DIVIDET, ET NON IMPERAT.

not to attempt too much.

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Divide et impera is not true
The point once

as far as regards a man's life-labours. determined at which we mean to arrive, we must turn neither to the right nor the left, but press forward through doubt, discouragement, and difficulty

Strong in will,

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

CHAPTER II.

EXAMPLES AND ENCOURAGEMENTS FROM THE LIVES OF
NAVAL AND MILITARY HEROES.

The great art of commanding is to take a fair share of the
work. The man who leads an army cannot succeed unless
his whole mind is thrown into his work. The more trouble,
the more labour must be given; the more danger, the more
pluck must be shown, till all is overpowered.

GEN. SIR C. J. NAPIER.

Who is the happy warrior? who is he
Whom every man in arms should wish to be?

It is the generous spirit who, when brought
Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought
Upon the plan that pleased his childish thought:
Whose high endeavours are an inward light,
That make the path before him always bright.
Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth
For ever, and to noble deeds give birth;
Or he must go to dust without his fame,
And have a dead, unprofitable name,
Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;
And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws
His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause:
This is the happy warrior-this is he

Whom every man in arms should wish to be.

PROLOGUE.

WORDSWORTH.

1. THERE is no form, perhaps, in which success in life appears more attractive to the vulgar eye than in the plume that glitters on the marshal's crest, the stars and crosses which decorate the victorious warrior. The 'pride, pomp, and circumstance' of a soldier's life have always had

.

QUALITIES OF A GREAT GENERAL.

111

a peculiar fascination for the multitude, and many an ambitious spirit has grasped the sword or shouldered the musket, seduced by the blazonry of war, and the splendour of the prizes which fall to the arbiters of battle. Peerages and knighthoods-stately palaces and fertile acres-the favour of kings and the smiles of courts the marshal's baton, and, perhaps, the monarch's sceptre-these are the stakes for which the soldier contends. And how easy a matter it seems to the young and unthinking to secure these glorious guerdons! A dashing charge-the leadership of a forlorn hope-a successful skirmish-it is by such deeds (so dream the thoughtless) that Marlborough won Woodstock, Wellington his dukedom, and Colin Campbell his seat among the peers. Alas, where the prizes are so splendid, the blanks are always numerous! For few of the rank and file does Fortune retain her crosses or her coronets, and something more than mere valour-which is the virtue of the many-is needful to deserve them.

2. Consider what noble qualities are required to make up the great general-the Agamemnon, or leader of men.' Energy of will, which conquers obstacles and inspires others in the attempt to conquer them; a fixed unalterable purpose; the highest quality of patience; the capacity which conceives, and the resolution which carries out; temperance, perseverance, intuitive knowledge of character; promptitude of decision, wealth of resource; zeal, truthfulness, pluck, -truly, a Wellington, a Marlborough, or a Turenne is almost a perfect man! Above all, the great soldier must be firm in his pursuit of a particular object—whether it is a fortress to be captured, a convoy to be surprised, or an enemy beguiled into an ambuscade. Whatever he finally resolves upon he must execute, though ever so many hostile cannon thunder. Nay! will-force of purposedetermination-call it by any name you please-is the successful warrior's prime virtue; aut viam faciam aut inveniam' is the very secret of his genius. It was thus that Charles XII. raised petty Sweden to the rank of a great military power, and it was thus that Peter the Great was enabled to crush him at Pultowa. Muley Moluc, the

112

THE FORCE OF 'I WILL.'

famous Moor, was sickening of an incurable malady, when his soldiers came in sight of the Portuguese army. He sprang from his litter-he mounted his horse-led his army to the charge, and conquered. The victory won, he fell back in the arms of his attendants, and expired. Suwarrow, the illustrious Russian general, would not believe that any man could fail if he willed; and everybody knows Napoleon's celebrated saying-'Impossible? There's no such word in the dictionary!' Sir Bulwer Lytton relates a striking anecdote of the late Earl of Dundonald. During the Russian war, he went to a minister of State, and proposed to destroy Cronstadt. You must give me so many men of war and frigates, and certain materials, and I will destroy Cronstadt!' 'But if you do not destroy Cronstadt?' questioned the timid statesman. Why, there's an end of the British fleet!' An end of the British fleet!-the minister bowed out the earl, appalled. But the brave old admiral meant to say that he would destroy Cronstadt, and that it was just as likely the whole British fleet should perish, which was one impossibility, as that he should fail, which was another impossibility. You see the minister of State did not comprehend the force of the I WILL!

I

3. It was a fine saying of Napoleon:- Do you suppose that if I had not been general-in-chief, and the instrument of fate to a mighty nation, that I would have accepted place and dependence! No! I would have devoted myself to the study of the exact sciences; and since I have always succeeded in my great enterprises, I should have highly distinguished myself also in my scientific labours. should have left the memory of beautiful discoveries.' No hesitation, no doubt, no faltering here; all the strong 'I will' of a strong man. Mere skill in tactics, or dexterity in manœuvres, will never make a great commander. 'The knowledge of warfare,' says Fuller, is thrown away on a general who dares not make use of what he knows.'

4. Next to 'will' in a successful soldier's virtues, we should place patience.' They also serve,' says Milton, 'who only stand and wait.' To know how and when to wait is of vital importance on the battle-field, or in the

PROMPTITUDE AND PURPOSE.

113

conduct of a brilliant campaign. It was Wellington's waiting behind the fortifications of Torres Vedras that defeated the brilliant genius of Massena, and drove the French from the Peninsula. Marlborough's patience in front of the famous lines constructed by the great Villars, completely outwitted that illustrious marshal. Most of Turenne's successes were gained by his patience, while the great Condé was so often defeated because he knew not how to wait. It was De Maistre who said that 'to know how to wait is the secret of success.' And Nelson :-'I owe all my success in life to having been always a quarter of an hour before my time.' He waited fifteen minutes, and then seized the opportunity, which never waits.

5. 'Promptitude' is another secret of success with the 'gods of war.' Blucher was always ready: hence his soldiers nicknamed him Marshal Vorwaertz (forward). When Lord Clyde was appointed to the chief command of the Indian army, and was asked how soon he could start for the scene of action, his answer was: In twenty-four hours.' So, too, Sir John Jervis, to whom the enquiry was addressed, when could he join the ship to which he was appointed? replied, 'Directly!' Men who can wait can always be prompt, because they have time to consider what they will do, and when the fitting moment comes, they do it! Clive's promptitude saved British India at Plassey. Nelson's promptitude in detecting and preventing an able manœuvre of the Spanish admiral's, won the victory off Cape St. Vincent.

6. 'Purpose' is another essential of success in the soldier's profession, as in the peaceful pursuits of art, science, or literature. A ship without a rudder would be at the mercy of wind and wave: so is a man without a purpose. The late gallant Indian general, the lamented Nicholson, was emphatically a man of purpose, and on one occasion, during the great Indian mutiny, while in pursuit of an insurgent regiment, he kept his saddle for twenty consecutive hours, and rode upwards of seventy miles. In his epitaph he is rightly characterised as having possessed' an iron mind and frame, a terrible courage, an indomitable will.