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WSSV ESI S BER RN BDRIS
. ith the Frefbeft Advices
- From the Generar Evening Post, July 10. 1756.
v 7o tke PrAnTER, &e.
SIR, : Fuly 3.
By inserting the following little fealomable Eflay, you may,
perhaps, do some Serwice to your Country, and «will cer
tainly oblige a conflant Reader.
Of Covrace and CowAaRDICE.
g OURAGE seems to me to confitt in a Man’s
C keeping his Understanding clear and undis
turbed, when Dangers approach, and in dar-
A ing to face and oppole them, when he is {en
fi . fible that it is his Duty to do so.
- Cowardice, on the contrary, consists in fufferiog the Un
derstanding to be disturbed or disabled when Dangers ap
" proach, and in not daring to face and oppose them when
we are sensible it is our Daty to do so. ey
- AsCeurage conduces to the Preservation of Mens Lived
" and Properties from the Rapzcioufnefs and Cruelty of their
Neighbours, it is consequently the neceflary support of all
_States, and a Quality which ought te be highly honoured
and rewarded. :
_+ Ad Cowardice, on the contrary, neccflarily occasions the
' Dcftru€tion of a State, it cannot be too much difefeemed
- and discouraged, nor too severely punithed.
I wll corfider fist the Rewards of Bravery,and then the
Punishment of Cowardice. By Honors and Rewards Brave
__ry is cherished and propagated. It is almost inconceiva
ble what a rnoble Ardour and Emulation were raised thro’-
, out all Greece by the Diflintiions and Honours paid to
those who fignahized themfielves in the service of their
Country. These inspired them with a Resolution fuffi
cient not only to withitand, but even to overturn the migh
"ty Power of Persia Themiflocles told his Friends, that
Miltiades’s Trophies would not let him sleep. Inall Pro
~ bability this single Curcumitance of a Trophy’s being
_erefled by the Athenians in Honour of Miltiades was the
Qgcafion of Themiltocle’s gaining the Battle of Salamis,
{ ;ieh'{aved all Greece from Deftro@ion. Had the Perfi.
. af%in the fame Marner encouraged military Merit amongst
them, they had never been {o fhamefully defeated. The
Romans, by their Trivmphs, mural and civick Crowns,
&c. made themselves Malters of the World. Our Neigh
< bours the Dutch very rightly think that T'rade is the sup
port of their Nation ; bat not considering that that Trade
must be supported by Arms, and therefore, not paying a
~ proper Regard o the brave {oldier, have brouoght into the
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utmost Hazard, and will inevitably lose that Property and
those Pofleflions they are so fond of. The two or three
last French Kings,by a contrary Condu@, have infufed such a
spirit into their People, that, forgetting they are i*lig,y
{laves, and dazzled by that Pbaniom the Glory @gtheir
Monarch, they delight in War, and are continually extend
ing the Bounds of his Dominions. Is it not absolutely ne
ceflary then for the King of Great Britain, when attacked
by such an Enemy, and when almost all the Powers in Eua
rope are confederating against him, to ufle all poflible Me
thods to raise the Courage of his subjects, that they may
be able to preserve those Liberties and Riches which the
Bravery and Industry of their Anceflors have procured
them ! The proper Distribution of Honcurs and Prefer
ments would most contribute to this End. The Orders of
Knighthood should be fiiled ,‘.’g’LWi‘h Persons who have
diftinguillied themselves in'the Service 'ivvfif‘fi‘ffiéh‘"\m‘fwfi'
really be an Honour to the Wearer. No one should be
preferred to the Command of a Ship or Regiment merély
because he is the Relation of 2 Lord or Member of Parlia
ment, but because he has entided himfelf to it by his Re
solution and Condu& in Battle. Ido not pretend to have
advanced in this Point a new Method of regulating Prefer
ments ; I acknowledge that this Advice has been given and
repeated a thousand Times, and I with the Effe& of it had
been such as that there was no Occasion for my mentioning
it row ; but I cannot help urgirg it, as [ am convinced it
is the only Thing that can poflibly prevent cur Deftruétion
in the desperate War we are now engaged in. It-was per
haps by his steady Adherence to this alone that O.iver
Cromwell rendered his Fleet and Army absolutely invin
cible.
There is one Thing more in which I have often thought
that our Praflice is very impolitick. It has been a Custom
Jong eftablithed, both in the Army and Navy that the Of
ficers should rife to the highest Posts according to their se
niority, and consequently they look upon it as an Affront
when a Junior is advanced above then ; so that though the
Jun'or is infinitely superior in Meprit to the Seniors, and has
all the Abilities of a Marlborough or a Blake, the Govern
ment cannot exalt him to a higher flation withoiit advan
cing his Seniors in Proportion at the fame Time, to the
very great Detriment, or at least Expence of the Publick,
I grant that this is a very good Rule'to prevent Disputes
and Contentions, where Merits are equal, or in Matters of
less Consequence ; but in this Case, where perhaps the
. very
FAXEDBIIILLBHOHIHSD
Foreign and Dqu/fibé.
NUMBQ 9‘ :