CONCLUSION.
I have thus endeavoured, as far as my recollection served me, to give a simple and faithful description of those scenes in which I was myself an actor, without partiality to any class. If occasionally I have drawn an unseemly picture, the fault was in the original, for I have no personal enmity to any individual in the service; and I beg it may be distinctly understood, that many of the abuses which I have narrated are only spoken of as things that have existed, rather than as a picture of the present state of the army. Thanks to his Royal Highness the commander-in-chief, little is now left the soldier to complain of.
When we look back twenty or thirty years, and consider what the army was then, and what it is now, the wonder will be, not that it is not in a better state, but that so much has been done to ameliorate the condition of the soldier. Then he was one of the veriest slaves existing, obliged to rise two or three hours before day to commence his cleaning operations. His hair required to be soaped, floured, and frizzed, or tortured into some uncouth shape which gave him acute pain, and robbed him of all power of moving his head unless he brought his body round with it. He had his musket to burnish, his cap and cartridge-box to polish with heel-ball, and his white breeches to pipe-clay, so that it generally required three or four hours hard labour to prepare him for parade; and when he turned out, he was like something made of glass, which the slightest accident might derange orbreak to pieces. He was then subjected to a rigid inspection, in which, if a single hair stood out of its place, extra guard, drill, or some other punishment, awaited him. When to this was added the supercilious, tyrannical demeanour of his superiors, who seemed to look upon him as a brute animal who had neither soul nor feeling, and who caned or flogged him without mercy for the slightest offence, we cannot wonder that he became the debased being, in body and mind, which they already considered him, or that he possessed the common vices of a slave—fawning servility, duplicity, and want of all self-respect; to add to this, what was his reward when worn out and unfit for farther service?—a pittance insufficient to support nature, or a pass to beg.
When we consider that, in the face of long-established usages, and coadjutors of unbending and contracted views of human nature, the commander-in-chief by his persevering exertions has almost entirely abolished those numerous vexations—when we see gentlemanly feeling and attention to the soldier’s best interests encouraged among the officers of the army, and the change wrought in the moral and military character of the soldier by these means,—is it to be wondered at that every individual in the service is attached to the Duke of York, and looks up to him in the light of a father and a friend. Few generals of whom I have ever either heard or read, enjoyed the esteem and affection of the troops under their command, more than His Royal Highness.
The failings alleged against him by his enemies were severely visited upon him by many, who, had they examined their own conscience, could not have said they were innocent of similar errors, and who could not plead a kindly unsuspecting nature as an excuse. The country has long consigned to oblivion all remembrance of them; but they have lately been sacrilegiously drawn forth by men, whom every well-regulated mind must blush to call countrymen—men who have not only made a jest of his sufferings and probable death,but grinned with fiend-like exultation at the prospect of a war which was to exterminate, and render miserable thousands of their fellow-creatures.[13]
I hate that canting species of liberality which means free exercise of opinion only to those of the same mode of thinking, and that deals out unsparing censure on all those who (no matter how conscientiously) differ from them; such, however, is the conduct of some of our special pleaders for religious toleration. In his opposition to the Catholic claims, who will say that His Royal Highness did not act conscientiously? And if this is granted, however firmly he may be attached to his principles, it is evident he does not adhere to them with half the violence and pertinacity of those on the opposite side who raise the cry against him.
His character, however, can never be affected by vapouring declamation—the remembrance of his kindness, benevolence, and accessibility, (if I may use the term,) will outlive party feeling and animosity—all classes and sects will yet join in doing justice to the character of a prince, who, if he possess failings, they are those common to humanity, while his virtues raise him much above its ordinary level.
Since the preceding portion of this volume was sent to press, the melancholy event which was then feared has taken place, and the narrow tomb now encloses that heart which, while it continued to beat, embraced the interests and well-being of thousands. What I anticipated has already taken place—all parties join in eulogizing his worth and virtues. Rancour and fiercehatred have even been disarmed of their venom; but words can but very inadequately convey the feeling produced by his death throughout the army. They now naturally look round with intense anxiety for the individual who is to succeed him. The Duke of Wellington, in point of military ability, seems the most likely; but, judging from the past, I would say, he will not be to the army what the Duke of York has been. He may concoct, arrange, and put in practice, plans for their discipline and equipment—he may lead them to victory, as he has done before; but his name will never be the key-note to the warm and grateful feelings of the soldier, when it strikes on his ear, to send the blood in tingling currents from the heart to the cheek. Yet I may be mistaken: when the country at large is progressing rapidly in just sentiment and liberality of thinking, and enlightened views in the government of every department are taking the place of the more severe and austere rules of the old school, it is doing injustice to the Duke of Wellington, to believe that he will remain stationary. If he should assume the command, he will have a glorious opportunity of treading in the footsteps of his royal predecessor, and of adding to his great military qualities all those minor (but not less important) qualifications which excite men’s gratitude and esteem, and will enable him to live in the hearts of those under his command. His claims to the character of a hero will then be complete, and as such his name will be handed down to posterity.
FOOTNOTES:[13]That such men should possess the confidence of the people of Ireland, that they should expect any assistance from them, or how the bombastic declamation and frothy venom, which they spew forth at public meetings, can have any other effect than to produce disgust, is to me not a little wonderful. The emancipation of the Catholics may be retarded, but it will never advance one step under the direction of men possessed of so much zeal, and so little judgment.
[13]That such men should possess the confidence of the people of Ireland, that they should expect any assistance from them, or how the bombastic declamation and frothy venom, which they spew forth at public meetings, can have any other effect than to produce disgust, is to me not a little wonderful. The emancipation of the Catholics may be retarded, but it will never advance one step under the direction of men possessed of so much zeal, and so little judgment.
[13]That such men should possess the confidence of the people of Ireland, that they should expect any assistance from them, or how the bombastic declamation and frothy venom, which they spew forth at public meetings, can have any other effect than to produce disgust, is to me not a little wonderful. The emancipation of the Catholics may be retarded, but it will never advance one step under the direction of men possessed of so much zeal, and so little judgment.