at London Bridge, on certain days of this month; those for other days, or other places, may be found as already directed.