The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1885-02-18
For the Farmer and Mechanic
Engiand's Dark Days.

/ England is having a rough time OF 1t.
Americans look for the foreign news
with new and intense interest. Last
spsTfs Mr., O'keily, the CORES pondent
ct the London daily Necs, wrote from
Do ola, description OF the army OF
the Mahdi, which led US to expect, in
,piie OF ouT faith in the iuyincibility OF
thr arms of England terrible struggle
with these ianatlcal followers of Ma
homet.
They have revived the military organ
ization with which their Omar and 9th
man mastered the Oriental world many
centuries ago The Mahdi has even re-
imposed the 1.-THE demanded by the
early Callphs; and with it has restored
their earliest organization for war A
people who can keep in memory, and
puC into practice, the wise regulations
OF their ancestors, after the lapse of a
thousand years. are not to be despised
Without formally b. eaking the author
lty of the Arab clan chiettains, the
Mahdi has Reconstructed the regiment
with its separate flag and separate hier-
archy of officers, who are sometimes his
own nominees, and sometimes the
Sheks OF the desert tribes.
An English journal adds, This
however, is not all The Mahd has
not only revived the organization with
which kaled slaughtered out Roman
armies, and Saladin drove back the
Crusaders, but he has revived in its
fullest, most direct and most radical
form, the second tremendous weapon of
slam; which has done more to ditiu
the faith than even the Arab sword
the doctrine that all Mussulmen are
equal. And accordingly they never plead
rank or birth or fortune against each
other. 1t opens all careers to all, Sc
cures all against hunger and removes
from all that curse of contumely which
the Alab will not bear"
While Oh service the Mahdi pays to
all alike three shiHings a month. We
can scarcely believe that they could eX-
ist on this sum. Yet these Arabs are
strong, tall, wirey men, able to march
thirty miles day upon little millet,
familiar with the use of both sword and
spear, and much stronger Individually
than Europeans. 1t is believed that
European firmness and intelligence will
be equal to the occasion, however, and
the Mahdi will eventually have to yield.
But England has fearful task before
her..
- regards her internal dissensid Cos
| the cloud is also heavy. The very name
| "dynamite' carries with it something
! IL, ribly dangerous aRd repulsive. Brave
men, when they feel themselves wrong.
ed, have right to revolutionize as a
I last resort and we heartily bid them
/ 81 'o.,i Il,,f cnt
Of men have any right to assassinate
1t is base and cowardlY to the last de-
gree.
But that some great and radical change
is surging in brains and hearts OF Eng
lishmen, no one can deny. Read Rus
lin's essay on the Lords PRAYER, ant
the indictment he brings therein agains
the landholders of English soil. Thi.
high position makes him the associate
and friend of Dukes, Earls and Princes
yet these are his sentiments.
Justin Mccarthy, in reviewing the lit
erature of the victorian age. gives ;
high place to the poet Swinburne. III
says "the highest reach attained by thu
poets Of this latter day is assuredly ths
Of Mr. Swinburne: :-Atalanta in Caly
dou." published in 1868, startled tn
world. The mere boldness of the re
turn to the subjects, and to the vcr
forms of the Greek drama, would hav
I commanded attention; but there wa
something much more commanding i
! the genuine originality with which tn
I poet breathed new life into the antlQu
torms.'
This short notice of the poet is
! give his due wei ght to his opinion OF th
q house of lords, expressed in the follow
ing short, but bitter invective:
/, CLEAR THE WAY!
=, 4. c. StcinJurne, IN The p. VI. Gazett
5 Clear the way, my lords and lackeys
you have had your day,
I Here GU have had your answer-En:
lands yea against your nay:
Long enough your House has held yo
u up, and clear the way.
: Lust and falsehood, craft and tratii
/ precedent and gold,
{ Tongue of courtier kiss of harlot. prom
: ise bought and sold,
Il Gave you heritage of empire over thral
l. of old.
e Now that all these things are rotten, a
Il their gold is rust,
: Quenched the pride they lived by, dc;
;! the faith and cold the lust,
IL Shall their heritage not also turn aga
&c to dust?
N By the grace of these they reigued, WI
left their sons their way:
By the grace ofthese, what England sa
u her lords unsay:
Till at last her cry goes forth again
them lear the way.
. BY the grace of trust in treason kuav
have lived and died:
r. By the force of fear and folly fools Ia
ne fed their pride:
ct By the strength Of sloth and custc
J reason stands detird.
. Last perchance your reck oning on soI
es latter day by worse,
l.. Halt aud hearken. lords OF land a
ct; princes Of the purse.
r. Ere the tide be tull that comes W
blessing aud with curse.
Where we stand as where you sit, sea
~ falls a sprinkling spray;
r.. But the wind that swells, the wave t
follows. none shall stay:
Spread no more of sail for shipwre
out. and clear the way.
IN
ra- When the most popular writers {
.c- nation turn against the government,
ere dagger to the existing state OF thing
To- certainly not imag mary.
ms The battle of the dynamiters; j.
wo the struggle between labor and capi
ed. is one of the issues which has to be L
len 1t must, not only in England, bu
zen America-and in every other civil
icountry, be fought out to the