Manners & Customs of all Nations.

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THE CURFEW BELL.

(_For the Mirror_.)


Hark! the curfews solemn sound;
Silence, darkness, spreads around.


There are now but few places in which this ancient custom--the memento
of the iron sway of William the Conqueror--is retained.

Its impression when I heard it for the first time, will never be effaced
from my memory. Let not the reader suppose that it was merely the
_sound_ of the bell to which I allude; to use the language of Thomas
Moore, I may justly say, "Oh! no, it was something more exquisite
still."

It was during the autumn of last year, that I had occasion to visit the
eastern coast of Kent. Accustomed to an inland county, the prospect of
wandering by the sea shore, and inhaling the sea breezes, afforded me no
trifling degree of pleasure. The most frequented road to the sea, was
through a succession of meadows and pastures; the ground becoming more
irregular and broken as it advanced, till at last it was little better