Great Boer War': 'The Boers have been the victims of a great deal of
cheap slander in the press. The men who have seen most of the Boers in
the field are the most generous in estimating their character. That the
white flag was hoisted by the Boers as a cold-blooded device for luring
our men into the open, is an absolute calumny. To discredit their valour
is to discredit our victory.' My own opinion would have been worthless,
but this was, as I say, the result of considerable inquiry. General
Porter said: 'On a few occasions the white flag was abused, but in what
large community would you not find a few miscreants?' General Lyttelton
said: 'The Boers are brave men, and I do not think that the atrocities
which have been reported are the acts of the regular Dutch burghers, but
of the riff-raff who get into all armies.'

It is a painful fact, but the words could not possibly be written
to-day. Had the war only ended when it should have ended, the combatants
might have separated each with a chivalrous feeling of respect for a
knightly antagonist. But the Boers having appealed to the God of battles
and heard the judgment, appealed once more against it. Hence came the
long, bitter, and fruitless struggle which has cost so many lives, so
much suffering, and a lowering of the whole character of the war.

It is true that during the first year there were many things to
exasperate the troops. The Boers were a nation of hunters and they used
many a ruse which seemed to the straightforward soldier to be cowardly
and unfair. Individuals undoubtedly played the white-flag trick, and
individuals were guilty of holding up their hands in order to lure the
soldiers from their cover. There are many instances of this--indeed, in
one case Lord Roberts was himself a witness of it. Appended is his
official protest:

'Another instance having occurred of a gross abuse of the white flag and
of the signal of holding up the hands in token of surrender, it is my
duty to inform your Honour that if such abuse occurs again I shall most
reluctantly be compelled to order my troops to disregard the white flag
entirely.

'The instance occurred on the kopje east of Driefontein Farm yesterday
evening, and was witnessed by several of my own staff officers, as well
as by myself, and resulted in the wounding of several of my officers and
men.

'A large quantity of explosive bullets of three different kinds was
found in Cronje's laager, and after every engage