238 SOME OLD BOOKS 



simple. There was one word of command which ought 

 never to have been suffered to fall into disuse 'Take 

 heed ! ' It was more effective than its modern equi- 

 valent ' Attention ! ' which cannot be rendered very 

 impressive and usually resolves itself into the sternu- 

 tatory ' 'SnN ! ' 



As soon as this Word of Command is 

 given, there must be great Silence 

 observed throughout the whole Bat- 

 talion; the Soldiers doing no Motions 

 either with their Head, Body, Hands, 

 or Feet, but such as shall be ordered, 

 looking steadfastly to the Commanding 

 Officer, who is to Exercise and give the 

 Words of Command, as was formerly 

 said in this Exercise. 

 How those gallant fellows who carried all before 

 them at Blenheim, Ramillies, and Malplaquet must 

 have sprung to the ' Take HEED ! ' thundered at them 

 by a heavily booted and be-wigged colonel, each man 

 in the prescribed attitude ' that he stand with a 

 straight Body, hold up his Head, look lively, his Eyes 

 always upon the Commanding Officer.' In one parti- 

 cular, if I am not mistaken, there has recently been a 

 reversion to the practice of Marlborough's army in 

 regard to the position of the soldier at attention. 

 Instead of standing with closed heels, as was the regu- 

 lation throughout the nineteenth century, this old drill 

 book lays down that ' the Feet must be a little Pace 

 distant from each other.' 



If the field evolutions were few and simple, the 



