19 JULY 1902, Page 3

-Lord Kitchener returned to England on Saturday last, and after

receiving the freedom of the borough at Southampton, which he acknowledged in an adroit speech, enjoyed in London the kind of welcome which stands with us for the honour of a triumph. He was met at Paddington by a brilliant military cavalcade, which included the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Connaught, Lord Roberts, the Minister of War, and every great officer in London, and was accompanied by representa- tive detachments from all the Colonial and Indian forces gathered to swell the pomp of the Coronation. The cavalcade moved on, through scores of thousands of cheering citizens, to St: James's Palace, where the General was welcomed by the Prince of Wales, who made a pleasant little speech on the satis- faction felt by the King in "the patience, tenacity, and skill" which he had displayed in South Africa.. He was then taken to Buckingham Palace to see the King, who from his sick conch congratulated him warmly and invested him with the Order of Merit, and then he was allowed to rest in a house in Belgrave Square. Such celebrations are doubtless incentives to exertion, for even Nelson felt inspired by the thought of Westminster Abbey; but one wonders a little what we should do with a general who had done great service but happened to be personally unpopular. Fancy the cavalcade moving under a storm of hisses, as might have happened to Clive. It is un- likely, for victory charms the people, but it might occur.