The sun., 1896-10-04
THE DEcADExcE OF ENGLAND.
Dec,,r. of MuItary Spirit and Decrease In
N,t.r,nI for Eneetive Arutes.

o,e ~ tho occnsons when he let himself 20
gave Il as his opinion that the Engllsh were
very fine teope. but too Fat. The diaShosl'
was true and the accuracy Of II Is amply uis
p,oved at the present moment. The days "l
tho lustv manhood and generous sympathiei
Of the English pcople have long since passed
saav. and we have instead nation OF music
hail brnrgarts, who vociferously cheer the nc
tors In a piratcal raid on friendly ana peace
ful State, and stink away from the fullimeht
NJ manifest obligations toward prosecuted
rnce who wcrc foolish enough TO b"lieNe- that
England g bond was their ark of safety
Tho selrshness generated of the love OF ease
.nd the possession Of wealth has eaten away
nil sense of chivalry and dried up every
sprint of generous self. sacrifice that might
have prompted. the English people TO go to the
succor OF the suffering Armenians. Anything
more contemptible than the way in which a
certain norton of the English press has been
incitinp other countries and Governments TO
20 forward and perform England's duty, while
ENGLAND wns TO stand out and reap the benc-
at of their intervention, II would be dincult 10
conceive. Not less contemptihle were the Sug'
pestions Of these same papers that but Tor the
. intervention of the American Government In
The Venezuelan matter, England would have
acted vigorously at Constantinople In the
early part of the year. Nothing was further
from the truth, and the men who wrote 1t
knew they were penning what was false. IL
was n complete case OF suggcstio tdist and sup
presto reri. such as has become habitual TO
the class OF journals specially comprehended
in the scope of those referred to. Lord Sails
bury is an admirable type of modern Eng
land. He Is product OF tho period Of Eng
:And's later decadence. neral and material.
.,,an al ,vitI ha n
renown, a certain portion Of the English peo-
rlc continue to regard and talk of their coun-
try as equal to the rest of tine world in every
thing and superior to it in most. They point
to its great wealth. and boast about their abili-
ty to purchase defenders for the hour of need, /,
forgetful of every lesson Of history that the
country was already lost the bulk of whose
citizens had nothing to defend, and.that had
to rely on mercen nares for safety.
There is no question that whatever the Eng
lish may have been in the feudnl days,
they have ceased to tie fighting people. The
records of the nationalities' of :he troops COM
posing the armies that fought under We'll
lington in Spain in the early years Of the GEN.
tnry disclose the fact that 30 per cent. OF the
soldiery whose valor shed lustre on the British
flag were Irish and Scotch peasants. Whole
districts OF Scotland now tenanted only by
ueer, ana Wnere tne smoke from u Htastn 10
unknown. were In those days still covered
with shielings from which thousands of stur-
dy peasant lads were drafted to fight In the
interest OF the very classes who have since
turned their fields and homes into wilder
ness for sport. The hillsides of the west and
north of Ireland gave thousands of impetunus
Celts, whose deeds made famous the names
ana numbers OF more than one of the most rs.
nowned regiments of the British army. Under
the double bane OF English landlord law and
foreign competition those hllsdes are de-
populated. and of the once proud regiments
only the shadowy name survives. The Brit
ish army statistics for sos gave 12 per cent.
Irish, per cent Scotch, the rest English.
The golden period OF the English army was
against Napoleon ani his Generals and Eng
land and her army have been living ever since
wars in, India during the 4os, in the Pun
jaub. the fanatical valnr OF the Khalsns
pushed the better armed and handled Eng
was drawn fight, and more than one English
regiment earned reputation for discretion
omS 5 en hfr ter he
army sent out to the Crmea in 1854 sustained
the Tsputs3n t ion, ana sSnbIcd Tie traditional
levies that were made TO All the gaps caused by
battle and disease. the latter mostly due IN
and e far IN bsbnd ihG the od
standard. notwithstanding the appeals to
their patriotism ard large bounties. the popu.
OF the day. with benjamin Disraeli as Chan
rellor OF the Excheaner. was reduced TO the
humiatIon Mi ~ Of coming before Parliament with
eiGners to send against the Russians.
The history of the German. Swiss. and I.al-
been written. for the good reason that they did
nothing worth recording. From the time of
tn5 their org organization to the day Of their. dis:
bandment they were source of continual
trouble Whether 1t was the Swiss at Shorn.
cline, the italians at Malta or the Germans
AZ Scutari on the Bosporus. the nearest point
to the enemy any Of them ever reached there
were intermittent scenes Of insuhordination
ycrcing frequently on downright mutIny; and
~ Malta anu Scutart on more than one occa-
sion, line Of bnttle ships were moored close in
to their camps, with guns shotted and run out
Composed for the most part of the riffraff Of
Europe. more likely to run from the enemy
ti'an 10 tare IT. and having contributed neither
morally nor materially to England's prestige.
these leGions, whose formation had been adTo.
Gated with I'll ha. forid pomposity OF language
In which Disraeli was wont 10 indulge. Gisap
pearGd from history The Emperor Napoienn
~, having attained his immediate object in
1%miIEE ~ N & the war against Russia made peace
elhGle handed To carry the war into the Cau-
casus, as was meditnteh. acaulesccd. and peace
sian territory, the last English soldier heing htt1
brought off by Russian patrol that had found
nun drunk in one OF the numerous traktirs, or
drink shops. that scrang up in every direction
immediatcly after the declaration Of peace
~ was fortunate for England that the troons
in India at the outbreak Of tho mutinv in IsE-
were or better metal than those that fniIed ~
follow the lead OF their officers at the final ~
lack on the Rcdan before SebastopOl in is%s
Ihey were the last of the old army OF trainoi |
ana disciplined men who mede up bv tbeir |
Nalor Tor the defects of their leaders Snhsa
9ucnt wars have only demonstrated the steaSy |
decline in TIE quality of the material Of wbiobS
~ me English army Is com posed. The tragedy
OF isanduia In Huuland and on the Helmnpd
IN AfShanistan. where two entire rrpment. |
we're slaushtered Ike sheep: the affairs of rbe |
ddngogo and Majnba with the Beers oT " ,he ne
Iransvaal. and the unsteadness of more tbnn |
one OF the regiments in the Evyptfan cnmnoinn
IN 1882. prove that the English army has ssem
its best IaYs. The causes lie deep in the Fn,.
lish social system. and in tho displncemen; ".
ue population, the emptying of the cnnntrD "'
hhd thc ming OF The cities and towns In ~ ~
land. the evictions in Ireland, and The cicas
ancsa ca OF NE Highlands Of Scotland. o''"'-
Ihe undue exercise of the rights Of tbo Iord !
Inru ana inc development OF machinery in aS
tIcuItnTe and manufacturing nave confrihutacSI aS
10 inc deterioration of the materiaI ''oa 80
which the wealthy classes nf = r"t n,i,a on
Syg tber Wso, NO asne4h for tle protection ' Of
now form tho bulk Of the recruit, Tor the Rr,,
lsr M army have neither the moral nor the pht
cal qualities that go to make n hardy un,iSS, ~
anu trustworthy soldier. Newspnnerr ,rr;,nt,
VI y ccrTalh type may cxtOl the FngIish on, '.utn
ga a. my , !lhe. hnt the men who would ha =.