men can vent their foolish
thoughts. But I am thoroughly weary of "Statements by the Prime
Minister" which state nothing, and of mere denunciations by Sir
Arthur Markham and Sir Edward Carson; also of the shrieking of
the Yellow Press, the wishy-washiness of the Liberal Press and
the _Spectator_, the impenetrable Conservatism of the _Morning
Post_, and the noisy sensationalism of the Bottomley--Austin
Harrison crew. Thank goodness the strong broad stream of British
spirit runs deeper and is much purer than would appear from this
froth and scum on the surface.

Recently it has been a period of Catholic festivals about here.
Some days there have been processions and bell-ringing from morn
to eve. The other day was the Fete des Morts, and lately there
was the French All Saints' Day. It is a singular sensation to
hear the chime of church bells blending with the thudding of the
guns.

_November 18th, 1915._

Yesterday I rode twenty-five miles. A delightful experience it
was, too;--in crisp winter weather and with the surrounding
country covered with snow. It has become very cold of late, but I
am fond of cold weather, especially when it keeps dry. Assigned
some special work by the Staff Captain, I had permission to move
when and how I liked, instead of accompanying the Column as I
usually do. The result was that I was able to join up with the
Veterinary section attached to the brigade. We moved at our own
pace, resting our horses where we wanted to and giving them a
good drink and feed _en route_, instead of jogging on
monotonously with the Column. Our horses were thoroughly fit and
full of life when we reached our destination, and good for
another twenty-five miles if necessary. You would not believe how
much horses benefit from care and attention as to food and rest.
The time you lose in watering, resting and feeding, you can
always more than make up through the consequent freshness of
your animals. Obviously, when speed is absolutely vital, you
can't choose your time to rest the horses. For example: on those
never-to-be-forgotten days, 23-26 September last, we used to move
at a rapid trot for hours on end--for the expectation then was
that the Boche line might be broken. This latest "trek" had not