Star.
London, England, 1820-05-01 00:00:00

Greene ich to the high ground on Shooter's-hill, ac-
companied by the Lords and Ladies of his Court.
'leis must have happened in the earlier period of his
life ; and we can well believe that the man alit) trod ,
the field of the cloth of gold," and had qualities '
which enabled him to understand and return the
Gourtesies of hi, brother King at'Ardres, could relish
the pleasure' of the first of May.
The Reformers weie averse to all these sports, as
savouring of superstition, and did much towards
them ; yet Latimer once found himself
neglected, aid compelled to give V ay to Robin Hood.
IL, says,
.(we quote this from 1/r, Godwin's Life of
•

" Coming to a certain town on a holiday to preach, I found
the che. ch (loor fast locked. I taryed there halfe an houre and
more. “rd at last the key was found, and (meats the raiisli comes
to me and says, Syr :cis is a busy day with us, we cannot hear
you; i; is Rabic io•sd's ; the parish ata gone abioad to
gather for Robin Ileud ; I pray you, let them not.—l thought
n.y rechet would have been regarded , but it w • .Id not serve;
it was to give place to Robin hood and hi. men."
The poets have ever been the great advocates and
patrons of Mar. Spenser, and Shak,peare, and
Fletcher, and Milton, and all the greater- spirits of
England, have stooped from their lofty places, with-
out c:isdain, to do justice and honour to this delicate
month. Spenser, in his account of the months, thus
introduces May
" Then came faire May, the Lirest Mayd on ground_.
Dee.% all with dainties of ht-r season's pryde,
And throwing flow'rs out of her lap around !"

Shakspeare has scattered allusions to May, like I
flowers, over all his plays and poems. We hear of
" the merry month of May," the " May morn of
youth," the '• May of b100.i," &c. &c. lie tells us
also, (as we have already said) of •
" Love, whcse mouth is ever May."
That—

"Is arc May when they are maids,
But the sky changes when they are wives."
And, what is perhaps more to our-purpose, that it is
as impos.ible to disperse a crowd,
ac 'tic to melte 'em sleep
On May day morning, vial:ewe i.e."
Marlow, in his celebrated song of the Passionate
Shepherd, makes the pleasures of May ;4 ground of
invitation, as it were, to his mistress:
" The shepherd swains drill dance and sing,
For thy delight, each Ala:, morning;
If these delights thy mint: may move,
Then live with me, acd be my lover -
And Mr. Charles Lamb, worthy in all respects to be
classed with the writers of antiquity, has spoken of
the same thing, in some beautiful lines, addressed
to a child.
Milton talks of May and its beauties, in various
parts of his mighty works. He has even written a
song " May morning," with which, although it
is pretty well known, we shall conclude our extracts.
T:,e song is worthy of the day :
" Now the bright morring star, day's harbinger,
Conies dancing from the East, and leads wizh..Mr.
The flowery May, who from her green lap thrL.ws
The yellow cowsiip, and the pale primrose;
Ha;:, bounteous relay ! that dcst bispire
i‘lirth, and youth, a:.4 worm desire;
Woud; and groves of thy dres.,icg,
and dale d•rth bc-ist thy blessing.
Thus we salute thee with our early song.
Act: welcome thee, acd wish thee long!"
Thus then have the first of May, and "the flowrie
month of May," been spent by our ancestors, and
celebrated by oar poets. Now there is scarcely a
garland to be seen : the song is silent, and the dance
is over: the revelry has ceased; and vulgar pursuits
usurp the place cf those pleasant pastimes which
seemed a sort of first offering to gentle skie,, and
were consecrated by the smiles of the tender year.
If we were dwellers in the country, we would try to
revive these things, for they are worth revival. They
ate land-marks of happiness, to which the peasant
was wont to look: he enjoyed them in anticipation
and remembrance; they stimulated his exertions, and
rewarded his toil. The introduction of these cus-
toms would render luxuries " or little worth," and
less desired, and might charm back many a spirit to
its pure and early simplicity. The number of fierce
adventurers in commerce and war would be dimi-
nished, because success in either would be less an
object of ambition. It i. but a bad thing, we sus-
pect, when the mind; of men arc cooped up alto-
n bether either in counting-houses or camps.
Not only base the revellers left the revel, but the
very poets, who ought' to be free from the alloys of
time, turn their backs on Nature, and their rhymes to
more profitable account. They pen a fiery tale, a
satire, a love song, a compliment, or a joke; they
prize, and coquet wiih imitations of Nature, but Na-
ture herself is never worshipped, and seldom sought.
We had written thus far, and bad forgotten the
only remaining followers of May-day sports. The
chimney-sweepers, with their soot, and shovels, and
brushes, and finery, had absolutely escaped our
thoughts. To them the first day of May is still " a
gaudy day ;" though we fear that their dancing is
not altogether spontaneous. However, they ate now
the sole " lords of holiday," the only sporters and
revellers in the Spring. Yet, on consideration, we
think that even the chirriney-sweepers begin to feel
the influence of the time. They are no longer the.
happy mortals they were wont to be.

The Court went out of mourning yesterday ; the
whole of the KING's Servants and Attendants ap-
peared in colours.
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY gave his third,
public entertainment on Saturday, at Lambeth Pa-
lace, which was attended by twenty distinguished
personages. Among whom were the Duke of MONT-
ROSE, the Duke of BEAUFORT,. the Bishop of EXEfER,
the Bishop of ELY, Earl DJGBY, &c.
Miss BURNEY*.i Taks (.)f Fancy," we understand
are more than ever in demand among the hunt ton
since it is discovered that " Country Neighbours" are
not country folks but frshiona4ks, living near each
other in the country. Two families, the Stavordales
and the Tourbervilles, both headed by ancient, Bare-
. aets, are the princii,•ll Country Neighbours, and
among the surrounding satelites, a country surgeon
and his wife, a village curate, a sort of Will Wimble,
&c. &c. make a prominent figure on the canvass.—
Blanche, the heroine, is a very original portrait, but
the chief strength of the drawing is in the Stavor-
dales, among -.vhoni sliines conspicuously Isabella,
one of the danghters, an inveterate coquette of the
Trappist order, &c. &c. Novel exhibits a ncw
proof of the writer's accurate observations on life and
manners, and of her admirable delineation of charac-
ter. The dialogue is, as usual, extremely spirited.