, 1877-07-07
'l'ne JsmlorimI 0Q' ihe British
ArIsy.

i"-' NiIl''l In"lN ~ ''Il'' w Ii'l'll NlNNlSC
from his ,r,k OF returning thanks for the
British army, ut the Board OF Works
bnuQuet on Saturday, to speak Of the
splendid rescue just accomplished IN the
/ Tynewydd coIlcry. "lf you would re
tlrct,' said the Secretary OF War to his
hearers, "upon the stuff Of which the
army is made, would refer You to that
which, think, no one could have rcad
this dag without emotion, or without II
feeling OF pride in thinking that such men
as these heroic miners fill the ranks OF
our army. The dangers in battle are
| great but they are COM ensated for by
the enthusiasm which is excited hy sur.
rounding circumstances but in the
darkness Of mine, with unknown hor-
roIs which may burst forth at any
moment, when you find men--in the calm
rcsoute recognition Of their duty
working on, hour after hour and day
after day, with the sole view OF rescuing
ii few of their comrades from Il painful
and horrible death when you find that
at the last supreme moment, with un
known dangers before them from air,
from water, and from gas, those men
went forward, some eight of them, in the
same spirit that animated our soldiers on
board the Bir&enhead, nobly dscharging
their duty to God and man--when you
have such material for any army you
need not be afraid to trust it in the field +,
That is undoubtedly one of the reflections
inspired by the gallant delverancc effect
ed on Friday, aud, though it would es-
peclally recommend itself to the war
minister of the nation, there is in the idea
nevertheless, matter for general pride and
pleasure. 1t was said of Colonel Armine
Mountain that il he had been hacked in
battle into twenty pieces, every piece
would have died British gentleman (;
and such AN event MS this most memora-
BILE and gratifying rescue might wei ex.
cuse the boast that whenever some sud
den need calls upon the rank and file of
British manhood the work.o'day stuff
answer to the historic sample. Then the
gold comes out bright and beautiful
from the native rock; ; and there is pretty
surely the conscience, the courage, the
profound recognition of duty, the quiet
sternness OF mind to discharge it, and,
most and best ofall, the spirit of fellow
ship which have made our annals what
they are. Mr.. Hardy is right. With a
store to draw upon in the thick of the
population like that exhibited by those
glorious pitmen OF Pontypridd, War
Minister of England need not envy the
mob like armies of other nations. lie
can rely on his raw material, upon its
standing proof; for go where he will
ny, as low down and apparetly with as
little selection as has often been the case
the British bred metal comes forth
with the British bred flesh and bone.
Those sea-lions who stood around and
fought with Nelson at the Nile md Ira
tagar, were the waits and strays Of our
seaports. Those boys who laughed death
IN the face at Quartre Bras--as Miss
Ihompson's fine battle-piece depicts for
us-were gathered from cowsheds and
pIough-tails The soldiers OF Birken
head were recruited at hazard and these
Welsh mners-whose names are so pa.
thctlcaIy common that we blunder as we
try to discriminate hero from hero, con-
tuslng Jenkinses, Morgans, andThomases
Were but an ordinary band of the col
Iier class. Yet when duty blows her
clear and sacred clarion in their simple
ears how they all fall in; :" how they
know what man must do, being Eng
Ilshmen;' how little need there is to tell
these patient and worthy common
people that the time has come to be nm
common, even to the point of dying, as
saints and martyrs and epic heroes have.
died, London Daily 7eiegabh.
-.
A EprmOniypp mazda tho. ,.,,,,,,t.,