British army in those days. The service had sunk
into contempt. The withering influence of a corrupt patronage had
demoralized the officers; successive defeats, incurred through the
inefficiency of courtly generals, had depressed the spirit of the
soldiery, and, were it not for the proof shown upon the bloody fields
of La Feldt and Fontenoy, we might almost suppose that English manhood
had become an empty name.

Many of the battalions shipped off to take part in the American contest
were hasty levies without organization or discipline: the colonel, a man
of influence, with or without other qualifications, as the case might
be; the officers, his neighbors and dependents. These armed mobs found
themselves suddenly landed in a country, the natural difficulty of which
would of itself have proved a formidable obstacle, even though
unenhanced by the presence of an active and vigilant enemy. At the same
time, there devolved upon them the duties and the responsibilities of
regular troops. A due consideration of these circumstances tends to
diminish the surprise which a comparison of their achievements with
those recorded in our later military annals might create.

Very different were the ranks of the American army from the magnificent
regiments whose banners now bear the crowded records of Peninsular and
Indian victory; who, within the recollection of living men, have stood
as conquerors upon every hostile land, yet never once permitted a
stranger to tread on England's sacred soil but as a prisoner, fugitive,
or friend. In Cairo and Copenhagen; in Lisbon, Madrid, and Paris; in the
ancient metropolis of China; in the capital of the young American
republic, the British flag has been hailed as the symbol of a triumphant
power or of a generous deliverance. Well may we cherish an honest pride
in the prowess and military virtue of our soldiers, loyal alike to the
crown and to the people; facing in battle, with unshaken courage, the
deadly shot and sweeping charge, and, with a still loftier valor,
enduring, in times of domestic troubles, the gibes and injuries of
their misguided countrymen.

In the stirring interest excited by the progress and rivalry of our
kindred races in America, the sad and solemn subject of the Indian
people is almost forgotten. The mysterious decree of Providence which
has swept them away may not be judged by human wisdom. Their existence
will soon be of the past. They have left no permanent impression on th