that time will prove that he was not responsible for the decimation of the brigade he loved so well. He was far too good a tactician for that blunder.' It will be seen as our narrative has proceeded, that while the career of Andrew Gilbert Wauchope of Niddrie is in the main that of an earnest, devoted soldier of the Crown, full of chequered incident and varied experience, there is at the same time a many-sidedness of character developed in his life. A soldier first, he was as much at home, it has been said, in the commonplace business of the local School Board and Parish Council, or in the transactions of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Essentially a modest man, he never made an affectation of superiority, and indeed he was much inclined to underrate his own ability in almost every work in which he was engaged. As a politician he knew his own mind, and he had become one of the clearest and most humorous exponents of the policy which he advocated. Great in arms, he was equally great in the arts of peace; and while professionally attached to his duties as a soldier, he had a horror of war, and an unbounded appreciation of the blessings of peace. Those who knew him best, who had lived with him in barracks or camp, who shared with him the dangers of war, bear witness to his many kind deeds, and his sympathetic interest in others, of his kind-hearted generosity, his homeliness, and general simplicity of heart. He was {200} indeed a typical Scotsman, possessing all the best characteristics of a Scotsman, with no fear in his heart but the fear of God, or, as one has described him--'A man among men, and a man of God.' [Sidenote: Honoured by all] To the people on his estate he was more than anything else a father, in his interest and care; the active patron of everything that was worthy, the participator in all that was helpful to their life; the benefactor whose liberal hand supplied many a need, and brightened and blessed many a home. When the news of his death came from South Africa, all ranks and classes united in lamenting the fall of a brave and a good man, of one who would be much missed, of one who could ill be spared. 'From the Queen on the throne to some of her humblest subjects, through all ranks of statesmen and politicians of all shades of opinion, from soldiers and from sailors of all grades, and most affectionately from the rank and file of his own historic regiment, from newspapers throughout the length and breadth of the land, from neighbours and friends--and who were not his friends who knew him?--even from opponents; in short, from all classes, the highest and the humblest, came tributes of respect and eulogy, and expressions of sorrow over what seemed, at first thought, his untimely end.'