The first ‘faction,’ curiously enough, is not far from Queen Elizabeth’s own policy. The second falls pat for our very latest variety of politician, the ‘air service candidate,’ and the third for those who want to discuss terms of peace in detail before the enemy is beaten, except that in our time they are highly conscientious persons who would be shocked by any suggestion of guile. Later in ‘Troilus and Cressida’ the Greek and Trojan leaders exchange elaborate compliments which savour more of the Middle Ages than the Renaissance; they have no military significance. Before leaving ‘Troilus and Cressida,’ produced when the state of war with Spain was coming to an end, it may be observed that, so far as I know, direct mention of Spain as a hostile power does not occur anywhere in the plays. In the last act of ‘Cymbeline’ we hear how the banished Belarius and the young princes who pass for his sons have rallied the Britons, flying from Roman invaders, at the head of a narrow lane, checked the pursuit, and led a successful counter-attack. The nature of the ground is explained with some detail:— ‘Where was this lane? —Close by the battle, ditch’d, and wall’d with turf; Which gave advantage to an ancient soldier, An honest one, I warrant....’ The rest of the description, which is rather involved in style and may not have received the author’s last touches, adds nothing definite. The questioner, an unnamed ‘British lord,’ seems hardly to see the point:— ‘This was strange chance: A narrow lane, an old man, and two boys.’ It is well attested by experience that a few determined men, or even one, may stop a panic if once they can get a rallying point; and I am much disposed to think that Shakespeare used in this passage an incident heard from someone who had actually seen it, or been very near it, ‘somewhere in Flanders.’