ill of course delay us. That was why they did
it. We shall have to push up roads, railways, supplies; the bringing up
of the heavy guns will take time, but less time than they think! Our men
are in the pink of condition!"

On which again follows very high praise of the quality of the men now
coming out under the Military Service Act. "Yet they are conscripts,"
says one of us, in some surprise, "and the rest were volunteers." "No
doubt. But these are the men--many of them--who had to balance
duties--who had wives and children to leave, and businesses which
depended on them personally. Compulsion has cut the knot and eased their
consciences. They'll make fine soldiers! But we want more--_more!_" And
then follows talk on the wonderful developments of training--even since
last year; and some amusing reminiscences of the early days of England's
astounding effort, by which vast mobs of eager recruits without guns,
uniforms, or teachers, have been turned into the magnificent armies now
fighting in France.

The War Office has lately issued privately some extremely interesting
notes on the growth and training of the New Armies, of which it is only
now possible to make public use. From these it is clear that in the
Great Experiment of the first two years of war all phases of intellect
and capacity have played their part. The widely trained mind, taking
large views as to the responsibility of the Army towards the nation
delivered into its hands, so that not only should it be disciplined for
war but made fitter for peace; and the practical inventive gifts of
individuals who, in seeking to meet a special need, stumble on something
universal, both forces have been constantly at work. Discipline and
initiative have been the twin conquerors, and the ablest men in the
Army, to use a homely phrase, have been out for both. Many a fresh, and
valuable bit of training has been due to some individual officer struck
with a new idea, and patiently working it out. The special "schools,"
which are now daily increasing the efficiency of the Army, if you ask
how they arose, you will generally be able to trace them back to some
eager young man starting a modest experiment in his spare time for the
teaching of himself and some of his friends, and so developing it that
the thing is finally recognised, enlarged, and made the parent of
similar efforts elsewhere.

Let me describe one such "school"--to me a thrilling one, as I saw it on
a clear March a