Birth land of statesmen, bards, heroes, and sages; Mother of nations--the homes of the free; Builder of work that will last through the ages, Hope for Humanity centres in thee. Now that thy bugles their clear calls are shrilling, Now that thy battle voice echoes worldwide, O'er the long reaches of sea rush the willing Sons of thy children to fight by thy side. Eager to aid thee with treasure and tissue, Other leal millions will come to thy call. Civilization is staked on the issue-- Woe to Mankind if thy lion should fall! Fall he will never, till English force slacken In the great soul of thy dominant race, Now, as of old, do the Destinies beckon Thee to be highest in power and place. Conflicts now raging will pass into story, Nations may sink in defeat or disgrace; Long be thy future resplendent with glory, Long be thy triumphs the pride of our race! American Aid of France By Eugène Brieux [From THE NEW YORK TIMES, April, 1915.] M. Eugène Brieux, the celebrated French poet and playwright, who is in this country as the official representative of the French Academy--the "Forty Immortals"--has written a remarkable tribute to American aid of France during the present war. The address, which is herewith presented, was read by M. Brieux at the residence of Mrs. John Henry Hammond of New York City recently before a gathering of two hundred men and women who have been interested in the work of the American Ambulance Hospital in Paris. Miss Marie Van Vorst, who nursed the wounded at the American Ambulance in Paris, will speak to you of it as an eyewitness. From her you will receive direct news of your splendid work of humanity. While she was caring for wounded French, English, and German I was attached to another hospital at Chartres. It happens, therefore, that I have never seen the American Military Hospital created by you, but I am not in ignorance concerning it any more than any other Parisian, any more, indeed, than the majority of the French people. I know that the American Ambulance is the most remarkable hospital that the world has seen. I know that you, since the beginning of the war, have brought the aid of medical science to wounded men and that you have given not only money, but an institution, all ready, complete and of the most modern type, and, even more, that you have sent there your best surgeons and a small army of orderlies and nurses.