At Large
I’m All Right, Jack
The behavior of the British sailors taken hostage in Iran raises a larger question: What has happened to the British armed forces?
p>During one of Britain’s 19th century wars with China a British
soldier in a force under Lord Elgin was captured by the Chinese and
beheaded for refusing to Kow-Tow. The incident inspired what was
for a time a famous poem:
br>
/p>
blockquote>
em>Last night, among his fellow roughs,
br>
He jested, quaffed, and swore;
br>
A drunken private of the Buffs,
br>
Who never looked before.
br>
To-day, beneath the foeman’s frown,
br>
He stands in Elgin’s place,
br>
Ambassador from Britain’s crown,
br>
And type of all her race.
/em>
p>
em>Poor, reckless, rude, low-born, untaught,
About the Author
Hal G.P. Colebatch’s “Immram,” Counterstrike, is being published by Australian publisher Imaginites.
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