A FRENCH OPINION OF THE BRITISH ARMY.

Evening Star, Issue 3433, 21 February 1874, Page 3

A FRENCH OPINION OF THE BRITISH ARMY.

M. de Mundat Granny, the cavalry officer sent by the French Government to England in July, 1871, to watch the autumn manceuvres, and report to the French Government the method and result of Mr Cardwell s re-organization of the military resources of Great Britain, has sent in a report which may be taken as that of a “ capable independent, and unbiassed judge,” He f OU h d co« e ,nF ectivc . force of the £srifcisll army to be 886,1% men, independent of the militia volunteers raised mthe various Colonies, ibis, be says, “is probably the most really numerous army that exists amongst those maintained by civilized nations.” He prefers the old English system of promotion by purchase. Da Muudat Grancey was cially struck by the union which reiuns among English officers, and by the high tone of character and conduct which he observed to prevail m all grades of command. He is careful to explain to his French comrades in arms that every holder of a commission in the British army is a gentleman, and as the meaning of that word seems to be imperfectly understood in France, he is at some 5 ? e fl Qe l b - Ifc lc apliQ3, in the first place that -the bearer of the title has reQeivefi an education involving the inculcation of the sentiment s duty, of responsibility, of self-reliance, and a salutary horror of false“f 1 ; . r s us is built up a character which is described as follows : - “ A. gentle man is one who inhabits a glass house : in other words, he is a man who, in all that is known of his life, has nothing to disavow in the midst ot a society which ja in the habit of respecting, at outwardly, all that is respectable according to the ten commandments of God. B bopkeepers, and has the spirit of the English people been impaired by the cankers of a calm world and a long peace?” Our French cavalry captain ffPj ®o tO -r5 he C l UesfclQU with an emphatic ”?• He says—“ Our neighbors, in my opinion, represent the race which is at once the most military and the most warlike under the sun. He accounts for this upon ethnological grounds, and traces the military tastes and aptitudes of the ‘ island mastiffs’ to the national character having engrained in it the sentiment of obedience to the law, and the instinct of regularity of hierarchy, and of association, impelling us 4 to act together for a common object,’ while we have also 4 a hkmg for military parade. ’ We are the most warlike of people, because no race 4 professes a more absolute or decided taste for violent exercises, a more profound sense of the importance of sacrificing pleasure to health, or a more lively instinct for great corporeal exertion. In concluding this report. public!y read tp the military circle at Versailles, on the 82nd apd 23rd of May last, M. De M !J nd ix rßn ?®.y reminds his military comrades that the institutions of Great Britain are founded upon principles that are eternally true and eternally desirable-those, namely of common sense; and that every Hma France has discarded these M w¥h a ternble fall. If yi ijo repair thedisasters i . ?hter upon a brilliant and benehciM career m the future, she must assimfiate her system of public instruction to that of England. “We rapst impress upon opr children, he says, “ p respect for laws, human and d;v\uo. Wo must inspire them with that fcQ»r ot God which, is the beginning of wisdom. We must give them all latitude and every facility for developing their limbs by inculcating a taste for manly exercises, and thus endeavor to multiply among ourselves those types so prevalent among our neighbors, of the gentleman, the military man, and the warrior.” Our French captain of cavalry has evidently profited by his residence in England, to imbibe some of the national common sense, and if he can infect his countrymen with it, it will be all the better the world° Wn happines8 > and for the peace of