THE THIRTIETH OF JANUARY.
AnfavnitsenTes are useful in proportion as they perpetuate the memory of noble actions ; mischievous, perhaps, in proportion as they perpetuate baser actions ; and the rule is in harmony with the action of Nature herself. That which is good survives and multiplies, that which is vicious is by its nature diseased and perishes. The anniversaries which are kept by all Christendom hold in remembrance the most sublime conduct that the world has witnessed ; even when they commemorate actions of cruelty, as in the case of Good Friday, the cruelty is remembered less than the sacrifice ; the vice less than the virtue. Nations commemorate their victories ; they seldom think it useful to commemorate their defeats. It is not in the interests of royalty to perpetuate the re- collection of its tribulations. The bonfires on the 5th of November have not prevented the infernal machine which has just startled Paris; perhaps such anniversaries may operate to keep turbulent folks in mind of turbulent means. Nations outgrow their dog- mas, but not the natural feelings of mankind. We have ceased to regard Charles the First as a "martyr," and the highest au- thorities in this country have all done enough to show that the annual observance of the 30th of January is an idle form, The Queen has appointed a drawingroom for that day ; and in a recent meeting on the subject of Christianity in India, the Bishop of London, anxious to show that devout Christians may be good sol- diers, cited the example of Cromwell and his pious fellows in arms. It has been said that on the 30th of January "every monarch of Europe rises with a crick in his neck " : no one will pretend that the marking of Charles Martyr in our calendar has any operation- whatever in checking regicide.
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