O many a heart shall mourn
The evil of that day;

And eyes shall weep those bitter tears
No hand may wipe away!

Yet through these sombre clouds,
Of woe, and waste, and war,
I see a morn of beauteousness
Far rising, like a star.

As from the grave the soul,

Enfranchised, mounts the skies,
So from the ashes of the brave,
Shall Liberty arise!

Hear it, thou far spread land- ·
Record it, oh, thou sea-

Not vainly Freedom's martyrs bleed-
No! Greece shall yet be free!

EVENING; a SONNET.

The moon upon the cloudless heaven moved slow, The pale flowers gathered up their leaves to sleep; In silence lay the lonely vale below,

In silence spread the venerable deep;

The ancient mountains dreamed in loneliness,

A languor seemed even in the moonlight ray,

The fresh, clear stream, that gurgled through the day,
Now passed in calm and holy quietness;

The last light from the cottage casement fled,
The late bird's wings lay folded in sweet rest,
The Spirit of the Evening all things blest,

Bird, flower, vale, mountain, and the cotter's bed!-
Gradually yielding to the night's mild sway,
As music on the seas, faint, fading, far away!

Memory.

What is Memory? 'tis the light
Which hallows life-a ray profound

Upon the brow of mental night;

An echo-time the passing sound;

A mirror-its bright surface shows
Hope, fear, grief, love, delight, regret;
A generous spring; a beam which glows
Long after sun and star have set;
A leaf-nor storm, nor blight can fade;
An ark on Time's bereaving sea;
A perfume from a flower decayed;
A treasure for Eternity!

Thought.

What is thought? it is a mine
Whose gems are of a land divine:
A power no tyrant may control;
An emanation of the soul !—
A spark of a celestial fire,

To favoured man in mercy given ;
Spirit of an immortal sire!

A plant whose flower is Heaven!

O! not beneath the sky's array

May highest thought with man unite;

'Tis but a gleam of that fine light

Whose glory shines through an eternal day.

The VILLAGE CHURCH.

It stands within a solitary vale

Shadowed by ancient trees, which year on year
Still live-as relics Time and Death revere-
Unhurt by lightning's scathe, by winter gale :-
Around each low, calm grave the wild flower pale,
Like Pity, bends with many a balmy tear;
There, too, pride's 'scutcheoned monuments appear,
With high ancestral name and lofty tale!
Dull is the mind-oh, more than cold the breast
That lonely Village Church may not incline

To deep and holy musings-from its rest

A warning spirit speaks with voice divine :-
Pass thou few days-few months perhaps at best-
A shroud-a grave—an epitaph is thine!

MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS, &c. in FRANCE. The Week and Sunday.

The Athenians, and the inhabitants of Delphos, kept the seventh day of the month sacred in honour of Apollo, decorating themselves with crowns of laurel. The Jews religiously celebrated their day of Sabath a word signifying seven,-the root of the word Septem: they sang to the God of Glory under the name of Sabaoth, a word, says Boulanger, which may be translated Lord of Times and Seasons,' as well as 'Lord of Hosts;' because among the ancients time and an army' are expressed by the same word.

The Romans did not do any work on their festival days, but consecrated them to their gods; considering these days of bad omen, they would not_commence any journey or business on them; and even carried their superstition so far as to remain at home the day after a festival, to reflect on their affairs, wishing to make an interval between their holidays and the days devoted to labour. In this restingtime, may we not trace the origin of the idleness of mechanics and labourers immediately after a holiday, and of their disinclination to work on Saint Monday?

The first, third, and fifth Sundays of every month are considered more solemn and holy by the common people in France than the others,-a circumstance which owes its origin to the ancient celebration of the festivals of the new and full moon.

Friday.

The Romans had their lucky and unlucky days, and on the latter would not undertake any business, for fear it should have a bad conclusion: they considered them as unhappy and of bad omen. The French have also an unlucky or unfortunate day, and this is Friday. On this day, they will not undertake any business of importance, for fear of its turning out badly; or a long journey, lest it may abound with distressing accidents: a marriage is seldom contracted on this day, lest it should be unhappy. But where shall we seek for the origin of this opinion? May it not have taken its rise in the christian religion, and in the crucifixion of our Saviour on this day? a day of fear and trembling, of darkness and earthquakes. The fast ordained by the church contributes to perpetuate these mournful ideas; and hence, perhaps, the notion of unhappy or unfortunate attributed to this day.

The days on which we have lost our fathers, our relations, and our friends (says a French Antiquary), are to us days of sorrowful remembrance; the anni Ll

versary of their death is always a subject of grief: Friday is this day for the Christians.

The Village Fete.

The fêtes of the Pagans were accompanied by rejoicings and banquets, of which cakes formed a part; and afterwards public games and dances took place in the streets: the primitive Christians found themselves mixed with them, and could not well escape from commingling in their pastimes; hence the origin of the village fête, with its various dances and games. The Compitalia of the Romans bear a close resemblance to the pastoral festivals of the present day : they were celebrated in honour of the Lares, which they crowned with flowers; the altars were decorated with garlands, and dancing and banquets were held in the public streets and squares. In many little towns in France, at the present day, on the festival of the peculiar saint of the place, certain streets are ornamented with flowers and foliage, and the statue of the saint, which is usually placed in a niche in a house, is also decorated with pots of flowers and garlands.

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Among the Romans, not only every street, but every house had its gods or Lares, in whose honour a particular festival was held; thus, says a French author, we have our family fêtes, for we have served many of the usages of our ancestors, but have given a new direction to them: in the guardian angels' we recognise the Penates and the Lares; just as we find in the fêtes of the streets and villages, the Compitalia of the Romans, and the banquets of paganism and of the ancients.

The Birth-Day.

Juno Lucina was invoked, in Greece, by women who consecrated their eyebrows to her; and on the seventh day after their birth the children were named, a ceremony always attended by a festival. Polydore Vergil relates, that it was the custom, among the Per

sians, for every one to keep his birth-day with ceremonies and sumptuous banquets, according to his means, a practice which was in use among the Romans. But with the latter these festivals were preceded by religious ceremonies. The goddess Nundina presided at the birth, and over the commencement of the life of infants: they invoked and implored her, when they purified the children, by certain words and ceremonies, and gave them a name. Water was the basis of these lustrations; sea-water was preferred to every other, and it was only when this was not to be had, that water from rivers and fountains was used; and then salt or sulphur was put into it, to make it resemble sea-water. In this they plunged a burning brand taken from the altar where sacrifice was offered, and hence it became the lustral water, for which the ancients had great veneration, using it in all their purifications. A priest having dipped a sprig of vervain in the water, sprinkled the infants, in order to purify them. The Gauls practised these customs in part; they paid great attention to certain days in the year; and at the birth of their children, they set up a table in a separate chamber, and put meat and bottles upon it, with three covers and some small presents, with the intention of inducing les Maires, the subterranean spirits, to honour them with a visit, and to be favourable to them. Hence, perhaps, the origin of the custom still observed, in many houses in France, on Christmas and Easter Night, to leave bread and wine on the table, that, as the people say, the little Jesus may come and eat and drink if he pleases. Hence also the custom of laying out a table in the chamber of a lying-in woman, during the first weeks of her confinement, and of the feasts at christenings.

Among the French, they name the child at its birth, and celebrate this ceremony the first time with much solemnity. The anniversary of the day, however, is not preserved, for instead of comme