OLDEST CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. The oldest Church in America is one in the State of Vir ginia, and built of timber imported from England during the reign of Charles I. HOPE. The Rev. R. A Willmott, in his agreeable and tasteful little volume, A Journal of Summer Time in the Country, speaking of Prior, says: His Solomon, though rough and deficient in variety of interest, is sown with thoughts and images of pensive grace that dwell in the memory:— Vex'd with the present moment's heavy gloom, For hope is but the dream of those that wake. "The last line," adds Mr. Willmott, "is scarcely excelled by Pope's description of Faith, our early immortality."" Dr. Johnson observed of Prior that "his stories, and even his points, may be traced," and the line here quoted with just admiration of its beauty by Mr. Willmott, furnishes a remarkable instance in point. The sentiment occurs in that very beautiful letter of Basil (Bishop of Cæsarea about 370 A.D.) to his friend Gregory of Nazianzum, which is quoted and accompanied with some judicious and admirable observations, in the Cosmos of A. Von Humboldt (Sabine's Translation, vol. ii. p. 26): For the hopes of men have been justly called waking dreams. The simile appears here not to have been original with Basil, but its beauty did not escape his poetical tone of mind. Now Basil was one of the Greek Fathers, and we may expect to find it, if anywhere, in a Greek classic. Accordingly we do find it as one of the profound and admirable sayings attributed to Aristotle, in the Life of Aristotle, by Diogenes Laertius. On one occasion the question was put to him, what hope is? and his answer was, "The dream of a waking man." An English translation of this work was published in 1696, and whence Prior probably took it, for he is said to have been a reader of various literature, and not particular in acknowledging his sources. PENNY SIGHTS .IN THE REIGN OF JAMES I. The following curious list is to be found among the host of panegyrical verses prefixed to Master Tom Coryate's Crudities, published in 1611. Even in those days it will be admitted that the English were rather fond of such things, and glorious Will himself bears testimony to the fact (See Tempest, Act II. Sc. 2). The hexameter verses are anonymous. Drake's ship was broken up, and a chair made from the wood, which is now to be seen at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Why doe the rude vulgar so hastily post in a madnesse To gaze at trifles, and toyes not worthy the viewing? And thinke them happy, when may be shew'd for a penny That horne of Windsor (of an Unicorne very likely), The cave of Merlin, the skirts of Old Tom a Lincolne, King John's sword at Linne, with the cup the Fraternity drinke in, The tombe of Beauchampe, and sword of Sir Guy a Warwicke, The great long Dutchman, and roaring Marget a Barwicke, *An East Indian bird at Saint James, in the keeping of Mr. Walker, that will carry no coales, but eate them as whot as you will. The Beaver i' the Parke (strange Beast as e'er any man saw), In explanation of the last line, Tom went no less than nine hundred miles on one pair of soles, and on his return he hung up these remarkable shoes for a memorial in Odcombe Church, Somersetshire, where they remained till 1702. Another "penny" sight was a trip to the top of St. Paul's. (See Dekker's Gul's Horne Book, 1609.) SIGNS. The Romans had signs; and at Pompeii a pig over the door represents a wine-shop within. The Middle Ages adopted a bush. "Good wine needs no bush," &c., answering to the gilded grapes at a modern vintner's. The bush is still a common sign. At Charles I.'s death, a cavalier landlord painted his bush black. Then came the modern square sign, formerly common to all trades. Old signs are generally heraldric, and represent royal bearings, or the blazonings of great families. The White Hart was peculiar to Richard II.; the White Swan of Henry IV. and Edward III.; the Blue Boar of Richard III.; the Red Dragon came in with the Tudors, and also the Rose and Fleur de Lys; the Bull, the Falcon, and Plume of Feathers commemorated Edward IV.; the Swan and Antelope were the Arms of Henry V.; the Greyhound and Green Dragon, of Henry VII.; the Castle, the Spread Eagle, and the Globe (Alphonso's), were probably adopted from the arms of Spain, Germany, and Portugal, by inns which were the resort of merchants from those countries. Then we have the Bear and Ragged Staff of Leicester, &c. Monograms are common; as Bolt and Tun for Bolton; Hare and Tun for Harrington. The Three Suns is the favorite bearing of Edward IV.; and all Roses, white or red (as at Tewkesbury), are indications of political predilection. Other signs commemorate historical events; as the Bull and Mouth, Bull and Gate (the Boulogne engagement in Henry VIII.'s time, and alluded to by Shakspeare). The Pilgrim, Cross Keys, Salutation, Catharine Wheel, Angel, Three Kings, Seven Stars, St. Francis, &c., are mediæval signs. Many are curiously corrupted; as the Cœur Doré (Golden Heart) to the Queer Door; Bacchanals (the Bag of Nails); Pig and Whistle (Peg and Wassail Bowl); the Swan and Two Necks (literally Two Nicks); Goat and Compasses (God encompasseth us); the Bell Savage (La Belle Sauvage, or Isabel Savage); the Goat in the Golden Boots (from the Dutch, Goed in der Gooden Boote), Mercury, or the God in the Golden Boots; the Cat and Fiddle (the Caton Fidele). The Swan with Two Nicks represented the Thames Swans, so marked on their bills under the "Conservatory" of the Goldsmiths' Company. The Coach and Horses remind us of the times when the Superior Inns were the only posting-houses, in distinction to such as bore the sign of the Pack-horse. The Fox and Goose denoted the games played within; the Country Inn, the Hare and Hounds, the vicinity of a sporting Squire. The Puritans altered many of the monastic signs; as the Angel and Lady, to the Soldier and Citizen. In signs we may read every phase of ministerial popu larity, and all the ebbs and flows of war in the Sir Home Popham, Rodney, Shovel, Duke of York, Wellington's Head, &c. At Chelsea, a sign called the "Snow Shoes," still indicates the excitement of the American war. A century ago, when the houses in streets were unnumbered, they were distinguished by sign-boards. The chemist had the dragon (some astrological device); the pawnbroker the three golden pills, the arms of the Medici and Lombardy, as the descendant of the ancient bankers of England; the barber-chirurgeon the pole for the wig, and the parti-colored ribands to bind up the patient's wounds after blood-letting; the haberdasher and wool-draper the golden fleece; the tobacconist the snuff-taking Highlander; the vintner the bunch of grapes and ivy-bush; and the Church and State bookseller the Bible and crown. The Crusaders brought in the signs of the Saracen's Head, the Turk's Head, and the Golden Cross. Near the church were found the Lamb and Flag, the Bell, the Cock of St. Peter, the Maiden's Head, and the Salutation of St. Mary. KHOND FABLE. The following is a free version of a fable current among the Khonds of Oriosa, of whom a very interesting account is given by Captain Macpherson in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1852: A mosquito was seated on the horn of a bull, and fearing that his weight might be oppressive to the quadruped, he politely accosted him, begging that, if he felt any inconvenience, he would mention it, and professing himself ready, in that case, to remove to some other position. The bull replied, “O mosquito, so far are you from oppressing me with your weight, that I was not even aware of your existence." This fable is clearly from Lokman, of which the following is Hélot's translation: ne moustique se posa un jour sur la corne d'un taureau, et, pensant qu'elle pouvait être trop lourde pour lui, elle lui dit: "Si je te suis à charge, fais-le-moi savoir afin que je m'envolé." Le taureau lui réspondit: "Je ne t'ai point sentie au moment où tu es descendue, je ne saurai pas davantage quand |