THE BEST-BEHAVED ARMY ON RECORD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7293, 4 January 1902, Page 7

THE BEST-BEHAVED ARMY ON RECORD.

♦ j The Rev Paul B. Bull, late Actingj Chaplain in South Africa, has written, an article vindicating the British Army in South Africa. We give some extracts : — I suppose the thing that wounds our soldiers most deeply is the contempt often expressed for them and- their profession. In times of war they enjoy a transient popui larity, but as soon as they 'have won peace for us at 'the cost of terrible suffering to themselves, I fear we shall again hear the old harsh judgment. People living in .he shelter of their homes, with all the joy of family life around them, seem to make no effort to realise what a hard life a soldier's is. Removed from every tender influence of mother, or sister, or sweetheart, living a hard life, which lacks the softening touch iof pity excited by care for the sick and aged, or the presence of little children; banished from home, and surrounded by a whole 'population eager to 'administer to their vices, and to live upon their ruin, it is no wonder that many a lad finds it hard to resist the temptations with which he is surrounded. But after three years spent :n constant companionship with them in the barrack-room, while I am very familiar with thedr vices, I am ■still more impressed by their virtues. Before the war broke out I had already learned to reverence our soldiers for their endurance, unselfishness, respect for religion, and strong sense of duty which has in the- past year on the battlefield so often risen to the loftiest heights of heroism. In order that others may have a reasonable ground for sharing my admiration for what is good in a soldier's life, I make these notes on their behaviour at the front as far as it came under my observation. What astonished and delighted me most, I think, was the almost entire absence of crime. The ■toadcti'ons of warfare 'had prepared me to expect an outbreak of license* Bub the facts, I am most thankful to "far, were quite to the contrary, and the ndnur. ftblo behaviour of our troops 'hn« erented a new tradition. Between the cfotfis March 25 nttd May 29, fr«n the taking of BloomfoxiUin to the capture of Jonannestmro;, W e in tho Fourth Otivalry ißrkacle had only throe omirts-mArtitt!, £hG flvs>£ \vm en Iv sentry asleep at hip post. The Be9sn3 vr<s& for a theft, from 'ft eamtftdiH h, m&n yleWo4 +<> a sudden -fontttttttan, nb»t?fl,ete3 not** from a'frend'* leitet 1 , find then eonfespod &:id rentoted tlie netos. and trft« tried on Hn Awn onufe.^len. Tlt* tUirfl \r<u for etenllhtt a bknkeb Mid &* M fl'oin ft Kafflt, for whioh\ tea miifl S l eo«iV6«Lft Very heavy jttinlehmont. Thin 5s the only period o! VrMoh t hay& fitly ftecurafe ?eo&rd\ feuti fha bohriYionr of tfce troß'ps t&? tits rest el *h$ tknb 1 vrn* wlfcH i&em Yr»3 ftuitn up te fliig lovel, RnS, I 'think. f9flc§t«i tks greatest e?<kUt, 6ti ofHoprif Rutt men alilc?: I learn -tfmfc two fmteipn aitfiQ^es w)t« fttde Into Blgemfontsirt v'itik oWr htilttumiih^i: ftrmr were amazed with fcbe tjui<»i Ofderllßeed o( oit? inefr^noi a fUap Joefed, nob ft 'fcntipo i«Mfe^ -p-itihi At TMoeTwfon- 1 &dn a.n4» ftt- N'wfctt, vrhile tke -iovrn wir«M4 Ining Vlsr^eTUily IfhdM fey ih* Boers, I hftvc> r^en ©ttf'jnrtn quietly &t-otj]?Jn£. «n4 fiayitt!* inoefc essgrW+«n& <&&$& fe? tta little 1 luxti?l««i vrhkh «till remdiie£t. WhiJo <vt OotlTtct'ft Ho?k I mi* pvs? tg two fttfros \rhk% w*r« fremvetitod fey oMf tewm, »ro«t mas 9 oarsM inqniTiw. At 000 fcho fn*roe?*B dffwgli'tsr opmtplaJm*! ihwfc on© slieoD vn*i tritf&ng at*4 wmeooTintwl t&?, but said that tho soldier* h«d always behaved very w*ll, eitid given no annoyance. At the otlwjr, th* fiumer'a wife spoks with the,

greatest enthusLosm of the troops, and said that they iha.._ always fcehavecL with, the greatest courtesy to her and her servants. I made inquiries of many clergy at Cape Town as to the behaviour of our^ troops, and they were unanimous in their great admiration, of tie soldiers' discipline and behaviour. The rector cf Maitland, a suburb of Cape Town, in whose parish a large permanent cavalry camp is situated, said to me, " The behaviour of the troops has been excellent. It is wonderful that! 200.0C0 soldiers should have passed through Cape Town and 1 garrisoned it,- and yet there has been no appreciable increase of crime. I dread-ed very much that when it came to actual fighting wild passions would sweep away tfhe better feelings of our men. Quite a mistake. I have ridden, into action 'a great many times with our men, and seldom seen anything approaching deadly passion. In 'hand-to-hand conflict it is, of course, different. I ana speaking chiefly of long-range warfare. I have never been nearer to the Boer firing line than about 700 yds at Diamond Hill. But in long-dis-tance fighting against an unseen foe there is a delightful absence of evil passion. I might analyse the various tempers manifested in this way, I think, justly. First a throb of excitement amounting in some "to the joy of battle," then a^strong sense of fear, admirably controlled by a stronger sense of duty. I think the bravest men I know will agree with me in saying that courage- is not the absence of fear, but the conquest of it. I have never heard any malice expressed for our enemy; while our men were always ready to admire them -when they -made a good l fight of it. " They fought well today, didn't- they, air?" The only thing which roused their wrath was the use oi, " soft-nosed " bullets' and the abuse of the j " white flag," and I think this is a right- j eous anger. When a man surrendered he was always most kindly treated by our soldiers. I have seen them sharing their tobacco with o_r prisoners. This kindly good 1 nature toward our enemy robbed war of half its horror. There is often more evil passion in on© public-house in our cities than in a whole brigade of soldieron the field of battle. It is always a solfemn joy to minister to our soldiers in religion, and is a -bill greater joy to remember that Christ foibids us to judge their failings, while He allows us to rejoice when tihey succeed. Soldieroften bring to God a, spirit of intense simplicity, of deep •humility' andl coßStaiousmess of sin, and absence of hypocrisy, an unselfishness, a strong sense of duty, a ' patient «nd_rance of suffering, and a love and reverence for Jesus Christ, all of which ! I feel must be very pleasing to God our ] Father. Everyone knows their sins. God only knows the strength of their tempta- \ tions and their efforts to be better. They | responded' very gratefully "to every effort I could make for the welfare -of their soiils. In a " standing camp " we had' service every night, when 100 or 200 would join me in prayer and hymn-singing, and. listened most earnestly to God's message. Each regiment took it in turns to make a huge " church " fire, round which we gathered. A leg of mutton boiling in the : midst was the only ornament of our church, j But the" stern realities of lire and death which marked 1 our life enabled us to worship God with an intensity which I trust will have an abiding influence on many a soul. The officers, as always in my experience, did all they could to encourage me in ray work and help it on. "vViiat th«y patiently end wed in sickness on the march can be guessed when I say' that after the anarch from Bloemfontein ninety-eight out of 700 or 800 ' went sick with fever in the week we were encamped at Jordan's Siding, north of Kroonstad. One terrible wet night near Zaaiwater I woke up several times during the night, and 1 there they all were, standing and walking about, singing over all their favourite song's in- pouring, drenching rain, pretending to be as cheerful as ever. I can speak in the highest .terms of the respect and courteS3 r which, our men showed to- the Boer women. I 'have never seen any failure in this respect, and I have known our soldiers feed starving Boer wo-, men from their own scanty rations. It is very important, when th.c subject of refugee camps is discussed, to remember the great difficulties with, which our military authorities have had to deal. If they had left the women and 1 children on farms, sometimes twenty or thirty miles from the nearest village, large fcumbeins wouH have fallen victims to the revenge of Ka-B-*s We passed' many farms where women and children were sick or dying or dead from disease, and 1 our doctors often went to visit them and do what they could to help them. I expect the death-rate- would have been far higher had they been left unprotected 1 in this vast desert. They are a very insanitary •people, and must be hard to deal with in camp. The women everywhere had been crammed! with the blackest lies about our soldiers, too foul to be repeated. The good behaviour of our troops soon reassured them. But it will take a great deal of kindness to overcome the poisonous l:itter -hatred against our race which theso poor women have cherished in their own hearts and 1 instilled into their children.