202 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

qualities rendered him a general whom England could ill afford to spare. His death is felt by all here at once as a private and a national loss. Leaders such as he was are rare in all armies. It may be long before the service or the country can fill the gap which his death has caused." Colonel Talbot said in his report: —" I beg to be allowed to express the deep grief of all ranks who have had the privilege of serving under this distinguished officer, especially of those who have so lately followed him into action, and also their sense of the great loss which they, the army generally, and the country, have sustained."

When Lord Wolseley's despatch announcing Stewart's death was read to the House of Lords, the Duke of Cambridge and the Earl of Morley added their testimony to that of Lord Wolseley and Colonel Talbot, to the high worth of the deceased officer, and to the painful regret felt at his loss. Lord Wolseley had written: "No braver soldier or more brilliant leader of men ever wore the queen's uniform. England can ill afford the loss of this young general, while his death robs me of the services of a dear friend and of a dear comrade." Lord Wolseley's opinion of Sir Herbert Stewart was well known. In the previous year some one expressed a doubt as to whether Stewart would arrive in time at Suakim. "Time!" said Lord Wolseley, who overheard the remark; "Stewart will be in time if he has to put to sea in nothing better than a cockle-boat."

The deceased general was not more remarkable for his bravery and resolution than for his intelligence. He was thoroughly conversant with all the details of his profession. He possessed a very remarkable knowledge of military history, and could describe the main events of almost any battle of importance on which he was questioned, and he was especally conversant with the battles of the Franco-Prussian war. When he was in India he was employed at a station in Bengal during a severe epidemic of cholera, and he had often stated that during that period he was in greater danger than in any campaign in which he was afterwards engaged.

Sir Herbert Stewart had a very remarkable faculty, not only