towards the end fell again to £22,000. The amount paid was £24,317 Os. 11d. In the following year, the summer was remarkably dry and hot; the thermometer for several nights continued above seventy degrees all the night through. The crop of hops was immense; scarcely a fly was to be found, and the duty, which was estimated in May at £120,000, rose to £265,000, and the amount actually paid was £262,331 Os. 9d., being the largest amount ever known.

From this, it will appear, that in duty alone, a little insignificant-looking fly has a control over £150,000, or 700,000 dollars, annual income to the British

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treasury! Supposing the hop grounds of England capable of paying this latter duty annually, which they certainly are, it is very manifest that in 1825 these creatures were the means of robbing the treasury of over £100,000; this seems a large sum, but it is only a small part of the amount actually destroyed, for we here only speak of the tax, and not of the entire value of the hops destroyed. This, no doubt, is three times as much as we have estimated, for the duty alone. In some years it is probable that the hop fly destroys hops in England to the value of nearly two millions of dollars! not this driving business on a large scale?

Is

THIS first month of summer is said to derive its name from Juno, a Roman goddess, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated at the beginning of the month its zodiacal sign is Cancer, which the sun enters on the 21st. Summer is now fully established, and even in New England the grumblers say nothing of easterly winds, and confess that it is warm enough. In the southern states, the people are beginning to fear the return of fevers; beside, the days

and nights are there too hot for comfortand, therefore, those who can leave home are about departing for the north.

The mower is now in the field with his scythe. At an early hour we hear the merry ringing of the stone upon the steel, as he is sharpening it. How beautiful now is the meadow-the orchardthe wheat field, the maize field, and the forest! How various and how brilliant the flowers; how fragrant the air-how balmy, yet how healthful the breeze!

A Chapter of English Kings.

In the year 1041, the Danes were finally driven out of England, and for a short space the Saxon kings were restored to the throne. The last of these, Harold, was defeated by William, Duke of Normandy, or William the Conqueror, in the celebrated battle of Hastings, in the year 1066.

This decided the fate of England: Harold was killed upon the field, and the Norman line of kings succeeded to the throne. William reigned about twenty years. He was an able warrior, but he ruled with great severity.

He divided the lands of the nobility of England among his followers, and oppressed the people by rigorous laws. They therefore held meetings to devise plots of rebellion, usually in the evening. To suppress them, he ordered a bell to be rung every evening at eight o'clock, at which time they were required to put out their fires and lights. This was called the couvre feu,-French words, signifying cover fire: it is from this that the word curfew has come, which now means, the bell rung at evening, about the time for the people to go to bed. William endeavored to make the English people live like Frenchmen; he required the French language to be used in the courts of law, and it was spoken by himself and all around the palace.

William took pains to make his new kingdom thrive; he had a careful survey made of the lands and property, and these were registered in a book called the Dooms-day book, copies of which are still preserved.

During William's reign, the laws were firmly established, and a great deal was done to benefit the people. He was at first hated as a conqueror and oppressor, but he was finally regarded as a sagacious, though severe king. He died at Rouen, in France, 1087, aged 63 years.

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William Rufus, or William the Red, the second son of the Conqueror, succeeded his father; he was addicted to field sports, and one day, while pursuing a deer in the forest, he was killed by an arrow, discharged by Walter Tyrrel. The arrow first hit a tree, but it glanced, and struck the king in the breast. This occurred in the year 1100.

Henry First, the third son of the Conqueror, succeeded. He was very despotic, but still he sought to promote the prosperity of his kingdom. He patronised learning, restored the University of Cambridge, and received the title of Beau Clerk, which implies that he was a good scholar. He punished robbers, who were very numerous in his day, with severity; he abolished the hated curfew, established a uniform standard of weights and measures, and granted charters of various kinds, which were the first beginnings of English liberty. He died in Normandy, 1135.

Stephen usurped the throne which Henry had bequeathed to his daughter, Matilda, in 1135. After a disturbed reign of nineteen years, Stephen died in 1154, and was succeeded by Henry II., son of Matilda. He held the kingdom of Brittany, in France, and conquered Ireland, which has ever since been attached to the British crown.

He was a wise prince, but he had great trouble with the clergy. Thomas á Becket, the primate of England, who was thought to be disposed greatly to extend his power, was murdered by some persons in the cathedral of Canterbury. This crime was laid to King Henry, and he was obliged, by the Pope of Rome, to take a solemn oath that he had nothing to do with it, in order to clear himself. He was also obliged to walk barefoot to the tomb of Becket, and to yield to various penances, imposed by the monks of Canterbury. He was severely whipped with rods by the monks, during his pen

ance, and to this he patiently submitted. He died 1189.

Richard the Lion-Hearted, his son, succeeded him, and was crowned 1189. He was a man of great bodily strength, of invincible courage, and possessed many generous qualities. He was seized with the mania of the age, to go and fight against the Turks for the recovery of Jerusalem. In Palestine, he performed prodigies of valor, and on his way back, was taken and imprisoned by the Duke of Austria. He was released after some years, his people paying a heavy ransom. He was afterwards shot by a cross-bow, while besieging a castle in Normandy.

He was succeeded by his brother John, who was so poor as to get the surname of Lackland. John was a weak, vicious king; but one good thing happened during his reign. He signed a paper, called Magna Charta, or Great Charter, in which he yielded some portion of the despotic power before claimed by the kings of England. This was a serious abridgement of the king's authority, and it opened the way for still further enlarg ing the liberties of the people. He died in 1216.

Henry III., though but nine years old, succeeded his father John, and reigned fifty-five years. He was a weak and vicious king, and the people took advantage of his folly and weakness, to extort from the crown various concessions, which extended and secured their liberties.

He was succeeded by his son Edward, in 1272, called Longshanks, on account of his uncommonly long legs. He was a famous warrior, and conquered Wales. He made war upon Scotland, and was bravely resisted by the famous William Wallace. While marching with a great army against Robert Bruce, who headed the Scotch, he died, and his son, Edward II., succeeded him in 1307. He led an army of 100,000 men against Scotland,

but was defeated with vast slaughter, in the celebrated battle of Bannockburn. He was a foolish king, and his own wife imprisoned him, and caused him to be murdered.

His son, Edward III., began to reign. in 1327, at the age of eighteen. He was a brave warrior, and beat the Scotch and the French. His son, the celebrated Black Prince, was not less renowned as a warrior, while he was also distinguished for his kindness and generosity. This prince died 1376, and his father the year after.

Richard II., grandson of Edward III., came to the throne in 1377, being only eleven years old. During his reign, there was a famous rebellion, the leader of which was Walter Tyler, a blacksmith. Walter, in a conference with the king, was so insolent, that William Walworth knocked him down with a club, and one of the soldiers despatched him.

Richard was deposed by the duke of Lancaster, and being imprisoned, was either killed or starved to death. The Duke was crowned king in 1400, under the title of Henry IV. It was during his reign, that the wars of the two roses took place; that is, the war between the houses of York and Lancaster. Their partisans were distinguished, the one by red, the other by white roses. He died 1413, aged forty-six, and was succeeded by his son, Henry V.

We shall have something more to say of English Kings, in a future number.

True Stories.

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN.-When this eminent architect was building St. Paul's cathedral, he caused the following notice to be affixed to several parts of the structure. "Whereas, among laborers and others, that ungodly custom of swearing is so frequently heard, to the dishonor of God and contempt of his authority; and to the end that such impiety may be utterly banished from these works, which are intended for the service of God and the honor of religion: it is ordered, that profane swearing shall be a sufficient crime to dismiss any laborer that comes to the call; and the clerk of the works, upon a sufficient proof, shall dismiss him accordingly: and that if any master, working by task, shall not, upon admonition, reform the profanation. among his apprentices, servants, and laborers, it shall be construed his fault, and he shall be liable to be censured by the commissioners."

MADAME DE GENLIS.-Madame de Genlis relates the following anecdote, which occurred during her residence at Berlin :

"My saloon had two doors, one opening into my chamber, and the other conducting to a private staircase, descending to the court. On the platform of this staircase was a door opposite to mine, belong ing to the apartments of an emigrant. This man was of a savage disposition, and never saw any one in the house. Some one had given me two pots of beautiful hyacinths; at night I placed them on this platform, between my neighbor's door and my own. In the morning, I went to take them again, and had the disagreeable surprise to see my beautiful hyacinths cut into pieces, and scattered round the pots which held them. I easily guessed that my neighbor was the author of this deed, who had been exci

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ted to it, doubtless, notwithstanding his French politeness, by the libels which were published against me. Not wishing the affair to be known, I did not ask more flowers of the persons who had given me these, but directed a servant to buy me some. Having placed these in the pots, I attached to them a slip of paper, on which I wrote these words:Destroy my works, if you will, but respect the works of God.' At night I placed them on the platform: in the morning I went with eagerness to see what had been their fate, and saw with great pleasure that some one had been content with simply watering them. I carried them immediately into the saloon, and placing them on the table, perceived that there were attached to them two silk strings, each suspending a cornelian ring."

A GENTLEMAN IN AMERICA.-" A man of my acquaintance," says Dr. Dwight, "who was of a vehement and rigid temper, had, many years since, a dispute with a friend of his, a professor of religion, and had been injured by him. With strong feelings of resentment, he made him a visit, for the avowed purpose of quarrelling with him. He accordingly stated the nature and extent of the injury; and was preparing, as he afterwards confessed, to load him with a train of severe reproaches, when his friend cut him short by acknowledging, with the utmost readiness and frankness, the injustice of which he had been guilty; expressing his own regret for the wrong he had done, requesting his forgiveness, and proffering him ample compensation. He was compelled to say that he was satisfied, and withdrew full of mortification that he had been precluded from venting his indignation and wounding his friend with keen and violent reproaches for his conduct.

"As he was walking homeward, he said to himself to this effect: There