104 I GO A- FISHING. 



some copyist so as to destroy the sense. A single letter 

 dropped has apparently weakened the original force of 

 the stanza. Read it, John." 

 Steenburger {reads) : 



" Lacrymosa dies ilia ! 

 Qua resurget ex favilla 

 Judicandus homo reus ; 

 Huic ergo parce Deus !" 



Philip. " Now, John, tell me what is the force and value 

 of that word ergo in the last line ? To my notion, it never 

 implied any thing else in Latin than the plain English 

 word ' therefore.' But, if you read it therefore, it is a 

 senseless word in this line, referring to nothing. The lit- 

 eral translation of the stanza, as it now stands, is this : 

 ' Oh, that clay of weeping, in which guilty man shall rise 

 from the ashes to be judged : therefore, spare him, oh 

 God.' Now this is a very inconsequential sentence. Read 

 it in this way : 



' Lacrymosa dies ilia ! 

 Quae resurget ex favilla ? 

 Judicandus homo reus ! 

 Huic ergo parce Deus !' 



There you have an intelligible and a strong passage, 

 with full force to your ergo. 'Oh, that mournful day! 

 What shall arise out of the ashes? Guilty man to be 

 judged ! Him therefore spare, oh God.' The idea is, that 

 he, and only he, will arise from the terrors of the wrath 

 which will consume all earthly things ; and because he is 

 the only thing permitted to arise, therefore mercy is im- 

 plored for this solitary subject left undestroyed." 



The Doctor. "It sounds reasonable. Go on, Philip." 

 Philip. " With what ? I've done with the ' Dies.' " 

 The Doctor. " What is the best of the Latin hymns in 

 your opinion, Effendi ? Give us your ideas on that." 



