NONE WILL MISS THEE.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 307, 13 October 1888, Page 7

NONE WILL MISS THEE.

JFew will miss thee, friend, when th^u For a month in dust hast lain. Skilful hand and anxious biow, Tongue of wisdom, busy biain--All thou wert shall be forgot, And thy place shall know thee not. Shadows from the bending trees O'er thy lowly head may pass, Sighs from every wandering bieeze Stir the long, thick, churchyard grass"Wilt thou heed then ? No ; thy sleep Shall be dreamless, calm, and deep. 'Some sweet bird may sit and sing On the marble of the tomb, -Soon to flit on joyous wing From that place of death and gloom, On some bough to warble clear ; But these songs thou shalt not hear. Some iind voice may sing thy praise, Passing near thy place of rest, Fondly talk of " other days "— But no throb within thy breast Shall respond to words of praise, Or old thoughts of " other days." 'Since so fleeting is thy name, Talent, "beauty, powei, and wit, It were well that without shame Thou in God's great book wert writ, There in goMen words to be 'Graven for eternity.

The cry i.s peace, peace, but th^re will 'he no peace for ni.my a year. There has been no peace woith the name, foi what is armed preparation but war muffled? There is the co^t to the countiie**, the agony of expectation, of anxiety, always stimulating and yet oppressing. No condition more pitiable than that of Geimany can be imagined. She lips been aptly teimed nn aimed camp ; i~, always face to face with the contingency of war on a large scale. The position of Fiance io little better, for she feeds fat hei grudge against Germany, and would go any length fonevenge. She has already gone a long one in leaguing w ith ltussia. Italy lias to waste hei resources to be leady to sti ike to preserve her very existence, and so has Austria. Ah, there will have to be a recasting of political and social conditions ; a remodelling of the nations, a new social birth, in fact, before peace is in the ascendant. Bitter bloody experiences will be forced upon the people before that comes about. The advanced civilisation of Europe has to suffer frightfully before the more barbarous parts of it are brought into order. Emperors and kings, JBismarcks and Moltkes and Boulangers will have passed away. And not until the people manage their own affairs on strijily ■business and common sense principles can peace be fully realised.