was not many years since the famous city of
London petitioned the Parliament of England against two nuisances; and
these were, Newcastle coals, in regard to their stench, &c., and hops,
in regard they would _spoyl the taste of drink_, and endanger the
people: and, had the Parliament been no wiser than they, we had in a
measure pined, and in a great measure starved; which is just
answerable to the principles of those men who cry down all devices, or
ingenious discoveries, as projects, and therefore stifle and choak
improvements." According to a late writer, in the year 1830, there
were 46,727 acres occupied in the cultivation of hops in Great Britain
alone.

Thirty millions of bushels of barley are annually converted into malt
by the breweries of Great Britain; and upwards of eight millions of
barrels of beer (of which more than four-fifths are strong) are brewed
annually. This enormous consumption attests the fondness of the people
for the beverage of their forefathers.

E.J.H.

* * * * *

A PERSIAN FABLE.

_Imitated from the Latin of Sir W. Jones._

Whoe'er his merit under-rates,
The worth which he disclaims, creates.
It chanc'd a single drop of rain
Slip'd from a cloud into the main:
Abash'd, dispirited, amaz'd,
At last her small, still voice she rais'd:
"Where, and what am I?--Woe is me!
What a mere drop in such a sea!"
An oyster, yawning where she fell,
Entrap'd the vagrant in his shell;
And there concocted in a trice,
Into an orient pearl of price.
Such is the best and brightest gem,
In Britain's royal diadem.[2]

E.B.J.

[2] See page 330.

* * * * *

FINE ARTS.

* * * * *

HOSPITAL OF ST. CROSS, HANTS.

(_Concluded from page 219._)

_Interior of the Church._

Dr. Milner considers the entire fabric as the work of Bishop de Blois,
with the exception of the front and upper story of the west end, which
are of a later date, and seem to have been altered to their present
form about the time of Wykeham. The vaulting of this part was
evidently made by the second founder, Beaufort, whose arms, together
with those of Wykeham, and of the Hospital, are seen in the centre
orbs of it: that at the east end, by the Saxon ornaments with which it
is charged, bespeaks the workmanship of the first founder, De Blois.
"The building before us," Dr. Milner further observes,