their
men as though heedless of danger, and the only casualty I heard of,
excepting the horses, was a captain having his foot shattered.'[15]

He himself showed many a cool piece of daring before he got to
Ladysmith, and when, after the fight at Spion Kop, some one had to go
and bury the dead, he bravely volunteered, and performed this last
ministry for his dead comrades under heavy fire. For his bravery on that
occasion he was promoted to the rank of major. Those associated with him
in this awful task were Major Gedge, the Church of England chaplain, and
Fathers Collins and Matthews (Roman Catholics). This was the Father
Matthews who was captured with his men at Nicholson's Nek, and
afterwards released.

There was now but little opportunity for ordinary Christian work. The
last struggle for the relief of Ladysmith had commenced, and was to be
carried on in grim earnest to the end. The men were ready to follow
their leaders anywhere, but could not understand the frequent retreats.
This much every man knew, however, that when he marched out with his
regiment in the morning it was very doubtful whether he would be alive
at night. This thought sobered every one, and many a man prayed who had
never prayed before.

[Footnote 15: _Methodist Times_.]

=General Lyttleton's Brigade Formed up for Prayer Before Going into
Action.=

One of the most remarkable facts of the campaign is this. Before General
Lyttleton's brigade marched out from its camping ground for its
desperate task it was formed up in close column--formed up not for an
inspection, but for prayer. We have never heard of anything else like it
in the history of war. The Bishop of Natal was with the troops, and he
suggested to General Lyttleton that the best preparation for the battle
was prayer. He himself led in prayer for the other regiments, while at
the request of the colonel the Army Scripture Reader attached to the
Scottish Rifles offered prayer. With prayer rising for them and
following them, they marched to the conflict. It was to many a
Sacrament. It was their _Sacramentum_--their oath of allegiance to the
King of kings.

Strange things happen in war. Perhaps this is one of the strangest. And
yet if there were more prayer there would be less war. May be the voice
of prayer rising from our British army to the throne of God--rising also
from friends in the homeland far away, is another Sacrament--a sign and
a seal of the blessings foretold