bread and wine, the strength of man: she also placed in the chariot the present intended for Eudorus. It was a brazen cup with a double bottom; a wondrous work; on which Vulcan had engraven the deliverance of Alceste by Hercules, as a return for the hospitality which he had received from her husband. Ajax had given this cup to Tychius of Hylos, a celebrated armourer, in exchange for the buckler covered with seven bull hides, which the son of Telamon bore at the siege of Troy. A descendant of Tychius entertained at his house the bard of Troy, and presented to him this superb cup. Homer, having gone to Samos, was kindly treated by Creophylus, to whom, when dying, he bequeathed his cup and his poems. In the sequel, Lycurgus, king of Sparta, searching every where for wisdom, visited the Sons of Creophylus; they offered to him, together with the cup of Homer, the verses which Apollo had dictated to this immortal poet. At the death of Lycurgus, the world inherited the songs of Homer, but the cup was delivered to his descendants. It thus came to the hands of Demodocus, the last of the sacred race, by whom it was this day destined for the son of Lasthenes.

In the mean time, Cymodocea in a retired place, put off her night-garments, the mysterious work of modesty. She clothed herself in a robe, which resembled in whiteness the flower of the

lily, and which the Graces themselves fastened around her bosom. She laced light sandals upon her feet, and collected upon her head with a pin of gold, the fragrant tresses of her hair. Her nurse brought the white veil of the Muses, which shone like the sun, and which was preserved under all the others in a perfumed casket. Cymodocea covered her head with this virginal tissue, and went in search of her father. At the same moment the old man approached, clad in a long robe fastened by a girdle and ornamented with purple fringe worth an hecatomb. He bore upon his head a crown of papyrus, and held in his hand the sacred branch of Apollo. He mounted the chariot; Cymodocea seated herself by his side. Evemon seizes the reins and plies the spotless mules with the sounding lash. The mules dart forward, and the glowing wheels leave no more trace upon the sand than is made by the nimble bark upon the waves.

"Oh! my daughter," said the pious Demodocus, as the chariot flew along, " may heaven preserve us from ingratitude. The gates of Tartarus are less hateful to Jupiter, than the ungrate ful; they may be said scarcely to live, and are always under the influence of a fury; but a benignant genius is ever near to those who remember benefits conferred; the gods dwelt among the Egyptians, because they are the most grateful of men."

THE ARGUMENT.

Arrival of Demodocus and Cymodocea in Arcadia. They meet with an old man at the tomb of Aglaus of Psophis the old man conducts them to the field where the family of Lasthenes are gathering the harvest. Cymodocea recognizes Eudorus. Demodocus discovers that the family of Lasthenes is Christian. Return to the house of Lasthenes Christian manners. Evening prayer. Arrival of Cyrillus, confessor and martyr, bishop of Lacedæmon. He comes to hear from Eudorus a relation of his adventures. Even ing repast. The family and the strangers repair to the orchard upon the banks of the Alpheus. Demodocus requests his daughter to chant upon the lyre. Chant of Cy modocea. Eudorus chants in his turn. The two families retire to rest. Dream of Cyrillus. Prayer of the holy bishop.

BOOK II.

THE mules urged on their rapid course, until the sun reached his meridian height. At that hour when the wearied magistrate joyfully descends from the tribunal to take his repast, the priest of Homer arrived upon the confines of Arcadia, and halted at Phigalea, celebrated on account of the consecration of the Oresthasians. The noble Anceus, a descendant of Agapenor who commanded the Arcadians at the siege of Troy, received Demodocus as his guest. The sons of Anceus unharness the smoaking mules, bathe their dusty sides with water from the fountain, and place before them tender grass cut upon the borders of the Neda. Cymodocea is conducted to the bath by young females of Phrygia, who had been sold to slavery; the host of Demodocus invests him with a fine tunic, and a costly mantle : the prince of the youth, the eldest son of Anceus, crowned with a branch of the white poplar, sacrifices to Hercules a wild boar nourished in the forests of Erymanthus; those parts of the victim, selected as the offering, are covered with fat, and consumed with libations upon burning coals. A long grate of iron bars presents the remainder of