St. Simon and St. Jude.

A festival to these apostles is maintained on this day in the church of England, whereon also it is celebrated by the church of Rome; hence their names in our almanacs.

Simon is called the Canaanite, either from Cana the place of his birth, or from his having been of a hot and sprightly temper. He remained with the other apostles till after pentecost, and is imagined on slight grounds to have preached in Britain, and there been put to death. Jude, or Judas, also called Thaddeus and Libbius, was brother to James the brother to Christ, (Matt. xiii. 55.) Lardner imagines he was the son of Joseph by a former wife. Some presume that he suffered martyrdom in Persia, but this is doubtful.*

as St. Swithin's. A character in the "Roaring Girl," one of Dodsley's old plays, says, “as well as I know 'twill rain upon Simon and Jude's day :" and afterwards, "now a continual Simon and Jude's rain beat all your feathers as flat down as pancakes." Hollinshed notices that on the eve of this day in 1536, when a battle was to have been fought between the troops of Henry VIII., and the insurgents in Yorkshire, there fell so great a rain that it could not take place. In the Runic calendar, the day is marked by a ship because these saints were fishermen.

St. Narcissus, Bp. of Jerusalem, 24 Cent. St. Chef, in latin Theuderius, Abbot, A. D. 575.

New Literary Institution, in 1825.

At this period, active measures were adopted in London for forming a " Western Literary and Scientific Institution," for persons engaged in commercial and professional pursuits; its objects being

1. The establishment of a library of re

ference and circulation, and rooms for reading and conversation. 2. The formation of the members into classes, to assist them in the acquisition of ancient and modern languages. 3. The delivery of lectures in literature and science. This is an undertaking fraught with advantages, especially to young men whose situations do not permit them convenient access to means of instruction within the reach of their employers, many of whom may be likewise bettered by its maturity. The mechanics had an excellent "institution," while persons, who, engaged in promoting general business, and meriting equal regard, remained without the benefit which growing intelligence offers to all who have industry and inclination suffi cient to devise methods for reaching it. Other institutions have arisen, and are rapidly arising, for equally praiseworthy

the preacher's lips, and the big tear sprung from his eyes; and the partner of his long life leaned forward and wept; the bosoms of their daughters rose and fell in grief; matrons and virgins sobbed; manly hearts were swollen, and strong men were bowed.

After the sermon 66 sixty poor children of the precinct," for whose benefit it was preached-it was the last office that could be celebrated there in their behalf-sung a hymn to the magnificent organ, which, on the morrow, was to be pulled down. They choralled in tender tones

"Great God, O! hear our humble song,
An off'ring to thy praise,

O guard our tender youth from wrong,
And keep us in thy ways!"

These were the offspring of a neighbourhood of ill fame, whence, by liberal hands, they had been plucked and preserved as brands from the burning fire. It seemed as though they were about to be scattered from the fold wherein they had been folded and kept.

While the destruction of this edifice was contemplated, the purpose gave rise to remonstrance; but resistance was quelled by the applications, which are usually successful in such cases. "An Earnest Appeal to the Lords and Commons in Parliament, by a Clergyman," was ineffectually printed and circulated with the hope of preventing the act. This little tract says:

"The collegiate body to whom the church and precinct pertain, and who have not always been so insensible to the nobler principles they now abandon, owe their origin to Maud, wife of king Stephen-their present constitution to Eleanor, wife of king Henry III.-and their exemption from the general dissolution in the time of Henry VIII. to the attractions (it is said) of Anne Boleyn. The queens' consort have from the first been patronesses, and on a vacancy of the crown matrimonial, the kings of England. The fabric for which, in default of its retained advocates, I have ventured now to plead, is of the age of king Edward III., lofty and well-proportioned, rich in ancient carving, adorned with effigies of a Holland, a Stafford, a Montacute, all allied to the blood royal, and in spite of successive mutilations is well able to plead for itself: surely then, for its own sake, as well as for the general interests involved in its preservation, it is not too much to ask, that it may, at least, be confronted with

FLORAL DIRECTORY.

Mixen Agaric. Agaricus fimetarius. Dedicated to St. Marcellus.

October 31.

St. Quintin, A. D. 287. St. Wolfgang, Bp. of Ratisbon, A. D. 994. St. Foillun, A. D. 655.

ALLHALLOW EVEN;

or,

HALLOW E'EN.

Respecting this, which is the vigil of All Saints-day, Mr. Brand has collected many notices of customs; to him therefore we are indebted for the following particulars :—

On this night young people in the north of England dive for apples, or catch at them, when stuck upon one end of a kind of hanging beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed a lighted candle. This they do with their mouths only, their hands being tied behind their backs. From the custom of flinging nuts into the fire, or cracking them with their teeth, it has likewise obtained the name of nutcrack night. In an ancient illuminated missal in Mr. Douce's collection, a person is represented balancing himself upon a pole laid across two stools; at the end of the pole is a lighted candle, from which he is endeavouring to light another in his hand, at the risk of tumbling into a tub of water placed under him. A writer, about a century ago, says, "This is the last day of October, and the birth of this packet is partly owing to the affair of this night. I am alone; but the servants having demanded apples, ale, and nuts, I took the opportunity of running back my own annals of Allhallows Eve; for you are to know, my lord, that I have been & mere adept, a most famous artist, both is the college and country, on occasion of this anile, chimerical solemnity."

番

Life of Harvey, the conjuror, 8vo., 1728,

Pennant says, that the young women in Scotland determine the figure and size of their husbands by drawing cabbages blind-fold on Allhallow Even, and, like the English, fling nuts into the fire. It is mentioned by Burns, in a note to his poem on "Hallow E'en," that "The first ceremony of Hallow E'en is pulling each a stock or plant of kail. They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with. Its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells-the husband or wife. If any yird, or earth, stick to the root, that is tocher, or fortune; and the taste of the custoc, that is the heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposition. Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary appellation, the runts, are placed somewhere above the head of the door; and the christian names of the people whom chance brings into the house, are, according to the priority of placing the runts, the names in question." It appears that the Welsh have a play in which the youth of both sexes seek for an even-leaved sprig of the ash: and the first of either sex that finds one, calls out Cyniver, and is answered by the first of the other that succeeds; and these two, if the omen fails not, are to be joined in wedlock."*

Burns says, that "Burning the nuts is a favourite charm. They name the lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire; and accordingly as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be." It is to be noted, that in Ireland, when the young women would know if their lovers are faithful, they put three nuts upon the bars of the grates, naming the nuts after the lovers. If a nut cracks or jumps, the lover will prove unfaithful; if it begins to blaze or burn, he has a regard for the person making the trial. If the nuts, named after the girl and her lover, burn together, they will be married. This sort of divination is also in some parts of England at this time. Gay mentions it in his "Spell:

"

“ Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame, And to each nut I gave a sweet-heart's name :

There are some lines by Charles Graydon, Esq.-"On Nuts burning, Allhallows Eve."

"These glowing nuts are emblems true
Of what in human life we view ;
The ill-match'd couple fret and fume,
And thus, in strife themselves consume;
Or, from each other wildly start,
And with a noise for ever part.
But see the happy happy pair,
Of genuine love and truth sincere ;
With mutual fondness, while they burn,
Still to each other kindly turn:
And as the vital sparks decay
Together gently sink away:
Till life's fierce ordeal being past,
Their mingled ashes rest at last.'

Burns says, "the passion of prying into futurity makes a striking part of the history of human nature, in its rude state, in all ages and nations; and it may be some entertainment to a philosophic mind to see the remains of it among the more unenlightened in our own." He gives, therefore, the principal charms and spells of this night among the peasantry in the west of Scotland. One of these by young women, is, by pulling stalks of corn. "They go to the barn yard, and pull, each, at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the toppickle, that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage bed any thing but a maid." Another is by the blue clue. ، Whoever would, with success, try this spell, must strictly observe these directions: steal out, all alone, to the kiln, and, darkling, throw into the pot a clew of blue yarn; wind it in a new clew off the old one; and, towards the latter end, something will hold the thread; demand, 'wha hauds?' i. e. who holds? and answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the christian and surname of your future spouse." A third charm is by eating an apple at a glass. "Take a candle and go alone to a looking-glass; eat an apple before it, and some traditions say, you should comb your hair all the time; the face of your conjugal companion to be, will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder."

In an appendix to the late Mr. "Pennant's Tour," several other very observ

That in a flame of brightest colour blaz'd; As blaz'd the nut, so may thy passion grow, For t'was thy nut that did so brightly glow!"

* Owen's Welsh Dictionary.

tion on this night are enumerated. Qne is to "steal out unperceived, and sow a