AN APT QUOTATION.
/To TER EDITOR or TEl " SPECTATOR."] Sna—The disease of Pacificism would appear to be of long stand- ing, and the following lines from Bonduca, written before 1619 by John Fletcher, are interesting. Bonduca (Boadicea) and Henning are growing weary of the fight against the Roman invader, but Caratach (Caractacus) answers them in words which are every whit as appropriate at the present time :—
" Bon. Shall we have peace ? For now I love these Romans.
Car. Thy love and hate are both unwise ones, lady.
Bon. Your reason ?
Ken. Is not peace the end of arms ?
Car. Not where the cause implies a general conquest : Had we a difference with some petty isle, Or with our neighbours, lady, for our landmarks, Or taking in of some rebellious lord, Or making head against commotions, After a day of blood, peace might be argued ; But where we grapple for the ground we live on, The liberty we hold as dear as life, The Gods we worship, and, next those, our honours, And with those swords that know no end of battle, Those men, beside themselves, allow no neighbour, Those minds, that where the day is, claim inheritance, And where the sun makes ripe the fruit, their harvest, And where they march, but measure out more ground To add to Rome, and here i' the bowels on us; It must not be. No, as they are our foes, And those that must be so until we tire 'em, Let's use the peace of honour, that's fair dealing, But in our ends our swords—That hardy Roman, That hopes to graft himself into my stock, Must first begin his kindred underground, And be allied in ashes."
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