against an energetic discipline depending on fear being sustained : for the individual who mixes freely in the company of his officer, and is placed in something like a state of social equality with him, will necessarily pay less regard to his orders than if kept at a most respectful distance: for the old adage, that "too much familiarity breeds contempt," is universally applicable; and when a soldier finds that he is a cleverer man than his officer, and is accustomed to treat him when off parade as a being on somewhat of an equality with himself, half the influence of the officer is consequently lost, and neither his threats nor his encouraging words will have any thing like the effect, as if he had conducted himself less familiarly with his men.

The mode of life of nations yet in a rude state of civilised existence, by nursing them up in a familiarity with hardships, fortifies thus their natural courage; while the intestine and foreign broils in which they are almost constantly engaged, make them all in some measure a nation of warriors, but of warriors depending on their individual bravery alone for success, their ignorance precluding them from benefiting by the various discoveries and systems of methodic warfare which the knowlege of civilised nations has enabled them so successfully to avail themselves of. If it was not, therefore, for these discoveries in modern warfare, and for that methodic and scientific system of tactics which the greater knowlege of civilised nations has enabled them to mature, the rude and uncivilised portion of mankind would possess as decided a superiority over the civilised, as the latter now do so pre-eminently over the former; and in fact, was it not for this. acquired superiority in the tact and science of war, fostered and matured by the institution of standing armies, the civilised world would at this day be as liable to be overrun, and overwhelmed in darkness by the rude inhabitants of the desarts, as it was in the proud era of Roman splendor, or in the more recent memorable inroads of the Arabians and Tartars. It is from the period of the institution of standing armies, therefore, that we may date the permanency and progressive advancement of our civilisation; and in fact, standing armies and the liberty of the press form the two most potent instruments of the dissemination of knowlege and civilisation for while the first serves as a bulwark to protect the portion already acquired from extinction by barbarous hordes, the latter scatters abroad the rays of civilisation and knowlege to enlighten those very hordes who hostilely menaced their overthrow. Rome kept on extending her influence, and spreading civilisation and knowlege over the world, as long as her armies were maintained in proper discipline, by being kept in subservience to the civil power; and consequently all her means of attaining

these objects slowly vanished when the military power usurped over the civil, and losing thus its discipline, became no better than an armed rabble.

We see from the history of all nations of times past, that up to about the period of the institution of regular armies, the remoter parts of Europe continued to be inundated by one, rude horde after another; the latter always effacing all traces of civilisation made by the preceding one, and keeping thus mankind in a state of stationary barbarism. The same effect we perceive to have taken place in central Africa, where the moment a nation began to make advances in civilisation and knowlege, some one not yet emerged from barbarism poured in like a torrent on it, and effaced every trace of its civilised grandeur and acquirements. Such was the fate of the rich and populous kingdom of Bornou, till overturned by the barbarous and warlike Fillatahs; and such too will eventu ally be the fate of the Fillatah empire, when civilisation has sobered down the warlike spirit of the great body of the nation, unless a standing army on the European model be organised to defend it.

Standing armies are as essential too for the internal tranquillity of a populous state, as they are for defending it against external enemies. They are always ready to be called out when popular commotions require their application; by means of which, property in populous countries where they are in being acquires a security which it could not otherwise attain, and in the attainment of this point consists the main excellence of every government. Would the whole civil power be capable of quelling the dangerous riots which take place every now and then in our manufacturing towns, when disputes take place between the masters and workmen, which, if not put an end to, would quickly drive manufacturing capital out of the country to be more profitably employed elsewhere. It is wonderful to contemplate the immense power which European discipline and tactics confer; for by means of a few months drilling, a body of men may be made to overthrow another body of ten times their force, though equally well-armed, and constituting in fact a part of the same mass from which the disciplined body had been drawn. We have seen very lately a body of about four thousand disciplined Europeans defeat with ease an army sixty thousand Burmans: yet if these same four thousand Europeans had still been plodding agriculturists and artisans, and been drawn out to oppose the Burmans, though equally wellarmed and provided as when in a state of discipline, yet there is little doubt that one-half of their force of Burmans would have routed them with perfect ease. Discipline and the constant exer cise of arms make the civilised portions of mankind unnervated for warlike pursuits, and act not only as a body by methodic rules,

but accustoming them to consider war as a profession they have espoused, they are consequently constantly thinking about the actions they may be engaged in, and thus gradually steel their minds against the terrors of future conflicts.

When the benefits conferred on the world by the institution of standing armies are so manifest, it is astonishing we should, even at the present enlightened era, still find individuals cavilling at their existence. If all those engaged in the cotton manufacture of England, and all the machinery connected with it were destroyed, half a century would scarcely be able to restore it to its wonted state again; while in the meantime rival nations would outstrip us in its manufacture, and undersell and debar us from the very markets we were formerly accustomed to supply: and to the annihilation of a standing army, and all the means wherewith to reconstruct it on the same efficient footing, the same remarks are equally applicable. Nor would the advice so often urged, to take away the power from the king of dismissing officers at pleasure, be less pernicious, withdrawing as it would in a considerable degree the dependance of the military on the civil power, and creating thus a body as dangerous to the state, as the modern janisaries or pretorian bands of old. To His Royal Highness the late much-lamented Duke of York, England is indebted for the perfection to which the organisation of her military power is now brought, and which his high talents and his high station equally contributed to accomplish; for while few possessed the abilities requisite to fill so distinguished a place, or the business, talent, or amenity, to perform the duties of it fully and satisfactorily, both to the army and the public, none, except one of his exalted rank, dared to have so boldly annihilated the corruptions and imperfections which polluted and disordered the whole military system. No man ever more effectually fulfilled the office he was installed in; and no man was ever more respected and beloved by those over whom he was placed for while his talent enabled him to execute his official duties with ability, his strong sense of justice, affable condescension and kind heart made him the idol of all, from the general to the drummer-boy; and the soldier's widow and the soldier's orphan have equal cause to shed the tear of affection and sorrow over the tomb of their warmest friend and greatest benefactor.

CHAP. VIII.

Navy-Appointment of Lord High Admiral-Navy in similar state to army on appointment of the Duke of York-Equal beneficial effects likely to result-Navy hitherto a sort of nursery for furthering parliamentary in

fluence-Difference of having a member of the royal family to a common subject at head of it-Army and navy-Naval promotions as regards youths of high families and those of inferior degree-Necessity of inforcing a code of naval uniformity, and of appointing inspecting officers as in the army-Inefficiency of fighting equipments, and defective state of naval gunnery during the late American war-Some still subsisting-Decisions of courts-martial on some of the unsuccessful actions-Superiority of effective discipline and warlike equipment over a defective state thereof Advantages of efficient sights on guns, and of pistol, cutlass, musket, and great gun exercise, in în spiring confidence in the crew-Benefits of establishments for affording instructions in the like, and of premium competitions in expeditious and target firing-On modes of punishment now in force-Suggestions relative to altering and amending the same-Inferiority of naval pay in comparison to army pay-Great variety of other advantages possessed by the army Invidious and unjust nature thereof Benefits of the Melville administra tion to the navy-Greater likely to result from that of the Lord High Admiral.

The appointment of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence to the office of Lord High Admiral, which has given such univer sal satisfaction both to the naval service and the country at large, and which cannot but continue to give the highest satisfaction too from the energy and ability His Royal Highness has so decidedly displayed, the sense of impartiality that has actuated him, and the kind affability with which he has received the humblest as well as the highest in the service when attending his official levees, may be hailed as a new era in the naval history of the country. The army was previous to the appointment of His Royal Highness the Duke of York to the office of Commander-in-Chief, what the navy was previous to the appointment of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence to the office of Lord High Admiral, being in a great measure a mere nursery for the propagation and strength ening of parliamentary influence: for although, from the number of gallant achievements performed, bravery could not and dared not be otherwise than rewarded with its meed, yet promotions on account of merit were undoubtedly few in comparison to what interest effected. A gentleman of my acquaintance who had three near relations in the navy, applied to a friend possessed of much influence with a leading member in the cabinet during the late wat to obtain a captaincy for one of them, but had it notified by the great man that it could not be done; "in truth," said he, "such things can only be done through merit or parliamentary interest, as we must have a quid pro quo, and as your friend has three relatives in the navy, the best thing he can do is to buy a borough; for the Cornish boroughs have made more post-captains during the war than all the victories gained by the British fleet." As another proof of "how the wind blows," a gentleman attached to Somerset House informed me, that the better half of the clerks

there were from Devonshire and Cornwall, two counties as prolific in rotten boroughs as in mushrooms.

While the Duke of York was a man of too high feelings of honor, and of too elevated a mind, to allow himself to be made the passive instrument for dispensing the corrupt favors of the administration, his royal rank deterred them from pressing any proposition on him calculated to degrade both him and the profession over whose interests and honor he watched. While also the office of Commander-in-Chief was filled by a subject not royally connected, the individual felt that all the odium arising from the sanctioning of improper promotions would attach to himself alone, for which however the honors, perquisites, and patronage of office, would afford a sufficient balm: but the Duke of York felt that in admitting the military profession to be degraded through him, he was not only degrading himself thereby, but lowering the character of His Majesty, and that of the whole royal family, in the eyes of the army and the nation, and rendering them unpopular with both, from seeing an immediate member of that family the very instrument by which such was effected. When the military service was thus freed and defended from the efforts of administrative corrup tion, the load of which it was thus disburdened necessarily, in a great measure, fell on its step-brother the Naval Service; but the recent happy appointment of His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence will free it from all the pollutions that have so long depressed it, and by linking it more strongly with royal regard and sympathy, make it be no longer regarded as a step child. It is to be hoped, therefore, that neither the military nor the naval service will be again placed under the control of a common subject, as long as there is a single individual of royal connexion of age to be appointed as their heads; for with the assistance of a board of officers similar to the council of the admiralty, any individual of very ordinary acquirements may quite capably fill such a station; for what could the majority of our first lords of the admiralty possibly know about the management of naval matters? They acted of course by the advice of those around them who did know. And what should prevent members of the royal family from doing the same? All our present royal race, from the period of the first George downwards, have shown themselves to be men of strong good' sense, firmness of mind, and of considerable business powers; qualities peculiarly requisite in office and as these powers seem rather to increase than degenerate in the royal family, arguing from similar analogies, we need not fear any speedy extinction of individuals of this class qualified for office, as long as we can secure a continuance of the stock. Not however the least of the benefits accruing to the navy from the appointment of His Royal Highnes, VOL. XXVIII. Pam. NO. L.VI.

Z Ꮓ