Peace on Earth By Helen Welshimer MEN fight again, God, in the eastern meadows So near the fields where shepherds watched their sheep That, night when angel voices made a hymning That wakened them from startled, frightened sleep. Peace on the earth, good will to men forever, The song went on, the Prince of Peace has come! Two thousand years have passed since that first chanting There is no peace, no rest, no muffled drum. TONIGHT the war clouds shut away the Heavens. And dim the glowing star that swung so high; Around the world the bugles call to battle, Ships guard the coast and men ride up the sky. We bring no answer to the angel chorus Who asked one night for brotherhood of men. We held a vision once of peace forever; This Christmas, God, give us the dream again! Benjamin Bell (1749 to1806) Scotch surgeon and one of the first in Edinburgh to seek means to prevent or diminish pain in surgical operations. In his System of Surgery he described several methods but the introduction of ether and chloroform superseded them sixty years later.\