" THE UNWRITTEN LAWS OF GOD." [To the Editor of
the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—The bold defence of the priests in the trial of the Petrograd clergy for refusing to obey the Soviet decree that forbade the teaching of religion to the young : " There are other laws, those of God and the Catholic Church," must recall to many the noble appeal made by Antigone to the &warm ICfte¢usu eall • • . VOALILEL (Soph. Ant. 454), and they deserve a like honour and lasting fame : " Crean : And thou didst dare to disobey these laws ? Antigone : Yes, for it was not Zeus who gave them forth,
Nor Justice, dwelling with the gods below, Who traced these laws for all the sons of men ; Nor did I deem thy edicts strong enough, That thou, a mortal man, should'st overpass The unwritten laws of God that know not change.
They are not of to-day, nor yesterday, But live for ever, nor can man assign
When first they sprang to being."
(Plumptre's Trans. of Sophocles.) Lyme Regis.
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