The Irish standard., 1901-01-05

lying up in daylight and walking by
night, and on the sixth day mana ged
to board Il train beyond Middlcburg.
hid under coal sacks again. and. in
spite of the train being searched. ar
rived safe and sound ut Koomatipoort
after sixty hours of misery.
1t is true that the Boer authorities
told mo that they had let Churchill 20.
as they subsequently let George Lynch
90, and they even designated the de
tectivc who had arranged To have the
door open for his escape: but then
South Africa is Il land of lies.
kiplng is too great man to be
dealt with in Il section of IL small ar
ticle. | will only say that my admira-
| ton for his gcni,ls--:ls revealed. for
instance. in the jungle Book" -suf-
fcls rude shock when | pcrusc his
latter-day heroic poems. "The .Ab-
scnt-mindcd Bcggar' is better than
doggrcl, and its extraordinary popr-
larity in England should again warn
us OF the impossibility of obtaining Il
cool Judgment OH any aspect of this
war from sources so stepped in prei,,-
dice. Kipliny seems to have uevcl-
opcd tone of remarkable turbulence
in South Africa, and he advocates the
most terrible measures; but | cannot
think that this is serious. Kipliny is
good-hcarted and sensitive: there is
even certain tone of dccadcncc in his
fibre: and it is in vain that he whips
himself up to fury to persuade us that
he is Il sort of second Weylcr. or Il man
OF blood and iron. These fcrociticS
are merely verbal and artistic The
real ruflian seldom boasts of his bru-
taiity. Even Il soldier like Kitchener
is not avid of the fame which should
accrue to him in is projected campaign
of ''paciicutlon" in South Africa. for
he begins by sending away I'LL the cor
respondents. doubt greatly that he
would be pleased to he accompanied
even ny such an admircr of force us
Rudyard Kipling.
Almost as famous as Kipliny as Il
literary man is Conan Doyle. the Gro
ator of Sherlock Holmes and still moro
instructive in his account of matters
ut the front. Neither Rndyard Kip
ling nor Conan Doyle are war cores
pondcntS at all in the sense that the
term was formerly understood. They
have collected most of their Informal
ton. and noted their Impressions. ut
tho second line Conan Doylr'S mar
rhtivr iSr not only interesting to tho
ordinary reader. hut the good doctor
takes in hand the military authorities
and reads them a few lessons on the
organization of an army and the con-
duct of war. In doing SO he has bccm
taxed in some quarters with preSumll-
tion but If Il man speak logically and
| to the point II is absurd to cnvil at the
uniform or gown that he wears. Conan
Doyle looked ut the business with the
eyes of common sense: and the opera
tions Of the army he followed. guided
by s'rrrotyprh rules. properly ahso-
lctc for thrcc-,lunrtcrs of Il century.
were often SO nhsurt!ly at variance
with ordinary intelligence that his
criticisms are justified.
Ono of Conan Doylc's descriptions is
worth quoting by way of contrast to
that Of Julian Ralph. which | shall
subsequently cite: at was only Gen
Smith Dorricll's brigade. watched
them, rugged, bearded. licrcc-cych III
fnntry. struggling under II cloud Of
dust Who could have conceived, who
had seen tho prime soldier in the tim"
of peace, that he could SO quickly
transform himself into this grim,
virilc barbarian? Bulldog faces. hawk
faces. hungry wolf faces, every sort
of face except a weak one" He
speaks of them as "mnncd like lions"
and compares them to American cow
boys.
All that makes II good picture, aud
Conan Doylc's book is altogether, in
my opinion, one of the best published
on the war ] would. however. rX-
press one cnvrnt He speaks Of the
war, some months ago. as being over.
That is hardly consistent with the cry
of some of the Cape papers and Lon
don jingu journals of greater forces
ana their discomfort with the prrmn
tl!rc diShnnding of the colonial troops
or with Lord Roberts statement that
not II man can be spared from South
Africa.
Julian Ralph has of late been at
tackled by prD-EngliSll ana prO-Borrs.
it appears, ana he defends himself val
iantlyand says that by his inrpnrtinlity
he twill earn the disnpproval of the
mirrnScOpic-hcatlcd ct-brAnrd pcu-
plc.' This is sweeping and very So
we're on myself as well as II good few
Americans who We're formerly his adj
mircrs. Julian Ralph is such genial
individual, his Intentions are so good.
and the result is sometimes so con-
trnry to his intentions, that cxplnna-
lions should be diligently sought. !
have been reading his later articles,
and dukes and duchcsses and titled
| pnnr1f rnnnrnlIy damon In,1f hic ,,n,rnc,