With all the grumbling of our old soldiers, there is always some reservation of the sort at the end of it.  Of course, those who are familiar with our ways of getting things done would understand that a good deal of the croaking is a means of getting our little army increased, or at least preventing its being diminished.  But whatever the cause, the result has been the impression abroad of a “contemptible little army.”  Whatever surprise in the shape of 17-inch howitzers or 900-foot Zeppelins the Kaiser may have for us, it is a safe prophecy that it will be a small matter compared to that which Sir John French and his men will be to him.

But above all I look forward to the development of our mounted riflemen.  This I say in no disparagement of our cavalry, who have done so magnificently.  But the mounted rifleman is a peculiarly British product—­British and American—­with a fresh edge upon it from South Africa.  I am most curious to see what a division of these fellows will make of the Uhlans.  It is good to see that already the old banners are in the wind, Lovat’s Horse, Scottish Horse, King Edward’s Horse, and the rest.  All that cavalry can do will surely be done by our cavalry.  But I have always held, and I still very strongly hold, that the mounted rifleman has it in him to alter our whole conception of warfare, as the mounted archer did in his day; and now in this very war will be his first great chance upon a large scale.  Ten thousand well-mounted, well-trained riflemen, young officers to lead them, all broad Germany, with its towns, its railways and its magazines before them—­there lies one more surprise for the doctrinaires of Berlin.

The Need of Being Merciless

By Maurice Maeterlinck.

From The London Daily Mail.

At these moments of tragedy none should be allowed to speak who cannot shoulder a rifle, for the written word seems so monstrously useless and so overwhelmingly trivial in face of this mighty drama that will for a long time and maybe forever free mankind from the scourge of war—­the one scourge among all that cannot be excused and that cannot be explained, since alone among all scourges it issues entirely from the hands of man.

But it is while this scourge is upon us—­while we have our being in its very centre—­that we shall do well to weigh the guilt of those who committed this inexpiable crime.  It is now, when we are in the awful horror, undergoing and feeling it, that we have the energy and clearsightedness needed to judge it.  From the depths of the most fearful injustice justice is best perceived.  When the hour shall have come for settling accounts—­it will not be long delayed—­we shall have forgotten much of what we have suffered and a censurable pity will creep over us and cloud our eyes.

Will Seek Sympathy.