ENGLISH YEOMEN. 211 



You see peats are placed above as well as 

 below, 



AMICUS. I see; and can readily understand 

 that it is applicable to many uses. How useful 

 it might be to a colonist ! 



PISCATOR. And what an excellent colonist 

 would this our friend the statesman make, and 

 the like of him, accustomed as he is to hardy 

 life and able to turn his hand to many things ; 

 leading with his wife, as nearly as it is possible 

 in a civilised country, a life akin to that of the 

 colonist. 



AMICUS. And what an excellent soldier too he 

 would make for the same reasons, so self- 

 relying and self-dependent, as well as strong 

 and active. 



PISCATOR. In the olden time, the yeomanry 

 of the country formed the greater part of the 

 body of our armies ; whilst now it is chiefly 

 composed of men brought up in our manufac- 

 tories and almost unacquainted with rural life 

 and its various occupations ; and hence their 

 helplessness in the field and that inferiority in 

 providing for and taking care of themselves as 

 compared with foreign troops, especially the 

 French. A general now-a-day could not 

 p 2 



