“My Lord, to get an end to this rude letter, my request, and all that I want, is twelve months’ leave, for the mere purpose of learning both day and night, where I could accommodate myself according to my pay, at the end of which twelve months I might be fit for promotion in the protection of Her Majesty. “Your most obedient Servant, “—— ——” Public opinion is inclined to regard a war with China as something ridiculous; to smile at the odd equipment of its “Braves,” and laugh at the absurd pretensions of its “Celestials.” We fancy its hosts, like a summer cloud, as something to be at once dissipated by the first breath of the Western breeze. In this we have deceived ourselves, and on more than one occasion paid the penalty of our folly in the blood of the gallant few, who, overwhelmed by countless numbers, the victims of a matchless perfidy, have fallen as exposed to an almost certain destruction. Alone, as in a nest of hornets, we felt the sting of defeat when we had supposed an easy victory. Our discipline, our bravery, and our superior arms, failed to grasp the success we had imagined was to be had for the mere taking. The truth was revealed when too late; we had underrated the valour of the foe, and too much despised their means of defence; then we learned by a bitter experience that our handful of brave men, in the language of Pitt, “were capable of achieving everything _but impossibilities_.” The Ninety-ninth was engaged in the recent Chinese war, but only in time to share the concluding glories of the campaign which crowned a severe and harassing contest in the capture of Pekin. The good conduct of the regiment on this occasion amply demonstrated the excellence of the corps—of what honourable service it was capable, and betokened an illustrious history, which may yet render it famous as the Lanarkshire regiment, and fill a larger space in the national records of “_Our Brave_.” “Great acts best write themselves in their own stories; They die too basely who outlive their glories. [Illustration: OLD HIGHLAND BRIGADE AND LIFE GUARDSMAN.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE OLD HIGHLAND BRIGADE. CHAPTER XXV. “In the garb of old Gaul, with the fire of old Rome, From the heath-cover’d mountains of Scotia we come, Where the Romans endeavour’d our country to gain, But our ancestors fought, and they fought not in vain. Such is our love of liberty, our country and our laws, That, like our ancestors of old, we’ll stand in freedom’s cause, We’ll bravely fight like heroes bold for honour and applause, And defy the French, with all their art, to alter our laws.” LOUDON’S—MONTGOMERY’S—FRASER’S—KEITH’S—CAMPBELL’S—DUKE OF GORDON’S—JOHNSTONE’S—FRASER’S—MʻDONALD’S.