210 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



share my views on this unhappy subject. On the 

 other hand, many of my friends in the West, and 

 those connected with me by marriage, contend that 

 no Englishman can possibly apprehend the spirit 

 of the West, and that "things" — as Truthful 

 James would say — "are not what they seem": 

 that deep down in the Western heart are respect 

 and esteem for the British nation. In reply I 

 submit that this sentiment of affection is so deep 

 down that, so far as I am concerned, it is absolutely 

 out of sight. 



None the less my friends may be right when 

 they assert that the majority does claim kin with 

 us, for has not the inimitable Mr. Dooley remarked : 

 " They annoy us so much that they must be mim- 

 bers of our own family." 



In England the great newspapers direct and mould 

 public opinion upon matters not to be apprehended 

 without special study. In the West the busiest 

 man must do his own thinking. He might borrow 

 the opinions of others, but this, as a rule, he is 

 loath to do. Professor Hopkins, speaking of the 

 Transvaal war, says : " I hold no brief for England, 

 but while she serves God and man I rejoice in her 

 triumphs. For God is served when Man is bettered. 

 This was the case in India. It is true of Egypt. 

 It is true of the many little lands she holds around 

 the earth. It will be proved again in South Africa 

 when Boer authority yields to the higher civilisa- 

 tion." Captain Mahan says of the Boers: "Their 

 right to administer the country as they please de- 

 pends upon the use they make or have made of 

 that power. Personally I believe they " (the Boers) 



