ening to the full use of all his faculties at the first summons. His meals should be at irregular hours, and should be quickly dispatched. Let his diet be plain and nourishing, not delicate or highly seasoned. Accustom his taste to milk instead of tea. Tea is a luxury, which a soldier cannot always command, and which, if he have been early used to it, he will regret: perhaps he may find himself in ridiculous distress for want of some of the effeminate paraphernalia of the tea-table; for in little things, as in great, "it is often misery to want what it is not happiness to have." 66 Refrain from accustoming your young soldier or sailor to wine, or any kind of spirituous liquor; it is a mistaken notion, that wine increases the vigour of healthy children; it weakens them. All unnecessary and extraordinary excitation sooner or later induces debility. There may be exceptions to this rule, but none that invalidate the general principle. Some men are gifted with such constitutions, that they escape or survive the usual effects of intemperance; and fools are led into excess by these examples of impunity: but wise men remember, that no safe maxim for conduct can be formed from extraordinary instances; much less can any practical principle in education be deduced from them. Popularly speaking, a man may have a right to do what he pleases with his own health, but not with that of his children. It is not only folly but wickedness, to give a child, who cannot judge for himself, a vicious taste, with the rash hope that he may hereafter escape the natural consequences of the habit. If a boy be so weakly, as to require • Vide Brydone. cordials, he cannot be fit for a soldier, or a sailor; if he be strong, he cannot need wine, and will not desire it, unless his taste be debauched by imprudent friends. People often teach children, who are naturally averse to it, to like wine, by making it a reward or an honour, by associating the idea of a bumper with smiles and caresses, and every joyous image of manliness and festivity. Wine should neither be granted as a recompense, nor withheld to punish. It should be considered as what it is, an excellent cordial; a stimulus not to be wasted on the child, but to be reserved for the time when it will be useful for the man. "What cordial drop for fainting age remains, Achilles, before the battle, was advised by the sage Ulysses to recruit his strength with generous wine; but if the power of the stimulus had been weakened by early imprudence, the cordial would not have been prescribed by the wise Ulysses, for it could not have had its full effect. The prejudice, which prevails in England, that strong liquors are necessary to those who endure much fatigue, should be counteracted by an appeal to facts and experience. In southern climates, even the porters and draymen prefer ice or lemonade to any strong liquors; and yet it is said, that the Turkish porters are the stoutest in Europe, and can carry burdens, which would appal an English lighterman after he had swallowed a gallon of porter. This difference might be attributed to the Turkish use of opium, but the Chinese porters, who use no opium, are unexceptionable proofs, that the permanence of strength does not depend on the use of stimulus: and as for courage, that which results from no higher principle than intoxication, is the virtue of a savage, not of a civilized or rational being. As courage is the cardinal virtue of a soldier, it should be cultivated from the earliest years of life with the utmost care. However trivial it may sound, it must be observed, that the choice of a nurse is a matter of considerable importance in military education. A timorous nurse, or attendant, may, by indirect sympathy, or by her own fears, make a child cowardly, or impatient of the slightest pain. A woman of a firm mind may, on the contrary, habituate a boy to bear little pains, and to brave the small dangers of childhood. Attention should be paid to the first symptoms of fear; some children are startled at noises, some afraid of animals, others are affected by particular colours, or by certain expressions of countenance. Gentle perseverance soon overcomes these early prepossessions. Familiarity with the objects of their terror, or counteracting associations, dispel and conquer this infant timidity. Smiles and approbation should encourage the child, whenever he exerts his little reason and fortitude. Domestic animals are frequently the first objects of childish terror; and, if it be not vanquished, this terror sometimes leaves a lasting impression. A boy should early be accustomed to dogs and horses; he should be taken to exhibitions of wild beasts, that he may be familiarized to their forms and cries. The courage of a Roman ambassador was tried by suddenly producing an elephant in the audience chamber. Tell this circumstance to a child at the moment when he first sees an elephant; and make him proud of conquering his own apprehensions. If at any ૨ time he unluckily seems to betray symptoms of fear, the remembrance of it should not be impressed on his mind. Neither in jest nor in earnest should any anecdote derogatory of his courage be repeated. He must be taught to respect his own character. His pride must by all means be roused; for pride is the motive, which can be most effectually and permanently opposed to fear. When a boy once believes, that he is brave, it is the fault of his friends, if he become a coward. By repeated trials and gradual dangers he may be led to obtain victories over himself, and by success he will acquire self-confidence and self-possession, or in other words, presence of mind and courage. He should never be punished by blows, nor by privation; he should be taught to consider blows as insults, which he ought not to endure, and it should be his pride voluntarily to support privations. Shame should be his punishment, but it should be sparingly used, lest it's power be exhausted, lest the temper be rendered stubborn, or the spirit be broken. Shenstone's picture of a proud little boy writhing under the agonies of disgrace is admirably drawn: "Convulsions intermitting doth declare "His grievous wrong, his dame's unjust behest, "He scorns her proffer'd love and shuns to be caress'd." Judiciously managed, the fear of shame, instead of shame itself, will deter a generous spirited boy from all that he ought to avoid. From the moment he is able to feel, the idea of honour and the love of glory should be raised in his imagination. It is said, that when Charles the Twelfth was a boy, if he heard the word glory, his colour rose, and his eyes sparkled. At a very early age he had learned to prefer the idea of glory to the idea of security and life. When he was reading Quintus Curtius, his preceptor asked him what he thought of Alexander? "What do I think of him? I ardently wish to re"semble him!"-" But he lived only thirty-two years."-" And was not that sufficient," exclaimed the young hero, “when "he performed such glorious actions?" Even the amusements of a boy intended for a military life should be such, as would invigorate the body, and fortify the mind. Civilis, the Gaul, is said to have given to his infant son some Roman prisoners, as a mark to be levelled at with little darts and arrows, for the diversion of the child. Exercises in the open air should be followed. Gardening, running, leaping, walking on stilts, skating, swimming, and various common diversions, which boys naturally practise with their companions, are preferable to any system of gymnastics. Competition and liberty give a degree of ardour and interest to these diversions, which it is scarcely possible to communicate to the best contrived systematic exercises. But without any parade of system his exercises may often have a reference to his profession. If he dig, instead of digging for cabbages, and tulips, let him work like uncle Toby and Trim at a fortification. Let it be remembered, that the principal bodily excellence of a soldier is the power of sustaining long, laborious, quick marches. In |