tive claims
whole-hearted admiration. The failure of one great attack, heralded as
it was by an impassioned appeal to the troops made in the presence of
the Emperor himself, but carried out by partially trained men, has been
only the signal for another desperate effort in which the place of honor
was assigned to the corps d'elite of the German Army.

It must be admitted that the Guard Corps has retained that reputation
for courage and contempt of death which it earned in 1870, when Emperor
William I., after the battle of Gravelotte, wrote: "My Guard has found
its grave in front of St. Privat," and the swarms of men who came up
bravely to the British rifles in the woods around Ypres repeated the
tactics of forty-four years ago when their dense columns, toiling up the
slopes of St. Privat, melted away under the fire of the French.

That the Germans are cunning fighters, and well up in all the tricks of
the trade, has frequently been pointed out. For instance, they often
succeed in ascertaining what regiment or brigade is opposed to them, and
because of their knowledge of English, they are able to employ the
information to some purpose. On a recent occasion, having by some means
discovered the name of the commander of the company holding the trench
they were attacking, they called him by name, asking if Captain ---- was
there. Fortunately the pronunciation of the spokesman was somewhat
defective, and their curiosity was rewarded by discovering that both the
officer in question and his men were very much there.

There have been reports from so many different quarters of the enemy
having been seen wearing British and French uniforms that it is
impossible to doubt their truth. One absolutely authentic case occurred
during the fighting near Ypres. A man dressed in a uniform closely
resembling that of a British staff officer suddenly appeared near our
trenches and walked along the line. He asked if many casualties had been
suffered, stated that the situation was serious, and that a general
retirement had been ordered. A similar visit having been reported by
several men in different trenches, orders were issued that this strange
officer was to be detained if seen again. Unluckily he did not make
another appearance.

The following remarks taken from the diary of a German soldier are
published not because there is reason to believe they are justified with
regard to the conduct of German officers but because of their interest
a