conduct. Let examples from real life of these petty jealousies be pointed out with the strongest expressions of indignation. Through the whole of this essay it may be observed, that the advantages of acquiring general literature, and the necessity of cultivating the understanding in the military profession, have been particularly insisted upon; and that the vulgar idea, that the army is a fit resource for those who are given over by their literary attendants, has been strongly reprobated. This mistaken notion is propagated chiefly by those, who are prejudiced by the opinion, that all learning is comprised in the knowledge of Greek and Latin. But independently of classical literature, there is no profession in which a man requires greater abilities and more scientific knowledge than in the army, either as an engineer or as a commanding officer. England has now occasion for officers; not merely for officers who have purchased commissions; not merely for men wearing handsome uniforms, who can give the word of command, make soldiers go through certain manoeuvres and evolutions with automatic precision; but England has now occasion for officers in the most comprehensive sense of the word; men of cultivated and enlarged minds, who look beyond the epaulet and the parade, who look beyond mere selfish ideas of pay and hasty promotion, to the establishment of a solid character, and to the general advantage of the service and of their country. When an army is destitute of such officers, it must degenerate; and with it the independence, safety, and liberty of the nation, to which it belongs. The following is a picture, drawn by an able hand, of the officers in the French army, and of the de clining state of the military profession a few years previous to the destruction of the monarchy, and the overthrow of all social order in France: "I have often observed, that the military profession in "France is the most respected, the most followed, and the "least improved. The duties of this profession are generally 66 66 discharged honourably, seldom attentively, and scarcely "ever scientifically. Those who pursue it with most ardour "seldom suspect, that any thing is necessary beside courage; "and imagine that to grow old in the service, is to have acquired experience. Subalterns go from one garrison to an"other, where they lead a life of perpetual idleness. They "know, indeed, the details of the regiment in which they 66 serve; but have never dreamed, that there was such a thing 66 as the art of war. Those who from their birth are placed "in a higher rank have not many more ideas, and only devote "that time to dissipation, which the others trifle away in in"dolence. So that the valour which is natural to this nation "would often be useless, nay hurtful, if from time to time "there did not arise men of large minds, whose happy genius taught them the art of employing so many hands and so "much courage for the defence and glory of the state. I do 66 66 not assert, that this want of instruction is a universal errour; and I must confess that things have already begun "to change. There are many officers of every rank, who "observe, reflect, and can form a plan. Perhaps the emu"lation may become general; and then it will become as • See Appendix for the original. 66 "scandalous to be ignorant of the principles of the art, as it was difficult at first to dare to learn them. A great man says, that war is an art to ordinary men, and a science to "those of superior capacity. There are but too many, for "whom it is only a trade." Such was the French army at the beginning of the last century. How different it is from this description at present, its conquests may sufficiently evince. Among ourselves, surely there is no deficiency of strength, courage, or of any mental or corporeal faculty necessary for a soldier. We fight on the most legitimate and most noble cause, not to subdue other nations, but to defend our own. Has any people upon Earth any thing more valuable to defend, than we have?—Equal laws, secure property, personal liberty, and freedom of opinion. We are taxed severely. The excise has stretched its obtrusive stranger hands into our dwellings: but still we may look round in vain for a country more free or more happy. No irremediable encroachments have assailed our constitution, nor have we any reason to despair of our country: we may therefore defy our enemies, if we have energy and unanimity among our people. Every Briton should, in defence of his country, become a soldier. In aid of those plans, which have been devised for the future improvement of our army, we should, to meet immediate danger, give our personal service without any exception on account of rank or riches. Age or infirmities should alone be excepted. From nineteen, when common education is usually finished, to three and twenty, when professions usually commence, every man in Britain should serve within his majesty's European dominions. By fixing the period of service between the ages of nineteen and twenty-three, an evil would be avoided much complained of in France, that the conscriptions snatch away youth before their education for different professions is completed, and often frustrate the hopes of parents, and the labour of preceptors, by forcing into the army for life pupils who had literary talents, and who had given the promise of proficiency in learned professions. Setting aside this objection, the author has seen the excellent effects of conscription upon the higher classes in France, and upon the French armies; and cannot doubt the salutary influence of military discipline upon the nobility and gentry of Britain. If—what has seldom been the lot of a country that has bravely determined to defend its liberties—the fortune of war should be against us, we shall have learned temperance, and that best part of courage, ability to endure; we shall meet misfortune with nerves strong by exercise, with minds fortified by a practical estimate of what is really valuable in life, and with hearts proud of suffering for our country. "The life, which others pay, let us bestow; In the preceding essay on military education, naval education is included. The means of exciting in youth a taste for glory, and the methods of training them to habits of obedience, must in both professions be the same; and it has been pointed out in this essay that the technical part of a sailor's business, will be best learned at sea. The navy of England has been rendered superior to that of all other nations, not by teaching youth in academies to manœuvre ships on paper, but by inspiring sailors with a love of their country and a thirst for glory. This spirit has for years been sustained in our navy by the impartiality with which it has been governed; by exacting from all a probationary term of labour and obedience, and by exposing men to equal hardships and danger; by giving to all, as far as possible, similar opportunities of distinguishing themselves; by bestowing proper rewards on men for ordinary service, and by conferring extraordinary honours on extraordinary exertions, courage, and conduct. A prince of the blood must serve his time in the British navy before he was made a lieutenant; but when once an officer has by his merit obtained the rank of post captain, he must rise by seniority to be an admiral. This is all just and excellent in its theory, and for years was equally excellent in practice. But modern corruption begins to undermine this system of impartiality, on which the glory and existence of the British navy depends. Parliamentary interest now interferes in the distribution of naval rewards. Men who have distinguished themselves by professional talents, conduct, and courage; men who have exposed their lives in the most perilous services, and who are covered with honourable scars, are put by and disregarded; while those who have neither merit, talents, nor claims from service, are preferred from their political connexion, and the parliamentary interest of their family and friends. If this unjust and corrupt system be pursued, naval officers, who have a just sense of honour, will retire in disgust from a profession, where merit is not rewarded; command will be engrossed by persons of inferior capacity, and generous emulation will languish through all the ranks of the British navy. The consequence may not perhaps be immediately perceived. So far as hope of prize money or of sharing the fund at Lloyd's can imp the flights of ambition, the nation is safe: but when England shall have shut up all the ships of the world in their respective ports, the hopes of prize money must sink; the funds at Lloyd's will fail; and the British empire may perhaps find too late, that no mercenary rewards can supply the place of military enthusiasm, and the love of glory. It would be vain, it would be impossible, to educate youths to military professions, unless they were afterwards to have reasonable hopes of being rewarded in proportion to their labour and their deserts. |