, 1861-07-30
AN UNFoIlTUNATE OkDER.

Amy Order No. As, is the Inauguration
Of an unfortunate piece Of business for
ne fear, Secretary Cameron is alone
responsible. "No volunteer it reads,
swill be hereafter received who docs not
speak the English language" Setting
aside the impolicy Of such al order st
1Lis time when tens Of thousands Of Ger
mars, some Of whom are unacquainted
with our ye1nacular, are rushing to The de-
fensc Of constitutional liberty, aud ex-
pressing by valiant deeds, their wiling
ness to lay down their lives for the iutegg-
rity Of the great Republic, we fail to sec
il it anything demanded by the public
good. Had the inhibition been contiucd
to commissioned officers commanding mix
I'd bodies Of men, from whom reports, in
writing, in our language, are necessity Of
the service, we could have seen why it was
proclaimed; but being aimed at ra:k and
file, it is Of questionable utility in q lnili-
1ary sense, and blow particularly at the
Germans, which they will not fal to resent
Unlike many Of our German friends, we
do not see in it any traces Of Nativeism,
only foolish effort for uniformity Of
speech, like the pride Of appearance which
insists upon uniformity Of dress, or cQuali-
II In weight and height. Had it been pro-
claimed ard enforced during the war Of
The Revolution, our independence never
would have been conquered. Wash
ington did not vince under the inniction
Of whole regiments Of French, to most
Of whom English was as unmesning
as Choctaw; and If the result Of this cx-
pertinent docs. not prove that lie was al
most as wise as the present Secretary Of
War, or even the Lieutenant General, we
lave been disappointed in the wisdom Of
the pair. Judged by other historical prcc-
<dcnts, the order is absurd. No great
European or Asiatic army has been
gathered, since the world stood, that
Lad not in it, q Babel Of tongues;
and today the French armies in Algeria,
the English in 1ndia, the Austrian, Russian
and Italian armies at home are respective
j. polyg1ot in their formation, containing
each dozen or more languages, each spo-
Ken by men who can speak no other. Our
rc'ghbor, The Staats zeitung, in discussing
tie matter with much feeling, says that the
greatest military achievement Of all times,
1lannibal's passage Of the Alps, was exc
cuted with an army in which SpaHiards,
Curthagenians, and Gauls, VINO did not
Understand each other, co-operated. Gus
tayus Ado1phus marched triumphantly
through Germany with an army, in which
the command was given in German and
Swedish. Napoleon made his conqucsts
in Germany with an army, in which the
command was French, German and Ital-
ian. The British -Dutch-B Brunswick army
Of Wellington, at Waterloo, had COM
1nand in three languages, in English, Dutch
and German. In the army of fSwitzerland,
the best popular army of our time, the COM
mand is given in German, French and Ital-
ian. But these examples will suffice. The
whole philosophy ofthc matter is summed
up in the fact that no knowledge Of our 1au-
guage is required to fire II gun aud kill q
rebel, md in tie other fact that if q Ger
mrn, Frenchman or Italian does not under
stand the few English words Of command,
when first enlisted, he can 1enrn them in
month. We hope that h1r. Cameron
will see the propricty Of resembling lis
order No. 45, and gi7c every 11an, who
will, q chance to fight, and, if necessary,
die for The country and institutions Of lis
e1,oicn