_Birmingham Daily Mail._ Aren't they black enough already? * * * * * Examples of official enthusiasm are always welcome, and we therefore give further publicity to the following:-- "The Cossacks who have been mobilised in the Amur district have sent the following telegram to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian forces: 'Your children are coming to your aid, father commander. They come shouting "Hurrah!"' The Grand Duke Nicholas replied: 'I shall be very pleased to see you.'--_Reuter._" * * * * * TO THE BITTER END. (_A word with the War-Lord._) A rumour comes from Rome (where rumours breed) That you are sick of taking blow on blow, And would inter with all convenient speed The hatchet wielded by your largest foe. Is it the shadow Christmas casts before That makes the iron of your soul unbend, And melt in prayer for this unholy war (Meaning the part that pinches most) to end? Is it your fear to mark at that high feast The writing on the wall that seals your fate, And, where the Christ-star watches in the East, To hear the guns that thunder at your gate? For on your heart no Christmas Peace can fall. The chimes shall be a tocsin, and the red Glow of the Yule-wood embers shall recall A myriad smouldering pyres of murdered dead. And anguish, wailing to the wintry skies, Shall with its dirges drown the sacred hymn, And round your royal hearth the curse shall rise Of lowly hearths laid waste to suit your whim. And you shall think on altars left forlorn, On temple-aisles made desolate at your nod, Where never a white-robed choir this holy morn Shall chant their greeting to the Birth of God. Peace? There is none for you, nor can be none; For still shall Memory, like a fetid breath, Poison your life-days while the slow hours run, Till it be stifled in the dust of Death. O. S. * * * * * WHY I DON'T ENLIST. [Curiosity is often expressed regarding the causes which have prevented young men from enlisting. Considerable interest, therefore, should attach to the following replies to enquiries, an inspection of which has been permitted us by the Secretary of the Patriotic League, an organisation which seeks to stimulate recruiting by writing to young healthy and unmarried men and asking them why they do not join the colours.]