axatUotDS anti i^oplars 



Y the rivers of Babylon, there we sat 

 down, yea, we wept, when we remem- 

 bered Zi^i^^ Upon the willows in the 

 midst thereof .^P^' hanged our harps." Thus 

 sang the Psalmist of the sorrows" of the exiles 

 in Babylon^. 'gp^ his songt,-,has fastened the name 

 of the great and wicked city upon one of the 

 most iamilkr willows', while also making it 

 "weep"; for the common weeping willow is 

 botanically named Sa/ix Babylonica. 



It may be that the forlorn Jews did hang 

 their harps upon the tree we know as the weep- 

 ing willow, that species being credited to Asia 

 as a place of origin ; but it is open to doubt, 

 for the very obvious reason that the weeping 

 willow is distinctly unadapted to use as a harp- 

 rack, and one is at a loss to know just how 

 the instruments in question would have been 

 hung thereon. It is probable that the willows 

 along the rivers of Babylon were of other 



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