YEWS OF THE WEEK.
THOUGH the news of the relief of Mafeking was only re- ceived late on the Friday night, it was known to the greater part of the country at once, and it was only a minority of the population which did not hear of it till last Saturday. Even in remote villages the people heard the news, for some one in the neighbourhood was sure to have arranged for a wire, and the regulations as to "no telegrams after eight o'clock" were almost universally held not to apply. On Saturday the rejoicings in London and throughout the whole country were even more heartfelt than on Ladysmith day, and the whole nation gave itself up to expressing its delight. Driving over a large tract of country and through a number of villages on that day was a very remarkable experience, for there was hardly a house, however small, without a. flag, and every carriage, cart, trap, and even bicycle on the road was decorated. We have dwelt elsewhere on the enthusiasm, bat may say here that the impulse to disregard the smallness of the event from the military point of view, and to think only of the moral result of Mafeking's heroic defence, was a perfectly sound one. There is not in history a finer example of what courage and endurance can achieve than this defence of an open town in an indefensible position by a handful of amateur soldiers, practically without artillery, and pressed by an army of four thousand of the keenest marksmen in the world enforced by the best and deadliest of heavy modern artillery. By all the rules it was impossible for Mafeking to hold out for ten days, but General Baden-Powell and his men held it for over two hundred. There is a man who can teach other men how to fight. Let us hope that when our Army is reorganised he will be given a great part in the work of training officers and men in the art of war.
