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SY Satie
VOL. Le
| SHe Seuey Tevter.
course, charged with treason, those’being acts of trea-
son by law... They were all found guilty, and all put
todeath, . But, before Anne was executed, our friend,
“‘Trowas Cranmer, had another tough job to perform.
"The King, who never did things by halves, ordered,
as “head of the ehitrch,” the Archbishop to hold his
* spiritual court,” and to divorce him from Anne !|—
One would think it impossible that a man, any thing
bearing the name of a man, should have consented to
do sucha thing, should not have perished. before a
slow fire rather than do it. What! he had, we have
seen in paragraph 70, pronounced the marriage with
Anse“ to be lawful and had confirmed by his author-
ity, judicial, and pastoral which he derived from the
successors of the Apostles.”* How. was he now, then,
to annul this marriage? Ifew was he to declare it
unlawful ? . :
76. Ue cited the King and Queen to appear in his
court (OH! that court!) His citation stated, that
their marriage had been unlawful, that they were liv-
ing in adultery, and that, for the “salvation of . their
souls,” they should come and show cause why they
should not be separated. They were just going to
be separated most effectually ;:for this was on. the
47th of May,and Anzfe, who had been condemned to
death on the 15th, was to be and was executed onthe
19th !\ They both obeyed his citation, and appeared
before him by their proctors; and, after having heard
these, Cranmer, who, observe, afterwards drew up
the Book of Common Prayer, wound up the blasphe-
anous farce by pronouncing, “in the name of Christ,
and for the honour of God,” that the marriage “was
and always had been null and void”. Good God !—
_ But we must not give way to exclamations, or they will
interrupt us at every step. ‘Thus was the daughter,
Evizasetn, bastardized by the decision of the very
man who had not only pronounced her mother’s mar-
riage lawful, but who had been the contriver of. that
marriage |! Aad yet Burner has the impudence tosay,
that Cranmer “appears to have done every thing
witha good conscience!” Yes, with. such another
conscience as Burner did the deeds by which he got
"into the’ Bishoprick of Salisbury, at the time of “ Old
Glorious,” which, as we shall see, was by no means
disconnected with the “ Reformation.” 9.0,
77. On the 19th Anne was beheaded in the Tower,
put into an elm-coflin, and buricd' there, “At the
place of exceution she did not pretend that she was
dnnocent ; and there appears to me to be very. little
doubt of her having done some at least of the things
imputed.to her: , but, if her marriage with the King
had “always been null and void /” that is to say, if
she had never been married to him, how could she by
er commerce with other men, have been guilty of
treason? On the 15th, she is condemned as the wife
of the King, on’ the 27th she is pronounced never to
have been his wife, and, oh the 19th, she is executed
for having been his unfaithful wife! However, as to
‘the effect which this event has upon the character of
the “Rerorsarion,” it signifies not a straw whether
- she were guilty or innocent of the crimes now laid to
lier charge; for, if she were innocent, how are we to
adlescribe the monsters who brought her to the block?
How are we to describe that “ Head of the Charch”
aad that Archbishop, who had. now management of
the religious affairs of England? It is said, that |J°Y
the evening, before ler execution, she begged the
lady of the lieutenant of the ‘Tower to go to’ the
Princess Mary, and to beg her to pardon her for the
many wrongs she had donc her. *; ‘There were others
to whom she had done wrongs. She had been the
cause, and the guilty cause, of breaking the heart of
the rightful Queen; she had caused’ the blood of
_ Moore and Fisuer to he shed; and she had been the
promoter of Cranmer, and his aider and abettor in all
those crafty: and pernicious councils, by acting upon
which an obstinate and hard-hearted king had plunged
the’ kingdom into confusion and blood. . The king, in
order to show his total disregard for-her, and, as it
were, to repay her for her conduct on the day of the
funeral of CATHERINE, dressed himself in white on the
day of her. execution; and, the very next day, was
aaarried to Jane Seymour, at Marevexn IAxt, in
Hanapshire. * \
». 78. Thus; then, my friends, we have seen, that the
thing called the “ RerormatTion” “ was engendered
in beastly Zust, and brought forthin hypocrisy and per-
fidy.” How it proceeded in devastating and in shed-
ding innocent blood we have yet to see. :
: ’ "Tobe continued.)
| SPRING.—ON FLOWERS,
L ‘ : :
re a —_ .
As the season is advancing when nature covers the
earth with beautiful flowers, and the vegetable world
worthy your insertion, and call to the minds of your
numerous readers, the benevolence of the Creator, so
beautifully expressed in the humble, vegetable tribe:
Cowper in his task says,
“ That there lives and works,
A soul in all things, and that soul is God.
The beauties of the wilderness are his,
‘That make'so gay the solitary place,
Where no eyes sees them."— '
Again— : : ,
a “ Nota flower ‘
But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain,
Of his unrivaled pencil. - He inspire:
Their balmy odours, and imparts their hues,
And bathes their tyes with nectar, and includes,
. In grains as countless as the sea-side sands,
The forms with which he sprinkles all the earth.
Happy who walks with him!”
It has heen observed, that “flowers are usually the
most ornamental part of vegetables, but the most fleet-
ing and transitory.”’ Pliny says, “Blossoms are the
joy of trees, in bearing which, they assume a new as-
pect, vying with each other in the luxuriance and va-
riety of their colours.” The beautiful fragrance of
flowers is proved by experiment to depend on a vola-
tile essential oil, in many cases obtainable by distilla-
tion, in others by infusion in spirits, or in expressed
oil, either of which. imbibe or dissolve it. | Flowers
do not give it out alike at all times, some have no
scent during the day, but become highly fragrant in
the evening. These enhance the luxury of the bright
moonlight nights of India. . They are clegantly term-
ed by Linnzxus, flores tristes, sad, or melancholy flow-
ers. Boccone is of opinion, that in many. plants, the
colour of the flowers is wholly owing to the colour of
the juices of the root. This he instances in the great-
er celandine, whose roots and flowers are of the same
yellow colour, ~The barberry in: like manner, has
both its roots and flowers yellow,
* Flowers were in great request at the entertainments
of the ancients, being provided by the master of the
feast, and brought in before the second course, or, as
some are of opinion, at the beginning of the entertain-
ment, They not only adorned their heads, necks,
and breasts, with flowers, but often bestrewed the
beds whereon they lay, and all parts of the room with
them : but the head was chiefly regarded. See Pott’s
Grecian Antiquities, In modern days, flowers con-
stitute the ornaments of tables, (natural and artificial,)
and in the winter we have. the resemblance of these
beauties of nature, formed from carrots, turnips, &c.
The ancients likewise used them in the bedecking of
tombs. (At the present period we plant ‘near the
tomb the weeping-willow, and the mournful yew.)—
3
“ AMlicted Israel shall sit weeping down,
Their harps upon the ncighb'ring willows hung,
No joyous hymn encouraging their tongue.”
Mrs. Barbauld justly observes, with regard to flowers,
? ‘3
“They spring to cheer and glad the human heart.” ,
And one may say with Elphinston,—
“Now ev'ry field, now ev'ry tree is green,
Now genial nature's fairest face is seen.”
“The spring,” says Dr. Johnson, “ affords to a
mind, so free from the disturbance of cares or passions,
as to be vacant to calm amusements, almost every
thing that our present’ state makes us capable of en-
joying. The vane-galed. verdure of the fields and
woods, the succession of grateful odours, the voice of
pleasure pouring out its notes on every side, with the
gladness apparently conceived by every animal, from
the growth of his food, and the clemency ef the wea-
ther, throw over the earth an air of gaiety, significant-
ly expressed by the smile of nature-; and that the yer-
nal flowers, however beautiful and gay, are only in
tended by nature as preparatiyes to autumnal fruits.”
Awriter in the London Universal Magazine, between
the years 1785, and 1792, (on flowers,) observes,
“ They are reserved, as the sweetest charm of life, for
those superior minds that are fond to improve and per-
fect the habits of virtue, by theconstant pursuit and ac-
quisition ' of: intellectual and. moral excellence.”—
gain—* I have ever considered flowers as the pride
and glory of the creation, and the most beautiful dis-
play of omnipotent power in the vegetable kingdom,
With the poets too, as the lovely attendants of spring,
they are inexhaustible ‘sources of decorations ; not
only their ‘favourite scenes, but the incidents: which
they are most fond to embellishy are enriched : with
flowers: ‘Thus Virgil makes the swain invite Galatea
to the spot, where spring strews the river bank with
flowers. Homer, to adorn the bed of Jupiter, makes
the earth pour from her bosom unbidden herbs and vo-
luntary flowers.* _ Milton, ina fine imitation of that
passage, employs the iris, jessamine, and rose, the vi-
olet, hyacinth, and ¢rocus, to beautify the blissful bow-
clusion of the seasons, invites the flowery race to join
in the general chorus of praise to the great Creator :—
“ Soft roll your incense, herbs, and fruits and flowers,
‘In mingled clouds to him, whose sun exalts,
Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints.’+;
The attentive observer will perceive, that every
plant upon earth appears inits appointed order; The
,| God of seasons, the God of beauty and excellence, hath.
exactly determined the time when this flower shall ‘
unfold its leaves, that spread its glowing beauties to
the sun, and a third hang down its drooping head, and,
withered, ‘resign its sunny robes.’—These beautcous
children of nature do not appear all at once, but inthe
most enchanting regularity of succession. Each
month displays the beautics peculiar to itself. Soon
succeeds the tulip, the transient glory of the garden ;
the anemone, encircled at the bottom with a spread-
ing dome, and the ranunculus, which displays all the
brilliant assemblage of colours, What an inexhaustible
source of grateful admiration does this regular succes~
sion of flowers present! What manifest displays o
divine wisdom and ever-active goodness! ‘The divine
goodness is indeed apparent, in having diversified the *
vegetable kingdom in such a delightful manner, for
the colours of plants are so wonderfully diversified, '
and so constantly meet the eye, wherever itis directed
to the face of nature, that: they contribute more than
any other quality to the beauty ‘of the creation.”—
Nature’s carpet is so beautifully decorated,
“Tbatwhere’eryou tread, the Dlushing flowr's shal! rise.” —PorE.
Ishall conclude this flowery subject. with'an extract
from Dr. 'T. Byfield’s “Account of the. Balsamick
Wells at Ifoxdon,” published 1687.—He says “God,
the original founder of all beings, hath implanted inv
the_ superficies of the earth, that great variety ofve-
getable seeds, which propagate themselves in their
species: so that every vegetable at its proper season;
by the instigation ofthe heavenly influences, | setting
at work its seminals, and by stirring up its isnate power, .
begins to shape itself a body according to the laws of *
creation, every plant of its kind, till they have made
up that wonderful variety which so richly adorns the
earth.” . Pp,
. ee
The Hernhooter—A striking instance of honesty.
Tn the Jast German war, a captain of cavalry was
appointed to procure forage: he accordingly ‘went at °
the head of his troop to a solitary valley, in which tho °
eye perceived nothing but clusters of trees, At last
the officer discovered a cottage, and knocking at thé
door, it was opened by an old Hfernhooter, with awhite .
beard.“ Fatber,” said the captain “show me a field
where we can procure forage.” “I willy” replied the
old man, He then put himself at their head, and led
them out of the valley. After riding about a quarter
of an hour, they arrived ata fine field of barley.—
“Stop,” said the officer to his guide, “ thisis what we.
want.” Waita little,” replied the old man, and you
shall be satisfied.” * They continued their progress,
and atashort distance they found another field of tho
same graia: when the barley was cut, and they had
mounted their horses, the Captain said to his “guide,
“Father, you have brought usa great way iinnecessa- *
rily ; the first field was better than this,” « True,”
replied hes “ but that field does not belong to. me.”
Gratitude to Heaven—At a late meeting of the
fraternity of Ranters, at Shotley Bridge, their preach-
er, after descanting some time'on the superiority of
the brute creation over man, on jhe score of gratitude
clinched his argument with the following happy illus-
tration :—* Tf you look to the hens, they never so,
much as taste a drink of water without ‘raising their ©
bills to heaven, in token of ‘gratitude j” and then ad,
ded, in a truly ranting strains “Oh! that we’ were
all hens!”—To which .one of the truly edified congrc-
gation loudly, responded—* Amen !?? er
' Magisterial Wisdom.—In acertain Royal-burgh,
not a hundred miles from the Scottish metropolis a
medical officer recently waited on one of the Bail- ,
ies to make the requisite aftidavit forhim to receive
his half pay. On that occasion, the following dia..
logue ensued :—Bailie,—* Weel Mr. , are
you no tired 0? this kindo’ life?” Officer~very
tired, Bailie indeed, I am anxious to procure pro-. :
fessional employment, but it is not casily obtained:
at present: Bailie—‘ No, no casy to be had, 1- *
are say; but could ye no? gang ‘oot to. Van De-
man’s Land; pleaty:‘o setiters there noo.” “ O,
plenty of scttlers Bailie but greater plenty of med-
ical men; the towns are overrun with them?
Bailie—* Weel, weel man; but can ye no gang
uptheinterior?” ©, 'Pheiuterior. Bailie 2why
fy
er of Evet; ‘Phomsou, in his noble hymn, at the coa-
4s arrayed in its choicest robes, the following may be
* Riad, book xiv. 7 t Paradise Lost, book iv.
there is nothing in the interior but Kanguroos,
Bailic—“And what o? that? Is not Kanguroos
mgacy justas guid gs that o” oay ither men’s,”
magnificence of foliage, and charms the eye with such ©
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