They had both caught the true spirit of the thirteenth century, Willis as the historian, Scott as the practical architect. That the public justly estimated the value of Scott is too evident to need mention; practically, he did great service to the cause, and was a valuable instrument in the hand of Providence; he saw what was wanted, and he supplied the want, and compelled others to follow in his wake.

Scott was the successful competitor for the great church of St. Nicholas, at Hamburg, and it is acknowledged on all hands to be a very fine building, and that the decision was a right one. Of France he had seen comparatively little; he had taken a rapid run in the south of France, where he got many sketches and ideas that were then new to him, and the result of these was developed in his design for the Foreign Office. There is no denying that Lord Palmerston was in some degree right in saying that the design was too foreign for an English public building, although if it had been strictly English Gothic Lord Palmerston would have liked it no better.* Two years afterwards Scott himself was as ready as any one to acknowledge that in Medieval Architecture every nation had a style of its own, and that English Gothic is almost as distinct from French and German Gothic as the English language is from those languages.

This is a truth which has only come out of late years from the greater facilities that are given for well-informed people to visit foreign countries and see their buildings for themselves. It is, however, matter of history from the earliest time, and it has been well said by Goldwin Smith, that "the buildings of every nation are an important part of the history of that nation." The Romans have left the best records of themselves wherever they have gone in the buildings they bequeathed,

The same working drawings that had been prepared for the Gothic design served equally well for the "Palmerston design" for the Foreign Office, as Scott always called it, with the exception of the outer skin, which was made to suit Lord Palmerston's ideas. All the interior arrangements, staircases, places for windows and doors, were just the same. It was only necessary to make drawings for a new front.

This

was an enormous saving of time, and "time is money," and we cannot much blame Scott if the next generation choose to have the Gothic front put on, for they

can have it done with ease.

often in places where we have no other history of their having had a settlement. It is the same with the Normans, or more strictly, perhaps, the Anglo-Normans, for they became one people. In Sicily and the south of Italy they have left fine buildings behind them, in places where we have no other record of their having been, and some of the chief noble families of Italy are of Anglo-Norman origin, as is shown by their names as originally spelt before they were Italianized. (To be continued.)

Almanacks Three hundred Years ago.

URING the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries almanacks were the most popular publications in Europe. High and low, the learned and the ignorant, found something to interest them in their pages; and all classes looked with respect on planetary influences, and fortunate days, and found manifold excitement in prognostications always more or less direful. The astrologers "ruled destiny's dark counsel;" and royalty itself often trembled before impending misfortunes in the conjunction of planets, pestilence in eclipses, and death and the ruin of kingdoms in the advent of a comet. Almanacks began to grow common about the latter part of the fifteenth century, but were familiar to the learned much earlier. Regiomontanus published his Kalendarium Novum for three years, at Buda in Hungary, in 1475, and was munificently rewarded for his labours by Matthias Corvinus. This work, though it only contained calculations of eclipses, and the names and places of the planets, met with a ready sale on the Continent and in England, at ten crowns of gold each copy. Rabelais published an almanack at Lyons in 1533, and also for the years 1535, 1548, and 1550,and such productions were considered to add to the fame of the most eminent scholars. The astrologers soon began to make almanacks a medium for political predictions. almost universal study of alchemy and the occult sciences contributed greatly to extend

The

the demand for such glimpses into futurity; and the prognostications began to be regarded as the most important part of an almanack. Nostradamus was supposed to have foretold the death of Henry II. of France, the beheading of our Charles I., and the fire of London. The fame and popularity of the vaticinations of this astrologer so increased the number of political prophecies in France, to the unsettling of men's minds, that Henry III. forbade such to be inserted in almanacks; and the prohibition was renewed by Louis XIII. so late as 1628. At a much earlier date than the seventeeth century every almanack was required to be stamped with the approval of the Bishop of the Diocese before publication. In England almanacks began to get into common use during the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII., and were issued with prognostications and a variety of general information in the time of Elizabeth. The title of one for 1569 is as follows:-" An Almanack and Prognostication for the yere of our Lorde God 1569, servying for all Europe, wherein is shewed the nature of the Planettes and Mutation of the Ayer, verie necessarie for all Marchantes, Marineres, Students, and Traveilers, bothe by sea and lande, calculated and gathered by Joachim Hubrighe, Doctour of Physicke and Astronomie of Midelborowe in Sealand; whereunto is annexed a profitable rule to knowe the Ebbes and Fluddes for Marineres; also their courses, soundynges, markes, and daungers, all along the coaste of Englande and Normandie; also all the principall Faires and Martes, where and when they be holden; mete for all those that use the trade thereof. Imprinted at London by Jhon Kyngston for Wm. Pickeryng." It is printed in black letter, and the "dayes good to sett and sowe, to take medicines, to lett bloude, to cut heares, and fortunate and unfortunate dayes," are marked in the calendar. In the margin are recorded the phases of the moon and the direction of the wind at the time of quartering. Many more saints' days are inserted than at present-viz., January 10, "Paull first heare;" January 15, "Isidore Martyr;" February 26, "Peter's Chaire;" April 28, "Peter of Milan;" May 7, "John of Beverley," July 27, "Seven Slepers," &c. Modern weather predictions are quite sur

passed by Dr. Joachim Hubrighe, for he gave his readers "the daily disposition of the weather, with the juste hower and minute of the chaunge." On March 3 he announces an "Eclipse of the Moone, which bringeth with it verie pestiferous fevers, and other diseases, whyche the Lorde doth sende among us onely for synne, except we speedyly repente." Then follows "The Nature of the Planettes" with illustrative woodcuts :

"Saturne is cold and drie; the purse in his hand betokeneth gettynge of money, and the sitting on the chaier betokeneth restynge to wait on his riches. He governs long peregrinations, labours, slouthe, and affliction ; fathers, grandsiers, brothers, servants, and base menne; al blacke clothes, the inner part of the eare, the spleene and stomacke."

"Jupiter is the best planett in heaven, most frendlye to manne; he maintaines Life, governs the Sanguine, signifyes great menne of estate and the Clergy, signifyer of substaunce, of ages, youth, of maistieres; he is the planet of Wisedome, Understandynge, and thynges; of manne he rules the lightes, stomacke, left eare, arme, and bellie."

"Mars is hot and drie, and the crowe that he beareth sheweth that as a Raven dothe love ded flesh or carren, right so dothe Mars love to slea menne, he maketh all cursed parverse workes in all nativities; also he holdeth iron, delyghtyng in bloudshed, all thynges done by fier-shortning of journies, and the gathering together of captaines."

"Mercurie is variable, like as the cocke bloweth above all other fowles, so is this planet hier in imagination of wisedom, and he is stronger than anie other planet; he ruleth quicksilver, he is good with the good, and yll with the evil; he signifyes predication, Rhetoricke, Geometrie, Philosophie, foresight, versifying. He rules Wednesdaie and Sondaie night."

Next come the "Courses and Marks for Marineres," containing many curious details, and references to objects long swept away by the silent hand of Time. The book began thus:-"You shal come downe the Thames from London till you come to the easte ende of the Nore, and there shall ye anker; because ye shal knowe how to anker cleare of it, your markes be Priklewell steeple shut in bye the woode that stands on the north shore by the

water side, and so shal ye anker clere. If ye be bounde to the northwarde your course lieth fro the saide place to the sheure, northeast and southwest, and upon the saide sheure stands a beacon, and so take heede of the black tayle that lyeth on the north side of that course, and come no nere it than 5 or 4 fadom; also take heede of the hens egge that lyeth on the east side of that course; and come no nere it than 3 or 2 fadom." The book concludes with a list of "Faires and Martes when and where they be holden," and does not contain a single political allusion, or reference to the ruling monarch, as was usually the case.

In an Almanack and Prognostication for 1589 by Gabriel Frende, after Finis comes "God save Queen Elizabeth," and these verses, evidently intended to disarm adverse criticism

Thou hast my guess at daily weather
Here present in thy viewe,

My credit shall not lie thereon

That every word is true;

Yet some to please I thought it best

To shewe my mynde among the rest.

This author also "shewed his mynde" in headings to every month in the Calendar; containing practical advice in the style of Sternhold and Hopkins; of which two examples will be sufficient:

In May thou mays't with safety
Both Bath and take Purgation;
Use Vomit and Phlebotomy,
And cyke evacuation.

September yeeldes frutes pleasantly
Refrayne, eat not thy fyll;

Take medicine, use Phlebotomy;
Now spice in meates not yll.

Gabriel seems to have been a precursor of the Sangrade school, for he prescribes "evacuation and phlebotomy" for most of the months in the year, and considers nothing so dangerous to health as repletion. However, to make amends, he advises his readers to provide a good store of old wines and ale for Christmas, to be used with moderation.

In England, owing to their loyal expressions or to their abstinence from allusions to affairs of State, no Royal Proclamation ever appeared against Almanacks, but they were under the watchful supervision of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. Soon after the accession of

James I., that monarch granted a monopoly of the trade in Almanacks to the two Universities and the Company of Stationers. The Universities were not very eager to avail themselves of their privilege, and in consideration of an annuity soon resigned all active exercise of it to their partners. Under the patronage of the Stationers, Almanacks were more in request than ever; their makers styled themselves Philomaths; weather wisdom increased; medical and agricultural precepts, astronomical and astrological rules were multiplied, and found their way into works where their presence would be least suspected. In a very "Smal and portable Manuel," in 48mo, containing the Psalter in prose and verse, and the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer, black letter-"imprinted for the Company of Stationers" 1606-at the foot of each page of the Calendar are such quaint and practical couplets as the following:

FEBRUARIE.

Now euerie day set hops you may,

And set for thy pot best hearbes to be got.

APRIL.

Heare barke go sel ere timber ye fel,
The best that ye knowe for staddles let growe.

ОСТОВЕК.

Nowe sowe thou thy wheate to sel or to eate, Sowe also thy rie, if October be drie.

DECEMBER.

Your timber cut downe; take birds that abowne, With net or with lime; and thus ends my rime.

The stationers of the seventeenth century were evidently quite as capable as their successors in the nineteenth of meeting the requirements of their time, and from the bucolic instructions contained in the "smal and portable manuel," it must have been chiefly intended for rural use. During the reign of James the Astrologers became so numerous, and, in their own view, of such importance, that they formed themselves into a body, and for many years had an annual dinner and celebration of their own. Ashmole mentions in his Diary his attendance at several of these meetings. The wits of the time soon directed their attention to the Astrologers and their proceedings, and unmercifully ridiculed the failure and extravagance of most of their predictions. Dekker, the playright and satirist, lashes the

whole body in his "Raven's Almanack," 'published in 1609, "foretelling of Plague, foretelling of Plague, Famine, and Civil Warre, that shall happen this present yeare 1609; with certaine Rules, Remedies, and Receipts." The work is dedicated to the "Lyons of the Wood" (young courtiers), "to the Wilde Buckes of the Forest" (gallants and younger brothers), "to the Harts of the Field, and to the whole country that are brought up wisely, yet prove Guls; and are born rich, yet dye beggers." The mock predictions are written with considerable humour and force, and are intermixed with a number of comic incidents, including a curious "song sung by an olde woman in a medowe."

An imitation of this tract was published in 1618 by Lawrence Lisle, entitled the "Owle's Almanack," having for a frontispiece a woodcut of an Owl reading in his study. It begins with an introductory epistle from the Owl to the Raven, in which the Raven's Almanack is termed "a hotch potch of calculations," and it contains contemporary allusions full of shrewdness and drollery. The taste for prognostications was far too deeply rooted in the minds of the people to be extirpated by the keenest ridicule: the credit of the Astrologers, though somewhat shaken, received no lasting injury, and they and their companion Philomaths flourished as before. The Stationers, probably taking the hint from the productions of Dekker or Lisle, issued Almanacks disparaging all prophecies to suit the sceptics, and simultaneously others containing predictions to suit the credulous. During the troubled reign of Charles I. prognostications of all kinds were enormously increased in number and repute; and mild examples of the predictions of Lilly and Booker exist in our own times on the respectable authority of Zadkiel and Francis Moore, Physician. W. H. L.

Stonebenge.

T would be a thankless and unnecessary task to repeat for the thousand-and-second time the description of Stonehenge; nor anything but waste of time to return to the various

an

theories regarding its intent, including that last novelty-which would have delighted the gobe-mouches Athenians-that it ancient Christian temple! Its stones most clearly refute such a theory, and in part in fact declare, without hesitation, its real purpose. But it is worth while noting an error of description which is, or was, I believe, all but universal, and which, when corrected, explains so far the origin of a popular and well-known superstition.

Stonehenge has been spoken of as composed of two concentric circles, having within them two ellipses concentric with one another. There are no ellipses, not even one, butspeaking inaccurately still,-there are two semi-elliptical curves. The conjecture therefore that these curves were dedicated to the Moon, and represented the egg, the origin of all things, vanishes in vacuo. Some, also, have spoken of the chief or inner curve as originally formed of seven trilithons; but these exist only in the imaginations of those who seek a mystic and planetary number. There are five; and not a vestige of other two,-no remains, nor traditions of any of their stones, nor a mark of their site.

That these curves were not even semielliptical struck me on my first visit, and after measurement confirmed it. Since, I have found that Sir Henry James had given a correct description of them in his "Survey of Stonehenge." Standing in front of the curves, the first or lowest trilithon on the left will be seen to trend outwards from its lowest edge, and the first upright of the corresponding trilithon on the right-the second upright having fallen-will be seen to do likewise. In other words the curve commences thus,

. The second trilithon on the leftthe corresponding one on the right having fallen-will be observed, on the contrary, to trend inwards, thus, till its prolongation meets in the central or fifth trilithon. measurements—rather more rough than trigonometrically exact-are:

My

1. From the inner and lower edge of the lowest stone of the first trilithon on the left, to the same point on the right, 43 feet.

2. From the inner and upper edge of the same stone to that of the other, 45 feet I inches.

3. The length of the curve from the (ground) side centre of central trilithon to centre ofline No. 1, 45 feet. In a word the shape of the curve resembles that of a horse-shoe. And in this shape of what is evidently the most sacred part of the structure, we can carry back to Druidical* times the origin of that superstition which nails horseshoes on doors, or throws them over the left shoulder that we may keep away evil, and have good luck brought us.

It would be extending our results too far, I think, into the cloud-land of conjecture

were we also to associate with this horseshoe superstition, the throwing of the old shoe after the just-married couple, on the plea that the heel represents the horseshoe curve. More probably this delivery merely meant, "May there soon be one to fill it," with the addition, if one likes to extend one's imagination so far-" and may he (or you) live till he becomes as aged as this shoe."

I

I have spoken of the stones speaking. alluded to the fact that a person standing on the centre of the so-called Altar Stone can, at sunrise, on the 21st of June, the longest day, see the sun appear on the top of the Friar's Heel. It is said, also, that the now missing stone outside the outer circle, at the back of the central trilithon, pointed to the sun's setting on the shortest day. Stonehenge, therefore, had to do with the sun's apparent motion. But it is clear that the mystical arrangement of the circles and inner curves could not have aided these observations. And these curves; their inward position; the position of the Altar Stone within them; the greater size of their stones; the greater care taken as to their shapes and adjustments; their peculiar increase in size and height from the commencement of the curves to their centres; and the surrounding tumuli; all tend to show that it was a temple. Hence, and from the first-mentioned fact, one dedicated to the Sun, and, not impossibly,

The word "Druidical" has been here used as conveniently expressive of some vague pre-Roman time. While there are some grounds for supposing that the builders of Stonehenge were the ancestors of the

people found in England by Caesar, the question stands thus. There is no argument which pronounces against this view, but a lack of proof (from want of information) in its favour.

to other associated heavenly bodies. The meanings of the two solitary stones still remaining outside the outer circle, and in advance, and right and left-though not symmetrically so-of the observer who, on the Altar Stone, looks towards the Friar's Heel, have yet to be made out. I can only say that neither are visible from the centre of this Altar Stone. Whether from any point of view they touch the horizon I know not, though it is said they do from depressions outside the outer circle, and within the vallum. They do not from any part within

the circles.

I might, en passant, speak of an hypothesis, without vestige of fact for its support, that the small stones of the inner circle mark the burial places of persons or families of rank or sanctity. No tumulus in the neighbourhood, or I believe anywhere else, has such a stone; they are utterly different from the Cromlech; no Stonehenge stone is accompanied by a tumulus; no sign of a burial has ever been found beneath or near them; and, finally, we must suppose that the number of deaths, or, at least, of burial places required, was so accommodating as to reach the exact number of the stones or passages of

the outer circle and then cease.

I also paid a visit to Avebury, but it was hurried, and the stones being left here and there, I was unable to determine with certainty whether the inner curve was of a horseshoe shape. But I feel certain, both by the eye and by such measurements as I could take, that it is not a circle. The far greater extent of the outer Avebury circle, and its comparatively immense vallum and ditch, greatly struck me. While, however, the want of horizontals to the outer circle, the want of trilithons, and the less attention to the form and cutting of the stones may point to a greater antiquity than Stonehenge, the great difference of size and extent is not to be so

accounted for; and I would suggest that were the Druids divided into grades, these places, speaking in Masonic fashion, might be lodges -Avebury of a lower and more general grade, Stonehenge of the more select and higher, if not highest.

BRINSLEY NICHOLSON, M.D.