Queen Elizabeth so highly prized the merit and abilities of Sir Philip Sydney, that she sent him ambassador to Vienna, and to several courts in Germany; and when the fame of his valour became so extensive that he was put in election for the crown of Poland, she refused to further his advancement, lest (says Baker) she should lose the brightest jewel of her crown. This Marcellus of the English nation was killed at the battle of Zutphen, in 1585, while he was mounting the third horse, having before had two killed under him. P.T.W. * * * * * THE HOUR OF PHANTASY. "The atmosphere that circleth gifted minds Is from a deep intensity derived, An element of thought, where feelings shape Themselves to fancies,--an electric world Too exquisitely toned for common life, Which they of coarser metal cannot dream." R. MONTGOMERY. There is an hour when Memory lends To Thought her intellectual part, When visions of departed friends Restore their beauty to the heart; And like the sunset's crimson light To fading scenes of Nature given, They make our meditations bright With hopes inspired by heaven. The vivid glance of those blue eyes Which haunted us with early love, Like stars that seem'd in cloudless skies Transferr'd from earth to shine above,-- And voices whispering from the dead, Or where the violets' lips enclose, Around our languid spirits shed Their halo of repose. It is the hour of thought profound, When Memory's heart, depress'd with gloom, Laments upon the sculptured mound, And dreams beside the visioned tomb; When voices from the dead arise, Like music o'er the starlit sea, And holiest commune sanctifies The Hour of Phantasy. _Deal._ G.R.C. * * * * * MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. * * * * * APPLICANTS FOR THE FLITCH OF DUNMOW. (_For the Mirror._) Aubry de Falstaff, son of Sir John Falstaff, Knight, with Dame Maude, his wife, were the first that demanded the bacon, he having bribed twain of his father's companions to swear falsely in his behoof, whereby he gained the flitch; but he and his said wife falling immediately into a dispute how the bacon should be dressed, it was, by order of the judges, taken from him, and hung up again in the Hall. Alison, the wife of Stephen Freckle, brought her said husband along with her, and set forth the good conditions and behaviour of her consort, adding withal that she doubted not but he was ready to attest the like of her, his wife; whereupon he, the said Stephen, shaking his head, she turned short upon him, and gave him a box on the ear. Philip de Waverland having laid his hand up the book, when the clause, "were I sole and she sole" was rehearsed, found a secret compunction rising in his mind, and stole it off again.