He was not of an age, but for all time!

And all the Muses still were in their prime,

When, like Apollo, he came forth to warm

Our ears, or like a Mercury to charm.-Ben Jonson.

Acts.

JAMES I. by letters patent, dated this day, 1616, grants to Ben Jonson a pension of one hundred marks during his life," in consideration of the good and acceptable service heretofore done, and hereafter to be done, by the said B. J." The muniment interests us in two respects, first, as it confers the laurel wreath on the brows of our British Pan; and next, because it is not without some apparent reference to another great master, then equal, and since vastly superior to him in fame, the Swan of Avon, who drew up his last will in that month, and signed it on the Lady-day, when probably all his influence at the court had ceased, although whether he received from it any pension, by grant, is yet unknown; but his death was sudden, amidst the hilarities of his birthday, and whilst he was preparing for posterity the legacy of his works.

Mr. Wilkes is expelled the House of Commons for a breach of privilege, on the motion of Secretary Lord Barrington, 1769.

Dr. Johnson on this day, 1778, gives directions for travelling to the best advantage. They are addressed to a young lady, but may be applied universally. See "Life" by Boswell.

Captain Basil Hall describes this day the climate of Panama, on the isthmus: "During the morning it was much too hot to move about with any comfort; but towards sun-set, all the world strolled about to enjoy the delightful air of the brief twilight, along some charming walks in the woods, beyond the suburbs, the scenery about which was of the richest description of tropical beauty. The night closed in upon us with a precipitancy unknown in higher latitudes; but before we reached the drawbridge at the entrance of the town, the moon had risen, and the landscape became even more beautiful than before."

General Auchmuty carries Montevideo, in Buenos Ayres, by storm, 1807.

In 1684 (N. S.) the river Thames was " 'planted with booths in formal streets, all sorts of trades, and shops furnished and full of commodities, even to a printing-press." A similar Fair was held there (in two counties) upon the same day, 1814.

The fair of St. Germain, which continues until Easter, is established.

It is a great thing to rule a wife rightly.-Bishop Latimer.

O slippery state of things! what sudden turns,

What strange vicissitudes, in the first leaf

Of man's sad history! to-day most happy;

And ere to-morrow's sun has set, most abject.-Blair.

Prid. George Lillo, 1693, Moorgate. Lucius Septimius Severus, A.D.

Be thou a stream of many tides against thy foes; but like the gale that moves

Dolls for children: Idols for the church.-Sentence of Yung-ching.

Acts.

THE Chinese year, which is movable (computing by a series of cycles, or courses, of sixty years each, dated from the Deluge), begins about this time, when the whole empire keeps holiday. The Japanese, who also reckon by that mode, celebrate their new year near the same day.

The period of the death of Severus, at York, is remarkable for the existence of Fingal, so renowned in the Poems of Ossian. The emperor's sons, Geta and Caracalla, were recalled by that event from Scotland, while debating with the hero, over heath and mountain, her ancient, stubborn independence.

John Rogers, a prebendary of St. Paul's, and the proto-martyr, is burned at Smithfield, 1555. The number of persons that suffered during the four years of Mary's (joint) reign is two hundred and eighty-eight, at the minimum.

An earthquake in Sicily, which swallowed up Catana (the birth-spot of Stesichorus) and eighteen thousand citizens, 1693.

Howell writes to his well beloved cousin, 1625: "Of all civil actions that are incident to man, there is not any that tends more to his infelicity or happiness than marriage; therefore, it concerns you not to be overhasty herein, nor to take the ball before the bound; for not Alexander's sword can cut asunder so hard a knot, among us Christians. If you are resolved to marry, choose where you love, and resolve to love your choice: let love rather than lucre be your guide in this election; though a concurrence of both be good, yet for my part, I had rather the latter should be wanting than the first; the one is the pilot, but the other the ballast of the ship, which should carry us to the harbour of a happy life. If you light upon a shrew, I wish you may have the same measure of patience that Socrates and Stroud, our Westminster cook, had. I remember a French proverb:

"La maison est misérable et méchante,

Où la poule plus haut que le coq chante ;"

but, though silence be the dumb orator of beauty, and the best ornament of a woman, yet a phlegmatic dull wife is disagreeable and fastidious." This day, in the calendar of Hesiod, is auspicious for marriage, and for the reparation of ships; but a day of troubles.

Marry or not-say how shall I end it?

Marry or not-you'll be sure to repent it!-Brockes.

Slavery debases and emasculates the mind.-Homer.

The twenty-six Martyrs of Ja- wind, which is the vain man's pan, d. 1597.

Defend the truth; for that who would not die

A coward is, and gives himself the lie.-Randolph.

There is a kind of men, whom accident has thrown out of the business of life, and whom temperament, if not virtue, keeps out of the dissipation of it; who hold a station of irreproachable and dignified indolence; whom the company of their own thoughts renders independent of vulgar society, and the vigour and variety of whose imagination free from the necessity of resorting to frivolous, or censurable amusements. Lounger, No. 1. in diê.

Arts.

AUGUSTUS is, by a vote of the senate, in full assembly, their brows crowned with laurel, saluted with the title of Father of his Country, B. C. 31.

An eruption of Vulcano, one of the Lipari Islands, which changed the entire face of the local navigation, 1444. Aristotle records a dreadful explosion that is supposed to have formed the island as it stood in the time of Pliny, who, with Strabo, mentions its production under a different name. It is the Hiera of Virgil.

Charles II. is proclaimed king by the Scottish parliament, at the cross in Edinburgh, 1649.

A parhelion, or mock sun, is observed near Marienbourg, in Western Prussia, 1674. It appeared in the horizon, beneath the material sun, of a red colour, and shortly preceded a very severe frost.

The peace of Niméguen, between France and Austria is signed, 1679. Colonel Clive achieves his glorious and important victory on the plains of Plassy, in Hindostan, 1757.

The order of knighthood, called St. Patrick's, is instituted, 1783.

The first shock of the earthquakes in Sicily and the two Calabrias, is felt at the town of Scylla on the same day. In the night a tremendous wave swept from the coast two thousand four hundred and seventy-three of its inhabitants, with the prince of the place. The work of destruction and terrour continued for almost four months, accompanied by incessant rains and bursts of thunder.

The Regency Bill passed into a law, when His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales attends the privy council, and accepts the oath, 1811.

The Vision of Mirza. It was on the fifth day of the moon which, according to the custom of my forefathers, I always keep holy, after having washed myself, and offered up my morning devotions, I ascended the high hills of Bagdad, in order to pass the rest of the day in meditation and prayer.-See Spectator, No. 159.

The Anniversary of the Medico-Botanical Society, in Sackville Street. A day of dire calamity, says Hesiod, in which certain Greek ladies, called "The Furies," make their round-" about, about, about."

Toujours occupé sans avoir rien à faire - Destouches.