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Go, child of fortune! to his early grave, Where o'er his head obscure, the rank weeds wave;

Behold the heart-wrung parent lay her head

On the cold turf, and ask to share his bed.

Go, child of fortune! take thy lesson there,

And tell us then that life is wondrous fair!

Yet Lofft, on thee, whose hand is still T'encourage genius, and to foster worth, stretch'd forth On thee, th' unhappy's firm, unfailing friend,

"Tis just that ev'ry blessing should deTis just that life to thee should only scend; Her fairer side but little mix'd with show,

woe.

Nottingham,

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H. K. W. The above poem is not in White's works.

CURIOUS EPITAPHS.

To the Editor of "Saturday Night." SIR,

The following Epitaphs are at your

service:

AT OCKHAM, IN SURREY, 1736. "The Lord saw good, I was lopping off wood,

And down fell from the tree; I met with a check, and broke my neck, And so death lopp'd off me."

MONUMENT OF THE FAMOUS ROBIN HOOD,
AT GRETLAND, IN YORKSHIRE.
Here underned dis laid stean
Lais Robert, Erle of Huntingtun,
Nea arler az hie sa geud,
And Pipl kauld him Robin Heud.
Sic utlawz hi an his men.
Vil Englande niver see agen.

Obit 24. Kal. Decembris. 1247. Which, if put into modern orthography, I render thus:

Here, underneath this laid stone,
Lies Robert, Earl of Huntingdon,
None ever as he so good,
And people called him Robin Hood.
Such outlaws, he and his men,
Will England never see again.

Died December 24, 1247.

"We ought not, like the spider, to spin a flimsy web wholly from our own magazine; but, like the bee, visit every store, and cull the most useful and the best."-GREGORY.

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THIS abbey was founded by Eustace Fitz-John, in the year 1147, for the use of Premonstratensian canons. The tithes of several lordships were given to the canons for their table, and the tenth part of all the venison and pork killed in the parks of Eustace, who married Beatrice, the daughter of Ivo de Vesey, Lord of Alnwick and Malton. This abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary; and Lord William de Vesey, son of Eustace, gave it to the advowsons of St. Dunstan's, in Fleet-street, London.

An hospital, dedicated to St. Leonard, was founded by the family of the Percy's, and annexed to the abbey, in the 50th year of Edward the Third. There is an old manuscript in the library of King's College, Cambridge, which de

VOL. I.

scribes a sumptuous banquet given in the refectory here in the year 1376, by Walter de Hapescotes, to Henry Lord Alnwick and 120 knights and gentry. The common people were also feasted in the cloisters, to the number of 1050. The same manuscript mentions, that, in the year 1380, the canons of this house were afflicted with the plague, which occasioned a very great mortality.

In the 26th year of Henry the Eighth, at the dissolution, the yearly revenues of this abbey were valued at £.194 78. according to Speed's Chronicle. It was soon after sold to Sir Francis Brandling, of whose successors it was bought by Mr. Doubleday.

Mr. Wallis, in his history of Northumberland, observes, "that the only re

I

mains of this religious pile is the court wall, to the east, through which is the entrance, of very curious architecture, with a modern turret at the south end, beyond which is a building, seemingly of a later erection, not corresponding with the grandeur of monastic structures; answering better the use it is put to, namely, a stable, than any other. Adjoining to it is an ancient and strong tower, with four turrets, two at each end.'

The tower here spoken of by Mr. Wallis, was the ancient gate-house of the monastery, the strong latticed gate of which is still remaining. The grand entrance fronted the north; over it was a canopy and niche for the Virgin Mary. The whole tower seems to have been much decorated with elegant carving, and has several escutcheons of the quarterings borne by the noble family of the Percy's; some of whom, besides confirming the grants of the founder and his son, added benefactions themselves. Indeed, from the conspicuous manner in which their arms are placed on this gate, it seems as if it were of their own construction.

In the tower a gate opened to the east, on each side of which are figures of angels supporting armorial shields. On this front was also a canopy, and niche for a statue; and over the entrance, as also on the north side, were machicolatuns.

We cannot conclude, without noticing an ancient custom practised in the neighbourhood of the abbey. Those who sought the freedom of the town of Alnwick, were obliged, by a clause in the charter of that place, to jump into an adjacent bog, in which they sometimes sank to the chin. A penalty imposed by King John, upon the inhabitants, for not keeping the road in better order-his horse, upon a journey of the monarch's, happened to stick fast in this very hole.

THE DUCHESS'S SATURDAY
NIGHT.

No boy at school longs more anxiously for his holiday, than the duchess does for her Saturday night. The week seems to her intolerably long, notwithstanding a few routs and the play-houses give some relief in helping her to annihilate that time which hangs so heavily on hand. It is the Saturday night's opera that charms her; it is there she can sit surrounded by her

peers, decorated in all their natural and borrowed charms: she is here in her favoured element; it is to her an earthly paradise; and she prefers it before all other places in London, because it is the most expensive. Some years ago, two illustrious beauties, the late Duchess of Devonshire and the Duchess of St. Alban's, divided the audience at the Saturday night's opera: both these ladies were mothers; but the difference was, the former suckled her child, but the latter did not. It was amusing to see the party displayed on this occasion. The Duchess of D. always went to the Opera with her infant at her breast, and while she gracefully returned the cheers of the feeling part of the audience, took care to hold her child in her arms, to show her filial affection. The Duchess of St. A. although an exemplary parent, yielded to the taste of the fashionable world, and sacrificed nature at the shrine of comfort, by denying her offspring of its birth-right. The feeling on this occasion filled the Opera House every Saturday night for the season,

How wisely is it ordered, that society should be formed of different classes; and that wealth should not always procure happiness! It is at least curious to reflect, that while one branch of society anxiously wish for Saturday night, as a termination of their weekly labours, and a period of rest; another long for it, because it gives them something to perform, to amuse their minds and use their time. How wretched indeed must that mortal be, who complains that time hangs heavily on his hands! What a libel on his understanding; how truly insignificant he appears-he whom God hath blest with mind, with sight, with every endowment to make himself happy-to think he cannot use those faculties either for his own edification, or the instruction of his fellow creatures! But such is the case, unfortunately, with many of the titled and the great; they have every thing that wealth can procure; but they stand in need of that most essential requisite, that keeps the mind in a state of happiness-EMPLOYMENT! and it is for the want of this invaluable "comfort of life," which makes the duchess anxiously wish for the next

SATURDAY NIGHT.

DISCOVERY OF THE BODY OF minds of the spectators of this interest

CHARLES I.

IN ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDsor. The following extract is from Sir Henry Halford's Narrative of the Investigation which took place in Windsor, in the vault of King Henry VIII. in presence of the Prince Regent:

"On removing the pall, a plain leaden coffin, with no appearance of ever having been enclosed in wood, and bearing an inscription, "King Charles, 1648," in large legible characters, on a scroll of lead, encircling it, immediately presented itself to view. A square opening was then made in the upper part of the lid, of such dimensions as to admit a clear insight into its contents. These were, an internal wooden coffin, very much decayed, and the body carefully wrapped in cerecloth, into the folds of which a quantity of unctuous or greasy matter, mixed with resin, as it seemed, had been melted, so as to exclude, as effectually as possible, the external air. The coffin was completely full; and from the tenacity of the cerecloth, great difficulty was experienced in detaching it from the parts which it enveloped. Wherever the unctuous matter had insinuated itself, the separation of the cerecloth was easy; and when it came off, a correct impression of the features to which it had been applied was observed in the unctuous substance. At length, the whole face was disengaged from its covering. The complexion of the skin of it was dark and discoloured. The forehead and temples had lost little or nothing of their muscular substance; the cartilage of the nose was gone; but the left eye, in the first moment of exposure, was open and full, though it vanished almost immediately; and the pointed beard, so characteristic of the period of the reign of King Charles, was perfect. The shape of the face was a long oval; many of the teeth remained; and the left ear in consequence of the interposition of the unctuous matter between it and the cerecloth, was found entire.

"It was difficult, at this moment, to withhold a declaration, that notwithstanding its disfigurement, the countenance did bear a strong resemblance to the coins, the busts, and especially o the pictures of King Charles I. by Vandyke, by which it had been made familiar to us. It is true, that the

ing sight were prepared to receive this impression; but it is also certain, that such a facility of belief had been occasioned by the simplicity and truth of Mr. Herbert's Narrative, every part of which had been confirmed by the investigation, so far as it had advanced; and it will not be denied that the shape of the face, the forehead, an eye, and a beard, are the most important features by which resemblance is determined."

POPULAR ANTIQUITIES.

DEATH WATCH.

Wallis, in his History of Nerthumberland, gives the following account of the insect so called, whose ticking has been thought by ancient superstition to forebode death in a family:-" The small scarab, called the Death Watch (Scarabæus galearus pulsator), is frequently among dust, and decayed rotten wood, lonely and retired. It is one of the smallest of the Vagipenia, of a dark brown, with irregular light brown spots, the belly plicated, and the wings under the cases pellucid; like other beetles, the helmet turned up, as it is supposed, for hearing, the upper lip hard and shining. By its regular pulsations, like the tickings of a watch, it sometimes surprises those that are strangers to its nature and properties, who fancy its beating portends a family change, and the shortening of the thread of life. Put into a box, it may be heard and seen in the act of pulsation, with a small proboscis against the side of it, for food more probably than for hymeneal pleasure, as some have fancied."

The above formal account will not be ill-contrasted with the following fanciful and witty one of Dean Swift, in his invective against Wood. It furnishes us too with a charm to avert the omen.

"A wood Worm, That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form,

With

teeth or with claws it will bite or will scratch,

And chambermaids christen this worm a Death Watch;

Then woe be to those in the house who are sick;

Because, like a watch, it always cries olick:

For as sure as a gun they will give up the ghost,

If the maggot cries click, when it scratches the post, [jected, But a kettle of scalding hot water inInfallably cures the timber affected; The omen is broken, the danger is over, The maggot will die, and the sick will recover."

Grose tells us, that " the clicking of a Death Watch is an omen of the death of some one in the house where it is heard."

DEATH OMENS PECULIAR TO FAMILIES.

Grose tells us, that besides general notices of death, many families have particular warnings or notices, some by the appearance of a bird, and others by the figure of a tall woman, dressed all in white, who goes shrieking about the house. This apparition is common in Ireland, where it is called Banshee, and the shrieking woman.

Mr. Pennant says, that "many great families in Scotland had their Dæmon or Genius, who gave them monitions of future events." Thus the family of Rothmurchas had the Bodack an Dun, or the Ghost of the hill; Kinchardines the Spectre of the Bloody Hand. Gartinbeg-house was haunted by the Codach Gartin, and Tullock Gorms by Maug Munlack, or the Girl with the hairy left hand. The Synod gave frequent orders that enquiries should be made into the truth of this apparition; and one or two declared that they had seen one that answered the description.

Mr. Pennant, in describing the customs of the Highlanders, tells us, that "in certain places the death of people is supposed to be foretold by the cries and shrieks of Benshi, or the fairy's wife, uttered along the very path where the funeral is to pass; and what in Wales are called Corpse Candles, are often imagined to appear and foretel mortality. In the county of Carmarthen there is hardly one that dies but some one sees his or her light or candle. There is a similar superstition among the vulgar in Northumberland. They call it seeing the Waff of the person whose death it foretells.

King James, in his Demonology, says, "In a secret murther, if the dead carkass be at any time thereafter handled by the murtherer, it will gush out blood, as if the blood were crying to heaven for the revenge on the murtherer."

ORIGIN OF THE HOUSE OF
COMMONS.

The first step which the barons took to procure a legislative body in which they could confide, was to make King Henry III, issue commissions appointing conservators, as they are called, in each county, to preserve the privileges of the people. These officers were, of course, chosen from the party of the barons, and were invested with great authority. When this had been carried into effect, the king was made to issue orders to the conservators to send up four knights, chosen by each county, to sit in the ensuing parliament, as representatives of their respective shires; and this was the origin of the House of Commons.

When the parliament, however, met, according to the professed object for which it had been called, an order for the release of Prince Edward was immediately passed; but it was clogged with a condition at which his partizans greatly murmured, namely, that he should remain with the king, his father, and obey him in all things.“To ordain,” said they, "that the prince shall be set free, and yet be obliged to remain with his father, who is in the condition of a prisoner in the hands of Leicester, is a solemn mockery of the public-it is no better than changing, or, at most, enlarging his prison.' Pursuant, however, to the vote, the prince was taken out of Dover Castle, where he had been confined ever since the battle of Lewes, and delivered to the king, who continued in the custody of Leicester.

The Earl of Gloucester, who had been the first to circulate injurious reports against the motives of Leicester, considered this transaction as a base juggle, and, affecting to entertain apprehensions for his own safety, retired to his castle, and prepared to set himself in array against the man whose domineering influence he had openly and loudly condemned. Leicester lost no time in taking steps to avert the danger of this defection. He placed himself at the head of an army, and, taking the king and Edward with him, marched against the rebel, as Gloucester had been proclaimed.

The prince was naturally anxious to be freed from the jurisdiction of Leicester at all hazards, and Gloucester, aware of this, arranged with Roger Mortimer an ingenious plan for his

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