Two Godlike youths § the grand retinue grace, There too the Reverend Sage ||! whose studious head On the back of the above bill is the following programme:一 ORDER OF THE PROCESSION. § To Castor and Pollux. || To Bishop Blase. : In a Phaeton drawn by Six Horses. Page. The Book-keepers, Shepherds and Shepherdesses belonging to the different Societies of Combers-Twelve Companies-Seven Companies on Foot-Five ditto on Horseback. In a Christian country (observes our Huntingdonshire correspondent) we should have thought there were characters which might have been introduced more appropriate than Hercules, Orpheus, Jason, Castor and Pollux, and the Argonauts. 'Abel was a keeper of sheep;' so were Jacob, Moses, and David. We know that garments were made of woollen in the time of Moses, (Levit. xiii, 47, 48, 52). It is part of the character of Solomon's excellent wife, that 'she seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.' And, 'she is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet' (Prov. xxxi, 13, 21), or, as the margin has it, 'double garments, that is, probably, garments double the usual thickness. But the Israelites were not allowed to mix threads of wool and of flax or hemp together (Levit. xix, 19; Deut. xxii, 11), to make what we call linseywoolsey, probably as an emblem of the separate or unmixed state which they were to observe in respect to the heathen. Ram-skins, dyed scarlet, formed one of the coverings of the tent of the tabernacle, (Exod. xxxvi, 19). The Israelites traded with Damascus for wool, which was very celebrated (Ezekiel xxvii, 18). See an Essay on the Agriculture of the Israelites, in the Investigator, vol. vi, p. 45. 5.-SAINT AGATHA. She was a native of Sicily, and martyred by order of Quintianus, A.D. 251. : *7. 1828. HENRY NEELE DIED. He claims some record on the roll of Fame, Neele: Sonnet, 1820. Henry Neele, son of the late respectable map and heraldic engraver, was born January 29, 1798, at the house of his father, in the Strand. His parents soon afterwards settled at Kentish Town, where Henry was sent to school as a daily boarder. The academy wherein he imbibed all the instruction he possessed previous to his entrance into life, did not offer much towards the attainment of a liberal education. Henry Neele, therefore, left school, possessing, as Dr. Johnson would say, little Latin, and scarcely any Greek, but capable of reading and enjoying the best French writers. He added afterwards, by his own unassisted efforts, some acquaintance with Italian literature. Neele displayed no extraordinary application to study, no talent for mathematical or other science,-but he evinced an early inclination for poetry; and he wrote, at that period, unnoticed but not unnoticing, verses, which would bear a comparison with those of the most precocious poet on record. His genius was purely lyrical, and Collins was his chief model. The Ode to Enthusiasm (the earliest of his printed poems) contains more natural images, and natural expression, than are ordinarily found in the productions of a boy of fifteen. Neele's father, a man of fair natural talents, had the discernment to perceive, and the good taste to encourage, his son's genius. The Odes and other Poems, published in 1817, were printed at his expense. On quitting school, Mr. Neele was articled to an attorney; and though at times he 'penned a stanza when he should engross,' he nevertheless, we believe, did not neglect the opportunities afforded of obtaining experience in his profession. At a later period, he practised as a solicitor in Great Blenheim Street. In 1821, the Odes and Poems were reprinted, with a frontispiece, and attracted much notice from Dr. Drake, and other critics of repute. Our author then began to be sought after by booksellers, and became a regular contributor to Magazines, the Forget-MeNot, &c. &c. The great success that had attended the Dramatic Scenes of Barry Cornwall gave rise to the composition of Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous, published in 1823; but Mr. Neele had evidently no talent for dramatic poetry. The Miscellaneous Poems in this second volume are written with more attempt at polish than his earlier productions, and are very beautiful specimens of his genius, especially the Songs. We have a melancholy pleasure in transcribing the following from the Fragments, which close the volume : That which makes women vain has taught my heart If our author could not excel in dramatic poetry, he had a keen perception of dramatic excellence in others. He studied minutely the productions of (what is termed) the Elizabethan age, and was an enthusiastic admirer of Shakspeare. He pleased himself with composing a series of lectures on the works of the great bard, and undertook (in 1819) a pilgrimage to his shrine. In the winter of 1826, Mr. Neele completed a series of Lectures on the English Poets, from Chaucer to the present period. These Lectures he read at the Russell, and afterwards at the Western Institution. They are described by one who heard them as 'displaying a high tone of poetical feeling in the lecturer, and an intimate acquaintance with the beauties and blemishes of the great subjects of his criticism.' The public prints mentioned them in terms of approbation; and profit, as well as praise, accrued to our author by this undertaking. At the commencement of the year 1828, appeared his Romance of History, in three volumes, dedicated to the King. This production greatly enhanced Mr. Neele's fame as a writer of a higher order than the mere contributor to periodical publications. The object of the author was to prove, as his motto stated, that Truth is strange- and that tomes of romance need not alone be ransacked for the marvellous in incident. His compilation embraces tales of every age, from the Conquest to the Reformation, extracted from the chronicles and more obscure sources of historical information. As a book of instruction, it is invaluable to readers who cannot be persuaded to sit down to the perusal of history in a legitimate form; for each tale is preceded by a chronological summary of the events referred to, arranged in a brief and accurate form. The narratives themselves are highly attractive, teeming with interest, and interspersed with lively and characteristic dialogue. The idea was a happy one, and capable of almost boundless extent. The early history of France, of Spain, of Italy, would have furnished fresh materials, and the excitement would have been renewed at every recurrence to the novel habits of a fresh people. The author had begun to avail himself of this advantage: he had commenced a second series of Romances, founded on the history of France. Known and appreciated, he was beginning to rear his head as a lion of the day. His poetical works had been collected, in two volumes, with a portrait; but, alas! Scarce had their fame been whispered round, Was whistling o'er (his) tomb: Neele's Odes. The following beautiful stanzas were communicated by Mr. Neele to the European Magazine some time since, and have been reprinted by Mr. Watts, in his 'Poetical Album.' : 'Man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?' 'And where is he?" Not by the side No, no, the radiance is not dim, That used to gild his favourite hill; Desire could frame;-but where are they? Seemed proudly strong, and where is he? The church-yard bears an added stone, **7. 1828. ALEX. CAMERON, D.D. DIED, т. 80, Bishop of Maximianopolis, and Vicar Apostolic of the Lowland District of Scotland. The venerable : |