for their young; and the blackbird and the are perfectly sufficient for all the wants of thrush line their nests with a plaster of loam, these; yet they are birds that live only in perfectly excluding by these cottage-like genial temperatures, feel nothing of the icy walls the keen icy gales of our opening year; gales that are natural to our pretty indigenous yet, should accident bereave the parents of artists, but flit from sun to sun, and we might their first hopes, they will construct another, suppose would require much warmth in our even when summer is far advanced, upon the climate during the season of incubation; but model of their first erection, and with the it is not so. The green-finch places its nest same precautions against severe weather, when in the hedge with little regard to concealall necessity for such provision has ceased, ment; its fabric is slovenly and rude, and the and the usual temperature of the season rather materials of the coarsest kinds: while the requires coolness and a free circulation of chaffinch, just above it in the elm, hides its air. The house-sparrow will commonly build nest with cautious care, and moulds it with four or five times in the year, and in a variety the utmost attention to order, neatness, and of situations, under the warm eaves of our form. One bird must have a hole in the houses and our sheds, the branch of the clus- ground; to another a crevice in a wall, or a tered fir, or the thick tall hedge that bounds chink in a tree, is indispensable. The bulour garden, &c.; in all which places, and finch requires fine roots for its nest; the grey without the least consideration of site or sea- fly-catcher will have cobwebs for the outson, it will collect a great mass of straw and works of its shed. All the parus tribe, except hay, and gather a profusion of feathers from the individual above mentioned, select some the poultry-yard to line its nest. This cradle hollow in a tree or cranny in a wall; and, for its young, whether under our tiles in March, sheltered as such places must be, yet will or in July when the parent bird is panting they collect abundance of feathers and in the common heat of the atmosphere, has warm materials for their infants' beds. Endthe same provisions made to afford warmth less examples might be found of the dissimito the brood; yet this is a bird that is little larity of requirements in these constructions affected by any of the extremes of our cli- among the several associates of our groves, mate. The wood pigeon and the jay, though our hedges, and our houses; and yet the they erect their fabrics on the tall underwood supposition cannot be entertained for a moin the open air, will construct them so slightly, ment that they are superfluous, or not essenand with such a scanty provision of materials, tial for some purpose with which we are unthat they seem scarcely adequate to support acquainted. By how many of the ordinations their broods, and even their eggs may almost of Supreme Intelligence is our ignorance be seen through the loosely connected materi- made manifest! Even the fabrication of the als : but the goldfinch-that inimitable spin- | nests of these little animals exceeds our com ner, the Arachnè of the grove-forms its cra- prehension-we know none of the causes or dle of fine mosses and lichens, collected from motives of that unbodied mind that willed the apple or the pear-tree, compact as a felt, them thus*." lining it with the down of thistles besides, till it is as warm as any texture of the kind can be, and it becomes a model for beautiful construction. The golden-crested wren, a minute creature, perfectly unmindful of any severity in our winter, and which hatches its young in June, the warmer portion of our year, yet builds its most beautiful nest with the utmost attention to warmth; and, interweaving small branches of moss with the web of the spider, forms a closely-compacted texture, nearly an inch in thickness, lining it with such a profusion of feathers, that, sinking deep into this downy accumulation, it seems almost lost itself when sitting, and the young, when hatched, appear stifled with the warmth of their bedding and the heat of their apartment; while the white-throat, the blackcap, and others, which will hatch their young nearly at the same period, or in July, will require nothing of the kind. A few loose bents and goose-grass, rudely entwined, with perhaps the luxury of some scattered hairs,

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The frog and toad spawn early in April: the snake reappears: several varieties of fish also spawn; and many kinds of beetles, butterflies, and moths are to be seen in their peculiar haunts.

The vegetable world too increasingly develops its beauties. The fruit-bearing trees, as the apricot and peach, the cherry and plumtrees, are covered with blossoms. The blackthorn or sloe enlivens the hedges; and many lowly plants adorn the meadows and marshes.

The only anniversary which requires mention in this month is that of St. George the patron saint of England, on the 23rd. It is difficult to tell why the selection fell upon this individual, who was, it is said, a native of Cappadocia, and served in the army of the emperor Diocletian, under whom he suffered martyrdom about the year 303. But so many absurd legends have been interwoven with his history, that several authors have doubted even his existence. He is called the

"Journal of a Naturalist."

THE eye of the tourist as he proceeds northward to Berwick, about half-way from Belford, is naturally directed to Holy Island, or Lindisfarn, on the right; a visit to which place, intimately conrected with the introduction of Christianity and the progress of literature in the north, becomes an object of peculiar attraction, independent of the beauty of the island itself.

The parish of Holy Island, in the portion of the county of Durham situated on the north of Northumberland, in its southern extremity, extends to that part of the right bank of the Tweed where it falls into the sea at Berwick, and reaches on the east from the sea again to the Tweed on the north it is divided into the five chapelries of Holy Island, the mother-church, Kyloe, Lowick, Ancroft, and Tweedmouth. It derives its importance as containing the island from which Christianity first found its way into Northumberland; and which for four centuries was the seat of the present see of Durham. This island was called by the ancient Britons Inis Medicante, but its familar appellation was Lindisfarn, until the sanctity of its inhabitants procured for it the name of Helichlant, or Holy Island. The island took the Lame of Lindisfarn from the Lindis, a brook which empties itself into the sea from the opposite shore: farn," the concluding syllable, is a corruption of the Celtic word "fahren," a recess. The more modern name was bestowed on it soon after the conquest, with reference to the original sanctity of the place, and the sacred blood of monks and martyrs shed by the Danes. The greatest distance of Lindisfarn from the coast does not exceed two miles. Bede describes it as a semi-island, being twice an island and twice part of the continent in one day: at the flow of the tide it is enecmpassed by water, and at the ebb there is almost a dry passage both for horses and carriages. The depth of the water at ordinary high tides is about five, at spring-tides about seven feet. The path from the main land to the island at low water is a very precarious one, and is lengthened to about twice the actual distance between the two places by pools and quicksands, which have on too many occasions proved fatal to travellers; the parish register affording numerous instances of the burials of persons found drowned in crossing the sands.

The island measures from east to west about two miles and a quarter, from north to south about a mile and a half.

The castle is situated on the summit of a rock sty feet high; is accessible only by a winding cut on its southern side. It pertains to the crown: and a few soldiers from the garrison at Berwick are generally stationed in it. The prospect from this spot is peculiarly grand. Berwick

is seen towards the north, Bamborough castle towards the south, a splendid sea view presents itself on the east, and on the west some of the seats of old Northumbrian families.

The time when the castle was founded is unknown. It was once a place of considerable importance, for it was seized by parliamentary order in the reign of Charles I., it being of such consequence to the northern parts of the kingdom. In 1715 the castle was seized, by a project planned and executed by two persons only, unflinching adherents of the Stuart dynasty. Lancelot Errington, a Roman catholic of ancient family in Northumberland, but reduced to poor circumstances, having been promised assistance by Mr. Forster, the general of the Stuart party, moored a ship, of which he was master, in Holy Island harbour, and, being well known, went, under pretence of wanting something, to the castle, the garrison of which consisted of a serjeant, a gunner, and ten men, and invited the serjeant and the men off duty on board his vessel; where he plied them so well with brandy, that, incapable of any opposition, they were speedily secured. Lancelot, accompanied by his nephew Mark, returned to the castle, where they knocked down the two sentinels, surprised and turned out the gunner and three soldiers, and, shutting the gates, hoisted the Stuart colours as a signal of success, and anxiously awaited the promised succour. party of the king's troops arrived from Berwick, and the Erringtons were obliged to retreat over the walls of the castle, hoping to conceal themselves the seaweeds until it was dark; but among the tide rising, they were obliged to swim for their lives. They reached the rocks, but in scrambling up they were discovered and fired on; Lancelot having been wounded, both were taken and conveyed to Berwick gaol. They managed, however, to dig a burrow under the foundations of the prison, depositing the earth taken out in an old oven. Through this they escaped, and having reached the Tweed, rowed themselves across the river in the custom-house boat, which they turned adrift. They reached Bamborough, closely pursued by the soldiers. There they were concealed nine days in a pea-stack, a relative supplying them with food every night. They at last reached Sunderland, and got shipping for France. After the battle of Culloden they took the benefit of the general pardon, and returned to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where Lancelot died, in

1746.

A

"The church of the monastery is in ruins. Its north and south wall is standing, though much out of perpendicular; great part of the west remains, but the east is fallen. All the arches are circular, except two in the chancel, and one in the north aisle; but these, as well as a pointed arch over the north aisle, built underneath with a semicircular arch, seem to be more modern than the rest. All the roof, both of the church and chancel, has The columns of the nave are of been arched. four sorts, twelve feet high, and five feet in diameter, massy, and richer than those of Durham ; the bases and capitals plain. Over each arch are large windows in pairs, separated by a short column; and over these are smaller arches. One of the diagonal ribs of the arch that supported the tower is still standing, richly wrought with Saxon See remarks on Bamborough.

zigzag, as is also the western door and several other arches. The length of the body is 138 feet, its breadth eighteen feet, and with the two aisles, thirty-six feet; but it may be doubted whether there ever was a transept. Its stones appear red with fire, and on the south side of the chancel are eaten by the weather into the semblance of honeycomb*."

wanderings, until a resting-place was at last found at Dunelm, now Durham. The legends concerning this saint are as numerous as ridiculous. The entrochi, for instance, found so plentifully among the rocks, are still termed St. Cuthbert's beads, who was firmly believed to forge them nightly upon a rock.

Coelwolf, or Colwelf, king of Northumberland, who flourished in the eighth century-and to whom, as a man of learning, Bede dedicates his Ecclesiastical History-abdicating the throne, retired to Holy Island about 738, where he died in the odour of sanctity; though he is said to have introduced among the monks a less austere diet and discipline than that to which they had been accustomed.

Lindisfarn was the original seat of the bishopric of Durhamt. In 635, Aidan, a monk of the celebrated monastery of Iona, or Y, in the Hebrides, was brought to Lindisfarn, by Oswald, king of Northumbria, who had been educated at the court of his relative, Donald IV. of Scotland; and here he fixed his residence, with others of the monastery who had accompanied him. Corman, a monk of Iona, had arrived at Lindisfarn before, The monks of Lindisfarn, like those inhabiting but seems to have been unsuitable for undertaking all the border monasteries, appear to have seen the duties for which he was selected; for Aidan great prosperity as well as much adversity. At thus addresses him :-"Your austere manners one period they had an income of 2007. per annum, and conduct towards the people were unsuitable a sum equivalent to 20007. now; at another period to their state of extreme ignorance. They should their revenues were reduced to 321. per annum. be treated like infants, with milk, till they become After the removal of the see from the island, and capable of stronger meat." The zeal of Oswald from the establishment of the priory, the clergy of was so great, that he became the interpreter to Lindisfarn lost their character acquired for learnAidan, who could scarcely address the people in ing and piety. Mr. Raine has discovered that English. Of Aidan Milner speaks well, declar-"their little library could scarcely boast of a ing that "his character would have done honour classical author, a chronicle, or one of Bede's nuto the purest times. Even to the year 716, the merous treatises; and it is a positive fact that principles of evangelical piety flourished in the from the year 1416 to the dissolution they were Irish school, at which time this people were re- frequently, and in fact generally, without a bible. duced to the Roman communion. Aidan," he They had their service books for the church, some continues, was a shining example of godliness. of which contained select portions of scripture as He laboured to convert infidels, and to strengthen lessons, gospels, and epistles, to be periodically the faithful. He gave to the poor whatever pre- read and commented upon; and beyond them nosents he received from the great, and employed thing more was necessary.' Can it be wondered, himself with his associates in the scriptures con- then, that the whole aspect of Christianity was tinually. He strictly avoided every thing lux- melancholy in the extreme? If the light was urious, and every appearance of secular avarice darkness, great indeed must have been the darkor ambition; he redeemed captives with the money We are reminded of the language of the which was given him by the rich, he instructed bishop of Dunkeld, in the sixteenth centurythem afterwards, and fitted them for the ministry." "I thank God I have lived well these many No little controversy has arisen respecting the years, and never knew either the Old or New peculiar order Aidan filled in the church; whe- Testament; I content myself with my portesse ther he was merely a presbyter, to whom a and my pontifical." After the dissolution of mosuperior power was delegated-as was proposed nasteries, the possessions of the priory were should be done in Scotland, on the abolition of granted by Henry VIII. to the dean and chapter episcopacy or actually a bishop, in the true legi- of Durham, to whom they still belong. timate sense of the word. Without entering on this controversy-though, be it remembered, it was not a trifling or frivolous one, but one powerfully affecting the value of episcopal ordinationI do not intend to enter. On my mind there is not the slightest doubt but that both Aidan and his successor Finan were bishops in the plain acceptation of the term .

Finan occupied the see for ten years, during which period he constructed a very humble church of wood, and thatched with reeds or straw. He was followed by three other Scottish bishops, the last of whom, Eata, died in 685. To him succeeded the famous St. Cuthbert, who presided over the see only two years; and whose remains, when the monks were driven out by the Danes, were carried with them in their various

Beauties of England and Wales.

It is very possible that the tourist may introduce subjects already adverted to in the pages of the Church of England Magazine; but to omit particularities respecting localities, because they had been already noticed, would detract from the interest of these papers.

See Bp. Russell, p. 32.

ness.

"At Lindisfarne, while under the jurisdiction of the Scoto-Irish prelates, the clergy," says bishop Russell, "resided with the bishop, as in primitive times, and went forth into different parts of the diocese to baptize, instruct, and perform the professional duties, as the wants of the people might require."

TASSO*.

It is impossible to visit Ferrara without a feeling of deep and painful interest in the fate of Torquato Tasso. Every one goes to see the cell in which he was immured: we have just returned from it, and I would dwell for a few moments on the history of this great and ill-fated poet.

Torquato Tasso was born at Sorrento in 1544; his father Bernardo, a poet of considerable celebrity, seems to have fostered in the mind of his son sentiments of piety and a deep poetical feeling. In his childhood he betrayed many peculiarities-"was grave, dignified, and wise, and appeared marked out for the accomplishment of some great design." His faculties were early developed, and while still a child he gave signs of that physical irritability which often accompanies a precocious intellect. At the age of sixteen Tasso went to the university of Padua to study law, and while there he composed his first poem, "Rinaldo."

When Tasso first visited Ferrara, that city was celebrated for its magnificence and gaiety

"The pleasant place of all festivity."

"The court united, like the poem of Tasso, classic elegance with the richness of romance, and every thing conspired to kindle the fancy and refine the taste of this youthfu' bardt."

with delight to the poet as he recited his verses, and gave him every encouragement.

In 1575 we perceive that a change has come over the pleasant friendship which thus existed between prince and poet; and the causes of it may be briefly stated. There was at this time a deadly feud between the houses of Medici and Este: the fonso, whose implacable disposition rendered all former had given some cause of offence to Alattempts at reconciliation hopeless; and when, at the invitation of the cardinal de' Medici, Tasso was induced to quit Ferrara and repair to Rome, the duke's jealousy was aroused. Naturally desirous of attaching such a poet to his court, he was indignant that Tasso should listen to the offers of his rivals, even though they were refused. Torquato soon afterwards returned to Ferrara, but the sting had been planted; and, although he was received apparently with open arms, yet Alfonso was thenceforward more alive to the calumnies of his malicious enemies, amongst whom was Montecatino, the duke's secretary.

Disappointment from various sources now awaited Torquato, and his mind, exhausted by long and earnest study, could but ill resist its influence. A surreptitious edition of his poem had been printed and circulated through Italy. The famous Accademia della Crusca in Florence was sending forth its strictures on the Gerusalemme: it was be full of barbarisms and discordant facts: it depronounced by this learned assembly of critics to

The ancient family of Este had long reigned as dukes of Ferrara, nd being themselves distin-clared that Tasso's eloquence had no power to guished for talent, they delighted in assembling around them sholars, poets, and men celebrated in all branches of literature. At the period when our youthful poet was first introduced to this court, Alfons, the second was the reigning prince-a man who is spoken of as brave and liberal, and the zealous patron of the fine arts; but proud and capricious, tenacious of offence, and unforgiving in spirit. The young Tasso was well received in this brilliant court; his poem of Rinaldo had ensured him a welcome there, and he found in the princesses Lucretia and Leonora, sisters of Alfonso, kind and intelligent patrons and friends. We cannot wonder that, dazzled by the beauty and charmed by the graceful manners of the younger sister, Leonora, Tasso became a ready admirer of this lovely and accomplished lady. He read to her the cantos of his "Gerusalemme Liberata," on which he was then engaged, and listened eagerly to the praises she bestowed on his poem. This is not the place to enter on the question (even were I so inclined) of the effect which Torquato's affection for Leonora d'Este had in producing his insanity; it seems that, possessing the ardent imagination and irritable temperament of a poet, many feelings combined to foster the incipient disease. Jealous of his fame as an author, every breath of blame, every censure on his poem, fed the flame within him: the aspersions and calumnies, which envy and jealousy of his success drew down upon him, were constant Sources of vexation and misery to his sensitive nature. But, during the first attacks which were made on him, he found a solace in the kindness of Alfonso; who, interested in the work which the grateful Tasso had dedicated to him, listened

stir the feelings, that his descriptions of character and passion were feeble, and, comparing his poem with that of Pulci (an author less read at the present day), affirmed that the Gerusalemme was to the Morgante Maggiore like a skeleton beside a living form. Every hour of his life was embittered by these attacks: he imagined injuries even where they did not exist, and thought all men were his enemies. At length, in a transport of rage, he attempted to strike a servant of the duchess of Urbino with a knife in her presence, and was in consequence confined by the duke's order to some apartments in the palace.

but, his malady returning with increased violence, He was soon released, and for a time was better; he fled from Ferrara, and, after enduring the most terrible hardships, made his way to Sorrento, a spot in which he had spent his childhood, and The following extract, describing his arrival at her where his sister Cornelia, now a widow, dwelt. house, is given in Black's Life of Tasso *.

For the following succinct account of the origin of this celebrated academy, I am indebted to the kindness of a friend. The Accademia Platonica, founded in Florence about the middle of the fifteenth century, by Cosmo de' Medici, was the first institution established in Europe with a view to raise the philosophy of Plato, and to supersede the scholastic dogmas

then universally in vogue. It flourished greatly under the aus

pices of his grandson Lorenzo, but was supplanted about a century after its birth by another society called the "Sacra Accademia Fiorentina," instituted in 1542 by Cosmo I. The attention of this academy was wasted on the most fanciful com

ments on the earlier Italian poets; and, on the death of that gloomy tyrant, five of the academicians, joined by the famous Leonardo Salviati, seceded, and formed another society, which professed to cultivate the Italian language, by winnowing the flour (il fiore) from the bran (la crusca); they chose for their

device a boulting-mill, and the motto "Il più bel fior ne coglie," and assumed the title of Accademia della Crusca, the members taking the appropriate names of Infarinato, Rimenato,

Gramolato, Insaccato, etc. Unfortunately, the first undertaking of this academy was the disgraceful war it carried on against Tasso, but it afterwards acquired some claims to the gratitude of Italy by the compilation of a great dictionary of the Italian language, of which several enlarged editions have been made under its care.