, 1868-06-30

power of the enemy upon whom they
were CHARGING. or understood in the least
the impossible nature of that wall OF
Ieaden spray with which a civilized army
protects itself against the rush OF mere
bule courage. The moment they felt 1t
the AbvSsinian soldIerv became towards,
as incapable of further resistance as E0-
ropeanS are of standing up to thunder
bolts. They felt under that wltherIng
storm of she'll land bolts, and balls, before
that machine ~iinglng 900 bullets every
ten seconds. as the men of the 33rd would
have felt if called on to face the lightning
as if they were asked for imposSlhiIltIts'
for a courage which was not courage, but
a madness or a blasphemy. Even Iheo.
dore himself, clearly a man OF splendid
bravery, asked in despair, us he picked up
a rocket tube, "What can | be expected TO
do aoains, men so armed p The soIdlery
after their flight never attempted resist
ance. They did not muliny, they did not
censure, they bore being shot down by
the Kings own hand 'but," says one
writer, evidently on the authority OF the
prisoners, thpy"literally stood trembling"
not only indi<posed to action, but lncap-
able oft. Thousands gave up their arms
on SeIasSee without a struggle, hundreds
skunk down the mountain, hundreds more
Invested themselves of their arms and
stood passive within the fortress, waiting
as men wait for a decree OF Heaven.
Barely ten men were able even to seem
to resist the assault, and they met death
with their King as they would have met
it from executIonerS, braveIy but hope
lesSly, without killing a single soldier.
The very thought Of resistance, The bare
idea of Responsibility, seems to have de-
parted from them till they were as power
less as children or, TO repeat an idea we
want to drive home, as we should all be
if we knew that all earthquake or an eX-
pIosion of nitroglycerine were at hand and
unavoidable. The bravest OF us then
would at best be passive, at best accept
onietly whatever God might send, and
that is the feeling a civilized victory of
this kind produces among ASIatlcS. The
white man has won at PIaS>ey, ana din
docs in Dacca bury their useless swords
The stunning fire OF SnidcrS kept up upon
the gate Of Maedala was, we dare say, as
one of the correspondents alleges very
useful, though it hurt nobody. 1t kept
IN the awe of irresistible power, The sense
that resistance was useless, the resolve
to be passive aud expect, which actuated
all within The fort except Theodore and
his personal friends. Why Aslatlcs should
suffer this paralysis of courage, under
circumstances which would make Euro
peans fight like overdriven wolves, it is
hard to explain but the fact is certain
so certain that we doubt if there is an IN
stance of an Asiatic force, unless sustain
ed by a religious impulse, reforming after
a defeat by Europeans. They are as
brave as we are, as brave, many of them,
as any people can be, meet death when
resolved to die as if it were a relief Yet
it is as certain as any historic fact can be
that the very Punjaubees who, weary of
Brown Bess, charged so calamity with
the bayonet, the very man who, shot
through the thigh, refused to be carried
off because he had not emplied his car
tridge-pouch and could empty it sitting,
l.