the troops, the men are orderly, quiet, and exemplary; crimes, misdemeanours, and unmilitary conduct, rarely occur; and, as the vice generally originates, and is encouraged by a comparatively small proportion, it is certainly an object of vital importance to prevent as much as possible the introduction into our military ranks of such men as not only vitiate the principles, but, by their example, promote such habits as destroy the health and constitution of our troops. On a reference to the conduct and habits of the Highland regiments included in the preceding notices of military service, it will be found, that, without an exception, their origi nal habits were so temperate, and free from any tendency to excess in the use of liquor, or otherwise, as to attract general observation; that this sobriety withstood many years of example and temptation; that many corps, whose career of service was short, never changed to the last; and that others preserved the same line of conduct till the introduction of men of different characters, the force of example, and the influence of climate, caused a relaxation. It was not till after many years' service in India that climate so changed the habits of the 78th regiment, that directions to drink their own allowance of spirits, and not to dispose of it to other soldiers, or to the inhabitants, was no longer necessary. The same moderation in the use of liquor prevailed in the 42d during the American War, when their allowance was served out twice a-week; whereas to the other troops it was done daily, with an officer present to direct the proper deliand proper use of it; and it was not till the recruits from Chatham, and the draft from the 21st and 26th regiments, were received, that any change took place. Therefore, as there can be but one opinion as to the propriety of preserving temperance among our troops, it is certainly of high importance that so desirable an object should be accomplished. In the Highlands many of the people are deplorably vitiated by smuggling, and the operations of the Excise laws, with their train of false swearing, hatred, jealousy, and revenge against informers; by fraudulent habits, bad payments, ly very ing and deception, forced upon them, as they say, by these laws; by the demands of landlords; and by the new customs and manners now getting into fashion. Yet, notwithstanding these appalling appearances, and the approach of a new order of things, (the encouraging and reviving prospect of Highland civilization, as the changes are termed by some reporters of the state of religion and moral improvements in the north,) the evil may be checked, and pure religion, morality, and fair dealing between man and man, may yet be preserved, if a warning be taken from the fearful state of Ireland, where, as in the Highlands, politics form no part of the complaints of the people. The example of the peasantry of Ireland shows, in too strong colours, that no increase of revenue to the Government, no increase of rent to the landlord, can be equivalents for the disaffection, demoralization, and despair of subjects and tenants, who contemplate relief only from the destruction of those who, they think, cause their distress. It is a calculation worthy of notice, what proportion of high revenue or high rents is lost, or how much they are lessened in their value, when collected, as in Ireland, under the protection of the bayonet, and when tenants cannot take new farms without the risk of being shot at their own doors. The Highlands are yet far from this state; but the approach, however distant, should be guarded against. We have still much honourable principle and moral feeling. These may be destroyed, but they may also be preserved; so that, when a regiment is raised in the Highlands, a party of them may be selected for important duties, (as in the case of the Dumbartonshire,) because "the nature of the service requires confidential, trustworthy men." REAY. 1794. THE history of the wars of Gustavus Adolphus and the Imperialists gave celebrity and distinction to the regiments raised at different periods by the family of Mackay, Lords Reay, in consequence of the estimation in which these corps were held by the greatest Captain of his age. For many centuries an intimate connection and correspondence had subsisted between Scotland and several of the Continental nations. The long and friendly intercourse with France, first established by the ancient league, as it was called in * In the Introduction to Beague's History of the Campaigns in Scotland in the years 1548 and 1549, printed in Paris in 1556, the author states, that, in consequence of the alliance between France and Scotland, unlimited confidence was placed in the Scots by the kings of France, who had always a strong body guard of that nation. He adds, "This guard alone continued to attend the French kings till the reign of Charles the Seventh, who joined some French companies with them in the honourable employment; yet, so as to give the Scots the place and pre-eminence in all things;-for example, the Captain of the Scots Guards, so called to this day, (1556,) is always designed the first Captain of His Majesty's Guards. He begins to attend the first day of the year, and, when others are on duty, he may take the first rank, and officiate accordingly. When the king is anointed, the Captain of the Scots Guards stands by him, and when the ceremony is over, he takes his robes as his due. When the keys of any town or fortress were presented to his Majesty, he returned them that minute to the Captain of the Scots Guards. Twenty-five of this guard wear always, in testimony of unspotted fidelity, white coats, overlaid with silver lace, and six of them in their turns stand next to the Royal Person at all times, and all seasons,-in the church, at the reception of ambassadors, in the courts of justice, and generally on all public and solemn occa¬ the days of Robert the First of the Stewarts, nearly five hundred years ago, was so well preserved, that, in the year 1629, when English officers travelled through France, they "found it very convenient to call themselves Scotch instead of English; for nothing was so much caressed as the Scotch, and a man had no more to do in France, if he would be well received there, than to say he was a Scotchman.”* In the North of Europe the case was nearly the same. The Highlanders had their share of the beneficial consequences of this friendly feeling. After the year 1624, and early in the Thirty Years' War, Lord Reay, the Laird of Fowlis, and other gentlemen of the Highlands, passed over to Germany with 3,000 followers, of whom one regiment of 1,000 men consisted of Lord Reay's own immediate clansmen. † These sions whatever. It is the privilege of twenty-five of these gentlemen to carry the corpse of the French kings from Paris to their burial-place at St Dennis. In a word, that guard has ever been in possession of all the honour and confidence the king of France can bestow upon his near. est and dearest friends." The above was written by a French author, consequently there can be no doubt either of its authenticity or impartiality. The recollection of this friendly alliance is not lost in France, particularly in the southern provinces, where ancient manners and feelings have been less changed by the Revolution. The appearance of the Highland regiments revived these recollections, and when travelling through Gascony, Languedoc, and Provence, in 1814, I generally found the mention of my name met with a desire to know if I was from Scotland, accompanied by a number of observations on the friendly connection which had so long subsisted between France and Scotland, and with more knowledge of circumstances and more of anecdotes on the part of the people, thar. could have been expected; concluding always with an expression of regret on account of the interruption of the ancient intimacy. * Memoirs of an English Cavalier.-It may perhaps be proper to mention, that this English Cavalier was a fictitious person. The real author was Daniel De Foe, and although he was not present at what he describes, his authority is no more to be doubted than that of other historians, who relate what they never saw. † An eye-witness of the conduct, and a sharer in the campaigns of this regiment, speaks in the following terms: "And thus exercised they were, that their enemis in all rencounters could not but duly praise served in Count Mansfeldt's army, and were so frequently opposed to the enemy, that, in two years, more than half their number had fallen in battle. Reinforced, however, to their original strength, they joined the army of Gustavus Adolphus in 1629. "They were his right hand in battle, brought forward in all dangerous enterprises; and they may, like himself, be said to have fallen in the field, and to have been buried with the honours of war.' 99 * In confirmation of these allegations, the author of the Military History of Gustavus Adolphus gives several instances. At the battle of Leipzig, on the 7th September 1631, between the Swedes, under Gustavus, and the Imperialists, commanded by the celebrated General Count Tilly, when the battle had continued for some time, the Saxon troops, auxiliaries of the Swedes, had been driven from the field, and other corps much pressed; "in short, all that wing was shattered, and in an ill condition. At this juncture came the King, and, having seen what havock the enemy had made of Cullenbach's troops, he came riding along the front of our three brigades, and himself led us on to the charge; when the Scots advanced, seconded by some regiments of horse, which the King had also sent to the charge, the bloodiest fight began that ever man beheld; for the Scots brigade, giving fire, three ranks at a time, over one another's heads, poured in their shot so thick, that the enemy were cut down like grass before a scythe; and, following into the thickest of their foot, made a most dreadful slaughter, and yet there was no flying. Tilly's men might be killed, but no man turned his back, nor would give an inch of ground, but as they were wheel them, calling them the invincible old regiment, which always rencountered with them on all occasions, so that Mackay's name was most frequent through the glorious fame of their never dying fame and regiment, never wronged by fortune in their fame, though divers times by their enemies' valour they sustained great loss; but would to God they had always met man to man, or that our army consisted of such men, and such officers, of which I was the most unworthiest."-Colonel Munro's Expedition. London, printed 1641, * Characteristics of the Highland Soldiers. |