LITTLE WILLIE'S OPINION OF FATHER.

["How long the conflict may last lies in God's hand; it is not our business to ask questions about it.... It is not the Prussian way to praise oneself.... It is now a matter of holding out, however long it lasts."—Extract from Speech by the KAISER, delivered near Arras.]

I fear that Father's lost his nerve.

As I peruse his last oration

I seem to miss the good old verve,

The tone of lofty exaltation,

The swelling note of triumph (Sieg)

That often carried half a league.

The drum on whose resounding hide

"He brought to bear such weight and gristle