y
will not quite hold good. The stern fanatics who followed Cromwell went
to their work--whether of fighting or prayer--with all their heart, and
soul, and strength, conning the manual not less studiously than the
psalter, while their General would devote himself for days together to
the minutest duties of a drill-sergeant. With all this, and with his
"trust in Providence," it was long before the wary Oliver would bring
his Ironsides fairly face to face,

With the bravos of Alsatia and the pages of Whitehall.

It is true that the Revolutionary army of '93 was utterly different from
those, wherein the Maison du Roi took the right of the line. It was
hastily raised, and loosely constructed, out of rude material perilous
to handle. But--putting aside that military aptitude inherent in every
Frenchman--in all ranks there was a leaven of veterans strong enough to
keep the turbulent conscripts in order, though the aristocratic element
of authority was wanting. Traditions of subordination and discipline
survived in an army, not the less thoroughly French, because it was
rabidly Republican. The recruits liked to feel themselves soldiers; they
were willing to give up for awhile the pageantry of war, but not its
decorum; and, in that implicit obedience to their officers, there
mingled a sturdy plebeian pride; they would not allow that it was harder
to follow the wave of Colonel Bonhommne's sabre, than that of Marshal de
Montmorenci's baton; or that the word of command rang out more
efficiently from the patrician's dainty lips, than from under the rough
moustaches of the proletarian.

The regular army here does little to help the volunteer service, beyond
giving subalterns as field-officers (a lieutenant would rarely be
satisfied with a troop or a company); the rank is, of course, temporary,
though sometimes substantiated by brevet. It is possible, that a few
non-commissioned officers may be found, who have served in a similar or
subordinate capacity in the regular army during the Mexican war; but
such exceptions are too rare to affect the civism of the entire force.

True it is, that the Federal levies have to face enemies not a whit
superior in discipline. Indeed, Harry Wynd's motto, "I fight for mine
own hand," is especially favored in the South. But when one side is
battling for independence, the other for subjugation, there must ever be
an essential difference in the spirit animating their armies. The
impetuosity of t