To take steps to meet the danger, the Committee of the Cabinet for National Defence--a committee which had the radical defect of being composed wholly of civilian ministers without military knowledge or experience--was held on December 16, the morning after the final news of General Buller's defeat at Colenso reached London. The members of the committee were Lord Salisbury, Mr. Balfour, the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Lansdowne, and Mr. Goschen. Their deliberations were secret; the measures upon which they finally decided were in no way heroic--were, indeed, hardly adequate to the perils of the situation. It had been expected that they would call for 40,000 or 50,000 volunteers, place under arms the Volunteers and Militia, and mobilise a good part of the fleet, at the same time despatching to South Africa the largest possible number of trained soldiers, and making the utmost use of the zeal of the colonies. [Illustration: A DISTINGUISHED GROUP. This group, photographed on board the _Carisbrooke Castle_, which arrived at Capetown, November 14, 1899, includes several men who have distinguished themselves in the war. The foremost officer is Capt. Manns; seated immediately behind him is the Earl of Dundonald, the inventor of the "Dundonald Galloping Carriage" for light guns, and grandson of Lord Cochrane, the naval hero of the beginning of the century. Next to him, the end figure in the seated row, is Col. Martin, who commanded the 21st Lancers in their celebrated charge at Omdurman. Next to the Earl of Dundonald on the other side is Capt. French, employed at the base drilling the South African Light Horse, and sitting close beside, and a little behind him, is the Duke of Hamilton, whilst the Hon. G. Saumarez sits with his face partly hidden behind the chain. In the standing row the officer on the extreme right is Major Hoare; next to him is Carlisle Carr, who swam the Tugela under fire and brought over the ferry-boat. The gentleman standing with his hands in his pockets is A. P. Bailey, of Johannesburg, who gave a complete ambulance to the Government.] [Sidenote: DEC. 16-23, 1899.] _Lord Roberts to Command._]