Daughter of Time, sincere Posterity Always new born, yet no man knows thy birth, The arbitress of pure Sincerity, Yet, changeable, (like Proteus on the earth) Sometime in plenty, sometime joined with dearth. Always to come, yet always present here, Whom all run after, none come after near. Impartial judge of all save present state Truth's _Idioma_ of the things are past, But still pursuing present things with hate, And more injurious at the first than last, Preserving others while thine own do waste; True treasurer of all antiquity, Whom all desire, yet never one could see. FITZ JEFFREY. * * * * * WAR. The poets old in their fond fables feign, That mighty Mars is god of war and strife, The Astronomers think that whereas Mars doth reign, That all debate and discord must be rife; Some think Bellona goddess of that life. Among the rest that painter had some skill, Which thus in arms did once set out the same:-- A field of gules, and on a golden hill, A stately town consumed all with flame On chief of sable taken from the dame, A sucking babe, oh! born to bide mischance Begored with blood and pierced with a lance On high the Helm, I bear it well in mind, The wreath was silver, powdered all with shot, About the which, _goutte du sang_, did twine A roll of sable black, and foul be blot The crest two hands which may not be forgot, For in the right a trenchant blade did stand, And in the left a fiery, burning brand. GASCOIGNE. * * * * * MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. * * * * * CUSTOM OF BULL-BAITING AT GREAT GRIMSBY. The amusement of bull-baiting is of such high antiquity in this country, that Fitz-Stephen, who lived in the reign of Henry II., tells us it was, at that early period, the common entertainment of the young Londoners during the winter season; and Claudian says of the English mastiffs-- "Magnaque taurorum fracturi colla Britanni." The county of Lincoln is eulogized by Fuller as producing superior dogs for the sport; and in Grimsby bull-baiting was pursued with such avidity, that, to increase its importance, and prevent the possibility of its falling into disuse, it was made the subject of an official regulation of the magistracy. It had been practised within the borough from time immemorial, but about the beginning of the reign of Henry VII., the butchers finding it both troublesome and inconvenient to provide animals for the public amusement, endeavoured to evade the requisition; but it was made imperative upon them by the following edict of the mayor and burgesses, which was incorporated into a code of ordinances that were made and agreed to on the 23rd of October, 1499, for the better government of the borough: