medical paper, and, in the intervals from sleep, Mrs. Hope read to him. He occasionally went out in a bath chair, and as he was obliged to take much opium to allay the inflamed state of the larynx, he slept during a great part of the day, and his waking intervals became shorter and shorter. By some Roman Catholic divines, consumption has been termed “the death of the chosen," because so long a period of preparation is allotted, and because the intellect frequently remains unimpaired, amid the crumbling fabric of the body. This sentiment was expressed to Dr. Hope in a letter from a Roman Catholic gentleman. He was much pleased with it, and in his own case it was peculiarly applicable, for his intellect remained so clear, that even two hours before his death he prescribed for himself, and made observations on his own state. He died at 10 minutes past four on Thursday, May the 13th, 1841, and was buried in the Cemetery at Highgate. . If natural curiosity, or a warm approbation of Dr. Hope's character, should lead any reader of the volume to wish for a yet fuller description of it, he will turn to a letter in the Appendix written by his friend Dr. Julius of Richmond. It is too long for us to give, except the concluding part, but it supports entirely the impression that is received from the history. It certainly describes him as a man of a very strong and exact mind, from his outset determined on a severe course of professional study, and adhering to fixed principles to attain his object. In his earliest days, he had fixed his hopes of eminence at some future period in London. He had calculated the labour, the cost, the probabilities of success, and by rigid inquiries and important investigation satisfied himself that his end was attainable. Having done so, he entered on the execution of these means by which it was to be gained. Nothing checked or impeded his course; he rejected all competition for mediocrity, and nothing short of success in the highest sphere would satisfy his desires. "If we are to work, George, (he would say), let us work for something worth having." This accounts for the extraordinary efforts he had made from the very commencement of his studies, and his perseverance in a system of mental exertion apparently excessive and uncalled for. Nothing was light or unimportant in his estimation; he brought his whole mind. to bear upon everything he was engaged in; he would receive nothing superficially; but, subjecting all he heard or saw to a severe scrutiny, he excluded from his mind everything that was valueless. His sagacity was seen in his early advocacy of the importance of the stethoscope, at a time when its introduction was treated with indifference even by the pro fessors of the College. He used to say, "that in a very short time you will no more see a physician without his stethoscope, than you would fifty years ago have seen him without his gold-headed cane, or a major without his boots." He lived to verify his production, and reaped richly the reward of his sagacity. We now conclude with a brief account of his lighter hours," from the same friendly and affectionate hand. "The life of an active student admits of little leisure for social recreation. Hope knew this, and, as he told me, purposely declined letters of introduction to many families in Edinburgh, through whose civilities he feared he might be led into a too great dissipation of time and mind. Saturday was, at college, permitted by common consent as a partial day of rest; the only recognised holiday of the week; on it he generally spent the evening at Professor Monro's, either at his residence in George Street, or, during the summer, at his beautifully-situated country seat, Craig Lockhart; here he was always an acceptable visitor. The Doctor respected him for his talents, which he often employed in his service by procuring from Hope drawings of various morbid specimens for his museum. During the vacations, he joined with two or three friends in tours through various parts of the Highlands, where he completely unbent his mind, and entered into the full enjoyment of these pedestrian excursions. His rod and sketch-book were his constant fellow-travellers, for many years, both at companions. As an angler he was the most expert I ever met, and was thoroughly in love with the craft. From a boy he was always an enthusiast in the sport, and maintained the dignity of the science (for so it became in his hands), by constantly enumerating the host of worthies who were its devotees, and clenching its defence by an axiom which he heard Sir Francis Chantrey once advance at my father's table, 'that every man of genius was born a fly-fisher.' In sketching from nature he was very successful, filling his portfolio with beautiful drawings of every scene which presented subjects worthy of his pencil. In addition to these sources of amusement, he was always provided with a pocket edition of some of the standard classics. I have in my possession a Horace and a Euripides, which were his We shall only add, that there are some parts of the volume connected with religious opinions and feelings, which might with advantage be abridged; and one or two which we should wish entirely omitted. Who the gentleman is (mentioned at p. 239,) who is in considerable practice, and who does not profess to be religious, we do not know; but many probably do, and such an imputation may be of most material injury to him, if true; but as in all probability it is devoid of foundation, for we cannot conceive a man who has risen to professional eminence to be so unwise as either to entertain or to disclose such sentiments, we consider it should be erased in another edition of the work; and all that relates to the controversies with Dr. Williams should be accompanied with the observations of that very able and eminent person-if it is consistent with propriety to republish them at all; but on this subject, as we imperfectly understand it, we desist from any remarks,-Πέρι μεν ου φρονῶ σιγᾶν φιλῶ. FROM THE SAXON. For thee an house was fram'd ee'r thou wast born, This thine house Is lowly timber'd; when thou tenant'st it, Scant are the heel-ways, and the sides are low; Damp and still, Earth over head, thine house is windowless Loathly that earth-house! grim to dwell within! Therein thou art laid-and there thou leav'st thy friends, None shall inquire how that house liketh thee None ope the door and seek thee! loathly thou- Writhes, and endures thee! Kinsmen, Bedesmen, gone; H. G. MR. URBAN, I FOUND among the old papers at Loseley House, in Surrey, when I was making a selection from them for publication, a book of a small quarto size, sewed up in a cover of parchment, which had originally formed part of an ancient MS. of church music. It was, probably, the manual of some monk or parish priest, containing various notes likely to be useful to him as a teacher of youth, a dispenser of medicine, a diviner of good and bad fortune, and a spiritual adviser of the sick and dying. Thus it had an elementary grammar, sundry prescriptions, a treatise on judicial astrology, divers prayers, and forms for last wills and testaments, demising property to ecclesiastical foundations for pious uses, and the good of the souls of the donors. The hand-writing of the MS. is that of the 15th century, about the time of Edward IV. Of the Accidence, or elementary Grammar, the following brief specimen will suffice, the rules differing little but in language from the Eton Accidence. The catechistical system, which has been of late years extensively revived in the little manuals of Pinnock, was employed, it will be seen, in the instruction of youth four hundred years since. Question. What shall you do when you have an Englishe reason (sentence) to make a Latyn by? Answer. I shall take owte my principall verbe, and if it betokyne to doe, the doer shal be the nominatif case, and the sufferer shall be such case as the verbe will have after hym. And if my principall verbe betokyne to suffer, the sufferer shal be ye nomynatyff case, and y doer ye ablatyff case, with a preposition; and if my principall verb shall be a verb impersonyll, I shall begynne at hym to make my Latyne, and to constur. Ensawmpull (Example) : An honest man lovys honest manners. Honestus homo deligit (diligit) honestos mores. Ensawmpull. If the principall verbe be a verbe impersonyll, as "me techis in the scole besely," (i. e. it is taught in the school diligently,) "Docetur assedue (assidue) in scola." Q. How shall you knowe, if there be many verbis in a reason (sentence), which is the principall verbe ? A. My first verbe shal be my principall verbe, butt yf (i. e. except) it come next to a relatyff or els be like to an infenetyff mode. Q. Whenne comys it nexte to a relatyff? Englische words that or which. Q. Whenne is it lyke to an infenetyff mode? A. Whenne I have this Englische to or to be, as to loffe (love) or to be luffde (loved). Ensawmpull: Chyrche is a place the whiche a Cristen man byn mykill holden to luff (love). Q. Whenne Sum et fui is the principall verbe, howe shall ye knowe your nomenatyff case? A. By this Englische word who or what. Q. Whatt part of speech is Whatt? A. An antecedent. Q. Why is he called an antecedent? A. For he goes before ye relatyff, and is rehearsed of hym. Q. Howe knowe you a relatyff? A. By these two Englische words, that or ye whiche, being the tokens of a nowne relatyff. I proceed to give some extracts from the treatise on Judicial Astrology. "Here begynnes ye wise booke of Filosophie and Astronomye, compiled and made of ye wisest Filosophers and Astronomers y ever was sithence the worlde was begunne, that is to say, of the londe of Greece; for in that londe Englischmen wyse and understandinge of filosofy and astronomy studit and compiled this boke out of Greke into Englysch, gracyously. Furst, this Boke tellis how many hevens ther ben, afterwarde pronouncith and declares of the course and of the grete marvell of the planets, and afterwardes of the signes, and of the sterres of the firmamende; afterwardes of the elyments, and complexions, and manners of Man; without which no man may come to profitable workinge of filosophy ne astronomye ne surgerye ne other sotell sciens. For ther is no secte in this world that may worke his crafte, but he have ye sciens of ye Boke. And yt is to understonde that there be xi. hevens, and ix. orders of angels; and after the day of dome ther shall be x. of angels as there were at the begynnynge, when God made them. There be also vii. planetts movynge and workinge in vii. hevens; and there be vii. dayes, ye wiche take ther proper names of ye vii. planetts, yt be to say in Latin, Sol, Luna, Mars, Mercurius, Jubiter, 3 P " Venus, Saturnus. In Englisch Sunday, Munday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Also there be xii. signes in the heest (highest) heven, whiche be moveabull; that is to say, in Laten, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisses.* And these twelve signes be not bestes, but by way of filosofy they be likened to such beasts; of the which signes everych hath a certen nomber of sterres assigned to him; and therefore the xii. signes be clepid the proper houses of the planets, in the wych they rest and abide at certen tymes, constellations fully declared. And a planet is for to say in Englische, a sterre which is discording, for it is greater, and more of power to harm, than other that bless." The writer here, I suppose, takes the derivative word λavnτnst in a bad acceptation, and I take occasion to observe that the same idea is ex to ye xii. signs; in the wych the xii. signes reign,-that is to say, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, and February; and ye xii. signes travellen and worke to good in eche monethe, but one of them principally reigneth and hath dominacyoun (domination) in his proper monethe." The MS. now proceeds to notice the influence of the signs of the zodiac, and, with an ingenuity in perfect accordance with the darkness of the middle age, makes all the signs derive their appellations from some circumstance related in holy writ. Aries," we are told, "first of all reigneth in ye moneth of March, for in that signe God made the world; and that signe Aries is cleped the signe for a Ram, inasmuch as Abraham made sacrifice to God for his son Isaac. And whoever that is borne in this signe shall be dredful pressed by our old standard poets. (terrible?) but he shall have grace. The Thus Shakspeare :— "Some say that ever, 'gainst that season Planets, planet-struck, Real eclipse then suffered." Bobadil, in Ben Jonson's celebrated drama, ascribes the cause of his paralysed valour to his being "planetstruck," which deprived him of "power to touch his weapon ;" and the inimitable Butler, in a fine vein of satire pointed at all astrological seers, says, "Cardan believed great states depend Upon the tip o' th' bear's tail's end, That as he whisk'd it towards the sun Strewed mighty empires up and down, Which others say must needs be false, Because your true bears have no tails."§ The phrase planet-struck is ever defined by our lexicographers with reference to the same influence, blasted, stunned, stupified, "sidere afflatus." I return to the MS. "Also ther ben according, xii. months * Sic. in MS. + See Schrevelius in Lexicon. Every Man in his Humour, act IV. scene 7. § Hudibras, pt. ii. canto 3. second signe, Taurus, reigneth in Aprill, and is signe of a Bull; forasmuch as Jacob, the son of Isaac, wrastlyd and strove with the Angel in Bethelhem, as a bull. Whoso is borne in this signe shall have grace in all beasts." It must be confessed that the above inferences are very forced, and what the import of" grace in all beasts" may be, one is sadly at loss to determine perhaps it implies good fortune under every celestial sign. ; "The third sterre, Gemini, regneth in May, and is clepid the signe of a Man and Woman, forasmuch as Adam and Eve were made and formed bothe of a kynde. Whoso is borne in this signe pore and feble (feeble) he shal be; he shal lefe (live) in waylynge and disese." It may be remarked, by the way, how readily the pious astrologer deprives Castor and Pollux of the apotheosis with which the heathen poets had. invested them; although he set out by assuring us his treatise was derived from Greece, he displaces at once the twin sons of Leda, and establishes in their room Gemini of two sexes, Adam and Eve! "The fourth signe Cancer reigns in June, and yt is clepid ye signe of a Crabbe, or of Canker, which is a worme; forasmuch as Job was a leper, full of cankers, by the hand of God. Who that is borne in this signe he shal be fell (cruel), but he shal have the joy of Paradise. The fifth signe Leo reigneth in July, and is clepid ye signe of a lyon, forasmuch as Danyel the prophet was put into a depe pytt amonge lyons. Who that is borne in this signe he shall be a bolde thief, and a hardy. The sixth sign, Virgo, runneth in August, and is clepid the signe of a mayden, for as much as our Lady Seynt Mary in y bearinge, and before the birthe, and after the birthe of our Lord Jesu Christ our Saviour, was a maid. Whoso is borne in this signe he shal be a wyse man, and wel stored with causes blameabull (blameable).-[Qy. well versed in instances worthy of reproof?] The seventh signe reigneth in September, and is clepid ye signe of a Balance, for as much as Judas Scariott made his councell to the Jues (Jews), and solde to them the Prophet Goddis son for xxxli. of their weighed money. Whoso be borne in this signe shal be a wycked man, a traitour's and an evy.l deth shall he dye. The eighth signe reignes in October, and is clepid y sign of a Scorpion; for as muche as the children of Israel passed throughout the Rede See (Red Sea). Whoso is borne in this signe shal have many angers and tribulacons, but he shall overcome them at the laste. The ninth signe, Sagittarius, reigneth in November, and is clepid ye signe of an Archer, for as much as Kynge David, Prophet, fought with Goliath. Whoso is borne in this signe he shal be hardy and lecherous. The tenth signe, Capricornus, reigneth in December; it is clepid the sign of a goat, for as muche as the Jewes losten the blessing of Christ. In this signe whoso is borne shal be ryche and lovynge. The eleventh signe is Aquarius; it reigneth in January, and that is clepid the signe of a man pouring water out of a pot, for as moche as Seynt John Baptist baptyzed our Lord Jesu in the fleuve Jordan for to fulfil the new law, as it was his will. Whoso that is borne in this signe shal be negligent, and lose his thinges recklessly. The twelfth signe is Pisses, that reigneth in Fevere, and it is clepet the signe of a Fysher; for as much as Jonas ye Prophete was cast into the sea, and three days and three nyghts lay in the wombe of a gualle (whale). Who that is borne in this signe shal be gracyous, hardy, and happy." One ceases to wonder at the darkness which overspread the Christian Church in our land before the reformation of her services and translation of the Bible, when one finds such specimens of theological deduction as are contained in the passages I have cited. Nor is divinity, if I am rightly informed, of a much higher order at the present day in Italy, and other parts of the continent. The above quoted absurdities, it may be observed, have little or no reference to those influences without a knowledge of which the preface said, no leech or doctor could pursue "his craft," for it was only the conjunction of the planets with the signs of the zodiac which put those mysterious effects in operation. These are amply discussed in another part of the book, accompanied by medical receipts, of which I have only extracted one or two specimens. "For all maner of fevers.-Take three drops of a woman's mylke that norseth a knave childe, and do it in a hennes egg that is sedentary (a sitting hen), and let him sup it up when the evyl takes him. "For hym that may not slepe.-Take and wryte these wordes into leves of lether, Ismael! Ismael! adjuro te per Angelum Michaëlem ut soporetur homo iste; and lay this under his head, so that he wot not therof, and use it alway, little and little, as he havę nede therto." Under the words "Here begynneth the waxinge of the mone (moon), and declareth in divers times to let blode whiche be gode. "In the furste begynnynge of the mone it is profitable to each man to be letten blode; the ninth of the mone neither by nyght ne by day, it is not good." In another place the following is predicated of a woman born under the sign Taurus. "Fair of looking, seemly and well shaped, browne of colour, great eyen, fair hair, many sicknesses shall she have, and much chaffer for she buys and sells; and she shall have three husbands, and one of them shall dwell with a great lord, and she shall have a child that shall be hurt with fire or else with hot water, and she shall be busy and studious in her works, and these ben her strong points, as it is aforesaid; and over more, on a Friday she shall die of a squinsey.'" The poet Chaucer described his doctor of physic as, "Grounded in Astronomy, He kept his pacient a full grete dele * * ** * He was a very parfit practisour." |