NEWS OF THE WEEK.
AS we write on Friday, the news that terms of peace have been settled has not arrived, but it is hardly too much to say that it is hourly expected. Of course there may be a hitch at the last moment, and "the players to their places" may be the order, but it certainly does not look as if such a result were likely. Even if the war does nominally begin again, it will only be for a short time, and carried out in a half-hearted fashion, and in order to let the remaining Boers surrender in the field rather than lay down their arms peacefully. That the Boers are inclined to regard such punctilio as important is shown by the story of the Boer commando contained in the Daily Mail of Thursday. This commando was tired of the war, but it could not bear to surrender without a show of fighting. Accordingly a message was smuggled into the British lines telling the Colonel in command that if on a certain day he would surround the Boer laager and begin an attack in force, and with a reasonable amount of rifle fire, they would surrender. All this having been faithfully accomplished, the commando surrendered with the honours of war. We trust, however, that even these tactics will not now be necessary, and that the terms of peace offered by the Government will be accepted without any further resort to arms.
