sists as much in suffering as in acting-as much, or more, in coolly facing danger, as in furiously rushing on it. There is little probability that the general will allow young and high-spirited troops to be long galled by distant fire. The regiment may be assured that they will be allowed to close with the enemy whenever it can be done to advantage.

"When that moment comes, the Lieutenant-Colonel reminds the regiment of the instructions he has been inculcating on them at drill, to make their charge with the utmost steadiness and precision, so that all parts of the line, by coming in contact with the enemy at the same instant, may support one another. The leading company will take care not to hurry too much, but to carry on the line, so that each individual may preserve the entire command of his person, that he may be able freely to use his bayonet, not only to thrust, but to parry. If the charge is made with too great rapidity, the line will be broken-one part of the regiment will be cut to pieces before another comes up, and the whole will rush on certain destruction; whereas, if the charge is made steadily and correctly, the superior strength and impetus of this regiment must bear down whatever is in its way.

"If the force of the enemy in immediate contact with this regiment be broken, the pursuit is by no means to be made without orders. It may be necessary to wheel to the right or left to support other parts of the line.

"In firing, the regiment will see the folly and danger of firing at random. If their fire is ineffectual, they may as well stand to be shot at with ordered arms. Every individual must take a steady aim, so as to be certain that his shot will take place in some part of the platoon opposite to him. If the smoke prevents the regiment from seeing the enemy's line distinctly, they will alway

Volunteer Instructions to oppose Enemy landing. 359

see the flash from the muzzles of their muskets, by which the regiment can direct its own fire. In short, let the object rather be to keep up a well-directed than a very quick fire-always remembering that as little time. be lost in loading as possible. It will be the business of the supernumerary rank in the rear to look over the shoulders of the ranks in front, and to correct any error in the aim.

"When prisoners are taken they are to be immediately disarmed and passed to the rear.

"If the regiment (which is not likely) should be charged in front by cavalry, they will on no account fire till ordered, and then only the two front ranks; the front rank taking aim at the horses, the centre rank at the men. If the fire is reserved and then given within a few yards, in the faces of the cavalry, one half will drop, and the horses, in all probability, will carry the other half to the right-about; and, at all events, if the regiment will only receive them steadily, without breaking, though the whole may be overthrown, very few will be killed or hurt. Receiving a charge from cavalry, each rank will charge their bayonets, one over the other. The supernumerary rank to close well up to the rear, so that the cavalry may have no time to make a cut at them.

"Should the regiment be drawn up on a beach to oppose the landing of the enemy, it will probably be ordered to reserve its fire, as the horizontal fire of musketry against men well covered in boats must be very ineffectual. In such cases it is only cannon which can play on the enemy with effect. The battalion, therefore, will reserve its fire till the boats take the ground, when each officer commanding a platoon will pour in his fire on the boat opposite to him, at the instant the enemy expose themselves, by rising up in the boat in order to

leap on shore-a well-directed fire against men so huddled together must be destructive, and the battalion will instantly give them the bayonet, before they have time to form and recover from their confusion. It is hardly possible that any troops can withstand this mode of attack; whereas, if met only by a distant fire from the heights, they will suffer little-will infallibly land and form, and press on with all the spirit and advantage which usually attend the assailants. This was precisely the error which the French committed when opposing the landing of our troops in Egypt.

"Should the boats of the enemy be fitted with guns in their bows, the battalion will endeavour to shelter itself behind sand-hills, walls, or broken ground, while the enemy pull for the shore; and it will not be advanced to the beach till the boats are nearly aground, when, of course, the enemy cannot give above one discharge of their guns, which becoming useless the moment they attempt to land, the regiment will attack them as already directed.

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Adhering to these hints, steadily obeying orders, restraining their impetuosity, and fighting with the cool, determined courage of their native minds, instead of imitating the intoxicated and blind fury of their enemy, and above all calling on the God of Battles to aid them in the preservation of those blessings which He has conferred upon them, this regiment may hope to render essential service, and to merit a large share of that glory which shall be acquired by all the forces of their country in repelling the threatened invasion.

"By order of the Commanding Officer,

"BAIN WHYT,

"Captain and Adjutant 1st Regiment R.E.V."

CHAPTER X.

Lord Bacon's opinion of English yeomen-Simplicity of Roman generals' lives-Fortescue's description of English bowmen, and their contrast with miserable French peasantry as handed down by Edward Waterhouse-Small holdings of land not desirable-Present young men of our large cities admirable Volunteer troops-Lord Bacon's views as to military strength -Present young men of our cities more than equal to the yeomen of old-The feudal system under the Norman dynasty, its military provisions, &c.-Governing power of William of Normandy-Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and other bold Anglo-Norman Barons-The country's defence power in those days-The Volunteers and Royal troops in the time of Charles -Cromwell a regenerator of Volunteers-The battle of Naseby -The Parliamentary Army an instruction to VolunteersMilitary despotism-William the Conqueror's governance of England Military tyranny and confiscation-The people kept under military subjection-John Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, the author of Magna Charta, a noble Volunteer-The country's deliverance-An Englishman's home his castle-English and French families contrasted as to births of childrenThe Spanish Armada proposed invasion-The Roman Catholic nobles Elizabeth's most loyal and devoted Volunteers-Arundel Castle the time-honoured home of noble Volunteers-English sailors of our time brave and enterprising as of old.

LORD BACON ascribes our former victories over France to the fact that "England, though far less in territory and population, had been nevertheless an overmatch for France consequent on the great abundance in England of substantial yeomen and small freeholders," and he adds, "to the profound and admirable device of King Henry the Seventh, in making farms and houses of husbandry of a standard; that is, maintained with such

a proportion of land unto them as may breed a subject to live in convenient plenty and no servile condition; and to keep the plough in the hands of the owners, and not mere hirelings." There is a statute of good Queen Bess -Act 31st Eliz., cap. 7—which enacts that no cottage should be built with less than four acres of land attached to it. She of the Spanish Armada overthrow, got this notion of independent yeomen breeding from the laws of the stronger ancient nations, who generally ruled that every citizen should be a landholder, and the State the chief landlord; the practice at Rome was that the territory of the State, so far as it was not left unenclosed, should be divided in equal portions among the citizens. We learn from Livy that, after the expulsion of the kings, seven acres were granted to each citizen, which continued for a long time, and indeed as long as the republic retained its pristine health and strength, to be the usual portion assigned. The same authority tells us that even the great generals Cincinnatus, Dentatus, Fabricius, and Regulus had no more. Indeed, according to Columella, Cincinnatus had but four acres, and we know that he ploughed and tilled these with his own hands. When not engaged in the field of war, these men of valour and renown, whose names will live throughout all ages, set to work growing wheat and cabbages wherewith to feed man and kine. Pall Mall clubs were unknown to them, and would have been as distasteful as unneeded.

These facts maintained their national persistence in England, even down to the last three centuries. Fortescue, one of the soundest and greatest lawyers of that age of great minds, and who was Chief Justice and Chancellor to Henry VI., tells us that in 1450 there