COWPER'S CONFESSION OF

FAITH

The lines which your correspondent Mr. M. C. Coggeshall, 149 Broadway, New York City, submits to you as a "confession of faith (in your issue of July 10, 1918) may be found in Cowper's "Task," Book V, "The Winter Morning Walk," of which they are the concluding lines. In their correct form they read as follows:

"But O! thou bounteous Giver of all good,
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown!
Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor;
And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away."

The idea of formulating a "confession of faith" was probably entirely remote from Cowper's mind in composing these lines, although readers of his poetry will readily recognize in them an expression of the faith which he held. They occur as an ejaculation at the close of a passage in which he has dwelt upon the goodness of God and his presence in nature.

It will therefore be seen that the lines are of no great antiquity, "The Task" having been written in 1782. English literature stretches back so many centuries beyond the eighteenth that a classic work of that period can, historically, hardly be called old. As one of the brightest literary. lights of the eighteenth century, Cowper ranks high among English poets, and his delightful metrical essays, as well as his numerous shorter poems, deserve wider recognition than they perhaps receive from twentieth-century readers.

I shall be very grateful to you if you will kindly again find space in your columns to insert an appeal with regard to the Naples Society for the Protection of Animals. Its work has been carried on with vigor during the past year in spite of special difficulties, arising in part from many of our best inspectors being still serving with the army, in part from the circumstance that a large number of the strongest horses have been requisitioned for army work, so that increased labor falls to the lot of the weaker animals.

I add a few statistics of the operations of the inspectors:

because injured or unfit for work. Dogs and cats chloroformed...... 2,260 Relieved: Animals carried head down

Important to Subscribers

When you notify The Outlook of a change in your address, both the old and the new address should be given. Kindly write, if possible, two weeks before the change is to take effect.

Speaking of the Marne salient, as most of us are doing just now, Don Marquis remarks in the "Sun Dial:" "There seems to be considerable Franco-American binding around that well-known pocket."

Tommy Mason, a correspondent tells us, was superintendent of the construction work on the Tuckahoe, the naval collier turned out of the yards of the New York Ship-Building Corporation in 27 days 2 hours 55 minutes-the world's record cut in half. After the launching Charles M. Schwab sought Mason to learn how he and his men had made such phenomenal speed. "I want to pass your secret along to other shipyards," said Schwab. "No booze," replied Mason. "That's the secret."

A correspondent whose name is, not inappropriately, Butcher, asks a new foodsaving question, namely: "What is the law in regard to eating whale on Fridays?"

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A writer in the New York "Sun marks: "With the opening of Nantucket to the automobile this summer the last bar in New England has been let down. As only forty more voted for the innovation than against it, the change of local sentiment can scarcely be said to have got far beyond the stage of bitter controversy which for years has stirred up the island."

A singular happening in a draft board (Local Board No. 2, Richmond, Virginia) is told us by its chairman, Mr. H. W. Ellerson. He writes: "There were registered by our Board two Negro men, brothers, Abraham Baugh and Isaac Baugh, who lived together at 1120 West Moore Street, this city. The serial number of Abraham Baugh was 1,998, and that of Isaac Baugh 991. In the drawing in Washington, Serial No. 991 was drawn as Order No. 1,621, and Serial No. 1,998 was drawn as Order No. 1,622; thus the order numbers of these two brothers ran consecutively. We sent the two men to camp last week, and I told them I thought perhaps they were born under a lucky star and would probably make a record for themselves. I doubt if there is a similar case in the United States."

The octopus frequently changes in color, as if it were a marine chameleon. It would appear, from recent studies of this creature, that the colored pigment whereby this change in color is effected is contained in envelopes in its skin, in the tissue of which are muscular fibers actuated by nerves. Should these fibers become relaxed, a dark pigment appears. The phenomenon is said to be analogous to blushing. If the octopus as wicked as Victor Hugo painted him, he ought to blush!

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Mr. E. J. Riggs writes this short but pointed letter to the New York "Sun" about squealing: "On reading in the 'Sun' that German newspapers are indignant because American soldiers are using shotguns, I was reminded of a 'card shark' in Leadville in '79. He had held out a big hand for a killing, and had it stuck in the top of his boot. Finally he got his bank roll into a big pot and reached for his holdout to switch in, but found it gone. Hold on!' he yelled, 'I ain't going to play in this game-there's cheating going on.'

The Negroes at Camp Dodge drafted into the National Army from Alabama were overjoyed at the amount of equipment they were given. One of them was talking to a white soldier about it. "Say, boss," he asked, "do dey give us all dese

WAY

clothes for nuthin', without payin' for dem? An' all dese eats three times a day, an' a good bed, an' all dem blankets?" He was told that Uncle Sam gives them all these things. "Well, den, why in Sam Hill didn't dis wah staht soonah?"

An epigram attributed to Congressman Gallivan reads: "Rum has more enemies in public and more friends in private than any other substance the world has ever known."

Humorously describing the situation at the front, the Springfield "Republican" says: "In football terms, the German halfback on his plunge through tackle fumbled and dropped the ball, which was instantly grabbed by the French fullback and carried back around the other end in a brilliant run that brought the spectators on the Allied grand stands to their feet cheering. The French now have the ball for the first down on the 40-yard line."

In view of the paper shortage some one recalls old Ben Franklin's remarks: "One can scarce see a new book without observing the excessive artifices made use of to puff up a paper of verses into a pamphlet, a pamphlet into an octavo, and an octavo into a quarto, with scab-boardings, white lines, sparse titles of chapters, and exorbitant margins, to such a degree that the selling of paper seems now the object, and printing on it only the pretense. I enclose the copy of a page in a late comedy. Between every two lines there is a white space equal to another line. You have a law, I think, against butchers blowing veal to make it look fatter? Why not one against booksellers blowing books to make them look bigger?"

The chief inventions used in the present war as distinguished from the Napoleonic wars are listed as follows: Steamship, submarine, aircraft, high-power guns, smokeless powder, breech-loading gun, rapid-fire gun, revolver, automatic pistol, telephone, wireless telegraphy, automobile, poisonous gas.

As a fair illustration of the rabbit pest in certain portions of New Zealand, and especially in the drier sections of the South Island, it is stated that on an estate lately taken over by the New Zealand Government, comprising 12,446 acres of freehold and a pastoral run of 19,250 acres, there were killed or captured about 120,000 rabbits in order to clear up the property so as to make it suitable for the location of returned soldiers.

From January, 1915, to the end of May, 1918, four hundred and seven ships sunk by the Germans in British waters have been salvaged, so a note in "Shipping" states. Feats performed by the Salvage Department include the raising of a large collier sunk in twelve fathoms of water, involving a dead lift of 3,500 tons.

"Do you remember the line 'Like that above?" is the question which Oliver Wendell Holmes is said to have asked his classmate, Samuel F. Smith, about his poem "America." Dr. Holmes went on: "What does the word that refer to?" Smith replied, "To rapture." No doubt other readers of the hymn have been puzzled by the line. The stanza in full is as follows:

"My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,-

Thy name I love ;

I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above."

WORKING GIRLS' VACATION

Owing to the increase in railway fares and the high cost of living, the Working Girls' Vacation Society is obliged to ask its friends and the generous public for funds to continue its work this summer.

More girls than usual have applied, and there is a long waiting list.

Owing to lack of funds, the Society has given up one of its boarding-places, which can be obtained again if the money is given.

The girls who work all winter in the shops and factories need a vacation. Who will help them? Forty dollars will pay board, traveling expenses, and medical care for a girl with incipient tuberculosis at Santa Clara, New York, for a month. Ten dollars will pay board and traveling expenses for two weeks.

Checks may be made payable to the Working Girls' Vacation Society and sent to the office, Room 416, 105 East Twentysecond Street, New York City, and will be gratefully acknowledged.

YOUR BIT? OR YOUR BEST?

BY WILLIAM J. CROMIE

A second-story man enters a house, and at the point of a pistol demands one's valuables. A food speculator corners a certain article of diet. He "hogs the market," and then forces the prices of commodities higher and higher, while his poor victims cry for bread. What is the difference in these two types of men? The only difference is in the method of stealing.

A young man is without a job. He lives off the labor of his father and mother. He claims that he cannot find employment, and this during a time when the conservation of man power is needed as never before.

A ship is sinking. The captain orders all hands to the pumps. "Keep the pumps going, and I will land you safely," is the captain's assurance. All of the sailors except one spring to the pumps. This man sits on a coil of rope and smokes his pipe. "Do you want to drown?" asks a shipmate. "I won't drown," is the cool reply; "not while you boys are doing my share of the work. You must keep the pumps going whether I help or not.'

A great Republic, in real need of men, exhorts citizens to respond to the call to the colors. One type of man replies: "I'm a pacifist, and not one with a fist in it, as I don't believe in fighting." He is not willing to do his bit, let alone his best.

Our country has floated three Liberty Bonds, and may need many more before world democracy is a reality. One kind of man (?) says: "I don't believe I'll subscribe. The country is full of fellows that are keyed up with patriotic fervor, and when it comes to a showdown they'll make a few sacrifices and take care of my part rather than see the country fail in its purpose of winning the war."

Are not all of these men in the same class? Are they not all slackers? Are they not all stealing, either from their friend or the Government?

Don't be a second-story man or a food speculator, either for profit or to appease a growing appetite.

Don't be a parasite, living off your parents. Don't sit on a coil of rope when the ship is sinking.

Don't be a slacker. Put the "fist" in "pacifist" and strike good and hard.

Don't fail to subscribe to every Liberty Loan, even if tremendous sacrifice mast be made. Not your bit, but your best.