A QUOTATION FROM BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sra,—I hope you may think these lines from Beaumont and Fletcher's Bonduca apposite to the present crisis at home and abroad :— " Caratach. Had we a difference with some petty isle,
Or, with our neighbours, lady, for our landmarks, The taking in of some rebellious lords, 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 neighbours. It must not be.▪ No ; ▪ as they are our foes
And those that must be so until we tire 'cm, Let's use the peace of honour, that's fair dealing, But in our hands our swords."
Oxford.
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