• This is a letter overflowing with pain. It is a cry sent up by a prisoner from the depths of his darkness, appealing to woman — who worked to remove the foreign intruder and to lift the nightmare of oppression from the breast of the country — to work today to lift the nightmares of pain pressing upon the breasts of these prisoners who live in the darkness of chains, that they may return to their mothers and their children. And we in our turn raise this complaint to those responsible, in the hope that they may look into the condition of these poor men:

Madam, proprietor of The Woman's Voice,

This is a resounding cry rising from souls that have been stricken by injustice and grief, and have endured pains and ailments, want and deprivation.

Madam,

The greatest credit, in the days of struggle, belongs to you, in remov-ing the intruder; therefore we come to appeal to your conscience and your heart, that you may stand by us in our harsh ordeal, so that we may be released and return to our mothers and our homeless children.

Several occasions have come to the country: the first, the unveiling of the Rock of Evacuation; the second, the return of the remains of Emir Bashir to the soil of the homeland; the third, complete independence; and lastly, the renewal of the presidency for His Excellency the exalted President of the Republic.

Hence we have the right to demand our release, that we may return to the service of our homeland and work against every aggression upon the homeland.

Your tenderness, your compassion, and your aid.

The prisoner of the Citadel — the Damascene journalist Hasan Adib al-Shawkatli

• From Miss Daad Kayali, as she gazes at a picture of the late King Faisal I lying on his deathbed. In this piece Miss Kayali sends a splendid remembrance that awakens in souls the echo of that era in which Faisal the Great was the goal toward which Arab eyes were turned.

"O picture laden with memories, you are truly a book filled with hopes and dreams.

Ah, picture: I can scarcely bear to look at you, for you are too majestic and too holy even to be looked upon..

And you, O closed mouth, sunk in a sea of silence and stillness:

What sweet, stately speech used to pour from between your lips, O mouth?

Alas! Where is that word you so often uttered, giving safety to the fearful and comfort to the stranger? 'My brother.'

What a magnificent word, embrac-ing humanity and containing it.

What a noble word, coming from between the lips of a noble king!

Ah, his quiet heart: how long you beat with love for a generous people, and how long you suffered for its sake!.."

• And this is a letter from Mosul, from Miss Ramziyya Ahmad Izza, sent to one of the members of the editorial committee of The Woman's Voice... It is indeed a splendid piece, in which appears the spirit of the ardent Iraqi girl who has begun to feel her national duty as strongly as any girl can feel it.

"And how magnificent was that Arab mother whom Miss Ramziyya presented as a noble example of national loftiness.

And The Woman's Voice is grateful to Mrs. A. Najjar for allowing it to publish some passages of this letter:

"What your letter contained of news, and of what the Lebanese people are doing for beloved Palestine, delighted me and filled my heart... This is our hope... God bless you and fulfill the hopes of all, and spare us the evil of the usurp-ing enemy... For we are all equal in this field. The homeland is one, the country is dear, and the defense must be shared, just as the help must come from all — otherwise death is more fitting for us...

I see the Iraqi girl blazing with enthusiasm, the blood running hot and burning in her veins... asking to take part and to help in the Palestine question, however dear the price... And in saying this I make no exception of the Iraqi

woman — unlettered or educated — for all are loyal Arab women and encouraging countrywomen... Here is an example:

I saw an Arab mother at the railway station bidding farewell to her only son, who was going off to the struggle in Palestine... She stood firm of heart, her eye never blinking... I heard her, as did every-one who was present, encouraging him with burning words... And more than that, when the train moved off, carrying away the piece of her heart... she began now to trill with joy and now to cry out, saying, 'Take courage, my son, and raise your country's head high.' So tell me, by God, how does she differ from al-Khansa?...

This is one example I recount to you out of many examples that prove the extent of the national consciousness and the patriotic spirit at work in the souls of all... May God fulfill the hopes of all...

The Children's Protection Society, Mosul branch, began about three months ago to collect donations to help Palestine, and the members of the administrative body, with their president, the wife of the mayor, went around to every house and knocked on every door until they had collected a sum of nearly 2,200 dinars, among it a gold lira and some bracelets and rings, etc.... And now the same society is helping the Red Crescent Society, the men's branch in Mosul, whose president is the elder Khayr al-Din Bey al-Umari (the mayor), by buying cloth and sewing women's clothing for the refugee women, and likewise sewing clothes for the soldiers, from shirts to underclothing, etc.... And so, after the examinations, which will end with the end of the current month, all the schools and the institutions of the Children's Protection Society and the Red Crescent will become houses of sewing and cutting to help Palestine, and tomorrow morning we shall begin the actual work."

• And from Miss Fatima Abbas of Latakia, a letter about the Alawite woman — that being who is all but forgotten, all but a neglected thing in Syrian society. In this article Miss Fatima Abbas reveals that rich soul in the Alawite woman, who wishes to express her will, but society always rises against her.

Miss Abbas said, among the things she said in her good letter:

"The Alawite woman has not yet entered the arena of social life, while we see woman in Lebanon and Damascus and in all the Arab