from escaping upwards. They, therefore, press forward, in the utmost confusion, to the end of the pipe, into the funnel, or purse nets, there prepared to receive them, while their treacherous guides remain behind in conscious security. Particular spots, or decoys, in the fen countries, are let to the fowlers at a rent of from five to thirty pounds per annum; and Pennant instances a season, in which 31,200 ducks, including teals and wigeons, were sold in London only, from ten of these decoys, near Wainfleet, in Lincolnshire.

The weather in October is peculiarly, favourable to the sports of the field; and hunting is now. at its height, as little damage is committed on the farmer's grounds after the gathering of the harvest. Foxhunting is thus described by the poet :

For now the pack, impatient rushing on,

Range through the darkest coverts one by one;
Trace every spot; while down each noble glade
That guides the eye beneath a changeful shade,
The loit'ring sportsman feels th' instinctive flame,
And checks his steed to mark the springing game.
'Midst intersecting cuts and winding ways
The huntsman cheers his dogs, and anxious strays
Where every narrow riding, even shorn,
Gives back the echo of his mellow horn:

Till fresh and lightsome, every power untried,
The starting fugitive leaps by his side,

His lifted finger to his ear he plies,

And the view-halloo bids a chorus rise

Of dogs quick-mouthed, and shouts that mingle loud As bursting thunder rolls from cloud to cloud. With ears erect, and chest of vig'rous mould, O'er ditch, o'er fence, unconquerably bold, The shining courser lengthens every bound, And his strong foot-locks suck the moistened ground, As from the confines of the wood they pour, And joyous villages partake the roar. The sowing of wheat is generally completed in this month: when the weather is too wet for this occupation, the farmer ploughs up the stubble fields for winter-fallows. Acorns are sown at this season, and the planting of forest and fruit trees takes place.

BLOOMFIELD.

BIN a garment of changeable green and black upon his head, a garland of olives with the fruit; in his left hand, bunches of parseneps and turneps; in his right, the sign Sagitarius. (Peacham, p. 421.)

November they termed wint-monat, to wit, windmoneth, whereby wee may see that our ancestors were in this season of the yeere made acquainted with blustring Boreas; and it was the ancient custome for shipmen then to shrowd themselves at home, and to give over sea-faring (notwithstanding the littlenesse of their then used voyages) untill blustring March had bidden them well to fare.'-(Verstegan, p. 61-2.)air Now Monsieur TERM will come to town, The lawyer putteth on his gown com Revenge doth run post-swift on legs, And's sweet as muscadine and eggs; And this makes many go to law For that which is not worth a straw, But only they their mind will have, No reason hear, nor council crave.

-(Poor Robin, 1757.)

Remarkable Days.

1.-ALL SAINTS.

In the early ages of Christianity the word saint was applied to all believers, as is evident in the use of it by Saint Paul and Saint Luke; but the term was afterwards restricted to such as excelled in Christian virtues. In the Romish church, holy persons canonized by the Pope, are called saints; and are invoked and supplicated by the professors of that religion. The church of England instituted this festival in memory of all good men defunct, proposing them as patterns for Christian imitation, but not allowing any prayers to be addressed to them.

Some strange customs are observed by rustics on Allhallow Eve. Young people in the north (according to Mr. Brand) dive for apples, catching at them when stuck at one end of a hanging beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed a lighted candle, and that with their mouths only, having their hands tied behind their backs; with many other fooleries. Nuts and apples chiefly compose the entertainment; and from the custom of flinging the former into the fire, it has, doubtless, had its vulgar name, of nut-crack night. In Scotland (says Mr. Pennant) young women determine the figure and size of their husbands, by drawing CABBAGES, blindfold, on Allhallow Even; and, like the English, they fling nuts into the fire. This last custom is beautifully described by Gay, in his Spell:'

Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame,

And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name ;
This, with the loudest bounce, me more amazed;
That, in a flame of brightest colour blazed:
As blazed the nut so may thy passion grow,
For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow.

The burning of nuts is also alluded to in the following pretty lines :

These glowing nuts are emblems true
Of what in human life we view;
The ill-matched couple fret and fume,
And thus in strife themselves consume;
Or from each other wildly start,
And with a noise for ever part.
But see the happy happy pair,
Of genuine love and truth sincere;
With mutual fondness, while they burn,
Still to each other kindly turn:
And as the vital sparks decay,
Together gently sink away;
Till life's fierce ordeal being past,
Their mingled ashes rest at last.

2. ALL SOULS.

This festival is still observed by the church of Rome. The following is the alleged origin of it: A monk, having visited Jerusalem, and passing through Sicily, as he returned home, had the curiosity to visit Mount Etna, which, from its constantly giving out fire and smoke, was imagined by some to be the mouth of the infernal regions. This same religious monk, hearing the demons within complaining that many departed souls were taken out of their hands by the prayers of the Cluniac monks; on his return, he related this idle story to Odilo his abbot, who immediately appointed this day to be annually observed in the monastery, and incessant prayers to be made for departed souls. The day was soon afterwards solemnized as a general holiday, by the pope; but it was deservedly abolished at the reformation. In Catholic countries, on the eve and day of All Souls, the churches are hung with black; the tombs are opened; a coffin covered with black, and surrounded with wax lights, is placed in the nave of the church; and in one corner, figures in wood, representing the souls of the deceased, are halfway plunged into the flames.

5.-KING WILLIAM LANded.

The glorious revolution of 1688 is commemorated on this day; when the throne of England became

vested in the illustrious house of Orange. The fleet which brought over King William from Holland left that country on the Ist of November: the remaining narrative of this interesting event is thus related by Bishop Burnet. On the third we passed between Dover and Calais, and, before night, saw the Isle of Wight. The next day, the fourth, being the day on which the Prince was both born and married, he fancied, if he could land that day, it would look auspicious to the army, and animate the soldiers. But others, who considered the day following was Gunpowder Treason Day, thought our landing that day might have a good effect on the minds of the English nation. And Divine Providence so ordered it, that, after all hopes of our landing at Torbay were given up, and Russel bid me go to my prayers, for all was lost, the wind suddenly shifted, and carried us into the desired haven. Here the Prince, Marshal Schomberg, and the foot soldiers, landed on November the fifth. I never found a disposition to superstition in my temper; yet I must confess this strange ordering of the winds and seasons, just to change as our affairs required it, could not but make deep impressions on me.' Although King William landed on the fifth of November, the almanacks still continue the mistake of marking it as the fourth.

5.-POWDER PLOT.

"We are now to relate an event, one of the most memorable that history has conveyed to posterity, and containing at once a singular proof both of the strength and weakness of the human mind; its widest departure from morals and most steady attachment to religious prejudices. 'Tis THE GUNPOWDer TREASON OF WHICH I SPEAK; A FACT AS CERTAIN AS IT APPEARS INCREDIBLE.'-(Hume, vol. vi, p. 30.)

The Catholics, disappointed in their expectations of favour from James I, were enraged beyond all measure. Catesby, a person of that persuasion, first thought of an extraordinary method of revenge,