WAR NOTES FROM LONDON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 51, 1 March 1901, Page 5

WAR NOTES FROM LONDON.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

LONDON, January IS BABBLE ABOUT "BOBS."

Since Lord Roberts' return we ha.vc been flooded with reminiscences and pars about him and his staff and his Indian orderlies, who pronounced England "plenty good, but plenty cold."

The suggestion, not a bad one, is made that we should erect a statue of the Commander-in-Chief on the pedestal in Trafalgar Square, that seems tc be waiting to receive it, and i.v compauv with Lord Nelson, General Gordon" Sir Charles Napier, and Sir Henry llaveiock.

As a foil to the extravagant eulogies that have been pronounced on the adored hero, "Finis Coronat Opus" in the '"Times" says that, "it is a matter for serious reflection whether a healthily active sense of proportion can justify the bestowal on Lord Roberts at this juncture of the noblest public honours and eulogy in a profusion that has scarceh' been exceeded in the case of any heroes of the past —not even in the ease of those heroes who have received, decorations and eulogy after their servi-ces to the State had issued in results of absolute and indisputable finality. Much as Lord Roberts has done in the way of executing' the heavy task -which he was despatched from this country to perform, he has returned home without bringing his work to a. conclusion. Yet tin: rewards and applause which are now showered upon him could be no greater nor more imposing had he come back after, instead of before, the completion of his task. Finis coronat opus is a dangerous maxim to ignore. For a nation to ignore it is to imperil its credit materially, morally and intellectually."

The "Manchester Guardian" by way of giving- some idea of the pecuniary Toward that will be bestowed upon the Earl of Kandahar and Pretoria, in addition to liis Earldom, mentions that after the Afghan campaign the Parliamentary vote in 1881 was a capital sum of £12,500, and a. "distinguished I service" pension of £100 was conferred. Lord Wolseley received a gratuity of £25,000 for the Aslianti campaign, and £ HO,OOO for the Egyptian war. Since 1835 the following- pensions for special military service have been granted to other officers in the Royal and Indian armies from the Consolidated Fund or Civil Service votes:—Lord Sea ton, £::000 (for three lives); Lord Kcane, £2000 (for three lives): Lord Cough, £2000 (for three hives); Lord Hardinge, £3000 (for 'three lives); Lord Raglan, £2000 (for two lives); Sir William F. Williams, £1000: Sir IT. IT. Havelook, £1000; and Lord Napier of >.faqvlali, £2000 (for two lives). From the revenues of India the following- grants have been made:—Sir William Nolt, £1000; Lord Hardinge, £5000; Lord Gough, £2000; Sir George Pollock. £1000; Sir Archdale Wilson, £1000: Sir James Outram. £ 1000 (with continuance to his oldest son); and Lord Clyde, £.7000. It was the last named, by the way. who in recommending Lord Roberts to Ihe charge of the Viceroy of India's camp in 1559, wrote: "Lieutenant Roberts is a particularly gentlemanlike, intelligent, and agreeable young1 officer.'1

Lord Eoberts has so many letters after his name that it is not surprising'to find that town clfjks who have to draw up addresses .occasionally omit some of the most important. This is said to have happeaecTat Cowes. After one of the addresses to be presented to the veteran Field Marshal had been printed in rich, elaborate, and costly fashion on vellum, it was discovered that the initials of the most cherished of all the soldier's honours were missing. Those were the symbolical letters of his valour, "V.C." The discovery was mart? almost at the last moment, and it was obviously impossible to present the address with this omission, so a new-edition had 1o be struck off. and' a horseman rode in breathlessly with thp revise almost as its recipient was approaching the place where the reception was hold.

Among Lord Roberts' aide dp camps who returned with him was Lieutenant Hereward Wake, who received a hearty welcome on his return to his ancestral home at Courteenhal, near Northampton. Lieutenant Wake fought with the King's Royal Tiifles in African campaign, and was close by his commanding officer and relative, most of the earlier battles of the South Colonel Gunning, when that gallant soldier was killed at Glencoe. He also went through the siege of Ladysmith. He is descended from "Hereward the Wake," commonly called "The Last of the Saxons." One brother is an officer in the Fighting Fifth, and fell into .the hands of the Boers at Stormberg, and another is a lieutenant in the Northumberland Fusiliers. They come of a military family, and Jfew battles, in civil wars or abroad, in which England has been engaged, have been fought without "having a Hereward Wake in them. One of the baronets mortgagedthe estates heavily to raise troops foxCharles I.

The little girls whom Lord Roberts kissed on arriving at his hotel are the daughters of another of "Bob's" A.D.Ci's, Lord Settrington, n captain in the Third Battalion Sussex Regiment. Lord Settrington's heir, who ■was too young to be out with his sisters to welcome Lord Eoberts home, is one of the luckiest boys in the world, lie is heir to an estate as large as Middlesex and Rutland combined, or an area nearly 45 miles long and 10 miles wide. He will bear nine titles, including three dukedoms of the United Kingdom, and one of France, and be willbe lord of four splendid seats. He can claim to be of Royal descent, too, for the first Duke of Richmond was son of Charles 11., and the little son of Lord Settring-ton is in the direct line of succession.