In this context it is appropriate to take note of
the remarkable volume of testimony which comes from our officers at the front as to the fine spirit and notable efficiency of the French troops. It is much too little to say that the French Army has stood the strain of war splendidly. It has done better than that. Like Wordsworth's "happy warrior," it is" daily self-surpassed," both in spirit and in magriel. The notion that the French are likely to get weary of the war may be dismissed at once. In addition to their own ardent valour, they have developed a doggedness which—they will not misunderstand us when we say it—is positively British in its character. All observers speak of the singular perfection of the French artillery and of the marvellous precision—we can use no other word—of its co-operation with the infantry. The French may have been slow in mobilizing, for they, unlike their antagonists, did not know when the hour would strike. They have, however, now thoroughly "caught up," and their Army is in many respects the best in the world.
