'Mysterious Night! when our first parent knew Thee from report divine, and heard thy name, Did he not tremble for this lovely frame, This glorious canopy of light and blue? Yet 'neath a curtain of translucent dew, Bathed in the rays of the great setting flame, Hesperus with the Host of Heaven came, And lo! creation widen'd in man's view. Who could have thought such darkness lay conceal'd Within thy beams, O Sun! or who could find, Whilst fly, and leaf, and insect stood reveal'd, That to such countless orbs thou mad'st us blind! Why do we then shun death, with anxious strife? If light can thus deceive, wherefore not life?'" S. W. SINGER. * * * * * GOLOSHES. (Vol. ix., p. 304.) This word, SELEUCUS says, "is of course of American derivation." By no means: it is found in German, _gallosche_ or _gallusche_; and in French, _galoche_ or _galloche_. The word itself most likely comes to us from the French. The dictionaries refer to Spenser as using it under the form _galage_; and it occurs written _galege_, _galosh_, _calosh_, &c. The French borrowed the term from the Latin _Gallicæ_; but the Romans first derived the idea and the thing itself from Gaul, _Gallicæ_ denoting Gallic or Gaulish shoes. Cicero speaks of the _Gallicæ_ with contempt.--"Cum calceis et toga, nullis nec _gallicis_ nec lacerna;" and again, "Cum _gallicis_ et lacerna cucurristi" (_Philip._ ii. 30.). Blount, in his _Law Dictionary_ (1670), gives the following, which refers to one very early use of the term in this country: "GALEGE (_galiciæ_), from the French _galloches_, which signified of old a certain shoe worn by the Gauls in foul weather, _as at present the signification with us does not much differ_. It is mentioned 4 Edw. IV. cap. 7., and 14 & 15 Hen. VIII. cap. 9." Therefore the thing itself and the word were known among us before America was discovered. As it regards the Latin word _Gallicæ_, I only know of its use by Cicero, Tertullian, and A. Gellius. The last-named, in the _Noctes Atticæ_, gives the following anecdote and observations relating to this word. T. Castricius, a teacher of rhetoric at Rome, observing that some of his pupils were, on a holiday, as he deemed, unsuitably attired, and shod (_soleati_) with _gallicæ_ (_galloches_, _sabots_, wooden shoes or clogs), he expressed in strong terms his disapprobation. He stated it to be unworthy of their rank, and referred to the above-cited passage from Cicero. Some of his hearers inquired why he called those _soleati_ who wore goloshes (_gallicæ_) and not shoes (_soleæ_). The expression is justified by a statement which sufficiently describes the goloshes, viz., that they call _soleæ_ (shoes) all those which cover only the lower portions of the foot, and are fastened with straps. The author adds: