LOUD ROBERTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16750, 4 January 1915, Page 5

LOUD ROBERTS.

FUNERAL OF A GREAT WARRTOE

LONDON'S FAREWELL

THE SILENT STRF.KTS

(By E. ASHMKAD-BARTLETT in " Daily Telegraph.")

Simplicity was tlio keynote of Lord Roberts's character. His actions, his speeches and his written word were all easily understood by the public '1 he appeal which lie made to those under his command and which after his retirement he continued to make a wider circle of followers, was of the most direct and forceable nature. To the millions who revered him and who drew courage and inspiration in the present struggle from the example of his life he was not so much a great public character like Wellington as a close personal friend. No man since Nelson lias ever exorcised the personal spell with Mich power and to such good advantage. OF the hundreds of thousands who watched his last and greatest inarch yesterday the majority had never spoken to him. and very likely the majority had never seen him; yet it is no exaggeration to say that marly all were there not to witness a great pageant, but to pay their la-it. tribute to the memory of one whom they regarded as their personal friend. The veteran of many wars died on the I'rld of bailie. Had his wish been known he would probably have preferred tn He where he died, amongst the'warriors ho so often led to victory and within the sound of the guns, lint the English people insisted that St Paul's must, shrine his remains. The last march to the grave, surrounded by thousands of warriors in khaki, was the most splendid and effective farewell any monarch or any general has ever had within those r-hores. Had Lord Roberts died in norma.! times there, would have been more colour, more pageantry, greater effort.", to exhaust the pomp of woe. As it was. thf very simplicity of the whole ceremony served to remind every spectator that wo are fn the liiid'-t of the greatest crisis in cur history.

The element; lent their aid to keep our minds fixed on the great ideals for which tliis man lived, and for which he may truly be said to have died. There may be some who would have preferred a bright, crisp autumn morning with Kunsl'iue. I would not have changed the dsi'l. grey sky, the cold, damp air, and drizzling sloet for the brightest of sunshine. All was grey. The sky, the atmosphere, the street'. and houses formed a fitting background for the dull grey uniforms worn by the troops. Only one flash of colour relieved the far-stretching gloom. This was the Union Jack over the coffin, ft shone out as an emblem of how our country is battling for very existence against the dark forces of autocracy and militarism. If only we had followed the considered advice of the man wlio.se remains lay under that flag, how different would our position be today.

THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS

If it is given to the dead to understand and watch wdiat passes here below, the spirit of Lord Roberts had cause for satisfaction yesterday. Two facte stood out above all othcis. The one the splendid hearing and martial demeanour of tho troops who lined the streets, and who took part in the procession; the other the unusual absence -,:f able-bodied men amongst the waiting :xowds. Never before nave 1 seen so many old men, women and children. Tho able-bodied men were few'-itnd far between. Wo have two-millions-under arms, and their absence makes an enormous difference to a London crowd. There were some, of course. Let us !iop? that what they saw has caused them to decide on joining our fighting forces.

In spite of the cold and rain and sleet, immense numbers of spectators begin to concentrate from all over Fiondon at a very early hour to secure favourable positions along tho lino of the procession. Thoy came from everywhere. Crowded Tubes brought thorn from the north and thousands more came from the south of the Thames, .-;nd from other parts of tho vast encircling suburbia. Never ' have the police had an easier task. The crowd spread itself along/ the whole route, and waited for two hours patiently under conditions which were trying for all. The cold was* intense, and at ten o'clock it began to drizzle, and thou to rain hard. Trie troops lining the route were an interesting study, because they showed so well both the strength and weakness of our military system. You'could follow the different stages of their training by tho manner in which they carried cut the orders of their officers. There were Guards who moved as one man; there were Territorials, armed with a different rifle, who bore themselves proudly, but whoso manoeuvres lacked that grace and precision of the premier corps; there were sailors—a magnificent hedy of men—whose drill came half-way between the two. There were Marines

—the only troops in blue*—who looked as steady as a granite rock. Never before have I seen, such a serious crowd. Generally, on th f, se occasions there are numerous humorous incidents which while away the time and delight the public. Yesterday there was not a smile, not a word of criticism, when some of the new formations went wrong in carrying out their orders or handling their rifles. Perhaps for the first time in our history the general public realised their dependence on the Army. They no longer regarded the soldiers and their accoutrements as some strange curiosity trotted out once in a way to give them a show; they looked upon the soldiers, whether Regulars "or Territorials, British or Indian, with a higher respect and deeper insight.

A SILENT PASSING. Two features distinguished the procession, the one the absence of all music and the other the intense silence of the waiting crowds. You did not even know the procession had started until the first of the troops appeared through the drizzle and mist. It was much more like the march of an aruiv silently and secretly to the battlefield than the triumphant close of a great career. The two greatest events of Lord Roberts's life were the march to Kandahar and the march to Pretoria. This final march to St Paul's—the greatest of them all—resembled them outwardly very closely. The troops were dressed alike, for all, whether at homo or abroad, are on active service now. Many of the veterans present had taken part in those famous campaigns. All will shortly be facing the enemy on the battlefield fifliy •* hundred miles away. Jt was the. knowledge of this fact j which lent such reality to the ghostly figures passing through the over-deep-, ening November gloom. Troops clad; in khaki have few distinguishing marks.; First came the pipers, of the London! Scottish, followed by a battalion of the that regiment. Then the sth Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment, followed by tho 4th Grenadier Guards. Then came a, representative contingent of Colonial corps—men who first fought side by side with .British troops in South Africa, and whose value " Bobs" was first to renoenise and appreciate. The Irish Guards and naval detachment followed, and two Indian mountain mule batteries. The* stolid f" ccs of nur Indian allies disniaved none of tho emotion they must have felt !lt tn <> honour which had I alien to their lot of following their famous chieftain to the grave.

Next followed F Battery Royal Horse Artillery, and immediately in rear the. gun carriage bearing the coffin, covered by tho Union Jack, with tho Field-Mnrslial's sword end b.'ifon resting upon it. His riderless charger walked behind. Eleven closed carriages followed detachments of the Lite Guards, Horse Guards and King Edward's Horse closed the simple procession. As the. coffin passed the crowds uncovered in dumb reverence. In Northumberland Avenue one littie incident occurred. An old veteran tottered out. from tho crowd, advanced to one of the files, and stood at the salute. All the troops .marched at the slow stop, and with arms reversed. All down the Embankment the immense crowd watched the passing of the nation's hero in absolute silence. Kvery window bad its spectators, every Dog was at half-mast. MARCH TO ST PAUL'S.

At Blackfriar.s there was a brief hah to allow the distinguished pallbearers to join the cortege. They took up their positions and walked the remainder of the distance to St Paul's on foot. All were in full uniform, and added tho only other touch of colour to the procession. Up Ludgate Circus and Ludgnto Hill the procession moved slowly, amidst even denser crowds. Here one saw a great many special constables assisting the c.itv police to keep back ' the people. fn _St Paul's Churchyard the massed bands of the. Guards played Chopin's Funeral March as the head of the procession came into view. Tho scene here was vovy impressive. All the houses and even the roofs were packed with citizens, gathered to pay their last tribute to the dead,

While the troops passed on their way towards the City tho gun-carriage took the road to the left, and halted immediately opposite a red carpet leading up the steps of the Cathedral. At this point there was n wait of nearly twenty minuter. The pail-hearers lined the steps standing in the heavy rain. Exactly as the great cluck overhead si ruck, twelve stalwart, khakiclad figures stepped forward and lifted the coffin from the gun-carriage. They bore it up the steps, and just for a minute th<> Union Jack could be seen before it disappeared from view within the doors.

Thus passed the remains of a great Englishman, and the last of the old school of commanders, the. like of whom we shall never see again. The days of individual greatness in war are cone. Lord Roberts was the type who won battles in a single day; who himself controlled every movement of his troops on the battlefield; whose personality was known and felt by the men under his command at supreme moments. He was the ideal personal commander of an army as opposed to the head of a vast machine controlling hundreds of thousands of men whfi never see their general, distant many miles from the scene of action. He lived to witness the vast changes which have come over war. He joined the Army when the old smooth bore muzzleloader was the infantryman's weapon and the old round vshot the mainstay of the artillery. His last public work was to visit troops armed with magazine rifles, machine guns, quick-firing artillery and heavy howitzers. He lived to witness the introduction and changes wrought by the telephone, wireless, the aeroplane and airship. Yet his mind fully expanded with the inventions of the age. Ho was the first public man of real eminence to go to his countrymen and tell them that universal service was the only safeguard against tho ambitions of the Kaiser and the Prussian military cliouo. He has not lived to see the full triumph of his repeated warnings, but, with his wonderful insight into war and his final consultations with the Chiefs of our Armies in the field, he must havo died happy in" the knowledge'that ultimate victory is assured, provided wo only--even at'this late hour—follow the example lie himself lias set before us.