THE BOY BISHOP. In addition to the particulars respecting the institution of a child to the office and work of a bishop," in the Romish church, on St. Nicholas's day, the following is extracted from the English annals." The Boy bishop, or St. Nicholas, was commonly one of the choristers, and therefore in the old offices was called Episcopus Choristarum, Bishop of the Choristers, and was chosen by the rest to this honour. But afterward there were many St. Nicholases: and every parish, almost, had its St. Nicholas. And from this St. Nicolas's day to Innocents' day at night, this boy bore the name of a bishop, and the state and habit too, wearing the mitre and the pastoral staff, and the rest of the pontifical attire; nay, and reading the holy offices. While he went his procession, he was much feasted much valuing his blessing; which made and treated by the people, as it seems. the people so fond of keeping this holyday."* pitulary acts of York cathedral, that the It appears from the register of the caBoy Bishop there was to be handsome and elegantly shaped.t * Strype's "Memorials." + Brand. Henry Jenkins-Older than Old Parr. He lived longer than men who were stronger, On the 6th of December, 1670, died Henry Jenkins, aged one hundred and sixty-nine years. Jenkins was born at Bolton-uponSwale in 1500, and followed the employment of fishing for one hundred and forty years. When about eleven or twelve years old, he was sent to Northallerton, with a horse-load of arrows for the battle of Flodden-field, with which a bigger boy Vol. II.-103. (all the men being employed at harvest) When he was more than a hundred years old, he used to swim across the river with the greatest ease, and without catching cold. Being summoned to a tithe cause at York, in 1667, between the vicar of Catterick and William and Peter Mawbank, he deposed, that the tithes of wool, lamb, &c. were the vicar's, and had been paid, to his knowledge, one hundred and twenty years and more. And in ano. ther cause, between Mr. Hawes and Mr. Wastel of Ellerton, he gave evidence to one hundred and twenty years. Being born before parish registers were kept, which did not come into use till the thirtieth of Henry VIII.,one of the judges asked him what memorable battle or event had happened in his memory; to which he answered," that when the battle of Flodden-field was fought, where the Scots were beat, with the death of their king, he was turned of twelve years of age." Being asked how he lived, he said, "by thatching and salmon fishing;" that when he was served with a subpoena, he was thatching a house, and would dub a hook with any man in Yorkshire; that he had been butler to lord Conyers, of Hornbycastle, and that Marmaduke Brodelay, lord abbot of Fountains, did frequently visit his lord, and drink a hearty glass with him; that his lord often sent him to inquire how the abbot did, who always sent for him to his lodgings, and, after ceremonies, as he called it, passed, ordered him, besides wassel, a quarter of a yard of roast-beef for his dinner, (for that monasteries did deliver their guests meat by measure,) and a great black jack of strong drink. Being further asked, if he remembered the dissolution of religious houses, he said, “Very well; and that he was between thirty and forty years of age when the order came to dissolve those in Yorkshire; that great lamentation was made, and the country all in a tumult, when the monks were turned out." In the same parish with Jenkins, there were four or five persons reputed a century old, who all said he was an elderly man ever since they knew him. Jenkins had sworn in Chancery and other courts to above a hundred and forty years' memory. In the king's remembrancer's office, in the exchequer, is a record of a deposition taken, 1665, at Kettering, in Yorkshire, in a cause "Clark and Smirkson," wherein Henry Jenkins, of Ellertonupon-Swale, labourer, aged 157 years, was produced and sworn as a witness. His diet was coarse and sour; towards the latter end of his days he begged up and down. Born when the Roman catholic religion was established, Jenkins saw the supre macy of the pope overturned; the dissolution of monasteries, popery re-estab lished, and at last the protestant religion securely fixed on a rock of adamant. In his time the invincible armada was destroyed; the republic of Holland was formed; three queens were beheaded, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Mary queen of Scots; a king of Spain was seated upon the throne of England; a king of Scotland was crowned king of England at Westminster, and his son and successor was beheaded before his own palace; lastly, the great fire in London happened in 1666, at the latter end of his wonderfully long life. Jenkins could neither read nor write. He died at Ellerton-upon-Swale, and was buried in Bolton church-yard, near Catterick and Richmond, in Yorkshire, where a small pillar was erected to his memory, and this epitaph, composed by Dr. Thomas Chapman, master of Magdalen-college, Cambridge, from 1746 to 1760, engraven upon a monument in Bolton church. INSCRIPTION. Blush not, MARBLE! He was enriched If not variety, His low and humble state, To teach mistaken man, Were intail'd on temperance, A life of labour, and a mind at ease. There is a large half sheet portrait of Henry Jenkins, etched by Worlidge, (after an original painting by Walker,) from whence the present engraving is copied, and there is a mezzotinto of him after the same etching. December 7. OID SIGHTS OF LONDON. In December, 1751, the following "Uncommon Natural Curiosities" were exhibited in London. 1. A Dwarf, from Glamorganshire, in his fifteenth year, two feet six inches high, weighing only twelve pounds, yet very proportionable. 2. John Coan, a Norfolk dwarf, aged twenty-three; he weighed, with all his clothes, but thirty-four pounds, and his height, with his hat, shoes, and wig on, was but thirty-eight inches; his body was perfectly straight, he was of a good complexion, and sprightly temper, sung tolerably, and mimicked a cock's crowing very exactly. A child three years eight months old, of an ordinary size, with his clothes on, weighed thirty-six pounds, and his height, without any thing on his head, was thirty-seven inches seven-tenths, which on comparison gives an idea of the smallness of this dwarf. 3. A Negro, who by a most extraordinary and singular dilatation and contraction of the deltoid and biceps muscles of the arm, those of the back, &c., clasped his hands full together, threw them over his head and back, and brought them in that position under his feet. This he repeated, backwards or forwards, as often as the spectators desired, with the greatest facility. 4. A Female Rhinoceros, or true Unicorn, a beast of upwards of eight thousand pounds weight, in a natural coat of mail or armour, having a large horn on her nose, three hoofs on each foot, and a hide stuck thick with scales pistol proof, and so surprisingly folded as not to hinder its motion. 5. A Crocodile, alive, taken on the banks of the Nile in Egypt, a creature never seen before alive in England. This is a verbatim account of these • Gentleman's Magazine. sights published at the time; the prices of admission are not mentioned, but they were deemed worthy of notice as remarkable exhibitions at the period. In the present day the whole of them would scarcely make more than a twopenny show; and, at that low rate, without a captivating showman, they would scarcely attract. London streets are now literally "strewed with rarities," and " uncommon things," at which our forefathers stared with wonder, are most common. A PARTICULAR ARTICLE. "A READER," at p. 1584, should have had "Lyneham, Wilts," as the place of his residence, attached to his remarks on an account of "Clack Fall Fair," at p. 1371, which was supplied by "an old correspondent," with whose name and address the editor is acquainted, and whose subjoined communication claims regard. He writes in explanation, and adds some very pleasant particulars. CLACE FALL FAIR. To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. Dear Sir, I cannot allow your pages to close without replying to the "Corrections and Illustrations," p. 1584, made by "A Reader" respecting" Clack and its vicinity. First. I observe that Bradenstoke priory is usually called the "Abbey," in the neighbourhood,-not the "Priory." There is a tree growing upon the tower, and a legend respecting it. I was once taken up to see it blossom, having slept in the room under it with my schoolfellow, John Bridges, whose mother, at that time a widow, kept the farm, and a most excellent woman she was. Secondly. I should have considered the stating, " that a carpenter, while digging, struck his spade against an image of gold, and has it in his possession," was suffi cient, without further inquiry or remark. I repeat the fact for a truth. I know the man, and have seen the IMAGE. antiquary myself, I assure you, sir, I could fain dig for similar hidden treasures in the hope of like reward. The person who owns the image is not needy, he therefore would not part with his weight of gold for more sovereign current weight As an Thirdly. When young, I descended several feet into the "subterraneous passage" referred to by your "Reader." Though I am willing to admit the possibility of monkish imposition-such a passage has, however, been believed to have existed by the oldest people of Clack. Similarly, it is conjectured, that a passage once ran from Canonbury-tower, Islington, to the palace Kensington. Your "Reader" is rather too sceptical to challenge me to a proof, which I take only in a topographical sense. Of whatever effect tradition may be, much historical truth is notwithstanding embodied in it: furthermore, it is well known, that subterraneous passages led from place to place, when castle building was in vogue. Fourthly. The oldest man living in Seagry, at the time I was shown the stone in Malmsbury abbey, whose name was Carey, was the occasion of my going to that place to see the stone: I paid sixpence to the person who gave me a view of it. He represented it to have been done by "Geoffry Miles"--the boy was a choirister: this is his information, not mine. The impression ever after guarded my conduct in school. Fifthly. As to "Joe Ody," your "Reader's" own words prove the truth of what I have said of him, and the "may be correct" is not called for. The lord chancellor could not have been more doubtful than your anonymous "Reader," as to my information and communication. Some of the Ody family are now residing in Camberwell, whither your "Reader" may resort, should he be desirous of learning more of Joe's merry-andrewism, who was no mean disciple of the rev. Andrew, his patron. Sixthly. Your "Reader's" hit at "Bowles" is corrected by me at the page in which his reference stands. Would that the "Bowles' controversy" with Byron and Roscoe, respecting Pope, had been as easily terminated, and with as little acrimony and as much satisfaction! Seventhly. The room I have already Occupied in this paper prevents my stating much concerning "Crack Mount;"this mount is, however, remarkable for two things,--the resort of bonfire makers, November 5, and the club at Whitsuntide. At the time of the or-roasting many years since, in peaceful-ending times and rejoicing, this "mount" was a scene of delight and festivity. A band of Therefore, Lastly, “The Maypole." It was standing, fifteen feet high, thirty-six years ago. The higher part was cut off at the request of Madam Heath, before whose house, and the Trooper, it stood. I once myself saw the "morris-dance" round it, when cowslips, oxlips, and other flowers were suspended up and down it: nails were driven round the lower part to prevent a further incision. Unfortunately for the writer, the land which lies from "Clack to Barry-end," a distance less than two miles, once belonged to my forefathers. Maud Heath, who caused a causeway to be made and kept in order to this day, from Callaway's-bridge to Chippenham, was one of my collaterals. CONCEPTION B. V. M. This day is so marked in the church of England calendar and almanacs. It is the Romish festival of "The Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin," whom that church states to have been conceived and born without original sin. A doctrine whereon more has been written, perhaps, than any other point of ecclesiastical controversy. One author, Peter D'Alva, has published forty-eight folios on the mysteries of the Conception. The immaculate conception and happy nativity of the Virgin are maintained to have taken place at Loretto, about 150 miles from Rome; and further, that at that particular place, "hallowed by her birth, she was saluted by the angel Gabriel, and that she there nurtured our Saviour until he was twelve years of age. The popular belief readily yielding to that which power dictated, Loretto became one of the richest places in the world, from the numerous pilgrimages and votive presents made to the " Sancta Casa," or "Holy House," to enclose which, a magnificent church was erected and dedicated to the Virgin, hence generally styled "our Lady of Loretto." Peter the Lombard originally started the mystery of the immaculate conception in the year 1060; though Baronius affirms, that it was "discovered by Revelation" in the year 1109, to one, (but his name is not recorded,)" who was a great lover of the Virgin, and daily read her office." On the day he was to be married, however, he was so much occupied," that this usual piece of devotion escaped his attention until he was in "the nuptial office," when, suddenly recollecting the omission, he sent his bride and all the company home while he performed it. During this pious duty, the Virgin appeared to him with her son in her arms, and reproached him for his neglect, affording, however, the glorious hope of salvation, if he would "quit his wife and consider himself espoused to her," declaring to him the whole of the circumstances of her nativity, which he reported to the pope, who naturally caused her feast immediately to be instituted. the The canons of Lyons attempted to establish an office for this mystery in the year 1136, but Bernard opposed it. The council at Oxford, in 1222, left people at liberty either to observe the day or not. Sixtus IV., however, in the year 1470, ordered it to be generally held in commemoration, although the alleged circumstances attendant upon this immaculate conception are not, even in the church of Rome, held as an article of faith, but merely reckoned a pious opinion." The council of Trent confirmed ordinances of Sixtus, but without condemning as heretics those who refused to observe it; and Alexander V. issued his bull, even commanding that there should not be any discussion upon such an intricate subject. The Spaniards, however, were so strenuous in their belief of this mystery, that from the year 1652, the knights of the military orders of St. James of the sword, Calatrava, and Alcantara, each made a vow at their admission to "defend" the doctrine. In the popish countries, the Virgin is still the principal favourite of devotion, and is addressed by her devotees under the following, from among many other titles, ill suiting with the reformed sentiments of this country. Empress of Heaven! The only Hope of Sinners! Under the two latter, they implore the Virgin for salvation by the power which, as a mother, she is inferred to possess of "commanding her son!" The legends afford tales in support of the opinion, that she not only possesses, but actually exerts |