90 OUR INFANTRY. 



has little relation to any knowledge they have 

 acquired of regimental duties. Even the scien- 

 tific education given to Artillery and Engineer 

 officers does not enable them to command 

 armies, unless they possess that natural genius 

 for war which education, however good, does 

 not give. 



At present, in consequence of the great 

 success of our armies under the Duke of Wel- 

 lington, it seems to be a pretty general opinion 

 that our military system is good, and may be 

 relied on for ensuring the success of our arms 

 in a future war. But what is the fact ? Why 

 that, until the Duke of Wellington obtained the 

 command of our armies, they have been, from 

 the time of Marlborough, almost uniformly 

 unsuccessful, save in India, where the native 

 armies were, with hardly any exception, very 

 feeble. The immediate cause of the ill success 

 of our armies before the Duke of Wellington 

 appeared, is their having been usually placed 

 under incompetent commanders, as happened 

 in the war for independence in America, and 

 by the placing such men as General Whitelock, 

 Lord Chatham, Sir John Murray, and several 

 others, at the head of our armies in the field. 



