~ vA 3 YN . Seana Oa is sa RX oe SN ; . SN : AREAS SSN : 4 . \ AA KAA \ SES MS SEX - WSs TN SANs A a x ANN = AS iets WwW ei x \ WE * S SS) ae ~ : Ni wo NS RR \\ ne ir eg * va & ves ; at ee : ny i * . , ‘ ’ - - * ‘ ~ ‘ i , ‘ ; * . ” ; ¥ 4 r —y uieaas an Din dinates SENT ay ee THE CATHOLIC YEARBOOK: COMPREHENDING THE CIRCLE OF THE SEASONS, AND KEY TO THE CALENDAR AND ALMANAC, OR THE NATURAL HISTORY, RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS, AND MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS OF THE WHOLE YEAR, ADAPTED FOR ALL SUCCEEDING YEARS; AND FITTED AS A. ‘ ee rf By im : 5 SE ee Christmas Persent. ' cone : . he Leap LONDON : KEATING AND BROWN. 1833. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/catholicyearbook0Oforsuoft INTRODUCTION. IN order to give the reader a clear and full knowledge of the Seasons, it will be necessary to illustrate their astronomical causes ; consequently I must begin with a familiar view of the Solar System, of which our earth forms a part, and of whose laws our seasons are an effect. Some in- sight into the atmosphere is likewise good, in order to understand the sources of the weather and its changes. For the SEASONS Tempora are deter- mined divisions of time which uniformly return, and are marked by the determinate length of the daylight, and are caused by the position of our globe in its orbit: which belongs to the study of Astronomy ; whereas the WEATHER Tempestas means the various changes of wind, rain, sunshine, clouds, and so on, which belong to the atmosphere or air that surrounds the globe: it is the air also which we breathe and in which we live and move, and which by its many changes produces all the diversified phenomena of nature, and nearly all the varieties of health and disease: its study,be- longs properly to Meteorology. CLIMATE Climas signifies the effect of the seasons and.of the weather A 2. —— iv. INTRODUCTION. taken collectively, and applied to particular parts of the earth or countries. It may be otherwise described as the product of latitude compounded with the local accidents of the air and soil of particular longitudes. But I shall proceed to particulars. ~The CREATION; or the whele sensible effect of the creative power of the Deity, which is ealled the universe, seems,.as far as we can judge of it, to consist of innumerable. bodies of ia spherical form, existing in infinite space at certain distances from each other, various in their bigness, appear- ances, and functions, and, moving according, to given laws. We call them variously—suns, stars, planets, satellites, and comets. But as the parti- cular study of these is a» part of the higher astronomy, I shall pass it over, and go on to de- seribe our own) solar system, or the sun and his attendant planets, which. «lone is necessary to our present purpose, reminding the reader in the mean time that the fixed stars are suppesed to be distinct suns, which may have the like systems’ of worlds moving round them, and may be producing indivi- dual life and happiness on their surfaces, in a countless number of forms, and through a bound- lessness of space, and in an endless series of ages of time past and to come. For as the creator is infinite in goodness and power; so are the creatures in number and variety. INTRODUCTION: v. SOLAR SYSTEM. The solar system consists of the SUN ©, which is a large luminous globe, placed in the centre of anumber of smaller spheres, shining by his re- flected light, and moving round him in regular orbits, and hence called planets; and of very numerous bodies of a different form, which move round him in more extended and inealculable orbits; these have luminous tails, and hence called comets. Of these latter we know very little—they move in very eccentric elypses, or in hyperbolic or parobolic curves, and belong not to our present object. The larger planets which are known as moving round ihe sun, are seven in number. MERCURY & the nearest to the sun,* is small and reflects a reddish light. VENUS @ the next, is larger, is very bright, has phases, and is what we call the evening star, or Hesperus, when she follows the westering wheel of Phoebus and spangles on his parting beams; but the morning star, or Phosphorus, when adorning the dewy frontlet of the day, she comes forth as the herald of his orient car. Next to Venus, and of nearly the same bigness, comes the EARTH @, which we * Almost all the fixed stars, as well as the planets, differ from each other in the colour of their lights. Vi. {NTRODUCTION. inhabit, attended by its satellite the MOON @; beyond which is MARs 3, whose deep red light distinguishes him from JUPITER 2%, the largest in reality, and the most brilliant in appearance, after Venus, of them all, attended by his four satel- lites. SATURN k, marked by his double ring and seven satellites, is next; and the outermost of all is URANUS H, who has six moons, and who shines with a pale white light. Of the small telescopic planets, JUNO $, CERES , PALLAS 9, and VesTA 4, making their invisible circuits between Mars and our Earth, I have said no- thing, nor of the comets before hinted at. Suf- fice it to say then, that the planets move in orbits round the sun, and that the periods of each, or the: time of revolving from any one point in the heavens to the same point again, is called their orbit. In making these orbits, the planets move according to some law of motion, one effect of which appears to be the describing of areas equal to the times. Newton has attempted to account for this on the principle of attraction, and it isin strict conformity to the areas described by pendulums. But attrac- tion, as applied to celestial bodies, is a word without meaning : we must be contented to behold the order and constancy of the phenomena observed, and to ascribe similar effects to similar causes, of which the Deity or final cause is the source. INTRODUCTION. Vil. DIVISIONS OF TIME. But we must now return to the earth and its atmosphere, and to those phenomena generated by its revolution round its axis and orbit, and the consequent division of time to which the natural and artificial calendar relate. The YEAR Annus is computed by the circuit of the earth from one point of the orbit, till it comes to the same point again; and the Christian year is computed from the place of the earth, about the time when Christ was born, and is now fixed, by consent, for the octave of the nativity, or first of January, according to the calendar established by St. Gregory: that is about 10° from the winter solstice. The orbit orbita solis is divided artificially into 360 degrees, and as the earth is rather more than 365 days in going round it, so it may be said to move somewhat less than one degree each day, or about 30° each month. But it will be asked what are days and months ? A Day, dies, may be thus explained: the earth, besides its circuit round the sun, called its orbit, revolves round its own poles, turning in succession every part of its surface towards the sun, and in turn, away from it, thus generating the alteration of daylight and of darkness. This occupies twentyfour hours of time, so that the astrono- viii. INTRODUCTION. mical day comprehends a day and a night, and signifies the period of the earth’s proper revolution round its own spindle. This double motion of the earth round the sun and round its own axis, may be familiarly explained by reference to the spin- ning of a top, which, while it whirls rapidly round its own axis, of the which the peg may be regarded as one pole and the upper part the other, is also making large circles on the ground. The natural day and night, or periods of light and darkness, are divided into MIDNIGHT Jesson- yctis the period fixed for each day to begin ; MORNING Mane; FORENOON Antemeridies ; NOON Meridies; AFTERNOON Pomeridies; and EVENING Vesper. A MonrTH, mensis, is a parcel of about 30 days, more or less, and is therefore the twelfth part of the year. The imaginary path of the earth in the heavens is divided into twelve corresponding por- tions ; and the constellations which the sun inter- cepts as the earth passes these portions, are called Signs of the Zodiac, because the vivid imagination of the antients regarded these groups of the stars as giving the notion of the figures of animals ; but it is not till about the third week of each month that the sun enters a new sign. Thus he enters Aries or the Ram Y, March 20; Taurus the Bull 8, April 19; Gemini the Twins 0, May 21; Cancer the Crab 3, June 22; Leo the Lion &, INTRODUCTION. 1X. July 23; Virgo the Virgin ty; August 23; Libra the Balance: ‘September 23; Scorpio the Scorpion m;~October 23; Sagitlarius the Archer.t¢, November 22; Capricornus the Wild Goat YW, December 23 ; Aquarius the Water- beaver ay, January 19; and Pisces the Fishes , Feoruary 18. - e The SEASONS may be thus explained. The poles of the earth being inclined to the plane of the orbit, it happens that there is a perpetual variation of the relative length of day and night ; there will therefore be two points in the orbit, or m o'her words two days in the year; in which day and_ night are of equal length, and these are called the Equinoxes; the’ first or vernal equinox is when the sun enters 7, the second or autumnal is when he enters =. There will also be one day in the year when the day. is longest and the night shortest; and this is when the sun enters &; the heat is then the greatest, and as the change in the variation of daylight is less about this time than about the equinoxes, it is called the summer solstice. Conversely, in the opposite point in the heavens, is the winter solstice. The four sea- sons of the year, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, are four artificial divisions of the year, which correspond to the above periods. Hach season, if we regard the relative length of the days therein, ought to begin and end at periods X. INTRODUCTION. equidistant from the same point above alluded to ; but as it is found that the weather follows or is a month later than the astronomical season, and as the weather and its natural phenomenon of flowers, leaves and so on, is a more marked thing than the mere daylight; so it is generally agreed on to consider the same seasons as thus divided :— Spring, or the springing again of nature into life,, begins on the first of March; summer on the first of June; autumn on the first of September ; and winter on the first of December. The con- ventual year of the almanack considers the spring quarter as beginning on the twentyfifth of March and so on of the others ; whilst the Christian year of the calendar regards the time of Advent as the beginning and the disposition of the quarters, in the Breviary and Missal, differeth from the other computations ; so that there is an adjustment neces- sary between all these. What we have to do with here, however, is principally the natural year or circle of the seasons, and its adaptation to the Christian year or festivals of the calendar. I shall begin with the natural year. I need not re- mind the reader that hours are divided into minutes, moments, and decimes. SIX SEASONS. The division of the year into four seasons, however, does not correspond so well with the INTRODUCTION. X1. natural changes in the earth, as a division into six seasons; two of which belong to the spring, or growing season, two to the autumnal, or waning, and one to either of the solstices: these six sea- sons also correspond to the number into which the Indian year is usually divided: they may be thus described :— The BRUMAL or midwinter, the sleep of the year, corresponding to the Hemanta or cold season of India, begins on the entrance of the sun into ¢, Nov. 21. In this season occurs the winter solstice, on the © entering V9, Dec. 21. The HYBERNAL otherwise called Primaveral or early spring, corresponds to the Indian Sisera, or first budding, and including our halcyon days, begins when © enters “v, Jan. 20. In the middle of this month appear the first blossoms, when the © enters %, Feb. 19. The VERNAL or true spring, corresponding to the Indian Visante, or flowery spring, begins when © enters f, March 20, called the vernal equinox: in the middle of it occur the first leaves, on © entering 3. ' The SOLSTICIAL or midsummer, answering to the Indian Grishma, or hot summer, and in- cluding our Dog Days, begins when © enters JO, May 20. In the middle of this season occurs the summer solstice, © entering ss. The AESTIVAL or late summer, correspond- xii. INTRODUCTION. ing to the Indian Versha the rainy, and including our showery period of St. Swithin, begins when © enters {L, July 20. In the middle of this sea- son occurs the Harvest Home, or Feast of gy es 5 the © entering the sign uy. The AUTUMNAL, answering to the Indian Sarad, or the waning year, begins with the sun’s - entrance into #~, Sep. 24, called the autumnal equinox. In the middle of this ‘season oceurs the Vintage Feast, or first Bacchanalian, about the time the sun enters ‘Mm. I shall now go onto describe the ever varying face of nature, in each season, more particularly. TEMPUS BRUMALE, OR THE WINTER SEASON. ASTRONOMY.—O© ¢ Nov. 20, rises VII-46, Sep. 1V-14. Ow Dee. 21, rises VITI-8, — I1]-52. _ The Winter Solstice may be said to extend from the beginning of the. Ember week of St. Lucy, to the end of Christmas week; there being no perceptible change im the length of the short winter’s daylight: after this the days lengthen again. The beautiful Constellations of Orion, known by the three rémarkable stars in his gir- dle, Syrius, Procyon and the Pleiades, make the INTRODUCTION. Xi. principal figure of the meridian aspect during this period. WEATHER.—The weather of this dark gloomy season is distinguished into the mild and moist, and the frosty and cold; which often alter- nate, in the early part of the period the former prevails, and is often accompanied with violent gales of wind which prevail most in the night: in the latter part of it, the severests frosts hap- pen. ‘The early part was called by the French, Lrumaire, the later was Nivose. We often en- joy temporary calms, and a soft still delicious air, called the Aleyon Days. NATURAL HIsTORY.—The general aspect of nature gets more and more forlorn, the woods by degrees lose their remaining decayed leaves, which fly about in the gale and cover the walks, avenues, and ways with their carpeting. As winter ad- vances, all is bleak and forlorn, and the appearance of a covering of snow on the ground, and on all the bare branches of the trees, with long icicles hanging from every spout and gutter, have often a very curious effect: so has also the effect of sudden frost on floods, producing acres of field ice for skating. Evergreens, such as the pine, the fir, the bay, the laurel, the box, the laburnum and others, are now valuable acquisitions, as well as the beauti- fied addition of the bright red berries of the holly, B Xiv. INTRODUCTION. and the yew, they make a winter garden of great beauty, which is much enjoyed in the intervals of fine weather, particularly when a mild season leaves us afew stocks, marigolds, and other flowers. But perhaps the ivy on the trunks of the elms and other large trees, and on old walls and ruined abbeys, and the bright orange berries of the me- spilus pyracanthus trained against our houses, are among the most ornamental effects of nature and art combined at this time of the year. We may add to these, the Chinese and dark Indian roses which, in the early part of the Brumal period, still blow and ornament our parterre and forecourts, and are some times trained against walls. Pheasants, partridges, woodcocks, snipes, field- fares, and in severe weather the numerous spe- sies of water fowl are now in season. The rooks and daws go out in large flights to feed, and re- turn at night to the woods. Seagulls come in large flights to the inland part of the country, rare foreign birds also appear. In the dark and still weather cocks frequently crow all night and day. The redbreast and the wren sing all this season; and pyes and jays are numerous. The principal flowers of this season are the sweet coltsfoot or shepherd of Madonna, ¢ussilago fra- grans, and the Christmas rose or blackrooted hellebore helleborus niger, the flower of which INTRODUCTION. XV. is white. The mosses, however, claim our atten- tion, some species covering the trunks of trees, others walls, and often the roofs of buildings, to which they impart that rich glossy green which is so conspicuous in the season when the boughs are bare of leaves. The barns and thatched outhouses of our country, and of some of the moister climates of the Netherlands, are often beautifully covered with this green moss, while to the tiling and slating of others the lichens impart a yellow hue. The amusements of this season are skating and sliding when it is frosty; feeding birds which flock to our windows, a benevolent custom which should be encouraged in children; and in the garden planting and sowing when the weather permits. This season usually ends with very se- vere weather, and the Christmas sports and gam- bols, and New Year’s gifts, and the children’s plays at Kingtide, usually occur when the ground is covered with snow. ‘The running a figure of 8 in the snow is also a favourite pastime in the midst of winter. Towards the close of January, the Sun wending into the sign of «, and the brighter beams watched for on St. Vincent’s day, mark the coming of the season next to be described. CALENDAR.—The Sundays, festivals, and holy observances of this time of the year are very im- portant, and deserve particular attention. The PRESENTATION OF OUR LaDy, Nov. &Vi. INTRODUCTION. 21, occurs just at the beginning of this period, and is, therefore, the first winter feast of the Church. Many children in convents make their first com- munion this day, as well as on the CONCEPTION OF OUR LaDy, Dee. 8: their appearance, all dressed in white, with lighted tapers in their hands, is very imposing ; as is also their repetition of the baptismal vows at complin. ADVENT mostly begins in the last week in November or first in December; a period set apart as a preparation for Christmas. On the Sundays we now see the priest arrayed in the penitential purple cassula. Wednesdays and Fridays, and the three Ember days following St. Lucy are kept as fasts, and the whole period is one of preparation and penance. Nature, which seems to respond to the ordi- nances of religion, at this season is clothed in the dark still gloomy weather of winter : it is a period of expectation: we look to a new year and a new birth, a regeneration of our physical and moral condition. Cocks at this season crowing all night long, are said, poetically, te purify the air against the hallowed season of the Nativity, and it has been otherwhere observed that the cocks, which crow almost perpetually during this season, and awaken with unusual clamour the little dark wintry day, seem like the forewarning prophets, and remind us of St. John the Baptist preaching INTRODUCTION. XVI. in the wilderness. As the festive time approaches, the nightly minstrels called Wakes play their vigil madrigals in our streets ; and at length comes CHRISTMAS, the great festival whereby the Nativity is celebrated. Nature now corresponds with the Calendar, and often covers, in a case of snow, every living thing, as if to confine the atten- tion of men to the celebration of the festival. The garnished windows, the bright red holy berries, the ivied walls, and the festive mistletoe bough hung from the hall ceiling, now announce a season of gaiety, joy, and mirth; the cheerful fire, the Christmas log, minced pies, and the hospitality of the social board, are all fitting things for this frosty time of year. The week following is spent in recreations and games, and the mind of man is agreeably relaxed during the feast of St. Stephen, Holy Innocents, and St. John the Evangelist. New YEAR’s DAY, or the Feast of the Cir- eumcision, opens the year, with the life of Christ, and it is usual among friends to make rich presents called new year’s gifts on this occasion. TWELFTH Day, or the Epiphany, comes next, when the children have their twelfth cake, and the games of drawing for King and Queen. ‘The weather is still severely cold and frosty, and is scarcely relaxed in our climate or in France, till the end of the CARNIVAL, a period of gaiety and © amusement, which goes on through. this season, B2 ) ded P XVIII. INTRODUCTION. and extending into the next, terminates in Lent, hereafter to be described. TEMPUS HYBERNALE, THe HYBERNAL SEASON. ASTRONOMY.—© ax Jan. 20, rises at VII.46, sets IV. 14. . © xX Feb. 19, rises at VI. 55, sets V. 5. Capella is now seen in the north east; and the Twins seem to follow. one another. up. the sky. Syrius still makes a conspicuous figure, and Orion’s girdle is to be seen. WEATHER.—The weather, of: this: period. is for. the most part-cold. and changeable. The-pro- verb thatas the days lengthen the cold strengthens, is found to be.too true. But in some seasons mild weather and rain produce a Candlemas flood, when allthe marsh lands are under water. ‘This period closes with those-sudden alternations of snow. and hail showers, wind, sunfits, and other. changes, which verify the proverb “‘ February filldyke”’ and “«¢ March.many weather,” as applied to both months: Very cold bleak winds often,close this period: NATURAL History.—Larks now. congregate; and fly to the warm. stubble for shelter; and the nuthatch-is heard. Theslug makes its appearance INTRODUCTION. K1Xs and commences its. depredations on garden. plants and green wheat. The missel thrush begins its deep and full song. The hedge sparrow and the thrush begin to sing.. The wren, also, “‘ pipes her perennial lay,” even among the flakes of snow: The titmouse pulls straw out. of the thatch, in search of insects; linnets congregate, and rooks resort to their nest trees: Pullets begin to lay; young lambs are dropped. now. The house sparrow. chirps; the bat appears; spiders shoot out their-webs; and the blackbird whistles in the laurel hedge. The fieldfares, red-. wings, skylarks, and titlarks resort: to watered, meadows for food, and are, in part, supported, by the gnats which are on the snow, near, the water. The tops of tender turnips: and. ivy berries afford food. for the garminivorous. birds, as the ringdove, &e, Earth worms lie out on the ground, andthe snail appears, and in fine days hees-appear abroad, Mr. Gisborne, in his *‘ Walks in. a Forest,” draws:a lively picture of, cattle going to. their ac- customed, pools to drink, when completely frozen oyer, and‘of: their-awkward attempts. to obtain,the grateful beverage. Various: insects: now come: forth, and in- the warm, fine days towards. the vernal equinox, we see the:sulphur- butterfly, and sometimes. also-thc tortoiseshell on the wing. Snails. are.found clus- tered. on the south walls by the new. blossom of the « XX. INTRODUCTION. fruit trees, the loud and shrill laugh of the yaffle, pricus viridus, and the cooing of the ringdove and pigeon&, the gabbling of the turkey, the peacock squalling before rain, and the ow] hooting by night are characteristic of this season; but the most re- markable bird which now arrives is the stone curlew fedoa oedicnemus, who, flying over our heads by night, makes a striking noise, repeated at intervals like the grinding together of two mill- stones. ‘The raven and crow now lay, and the rooks and daws awaken one in the morning with their busy voices. Toads: now make a strange grunting noise, and the murmur of frogs croaking from the pool is well known. The blooming of the early shrubs. is now a pleasing sight. The mezereon daphne mezereon is a bush covered with pink flowers, which make a conspicuous figure in the leafless gardens, to this we may add the almond, the double blossomed peach, the early phony” and many others. The first plants which appear at this season are the yellow hellebore, or winter aconite helle- borus hyemelis called the flower of St. Paul, as it often appears on the feast of the conversion of that - saint: its bright yellow flowers are well known to precede both the snowdrop and the crocus, which get common early in February; the yel- low crocus crocus maesiacus, the cloth of gold, erocus susianus the white striped croleur crocus iNTRODUCTION. XX1, bifloris, are the earliest, and appear soon after Candlemas, and the purple crocus vernus, and the lilac sort crocus versicolor, come later. The red, the white, and the blue liverwort anemone hepa- tica, now blow. The dog’s tooth violet e7y- thronium dens canis also flowers, and here and there a few daisies, and the dandelions faraxra- cum dens leonis, are seen in the fields; and the golden stars of the pilewort ficaria verna are seen on warm and sheltered banks, and soon comes the lungwort pulmonaria officinalis in the garden. But the most lovely of all flowers at this season are the sweet violets viola odorata, whose per- fume is scented at a great distance in the garden, before the flowers are seen. These, with the heartsease, the primrose, and the polyanthus, make up the chief of our hybernal or primeveral flowers, just as the early daffodils are opening their yel- low cups. Nothing can be more agreeable in the fine days which occur at intervals in this season than to walk abroad in the garden and see the floral heralds of the early spring mix here and there with the red flowers of the anenome, which in mild weather, blows at all seasons. The French calendar of 1793, called the early part of this period pluviose, the latter ventose. CALENDAR.—Now comes CANDLEMAS, when the purification of our Lady is celebrated, just as the virgin snowdrops peep above the ground, and XXil. INTRODUCTION. the first winter birds are heard again; and as we pace along, with the procession of lighted tapers, we see the earliest signs of lengthened daylight. After which the festivals of this period are chiefly the Moveable Feasts in Lent, beginning with Shrovetide and Ash Wednesday, and ending with Palm Sunday and Easter in the next season. -LENT and its long fasts, preparatory to the sable solemnities of Holy Week, is in accordance with the face of nature, which is cold and bleak at this season, when all the earth seems doing penance out of doors. And this repose or absence of great excitement, both from food and hilarity, is a very wholesome change, and prepares men for the Pascal festivity, to be described. TEMPUS VERNALE, THE SPRING SEASON. ASTRONOMY.—©O ¥ March 20, rises at VI.0, sets at VI.0. © 8 April 20, rises IV. 57, sets VI. 13. The entrance of the Sun into Aries, or the Vernal Equinox is that point in the heavens where the Sun appears when the day and night are of equal length. From this point the longitudes of the planetary bodies are calculated. INTRODUCTION. Xxill. ‘THE PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOX may be thus explained :—The equinoctial points are always westering, that is, getting back among the pre- ceding signs of stars, at the rate of about fifty seconds each year, which retrogade motion is called the precession, or sometimes the retrocession, of the equinoxes. As then the fixed stars remain immoveable, and the equinoxes go backward, the stars will seem to move more and more eastward with respect to them; whence the longitudes of the stars, which are reckoned from the first point of Aries, are continually increasing. On this ac- count, the interval of time between the equinox, and that same equinox, in the following revolution of the earth, which is called tropical year, is some minutes shorter than the sidereal year, or the period in which the earth revolves from one point of her orbit to the same point again. The WEATHER.—This is perhaps the most interesting time of the whole year; and though at the beginning the rough equinoctial gales are apt to return, yet the intervals of bright weather which come between the showers afford perhaps speci- mens of the clearest skies which occur in our climate. We have known thunder showers with very highly electrified hail happen in this season, and in some instances snow; but it has been of short continuance. ‘The latter part, however, in- cluding the flowery days of early May, is the XXiv. INTRODUCTION. finest of the whole year, and though the nights may yet be chilly the days are temperate, and the whole country smelling sweetly of newly opened blossoms, and ornamented with young leaves, and filled with the music of birds, is truly the season of poetical love. ATMOSPHERE.—There is not so much differ- ence between the temperature of the lower and higher parts of the air at this time of year, as in autumn, as was ascertained by Dr. Forster who, on the 30th of April, 1851, ascended in an air balloon to a very great height. NATURAL History.—The most remakable thing in this season is the return of the vernal songsters who, arriving in succession, fill our gardens, fields, and groves with their minstrelsy. The least willow wren sylvia hippolais comes first, the nightingale, the redstart, the cuckoo, the wryneck, and others in succession. The chimney swallow hirundo rustica comes about April 155 the house martlet A. wrbica a little later, then comes ‘the sand martin h. clivicola, and lastly the swift h. apus. The first appearance of these birds, particularly the swallow, is always hailed with great pleasure by the naturalist, and followed as it is by the song of the cuckoo from the blossomed orchard, and by all the beauties of the vernal sea- son, it is no wonder that in all ages it should have been anticipated with delightful expectation. The INTRODUCTION. XXV. nestling and incubation of birds now begins to take place and occupies all the rest of this season and the beginning of the next, and it is to this function of nature that we owe the sweet and varied notes of the cock birds who sing to their hens while thus employed in rearing the young. The meadows are now spangled with the daisy, the dandelion, and the buttercups. The garden flowers of this season are rich and beautiful, but are too numerous to be described: at its beginning the various daffodils, narcissi, and hyacinths are in full blow, followed by early tulips, pionies, show tulips, and lastly by the anemone in all its species and varieties. The monkey poppy, papaver orientale, now contrasts its bright red eolour with the deep crimson glow of the double plony peeonta officinalis blowing by its side, or the varied purple of the German iris. The bright _ light blue of the cynoglossum is also finely con- trasted with the deep violet colovr ‘of the viola odorata, or the varied tricolour of the heartsease. Meanwhile the fruit trees in the orchard and gardens, with the blackthorn in the hedges, and lastly the hawthorn or may bush in bloom, and the young leaves opening every where, while the meadows and banks are in full flower, render the country one wide garden at the close of this season. | CALENDAR.—As LENT draws to a close as ra Je XXV1. INTRODUCTION. this season advances, the feasts of Palm Sunday, Holy week, and lastly of EASTER, are well suited to the time, particularly the latter, when this great feast of the resurrection is in harmony with the rising into life of all reanimated nature. Low Sunday follows; and then the pleasing Rogations before Whitsuntide, when we sing in procession, and every bird is singing with us. All these festivals will be found described in the supplement to this book. The only fixed festival of any moment is the ANNUNCIATION of OUR BLESSED LADY, called Ladyday, March 25, which is the quarter day of the almanacs. TEMPUS SOLSTITIALE, MIDSUMMER SEASON. ASTRONOMY.—© Of May 20, rises IV. 7, sets VII. 53. © @& June 2], rises III. 43, sets VIII. 17. OBSERVATIONS OF THE Sky.—It is a good thing to be able, from a familiar acquaintance with the right ascension and declination of the princi- pal stars, to determine the time of night at- any time of the year; or vice versd, knowing the time of night by counting the hours from the sun’s culmination, to be able to fix the time of year. INTRODUCTION. XXVli. _ Thus the skilful naturalist and philosopher would be able to ascertain the period of the year by the flowers by day, and by the stars by night. To- day, for example, we examine the garden: we observe the scarlet lychins just beginning to blow, the sweet Williams rather more out, Canterbury bells in flower, abundance of poppies, and other signs of midsummer, whence we know the Sum- mer Solstice is at hand. At night we look about ten o’clock into the sky: we observe Arcturus known by his brazen colour in the west. ‘he bright star in the Harp known by its purer white light is approaching the meridian. The Crown of Ariadne has passed it already ; rather more to the eastward are to be seen the bright stars in the Swan, and further south that in the Eagle. Still further south, and near to the horizon, is Antares the bright star in the heart of the Scorpion known by the rapid permutations of colour exhibited by its twinkling. Northeast we may observe Cassiopeia’s Chair, a constellation whose stars make a sort of irregular letter W, ascending the Pole as midnight ap- proaches. The WEATHER now is hottest of the whole year, particularly at the latter end of the period, when it sometimes gives place to a series of zestival showers. The long and nightless days, for there is no night now, only a sort of twilight, are fully XXvili. INTRODUCTION. enjoyed by those who like to dwell constantly out of doors. Thunderstorms are common in this sea- _ son, and the showers which attend them greatly Felieve the gardens from the parched ground left by the dry season of the spring to be baked by the solstitial heats. The noiseless or summer light- ning of an evening is also very beautiful at this time. NATURAL HIsTORY.—This season opens with the roses which flower in succession throughout the whole time, accompanied by pinks and sweet Williams. Sheepshearing commencing when warm weather is fairly set in, reminds us of a custom common in the South of England, namely, that of scattering flowers on the streams at shearing time, - which has been long observed in the South West of England; and is alluded to as an ancient rite by Dyer, in his beautifully descriptive poem en- tled The Fleece. The farmer generally looks on the flowering of the elder as a sign that the period is at hand ‘‘when the lads and the lasses a sheepshearing go,” as the old song says. The flowers of the early part of this season are those which come into blow in the last, such as the pionies and varieties of iris,. but all the lilies however soon succeed by turns, with the lychins and the innumerable varieties of garden poppies. 'The approach of the solstice is constantly INTRODUCTION. XIX marked by the red poppies papaver Cereale among the young corn and in other sown fields. ‘This is the season of hay making, when the scythe is heard in the morniag, and the lhaymaker’s song in the evening. The fruits of the season are straw- berries, cherries, and currants, and lastly the very early pears which succeed each other by turns. CALENDAR.—The Feasts of St. Barnabas, St. John the Baptist, and of §.S. Peter and Paul, ocewr atthis season. The conclusion of the move- able feasts, however, generally takes place in the early part of this period. . On these we have the following observations recorded in the ‘* Pilgrim’s: Waybook.”’—‘ We celebrate the exhilerating Ro- gation Processions to chaunt the divine praises and beg blessings on the fruits of the earth, at. a time which responds to the season of flowers and young leaves, when every meadow is: spangled. with colowrs, and every blossomed maybush. has: ai bird singing with us; and lastly, the conswmmation: of the religious rites of Pentecost, and: the great mystery of Corpus Christi, at. a. period whem the grass is long, the whole country in flower, and: when all animated nature out. of doors. is also per= fected and robed in the mantle of summer! These are alliillustrations of the coincidence of natural phenomena with religious exhibitions: whichi must have struck. every: attentive oliserver, They prove how much picturesque effect, which is the voice c2 XX. INTRODUCTION. of God speaking by the eloquence of his handmaid Nature, harmonizes the mind and prepares it for the particular duties of the respective seasons.’* TEMPUS AESTIVALE, LATE SUMMER SEASON. ASTRONOMY.—© § July 22, rises IV. 6, sets VII. 54. © m Aug. 22, rises IV. 57, sets VII. 3. The Northern Crown, the bright star in the Harp, the Eagle, and the Swan, are still prominent crossing the Heavens in the evening, while the Scorpion is yet discernable in the south. In the latter part of the season Arcturus setting in the west is a conspicuous star. The Pleiades, Hya- des, and Aldebaran are also seen rising in the Eastern Hemisphere late at night and towards the end of summer. The WEATHER is often very hot at the be- ginning of this season, at other times, it is cha- racterized by a succession of rapid showers. Storms of thunder and lightning also occur very | * See more particulars in ‘‘ Medicina Simplex, or the Pinerim’s WayBoox; being a treatise on the means of a long life and healthy old age, founded on rules of diet, and the knowledge of the reciprocal influence of the body and mind on each other. By T, I, Marie Forster, F.L.S. &c. 1832. INTRODUCTION. XXXi. frequently. The skies and particularly the sun- sets at length get very beautiful. NATURAL HIsTory.—The grove is now silent, the birds cease to sing, their nestling is over, and young birds of all kinds are seen about. ‘The cuckoo, changed in his note, at length ceases to sing, and soon after leaves us; swifts migrate. As the season advances the leaves begin to be tinged with yellow. The corn now gets yellow, and is reaped in this season, the sickle now taking the place of the seythe which in last season was every where heard: and to the new haystack of summer are now added the cornricks of the early Autumn. The fruits of this season are the most delicious of the year, apricots, plums, peaches and nectarines in succession, besides figs, melons, and other foreign fruit, and towards the close, the earlier sorts of grapes. The Flora of this period cannot boast of much beauty, for after the Assumption of our Lady, the beauty of earth is transferred to Heaven, the clouds being dight with a thousand colours, and Aurora wearing her most splendid wardrobe, while in the gardens, the African and French marigolds, China- asters and other syngenesia are the principal flowers. The fields bloom again with Autumnal dandelions, and as the days draw in towards the Autumnal Equinox, the Michaelmas daisies and_ goldenrods flower. XXXii, INTRODUCTION. CALENDAR.—The principal feast is the As- SUMPTION, August 15, and it has been observed that the great festival of our Lady occurs when the sky is rich in every variety of eolour; the clouds also exhibit every tint from orange to deep purple or vermilion ; the grove however is silent and the fields produce but few flowers; all the beanty of the earth seeming as it were transferred to heaven against the reception of the Holy Virgin whose assumption is now eelebrated. ‘Fhe other feasts are the NATIVITY OF OUR LADY, Sep. 8, and OUR LADY OF MERey, Sep. 24, the rest belong to. next season. TEMPUS AUTUMNALE, AUTUMNAL, SEASON. ASTRONOMY.—© = Sep. 24, rises VI. 0. set at VI. 0. © m Oct. 23, rises VI. 55, set VI. 5, Arcturus, still is seen setting: in. the west, Cor- ona, Lyra, Aquila, and. Cygnus; descending: from midheayen ; Cassiopeia. in, the north of the zenith. Capella. in N. E. Aldebaran and) the: Pleiades: - rising in, east, and, Castor. and Pollux in north east. THE WEATHER.—The cooler but: very: plea- [NIRODUCTION. XX¥Xiil. sant weather of Autumn is now set in, shorter days and fires in our rooms in the evening, with longer candlelight, begin to excite a desire to study, in those for whom the idle and mischievous sports have no charms. Others only rise to hear the woods echo with the hollow sound of hounds and follow the hunter’s horn. As this season ad- vances, the mornings are apt to be foggy, and at last the wet, windy, and variable weather, the yellow and falling leaves and the cold air remind one that the early winter is not far off. NATURAL History.—Although there are but few remarkable flowers save the colchicum autumnale, the saffron crocus autumnale and the yellow amaryllis lutea which still blow in this season ; yet the soft and lovely landscapes are orna- mented with the various red and brown hues of the decaying leaves. The creeper is of a deep and beautiful scarlet, the dogwood of a fine purple; the sumac a fine deep red, the elms yellow, the beachen leaves a fine chocolate brown, and so on of others. The leaves now fall apace, and the wood and grove are by degrees dismantled of every thing but the evergreens, which havea pleasing contrast with the mellow foliage in its decay. In this sea- son the swallows, martins, and summer birds leave us, and the winter birds arrive. CALENDAR.—MICHAELMAS, at the beginning of this season:—noted for the goose eaten today. After this comes the feast of the ROSARY on the INTRODUCTION. XXXIV. Ist Sunday of October; the feast of GUARDIAN ANGELS, Oct. 2d, and then comes Allhallowtide in which we keep two remarkable festivals, the first ALL SAINTS, Nov. 1, to celebrate all the saints singing in heaven; ALL SOULS, Nov. 2, to pray for the souls of those who remain in pur- gatory. Then comes MARTINMAS, Novy. 4, on which day the French eat another goose: and then we speedily get into another season. And thus the catholic year rolls round, exhi- biting the most pleasing and salutary interchanges of fasting and feasting, of penitence and of re- joicing, of praying and of thanksgiving; all which suit the nature of man, and enliven and diversify the toils of our earthly pilgrimage. As we have alluded above to the aerial voyage which Dr. Forster made in a balloon from the gardens of the Dominican Friars, on the SOth of April, 1831, we shall amuse our readers with a short extract from the recorded account of that voyage. ‘Picture to yourself, reader, two persons sus- pended in a small wicker basket, slung under an inflated bag of huge dimensions buoyant in the air, immediately beneath a canopy of mist, and in the elevated plane of evaporating clouds, whose grotesque forms are gradually becoming lost amid the shadows of greyhooded evening, in perfect stillness, without any perceivable motion, and looking down upona great and apparently concave INTRODUCTION. EXXV. amphitheatre, divided like a map, and made up of objects rendered too diminutive by their dis- tance to be well defined, and which appear to have no altitude at the great height from which we view them ;—and you may get some idea of the sensation produced by a view from a becalmed balloon. We seem, as it were, to have been divested of all terrestial connections from the vast distance of the earth, and the terrific space with which we are surrounded, when raised above the smoke and stir of that dim spot which men call earth, we feel as if we were breathing in delicious tranquil- lity, the pure ether of celestial regions.” As IMPROVISATIO—TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN. To the throne of your riches and grandeur I fly, In the arms of your mercies I'll rest : O, help me, O, shield me, when going to die, And let not my soul be oppressed. When the winds of adversity sink in my heart, When temptations assail me with pain, To thy beautiful throne I will willingly dart, And by thee I’ll safely remain. When I find myself mix’d with the giddy and gay, When around me enchantment there lies, O help me, O thou whom the angels obey, From sin and the world to arise. When first in the morning from sleep I awake, When the Devil’s temptation begins, Lo Jesus, O then, my heart and soul take, And preserve me from failings and sins. When first before God in the morning I kneel, My prayer and oblations to say, O then let my heart the more forcibly feel What I by my word of mouth pray. When about to receive my God from above, In my poor and my unworthy heart, Obtain for me some of the Seraphim’s love, And some of thy own, O impart. O beg of thy God, when I am to receive A conscience from sin undefiled, And vouchsafe from all failings and sins to relieve Thy young and thy suppliant child. When the time draws so near, and the angels adore My Jesus on our altar laid, O then my dear Mother indeed I implore Thy powerful succour and aid. And when I am slighted, and scorned, and disdained, When through it I weep and bemoan, Let me then think that Jesus on earth so remained, And that Mary was poor and unknown. When I sin by the fashion and rank of my birth, When led on by those whom I love, Take my heart, blessed Lady, from this passing earth, And place it in heaven above. When forced from my passions to heave a deep sigh, O make me then pious and mild ; And look down from the throne,of thy grandeur on high, _ On thy thoughtless and volatile child. When about to break loose from life’s faultering bands, When I feel the last chilling of death, O then, Queen of Heaven, into thy sacred hands Receive thou my last parting breath. SELENA MARGARET Rosa Mary CATHEKINE. Jan. 2, 1833. CONTENTS. I. PROLRGOMENA, being an analytical Preface intro- ducing the Reader to the Subjects contained in the Work, to wit :— PAGE General descriptive Introduction........ “Soh oapAapacioa vi. Description of the Catholic Church..........ceeeeeess viii. On the Foundation of Certitudé......csccccvecceeeeeee xii. Authority— Nature of Logic and Axioms.... ....+. xv. Etymology of Religious and other Words.......... xvi. Of the Standard of Truth..... .....ccccssee eoveeeese xvii. Criterion between Illusion and Reality.............. xix. Certain fulfilment of Divine Promises........ stkae bes x