s at Kimberley,
praising their valour and infusing them with renewed courage. A day or two
afterward he was again in Bloemfontein, arranging for the comfort of his
men and caring for the wives and children who were left behind. His duties
were increased a hundred-fold as the campaign progressed, and when the
first reverses came he alone of the Free Staters was able to imbue the men
with new zeal. After Bloemfontein was captured by the British he
transferred the capital to Kroonstad, and there, with the assistance of
President Kruger, re-established the fighting spirit of the burgher army.
He induced the skulking burghers to return to their compatriots at the
front, and formed the plans for future resistance against the invading
army. When Lord Roberts's hosts advanced from Bloemfontein, President
Steyn again moved the capital and established it at Heilbron. Thereafter
the capital was constantly transferred from one place to another, but
through all those vicissitudes the President clung nobly to his people and
country.

CHAPTER IX

FOREIGNERS IN THE WAR

In every war there are men who are not citizens of the country with whose
army they are fighting, and the "soldier-of-fortune" is as much a
recognised adjunct of modern armies as he was in the days of
knight-errantry. In the American revolutionary war both the colonial and
British forces were assisted by many foreigners, and in every great and
small war since then the contending armies have had foreigners in their
service. In the Franco-Prussian war there was a great number of
foreigners, among them having been one of the British generals who took a
leading part in the Natal campaign. The brief Graeco-Turkish war gave many
foreign officers an opportunity of securing experience, while the
Spaniards in the Hispano-American war had the assistance of a small number
of European officers. Even the Filipinos have had the aid of a corps of
foreigners, the leader of whom, however, deserted Aguinaldo and joined the
Boer forces.

There is a fascination in civilised warfare which attracts men of certain
descriptions, and to them a well-fought battle is the highest form of
exciting amusement. All the world is interested in warfare among human
beings, and there are men who delight in fighting battles in order that
their own and public interest may be gratified. It may suggest a morbid or
bloodthirsty spirit, this love of warfare, but no spectacle is finer, more
magnifice