Part 66
This saint is in the church of England calendar. His name was Winfred. He was born at Crediton in Devonshire, educated in a Benedictine monastery at Exeter, sent to Friesland as a missionary, became archbishop of Mentz and primate of Germany and Belgium, and obtained the appellation of apostle of the Germans. His conversions were extensive, but many of them were effected by pious frauds; he was murdered in East Friesland by the peasantry, while holding a confirmation, in 755.
CHRONOLOGY.
1814. From a newspaper of June the 5th in that year it appears, that on the preceding Sunday morning, while the sexton of All Saints’ church, at Stamford, was engaged in ringing the bells, two youths, named King and Richards, through mere emulation, ascended the steeple by means of the crotchets, or projecting stones on the outside of that beautiful and lofty spire. The projecting stones on which they stepped in the ascent are twenty-six in number, three feet asunder, and the summit of the spire 152 feet from the ground. In ten or twelve minutes the feat was performed, and the adventurers had safely descended; one of them (Richards) having hung his waistcoat on the weathercock as a memento.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Three-leaved Rose. _Rosa Sinica._ Dedicated to _St. Boniface_.
~June 6.~
_St. Norbert_, A. D. 1134. _St. Philip_ the Deacon, A. D. 58. _St. Gudwall_, Bp. 6th Cent. _St. Claude_, Abp. A. D. 696 or 703.
CHRONOLOGY.
1762. George lord Anson, the circumnavigator of the world, died, at Moor-park, near Rickmansworth, Herts; he was born at Shuckborough, in Staffordshire, in 1700.
_Abduction._
This offence was by no means uncommon in England some years ago. In the _London Chronicle_ for 1762, there is an extract from a letter, dated “Sunday, Highgate, June 6,” from whence it appears, that on that morning, between twelve and one, a postchaise, in which was a lady, was driven through that place very furiously by two postillions, and attended by three persons who had the appearance of gentlemen, from which she cried out, “Murder! save me! Oh, save me!” Her voice subsided from weakness into faint efforts of the same cries of distress; but as there was at that time no possibility of relief, they hastily drove towards Finchley Common. “From another quarter,” says the _London Chronicle_, “we have undoubted intelligence of the same carriage being seen, and the same outcries heard, as it passed through Islington, with the additional circumstance of the two postillions being in their shirts. Is this outrage to be suffered in England?”
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Common Pink. _Dianthus deltoides._ Dedicated to _St. Norbert_.
~June 7.~
_St. Paul_, Bp. of Constantinople, A. D. 350, or 351. _St. Robert_, Abbot, A. D. 1159. _St. Colman_, Bp. of Dromore, A. D. 610. _St. Godeschalc_, Prince of the Western Vandals, and his companions. _St. Meriadec_, Bp. A. D. 1302.
CHRONOLOGY.
1779. William Warburton, bishop of Gloucester, died. He was born at Newark-upon-Trent, in 1698, followed the profession of an attorney, relinquished it for the church, and became an eminently able and learned prelate. His writings are distinguished by genius, but deformed by a haughty and vindictive spirit.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Red Centaury. _Chironia centaureum._ Dedicated to _St. Paul_.
~June 8.~
_St. Medard_, Bp. 6th Cent. _St. Gildard_, or _Godard_, Bp. A. D. 511. _St. Maximinus_, 1st Cent. _St. William_, Abp. of York, A. D. 1154. _St. Clou_, or _Clodulphus_, Bp. A. D. 696. _St. Syra_, 7th Cent.
_Thimble and Pea._
On the 8th of June, 1825, a publican in the neighbourhood of Whitechapel was charged at the Public Office, Bow-street, by Mr. John Francis Panchaud, a foreigner, with having, in conjunction with several other persons, defrauded him of a 10_l._ note, at Ascot Heath race-course, on the Thursday preceding. The alleged fraud, or robbery, was effected by means of an unfair game known among the frequenters of races and fairs by the name of “the thimble rig,” of which J. Smith, the officer, this day gave the following description to Mr. Minshull, in order that the worthy magistrate might perfectly understand the case:--A gang of seven or eight, or more, set up a table, but they all appear strangers to each other, and unconnected with the game, except one who conducts it, and who appears to be the sole proprietor. This master of the ceremonies has three thimbles, and is provided with a number of peas, or pepper-corns. He puts one under each thimble, or perhaps only under one or two, as the case may be. He then offers a bet as to which thimble a pepper-corn is or is not under, and offers at first such a wager as is eagerly taken by those round the table, and he loses. He pays the losings freely, and the other members of this joint-stock company affect to laugh at him, as what they call a “good flat.” Having thus drawn the attention, and probably excited the cupidity of a stranger, who appears to have money, they suffer him to win a stake or two, and get him to increase his bets. When he seems thoroughly in the humour, the master of the table lifts a thimble, under which is a pepper-corn, and turning his head aside to speak to some one, he suffers the corn to roll off; and, seeming to be unconscious of this, he replaces the thimble, and offers bets to any amount that there is a corn underneath that particular thimble. The stranger having seen the corn roll off “with his own eyes,” as the phrase is, chuckles to himself, and eagerly takes the bet; the thimble is removed, and behold!--there is a pepper-corn under it still, the fellow having dexterously slipped another under it when the first rolled off the table. “So that the plain fact is, sir,” continued Smith, “that the stranger, fancying he is taking in the master of the table, cheerfully stakes his money with a dead certainty, as he supposes, of winning, and he finds that he has been taken in himself.” Smith said, he had known instances of gentlemen getting from their carriages, and in a few moments ridding themselves of 20_l._ or 30_l._, or perhaps more, and going off wondering at their folly, and looking uncommon silly.
It appeared that Mr. Panchaud went up to one of these tables, at which the defendant and many others were playing, and after winning two or three times, the trick above described was commenced. The conductor of the game offered a bet of 5_l._, and Mr. Panchaud having seen the pepper-corn roll off, took the wager, and put down a 10_l._ note. In a moment after there was a general hustling, the table was upset, and the whole party speedily disappeared, together with the 10_l._ note. When the bet was offered, the defendant, who stood next to him, jogged his elbow, and said eagerly, “Bet him, bet him; you must win, the ball is under our feet.” Mr. Panchaud had no doubt, from his whole manner, that the defendant was concerned with the others in the trick. The case stood over for further investigation. It is only mentioned here for the purpose of showing a species of slight of hand continued in our own times to defraud the unwary.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Moneywort. _Lysimachia nummularia._ Dedicated to _St. Medard_.
This flower, says the elegant author of the _Flora Domestica_, derives its name from an idea, that all the instruments of Christ’s passion are represented in it.
The above engraving from an ancient print, shows the curious distortion of the flower in those parts whereon the imagination has indulged. The original print bears an inscription to this effect; that nature itself grieves at the crucifixion, as is denoted by the flower representing the five wounds, and the column or pillar of scourging, besides the three nails, the crown of thorns, &c.
Most of the passion-flowers are natives of the hottest parts of America. The rose coloured passion-flower is a native of Virginia, and is the species which was first known in Europe. It has since been, in a great measure, superseded by the blue passion-flower, which is hardy enough to flower in the open air, and makes an elegant tapestry for an unsightly wall. The leaves of this, in the autumn, are of the most brilliant crimson; and, when the sun is shining upon them, seem to transport one to the gardens of Pluto.[165]
[165] Flora Domestica.
~June 9.~
_Sts. Primus_ and _Felicianus_, A. D. 286. _St. Columba_, or _Columkille_, A. D. 597. _St. Pelagia_, A. D. 311. _St. Vincent_, 3d Cent. _St. Richard_, Bp. of Andria, 5th Cent.
CHRONOLOGY.
1760. Nicholas Lewes, count Zinzendorf, a native of Saxony, and founder of the religious society called Moravians, died at Chelsea.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Barberry. _Barberis vulgaris._ Dedicated to _St. Columba_.
~June 10.~
_St. Margaret_, Queen of Scotland, A. D. 1093. _St. Getulius_ and companions, 2d Cent. _St. Landry_, or _Landericus_, Bp. A. D. 650. _B. Henry_ of Treviso, A. D. 1315.
CHRONOLOGY.
1735. Thomas Hearne, the learned antiquary, died at Oxford: he was born at White Waltham, in Berkshire, in 1680.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Yellow Fleur-de-lis. _Iris Pseudacorus._ Dedicated to _St. Margaret_.
~June 11.~
_St. Barnabas_, Apostle, 1st Cent. _St. Tochumra_, of Tochumrach in Ireland. Another _St. Tochumra_, diocese of Kilmore.
_St. Barnabas the Apostle._
He was of the tribe of Levi, and coadjutor with the apostle Paul for several years. Though denominated an apostle, it seems agreed that he was not entitled to that character; if he were, his extant epistle would have equal claim with the writings of the other apostles to a place among the books in the New Testament. He is said to have been martyred, but of this there is not sufficient evidence.
_St. Barnabas’ Day._
This was a high festival in England formerly.
Besides the holy thorn, there grew in the abbey churchyard of Glastonbury, on the north side of St. Joseph’s chapel, a miraculous walnut-tree, which never budded forth before the feast of _St. Barnabas_, viz. the eleventh of June, and on that very day shot forth leaves, and flourished like its usual species. This tree is gone, and in the place thereof stands a very fine walnut-tree of the common sort. It is strange to say how much this tree was sought after by the credulous; and, though not an uncommon walnut, queen Anne, king James, and many of the nobility of the realm, even when the times of monkish superstition had ceased, gave large sums of money for small cuttings from the original.[166]
Midsummer, or nightless days, now begin and continue until the 2d of July.[167] There is still this saying among country people,--
“Barnaby Bright, Barnaby Bright, The longest day and the shortest night.”
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Midsummer Daisy. _Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum._ Dedicated to _St. Barnabas_.
[166] Collinson’s Somersetshire.
[167] Dr. Forster’s Perennial Calendar.
~June 12.~
_St. John_, Hermit, A. D. 1479. _St. Basilides_, _Quirinus_, or _Cyrinus_, _Nabor_, and _Nazarius_. _St. Eskill_, Bp. _St. Onuphrius_, Hermit. _St. Ternan_, Bp. of the Picts.
CHRONOLOGY.
1734. The duke of Berwick, illegitimate son of James II., by Arabella Churchill, sister to the great duke of Marlborough, was killed by a cannon ball, at the siege of Phillipsburgh, in Germany, in the 64th year of his age. He was only excelled in the art of war by the duke of Marlborough himself.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
White Dog Rose. _Rosa arvensis._ Dedicated to _St. John_.
~June 13.~
_St. Antony_ of Padua, A. D. 1231. _St. Damhanade._
CHRONOLOGY.
1625. Henrietta Maria, youngest daughter to Henry IV. of France, landed at Dover, and was married to Charles I., at Canterbury, on the same day; her portraits represent her to have been beautiful. She was certainly a woman of ability, but faithless to her unfortunate consort, after whose death on the scaffold she lived in France, and privately married her favourite, the lord Jermyn, a descendant of whom, with that name, is (in 1825,) a grocer in Chiswell-street, and a member of the society of friends. Henrietta Maria, though a Bourbon, was so little regarded in the court of the Bourbons, and reduced to so great extremity, that she was without fuel for her fire-place during the depth of winter, in the palace assigned to her by the French monarch.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Garden Ranunculus. _Ranunculus Asiaticus._ Dedicated to _St. Antony_.
~June 14.~
_St. Basil_, Abp. A. D. 379. _Sts. Rufinus_ and _Valerius_, 3d Age. _St. Methodius_, Patriarch of Constantinople, A. D. 846. _St. Docmael_, 6th Cent. _St. Nennus_, or _Nehemias_, Abbot, A. D. 654. _St. Psalmodius_, A. D. 630.
CHRONOLOGY.
1645. The battle of Naseby, between the royalists under Charles I., and the parliament troops under Fairfax, was decided this day by the entire rout of the king’s army, and the seizure of all his artillery and ammunition. Among the spoil was the king’s cabinet with his letters, which the parliament afterwards published. Hume says, “they give an advantageous idea both of the king’s genius and morals.” Yet it is a fact, which every person who reads the correspondence must inevitably arrive at, that the king purposed deception, when he professed good faith, and that, as true genius never exists with fraud, these letters do not entitle him to reputation for common honesty, or real ability.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Sweet Basil. _Oscimum Basilicum._ Dedicated to _St. Basil_.
~June 15.~
_Sts. Vitus_, or _Guy_, _Crescentia_, and _Modestus_, 4th Cent. _St. Landelin_, Abbot, A. D. 686. _B. Bernard_, of Menthon, A. D. 1008. _St. Vauge_, Hermit, A. D. 585. _B. Gregory Lewis Barbadigo_, Cardinal Bp. A. D. 1697.
_St. Vitus._
This saint was a Sicilian martyr, under Dioclesian. Why the disease called St. Vitus’s dance was so denominated, is not known. Dr. Forster describes it as an affection of the limbs, resulting from nervous irritation, closely connected with a disordered state of the stomach and bowels, and other organs of the abdomen. In papal times, fowls were offered on the festival of this saint, to avert the disease. It is a vulgar belief, that rain on St. Vitus’s day, as on St. Swithin’s day, indicates rain for a certain number of days following.
It is related, that after St. Vitus and his companions were martyred, their heads were enclosed in a church wall, and forgotten, so that no one knew where they were, until the church was repaired, when the heads were found, and the church bells began to sound of themselves, which causing inquiry, a writing was found, authenticating the heads; they consequently received due honour, and worked miracles in due form.
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FLORAL DIRECTORY.
Sensitive Plant. _Mimosa sensit._ Dedicated to _St. Vitus_.
CEREMONY OF LAYING THE ~First Stone of the New London-bridge,~ ON WEDNESDAY, THE 15th OF JUNE, 1825.
London, like famous old Briareus, With fifty heads and twice told fifty arms, Laid one strong arm across yon noble flood, For free communication with each shore; Hence, though the thews and sinews sink and shrink, And we so manifold and strong have grown, That a renewal of the limb for purposes Of national and private weal be requisite, It is to be regarded as a friend That oft hath served us in our utmost need, With all its strength. Be ye then merciful, Good citizens, to this our ancient “sib,” Operate on it tenderly, and keep Some fragments of it, as memorials Of its former worth: for our posterity Will to their ancestors do reverence, As we, ourselves, do reverence to ours.--
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The present engraving is from the design at the head of the admission tickets, and is exactly of the same form and dimensions; the tickets themselves were large cards of about the size that the present leaf will present when bound in the volume, and cut round the edges.
COPY OF THE TICKET.
_Admit the Bearer_
to witness THE CEREMONY of laying
THE FIRST STONE
of the
~New London-bridge,~
on Wednesday, the 15th day of June, 1825.
(Signed) HEN^{Y} WOODTHORPE, Jun.
Clerk of the Committee.
Seal of the City Arms.
_N.B._ The access is from the present bridge, and the time of admission will be between the hours of twelve and two.
N^{o} 281.
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It has been truly observed of the design for the new bridge, that it is striking for its contrast with the present gothic edifice, whose place it is so soon to supply. It consists but of five elliptical arches, which embrace the whole span of the river, with the exception of a double pier on either side, and between each arch a single pier of corresponding design: the whole is more remarkable for its simplicity than its magnificence; so much, indeed, does the former quality appear to have been consulted, that it has not a single balustrade from beginning to end.
New London-bridge is the symbol of an honourable British merchant: it unites plainness with strength and capacity, and will be found to be more expansive and ornamental, the more its uses and purposes are considered.
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The following are to be the dimensions of the new bridge:--
Centre arch--span, 150 feet; rise, 32 feet; piers, 24 feet.
Arches next the centre arch--span, 140 feet; rise, 30 feet; piers 22 feet.
Abutment arches--span, 130 feet; rise, 25 feet; abutment, 74 feet.
Total width, from water-side to water-side, 690 feet.
Length of the bridge, including the abutments, 950 feet; without the abutments, 782 feet.
Width of the bridge, from outside to outside of the parapets, 55 feet; carriage-way, 33 feet 4 inches.
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“Go and set London-bridge on fire,” said Jack Cade, at least so Shakspeare makes him say, to “the rest” of the insurgents, who, in the reign of Henry VI., came out of Kent, took the city itself, and there raised a standard of revolt against the royal authority. “Sooner said than done, master Cade,” may have been the answer; and now, when we are about to erect a new one, let us “remember the bridge that has carried safe over.” Though its feet were manifold as a centipede’s, and though, in gliding between its legs, as it
“doth bestride the Thames,”
some have, ever and anon, passed to the bottom, and craft of men, and craft with goods, so perished, yet the health and wealth of ourselves, and those from whom we sprung, have been increased by safe and uninterrupted intercourse above.
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By admission to the entire ceremony of laying the first stone of the new London-bridge, the editor of the _Every-Day Book_ is enabled to give an authentic account of the proceedings from his own close observation; and therefore, collating the narratives in every public journal of the following day, by his own notes, he relates the ceremonial he witnessed, from a chosen situation within the coffer-dam.
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At an early hour of the morning the vicinity of the new and old bridges presented an appearance of activity, bustle, and preparation; and every spot that could command even a bird’s-eye view of the scene, was eagerly and early occupied by persons desirous of becoming spectators of the intended spectacle, which, it was confidently expected, would be extremely magnificent and striking; these anticipations were in no way disappointed.
So early as twelve o’clock, the avenues leading to the old bridge were filled with individuals, anxious to behold the approaching ceremony, and shortly afterwards the various houses, which form the streets through which the procession was to pass, had their windows graced with numerous parties of well-dressed people. St. Magnus’ on the bridge, St. Saviour’s church in the Borough, Fishmongers’-hall, and the different warehouses in the vicinity, had their roofs covered with spectators; platforms were erected in every nook from whence a sight could be obtained, and several individuals took their seats on the Monument, to catch a bird’s-eye view of the whole proceedings. The buildings, public or private, that at all overlooked the scene, were literally roofed and walled with human figures, clinging to them in all sorts of possible and improbable attitudes. Happy were they who could purchase seats, at from half a crown to fifteen shillings each, for so the charge varied, according to the degree of accommodation afforded. As the day advanced, the multitude increased in the street; the windows of the shops were closed, or otherwise secured, and those of the upper floors became occupied with such of the youth and beauty of the city as has not already repaired to the river: and delightfully occupied they were: and were the sun down, as it was not, it had scarcely been missed--for there--
“From every casement came the light, Of women’s eyes, so soft and bright, Peeping between the trelliced bars, A nearer, dearer heaven of stars!”
The wharfs on the banks of the river, between London-bridge and Southwark-bridge, were occupied by an immense multitude. Southwark-bridge itself was clustered over like a bee-hive; and the river from thence to London-bridge presented the appearance of an immense dock covered with vessels of various descriptions; or, perhaps, it more closely resembled a vast country fair, so completely was the water concealed by multitudes of boats and barges, and the latter again hidden by thousands of spectators, and canvass awnings, which, with the gay holiday company within, made them not unlike booths and tents, and contributed to strengthen the fanciful similitude. The tops of the houses had many of them also their flags and awnings; and, from the appearance of them and the river, one might almost suppose the dry and level ground altogether deserted, for this aquatic fete, worthy of Venice at her best of times. All the vessels in the pool hoisted their flags top-mast-high, in honour of the occasion, and many of them sent out their boats manned, to increase the bustle and interest of the scene.
At eleven o’clock London-bridge was wholly closed, and at the same hour Southwark-bridge was thrown open, free of toll. At each end of London-bridge barriers were formed, and no persons were allowed to pass, unless provided with tickets, and these only were used for the purpose of arriving at the coffer-dam. There was a feeling of awful solemnity at the appearance of this, the greatest thoroughfare of the metropolis, now completely vacated of all its foot-passengers and noisy vehicles.
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At one o’clock the lord mayor and sheriffs arrived at Guildhall, the persons engaged in the procession having met at a much earlier hour.
The lady mayoress and a select party went to the coffer-dam in the lord mayor’s private state carriage, and arrived at the bridge about half-past two o’clock.
The Royal Artillery Company arrived in the court-yard of the Guildhall at two o’clock.
The carriages of the members of parliament and other gentlemen, forming part of the procession, mustered in Queen-street and the Old Jewry.
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