allied by blood both with the crown and with the most powerful men of the day. He studied at Aix-la-Chapelle and at Oxford, and appears to have been well versed in the civil and canon laws. In 1397, and therefore immediately after his legitimization, he was intruded by Pope Boniface IX. into the bishopric of Lincoln, and the new prelate appears to have been in favour with Richard II., for he accompanied that prince in his last expedition into Ireland, and was with him on his return when he met Beaufort's half-brother, Henry of Lancaster, and became his prisoner.

No doubt Bishop Beaufort stood high in the favour of his brother when the latter ascended the throne. On the death of William of Wickham, in 1405, he was translated from the see of Lincoln to that of Winchester, which he continued to hold during the rest of his life. It is recorded of him, that when Henry V., obliged to obtain large sums for his wars, meditated a heavy taxation of the ecclesiastical body, the Bishop of Winchester did not oppose his nephew's demand, but he bought off the danger by lending the king, out of his own great wealth, the sum of twenty thousand-pounds. That his power in England was great, and that he was not unpopular, was proved by the circumstance that on the death of Henry V. he was chosen by the Parliament to be, with the Earl of Warwick, guardian of the infant prince, who had now become Henry VI. He seems to have taken an active part in the government from the first, but he differed in many of his views from the Duke of Gloucester, and the disagreement rose to such a height that the bishop wrote to the Duke of Bedford to call him from France to interfere, and his presence alone effected a reconciliation. Nor was this reconciliation easy, for though the regent Bedford arrived in London on the 10th of January, private negotiations produced so little effect that, after several months' discussion, it was found necessary to submit the matter to a parliament, the members of which were forbidden to appear in arms, lest it might end in a fight. The twentieone of February,' says Stow, began a great councell at St Albans, which was afterwarde rejorned to Northampton, but, for that no due conclusion might be made, on the 15 of March was called a parliament at Leicester, the which endured till the 25 day of June. This was called the parliament of battes, because men being forbidden to bring swords or other weapons, brought great battes and staves on their neckes, and when those weapons were inhibited them, they took stones and plomets of lead. During this parliament, the variance betwixt the two lords was debated, insomuch that the Duke of Gloucester put a bill of complaint against the byshop, containing sixe articles, all which articles were by the bishop sufficiently answered; and finally, by the counsel of the lord regent, all the matters of variance betweene the sayde two lords were put to the examination and judgement of certain lords of the parliament.' The bishop, however, seems not to have been fully satisfied, for soon afterwards he resigned his office of Lord Chancellor.

Immediately after this reconciliation, on the 23rd of June 1426, Bishop Beaufort's ambition

498

HOCK-TIDE.

was gratified by his election at Rome to the dignity of a cardinal (of St Eusebius), and on the Duke of Bedford's return to France in the February of the following year he accompanied him to Calais to receive there the cardinal's hat. In the autumn of 1429, Cardinal Beaufort was appointed by the Pope the papal legate in the army which he was sending against the Bohemian heretics, who at the same time enjoined him to bring with him out of England a body of soldiers to assist in the expedition, for the raising of which he authorised him to levy a tax of onetenth on the incomes of the spirituality in England. Cardinal Beaufort raised the money, collected upwards of four thousand English soldiers, and was on his way to the Continent, when he received a message from the Regent Bedford, earnestly requesting him to carry him whatever troops he could to reinforce him in Paris. The cardinal's patriotism overcame his devotion to the Pope, and he proceeded with his soldiers to Paris, where he was gladly received, but, after remaining no long while there, the cardinal continued his journey to Bohemia. He soon, however, returned thence to England, having, as far as is known, performed no act worth recording.

Cardinal Beaufort continued to take an active part in political affairs, and he appears to have been generally considered as a friend to reforms. He was popular, because he seems to have steadily supported the French policy of Henry V., and to have been opposed to all concessions to the enemy. The remarkable political poem entitled the Libel of English Policy, written in the year 1436, was dedicated to him. Yet he acted in concert with the Duke of Suffolk in concluding the truce of 1444, and in bringing about the marriage of the young King of England with Margaret of Anjou, which was the fertile source of so many troubles in England. From this time the cardinal's political party became identified with Suffolk's party, that is, with the party of the queen. Beaufort was himself perhaps falling into dotage, for he was an octogenarian, and he did not long survive this event, for he died in his episcopal palace of Walvesey, on the 11th of April 1417. He had ruled the see of Winchester during the long period of nearly forty-three years. Cardinal Beaufort was usually considered to be a selfish, hard, and unfeeling man, yet it must be remembered to his credit that, when Joan d'Arc was brought into the market-place of Rouen for execution, Beaufort, who sat on a scaffold with the prelates of France, rose from his seat in tears, and set the example to the other bishops of leaving the place. He was certainly ambitious, for at the advanced age of eighty he still cherished the hope of securing his election to the papacy.

now

HOCK-TIDE.

A fortnight after Easter our forefathers celebrated a popular anniversary, the origin and meaning of which has been the subject of some dispute. It was called Hoke-tide, or Hock-tide, and occupied two days, the Monday and Tuesday following the second Sunday after Easter, though

the Tuesday was considered the principal day. On this day it was the custom for the women to go out into the streets and roads with cords, and stop and bind all those of the other sex they met, holding them till they purchased their release by a small contribution of money. On the Monday, the men had proceeded in the same way towards the women. The meaning of the word hoke, or hock, seems to be totally unknown, and none of the derivations yet proposed seem to be deserving of our consideration. The custom may be traced, by its name at least, as far back as the thirteenth century, and appears to have prevailed in all parts of England, but it became obsolete early in the last century. At Coventry, which was a great place for pageantry, there was a play or pageant attached to the ceremony, which, under the title of 'The old Coventry play of Hock Tuesday,' was performed before Queen Elizabeth during her visit to Kenilworth, in July 1575. It represented a series of combats between the English and Danish forces, in which twice the Danes had the better, but at last, by the arrival of the Saxon women to assist their countrymen, the Danes were overcome, and many of them were led captive in triumph by the women. Queen Elizabeth laughed well' at this play, and is said to have been so much pleased with it, that she gave the actors two bucks and five marks in money. The usual performance of this play had been suppressed in Coventry soon after the Reformation, on account of the scenes of riot which it occasioned.

It will be seen that this Coventry play was founded on the statement which had found a place in some of our chroniclers as far back as the fourteenth century, that these games of Hock-tide were intended to commemorate the massacre of the Danes on St Brice's day, 1002; while others, alleging the fact that St Brice's day is the 13th of November, suppose it to commemorate the rejoicings which followed the death of Hardicanute, and the accession of Edward the Confessor, when the country was delivered from Danish tyranny. Others, however, and probably with more reason, think that these are both erroneous explanations; and this opinion is strongly supported by the fact that Hock Tuesday is not a fixed day, but a moveable festival, and dependent on the great AngloSaxon pagan festival of Easter, like the similar ceremony of heaving, still practised on the borders of Wales on Easter Monday and Tuesday. Such old pagan ceremonies were preserved among the Anglo-Saxons long after they became Christians, but their real meaning was gradually forgotten, and stories and legends, like this of the Danes, afterwards invented to explain them. It may also be regarded as a confirmation of the belief, that this festival is the representation of some feast connected with the pagan superstitions of our Saxon forefathers, that the money which was collected was given to the church, and was usually applied to the reparation of the church buildings. We can hardly understand why a collection of money should be thus made in commemoration of the overthrow of the Danish influence, but we can easily imagine how, when the festival was continued

6

LUCIUS ANNEUS SENECA.

The

by the Saxons as Christians, what had been an offering to some one of the pagan gods might be turned into an offering to the church. entries on this subject in the old churchwardens' registers of many of our parishes, not only shew how generally the custom prevailed, but to what an extent the middle classes of society took part in it. In Reading these entries go back to a rather remote date, and mention collections by men as well as women while they seem to shew that there the women, hocked,' as the phrase was, on the Monday, and the men on the Tuesday. In the registers of the parish of St Laurence, under the year 1499, we have

'Hoc money gatheryd by the wyves (women), xiijs. ixd.'

And, in St Mary's parish, under the year 1559—
Hoctyde money, the mens gatheryng, iiijs.
The womens, xijs.'

Out of this money, it would appear that the wyves,' who always gained most, were in Reading treated with a supper, for we find in the churchwardens' accounts of St Giles's parish, under the year 1526, this entry-

Born.-Edward Bird, eminent 'genre' painter, 1772,

Wolverhampton; Henry Clay, American statesman, 1777;

John George, Earl of Durham, statesman, 1792, Durham.

Died.-Seneca, Roman philosopher, ordered to death by Nero, 65, Rome; Jacques-Benique Bossuet, Bishop of Condom, orator, philosopher, and historian, 1704, Meaux; Dr George Cheyne, eminent physician, 1742, Bath; William Kent, painter, sculptor, and architect, 1748, Burlington House, Chiswick; Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet, 1782, Vienna; Dr Edward Young, poet, 1765, Welwyn.

LUCIUS ANN.EUS SENECA.

Lucius Annæus Seneca, the Roman philosopher, was born B.c. 6. His life may be considered as an ineffectual protest against the corruption of his time. At length the tyranny and excesses of the emperors were indulged in unchecked, where only a few opposed what the majority were not sorry to reap the fruits of.

Seneca was educated in all that was to be

learned, and became a pleader at the bar. This vocation he had to abandon through the jealousy of Caligula, who deemed himself an able orator. Nevertheless, the emperor took occasion to banish him to Corsica; where he remained, till recalled by Agrippina to educate her son Nero. After being Nero's tutor, he became his minister, and endeavoured to restrain his excesses. Suspecting danger, he asked to be allowed to surrender to his master all his wealth, and to go into studious retirement. But the tyrant refused this request; and taking hold of the first pretext, ordered him to put an end to himself. This he did like a philosopher, before his wife and friends. First his veins were opened. Then he took a draught of poison. But still dying slowly, he was put into a warm bath; and at last, it is said, suffocated in a stove.

-a

His manner of life was abstemious and noble. His philosophy was somewhat eclectic fusion of all the existing systems, though the stoical predominated. His style was somewhat florid and ostentatious, yet both the style and the philosophy are frequently admirable, and often filled with such a spirit as we are apt to think Christianity alone has inculcated.

We subjoin, in illustration, an extract from his essay On Anger, which is a fair specimen of this spirit: Verily, what reason is there for hating those who fall into the hands of the law? or into sins of any kind? It is not the mark of a wise man to hate those that err: indeed, if he does, he himself should hate himself. Let him think how much of what he does is base, how many of his actions call for pardon. Will he hate himself then? Yet a just judge does not give one decision in his own case, another in a stranger's. No one is found who can absolve himself. Whoever says he is innocent, looks at the proof rather than his conscience. How much more human is it to shew a mild, kind spirit to those who do wrong; not to drive them headlong, but to draw them back! If a man wander out of his path through ignorance of the country, it is better to set him right again, than to urge him on further.' (Seneca, De Ira, i. 14.)

DR GEORGE CHEYNE.

Dr George Cheyne, a physician of considerable eminence in his day, was born in Aberdeenshire, and educated at Edinburgh under the celebrated Doctor Pitcairne. After a youth passed in severe study and prudent abstinence, Cheyne came to London, with the determination of entering on practice. On his first arrival, being a stranger, and having to make friends, he was compelled to conform to the general style of life, which was to be described as free. The consequence of the sudden change from abstemiousness to epicurean indulgence, was, that Cheyne increased daily in bulk, swelling to such an enormous size, that he weighed no less than thirty-two stones; and was compelled to have the whole side of his carriage made open to receive him. With this increase of size came its natural concomitants, shortness of breath, habitual lethargy, and a crowd of nervous and scorbutic symptoms. In this deplorable condition, having vainly exhausted the powers of medicine, he determined to try a milk

WILLIAM KENT.

and vegetable diet, the good effects of which speedily appeared. His size was reduced almost to a third; and he recovered his strength, activity, and cheerfulness, with the perfect use of all his faculties. And by a regular adherence to a milk and vegetable regimen, he lived to a good age, dying at Bath in his seventy-second year. He wrote several works that were well received by the medical and scientific world, two of whichAn Essay on Health and Long Life, and The English Malady, or a Treatise of Nervous Diseases, contained the results of his own experience, and, as may be supposed, met with considerable ridicule from the free-living doctors and critics of the day. On the publication of the first work, Winter, a well-known physician of the period, addressed the following epigram to Cheyne:

'Tell me from whom, fat-headed Scot,
Thou didst thy system learn;
From Hippocrate thou hadst it not,
Nor Celsus, nor Pitcairne.
Suppose we own that milk is good,
And say the same of grass;
The one for babes is only food,
The other for an ass.

Doctor! one new prescription try,
(A friend's advice forgive ;)
Eat grass, reduce thyself, and die,
Thy patients then may live.'

To which Cheyne made the following reply:

My system, doctor, is my own,

No tutor I pretend;

My blunders hurt myself alone,
But yours your dearest friend.

Were you to milk and straw confined,
Thrice happy might you be;
Perhaps you might regain your mind,
And from your wit get free.

I can't your kind prescription try,
But heartily forgive;

"Tis natural you should wish me die,
That you yourself may live.'

KENT AND HIS ST CLEMENT'S ALTAR-PIECE.

William Kent was a distinguished mediocrity in a mediocre time. The favour of the Earl of Burlington and some other men of rank, enabled him, without genius or acquired skill, to realize good returns, first for pictures, afterwards as an architect. It is fully admitted that he was deficient in all the qualities of the artist, that his portraits were without likeness, his ceilings and staircases coarse caricatures of Olympus-that he was, in short, wholly a bad artist. And yet, in a worldly point of view, Kent, to the discredit of the age, was anything but a failure.

Amongst a few pictures which Kent had interest to get bought and introduced into London churches, was one which the vestry of St Clement's in the Strand-Johnson's churchhad unhappily placed above their communiontable. It was such a muddle, in point of both design and execution, that nobody could pretend to say what was the meaning of it. The wags, at length getting scent of it, began to lay bets as to what it was all about; some professing to believe one thing and some another. The Bishop of London became so scandalised at what was

Cecilia, as the connoisseurs think, but a choir of angels playing in concert.' The other explanations betray the fine secretive humour of Hogarth: 'A, an organ; B, an angel playing on it. C, the shortest joint of the arm; D, the longest joint. E, an angel tuning a harp; F, the inside of his

leg, but whether right or left is not yet discovered. G, a hand playing on a lute; H, the other leg, judiciously omitted to make room for the harp. J and K, smaller angels, as appears from their wings.'

Kent must have writhed under this play upon

his precious work; but the sixty pounds secured in his pocket would doubtless be a sort of consolation.

YOUNG'S NARCISSA.

The Third Night' of Young's Complaint is entitled Narcissa,' from its being dedicated to the sad history of the early death of a beautiful lady, thus poetically designated by the author. Whatever doubts may exist with respect to the reality or personal identity of the other characters noticed in the Night Thoughts, there can be none whatever as regards Narcissa. She was the daughter of Young's wife by her first husband, Colonel Lee. When scarcely seventeen years of age, she was married to Mr Henry Temple, son of the then Lord Palmerston. Soon afterwards being attacked by consumption, she was taken by Young to the south of France in hopes of a change for the better; but she died there about a year after her marriage, and Dr Johnson, in his Lives of the Poets, tells us that her funeral was attended with the difficulties painted in such animated colours in Night the Third.' Young's words in relation to the burial of Narcissa, eliminating, for brevity's sake, some extraneous and redundant lines, are as follows:

'While nature melted, superstition raved;

That mourned the dead; and this denied a grave.
For oh! the curst ungodliness of zeal!
While sinful flesh relented, spirit nursed
In blind infallibility's embrace,

Denied the charity of dust to spread
O'er dust! a charity their dogs enjoy.

What could I do? What succour? What re-
source?

With pious sacrilege a grave I stole ;
With impious piety that grave I wronged;
Short in my duty; coward in my grief!
More like her murderer than friend, I crept
With soft suspended step, and muffled deep
In midnight darkness, whispered my last sigh.
I whispered what should echo through their
realms,

Nor writ her name, whose tomb should pierce the

skies.'

YOUNG'S NARCISSA.

daughter; on hearing this, he (the gate-keeper), being a father himself, consented. Accordingly, the Englishman brought the dead body on his shoulders, his eyes 'raining' tears, to the garden at midnight, and he there and then buried the French artist of celebrity; and there cannot be corpse. The dismal scene has been painted by a many persons who have not seen the engravings Montpellier. About the time this confession was from that picture, which are sold as souvenirs of made, Professor Gouan, an eminent botanist, was writing a work on the plants in the garden, into which he introduced the above story, thus giving it a sort of scientific authority; and consequently the grave of Narcissa became one of the treasures Montpellier. A writer in the Evangelical Maga of the garden, and one of the leading lions of zine of 1797 gives an account of a visit to the garden, and a conversation with one Bannal, who had succeeded Mercier in his office, and who had often heard the sad story of the burial of Narcissa from Mercier's lips. Subsequently, Talma, the tragedian, was so profoundly impressed with the story, that he commenced a subscription to erect a magnificent tomb to the memory of the unfortunate Narcissa; but as the days of bigotry in matters of sepulture had nearly passed away, it was thought better to erect a simple monument, inscribed, as we learn from Murray's Handbook, with the words:

'PLACANDIS NARCISSE MANIBUS.'

The Handbook adding, 'She was buried here at a time when the atrocious laws which accompanied the Revocation of Nantes, backed by the superstition of a fanatic populace, denied Christian burial to Protestants."

Strange to say, this striking story is almost wholly devoid of truth. Narcissa never was at Montpellier; she died and was buried at Lyons. That she died at Lyons, we know from Mr Herbert Crofts's account of Young, published by Dr Johnson; that she was buried there, we know by her burial registry and her tombstone, both of which are yet in existence. And by these we also learn that Young's animated' account of her funeral in the Night Thoughts is simply untrue. She was not denied a grave:

'Denied the charity of dust to spread

O'er dust;'

nor did he steal a grave, as he asserts, but bought and paid for it. Her name was not left unwrit, as her tombstone still testifies.