is still in existence I cannot say:

"At Nineveh, where dwelt Old Toby,
Pray stop and drink before you go by."

C. I. R.

* * * * *

THE CURFEW.

(Vol. ii., pp. 103. 175. 189. 311.; Vol. iv., p. 240.; Vol. vi., pp.
53. 112.; Vol. vii., pp. 167. 530.; Vol. viii., p. 603.)

The curfew is still rung at Kidderminster at eight o'clock. It is the
annual custom there, on a certain night, to continue the ringing for one
hour, a sum of money having been left for that purpose as a thank-offering
to God, for the curfew having been the means of saving a person from
destruction. This person had lost his way on his return from Bridgenorth
Fair, and when (as he afterwards discovered) on the point of falling from a
great height, the sound of the Kidderminster curfew caused him to retrace
his steps and regain the road. A five o'clock morning bell is also rung at
Kidderminster. This and the curfew bell have been rung for many years past
by "Blind William," who, notwithstanding his total blindness, finds his way
along the streets that lead from his house to the church, and gains the
belfry with the greatest ease. So well is he acquainted with the path to
church, that he may be seen to turn the corners of the streets in as
decided a manner as if his wide-open eyes were endowed with sight; and,
with similar facility, he unlocks the gates and church doors. It is curious
to see him on the dark winter evenings, apparently guiding his steps by the
light of a lanthorn, which he probably carries in order to prevent careless
people, who are blessed with sight, from running against him. Like most (if
not all) blind people, he has an extraordinary ear for music, and will
quickly reproduce on his violin any tune that may have caught his fancy. At
this present festive period, a Kidderminster Christmas would lack one of
its component parts, were Blind Willie and his fiddle not there to add to
the harmony of the kindly season. During the month preceding Christmas, he
promenades the streets at untimely hours, and draws from his old fiddle all
the music which it is capable of giving forth. Indeed, Blind Willie may be
considered (in Kidderminster at least) as the harbinger of Christmas, for
he warns the inhabitants of its approach, long before the ordinary "waits"
have taken their ordinary measures for the same purpose. And when Christmas
Day is past and gone, he makes house-to-house visitation for the
Chris