following lines, which speak of the last day of this world's existence, afford a fair specimen of the author's powers:

In 'customed glory bright, that morn the sun
Rose, visiting the earth with light, and heat,
And joy; and seemed as full of youth, and strong
To mount the steep of heaven, as when the stars
Of morning sung to his first dawn, and night
Fled from his face: the spacious sky received
Him blushing as a bride, when on her looked
The bridegroom: and, spread out beneath his eye,
Earth smiled. Up to his warm embrace the dews,
That all night long had wept his absence, flew :
The herbs and flowers their fragrant stores unlocked,
And gave the wanton breeze, that newly woke,
Revelled in sweets, and from its wings shook health,
A thousand grateful smells: the joyous woods
Dried in his beams their locks, wet with the drops
Of night; and all the sons of music sung
Their matin song: from arboured bower, the thrush
Concerting with the lark that hymned on high:
On the green hill the flocks, and in the vale
The herds rejoiced: and light of heart the bind
Eyed amorously the milk-maid as she passed,
Not heedless, though she looked another way.

No sign was there of change: all nature moved
In wonted harmony: men, as they met
In morning salutation, praised the day,
And talked of common things: the husbandman
Prepared the soil, and silver-tongued hope
Promised another harvest: in the streets,
Each wishing to make profit of his neighbour,
Merchants assembling, spoke of trying times,
Of bankruptcies, and markets glutted full:
Or crowding to the beach, where, to their ear,
The oath of foreign accent, and the noise
Uncouth of trade's rough sons, made music sweet,
Elate with certain gain, beheld the bark,
Expected long, enriched with other climes,
Into the harbour safely steer; or saw,
Parting with many a weeping farewell sad,
And blessing uttered rude, and sacred pledge,
The rich laden carack, bound to distant shore;
And hopefully talked of her coming back
With richer fraught: or sitting at the desk,
In calculation deep and intricate,

Of loss and profit balancing, relieved,
At intervals, the irksome task, with thought
Of future ease, retired in villa snug.

With subtle look, amid his parchments sat
The lawyer, weaving his sophistries for court
To meet at mid-day.

No sign of change appeared; to every man
That day seemed as the past. From noontide path
The sun looked gloriously on earth, and all
Her scenes of giddy folly smiled secure.
When suddenly, alas, fair earth! the sun
Was wrapt in darkness, and his beams returned
Up to the throne of GOD; and over all

The earth came night, moonless and starless night.
Nature stood still: the seas and rivers stood,
And all the winds; and every living thing.
The cataract, that, like a giant wroth,
Rushed down impetuously, as seized, at once,
By sudden frost with all his hoary locks,

Stood still and beasts of every kind stood still.
A deep and dreadful silence reigned alone!

Hope died in every breast; and on all men

Came fear and trembling: none to his neighbour spoke ;
Husband thought not of wife; nor of her child
The mother; nor friend of friend; nor foe of foe.
In horrible suspense all mortals stood;

And as they stood and listened, chariots were heard
Rolling in heaven: revealed in flaming fire,
The angel of GOD appeared in stature vast,
Blazing; and, lifting up his hand on high
By Him that lives for ever, swore, that Time
Should be no more.-Throughout creation heard
And sighed all rivers, lakes, and seas, and woods;
Desponding waste, and cultivated vale;

:

Wild cave, and ancient hill, and every rock
Sighed: earth, arrested in her wonted path,
As ox struck by the lifted axe, when naught
Was feared, in all her entrails deeply groaned.
An universal crash was heard, as if
The ribs of nature broke, and all her dark
Foundations failed: and deadly paleness sat
On every face of man, and every heart
Grew chill, and every knee his fellow smote.

None spoke, none stirred, none wept; for horror held
All motionless, and fettered every tongue.

Again o'er all the nations silence fell:

And, in the heavens, robed in excessive light,

That drove the thick of darkness far aside,
And walked with penetration keen through all
The abodes of men, another angel stood,

And blew the trump of GOD.

21.-SAINT MATTHEW.

St. Matthew the Evangelist was slain at Nadaboer, about the year 60. He wrote his Gospel in Hebrew. His festival was not instituted till the year 1090. 26.—OLD HOLY-ROOD.-See HOLY CROSS, p. 224; and T.T. for 1826, p. 233.

26.-SAINT CYPRIAN.

St. Cyprian was made Bishop of Carthage in the year 248. After many persecutions, he was beheaded in 258. His works were translated by Dr. Marshall, and published in one folio volume.

29.-SAINT MICHAEL.

St. Michael, the Archangel. His festival was first observed in the year 487.-Some curious particulars relative to this day may be seen in our last volume, p. 302.

30.-SAINT JEROME.

St. Jerome was the most eminent biblical scholar of the fourth century. He was born at Stridon about the year 331, and died at or near Bethlehem, A.D. 420, in the 90th year of his age. For accounts of his voluminous writings, consult Hody, Cave, Calmet, Marsh, and Townley.

STATE OF RELIGION IN NORTH WALES, A.D. 1575.

The following curious paper is given by Mr. Ellis, from the Lansdowne MSS., in his Original Letters, Second Series, vol. iii, p. 49.- The people are naturally devout, having in heart doubtless engraffed as great fear, regard, and reverence of a supernall power as any people in the world elsewhere have, but more than the name of God they know nothing

at all; and therefore as utterly ignorant of him or their salvation, do still, in heaps, go on pilgrimage to the wonted wells and places of superstition; and in the nights, after the feasts when the old offrings were used to be kept at any idol's chapel, albeit the church be pulled down, yet do they come to the place where the church or chapel was, by great journeys barefoot, very superstitiously, &c. The meane for the meeting and knowledge of the time when the pilgrims shall come is chiefly wrought by their pencars or head-minstrells, who at the direction of some old gentle woman do ordinarily give the summons of the time certain for such meetings.

Upon the Sundays and holidays, the multitude of all sorts of men, women, and children of every parish do use to meet in sundry places, either on some hill or on the side of some mountain where their harpers and crowthers sing them songs of the doings of their ancestors; namely of their wars against the kings of this realme, and the English nation; and then do they rip up their pedigrees at length, how each of them is descended from their old princes. Here also do they spend their time in hearing some part of the lives of Thalaassyn, Marlin, Beno, Rybbye, Jermin, and such other the intended prophets and saints of that country. The common sort of gentry of that country do ordinarily, in every place and each company, advance the ability of the dominion of Wales, preferring the same to be more than the valor [value] of the kingdom of Scotland, and the abilities of the people of that province or part of this realm to be more able to maintain a regal estate than be the Scots. And here is to be noted, when they lie idlely on the mountain's sides, how then they talk of the fastness and natural strength of every way, place, and hill of their country.

Truely at this day, yf you look thoroughly to the whole number of gentry and others of all sorts in North Wales, ye shall scarcely find any (the bishops and

some few others excepted) yet in any sort well instructed in the faith of Christ: for of the whole multitude, such which be under thirty years of age seem to have no show of any religion; the others, well near generally all, dare to profess and to maintain the absurdest points of Popish heresy; according to which knowledge (most lamentable to be spoken) the greatest number of them do frame their lives in looseness, licentiousness, contention, and other such like. If the enemies of God and true religion shall ever endeavor the disquiet of the setled state, they are in policy to practice the same where ignorance most aboundeth, and where the Gospel hath been least preached, which surely is in Wales.'

*29. 1827.-ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

By one of those curious coincidences which, in affairs of greater importance, might be construed into miracle, Captain Parry from his Arctic, and Captain Franklin from his North American expedition, arrived at the Admiralty on this day, within half an hour of each other'!

Of the failure of Captain Parry's attempt, several brief and incorrect accounts having appeared in the newspapers, our readers will be pleased to see an authentic narrative of the sum of intelligence which has transpired relative to this bold and hazardous but unsuccessful expedition. The narrative is extracted

'Another still more singular coincidence marks the return of Captain Parry. In the facetious poem entitled 'May Fair,' published by Mr. Ainsworth five or six months since, in speaking of that gallant officer's undertaking, and predicting its probable want of success, the following prophetic couplet appears :

Quarter-day you'll have him back,
With his volume in his pack;

And lo! on quarter-day, the 29th of September, did Captain Parry make his appearance at the Admiralty!! Such a passage would make the fortune of Francis Moore: no wonder May Fair' has reached a second edition!

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