The tales here told are written, not to glorify war, but to nourish
patriotism. They represent an effort to renew in popular memory the
great traditions of the Imperial race to which we belong.
The history of the Empire of which we are subjects--the story of the
struggles and sufferings by which it has been built up--is the best
legacy which the past has bequeathed to us. But it is a treasure
strangely neglected. The State makes primary education its anxious
care, yet it does not make its own history a vital part of that
education. There is real danger that for the average youth the great
names of British story may become meaningless sounds, that his
imagination will take no colour from the rich and deep tints of
history. And what a pallid, cold-blooded citizenship this must produce!
War belongs, no doubt, to an imperfect stage of society; it has a side
of pure brutality. But it is not all brutal. Wordsworth's daring line
about "God's most perfect instrument" has a great truth behind it.
What examples are to be found in the tales here retold, not merely of
heroic daring, but of even finer qualities--of heroic fortitude; of
loyalty to duty stronger than the love of life; of the temper which
dreads dishonour more than it fears death; of the patriotism which
makes love of the Fatherland a passion. These are the elements of
robust citizenship. They represent some, at least, of the qualities by
which the Empire, in a sterner time than ours, was won, and by which,
in even these ease-loving days, it must be maintained.
These sketches appeared originally in the _Melbourne Argus_, and are
republished by the kind consent of its proprietors. Each sketch is
complete in itself; and though no formal quotation of authorities is
given, yet all the available literature on each event described has
been laid under contribution. The sketches will be found to be
historically accurate.