Hear a prayer for cleanness. Keeper of the strong rain, Drumming on the mountain; Lord of the small rain That restores the earth in newness; Keeper of the clean rain, Hear a prayer for wholeness. Young Man, Chieftain. Hear a prayer for fleetness. Keeper of the deer's way, Reared among the eagles, Clear my feet of slothness. Keeper of the paths of men, Hear a prayer for straightness. Hear a prayer for braveness. Lord of the thin peaks, Reared amid the thunders; Keeper of the headlands Holding up the harvest, Keeper of the strong rocks Hear a prayer for staunchness. Young Man, Chieftain, Spirit of the Mountain! Interpreted by [signed] Mary Austin To America--4 July, 1776 When England's king put English to the horn[1], To England thus spake England over sea, "In peace be friend, in war my enemy"; Then countering pride with pride, and lies with scorn, Broke with the man[2] whose ancestor had borne A sharper pain for no more injury. How otherwise should free men deal and be, With patience frayed and loyalty outworn? No act of England's shone more generous gules Than that which sever'd once for all the strands Which bound you English. You may search the lands In vain, and vainly rummage in the schools, To find a deed more English, or a shame On England with more honor to her name. [written] Respectfully submitted to the Defenders of Democracy [signed] M. Hewlett (Westluilaruig[illegible, this is a guess], Chichester, England) [1] To "put to the horn" was to declare an outlawry. [2] The "man" is George III, his "ancestor," Charles I. The Need of Force to Win and Maintain Peace Must, then, gentle and reasonable men and women give over their sons to the National Government to be trained for the devilish work of war? Must civilized society continue to fight war with war? Is not the process a complete failure? Shall we not henceforth contend against evil-doing by good-doing, against brutality by gentleness, against vice in others solely by virtue in ourselves? There are many sound answers to these insistent queries. One is the policeman, usually a protective and adjusting force, but armed and trained to hurt and kill in defense of society against criminals and lunatics. Another is the mother who blazes into violence, with all her might, in defense of her child. Even the little birds do that. Another is the instinctive forcible resistance of any natural man to insult or injury committed or threatened against his mother, wife, or daughter. The lions and tigers do as much. A moving answer of a different sort is found in words written by Mme. le Verrier to the parents of Victor Chapman on her return from his funeral in the American Church in Paris--"It...has brought home to me the beauty of heroic death and the meaning of life."