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  BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.

  NO. CCCLXX.   AUGUST, 1846.   VOL. LX.




CONTENTS.


  THE ARMY,                                        129

  MY COLLEGE FRIENDS. NO. IV. CHARLES RUSSELL,
  THE GENTLEMAN COMMONER. CHAPTER I.,              145

  THE ROMANTIC DRAMA,                              161

  THE MINSTREL'S CURSE. FROM UHLAND,               177

  THE MINE, THE FOREST, AND THE CORDILLERA,        179

  "MORIAMUR PRO REGE NOSTRO,"                      194

  MESMERIC MOUNTEBANKS,                            223

  COOKERY AND CIVILISATION,                        238

  THE LATE AND THE PRESENT MINISTRY,               249


  EDINBURGH:
  WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;
  AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.
  _To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed._
  SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

  PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH.




  BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.

  NO. CCCLXX.   AUGUST, 1846.   VOL. LX.




THE ARMY.[1]


When we glance back at the bright page of British military history, so
thickly strewn with triumphs, so rarely checkered by a reverse, it seems
paradoxical to assert that the English are not a military nation. Such,
nevertheless, is the case. Our victories have been the result of no
especial fitness for the profession of arms, but of dauntless spirit and
cool stubborn courage, characterising the inhabitants of the narrow island
that breeds very valiant children. Mere bravery, however heroic, does not
of itself constitute an aptitude for the soldier's trade. Other qualities
are needful--qualities conspicuous in many European nations, but less
manifest in the Englishman. Naturally military nations are those of
France, the Highlands of Scotland, Poland, and Switzerland--every one of
them affording good specimens of the stuff peculiarly fitted for the
manufacture of soldiers. They all possess a martial bent, a taste for the
military career, submitting willingly to its hardships and privations, and
are endowed with a faculty of acquiring the management of offensive
weapons, with which for the most part they become acquainted early in
life. A system of national conscription, like that established in many
continental countries, is the readiest and surest means of giving a
military tone to the character of a people, and of increasing the civil
importance and respectability of an army. But without proceeding to so
extreme a measure, other ways may be devised of producing, as far as is
desirable, similar results.

We appeal to all intelligent observers, and especially to military men,
whom travel or residence upon the Continent have qualified to judge,
whether in any of the great European states the soldier has hitherto
obtained so little of the public attention and solicitude as in England?
Whether in any country he is so completely detached from the population,
enjoying so little sympathy, in all respects so uncared for and unheeded
by the masses, and, we are sorry to say it, often so despised and looked
down upon, even by those classes whence he is taken? Let war call him to
the field, and for a moment he forces attention: his valour is extolled,
his fortitude admired, his sufferings are pitied. But when peace, bought
by his bravery and blood, is concluded, what ensues? Houses of Parliament
thank and commend him, towns illuminate in honour of his deeds, pensions
and peerages are showered upon his chiefs, perhaps some brief indulgence
is accorded to himself; but it is a nine days' wonder, and those elapsed,
no living creature, save barrack masters, inspecting officers, and
Horse-guards authorities, gives him another thought, or wastes a moment
upon the consideration of what might render him a happier and a better
man. Like a well-tried sabre that has done its work and for the present
may lie idle, he is shelved in the barrack room, to be occasionally
glanced at with pride and satisfaction. Hilt and scabbard are, it is true,
kept carefully polished--drill and discipline are maintained; but
insufficient pains are taken to ascertain whether rust corrodes the blade,
whether the trusty servant, whose achievements have been so glorious and
advantageous, does not wear out his life in discouragement and
despondency. But this state of things, we hope and believe, is about to
change. We rejoice to see a daily increasing disposition on the part of
English legislators and of the English nation, to investigate and amend
the condition of their gallant defenders. If war is justly considered the
natural state of an army,[2] peace, on the other hand, is the best time to
moot and discuss measures likely to raise its character and increase its
efficiency.

We do not fear to be accused of advocating change for its own sake, or
what is vulgarly nicknamed Reform, in any of the institutions of this
country, whether civil or military. But we rejoice at the appearance of
books calculated to direct attention, we will not say to the abuses of the
army, but to its possible improvement. And we know no class of men better
qualified to write such books than army surgeons, whose occupations, when
attached to regiments, bring them of necessity into more frequent contact
with a greater variety of men, and to a more intimate acquaintance with
the soldier's real character and feelings, than the duties of field or
company officers in our service either exact or permit.

"To obviate the reproaches I may encounter for presuming to write upon
subjects altogether military, I may be allowed to state, that during a
quarter of a century that I served with the armies of the country, I
officiated as surgeon of three different regiments in different parts of
the world. I embarked nine times from the shores of Britain with armaments
on foreign expeditions, and out of twenty-four years' actual service, (for
the year of the peace of Amiens has to be deducted,) I spent seventeen
years, or parts of them, in other climates, passing through every grade of
medical rank, in every variety of service, even to the sister service of
the navy."--DR. FERGUSSON. _Preface._

These are the men, or we greatly err, to write books about the army. They
may not be conversant with tactics in the field, although even of those,
unless they wilfully shut both eyes and ears, they can hardly avoid
acquiring some knowledge. But on other matters connected with soldiers and
armies, they must be competent to speak, and should be listened to as
authorities. We look upon Dr Fergusson's testimony, and upon the
information--the result of his vast experience--which he gives us in
concise form and plain language, as most valuable; although some of the
changes he suggests have been accomplished, wholly or partially, since his
book was written. Mr Marshall's opportunities of personal observation
have, we suspect, been less extensive; but to atone for such deficiency,
he has been a diligent reader, and he places before us a host of military
authorities, references and statistical tables. The value of his
authorities may, perhaps, here and there be questioned; and he sometimes
gives, in the form of extracts, statements unauthenticated by a name, but
of which he does not himself seem to accept the responsibility.
Nevertheless, his book has merit, and is not unlikely to accomplish both
the objects proposed by its author,--namely, "to supply some information
respecting the constitution, laws, and usages of the army, and to excite
attention to the means which may meliorate the condition of soldiers, and
exalt their moral and intellectual character."

These are three measures whose adoption would, we fully believe, elevate
the character of the British soldier, increase his self-respect and
willingness to serve, and, consequently, his efficiency in the field and
good conduct in quarters. They will not be thought the worse of, we are
sure, because they would assimilate the organization of our army to that
of certain foreign services. The day is gone by when prejudice prevented
Englishmen from adopting improvements, merely because they were based upon
foreign example. The measures referred to, and whose adoption we would
strenuously urge, are--first, the enlistment of soldiers for limited
periods only; secondly, the total abolition of corporal punishment;
thirdly, the increase of rewards, and especially a gradual and cautious
augmentation of the number of commissions given to non-commissioned
officers. Be it understood that we recommend these changes collectively,
and not separately. They hinge upon each other, particularly the two last;
and if one of them be refused, the others may require modification.

By the British constitution, no man may sell himself to unlimited
servitude. On what grounds, then, is the practice of enlistment for life
to be justified; and can it be justified upon any, even upon those of
expediency? Ought not the thoughtless and the destitute--for under these
heads the majority of recruits must at present be ranked--rather to be
protected against themselves, and preserved, as far as may be, from the
consequences of non-reflection and of want? Such is assuredly the duty of
a just and paternal government. Very different is the practice of this
country under the present system! Influenced by a boyish caprice, or
driven by necessity, an inexperienced lad takes the shilling and mounts
the cockade. After a while he gets weary of the service; perhaps he sees
opportunities, if once more a civilian, of making his way in the world.
But weary though he be, or eagerly as he may desire to strip off the
uniform assumed hastily, or by compulsion of circumstances, no perspective
of release encourages him to patient endurance. No hope of emancipation,
so long as his health holds good, or his services are found useful, smiles
to him in the distance. After twenty-one years he _may_ obtain his
discharge, as a favour, but without pension. After twenty-five years, if
discharged at his own request, he gets sixpence a-day! Truly a cheering
prospect and great encouragement, to be liberated in the decline of life,
any trade that he had learned as a boy forgotten, and with sixpence a-day
as sole reward for having fought the battles and mounted the guards of his
country during a quarter of a century! What are the frequent results of so
gloomy a perspective? Despondency, desertion, drunkenness, and even
suicide.

The British army, its strength considered, and in comparison with the
armies of other countries, is, undeniably, a very expensive establishment,
and the necessity of economy has been urged as an argument in favour of
unlimited enlistment. The evidence both of Dr Fergusson and of Mr Marshall
goes far to prove that one more fallacious was never advanced. Innumerable
are the artifices resorted to by soldiers, under the present system, in
the hope of obtaining their discharge--artifices sometimes successful,
frequently entailing expense on the government, and at times almost
impairing the efficiency of an army. Speaking of the last war, Dr
Fergusson says