New-York daily tribune., 1858-09-14
has been ,dop,ed to which all gallant soldiers who

enough TO sleep under Canvas TOR couple o'
nights are invited. During the day these gallant
warriors march and eoonlermarch, eat their RI
ions, and generally have the inexpressible felicity
Of being reviewed by the Governor of the Com
n0nwealih. who now, IN addition To the obi sor-
rows, must invest terrible part OF ms saiar! IN
gold lace and feathers must isk his sacred person
upon high horse, and must profess to understand
snd critiesy to seen the eyoluti0Gs. These
gatherings are called encampments, and do not
essentially differ from the antique muster, except
in the fact that the old training was accomplished
in one day, while this occupies generally two days
and one night. The dangers which thess
brave defenders Of their own, their ma
tive land encounter are, however, multi
piled There is the risk of contracting fatal qunsy
while sleeping upon the damp ground, far away
from the domestic feather-bed aud the beloved CO.
tenant thereof There is the darker danger OF inn
bibne bad liquor. There is the minor exposure
10 the fascinations of the small joker under the
thimble But there il, over and above all, the
fearful chance of Court-Nartsl. In a high state
Of militia refinement, person, ignorant OF the ex
oct position of eyes right, may squnt himself INTO
trial and dsmnation (of which latter luxury he has
usually foretsste extemporized upon the tented
feld) before (as Bryant says "he is aware For,
next to beholding his merry men accurately be-
frogged and ornamented, the Massachusetts militia
officer reoices in the detection of delinquent-of
some hoary scoundrel minus most important aud
indispensable button--Of some hardened sinner short
of cartridges-of some gross maeiactOr whose fire.
lock is q little rusty or wholly deficient as to trs
ger.
In days gone by, before the cmelioration of the
criminal code these delinquencies were rewarded
with instant death upon the field; but now, as
We have said above, the offender is subjected
to the slow roasting OF COurt-Martial, which,
as il can do nothing with the prisoner, after
finding him guilty, but kick him out of service
which he is rejoiced to leave always consoles ITSELF
while il has him in possession, by the harassing
elongstion of its Investigations, and by making nn
awful show of Rhadamsnhne nhexlbillty. The
surest WAY would undoubtedly be for the Colonel
commanding to shoot to-day and call for the Court
tomorrow, in which case he might be hung for
murder but would not less be martyr 10 his
chiyarous notions of military discipline. The main
trouble of this course of proceeding would be,
that an officer 50 bold and prompt would instantly
be lynched by his own gallant private followers
who have in more than instance threatened
death to their leader upon much slighter provoca-
tion.
For reverence for supcrors is not, we are
sorry to say, a militia characteristic. We have
even known oaly foot soldier, unawed by all the
pomp and circumstanceOf of glorious war, while drums
were beating and ffes were sqieakiDg and banners
were Haunting, actually 70 dun his revered Major
for the price of pair of boots, being nstigated to
that horrid crime partly by new rum and partly by
sense Of pecunary injuries. Summary proceed
ings by what is called a drum-head Court Martial,
would not therefore be always safe, nasmuch as the
prisoner might smash the head OF the drum, and
afterward smash the head of the Judge Advocate.
1t is safer TO put off the investigation until the regi
ment has been dismissed, and under home inhu-
ences has subsided intoa less rlotOus and bacchana
lisn frame Of mind. No Massachusetts, MsjOr-Gen-
ersl however fond he might be of the sport, would
relish being eaten Acteon-ike, by his own hounds,
however heartily his hounds might relish him. II
is better, in managing his democratic tail, to be
very blind to its faults and very kind TO It's virtues
and not to expect, simply because he will expect it
in vain, that submission and obedience which is the
regular thing in the regular army. The sOdiersare
the people, and the people will think twice be-
fore they egislate ball and chain upon their august
sbns or doom Themselves, for the sake OF military
discipline To many stripes, to powder and shot, or
10 the ignominious hemp of the Provost t-Msrshal.
Now, il is perfectly safe To do as company has
Just done neal Boston-the said company being NOR
tally wounded in its feelings by the selection Of par
tcular muster field. and finding no relief except in
carrying lis frelochs in the very presence OF its
epauletted chief in position for which no pre-.
cedent can be found in Scotts Tactics. Something
dreadful is 10 BE- done TO this rebellious corps. Ii
is, we believe, to be disbanded. What thenl 1t
will bear its sorrows stoically, for it can console
itself by organizing as sort OF 'reeand-easy bat
TALON, and as such can parade under the windows
Of lis old martinez commander, with large supply
of brass band and private banners, with arms in
those positions which convenience or Indignation
may dictate, and with hows heavy enough to make
night hideous. What will the rigid disciplinarian
do thenl
Notwithstanding the defections and abbreviated
comings of the Ma.sachusett. Militia, TO which it
has been our excruciaIingy painful duty to alude,
We are happy TO announce that there ls a surplus
of militia learning and experience even there. 50
when the sturdy sons of Vermont determined upon
grand training at Brandon, they sent for sundry
officers of Massachusetts, begging these accom-
plished warriors to make short sporadic ezcur-
sion 10 the Green Mountains, for the purpose OF
giving these new-Aedged braves little genuine