t very agreeably at the unexpected rencounter; so lonely the
place and so threatening the aspects of these strangers. Their manners
however were courteous; and on inquiry we were informed that they were
Sbirri, and then lying in wait for a murderer, who was supposed to
make that spot his nightly asylum. It would be unjust to accuse the
Neapolitans of culpable indifference towards this or any other monument
of antiquity; but it is incumbent on the proprietor or the public, to
secure them against such profanation. On the whole, few places are in
themselves more picturesque, and from the recollection inseparably
interwoven with it, no spot is more interesting than the tomb of Virgil.

* * * * *

LAST CHRISTMAS DAY.

(_For the Mirror_.)

"Say, if such blandishments did ever greet
Thy charmed soul; hast thou not crav'd to die?
Hast not thine immaterial seem'd but air
Verging to sigh itself from thee, and share
Beatitude? hast thou not watch'd thy breath
In meek, faint hope, that soon 'twould sink in death?"

_MS. Poem._

Last Christmas Day! my heart leaps with joy at its very memory; it was a
mental _Noel_, a Christmas of the soul, (if I may thus express myself.)
That which I am about to relate of it is strictly true, and I do relate
it because that day is one of the very few in our brief existence which
form a moral epoch in, and influence subsequent, life. Last Christmas
Day, I well remember, my spirit revelled in an Eden blessedness--a bliss
which the unholy world did not, could not, give, and consequently could
not take away. Reader! I will hope, I will believe, that thou hast
experienced feelings and emotions, like those high and holy ones of
which I would endeavour now to preserve a faint transcript. Come then,
let us unite our ideas, let us speak together, but let us yet mention as
present, those beatific thoughts and imaginings which are indeed past.
Let us ever remember and cherish in our heart of hearts those golden
fore-tastes of future eternity, or (according to Platonism) those
rapturous reminiscences of past, which prove beyond logical
demonstration, the existence of some vital principle in man, godlike in
faculties, in essence immaterial, in duration, immortal! It is Christmas
Day, a deep, unearthly calm possesses our minds; all passions are
slumbering, save the beautiful and holy ones of adoring love, mingled
with overwhelming gratitude towards our make