"It is usual in Suffolk, and I have seen it often myself, for the shepherd, assisted by another man or boy, to make the whole flock pass through a gap, in order to facilitate the _tale_. One fellow drives them through the opening, by moving about, shouting, and clapping his hands, while his comrade, on the other side of the hedge, and under cover of a thorn or other thick bush, counts them as they leap through. I have not only seen but assisted, when a boy, at the shepherd's tale; and I do believe Milton had no other idea in his mind. For, indeed, the early morning is not the time the poets choose for lovers to woo, or maids to listen; and Milton has described a scene where all were up and stirring. Neither is the word 'every' appropriate, according to the common interpretation of the passage; _every_ shepherd would not woo on the same spot; but that spot might be particularly favourable for making the tale of his sheep." Your correspondent J. M. M. adduces an argument in favour of the romantic _versus_ the pastoral, which seems to me entirely devoid of weight. He thinks that Handel's "'Let no wander' breathes the shepherd's tale of love." Surely there is more imagination than truth in this. There is a _series_ of images in the words of that song: it was necessary, unless the music varied unreasonably to suit them all, to choose a pleasing, but not very significant, melody, and, above all, to make the close of it a fit introduction for the "merry bells," and "jocund Rebecs," which burst in immediately after. I confess I find nothing of the amatory style in Handel's setting of the two disputed lines. He chose the Pastorale or 6/8 time, as for "He shall feed his flock," "O lovely Peace," &c. But were it so, I could not admit Handel as an authority, because, as a foreigner, and an inhabitant of towns, he could not possibly be conversant with the rural customs of England. S. R. * * * * * DESIGNED FALSE ENGLISH RHYMES. (Vol. vii., p. 483.)