The Continental newspapers are, of course, delighted with the Boer
successes. The French shriek with exultation, and seem really to believe that the hour of downfall for their " hereditary enemy" has at last arrived. The Russians are equally jubilant, and appear to hope that Menelek will rush down from his hills and risk his throne in an effort to conquer the Soudan, where every subject would be his deadly foe. Obeying Queen Victoria is one thing to an Arab half- caste ; obeying Menelek, who is at once black, Christian, and despotic, is quite another. The Germans, though pleased at our defeat, are reckoning up its causes, and find them in insufficient preparation, in which judgment official Austria concurs. The German criticisms seem to be inspired by military experience, while those of France and Russia are actuated by pure spite. The American comments as a rule are friendly, but there is a growing feeling of admiration for Boer pluck, and a revival of the natural disposition to side with Republics against a Monarchy. Nothing succeeds with the average man like success, and at present we are not successful.
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