the clerk of the hospital delivered to the Lord Mayor a list of the several governors to the several hospitals nominated the preceding year.  Then the several beadles of all the hospitals came in, and laying down their staves on the middle of the floor, retired to the bottom of the hall.  Thereupon the Lord Mayor addressed himself to the City Marshal, enquiring after their conduct, and if any complaint was to be made against any one in particular; and no objection being made, the Lord Mayor ordered them to take up their staves again:  all which is done in token of their submission to the chief magistrate, and that they hold their places at his will, though elected by their respective governors.  We were afterwards treated in the customary manner with sweet cakes and burnt wine.”

The shrievalty of Mr. Hoare, and his brother officer, expired on the 28th of September, and about seven o’clock in the evening the indentures with the new sheriffs were executed at Guildhall, “and the charge of the gaols and all other trusts relating to this great and hazardous, though otherwise honourable, employment, delivered over to them.  And after being regaled with sack and walnuts, I returned to my own house in my private capacity, to my great consolation and comfort.”

In concluding this account of a manuscript, which illustrates so many of the customs and privileges of the city, it should be mentioned that it includes various notices of the treats or dinners which the Lord Mayor and the sheriffs give by turns to the judges, sergeants, &c. at the beginning and end of the respective terms; as well as of the manner of delivering petitions to the House of Commons, which is generally done by the sheriff; the city having a right to present petitions by an officer of its own, and without the intervention of any member.

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THE NATURALIST.

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THE NIGHTINGALE.

The nightingale is universally admitted to be the most enchanting of warblers; and many might be tempted to encage the mellifluous songster, but for the supposed difficulty of procuring proper food for it.  In the village of Cossey, near Norwich, an individual has had a nightingale in cage since last April; it is very healthy and lively, and has been wont to charm its owner with its sweet and powerful strains.  The bird appears about two years old:  it has gone through this year’s moulting.  It is kept in a darksome cage, with three sides wood, and the fourth wired.  The bottom of the cage is covered with moss.  Its constant food is a paste, which is composed of fresh beef or mutton, scraped fine with a knife, and in equal portions mixed with the yolk of an egg boiled hard.  The owner, however, about once a-day, gives it also a mealworm; he does not think this last dainty to be necessary, but only calculated to keep the nightingale in better spirits.  The paste should be changed before it becomes sour and tainted.