Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1911-06-23

llSn history, DOtn
prior to and after the Revolu-
ton. The name of Merlin is given
as the author of the mystic
rhymes, which date back to the fif-
teenth century and run in couplets
traught with double meaning, and
geeming to be the work Of some sooth-
sayer or student of the stars who fore
saw, or fancied he foresaw, in the
heavenly bodies strange portents of
the days to come.
The lines can be found in the works
of Dean SWIFT, edition of 1865, page
214, volume 3. They were also print
ed in the United States in September,
1856, three years after peace with Eng
land had been declared, and published
in few foreign journals; but the ear
Hest appearance Of the poem was in
an ancient English work edited and
produced in London in the year 1880.
In complete form it runs as follows:
when the savage is meek and mild
The frantic mother shall stab her child.
When the Cock shall WOO the Dove
The Mother shall cease the child to love.
When men like moles work underground
The Lion Virgin true shall wound.
When the Dove and the Cock the Lion
shall fight
The Lion' shall crouch beneath their
might
When the Cock shall guard the Eagles
nest
The stars shall rise-all in tho West.
When ships above the clouds shall sail
The Lions strength shall surely fail.
When Neptune's back with stripes Is red
The sickly Lion shall hide lis head.
When seven and six shall make but one
The Lions might shall be undone."
Many diverse opinions are held as
to the ability Of mere man to peer
into the future, but without entering
into an argument on the subject, II
IS at least interesting to note how
curiously certain of the prophecies
made by the dead and forgotten rhym
ster coincide with the march of act
uaI events when submitted to the proc
ess of deduction.
We can take the first couplet as re
ferring to the history of America
and more particularly to the colonial
period. The white settlers had plant
ed civilization, by means of De Soto's
sword, Champlain's guns and the mis-
sionaries' prayers, deeply in the for
est, and the Indians may be said tc
have become temporarily subdued
through awe of these combined ele
ments. The red man was subjected tc
meek AMI mild influences by the tact
and religious examples of such meI
as Roger Williams and William Penn
whose kindness Is a part of 1ndiar
tradition TO this very day. Hence
when the savage" evidently the
North American Indian) SIS meek anC
mild, the frantic mother" (meanine
England) shall stab her child (the
American colonies).
When and how England enacted this
Leeds scant comment other than tina
the courts of the colonies, just prior
10 the Revolution, used the sword o.
Justice to destroy the rights OF the
American subjects of the crown. A
this point England actually ana no
tguratively stabbed her children.
when the Cock shall WOO the Dove
! ne nlOIDeT SU3kl CSSSS lAAS SA4AAN- -
Now, the cock for ages has beer
emblematic of France, as the Lion mas
of England, and the cartoonlsts o.
early days invariably designated the
French las proud as the cock. III
France, victory at arms or civic tri
umphs were always, as at the present
time, proclaimed by the display OF the
rooster. The dove referred to wa:
undoubtedly intended for Columbia, o.
the United States or colonies. Inc
word Columbia means "Dove-like" o.
"Colunbo." the original meaning O
Columbus, the noup base of the prop
er adjective Columbia, but accepted D'
Americans as a proper noun.
Our colonial history abounds VIII
illustrations as to how eagerly france
eourted the good will of the American
colonies. and an equally emphatic tale
in the drama is the jealousy OF Eng
land at the display of any coionla
regard for the French government
ehjs second couplet is especially wei
illustrates Y the continental congress