MILTON'S PORTRAIT. GRANGER says, that Marshal's Portrait of Milton was the first print of him ever published; and Salmasius, in his "Defensio Regia," says it gave him a more advantageous idea of his person than he ever had before. Milton himself, however, had a very different opinion of it, as may be gathered from the following translation of some Greek verses which he wrote under a copy of the portrait: "Will any one say that this portrait was the work of an ingenious hand? My very friends, looking at my own natural countenance, know not whom it represents, but laugh at the awkward imitation of the idiotic. artist." DRUNKEN PENALTY. IN the register of the parish of Iken, in Suffolk, there is an entry of the body of a man, dying drunk, being put into the fire. It is as follows: "Sepultorum 1669, Edwardus Reeve, nuper de Iken Hall, rediens, die Veneris decimo Novembris, a Saxmundham; super impletus (nocturno tempore) fortioribus liquoribus, de equo ipsius decidens, confregit collum ejus, ad subitaneam ipsius et horrendam mortem; qui versus matutinem tempus inventus fuit per Thomas Crane, de Sudbourn, mortuus; et proximo die, vespertino tempore, in ignem positus." ON FORTUNE. BY CUTHBERT BOLTON,-1603. FORTUNE is sweet, Fortune is sour, Lansdown MS. No. 101. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. THAT arbitrary monarch, James II. had no sooner ascended the throne of England, than he distinguished his reign by an odious attack upon the liberty of the press. The king succeeded to the sceptre on the 16th of February, 1685; and on the 21st of May he issued an order to the Stationers' Company, by the then censor of the press, Sir Roger L'Estrange. In this document, after adverting to what he was pleased to call the scandalous and intolerable licentiousness of the press, he declares the command of it to be a prerogative indispensably necessary to the sovereignty of the crown imperial, and, in the exercise of that prerogative, issued the following order for its future regulation: 1. "That all books of and concerning the common laws of the realm, are to be licensed by the lord chancellor, the lord keeper of the great seal of England, the lords chief justices, chief baron, or one or more of them, or by their or one or more of their appointments. 2. "That all books of history, and books concerning the state of the realm, or other books concerning any affairs of state or history whatsoever, are to be licensed by his majesty's principal secretaries of state for the time being, or one of them, or by their or one of their appointments. 3. "That all books concerning heraldry, titles of honour and arms, or otherwise concerning the office of earl-marshal, are to be licensed by the earl-marshal for the time being, or by one of his appointment. 4. "That all books of divinity, physic, philosophy, arts, and sciences, be licensed and allowed by the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of London for the time being, or by one or more of their appointments, or by either of the chancellors or vice-chancellors of the two universities for the time being; the said chancellors and vice-chancellors, however, only having the power to license such books as are to be imprinted or reprinted within the limits of the said universities respectively, but not in London or elsewhere. 5. "That with respect to such miscellaneous books and papers as shall not properly fall under any of the above, they be subjected to the censure of the surveyor of the press for the time being, or such of his deputies as shall by him, the said surveyor, be thereunto authorized and appointed." The Stationers' Company were commanded to see this order strictly carried into effect, and to take special care that no book should be entered or published at their hall without such license being first obtained. THE FEAST OF THE ASS. Or the deplorable state of religion, and of the wretched superstition that reigned in the tenth and several succeeding centuries, no stronger proof need be adduced than that of the Feast of the Ass, celebrated in several churches in France, in commemoration of the Virgin Mary's flight into Egypt. This festival was celebrated at Beauvais, on the 14th of January, 1223. They chose a beautiful young woman, whom they richly attired, and placed a lovely infant in her arms. She then mounted an ass richly caparisoned, and rode in procession, followed by the bishops and clergy, from the cathedral to the church of St. Stephen, where she was placed near the altar, and high mass commenced. Instead, however, of the usual responses by the people, they were taught to imitate the braying of the ass; and at the conclusion of the service, the priest, instead of the usual words with which he dismissed the people, brayed three times, and the people brayed or uttered the imitative sounds Hinhau! Hinhau! Hinhau! During the ceremony, a ludicrous composition, half Latin, half French, was sung with great vociferation in praise of the ass; of this medley the following is a translation: From the country of the east, Heavy loads and packs to bear. Now, seignior ass, a noble bray; True it is, his pace is slow, He was born on Shechem's hill; Now, seignior ass, &c. See that broad majestic ear! In leaping, he excels the fawn; Now, seignior ass, &c. Gold from Araby the blest, Now, seignior ass, &c. While he draws the loaded wain, He doth craunch his homely fare. The bearded barley and its stem, He assists to separate, When its thresh'd, the chaff from wheat. Now, signior ass, &c. Amen! bray most honoured ass, * Here the ass is made to bend his knees. The final chorus, as given by Du Cange,* is certainly an imitation of asinine braying; and when performed by the whole congregation, must have produced a most inharmonious symphony. M. Millin has published an account of this festival, as practised in the cathedral of Sens in the thirteenth century. The details are taken from a manuscript missal of that church, now kept in the town library; originally composed by Pierre Corbeil, archbishop of Sens, who died June 1322. The manuscript is said to be beautifully written, and the cover of it to be ornamented with representations of all the operations of vintage, and other analagous mythological subjects. At the time the missal was written, the ceremonies were become entirely bacchanalian and impious. The priests were besmeared with lees of wine, and entered the choir dancing and singing obscene songs: the deacons and sub-deacons profaned the altar by eating in the filthiest manner, and playing cards upon it, whilst the priest was celebrating mass; pieces of old shoes were put upon the censer, and burnt instead of incense; and the deacons and their companions were afterwards carried through the streets in carts, practising various indecencies. For several days, the most disgusting and extravagant actions were continued, and drunkenness and wanton singing universally prevailed both among the clergy and laity. Attempts were made, at different periods, to suppress these sottish superstitions, but, unfortunately, without success. Mauritius, bishop of Paris, who died in 1196, laboured to abolish them; but the missal already noticed, which appears to have been drawn up er officio, shews how completely he failed. In 1245, Odo, bishop of Sens, prohibited the offensive disguises, and repressed some of the mummeries and licentiousness which had become part of the festival, but did not remove the whole; for, in 1444, the Faculty of Theology, at the request of several bishops, wrote to all the prelates and chapters to abolish this custom. It is, nevertheless, evident, by the acts of the council held in 1460, that the grossnesses merely of this ceremony were retrenched: the council forbids caricature habits, false and uncouth singing; and orders, that on the precenter of the fools, as he was called on this occasion, not more than three pails of water, at most, should be thrown, and * The final chorus is as follows: "Hez va! hez va! hez va he! Bialx, sire asnes, car allez; |