being visible almost the entire night. She is moving westward toward Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. On the morning of the 13th he will be occulted by the Moon's southern limb. This phenomenon will be witnessed at Greenwich from 3h. 11m. to 3h. 37m. The apparent diameter, toward the middle of the month, will be about one-fourth that of Venus, and rather less than one and a half times that of Mercury. His northern declination will have increased to 15° 6' on the 31st: after this time it will diminish. His distance from us increases ten millions of miles during the month.

JUPITER is five hundred and forty-nine millions of miles distant from us on the 1st of March, and five hundred and seven on the 1st of April. His apparent diameter, which at the beginning of the month is little more than half that of Venus, will be only about onesixth less than hers at the end. On the morning of the 23d he will be near the Moon. The more remarkable phenomena of the satellites, visible to us, are :

20th. 4h. 57m., egress of second from planet's disc.

234, 4h. 48m., re-appearance of first from behind the planet. 27th, 4h. 48m., second enters on disc.

SATURN will be forty-three millions of miles more distant from us on April 1st than on March 1st. He will be close to the Moon on the morning of the 5th. The nearest approach of the centres will take place at 4h., when these bodies are below our horizon: to many other inhabitants of the northern hemisphere, in latitudes higher than 46°, the planet will be occulted. The diameter of the sphere, on the 16th, will be 16", a very little less than the minor axis of the ring; the major axis will be 39".

URANUS may still be seen in the early part of the evening. His distance will increase thirty-five millions of miles during the month. NEPTUNE will be at his greatest distance from the Earth, two thousand nine hundred and fifty millions of miles, on the 5th, at 1h. morning. Seen from that distance, the diameter of the Earth would subtend an angle of a little more than half a second, which is twelve times less than the diameter of Mercury will appear to us on that day.

Spring quarter commences on the 20th, at 10h. 20m. in the afternoon.

"The bud is in the bough, and the leaf is in the bud,

And earth's beginning now in her veins to feel the blood,
Which warm'd by summer sun, in the' alembic of the vine,
From her founts will overrun in a ruddy gush of wine.

"The perfume and the bloom that shall decorate the flower
Are quickening in the gloom of their subterranean bower;
And the juices meant to feed trees, vegetables, fruits,
Unerringly proceed to their pre-appointed roots.

"The summer's in her ark, and this sunny-pinion'd day

Is commission'd to remark whether winter holds her sway.
Go back, thou dove of peace, with the myrtle on thy wing,

Say that floods and tempests cease, and the world is ripe for spring.

"Thou hast fann'd the sleeping earth till her dreams are all of flowers And the waters look in mirth for their overhanging bowers;

The forest seems to listen for the rustle of its leaves,
And the very skies to glisten, in the hope of summer eves.

"The vivifying spell has been felt beneath the wave,

By the dormouse in its cell, and the mole within its cave;
And the summer tribes that creep, or in air expand their wing,
Have started from their sleep at the summons of the spring.

"The cattle lift their voices from the valleys and the hills,
And the feather'd race rejoices with a gush of tuneful bills;
And if this cloudless arch fill the poet's song with glee,
O thou sunny first of March, be it dedicate to thee!"

RISING AND SETTING OF THE SUN, FOR THE PARALLELS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS.

SUN.

6 156 06156 06 16

6 32 5 36 6 345 34 6 365 32 6 38

SUN AND PLANETS AT GREENWICH.

MERCURY. VENUS. MARS. JUPITER. SATURN. URANUS.

H. T. & J. Roche, Printers, 25, Hoxton-square, London.

THE

YOUTH'S INSTRUCTER

AND

GUARDIAN.

APRIL, 1854.

JOHN GOWER.

(With a Portrait.)

His ancestry, his birthplace, and his birthday are all unknown. Some have taken him to be a native of Yorkshire, others of Kent, and others of Wales. He was not a Norman, although favoured in the courts of Norman Kings, but an Englishman, and the oldest writer of English whose works are extant, a circumstance which invests his name with peculiar interest.

Although his ancestry and birthplace are now unknown, it is as good as certain that he was a person of noble family; for none but such were admitted to the Society of The Temple, where he studied law. Fortescue, in his treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, "On the Praises of the Laws of England," mentions this restriction, and observes that "hence it comes to pass that in all the kingdom there can scarcely be found one person learned in the laws who is not noble, and of noble descent. In these hospitia, 'hospitals,' truly so called," (in the "Temple,") "besides the study of laws, there is a school, so to speak, of all customs that are called noble. Here they learn to sing, here also they are taught to dance, and are bred up in all games proper for noblemen, such as are usually played in the King's house. So that Knights, Barons, and other great men and nobles of the kingdom, place their sons in that Society."

Each young man had a well-furnished chamber, a welldressed servant, (usually a poor student,) plenty of pocketmoney, and apparel suitable to his rank, Thirty pound VOL. XVIII. Second Series.

H