Illustrated London News, 'The War Reviewed' and 'Our Note Book', 26 May 1900 (p. 698)
A text page of a weekly illustrated paper, issued a week after the relief of Mafeking. 'The War Reviewed' praises the garrison commander in virtue terms ('gallant defence', 'heroic figure') and reports that 'the heart of the public manifestly went out' to him; the 'Note Book' column describes the crowds as a national carnival. Tells: stacked praise words and the crowd offered as the measure of the verdict.
- Date
- May 26, 1900
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- The Illustrated London News, London
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Newspaper pages
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Salisbury Government
- Leader
- Robert Gascoyne Cecil
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Commemorate
- Themes
- War and the military, Home front
- Event
- Second Boer War
- Techniques
- Glittering generalitiesBandwagon
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Internet Archive (Serials in Microfilm, Illustrated London News), retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published in London before 1931; US public domain by publication date)
Archive item carries no separate rights line. The Illustrated London News, 26 May 1900, vol. 116, no. 3188, p. 698; digitised by the Internet Archive from microfilm
Text on the object
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, May 26, 1900.—698 OUR NOTE BOOK. BY L. F. AUSTIN. Is the national temperament changed? Has that British reserve which depresses the foreigner, and irritates our Colonial and American kinsmen, given place to a more than Parisian exuberance? These questions have been suggested to many observers of the surprising behaviour of London when it was known that the popular darling of this war had triumphed over the enemy. Could Colonel Baden-Powell have been suddenly set down in the midst of the rejoicing city, I fear he would have been torn to pieces by an affectionate mob, eager to have bits of him as trophies and heirlooms. THE WAR REVIEWED. Amid the wonderfully enthusiastic jubilation which seemed to effect a complete change in the character of Englishmen and Englishwomen on the Friday night and Saturday of last week—causing them for the nonce, in the general waving of Union Jacks and cheering, to appear the most excitable people on the face of the earth—the heart of the public manifestly went out to the extraordinarily skilful and resourceful commander, who for seven long and anxious months held Mafeking against the Boer besiegers. "B.-P." richly deserved every word of praise bestowed upon him. [remainder of the two columns and the advertisements not transcribed]
Selected passages only, read from the OCR layer and checked against the rendered page; the long Note Book column and the advertisements are omitted.
