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214 Maria della Minerva, which, they must be aware, was an architectural model. This they could not contradict, but seemed to take it very ill that I had not paid a visit to the saint, and avowed their suspicion that probably my business was to smuggle contraband goods. I pointed out to them how ridiculous it was that a man who walked openly through the streets, alone, and without packs, and with empty pockets, should be taken for a contrabandist.

However, upon this I offered to return to the town with them, and to go before the podestà, and, by showing my papers, prove to him that I was an honest traveller. Upon this they muttered together for a while, and then expressed their opinion that it was unnecessary; and as I behaved throughout with coolness and gravity, they at last left me, and turned toward the town. I looked after them. As these rude churls moved on in the foreground, behind them the beautiful Temple of Minerva once more caught my eye to soothe and console me with its sight. I turned then to the left, to look at the heavy Cathedral of St. Francisco, and was about to continue my way, when one of the unarmed Sbirri separating himself from the rest, came up to me in a quiet and friendly manner. Saluting me, he said, "Signior stranger, you ought at least to give me something to drink your health; for I assure you, that, from the very first, I took you to be an honourable man, and loudly maintained this opinion in opposition to my comrades. They, however, are hot-headed and over-hasty fellows, and have no knowledge of the world. You yourself must have observed that I was the first to allow the force of, and to assent to, your remarks." I praised him on this score, and urged him to protect all honourable strangers who might henceforward come to Assisi for the sake either of religion or of art, and especially all architects who might wish to do honour to the town by measuring and


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Rh sketching the temple of Minerva, since a correct drawing or engraving of it had never yet been taken. If he were to accompany them, they would, I assured them, give him substantial proofs of their gratitude; and with these words I put into his hand some silver, which, as exceeding his expectation, delighted him above measure. He begged me to pay a second visit to the town; remarking that I ought not on any account to miss the festival of the saint, on which I might with the greatest safety, delight and amuse myself. Indeed, if, being a good-looking fellow, I should wish to be introduced to the fair sex, he assured me that the prettiest and most respectable ladies would willingly receive me, or any stranger, upon his recommendation. He took his leave, promising to remember me at vespers before the tomb of the saint, and to offer up a prayer for my safety throughout my travels. Upon this we parted, and most delighted was I to be again alone with nature and myself. The road to Foligno was one of the most beautiful and agreeable walks that I ever took. For four full hours I walked along the side of a mountain, having on my left a richly cultivated valley.

It is but sorry travelling with a vetturino: it is always best to follow at one's ease on foot. In this way had I travelled from Ferrara to this place. As regards the arts and mechanical invention, on which, however, the ease and comforts of life mainly depend, Italy, so highly favoured by nature, is very far behind all other countries. The carriage of the vetturino, which is still called " sedia," or " seat," certainly took its origin from the ancient litters drawn by mules, in which females and aged persons, or the highest dignitaries, used to be carried about. Instead of the hinder mule, on whose yoke the shafts used to rest, two wheels have been placed beneath the carriage, and no further improvement has been thought of. In this

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216 way one is still jolted along, just as they were centuries ago. It is the same with their houses and everything else.

If one wishes to see realised the poetic idea of men in primeval times, spending most of their lives beneath the open heaven, and only occasionally, when compelled by necessity, retiring for shelter into the caves, he must visit the houses hereabouts, especially those in the rural districts, which are quite in the style and fashion of caves. Such an incredible absence of care do the Italians evince in order not to grow old by thinking. With unheard-of frivolity, they neglect to make any preparation for the long nights of winter, and in consequence, for a considerable portion of the year, suffer like dogs. Here in Foligno, in the midst of a perfectly Homeric household,—the whole family being gathered together in a large hall, round a fire on the hearth, with plenty of running backward and forward, and of scolding and shouting, while supper is going on at a long table like that in the picture of the Wedding-Feast at Cana,—I seize an opportunity of writing this, as one of the family has ordered an inkstand to be brought me,—a luxury, which, judging from other circumstances, I did not look for. These pages, however, tell too plainly of the cold, and of the inconvenience of my writing-table.

I am now made only too sensible of the rashness of travelling in this country without a servant, and without providing oneself well with every necessary. What with the ever-changing currency, the vetturini, the extortion, the wretched inns, one who, like myself, is travelling alone for the first time in this country, hoping to find uninterrupted pleasure, will be sure to find himself miserably disappointed every day. However, I wished to see the country at any cost; and, even if I must be dragged to Rome on Ixion's wheel, I shall not complain.


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to the views generally adopted at present, all those Vertebrate animals are referred to the Class of Fishes, which living in water, breathe air dissolved in water by means of gills or branchiæ; whose heart consists of a single ventricle and single atrium; whose limbs, if present, are modified into fins, supplemented by unpaired, median fins; and whose skin is either naked, or covered with scales or osseous plates or bucklers. With few exceptions fishes are oviparous. However, there are not a few members of this Class which show a modification of one or more of these characteristics, as we shall see hereafter, and which, nevertheless, cannot be separated from it. The distinction between the Class of Fishes and that of Batrachians is very slight indeed.

The branch of Zoology which treats of the internal and external structure of fishes, their mode of life, and their distribution in space and time, is termed Ichthyology.


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Lawrence Wright testimony to US Congress (30 July 2008)

Introduction by members of US Congress

Mr. Lawrence Wright, Fellow, NYU Center on Law and Security: Oral Statement

Lawrence Wright

United States House of Representatives United States House Committee on Homeland Security

July 30, 2008

Representative Jane Harman
Representative, California:

Our second witness, Lawrence Wright, is a fellow with the NYU Center on Law and Security, as well as an author, screenwriter, playwright, and staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. He is the author of the June 2008 article, "The Rebellion Within: An Al Qaeda Mastermind Questions Terrorism."I think he has written the seminal book on understanding al Qaeda. It is called The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. We have three copies in the Harman household: one to lose, one to travel with, and another one on the bookshelf. I think that also should be required reading. Before going into any more detail on his resume, I would like to yield to the interloper on this panel, Mr. McCaul, who represents Mr. Wright in Texas.

Representative Michael McCaul
Representative, of Texas:

Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to join in welcoming our distinguished panel. This is the gold standard. I want to welcome specifically probably my most famous constituent, Larry Wright, to this committee. We look forward to the testimony. I appreciate all the expertise you have brought to this issue, as a distinguished author, a playwright, working for The New Yorker magazine, having taught in Cairo at the American University. He worked for Texas Monthly, Rolling Stone magazine. The resume goes on and on. I want to list a couple more things, though, that catch my eye. I think most importantly is this book right here. This is the authority, in my view, on al Qaeda. I worked counterterrorism in the Justice Department before I ran for Congress, and I have not seen anything more authoritative on this subject than this piece of work. I thank you for what you have done for the public to educate them on this issue. In addition, I was honored to see your play, "My Trip to Al Qaeda," at the Kennedy Center recently, which he also did this at the New York festival and at Soho, really illuminating this topic so well. Finally, he serves on the Council of Foreign Relations. A little-known fact: In Austin, Texas, which is the live music capital of the world, I like to think, he also is a keyboard player for the blues band, Who Do. He is a very diverse, sort of, renaissance man, brings so much to this topic. Madam Chair, thank you so much for inviting him to testify here today.

[...]

Oral testimony
Representative, California:

Mr. Wright, you are recognized to summarize your testimony in 5 minutes.

Lawrence Wright:

STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE WRIGHT, FELLOW, NYU CENTER ON LAW AND SECURITY

Mr. Wright. Thank you, Madam Chair and Members. Al Qaeda's violent philosophy has proved to be a powerful lure to alienated young Muslims all over the world. Much of that philosophy was formulated by Sayyid Imam al Sherif, also known as Dr. Fadl. He was the emir of the Egyptian terror organization created by Ayman al-Zawahiri called Al Jihad. In 1988, Zawahiri and Dr. Fadl joined with Osama bin Laden to create al Qaeda. Two of Dr. Fadl's books form the core of al Qaeda's ideology and were used to indoctrinate new recruits. Dr. Fadl was arrested in Yemen shortly after 9/11 and eventually restored to Egyptian custody. In November of 2007, Dr. Fadl published a manifesto that dramatically reverses his previous views. Despite the fact that Dr. Fadl is writing from an Egyptian prison, his new work has created a philosophical earthquake inside radical Islam. Zawahiri has repeatedly addressed the challenge that Dr. Fadl poses in videos, in a question-and-answer session on the Internet with Muslims, and in a 200-page book directly addressing this particular controversy. It is clear that al Qaeda views this revisionist thinking with great alarm. This August marks the 20th anniversary of al Qaeda's founding. That is a long time for a terror organization to exist. But al Qaeda shows no signs of disappearing any time soon. Most terror organizations end with the death of their charismatic leader, the elimination of their sanctuaries, or a change in the political, economic and social conditions that gave rise to it. Unfortunately, the leaders of al Qaeda continue to exist and to operate inside secure sanctuaries, and the socioeconomic conditions in the Muslim world show little signs of progress. The philosophical challenge to al Qaeda within its own ranks will have a limited but still important effect on the group's ability to recruit new members to its ranks. American policymakers can take advantage of this period of uncertainty within radical Islam to wage a vigorous diplomatic campaign directed toward ending the polarization between the West and the Muslim world that al Qaeda has sought to create. Nothing would do more to reduce anti-Americanism in the Middle East than fair and forceful diplomatic efforts to end the festering crises in Israel and Palestine and also in Kashmir, which is central to stabilizing Pakistan and getting its leaders fully committed to addressing the radical threat in their own country. American intelligence continues to be handicapped by the security restrictions that obstruct the hiring of citizens who natively speak the languages needed to understand, much less penetrate or disrupt, al Qaeda. As an example, let's take the FBI, an organization that made its reputation fighting against the Mafia and, to some extent, the IRA. Who succeeded in doing that? Irish and Italian guys. It is not a joke that many people in our Intelligence Community can't pronounce the names of the people they are struggling to fight against. Until we have people who natively speak and understand the languages and cultures that we are fighting against, we will always be deaf and dumb in the struggle. Al Qaeda has created a compelling narrative about America's role in the world and especially in the Middle East. Untold thousands of Muslims endorse that narrative whether they join al Qaeda or not. As al Qaeda's violent philosophy has become vulnerable to the reconsiderations within the radical Islamic movement, this is a propitious moment to change that narrative through creative, vigorous, assertive diplomacy and more informed intelligence gathering. As Michael Leiter, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, recently pointed out, it is al Qaeda, not the West, that is truly at war with Islam. If Muslims came to believe that, then the war on terror would quickly end. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Prepared statement
[The statement of Mr. Wright follows:] Prepared Statement of Lawrence Wright \1\ The Rebellion Within: The Radical Challenge to Al Qaeda's Ideology July 30, 2008 At the heart of al Qaeda's appeal to young, alienated Muslims is a coherent and persuasive ideology that provides a meaningful way of looking at history and a moral platform that justifies violent action. This worldview has been challenged by moderate Muslims, who say that al Qaeda's thinking distorts the true message of Islam and who emphasize the unity of the Abrahamic faiths.\2\ Such statements do not seem to have had much affect on al Qaeda's ability to attract recruits and certainly hasn't caused the organization to change its behavior. Recently, however, al Qaeda has faced a philosophical challenge within its own ranks, one that may prove far more critical to the future of the organization than any critique by non-Muslims or even very authoritative Islamic clerics. It is important for American policymakers to understand the nature of the debate within al Qaeda in order to appreciate how the organization is changing and how the United States and its allies can take advantage of this ideological rift.

Background of al Qaeda's Philosophy Many of the key concepts at the core of al Qaeda's doctrine are to be found in the work of Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian writer, educator, and member of the Muslim Brotherhood. While imprisoned in Egypt, Qutb wrote the book that became the fountainhead of radical Islam, Milestones. \3\ Qutb believed that true Islam no longer existed because of "false laws and teachings" that separated Muslims from the glory of their past.\4\ He sought to create a theocratic government that strictly enforced Sharia, the Islamic legal code, and he called for a vanguard of young Muslims who would rise up and impose Islamic values on every aspect of life. Al Qaeda sees itself as the manifestation of Qutb's prophesy. It was Qutb who resurrected an ancient heresy in Islam, that of taqfir. The word in Arabic means "excommunication." While Qutb was in prison, guards murdered 23 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in their cells. Qutb asked himself: What kind of Muslim could do this to another Muslim? His answer was: They are not Muslims. In his mind, he excommunicated the guards from the faith. The same logic extended to the leaders of the Egyptian government who refused to fully implement Sharia. They were apostates and deserved to be slaughtered. The Egyptian government hanged Qutb in 1966, but by then his manifesto had made its way into the hands of many thousands of young Muslims all over the world, including Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden. The year that Qutb died, Zawahiri started an underground cell to overthrow the Egyptian government. He was 15 years old.

Dr. Fadl: Al Qaeda's Philosopher-in-Chief Another young man strongly influenced by the work of Sayyid Qutb was Sayyid Imam al-Sherif, who would come to be known in the world of radical Islam as Dr. Fadl.\5\ Zawahiri and Fadl met in medical school at Cairo University in 1968. They were both high-minded, pious young men, typical of the scientists, engineers, and technocrats who would make up the first generation of al Qaeda. Fadl formally joined Zawahiri's secret organization, al-Jihad, in 1977. It was that group that would assassinate Anwar Sadat in 1981--the first modern victim of Qutb's doctrine of taqfir.

Zawahiri spent 3 years in prison for his minor role in Sadat's assassination. Fadl escaped Egypt and made his way to Pakistan, where Zawahiri joined him soon after his release. In Peshawar, the two men reconstituted al-Jihad, with Fadl designated as the emir, or leader, of the group. His main role, however, was to formulate the doctrine that would be used to entice young Muslims into their organization and steer them toward radical action. His book "The Essential Guide for Preparation" appeared in 1988, the same year that he and Zawahiri joined with Osama bin Laden to create al Qaeda. The "Guide" was immediately adopted as a textbook for jihad. The premise that opens the "Guide" is that jihad is the natural state of Islam. Muslims, Fadl decreed, are involved in an eternal conflict with nonbelievers. Every able-bodied Muslim is obligated to engage in jihad, particularly in Islamic countries that are governed by "infidels"--a category that includes practically every Muslim leader. "The way to bring an end to the rulers' unbelief is armed rebellion," Fadl writes. It's no wonder that many Arab governments considered the book so dangerous that anyone caught with a copy was subject to arrest. Six years later, when al Qaeda was centered in Khartoum, Sudan, Dr. Fadl produced a massive, two-volume work titled "The Compendium of the Pursuit of Divine Knowledge." Salvation, Fadl writes, is only available to the perfect Muslim. He asserts that the rulers of Egypt and other Arab countries are apostates and that any Muslim who fails to wage jihad against them is doomed. Moreover, anyone who works for the government is an infidel, as is anyone who supports democracy or labors for peaceful change rather than religious war. "I say to Muslims in all candor that secular, nationalist democracy opposes your religion and your doctrine, and in submitting to it you leave God's book behind," he writes. Fadl also expands upon the doctrine of taqfir, which is central to understanding al Qaeda's actions. In Fadl's opinion, one must adhere to his extreme views in order to be a real Muslim; everyone else is a heretic. His book provided a warrant to the leaders of al Qaeda to kill anyone who stood in their way. Fadl's ideas form the core of al Qaeda's bloody doctrine. Zawahiri told Fadl, "This book is a victory from Almighty God."

The Revisions Dr. Fadl moved to Yemen in 1994, and while he was there he learned that portions of what he considered to be his masterwork had been bowdlerized by Zawahiri. The dispute between the two men became so bitter that Zawahiri traveled to Yemen to beg forgiveness, but Fadl refused to see him. Six weeks after 9/11, Yemeni authorities placed Fadl in jail, eventually transferring him to Egyptian custody. For 2 years, Fadl was held by the security forces in Egypt, which are notorious for their mistreatment of prisoners. Whether because of torture or the personal animosity he felt toward Zawahiri, Fadl experienced a radical shift in his thinking, which is reflected in his recent manifesto titled "Rationalizing Jihad in Egypt and the World." In the document, and in a subsequent interview with the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, Fadl attempts to establish a new set of rules for jihad. This time Fadl begins with the premise that "There is nothing that invokes the anger of God and His wrath like the unwarranted spilling of blood and wrecking of property." Fadl castigates those who resort to kidnapping or theft to finance jihad. "There is no such thing in Islam as ends justifying means," he writes. One must gain permission from one's parents and creditors, as well as the blessing of a qualified sheikh or imam. Jihad is not required when the enemy is twice as powerful as the Muslims; in such an unequal situation, Fadl writes, "God permitted peace treaties and cease-fires." Despite his repeated calls for jihad against the infidel rulers, Fadl now advises Muslims to be patient, quoting the Prophet Mohammed as saying, "Those who rebel against the Sultan shall die a pagan death." Fadl also asserts that it is forbidden to kill civilians, including Christians and Jews, unless they are actively attacking Muslims. Indiscriminate bombings are also taboo, as they will inevitably take innocent lives. Fadl condemns the 9/11 attacks because killing simply on the basis of one's nationality is a form of slaughter forbidden in Islam; moreover, the consequences have proved to be "a catastrophe for Muslims." He also says that the 9/11 hijackers "betrayed the enemy," because they had been provided visas, a contract of safe passage that the hijackers abused. "People hate America," Fadl told al-Hayat, "and the Islamist movements feel their hatred and their impotence. Ramming America has become the shortest road to fame and leadership among the Arabs and Muslims. But what good is it if you destroy one of your enemy's buildings, and he destroys one of your countries? What good is it if you kill one of his people, and he kills a thousand of yours? . . . That, in short, is my evaluation of 9/11."\6\

Fadl certainly does not condemn all jihad; he is careful to say that he supports the insurgency in Afghanistan, which he hopes will lead to the triumph of the Taliban. Iraq and Palestine are more problematic, he believes, because neither conflict is likely to lead to an Islamic state. He charges that the leaders of al Qaeda have used the Palestinian cause as "a grape leaf . . . to cover their own faults." On the subject of taqfir, Fadl now says that the matter is so complex that it should be left to Islamic jurists to decide. "It is not permissible for a Muslim to condemn another Muslim," Fadl writes, although he has been guilty of this himself on countless occasions. This would be a sweeping critique by an al Qaeda insider under any circumstances, but it is all the more devastating because it is written by the organization's chief theorist and supported by his unquestioned scholarship.

Zawahiri's Response Zawahiri immediately sought to discredit Dr. Fadl's about-face. When word of Fadl's forthcoming document first appeared, via a fax Fadl sent to an Arab daily from the Cairo prison where he is being held, Zawahiri wryly observed, "Do they now have fax machines in Egyptian jail cells? I wonder if they're connected to the same line as the electric-shock machines." But the attack clearly threatened Zawahiri, who has never had the religious authority Fadl enjoyed within the organization. In March of this year he responded with a 200-page letter published on the Internet. Zawahiri skirts around many of Fadl's most telling arguments. While conceding that "mistakes have been made," he warns the many Islamists and clerics who welcomed Fadl's document that "they are giving the government the knife with which to slaughter them." Zawahiri disputes Fadl's assertion that Muslims have been harmed by 9/11; on the contrary, he claims that the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia are wearing America down and empowering the radical Islamic movement. He prods his readers to remember the mistreatment that Muslims have suffered in the West, pointing to the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Denmark and the celebrity of author Salman Rushdie as examples of Western countries exalting those who denigrate Islam. Zawahiri points out that the United States and some European countries forbid Muslims from donating money to certain Islamic charities, although money is freely raised for Israel; and he claims that some Western laws outlawing ant-Semitic remarks would prevent Muslims from reciting certain passages of the Koran. Zawahiri defends the practice of kidnapping or killing tourists, even when Muslims are mistakenly included. "The majority of scholars say that it is permissible to strike at infidels, even if Muslims are among them," he writes. He derides the notion that the hijackers abused their visas, saying that al Qaeda is not bound by international agreements. America itself doesn't feel bound to protect Muslims, Zawahiri writes, citing torture in the military prisons and Guantanamo Bay as examples. "The U.S. gives itself the right to take any Muslim without respect to his visa," he writes. "If the U.S. and Westerners don't respect visas, why should we?" Zawahiri also complains that al Qaeda is being held to a moral standard that is not being required of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, whose missiles also kill innocent children and elderly in Israel, including Arabs. In December last year, Zawahiri opened himself up to an on-line question-and-answer session in order to staunch al Qaeda's plummeting popularity in much of the Muslim world. Many of the often testy questions touched on issues raised by Dr. Fadl, such as the slaughter of innocent Muslims and the failure of al Qaeda, despite its rhetoric, to effectively attack America or Israel. Zawahiri was clearly on the defensive. One of his Saudi correspondents asked him why Muslims should continue to support al Qaeda, given its history of indiscriminate murder. "Are there other ways and means in which the objectives of jihad can be achieved without killing people?" he asked. "Please do not use as a pretext what the Americans or others are doing. Muslims are supposed to be an example to the world in tolerance and lofty goals, not to become a gang whose only concern is revenge." Zawahiri even had to defend al Qaeda against the charge that Israelis had actually carried out 9/11, a myth he attributed to Al Manar, a television station operated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite organization. "The objective behind this lie is to deny that the Sunnis have heroes who harm America as no one has harmed it through its history," he responds indignantly.

Importance of the Debate The dispute between bin Laden's chief lieutenant and his former emir provides a useful window into al Qaeda's thinking and exposes its many schisms and vulnerabilities. For the nihilists drawn to the action or the thrill or the prospect of revenge, the controversy is meaningless. But for those idealists who are responding to al Qaeda's moral argument, the fact that there is a debate at all may be decisive. Such men need certainty. They are staking their claim to Paradise on the truthfulness of al Qaeda's revelation. A number of intelligence agencies in Islamic countries have allowed imprisoned radicals, who claim to have reformed, to open discussion with their colleagues in jail. Egypt has been among the most successful of these experiments. Some imprisoned leaders of the Islamic Group, a far larger organization than Zawahiri and Fadl's al-Jihad, with much more blood on its hands, began to rethink their violent philosophy in the 1990's. Their prison debates led to a deal with the Egyptian government that permitted thousands of Islamists, many who had never been charged with a crime, to return to society. In 1999, the Islamic Group called for an end to all armed action, not only in Egypt but also in America. The leaders continue to publish books and documents criticizing radical doctrine. Senior clerics at al-Azhar University oversee the revisions of the former terrorists. "Our experience with such people is that it is very difficult to move them two or three degrees from where they are," Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Egypt's Grand Mufti, told me. "It's easier to move from terrorism to extremism or extremism to rigidity. We have not come across the person who can be moved all the way from terrorism to a normal life." Despite the obvious manipulation of this process by the Egyptian government, the revisionist movement has proved to be successful, both for the imprisoned radicals, who have gained their freedom, and for the government, which has seen very few of the released men return to violent actions once they have accepted the bargain and publicly renounced their previous thinking.

The Larger Context The Muslim world has suffered appalling violence since the rise of radical Islam in Egypt in the 1960's. Many Muslims have begun to openly question the tactics of radical Islam and the bloodshed that has ravaged their societies, especially in Iraq, the West Bank and Gaza, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The failure of al Qaeda to achieve any meaningful progress in its campaign against the West, while killing tens of thousands of Muslims in the process, has created a popular philosophical backlash. One can see this not only in the barbed questions submitted to Zawahiri in his online question-and-answer sessions, but also in the declining popularity of al Qaeda in opinion polls and the increasingly aggressive rejoinders of Islamic clerics. In 2007, Sheikh Salman al-Oadah, a radical Saudi cleric that bin Laden had lauded in the past, went on television and read an open letter to bin Laden. "Brother Osama, how much blood has been spilled?" he asked. "How many innocent children, women, and old people have been killed, maimed, and expelled from their homes in the name of al Qaeda?" What makes these reconsiderations so potent is that they arise within the politically radical fringe of Islam, where al Qaeda is most likely to discover new recruits. Al Qaeda is an adaptive, flexible, evolutionary organization, however, one that is a long way from extinction. Although the core of the group is much reduced from pre-9/11 days, it has found a secure base to operate within the tribal areas of Pakistan. American intelligence estimates the core membership of al Qaeda at less than 300 to more than 500 men; a source in Egyptian intelligence put that figure at less than 200. And yet al Qaeda has been able to form key alliances, notably with the Taliban and possibly with elements inside the Pakistani military and intelligence communities. Franchised al Qaeda branches--particularly in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and North Africa--have extended the brand name. Al Qaeda has been able to attract adherents among ethnic groups that previously had little or no affiliation with the organization. Future terrorist attacks will continue; the only real questions are those of scale. And yet, al Qaeda is currently under great pressure to prove its relevance. In particular, al Qaeda would like to pull off major attacks in the United States and Israel, in order to silence its critics. As an aside, I note that the next 2 months offer resonate opportunities for an organization obsessed with dates and anniversaries. Exactly 20 years ago, on August 11, 1988, al Qaeda had its first organizing meeting, and it officially inducted new members the following month, on September 20. Two additional dates stand out: August 8--8/8/08, the date the Olympics open in Beijing--and of course the seventh anniversary of 9/ 11. If al Qaeda is unable to strike during this period, it will reflect on its ability to remain operational.

"Homegrown" Terror In the last few years, al Qaeda has successfully cultivated followers among the native-born Muslim population in Europe, a phenomenon that took place with little notice until the London bombings in 2005. Before then, there was little official belief that the Pakistani population in the United Kingdom was a fertile community for al Qaeda recruitment. Now, Pakistani British citizens have figured in several major plots. Last year, German intelligence authorities confided to me that they were increasingly concerned both about native- born converts to Islam and about their large Turkish population. Shortly afterwards, in September, authorities arrested three men, two converts and a Turkish resident, in a plot to attack the American military base at Ramstein and the U.S. and Uzbek consular offices. The men arrested in Germany had assembled 1,500 pounds of hydrogen peroxide, the same material used in the London subway bombings, but a far greater quantity. America has been blessed with a Muslim population that is considerably more integrated and less alienated than is the case with European Muslims. That is the main reason that al Qaeda has not been able to carry off an attack within the U.S. Muslims in America mirror almost exactly the income distribution of the U.S. population in general; they are just as likely to be rich or poor, about as likely to go to college or graduate school, and far less likely to go to prison than the average American. Compare that to the situation in France, for instance: only about 12 percent of the French population is Muslim but 60 percent of the prisoners are. What a stark measure of alienation that statistic represents! That doesn't mean that America is immune, however. The 2007 Pew Poll of Muslim Americans found that 58 percent of them strongly disapproved of al Qaeda, a far higher percentage than in Europe, but 5 percent had a favorable view. In a population of perhaps 2.5 million people, that is 125,000 self-identified radicals, certainly a large enough base for a homegrown movement, should it arise. In recent speeches, both Zawahiri and bin Laden have been courting African-American Muslims, who are by far the most disaffected portion of the American Islamic community. Only 36 percent of them expressed an unfavorable view of al Qaeda.

Implications for American Policy Al-Qaeda's violent philosophy, which continues to be a powerful source of appeal to young Muslims, has become vulnerable to the reconsiderations underway within the radical Islamic movement. As al Qaeda's many critics have pointed out, the main victims of terrorism are other Muslims. This is undermining al Qaeda's standing all over the Islamic world. It is a propitious moment for American policymakers to take steps that will further discredit radical Islam and help restore America's image in the Muslim world. 1. Intelligence. Until now, American intelligence has done a poor job of understanding, much less penetrating or disrupting al Qaeda. Since 9/11, the intelligence community has been reorganized. A new tier of bureaucracy--the Office of the Director of National Intelligence-- has been added. A new department--Homeland Security--has been created. These have been valuable reforms in many respects, easing communication among agencies that have historically been reluctant to communicate with each other. But in themselves, the reforms add nothing to our store of vital intelligence. What would do that? Skilled people on the ground. People who natively speak Arabic, Pashtu, Dari, Urdu--the languages that al Qaeda and its affiliates speak. On 9/11, there were only eight agents in the entire FBI who spoke Arabic at a near native level. Now, nearly 7 years later, there are nine. After 9/11, many Arab and Muslim American citizens came forward to join the intelligence community. They were spurned. Some of them went into the U.S. military, which welcomed them. Many of those served in Iraq as interpreters, the most dangerous imaginable assignment. I spoke to a former commander of the Army interpreter corps. He told me that after 4 years of serving their country, these American citizens still can't get a job in the intelligence community because they are considered a security risk. What further declaration of loyalty do they need to make? 2. Diplomacy. The language issue is not confined to the intelligence community. The Iraq Study Group found that, out of 1,000 people working in our embassy in Baghdad, only eight were fluent Arabic speakers. How can you build a country if you can't read the newspaper? Al Qaeda has long taken advantage of the rage and frustration the issue of Palestine generates among Muslims all over the world. Recently, many Muslims have become more cynical about al Qaeda's ability to affect any real change in the conflict. A bold, fair-minded, determined American initiative to take this issue off the table once and for all would do more to diminish al Qaeda's appeal than any other policy the United States could initiate. Despite the weakness of the Palestinian and Israeli leadership, and the lame-duck status of the current administration, this is a propitious moment in the history of this long conflict. The Arab offer, initiated by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, to recognize Israel is a breakthrough that can't be allowed to dissipate. In my view, the chances for a two-state solution are rapidly diminishing, and future alternatives won't be nearly as appealing. Similarly, the unresolved issue of Kashmir draws new recruits to al Qaeda and affords it a strategic alliance with key intelligence and military figures in Pakistan. Kashmir is rarely addressed by American policymakers, but it remains the primary reason Pakistan has been unwilling to fully commit to the battle against Islamic extremism. American policy seems to be content to let this issue fester. That is a mistake. Forceful and fair diplomacy on this matter would help diminish feelings of anti-Americanism in the region and help stabilize a country that is dangerously close to capsizing. 3. Guantanamo Bay. The continued detention of foreign nationals without charge, many of whom may have had little or nothing to do with al Qaeda, remains a black mark on America's record for human rights, not only for Muslims around the world but also for Americans who feel that the rule of law has been spurned. Al Qaeda loyalists frequently invoke Guantanamo because it reminds many Muslims of the oppressive conditions in their own countries. The Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, told me that he is in favor of closing Guantanamo because of the damage it does to America's image, but he admits there is a problem about what to do with detainees who may be dangerous. The success of the Egyptian government's dialog with its own radicals may provide a way for the United States to release some of the Guantanamo detainees. Allowing Islamic clerics to open discussion within the detention center could offer some of the men a chance to adjust their thinking and the United States a face-saving way of releasing prisoners whose continued detention is legally difficult to justify. 4. Changing the Narrative. It is vital to defuse the idea, so successfully planted by al Qaeda propagandists, that the West is at war with Islam. The best way the United States can respond to these reconsiderations is to open a dialog with non-violent Islamists who are seeking reconciliation. That means, among other things, welcoming prominent Muslim thinkers and activists, such as Tariq Ramadan, the Islamic theologian, and Kemal Helbawy, the former spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, into the United States for teaching or speaking engagements, rather than shutting them out. It means emphasizing the bankruptcy of al Qaeda's politics while supporting democratic movements in the Muslim world--even when they produce disappointing results. The process is more important than the personalities it produces.

How Terrorist Movements End Twenty years is a long time for a terror organization to exist. One can look back at history and see the critical moments that closed the door on some of al Qaeda's ancestors. Most terror groups disappear with the death of their charismatic leader. The Red Army Faction failed when the Berlin Wall fell and the organization lost its sanctuary in East Germany. The Irish Republican Army, which endured in various incarnations for nearly a century, came to an end when economic conditions in Ireland significantly improved and the leaders were eager to make a political accommodation. These examples offer few hopeful parallels for al Qaeda. The organization has new sanctuaries, the social economic conditions that gave rise to it persist, and the leaders of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, continue to elude capture. The main challenge to al Qaeda now is philosophical.

Conclusion Radical Islam is at a defining moment. The movement has accomplished nothing practical for its adherents. There is philosophical ferment within its ranks. As the realists among them begin to sober up after the earthshaking events of 9/11 and its aftermath, the intransigence of the past has given way to a new mood of accommodation and coexistence. America has an unusual opportunity to begin a vigorous diplomatic campaign directed toward ending the polarization with the Islamic world that al Qaeda has sought to create. America can be seen, as it once was, as a model for change; indeed, nothing we have done since 9/11 has done more to improve our image in that part of the world than this magnificent Presidential election we are currently engaged in. But a sudden and surprising attack by al Qaeda or an ill-advised political or military move on the part of the United States will foreclose this opportunity. We must do whatever we can to make sure that neither of these eventualities comes to pass, at the same time remembering that the status quo also terribly dangerous.

Representative, California:

Ms. Harman. Thank you very much, Mr. Wright.


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Author:Lawrence Wright

Works

 * Lawrence Wright testimony to US Congress (30 July 2008)

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iv


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Laws and ordinances of New Netherland, 1638-1674/1650

Of the Director and Council of New Netherland to prevent Frauds in the conveyance of Real Estate. Passed 7 February, 1650.

[New Amsterdam Records.]

the Director and Council of New Netherland have been informed that divers clandestine abuses and Frauds have been practiced in the selling of Real Estate, such as Houses, Gardens, House lots and other lands, to the serious injury of Creditors.

Therefore, the Director and Council do by these presents, charge their Secretary, and in his absence the Chief Clerk, not to pass nor sign any Deed of Real Estate until it shall have been examined and approved by the Director and Council at the stated Court day, hereby declaring all Contracts and Conveyances null and void which shall have been passed without their approbation, ratification and signature.

Thus done and approved in our sessions at Fort Amsterdam this 7th day of February, Anno 1650.

(Signed,) P. Stuyvesant, L. Van Dincklagen, H. Van Dyke, fiscal, La Montague.

Of the Director and Council of New Netherland amending the Ordinance of the 8 November, 1649, regulating the Baking and Sale of bread. Passed 14 April, 1650.

[New Amsterdam Records.]

Director General and Council have granted the request of the Bakers, and they are at liberty to bake, for the accommodation of the Commonalty, White bread, but no Cakes nor Cracknels; provided they bake the White loaf so as to conform in weight with the law of Fatherland.

Furthermore, the Bakers are ordered to bake the common loaf and forbidden to make it of any thing else but pure Wheat and Rye flour, as it comes from the Mill, so that the Commonalty may be protected against complaints concerning the poorness and small size of the common loaf.

Done this 14 April, A° 1650, in the Council at Fort Amsterdam.

Of the Director and Council of New Netherland against encumbering or obstructing Highways. Passed 23 May, 1650.

.—This Law is mentioned in N. Y. Col. Mss. XVI. 3, where the substance of it is given, forbidding the obstruction of Highways by felling Trees or placing Stones in them, and requiring that they be kept passable. But the Ordinance is not in the State Records. See - Renewing sundry Ordinances therein mentioned, April 9, 1658

Of the Director and Council of New Netherland for the better regulation of the Currency. Passed 30 May, 1650.

[N. Y. Col. MSS. XVI. 21.]

Director General and Council of New Netherland,

To all those who see these Presents or hear them read, Greeting.

we have by experience and for a long time seen the decline and daily depreciation of the loose Wampum, among which are circulating many without holes and half finished; also some of Stone, Bone, Glass, Muscle-shells, Horn, yea even of Wood and Broken beads, together with the manifold complaints of the Inhabitants that they cannot go to market with such Wampum, nor obtain any commodities, not even a small loaf of white Bread or pot of Beer from the Traders, Bakers or Tapsters for loose Wampum, wherein wishing to provide according to our best knowledge for this time, we have for the promotion of Trade and the general good of the People, resolved and concluded that from henceforward no more loose Wampum shall be current, or good pay unless it be strung on a cord, as has been the common custom heretofore; in order hereby to prevent the further importation of all lump and unperforated Wampum and to establish some difference between the commercial Wampum and strung Wampum, so as in future to obviate all misunderstanding, the Hon$ble$ Director and Council aforesaid do Ordain that the commercial shall pass and be good pay as heretofore, to wit Six White or Three Black for one Stiver; on the contrary, poor strung Wampum shall pass eight White and four Black for one Stiver. We Order and command every one hereby to regulate himself according to the tenor hereof, and in case of a refusal to be deprived of their trade and business, and the Fiscal is hereby ordered after publication to cause this to be affixed and made known everywhere that it concerns, also to use every effort that the same be executed and obeyed here.

Thus done, resumed and enacted in Our Council in Fort Amsterdam, this 30th May, A° 1650 in New Netherland.

Of the Director and Council of New Netherland further prohibiting the running at large of Goats, Hogs and other Animals in New Amsterdam. Passed 27 June, 1650.

[New Amsterdam Records.]

Director General and Council of New Netherland,

To all those who see these presents, or hear them read. Greeting.

Whereas, experience hath shown that this Fortress, formerly in tolerable condition, has been in a great degree trodden down by Hogs, Goats and Sheep; and Whereas in conformity with the Order of the Hon$ble$ the Directors our Lords Majors and Patroons, men are now employed in repairing and restoring the same, and it is to be feared that it may as before again become damaged and trodden down by Goats, Sheep, Hogs and other animals.

Therefore, the Director General and Council do, by these presents, warn all and every of the Inhabitants of this place that, in accordance with our former Edict, they shall not suffer to run at large without a Herdsman or driver, except within their own inclosures, any Hogs, Sheep, Goats, Horses or Cows between the Hon$ble$ Company's Farm at the end of their Pasture, at present occupied by Thomas Hall, nor between the house of Mr. Isaac Allerton, and this place, under the penalty of six guilders for the first offense for every Horse, Cow, Hog or Sheep that may be found within the limits aforesaid; for the second time, a double fine; and for the third time the whole to be confiscated and to be appropriated at pleasure.

Thus done, approved and published at New Amsterdam in New Netherland, this 27th day of June, A° 1650.

Of the Director and Council of New Netherland further regulating the Currency. Passed 14 September, 1650.

[N. Y. Col. MSS. XVI. 22.]

Director General and Council of New Netherland,

To all those who see these presents, or hear them read. Greeting.

Whereas on the daily complaints of the Inhabitants we experience that our previous Ordinance and Edict relative to the poor strung Wampum, published under date 30 May, A° 1650, for the accommodation and protection of the people, is not observed and obeyed according to our good intention and meaning, but that, on the contrary, such pay even for small items is rejected and refused by Shopkeepers. Brewers, Bakers, Tapsters, Tradespeople and Laboring men, to the great confusion and inconvenience of the Inhabitants in general, there being, at present, no other currency whereby the Inhabitants can procure from each other small articles of daily trade, for which wishing to provide as much as possible, for the relief and protection of the inhabitants, the Director and Council do hereby Ordain and command that, in conformity to our previous Ordinance, the poor strung Wampum shall be current and accepted by every one, without distinction and exception, for small and daily necessary commodities required for housekeeping, as currency to the amount of Twelve guilders and under only, in poor strung wampum; of twelve to twenty four guilders half and half, that is to say, half poor strung and half good strung wampum; of twenty guilders to fifty guilders, one-third poor strung and two-thirds good strung wampum, and in larger sums according to the conditions agreed upon between Buyer and Seller, under a penalty of six guilders for the first time to be forfeited on refusal by the contraveners hereof; for the second time nine guilders, and for the third time two pounds Flemish and stoppage of his trade and business, pursuant to our previous Edicts.

Thus done and enacted in Council by the Director and Council, this 14 September, 1650, in New Amsterdam.


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commencement of the history of Ichthyology coincides with that of Zoology generally. (384-322 B.C.) had a perfect knowledge of the general structure of fishes, which he clearly discriminates from the Aquatic animals with lungs and mammæ, i.e. Cetaceans, and from the various groups of Aquatic Invertebrates. He says that "the special characteristics of the true fishes consist in the branchiæ and fins, the majority having four fins, but those of an elongate form, as the eels, having two only. Some, as the Muræna, lack the fins altogether. The Rays swim with their whole body, which is spread out. The branchiæ are sometimes furnished with an opercle, sometimes without one, as is the case in the cartilaginous fishes. . . . No fish has hairs or feathers; most are covered with scales, but some have a rough or smooth skin. The tongue is hard, often toothed; and sometimes so much adherent that it seems to be wanting. The eyes have no lids; nor are any ears or nostrils visible, for what takes the place of nostrils is a blind cavity. Nevertheless they have the senses of tasting, smelling, and hearing. All have blood. All scaly fishes are oviparous, but the cartilaginous fishes (with the exception of the Sea-devil, which Aristotle places along with them) are viviparous. All have a heart, liver, and gall-bladder; but kidneys and urinary bladder are absent. They vary much in the structure of their intestines: for whilst the mullet has a fleshy stomach like a bird, others have no


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Rh stomachic dilatation. Pyloric coeca are close to the stomach, variable in number; there are even some, like the majority of the cartilaginous fishes, which have none whatever. Two bodies are situated along the spine, which have the function of testicles, and open towards the vent, and which are much enlarged in the spawning season. The scales become harder with age. Not being provided with lungs, they have no voice, but several can emit grunting sounds. They sleep like other animals. In the majority the females exceed the males in size; and in the Rays and Sharks the male is distinguished by an appendage on each side of the vent."

Aristotle's information on the habits of fishes, their migrations, mode and time of propagation, utility, is, as far as it has been tested, surprisingly correct. Unfortunately, only too often we lack the means of recognising the species of which he gives a description. His ideas of specific distinction were as vague as those of the fishermen whose nomenclature he adopted; it never occurred to him that such popular names are subject to change, or may be entirely lost with time, and the diiftculty of deciphering his species is further increased by the circumstance that popular names are often applied by him to the same fish, or that different stages of growth are designated by distinct names. The number of fishes known to Aristotle seems to have been about 115, all of which are inhabitants of the Ægean Sea.

That one man should have discovered so many truths, and formed so sure a base for Zoology, is less surprising than the fact that for about eighteen centuries a science which seemed to offer particular attractions to men gifted with power of observation, was no farther advanced. Yet this is the case. Aristotle's disciples, as well as his successors, remained satisfied to be his copiers or commentators, and to collect fabulous stories or vague notions. With very few exceptions (such as Ausonius, who wrote a small poem, in which he describes


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4 from his own observations the fishes of the Mosel) authors entirely abandoned original research. And it was not until about the middle of the sixteenth century that Ichthyology made a new step in advance by the appearance of Belon, Rondelet, and Salviani, who almost simultaneously published their grand works, by which the idea of species was established definitely and for all times.

travelled in the countries bordering on the eastern part of the Mediterranean, in the years 1547-50; he collected rich stores of positive knowledge, which he deposited in several works. The one most important for the progress of Ichthyology is that entitled "De aquatilibus libri duo" (Paris 1553; small 4to.) Belon knows about 110 fishes, of which he gives rude, but generally recognisable, figures. In his descriptions he pays regard to the classical as well as vernacular nomenclature, and states the outward characteristics, sometimes even the number of fin-rays, frequently also the most conspicuous anatomical peculiarities.

Although Belon but rarely gives definitions of the terms used by him, it is generally not very difficult to ascertain the limits which he intended to assign to each division of aquatic animals. He very properly divides them into such as are provided with blood, and into those without it: two divisions, called in modern language Vertebrate and Invertebrate aquatic animals. The former are classified by him according to sizes, the further subdivisions being based on the structure of the skeleton, mode of propagation, number of limbs, form of the body, and on the physical character of the localities inhabited by fishes. This classification is as follows:—

I. The larger fishes or Cetaceans. A. Viviparous Cetaceans with bony skeletons (=Cetacea). B. Viviparous Amphibians.


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Rh 1. With four limbs: Seals, Hippopotamus, Beaver, Otter, and other aquatic Mammalia. 2. With two limbs: Mermaids, etc. C. Oviparous Amphibians (=Reptiles and Frogs). D. Viviparous Cartilaginous fishes. 1. Of an oblong form (=Sharks). 2. Of a flat form (=Rays and Lophius). E. Oviparous Cartilaginous fishes (=Sturgeons and Silurus). F. Oviparous Cetaceans, with spines instead of bones (=large marine fishes, like the Thunny, Sword-fish, Sciænoids, Bass, Gadoids, Trachypterus). II. Spinous Oviparous fishes of a flat form (=Pleuronectidæ). III. Fishes of a high form, like Zeus. IV. Fishes of a snake-like form (=Eels, Belone, Sphyræna). V. Small Oviparous, spinous, scaly, marine fishes. 1. Pelagic kinds. 2. Littoral kinds. 3. Kinds inhabiting rocky localities. VI. Fluviatile and Lacustrine fishes.

The work of the Roman ichthyologist, (1514-72), is characteristic of the high social position which the author held as the physician of three popes. Its title is "Aquatilium animalium historia" (Rom. 1554-57, fol.) It treats exclusively of the fishes of Italy. Ninety-two species are figured on seventy-six plates which, as regards artistic execution, are masterpieces of that period, although those specific characteristics which now-a-days constitute the value of a zoological drawing, were entirely overlooked by the author or artist. No attempt is made at a natural classification, but the allied forms generally are placed in close proximity. The descriptions are quite equal to those given by Belon, entering much into the details of the economy and usefulness of the several species, and were evidently composed with the view of collecting in a readable form all that might


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6 prove of interest to the class of society in which the author moved. Salviani's work is of a high standard, most remarkable for the age in which he lived. It could not fail to convey valuable instruction, and to render Ichthyology popular in the country to the fauna of which it was devoted, but it would not have advanced Ichthyology as science generally; and in this respect Salviani is not to be compared with Rondelet or Belon.

(1507-1557) had the great advantage over Belon in having received a medical education at Paris, and more especially in having gone through a complete course of instruction in anatomy as a pupil of Guentherus of Andernach. This is conspicuous throughout his works—"Libri de Piscibus marinis" (Lugd. 1554, fol.); and "Universæ aquatilium historiæ pars altera" (Lugd. 1555, fol.) Nevertheless they cannot be regarded as more than considerably enlarged editions of Belon's work. For although he worked independently of the latter, and differs from him in numerous details, the system adopted by him is characterised by the same absence of the true principles of classification. Rondelet had a much more extensive knowledge of details. His work is almost entirely limited to European, and chiefly Mediterranean, forms, and comprises not less than 197 marine and 47 freshwater fishes. His descriptions are more complete and his figures much more accurate than those of Belon; and the specific account is preceded by introductory chapters in which he treats in a general manner on the distinctions, the external and internal parts, and on the economy of fishes. Like Belon, he had no conception of the various categories of classification—for instance, confounding throughout his work the terms "genus" and "species;" but he had intuitively a notion of what his successors called a "species," and his principal object was to collect and give as much information as possible of such species.


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Who Killed Joe's Baby?

The scene is laid in the cozy home of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lane. Joe has returned from work.

"How is work today?" Nora asked, as big Joe sat down near the baby's crib.

"Fine, the new hotel is most done. We are finishing the wood works now."

"Is that all?"

"Well, Lambert talked to me about making some furniture for the hotel . . . if he puts in a bar. It's his own lookout. It is at least fifty dollars for us, and think of our growing family, Nora."

"Yes, but it is against the law." Sure, the new Mayor and the Council are against it too, but you know, when it comes to being against anything, I am off my reckoning as often as it does in. What difference does the law make to them?"

"Joe, remember we came here on purpose to get away from the thing."

"I do, Nora, but if he insists I cannot say no."

"Dear Joe, do you love me?"

"Oh, what a foolish question. Why of course. I don't love anyone else but you and the baby."

"Then, for your love of us, please promise me or the baby that you will never touch a drop of liquor as long as you live. Promise him and God."

"All right, darling, as you please. I promise you little baby that I will never touch a drop of liquor as long as I live."

"Say, so help me God."

"So help me God."

A week after Joe made his promise to the baby, the minister of their church entered and familiarly touched him on the shoulder.

"Good morning, Mr. Lane. Today, I have come on a very peculiar errand. You can never guess it, as I am telling you at once seeing you are busy. I want you to make a coffin." "Make a what? asked Joe in a tone of amazement.

"A coffin! A coffin, understand? You know, Judge Hollowell of my church, thinks he is dying; he thought of this several times before, but now he is so sure of it, he made me promise when I called on him last night, to order for him the best coffin you can ever make. You're to send the bill to the Judge as soon as it is finished. Goodbye, Mr. Lane."

Joe's shop was near the business part of the town and a favorite plae for many of his acquaintances. As he was leaving his shop one afternoon, just after finishing the coffin which the minister had ordered, a friend met him and said, "I have something for you, Joe." So they went back into the shop and a few minutes after, were ready to leave.

"Come down to Lambert and bind it." Joe drew back remembering his promise to his loved ones.

"No, I am sorry I'can't. I promise not to drink anymore."

Just a glass of beer, that's all I ever take. It won't hurt you. C'mon, I hear Lambert has new stocks too."

Hand in hand Joe and his friend went into the hotel and went straight to the bar. After greeting their friends, both of them ordered a class of beer each. After finishing it, Joe was about to leave when his friend pulled him to sit down again, and said, "What's the rush? C'mon, the treat's on the house, have another one."

From one bottle to another until he was soused in liquor and then they both stood up, and and struggled to the threshold and went home not being able to carry themselves.

Nora was sitting up when Joe came home that night. One look at him explained everything. He came in banging the door, rolling on the chairs, and with a drowsy voice said, "What's the looks? Where is the baby . . . the baby, I repeat."

"Hush now, Joe. Don't go near the baby, you will wake him up."

"Why, darling, I just want to see the baby and bid him good night." And without hesitating, he went to the crib and took the baby in his arms. He kissed him and jeered, "Ja, ja, ja, cute little darling. Papa loves you, yes of course he does." Then he started dancing with the baby in his arms. Nora knew the whole of the worst as she approached him imploring, "Give him back to me, Joe. You will hurt him. Please, Joe, give him back to me."

"Ah, Mama does not trust Papa. I assusre you, I won't hurt him. We are going to sleep together. Hmmmm, aren't we cutie?"

Nora hadn't been so horrified in her whole life until she saw Joe tightening his grip and suddenly rolled on the floor. Nora could not bear the sight any longer. She ran as fast as she could to the front gate and screamed hysterically.

"Help! Help my baby! My baby! Oh please help me!"

Neighbors came to the rescue. Nora could only point her finger to the house and saw Joe lying on the floor unconscious, still grasping the baby's neck.

The police station was only a few blocks from Joe's place, so it is easy for the neighbors to take get there with the baby. The next morning, Joe woke up late quite sober. A guard was pacing back and forth in front of his cell.

"Good morning, Sir, I suppose I shall get out very soon."

"People who kill other people will not get out soon."

"Kill other people?"

"Well, That is what I said."

"Did you say kill other people? What do you mean?'t I was pretty drunk last night and I can't fully remember what I did."

"You rolled over your baby and choked him to death."

"No, I did not! I cannot do that! You are lying!"

"You did, though."

"And Nora, my wife, Where is she? Quick, tell me please!"

"Your wife is in the hospital. Brain fever!"

"The drink crazed me! The drink made me do it! I was once happy before Lambert opened up. I had the best of wife and the sweetest, cutest little baby on earth. What have I done? Oh, Nora, Nora, baby! You know pretty well I am not guilty. God, I shall go mad!"

At noon they found Joe at the foot of his bed. The coffin Joe had made was used for him and the baby. It was a sight with the innocent child smiling calmly on his father's chest. But baby, baby, baby!

Who killed Joe's baby? I, a woman, cannot make an answer. Stand up you voters who during election do not analyze the character of the men that you elect. Stand up ye officials who promise to enforce the law only to be bribed, and not realizing the responsibilities upon your shoulders, and answer us women, we women who always suffer the most.

Yes, stand up Joe yourself and answer for your share in the death of the sweetest life you said you loved.

Well, stand up all of you, in church and out of it, and answer God Almighty, WHO KILLED JOE'S BABY?

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 and other “district” boards referred to below). Moreover, in some of the most important cases of settlement of disputes by conciliation, the mediating party has not been a permanent board but a disinterested individual, e.g. the mayor, county court judge, government official or member of parliament. As will be seen below, the Conciliation Act now provides for the appointment of “conciliators” by the Board of Trade.

Voluntary trade boards, however (i.e. permanent joint boards representing employers and work-people in particular trades), are at once the most firmly established and the most important agencies in Great Britain for the prevention and settlement of labour disputes. Among the earliest of such bodies was the board of arbitration in the Macclesfield silk trade, formed in 1849, in imitation of the French “Conseils de Prud’hommes,” but which only lasted four years. The first board, however, which attained any degree of permanent success was that established for the hosiery and glove trade in Nottingham in 1860, through the efforts of A. J. Mundella. In 1864 a board was established in the Wolverhampton building trades, with Rupert Kettle as chairman, and in 1868 boards were formed for the pottery trade, the Leicester hosiery trade and the Nottingham lace trade. In 1869 there was formed one of the most important of the still existing boards, viz. the board of arbitration and conciliation in the manufactured iron and steel trades of the north of England, with which the names of Rupert Kettle, David Dale and others are associated. In 1872 and 1873 joint committees were formed in the Durham and Northumberland coal trades to deal with local questions. The Leicester boot and shoe trade board, the first of an elaborate system of local boards in this trade, was founded in 1875. From about 1870 onwards there was a great movement for the establishment of “sliding scales” in the coal and iron and steel trades, which by regulating wages automatically rendered unnecessary the settlement of general wages by conciliation or arbitration. These sliding scales, however, usually had attached to them joint committees for dealing with disputed questions. A sliding scale arranged by David Dale was attached to the manufactured iron trade board in 1871. A sliding scale for the Cleveland blast furnacemen came into force in 1879. Sliding scales were also adopted in the coal trade in many districts, e.g. South Wales (1875), Durham (1877) and Northumberland (1879). The movement was, however, followed by a reaction, and several of the sliding scales in the coal trade were terminated between 1887 and 1889. In 1902 the last surviving sliding scale in the coal trade, viz. in South Wales, ceased to exist and was replaced by a conciliation board.

The formation on a large scale of conciliation boards in the coal trade to fix the rate of wages dates from the great miners’ dispute of 1893, one of the terms of settlement agreed to at the conference held at the foreign office under Lord Rosebery being the formation of a conciliation board covering the districts affected. Northumberland followed in 1894, Durham in 1895, Scotland in 1900 and South Wales in 1903.

In 1907 an important scheme for the formation of conciliation boards for railway companies and their employees was adopted as the result of the action taken by the president of the Board of Trade to prevent a general strike of railway servants in that year. Under this scheme separate boards (sectional and general) were to be formed for the employees of each railway company which adhered to the scheme, with provision for reference in case of a deadlock to an umpire.

The first general district board to be formed was that established in London in 1890, through the London chamber of commerce, as a sequel to the Mansion House committee which mediated in the great London dock strike of 1889. The example was followed by several large towns, but the action taken by the boards in most of these provincial districts has been very limited.

In addition there are two boards composed of representatives of co-operators and trade-unionists for the settlement of disputes arising between co-operative societies and their employees.

The most typical form of machinery for the settlement of disputes by voluntary conciliation is a joint board consisting of equal numbers of representatives of employers and employed. The members of the board are usually elected by the associations of employers and workmen, though in some cases (e.g. in the manufactured iron trade board) the workmen’s representatives are elected not by their trade union but by meetings of workmen employed at the various works. The chairman may be an independent person, or, more usually, a representative of the employers, the vice-chairman being a representative of the workmen. In the arbitration and conciliation boards in the boot and shoe trade, provision is made by which the chair may be occupied by representatives of the employers and workmen in alternate years. An independent chairman usually has a casting vote, which practically makes him an umpire in case of equal voting, but where there is no outside chairman there is often provision for reference of cases on which the board cannot agree to an umpire, who may either be a permanent officer of the board elected for a period of time (as in the case of several of the boards in the boot and shoe trade), or selected ad hoc by the board or appointed by some outside person or body. Thus the choice of the permanent chairman or umpire of the miners’ conciliation board, formed in pursuance of the settlement of the coal dispute of 1893 by Lord Rosebery, was left to the speaker of the House of Commons. The nomination of umpires under the Railway Agreement of 1907 was left to the speaker and the master of the rolls. Since the passing of the Conciliation Act, several conciliation boards have provided in their rules for the appointment of umpires by the Board of Trade.

Conciliation boards constituted as described above usually have rules providing that there shall always be equality of voting as between employer and workmen, in spite of the casual absence of individuals on one side or the other. In order to expedite business it is sometimes provided that all questions shall be first considered by a sub-committee, with power to settle them by agreement before coming before the full board. Boards of conciliation and arbitration conforming more or less to the above type exist in the coal, iron and steel, boot and shoe and other industries in the United Kingdom. A somewhat different form of organization has prevailed in the cotton-spinning trade (since the dispute of 1892–1893) and in the engineering trade (since the engineering dispute of 1897–1898). In these important industries there are no permanent boards for the settlement of general questions, but elaborate agreements are in force between the employers’ and workmen’s organizations which among other things prescribe the mode in which questions at issue shall be dealt with and if possible settled. In the first place, if the question cannot be settled between the employer and his workmen, it is dealt with by the local associations or committees or their officials, and failing a settlement in this manner, is referred to a joint meeting of the executive committees of the two associations. In neither agreement is there any provision for the ultimate decision of unsettled questions by arbitration. The agreement in the cotton trade is known as the “Brooklands Agreement,” and a large number of questions have been amicably settled under its provisions. In the building trade, it is very customary for the local “working rules,” agreed to mutually by employers and employed in particular districts, to contain “conciliation rules” providing for the reference of disputed questions to a joint committee with or without an ultimate reference to arbitration. Yet another form of voluntary board is the “district board,” consisting in most cases of representatives elected in equal numbers by the local chamber of commerce and trades council respectively. In the case, however, of the London Conciliation Board the workmen’s representatives are elected, twelve by specially summoned meetings of trade union delegates and two by co-optation. The functions of district boards are to deal with disputes in any trade which may occur within their districts, and of course they can only take action with the consent of both parties to the dispute, in this respect differing from the majority of “trade” boards, which, as a rule, are empowered by the agreement under which they are constituted

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Rh While jealous pangs our Souls perplex,

No passion prompts you to relieve.

2.

From Love, or Pity ne'er you fall,

By you, no mutual Flame is felt,

'Tis Vanity, which rules you all,

Desire alone which makes you melt.

3.

I will not say no souls are yours,

Aye, ye have Souls, and dark ones too,

Souls to contrive those smiling lures,

To snare our simple hearts for you.

4.

Yet shall you never bind me fast,

Long to adore such brittle toys,

I'll rove along, from first to last,

And change whene'er my fancy cloys.

5.

Oh! I should be a baby fool,

To sigh the dupe of female art—

Woman! perhaps thou hast a Soul,

But where have Demons hid thy Heart? January, 1807.


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244 ON THE EYES OF MISS A—— H——

TO A VAIN LADY.

1.

, heedless girl! why thus disclose

What ne'er was meant for other ears;

Why thus destroy thine own repose,

And dig the source of future tears?


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Rh 2.

Oh, thou wilt weep, imprudent maid,

While lurking envious foes will smile,

For all the follies thou hast said

Of those who spoke but to beguile.

3.

Vain girl! thy ling'ring woes are nigh,

If thou believ'st what striplings say:

Oh, from the deep temptation fly,

Nor fall the specious spoiler's prey.

4.

Dost thou repeat, in childish boast,

The words man utters to deceive?

Thy peace, thy hope, thy all is lost,

If thou canst venture to believe.

5.

While now amongst thy female peers

Thou tell'st again the soothing tale,

Canst thou not mark the rising sneers

Duplicity in vain would veil?

6.

These tales in secret silence hush,

Nor make thyself the public gaze:

What modest maid without a blush

Recounts a flattering coxcomb's praise?


text: The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 1/To ——


text: The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 1/On the Eyes of Miss A—— H——


text: The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 1/To a Vain Lady


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 to deal with questions on the application of either party. Another interesting type of board is that representing two or more groups of workmen and sometimes their employers, with the object of settling “demarcation” disputes between the groups of workmen (i.e. questions as to the limits of the work which each group may claim to perform). Examples of such boards are those representing shipwrights and joiners on the Clyde, Tyne and elsewhere. While the arrangements for voluntary conciliation and arbitration differ in this way in various industries, there is an equally wide variation in the character and range of questions which the boards are empowered to determine. For example, some boards in the coal trade (e.g. the conciliation boards in Northumberland and the so-called “Federated Districts”) deal solely with the general rate of wages. Others, e.g. the “joint committee” in Northumberland and Durham, confine their attention solely to local questions not affecting the counties as a whole. The Durham conciliation board deals with any general or county questions. This distinction between “general” and “local” questions corresponds nearly, though not entirely, to the distinction often drawn between questions of the terms of future employment and of the interpretation of existing agreements. Some conciliation boards are unlimited as regards the scope of the questions which they may consider. This was formerly the case with the boards in the boot and shoe trade, but under the “terms of settlement” of the dispute in 1895 drawn up at the Board of Trade, certain classes of questions (e.g. the employment of particular individuals, the adoption of piece-work or time-work, &c.) were wholly or partially withdrawn from their consideration, and any decision of a board contravening the “terms of settlement” is null and void. A special feature in the procedure for conciliation and arbitration in the boot and shoe trade, is the deposit by each party of £1000 with trustees, as a financial guarantee for the performance of agreements and awards. A certain class of conciliation boards, mostly in the Midland metal trades, were attached to “alliances” of employers and employed, having for their object the regulation of production and of prices (e.g. the Bedstead Trade Wages Board). None of these alliances, however, have survived.

At all events up to the year 1896, the development of arbitration and conciliation as methods of settling labour disputes in the United Kingdom was entirely independent of any legislation. Previously to the Conciliation Act of 1896 several attempts had been made by parliament to promote arbitration and conciliation, but with little or no practical result, and the act of 1896 repealed all previous legislation on the subject, at the same time excluding the operation of the Arbitration Act of 1889 from the settlement of “any difference or dispute to which this act applies.” The laws repealed by the Conciliation Act need only a few words of mention. During the 18th century the fixing of wages by magistrates under the Elizabethan legislation gradually decayed, and acts of 1745 and 1757 gave summary jurisdiction to justices of the peace to determine disputes between masters and servants in certain circumstances, although no rate of wages had been fixed that year by the justices of the peace of the shire. These and other laws, relating specially to disputes in the cotton-weaving trade, were consolidated and amended by the Arbitration Act of 1824. This act seems chiefly to have been aimed at disputes relating to piece-work in the textile trades, though applicable to other disputes arising out of a wages contract. It expressly excluded, however, the fixing of a rate of wages or price of labour or workmanship at which the workmen should in future be paid unless with the mutual consent of both master and workmen. The act gave compulsory powers of settling the disputes to which it relates on application of either party to a court of arbitrators representing employers and workmen nominated by a magistrate. The award could be enforced by distress or imprisonment. The act was subsequently amended in detail, and by the “Councils of Conciliation” Act of 1867 power was given to the home secretary to license “equitable councils of conciliation and arbitration” equally representative of masters and workmen, who should thereupon have the powers conferred by the act of 1824. The act contains provisions for the appointment of conciliation committees, and other details which are of little interest seeing that the act was never put into operation. Another amendment of the act of 1824 was made by the Arbitration (Masters and Workmen) Act of 1872, which contemplated the conclusion of agreements between employers and employed, designating some board of arbitration by which disputes included within the scope of the former acts should be determined. A master or workman should be deemed to be bound by an agreement under the act, if he accepted a printed copy of the agreement and did not repudiate it within forty-eight hours. Like the previous legislation, however, the act of 1872 was inoperative. The evidence given before the Royal Commission on Labour (1891–1894) disclosed the existence of a considerable body of opinion in favour of some further action by the state for the prevention or settlement of labour disputes, and some impetus was given to the movement by the settlement through official mediation of several important disputes, e.g. the great coal-miners’ dispute of 1893 by a conference presided over by Lord Rosebery, the cab-drivers’ dispute of 1894 by the mediation of the home secretary (H. H. Asquith), and the boot and shoe trade dispute of 1895 by a Board of Trade conference under the chairmanship of Sir Courtenay Boyle. In these, and a few other less important cases, the intervention of the Board of Trade or other department took place without any special statutory sanction. The Conciliation Act passed in 1896 was framed with a view to giving express authorization to such action in the future.

This act is of a purely voluntary character. Its most important provisions are those of section 2, empowering the Board of Trade in cases “where a difference exists or is apprehended between any employer, or any class of employers, and workmen, or between different classes of workmen,” to take certain steps to promote a settlement of the difference. They may of their own initiative hold an inquiry or endeavour to arrange a meeting between the parties under a chairman mutually agreed on or appointed from the outside, and on the application of either party they may appoint a conciliator or a board of conciliation who shall communicate with the parties and endeavour to bring about a settlement and report their proceedings to the Board of Trade. On the application of both parties the Board of Trade may appoint an arbitrator. In all cases the Board of Trade has discretion as to the action to be taken, and there is no provision either for compelling the parties to accept their mediation or to abide by any agreement effected through their intervention. There are other provisions in the act providing for the registration of voluntary conciliation boards, and for the promotion by the Board of Trade of the formation of such boards in districts and trades in which they are deficient. During the first eleven years after the passage of the act the number of cases arising under section 2 (providing for action by the Board of Trade for the settlement of actual or apprehended disputes) averaged twenty-one per annum, and the number of settlements effected fifteen. In the remaining cases the Board of Trade either refused to entertain the application or failed to effect a settlement, or the disputes were settled between the parties during the negotiations. About three-quarters of the settlements were effected by arbitration and one-quarter by conciliation. A number of voluntary conciliation boards formed or reorganized since the passing of the act provide in their rules for an appeal to the Board of Trade to appoint an umpire in case of a deadlock. At least thirty-six trade boards are known to have already adopted this course. The figures given above show that the Conciliation Act of 1896 has not, like previous legislation, been a dead letter, though the number of actual disputes settled is small compared with the total number annually recorded.

Arbitration and conciliation in labour disputes as practised in the United Kingdom are entirely voluntary, both as regards the initiation and conduct of the negotiations and the carrying out of the agreement resulting therefrom. In all these respects arbitration, though terminating in what is called a binding award, is on precisely the same legal footing as conciliation, which results in a mutual

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'' my friends, learned and unlearned, have urged me not to publish this Satire with my name. If I were to be "turned from the career of my humour by quibbles quick, and paper bullets of the brain," I should have complied with their counsel. But I am not to be terrified by abuse, or bullied by reviewers, with or without arms. I can safely say that I have attacked none personally, who did not commence on the offensive. An Author's works are public property: he who purchases may judge, and publish his opinion if he pleases; and the Authors I have endeavoured to commemorate may do by me as I have done by them. I dare say they will succeed better in condemning my scribblings, than in mending their own. But my object is not to prove that I can write well, but, if possible, to make others write better''.

As the Poem has met with far more success than I expected, I have endeavoured in this Edition to make some additions and alterations, to render it more worthy of public perusal.


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 INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH BARDS, AND SCOTCH REVIEWERS.

article upon Hours of Idleness "which Lord Brougham ... after denying it for thirty years, confessed that he had written" (Notes from a Diary, by Sir M. E. Grant Duff, 1897, ii. 189), was published in the Edinburgh Review of January, 1808. English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers did not appear till March, 1809. The article gave the opportunity for the publication of the satire, but only in part provoked its composition. Years later, Byron had not forgotten its effect on his mind. On April 26, 1821, he wrote to Shelley: "I recollect the effect on me of the Edinburgh on my first poem: it was rage and resistance and redress: but not despondency nor despair." And on the same date to Murray: "I know by experience that a savage review is hemlock to a sucking author; and the one on me (which produced the English Bards, etc.) knocked me down, but I got up again," etc. It must, however, be remembered that Byron had his weapons ready for an attack before he used them in defence. In a letter to Miss Pigot, dated October 26, 1807, he says that "he has written one poem of 380 lines to be published in a few weeks with notes. The poem...is a Satire." It was entitled British Bards, and finally numbered 520 lines. With a view to publication, or for his own convenience, it was put up in type and printed in quarto sheets. A single copy, which he kept for corrections and additions, was preserved by Dallas, and is now in the British Museum. After the review appeared, he enlarged and recast the British Bards, and in


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 INTRODUCTION TO HINTS FROM HORACE.

MSS. of Hints from Horace are extant, two in the possession of Lord Lovelace (MSS. L. a and b), and a third in the possession of Mr. Murray (MS. M.).

Proofs of lines 173-272 and 1-272 (Proofs a, b), are among the Egerton MSS. in the British Museum. They were purchased from the Rev. Alexander Dallas, January 12, 1867, and are, doubtless, fragments of the proofs set up in type for Cawthorn in 1811. They are in "book-form," and show that the volume was intended to be uniform with the Fifth Edition of English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers, of 1811. The text corresponds closely but not exactly with that adopted by Murray in 1831, and does not embody the variants of the several MSS. It is probable that complete proofs were in Moore's possession at the time when he included the selections from the Hints in his Letters and Journals, 1830, i. 263-269, and that the text of the entire poem as published in 1831 was derived from this source. Selections, numbering in all 156 lines, had already appeared in Recollections of the Life of Lord Byron, by R. C. Dallas, 1824, pp. 104-113. Byron, estimating the merit by the difficulty of the performance, rated the Hints from Horace extravagantly high. He only forbore to publish them after the success of Childe Harold, because he felt, as he states, that he should be "heaping coals of fire upon his head" if he were in his hour of triumph to put forth a sequel to a lampoon provoked by failure. Nine years afterwards, when he resolved to print the work with some omissions, he gravely maintained that it excelled the productions of his


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 INTRODUCTION TO THE CURSE OF MINERVA.

 Curse of Minerva, which was written at Athens, and is dated March 17, 1811, remained unpublished, as a whole, in this country, during Byron's life-time. The arrangement which had been made with Cawthorn, to bring out a fifth edition of English Bards, included the issue of a separate volume, containing Hints from Horace and The Curse of Minerva; and, as Moore intimates, it was the withdrawal of the latter, in deference to the wishes of Lord Elgin or his connections, which led to the suppression of the other satires.

The quarto edition of The Curse of Minerva, printed by T. Davison in 1812, was probably set up at the same time as Murray's quarto edition of Childe Harold, and reserved for private circulation. With or without Byron's consent, the poem as a whole was published in Philadelphia [? London] by De Silver and Co., 1815, 8vo (see p. 452, note). In a letter to Murray, March 6, 1816, he says that he "disowns" The Curse, etc., "as stolen and published in a miserable and villainous copy in the magazine." The reference is to The Malediction of Minerva, or The Athenian Marble-Market, which appeared in the New Monthly Magazine for April, 1815, vol. iii. 240. It numbers 111 lines, and is signed "Steropes" (The Lightner, a Cyclops). The text of the magazine, with the same additional footnotes, but under the title of The Curse, etc., was republished in the eighth edition of Poems on His Domestic Circumstances, W. Hone, London, 1816, 8vo, and, thenceforth, in other piratical issues. Whatever may have been his feelings or intentions in 1812, four years later Byron was well aware that The Curse of Minerva would not increase his reputation as a poet, while the object


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 INTRODUCTION TO THE WALTZ.

spent the autumn of 1812 "by the waters of Cheltenham," and, besides writing to order his Song of Drury Lane (the address spoken at the opening of the theatre, Oct. 10, 1812), he put in hand a Satire on Waltzing. It was published anonymously in the following spring; but, possibly, because it was somewhat coolly received, he told Murray (April 21, 1813) "to contradict the report that he was the author of a certain malicious publication on waltzing." In his memoranda "chiefly with reference to my Byron," Moore notes "Byron's hatred of waltzing," and records a passage of arms between "the lame boy" and Mary Chaworth, which arose from her "dancing with some person who was unknown to her." Then, and always, he must have experienced the bitter sense of exclusion from active amusements; but it is a hasty assumption that Byron only denounced waltzing because he was unable to waltz himself. To modern sentiment, on the moral side, waltzing is unassailable; but the first impressions of spectators, to whom it was a novelty, were distinctly unfavourable.

In a letter from Germany (May 17, 1799) Coleridge describes a dance round the maypole at Rübeland. "The dances were reels and the waltzes, but chiefly the latter; this dance is in the higher circles sufficiently voluptuous, but here the motions of it were far more faithful interpreters of the passions." A year later, H. C. Robinson, writing from Frankfort in 1800 (Diary and Letters, i. 76), says, "The dancing is unlike anything you ever saw. You must have heard of it under the name of waltzing, that is rolling


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 TO THE PUBLISHER.

,

I am a country Gentleman of a midland county. I might have been a Parliament-man for a certain borough; having had the offer of as many votes as General T. at the general election in 1812. But I was all for domestic happiness; as, fifteen years ago, on a visit to London, I married a middle-aged Maid of Honour. We lived happily at Hornem Hall till last Season, when my wife and I were invited by the Countess of Waltzaway (a distant relation of my Spouse) to pass the winter in town. Thinking no harm, and our Girls being come to a marriageable (or, as they call it, marketable) age, and having besides a Chancery suit inveterately entailed upon the family estate, we came up in our old chariot,—of which, by the bye, my wife grew so ashamed in less than a week, that I was obliged to buy a second-hand barouche, of which I might mount the box, Mrs. H. says, if I could drive, but never see the inside—that place being reserved


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THE GIRL OF CADIZ.

1.

never talk again to me

Of northern climes and British ladies;

It has not been your lot to see,

Like me, the lovely Girl of Cadiz.

Although her eye be not of blue,

Nor fair her locks, like English lasses,

How far its own expressive hue

The languid azure eye surpasses!

2.

Prometheus-like from heaven she stole

The fire that through those silken lashes

In darkest glances seems to roll,

From eyes that cannot hide their flashes:

Variants. Notes


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Rh And as along her bosom steal

In lengthened flow her raven tresses,

You'd swear each clustering lock could feel,

And curled to give her neck caresses.

3.

Our English maids are long to woo,

And frigid even in possession;

And if their charms be fair to view,

Their lips are slow at Love's confession;

But, born beneath a brighter sun,

For love ordained the Spanish maid is,

And who,—when fondly, fairly won,—

Enchants you like the Girl of Cadiz?

4.

The Spanish maid is no coquette,

Nor joys to see a lover tremble

And if she love, or if she hate,

Alike she knows not to dissemble.

Her heart can ne'er be bought or sold—

Howe'er it beats, it beats sincerely;

And, though it will not bend to gold,

'Twill love you long and love you dearly.

5.

The Spanish girl that meets your love

Ne'er taunts you with a mock denial,

For every thought is bent to prove

Her passion in the hour of trial.

Variants Notes


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Rh When thronging foemen menace Spain,

She dares the deed and shares the danger;

And should her lover press the plain,

She hurls the spear, her love's avenger.

6.

And when, beneath the evening star,

She mingles in the gay Bolero,

Or sings to her attuned guitar

Of Christian knight or Moorish hero,

Or counts her beads with fairy hand

Beneath the twinkling rays of Hesper,

Or joins Devotion's choral band,

To chaunt the sweet and hallowed vesper;—

7.

In each her charms the heart must move

Of all who venture to behold her;

Then let not maids less fair reprove

Because her bosom is not colder:

Through many a clime 'tis mine to roam

Where many a soft and melting maid is,

But none abroad, and few at home,

May match the dark-eyed Girl of Cadiz. 1809. [First published, 1832.] Variants Notes