the Sovereign. The ground of my discourse was the history of Sauls's death; vide II. Samuel, Chapter 1, Verses 1 to 16; and in concluding the subject, my words, as well as I can remember, for my Sermons have since been destroyed,-were as follow." So fell, my brethren, the first of the Jewish monarchs, after a reign of about 39 years, in a valley by Mount Gilboa ; first mortally wounded by his own hand, and then despatched by the weapon of an Amalekite. But it is time now to turn from the mighty who fell, to him by whose hand his death was hastened. If then, there be a crime which is abhorred by all nations universally; the law of whose condemnation is written by the finger of the living God upon the heart of every man, whether civilized or savage; at the commission, and the sight, and even the very thought of which, the foulest hearts and the most hardened consciences have shrank dismayed; whose power and effect are such, that one glance, of but one moment's continuance, will flash such terror into the breast of the perpetrator that it will not leave him through eternity:-that crime is Murder! Oh! may none of you ever feel the dreadful horrors of great darkness, and the keen gnawings of that worm which even Death cannot kill, awakened in your breasts by the commission of that most accursed of sins. It is sufficient to dye with the deepest sorrow, and most alarming terrors, a life which is surrounded by all that humanity esteems valuable, or delightful, or rich, or honourable, or glorious. It is like that distemper which gives to every thing around us, whether the splendid productions of art, or the yet more beautifully variegated face of nature, a nauseous stain; for believe me, ever after the blood of a fellow creature hath imbued your hands, all things will speak of it, and display it. The ruddy tints of the rose will shew to the sight of a murderer deeper with his sin; the fair and beautiful snow will seem marked and spotted with sanguine pollution; the sun cannot set gloriously in the west, nor rise again in the east, without the lovely colours which spreads around, reflecting back the hue of guilt unto his eyes and conscience;-for him the moon shall nightly be turned into blood, and the fires of stars shall shine with a crimson light, as if his crime had reversed the beauties of nature, and had imparted the stain of his infamy to the whole world. Oh! say, can such an one be at rest? can his soul ever possess that' 'peace which passeth all understanding? No!-even though he might put away the sword of the avenger, yet would he not be delivered from the continual fear and power of death. His mind would still be filled with all the terrors of dissolution; there would be the cold damps upon his brow, the icy chilliness in his veins, the fairest scents would be to him turned into the loathsome smell of mortality,' the green sod on which he walked would constantly bring the grave to his remembrance, and for him, even this living world would be full of death. This indeed is horrible;

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but yet even this crime may be wrought into one that can neither be increased nor diminished, when the hand of the rebel, or the assassin, I place them together, for they are even as one,—is raised against his sovereign, as was the Amalekite's in my text 'How!' says David, evidently amazed at the enormity of the crime, at which he shrank back as it were in a terrified astonishment. How! wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?' His death swiftly followed, for the crime had been confessed by his own mouth, the declaration was witnessed by all, and sin so avenged, was in a twofold degree condemned."

It was my intention, according to my usual custom, to have then proceeded to a deduction of consolation and utility from this subject;-for my own sentiments are, that a minister cannot lawfully leave his people either in anger or alarm; for, whatever he may have said to awaken or reprove, should be impressed with kindness and charity before they separate :-I was then about to proceed to this part of my discourse, when the attention of the whole congregation was turned to a stranger who had fainted. I had before this, remarked his peculiarly solemn but distressed demeanour ; the tears stood in his eyes as I spake, but they seemed unable to flow downwards.. His gaze was fixed intently upon me, while his mouth somewhat opened, appeared to drink in every word which I had uttered: yet with all this, he was evidently labouring under some dreadful remembrance; his breast heaving, with violent gaspings, and the perspiration hung upon his dark and aged face, as if he stood condemned before all mankind. Indeed, he very much reminded me of the Hebrew Ahasuerus, whom Westphalus supposed to be the Wandering Jew, and who once appeared in an Holsatian Church during the sermon, in a wretched dress, beating upon his breast, and sighing heavily.

The confusion which such a circumstance would excite in a country parish church may be well conceived: almost every eye was turned towards the stranger, but a few anxiously sought mine, to learn what should be done at such a crisis, Having directed that he should be carried to my own home, and carefully attended to, I put an early conclusion to the service, for the moment that men's curiosity is awakened their religious thoughts are scattered; and, in common with all my hearers, I felt a considerable desire to know something more of the sorrows of this unhappy stranger. Upon my return to the Parsonage, I found my guest,-who had refused all refreshment,-seated in the posture of calm despondency, with his hands clasped and resting on his knees, and his face, marked with all the characters of grief and agony, looking downwards. By his side was a large antiquely-carved oaken chest, secured with grotesque iron bands, hasps, and an immense lock, upon which he frequently cast a

watchful and an anxious glance; then, as if the very sight of it renewed all the horrors of his mind, turned shudderingly away, covered his eyes with his hands, and after a while sank again into his former sullenness and melancholy. When I entered the room, he did not at first perceive me; but as I drew near to him and was about to address him, he started up,-then threw himself in agony across the chest, turned upon me a frantic and furious glance, which gave an almost demoniacal expression to his features, and in a foreign toned, harsh and agitated voice, he cried, while he convulsively grasped the box,—“ No, no, no! you shall not search it, nor tear it from me but with my life,— and you cannot force me to accuse myself :-Saint Ignacio, no !the Inquisition themselves would not condemn me for the deed!"

"My unhappy brother," said I, "console yourself, and believe that both you and your possessions, whatever they be, are in perfect safety in the dwelling of Cephas Godwin, a minister of the Protestant church, as you have already seen. It is true, I am called upon by my sacred office, to denounce the vengeance of heaven against sinners, but then it is against such only as treat its gospels and its commands alike with scorn :-such as have neither fear, nor belief, nor repentance, nor even the human feelings of remorse. Now I can well trust that some of these are in your bosom, and it shall be my care to fill it with all the purer and better sensations, which even angels delight to witAye," replied the stranger hastily, with a sarcastic and hollow laugh, "but then you will say that I must first confess, that my inward sins must first be probed, that I must be put to open penance in this world, in order to avoid the more dreadful condemnation of the next!-Oh! no, no!-death rather than that-Santo Jeronymo! how could I tell of —

ness."

?”

"Not so," returned I, "our church does not enjoin auricular confession; it recommends only that if one have committed a deadly crime, which lays so heavily npon his soul that it would relieve him to relate it, or if he have greatly injured any fellow creature, to whom he may yet make atonement by speaking of his sins, then does it command its Ministers to receive such declarations with sympathy, pity, secrecy, and absolution; to endeavour earnestly to right the wrong, and to set the unburthened Christian traveller, leaping with joy, on his road homeward."

(To be continued.)

DECEMBER.

This month was under the protection of Vesta. The flatterers of the detestable Commodus gave it the name of Amazonius, in compliment to a mistress of the emperor, whom he had caused to be painted in the dress of an Amazon. But this name was abolished after his death. This month was almost entirely devoted to sports and pleasure, and, during its continuance, games of chance, which were forbidden at other times, were allowed to be played. Romulus gave thirty days to this month, which Numa reduced to twenty-nine; but the number was increased to thirty-one, by Julius Cæsar.

The Festum Fortunæ Muliebris or festival of female fortune, was celebrated on the first of the month, in memory of a war having ceased on that day. Sacrifices were offered, on the fourth to Minerva and Neptune. The Faunalia took place on the following day. This feast was devoted to Faunus, to whom a he goat was sacrificed, and libations of wine were made. This feast was a day of feasting, merriment and dancing for the peasants. Offerings were made on the ninth, to Juno, as presiding over marriage. Under this character, she had an altar in one of the streets of Rome. The festival of the Agonalia was held for the third time in the year, on the eleventh. On the thirteenth there were equestriane xercises.

The Saturnalia began on the fifteenth, and lasted for seven days. It was a time of unlimited freedom and gaiety. All business was postponed, and nothing was thought of but pleasure. The senate suspended its debates, the law proceedings paused, the schools were closed, and even the slaves had the liberty of acting and speaking in whatever manner they pleased. During this festival, sacrifices were offered to Saturn, with the head uncovered, contrary to the usual practice. The statue of the god was also freed from the woollen bands with which it was enveloped all the rest of the year, probably, in memory of the captivity to which he had been reduced by the Titans and Jupiter.

The original establishment of this festival is a matter of dispute. Livy places it under the consulship of Ancus Sempronicus and M. Minutius Augurinus. Some attribute it to Tarquin the Proud, while others carry it as far back as to the period of Janus king of the Aborigines, who received Saturn in Italy. After the reign of Tarquin, the celebration of it was discontinued, but was resumed by the authority of the Senate, during the second Punic war.

Connected with this festival, and forming indeed a part of it, were four others, the Opalia, the Sigillaria, the Larentalia, and the Juvenalia. The Opalia was in honor of the goddness Ops or Cybele, and was held on the eighteenth. The Sigillaria occurred

on the nineteenth, and was so called from the presents which persons made to each other, and which consisted of little figures of copper, silver, gold, or even of clay. Statues of this kind were offered to Pluto on this occasion, and tapers to Saturn. The Larentalia, was on the twenty-third, and was in memory of Acca Laurentia, the wife of Faustulus, by whom Romulus and Remus were brought up. The Juvenalia was added by Caligula, and was held on the twenty-fourth.

In the interval between the commencement and conclusion of the Saturnalia there were also two other festivals. The first of these was the Angeronalia: it fell on the twentieth, and was dedicated to Angerona, the goddess of silence and calmness of mind; and the second was the Lararia, or Compitalia, devoted to the Gods Lares, which happened on the twenty-second. On this latter day, offerings of honied wine were also made to Hercules and Venns. Sacrifices were offered to Phœbus, on the twenty-seventh and two subsequent days. In this month, likewise, the husbandmen held a festival called Vacunalla, in which the goddness Vacuna was invoked.

The Sun during this month is in the signs Sagittarius, and Capricorn.

VAULTS OF ST. MICHAN'S, DUBLIN.

It is not generally known that the metropolis of Ireland contains a very sigular subterraneous curiosity-a burial-place, which, from the chemical properties of the soil, acts with a certain embalming influence upon the bodies deposited within it. I speak of the Vaults beneath St. Michan's Church; a scene where those who have the firmness to go down and look death in the face, will find a more instructive commentary upon the doctrines of moral humiliation than those periodically preached above.

You descend by a few steps into a long narrow passage that runs across the site of the Church; upon each side there are excavated ample recesses, in which the dead are laid. There is nothing offensive in the atmosphere to deter you from entering. The first thing that strikes you is, to find that decay has been more busy with the tenement than the tenant. In some instances the coffins have altogether disappeared; in others the lids or sides have mouldered away, exposing the remains within, still unsubdued by death from their original form. But the great conqueror of flesh and blood, and of human pride, is not to be baffled with impuni

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