ed as the chief of those days was to live always among his clan, and to find his own comfort and consequence in their numbers and zeal, of course no system by which the clan could be banished from their ancestral soil could ever have been dreamed of.

In latter times, however, the tastes of Highland gentlemen and ladies have come very naturally to be almost entirely the same with those of people of the same sort of rank in other parts of the empire; and in order to supply themselves with the means of exhibiting the splendours of equipage and establishment before the eyes of strangers, they have in innumerable instances adopted arrangements which have had the effect of driving thousands of once devoted clansmen to seek subsistence for themselves and their children in the regions of the new world. On Lady Stafford's estates alone, we think, so many as three fine regiments were raised during the last reign-three regiments of temperate, worthy, honourable, and most gallant soldiers, any one of whom would have thought himself and his family disgraced to all eternity had he hesitated to march at the slightest expression of the Countess of Sutherland's will. The hundred smiling glens where the fathers of these brave men cultivated their little fields of oats and barley, are now thrown into the possession of some half dozen English or Lowland tenants, and when the drum beats the next time among the domains of Morar Chattu, the same answer will be given which we have heard of as being received some years back by another Highland chieftain not necessary to be named at present: "Ye must recruit with the colley-dog, for there is nothing but sheep upon your hills."

The Colonel has the utmost delight in expatiating on the merits of Lord Breadalbane, and some others, who have uniformly expressed their scorn of purchasing some addition to their rent-rolls by the banishment of their clansmen—and we heartily concur in this well-earned applause. But candour compels us to say, that we think the Colonel writes on the whole of this subject with too little regard to the ordinary course of human nature and human conduct. Instead of pouring out the vials of his wrath upon the chiefs who have banished their

clans, it would have been well, we think, had he endeavoured, viewing people and measures by the usual lights, to suggest some plan, through which the more extensive expatriation of this loyal, hardy, and honourable race, may be prevented.

Taking the world as it is, nobody can expect that a great landholder is to sacrifice so much of his own income for the good, not of himself, but of the state. A few very liberal minded and reflective landholders in the Highlands may indeed be wise enough to prefer other things to the mere calculations of pounds, shillings, and pence: but it is not perhaps fair to blame those who conduct themselves on the more common-place and prosaic principle quite so severely as Colonel Stewart has done. If the Highland proprietor is to be compelled to do so much more than the Yorkshire proprietor, for the benefit of the commonwealth-if he is to sacrifice so many hundreds, or thousands per annum, in order that whenever government wants a regiment he may be able to raise one on his estate→→→ why should not the Yorkshire gentleman pay his part of the cost? Make the Celtic lord or laird understand, that whenever he raises a regiment, or a company, he shall receive such and such substantial advantages, and then perhaps there will be less difficulty about persuading him that the race of men is a better thing than the race of sheep. We honour Colonel Stewart's personal and chivalrous devotion to the cause of his country, and we have no doubt that the Highland chieftain, whose conduct is regulated upon principles so noble as his, lives and dies a greater and a happier man than the wealthiest lord in England. But even we, who know something of the Highlands, must be permitted to say, that in this part of his work the Colonel is too enthusiastic-and that his doctrines, however much they may, and must raise his own charac ter in the eyes of his humbler coun trymen, are not propounded in such a shape as to promise any very effectual improvement, either in their present circumstances, or in the future prospects of them and their children. On the contrary, we should rather be apprehensive that they may tend very strongly to nourish and exacerbate certain feelings of jealousy and mutual

distrust, which have already been, on more than one occasion, made manifest, in shapes which we are quite sure no one could regard with deeper concern than Colonel Stewart himself.

As to these and some other matters, there may be, and probably will be, many different ways of thinking; but in regard to the history of the Highland regiments, which forms the real subject of the Colonel's book, we apprehend everybody will completely go along with the author. Nothing can be more interesting than the picture which is given of the character of the Highland Soldier,-more particularly as it existed some fifty or sixty years ago, when the Black Watch was first embodied, at the suggestion of the sagacious and patriotic Duncan Forbes of Culloden. For a long period of years, owing to the successive civil wars which spread desolation over Britain, the Highland race had been looked upon as a mere body of hardy rebels-disaffected to the government of the country-and averse to all regular government. The President Forbes had the great merit of destroying this prejudice. The 42d regiment was raised, and wherever they went, their conduct-peaceful, innocent, and honourable in quarters, and brave of the bravest in the fieldwas regarded with equal admiration and delight by all who had any opportunity of contemplating it. At first it was composed, in a great measure, of the sons of gentlemen, proprietors or tacksmen; and these soldiers carried into their military service all the high notions of family as well as personal honour which their domestic education had instilled into their bosoms. For a long, a very long succession of years, there was no such thing ever dreamed of as corporeal punishment" that being," to use the words of a distinguished General, in his orders, "entirely uncalled for among such honourable soldiers." At a later period much of the same simple kindliness which united the first soldiers of the 42d, still prevailed among their successors-we have no doubt a vast deal of it remains among those who at this moment march to the sound of its bagpipe. Whenever Colonel Stewart mentions himself, it is with that modesty always so characteristic of great worth and real valour; and the

NOTE, which makes part of the following extract, will, we are sure, both illustrate our subject and delight our readers.

"This impetuosity of Highland soldiers, and the difficulty of controlling them, in the most important part of a soldier's duty, has been frequently noticed and reprobated. To forget necessary discretion, and break loose from command, is certainly an unmilitary characteristic; but, as it proceeds from a very honourable principle, it deserves serious consideration, how far any attempt to allay this ardour may be prudent, or advantageous to the service. An officer of judgment and feeling, acquainted with the character of his soldiers, and disposed to allow this chivalrous spirit full play, will never be at a loss for a sufficient check. It is easier to restrain than to animate. It has also been observed, that the modern Highland corps display less of that chivalrous spirit which marked the earlier corps from the mountains. If there be any good ground for this observation, it may probably be attributed to this, that these corps do not consist wholly of native Highlanders. If strangers are introduced among them, even admitting them to be the best of soldiers, still they are not Highlanders. The charm is broken,-the conduct of such a corps must be divided, and cannot be called purely national. The motive which made the Highlanders, when united, fight for the honour of their name, their clan, and district, is by this mixture lost. Officers, also, who are strangers to their lanthinking, cannot be expected to understand guage, their habits, and peculiar modes of their character, their feelings and their prejudices, which, under judicious manage ment, have so frequently stimulated to honourable conduct, although they have sometimes served to excite the ridicule of those who knew not the dispositions and cast of character on which they were founded. But if Highland soldiers are judiciously commanded in quarters, treated with kindness and confidence by their officers, and led into action with spirit, it cannot on any deficiency of that firmness and courage good grounds be alleged that there is any which formerly distinguished them, although it may be readily allowed that much of the romance of the character is lowered. The change of manners in their native country will sufficiently account for this. But, even if their former sentiments and ancient habits had still been cherished in their native glens, the young soldier could not easily retain them, if mixed with other soldiers, strangers to his language, his of acts of prowess. These companions country, poetry, traditions of battles and would be more disposed to jeer and deride, than to listen to what they did not understand.

"In the earlier part of the service of the 42d regiment, and when the ancient habits of the people remained unchanged, the soldiers retained much of these habits in their camps and quarters. They had their bards for reciting ancient poems and tales, and composing laments, elegies, and panegyrics on departed friends. These, as they were generally appropriate, so they were highly useful, when none were present to hear them but Highlanders, who under. stood them, and whom they could warm and inspire. Another cause has contributed to change the character of the Highland soldier. This is the reserved manners and distant etiquette of military discipline. When many of the officers were natives of the mountains, they spoke in their own language to the men, who, in their turn, addressed the officers with that easy but respectful familiarity and confidence which subsisted between the Highland people and their superiors. Another privilege of a Highlander of the old school was that of remonstrating and counselling where the case seemed to him to require it. It frequently happened, also, that they would become sureties, on their own responsibility, for the good conduct of one another; and, as responsibility implies regularity of conduct and respectability of character, these suretyships had the most beneficial influence on the men. But things are now managed differently. The Highland soldier is brave, and will always prove so, if properly commanded; but the chivalry of the character has almost disappeared, and officers now may entertain less dread that their men will disobey orders, and persevere in a disastrous and hopeless conflict. But their character must be acted upon by some powerful cause indeed, unless they continue to be, what they have always been, and what they proved themselves to be at Ticonderoga, first in the attack, and last in the retreat, which, after all, was made deliberately, and in good order."

In short, a Highland regiment was nothing more than a large High land family, the officers being obeyed, trusted, and honoured by the men, in the same manner in which elder brothers and natural feudal superiors would have been had they remained at home in their glens. Were we to

"In the year 1795, a serious disturbance broke out in Glasgow, among the Breadalbane Fencibles. Several men ha ving been confined and threatened with corporal punishment, considerable discontent and irritation were excited ainong their comrades, which increased to such violence, that, when some men were confined in the guard-house, a great proportion of the regiment rushed out and forcibly released the prisoners. This violation of the military discipline was not to be passed over, and accordingly measures were immediately taken to secure the ringleaders, and bring them to punishment. But so many were equally concerned, that it was difficult to fix on the proper subjects for punishment. And here was shewn a trait of character worthy of a better cause, and which originated from a feeling alive to the disgrace of a degrading punishment. The soldiers being made sensible of the nature of their misconduct, and the consequent punishment, four men voluntarily offered themselves to stand trial, and suffer the sentence of the law, as an atonement for the whole. These men were accordingly marched to Edinburgh Castle, tried, and condemned to be shot. Three of them were afterwards reprieved, and the fourth was shot on Musselburgh sands.

"On the march to Edinburgh, a circumstance occurred, the more worthy of notice, as it shews a strong principle of ho nour and fidelity to his word and to his officer in a common Highland soldier.

"One of the men stated to the officer commanding the party, that he knew what his fate would be, but that he had left business Glasgow, which he wished to transact beof the utmost importance to a friend in

fore his death; that, as to himself, he was fully prepared to meet his fate; but with regard to his friend, he could not die in peace unless the business was settled, and that, if the officer would suffer him to return to Glasgow, a few hours there would

be sufficient, and he would join him before he reached Edinburgh, and march as a prisoner with the party. The soldier added, "You have known me since I was a child; you know my country and kindred, and you may believe I shall never bring you to any blame by a breach of the promise I now make, to be with you in full time to be delivered up in the Castle.' This was a startling proposal to the officer, who was a judicious humane man, and knew perfectly his risk and responsibility in yielding to such an extraordinary application, However, his confidence was such, that he complied with the request of the prisoner, who returned to Glasgow at night, settled his business, and left the town before daylight, to redeem his pledge. He took a long circuit to avoid being seen, apprehended as a deserter, and sent back to Glasgow, as probably his account of his officer's indulgence would not have been credited. In consequence of this caution, and the lengthened march through woods and over hills by an unfrequented route, there was no appearance of him at the hour appointed. The perplexity of the officer when he reached the neighbourhood of Edinburgh may be easily imagined. He moved forward slowly indeed, but no soldier appeared; and unable to delay any longer, he marched up to the Castle, and as he was delivering over the prisoners, but before any report was given in, Macmartin, the absent soldier, rushed in among his fellow prisoners, all pale with anxiety and fatigue, and breathless with apprehension of the consequences in which his delay might have involved his benefactor.

"In whatever light the conduct of the of ficer (my respectable friend Major Colin Campbell) may be considered, either by military men or others, in this memorable exemplification of the characteristic principle of his countrymen, fidelity to their word, it cannot but be wished that the soldier's magnanimous self-devotion had been taken as an atonement for his own miscon

duct and that of the whole. It was not from any additional guilt that the man who suffered was shot. It was determined that only one should suffer, and the four were ordered to draw lots. The fatal chance fell upon William Sutherland, who was executed accordingly."

The following, we strongly suspect, relates to the worthy author himself. "As one of the objects I have in view is to point out such characteristic traits of disposition, principle and habits, as may be in any way interesting, I shall notice the following circumstance, which occurred while this regiment (the 78th) lay at Hythe. In the month of June orders were issued for one field officer and four subalterns to join the 1st battalion in India. The day before the field officer fixed on for this pur

pose left the regiment, the soldiers held conferences with each other in the barracks, and, in the evening, several deputations were sent to him, entreating him in the most earnest manner, to make application either to be allowed to remain with them, or obtain permission for them to accompany him. He returned his acknowledgments for their attachment, and for their spirited offer; but, as duty required his presence in India, while their services were at present confined to this country, they must, therefore, separate for some time. The next evening, when he went from the barracks to the town of Hythe, to take his seat in the coach for London, two-thirds of the soldiers, and officers in the same proportion, accompanied him, all of them complaining of being left behind. They so crowded round the coach as to impede its progress for a considerable length of time, till at last the guard was obliged to desire the coachman to force his way through them. Upon this the soldiers, who hung by the wheels, horses, harness, and coachdoors, gave way, and allowed a passage. There was not a dry eye amongst the younger part of them. Such a scene as this, happened to more than 600 men, and in the streets of a town, could not pass unnoticed, and was quickly reported to General Moore, whose mind was always alive to the advantages of mutual confidence and esteem between officers and soldiers. The circumstance was quite suited to his chivalrous mind. He laid the case before the Commander-in-chief; and his Royal Highness, with that high feeling which he has always shewn when a case has been properly represented, ordered that at present there should be no separation, and that the field officer should return to the battalion in which he had so many friends ready to follow him to the cannon's mouth, and when brought in front of an enemy, either to compel them to fly, or perish in the field.”

No doubt such things as these have happened a hundred times in the case of other regiments in which there were no peculiarly Highland principles of attachment and affection: but who can doubt that a regiment, where the members have known each other from boyhood, and where the families of each are known and respected, and where the officers, above all, are regarded as natural friends and protectors by their soldiers, must be more likely than any other to furnish examples both of kindly feelings and of chivalrous behaviour?-In truth, the great principle in the mind of every man who has been born and bred among those glens, seems to be a dread of dishonouring his blood-and this feeling