window - sashes, and all furniture had been used for firewood; everywhere the groundfloor had been used as a stable. In one of these dismantled dwellings we passed the night, and on the following morning drove on to Versailles. Here we found found Furley : and I called upon Colonel Beauchamp Walker, our military attaché; on Dr W. H. Russell, the correspondent of of 'The Times'; and on Lord Odo Russell, our ambassador to the King of Prussia. That evening I spent in Dr Russell's rooms, but we left early, as he was starting at daybreak for Champigny.

The next morning, December 2, I lunched, by command, with the Crown Prince of Prussia. It was an interesting and somewhat dramatic meal.

I

sat on the Crown Prince's left. On his right was General von Blumenthal, his Chief of the Staff. During the previous day the French had entrenched themselves in the positions gained on the 30th, and a truce had been arranged in order to clear the battlefield of the dead and wounded. The Germans also had strengthened their positions and sent large reinforcements to the threat ened points. Early in the morning of the 2nd the Germans opened the attack, and during luncheon despatches were constantly arriving from the scene of the fighting, which were read aloud by General Blumenthal. As it was not till 5 P.M. that the fighting ceased, the Germans having repulsed the French, the despatches which I heard, though

generally favourable, did not record any very marked success.

The Crown Prince expressed his great sympathy with the work in which I was engaged, and spoke to me of his own hatred of war. He assured me that Germany had not entered upon the war with any idea of annexation of territory, but that now the German national feeling on the subject had become so strong that it would be impossible to avoid the annexation of Alsace. I left profoundly impressed with the character of this soldierprince, who, fresh from the battles on the frontier and with some of his troops engaged in a hard struggle at that very moment, was not ashamed to avow, in the presence of his whole staff of warworn soldiers, his hatred of

The

French Mayor of Lagny has had the names of our Meaux staff inscribed in the records of the town. Mother Superior of the Hôtel Dieu at Lagny told me the wounded in their hospitals must have died but for us. The Crown Prince of Saxony and the Würtemberger General in Command at Meaux are among those on the German side who have publicly expressed their gratitude.

"Now I am very anxious to make known at what cost of personal exertion by our staff the Society's work is carried out, for the large sum of money subscribed by the public by no means represents all that England is doing in this noble cause. I will take Meaux as an example of our depôts-its staff as an example of the labours freely and ungrudgingly given by our volunteer agents. The depôt at Meaux is under charge of an English gentleman, a retired captain of Austrian cavalry, whose previous experience of war, on the staff in the campaign of Italy, and whose thorough knowledge of languages peculiarly fit him for the post. Under him are two officers, retired from our own army, a Cambridge Wrangler reading for the Bar, a clerk of the House of Lords, a captain of the London Scottish Volunteers, a bankers' clerk, and a medical student, besides business men in charge of the stores. The 23 horses, and their English and Belgian drivers, are under the control of the driver of the Waterloo coach.

"In spite of this strange mixture of classes and professions, so well has the staff been selected, that among all those sent out by your Committee -amounting to considerably more than 100 in my district-there has not been one case of dishonesty, and scarcely one failure of any kind. And I must not omit here to speak of the noble self-sacrificing exertions of the medical staff of our various hospitals, and the English ladies who have acted as nurses.

"When authentic requests for supplies are received at the depôt, the stores are sent in our own fourgons, under charge of a member of the staff. The journey is generally from two to six days' duration. The fourgons have been well under fire; the chances of shelter for the night are always doubtful. Mr Hinton was

searching for stabling for his horses from four o'clock one afternoon till two o'clock the next morning. Through all that bitter weather of the past two months, our English fourgons showed their Union Jacks everywhere round Paris, with English gentlemen sitting for hours upon the driving-seat, exposed to the piercing cold. In some instances the hardship has caused personal suffering. Mr Sutherland, Mr Jeune, Mr Hinton, Mr Barrington Kennett, Mr Job, have done what Capel used to call our 'carters' work' under much exposure and privation, with the most unflinching good-humour. It is not to be wondered at that, as Captain Nevill writes, the people who see the work can only slowly believe that it is done without some deep ulterior motive.

"I have been grieved to see persistent statements that we have done more for the Germans than the French, and that we have only been relieving the Germans from doing for their own and the French wounded what otherwise they must have done. Both these statements are very wrong, and the last argues entire ignorance of the terrible strain under which Germany is carrying on this war. Germany is making enormous efforts on behalf of the sick and wounded, but do all she can, she cannot meet the wants. Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Russia, have all lent a hand to the poor suffering victims, to raise them from their straw to decent beds, to give them the sustenance required to sustain life in bodies drained of blood, to aid by surgical skill the overtaxed exertions of the German surgeons. But I need not say England stands pre-eminently first in this work of charity. In regard to our aid not being given equally to the French, I have often been accused abroad of doing more for them than for the Germans. I have honestly striven to keep the balance even, but the spectacle of destitution and humiliation, mental and bodily suffering which the invaded districts of France afford, compel the sympathies of most men rather towards weak France than towards strong Germany, proud_in her consciousness of power. We have done all in our power for the

French. Not a tale of sore need has reached my ears but it has been inquired into, and relieved according to its circumstances. And I am bound once more to speak of the frank gratitude with which France has accepted our help. Were it necessary I could call up an overwhelming array of evidence to show how much we have done for the French side. I have never asked for testimonials or an expression of thanks; and you know in what manner the French Government has desired to show, through me, its appreciation of our Society's efforts. There is not a Frenchman in the north of France who would not repudiate the idea of our Society having failed in its duty to his country."

On my return to England Loyd-Lindsay handed me the following letter:

"NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR AID TO THE SICK AND WOUNDED IN WAR.

"9 ST MARTIN'S PLACE, LONDON, W.C., 4th February 1871. MY DEAR BRACKENBURY, The leave of absence granted you by the War Office having expired, you have returned to this country to recommence your duties at Woolwich. The Central Committee of this Society desire me to express to you their regret at the severance of an official connection which has lasted for five months, during which time you acted as their representative abroad with the utmost zeal and selfdevotion, combined with great practical ability in the administration of a noble Charity springing out of the benevolence of Englishmen ex

cited by the suffering arising from

the present war.

"For such exertions the Committee desire to tender you their

grateful acknowledgment, and while so doing they must not omit to recognise the zeal, ability, and energy with which the staff working under you have seconded your efforts.

"To this expression of thanks on the part of the Committee allow me to add my own for your constant attention and courtesy displayed in all your dealings with the Society at home.-Believe me, yours faithfully,

"R. LOYD-LINDSAY, Lt.-Col. and Chairman of Committee."

My relations with Colonel Loyd - Lindsay, the leading spirit of this great national movement, grew and ripened into a close friendship, which I look back upon as one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Of that friendship and of his noble character I have already written in an article that was

published in Maga' in February 1908, under the title "Lord Wantage, V.C., K.C.B." In my report I spoke of the manner in which the French Government had desired to show through me its appreciation of the Society's efforts. On my way home M. Tachard had informed me that the French Government of National Defence had made me an officer of the Legion of Honour, and the original decree, dated Bordeaux, January 25, 1871, was sent to me officially through the Horse Guards on March 4. The document runs thus:

LE GOUVERNEMENT DE LA DÉFENSE

NATIONALE.

Vu les services rendus sur divers champs de bataille par le Capitaine de l'Artillerie Royale Anglaise, Mr Henry Brackenbury en tête des ambulances qu'il a lui-même organisées et les soins courageux qu'il a prodigués à nos soldats blessés, pendant le siège de Metz.

"I sent you the Bavarian parcel by Mr John Furley, and hear you have received it. The Crown Prince wishes to give you the Iron Cross, if you can

obtain leave to wear it, not otherwise. Do you wish me to make the application for you? I hope it will not be refused, but I cannot answer for a favourable result. Please write me a line to the Foreign Office.-Yours sincerely, ODO RUSSELL."

Later in the month he wrote: "All my efforts have failed; the Regulations are against you." The line taken by the Foreign Office was that as I was not in the execution of

any duty imposed upon me by H.M. Government, I could not be recommended for permission