Till lately the condition of a private soldier, both in this country and on the Continent, was unfavourable for inspiring a love of the service. Obliged to be fur nished with good clothing and to pre serve a becoming appearance, that which remained of his scanty pay scarcely suf ficed for procuring the food necessary for his support. In his barracks he was sub ject to numerous petty details of duty, which produced weariness and disgust; and, at all times, to the restraints of dis cipline, which deprived him of the re creations enjoyed by other men. The soldier also had often the mortification to find himself despised for his poverty by persons with whom men of his condition are accustomed to associate. These dis advantages are now however in a great measure removed ; and the pay of the soldier suffices to afford him the means of obtaining the comforts of life in a degree at least equal to those which are enjoyed by an ordinary peasant or mechanic. With the improvement of his condition, a corresponding improvement in the cha racter of the soldiers has taken place: men of steady habits are induced to enlist, and officers are enabled to select the best among those persons who present them selves as recruits.
The duties of the soldier are now ren dered as little burthensome as is consist ent with the good of the service; and the army regulations prescribe that he shall at all times be treated with mildness and humanity : even the non-commissioned officers are required to use patience and forbearance in instructing the recruits in their military exercises. When breaches of discipline on the part of the soldier oblige a commander to order the infliction of punishment, attention is paid as much as possible to render it a means of pro. 'noting a reformation of character : the lash is now very sparingly used. Wher ever a regiment is quartered there is esta blished for the soldiers a school, which the men are obliged, as part of their duty to attend, and which is generally fat nished with a library for their use. Th library and school are formed and sup ported by the subscriptions of the officers and both have been found to contribut greatly to the preservation of sobriet; and good conduct among the men.
In time of peace the soldier, being stir rounded by the members of civil society mast, like them, conform to the law ; and being under the influence of public opi nion, he is, unconsciously to himself, hell in obedience by it ; so that no extra ordinary coercion is necessary to km; him within the bounds of civil or military law. But in the colonies the soldier, even
though he be serving in a time of peace, has many temptations to fall into a ne glect or breach of discipline : he is fa, removed from the friends of his early life, who may have exercised upon his mind a moral influence for good : he sees around him only the conduct, too fre quently licentious, of the lower orders of people in the country where be is sta. tioned ; and he may not possess the prin ciples which should have been implanted in his mind by a sound education. The probability of a return to his native land before many years have passed is small, and the diseases to which he is exposed from the unhealthiness of the climate fre quently terminate fatally : hence he be comes reckless from despair, and the faci lities with which wine or spirituous liquors may often be obtained lead him into ex cesses which, while they accelerate the ruin of his health and render him unfit for duty, cause him to commit offences both against discipline and morals. Thus in the colonies there arises a necessity for greater restraints on the freedom of the soldier, and for the infliction of heavier punishments than are required at home. (Major-Gen. Sir Chas. Napier, Remarks on Military Law.) In time of war and on foreign service a vigorous discipline is necessary : the privations to which sol diers are then exposed strongly induce those who are not thoroughly imbued with moral and religious principles to plunder the country-people, in order to supply their immediate wants, or to drown the sense of their sufferings in liquor. It ought also to be observed that. in war-time, many turbulent spirits are induced to enter the army in the hope of enjoying the licence which the military life abroad appears to hold out These men are the ringleaders in all excesses, and they frequently cause many of those who are weak in principle to join them ; in such cases therefore the most severe measures must be immediately applied, if discipline is to be preserved in the army. The efforts made by the British commanders, during the war against the French in Spain, to maintain order, and prevent the people of the country from being injured, were great and praise worthy. Perhaps fewer crimes were committed by the British troops than by those of their allies or their enemies ; but still there were many occasions in which the national character was disgraced by the misconduct of the soldiery.