25 NOVEMBER 1899, Page 15

" JUSTUM ET TENACEM."

THE quiet clouds, the quiet air, The calm that haunts us every- where

In these broad fields, where sunlight sees Our homely cattle at their ease; The woods, whose leaves of golden brown Glide noiseless, as they flutter down; The full, smooth river, seldom stirr'd Save from within, that flows unheard In irresistible advance ; And, over all this fair expanse, The stedfast hills, that silently Stand up against a silent sky : Are these the things for you

and 1110 To look upon, or care to see, Amid the tumult of a war ?

Yes; for they teach us what we are, Or what we should be : every charm

Of outward Nature, every warm And tender passion that expands At sight of these familiar lands, Speaks of the duty fhat we owe To what we feel and what we

know. Were it not well, to have at length

Silence, and stedfastness, and strength ; Like Nature, in her woods and hills, To stand unscared by doubt and ills, Or, like her rivers, move along Ineffably serene and strong ; Tranquil, in victory or defeat, Until the day's work be com-

plete?

Fools may make merry o'er our loss, And even the wise may reel across That line, so often tinged with blood, Which parts the evil from the good;

But we, a nation such as we, United, and resolved to see A Present worthy of our Past, We through each startling

thunder hlost

May still in confidence abide, Untoudi'd by petulance or pride, Till happier years shall make i:,

plain That we, too, have not wroae. in vain.

ARTHUR ArtNIs'-