estion of
breech-loading arms.

A few observations on the Militia appear to follow naturally after
remarks on fire-arms. According to the most reliable information which I
have been able to obtain, every able-bodied male between 18 and 40 years
of age is liable to militia service. Those who do not serve are subject
to a fine, varying in different States, from 3s. upwards; which sum
helps to pay those who do duty. The pay of a private while on duty is
about 10s. a-day, and that of officers in proportion. Formerly, they
only turned out two days in the year; now I believe, they generally turn
out ten, and in some of the cities twenty, days annually. The persons
excused from militia service, are the clergy, medical men, fire
companies, and those who have held a commission for three years. Each
regiment settles its own uniform; and it is a strange sight to see
companies in French, German, and Highland uniforms, all marching gaily
through the streets.

The day of firing at a mark is quite a fete; they parade the town, with
the target untouched, on their road to the ground: there they commence
firing, at 100 yards; if the bull's-eye be not sufficiently riddled,
they get closer and closer, until, perforated and in shreds, it scarce
hangs together as they return through the town bearing it aloft in
triumph, and followed by all the washed, half-washed, and unwashed
aspirants to military glory.

I believe the good sense of the people is endeavouring to break through
the system of nationalizing the companies into French, German, Highland,
&c., believing that keeping up such distinctions is more calculated to
produce discord than harmony. How long it will be before they succeed in
eradicating these separate nationalities, I cannot pretend to say.

With respect to their numbers, I cannot give any accurate information.
_The American Almanack_--generally a very useful source of
information--puts them down at 2,202,113; which is evidently a little
bit of Buncombe, as those figures represent very nearly the whole
able-bodied men in the Republic between the ages of 18 and 40. As they
are liable to be called on, the _Almanack_ puts them down as though
regularly enrolled; their real numbers I leave to the fertility of the
imagination. In the same authority, I find the officers calculated at
76,920, of which 765 are generals. These numbers, I imagine, must also go
through a powerful process of subtraction before the exact truth would
be