Common Meadow Saffron. _Colchicum autumnale._
Dedicated to _St. Eustachius_.
[329] Gentleman’s Magazine.
~September 21.~
_St. Matthew_, Apostle and Evangelist. _St. Maura_, A. D. 850. _St.
Lo_, or _Laudus_, Bp. of Coutances, A. D. 568.
~St. Matthew.~
This is a festival in the church of England calendar, and in the
almanacs.
Mr. Audley notices of Matthew, that he was also called Levi; that he was
the son of Alpheus, a publican, or tax-gatherer, under the Romans; and
that he is said to have preached the gospel in Ethiopia, and to have
died a martyr there. Mr. A. inclines to think that he died a natural
death. He says, it is generally, if not universally, agreed by the
ancients, that Matthew wrote his gospel in Hebrew, but that several
moderns think it was written in Greek, and that Matthew has more
quotations from the Old Testament than any of the evangelists.
* * * * *
On this day the lord mayor, aldermen, sheriffs, and governors of the
several royal hospitals in London, attend divine service, and hear a
sermon preached at Christ church, Newgate-street; they then repair to
the great hall in Christ’s hospital, where two orations are delivered,
one in Latin, and the other in English, by the two senior scholars of
the grammar-school; and afterwards partake of an elegant dinner.
* * * * *