Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-04-01

Of the keepers having broken this condi-
ton. the Holy Grail disappeared. From
that time It was a favorite enterprise
Of the knights OF Arthur's court to go In
search OF II. Sir Galahad was at last
successful in finding it.
In Lowel's poem Sir Launfal. the
maiden knight" rides forth. in pride Of
youth and armor upon his quest through
all climes. As he left his castle gate he
saw foul leper crouchng in his way
who asked aims. In loathing Sir Launfal
tossed him piece Of gold In scon,"
which the leper touched not. saying:
Better to me the poor mans crust,
Better the blessing Of the poor;
Though I turn me empty from his door:
That is no true aims which the hand can
hold:
lie gives nothing but worthless gold
Who gives from a sense OF duty,
But he who gives a slender mite,
And gives to that which Is out Of sight,
That thread OF all-sustaining Beauty
Which runs through all and doth all
unite:
The hand cannot clasp the whole of his
aims,
The heart outstretches its eager palms.
For a god goes with 1t and makes 1t
store
To the soul that was starving IN darKness
before
These are fine lines. Sir Launfal spent
his life in the vain search, and came
back.
IAN old. bent man. worn out and frail'.
He found his earldom taken by an
other, but
Little he rocked Of hs earldom's loss,
No moro on his surcOat was DlazOned the
cross,
But deep in his soul the sign he wore
The badge of the suffering and the poor
As he sat musing in the wintry air at
Christmas time Of a summer CLINE. and
the pleasant recollections OF long ago. he
imagined he heard the words:
For Christs sweet sake, beg an aims"
and that he saw again
The lcpcr lank as the rain-blanched
bone
that appeared in his pathway when he
first set out upon his quest. His response
this time was different He beheld in the
leper:
"The image Of Him who died on the
tree"
and in Acknowledgement Of Him bestowed
aims. Then came the vision
The leper no longer crouched at his
GlIf.
But stood before him glorfied.
Shining and tall and fair and straight
As the pillar that stood by the Beautiful
Gate"
The words Of the Shining one, with
which we close our quotations, contain
the key TO the entire poem:
and the voice that was calmor than
silence said,
10. il is ] be not afraid'
In, q without Hgall.
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy
Behold it is here,-this cup which thou
Didst I'LL at the streamlet for me, but
This crust Is my body. broken for thee;
This water His blood that died on the
The Holy Supper is kept, indeed. -
In what 50 We share with announcer need
Not that which we give, but what we
For The he gilt withou, the giyer is bare;
who bestows himself with his aims FEEDS
Hims'if his hungering neighbour and
The selections show the exquisite beauty
both Of the conception and the poetry.
The plot, however, is very slight much
OF the poem being taken w In descrlp-
tons Of nature, which are very me me
poem contains the lovely line Ana what
is 50 rare as a day in June" Most OK
the other poems I'm the book are also OF
much merit. "Rhoecus' and ITO the Dam
denon" especially. 1t is seldom that so
much of true poetry is gathered into 50
small compass
THE ENGLISHMAN At HOME-HlS
RESPONSIBILITIES AND PRlNl-
LEGES. by Edward Porrtt. one vol
ume. cloth. u mo. xiv. S9 pages. APP
pendices. index. N.75.
This is an unpretendlng volume but
fun of most valuable and interesting In
formation Its author has had large eX-
perience as a journalist both in England
and America. but this. we believe. is his
first venture into the field of book-making.
The book is emincntly practical, and not
at all controversial. The author seems
to have fully appreciated a want fire.
quently felt by the American reader OF
current English politics. and his object
is to convey information in a condensed
ana convenient form Of reference-not to
propagate opinions or to discuss the merits
or d-merits Of parties or politicians. A
glance at his table Of contents is suili-
cient to give very intelligent idea OF
the work.
beginning with those institutions which
are nearest to the people, and with which
the people are most frequently in touch,
he first explains municipal administration,
thence proceeds to the poor law system,
elementary education, the administration
of justice. criminal and civil. the collec-
ton OF Imperial taxation, then finally
Parliament and the constituencies. the
procedure OF legislation In Parliament, the
state departments and thus leading up TO
various great questions of present inter-
est. There are chapters on the Church OF
England, and nOn-conformity: the mill
tary. naval and civil services; labor legis-
latioh in all its phases; the land and its
owners. and the daily press and its in
fiuences
The diversties in detail and In practical
of the institutions of the
Mother Country from our own can be
very readily understood by the average
American reader, from even cursory
reading of this book. \ consideration Of
ihose details as set out in any one OF It's
chapters might be made the basis OF an
article which would be of general interest,
and in many instances suggestive of re-
forms in our own methods which may be
practicable and of no little practical value.
The professors in our colleges and the
teachers in our schools OF higher grade
will find the information given in this
book a great assistant in preparing their
aspiring graduate In the active duties Of
or public life. We heartily
commend IL to them and to the general .
public.
THE AESTHETICS OF /
SUICIDE. BY Baron Harden Hickey. /
New York: The Truth-Seeker Company, /
IS Lafayette Place. Paper so cents.
This dminutive volume OF l67 pages Is
sufficiently classed in the Preface" as
1.-The pith of what has been
written on the subject (suicide) by the
greatest thinkers the world has pro-
luced: Zeno. Epictetus, Diogenes, Seneca.
,ccro. Marcus Aurelius, Montague.
Rousseau, Donne. Hume, Gibbon, Montes-
Iuieu," etc. This 'pith" is dished up in
hort paragraphs. but. strange TO say,
here is no way OF distinguishing the
thoughts Of the said greatest think
rs" no credit having been given in any
Instance This strikes us as great over
light. How are the unlearned to know
whether they are reading Diogenes. Epic
etus. or Hickey? We conclude that the