Answering the passion of the westering sun,
Their warm cheeks flush more rosily; I see
The gleam of their uplifted arms, as each
Hastily in the mazes of the dance

Passes the flame unto some sister hand;
I hear the song, borne by the gentle-voiced,
Close-following upon the trail of fire

In all its windings,-that dear Freedom-song
Our youths and maidens love; and I can hear
The sweet time-beats of soft feet on the sand:-
Eurydice! Eurydice! no more

Thou lead'st the chorus. Freedom, Fatherland :-
Eurydice! the future as the past

Is buried in thine urn. I have no hymn.
The torches are extinguish'd; the drear sea
Moans in the gloomy hollows of its caves.

"O thou vast soul of Nature I once waked
With lightest touch! O throbbing heart of Life
That used to listen fondly to my lyre
Made eloquent by her! I do appeal
Unto thy grateful memories. Alas!

The pulse of Life is no more audible.—
Dryads and Oreads! wherefore have we laid
Our oil and milk and honey at your feet?

b

O Nymphs of forest, mountain, plain, and flood!
Why have we pour'd our songs more honey-sweet,
Our oil-smooth songs, our rich and fruity songs,-
Why have we borne our Dionysian songs
To you, making you jocund with much mirth,
And ye are silent now? O gentle Nymphs!
Have ye no drops left in your brimming cups?
Dear Echo! has thy sympathy no word,
No drained flavor of those richnesses,
To bring to my dry heart in her dear name?
Ye Satyrs! wont to troop around our path,

With rude, broad gambols, your most awkward speech
Were musical as Phoibos' golden tongue,

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.-
My Beautiful! whose life was as the crown
Of festal days,-whose blush was as the bloom
On the full fruit,-whose days were as ripe grapes,
Clear and delicious on one cluster growing;
My Beautiful! whose smile moved o'er the earth
Like the first sunbeam of the year,-whose voice
Was the mild wind that whispereth odorously
Unto the yearning buds that Spring is come;
More beautiful than Eos rosy-brow'd,
Or than the arrow-bearing Artemis,-
Thou Dawn of my existence, Promiser
Of glorious days, thou pure Light-bearing One
Chasing the shadows from across my path
When night hung darkly o'er my clouded thought;
Thou spirit of my potent lyre, now mute;

Thou Genius of my life; thou Life; thou Song;
Eurydice! my own Eurydice!

"She is not dead: this death is but a dream.
Where art thou gone? Eurydice !—Return,
Ere doubt hath grown to madness!-It is not.
The serpent did but coil around my sleep.
Eurydice!-Sweet Echo! she will come,
Prank'd in thy guise, out of the forest depth,
And smile on me with that deep-hearted smile,
More radiant than Persephone's when closed
Her welcoming arms around Demeter's head
Bow'd with its sheaf of joy upon her breast.-
Alas! the mourning friends, the solemn priests,
The virgin train, the sobs that hid the cry
Of painful steps toward the funeral pyre,--
Alas! this little urn clasp'd to my heart,
This empty husk of life, this loneliness,
This death of life,-attest that thou art not;

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
Unto this pleasant earth. Persephone
Will listen as my words shall fill her lap

With Enna's flowers, and in her eyes shall look
Demeter's mother-glances till her own

O'erflow with ruth, and she shall wind her arms
Around the gloomy king and him conjure
To give me the Beloved to my song.

Or my whole life shall stand amid the shades,
Before the Fates, and with its chaunt enweave
Her thread of life anew. I will bring back
Her beauty to the earth, and live again,
Strong in the sunlight of her summer love :
Even as a tree that lifteth up its head
After a storm, and, shaking off the weight
Of passed tears, laughs freshly in the sun.
And yet again, her hand upon my heart,
My lyre shall speak unto the Life of things;
And the fair Nymphs crowd round us as of old;
And even Satyr shapes look beautiful;
And the dumb Spirit of the Inanimate
Be stir'd into expression; and the Earth,
Hearing the music of thy thoughts, Beloved!
Grow beautiful as thou art, till the world
Resume the glory of the olden Gods.

66 'Eurydice! my own Eurydice!

My grief is at my feet. My will is strong.
My soul hath pass'd the ferry of despair;
My song pours forth resistless eloquence;
My voice is firm; the Inexorable Three
Relent. Persephone amid her tears
Clingeth impassion'd to the knees of Power:
Thou canst not hold the Loved; she shall return.
There is no deed impossible to prayer,

To faithful will.-I hear thy following feet,
Most musical of echoes; step by step
I count those dearest of dear promises,
Conquering the steep ascent; I see the light
Of our old life; I hear thy eager pants
Closer and closer; now thy fragrant breath
Kisses my neck, thy passion-parted lips
Lean forward, and the music of thy curls
Touches my cheek,-Mine own Beloved One,
Eurydice, mine own Eurydice

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