and the Serpentbearer, the first of Hercules being the most to the westward.

Lucida Lyrae the first star of the Harp, is now on the meridian, about thirteen degrees from the zenith.

In the eastern hemisphere we perceive Lucida Aquilae the first of the Eagle about midheaven in south southeast, and the four stars of the Dolphin more to the eastward; and a line drawn from the zenith to the eastern point, passes through Lucida Cygni the first star of the Swan, and the four stars in Pegasus and Andromeda. Of these four stars, the first of Pegasus is in east by south; the second higher up, almost due east; the third, the nearest to the horizon, rather more eastward; and the first of Andromeda in east by north, higher in the heavens than the first, but lower than the second of Pegasus. Capella is near the horizon between east by north and north northeast. We may now attempt to discover more of the Swan: the first star being nearer to the zenith than it is to the second of Pegasus, and the second being discovered by the line connecting the first of the Harp and the Dolphin, this second star being nearer to the Harp than the Dolphin. In the line joining the second and first of the Swan, but nearest to the first, is the third; and nearly at equal distances from this third on each side of the line are the fourth and fifth of the Swan, the fourth being the highest. The first is in the tail, the second in the beak, the third in the belly, the fourth in the right wing, and the fifth in the left wing, of the Swan: from the smallness of the four last stars, and the great extent of the constellation, it is not to be discovered without some little trouble.

Arcturus, setting in the west, makes a conspicuous figure earlier in the evening. The colour of this star is more red than many of them, like that of the planet Mars, and it is supposed to be the nearest to our solar system. This star is in the constellation Boötes, and derives its name from being just under the tail of the Bear.

We must distinguish well the Little from the Great Bear. The former Ursa Minor extends her tail to the pole, where Polaris a double star is, from a Nymph of Ida, called Cynosura; hence Milton in Comus:

And thou shalt be my star of Arcady,

Or Tyrian Cynosure.

This is one of the most ancient of the constellations, and has been well known to mariners from the earliest ages of navigation and commerce, as affording an easy method of determining a ship's course, and the latitude of a place in

the northern hemisphere. This star, however, is not exactly in the pole, for its declination is, at present (1823), about 88° 21' 47"-5; and, consequently, the complement of this, or its polar distance, is 1° 38′ 12′′ 5. Hence, if the altitude of this star be found when it is on the meridian above the pole, and this polar distance be subtracted from it, the remainder will be the latitude of the place of observation; or if the polar distance be added to the altitude of the star when on the meridian below the pole, the result will be the same.

According to ancient tradition, Ursa Minor represents Arcas the son of Calisto, whom Jupiter placed in the heavens under the figure of a Bear. It embraces the pole of the world, and is easily distinguished by seven stars disposed like those of the Great Bear, but in a contrary position.

The Pole Star has been known as long as any thing in astronomy; the Tyrian mariners used to steer by it. Spenser alludes to it in his Fairie Queene:

By this the Northern Waggoner had set

His sevenfold team behind the stedfast star.

August 7.

St. Cajetan, C. SS. Donatus and others.

rises at Iv. 28'. and sets at vII. 32'.

Name of Jesus.-Before the Reformation, this day was dedicated to Afrac a woman who had been converted to Christianity by Narcissus Bishop of Jerusalem, and who afterwards suffered martyrdom; and the breviary was recognised by Paul V. Afterwards Donatus, who became a martyr in the time of Julian for refusing to sacrifice, was substituted in her place. The reformers devoted it to the name of our blessed Lord Jesus.

CHRONOLOGY.-Her Majesty Queen Caroline of Brunswick, consort of his present Majesty, died this day in 1821, at Hammersmith. She was boru in 1768. The Life and Adventures of this extraordinary Lady are published in two octavo volumes, to which we refer the reader for a particular account of her late Trial and Acquittal, as likewise to the published Speeches of Dr. Lushington and Mr. Brougham.

COELUM. Except in showery and wet seasons, this time of year is remarkably fine. The rich glow of Summer in this part of Europe is seldom in perfection till August. It is now that we enjoy settled hot weather, a glowing sky, with varied and beautiful, but not many clouds, and delightfully fragrant and cool evenings. The golden yellow of the ripe corn, the idea of plenty inspired by the commencing

harvest of wheat, the full and mature appearance of the foliage, in short the tout ensemble of Nature at this time is more pleasing than perhaps that of any of the other Summer months. We remember a most striking example of the beauty of this time of year at Clifton, Bristol Hotwells, on Sunday the 7th of August, 1814; the rugged scenery of the rocks of the Avon being particularly calculated to set off the brilliant sky of this season.

Infantine Recollections, being some Verses found this Day among the
Papers of one of the Editors, evidently some Parody.

In Fancy how dear are the scenes of
my childhood,
Which old recollections recal to my view!
My own little garden, its plants, and the wild wood,
The old paper Kite that my Infancy flew.

The cool shady Elm Grove, the Pond that was by it,
My small plaything Mill where the rain torrent fell;
My Father's Pot Garden, the Drying Ground nigh it,
The old wooden Pump by the Melon ground well.

That Portugal Laurel I hail as a treasure,

For often in Summer when tired of play,

I found its thick shade a most exquisite pleasure,
And sat in its boughs my long lessons to say.

There I first thought my scholarship somewhat advancing,
And turning my Lilly right down on its back,

While my thirst for some drink the Sun's beams were enhancing,
I shouted out learnedly - Da mihi lac.

No image more dear than the thoughts of these baubles,
Ghigs, Peg Tops, and Whip Tops, and infantine games;
The Grassplot for Ball, and the Yewwalk for Marbles,
That leads to a temple which nobody names.

Those three renowned Poplars, by Summer winds waved,
By Tom, Ben, and Ned, that were planted of yore,

'Twixt the times when these Wights were first breeched and first shaved, May now be hewn down, and may waver no more!

How well I remember, when Spring flowers were blowing,
With rapture I cropt the first Crocuses there!

Life seemed like a Lamp in eternity glowing,

Nor dreamt I that all the green boughs would be sear.

In Summer, while feasting on Currants and Cherries,
And roving through Strawberry Beds with delight,

I thought not of Autumn's Grapes, Nuts, and Blackberries,
Nor of Ivy decked Winter cold shivering in white.

E'en in that frosty season, my Grandfather's Hall in,
I used to sit turning the Electric Machine,
And taking from Shockbottles shocks much less galling,
If sharper than those of my manhood I ween.

The Chesnuts I picked up and flung in the fires,
The Evergreens gathered the hot coals to choke;
Made reports that were emblems of blown up desires,
And warm glowing hopes that have ended in smoke.

How oft have I sat on the green bench astonished
To gaze at Orion and Night's shady car,

By the starspangled Sky's Magic Lantern admonished
Of time and of space that were distant afar!

But now when embarked on Life's rough troubled ocean,
While Hope with her anchor stands up on the bow,
May Fortune take care of my skiff put in motion,

Nor sink me when coyly she steps on the prow.

Almost all writers of taste have alluded to the delightful recollections of early childhood, and it has been a favourite theme of the poets; but the cause of those very acute sensations of pleasure which come across the mind when certain early scenes are recalled to view, have never been explained. They are beautifully described by Addison and other writers in the Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, and similar periodical works. The moral cause assigned is, that we recollect the pleasant and forget the disagreeable parts of the scene. This seems, however, to us, insufficient to account for the very peculiar sensation caused by these recollections, particularly when we are in certain moodish humours. Perhaps the subject involves the cause of memory in general, and would lead us into a labyrinth of inquiries, how the newly formed atoms of the brain, which is worn away and nourished like other parts, so accommodate themselves to the actions of those that they succeed as to cause memory at all! Some persons have imagined the recollections of the past to make up part of the pleasure of eternal life, and that the recollecting old scenes with pleasure is a favourable omen. Of all these things, however, we are confessedly ignorant, and must content ourselves with enjoying the passing phenomena, and await, for a knowledge of their causes, the event of the great change that the soul probably undergoes at the dissolution of this body-spirare et sperare.

August 8. SS. Cyriacus &c. Martyrs. St. Hormisdas Martyr.

Soli indigeti in Colle Quirinali.-Rom. Cal.

The ancient Persians and Mithraics worshipped the Sun and the Spirit of Fire. Sol, however, does not seem to have engrossed much of the Roman theology.

We are reminded by the Feast of the Sun of the following song written by Prior:

"Must Lady Jenny frisk about,
And visit with her cousins?
At balls must she make all the rout,
And bring home hearts by dozens ?

"What has she better, pray, than I,
What hidden charms to boast,
That all mankind for her should die,
Whilst I am scarce a toast?

"Dearest mamma! for once let me,
Unchained, my fortune try;

I'll have my Earl as well as she,t
Or know the reason why.

"I'll soon with Jenny's pride quit score,
Make all her lovers fall:

They'll grieve I was not loosed before;
She, I was loosed at all."

Fondness prevailed, mamma gave way;
Kitty, at heart's desire,

Obtained the chariot for a day,

And set the world on fire.

FLORA.-About this time the heads of the large white officinal Poppy are gathered in, from which is made the syrup so useful as a sedative. From the same plant Opium is made, but it has been discovered lately that the Turks make this substance from the Oriental Poppy.

On the Poppy.

When life's red stream with quickened impulse flows,
Impetuous struggling through the obstructed brain,
Aud hot as Etna's burning lava glows,

When, wasting wide, it seeks the distant main;

Lady Catherine Hyde, afterwards Duchess of Queensberry. + The Earl of Essex married Lady Jane Hyde.