'An American bard of high promise: see his Poems,' 2 vols. reprinted by that spirited publisher, Mr. Miller, in 1824. 'Ship a boy!' our joyful cry ; While, answering back, the sounds we hear, Then sails are backed, we nearer come; Bathing. T. MOORE. As I approached the hot and steaming beach, Made by a dipping fly, were now of strength To leap, yet almost wishes to delay The certain joy;-now a few steps retires ; Draws one full breath ;-bounds lightly on, and springs. Then for the plunge-the sinking down-the boom Of waters closing o'er his head-the rise To air and light again-the quick rebound Of the dashed waves;-and then the outstretched limbs, Easily poising him, or oaring on, As fancy wills:-now motionless he floats, With arms thrown back, and swelling chest, and eyes Gazing awhile upon the glorious sky, A double pleasure ;-now with quick stroke turns; On this side, and on that, cuts smoothly on;- Now plunges down, and dives along beneath To take fresh breath, and wanton o'er and o'er, Dripping and glistening to the shore or bank. ATHERSTONE. A solitary evening walk by the sea-side is thus exquisitely described by England's master-poet,—the lamented and matchless BYRON : It is the cooling air, just when the rounded With one star sparkling through it like an eye. So we Glide along the smooth and hardened sand, Worked by the storms, yet worked as it were planned We turn to gaze upon the glittering sea, And see the broad moon rise circling, And hear the waves that splash At such a moment as this, we may truly say, with the same unrivalled poet, We are alone, but not alone as they, Who, shut in chambers, think it loneliness; The SILENT OCEAN, and the starlight bay- NOUEMBER. THIS was named, as the preceding months, according to the station which it occupied in the Romulean calendar; it was the ninth. The sign Sagittarius was appropriated to this month. Remarkable Days In NOVEMBER 1828. 1.—ALL SAINTS. THIS festival served to commemorate all those saints and martyrs to whom no separate day had been assigned. An account of an extraordinary exhibition at Lisbon, on this day, may be seen in our last vol. p. 345. Hallowe'en is the eve of this day, on which many superstitious ceremonies are still observed in distant parts of the United Kingdom: see our former volumes. Loaves of the Dead.-On the day after the festival of All Saints, at Bonneval and its environs, the bakers make long loaves or rolls, about half the thickness of a man's fist, which are called pains aux morts, or rolls of the dead; they are composed of flour and milk, and are eaten at breakfast, on this day, in almost every family. 2.-ALL SOULS. This festival was instituted in the ninth century. The business of the day was to pray for souls detained in purgatory. The name is retained in our almanacks, because some tenures issue on the day. 5.-KING WILLIAM LANDED. This king landed November 5, 1688, although, as Burnet informs us, his great anxiety was to land on the 4th.-See T.T. for 1826, p. 266. 5.-POWDER PLOT. This day is kept to commemorate the diabolical attempt of the Papists to blow up the Parliament House. See T.T. for 1814, p. 280; and T.T. for 1826, p. 267. 6. SAINT LEONARD, A French nobleman of great piety and benevolence, who died in the year 500. He was, literally, the patron of captives. 9.-LORD MAYOR'S DAY. Until the year 1214, the chief magistrates of London were appointed for life. The title of lord, in addition to that of mayor, was first granted by Richard II to Walworth, who slew Wat Tyler.-See our previous volumes; particularly that for 1826, p. 268. 11.-SAINT MARTIN Was born in Hungary in 316, and was chosen Bishop of Tours in the year 374. He had the reputation of great zeal, piety, and meekness; and died at the age of eighty-four.-In reference to Saint Hubert and Saint Martin, some ingenious observations are made by a French antiquary, which illustrate the conformity between ancient and modern ceremonies. In the early part of November, he remarks, the Romans celebrated the solemnity of the Lupercalia in honour of Pan, that this god might preserve their flocks from the wolves, who, finding no food at this season of the year, were driven by hunger to seek the inmates of the shepherd's fold. Arrian tells us, that among the Celts there was a feast in honour of Diana, in which the Gauls, after returning from the chase, offered one of the animals they had taken as a sacrifice, and terminated the day's sport with feasting and revelry. As something like this custom is still in use in France, we may say that Saint Hubert is only another name for the Pagan goddess. The Greeks celebrated the Anthesteria in honour of Bacchus, treating one another, and giving entertainments, at which the servants were seated with their masters, |