Answering the passion of the westering sun, Passes the flame unto some sister hand; In all its windings,-that dear Freedom-song Thou lead'st the chorus. Freedom, Fatherland :- Is buried in thine urn. I have no hymn. "O thou vast soul of Nature I once waked The pulse of Life is no more audible.— b O Nymphs of forest, mountain, plain, and flood! With rude, broad gambols, your most awkward speech If you would tell me whither She is gone. From Dionysus, the Greek Bacchus. The Greek names are used (instead of the more common Latin) as in keeping with a Greek theme:-Phoibos for Apollo, Eos for Aurora, Artemis for Diana, Persephone for Proserpine, Demeter for Ceres, Zeus for Jupiter, Dis for Pluto. R. H. Horne has chosen the same appropriateness in his noble poem of 'Orion,' "Eurydice! my own Eurydice ! Alas! no voice replies: the earth is dead.- Thou Genius of my life; thou Life; thou Song; "She is not dead: this death is but a dream. That Sorrow lives, but not Eurydice. "Thou shalt not die! O Son of Zeus, who brought Alcestis died to redeem her husband Admetus, king of Thessaly. Alcides (Hercules), the Son of Zeus, brought her back to life. This is the story of Euripides' tragedy. My own Eurydice. She shall return With Enna's flowers, and in her eyes shall look O'erflow with ruth, and she shall wind her arms Or my whole life shall stand amid the shades, 66 'Eurydice! my own Eurydice! My grief is at my feet. My will is strong. To faithful will.-I hear thy following feet, O God! O Sorrow!-" SUNDAY CLAIMS BRIEFLY EXAMINED. HE people of these realms, generally, regard the first day of the week (Sunday) as having been set apart by Divine authority, to be kept (somewhat) after the fashion of a Jewish-sabbath-day. Some thus regard it from thought and conviction; but, as to the majority, their conduct is grounded on nothing more than mere assent. They follow a course of action, because they have been taught it from childhood. There are however a few,-whose number is increasing, that conscientiously repudiate the notion of any Christian-sabbath having been appointed; and who deem that, in the eye of Heaven, all days are alike. As religious belief must of necessity influence the conscience of its possessor more than a mere negation of belief, zealous Sabbatarians will always out-do their opponents in using means to work out their own views. Hence the establishment of 'Societies for Promoting the Better Observance of the Sabbath ;'-Hence the offer of 'Premiums for Sabbath-Day Essays;'—and hence the zeal manifested to stop Railways, and close Post Offices, on the Sunday. Sabbatarian zeal has often over-ridden Christian knowlege:-the latter has eyes, and picks out its way prudently the former is sometimes blind, and rushes on, in spite of reason. Any one will see that the question of a Sabbath or no-Sabbath is a most important one. While opinions are so far divided, either one party must esteem the other as religious fanatics, or the other regard their opponents as sabbathbreakers. One party must be held guilty of setting up an ordinance which God has not sanctioned, or the other of breaking a solemn commandment. With all due deference to the generality of British Christians, and with a sincere and anxious desire to be right, I contend that the claims of our Sunday to be regarded in the light of the Jewish Sabbath, is by no means satisfactorily established. The arguments usually relied upon are the following. First-The supposed ordinance of the Sabbath-day, immediately after the creation of the world, which would seem to show that the Sabbath was meant to be Universal. Second-The re-enactment of the Law of the Sabbath on Mount Sinai, and its embodiment in the Moral Law of the decalogue. Third-The changing of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, in the Age of the Apostles. Fourth-The Benevolence of a Sabbatic Ordinance towards the Laboring Classes of Society. The expe The general assent of society does not, of itself, prove anything. rience of all past ages ought to teach us to be cautious of acting on mere assent, however universal that assent is given, without the possession of evidence. It |