The Sun.
London, England, 1821-04-30 00:00:00

TIIE FIRST OF MAY.

MAY was the second month in the old Roman
Calendar, the third in that of RomeTtr..-s, and the
fifth in. the one instituted by Numa. Pommtus---
a station it has held from that date to the present
period. It consisted of 2'2 days in the Alban,
,and 31 `in RomvLus's calendar; •NuarA Pomet...
Li us deprived it .of the odd day, which JULIUS
C.CSAII. restored, since which it has remained un-
disturbed. On. -the 20t11: .of this month the Sun
enters the sign. Gemini,- or the. Twins, expressive,
of the heat of that orb, and his typified twin bro..
flier the cold Ethel', then bearing an equal
share in the system of nature.
The Saxons called this month Tri-mi/ki and
Tri-nzi/chii the juices of the young.grass then
vigorously growing, as to enable them to milk
Tri, or three times in the day ; and the ancient
painters. emblernatized Nay by a youth with a
lovely countenance, clothed in a robe of white
and green, embroidered with daffodils, hawthorns,
arid blue bottles, his head adorned with a garland
of white and damask roses ; in one hand holding.
a lute, and on the fourth finger of .the other a
nightingale. We are obliged now .to treat of
the manner in, which this day was and is ob.._
served. nom the earliest periods of aptiquity,
it appears to have been an universal.eftstom iu
all countries, and among persons of every persua,
Sion, whether Jpvs, Pagans, Christiansi.or others,
to celebrate, with,,marked demonstrations of fes,
tivity, the return- of the joyous and enlivening
season of spring; but,.the different effeetS of CH;
mate, and the consequent variety of•sentiment
and 'feelings, and more especially the diversity of
religious, and political regulations, hate given
rise to modes of enjoyment, -of a nature's° oppo,
site, as scarcely to enable one, set of men. to re-,
concile to their ideas of pleasure and recreation,
those pastimes which, in the other, .constitute-
their greatest happiness.' We have not space to.
contrast the amusements of the earlier ages of the
world with those that have now succeeded ; but
in this country, at the present moment, some rem,
nant may be found of almost every species of
amusement, from those that sprung out of neces,
shy, to those of a refined tendency ; and, consti.
tuted as man is, something to unbend and relax
the mind is absolutely requisite, and it only re,
quires the wisdom of the government properly to
regulate public recreation, so as to answer the
two-fold purposes of national advantage and indi,
vidual, enjoyment. The customs of this day chiefly
took their rise from the Romans, mixed %vial the
superstitions of their belief, as may be found to be
the case with the major part of those ancient
usages, still in existence, on the 4th of the ca-
lendar of May. The Romans, our first con- •
querors, held their Floralia, or festival, in honour
of Flora, the goddess of fruit, flowers, &c.
gil, relative to this day, says,---." est autem con-
suetudinis, ut juventus promiscia sesus Ltetw-
bunda cal. Maii exeat in agros, et cautitans inde
virides reportet arboru:n ramoseosque ante do-
worum foxes ponat, priesertim apud Italos," &c.
" Colebrabautur aulem ha 3 feria' atque ludi,
Lactantio teste cum oinni lascivia verbis et mori-
b,ls pudludis, ad placandarn deam, qua floribus
et fructibus prretrat. Nam per tabam- corito'ca-
bantur dinnia generis meretrices. Unde Juveualis,

Digniaintal PrOSCSU;
Flor"tili Natrona Juba
Ex in thcatio elenudaten, ete.
HOSP. Di ORIG. F.1:11: 159.
To this alluded -wild and debauched custom
may be traced. most of the festivities of May, now
. indeed deprived of their ancient loose and protii-,
gate rites, 'and modelled, by proo-ressive degrees,
more conformably to the decorum of civilization.
In-the South, where refinement earliest' took rise,
and spread most generally, the practice of the
day differs very materially- from the Northern and.
Western parts of the island. The custom of
gathering branches of trees and flowers to deck
their persons, in strict conformity to the- Roman
Floralia, is yet general in all parts, while in some
places remote from the capital they assimilate to
the mere general character' of that Pagan institu.
tion, though not- quite in its original depraved
state. In Cornwall, this holiday is'called TultitY,
evidently • a corruption of Floralia.* In that
county, .if any youth were discovered inattentive
to the summons issued for universal indulgence,
he was forthwith seized, conveyed sitting on .a
pole to the river, and plunged headlong into the
stream, without the power of receiving any re.
dress -for the assault. The May Pole sprang
from the same source. Priests, and Kings so late
as Henry Bth, used to have Mayings ; on one of
these occasions be -held a court at Shooters 11111,
These Majings are continued in the :West and
North of.-England; The Tait May Pole' in Len•
don was-taken down in 1717, and conveyed to
Wanstead,ln-Essex,,where it Was fixed as a,sur..
porter for, a-telescope. Its original height was
100 feet above the ground, and Pope perpetuates
its remembrance thus:
" Amidst the area wide they took their stand,
• - Where the tall May Pole once o'erlooked the Strand. 7
And this May :Pole is also remarkable for having
been the spot where the first IlAcitNer 6/ACIIE3
took their-stand. May Poles were used, too, as
a sign for refreshment booths, &c. ; hence ale stake
is met with in old anthors, signifying a May Pole,
The May Lady, Manikin, Jack in the Green,
&c. all had their origin from the same source,
and are merely variations in the mode of repre•
senting the goddess Flora ; while the holiday
made by CHIMNEY SWEEPERS, who in these'days
are the chief persons 'engaged in May sports,
can perhaps be attributed to no other origin than
that, by the commencement of summer, they lose
the major part of their business, 'and the poverty
incident to their profession becoming aggravated,'
they naturally seek to-avail theinselves of festive .
meetings to alleviate their -necessities, 'Formerly
there were other ancient cerernonies of May, such
as the Campus Maii, the Bealteitie, or May Fires, .
&c. but their disuse renders inVestigation un,
necessary here, • A,

* The reader is referred to f 4 .Brady's Clavis Calendaris,7
fora detailed account of the origin of all remarkable. Feasts
and Customs now observed.

•
A landtaiiwas killed near.. Chichester, on Friday last—a cir,
cunistande not known by.: the oldest .sporisman at this times of
year ; August being considered their time of migration this.
country. It was a particularly fine bird, ix boo 4,1 condition.

LONDON' JOURNALS.

•
[DAILY EXTRACTS FROM THE MORNING PAPERS.]

[THE TIMES.]
By.the kindness of a mercantile friend who
haS travelled .post from Paris, having left that
capital on Friday afternoon, -we have received
the following intelligence, We cannot vouch for
its correctness ; we only know that it was be-
lieved at Paris :—" The Count de la. Ferronaye,
French Minister at .the Court of Petersburgh,
has brought to Paris a treaty which has been
cobcinded at Laybach for the passage of a Rus-
sian -and- Austrian army through the _south
ot France, to be agreed to by the French
Government. The conditions are to be kept
secret till the moment of its execution. The
King of Spain, it is asserted, has sent a secret
emissary to Laybach ; and the Sovereigns-there
entertain the hope, that at the approach of their
combined armies, the Spanish army, at least for
the greatest part, will embrace the cause of their
King, and that by the influence of the clergy and
nobillry insurrections will burst forth in the pro-
vinces."—For ourselves, though we do not abso:-
lu;ely believe this news, we happen to know as
a fact that great anxiety has been shown in
Paris to prevent its circulation ;. and, .as a
proof, we may mention, that from a- para-
graph copied from an Augsburg paper, stat-
ing " that the first column of the Russian
army -was destined not only for Italy but for
Spain," the French. censors struck out the
word" Spain." We .also know, that about a
fortnight ago the mere rumour of the inten-
tion of Russia to attack Spain kept the French
Exchange for two days in the greatest disquie-
tude and alarm, and that the French Minister
took the utmost pains to create the belief that
the Russian army had received orders to halt.
—A French paper of Friday, however contains
the following paragraph :—" Letters from Frank-
fort state that the Emperor Alexander has sent
orders to the Russian troops which are now in.
Germany to advance as rapidly as possible to
their destination. The Imperial Russian guards
have received orders to march:"

[MORNING CHRONICLE.] - •
letters,of the 22d February are in.
Own from Rio de Janeiro, which mention that
the chief articles of the Charter or Constiration,
for it has a double name, intended for Pdrtugal
by the. King, or rather by Count Pahnella, were
completed and had already received the approval
of the. Committee appointed for their
,examina-
tion. It is. also added, that as soon as the whole
was completed, one of the Infantes was to be the
bearer. In candour, we think it proper to state,
that we bOieVe the affairs themselves of the Bra-
Zils Will, ere long, give the solution to this grand
Political problem, whether or not the Portuguese
:Nation and Cortes will accept a Constitution or
Charter, framed for them in the Brazils.; but, if
aey should not, we do not hesitate to add as our
opinion, -that the reception given, when it does
arrive, Will be similar to the one experienced by
Lord Beresford's-appOintment of " Marshal Ge-
neral," notwithstanding the attachment the Eu-
ropean Portuguese cordially bear to etiery Mem-
ber of the Braganza

[NEW TIMES.]
• The Morning Chronicle at length admits that
Church Property is under the same protection of
law as other property. This is all we contend
for; but this is quite enough to condemn those
revolutionary seizures and confiscations of Church
Property which the Chronicle so warmly applaud-
<l, and so artfully held up to imitation in Eng-
'land. Only let it be once understood, that to
Confiscate at a blow half the Tithes, or half the
Dividends, or half the Rents, is equally a robbery
—only let it be once understood that one of those
.robberies is the certain stepping-stone to the
others—and there will be an end of the revolu-
tionary sophistries by which nations are tempted
to begin the careerof plunder and massacre. One
of these pretty sophistries the Chronicle advances
"in
its own defence, namely, the confounding of a
;tax or financial regulation with an arbitrary con-
liscation. Because the Churchman may be taxed,
or because the mode of collecting the Church
. revenues may be altered by law, therefore one
half of these revenueSmay be seized !—Admirable
logic ! Only this too will, by the Chronicles
-own admission, apply to all other property, be-
cause -property is the creature of law ;" and
:therefore we may expect some Statesman of the
• Chronicle's ichool, some Sangrado of the Senate,
•to propose the seizure of half the mines in the
kingdom, or of half the dairy farms, or perhaps
of half the profits.of every, newspaper ; for we
. know that each of these kinds of property may be

separately taxed; hut taxation (which the Chro-
nicle does not seem to know) leaves the right of
property untouched, and ultimately tends to
equalise the burthens of the State : whereas con.
fiscation
_annihilates the right, and renders the
.'.l;lrthen necessarily unequal. Then, as to.a'mor
d:fection of the manner in which the Chufch re 7
venues are Collected, the example of SCottand is
held out to us, and what is that example?
that instead of collecting his titheS in kind; the
Minister receives an annual stipend, in the ifature
.
of a rent-charge,
_lssuing out. of the Very lands
which would otherwise be tithable. This stipend
being annually assessed according to the 'prices of
Corn, is kept to its due level by the best praetical

. _
standard of value : and the Church, instead of
being a loser by the regulation, is clearly a gainer.;
' for every one knows that in England the Clergy,
on cn avewa,Te do not receive three-fourths of
~ • ,
the tithe due to them by law, ()lying to the prac-

tical impossibility, in 'Most cases, of their taking
it in hind. We do not heisitate to say, that a

similar modification in die colleaion of the Churc

revenues in England would, in our opinion, be
highly beneficial to the Church itself ; but this
is extremely different from seizing half the
Church property, on the robber-likei. Plea, that
it is " an overgrown establishment."

•
[BRITISH PRESS.
It is affirmed in an article from Augsburg, that
the Russian army, which is now pursuing its
toilsome way through Hungary, has received fur-

ther orders from Laybach to expedite its march
for Italy, being destined, itfpursuance of a Con-
vention recently concluded at Laybach, to oc-
cupy, in conjunction with an Austrian army, the
whole of thatitine country, from the Alps to the
Straits of Messina. Other accounts destine this
army for the Turkish frontiers, where it is to
mark the course.of events within the Turkish.
Provinces, and to be ready for such ulterior ser-•
vice as its master may dictate. With regard
to the occurrences in Wallachia, Moldavia, and
Greece, we have received no further intel-
ligence deserving. of greater credo than what
appeared in our last Paper. The latest intel-
ligence from Madrid is of the 18th of April, from
Which we learn, that the King had determined to
expel the Bishop of Tarragona, and seize upon
all his temporal property ; but nothing had been
decided upon the proposition for the expulsion
of the Bishops of Vich, Tortosa, Lerida, and
Urgel. They also contain a copy of the new
law for punishing offences against the State.
This law, adopted by the Cortes in the sittings
of the 15th and 16th instant, may be compared
with the most violent decrees of the French Con-
vention.* All .persons charged with such offences,
including even an attempt to incite or seduce,
directly or indirectly, a soldier to desert, if ar-
rested by military authority, are_to be tried be-
fore a military commission. The recourse to
martial law betrays a sense of great danger, or
excessive anxiety for the preservation of the new
Constitution.

[MORNING POST.]
The Foreign Papers contain no 'further intel-
ligence of the progress of the Greek Insurrection ;
but we have ample confirmation of our former
statement of Austria and Russia having resolved
to observe the strictest neutrality on this interest-

ing occasion. This is all that could reasonably
have been hoped forl—perhaps it is all that is de-
sirable. If these Powers had assisted the insur-
gents, their interference would have been open
to an imputation of selfish views, and the Liberals
of every country in Europe would have been upon
the alert to sound the accusation ; for, be-it ob-
served, that this Greek Insurrection, which is a
mere resistance of outraged human nature to the
close and searching tyranny of one entire people
over the people of several countries, is obviously but
little favoured by those who felt so much interest
in the revolts at Naples and Turin, and who held
that military meeting was a proper and a justi-
fiable mode of promoting liberty ! They cannot
immediately make an open declaration against
this movement, because to most of our readers there
is a charm in the very name of insurrection ; but
they plainly refer to it, for the purpose of exciting
jealousy of Russia, rather than sympathy for the
suffering provinces. To impeach the character of
Alexander has been a favourite object with them
ever since he threw off the yoke of their patron.
Buonaparte. They hate the former, of course, for
that origin of the overthrow of tyrannical usurpa-
tion; and they are aware that nothing can 'so
effectually promote the cause of revolution in
general, as dissention in that alliance of which
Russia is perhaps the most powerful Member.
For,sif the Sovereigns of Europe renounce their
old habits of aggression and war, one of the causes
of distress and immorality will cease ; but it is
on distress and immortality that revolutionists
chiefly found their hopes. We shall not indeed be
at all surprized, if the very same persons who would
have had the blood and treasures pf the English
Nation expended in making common cause with
the" brave" Neapolitans and Piedmontese, should
now censure Ministers for not interfering to
check the Greek.insurrection. There will only
be this difference in their mode of proceeding,
that instead of talking directly to their object,

they will desire to know why nothing is done
against the views which they will impute to
Russia and Austria; Perhaps our readers will
deign to keep this little prediction in their me-
mory for a week or two.