am sometimes puzzled
to pick up what is said owing to that curious drop in the voice.

A word or two as well about the officers of the Northumberlands,
meaning, of course, the natives of the county. For them as well as for
the hardy miners and farmers of the north I have a very sincere
respect and liking. Better comrades on the field of battle no man
could wish for, better officers for a Territorial battalion it would
be hard to find. Their unbending courage, their gallant bearing in
danger, their cheerfulness and their care and thought for their men
have been responsible in a great measure for the successes won by the
Northumberland battalions and for the lamentable but noble sacrifices
when success was denied. Gallant and devoted soldiers they have been,
and well they have earned the love and admiration of their men. Always
cheerful whatever was on foot, readiest of all to turn a danger passed
into a jest. There could not be a better spirit in which to face the
long delays and the bitter disappointments of the war. Two outstanding
features in their character are, to my mind, practically universal,
whatever form they happen to take. An inherent pugnacity, and a
whole-hearted belief in and love of their county, which amounts to
something more than clannishness. They know everything about every
one in Northumberland, and with others they do not trouble themselves
much. They do not talk about it like the Scots, but it is there all
the same; and it has a profound influence on their actions and
judgment. Within this sacred circle, into which no outlandish man can
break, their pugnacity develops countless local feuds. And these feuds
can be bitter enough, and I do not think I ever met a north-countryman
without one. Generally there are two or three on foot at a time. One
town against another, the men who did against the men who did not.
Sometimes I have thought that these queer hereditary instincts, for
such they undoubtedly are, have led the men of the north astray. The
house has been divided against itself, justice has not been done, or
it has been delayed, incompetence has been allowed to spread its
blighting influence. In other words the love of their county and the
strength of their local feuds have at times blinded the men of the
north to the real interests of their country, when a united front and
a concentration of the best effort available were absolutely necessary
to get on with the war. To me the Northumbrian off