Courage of the highest proof as regards personal danger, but not the courage that throws away the scabbard, much less that which burns its ships.

The hunter, meeting superior strength with superior cunning, without even the very least willingness to lose his life in order to carry his end, may be brave even to recklessness; but he rejects habitually the tone of mind distinctive of the soldier, who counts life naught if only by its sacrifice the end may be attained, or honour preserved.

In so far, that element of stupidity which has been somewhat lavishly attributed to the British officers' too single-minded attention to their end, to the exclusion of care for their own persons and those of their men, has a military value not only great, but decisive.

The {p.201} quality needs direction and control, certainly; but, having been reproached for now two centuries, the question is apt--Where has it placed Great Britain among the nations of the earth?
The assault of November 9 began, as is usual in such cases, with a heavy artillery fire, intended to shake the endurance of those subjected to it.

The Boer guns opened at 4 A.M., and under their cover the assailants moved forward.