plause of the publick, the countenance of the great, and sometimes perhaps with the patronage of government.

If exhibitions of these military games were made in great public theatres, and if the prizes were conferred by a royal or noble, or by some fair and fashionable hand, there can be little doubt but they would tend more than all the precepts of masters to produce that ardour and ambition which constitute the true military character.

All sports, without exception, that promote strength and agility of body, should be encouraged in our military schools; for instance, archery whenever circumstances permit, swimming, hunting, and shooting. Hunting, to which shooting is, properly speaking, subordinate, has ever been considered as an image of war. Xenophon's beautiful romance, which has already been recommended to the perusal of young soldiers, can scarcely be read without inspiring somewhat of that enthusiasm, with which the sports of Cyrus are described: of these hunting is the chief. The universal fondness for field sports, shown by all healthy boys, may afford the masters of military academies great power of rewarding, or punishing. Wherever a master can propose as a reward a day's hunting, he may be sure of obtaining strenuous exertions of industry. How far this may be practicable must be determined by situation but surely noblemen or gentlemen in the neighbourhood of military schools would facilitate the means of executing such a plan. While all manly sports and pastimes should be allowed, all cruel and brutal diversions should be prohibited. A taste for sanguinary sights and shows has

ever been the characteristic of weak and cowardly dispositions, and of the degeneracy of nations. Merely being accustomed to the sight of blood, and wounds, and death, may render human beings callous, or may give them a ferocious temper, but it has no necessary tendency to make them brave: where there is no personal hazard, no intrepidity can be shown. To be passive spectators of those contests, in which either men or animals tear each other to pieces, cannot surely inspire courage, or any one generous or manly sentiment.-Cockfighting, and bull-baiting, are unworthy of British youth, and can never raise the martial spirit of a nation.

It is strange, that a large proportion of such officers of the British army as have not been educated at military academies, have never regularly learned to ride, to fence, or to use the broadsword; yet surely no exercises are more congenial to our youth, or more easy to be learned at public schools. It would be particularly advantageous to make fencing a part of an officer's education; it might again revive the custom among gentlemen of fighting duels with swords instead of pistols: a custom, which would at least diminish the number of duellists by confining them to a certain class in society. Gentlemen would then be in some measure protected from the insolence of uneducated temerity, and every illbred upstart would not find himself upon a footing with his superior, because he can fire a pistol, or dares to stand a shot. If any distinction of ranks is to be supported, if any idea of subordination is to be maintained in a country, and what nation can exist without

• Perhaps it is otherwise at present.

these? education must mark the boundaries, and maintain the privileges of the different orders. The honour and the life of an officer or a senator, and that of a mere idle man of the town, ought not to be put on the same level, nor should their differences be adjusted by one and the same appeal to the hazard of the trigger. How far duels are just or necessary is a separate question, to be considered hereafter, but by no means involved in the present discussion. It is here asserted only, that, if duels must be, it is better that they should be fought with swords than with pistols; in short, that it is better for gentlemen to trust their honour to skill than to chance. For these reasons it is desirable, that the art of fencing should again become fashionable; and as a step towards making it so, it should form a part of regular education.

Among exercises fit to be introduced in military academies, the practice of the military pace should be mentioned. The Roman soldier was accustomed to a particular gait, which he was enabled by habit to continue during many hours successively. Surely, when modern warfare depends so much upon the rapidity of movement, part of that time which is now spent in polishing arms and accoutrements might be employed in military marches! The mere mechanical drill of a private soldier should certainly be well known and practised by every officer; but when once a young man is expert at the military manual and ordinary manœuvres, it is waste of time to keep him on parade longer than is necessary to enforce regular attendance. The strictest discipline should be observed to maintain essentially useful habits, whether of

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body or mind; but it is folly to waste power, or display severity, merely to enforce petty observances of etiquette, or to produce a trifling superiority of dexterity. To make soldiers useful as soon, and as long as possible to the state, should be the object of all rational discipline.

Might not boys of fourteen or fifteen be embodied under prudent officers of invalides in garrison duty? Actual service is something different from mere exercise; and there is always benefit in enuring youth to their duty by degrees, instead of forcing them at once from the mock soldiership of the schools to the real duties of the profession. Young soldiers might, at all events, be taught many things, which they would find essentially useful to them, though they are not in the usual course of instruction at military academies. They should, for instance, learn as much of surgery as might enable them to dress a wound, or to set a limb. It has been recommended, in the early part of the military pupil's education, that he should be taught the use of carpenter's tools, and a practical knowledge of mechanics, that he may be able, on an emergency, to execute his own designs without waiting for workmen. A soldier, who can mend his own firelock, or even shoe his own horse, or mend the harness of an artillery waggon, may in certain circumstances have much advantage over a fine gentleman, or over the most manly officer, who has not the use of his hands as well as of his head.

Young soldiers in their hours of recreation might, after the example of uncle Toby, amuse themselves with making

fortifications. A piece of ground adjacent to their academy might be converted to this use. Conceive twenty or thirty boys, with their spades and pickaxes, digging ditches, facing the scarps, cutting the embrasures, &c. then divided into two parties to assail and defend the place; one providing for the continual repairs of demolished works; the other, with generals and officers and engineers, making regular approaches, and conducting all the business of a siege. Can it be doubted that this would be a favourite amusement to youth, and that from practical amusements of this kind they would derive a better notion of the reality, than lines and angles beautifully shaded with red, blue, and green, can ever convey to their minds? Young soldiers should be instructed in the methods of making pumps, sinking wells, and raising bridges. They should learn the art of mining and quarrying. These would be desirable acquisitions to any young men, but to those destined for the army and navy, they would be of incalculable advantage. But to teach them, it will not be enough to lead the pupils forth from school, accompanied by masters and tutors, to look at workmen; they should be allowed, as amusement, to work themselves; and they would follow such pursuits with eagerness and delight. Different tastes would lead to different arts, and the watchful tutor might gently incline them to those most immediately associated with their future professions.

Among amusements proper for military youth, there is one, which, though of a sedentary nature, should be admitted as an accomplishment suited to the life and feelings of a