Commission is employed, for the first time, in subjecting that translation to the most critical revision;-not with a view, certainly, to attempt any change or improvement of its incomparable style and language, but only to purge the sacred volume from every human interpolation or error. No more beautiful scene has been witnessed in our day and generation, nor one more auspicious of that Christian unity which another world. shall witness, if not this, than the scene presented in Westminster Abbey, in the exquisite chapel of Henry VII., by that Revision Commission, in immediate preparation for entering on their great task, on the morning of the 22d of June last;-"such a scene," as the accomplished Dean Alford has well said, "as has not been enacted since the name of Christ was first named in Britain." I can use no other words than his, in describing it: "Between the latticed shrine of King Henry VII. and the flat pavement tomb of Edward VI. was spread 'God's board,' and round that pavement tomb knelt, shoulder to shoulder, bishops and dignitaries of the Church of England, professors of her Universities, divines of the Scottish Presbyterian and Free Churches, and of the Independent, Baptist, Wesleyan, Unitarian Churches in England, a representative assembly, such as our Church has never before gathered under her wing, of the Catholic Church by her own definition,-of all who profess and call themselves Christians."" It was a scene to give character to an age; and should the Commission produce no other valuable fruit, that opening Communion will make it memorable to the end of time. Yes, the open Bible was the one and all-sufficient support and reliance of the Pilgrim Fathers. They looked, indeed, for other and greater reformations in religion than any which Luther or Calvin had accomplished or advocated; but they looked for them to come from a better understanding and a more careful study of the Holy Scriptures, and not from any vainglorious human wisdom or scientific investigations. As their pastor Robinson said, in his farewell discourse, "He was confident the Lord had more truth and light yet to break forth out of his Holy Word." THE WASHINGTON NEEDLE. [Oration on the Completion of the National Monument to Washington. U. S. H. of R., 22 February, 1885.-From the Same.] IT T was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, from whom the idea of our monument has been borrowed,-I should rather say, evolved,-to cover their obelisks with hieroglyphical inscriptions, some of which have to this day perplexed and baffled all efforts to decipher them. Neither Champollion, nor the later Lepsius, nor any of the most skilful Egyptologists, have succeeded in giving an altogether satisfactory reading of the legends on Pompey's Pillar and Cleopatra's Needle. And those legends, at their best,-engraved, as they were, on the granite or porphyry, with the letters enamelled with gold, and boasted of as illuminating the world with their rays, tell us little except the dates and doings of some despotic Pharaoh, whom we would willingly have seen drowned in the ocean of oblivion, as one of them so deservedly was in the depths of the Red Sea. Several of the inscriptions on Cleopatra's Needle, as it so strangely greets us in the fashionable promenade of our commercial capital, inform us, in magniloquent terms, of Thothmes III., who lived in the age preceding that in which Moses was born, styling him a "Child of the Sun," "Lord of the two Worlds," "Endowed and endowing with power, life, and stability." Other inscriptions designate him, or Rameses II.,-the great oppressor of the Israelites, as the "Chastiser of Foreign Nations," "The Conqueror," "The Strong Bull!" Our Washington Needle, while it has all of the severe simplicity, and far more than all of the massive grandeur, which were the characteristics of Egyptian architecture, bears no inscriptions whatever, and none are likely ever to be carved on it. Around its base bas-reliefs in bronze may possibly one day be placed, illustrative of some of the great events of Washington's life; while on the terrace beneath may, perhaps, be arranged emblematic figures of Justice and Patriotism, of Peace, Liberty, and Union. All this, however, may well be left for future years, or even for future generations. Each succeeding generation, indeed, will take its own pride in doing whatever may be wisely done in adorning the surroundings of this majestic pile, and in thus testifying its own homage to the memory of the Father of his Country. Yet to the mind's eye of an American Patriot those marble faces will never seem vacant,— never seem void or voiceless. No mystic figures or hieroglyphical signs will, indeed, be descried on them. No such vainglorious words as "Conqueror," or "Chastiser of Foreign Nations," nor any such haughty assumption or heathen ascription as "Child of the Sun," will be deciphered on them. But ever and anon, as he gazes, there will come flashing forth in letters of living light some of the great words, and grand precepts, and noble lessons of principle and duty, which are the matchless bequest of Washington to his country and to mankind. Can we not all read there already, as if graven by some invisible finger, or inscribed with some sympathetic ink,-which it requires no learning of scholars, no lore of Egypt, nothing but love of our own land, to draw out and make legible,-those masterly words of his Letter to the Governors of the States, in 1783: "There are four things which, I humbly conceive, are essential to the well-being-I may even venture to say, to the existence of the United States as an independent Power: First, an indissoluble Union of the States under one Federal head; Second, a sacred regard to Public Justice; Third, the adoption of a proper Peace Establishment; and Fourth, the prevalence of that pacific and friendly disposition among the People of the United States which will induce them to forget their local prejudices and policies, to make those mutual concessions which are requisite to the general prosperity, and, in some instances, to sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of the community. These are the Pillars on which the glorious fabric of our Independency and National character must be supported." Can we not read, again, on another of those seemingly vacant sides, that familiar passage in his Farewell Address,-a jewel of thought and phraseology, often imitated, but never matched,-"The name of American, which belongs to you in your National capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations"? and, not far below it, his memorable warning against Party Spirit, "A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume"? Still again, terser legends from the same prolific source salute our eager gaze: "Cherish Public Credit";-" Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all";-" Promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of Knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened." And, above all,-a thousandfold more precious than all the rest,there will come streaming down from time to time, to many an eager and longing eye, from the very point where its tiny aluminium apex reaches nearest to the skies,-and shining forth with a radiance which no vision of Constantine, no Labarum for his legions, could ever have eclipsed,some of those solemnly reiterated declarations and counsels, which might almost be called the Confession and Creed of Washington, and which can never be forgotten by any Christian Patriot: "When I contemplate the interposition of Providence, as it was visibly manifest in guiding us through the Revolution, in preparing us for the reception of the General Government, and in conciliating the goodwill of the people of America towards one another after its adoption, I feel myself oppressed and almost overwhelmed with a sense of Divine munificence. I feel that nothing is due to my personal agency in all those wonderful and complicated events, except what can be attributed to an honest zeal for the good of my country."-"No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore an Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an Independent Nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential Agency."-"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and of citizens." And thus on all those seemingly blank and empty sides will be read, from time to time, in his own unequalled language, the grand precepts and principles of Peace, Justice, Education, Morality, and Religion, which he strove to inculcate, while, encircling and illuminating them all, and enveloping the whole monument, from corner-stone to cap-stone, will be hailed with rapture by every patriotic eye, and be echoed by every patriotic heart, "The Union, the Union in any event!" Edgar Allan Poe. BORN in Boston, Mass., 1809. DIED in Baltimore, Md., 1849. TO HELEN. [Works. First Collective Edition, Edited by Rufus Wilmot Griswold. 1850.] THE RAVEN. [Contributed to "The American Review,” February, 1845. Reprinted, with emendations, in "The Raven and Other Poems." 1845.-The present text, conformed to the poet's final revision, is from "The Raven. Illustrated by Gustave Doré, with a Comment by E. C. S." 1883.] ONCE NCE upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Only this, and nothing more." Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain This it is, and nothing more." Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, 'Tis the wind and nothing more!" Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, |