In a private letter Lord Cromer referred to " Stephenson's quiet, useful, but signally unostentatious life," and also said, " Sir Frederick Stephenson was one of the finest characters I have ever known." In reply to a request that a letter written to the Times might be used here. Lord Cromer says: "I shall be only too pleased if anything I have said will contribute to keep his memory green."
That letter will, I think, make a fitting end to this memoir.
From the " Times" of Monday, March ii, 191 1 " The Late Sir F. Stephenson
" To the Editor of the Times.
" Sir, — Your issue of to-day contains the obituary notice of my old and honoured friend Sir Frederick Stephenson. Few officers, whether in the Civil or Military Services, have of recent years rendered more valuable, and I may add less ostentatious, service to their country than this very distinguished officer, whose qualities both of head and heart endeared him to all with whom he was brought in contact.
" I may perhaps be allowed to quote what I said on this subject in my work entitled Modern Egypt (vol. i. p. 420). Speaking of the great difficulties of the Egyptian situation in the early days of the occupation, I said: —
" ' The behaviour and discipline of the British troops were alike excellent. Moreover, they were commanded by an officer (Sir Frederick Stephenson) who combined in a high degree all the qualities necessary to fill with advantage to his country a post of such exceptional difficulty as the command of an army of occupation in a foreign country. The French residents in Egypt resented the presence of a British army in their midst. They were in a state of nervous irritability, which rendered them prompt to take offence at the smallest real or imaginary provocation. At any moment some paltry squabble might have occurred between the officers and soldiers of the army of occupation on the one hand and the population on the other hand, which, if any Frenchman had been concerned, might have caused much trouble. The general officer in command of the troops was thus called upon to exercise great tact, firmness, patience, and judgment. These qualities Sir Frederick Stephenson possessed in a high degree; it was largely due to him that such difficulties as arose never assumed proportions which it was beyond the resources of local diplomacy to settle satisfactorily. Sir Frederick Stephenson won for himself the admiration even of those who were most hostile to the British occupation....'—I am, Sir, faithfully yours,
" Cromer. -'36 WiMPOLE Street, W., March 11."
LETTER PREFACE
These letters from the keen soldier who had been longing for active service, though they tell nothing new to students of history, are interesting from the human and individual outlook. They also tell the old story, the lesson never learned, that pluck and enthusiasm and belief in your cause will not bring success without preparation.
Just as in the days of the Boer War, forty years later, men talked of a " picnic " and a " walk over," so here going to the Crimea is referred to as " an agreeable tour." But that tone soon changes, and the writer regrets having used such an expression when he realises the terrible suffering which surrounds him on all hands. Many other letters must have been written which have not been preserved, and as an account of the Crimean campaign these are of course quite inadequate. That sad story has, however, been done full justice to elsewhere, while the details here written by a participant are so fresh and interesting that they are well worth reading.
Sir Frederick never mentions Miss Nightingale in his letters home, and may possibly at the time have shared in a certain military prejudice against " women in time of war "; but later he grew to appreciate her great work, and in a letter written to Lady Wantage in 1910 says: — * "I have been thinking of you lately in connection with that grand character, Florence Nightingale, with whose splendid career of usefulness, courage, and selfdevotion you and Bob are so closely associated. What a grand creature she was, and what a noble life I Individually it makes one form a mean opinion of the useless life one has passed by the side of hers."
It has been remarked that some of the notes to these letters are quite superfluous, but writing as I am for a younger generation, I think many facts and names well known to some of us now will be forgotten by and by of places and people which not being thought of sufficient importance to figure in serious histories, are yet worthy of remembrance.
All facts and dates have been verified from such works as the Greville Memoirs, the Life of the Prince Consort by Theodore Martin, and Nelson's Encyclopcedia, etc.