New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-25
GENERAL CRONJE.

Mr. Kipling's apt characterization of Fuzzy
Wuzzy" appears to express the current BRUSH
opinion of General Cronje, to wit, "a pore be-
nighted eathen but a first class fghtin' man."
The British do not like the Boer General They
say he has a constitutional objection TO bathing.
They recall performance Of his In 1880 which
they hold to have been little short of murder.
They say be fires on hospitals and disregards
flags of truce He did not appreciate the airy
persfiage" of Colonel Baden-Powell at Mafek-
ing and quite lost his temper at Kimberley.
And so forth. We do not care to pass upon the
truth or untruth of these charges. So far as Is
here known there has been little in his career
hitherto 10 differentiate him materially from the
average Boer. He has not shown the polish OF
a courtier nor the savagery of a cannibal. And
If the British dislike him, why, he also dislikes
them with equal fervor.
Upon one point, however quite sure
the British estimate of him is correct. That is,
that he has made a splendid fight since leaving
Kimberley and has risen to something like
heroic proportions. Our London correspondent
tells that every journal in that city expresses
hearty admiration for the infexible courage
with which he has stood at bay against fearful
odds, and that in praise of him they have act
ually forgotten the remarkable achievements of
their generals. Beyond doubt, General
Cronje is entitled TO unstinted praise. His mid
night march up the Modder River, from the
point where he set a death trap for Lord
Methuen to that at which he found himself in
such a trap, was conducted with great skill.
Certainly it not less creditable, perhaps
more creditable, than General Yule's much
praised march from Dundee TO Ladysmith. AS
for his resistance at Paardeburg-what shall be
said of It? Surrounded practically open
plain. with cover and chance to make
nv i'm Gig
OF his own, his camp the centre of a circle of
fire from guns Of all types little more than
mile away, his position has APPLY been lkened
to that in the crater Of a volcano. Six hundred
British troopers won immortal fame by riding
through valley Of DEATH But this man and
his comrades have been for a week encamped
in the very heart of such a valley. Whatever
he may have done before, and whatever shall
be his ultimate fate, General Cronje has in this
campaign shown himself man, warrior and
hero. Matched against of the greatest
soldiers in the world, he has shown himself a
worthy anita onist.
Mr. Ford remarks in his cable letter that this
revulson of feeling toward General Cronje is
peculiarly English 1t probably is. We do
not think It is exclusively English, but il must
be confessed that 1t seems to be more often and
more strongly manifested in Great Britain than
elsewhere. What brave fellows" cried old
Kaiser Wilhelm. observing a gallant perform
ance Of some French troops at Sedan But
neither In Germany nor in France was there
anything like popular admiration for the IN
doubted vaor Of the foe. We are not at all sure
that we Americans always give our antagonists
their full need of credit. We are too apt to
deem our own men all heroes and the enemy all
towards or cutthrOats. Whether ii be the ma
tional love of fair play or the national combat
1veness of spirit which causes appreciation of
good tighter, or what else II is certain that the
British have generally been inclined to recog-
nize in an exceptional degree the good qualities
or those with whom they are at war And the
fact is especially to be welcomed at this time
as an earnest Of what spirit of Cancellation will
follow this unhappy war. It is quite true that
| ever since 1881 Britons and Beers have failed
TO appreciate one another. The British have re-
! garded the Beers as half savages. TO be swept
aside by single regiment. The Beers who re-
| garded what Gladstone meant for magDanimitv
as sheer cowardice and weakness, have despised
| the British and all English speaking people
| Ihis war has opened the eyes of both. II has
substituted esteem for contempt And there
lore instead of its causing long race hatreds II
VIII probably do the very reverse II will re-
suit IN such mutual esteem as will lead 70 good
Fellowship and mutual recognition Of eouaI
rights In all South Africa