I must be measured by my soul;—
The mind’s the standard of the man!’
“In a military paper that I have seen, the regulation given by King Charles II. runs thus:—‘Each horseman to have for his defensive arms, back, breast, and pot; and for his offensive arms, a sword, and a case of pistolls, the barrels whereof are not to be under foorteen inches in length; and each trooper of our guards to have a carbine, besides the aforesaid arms. And the foote do haue each souldier a sword, and each pikeman a pike of sixteen foote long, and not under; and each musquetteer a musquet, with a collar of bandaliers, the barrels of which musquet to be about foor foote long, and to conteine a bullet, foorteen of which shall weigh a pound weight.’”
“How very particularly they are described!”
“When the war with Holland broke out in 1672, a regiment of dragoons was raised, when the soldiers therein were ordered to carry halbards, pistolls with holsters, matchlock, musquet, a collar of bandaliers, and one bayonet or ‘great knife.’ The arms of dragoons in 1687, (James II.’s reign,) were, snap-hanse-musquets, strapt with bright barrels of three foote eight inches long, cartouch boxes, bayonets, granado pouches, buckets, and hammer-hatchets.”
“They called a bayonet, then, a great knife?”
“They did. Since then, regiment has been added to regiment, till the army has arrived at its present state. It is now, perhaps, about a hundred and twenty thousand strong, and is spread over Great Britain, Ireland, and our possessions in other quarters of the Globe—undoubtedly the first soldiers in the world.”
“Then we have got the best soldiers and the best sailors?”
“Indeed we have! I believe there are neither sailors nor soldiers in any quarter of the world that would be a match for an equal number of British blue-jackets and red-coats. If ever you should go on board a King’s ship you will be surprised at the order and discipline that prevail, from the figure-head to the rudder, from the main-mast head to the hold. Discipline is everything in the army and navy, and I shall give you, by and by, some striking instances that set forth its use and abuse.”
“What daring fellows sailors are!”