THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6885, 21 June 1890, Page 4

THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

"INTO THE VALLEY OP DEATH." THEN AND NOW. [communicated.] Fidelity to the Constitution, loyalty to the Crown, love for Old England, are grand sentiments, which everyone of us has at one time or other hailed with delight when the occasion offered ; and ■woe be to the man who at the time would throw across our minds anything to damp the ardour of our enthusiasm. Why ? Because they embodied all that wo were pleased to think of as the cardinal \ points of our faith in the greatness of our ! country. "Be true to your country " — a grand sentiment; " be ready to die for her if necessary " — a grander sentiment. Who has ever escaped the full force of it when heard addressed, say, by a schoolmaster, : or an important visitor, to a room full of young English boys ; by an honestminded clergyman to a church full of soldiers ; by some condescending military personage at an annual Volunteer dinner ; or when uttered by some noble lord on moving a gratuity to some commander, or when conveying the thanks of the '. Queen, ooupled with those of the country, ,to some regiment that nobly did its i duty. Oh, which of us then did not feel iaa if he would like to wear, or !to have worn, the uniform of a ' soldier? Look at that line of fine men standing as statue 3 while Her Majesty slowly moves along, pinning on with her ' own hand the well-won medal. Look at that grand gathering, with H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief looking as fearless as the British Lion himself, while some gentle Princess presents new colours to replace the tattered ones that led to victory in the last hard-fought fight. With such pictures in our mind, we will be ! pardoned if we have exclaimed " No life ao grand as the British soldier's." Then how honourable is his calling — no great ceremony in which the nation wishes to shine aa England is complete without the livery of the defender, the conqueror of many lands. The highest feel honoured by donning it ; it is an ornament where all is ornamental; it makes more noble the figure in itself all nobleness. The Prince who never saw the curl of an enemy's smoke, or the pointed flash of an angered line of bayonets, feels himself ' more princely when he wears it ; it is to I him the garb of manhood and of bravery ; it is the dress that is beneath no rank ; ■ the lordling seeks it, and the purae-proud ' business man sees a sequel to his success 'in the trappings of the soldier officer \ which adorn his son. I It is the profession, above gli, in which i the genius of a leader can win the enthusiasm, love and confidence of his men. It . is the profession, above all, in which the genius of the leader is dependent upon the obedience, courage and endurance of his men. It is the calling of all others in : which the glory of one becomes the glory : of all, and the glory of leaders and men becomes the glory of their country. The , ring of their achievements is the sound ; which tells our neighbours of the metal of which the men of our nation are made. j Without going further back, God knows the present century has its record pretty well filled with the triumphs of British • troops. In the long line of achievements . from that day to this, there is no place >in which the English mind loves to dwell when it seeks for bravery 1 and unflinching devotion as on that page whish is headed Balaclava. It is that chapter of all others which tells of bad generalship redeemed by splendid ; British pluck (English, Irish, Scotch and j Welsh). To little else than the bravery I of our troops can we look back with satisfaction in the history of the Crimean war. Anything eke gained by it has ' since been lost; and, England, you have done all that in you lies to prove to the world that you act no value upon that bravery. Tennyson has pictured it splendidly for the admiration of posterity. Perhaps it were, better for the credit of 1 the nation that he never raised it from obscurity. In the presence of the dreadful sequel of disgrace upon the name of England which has followed it we cannot help thinkiDg this. The Poet Laureate made all Europe, all the world, ring with ;! glory and admiration of the six hundred j and seven men who rode into the Valley of I Death to charge what has been called the ".Russian army in position." Of this number one hundred and ninety -eight came back to receive the everlasting gratitude of the greatest, the most extensive, . and the wealthiest Empire which the world has ever seen. Our poet is not yet dead ; he has been preserved for the Bplendid opportunity of doing a great act of justice to the one I hundred and ninety-eight who, unfortunately for most of them, were saved from the glorious (death of that charge, to descend into a valley worse than the Valley of Death — that of pauperdom. To rebuke the nation and its rulers for their neglect of the remnant of the men whose great bravery inspired his splendid lines would be a fitting act for the poet of the nation — it would be one of the most national of all the national things he ha 3 written. ' It seems to me, from what I have lately read, as if it will require burning rays from his poetic fire to thaw the icy callousness of those who should have looked after these men, and cared for them as the heroes of our country. What a picture he could draw for us of that splendid horseman, sweeping along the Valley of Death, in defiance of that terrible tornado of Russian shot and shell. What a picture he could draw of that same specimen of chivalry, after thirty years — bowed, old, and decrepit, lean and hungry, trying to earn a crust to keep body and soul together, by sweeping a crossing. Look again at his fearless comrade, whese heart heaved with the noble impulse to do or die for the honour of his country. See to-day, feeble with age, and driven by necessity to degrade that noble breast by covering it with ah advertising placard, standing as soulless on the footpath as a wooden post— and he one of England's I "Noble Six Hundred," Bad enough this, I

but it seems there is even worse : There is that other lion-hearted dragoon who rode into the "jaws of death," with cannon in front of him, and cannon to the right and left of him — with death all round him. See him to-day, helpless and penniless, with the untold wealth of Englaud all round him ; see how meekly he bears the pauper's uniform along, and with bowed head and broken spirit glides into the "jaws of death" through the hungry portals of the Union Workhouse — and thus ends another of the " Noble Six Hundred." Misery, distress and starvation seem to be the lot reserved for the last of those heroic survivors — that is, if they be left to the tender recollections of those whose business it is to look after the old soldiers who have done their duty, as well as after those who are doing it. A thrill of shame at the knowledge of such neglect seems to have reached the outskirts of the Empire, and wo in Christchurch have felt the laudable impulse of reparation. Though well intentioned is our method, it is not in keeping with a properly conceived position of these men. Our private subscriptions and our public concerts smack of a contribution to a charity fund ; and if such means be generally resorted to for their support, the method will only make blacker the dark mark of disgrace which rests on JJthe English nation in connection with them. It will make us treat them as recipients of charity, when, in reality, we consider them to have a rightful claim on the Queen, Lords, and Commons of Great Britain, for decent support during the remainder of their lives; and, farther, that we consider the nation will be honoured in performing that duty. There must be nothing of charity about it. Our national honour points in the direction of a public indignation meeting, in which we will express freely, fully and respectfully our condemnation of the shameful neglect with which those survivors have been treated in the past ; and as subjects of the Empire to whom the honour of England is dear, pass a public resolution that the proper authorities at Home should take those men in hand at once and make ample provision for keeping them in comfort. Let us cable such resolution to the Commander-in-Chief — or, perhaps better, to the Premier of England. I am sure our example would be followed by the other towns in the Colony, and I have no doubt that the cities of Australia would throw in the weight of their influence. By such means we may remove a national ingratitude which, if left standing, might betoken the firßfc Bign of a decaying Empire.