RHSTRONG CNALOISi" Btc PR JUPITER TONANS BY A SEQUENCE OF SEVEN SONN^TJ^. 5, BOARD 0^ TAX APPEALS DIV.-2r_-— DOCKET^^^ ADMITTED IN EVIOfiMC^ "^ ^ ^^ MY 3 1 1932 EXHIBIliL-il- REBPONDEMT't JOHN ARMSTRONG CHALOSJER AUTHOR OF "Scorpio," "Pieces of Eight," Etc. "MorG in sorrow than in anger." — Hamlet. "I must be cruel only to be kind." — Hamlet. PALMETTO PRESS: Roanoke Rapids, North Carouna Nineteen Hundred and Sixteen ^ COFYRIQHT 1917 / OCT 15 1917 )C!.A47?041 VVtv O^ , JUPITER TONANS PROLOGUE. The Muse doth now assume a frowning brow And on Her Albion doth darkly frown For chastisement most stern's the order now The fierce fires of Her wrath have been called down. As our ancestor's home she loveth her — She loveth Britain with a perfect love — But Her wrath burns when Britons boldly err When Her^— t' ope vials of Her wrath — they move. And when she frowns the sky around is black Black as a cloud with light 'ning in her womb Which when it strikes is second to the crack And second ordy to the crack o' Doom. Prepare bold Britons for a dreadful time When ye do turn the page and read our rhyme. JOHN ARMSTRONG CHALONER, "The Merry Mills," Cobham, Albemarle County, Virginia. June 7, 1916. A SEQUENCE OF SEVEN SONNETS ENTITLED "JUPITER TONANS" Perfidious Ponsonby ! Thy Judas words f Have brought tlie judgment of tlie Skagerrack! In that ensanguined day the Lord accords The proof that He would lash Great Britain's back. We'd hoped the term: "Perfidious Albion" Was now gone out of date for e'er and aye Sunk in the waters of Oblivion To lie forgotten till the Judgment Day. But you — vile Judas — have revamped that term sShown Britain treacherous as e'er of yore Shown treachery with her's a deathless germ An ever running and an open sore. The blood of Jutland's fight on Jutland's surge Proves Albion Jehovah sore would scourge. J. A. C. June 5, 1916. JUPITER TONANS II. If Britain had resented perfidy As Russia, France or Belgium would have done The "House" would have howled down vile Ponsonby Contempt had burst from every Mother's son ! Instead of which phlegmatic as gross kine Ye sat as mute as Baslian's full-fed bulls Showing yourselves akin to German swine — Enmigh! For shame the writer th' curtain pulls. Repent in ashes and in sackcloth dire Beware the vengeance of Almighty God! Beware lest ye arouse the deadly ire That shHveUed Sodom 'neath the fiery rod ! Ye muddy mettaled rascals have a car'e! The sword of Damocles hangs by a hair. J. A. C. June 5, 1916. JUPITER TONANS III. British conceit is stuff too thick for words It is opaque and dense as London's fogs One parallel (done the world affords The gi'ossly "swelled head" of vile German hogs! A byword in the world ye two do stand For crude conceit and self-sufficiency For self-complacency celestial bland For self-assurance ludicrous to see. But we have hopes this war'll reduce thine "head" — Its only blunders have been made by you — On thy lack of gen'ralship bright light's been shed — And on thy slogan: "Britain muddles through!" The Lord lets that because of Shakspeare's tongue But sees to it thy withers are well wrung! J. A. C. June 5, 1916. JUPITER TO NANS IV. "There must be no revenge against Germany after the war." — David Lloyd-George. Now with Lloyd-George have we a word to say. Thou canny Welsh attorney lend thine ear. Apply the "muffler" to thine ass-like bray That o'er the ocean's wastes comes ringing clear. We credit thee as Britain's leading man The brains of Britain lie 'neath thy shag hair But have a care or thou wilt botch thy plan Lest that thou "gum the game" take canny care ! The flames of vengeance must he kept alive After the war against d — d Germany Or else that hloody harlot will contrive To Britain heat iHKrace for trade — pardie! Th'allies must boycott Germany-the-d — d Or th'allies marts with her counterfeits be crammed. J. A. C. June 5. 1916. JUPITER TO NANS V. Trade for Great Britain is the breath of life Material salvation that way lies And trade is — next to war — a deadly strife Who denies this or fools, is fooled or lies. The hope of Britain's in aggressive trade — There's in aggressive warfare safety lies — To talk of ought else is a fool's tirade To fill the air with a d— n fool, his cries. The flame of vengeance is a sacred fire ! A vestal flame that from the altar shines As pledge of Britain's deathless and high ire At German rapes — at all the German crimes. Bewa/re Lloyd-George ! Beware the Pit of Hell ! That yawns for thee such buncombe for to tell. J. A. 0. June 5, 191G. JUPITER TONANS VI. Ye cannot treat her as a noble foe — As France or Russia in the days of 3'ore — For all the world foul Germany doth know To be a histful, savage, cruel wh-re. Hatred of Vice should make all hate that hag! That Hell-hag treacherous as murderous — Who robs and cuts throats and then "leaves the bag To be held'' by the least adventurous! Two masters in this world no man may serve- Christ said that and Christ knew Avhat He did say — If to frown down rape and murder yeVe the nerve Hatred of Germany must hurn for aye! Germania entire supporteth what was done. When maidens by the score were raped in Belgium ! J. A. C. June 7, 191 C. JUPITER TONANS VII. "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters. or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." — St. Matthew xix:29. This shows that reLatives shoiikl be "turned down" When the}^ offend against the Word of God. That on the Germans Britons e'er should frown Cut dead and pass them by without a nod. "Pray for your enemies" means their reform — A change of heart and change of filthy life — Not their success in crimes that pass the norm Not murder, rapine, and barbaric strife. "Love your enemies" hut give them a wide berth — "Evil communications" — all know the rest — Give Germany the width of all the earth Or with a moral syph'lis thoiClt he hlest! That Germans are thy Idn is thy dark shame Trv to outlive it and be free from blame. J. A. C. June 8, 1916. J U P I T E R T O N A N S 10' EPILOGUE. And now farewell forever and a day ! No more advice to Britain do we give. We did mean well in all that we did say If we have chafed thy feelings — pray forgive. We now retire forever from the world And all our time devote unto the Muse In Whose sweet serWce is our incense curled Who aids us when our rights our foes abuse. These sweet Virginia woodlands are our home We love the people and we love the clime No more through the broad world shall we bold roam But worshipping the Muses pass our time. Farewell bold Britons! We be of one blood. So help me G — d, I've writ but for thy good! ' J. A. C. June 8, 1916. JUPITERTONANS 11 Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 25, 1916, Richmond, Virginia, t "TIME IS NOT RIPE TO TALK OF PEACE." Sir Edward Grey Plainly Reiterates That Position Of Allies Is In No Way Changed. Agree To Act Together. Discusses Propriety Of Employing "American Pi'ess As A Platform." London, May 24. — Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, in a speech in the House of Commons to-day, set aside all ideas that peace negotiations were probable at the present stage, and plainly reiterated that the position of the entente allies was in no way changed. Sir Edward's impromptu address was on the question of peace and the propriety of employing the "American press as a platform," subjects raised by Arthur Ponsonby, Liberal member for Stirling, Scotland, in a strong address attacking the government for allowing diplomatic etiquette to stand in the way of possible peace pourparlers. Sir Edward declared tliat it was impossible to consider terms of peace without a previous agreement between the allies. Further he expressed the decided opinion that the hostilities had not yet reached a stage where it was possible to talk peace, especially as the German public was continually being "fed with lies" by their ministers. Mr. Ponsonby's reference to the use of the American press as a platform was the outgrowth of a recent interview with Sir Edward Grey. Sir Edward, in replying to this attack, while admitting that important disclosures of policy ought first to be made to Parliament argued that a crisis might arise during the war when considerations of etiquette should not be allowed to stand in the way. He contended that, since German statesmen constantly were giving interviews and statements to the American press, it would be mere pedantry which would hinder British statesmen from countering these statements in the interests of their OAvn country. 12 JUPITERTONANS Ponsonhy Argues Against Ohligations To Allies. Mr. Ponsonby argued in favor of countenancing peace possibilities and against prolonging the war, merely for the sake of obligations to Great Britain's allies. Sir Edward Grey, in replying, said the allies were bound by com- mon obligations not to put forward any terms of peace except by mutual agreement; and that the entente allies were under obligations not to act separately on peace terms. He added if any of the allies had a right to speak with regard to peace at the present moment, it was France, on whom the furious attacks of Germany had been con- centrated. France Has First Right To Speak About Peace. Sir Edward Grey further said: "Through the long battle of Verdun, France is saving, not only herself, but her allies as well. If any one has a right to speak about peace, it is France, and President Poincare has spoken. I believe it is the duty of diplomacy to maintain the solidarity of the allies and to give the utmost support to the national and military measures which are being taken by the allies in common to bring the war to a stage it has not yet reached, in which the prospect of maintaining an enduring peace will be with the allies. Mr. Ponsonby has hardly seemed to realize that we were at war." BOOK REVIEWS New York Tribune, December 24, 1914. MOVED TO WRATH BY KAISBR, CHALONER BREAKS INTO VERSE. His Sonnet in "Pieces of Eight" Liken Germans to Gadarene Swine and are Framed in French After Exhausting Vituperation in Anglo-Saxon. In twenty-four sonnets, perpetrated in Virginia, John Arm- strong Clialoner — who once asked his brother Robert, the famous Question, "Who's looney now?" — bombards the Teutons with rare and awe-inspiring virulence. So great is his ire that a little of it spills over onto William R. Hearst and the pacifists. "Pieces of Eight" is the name of the book, and Chaloner gets the range on the very first shot. Listen: The swine o' th' Gadarenes are here once more That demon-haunted herd now scour the earth Led by Bill William Two, their great wild boar Their antics, 'pon my soul, give cause for mirth! In massed formation do they charge pell mell! Showing less judgment than a herd of swine In massed formation are they sent to Hell — That's where dead Germans go I dare opine. The third sonnet begins so violently that the poetic fervor flags after the fourth line, though enough rage remains to make a tolerable ending: Thy private murdering ruffian officers Show to what depths a learned race can sink. The calling grand of arms their action slurs, 'Mongst soldiers make the name of German stink! Again, in the seventh, the bard fairly bellows his confidence: One Briton bold two Germans equal be One Frenchman's equal to two Sourkraut The truth of this full easy is to see Fro' th' way the allies put the Teutons out! These gross Sausage-Eaters surely have no show — Less chance than snowball in fell hottest Hell! 14 J U P I T E R T N A N S In Sonnet Twenty, Chaloner unlimbers against "all members and supporters of premature societies," whom he apostrophizes thus: Ye piffling little squirts that drape the earth — Limp's macaroni or spaghetti slim — Your antics make a man of humor grin * * * He closes with the quite unanswerable question, "What should I do were there not fools to shoot and lying fakers who the tin horn toot?" To Professor ":\Ionsterburg," whom he terms a "vile Hes- sian," he pays the compliment of an entire sonnet, wrathy as though aimed at William II himself. The Hearst papers, "who palpably for selfish ends, yell for premature peace in 'Europe," are thundered at as Pimps and panders of the daily press. Pimping your vicious wares e'en day by day. So mighty is the poet's indignation, that the rest of it might be called "pieces of hate." Now and again, after exhausting his stock of English epithets, the singer dips into French, pitching out three or four sonnets on Liege and the Belgians, but in this language he seems less at home, and the bulk of the book is good old Anglo-Saxon vituperation. New York World, January 4, 1915. CHALONER'S WAR SONNETS THERE WITH THE "PUNCH." Famous Author of Query "Who's looney now?" Takes Pen in Hand to Flay and Skin the Kaiser. Lauds "Przemysl," But Doesn't Try to Rhyme It. Takes Fall Out of Prof. "^Tonsterberg" and "W. R. Hearse" in "Pieces of Eight." John Armstrong Chaloner has presented himself to the public once more as an author. Nothing that ne will ever write, probably, will make as great a popular hit as the single line he sent to his brother, "Sheriff Bob" Chanler, of this city, when Lina Cavalieri, the opera singer, after a short period of married life with "Bob," left him. JUPITER TONANS 15 "Who's looney now?" he wired, when "Bob's" bride departed — a tiny piece of literature that gripped the country and was twisted into innumerable songs and verses. The European war has inspired Mr. Chaloner, who is living in "Merry Mills," Va., to a series of sonnets entitled "Pieces of Eight." Although in his preface he says that he has German blood in his veins, as well as British, French and other varieties, his efforts are bent entirely toward skinning the Kaiser alive with his pen. The First Sonnet. His first sonnet is called "The Swine of the Gadarenes" (the swine into which Christ cast the evil spirits in His miracle). It runs thus: The swine o' th' Gadarenes are here once more That demon-haunted herd now scour the earth Led by Bill William Two, their great wild boar Their antics, 'pon my soul, give cause for mirth! In massed formation do they charge pell mell! Showing less judgment than a herd of swine In massed formation are they sent to Hell — That's where dead Germans go I dare opine. How many wild boars v/ill there soon be left To meet the Cossacks crowding on their rear, While French and English harry right and left With skill and coolness plying wild boar spear? The German Empire now doth hurry on To perish i' th' waters of oblivion! "Light Touch; Original Wording." Another poem bears a much less stilted title. This is named "Get Off, Said General Joffre," and despite its dire predictions shows a much lighter touch, to say nothing of some original wording. Thus: One Briton bold two Germans equal be One Frenchman's equal to two Sourkraut The truth of this full easy is to see Fro' th' way the allies put the Teutons out! These gross Sausage-Eaters surely have no show — Less chance than snowball in fell hottest Hell! So off of Prance' fair soil they swift must go Or black disaster shall their sojourn spell! 16 JUPITERTONANS The Poet's "Gathering-Cry." Then again there is a rallying hymn, in which Mr. Chaloner praises the British Empire. He describes this as a "gathering-cry" and says it was inspired by one of his employees, the son of a Brit- ish Colonel. This runs: Thy stalwart sons do gather to thy call All quarters of the globe give up their toll And on the brutal foe like bull-dogs fall Fiery as race-horse charging for the goal! Proud am I that my veins do course thy blood Proud am I that my home's beyond the sea — Home o' my Fathers — be it understood — For Columbia's the home that shelters me. Hurrah! For th' Anglo-Saxon and the Celt! Hurrah! For Scotch — for Irish — and for Welsh! Ruin to th' foe is by that "Hurrah" spelt! Hell, Death and brimstone doth that shrapnel belch The English-speaking race for aye is one And all who brave it to defeat go down! The line about "hell, death and brimstone" needn't be used, Mr. Chaloner points out, by those with what he calls "non-conform- ist consciences." There is a substitute line "Death and destruction doth that shrapnel belch!" Przemysl As A Shibboleth. The author partially abandons his vitriol bottle for a time when he deals with Przemysl, as follows: Przemysl is a word to conjure with, A hoodoo potent lurketh in said word. That word doth reek with African voodoo pith; For th' Austrian Empire, 'tis Th' Avenger's sword. He draws that word and fierce battalions fall! He waves that word and army corps go down! Its merest whisper doth the world appall — Of Austro-Hungary spells dying groan. A very shibboleth said word stands forth! An open sesame to fiercest hell! The slogan of the legions of the north, A slogan that the Czar's troops answer well! Przemysl, what the Dyvvyl thou dost mean. Calls on Omniscience to solve out, I ween! JUPITERTONANS 17 Calls For The Police. "The Great Quadrilateral; or. The Police of the World," con- tains Mr. Chaloner's predicition of what will come at the end of the war. For instance: The Allies will suppress Teuton and Hun And hold them suppressed till the crack o' doom. This is as sure as though by Fate 'twere spun Or had been uttered in a Runic rune. Th* armies and navies of the allies then Will with Columbia's hold conference. And at The Hague will then — by stroke of pen — Be signed what's needed for the world's defense. Defense from what? From Teuton-Hun revolt Or villain Turk — that blot on Nature's face! Thus Peace policed is, by War's thunderbolt — Thus only surely lifts her smiling face. Unto this quadrilateral supreme Must peace disturbers bow their crests, I ween. Strictly Personal Verse. To the Kaiser personally are dedicated several of Mr. Chal-' oner's scorching verses, which, through fear of the police and re- spect for the family circle of World readers, and because of this paper's neutrality, are not here reproduced. The ending of one may perhaps be given: My German blood doth curse thee to deep hell! A curse as black as rhyme and reason spell. But not only to war did the agile pen of the Virginia Chaloner confine itself. He takes a wallop at Prof. Hugo "Monsterburg," as he dubs the Harvard Physchologist, and later on, referring to their proprietor as "Mr. W. R. Hearse," used the New York American and Evening Journal as the title for one of his verses, and tells what he thinks of those papers. The first part of this cannot be printed, unless on asbestos pa- per and for private circulation. There are a couple of score "hells" scattered through the book, to say nothing of other words not commonly in use by Sunday School classes. Whatever its literary quality, it must be admitted that "Pieces of Eight" is there with the punch. 18 JUPITERTONANS Aberdoen Free Press, 30 Union St., Aberdeen, March 12, 1916. "Pieces of Eight," by J. A. Chaloner. (North Carolina: Palmetto Press. 25 cents.) Mr. Chaloner who is an American and strongly pro-Ally, denounces the Germans in a series of sonnets, entitled "The Swine of the Gada- renes." Aiming deliberately at the fierceness of Swift, he does not mince his words in so good a cause. Here are the opening lines of his first sonnet: The swine o' th' Gadarenes are here once more. That demon-haunted herd now scour the earth, Led by Bill William Two, their great wild boar; Their antics, 'pon my soul, give cause for mirth! In massed formation as they charge pell-mell. Showing less judgment than a heard of swine; In massed formation are they sent to Hell — That's where dead Germans go I dare opine. Mr. Chaloner tells us that the first eight sonnets were offered free to several American newspapers but were refused. This could not, he thinks, have been owing to their lack of quality, for "anyone can see that they are correct iambic pentameters." We wonder what more those American editors could want than correct iambic pentameters! Outlook, 167, Strand, W. C, London, February 19, 1916. Pieces of Eight, by John Armstrong Chaloner. (North Carolina: Palmetto Press. 25 cents.) A sequence of twenty-four war sonnets, the first eight of which were offered to various American newspapers and refused. The son- nets are all condemnatory of Germany, and the author suggests that he "aimed at the fierceness of Swift" in his denunciation. Hudderfield Weekly Examiner, London, February 19, 1916. ON THE BAT'S BACK. "Where the bee sucks, there lurk I; In a cowslip's bell I lie; There I couch when owls do cry. On the bat's back do I fly After summer merrily." — The Tempest. JUPITERTONANS 19 "PIECES OF EIGHT." The Americans are a wonderful people. They have given to the world the Declaration of Independence, cocktails, and the poems of Ella Wheeler Willcox. They have also produced Mr. John Armstrong Chaloner, of "The Merry Mills," Cobham, Albemarle county, Virginia. Lest, in your benighted ignorance, you should be unaware of the ante- cedents and achievements of that gentleman, let me inform you in his own words, that he is "an Anglo-Saxon who has also the following strains in his veins — namely, Welsh, Scotch, Scotch-Irish, French, Dutch, and German, and whose progenitors sailed from Tenby, Wales, in 1710, and landed at Charleston, South Carolina — a veritable olla porida of ancestors, as you will observe. Mr. Chaloner has already made the world of letters richer by a treatise on "The Lunacy Laws of the World" and a metrical nosegay under the title of "Scorpio." He now seeks, under the further influence of the divine* afflatus, to "un- bosom himself upon the European situation," and does so in a slim volume of twenty-nine sonnets, entitled "Pieces of Eight." The dom- inating strain in our sonneteer is evidently British — Proud am I that my veins do course thy blood, Proud am I that my home's beyond the sea — Home o' my fathers — be it understood — For Columbia 's the home that shelters me — and he is vehemently — indeed almost apoplectically — pro-Ally. His sonnets are grouped together under the engaging title, "Swine of the Gadarenes," and he is out (in vulgar parlance) to let our enemies "have it in the neck." POEMS OF PUGNACITY. When "Scorpio" claimed the attention of the Press in 1908, Lord Alfred Douglas hailed its author, in the columns of the "Academy" as a "metrical bruiser." The appellation is apt. Mr. Chaloner goes for his spiritual foes bald-headed, and neither gives nor asks for quarter. "How far" he writes, "we fall below the standard of fierce- ness set forever and in all tongues — bar, possibly, only Juvenal, "Voltaire, and Lord Byron — by the mighty Dean of St. Patrick's — is for others to judge." As a humble member of these others I CONFESS THAT FOR FRANKNESS OF EXPRESSION OUR POET APPEARS TO ME TO OUT-SWIFT SWIFT. He writes beneath the American flag, but his enthusiasm could not be bettered in London, Paris, or Petrograd. If he lays on the stripes, he makes his opponents see 20 JUPITERTONANS stars. Had Mrs. Willcox mothered these sonnets, I doubt not that she would have labelled them "poems of Pugnacity." They certainly deserve the title. Our metrical prize-fighter commences his series with an engaging little trifle entitled "Pig-Sticking," the introductory lines of which run as follows: The swine o' th' Gadarenes are here once more. That demon-haunted herd now scour the earth, Led by Bill William Two, their great wild boar; Their antics, 'pon my soul, give cause for mirth! "Bill "William Two" is left under no possible misapprehension as to the opinion which our author holds of him. Elsewhere he is hailed as Thou treaty-breaking, perjured potentate, and Scrofulous leper, with a wither'd arm. While Mr. Chaloner nuts into the innocent mouth of Mr. St. Loe Strachey, the delicate warning: — Watch out for that bloody Dutchman, Windy Bill, That smug, moustacho'd lanz-knecht, William Two. Shades of "my Grandmother"! What would the regular readers of The Spectator say, were their editor, indeed, to address them in this fashion? As for the "psychology" of Professor Hugo Munsterberg, of Harvard, OUR MODERN SWIFT describes it thus: Back number'd dry-as-dust rot-gut it be Enough to make Emanuel Kant blank stare. And as for the enemy, in gross, Mr. Chaloner encouragingly as- sures us that These gross Sausage-eaters surely have no show — Less chance than snowball in fell hottest hell. A forceful, though not original simile, which I should never have thought of myself. METRICAL BRUISING. Our sonneteer has nothing but contempt for "Jews and Gentiles, Bond and free, and All other members and Supporters of Premature JUPITERTONANS 21 Peace Societies." His feelings, I dare say, are shared by most of us, but we would hardly have the temerity to express them as he does. As thus: — Ye piffling little sDuirts that drape the earth, Lying fakirs who the tin horn toot. Mr. W. R. Hearst, the American press magnate who "for palpably selfish ends yells for premature peace in Europe," comes in for a similar lash of the whip^ — "and id hoc genus omne," as our poet puts it. Ye pimps and panderers of the daily press Pimping your vicious wares e'en day by day. Ye make me smile — e'en laugh — I must confess. The way ye do your blooming public "play". Flim-flam and buncombe are your stock-in-trade "Hot-air" irrsiocrisy your longest suit. To this fjriendly greeting is appended a foot-note, which concludes: "Mr. W. R. Itlearse (we spell it this way intentionally, since his char- acter acts as funeral casket for his vaulting political hopes) we are informed, owns rather a large tract of land in Mexico. Eh! What! And also prints a German edition of the Evening Journal. Eh! "What!" I myself feel pretty strongly about some of our British newspaper magnates, but I should not venture to castigate them with quite such vehemence as that. But Mr. Chaloner has no such qualms. He sees what he calls elsewhere "the cold, hard, undodgable, non-lie-outable fact" that Premature Peace people whether here, or in the United States, are playing -Germany's game, and, having seen it, he has no hesitation in expressing his opinion in fitting language. Nor has he any doubts as to the issue of the war. He speaks confidently of a time "when Germany shall have been crushed between the upper and nether millstone — between the Colossus of the North and France— and her undaunted but tottering ally, Austria — a house divided into three warring sections against itself — Teuton — Magyar — and Slav — shall have been actually dismembered" ! I wonder how the printer keeps up with the demand for dashes! AMERICA AND THE ALLIES. I hope that in the improbable event that these lines reach Mr. Chaloner's eye, he will forgive me for chaffing him so freely. For I appreciate, as any Englishman must, the deep and sincere sympathy JUPITER T O N A N S for the Allied cause which has dictated these sonnets, and the pas- sionate hatred of the Pru.ssian military machine which breathes through every line of them. And I believe that, for all President Wilson's silence, our sonneteer expresses the feelings of the majority of his fellow-countrymen. America is with us in this struggle. Whether she assures us of her sympathy in the SHATTERING DENUNCIA- TIONS of Mr. Chaloner, or in the gentler cadences of less strenuous voices, we accept and value all that is involved in her support. We understand her problems no better than she understands ours, and perhaps if we were in the place of Mr. Wilson, we should have played no more dramatic part. But it is an immense asset to the cause of the Allies — not only now, but for the future — that the citizens of the United States should have passed judgment upon our enemies as un- mistakably as they have done, and that after full discussion and consideration. America has her quarrel with us over the blockade — a quarrel which foolish folk would have us exacerbate — but it is a quarrel of legal nicety rather than of moral responsibility. With Germany her quarrel — as is abundantly evident in these sonnets — 1» that of civilization, outraged and ravished by Prussian "necessity." Many Americans, as we know, are fretted by their President's impas- sivity. Mr. Chaloner is one of them. He strains at the leash and fumes to be off on the trail. But I think we are justified in assuring him and all who think with him, that we in this country appreciate the sympathy which we know to be ours, and realize the great services which American men and women have already rendered to the cause of humanity in the war. If we wish for something more, that is only natural. But for what we have already received, we are grateful. ARIEL. Hampshire Independent, England, February 10, 1916. "Pieces of Eight" is a long pamphlet, by Mr. John Armstrong Chaloner, the author of "Scorpio," a copy of which is sent us by the publishers, the Palmetto Press, of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, U. S. A. It embodies a sequence of twenty-four war sonnets by Mr. Chaloner, who is "an Anglo-Saxon, who has also the following strains in his veins, namely, Welsh, Scotch, Scotch-Irish, French, Dutch, and German, and whose progenitors sailed from Tenby, in Wales, in 1710, and landed at Charleston, South Carolina," and the writer desires through its pages to unbosom himself upon the present European situ- ation. He is no pro-German. Listen to what he writes about "The Kaiser": — JUPITER TONANS 23 "Thou treaty-breaking, perjured potentate! Blaspheming with thy lips the Ood of Truth Each time that thou dost dare asseverate That 'God is on thy side' — thou great uncouth! The fate of Ananias hangs o'er thee That sword of Damocles o'er thee suspends And in the end thou shalt flat ruined be When in the 'rechnung' thou dost pay amends, Thy mighty ancestor Frederick the Great Turns in his grave at sight of thy foul deed Which makes all true men the name of German hate As synonym for bloodshed and for greed. My German blood doth curse thee to deep Hell A curse as black as rhyme and reason spell". This is dated September First, 1914, so that Mr. Chaloner soon formed his opinion of the Master Hun. His other sonnets — several are in French — are in much the same view, all in denunciation of German treachery and murderous intent, and of praise of the bravery of the heroes of Belgium and of the Allies generally. The Enfield Observer, England, February 19, 1916. , EDITOR'S TABLE. ';• An American Champions The Entente. There is no beating about the bush in the war sonnets by an American, John Armstrong Chaloner, and published under the singular title "Pieces of Eight." Cosmopolitan in blood, he has brought to- gether, within the compass of some fifty pages, scathing condemnation of German war methods, addressing the Kaiser as "Thou treaty-break- ing perjured potentate"; tells supporters of Premature Peace Societies that "Your antics shew what cowards can be found in big America"; and, singing of the British Empire, declares that "The English-speak- ing race for aye is one. And all who brave it to defeat go down.'* Appendix notes which elaborate the themes of the sonnets should leave the reader in no doubt as to which side the writer's sympathies, incline, and amongst various reprints contributed to American jour- nals is a forecast, written August, 1914, that the war will last more like three years than three months; that France will reverse 1870. . . and that France, Russia and Great Britain will become the police JUPITER TONANS force of Europe. This interesting little publication comes from the Palmetto Press, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and is priced at 25 cents. Dorset County Chronicle, England, February 17, 1916. "Pieces of Eight" is the title of a sequence of twenty-four war sonnets by John Armstrong Chaloner (author of "Scorpio"), in which an "Anglo-Saxon with Welsh, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, and German blood, and whose progenitors sailed from Tenby, in 1710," vmbosoms himself upon the European situation. Mr. Chaloner is a well-known American, and in these full-blooded verses he utters scathing contempt for the Hun and all his works. The "pieces" were apparently too much for the New York papers, for they refused pub- lication, and so Mr. Chaloner sends them over here in this form (price: 25 cents). It is a fierce judgment which he passes on the Kaiser: "Scrofulous leper with a withered arm," "crippled German clown," are phrases in one of the sonnets, though the poet is careful to say that he means moral and not Asiatic leprosy. Mr. Chaloner evidently hates the German thoroughly, and he fairly lets himself go. They are clever sonnets, too, and because they are so highly finished they are the more deadly. The book issues from the Palmetto Press, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Monmouth sliire Evening Post. England Wednesday, March 1, 1916. "PIECES OF EIGHT." *'Pieces of Eight" is a sequence of twenty^^four war songs, by John Armstrong Chaloner, author of "Scorpio," published at 25 cents by the Palmetto Press, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. The author, who describes himself as "an Anglo-Saxon who has also the following strains in his veins, namely, Welsh, Scotch, Scotch-Irish, French, Dutch, and German, and whose progenitors sailed from Tenby, Wales, in 1710, and landed at Charleston, South Carolina," is a very emphatic sympathiser with the Allies, and in these sonnets he does not mince his words. He apostrophises the Germans in the very strongest terms, and there is an inclination at times to sacrifice poetry for denuncia- tion. There can be no mistaking the virility of these sonnets, however. JUPITER TONANS 25 The Bridport News, and Dorset, Devon and Somerset Advertiser. Bridport England, February 18, 1916. REVIEWS. Pieces of Eight.— One would naturally conclude that a book bear- ing this title had something to tell us of the Spanish Main and the prizes of the cruel and haughty buccaneers of the 16th and 17th centuries, but it has a far different purpose. As a matter of fact, it is a small volume of twenty-four war sonnets, entitled "The Swine of the Gadarenes," by Mr. John Armstrong Chaloner, and published by the Palmetto Press, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. The title "Pieces of Eight" refers to the first eight sonnets in this sequence, which was refused publication, although offered free, by the New York Herald, the New York American, and the Boston Advertiser. They are cleverly written sonnets in praise of the Allies and in condemnation of the murdering Huns. Sonnet Five which we reproduce, will give an idea of the intensity of feeling against the German outrages on the part of the author, who in this respect, represents the feeling of the civil- ized world. It is addressed: TO THE GERMAN ARMY OFFICERS: Who were your Mothers? The foul hags of Hell? And who your Fathers? Who? Fiends incarnate? And do your sisters, prithee, harlot spell? The premise to this sonnet thus I state. How otherwise could ye foul do a thing That's left to negroes wild, and savages? Outrage so ghastly that the world doth ring With your most Hellish Belgian ravages! Were justice to be done your Kaiser's fall, He and his Hellish brood would be cut off. And your flayed hides would form their funeral pall. In coldest frame I write — not lightsome scoff. Ye act like a band of drunken Malays Who as acts of God rape and arson appraise. The Devon and Exeter Gazette, Exeter, England, February 22, 1916. "Pieces of Eight" is a somewhat strange title to a book of verse, published by The Palmetto Press, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. It is a sequence of twenty-four v,'ar sonnets by John Armstrong Chal- 26 JUPITER TONANS oner. Originally the sequence consisted of eight — hence the title. But others were added without the name being changed. We only can say the poetry is of a strong order — in fact, the author says "nothing but the dire — the awful cataclysm — now unfolding itself on the field of Europe, and our desire to stand by civilization, truth, and honour — as shown by regard for a nation's pledged word in a treaty — could have induced us to brave the possible storm of protest at the strength of our denunciations in 'Pieces of Eight' and accompanying sonnets — or sullen silence of cold disapproval. . . . We aim at the fierceness of Swift when we denounce. How far we fall below the standard of fierceness set forever and in all tongues — bar, possibly, only Juvenal, Voltaire, and Lord Byron — by the mighty Dean of St. Patrick's — is for others to judge." Here is a sample of the poet's aroused feelings. Addressing the Kaiser, he says: — "Thou treaty-breaking, perjured potentate! Blaspheming with thy lips the God of Truth Each time that thou dost dare asseverate That 'God is on thy side' — thou great uncouth! The fate of Ananias hangs o'er thee." But while the pen is dipped in gall to word-paint our enemies, Mr. Chaloner is full of eulogies for the brave Belgians — "Nation of heroes! men proud, superb, and strong — Who for Liberty like water pour your blood! 'Strong as Death for Liberty' is your war song. 'Strong as our faith in Jesus Christ His rood' ". He has some sarcastic lines for England in his sonnet on Lord Roberts — the "stark old warrior and soldier fine," who "foretold Britain's peril line by line." Mr. Chaloner is right — the voice of "Bobs" did cry in the wilderness alone, the people slept the sleep of Laish the lost. "Now for their folly do they dear atone Now do they train armed millions — ah! the cost. Old hero! Thy wise words are writ in blood! Hereafter armed will be British manhood." We wish we could subscribe to the latter sentiment. To-day there is still too much of the policy of "Wait and See" to be at all certain that Britain will ever be armed as she should be. The book is one which will arouse one's feeling's to, at least, a vigorous denunciation of our enemies and a kindly appreciation of the great acts of heroism on the part of our Allies. One feels decidedly better after reading the sonnets. JUPITER TONANS 27 John O'Groat's Journal, Friday, March 10, 1916. And Weekly Adver- tizer for the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, Cromarty, Orkney, and Zetland. LITERATURE. SMASHING SONNETS. "Piecess of Eight" is the somewhat striking title of a large pam- phlet by John Armstrong Chaloner, author of "Scorpio," and issued by the Palmetto Press, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, price 25 cents, or Is. The "Pieces of Eight" are war sonnets, and there are many others, all characterized by extremely vigorous expression, the emphasis of independent thought being more evident even than the poetical quality of the lines. We like Mr. Chaloner's straight hitting, and should like to meet him and say "shake!" In what he calls his prologue he gives the Breakers of Treaties a bit of his mind, and it's to be hoped they'll profit by it. The sonnets and prose letters are even more direct in their sledge-hammer style than the prologue, and if the author aims at the fierceness of Swift when he denounces, he certainly does not fall far below the standard set by "the mighty Dean of St. Patrick's." The general heading of the sonnets is "The Swine of the Gadarenes," and thus he opens: — The swine o' th' Gadarenes are here once more. That demon-haunted herd now scour the earth. Led by Bill William Two, their great wild boar" — Enough said. Athenaeum, London, March, 1916. Chaloner (John Armstrong). Pieces Of Eight: a sequence of 24 war- sonnets. Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, Palmetto Press, 1914. 9 in. 65 pp. pamphlet, 25 cents. A collection of thirty-two violent journalistic sonnets, twenty- nine of which are grouped under the title "The Swine of the Gada- renes." In this invective against the Germans the author takes Swift as his model, and the sledge-hammer as his weapon, but is likely to confuse the reader by filling up so much space (32 pp.) with notes, comments, extracts from newspaper reports, and reviews of his pre- vious work. ERRATA. Sonnet I. "Revamped" should be "vamped up." Sonnet IV. "Lloyd George" is unhyphenated. Page 11, eighth line top, "ideas" should be "idea.'- Page 13, fourth line top, "sonnet" should be "sonnets." Page 13, eleventh line foot, "private-murdering" Is correct Page 14, second line top, insert "peace" between "premature" and "societies." Page 17, third line top, "prediction" should be spelled properly Page 18, thirteenth line top, "as" should be "do." Page IS, eighth line foot, "Huddersfield" should be spelled properly. Page 18, eighth line foot, "London" should be "England" Page 19, eleventh line top, the quotation marks close at "South Carolina." Page 19, twelfth line top, "olla podrida" should be spelled properly. Page 21, the following words should be spelled properly, "squirts," "fakers," "panders," "undodgeable." Page 2.5, eleventh line top, "was" should be "were." Page 25, tenth line foot. "Kaiser's" should be "Kaiser'd."