painted rather earlier (about five-and-twenty minutes before two is the time I should assign to it), and is therefore deficient in many of the chief characteristics of the remarkable period I allude to.' How delightfully Hamley could reproduce mannerisms is shown in the "Recent Confessions of an Opium Eater,” and in "Sir Tray, an Arthurian Idyl," where the familiar doggerel line, 'But when she came back the poor dog was laughing,' is thus happily rendered : Nearing her bower, it seemed a sepulchre caled Calverley alone could have so charmingly presented the story of "The Widowed Dame of Hubbard's ancient line." The Crimean war had drawn attention to the prevailing inadequacy of military education in the British Army. Enquiries were instituted as to the systems of other Powers, and the prejudices of the Duke of Wellington were at length set aside in favour of the systematic training of Staff-officers. A separate Staff College was established, and the Professorship of Military History-the first instituted in this country-was offered to Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Hamley. We have seen, in later years, how the happy chance of the appointment of Capt. A. T. Mahan to the War College at Newport, and the wisdom of the United States' authorities in keeping him there, gave opportunities to a writer who has powerfully stimulated the neglected study of naval history. As powerful was the impulse applied to military science by the Sandhurst Professor. The every-day duties of the new post and the trained literary faculty of its holder went hand in hand. Hamley could bring his undivided energies to bear in one direction, and the admirable series of lectures, followed, as General Napier stated, with 'rapt attention and interest' by the students, formed the groundwork of The Operations of War.' In regard to this, the great work of his life, Hamley might have proudly asserted exegi monumentum 6 monumentum ære perennius. 'No soldier,' justly states Mr. Shand, need desire a nobler monument to his memory'; and no book conveys a more profound impression of the author's consummate mastery of his subject. The method of Jomini, whose Traité des grandes Opérations Militaires' suggests comparison with 'The Operations of War,' was to divide the history of a campaign into convenient sections, and to attach to each section a series of comments setting forth such principles of the art of war as were thence deducible. Hamley's scheme was somewhat differently conceived. 'Let us suppose,' he states in an admirably lucid Introduction, 'that from amidst the mass of records, certain campaigns and battles should be selected which should be representative operations, each involving and illustrating a principle or a fact, which when elicited and fully recognised will serve for future guidance. Here we should have the matter at once greatly simplified; and this is what has been aimed at in the present work.' As in some The book is a masterpiece of construction. triumph of architecture, everything is in full harmony; nothing is out of proportion or superfluous. The first part deals with 'modern conditions of war-the necessity of a secure startingpoint,' of good roads, of assured supplies. Part II. discusses the considerations antecedent to a campaign, the selection of an objective and of a line of operations. Parts III. and IV. are devoted to pure strategy; while Part V. treats of 'the influence of obstacles,' natural and artificial, upon the conduct of war. Finally, tactics ancient and modern, orders of battle, and the many minor operations which precede and attend the contact of armies, are carefully examined. A wealth of historical instances is employed to illustrate each principle, and the points in each representative campaign are seized upon and thrown into strong, relief. Of the repellent pedantry which characterises much military writing there is no trace. The student is irresistibly. led onwards by the charin of the author's style, and the path lies always in the sunlight. In breadth of treatment, in grasp, and in logical completeness, The Operations of War' has no equal. Only the works of Jomini and the Archduke Charles can be placed in the same category. Behind these eminent writers, however, lay great traditions; while Hamley conferred unaccustomed prestige on an army whose achievements in original authorship had been relatively meagre. The book at once made its mark. Moltke was quick to recognise the powers of the author. From General Sherman came a letter of appreciation calling in question certain comments on his great cam paign, drawing attention to the peculiar conditions under which the American commanders found themselves forced to undertake a great war, and adding with characteristic modesty : 'I don't think any of us claim to be great generals, in the strict sense of the term, or to have initiated anything new, but merely to have met an emergency forced on us, and to have ceased war the very moment it could be done.' Most remarkable, however, was the effect produced on the British Army. Hamley set a new intellectual standard, awakened dormant thought, and showed the way to an independent judgment. It is just to say that the uprising of a national military literature was due to the stimulus he supplied, and that the increasing band of writers who now represent with credit the intelligence of the Army draw their inspiration largely from The Operations of War.' It is equally just to state that these obligations are most inadequately recognised. In April 1864 Hamley was ordered to rejoin the regiment on promotion; and after spending a year and a half at Dover, where his magnum opus was completed, he became a member of the Council of Military Education till its abolition in 1870. Most fortunately the important post of Commandant at the Staff College now became vacant. There was no one whose claims were comparable to those of Hamley; but the prolonged reluctance of the military authorities to recognise those claims appears to have been overcome only by the wise insistance of Mr. Cardwell, backed by the strong support of the press. Until 1877, Hamley remained at the Staff College, where he initiated many valuable changes, infused a practical spirit into the course of military training, and most wisely assumed personal charge of some branches of out-of-door instruction. While devoting himself to his professional duties, Hamley found time for work of a widely different nature. In addition to many notable military articles, the period between 1870 to 1877 produced thoughtful criticisms of the works of Carlyle and George Eliot, the brilliant review of Lothair' striking a true chord in the midst of a confused chorus of indiscriminate praise, and Our Poor Relations,' in the bright pages of which the writer's innate sympathy for the brute creation is delightfully expressed. Two widely different achievements of the later Sandhurst days serve in a special sense to mark Hamley's genius. Nothing of its kind has ever equalled 'Shakespeare's Funeral.' A charming fancy is here wrought out with perfect literary taste and consummate understanding of the poet of humanity. Drayton brings the young Walter Raleigh to visit the The towns the master, and arrives on the day of the funeral. people are all the familiar Shakespearean characters, living and speaking according to their wont. Of Shakespeare, the poet, nothing is to be learned; hopeless ignorance of his life's work prevails at Stratford. The funeral sermon is an apology for his frailties. But, alas! it is known to all of you, and I dare not dissemble it, that his calling hath been one that delighteth the carnal-minded and profiteth the idle and maketh the godly sad of heart; while, as for his talent, it hath been put out to use where the only return is the praise which fleeteth as the bubble on the stream. . . for the making of rhymes and verses which flatter the ear, and the art of representing the vain shows of things, howe'er skilfully practised, cannot be held profitable for him that writes nor him that hears them.' Sir Thomas Lucy (the son of Justice Shallow) and Master Thynne (Slender) arrive to pay a last tribute of respect, for— 'His mother was an Arden, and the College granted to his father a coat of arms. . . And the gentleman himself has for years been of good havings with lands and houses therefore, say I, that we, who are neighbours and gentlemen, should have him in respect.' ... At New Place, Mistress Shakespeare is absorbed with anxiety as to the funeral baked meats, while Mistress Hall is engrossed with misgivings as to her father's reception beyond 'the bourne.' By a pretty touch, suggested by his unfailing sympathy with children, Hamley makes the little granddaughter Elizabeth the only real mourner :— ELIZABETH (whispering). My grandfather called me his Queen Bess; and said he would liefer be ruled by me than the older one. (Aloud.) Didst thou not say, Sir, thou wouldst like to hear of him from those he loved? 6 'RALEIGH. Ay, little maid. ELIZABETH. Then thou must talk of him to me, for he hath oft said 'twas me he loved best, and (weeping) I shall ne'er be tired talking of him.' Only a writer of rare power, and endowed with great gifts of imagination, of humour, and of pathos, could have given to us 'Shakespeare's Funeral.' In the Life of Voltaire, Hamley found a subject to his heart. The genius of the great Frenchman had points of contact with his own. Underlying the humour and the satire of Candide, he recognised the profoundest sense of the helpless condition of humanity and the liveliest sympathy with its sorrows,' and he set himself with evident zest to the task of rendering justice to the the author's memory. The book is, however, no panegyric. Voltaire, warring with his keen wit against the flagrant abuses of his age and country, merits all honour; but in the bitterness engendered by the unequal struggle, scruples were thrown aside and satire degenerated into ribaldry, so that, as Hamley justly states, the great intellect and the high purpose are left without the crowning grace of reverence.' The Life is an admirably condensed study of the career and works of the poet historian, characteristically thorough and strikingly indicative of the wide range of the writer. a For nearly two years after leaving the Staff College, Hamley remained unemployed. He stood outside the dominant military clique; he was known to be somewhat bluntly outspoken. The chief posts in the offices of military education and of intelligence, both of which fell vacant at this period, were elsewhere bestowed. Meanwhile curious tribute of appreciation came from a foreign Power. The Russian General Staff had gravely mismanaged the campaign in Bulgaria; Todleben was not in high favour; there were many precedents for seeking naval or military advisers in Great Britain, and Hamley was approached with a view to his services being placed at the disposal of Alexander II. His sympathies were, however, not with the Russian cause, and he could not entertain the proposal. Early in 1879, on the death of Colonel Home, the British Commissioner for the delimitation of the Roumelian frontier, Lord Salisbury with wise judgment offered the post to Hamley. I would rather have gone to Zululand or Afghanistan,' he writes, but I am glad to get any professional employment of a respectable nature.' The theory sanctioned by the Treaty of Berlin, that, after the constitution of the new State of Eastern Roumelia, the Balkans could still be regarded as a line of defence for Turkey, naturally proved to be delusive; but the work of the Commission was none the less serious. The British representative had a difficult task, which he accomplished with distinguished success, displaying great tact, strength of character, and willingness to assume responsibility. Services so rendered passed unrecognised by the public, and were not calculated to carry weight at the War Office; but Lord Salisbury expressed his warm appreciation, and Hamley was again selected to act as Commissioner for the settlement of the Russo-Turkish frontier in Asia, and later to supervise the transference of territory from Turkey to Greece. In both cases the duties were arduous and responsible. Threatened difficulties were overcome by Hamley's wisdom and firmness. success was conspicuous, and, short of an actual campaign, no experiences His |