Napoleon and Wellington compared.

'Duty' versus

'Glory.'

'Napoleon was covetous of glory; Wellington was impressed with duty. Napoleon was reckless of slaughter; Wellington was sparing of blood. Napoleon was careless of his word; Wellington was inviolable in faith."

'There is not a proclamation of Napoleon to his soldiers in which glory is not mentioned, nor one in which duty is alluded to. There is not an order of Wellington to his troops in which duty is not inculcated, nor one in which glory is mentioned.'2 It must be here remembered, however, that Napoleon was an Emperor, and Wellington a mere servant to the Crown. The one had untrammeled sway in power; the other was subordinate to the orders of the Government. Hence it was that Napoleon used the word 'glory,' and the other the word 'duty.'

The one had to rouse the enthusiasm of his troops by a word that acted as a charm on every Frenchman. Wellington commanded men of a different temperament, to whom 'duty' meant whatever tended to benefit our country, and add to the dignity of our dignity of our nation; just as 'obedience or submission to parents, governors, or superiors, reverence and respect towards the King,' are inculcated in our youth, and impressed upon us by our parents. Consequently, all the

Ibid. vol. xii. p. 273.

2 Ibid. vol..xii. p. 274.

parents.

men fully understood the power of duty, and
felt its responsibility to the fullest degree. The Duty to
most uneducated soldier understands his duty to
his parents, and can comprehend the gratitude
he owes to them-to them, and to the Government
that acts the same parental part by giving him
the means of subsistence, while it honours him.
by placing the honour of the nation in his hands
to be defended, if need be, with his very life.

To do one's duty,' then, is simply to act the What is duty? part of a man of honour to the fullest degree. What has not been done by a single word?

Cæsar quelled a mutiny by using the word 'Quirites' and 'Quirites,' instead of Milites.'

'Milites.'

CHAPTER II.

The British Soldier and Sailor-The Desire to Conquer-Inventive
Power in our Officers-Dash'-The Proper Time for it-
Advantage of Shaking the Enemy by Artillery-The Henry-
Martini Rifle--Attacks upon Jaded Foes-Fresh Men at a
Crisis-Reserves should not be always kept to the last-Quality
versus Quantity-Forlorn Hopes .

• 36

The object of THE object of this Analysis is to adduce history this Analysis. as the proof in all matters herein introduced, because

may succeed.

History is Philosophy teaching by When a dash example.' When the soldiers of a well-disciplined army, like the French, rush with sudden and vehement impetuosity at troops without much intellectual acuteness, success may as often follow But sometimes as not. The plan did remarkably well in Algeria; but if the same men are driven by the impetus of a false excitement upon a compact body of staunch British or German soldiers, they are pretty certain to be hurled backward like waves are shattered into foam upon a breakwater.

dangerous.

The true
British soldier.

There is something in the British warrior that is not found to the same degree in other soldiers.

1 Bolingbroke.

He is not stolid; he weighs danger by his own courage, having the utmost reliance in himself as an individual, and in his commanders. He is not easily over-excited; and his notion that he is as brave as any man of any nation is so strong that he will never give in whilst a hope of victory remains. He is a splendid sentry; no man can pass him. Orders to him are orders indeedmeant to be obeyed. He is not easily alarmed. During the siege of Lucknow a very young A brave man. private in H.M.'s 102nd was on sentry when an eight-inch shell burst close to him, and threw up an immense quantity of earth. The noise was considerable, as the gun was fired from only 100 yards off. The Author, who commanded at the outpost, rushed out to see what had happened. He saw the youth standing at his post, close to where the shell had just exploded, as calmly as if nothing had occurred! On asking the man what had happened, he replied unconcernedly, The type 'I think a shell has busted, sir.' Again, glorious two Jack tars were strolling up from the Dil-Kusha Park, (where Lord Clyde's army was then stationed) towards the Residency position at Lucknow. They passed our picquets of horse and foot (by which they were directed), and considered themselves quite safe. Suddenly a twenty-four pound shot struck the road just in

of men in the

British Navy.

front of them; one said to the other, 'I'm blessed, Bill, if this here channel is properly buoyed!' i.e., comparing the picquets to 'buoys.' Having said this, they proceeded towards the Residency as calmly as if they had been on Portsmouth Hard. Such men are These are but three specimens of the stuff we have throughout the Navy and Army. Rash indeed must be the foe who thinks to disturb the equanimity of such men by shouting or rushing at them.

not beaten

very easily.

Rev. T. D. Greig's comparison between

Wellington.

You

For the simple reason, therefore, that we own such splendid, noble fellows, we should hesitate to adopt any system in force in armies the men of which are more easily excited. The Rev. T. D. Greig understood how Napoleon was defeated by Napoleon and Wellington. He says, 'You see in the case of the former, (Napoleon) the workings of a conviction that he ruled over battalions of enthusiasts. perceive all the energies of his mind employed to evoke that enthusiasm, to create in the breast of his troops a thirst for that glory1 which he knew them to be chiefly quickened by. He seems to have been aware that it was by the impetus of an assault, by the fury which grew out of a rapid onset, (in which reason scarcely had a part to play) that they would alone achieve success. Here lay his "forte," and he knew it; and so long as he con

1 Vide previous remarks on Glory' and 'Duty' at pp.

34, 35.