the shovel right lustily, in order to emerge from his prison, that he might go and preach the Gospel to those who were beyond. His next preaching-place was Indian Queens; so called from an inn by the road-side, which has, as its sign, what is meant to be the representation of a black Queen, but which certainly is as much like anything else as sable humanity. After he had been thus traversing the deserts of snow for many days, preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ, Mr. Bryant addressed the following letter to his Superintendent: MOST REVEREND SIR, If long detention By the' labours of a pioneer, He forced his passage fairly through, To where the Dame of sable hue, Such as in India ne'er was seen. He begs to' assure you, time would fail In fleecy whirlwind, round paraded, And now that he and friendly Jane Dear Bishop, VARIETIES. THE remainder of Mr. Layard's collection of antiquities has arrived in London from Nineveh, to be added to those already deposited in the British Museum. Under the brief administration of the Foreign Department of Government by Lord Granville, Mr. Layard had received an appointment to the office of UnderSecretary in that department, but lost it on the formation of a new Cabinet. We may hope that, in some other way, his eminent services will be acknowledged. In Italy, as it would seem, even the fine arts languish. By virtue of a royal decree, the Bourbon Museum, the Royal Library, the papyrus manuscripts of Herculaneum, the excavated relics of Pompeii, and other monuments of antiquity, are no longer in possession of the nation, but they are declared to be the property of the King of Naples. Monsignor Molsa, late librarian of the Vatican, was owner of an exceedingly valuable collection of books. As Bishops have no heirs, their personal property, after their death, is designated spoil. The "Congregation de Propaganda Fide" is said to have received the treasure, which is being turned into cash for the propagation of Popery,-fitly propagated by the spoils of learning. Amongst objects that had lain buried for many ages, but have re * Rev. W. Sleep. cently been brought up to the surface of the earth, and the light of day, are, first, the embalmed body of a Bishop, discovered in the crypt of St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, in a state of singularly perfect preservation, and with a pastoral staff lying on the breast. Antiquarian diligence has collected evidence whereon to conjecture, if not to affirm, that this corpse was the mortal tenement of Lyndwode, Bishop of St. David's, author of the celebrated "Provinciale." He died in the year 1446; and in the year 1852, a cast has been taken of his face !-We hear of a less noble disinterment effected in Mount Zaharah, on an island of the Red Sea. In an old emerald-mine, in a gallery at great depth, Mr. Allan, engineer of an English company that has obtained permission to work the mine, has found tools, utensils, and an engraved stone, all of remote antiquity. The stone is said to reveal the date of the mine; of depths where living men laboured no less than three thousand five hundred and two years ago. Graduates of the University of London, of a certain standing, expect henceforth to be constituted a Senate, or electoral body. After the intermission of centuries, Protestant worship has been restored in Laibach, in Austria, where a church is now opened, and a Minister ordained, by permission of the Emperor. This rare instance of toleration is, however, more than counterbalanced by a prohibition of the holy Scriptures in certain languages, and an expulsion of Missionaries to the Jews from the Austrian dominions. In Milan, the persecuted Protestants are delighted with the permission, doled out to them after long entreaty, to use their chapel, which had been shut up, the indulgence being now granted in consideration that the building is "situated in a garden, having no front towards the street, and bearing no outward sign of its destination." At Madrid, too, the English are indulged with permission to inter their dead in a grave-yard of their own, provided there be no prayer offered there, nor even the most trifling act attempted that might lead to worship, or the performance of any sacred rite. In Tuscany, the beds of sick and dying Christians are surrounded with Priests, and even with armed men, to compel them to profess membership in the Church of Rome. Don Francisco de Paula Vigil, a Doctor in Theology, in Lima, has published a learned and elaborate work, in six octavo volumes, in "Defence of the Authority of Governments and of Bishops against the pretensions of the Roman See.' The book has produced a great sensation in South America, and is honoured with a place in the Roman "Index Expurgatorius." The Pope threatens to excommunicate the Doctor, who, in that event, will receive the congratulations of all evangelical Christendom. It is much to be desired that the entire work, without the least abridgment, should be translated into the principal languages of Europe. ANIMATED AND VEGETABLE NATURE. APRIL. "EARTH now is green, and heaven is blue; Lively Spring, which makes all new, Jolly Spring, doth enter; Sweet young sunbeams do subdue Angry, aged Winter. "Winds are mild, and seas are calm, While they AND these "harmonious birds " do more than sing. pour forth a psalmody that, in its joyousness, reproves the dumb ingratitude of myriads of men, they labour with busy wing, and beak, and claw, gathering and interweaving straws, twigs, leaves, hard fibres of roots, for the outer fabric of their nests; and then, padding them comfortably inside with feathers, down, soft moss, or hair, prepare the home and nurturing-place for broods that will break the shells of eggs that yet have to be laid there. Returning from their southern voyage, a few stray swallows are first seen to flit past shily and suddenly about the middle of the month, skimming the field, as if they had come in advance of the whole tribe that will swarm in about the end of it. One strange bird proclaims herself present by a peculiar note, that is accepted as a proclamation of the spring, making "koo-koo, koo-koo, koo-koo" resound from far, while her sturdy young ones, hatched by the warmth of other birds, one here, and another there, toss out their weaker companions from the nests. To the cuckoo the wryneck responds with its peculiar cry. Now comes the nightingale, to cheer some favoured districts with her inimitable song; and every wood resounds with notes of almost all kinds of birds. The redstart, whitethroat, yellow-wagtail, and blackcap intermingle in their haunts. The linnet, in high glee, trills its changeful carol, imitative, yet surpassing. White-butterflies and copper-butterflies flutter like living flowers in the gardens, and the emperor-moth unfolds his wings. But the lists are too long to be recited. As the month goes out the nests are filled, and active parents winnow the air with an instinctive activity that sinks only with the sun, catching young insects that have just come forth, as if to provide their young with nourishing sustenance when they need it most. Now the cock struts in the farmyard, crows and claps his wings; and the busy hen clucks among her chickens, gathers them under her wings, bristles up her feathers, and repels every intruder on the domain. The earth swarms with its reptiles; ponds and rivers are teeming with fish, newly spawned. Snakes begin to venture out. Bats drop from the crannies of rocks and hedges into the mild evening air. The sluggard snail moves upon its slimy way. Earthworms, ants, beetles, and flies trail on the ground, and swarm in the breeze. Who does not expect April showers? The atmosphere, imbriferous, distils fruitfulness upon the flourishing fields and gardens ; and then the shower clears away, that no sluggish vapour may obscure the sunshine, that quickens the verdure into more vigorous and blooming beauty, opening the infant blossom, and giving deeper green to the expanding leaf. And as this glad "Easter-month " goes out, the wall-flowers are bursting, daffodils, narcissi, tulips, hyacinths, violets, emit their fragrance, and the later primroses yet sprinkle the sunny banks. It is a joyous month. All nature is in her virgin beauty. The orchards are white with promise of abundant crops; but even there the worm eats out the half-opened blossom, or a northern frost sweeps away the bloom, and in one chill morn ing tells the fruiterer that half his profits for the year are gone. It pleases God to send forth His hoar-frost as ashes of disappointment and humiliation; but still the lily of the field springs up, a terrestrial iris, to tell him of God who clothes her; and the wild bird sings, merrily as ever, to tell him of God who feeds her; and all nature, laughing at his unbelief, seems to enforce the promise, "Trust in the Lord, and do good, and verily thou shalt be fed." MERCURY, in the constellations Pisces and Aries, is an evening star until near the end of the month. On the 7th, at 3h. 33m., A.M., in conjunction with Saturn, at 4° 52′ S.; on the 19th, at 7h. 56m., P.M., stationary; on the 30th, at 3h. 36m., A.M., in inferior conjunction with the Sun. VENUS, in the constellations Aries and Taurus, on the 6th, at 1h. 0m., P.M., in perihelion; on the 15th passes the meridian at 2h. 53m., P.M. MARS, in the constellation Cancer, on the 15th passes the meridian at 6h. 49m., P.M.; on the 28th, at 11h. 52m., A.M., in quadrature with the Sun. JUPITER, in the constellation Libra, on the 15th passes the meridian at 1h. 43m., A.M. SATURN, in the constellation Aries, on the 15th passes the meridian at Oh. 42m., P.M.; on the 27th, at 3h. 10m., P.M., in conjunction with the Sun. URANUS, in the constellation Aries, on the 24th, at 11h. 22m., A.M., in conjunction with the Sun. H. T. & J. Roche, Printers, 25, Hoxton-square, London. |