The Express.
London, England, 1865-02-22 00:00:00

THE

"is more attractive than a' tea 44.‘ ten.
Another suggestion he makes is Lager ie its mope,
but it is recommended by equal simplicity, and,
moreover, it is one whisk shows a deep and inti-
mate acquaintance with the character and consti-
tution of the British armr—an army not composed
of conscripts, or the creation of an arbitrary
power miscalled " the State," but part and parcel
of a free people—boos of its bone, and blood of
its blood. We regard Major O'Rzair's proposal
of a more localised system of enlistment, that is,
identifying regiments with local aseosistions—re-
cruiting, say, one regiment in Lincolnshire, another
in Somersetskire, another in Lanarkshire-4o be
thoroughly oonaonant with the spirit, and, if we
may so say, the genius of the British army.
Ours is happily not a country in which, as in
some continental countries, the State is something
above and something separate from the nation
which it rules by an armed conscription, and we
have no suspicion that • system of local association
under which three-fourths of the British' army
are already enlisted, will ever be used for the
unrighteous purpose of dividing and oppressing an
united people. Mr. KINOLAKI, if be will portion
us for mentioning him twice ham, perhaps, in his
episodical manner, a little overdone the force of
county names and associations in his stirring
chronicle of particular exploits. But surely such
names as the Welch Fusileers, the Connaught

Rangers, and the Scots Greys, must be worth pre-
serving, and the principle of endowing regiments
with this sort of personality must be
worth extending to the whole of such an
army as ours. The Mums Suswrazy for
Was was very properly shocked at the indigo-
cretions of a gallant Colonel, who declared that
one of the greatest obstacles to recruits was "the
" number of young men with shattered constitu-
" tions who were to be found in every part of the
" country—the fruit of the careless manner in
"which youths were enlisted during the Crimean
" war," and who considers that the soldier's pay is
too small. The Marquis of }Use-moron is justified
in protesting that a shilling • day does not ade-
quately represent all the advantages a soldier
receives at present in the shape of good clothes, food,
and education ; for much has undoubtedly been
dons of late, and much is still doing, to make the
soldier's life more decent and comfortable. But is i$
not somewhat inconsistent on the part of the
UND/LA SECIUMARY, who describes with indignant
satisfaction all the advantages which our soldiers
now enjoy, to confess his belief that the "sweepings"
of the large towns are sufficiently good " matei ial"
for the Army f We fear the UNDER SZCZNTARY
is something too much of aphilooopher for the Horse
Guards. We do not quarrel with his philosophy ;
but does he clearly perceive the conclusion to
which his logic points f He seems to consider
that the British army, like the British Constitu-
tion, is all the better for being composed of
" impure elements," or, u Liberal Conservatives
would say, "anomalies." On the whole we
think Major O'Rsuar looks quite far enough
as a practical military philosopher when he points
out our old constitutional and local militia force
as the true nursery and reserve for the Army, and
advises that re-enlisted soldiers shall be allowed to
spend the last years of their service in the
county militia from which they came.