WHERE IS A BRITON'S FATHERLAND?

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 1814, 22 July 1891, Page 6

WHERE IS A BRITON'S FATHERLAND ?

Where is a Briton's Fatherland ? Is'e English Jand or .Scottish land ? Is't Wales, with nuny a wild ravine ? Is'fc Erin's groves and meadows green ? No ; greater far it seems to me A Briton's Fatherland must be. Where is a Briton's Fatherland ? Is't Canada or Newfoundland ? Is't where, amid her lakes and isles, St, Lawrence flaws two thousand miles ? Ob, no ! however grand they are, My Fatherland is greater far. "Where is a Briton's Fatherland ? Is't fair Natal or Caffreland? la't where they rear the fruitful vines ? Is't where the Afric diamond shines ? No ; let me rove where'er I will, My Fatherland is greater still. Where is a Briton's Fatherhnd ? Is'fc far Australia's coral strand ? Is't where they dig the yellow gold ? iß't where they gather flocks untold ? No ; honor these as well as you may, My Fatherland is more than they. Where is a Briton's Fatherland ? Is't India's bright and sunny strand ? Is't where the hollow bamboo grows ? Is't where the sacred Ganges flows 1 Ah, no ! they see the sun decline, A greater Fatherland is mine. Where is a Briton's Fatherland 1 What oceans bound that mighty land ? Is'fc where the pilgrim fathers rest, The great Republic of the West ? N>, no ; her stars above her set, My Fatherland is greater yet. Where is a Briton's Fatherland ? Will no one tell me of that land? Tis where one meets with English folk, And hears the tongue that Shakespeare spoke ; Where songs of Burns are in the air— A Briton's Fatherland is there. That is a Briton'a Fatherland Where brother olasp3 a brother's hand ; Where pledges of true love are given, Where faithful vows ascend to Heaven, Where Sabbath breathes a stillness round, A Briton's Fatherland is found. Oh may that Fatherland be still Safeguarded by th' Almighty's will .' May Heaven prolong our times of peace, ijur commerce bless, our trade increase, And wider yet the bounds expand Of our Imperial Fatherland ! Our glorious Anglo-Saxon race Shall ever fill earth's highest place ; The sun shall never more go down On English temple, tower, and town ; And, wander where a Briton will, His Fatherland shall hold him still. Davaar.

Mr George Fisher's Book Purchasers' Protection Bill has only four clauses. Should it be passed, every agreement for the purchase of books, pictures of any kind, or other printed matter, will be void if the articles are not delivered to the purchaser at the date of the agreement in a completed form, unless the purchaser has first signed the agreement in a form on which, in large red capital letters, the following words and figures shall be printed, viz, :— " The total liability of the purchaser under this agreement is ." The vendor must give, at time of signing of the agreement,' a duplicate of the agreement to the purchaser, on which is to be printed " Duplicate to be kept by purchaser " ; and the vendor, in case of any dispute, cannot recover under such agreement unless he can produce an acknowledgment by the purchaser that he has received a duplicate of the agreement. The last clause provides that in any action in any I court on a contract for the purchase of books, pictures, etc., whether these contracts were made before or after the passing of the Act, the Court may determine the value of such printed matter, the proof of which shall be on the vendor. Our good deeds rarely cause much gossip among our fellow- citizens, but our evil ones leap immediately into notoriety. Owing to the tariff advancing the price of meat, M. Da Freycinet, French Minister of War, demands an additional five millions of francs to provide for the French Army meat contracts. '