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ness, and sufferings, the detail of which was not again interrupted. It is hardly necessary to add that Mr. Abernethy's attention to his gifted patient was, from that hour to the close of his life, assiduous, unremitting, and devoted.

The reported fashion of his courtship and marriage, is also characteristic. It is said, that while attending a lady for several weeks, he observed those admirable qualifications in her daughter, which he truly esteemed to be calculated to render the married state happy. Accordingly, one Saturday, when taking leave of his patient, he addressed her to the following purport: "You are now so well, that I need not see you after Monday next, when I shall come to pay you my farewell visit. But, in the mean time, I wish you and your daughter seriously to consider the proposal I am now about to make. It is abrupt and unceremonious I am aware, but the excessive occupation of my time, by my professional duties, affords me no leisure to accomplish what I desire by the more ordinary course of attention and solicitation. My annual receipts amount to £ and I can settle £- on my wife: my character is generally known to the public, so that you may readily ascertain what it is: I have seen in your daughter a tender and affectionate child, an assiduous and careful nurse, and a gentle and ladylike member of a family; such a person must be all that a husband could covet, and I offer my hand and fortune for her acceptance. On Monday, when I call, I shall expect your determination; for I really have not time for the routine of courtship." In this humour the lady was wooed and won: and we believe we may add, the union was felicitous in every respect. With all his eccentricity, however, he blended much of humanity and liberality. Mr. Jerdan (to whose National Portrait Gallery we are chiefly indebted for the foregoing) says, "Where poverty and disease have prevented individuals from waiting upon him in his own house for advice, we have known him not only visit them constantly and at inconvenient distances, without either fee or reward, but generously supply them from his own purse with what their wants required. More affecting instances of charity and generosity seconding the utmost exertions of medical skill could not be produced from the

life of any of his contemporaries than from that of John Abernethy and if it were ours to strike a balance between the harmless eccentricities we have noticed and the incalculable mass of good he has done, we would set him high among the highest on the pedestals of those who have done honor to a profession, second only to one in the scale of human hopes and happiness."

Mr. Abernethy had been long indisposed, but had only retired from practice a few months when he died at his house in Enfield.

19. ST. ALPhege,

Or Elphege, was born in Gloucestershire, and educated at the monastery of Deerhurst. He became bishop of Winchester in 984, and archbishop of Canterbury in 996. He was killed at Greenwich by the Danes during their incursions in Kent, in the year 1012.

20. GOOD FRIDAY,

Or, as it was formerly termed, Holy Friday, is the anniversary of our Saviour's crucifixion; and has been held as a solemn fast from the earliest period of Christianity.

Oh! King of wounds! oh, Son of heaven! who died
Upon the cross, to save the things of clay-

Oh, thou whose veins pour'd forth the crimson tide,
To wash the stains of fallen man away;

Oh, thou whose heart did feel the blind one's spear,
While down to earth the atoning current flow'd!
Deign, gracious Lord, thy creature's cry to hear!
Shield me, and snatch me to thy bright abode.
CAROLAN-Irish Minstrelsy.

Hot cross buns are eaten to day throughout Europe, and is a very ancient custom; its origin is, however, unknown.

22. EASTER SUNDAY.

This day commemorates the anniversary of the resurrection of our Saviour; and is kept with great pomp and solemnity in most countries, particularly at Rome, where the Pope assists personally at high mass.

23. ST. GEORGE,

The patron saint of England, of whom very little is known. He is said to have been born at Cappadocia, and was a soldier by profession. Having presumed to complain to the Emperor Dioclesian of his cruelties to the Christians; he was, in consequence, thrown into prison, and afterwards beheaded in the year 303.

23, 1616. WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE DIED, ÆTAT. 52.

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Mr. Brewer, in his Topography of Warwickshire, speaking of Stratford-upon-Avon, says: "The most interesting of the ancient domestic structures is the house in which Shakspeare was born. This building is situate in Henley Street, and remained the property of the Hart family, descended from Jane, the sister of Shakspeare, until 1806, in which year they parted with it by sale. The premises, originally occupied as one

dwelling, are now divided into two habitations; the one being used as a butcher's shop, and the other as a public-house, known by the sign of the Swan and Maiden's Head. The outer walls of the whole were divided into panels by strong pieces of timber; but a brick front has been substituted in that part of the building now used as a public-house or inn; the ancient form is yet preserved in the other half, or butcher's premises." 25. ST. MARK,

The evangelist and patron saint of Venice, was by birth a Jew, but becoming a convert to Christianity, he was sent by St. Peter into Egypt to propagate his new faith. During his residence at Alexandria the populace dragged him from the church and through the streets till he expired. Numerous ceremonies are observed on this day in various Catholic countries, particularly at Venice.

25, 1776.

DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER BORN. The princess Mary was married to her cousin, William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, July 22, 1816.

29. Low SUNDAY.

The first Sunday after Easter is called Low Sunday, because formerly the service of Easter Sunday was repeated on this day in a low or abridged form.

1831. CAPTAIN GEORGE MATTHEW JONES DIED.

Captain Jones was brother to Colonel J. T. Jones of the Royal Engineers, the constructor of the lines of Torres Vedras, and the officer who led the attack upon Bergen-op-Zoom. Having entered the Navy under Sir Joseph Yorke, he received his first commission in 1802. After active service in several places, he obtained post rank in 1818. In 1827 he published Travels in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Turkey;

also on the Coast of the Sea of Azof and of the Black Sea, in 2 vols. Previous to these travels, which were undertaken with a view to the acquisition of professional knowledge, he had already inspected all the naval arsenals and ports of France and Holland; and in this work relates the results of his examination of them, as well as those of Russia, Sweden, and Denmark; presenting a great mass of accurate information on the amount and condition of the maritime force of most of the European powers.

Shortly after his travels, being attacked with a paralysis of his limbs, he repaired to Italy for the recovery of his health. In a state of great debility he had the misfortune to fall down a flight of stone steps at Malta; when three of his ribs were broken and his shoulder dislocated, which caused his death on the third day.

1831. THE KING OF SARDINIA DIED, ETAT. 66.

Charles-Felix-Joseph, King of Sardinia, Duke of Savoy, Piedmont, and Genoa, was born April 6, 1765, and ascended the throne on the abdication of his brother, King Victor Emanuel, March 13, 1821. On the 6th of April, 1807, he married Maria Christina, daughter of the King of the Sicilies, but having no issue, the crown descended to a cousin, Charles Amadeus, Prince of Savoy-Carignan. Two of the late King's sisters were married to Louis XVIII. and Charles X. of France.

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