like canaries, which they also resemble in song: this little creature cannot be domesticated, for they never survive two days of captivity.

The chulpilchoc is a native bird of the cold and humid mountains of Verapaz; the plumage is black, except on the breast, which is scarlet; it is about the size of a canary, but has no song, at least only a sort of short whistle.

The raxon is one of the most beautiful birds known; it is an inhabitant only of the mild climate of Verapaz, for great heat, or excessive cold are alike destructive to it. Nature has denied it song, but by fluttering its wings it makes a noise like that of a hawk's bill; it is, therefore, only estimable for the plumage: its height is about nine inches, the bill short, and eyes black; the feet are provided with three toes before, and one behind; the feathers below the bill, and on all the front part, are purple; a ring round the neck, and the upper part of the body are of a lustrous emerald green, exquisitely beautiful; the wings and tail are black. The female is larger than the male, but differing from him so much, as to seem a creature of a distinct species; the feathers are grey with streaks of white, but in the sun's rays they have a tinge of green."

The kingdom of Guatemala presents an interesting object of research to the antiquary and the philologist, for the author enumerates 26 different dialects of the Mexican language, all peculiar to this province; and in an ancient record or calendar, the name of Votan is mentioned as one of the former lords of the country, who had seen the great wall or tower of Babel. If this be true, the Mexican language might be one of the primitive dialects produced by the confusion of tongues, and the consequent dispersion of mankind.

Upon the whole, much information and amusement may be derived from this work, and its utility is enhanced by the present situation of the states of South America. The translator has in general performed his office with accuracy and elegance; but we noticed his usage of two French words, bijou and detour, which should either have been Anglicised or printed in Italics. Nothing is so destructive to the purity and elegance of a language, as the use of foreign words, in a native sense, before they have been recognised, either by long usage, or by competent authority.

SACRED MELODY.

THERE is a hope that cannot fade,

That brightly smiles through sorrow's gloom;

When earthly joys are all decayed,

This Hope still lives beyond the tomb;

And all its promises are given

To those who place their trust in Heaven.

All earthly pleasures pass away,

And leave a darker gloom behind ;—

Like th' unsubstantial meteor-ray,

They glare, and fade ;-then leave the mind

A maddened prey to passion driven :

But bright and true are joys of Heaven.

There is a light that shines afar,

And broadly streams its glory-flood:

This pure unclouded Polar star,
Shines brightest on the dying good,
And lights the rescued spirit, high
To realms of Immortality.

F.

LILLY, THE ASTROLOger.

FEW disciples of Sidrophel have done more than Lilly, to establish the hard words, which the learned knight and physician Sir Christopher Heydon, who flourished nearly at the same time, has objected so much to, as used by his antagonist, Mr. Chambers. Mr. Chambers says, all astrologers are damned, that they are worse than witches, wraggling wits, giddy pates, juggling jacks, coggling figue-flingers, paltry, ignorant wizards, stable-keepers of Augeas, foul dung-heaps, Babylonical superstitions, Balaam's asses, sons of ditch-drabs, and confederates of the devil. He adds, with equal mildness, that their mother was a Hittite, that the magistrate who refuses to expel them, is worse than an infidel, and that those are happy who shall bruise their bones and limbs against the stones. Lilly, it was clear, deserved as much of these reproaches, as will fairly attach to one who has been well described as a man, who," by dint of plain, persevering, consistent, unblushing roguery, acquired a decent reputation, convinced himself that he was honest, put money in his pocket; and in due time was comfortably buried under a nice black marble stone, inscribed with a record of deceased virtue in English and Latin." His roguery consisted in his sustaining of the triple character of imposture, thief, and pimp. His reputation arose from prophesying alternately on the side of the King and the Parliament, as the scale of each inclined. His money was made by interested marriages, by pensions for furnishing the existing government with intelligence; by presents, and by pupils. A single anecdote will amply illustrate Lilly's character. In his Almanack for 1653, he asserted, that the parliament stood on a ticklish foundation; and that the commonalty and the soldiery would join together against it. For this he was called upon by the House. Before his appearance, however, he contrived to have six copies of the Almanack printed, in which the offensive passages were omitted. These he produced from his pocket at the bar; contending that they only were genuine, and that the others were surreptitiously circulated under his name, by some enemy who sought to ruin him, This trick succeeded.

FIRST LOVE.

WHEN the first smile of love o'er the bosom is beaming,
When the glance of affection illumines the eye,
"Tis like the first ray that on chaos was streaming,
And like the first star that arose in the sky.

When the first sigh is breathed, it resembles the zephyr
That spring has commission'd to open the rose;

Its bosom expands to inhale the pure ether,

And it seeks not to hide the bright blush as it blows.

Thus when the soft vows of affection are plighted,
The storms of affliction in vain shall descend;
For ne'er can two hearts by stern sorrow be blighted,
That the oft plighted vow has sworn to defend.

r.

W.

XENOPHON.

If ever there existed an individual, whom natural talent and actual circumstances of every kind, would have pointed out for the office of historian of the transactions which happened during the age in which he himself lived, it was surely Xenophon. Distinguished, perhaps, even above the very greatest of the captains, whose exploits he has recorded, in genius or war; having access to means of information, which no individual besides himself could probably have commanded; with a taste the most refined, and an understanding strengthened and enlarged, not merely by an experience of mankind and of public affairs, such as falls to the lot of few, but also by the instruction of the father of all that is sound and elevating in philosophy, we may safely take it for granted, that he has imparted to the history which he has left us of the affairs of Greece, all the interest and value, of which the facts he had to record were properly susceptible: and yet, while the work of Thucydides is known almost by heart by every scholar, and quoted by every writer, as the great repository of political wisdom and historical illustration, the work of Xenophon, which, as a piece of composition, is one of the purest specimens of Attic taste, which has been spared by the destructive hand of time, is almost unknown to the general reader; and not always read even by those who feel ashamed to confess their ignorance of Livy or Herodotus.

W.

ANCIENT ENGLISH COOKERY.

It would seem that the culinary art was never neglected at any period of time. M. Apicius, a noted character among the Gourmands of ancient Rome, found worthy successors at a later age, in M. Darteneuf, and our English Neville; the latter illustrious personage, being distinguished by the enormous feasts which he provided, in the midst of the calamitous struggles between the houses of York and Lancaster. A very curious MS. in the British Museum, has the following title, A long roll of vellum of receipts in Cookery entitled. . . . . forme of cury was compiled of the chef maister cokis of kyng Richard the secunde kyng of [E]nglond after the Conquest, the which was accouted the best and ryallest vyandis of all Criste kyngs; and it was copiled by assent and avysement of maisters and phisik and of philosophie that dwellid in his court. First it techith a man for to make comune potages and comune meetis for howshold as they schold be made craftly and holsomly. Aftirward it techith for to make curious potages and meetis and sotiltees for alle manere of states bothe hye and lowe. And the techyng of the forme or makying of potages and of meetes bothe of flessh and of fissh. Such y sette here by noumbre and by ordre. Sso this litel table here sewing wole teche a man with oute tarryyng to fynde what meete yt him lust for to have. MSS. Birch 5016.

THE TWENTY-NINTH OF FEBRUARY.

THE twenty-ninth of February being a day that arrives but once in four years, is entitled to a little more consideration than is commonly bestowed on those days which have a regular anniversary. Arising, as it does, from those extra hours which are not reckoned in the preceding

years, it stands as a relic, saved from that overwhelming stream of time, which has already carried away our former existence, with all its attendant emotions, occurrences, and opportunities.

Where are now the gilded prospects, which, at this time four years, appeared before us? They have either been obscured by disappointment, or, if realized, they have now lost the charm of novelty, and possession has stripped them of their imaginary perfections. Where are the good resolutions, and virtuous excitements, which at that period animated our bosoms? They must either have grown into fixed principles, and have produced integrity, self-command, benevolence, and the best fruits of piety; or having been slighted, and suppressed, they must have rendered us less susceptible of future good impressions, and wholly inexcusable for not fostering those tender leaves of beneficence, which can never again be put forth. Where are the friends and associates who then surrounded us, cheering us with the sweet converse of amity, and gladdening our hearts with the sportive effusions of conviviality? Some have been called to distant climates: some are borne down with sickness and adversity: some have forsaken us: and others have been snatched away by the unsparing grasp of death. Yet many faithful and congenial souls remain to bear with our weaknesses, and to sympathise with our feelings. Blessed with their society, and perceiving, which ever way we turn, the works of an all-wise and bountiful Providence, we should prove ungrateful indeed, if, while calling to remembrance the days that are past, we failed to enter, with cheerfulness, into the due enjoyment of the present.

It may indeed be a question with some, whether four years really have elasped since the last twenty-ninth of February. To me the interval appears not half so long: and yet the fact is but too indubitable. Seeing, therefore, how time" creeps on with petty pace from day to day," let the belle who has for the last few seasons, expected to captivate the whole male creation by the mere force of her personal attractions, shut her ears to the fulsome adulation of her transient admirers; and when next she views herself in the glass, conjure, beside the reflected image, her former self of the year 1820. If, on an honest comparison she marks the absence of some few traits which she once thought irresistible, I would, as a friend, advise her to adopt a new line of policy; to bestow a little regard upon her neglected mind, to lay aside the haughty airs of conscious beauty, and seriously to consider what will become of her, if, between this and the next bissextile, time should repeat the liberties he has already taken with her person; and she, meanwhile, should, neglect to countervail his attacks, by fortifying her mind, and securing the more permanent and amiable graces of the heart. In short, let the frivolous of both sexes take warning from the time they have already lost or mispent; and while it is in their power, let them enter upon a course of conduct more befitting rational and accountable beings. And as the twenty-ninth falls, this year, upon a Sunday, I exhort all my readers to indulge those serious thoughts and devout inclinations so suitable to the day; and which, at one time or another, present themselves for admission to the breast of every one, who is not devoid of common sensibility.

MODERN NOMENCLATURE.

As this is an age of unprecedented improvement in all the arts of life, that contribute to the happiness and comfort of society, so is it no less marked by a correspondent refinement in literary pursuits. The unwearied exertions of the friends of national education have been crowned with the most ample success, and such is the operation of the system pursued in these nurseries of juvenile precocity, that the pupils are now found fully competent to solve questions in History and Divinity, which would have puzzled the heads of their venerable forefathers. Nor are these the only means of instruction opened for general use; but such is the public avidity for information, that in order to satisfy it, the diligence of compilers has been exerted with the utmost perseverance in reducing to a catechetical form the abstract principles of science, and opening those treasures, which were locked up from vulgar eyes, in the learned languages. To this plan of general instruction may be attributed the improvement so visible in modern nomenclature, not only in the terms of science, but also in the common concerns of life; this has of late been so rapid, that it may be doubted whether the legitimate English names of articles in daily use, will not shortly become totally obsolete, and be understood and known only in the writings and other perishable records of the dark ages during the 17th and 18th centuries. For the entertainment of the curious in Etymology, the following items are selected from the nomenclature of the 19th century.

66

Among the amusements of youth which were gratuitously exhibited in the public streets, was once a kind of moveable theatre, in ages of ignorance ycleped a puppet-show, in which were rehearsed in action and unintelligible dialogue, the quips, the quirks, and the quiddities of Mr. Punch and his eccentric rib Judie; the said Mr. Punch being a fellow of infinite humour," occasioned the ready and boisterous laugh and huzza to rise from the ragged assembly of each sex and age, that attended the rehearsal of his adventures, with the Doctor, the Soldier, the Constable, and the Devil, who, at last, after a severe conflict with formidable broomsticks, is vanquished by the redoubtable hero, and carried off in triumph. But though Punch still exists, he is far less comic than formerly, and is likely to be superseded, and driven from his long occupied theatre, by a new class of actors, who exhibit a variety of novel manœuvres in a theatre like that of their renowned predecessor. motley groupe, who are puppets of great attitudinarian abilities, are denominated the Fantocini; and their gambols are generally accompanied by a band of music, whose dulcet strains not only serve to regulate the action, and mark the contortions of the several characters, but also to enliven the scene. Still this proves but a miserable succedaneum for the jovial tunes of Punch, which were wont to precede his appearance, and announce his triumphs.

This

Another treat of youth used to be the peep-show, which contained a splendid series of battles by sea and land, gorgeous processions of ladies and gentlemen, all in scarlet robes and feathers, with faces as red as their robes, and surrounded by lofty piles of well tiled buildings, interspersed with trees of every shade that green and yellow (very much resembling the combined hue of eggs and spinach) could produce. These interesting scenes, with the important characters which figured in W. L. M. VOL. I. NO. VI.

G