OUR BRITISH SOLDIERS.

Southland Times, Issue 958, 27 May 1868, Page 2

OUR BRITISH SOLDIERS.

A writer in the " Monittsur 4e Soir " gives the "physiology" of the divers' types in the British army; the English, properly so called, the Irish, and the Scotch. He says : — " The Englishman, properly so called, has but little taste for the profession of arms ; but he soon gets into the habit ; and for the Englishman, above all ethers, habit soon becomes a second nature. Once drilled and instructed, he does admirably whatever he does. He marches with perfect regularity, almost like an automaton : and he manoeuvres with wonderful precision. As a marksman he is astonishing — true,powder is abundantly supplied to him for practice. He obeys with remarkable punctuality; he is actually. nailed to the post where he is put ; he never stirs from it. With respect to intrepidity — that is, the courage of remaining stationary, he is one of the finest military types, and of him it may be said that if the field of battle were swallowed up before him he would still stand unmoved on the ruins. But he has, too, the defects of his qualities. He is somewhat slow on the offensive. He requires to be commanded and directed. He has no sudden inspiration under firel He musii sjet precise orders, which he will execute punctually. He is somewhat of a grumbler, which, by the way is no great fault. He is not expansive, yet he is more noisy and bustling than one would suppose. In a word he ia a solid combatant, and one of the good soldiers of Europe, though it is not his vocation that has brought him under the colors." So much for the Englishman. Now for the Irishman : — " The Irishman is more warm, more impulsive in his intercourse with others than the Englishman. He is quite as barve, but he is a little too fond of whisky ; he is very ignorant, consequently superstitious, fantastic, and rough. But he has an excellent heart, he is devoted, and does not want a certain ardour which the general temperament of the army prevents utilising. Moreover, he has the intelligence of the combat, and gets quite impassioned in it. It is to the Irish soldiers that are owing certain fiery charges which [nobody expected, so little are they in the British character." This sketch would not be complete without the Scotchman. Here is. what the writer says of him : — " The Scotch soldiers form, without contradiction, the cream of the British troops. The Highlander is the prototype of the excellent soldier. He has all the requisite qualities, and not one defect. Unluckily for Great Britain, the population of Scotland is not numerous. Saving, it is true, to the point of putting by penny after penny, the Scotchman, for all that, is honest, steadfast, amiable in his intercourse with others, enthusiastic and proud ; chivalrous when the question is about shedding his blood. The old traditions of clanship subsist ; each company is grouped round an illustrious name, aU and every man in it is sure to be the^ captain's cousin. The Highlanders; have a strange sort of bravery which partakes at once of French fire and of English calm. They rush on with impetuosity ; they charge with vigor, but they are not hurried away by anger. In the very hottest moment of an attack a simple order suffices to stop them. Formed in square one would take them for Englishmen ; in charging with the bayonet you would swear they were French. For the rest they are of Celtic origin, and the blood of our fathers flows in their veins ; but the blood has a little I cooled down by the severity of their | climate. In the eyes of the Turks the Scotch had one enormous fault, that of showing their legs. In our eyes they have but one defect, a slight one, but still excessively annoying — their depraved taste for the screaming of the bagpipes. We know that the Highlanders would not get under fire without being excited by their national airs, played on this discordant instrument. One of their generals having put down this piercing music, they attacked the enemy on one occasion so languidly that the bagpipes had to be restored to them, and they then took the position. In a word, W£ repeat, the Scotch are magnificent soldiers."