The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-06-29

London, England,"Generdi 0iHuIo has been the guest of both houses or { Parliament at g. dinner given in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords. There was a large and brilliant gath ering representing both Lords and Commons. Lord French, who presid- ed, said that the eminent general whom they were entertaining was not ] only a highly successful commander in the field, but great lawyer and < &reat statesman. He was glad or Che opportunity of recalling the time when he had the great honor of op- | posing General Shuts in the field, when, with consummate bravery ana ability, that general commanded the tBoer forces during the South African War He had had the best reason, said General French, 90 feel and ap- { ;preciate General Shuts power and 1, ability as an opponent. ''If you be great general" said Sulla to Marius, "cone and fight me-" If you be a great general" replied Marius. to Sul- la, ''compel me to fight you.'' Al- I though their. distinguished guest had had every disadvantage in the way of numbers, arms, transport and supply, yet day after day, month after month The had eluded all attempts to bring him to a decisive action and had i- pressed General French, far more than any opponent he had ever known, with his power as great commander and leader of men.
 The British army had, he hoped and believed. fairly earned a reputa- tion for conducting war with chiya1- ry land he rejoiced to look back and realize how their enemy of that time, under the command of such men as Botha and Shuts, continually vied with the in the maintenance of those finer sentiments which brave enemies should always cultivate. Lord French went ont to allude to the campaign in East Africa as another instance of General Shuts military powers. It was an extraordinary fact that some of the greatest soldiers in history had not made the profession of arms Their chief study. Their guest of tonight would go down in history with the other. great men who were examples of what was meant by born leaders lof men. He did not know, said Lord French, whether he were prouder of having crossed swords with General Shuts or fought at his side: Both as ian opponent and as friend he had taught them all great lessons.
 General Shuts said he could not express how deeply he appreciated the honor due him. Ever since he had arrived in that country he had met with nothing but the greatest Kindness and hospitality. From the government he had received many marks of confidence which he had endeavofed to requite by giving them his frank and honest views on every question. When he returned to South Africa he should be able to tell them there that he had been received by the people inssEnslandSsn not as a guest or a welcome stranger, but simply as one of themselves. speaking some what with a different accent and lay ing different emphasis on many things as no doubt became a barbar- ian from the outer marches of the Empire. He was very grateful to Lord French for his words of eu1ogy which he felt were undeserved, but which he accepted as coming from an old opponent and comrade in arms s General Shuts then recalled an in cident in South Africa when. being very hard pressed, he had been the only one of his companions to extri- tcate himself safely from most dan tgerous position, and two days after. ward he had, with small force, beer Ion the point of crossing a railway fwhen they heard a train coming They stood by the side of the line and lei Ithe train pass; his feelings might be imagined when he heard afterwar6 that the only freight on that trair had been Lord French. If he had no missed that chance, Lord French, or that occasion, would have been his guest. He had learnt many lesson.
 in those strenuous and difficult days said General Shuts, one of which wal that under the stress of great diff .culties, such as they were then pass ling through, the only feelings whicf survived were the simple human feel iings of loyalty to their fellows, com
 radeship and patriotism. They could lseehow these simple human feeling, land loyalty and respect for their op
 popents on both sides had led to { inew basis on which to build the lar
 ger South Africa they had today
 He was sure that in the presen
 great struggle they would see tn, same causes leading to like result
 They had young men gathered iron iall parts of the British Empire on tn,
 battlefields of Europe and the othe fields of war. While the statesmen were planning great schemes of unio1
 for the future of the Empire his feel ing was that their work was alread, largely done. It was essential tha
 even in this struggle, even when Eur iope was looming so much before thei
 eyes, they should keep steadily befor, them the problem of the whole situa
 tion.. He asked them not to forget in these times, the British Common wealth of nations. Europe would no continue to loom so large in view a lit did at present. He was glad tn tImperial Conference had been callet
 at this time, for it was not only Eur
 ope they had to consider but the flu
 ture of the great Commonwealth t. ! which they belonged This Common
 wealth was not compact territory
 but dependent on worldwide com
 nunications which must be maintain
 ed, or the Empire would go to pieces
 They could see what had happene, rin the years of peace behind them
 everywhere on their communication the Germans had settled down, an,
 the day might come when they woul
 be in danger because their lines o
 communication were cut.
 As result of the war Germany ha. 4 been swept from all the sea and al
 the continents except Central Europe
 While Germany had been gainin
 ground in Central Europe, she ha
 been swept clear from the rest of tn
 world When peace came they shout
 go carefully into the question of wha
 was necessary for their future secur