Of Elysium he proceeds then to say, after some special Jescriptions of the previous process of purgation : "And few so cleansed to those abodes repair, And breathe in ample fields the soft Elysian air.” 1 However, this happiness is not to continue, for the transmigration of souls forms a part of the system: "Both these thin airy throngs thy eyes behold, In mighty crowds to yon Lethean flood, Swarm at the potent summons of the God, There deep the draught of dark oblivion drain, And visit heaven's ethereal realms again." " Thus, numbers who never entered Elysium, but were detained in their state of purgation, were, according to this philosophical system, sent back with the happy souls to animate new bodies. After this view of the poet's notion of Elysium, I shall hasten to compare the few remaining passages with the topography. At the moment when An chises was discovered by his son, the poet describes his situation : "But old Anchises in a flowery vale Reviewed his mustered race, and took the tale: Those happy spirits which, ordained by fate, For future being and new bodies wait; With studious thought observed th' illustrious throng, In nature's order as they passed along. Their names, their fate, their conduct and their care, 993 After having gone forward from the Mercato di Sabato, and stood on one of those pretty swellings of the ground, the hollows are exposed to view, and we find Anchisethus occupied in one of those delightful spots, at some distance forward. The Mare Morto is also visible, with its open strand on the right; and it was to its banks that they who now pressed forward to re-enter mortal existence e approaching, whilst amongst them the great father of orms us: Now in a secret vale the Trojan sees A separate grove, through which a gentle breeze Plays with a passing breath, and whispers through the trees; The gliding Lethe leads her silent flood, And when the visitor expressed his desire to know who ey were, the father answers: "The souls that throng the flood Are those to whom, by fate, are other bodies owed. Of future life secure, forgetful of the past."' Mentioning a desire, which he had long entertained, to give to his son the knowledge of his future descendants, he proceeds to unfold that explanation to which I have before drawn your attention, of the process of man's existence and of the Platonic system. It is here to be remarked, that at this day the scenery at this northeastern part of the lake is described with and tolerable accuracy by the passage which has been quoted before the last, if we credit many who have seen After the doctrinal communication, if I may so testify it. call it, Anchises is desirous to bring under his son's observation the succession of heroes which he had been contemplating, and for this purpose the poet very naturally caused him to bring Eneas to a more elevated spot. "Thus having said the father spirit leads The priestess and his son through swarms of shades, to see This is a spot called Puzzillo, and here the poet takes opportunity of giving, through Anchises, that splendid enumeration of those sages and heroes whom he desired to celebrate, until the catalogue closes with that sublime and pathetic exclamation which procured wealth and fame for the writer: "Oh, couldst thou shun the dreadful stroke of fate; A little above Puzzillo are the ruins of ancient vast structures, and this day, in the midst of them, is the parish church of St. Anne, the vestibule of which is marked by the canon as the spot where stood, in former days, the gate which was selected by our poet as that of horn. This is on your right, and a short distance on your left is Bacoli, not far from the tomb of Agrippina; here was the gate of ivory. "Two gates the silent courts of sleep adorn Through this pale visions take their airy way, Through that false phantoms mount the realms of day."* The Sibyl and her companion having been dismissed by Anchises through the ivory gate, "Straight to the ships Æneas took his way." In the very expression, "secat viam," the canon finds evidence of correctness of his illustrations, because there is a short path from Bacoli to the spot where the Trojans landed, which cuts straight across the peninsula and at angles with the other roads over which we have gone. "Then steering by the strand he plows the sea, which could not have been the case from Baiæ, which is at the opposite side of the promontory from Cumæ and 1 Line 889. 9 Line 893. Line 899. • Line 900. within the Bay of Pozzuoli; the voyage from which would require the rounding of that cape, and certainly could not be said to go recto litore; whereas, from the coast at Cumæ it is a plain direct course, straight along the shore to Gaeta. I have thus endeavored to give you the principal illustrations exhibited by the learned Italian canon, to show that in this, which is amongst the finest books of descriptive poetry and splendid fiction, the great author was more guided than is generally imagined by a close and patient study of actual scenery. How far I have succeeded in conveying his reasoning, I cannot say; how far I have sustained my position, it is for you to judge. THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTO THAT it is useful to set aside particular days for celebration of great events, is sustained not only by usage of all nations, but by the advantages resulting that usage. Each succeeding week is, by divine institu marked by a day made holy. Man is thus reminde his duties to his Creator; he thereon withdraws from bustle of worldly occupation, he devotes himself to contemplation of his eternal destiny, he seeks to dis the means whereby he may secure his lasting happi For this purpose he revises his conduct, endeavors to rect his faults, to make progress in virtue, to partak the benefits of religious observance. He also, by observance of the day, gives encouragement to his panions, and trains up those who depend upon him, who are to succeed him, in an acquaintance with the principles which are to direct their practice, so as to petuate the service of God, and to secure the salvatio himself and of others. That great Being from whom the precept for this ob ance emanated, was well acquainted with with our na because He formed us, and was able to regulate to direct the work of His own hands. The law enacted to preserve in our memory a recollection of duty, to enforce its obligation on the understanding excite the will to resolve upon its performance, and interweave an attachment for it with our dearest affect 1 Oration delivered before the Washington Light Infantry, at their reque the Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St. Finbar, in the city of Charl on the 22d of February, 1838, being the thirty-first anniversary of the Com (169 |