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so that I felt confident, with the disciplined few I had to depend on, I could keep them from their intention without resorting to violence, and made my dispositions accordingly, assuring the Orangemen that the first appearance of even a few forming a procession should be the signal to the police to arrest them every one. None of them chose to be the first to be taken, and so all remained quiet till about 9 o'clock.

At this time an express came into the town, where I remained on my horse with one mounted man at my back, to say the opposite party were assembling to the sound of horns about a mile and a half from the town.

Leaving the town in charge of a clever sergeant, I galloped alone to the place and saw a considerable assemblage on a hill-side, and small parties from all sides advancing to join them, while signals by blowing horns were heard among the hills.

On returning to the town and telling what was going on, and appealing to the Orangemen to leave me at liberty to go and disperse this gathering, they replied that they knew it was arranged, and only waited for the police to leave the town to disperse them, in order to hoist their flags and have their procession.

But they were disappointed when they were told that the police were brought, in the first instance, to prevent the Orangemen from breaking the law and the peace, and that this was to be their first, even if their only duty.

On going a second time to the other assembly, I found them now drawn up in ranks, and coming near enough I could count about three hundred with firearms, and several hundreds with such weapons as they could extemporize with poles and scythes and such like.

Seeing but one chance to prevent a collision, I rode nearer; the road was lined with old men and women, chiefly on their knees crying and praying. Near the place where the men were drawn up was a hedge with a gap built up with loose stones. An old man knelt beside it, and as my horse leaped the low wall, he cried out :

"God Almighty bless your soul, for it's all that'll be of you in about three minutes."

However, knowing the character of the people, I was of a different opinion, and felt confident, although it was certain they were led by strangers.

On coming close to them a man with a double-barrelled gun stepped out, and pointing it at me, asked who I was, and what I wanted; but he got his answer from an unexpected quarter, being seized by one of his own men and brought to the ground, while a voice accompanied the act, "Don't you touch that man."

Another stranger then came forward -a tall, red-headed, good-looking fellow -also armed with a double gun. He did not point it at me, nor did he speak uncivilly, but said if I had anything to say, I was to say it to him.

Without directly replying, I took him by surprise, and quickly read the Riot Act.

And then addressing the crowd, I said, "Neighbours, after what I have said, any of you caught assembled together will be put in prison and severely punished. You know me, and that I should be sorry for that; so take advice from one you know, rather than from strangers. Go home as quickly as you can, and if you do so at once I will not have you pursued or punished."

Some cried out, "Yes, yes, we will go home!"

The stranger leaders ran among them; but the evident feeling was to go home, and their efforts were in vain.

One man shouted, "A cheer for Mr. Hamilton," which was responded to, and the field was mine.

I only added, "Neighbours, I have trusted myself unarmed among your pikes and guns because I know you. I now trust you to do as an old friend counsels you do not delay, but go home at once."

I left them dispersing.

It was now advancing in the afternoon. As I rode towards the town I met a score of men running towards me, and when they came near I recognized the members of the Orange lodge who had kept away according to their promise.

Their leader cried out, "Here we are, sir, every man of us. God be praised you're safe."

"Why," said I, "what is this? I thought I could depend upon you when all else failed."

We

"And so you might; a'n't we here to rescue you if you were still in the hands of a thousand murdering rebels. came the moment we got your message that you were in danger and wanted us, and we will do your bidding if it is to fight the whole lot of them."

They had been deceived by a false message, as if from me, and showed themselves as brave and true in responding to it as they had been in refusing to join their brethren in breaking the law and their promise.

Their blood was up, and it was not the easiest task that day to send them home quietly.

On arriving in the town I found that at length the magistrates who had gone to B had heard how matters stood, and they arrived with a strong force of police and some soldiers on cars.

We went out in force to the place where the gathering had been, and saw the people going off in groups to the different parts of the country.

Returning to the town, there was a meeting of magistrates. I was now quite exhausted, having been on horsefrom 4 A.M. till 7 P.M., in double anxiety for my sick at home and my neighbours' dangers. A thunder-shower at six had also wetted me to the skin. I found my doings were not considered good. I ought to have made no terms, given no promise to those people.

Between bodily weariness and wet, mental anxiety and vexation, I sunk into a kind of stupor, and felt as if my very life was going, when a cry in the street aroused me.

"The rebels have reassembled at M-"(about three miles off), "and set the houses on fire."

"There," cried some one who had found fault with my day's work, "there, you see the sort of fellows that have been trusted."

were several mounted police there. My horse was as tired as myself, and had not the excitement which now gave me life. A policeman's horse served me, and, with six or eight at my heels, I galloped to M, but came back at a more moderate pace, having found all quiet and at rest there. It was only a trick of some of those whose plans for the day I had marred.

This ride, perhaps, saved my life by the stirring-up it gave to my blood, which seemed to have begun to stagnate after the over-anxiety and excessive exertions of the day.

He

When I returned to the town I found that my red-haired acquaintance of the double gun, relying on my word, had come into the place to see some friends; he had been recognized by some of the police, who told the magistrates that he was one of the leaders of that party, and he was brought before them. pleaded my assurance of safety, which the others were not very willing to admit as a safeguard. I declared that it would be most unfair to take him while the armed leaders of the other party were left at large, who had set me at defiance, and persisted in breaking the law till a force came that could prevent them.

However, it was said that he had probably come as a spy, and had his men outside the town to act when unsuspected; so I assented to his being kept in custody till morning, while the police should make strict search to discover if any of his people were in the neighbourhood.

None were found. Nevertheless, when I came into the town next morning I found his committal made out, and heavy bail required to prevent his imprisonment.

I immediately put in the required bail, and sent him off, I admit, with small expectation of seeing that red head again.

The police who had been in the town were interrogated by the Government authorities as to what they had seen, and the result was that a dozen of the

I rushed into the inn yard; there Orangemen were bound over to appear

70

Pleasant Recollections of Fifty Years' Residence in Ireland.

at the next assizes, to answer for their breach of the law.

At the assizes those out on bail were called, and when the red-headed fellow's name was called I saw many an eye turned towards me, expressive of expectation that I should have to pay my forfeit. But no; a loud voice replied, "Here!"

And, thrusting aside the crowd, the red head showed itself; while, looking up at me, he cried out:

"Here I am, your honour; I am not going to act the blackguard when you acted the gentleman to me. Let them do what they like to me, I'll see your bail safe."

So into the dock went my Green man and the dozen Orangemen.

They were all found guilty.

It was my opinion, as well as that of the rest of the magistrates, that the Orangemen had really not thought the law so decidedly against them, and that, when they were aware of the fact, they would show themselves obedient to the law. So I was deputed to represent our view to the judge, and to suggest a nominal punishment and a solemn warning from the judge.

He quite agreed with us; and, in an excellent address, made the prisoners to know their fault, and then fined them a shilling, and discharged them.

They bowed, and thanked the judge and the magistrates.

Red-head then added, wittily enough, aloud, "Well! it's a fine thing to be in good company for once in a body's life!"

To be continued.

71

THE AUTUMN MANEUVRES AND ARMY ORGANIZATION.

AMID the mass of criticism which followed the Autumn Manoeuvres, it was only natural that a good many foolish things should be said, but perhaps the silliest of all has been the apocryphal judgment upon the appearance of our troops supposed to have been passed by the foreign officers present on the occasion. That any of these gentlemen who were asked for their opinion should have given a polite rejoinder to their hosts is likely enough, but the form in which their opinions have been reported is simply ridiculous. What probably happened was, that a perfectly irresponsible newspaper correspondent fell into conversation with one or more of the foreign officers present, whereupon it is reported that the whole of these gentlemen have collectively pronounced our artillery to be incomparable, our cavalry superb, and our infantry very good; and on this the statement is taken up by the leading newspaper as representing an unquestionable fact, and is henceforth dragged in whenever the British army is discussed, and no doubt accepted as an article of faith all over the country wherever that paper is read. From the sort of way in which the phrase has come to be bandied about, it might be supposed that the foreign officers in question had held a meeting to consider the matter, General Blumenthal in the chair, and had passed a resolution to the effect, "That, in the opinion of this meeting, the British artillery is unrivalled, the British cavalry superb, and the British infantry very good." The idea that the officers of any continental nation should consider our artillery to be more than a rival for their own is sufficiently absurd in itself. Whatever a foreigner may think of the British army, we may be sure that his own at any rate stands first in his estimation; but the proverbial vanity of the French, and their tendency to

take the merits of their army on trust, have at least been matched by the complacency with which this imaginary dictum of the foreign critics has been accepted through the length of the land at the bidding of the Times. The absurdity of the thing appears the greater if we consider that the vast majority of the people who have thus been satisfied to ticket off the attributes of our army in this fashion, have absolutely no better foundation for their belief than the remark of an anonymous newspaper correspondent.

Of a piece with this sort of criticism have been some of the lucubrations of the men who, describing their experiences of the manœuvres, protest against the want of reality displayed in them, because the troops exposed themselves to a degree that would have been very dangerous in actual war. That some instances of this sort occurred deserving to be characterized as blunders may be admitted. The cavalry frequently appeared in positions where they either effectually masked the fire of the infantry and guns of their own side, or would have been destroyed by the enemy's artillery; the infantry, too, manœuvred on occasions in a manner which would have been impracticable in actual warfare; and the guns were frequently employed at ranges within infantry fire, where the gunners would certainly not have been able to work them. Mistakes of this kind occurred, and autumn campaigns will be very useful if they serve to teach those who have the handling of troops to apprehend at once, when in the field, the common-sense principles which underlie military movements. But when it is gravely objected in the columns of a leading newspaper, that a general officer was seen standing on the top of an exposed railway enbankment watching the enemy, whereas in fact he ought pro

perly to have crept stealthily up the reverse side, and shown only the top of his nose over the summit, it seems sufficient to reply that there is already want enough of reality about these sham fights, and that if the education of the British officer is not to be completed until he has learned to play the fool in this way, it may be hoped the object will not soon be realized. Further, we would raise a protest against the assumpsion implied in much of what passes for criticism now-a-days, that the main object in fighting is to make use of cover. No doubt needless exposure of troops is to be deprecated; but, from the sort of stuff that has been written on this head, it might be supposed that battles are to be won by creeping from bank to bank like the North American Indians of Fen

imore Cooper's novels. Modern arms carry far, but modern battles are not marked by heavier losses than those fought with muskets and smooth-bore cannon; and the last great war showed that bold attacks over open ground were not a bit less effective than they have ever been before, and, what is very much to the point, that in such cases the assailants have often suffered smaller loss than the antagonists they overthrew. Tactics are, no doubt, very proper things to study, and the scientific education of the army cannot be carried too far, but to the common soldier the interest of the day is centred in his immediate front, and the good old quality of courage is just as useful as ever it was. There seems some danger lest this truth should be forgotten; at any rate we hold it to be quite needless to indoctrinate men with the notion that the first object when under fire is to seek for cover; that lesson will be learnt quite soon enough without any teaching.

This, however, is a digression from the matter in hand, although we must add, as was well remarked the other day in our hearing, that, after all, these manœuvres left out the best side of the British soldier. Unless our foreign critics could see how he fights, they have not seen the best side of him, which view was fortunately here wanting. A

shrewd observer, who was present at the great review at Paris of the British army after Waterloo, and who had himself borne a gallant part in that battle says, in his diary, that the British troops, which were then at the summit of their reputation, were conspicuous for being the most undersized, ill-dressed, and generally mean-looking lot among all the armies assembled there; and the record may be grateful to those who fancy they see evidence of physical degeneracy in our present linesmen and militia.

For

We have here however to do with the results which can be exhibited by a Camp of Manoeuvres, and of these there has been an abundance afforded for imparting useful experience. Not indeed that such proof was necessary in every case. There did not need a camp of exercise to tell any one who was acquainted with the subject that the Control Department would prove unequal to its duties: this was clearly foreseen by every one who understood the nature of its organization, although the general public may have needed the evidence of an actual breakdown, just as experiments serve to impress physical truths on the company at a popular lecture. that the Control Department did break down we take to be quite established. Whether the troops were kept without food and fuel for the exact periods reported in the papers, appears immaterial; that the distribution of rations and forage was irregular and often tardy is an undoubted fact; and under the conditions of the case, where the troops were moving over a contracted area of ground, always within easy reach of Aldershot, and with abundant and generally good roads, any such irregularity is tantamount to failure, more particularly when the magnitude of the staff employed and the time allowed for preparation are considered. The Department will perhaps throw the blame on the hired carriage, which was certainly very defective, and as certainly was no creation of the executive officers, who no doubt would have much preferred their own waggons and horses; but the best use was not

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