Notes On Literature, Science And Art.

many dreams of erroneous belief and false philosophy , has given to this plant its proper place in the natural productions of the vegetable world , and has determined it to be the fourth variety of Cratcegus oxycantha ( from Kratos , strength—in reference to the

hardness ancl strength of the wood ); natural order , Applewarts or Romacece . ''' Not only did the monks of Glastonbury find the Thorn a source of profit to them , but even " the merchants of Bristol always carried with themon their continental

, trips , some leaves ancl blossoms of the Thorn , and sold them to foreigners for a fabulous sura , making their poor dupes believe that they were to consider themselves very fortunate to procure so admirable a panacea at even that price . " Nor did the

superstition die out at the Reformation . " British Solomon , " who , as Canon Barham sings , in his Ingoldsby Legends , " held in abhorrence tobacco and witches , " was very glad to buy " cuttings and leaves of the tree at an enormous price . " And in

1653 , the Bishop of Gloucester was as firm a believer in the miracle as any of his papist ancestors ; ancl I daresay , even at the present clay , ignorant Protestants may be found who prefer the lying legends to the truths of science . To relate these would

be to reprint Bro . Sampsons interesting little pamphlet . He , in the true spirit of speculative Masonry , applies the teaching to our morals , and benevolently remarks : " As the Sacred Tree put forth her cheering buds and blossoms during the dreariest winter dayssowhen we see the winter of

, , Want , Desolation , or Bereavement , withering those around us , may we be ever ready to yield our share of the sweet fruits of Charity , and to cheer the needy and the helpless by kind words and deeds . " To which every true Masonbe he Jew or

, Gentile , will earnestly respond . So mote it be ! Mr . Frederick Ross , author of several works which I have not seen , is about to publish a volume of two hundred pages on the " Celebrities of the Yorkshire Wolds

and the adjacent Borders . " The same author is busily engaged in the library of the British Museum , hunting up all the information he can find for a larger work on the Biography of Yorkshire . The late historian of Northallerton ( Dr . Ingledew ) was for several years collecting materials for a work on the Worthies of Yorkshire ,

which would doubtless be of great service to Mr . Ross if he could avail himself of that collection . Such undertakings ought to be encouraged in every way ; for , as Mr . Ross remarks : " Every district of country has its heroes and men of renown

its divines , philosophers , ancl poets ; a line extending backward , until lost in the mist y age of the remote past . Of the greater number of these , existing generations have but vague and shadowy conceptions ; some are only known to the antiquary or local

topographer ; whilst of others there remains a mere name , ancl nothing more . Occasionally will their names crop up in reading or conversation , when curiosity is excited to know something about them , and it is often only after a search through

half a score volumes that the desired information can be found ; whilst , in many cases , nothing whatever can be ascertained from the resources of a private or even a public provincial library . "

It was of John Dyer that Wordsworth wrote - . — " If you have not read ' The Fleece , ' I would strongly recommend it to you . " Ancl he adds : — "Its beauties are innumerable ancl of a high order . In point of imagination ancl purity of styleI am

, not sure that he is not superior to any writer of verse since the time of Milton . And he sings , in one of his beautifu sonnets - . —

" Bard of the Fleece ! whose skilful genius made That work a living landscape fair and bright ; Nor hallow'd less by musical deli ght Than those soft scenes through which thy

childhood stray'd , Those southern tracts of Cambria , ' deep embay'd , With green hills fenced , with ocean ' s murmur lull'd , ' Though hasty Fame hath many a chaplet

cull'd For worthless crowns , while in the pensive shade Of cold neglect she leaves th y head ungraced , Yet pure and powerful mindshearts

, meek and still , A grateful few , shall love thy modest lay , Long as the shepherd ' s bleating flock shall stray