PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 42

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

The Union Jack. Some one was asking in one of our Dun' edln papers what gave rise to the Union Jack. Have you ever wondered what the vrordff mean, and how the Union Jack gotitspresen* design? "Jack" is supposed by some to* be the French word Jacque (James), named after James VI of Scotland, who when he beoame James I of England united the two 1 flags. But it is generally thought to be the French word jaque (a jacket), and wa» applied to the early flags because the cross of St. George was embroidered on the jacketsof the English infantry. The word " Union tr gives its own meaning. As the Union Jack: now stands itcombinesthe cross of St. George, which became the English national flag during the first crusades, with the crosses of St. Andrew, the flag of Scotland ; and of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. la the true Union Jack show : quite clearly. The St. George's Cross is a red cross on a white ground ; St. Andrew's cross is a white diagonal on a blue ground. When James VI of Scotland united the two kingdoms the two flags' were combined. Then when the Irish Parliament was merged into that of Great Britain in 1801 the St. Patrick's Cross, a red diagonal on a white ground, was added. In this way was evolved the Union Jack. The Union Jack " is therefore seen to be not a growth of yesterday ; it isnot the flag of a party or cause; it is essentially the people's flag, and is the only national flag which every inhabitant of the Empire has' a right to display." Seeing it flying nearly every day as we do we do not take much notice of it, but in foreign ! lands the sight of the Union Jack wakes up the patriotic feeling of any man who has a particle of patriotism in bis composition. 16 we do not ieel proud of i1",i 1 ", we ought to, for Daniel Webster a lone; time ago said of it when speaking in the Senate at Washington : — " Our fathers raised their flag against a power which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts— a power whose morning drum-beat, following the sun and keeping company with'the hours, encircles the earth with one continuous apd unbroken strain of the martial airs of England." Much more is io true now. In the United States there is a pretty patriotic custom. In all schools the national flag, the star and the stripes, is hung above the chair of every teacher, and in the best of schools— perhaps in all— the flag is saluted every morning. ' Do you think it would make ua more patriotib and manly if in our schools a similar custom prevailed 7 Perhaps we are too Republican, and want to hoist the Southern Cross, or whatever our flag is. Really, I don't know what it is, do you? The Union Jack can be got mounted on cloth and rollers if any of you wish to put it in a prominent position for a morning, salute. The harp on a green ground now hoisted as the Irish flag, and the lion rampant displayed as. the Scottish flag, are emblems of nationality, but not national flags. " A Song of the English." In the English Illustrated Magazine Hud* yard Kipling has a contribution entitled "A Song of the English.". It is written in quite a different manner from his " Barrack Room Balladp," and iv parts' appeals to a Briton's, feelings with no uncertain sound. The ppera is written in three parts. The first reviews Britain's past history, and after telling how her liberties were .won, exhorts all to hold fast to what has been won and to deserve greatness in the .future : — Hold ye the faith— the faith our fathers sealed us, <■"*, . . •'• • • •« Except ye pay the Lord f Single heart and single word, ■ * Of your children in their bondage shall He ask them treble-tale. Keep ye the law— be swift in all obedience, Clear the land of evil, drive the road and bridge' the ford. Make ye sure to each his own That he reap what he has sown ; By the peace among our people, let men know we servo the Lord. After some more verses he introduces hi* second part, " The song of the citiep," by the verse: — * Hear now a song— a song of broken interludes— A song of little cunning: of a Binger nothing worth. • ' Through the naked words and mean, May ye sing the truth between, As the singer knew and touched it in the ends of all the earth.' "* Then follows the songs of Bombay, Calcutta,. Madras, Rangoon, Singapore, Hongkong,. Quebec, Capetown, Melbourne, Sydney,. Brisbane, Hobart, and Auckland, all written as if spoken by children to a mother. Melbourne refers to her " greed of gold and dread of drouth ; " Sydney to her convict origin ; Brisbane to the floods that lately ruined her ; while Auckland's good folk have the wcrd» put in their months — Last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite, apart,— On us, on us the unswerving season smiles ; Who wonder, 'mid "bur fern, why men depart To seek the Happy Isles. Then comes England's arßwer — but I'll only give the first half dozen lines ':. Truly ye came of Tho Blood : slower to bless than to ban ; Little used to lie down at the bidding of any man. Flesh of the flesh that I bred ; bone of the bone that £ bare ; Stark as your sons shall be— stern as your fathers were; Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life our tether; . * But we do not fail on the neck, nor kiss when wq come together. These word 3 express the undemonstrative love and slrength and indepeudetca it a Briton as well &/>, if not better than, any other lines I know of. .

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