If any excuse were needed for penning this, it is to be found in the exceeding interest which was taken in my monograph "Badges of the Brave." Indeed, many readers have requested me to deal, at greater length, with a subject which not only opens up a great historical vista and awakens national sentiment, but, incidentally, serves an educational mission to those who collect and those who sell the metallic records of many a hard-fought field, which, when collated, form an imperishable record of our island story.

The War Medal is a comparatively modern institution, otherwise we might have learned the names of the common folk who fought so tenaciously in the old wars, as, for instance, the Welsh infantry and Irish soldiers who, with the English bowmen, comprised the army of 30,000 which at CrÉcy routed an army of 120,000; the followers of the Black Prince who captured the impetuous King John at Poitiers, or the English archers whose deadly volleys made such havoc at Agincourt, on that fateful day in October nearly five hundred years ago; the brave seamen who, under Lord Howard, Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, fought the "Invincible Armada"; and those who, under Raleigh, vigorously pursued the Spaniards on the high seas. We might have learned something of the men who composed the Royal Scots and the 18th Royal Irish, and helped to vindicate the reputation of the British soldier at Namur, and covered themselves with glory at Blenheim; the gallant Coldstream Guards who did such excellent service under Marlborough at Oudenarde and Malplaquet, as well as the Gloucesters and Worcesters who fought so well at Ramillies, or the Royal Welsh Fusiliers who served under George II at Dettingen.

When, however, war medals were designed for distribution among successful combatants, a means of decorating surviving soldiers and sailors was established, and at the same time a sentimental and substantial record of a man's labours for his country upon the field of battle. So that, if the veterans of Drake's historic fleet, or Marlborough's dauntless soldiers, were not possessed of badges to distinguish them from the soldiers of industry, we, at any rate, may hold in our hands the medals which were awarded to those who served the immortal Nelson, and be proud to possess the medals which shone upon the breasts of our great grandparents who defied the Conqueror of Europe on that memorable Sunday, and made his sun to set upon the battlefield of Waterloo.

Have you listened to the smart British veteran as he explains the disposition of the troops on that historic occasion—how the French cavalry "foamed itself away" in the face of those steady British squares? How he makes the Welsh blood tingle as he records the glorious deeds and death of Sir Thomas Picton, and the Scotsman's dance through his veins as he explains how, with the cold steel of their terrible bayonets, the Black Watch at Quatre Bras, and its second battalion, the Perthshires, at Waterloo, waited for the charge of the cuirassiers; and how Sergeant Ewart of the Scots Greys captured the Eagle of the 45th, and then, with the rest of the Union Brigade (the English Royals and the Irish Inniskillings), crashed through the ranks of the faltering French, and scattered the veterans of Napoleon's army! Have you seen how the mention of the Guards holding the ChÂteau of Hougomont brightens the eye of the Englishman? Yes! Then just think what it is to touch and possess the solid proofs of the deeds that those men did, and to feel that you have in your possession the only recompense those brave and daring men received from a grateful country.

Historical Value.—My collection of medals enables me to cover over a hundred years of history; takes me back to the stirring times when men yet met face to face in the Peninsula and at Waterloo; to the men who founded our Indian Empire. It enables me to keep in touch with sailors who fought in the battle of the Nile, at Trafalgar, and at Navarino, that last of all naval battles in which we British took part—our allies were then the French and Russians—until our battleships met those of the Germans in the great war now waging. It reminds me of the horsemen who made the world wonder ere, with deathless glory, they passed their little day, and of that "thin red line" of Scots, whose cool daring at Balaklava has only been bedimmed by the gallantry of the Light Brigade. It enables me to think more intimately of the men I know who faced the Russians in that terrible winter, and then, like heroes, plodded through the inferno of the Mutiny. It brings back vividly to my mind the days of the Zulu War and the heroism of Rorke's Drift. It reminds me of the daring march to Kandahar and the frontier wars so necessary to hold back the turbulent human surf which beats on the shores of our great Eastern Empire. It enables me to keep closely in touch with those who so quickly dealt with Arabi Pasha and later faced the fanatical hordes of the Mahdi; the young men of this generation who fought so stubbornly at the Modder River, and who stormed the Tugela Heights. It enables me to keep in touch with those "handymen" and scouts on the fringe of Empire who in Somaliland, Gambia, Benin, Matabeleland, and Bechuanaland uphold the dignity of Britain.

We sometimes read of a man or woman who has shaken hands, sixty, seventy, or eighty years ago, with some great person, or some one whose deeds have made him or her a name in history. The possession of war medals and decorations, or of medals of honour gained by brave deeds in time of peace, brings us in close touch with those who honourably gained them. That is an aspect of medal-collecting which appeals to me, and should to every one who admires pluck, grit, daring, and the willingness to personal sacrifice which these badges of the brave denote.

Finally there is an exceptional feature in the collection of war medals which will also appeal, for, as Sir James Yoxall has pointed out in "The A B C About Collecting," the collector of war medals "has concentrated upon a line which can be made complete." If, however, his inclinations or his means will not permit of the acquisition of a complete set he may specialise in either Military or Naval Medals, or those awarded to special regiments or ships, or to men of his own name, or those earned by boys or nurses.

In order to facilitate the search for bars issued with the various medals, the names inscribed thereon are printed in the text in small capitals: these, of course, must not be taken as representing the type used on the official bars; reference must be made to the illustrations, which, being the same size as the original medals, will materially assist the reader in recognising official lettering.

In conclusion I have to express my sincere thanks for the help afforded and the deep interest taken in my book by Dr. A. A. Payne, whose kindness in providing photographs of examples in his unique collection has enabled me to illustrate many interesting and rare medals; to G. K. J. and F. W. G. for clerical assistance; G. T. F. for sketches; and to Messrs. Heywood & Co., Ltd., for the loan of several of the blocks of medals which had been used in monographs I had written for publication by them.

W. Augustus Steward.

London.