4 NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder 
With the sea beside you all the way, 
Through pleasant places that skirt the Bay; 
By Gloucester Harbor and beverly Beach, 
Salem’s old steeples, Nahant’s long reach, 
Blue-bordered Swampscott, and Chelsea’s wide 
Marshes, laid bare to the drenching tide, 
With a glimpse of Saugus spire in the west, 
And Malden hills in their dreamy rest.’’ 
is also one of 
9 
Her poem “Mistress Hale of Beverly” 
special interest in that it tells of the “witchcraft year 
and how the “last black shadow of the dreadful witch- 
craft delusion” had rested over her home town; and how 
the accusation of the good woman, Mrs. Hale, the wife 
of the minister of the First Church of Beverly, had 
broken the spell of the delusion. She says: ‘Witches 
were seldom spoken of in the presence of us children. 
We sometimes overheard a snaten of a witch-story, told 
in whispers, by the flickering firelight, just as we were 
being sent off to bed. But, to the older people, those 
legends were too much like realities, and they preferre al 
not to repeat them.’’ And she adds, that, although “Mis- 
tress Hale’s house was just across the burying ground, 
and Gallows Hill was only two miles away, beyond the 
bridge,” yet she never knew what the “Salem Witchcraft” 
was until she read of it in her school history. 
Lucy Larcom wrote her first rhymes when .sevea 
years of age. She has said that “Rich or poor, every 
child comes into ‘the world with some imperative need of 
its own, which shapes its individuality.’ Her “must have” 
was poetry. She found poetry everywhere about her. 
May 12, 1916. 
She says: “Poetry is not purchasable material, but an 
atmosphere in which every life may expand. ‘The chil- 
dren of old New England were always surrounded, it is 
true, with stubborn matter of fact,—the hand to hand 
struggle for existence. But that was no hindrance. Poetry 
must have prose to root itself in; the homelier its earth- 
spot, the lovelier, by contrast, its heaven-breathing 
flowers.” 
Of her. friend and summer 
Farms, Dr. Holmes, she wrote: 
‘*Who is he? His masterly lyrics we know; 
We learned in our childhood the charm of his page, 
And his verse does not show yet one sign of old age: 
Though our own heads may whiten, he makes us feel 
young 
With his songs, through all seasons so cherily sung.’’ 
neighbor at Beverly 
The beauty of the North Shore in the winter time is 
emphasized in that little poem, “A White World,” written 
at Beverly Farms, January 1, 1873. 
**T never knew the world in white 
So beautiful could be 
As I have seen it here.today, 
Beside the wintry sea; 
A new earth, bride of a new heaven, 
Has been revealed to me. 
The sunrise blended wave and cloud 
In one broad flood of gold, 
But touched with rose the world’s white robes 
In every curve and fold; 
While the blue air did over all 
Its breath in wonder hold.’’ 
N the everyday discussion of American “preparedness” 
constant reference is made to the Swiss system of 
military training. Many advocates of preparedness favor 
the Swiss method of military service, leading among them 
being the editors of the Outlook from which ‘excerpts 
from a recent article on “The Swiss Soldier,’ written by 
Jean Martin of the editorial staff of the Journal De 
Genéve, are taken. The value of the Swiss system point- 
ed out by Mr. Martin is in its great educational as well as 
defensive qualities. The spirit of nationalism and _ pat- 
riotism generated by the training system of the little 
Helvetian republic is regarded as one of the chief points 
in favor of the system. The following points are made 
by Mr. Martin: 
“The year 1870 had shown the insufficiency of our 
army organization. Forty-four years of assiduous toil 
gave time enough to make of that organization, not a per- 
fect instrument—it might be extravagant to pretend this— 
but one may say at least a sufficiently perfected mech- 
anism to insure the country’s defense. What is the Swiss 
army system? It is that of universal military service, 
obligatory on all citizens. If a medical commission de- 
clares a citizen ineligible he must pay a tax, of which the 
proceeds go towards military defense expenses. **** 
“At nineteen years of age every Swiss must submit 
himself to a so-called sanitary inspection. This means, 
however, a double examination, mental as well as physi- 
cal. The results of these examinations are published 
every year. ‘The twenty-two cantons which compose the 
Republic are classified according to the averages obtained. 
This gives a healthy rivalry to all of the cantons and in- 
duces “them to perfect the gymnastic and civic instruction 
in their schools.**** 
“In sixty-seven days the Swiss lad learns many 
things. First of all he learns to obey. This is not the easi- 
est task in the world, because, like the good republican he 
is, he wants to have his little say on everything, to express 
his opinions at all times, and in particular to criticise the 
authorities whenever he can.**** 
“The young soldier forms part of a section and a 
company of recruits. He lives no longer by himself, self- 
centered in his own fantasies; he is part of a great fam- 
ily, a new family for him, the army. The great family 
makes demands upon him which at first may astonish 
Mar eh eases 
“The school of recruits comes to an end with the 
maneuvers. These take place generally in the mountains, 
because the ruggedness of the country makes it more in- 
teresting from a military point of view. Such a setting 
for the maneuvers also makes the greatest impression on 
the young citizen. 
“Now for the officers. ‘They are all chosen from the 
troops. Every Swiss officer has to begin by doing his 
soldier’s service. This is a desirable principle, and from 
it there is no exception made in our country. Every of- 
ficer’s grade may bring supplementary duties which may 
be legally imposed. **** 
“But you will doubtless ask, ‘Does not your country 
suffer economically because so many men are taken from 
their ordinary work?’ In ordinary times the Swiss public 
suffers little. The Recruit service of sixty-seven days’ 
duration is at an age when the young citizen can without 
grave inconvenience leave his occupation for two months. 
As to the annual repetition courses, they are so very 
short (thirteen days) that their effect on commerce, in- 
dustry, and agriculture is not noticeable; for twenty to 
twenty-eight years of age one can give up thirteen days 
a year to the country’s “defense. 
“Even in this troubled period, Switzerland, thougin 
entirely surrounded by belligerent nations, can continue to 
live protected by the rampart of her army. Despite any 
defects in organization, despite any errors, despite any 
infelicitous action, she has, up to the present, risen above 
the dangers of the world war. And if she has been able 
to do this, I do not hesitate to declare that it has princip- 
ally been because of an army organization according to 
the system of universal and obligatory military service. 
“In such manner we have put into practice this prin- 
ciple, ‘If one wishes to be well defended, one must defend 
‘one’s self,’” 
