On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
hist a sovereign than Sir Walter and other persons had thought him ; that even " Lady —— " appears to have occasionally deserted huh : — " The King ( says Fremantle ) still in his bed , sulky , out of humour , and therefore venting hi ? spleen when and where he can . It all , however , originates in the domestic concerns . , OLady - — -is not gone back , and Cannot be prevailed upon to embark again so soon as an exile to the royal cottage ; until this is brought to bear he will be restless and angry , and therefore I think it worth while for his Ministers to lay a petition before her . " By and bye the King ' s state grew so bad that lie begged to be excused from the irksome duty of signing documents ; after which political persons of all parties discovered qualities , no whit less admirable and amiable , in his brother and next
successor , the Duke of Clarence . " Your account ( writes Lord Grenville to the Duke ) of the visits to Bushy is amusing enough ; but I have seen too many instances of such barefaced and undisguised meanness to be at all surprised at it . If our future Queen , really is , as she is said to be , a woman of sense , what an opinion she mast form of her visitors , " The King ' s physicians gathered round the royal bed and shook their heads . Sir William Knighton ventured . ' '' * to call his Majesty ' s attention to religious subjects , and placed , unordered , a quarto JBible of large type upon the dressing-table ; " his Majesty" expired on the 26 th of June , 1830 , and in the sixtv-eighth year of las age . l uke of Buck
' Thus calmly ( says the present X ) - ingham ) passed from the world a monarch , whom those who enjoyed the best opportunity of knowing intimately , pronounced the kindest of friends and the most affectionate of masters . Sir Walter Scott , shortly after the event expressed the following opinion : — ' I trouble you with this intrusion to express my deep sorrow for the loss of a Sovereign whose gentle and generous disposition , and singular [ kind ] manner and captivating conversation , rendered him as much the darling of private society , as his heartfelt "interest in the general welfare of the country , and the constant and _ steady course of wise measiires by which lie raised his reign to such a state of triumphal prosperi ty ^ made him justly delighted in by his subjects . ' " character have been
¦ " Estimates of his Majesty ' s formed , by persons who never received favors at his hands , or could have been influenced J > y the sunshine of the royal countenance ; and they , as might be anticipated ,, are of a totally different complexion . But there can be no use now in dwelling on his failings . " Kings arc happy in their apologists . There is a deficiency in these volumes which cannot fail to strike the reader . Scarcely a letter will be found from the Marquis ( nfterwai-ds Duke ) of Buckingham himself ] the chief of the coterie . Nevertheless , the letters and other documents reveal much of the secret history of parties , and they cannot be dispensed with by future historians of the reign of our last King George ; and they certainly abound in entertaining matter .
Untitled Article
THE ARMIES OF THE GR 33 AT POWERS . The Armies of the Great Powers . By LasceUcs Wraxall . W . H . Allen and Co . Tub author of this book has seen some service as a member of the Turkish Contingent during the lute Crimean war , and ho was for some time the editor of the Nnval and Military Herald ,, where many of the pnpera appeared which are now collected in the volume before us . The information ho is able to lay before his reader comes rather opportunely at thq present hour , when Continental ambassadors are summoned from Pai'is to attend our Cabinet
Councils , and ovciy day wo hear loudor rumours of a gjenoral European war . Whatever may be the opinion about the folly of those nations who waste their capital , which is their strength , in Jkqeping up enormous bodies of idle , consuming , unproductive men , those armies exist as great arid melancholy facts , and it ia not wise to turn a deaf ! ear to any intelligence that can bo givon us about them .
Though our author is a blind adherent of a Tory Government — though ho firmly believes in everything they have ever tfono , or rather have promised to try and do—though ho boils over with indignation at the very mention of the Peace Society , and grows rabid at the statements of that Manchester school of politicians who only wish to check the senseless , teoJdess , unfruitful expenditure which continually drains the resources of the country , without giving hardly an effective ship , cannon , soldier , or sailor in return—though our
author stands up a little too obstinately for his own particular " leather , " still he is , to some extent , a reliabTfe and a welcome guide . Those who do not sympathise with his political opinions can separate the com " from the chaff , - and take his facts and figures for what they are worth . First in the list of armies comes the Austrian , because of its historical position as the oldest in Europe . It is a strange compound of nationalities , and , in this : respect , is probably only surpassed by the Kussian . .
" Under the Emperor ' s banner are now collected 1 . Germans , from Upper and Lower Austria , . the Tyrol , Styria , Carnia , Carinthia , and the Germanspeaking districts of Bohemia , Moravia , Transylvania , Hnngary , and the coast . It may be assumed that one-fifth of the recruits , on entering the army , can speak German , although employing very different dialects . 2 . Sclavons , who are again subdivided into numerous races , who can scarcely understand each other . The more important of these Sclavonic races , from which the Austrian army is recruited , are the Poles of Gallicia and the Bukovina , the Czechs of Bohemia , the Sclav on-speaking Moravians , from
Silesians , St . yria . ns and Carniaiis , Scloyaks Hungary and Transylvania , Dalmatians , Croats and other races on the military border , with , the exception of the Wallachs . At least two-fifths-of all the recruits conscribed are drawn from these districts , and join the army without understanding a single -word of'German . The first business , then , is to teach these recruits sufficient German so as to understand the words of command , but all the Sclavons evince an aptitude for learning language ? . 3 . Hungarians , or Magyars , from Hungary , Transylvania , and some portions of the military border , who are again subdivided into Cumans , Jacygis , and Czekler . About one-fifth of the Austrian army is drawn from the purely Hungarian race , and the men join the regiments without understanding a single ¦ learns with
word of German ,. . which . ' , the Magyar . difficulty and repugnance . 4 . Italians , consisting of Lombards , Venetians , Italian-speaking Dalmatians , and Southern Tyrolese . These also find a difficulty in learning German , although they possess great mental qualifications . 5 . , llac ] is , from Hungary , Transylvania , and the military border , who -speak . Wallachian or Komani , a corruption of Latin . "With the exception of a few border battalions , there are no special Wallach regiments and companies in the Austrian army , but those men are generally dispersed through the Hungarian and Transylvanian regiments . In these regiments may also be found Gypsies , who are more useful through their cunning as sharpshooters than inclined to display their courage in close columns of attack . "
The army is now exclusively made up by conscription through all the provinces of the empire , to which all classes , with some slight exceptions , are liable ; and the period of" service is universally established at eight years , with the engagement to serve two further years in the reserve , if events render this necessary . During peace the soldiers rarely . remain longer than six years under arms , and substitution by money is permitted . The pay , food , and clothing ary highly satisfactory- —inferior to hone in Europe , except the English ; and under
the barrack arrangements every attention is paid to regularity , cleanliness , and the health of the inen . TJ ^ c disci p line is very severe , and the punishment of the stick is still kept up . Gold and silver ¦ medals are sparingly given ns rewards for distinguished services in the field—the gold . medals being accompanied by double pay , and the silver medals l > y half additional pay . A decent pension is provided for non-commissioned officers , in the shape of secured situations in tho excise , customs , or other Government offices , oiler a seven years ' service , in addition to the original oight yeu-ru .
A feudal taint clings to the Austrian nnuy , in the system of appointing possessors of regiments . As oaoli regiment is exclusively known by the name of its possessor (" Count ftugent , " for example ) , and as these names , with some few permanent exceptions , are continually changing , there is iio possibility of those traditions bcing ^ kept up which have such influence in other armies . The possessors , if general oflicers , have groat weight in tho appointment ) of subalterns ; and tho promotion and transference of officers under tho rank of fieldofllcors come also within their patronage . In the Polish regiments' there are generally several Jews , who , if possessing eourago , are the most valuable troops to bo found in the whole Austrian army . The cavalry is vary numerous and well equipped ; and at tho present day no European power can vio with this , arm of the Austrian forces * .
The militia . is now entirely abolished , and a reserve system introduced under the two years * extra service ^ by which an available body of 100 , 000 experienced troops is always kept to fall back upon . . Making every allowance for the requirements of home defence * the Emperor of Austria , at the present moment , has a perfectly equipped army of 400 , 000 men whom-He can spare for foreign service , east or west . - Next in order comes the Prussian ' army , which is remarkable for its high educational standard , and the universality of its recruiting system .
" As universal service is the rule in Prussia , and every healthy man , without distinction of rank , mlist personally perform his military duty , the period a soldier remains in the standing army is short . The majority only serve three years—from twenty-one ¦ to twenty-four ; after which they are enrolled for two further years in the reserve , and then pass to the landwehr of the first levy . Those persons who have asserted that the period of service is too short are , in our opinion , wrong . It must be borne in mind that the Prussian is aware , from his earliest years , that he . Avill have to enter the army , amusements bea
and hence even his childish r a military stamp . This is more especially the case in the old Prussian provinces , where the lads are regularly divided into squads , and rendered conversant with their ' dirties ,. long . prior , to-being , called on-to serve . The national schools , so excellently managed in Prussia , and the fact of so many men of thehigher classes entering the ranks , materially facilitate the task of giving the recruit his military education ; and hence three years are amply sufficient for the ordinary duties of the soldier . The only ease in which- ' the period of service appears to us too short is in that of the light cavalry . .
" . Owing to the short period of service m the Prussian line , the military ' . education is extremely strict . In no European army is there so much exercising ; and soldiers are from morning to night on duty , or in the , school - " rooms where theoretic instruction-is-impnrted . But the great defect of the Prussian system , we humliiy conceive , is that these young recruits , if engaged in the field , would hardly endure fatigue , and heavy inarching order . "Whenever a Prussian corps d ' armee sets " out through any difficult terrain—and of this we obtained experience , in the Badois revolution of . 1849—during the first
weeks the soldiers fall out in hundreds , and the ambulance carts are crowded . This is a defect which time , of course , will cure ; nor must we forget that Prussia has a large reserve at her back , of men from ¦ twen-ty-fbur to twenty-six years of age , who are called out directly the army is placed on a war establishment . These men could be employed to fill up deficiencies ; but , for all that , we apprehend that the Prussian system is very liable to entail the loss of a first campaign . ' What the result of a second would be , wo have hud no opportunity of deciding , as thy only time we ever saw the Prussians in action was m Baden , where they had everything in their favour . " amountsto
The Prussian army in time of pence - little more than one-fifth of its war establishment , —a difference far greater than what is exhibited by any other country . " A necessary consequence of this is , that mobilisation entails enormous sacrifices on the nation . Great care and consideration have certainly been displayed in carrying out the necessary arrangements for mobilisation in the minutest details , but , when carried into effect , much would be found defective an tho system . The burden , whichwoul < 1 Do entailed by a sudden levee en masse of the nation would be excessive . There is no doubt that Austria
or France , owing to the system of centralisation which-they have carried out , would be able to brmi ? much larger armies into tho field , and In a imicn shorter time than Prussia , even if she reckoned ! on Jier second levy for assistance , which is of a highly problematical nature . Still , we must not deny that what wo paw effected by a nation of 17 , 000 , 000 inhabitants in 18 U 0 , was very remarkable ; in spite of numerous defects , wo could not refrain from admirhitf tno rapidity and regularity with which tho mob lisaUon can bo cflbctod , so soon as thonuolousof thol I'USflW " nation entertains a conviction that tho sacrlllcos « enmiulod irom it aro necessary for tho proscrvation oi
tho national honour . <« A furthor proof that this universal necessity ot bearing arms oau produce great rosults in proportion to tho population will bost be soon from tho census of 1847 . At that period , in addition to piumls . line , War rosorvo men , and landwohr , tlioro wore 240 , uuu so far exorcised in arms that they could Jmwo weoa employed in war so that-. tho . ro wcro at that > timo 7 ( 50 . 000 , inon In . tho Prussian State , ready to detenu thoir iUtlicrland , " Tho French army at tho present time poflMWJJg a strength of about 580 , 000 men , with 82 , OW oavulrv- horses , and 1 , 182 guns intended to tafco
Untitled Article
268 THE LEADER . [ No , 466 , February 26 , 1859 « i
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 26, 1859, page 268, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2283/page/12/
-