It is hard for the big man to draw away from the small before blows are struck but when the big man has been knocked down three times it is harder still.

An overwhelming British force was in the field, and the General declared that he held the enemy in the hollow of his hand.

Our military calculations have been falsified before now by these farmers, and it may be that the task of Wood and Roberts would have been harder than they imagined; but on paper, at least, it looked as if the enemy could be crushed without difficulty.

So the public thought, and yet they consented to the upraised sword being stayed.

With them, as apart from the politicians, the motive was undoubtedly a moral and Christian one.