l last.

The surrenders amounted in all to twenty thousand men, and showed that
in all parts of the seat of war the enemy had more men in the field than
we had imagined, a fact which may take the sting out of several of our
later mishaps. About twelve thousand surrendered in the Transvaal, six
thousand in the Orange River Colony, and about two thousand in the Cape
Colony, showing that the movement in the rebel districts had always been
more vexatious than formidable. A computation of the prisoners of war,
the surrenders, the mercenaries, and the casualties, shows that the
total forces to which we were opposed were certainly not fewer than
seventy-five thousand well-armed mounted men, while they may have
considerably exceeded that number. No wonder that the Boer leaders
showed great confidence at the outset of the war.

That the heavy losses caused us by the war were borne without a murmur
is surely evidence enough how deep was the conviction of the nation that
the war was not only just but essential--that the possession of South
Africa and the unity of the Empire were at stake. Could it be shown, or
were it even remotely possible, that ministers had incurred so immense a
responsibility and entailed such tremendous sacrifices upon their people
without adequate cause, is it not certain that, the task once done, an
explosion of rage from the deceived and the bereaved would have driven
them for ever from public life? Among high and low, in England, in
Scotland, in Ireland, in the great Colonies, how many high hopes
had been crushed, how often the soldier son had gone forth and never
returned, or come back maimed and stricken in the pride of his youth.
Everywhere was the voice of pity and sorrow, but nowhere that of
reproach. The deepest instincts of the nation told it that it must fight
and win, or for ever abdicate its position in the world. Through dark
days which brought out the virtues of our race as nothing has done in
our generation, we struggled grimly on until the light had fully broken
once again. And of all gifts that God has given to Britain there is none
to compare with those days of sorrow, for it was in them that the
nation was assured of its unity, and learned for all time that blood is
stronger to bind than salt water is to part. The only difference in the
point of view of the Briton from Britain and the Briton from the ends
of the earth, was that the latter with the energy of youth was more
whole-souled in