The woman figure called Justice in Raemaekers’ cartoon has a Greek name. She is Themis, consort of Zeus, Themis, who sits by his side on the judgment seat. The scales are the scales of Ægina, in her day a great money centre, whose talent was the standard of value then, as the American dollar is to-day. Ægina was the mother of Æacus, one of the three great judges of the lower world, and be it remembered, it was Æacus that administered justice. Ægina is called by one of the greatest Greek poets the place where Themis is worshipped more than anywhere else on earth, and he tells us further that there was much weighing in Ægina, the Merchant State. Heavy weights there were in either scale. Much care was needful in the weighing, no little balancing doubtless. So there were many in our Ægina who felt the draw of kindred, of friendship, of fellowship. But this is the Day, the Day of Decision, the Day of Lord Æacus. After the knife edge of the balance comes the knife edge of the guillotine. BASIL LANNEAU GILDERSLEEVE. [Illustration] _Another Peace Proposal_ The artist has depicted a spectacled Old Gentleman wearing a triple crown and a pontifical mantle, who is offering a proposal of peace to a heroic young woman, torn, bleeding, thorn-crowned, but dauntless, who spurns it with scorn. The spectacled Old Gentleman is the Pope; the heroic young woman is, I take it, outraged Justice. Since Justice is our cause, we must try to be just. The Pope is not lying on a bed of roses. He is in a position of the utmost difficulty. He has faithful adherents on both sides, he dislikes war, and finds his perplexities, great enough in time of peace, now magnified an hundred-fold. He is not a hero; he is old, he is a lover of ease, and would dearly like to wear a King’s crown and hear multitudes in St. Peter’s cry out “Papa-Rè, Papa-Rè.” Let us be just. The first Pope (according to Roman Catholic reckoning), received the grace of a great opportunity to be true to his Master, but he denied Him thrice. Why should we be surprised to find Benedict XV denying his Master? Fate has held out her hand to him, as she held it out to St. Peter, and offered him his opportunity to be greatly true. In the old happy days when all the world cried “hosanna” to Justice, the Pope also had professed himself a disciple of Justice. But now Justice has been taken by bloody-minded men to be crucified, and the Pope has stayed afar off. Many witnesses have remarked, “This man also was a professed disciple of Justice.” And now the Pope denies it vehemently. He has put forward a series of humiliating proposals that Justice--heroic, bleeding Justice--should hold out her hand to the murderers of Belgium and confer, as if there had been _equal error_ on both sides, upon the crafty schemes of peace by which Germany hopes to dominate the world.