to keep his promise to the king, but fate was against him. The two princes went back to the king at the time agreed upon, the one with his choice gifts, in obtaining which he had made no effort whatever, the other with empty but bleeding hands. The king accepted the sincere but futile efforts of the one rather than the easily obtained gifts of the other. THE GIFT OF EMPTY HANDS 1 They were two princes doomed to death; 2 They went together. In the dew A charmed bird before them flew. Through sun and thorn one followed it; 3 A rose, whose faintest flush was worth One climbed the rocks to reach; ah, well, 4 Weird jewels, such as fairies wear, When moons go out, to light their hair, One tried to touch on ghostly ground; 5 One with the dragon fought to gain 6 Backward to the imperial gate One took his fortune, one his fate: * At bird, and rose, and gem, and fruit, 8 "Your brother's hands, wherein you see In place of each forgotten wound." -Sarah M. B. Piatt. True treasure is not lightly won-This is the true and beautiful lesson of The Gift of Empty Hands. It is the lesson that the Master taught over and over-not what we do, but what we try to do. Or, as Browning says in Saul: ""Tis not what man does which exalts him, but what man would do." BANNOCKBURN The battle of Bannockburn was fought in 1314, near Stirling castle, in the Lowlands of Scotland, by the English forces under King Edward II. and the Scots in command of Robert Bruce. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Scots, and later in the recognition of Scotland as a kingdom independent of England. The struggle for Scottish independence had been going on for a long time; and notwithstanding the fact that one king of Scotland had been deposed and banished, and the crown and other emblems of royalty taken away to London, the Scottish people were not conquered. Under various leaders, particularly William Wallace, who came to be the great national hero, they carried on the struggle. Wallace was captured, taken to London, tried for treason, and executed, 1305. The legends of this bold and chivalrous outlaw are the treasures of Scottish story, poetry, and song. The next year after the execution of Wallace, Robert Bruce declared himself king of Scotland, and, calling all classes of Scotsmen around him for a last great struggle, won the splendid victory of Bannockburn. This is the historical setting of Burns's famous poem, the best war-ode, Carlyle thought, "that was ever written by any pen." The lines are supposed to be spoken by Bruce to his heralds on the morning of the battle. Of course this address is purely imaginary, but it is just such an address as the Scots who had with Wallace bled would receive with unspeakable enthusiasm. Of the manner of the composition of the poem Carlyle says: "It was composed on horseback, in riding in the middle of tempests over the wildest Galloway moor, in company with a Mr. Syme. Doubtless this stern hymn was singing itself, as he formed it, through the soul of Burns; but to the external ear it should be sung with the throat of the whirlwind." BANNOCKBURN 1 Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled; 2 Now's the day, and now's the hour; See approach proud Edward's pow'r- 3 Wha will be a traitor-knave? Wha can fill a coward's grave? Wha sae base as be a slave? Let him turn and flee! 4 Wha for Scotland's king and law 5 By oppression's woes and pains! 6 Lay the proud usurpers low! Let us do, or die! -Robert Burns. Jane Porter's stirring novel, Scottish Chiefs, published 1810, has for its heroes Robert Bruce and William Wallace. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER The flag that floated over Fort McHenry, the original star-spangled banner, now belongs to Mr. Eben Appleton, of New York. Recently it was lent to the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. It is an immense banner, twenty-eight by thirty feet, and shows the effects of battle and age. |