The Mighty Deep 



A Frenchman lately, speaking in public, de- 

 scribed half humorously how, as he journeyed 

 round our globe, at each halting-place, at each 

 coaling-station, he found invariably "that bit of 

 Rag," so dear to the Briton. 



And no wonder ! for it is the RAG which stands 

 for Freedom. 



In the lower Creation, under ocean- waters, we 

 have seen how the fierce perpetual struggle for 

 existence goes on ; how, with scarcely more than 

 one exception, that of the mother for her little one, 

 each creature lives and thinks and fights for itself 

 alone. But man is capable of better things. A 

 man may forget self for his Country's sake. He 

 may lose sight of ease and gain, in thought for 

 the poorer, the weaker, the darker tribes of 

 Earth under that protecting Flag. 



Wherever it goes, north or south, east or west, 

 there go also Freedom, Justice, and a liberal 

 recognition of the rights of Man, even of the 

 feeblest, even of the blackest-skinned. For the 

 first time in the World's History this grand and 

 high ideal rules in the counsels of an Empire 

 wide as the Ocean itself. 



