Arthur W. Dow has designed a new poster for _Modern Art_. It is exquisite in its quiet harmony and purely decorative character, with breadth and simplicity in line and mass, and shows the capacity of pure landscape for decorative purposes.—_The Boston Herald._ _Price, 25 Cents in Stamps, Sent Free to New Subscribers to Modern Art._ L. Prang & Company, Publishers. 286 ROXBURY STREET, BOSTON. THE PHILISTINE. NO. 3. February, 1896. VOL. 2. VICTORY: BEING A CHANT AFTER BATTLE. As we marched into the desert And sang unto the stars, The sky looked kindly on us And the pain of battle scars No longer seemed to rack us; While the folly of the fray Was burned upon us, Singed upon us, Branded by the day; Till crimson in that holy night Shone forth those deeds of Mars, As we marched into the desert And hymned unto the stars. And backward: trodden was the grass, And crimson were the lands, And crimson were the ghosts that rose, And crimson ran the sands. Yet we marched into the desert And chanted to the stars. L. H. BICKFORD. WHY I AM A PHILISTINE. I have received a long and carefully written letter from an unknown gentleman who signs himself “Retired Clergyman.” The Great Obscure favor me quite often with anonymous epistles, but life being short and the waste basket wide, I seldom reply. Yet now an exception must be made and I answer “Retired Clergyman” for the sole and simple reason that he has “retired,” and in retiring he has made the world his debtor. Probably no one act of this man’s entire life was so potent for good as this. He has set all clergymen without humor a most precious precedent. In gratitude, hoping that his example will bear fruit, I reply. Did space permit I would be glad to print my correspondent’s letter entire, but the gist of his scholarly argument is that The Society of the Philistines is endeavoring to make free-thought universal and paganism popular. He stoutly avers that the ancient Philistines were the enemies of Jehovah, that they worshipped strange gods and that they were the sworn foes of the Chosen People. Now this is the sad part: he proves his case. The gentleman explains that he would not have seen the PHILISTINE MAGAZINE had not his daughter, “an unmarried lady of thirty-two,” purchased several copies; but from this on, with his permission, no more numbers of this “infidelic infernal machine” shall enter his house. My heart goes out to all unmarried ladies of thirty-two. Especially so when they have fathers who are irascible; only one worse fate can befall a woman of thirty-two than to have an irascible father, and that is to have a lover who is irate. Still I doubt not but that the daughter of “Retired Clergyman” will find a way to read the PHILISTINE—booklets laugh at locksmiths!