pact head instead of being permitted to straggle,
looks like one huge rose, magnified by some fairy
magic, to deck the bosom of some fair giantess.
The various kinds of plum follow, the blossoms of
which are snow-white» and as full and clustering as
those of the almond. Hie peach and nectarine, which
are now in full bloom, are unlike either of the above;
and their sweet effect, as if growing out of the hard
bare wall, or the rough wooden paling, is peculiarly
pretty. They are of a deep, blush colour, and of a
delicatebell-sheq>e— and their divisions open or shut,
as the cherishing sun reaches or recedes from them.
But, perhaps, the bloom that is richest and most
promising in its general appearance, is that of the
cAerry^clasping its white honours all round the long
straight branches, from heel to point, and not letting
a lesdT or bit of stem be seen, except the three or four
leaves that come as a green finish at ^e extremity of
each branch. The pear blossom is also very rich
and full ; but the apple (loveliest of all !) is scarcely
as yet open.' — The Months,, No. IV.
Timely, thougb late» the pomp of Spring dftfws on :
Tbeir flowery carpets «n« the meiis prepuriog^ :
The woods, jis yet some wintry tatters wearing,.
Now haste their liveries of green to don.
The banks blush violets, while the primrose wan
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120 CULINARY VEGETABLES.
Tfanists her meek head from forth the trodden leaves
Of forest path : with them the cowstip weaves
Her golden pendents. Thickly now upon
The dressy hedge-rows snowy blossoms stand,
Of sloe and cherry ; for the speckled boughs
, Have burst at once, as by enchanter's wand,
Into rich network : green, where late the plough's
Fresh trace appeared, the fields and every thing.
Hark! from his airy tower the lark proclaims the Spring.
J. CONDER.
DESCRIPTION 0/ CULINARY VEGETABLES,
[Continaed from p. 89.]
Cabbage — Brussels Sprouts. — This delicious vege-
table is said to have originated at Brussels, where it
has been caltivated, and has remained genuine for
more than 400 years, land from which it takes its
name. It is an accidental variety of the bretssica
oteracea, distinguished by numerous small crowns,
rosettes, or sprouts, appearing in the axilke of the
principal stem leaves, and soon causing these to drop
off. The sprouts much resemble savoy-cabbages iff
miniature, and they are very tender and delicious
when boiled. They are sometimes served at Brus-
sels with a sauce composed of vinegar, batter, and
nutmeg. The mode of culture is nearly that applied
to the cabbage-tribe in general.
In Britain, the seed is sown in April, the seedlings
are transplanted in June, the plants are earthed up
in September, and the crowns are ready for use
in October and November. They continue good
throughout the wintier, unless the weather prove un-
commonly boisterous and severe. like German or
curled greens, they are generally accounted more ten*
der after having tasted tiie frost. Early in the springs
they are found very apt to run to flower.
At Brussels, the market is supplied with them dur-
ing ttie greater part of the year. They are seei^ as
early as the beginning of August; and the supply is
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CULlNARY VBOBTABLBS. 121
coattnaed uninterrapted till the end of the next April.
This prolongation of the season of Brussels sprouts
is accomplisJied partly by successive sowings,, and
partly by the way in which the plants are treated.
The first. sowing is made early in spring under glass ;
and other sowings follow at intervcds of about three
weeks^ till near Midsummer. The seedlings are
planted out in rows, sometimes in large beds, and
frequentiy between the lines of haricots, peas, or po-
tatoes. It is a common practice to pinch off the tops
of the plants a fortnight before the gathering of the
rosettes is begun. This operation of pinching off the
tops we very commonly perform on garden beans, in
order to promote their fruitfidness ; and, with Brus-
sels sprouts, it is done with the view of directing
the energies of the plant to the production of lateral
shoots. When the tops are left, they are used as
greens in the early spring: they resemble turnip-
leaves in taste, havmg a good dead of the peculiar fla-
vour which distinguishes the crudferiB, while tlie
sprouts are remarkably bland. Only a few crowns
are taken from each plant at a gathering, the plant it-
self being thus left nearly uninjured. In this way, it
pushes but new rosettes in place of those removed.
With us at homiB, the plant is generally drawn en-
tire, from the ground, and in that state sent to
market— a wasteful practice,, which cannot be too
soon relinquished. The tendency to run to flower in
the spring is restrained by lifting the plants, and lay-
ing &em slantwise in the earth, in a north border,
or a shady place, as is often practised with cauli-
flower.:
ISie Horticultural Society has, for several years,
awarded premiums in the month of December; for
the .best specimens then produced; and sprouts of
exceUent quality have* sometimes been brought for-
ward. We may remark, that very small and com-
padt crowns are held in the highest estimation at
Brussels; they are never more than an inch across,
L
Digitized by VnOOQ iC
122 RBMARKABLB BATS
and frequeally mere buttons ; large crowns would be
utterly rejected. By employing only the most genuine
specimens for the production of seed, and by keeping
these far apart from similar cruciform plants, the
character of the Brussels sprouts maybe preserved
inviolate. — Horticultural Tour in Flanders, Holland,
ftc. p. 298.
(To be eoBtiflued.]
It is the choice time of the year.
For the violets now appear ;
Now the roie Teceives its birth.
And pretty primrose decks the earth :
Then to the 9puV.'P9^Xt come away,
Tor it'is now a holiday.
In MAY 1825.
1, — MAY DAY.
' I SHALL never forget the delight I felt (observes
Mr. Washington Irving) on first seeing a Maypole :
It was on the banks of the Dee» close by l£ie pic*
turesque old bridge that stretches across the river
from the quaint little city of Chester. I had already
been carried back into former days by the antiquities
of that venerable place ; the examinaticm of which
is^qual to turning over the pages of a black tetter
volume, or gazing on the pictures in FVoissart. The
May-pole on the margin of that pontic stream ^xnn-
pleted the illusion. My fancy adorned it widi wreaths
of flowers^ and peopled the greenbank with dl the
dancing revelry of May-day« The mere sight of this
May-pole gave a glow to my feeliag8> and tptead a
charm over the country for the rest of ttie day ; and
as I traversed a part of the fair plain of CtaeBUfe^
and the beautiful borders of Wales^ and looicdd from
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117 MAT 1825. 123
among swelling hills down a long green valley^
tibtrough which '^ the Deva wound its wizard stream/*
my Imagination turned all into a perfect Arcadia/ —
One can readily imagine (contiimes the same Ae^
ligfaCful author), what a gay scene it most have been
ip joUy old London, when the doors were deco-
rated with flowermg branches, when every hat was
decked with hawthorn ; and Robin Hood, Friar Tnck^
Maid Marian^ the morris*dancers, and all the other
fantastic masks and revellers were performing their
antics about the May- pole in ev6ry part of the city.
On this occasion we are told, Robin Hood presided
as Lord of the May : —
With coat of lincola green, and mantle, too.
And horn of ivory mouth, and bnokle bright.
And arrowi winged with poacocknfeatherB light,
And trusty bow well gathered of the yew.
whilst near him, crowned as Lady of the May, Maid
Marian, —
With eyes of blue,
Shining through dusk hair, like the stars of night,
1 And habited in pretty forest plight-*
, His^gr«ea-wood beauty sits, young as the dew.:
and there, too, in a subsequent stage of the pageant,
were—
The archer-men in green, with belt and bow,
Feasting on pheasant, river-fowl, and swan.
With ^bin at their head» and Marian.
We are not bigoted admirers of old times and old
customs, merely because of their antiquity : but while
we rejoice in the decline of many of the rude usages
and coarse amusements of former times, we cannot
but regret that the innocent and fanciful festival of
May-day has fallen into disuse. ' It seemed' (ob*
serves the elegant writer just quoted) 'appropriate to
the verdant and pastoral country of England, and
wen calculated to light up the too pervading gravity
of the nation. I value every custom that tends td
Infuse poetical feeling into the common people, and
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124 RSMARKABUS DAYS
\o sweeten aad .soften the radeness of rustic mannerfi^
tvithout 4estroying their simplicity. Indeed, id is to
Hxe decline of this happy simplicity that the decline
of this custom may be traced; and the rural dance
on the green, and die homely May-day pageant, Jiave
gradually d}S£4[>peared, inproportion as the peasantry
have become expensive and artificial in their plea-
sures, and too knowing for simple enjoyment. Some
attempts, indeed, have been made of .late years, by
men of both taste and learning, to rally back the po-
pular feelmg to these standards of primitive simpli-
city; but the time has gone b^,* the feeling has be-
come chilled by habits of gain and traffic ; the countiy
apes the manners and amusements of the town, and
little is heard of May-dayat present, except from the
lamentations of authors, who sigh after it from amoAg
the brick walls of the city :
For O, for O, the Hobby Howe is forgot'
It is a cuiious circumstance recorded by Mr. John-
sofi in his ^Indian Field Sports,' that the Ainddo^ hold
a vernal festival, called Bhuvizah, on the 9th of
Baisach, exclusively for such as\eep horned cattle
for use or profit^ whi^n they erect, a pole and adorn it
with garlands, kad perform much the same rites as
used to be adopted by the English on the 1st of May.
1. — SAINT PHILIP AND SAINT JAMES THE LESS.
Philip was bom at Bethsaida, near the sea of Ti-
berias, the city of Andrew and Peter. He was one
of theiirstidisciples, and an apostle. James theLcss^
called also James the Just, and by the apostle Panl^
James, the Lord's brother, was the son of Joseph, af-
terwards husband to the Virgin Mary, as is probaUe
by his first wife. The first of these martyrs was
stoned to death, and the second, having been thrown
from, a high place, was killed by a fuller's stafF;*;-
Some interesting particulars of St. Philip andSt.James^
may be seen in an excellent little work, before quoted,
entitled the Protestant Beadsman ; or a series of
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IN MAT 1825. 129
HofTiipkical notices and hymns f commemorating the
S^i^ and Martyrs whose holidays are kept by the
Chvrch of Enoland, 12mo^ Rivixigtonsy 1822.
il.— INVENTION OP THB CROSS.
The ]Si>iiiiah oharch celebrates this day as a festi-
vbI, to commemorate the invention or finding of a
wooden cross, supposed to be the drue one, by
K^eaa J the mother of Gonstantine the Great.
6. — JOHN BVAN6BLIST, A. F. L.
J<^ the Evangelist, so called from the Greek
' term Etdfys^oif A^ messenger of glad tidingSi was a
Galilean by birth, the son of Zebedee and Salome^
the jroonger brother of James, but not of him that
was sainamed the Just, and who was the brother of
our Lord. He was condemned to be thrown into a
oask of burning oil, Ante Port. Lat, before the gate
of Latina; hence the letters added to his name. He
lived to the reign of Trajan, and died about ninety
years of age^
8.— ROGATION SUNDAY.
. This day takes its name from the Latin term rogare,
to ask; because, on the three subsequent days, sup-
plications -were appointed by Mamertus, Bishop of
Vienna^ in the year 4S9, to be offered up with fast^
ing to God, to avert some particular calamities that
threatened Ids dioces^.
13.— A8GBNSI0N DAY.
From the earnest tim^s, this day was set apart to
commemorate oip* Saviour's ascension into heaven:
ailprQcessions on this and the preceding rogation
days were abolished at the Reformation.
*18. 1824.— -RBV. O. STRAHAN, D.D. DIBD, JST. 81.
Dr. Strahaa pablished,from the original MS. no>^
deposited in Pembroke College, Oxford, 'Prayers
rad Meditations by Dr. Sam. Johnson,' which evince
bf^yond all his conipositions for the public, and all
the oologies of his m^ads and adminers, the sincere
virtue and piety of this eminent writer. One of the
nost iateresting events in Dr. Strahan's life, was bis
La
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126 RBMARKABLB DAYS
-i - . - -
close indmacy with Dr. Johnson: at the residence of
the former at*Idlihgt6n, Johnson^freqtiently fbiMid 11^
agreeable chabge of place, as well as derivBd nmcb
benefit to his health froiii the siUabrlty of the air;
and Dr. Strathan also attended oti him in town in dis*
change of the sacred offices of his profession.
. ) >> lb 19.— SAlNT- DUNSTAN. >
Dunstan wa^ {Promoted to^the see of Worcester by
King Edgar; h6 vms afterwards Bishop of London,
and Archbishop of Canterbury. He died in 968, in
the sixty-fourth jrear of his age, and in the tweoly*
seventh of his archiepiscopal dignity. His mimeies
are too commonly known to be repeated. . *
■■' *19. 1824.— bXron* mabbres died, jbt. 98!
His great work/the * Scriptore» Lbgarithniiciy is of
a nature from which no pecuniary advantage wac^ to
be expected; and his liberality in presenting a odfly
of it to various public'bodies, and to individuals,
was su^h, that he was very much out of po<9ket by
the publication. But he never regarded expense
either as to his ow& works or tfabse ^ich he patron-
ised of otbers, and he was nerver wanting inassistiB^
authors whose works he deemed woithy of bmng
submitted to the press. In this^ case'it was ootiiinOtt
witfi him to take upon himself the whote e^plbH^^cPf
printing aad paper, leaving the author to repay himi
when it suited his convenience,'Or he gave hnn the
printing and paper. In one ca^ be advanced above
fifteen-hundred pounds^ of which he^dM not i«C^V«
a far&ing in return -for neariy twenty yiearsi-Blift
perhaps diere never was a man so little att&ntil^ Id
the accumulation of property, and'yet at his d^tt 4%
was much greater than he himself was alrareof. His
only guide was his banker's book; and aft^ defrays
ingthe expenses of his chambers attd his hou^aM
Reigate ^ and Rathbone-place, and-'the- genenaffljr
heavy article of printing andpaper foir himsdf aiid
oAers, the surplus of his revenue Wasinitestedin tM
flnree per cents, without tegavd to plfce^ •ttnd'lltt'
Digitized by VnOOQ iC
iir MAT 1825. 127
ilMs^t^vMmkg more of die matter. — See an in*
teiestiDg Memoir of the Baron in the QentUman'M
Magazine, toL xoiv, pp; 569*673.
32. — ^WHIT-SUNDAY.
On WhilrSanday, or WhUe-Sunday, the cateehu^
ifiens, who were tiienbaptiKed, as well as those who
had been baptized before at Easter, appeared in the
aatjeal chnrch, in white garments,
23.— WHIT-MONDAY.
This day and Wbit-Tnesday are observed asfes*
tivab, for the same reason as Monday and Tuesday
in Baster. Their religions character,- however, is
ahnost obsolete, and ttiey are now kept as holidays,
in which the lower classes still pursue their fayoiirite
di¥€«mons. - For an account of the Eton Ifonltm,
see T.T. for 1815, p. 168.
*25. 1764.^ JOHN MASON OOOD, M.D. P.R.S.&C.&C.
' BORN.
The education of medical men, when candncted>
as shoold ever be the case, upon a broad and liberal
plasr not only leads to a vast range of collateral
sci^ice, bnt is necessarily^ based on ai^timacy with
the language and the literature of Greece and Bome«
Hencefmany of the first physicians in all agei^ liaTd
been distinguished as well for their love and pinsuit
<tf elegant studies, as of those more immediately con-
nected with the practice of the healing art. On the
contiki^t, amid a host to which we might pmnt with
pride and pleatare, it will suffice to mention the ?e-
netnted, we may say, indeed, the beloyed names of
I^acOittorim, JFtalhr, and Zimmerman, men alike
dear to the atodent.of nature and the disciple of the
mnaes. Nor do we want in our own island many;»
both in the past and present times, who have traced,
wift-e^tmleoei^ and, success, this two-fold path to
iame»i Bint a few years bave gone by since we lost,
imd m? the Ti^ooir of his days; our lamented Lbydbn,
a- physician distinguished among his contempotariee
nM'Wimm for hts^enfliusiastic Iotq of science^ (ban for
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X29 RBliikftABCB IHIYS
■I ■1 1^ ■> ■..■■—■■■■...I ■■■, • ■tmtii nxan ^
the beautjr of .kis poetry, and' ttie almost imrivallad
extmt of ids pltikdogical atlakimeiits.
lake Leyden, the stAject of owt present Iniof
sketch early acquired a justly^as^ied character for
dei6p and mIdtifiBucmis erudition ^ bnt^ moiefortulate
flian L^e&in lengfliof days, he has now added lo
ih^ae aoqnisjil^ons a greats and, we think, a perma*
nent reputation as a medical writer and philosopher*
Dr. Good, though bom at Bpping in Essex, i^, we
nndeistand, dedo»ded:from afamily of greatrespect*
ability and ^soi^iqmty at Romsey netet Sontiutwptoii,
whiOler Us^ fatfa^, a dissentiiig minister of exetnpliuy
dtaraeter, and considerable litet«ry attainments^ im*
mediately removed on the death of his elder brother,
and whilst the sabject of onr memoir was yet an
infant. Here, under the most able parental tuition,
his iather having; married Miss Peyto, (hefoiiaouiiite
niece of that excellent man John Mason, A.M. the au-
thor of th« w^-known treatise on^ Self Knowledge,'
he enjoyed a Yery liberal aoid comprehensive ini<-
tiation into the wafts of iiteratute and 8ci«iee;
0t. Good, if tve are not mistaken, commeiieed the
emr€is#c^Msprc^9S8ion, aa a general pracfitioimr,
atfiudbwy iW Suffolk, where be married his present
Itidy, one of the' daughters of the late T. Fenn, Esq.
tfbai&erc^that place. Sudbimr, how&rer, wasia
fi^d too ^confined to afford sufficient Scope forwnr
aiilhov's telents, and happily be was induced, in liie
i^rmg of the year 1783, to exchange it for themetio^
po^»f where he tias gradually risen into that celebrity,
tetfe as a scholar of uncommon powers, and asi a
mSodical writer of the first class, to wMch we^haTo
jttt alluded.
' The brief limits to which we are necessasily r^
ntrioted Wthenlitare of our publication, will seaitnly
aAfttit of OUT doing more tiian piesenttig to^ ou^
rea^fers a bare ^ramemlion of the chief works which
Dr» €k>od has produced ;^*^et we shall be te m pt ed
to add» thoue^ in aaemdensed a finm as poeaMe,
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IN MAT 1825. 129
a few femarks upon somcrof the mMt imtpoitant of
his labours. With a critical knowMgiD ofclAssical
literafore. Dr. Grood had eariy in life combined die
stndy of the oriental langnag^s; and in 180S he pub-
lished the first fhtits of his philological acquisitions,
under the tifle of 'Sokg op Sokos; or Sacred
Idyls; translated from the original Hebrew, with
Notes critical and explanatory/ 8yo. This vefsion,
which offers a new arrangement, is beautifrilly exe-
cuted, undei'the double form of prose and poetry. The
metrical translation is, in a high degree, spirited and
elegant, and the notes exhibit a large share of taste
and erudition. The same year produced our author's
^ Mbmoirs af the Life and fFriiinge 6f the Rev.
Alexander Geddes, LL.D. 8vo,' a work which, while
it interests as a highly pleasing and impartially
written account of a very profound scholar and truly
original charact^, impresses us, at the same time,
witibi a full conricticm of the writer^s sufficiency for
the task ^irinch he had undertaken as « biblical cijtio
and scholar.
Two years after the publication of these Memoirs,
appeared our author's very valuable tmnslation of
liDcietius, the most elaborate of all his worits in the
provinces of phUology, poetry, and criticism: it is
entitled 'Thb Nature ofThings; a Didactic Poem,
translated from the Latin of Titus Lucretius Carttt,
accompanied with the original Text, and' illustrated
with various Prolegomena, and a large body of Notes,
Philological and Physiological,' 2 vols. 4to. This
translation is in bladk verse, and in numerous in-
stances, where the original rises into fervour and in-
spiration^ does great credit to Dr. Xrood's powers of
poetitel exprestton. But it is scarcely possible to
convey to the reader, without his actual inspection,
an adequate idea of the .vast body of illustration,
critical and philosophical, which is included in the
otes. Almost every polished language, Asiatic as
ell as European, is laid under contribution ; and the
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130 REMARKABLC DAYS
versions urbic^ noilonnfy aeeompaiiy the oaaierous
parallelisDis aad gaotattons, aie» for the most fsstt,
executed in a masterly style* To this, in 1812, sac^
ceeded a veision of ^ The Book of Job, literally
translated from the original Hebrew, and restored to
its natural arrangement :,with Netes critical and il*
Instrative, and an introductory Dissertation on, its
scene, scope^ lai^^ge, author, and era,' 8to, a pro-r
duction wl»eb materially augmented its author's fame
as a student of oriental literature. The Notes are
upon a very extended scale, and the Dissertation in-
eludes much that is calculated to excite the deepest
and most earnest attention.
If we now turn, from the fields of literature to
thoseof science, we^liall. find Dr. Good a. no less
ardent and succesi^folFCultivator. He had at no time
suffered his attachment to philological pursuits to in-
terfere with his prpfes^onal zeal and duties ; and,
as a proof of this, we have to record, that between
tiie years 1795 and 1812, he had produced, inde-
pendent of a voluminous compilation on General
Science', not less Jiian seven distinct worksjn rela-
tion to the history, theory, and practice of medicine.
It is, however, to tbd year 1817 that we would point
as the era which placed Dr. Good amongst the ranks
pf those who will reach a distai^ posterity as guides
and instnictors in the healing art. In. this year ap-
peared his ^Physiolocicai. System op Nosology,
^th a coireeted and simplified Nomenclature," and
dedicated by permission to the President and Fellows
of the Royal College of Physicians in Limdon^ Of
this undertakings in which the diseases of the animal
fiinctions are arranged in classes derived, from a
K* ysiologtcal view of those fanctions, it may justly
said, that more full and comprehensive in its plan
than any previous system of Nosology, more simple
' *Pantologia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and
Words ;* in conjunction with Dr. Olinthus Gregory, and Mr. New-
ton Bosworth. 12 vols, royal Sto.
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IK MAT 1825. 131
and intelligible in its classification, and more classi-
cal and correct in its language, it bids fair to super-
sede every attempt which has hitherto been made in
the difficult provinces of ,medical technology and
systematic arrangement.
Elaborate, however, and arduous as this attempt
mi^t be deemed, it was but the precursor of one'
still more important and extensive ; for in the year
lS82y Dr. Good presented us with *The Study op
Medicine,' in four large volumes, 8vo, a work of
which <he chief object has been to unite under one
general system, and in conformity to the arrange-
ment he had already given in his Nosology, the vari-
ous branches of medical science, so that being con-
templated and studied under one point of view, they
might throw on each other a mutual and steady light.
Physiology, therefore. Pathology, Nosology, and
Therapeutics, which, when considered in detail, have
almost invariably been treated apart, are here blended
into one harmonious whole, and their junction has,
in this instance, formed, beyond all comparison, the
most complete and luminous outline of the science of
medicine which has yet been published. It is a
woric, in fact, which from the elegance of its compo-
sition, the wide range and intellectual cast of its illus-
trations, and the vast fund of its practical information,
will be alike valued by Uie man of letters, the philo-
sopher, and the medical practitioner.
Beside the Works which we have now enumerated.
Dr. €r6od has, at various times, throughout the course
of his literary and medical cajeer, amused himself .
and'the public by some beaatifol though anonymous
puMicationgin the departoent of Origin AL Poetry,
and which would unquestionably,^ were they col-
lected under his name, entitle him to an honourable
rank lUnongsl the bards of his native country.