The Only Difference In The Point Of View Of
The Briton From Britain And The Briton From The Ends Of The Earth,
Was That The Latter With The Energy Of Youth Was More Whole-Souled
In The Imperial Cause.
Who has seen that Army and can forget
it - its spirit, its picturesqueness - above all, what it stands for
in the future history of the world?
Cowboys from the vast plains of
the North-West, gentlemen who ride hard with the Quorn or the
Belvoir, gillies from the Sutherland deer-forests, bushmen from the
back blocks of Australia, exquisites of the Raleigh Club or the
Bachelor's, hard men from Ontario, dandy sportsmen from India and
Ceylon, the horsemen of New Zealand, the wiry South African
irregulars - these are the Reserves whose existence was chronicled
in no Blue-book, and whose appearance came as a shock to the pedant
soldiers of the Continent who had sneered so long at our little
Army, since long years of peace have caused them to forget its
exploits. On the plains of South Africa, in common danger and in
common privation, the blood brotherhood of the Empire was sealed.
So much for the Empire. But what of South Africa? There in the end
we must reap as we sow. If we are worthy of the trust, it will be
left to us. If we are unworthy of it, it will be taken away.
Kruger's downfall should teach us that it is not rifles but Justice
which is the title-deed of a nation.
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