-trimm'd barks upon the bosom
Of old father Thames, glide on to pleasure's note:

~51~~

The expert victors are received with cheers,
And the dark canopy of night's illumin'd
With a grand display of brilliant fires.

* Shortly after the arrival of the Provost, he proceeds
through the cloisters, where he is met by the captain, or
head boy of the school, who speaks a long Latin oration
before him, standing under the clock.

To an old Etonian the last week in July brings with it recollections of
delight that time and circumstances can never wholly efface. If, beneath
the broad umbrage of the refreshing grove, he seeks relief from care
and sultry heat, memory recalls to his imagination the scenes of his
boyhood, the ever pleasing recollections of infancy, when he reclined
upon the flowery bosom of old father Thames, or sought amusement in
the healthful exercise of bathing, or calmly listened to the murmuring
ripple of the waters, or joined the merry group in gently plying of the
splashing oar. With what eager delight are these reminiscences of youth
dwelt on! With what mingled sensations of hope, fear, and regret, do we
revert to the happy period of life when, like the favorite flower of the
month, our minds and actions rivalled the lily in her purity! Who, that
has ever tasted of the inspiring delight which springs from associations
of scholastic friendships and amusements, but would eagerly quit the
bustle of the great world to indulge in the enjoyment of the pure
and unalloyed felicity which is yet to be found among the alumni
of Eton?--Election Saturday--the very sound reverberates the echo of
pleasure, and in a moment places me (in imagination) in the centre of
the long chambers of Eton, walking beneath the grateful foliage of the
beech-tree, with which those dormitories are always decorated previous
to election Saturday. I can almost fancy that I hear the rattle of
the carriage wheels, and see the four horses smoking beneath the
lodge-window of Eton college, that conveys the provost of King's to
attend examination and election. Then too I can figure the classic band
who wait to
~52~~
receive him; the dignified little doctor leading the way, followed
by the steady, calm-visaged lower master, Carter; then comes benedict
Yonge, and after him a space intervenes, where one should have been of
rare qualities, but he is absent; then follows good-humoured Hea