Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 22, 1900. The War.

Manawatu Herald, 22 May 1900, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 22, 1900. The War.

On Saturday the heart of every British subject was cheered by the news that Mafeking was relieved This distant outpost of the British Empire has withstood the assaults of , a numerically superior enemy for a lodger term than any modern seige, with the exception of Khartoum a°id Sebastopol. The outbreak of the war caught this small garrison fearfully unprepared both in artillery and food, yet by consummate generalship and the devoted loyalty of the troops and inhabitants they have withstood the continued shelling and assaults of the enemy until Lord Roberts was able -to send a force for their relief. The grandest part of this story appears to us to be the unflinching attention to duty and the readiness, though exhausted by sickness and semi- starvation, to withstand the assaults of ( the enemy, shown by the troops and volunteers of the garrison, and the acceptance of the position by the women in the loyal and subdued spirit they met repeated disappointments of help. Colonel Baden-Powell and his force were fortunate in being able to close their long fought struggle with another repetition of the masterful taotics of the Commander whereby a general and ninety prisoners were secured, thus convincing the Boers that to the very last there was " life in the old dog yet." No wonder is it that the bull dog has been used as a characteristic representation of the British character for the defenders of Mafeking have displayed their powers of holding on like grim death to that one little piece of the British Empire entrusted to their keeping. Britishers have now the intense satisfaction of knowing that the enemy has not been able to take any one town which it was thought advisable by the military authorities to defend, and thus a glorious notice has been given to the world at large that what we desire to keep we intend to do so, and are able to do so, and the inhabitants of the world- wide reaching Empire are bound together j by ties which forces every portion to | send men, money, and help of every kind, to any one portion that may be assailed, so that the nation shows an unbroken front to all its enemies, and hundreds of thousands are ready to rally at the battle cry " For Queen and the Empire."