I should say an East End crowd gave one a far
deeper impression of animal spirits, of hope and cheeriness, than a West
End one. And it is the same with soldiers. The officers are fine
fellows, but in this point they yield to the soldiers.
And it means a lot. Of what use is even courage itself if it goes with
impatience and a flash in the pan endurance? This quality of
cheerfulness is really the quality that outlasts all others. It means
not only that you have an army in good fighting trim to-day, but that
this time next year, or the year after, you will still have an army in
good fighting trim. In the long-run it wears down all opposition, but it
is not a characteristic you notice at first. Gradually it makes itself
felt, and gradually it governs your estimate of the whole army. And then
the peculiar wickedness of Tommy (a child's naughtiness for
superficiality) ceases to offend you so much. Rather your own regulation
code seems a trifle less important than it did. Let's all lie and steal;
what does it signify? I would lie and steal till the crack of doom to
gain the serene endurance of the British soldier.[1]
Of his courage one need scarcely speak. It is a subject on which a great
deal of rubbish has been talked. It is not true that all soldiers are
brave, nor is it true that even brave soldiers will go anywhere and do
anything.
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