The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-29 00:00:00

Drunkard! hadst thou sipped as slackly
As thou pourest—pour it higher !
Then thou hadst ne'er with me been bound
In Hell to dwell ;
But lot the burning toast go round—
Drunkard !—to Hell !

Fill ! it drinks but cold and leadly ;
Fill it up with bubbling fire.
Drink ! 'tis nothing half so deadly
As thy soul, when living, Liar !
Or thou hadst ne'er with me been bound
In Hell to dwell ;
But let the burning health go round—
Liar !—to Hell!

Fill! it boils but sick and sadly ;
Fill! some more immortal tire ;
Murderer! drain it quickly, madly,
As the stab thou gav'st thy sire !
Or thou hadst ne'er with me been bound
In Hell to dwell ;
But let the burning health go round—
Murderer !—to Hell !"

As clearly demonstrative of the fact that the suc-
cessive editions which have already appeare 1 of
" Festus" have been no mere reprints, have been
subjected to more than simple revision and emen-
dation at the author's hands, we would direct atten-
tion to the fact that the latest, now i❑ our hands—
we believe, by the way, that there is a still later
one in immediate preparation, if it has not even
already made its appearance—we would direct at-
tention to the fact that the seventh edition of
" Festus," now under our consideration, has been
increased by nearly one hundred pages, by at any
rate at the very least sixty-seven pages, not
one word of which appeared in any of
its six predecessors. And, as affording
conclusive testimony at once that this in-
crease has been no mere dilution of the origi-
nal "nectar of the gods" here put to our lips,
we would instance one entirescene—a scene, in the
poetic excellence of it, absolutely on a par with the
happiest of those already familiar to the reader—a
scene occurring at pp. 414-428, in which Festus
and Lucifer are the interlocutors upon the Earth at
Midnight. "Festus" in truth is an absorbent—
not only of the care, and time, and life, and ge-
nius of its author, but bodily of the whole substance
of any other among his really successful literary
proluctions. In proof of which it may be men-
tioned that the poem of " The Angel World,"
published originally and separately in 1850 he has
since then incorporated with his larger and more am-
bitious masterpiece of "Festus." And so now, again,
it will be eventually, we believe, in a great measure, in
regard to the very latest of his poetic effusions, the
" Universal Hymn," in which, like Shadrach, Me-
shach, and Abeduego, he himself chanting the
praises of God in the midst of the fiery fur-
nace of the world, makes the mountains and
the valleys, the seas and the streams, the lightning
and the thunder, the zephyr and the whirlwind, the
volcano and the earthquake, the dews and the hoar
frosts, the spring flowers and the primeval
forests, harvest and vintage, day and night,
heat and cold, cycles and seasons, the
heavens and the earth, vocal with one Univer-
sal Hymn or Song of Adoration. Instead of
actually incorporating this with " Festus" later on,
however (though from its intrinsic excellence the
Hymn would be quite worthy of such incorporation),
the author would do well, we think, by rather append-
ing it to the larger and nobler poem, in the same
manner in which Thomson has appended his hymn,

beginning
" These as they change, Almighty Father, these
Aro but the varied God "-
as an appropriate climax to his quadruple poem of
"The Seasons." And " Festus" could merge into
no more fitting climax than the " Universal Hymn"
the author of "Festus" has, here, most happily pro-
duced. It breathes throughout the same glowing
and adoring spirit, bearing a resemblance (in its
relation to the effect of " Festus") to one of those
antiphonal voluntaries that we pause to listen to as
it peals forth from the organ within, before we pass
out into the world again from under the porch of a
Cathedral.

LATEST INTELL MENCE.

(REUTER's TELEGRAMS.)

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, May 29.

It is understood that at the Cabinet Council held
yesterday, at which the Emperor presided, it was
resolved to abandon the Property Tax project, but
to accede to the proposal of the minority of the
Budget Committee for a tax of 20 per cent. on all
coupons. The proposal of the majority of the
committee to reduce the interest on all State Secu-
rities by 25 per cent. was declared impossible for
the Government to ask his Majesty to sanction.
Count Stackelberg, the Russian Ambassador, had
a private audience of the Emperor yesterday, to
present his letters of recall. His Excellency have
left this capital for Paris.

SAXONY.

DRESDEN, May 28 (Evening).

In to-day's final sitting of the Upper and Lower
Houses a fresh vote was taken upon the bill relative
to the abolition of capital punishment. In the
Upper House the previous question was again re-
jected by 20 votes against 16.
In the Lower House 40 members voted for, and
24 against, the previous question. But as the ma-
jority which had voted for the previous question
(and therefore against the bill) did not comprise
the necessary number of two-thirds, the President
of the Chamber declared capital punishment to be
abolished.

THE BRAZILS. •
(Via Lisbon)
BUENOS AYRES, April 26.

Exchange on London 50. Wet salted ox hides,
40 to 43. Number slaughtered, 62,000. Total
sales, 290,500. Shipments, 141,562. No stock
dry hides: American, 43 for 21. Total sales,
69,000. Shipments, 166,083. Stock, 30,000.
Wool, 48 to 82. Tallow, 15. Lumber, 38 to 40.
Sugar, 18k. Flour, 10.

OUTWARD BOMBAY MAIL.
GIBRALTAR, May 29.

The Syria from Southampton, 23d inst., arrived
yesterday at 10 a.m., and left at 3 p.m. for Alex-
andria ; all well. Experienced unsettled weather.
CALCUTTA, May 9, via Trieste.

The appointment of Mr. Seton Karr as Foreign
Secretary has caused great dissatisfaction, and ad-
verse comments on the subject have appeared in the