New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-11-09
BRITONS AND BOERS.
rpyprrNE.s TREATMENT OF THE
TWO PEOPLEs-BRITIsH sNoB-
BISHNESS
~. Editor of The Tribune.

w.. q as essential in a letter TO the eo'tor
20 70 che poets Hail. Muse" etc
an admirer then. OF The Tribune, nave
cr,eved TO note the tone in which 1t has
,a,s discussed the difficulty between Great
~-,,o,r and the Transvaal There may exist an
.s+ difference OF opinion as to the merits
no controversy which has led to the out
.,ostuities You seem to think the Beers
w. ,rrong: that their civilization is degrading
o., their rule oppressive. venture to express
49, onnion that the war was forced upon the
r.s,svaal by the Vaccinations OF millionaire
..,,urer whose hands are still reeking with
-. Mood OF the Jameson raid. and by the
~,,,v ,ntrisues Of a Birmingham upstart VINO.
~,.,,ne public life to the cry OF seven acres
has landed with all the ardor OF an
81. .'.,o,s convert and with all the vulgar osten-
o., ~ q parvenu in the Cabinet Of Conserva-
' '" government. But. as to this there may be.
.,r,,t a difference Of opinion. You are en-
.,.,,a n YOURS and am entitled to mine
MD be greatly surprised however. to learn
-. yours is the opinion Of the vast majority
:. ,,s American people" II 1t were. should
., American love Of fair play and NOR
atty. .,
:, - against the manner IN which you speak
49, poers that take the liberty Of protest
70 Won say in your issue Of the LIST inst:
a. rritor Is not strong enough TO whip ten
oU,chmsn. That does not seem to be starting
5,oosition II expresses however. the glst OF
llopssoidadlv startling news from South Africa
tNe la in our special cable dispatches from
11Irndon Yesterday and more fully again to-day.
- sonoe ra-Jingo takes exception to IT, per-
saos we might modify II so as 10 say the one 10
-ae s,rong enough TO take the aggressive against
~, .bo ,en on their chosen ground. If any
rns,scrIptum be desired II may be found in the
ss,a,srrent that guns which will shoot four miles
sre better than those which Will shoot only
tbree Likewise that small force In secure
Lace confronted by vastly superior force. but
ssrtain soon TO be amply reinforced. should re-
main on the defensive until reinforcements ar
1--WE That Is about ALL
Now. may ask If "one BPiton is not strong
enough to whip ten Dutchmen." how many can
he lick? Nine. eight. seven, FIVE, or three? /
should not venture to suggest that 1t might take
ten Englishmen 10 whip one Boer but the
thought. you will admit. may at least be In
dulged in. in view Of the proposition; and. while
do not pretend to be much Of anthropolog-
zeal arithmetcian myself capable OF demon
strating the proposition that
10 Englishmen=1 Boer.
should like 10 learn. and other OF your read
ers no doubt would. too, what your views are
on the subject.
Seriously speaking. think you are OUTING
fishing the English in their absurd braggartism
"a trait in the English character TO which
Thacksray adverted more than once in his writ
!ngs Permit me TO quote few extracts from
Chapter XXI Of THE Book Of Snobs." which
seems 10 fit the present case
We are accustomed to laugh at the French for
their braggadocio propensities. and intoerable
vanity about la France. Ia gloire. lEmpereur.
and the like: and yet ! think in my heart that
the British Snob. for conceit and sufflciency
and braggartism. in his way, is without a paral-
lei. We are better than all the world;
we don't question the opinion at ALL it's an
axiom. We are the first chop Of the
world: we know the fact so well in our secret
hearts that claim set up elsewhere Is simply
. Did you never hear Colonel
Cutler and Major Slasher talking over the war
after dinner? Or Captain Boarder describing his
action with the "Indomptabie"? Hang the fell
lows" says Boarder, their practice very
good ! beat off three times before l took
her" "Cuss those carabineers Of Mhauds."
says Sasher. what work they made of
hight cavalry implying q sort OF surprise that
the Frenchmen should stand up against Britons
al all good natured wonder that the blind,
mad. vainglorious. brave poor devils should act
ualy have the courage TO resist an Englshman.
. When Nicholas came here. who reviews
quarter Of a million Of pairs Of mustaches to his
breakfast every morning. took him off TO
Windsor and showed him two whole regiments
o. six or eight hundred Britons apiece. with an
that. Those are Engishmen. those are, and
your master whenever you please" as the nur-
ssry song says. The British Snob Is long. long
past scepticism. and can afford to laugh quite
good humoredly at those conceited Yankees, or
tsotted little Frenchmen. who set up models
Smankind. They. forsooth.
And further on he says
he two warriors waggling their old heads
each other. presently Joined breakfast and
ri into conversation. and We had the advantage
Charming about the old war and some pleas
sn conjectures as to the next, which they con-
iisred imminent. They psha'd the French fleet;
tey pooh -pooh'd the French commercial marine;
hey showed how, in a war. there would be
''con ga cordong. by y OF steamers along
car coast and. "by -" ready at a minute to
nd anywhere on the other shore. to give the
s'ench as good a thrashing as they got in the
&t war. "by -.
There Is much else that II might be profitable
quote. but forbear. "Rcvenons nos mou-
IONS"
TO speak Of President Kruger as you have
cone, or 10 repeat with unctuous approval the
British Judgment of the Beers as being "igno-
'ant and "superstitious." comes, 1t seems to
me- With III grace from American who. II he
u not, certainly should be, proud OF his an
esslors who faced British guns at Lexington
ana Concord. and faced them to some purpose
..e tnglishmen OF their day. no doubt, spoke
u our ancestors as jays and farmers" but
wal CID not save them from ultimately being
compelled to surrender to them. The plain
sush s. Tommy Atkins has talked so much
ana 50 long that he has finished by believing
nsna great deal better and Drawer than the
. .s o. the world. And why shouldn't he, when
s,,ssy time he is called upon to chase Ten
.~r sSs.s he can find Kipling to celebrate the
, spol In verse and song? There have been
e omar charges in history. and forlorn hopes
r. desperate and picturesque as that AT
hs~s but unfortunately. the participants
d. found Tennyson TO immortallze lhe
sbou;, Is but natural. then. that II. a.
is..a OCCASIONALLY (and his admirers win hihD
r. s.oMe ya,nglorous or talk. as your London cor
piyyoncent did only last Sunday, OF Sir KedVers
rTT's parade from Cape Town TO Pretoria,
p,,. mistake not the French cried. too. a
,s..nnn twice within the last two hundred
i,sss' and pretty promptly found their ROSS
ss,r n an, ana Sedan. Still. you may say they were
Az n,tle "besotted" Frenchmen. Your Tommy
M, sI would have done differently; he would
nor Tor the rest refer you again to Thackeray:
wban,att concern OF ours is this war anyway!