The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Volume 10. Samuel Johnson

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 disgrace, which are not easily to be found in a mind contracted by a mean education, and depressed by long habits of subjection.

      It is not, indeed, sir, universally and unvariably certain, that a man, raised from meanness and poverty, will be insolent and oppressive; nor do I doubt but there are many now languishing in obscurity, whose abilities might add new lustre to the highest honours, and whose integrity would very faithfully discharge the most important trust, and in their favour, wherever they can be discovered, some exceptions ought to be made; but as general rules are generally to be followed, as well in military regulations as other transactions, it will be found, upon the exactest inquiry, by no means improper to advance gentlemen to posts of command rather than private sentinels, however skilful or courageous.

      It is to be considered, sir, that the present state of the continent, has for many years made it necessary to support an army, even when we are not engaged in an actual war; that this army, though of late it has, for the ease of the people, been sometimes encamped during the summer, is, for the greatest part, quartered in towns, and mingled with the rest of the community, but governed, at the same time, by the officers, and subject to the martial law. It has often been observed by those who have argued against standing forces, that this difference of government makes different societies, which do not combine in the same interest, nor much favour one another; and it is, indeed, certain, that feuds are sometimes produced, that when any private quarrel happens, either by drunkenness or accident, or claims really disputable, between a soldier and any other, person, each applies for support and assistance to those in the same condition with himself, the cause becomes general, and the soldiers and townsmen are not easily restrained from blows and bloodshed.

      It is true, likewise, that the rhetorick of the patriots has been so efficacious, that their arguments have been so clamorously echoed, and their weekly productions so diligently dispersed, that a great part of the nation, as men always willingly admit what will produce immediate ease or advantage, believes the army to be an useless burden imposed upon the people for the support of the ministry; that the landlord, therefore, looks upon the soldier as an intruder forced into his house, and rioting in sloth at his expense; and the farmer and manufacturer have learned to call the army the vermin of the land, the caterpillars of the nation, the devourers of other men's industry, the enemies of liberty, and the slaves of the court.

      It is not to be supposed, sir, that the soldiers entertain the same ideas of their profession, or that they do not conceive themselves injured by such representations: they undoubtedly consider themselves as the bulwark of their country, as men selected for the defence of the rest of the community, as those who have engaged, at the hazard of their lives, to repel invasion, and repress rebellion, and who contribute more than their part to the general felicity, by securing property, and preventing danger.

      It is not to be doubted, sir, but sentiments so widely different, must produce an equal contrariety of claims, and diversity of conduct: the trader imagines, that the man who subsists upon the taxes which are raised only from his labour, ought to consider himself as his inferiour, at least, if not as his hireling and his servant; the soldier wonders how he can ever conceive himself sufficiently grateful to him that has devoted his life to his defence, and to whom he must fly for protection whenever danger shall approach him, and concludes, that he has an incontestable right to the better part of that, of which the preservation of the whole depends upon him.

      Thus does self-love magnify every man in his own eyes, and so differently will men determine when each is to judge in his own cause. Which of these competitors thinks most justly of his own station and character, or whether both are not mistaken in their opinion, I think it by no means necessary to decide. This, at least, is evident, that to preserve peace and harmony between two bodies of men obliged to live together with sentiments so opposite, there is required an uncommon degree of prudence, moderation, and knowledge of mankind, which is chiefly to be exerted on the part of the soldiers, because they are subject to more rigorous command, and are more easily governed by the authority of their superiours.

      Let us suppose any dispute of this kind, sir, to happen where the soldiers were commanded only by private sentinels, disguised in the dress of officers, but retaining, what it cannot be expected that they should suddenly be able to lay aside, the prejudices which they had imbibed in the ranks, and all the ardour of trifling competition in which their station had once engaged them. What could be expected from their councils and direction? Can it be imagined that they would inquire impartially into the original cause of the dispute, that they would attend equally to the parties, endeavour, by mildness and candour, to soften the malevolence of each, and terminate the dispute by some addressful expedient, or decent accommodation? He, surely, must be very little acquainted with the vulgar notions of bravery and honour, that could form any hopes of such conduct.

      The plain soldier, sir, has not accustomed himself to regulate his motions by reason, nor has learned any more of honour, than that it consists in adhering invariably to his pretensions, even though he should discover that they are false; and in resenting affronts with the utmost rigour, even when they were provoked by himself, he is taught, that it is his business to conquer in whatever cause, and that to desist from any of his attempts, or retract any of his assertions, is unworthy of a man of honour.

      Warm with such notions as these, sir, would such officers, as have been recommended by the honourable gentleman, apply themselves to the termination of differences? Without any knowledge of the laws of society, without any settled ideas of the different rights of different persons, they would have nothing in view but the honour of their profession, nor endeavour to support it by any other method than that of violence. If a soldier was affronted by a farmer, they would probably lay his territories waste, and ravage his plantations like an enemy's country; if another disagreed with his landlord, they would advise him to make good his quarters, to invade the magazines of provision without restraint, to force the barricadoes of the cellar, and to forage in the stables without controul.

      But gentlemen, sir, are proper judges of debates between the army and the rest of the community, because they are equally related to both parties, as men who possess or expect estates, or who are allied to those whose influence arises from their property. As men bred in affluence and freedom, and acquainted with the blessings of our constitution, СКАЧАТЬ