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begin again, and a new army to create, iIn tke exigency of our case we are ob-liged to have recourse to ale-houses andtocrimpsof tive worst description, fromwhom we purchase dcfend&s by a ruin-ous system of enormous bounty. At theexpiration of six months, we find, how-ever, these very men thus procured .(ma-ny of whom are feeble in their frames,and vitiated in their minds,) transformedinto soldiers^nay into heroes, by themagic )*ruch of the drill-corporal, andthesfrokeof the elastic drum. We singtb/hymn of victory before the. day ofbattle; we buoy up our minds with vi-sions of imaginary glory; we declarethat we possess an army the terror ofour enemies, the admiration of Europe !the strength and security of England,the last hope and refuge of establishedgovernments! What we have related isno exaggeration; the wisest men haveadopted this language; political oratorshave descanted tipon it; the press hasteemed with such effusions; whilst theunlettered- military reasoner is struckdumb and confounded, but he is notconvinced; lie bows his head to such
authorities, and begs leave withthe utmost humility, to burn the fewbooks he may have perused; to turn adeaf ear to the suggestions of expe-rience, for he has been misled by them:—to set at nought in future tbe prac-tice and authority of the greatest gene-rals, for they have been mistaken; andto acknowledge that a great militaryprinciple, though true, and found so inevery other country, must be falsewhen applied to Englishmen.
In this article, we are sensible that wchnve exceeded the bounds of a diction-ar }'; we may have shocked prejudicesand combated general opinions; \mroake. no apology. It is the duty of '<writer to instruct and not to flatter; hito know how to place himselabove censure and above pvaise. Wiwe know that what we have said itrue— ‘Magna est vis veritatis et prevaHit; \Ve hope so, for the honour of th<the reputation of the British armsand the glory of our common country*' e cannot conclude, without seriousl;^commending to review our military instvtutions; and we do so with the greatewtftdence, because we are borne out? ot only by the best, written authoritiesut ^ so confirmed and strengthened is
our opinion by the most experiencedand most successful off.cers amongstus. Whatever may be right, let us re-tain ; whatever may be wrong, let uscorrect. We must particularly keep inour recollection, that the events of thelast few revolving years have materiallyaltered the position and relative situa-tion of our natural enemy. For us, infurure, there will be no security, butin an army composed of real soldiers,and not of individuals dressed in redcoats, armed with a firelock and a bayo-net, and called by tbe uames of regu-lars, militia, and volunteers, or what-ever appellation your fancy may bepleased to bestow upon them. Never-theless, let not Englishmen be disheart-ened by this representation of our mili-tary state; let them, on the -contrary*remember, that every day brings an ac-cession of strength to their internal de-fence, by the amelioration of systems,which (though not productive of thediscipline of regular armies) are suf-ficiently digested to render the nativecourage of the inhabitants of theseislands subservient to the best plans ofmilitary distribution:—
For Britons plac’d on dissolution’s brink,Will dare to do what some scarce dareto think!
Soldier now generally signifies any-fighting man.
Private Soldier, a man in the ranks;one under the degree of a corporal; asdistinct from the commanders.
A real Soldier, a term among mili-! tary men, to mark out one who knowsand does his 'duty.
No Soldier, an expression of fa-miliar currency in the British service.It is sometimes used as a term of re-proach, and sometimes of harmlessirony; as, you’re a dirty fellow and nosoldier.
'Citizen Soldier, (Soldat citoyen ,fr.) In a general acceptation of theterm, a citizen soldier signifies any manwho is armed for the support and vin-dication of his rights.
A Brother Soldier, a term of affec-tion which is commonly used in theBritish service by one who serves underthe same banners, and fights for tbe samecause, with another. In a more exten-sive signification, it means any militaryman with respect to another.
1 Soldier of Fortune 9 (Soldat de For -
tune■