LEADING ARTICLES. 



287 



on " The Virtues of Precious Stones," 

 in which he tells of the effect produced 

 by placing various minerals on a woman 

 in a clairvoyant condition. Iceland 

 crystal and sapphire seemed to have 

 aided her clairvoyant powers to a 



greater degree than an\- other minerals. 

 W. P. Swainson contributes a paper on 

 " Thomas Lake Harris : His Life and 

 Philosophy," and M. S. gives a vivid 

 picture of the powers of the Indian 

 " Yoei " and " Fakir." 



POETRY AND MUSIC. 



VERSES FROM JAPAN. 



A feature of the February number of 



the Open Court is the translations of 



Japanese verse by the late Arthur Lloyd. 



The selection covers a very wide range. 



We quote three examples in order to 



show their beauty and merit : — ■ 



Think of eternity, pa.st and to c<jme, 



And life is buo as when a man e.scape« 



A fleeting shower beneath some sheltering 



roof. 



Sogi, 1421-1,502. 

 The year ga-ows old, the well-worn winter 



robe.s 

 Oome from their camphor che.st, and, in their 



stead, 

 In go the light spring dresses; bnt. ala.s! 

 Tlie spring joy goes in with them. 



Ddurin. 

 God? Can I paint that which I cannot .see 

 Nor comprehend — the vaguely Infinite, 

 Beyond all hunnan ken, oi- woird, or thought ? 

 Yet from tlie known we figure the unknown. 

 And shadow forth the shadowless ; and thus 

 God is the lieart that loves — the lover's heart. 

 That looks and yearns for .sweet return of 



love ; 

 The husband's heart, tliat. mukes companion- 

 ship 

 With her whose luand lie holds and calls his 



own ; 

 The father's heart, that careth for ihis son. 

 Watching his growth with fond paternal 



pride. 



And lovers, parting, oft-times interchange 

 Twin trinkets, tokens of a eomnion love, 

 And each one, gazing on the thing he wears, 

 " My love," says he, " beyond the cold grey 



sea. 

 Wears the twain felloiw of this ring I wear, 

 And, gazing, thinks of me as I of her : 

 By this I know our aiv.sent love holds good." 

 Such is the thing that men have christened 



Faith. 



THE POET IN THE BACK 

 STREET.S. 



To improve on the ancients is some- 

 what difficult, but there is always room 

 for the new. The Brlt'isJi Revieiv prints 

 a selection of verse by J. C. Squire 

 under the above title, we reprint to- 

 gether with the first two verses, which 

 present a fair indication of the new 

 style : — 



Down Lupus Strei-t there is a little pul).. 

 And there there worked a little bright- 

 haired maiden, 

 Mornings the furTiiture she had to scrub, 

 Evenings she'd walk about with pewters 



laden ; 

 But still she .sang as did the birds in Eden : 

 In fact, you would have said that there was 



no 

 More cheerful barmaid in all Pimlico. 



She had eleven brothers and a sister. 



A mother wlio had rheumatism bad. 

 And when she left o" mornings how they 

 ini.ssed her. 

 And when she stayed o' Sundays weren't 



they glad ; 

 No other helj) or maintenance they had. 

 So that their mother often .said, " God pink 



'em. 

 Lucky for them Flo makes a decent income." 



A PEACE SONATA. 



In an article in a recent number 

 of the Musical Times, headed " Real 

 Programme Music," IMr. Claude Aveling 

 describes a musical work composed by 

 Louis Jansen to celebrate the peace 

 negotiations of 1801, which formed the 

 basis of the Treaty of Amiens in the fol- 

 lowing )-ear. The composition, which is 

 in the form of a sonata for the piano- 

 forte, is entitled " Peace," and is dedi- 

 cated to Lord Hawkesbury, our Foreign 

 Secretary. Opening with " The Negotia- 

 tion," we ha\e the alternation of the tunes 

 "Rule, Britannia!" and the "Marseil- 

 laise," then a messenger's journey to 

 Calais and back is supposed to be de- 

 scribed ; ne.xt comes a conference be- 

 tween Lord Hawkesbury and M. Otto, 

 the French envoy, and finally the two 

 representatives sign their names. After 

 " God Save the King !" has been played 

 the Lord Ma^'or is sought out to read 

 Lord IIawkesbur\'s letter, copies are 

 posted against the Mansion House, and 

 great rejoicing ensues among the Peace 

 party. The \Var part}- protest, and the 

 sonata replies with the " Ratification and 

 Rejoicing," illustrated b}- roaring 

 cannon and clanging bells. 



