Count me the splendid captains Who sailed with courage high To chart the perilous ways unknown-- Tell me where these men lie! To light a path for ships to come They moored at Dead Man's quay; The Sea is God's--He made it, And these men made it free. Oh, little land of England, Oh, Mother of hearts too brave, Men say this trust shall pass from thee Who guardest Nelson's grave. Aye, but these braggarts yet shall learn, Who'd hold the world in fee, The Sea is God's--and England, England shall keep it free. [G]R. E. VERNÈDE _From "War Poems", by R. E. Vernède. By permission of the Publishers, Wm. Heinemann, London_ FOOTNOTE: [G] Died of wounds, April, 1917 VOLUNTEER Here lies a clerk who half his life had spent Toiling at ledgers in a city gray, Thinking that so his days would drift away With no lance broken in life's tournament: Yet ever 'twixt the books and his bright eyes The gleaming eagles of the legions came, And horsemen, charging under phantom skies, Went thundering past beneath the oriflamme. And now those waiting dreams are satisfied; From twilight into spacious dawn he went; His lance is broken; but he lies content With that high hour, in which he lived and died. And falling thus he wants no recompense, Who found his battle in the last resort; Nor needs he any hearse to bear him hence, Who goes to join the men of Agincourt. HERBERT ASQUITH _By permission of Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith_ EXTRACT FROM PRESIDENT WILSON'S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS (_April 2, 1917_) We are now about to accept the gage of battle with this natural foe to liberty, and shall, if necessary, spend the whole force of the nation to check and nullify its pretensions and powers. We are glad, now that we see the facts with no veil of false pretence about them, to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the German people included; for the rights of nations great and small, and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of obedience. The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the trusted foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied when those have been made as secure as the faith and freedom of the nation can make them.