The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-17

example, says Hughes. Tn Henry " We have the Earl of Westmorland repre- sented as saving:
 Turning your books to graves. your
 ink to blood,
 Your pens to lances and your tognue d- vine
 To loud trumpet. and point of war
 That phrase point of war puzzled some of the busy critics. and when you puzzle a Shakespeare critic you stir him up to concoct new reading of his own, and to VOW that it was what William really said, or intended to say or should have said.
 So John Payne Collier, an industrious. but by no means an infallibe man. de- cided that the phrase point of war was nonsense. It had no meaning. he said. And then. true to the traditions of his calling. he not only ruled out the phrase that puzzled him, but he substituted an other-'report of war,'-making the last line read:
 !" TO loud trumpet and report of war ''
 As a matter of fact, however. it proves that point of war was a perfectly cor rect military phrase. and one that is far more appropriate after the alluson to the loud trumpet than was the substituted ex- pression. For in James Military Die tiohary Qs1O) this definition will be found;
 Point of war-a loud and impressive beat of the drum, the perfect execution of which requires great skill and activity. The point of war is beat when a bat talion charges
 One can imagine the immortal Williams vexation if he knew that someone had tried to suppress as nonsense just one of those phrases that showed that he had served in some military capacity!
 Hughes points out, too, that the bard showed an extremely correct knowledge of the relative rank of officers. Thus in one place he says that the lieutenant must be saved before the ancient, that is, before the ensign. And elsewhere he mentions corporal of his field, showing that he knew that corporal was of a higher rank than we regard him today. Holin- shed alludes to the "corporals of the field in force raised by Queen Eliza beth. putting them next to the majors and they were, in fact. of rank equal to that of a captain of horse.
 Ian Hay, who wrote those immensely diverting books, Pip" '"The Right Stuff and "A Mans Man" and whose latest novel. "A Knight on Wheels" is now en- tertaining his big army of readers. has Just puDilSueu yet another VO1ume Wn1cn Is not likely, one thinks. to see the light in the United States being all about the ways of the English so-called public schools of this country which are not Of course. public at all. It Is called "The Lighter Side of School Life" which no one knows better than Hay. who for merly was a headmaster himself. One story, particularly. in his book is so good that 1t must not be lost to American readers, and here, accordingly, it is:
 There was once a freshman at Cam bridge whose name began with NJ. This accident of nomenclature placed him dur Ing his little go examination in the next seat to a burly young man whom he rec ognized with a thrill of awe as the presi- dent of the C. |. B. C., whose devotion to aquatic sports had so far prevented him from clearing the academic fence just mentioned, and who now. at the beginning or his third year. was entering. in com pany with collection of pink-faced youths fresh from school upon his ninth attempt to satisfy the examiners in part one of the previous examinat ton.
 Our friend. having completed his first paper, quilted the senate house and re- turned to his rooms. to fortify himself with luncheon before the next During the progress Of that meal s strange gyp called upon him, and proffered a note mysteriously
 From Mir. M. sir,'' he said. men, tion1ng, the. name of the freshman's ex- alted neighbor in the examination room.
 The freshman opened the note with trembling fingers. Was 1t possible that he had been singled out as likely oar already2s .s
 The note was brief, but to the point It said.
 "Dere Sir: Please write larger Yours truly, I. NY,