Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Beatrice.
As we walked home that evening , I said in moralizing mood , " How queer is life , is it ; not , my friends ? In the midst of its sunny smiles , and blue skies , and soft voices , and engaging looks , the ground seems to open beneath your feet , and you discover that all your fairy castle in the air is gone , and that in its stead you have to deal Avith perfidiousness , cruelty , slander , baseness , treachery of every kind , Avhich ruin your prospectsinjure your healthalienate your friendsand render you unhappyand
, , , , sorrowing' often even to the end . " , ' . - . And as all my hearers then , perhaps in a spirit of pure complaisance , assented to my words , I hope that my kindly readers will not find fault Avith them . On the contrary , I . trust . they will deem them alike true philosophy and contemplative wisdom Avorth y of note and admiration . For , let us all bear in mind , ivho read this story , that I do not seek to render my tale a mere vehicle of excitement , a medium of sensationalism , a
statement of unnatural aspirations , or of fantastical fancies ; but I . wish ' both its realit y and its moral to sink deep into the minds of all AA'IIO read it . To fill the pages of this or any other magazines Avith the " padding" simply of crude notions or impossible characters seems to me to be a sad Avaste of time and intellect . But , like good old Johnson , to seek to improve others , to Avitness for truth , to uphold virtue , hoiioir , and right , to vindicate fidelity , and to expose treachery , appears to me to be an employment worthy of all the talents AvhereAvith a good and benign Providence has blessed any one of his creatures , and dependents , and servants , and children , here below .
The Heroic Defence Of Rorke's Drift.
THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF RORKE'S DRIFT .
T IEUTENANT GONVILLE BEOMHEAD , Avho so valiantly commanded the small - " band of brave men at the engagement at Eorke ' s Drift on the 23 rd January , is the youngest son of the late Sir Edmund de Gonville Bromhead , Bart ., of Thuri ' by Hall , Lincolnshire . Born at Versailles , August 1845 , he Avas educated Avith a vieAV to his entering the army . . ¦ The Army ancl Navy Gazette for 22 nd February contains the following : —•
" Those who have been struck by the gallantry displayed by the small band of ei ghty men under Lieutenants Bromhead , 24 th , and Ghard , R . E ., who kept the enemy at bay for a Avhole night after the massacre at Eorke ' s Drift , will , perhaps , be interested in reading the following account of the principal actor , written by one who knows him well , and who , as Adjutant of a regiment , must necessarily be aware what the qualifications are which go to make a good regimental officer : — " I feel sure that all those who have the pleasure of knowing Gonville Bromhead must feel delighted at his success—a success so nobly deserved . I was with him for some time at an Army tutor ' s at Croydon , some twelve and it is
years ago , interesting to look back upon him as he appeared to us at that time . About five feet ten inches in height , so well built that he did not look as tall , he seemed to me to be quite the beau-ideal of an English officer . It was our custom of an evening , as soon as ' study ' was over , to indulge in bouts of wrestling , boxing , and single-stick in the gymnasium outside , and Bromhead ivas sir Expert in all of these that he invariably beat every one opposed to him . With all this he was so kind ¦ and genial that the youngsters among us'could chaff him and play tricks upon him with impunity ,-and without fear of retaliation . Quiet and most unassuming in his demeanour , he nevertheless often showed by friendliness to those who happened to be unpopular , by kindness to new comers , and in a thousand other the
ways , thorough worth and goodness that were in him . It is to be hoped that the lonely fight out at Eorke ' s Drift may only prove to have been the means of bringing him to the front in order that by his future services he may prove still more useful to his country . " That he continued to merit these encomiums is testified by a paragraph we cop / from a letter from his late commander , inserted in The Gazette of same date : — " It is no small satisfaction to know that the massacre of my old comrades has been in some degree revenged by the more than gallant defence of young Bromhead , and his little band of eighty men . All . lxpnour is due to the Avay they held their own against such odds . 1 was much gratified by a letter that
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Beatrice.
As we walked home that evening , I said in moralizing mood , " How queer is life , is it ; not , my friends ? In the midst of its sunny smiles , and blue skies , and soft voices , and engaging looks , the ground seems to open beneath your feet , and you discover that all your fairy castle in the air is gone , and that in its stead you have to deal Avith perfidiousness , cruelty , slander , baseness , treachery of every kind , Avhich ruin your prospectsinjure your healthalienate your friendsand render you unhappyand
, , , , sorrowing' often even to the end . " , ' . - . And as all my hearers then , perhaps in a spirit of pure complaisance , assented to my words , I hope that my kindly readers will not find fault Avith them . On the contrary , I . trust . they will deem them alike true philosophy and contemplative wisdom Avorth y of note and admiration . For , let us all bear in mind , ivho read this story , that I do not seek to render my tale a mere vehicle of excitement , a medium of sensationalism , a
statement of unnatural aspirations , or of fantastical fancies ; but I . wish ' both its realit y and its moral to sink deep into the minds of all AA'IIO read it . To fill the pages of this or any other magazines Avith the " padding" simply of crude notions or impossible characters seems to me to be a sad Avaste of time and intellect . But , like good old Johnson , to seek to improve others , to Avitness for truth , to uphold virtue , hoiioir , and right , to vindicate fidelity , and to expose treachery , appears to me to be an employment worthy of all the talents AvhereAvith a good and benign Providence has blessed any one of his creatures , and dependents , and servants , and children , here below .
The Heroic Defence Of Rorke's Drift.
THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF RORKE'S DRIFT .
T IEUTENANT GONVILLE BEOMHEAD , Avho so valiantly commanded the small - " band of brave men at the engagement at Eorke ' s Drift on the 23 rd January , is the youngest son of the late Sir Edmund de Gonville Bromhead , Bart ., of Thuri ' by Hall , Lincolnshire . Born at Versailles , August 1845 , he Avas educated Avith a vieAV to his entering the army . . ¦ The Army ancl Navy Gazette for 22 nd February contains the following : —•
" Those who have been struck by the gallantry displayed by the small band of ei ghty men under Lieutenants Bromhead , 24 th , and Ghard , R . E ., who kept the enemy at bay for a Avhole night after the massacre at Eorke ' s Drift , will , perhaps , be interested in reading the following account of the principal actor , written by one who knows him well , and who , as Adjutant of a regiment , must necessarily be aware what the qualifications are which go to make a good regimental officer : — " I feel sure that all those who have the pleasure of knowing Gonville Bromhead must feel delighted at his success—a success so nobly deserved . I was with him for some time at an Army tutor ' s at Croydon , some twelve and it is
years ago , interesting to look back upon him as he appeared to us at that time . About five feet ten inches in height , so well built that he did not look as tall , he seemed to me to be quite the beau-ideal of an English officer . It was our custom of an evening , as soon as ' study ' was over , to indulge in bouts of wrestling , boxing , and single-stick in the gymnasium outside , and Bromhead ivas sir Expert in all of these that he invariably beat every one opposed to him . With all this he was so kind ¦ and genial that the youngsters among us'could chaff him and play tricks upon him with impunity ,-and without fear of retaliation . Quiet and most unassuming in his demeanour , he nevertheless often showed by friendliness to those who happened to be unpopular , by kindness to new comers , and in a thousand other the
ways , thorough worth and goodness that were in him . It is to be hoped that the lonely fight out at Eorke ' s Drift may only prove to have been the means of bringing him to the front in order that by his future services he may prove still more useful to his country . " That he continued to merit these encomiums is testified by a paragraph we cop / from a letter from his late commander , inserted in The Gazette of same date : — " It is no small satisfaction to know that the massacre of my old comrades has been in some degree revenged by the more than gallant defence of young Bromhead , and his little band of eighty men . All . lxpnour is due to the Avay they held their own against such odds . 1 was much gratified by a letter that