A familiar instance of deception is exemplified in the false voices which some persons imagine they hear calling them, faintly in common, but so as to deceive for a moment. When this false perception of sound concurs with images of spectral illusion, a formidable imitation of reality is maintained.* A poetical friend, whose signature will be recollected as having been attached to • Dr. Forster's Perennial Calendar. "SEA SONNETS," obligingly communicates a seasonable effusion of the like order of composition, prefaced by the folfowing passage from Dr. Buchan : "If the power of volition be suspended, persons may dream while they are awake. Such is the case when, in an evening, looking into the fire, we let slip the reins of the imagination, and, yielding implicitly to external objects, a succession of splendid or terrific imagery is produced by the embers in the grate." FIRE-SIDE SONNET. For the Every-Day Book. For very want of thought and occupation Within the fire, all listless as I maz'd, There saw I trees and towers, and hills and plains, And antic shapes of laughable creation : And thus the poet's soul of fire contains A store of all things bright and glorious! rais'd Into fair scenes and forms, that nature's best may ape. NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. Mean Temperature...39 80. November 25. ST CATHERINE. W. T. M. ANTHONY VARNISH, Esq. in the Chair, Sir John Blackwell, Knight, being indisposed. The Chairman reported that Mr. Timothy Lightfoot, the Treasurer, had brushed off with the old fund, and that the deputation who had waited on Mr. Fawcett, the Proprietor of the Brilliant Fluid Blacking, at No. 76, Houndsditch, could not prevail on him to dispose of For an account of this Saint, see vol. i. his right thereto in favour of this Company, col. 1504. although they had made him the most liberal offers. Resolved, That this Meeting being fully sensible that any attempt to establish a rival Blacking would totally fail of success, from the high estimation in which the above popular article is held, and the mishap of the Treasurer having damped the ardour of the undertaking, that this design be altogether abandoned. Resolved, That the character of the Promoters of this Company ought not to be blackened in public esteem, as there is no direct proof of their having shared the spoils with the Treasurer. Signed, by Order of the Meeting, JACOE BRUSHWELL, Sec. LONDON COMPANY for GE TNUINE MATCHES.-It having been suggested to Mr. Parr, Proprietor of the Equit able Office, Holborn-hill, that a complaint prevails among Servants, owing to the adulteration of Brimstone, and the badness of Wood, in consequence of which, they cannot get their Fires lighted in proper time, which obliges many of their Masters to go to business without their breakfast. Such imposition having proved very injurious to a number of servants, by being discharged for neglect of duty, has induced Mr. Parr, in conjunction with six eminent Timber Merchants, to purchase those extensive Premises in Gunpowder-alley, near Shoe-lane, formerly occupied by the Saltpetre Company, for the sole purpose of a Genuine Match Manufactory. The Public may be assured that this laudabie undertaking is countenanced by some of the first characters in the United Kingdoms. The Managers pledge themselves to employ the best work-people, both men, women, and children, that can be procured, which will amount to 1500 persons and upwards, as they conclude, by the large orders already received, that a less number will procrastinate the business. Each Subscriber to have the privilege of recommending two, who are to bring certificates from the Minister of the Parish where they reside, of their being sober, honest, and industrious persons. The Managers further engage to make oath before the Lord Mayor every three months, that the matches are made of the most prime new yellow Deal, and also that the Brimstone is without the least adulteration. Not less than 12 penny bunches can be had. Any order amounting to 17. will be sent free of expense, to any part of the town, not exceeding two miles from the Manufactory. The Capital first intended to be raised is Two Millions, in 507. Shares, 27. per Share to be paid at the time of subscribing, 31. that day month, 4. in six weeks, 5%. in two months, and so on regularly until the whole is sub scribed. Holders of five shares to be on Committees, and holders of ten will qualify them for Directors. Although this plan has not been set on foot more than a week, it is presumed the call for Shares has been equal to a month's demand for Shares in any of the late Institutions. Schemes at large may be had, and Sub. scriptions received by Mr. Tinder, Secretary, at the Counting-house, from ten till two; also at his Residence, near the Turpentine Manufactory, St. John-street-road, from four to six; likewise by Messrs. Sawyer, Memel, and Tieup, Solicitors, Knave's-acre, Westminster. NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. November 26. THE SEASON Autumnal appearances are increasing, and occasional gales of wind and interchanges of nipping frost hasten the approaching winter. The following passage seems to allude to the wintry garb of nature :— «The earth mourneth and languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed and withereth away Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits."—Isaiah. xxiii. 9. Soon shall we be compelled to exclaim Bare ruined quires, where late the sweet birds November, however, has its bright as well re 1583 THE EVERY-DAY BOOK.-NOVEMBER 27, 28, 29, 30. November 30. ST. ANDREW. 39: 90. Respecting this Saint, the patron of Scotland, there is a notice in vol. i. 1536. THE MODEL LOTTERY. For the Every-Day Book. A Model Lottery is drawn on the 30th of November, at Mr. Oldershaw's office, Lower-street, Islington. Several capital prizes are made, the principal of which is Fonthill Abbey, valued at 57. There are others less valuable, Islington church, Cannonbury Tower, the Queen's Head, Sir William Curtis's villa, at Southgate, the house in which Garrick was born,many Italian buildings, and a variety to the number of 500. Each adventurer, by paying three shillings, draws a share which is equal, in the worst chance, to the deposit. The scheme is contrived by an ingenious artist and his wife, whose names re Golding. Previously to the drawingday, three days are allowed for friendly inspection. It is laudable to see this Batman's Doom.e. 1584 Model Lottery patronised by the most P. S. For Bradenstock, p. 1371, read CORRECTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, For the Every-Day Book. Your correspondent in his account of "Clack Fall Fair," p. 1371, has fallen into a few mistakes. Bradenstoke was not an abbey, but a priory. He might have inquired some further particulars of the Golden Image, said to have been found. In whose possession it now is? It is believed the circumstance, if true, is not generally known in the neighbourhood. Query, the name of the Carpenter? The idea of a subterraneous passage from Bradenstoke Priory to Malmsbury Abbey, a distance of eight or ten miles, intersected by a deep valley, through which the Avon meanders, is absurd, and can only be conceived as one of the wild traditions derived from monkish times. Can your correspondent furnish further particulars of the horrible story of the boy murdered by his schoolmaster, when and whom? His account of "Joe Ody's" exploits may be very correct. He is well remembered by the elder peasantry. It is presumed, your correspondent meant to say, that the song was attributed to Bowles of Bremhill, not Brinkworth. The Rev. W. L. Bowles is rector, or vicar, of Bremhill, about five or six miles from Clack Brinkworth, about the same distance in the opposite direction. Your correspondent might have noticed the mound called Clack Mount. Perhaps he will favour you with further recollections of the localities of Clack, and its vicinity. The remains of a may-pole are visible at Clack; but the pole itself is believed not to be remembered by any person now living, or, if remembered, by very old persons only. A READER In this, the last, month of the year "the beautiful Spring is almost forgotten in the anticipation of that which is to come. The bright Summer is no more thought of, than is the glow of the morning sunshine at night-fall. The rich Autumn only just lingers on the memory, as the last red rays of its evenings do when they have but just quitted the eye. And Winter is once more closing its cloudcanopy over all things, and breathing forth that sleep-compelling breath which is to wrap all in a temporary oblivion, no less essential to their healthful existence than is the active vitality which it for a while supersedes." Yet among the general appearances of nature there are still many lively spots and cheering aspects. "The furze flings out its bright yellow flowers upon the otherwise bare common, like little gleams of sunshine; and the moles ply their mischievous night-work in the dry meadows; and the green plover whistles o'er the lea; and the snipes haunt the marshy grounds; and the wagtails twinkle about near the springheads; and the larks get together in companies, and talk to each other, instead of singing to themselves; and the thrush occasionally puts forth a plaintive note, as if half afraid of the sound of his own voice; and the hedge-sparrow and titmouse try to sing; and the robin does sing still, even more delightfully than he has done during all the rest of the year, because it now seems as if he sang for us rather than for himself-or rather to us, for it is still for his supper that he sings, and therefore for himself." 118 6 Yes-we acknowledge what thy prowess can, The peasants to thy mercy now resign The infant seed-their hope, and future mine. Not always Phoebus bends his vengeful bow, Oft in mid winter placid breezes blow; Oft tinctur'd with the bluest transmarine The fretted canopy of heaven is seen; Girded with argent lamps, the full-orb'd moon In mild December emulates the noon; Tho' short the respite, if the sapphire blue Stain the bright lustre with an inky hue; Then a black wreck of clouds is seen to fly, In broken shatters, thro' the frighted sky: But if fleet Eurus scour the vaulted plain, Then all the stars propitious shine again. December 1 OBESITY. Mr. Edward Bright, of Maldon, in the county of Essex, who died at twenty-nine years of age, was an eminent shopkeeper of that town, and supposed to be, at that time, the largest man living, or that had ever lived in this island. He weighed six hundred, one quarter, and twenty-one pounds; and stood about five feet nine inches high; his body was of an astonishing bulk, and his legs were as large as a middling man's body. Though of so great a weight and bulk, he was surprisingly active. After Bright's death, a wager was proposed between Mr. Codd and Mr. Hants, of Maldon, that five men at the age of twenty-one, then resident there, could not be buttoned within his waistcoat without breaking a stitch or straining a button. On the 1st of December, 1750, the wager was decided at the house of the widow Day, the Black Bull in Maldon, when five men and two more were buttoned within the waistcoat of the great personage deceased. There is a half-sheet print, published at the time, representing the |