Evening star., 1900-05-07
ere rather pleased at their

the gunners were rather pleased at their
good shooting.
TT was ar extremely foolish action and
could not possibly serve any purpose; there
was no fighting of any sort in that neigh
borhood or in that flank of the army, and
for several days there had been nothing but
intermittent shells by British guns. to
which the Beers had not replied. 1t could
not be to prevent the enemy observing our
position, the place had always been held
by their pickets and they continued 1t till
driven off by our infantry next day. But
it only shows what thoughtless folly men
even oficers-can sometimes be guilty Of
and warns us that We should not too hastily
raise outcry against Boer wickedness
and treachery until all the facts of the case
have been carefully examined and consid-
cred. The Boer may not always be very
clean. but he is not all bad, or nearly as
black as he has been painted
Kindness to British Wounded.
I'm balancing the accounts also we should
bear in mind the kindness and considera-
ton which the Beers have invariably ex-
tended to our wounded men; they have
given us every possible facility for remov-
ing them from the field, and when they
have fallen into their hands they have
given them all the help that their means
allow. On the battlefield itself and while
the heat of combat was still in their veins
they have performed many small acts of
gentle courtesy. such giving water from
their own water bottles and expressing
cOmmiseration for suffering. They have
given water readily to all who asked for it
and have often refrained from killing when
other foes would have wreaked vengeance
with the bayonet Under these circum-
stances unworthy recrimination on a gal
liant enemy is neither wise nor honorable.
The instances l have quoted and many
more on both sides have been due to mis-
understanding. but there are other cases,
however, which | have not referred to. and
these, unfortunately, l fear will not come
within this category. as they are due to in
dividual folles or faults. or perhaps even
to deliberate treachery.
But they are not fairly to be charged
against an army or a nation. War raises
to the surface the worst passions and vices
of men, and whoever expects soldiers.
whether they be English French. German
or Beers, to act in the heat of battle as a
gentleman would act in a London drawing
room has very little knowledge of the fe-
rocity latent in human nature. When life
and death are the stakes for which men
play chivalry and mercy are easily forgot
ten and the original savage reappearS, not
much changed from the primeval time. l
have lived among soldiers all my life and
seen them in all situations-in peace and
war. in victory and defeat They have
some admirable qualities. but 1 have no
desire to fall into their hands as an enemy
when flushed with success.
The charges of treachery have been gen.
orally made in regard to so many incidents
in different parts of South Africa that 1
cannot pretend to deal with more than a
few, but if all those which have come un-
der my personal observation or about which
l have been able to inquire from trust
worthy people who were present turn out
to be entirely false or grossly misrepre-
sented it becomes unlikely that all or many
of the others are true