occasionally into troops over which they had no settled authority.

It is, therefore, most evident, sir, that the model on which our troops
are formed, was, by this great commander, preferred to that which is now
so warmly recommended, and I know not why we should recede from his
practice, if we are desirous of his success.

Nor can I discover, sir, any better method of selecting officers than
that which has of late been followed, however some may censure or
ridicule it. To advance gentlemen to command, seems to be the most
likely way to unite authority with rank, for no man willingly obeys
those to whom he has lately seen himself equal, or whose conduct in
lower stations he has, perhaps, had opportunities of examining too
nearly.

The distinction of birth, however chimerical in itself, has been so long
admitted, and so universally received, that it is generally imagined to
confer on one man an indelible and evident superiority over another, a
superiority, which those who would easily imagine themselves equal in
merit cannot deny, and which they allow more willingly, because, though
it be an advantage to possess it, to want it cannot be justly considered
as a reproach.

For this reason, sir, men cheerfully obey those to whom their birth
seems to have subjected them, without any scrupulous inquiries into
their virtue or abilities; they have been taught from their childhood to
consider them as placed in a higher rank than themselves, and are,
therefore, not disgusted at any transient bursts of impatience, or
sudden starts of caprice, which would produce, at least, resentment,
and, perhaps, mutiny, in men newly exalted from a low station. The more
attentively, sir, we look upon the world, the more strongly shall we be
convinced of the truth of these assertions, and the more evidently shall
we discover the influence which operates, in a degree scarcely credible,
even to those who have experienced its power, and which is, indeed, one
of the chief means of subordination, by which society is held together.

Nor are officers of birth, sir, to be preferred to men who are
recommended by nothing but military service, only because they are more
cheerfully obeyed, but for another reason of equal importance. It has
been observed, that, in reality, they discharge the duty of commanders
in a manner more likely to preserve dignity and increase reverence; that
they discover, on all occasions, a sense of honour, and dread of
disgra