deserve all the misfortunes that will
inevitably come upon them.

I am aware that these arguments are neither original nor new. I have
merely arranged them. I am also aware that there are able, brilliant men
who have spent their lives in the service of the State, who do not take
the views I have quoted. The question has been regarded from an Indian
point of view. There is probably no colonel in India, who commands a
British regiment, who would not like to see his men five years older. It
may be that the Indian opinion on the subject is based only on partial
information, and warped by local circumstances. Still I have thought it
right to submit it to the consideration of the public, at a time when
the army has been filling such a prominent position, not only in the
Jubilee procession and the frontier war, but also in the estimates
presented to the House of Commons.

Passing from the concrete to the abstract, it may not be unfitting that
these pages, which have recorded so many valiant deeds, should contain
some brief inquiry into the nature of those motives which induce men
to expose themselves to great hazards, and to remain in situations of
danger. The circumstances of war contain every element that can shake
the nerves. The whizzing of the projectiles; the shouts and yells of a
numerous and savage enemy; the piteous aspect of the wounded, covered
with blood and sometimes crying out in pain; the spurts of dust which on
all sides show where Fate is stepping--these are the sights and sounds
which assail soldiers, whose development and education enable them to
fully appreciate their significance. And yet the courage of the soldier
is the commonest of virtues. Thousands of men, drawn at random from the
population, are found to control the instinct of self-preservation. Nor
is this courage peculiar to any particular nation. Courage is not only
common, but cosmopolitan. But such are the apparent contradictions of
life, that this virtue, which so many seem to possess, all hold the
highest. There is probably no man, however miserable, who would not
writhe at being exposed a coward. Why should the common be precious?
What is the explanation?

It appears to be this. The courage of the soldier is not really contempt
for physical evils and indifference to danger. It is a more or less
successful attempt to simulate these habits of mind. Most men aspire to
be good actors in the play. There are a few who are so perfect that they
d