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For Ever, sank into the soul of Eve,

When, broken-hearted, yet to heaven resign'd, She sigh'd," and must I leave thee, Eden? leave The flowers that knew my wanton locks to bind?"

On Tajo's shore how pants that soul for death,
Careless erewhile oppression's rack to brave !
Weary of life he chides his lingering breath,
For aye the tenant of a living grave.

But vainer still to paint the lover's throes,
His manhood crushed-the desolation o'er

His soul-O sad infinity of woes !

For one in whom he lived now lives no more.

Who, but an angel dare to tell or think

What harmony divine enchants the breast
That dares call heaven its own, and deeply drink
From springs unfailing of eternal rest?

To where appall'd the dying sceptic lies,

From these we lingering turn our sadden'd sight;

See fiendish passion sparkle in his eyes,

While torn from earth the soul yet stays her flight.

While Ignorance fears, and guilt recoils from death, Frowns it on ransom'd souls so ghastly? Never. Ye angels, as I yield my latest breath,

Teach me to smile, and smiling, say, For ever.

EUR. BACCHE. VS. 850.

I'll dance-I'll dance the live-long night,

I'll leap with ancle bold and bright

In glad and holy revelry,

Glancing up at the dewy sky

And tossing on high my waving hair,

As free as the fawn that has baffled the snare,

And bounded from her foes, to taste

The meadow's sweets-while on they haste-
The huntsman and his hounds-and she
Fleeter than the rushing breeze

Through vales and banks and greenwood flees
In all the pride of lonely liberty.

*

Mr. Editor,

Sævit nuda manus, paucæ sine vulnere malæ,
Ludere se credunt ipsi tamen, et pueriles
Exercere acies, quod nulla cadavera calcent.

Juv.

I cannot call to mind anything that ever gave me so much pleasure as the perusal of your announcement concerning the "Eton Bureau.” Independently of the growing taste for literature which it bespeaks, and to which the more general study of modern languages, (I allude particularly to that one of "poetry and love,") has unquestionably given birth;it furnishes a medium for giving publicity to abuses, which I fear are daily taking deeper root in the constitution of our " Alma Mater," and consequently cry loudly for reform. The chief of those,

on which it is in my province to pass an opinion, or even entertain a belief might be amended, is the prevalence of a game, which, from its brutal nature and demoralizing influence, ought to be unanimously hissed from a society of gentlemen. I have long given my attention to the merits and demerits of this savage amusement, and have at length arrived at the conclusion that it might possibly prove beneficial in training young chimney-sweepers intended for following their occupation according to the old system, and there its utility is at an end. In what other seminary of academical pursuits, in what body of individuals, whose position in society is on a par with our own, can we find in almost daily practice, and I fear proportionable repute, an amusement which reduces its votaries to the level, at least in appearance, of navigators and bargemen? A thousand apologies, Mr. Editor, for having, in the heat of my spleen, omitted to mention the title by which this game is known amongst us. Your acute penetration may have discovered that I allude to "football." Football! what ideas must that word convey to all who hear it? Undoubtedly that of feet and balls! by an easy transition, that of feet becomes associated with that of shoes, shoes with legs, and so on till the horrors of that never-to-be-sufficiently execrated pastime are so vividly pictured to the imagination, that a general thrill will I am sure pervade your host of readers, and all will be up in arms against its practice.

I appeal to my fellow-Etonians, whether I am stating the truth or not, when I affirm that I have actually seen boys' toes trodden on by the soles of their antagonists; and (I mention this in confidence,) I have on more occasions than one, known tumours as large as the egg of a small bird, to have arisen in consequence of injuries

received during the prosecution of this most painful of pleasures. Being by nature extremely humane, I have been a spectator of such scenes on several occasions, and indeed have frequently been on the point of requesting the attendance of the Doctor, (M. D. not D. D.) in case of more serious accidents or contusions.

The injuries derivable from this game may be divided into three classes,-two from animate objects, one from inanimate. The first proceeds from mere pressure of one player's foot on that of another, and now and then a graze from a shoe that has missed the ball, or scratches received in the attempt to push down the Wall, (I allude to the games as played there,) for it has struck me that a player in the agony of those distracting moments, as a last resource, endeavours to squeeze himself into the wall, in the hope of either becoming embodied in the bricks, or finding that he soon will be converted into either a mummy or a statue, prefers the latter, and tries, while he can, to pick out his own niche, and be sure of its correct adaptation to his structure. Forgive me this novel, and I think I may say poetical idea, for I too have drunk at the Muses' fount, and may at a future period trouble you with some of my effusions in that style.

But to return. The second class consists in the injurious effects that might accrue from being for a time incorporated one with another; such as strangulation, suffocation, and the like. The third class, which I previously characterised as proceeding from inanimate objects, are the various ways in which the ball impelled against the body, might affect it. N. B.-I once saw a boy, who, being much younger than the rest of the players, had certainly no business to be where he was; such a person, I say, I once saw knocked down violently by the

force of the ball! You may make what use you please of this fact, as I can vouch for its truth.

I will conclude by pointing out a method by which this alarming evil may be remedied. I have carefully examined the merits of the proposals I am about to make, and have therefore no hesitation in pronouncing the advantages which may be reasonably expected to be derived from their adoption to be incalculable and infallible. My proposal is, that instead of football, the games of prisoner's base and rounders should be cultivated, provided that soft balls be used; for I have been assured by those, on whose authority I may with safety rely, that balls, such as are in use amongst us in the practice of the game of fives, striking the body, will cause a smarting sensation to the affected part, as bad, if not worse, than the sting of a nettle. The objection to hunt the slipper, would be the dampness of the grass at this season of the year, which might in some cases produce a cold in the head. Any suggestion from yourself, would, I am sure, meet with deserved and immediate attention: could you appoint a day, I should be happy to confer with you, on this important subject. A long line of my ancestors' names are carved on the thirteenth panel of the left-hand side of the upper school, three feet nine inches and a barley corn from the second desk. I have taken the exact measurement, that you might not be at a loss to discover your humane correspondent.

A. S. S.

P. S. Can you give me a reason for the almost universal adoption of "Scotch caps," or I should more correctly say " Glengarries," by the players in this game? I can account for it on no other principle, than that

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