of view as my duty permitted, until I exchanged my rather shabby old jacket for the richly laced long coat of my regiment, and could appear from head to foot in my best costume. CHAPTER XI. "Costly thy habits as thy purse can buy, In a garrison where the needy and the seedy were frequently congregated, preparatory to their honourable banishment to some pestilential quarter of the globe, an appearance of wealth, which the fair sex (Heaven bless their discrimination!) always attach to fine clothes, is sure to be attended with invitations, and all the agreeable et-ceteras. To be sure, there is a great elongation of visage when, on the introduction, instead of CAPTAIN," the chilling word "Mister" is pronounced; but then appearance is every thing at first sight. "Who is he ?" "Is he a man of fortune? or the son of one ?" "He must be; see how stylishly he dresses!" are the usual questions and remarks. 66 Swift maintained that clothes were the real agents in worldly affairs; and that MEN, who fancy themselves SOMETHING, are mere adjuncts to coat, vest, and breeches! The very reverend dean was very right. The daughter of an old soldier is sufficiently an old soldier herself to scan, with all the keenness of a commanding officer on any inspection day, the dress of a new comer from top to toe: if detected in the sin of shabbiness, his exclusion is certain! A darned glove or repaired boot are almost irreparable offences; but any visible patch-work about the small-clothes is sure to be denounced as one of the most alarming breaches of decency! I recollect having heard a poor Irish ensign of five and thirty assert (with as much seriousness as it was in his jovial countenance to assume) that it was impossible to appear like a GENTLEMAN at Chatham without at least ONE good pair of breeches! Poor fellow he spoke feelingly; for his only pair were in an affecting state of dilapidation-quite a harlequinade, though happily all of one colour, a dingy white; while his increasing corpulency, in the midst of a heart-rending state of distress, which he (most happily) of all others seemed to feel the least, rendered every stride he took a service of danger; particularly when marching round and saluting at the morning parade, during which he would rather have encountered the glaring eye of the Hyrcanian beast, than one soft look from lovely woman. More of poor Jack Gun hereafter. In the course of a week, or ten days, I was completely, and I may add elegantly, equipped. My white leathers, by Lingham, and boots, by Hoby, were each in triplicate; and when it was my turn to mount guard, or picket, on which occasion cloth breeches and black gaiters were to be worn, the superior quality of these articles did not escape notice. On these premises and appearances, I was immediately set down for, what I really was not, a monied man; and my confessions, as to the humble mediocrity of my circumstances, were ascribed to the score of my modesty. It is true I was not crippled in money matters; and as I was one of the most moderate of young men in my habits of living, I felt no difficulty in preserving that respectability of appearance, which, after the first ample outlay, could be supported by care and prudence: no young officer ever set out better provided in the important articles, linen and leather. It would hardly be believed in these days of dandyism, to what miserable make-shifts many a poor subaltern of former times, felt himself bound to resort, in order to exist. Hundreds of men of all ages and rank had, at the breaking out of the war, found admission into the army; who, with the most severe and praise-worthy economy, could with difficulty sustain life and clothe themselves on their wretched pay, strangers to all the comforts and the society of the mess table. There was one regiment reduced at Chatham, in the winter of 1795, in which, of the fourteen subalterns that entered with it, after undergoing partial drafting at Plymouth, eleven had been promoted from the rank of sergeants within the last half year. Eight of this number were Scotch, the other three, Irish; not one of whom had one shilling per annum beyond his pitiful pay; and a march from Plymouth, during which they of necessity joined the regimental mess, had deeply involved them in debt, which they were then liquidating by stoppages, submitting to the most painful privations. These poor fellows were marked objects for female scorn, whenever they had the misfortune to encounter any of the garrison ladies. The preposterous absurdity of their dress was alone a constant theme for ridicule: it was a mixture of poverty and coxcombry supremely ludicrous. To begin with the head. The hat was a peculiarly coach man-cut cock, bound with broad silver lace, of which not a vestige was to be seen on the long and narrow yellow facings of the regimentals. The epaulette was of the most diminutive size; and the bullion scarcely half the usual weight or length. The coat was so cut off as to expose the whole of the body, from the pit of the chest downwards, in order to show in perpendicular line six buttons (and not the disk of one more) of the waistcoat, which was cut with old-fashioned court flaps, mounted each with two buttons, of which one half only of the circle was to be visible. The breeches, of white cloth or kerseymere, were remarkably short-kneed, with four buttons and a silver regimental knee-buckle, exactly in line with the buttons, as a finish. The boots were three-quarters, made so as to embrace the calf of the leg, if any such muscle remained to the unhappy wearer; which rendered a clean pair of white stockings (or pipe-clayed substitutes) daily necessary. Up to the very hour of its reduction, the most rigid attention to this regimental dress was enforced. It was stated to be exactly copied from old Lord Harrington's regiment, of the number of which this regiment was the anagram, and highly approved of by George the Third !—That I can well believe, when I call to my recollection his royal taste in military and naval costume. 5* CHAPTER XII. "Being upon drill, your honour- THE duty at Chatham at this period was light, when shared by such a numerous garrison of regimental and unattached of ficers. A subaltern's guard was mounted daily at the barracks, and another at the dock-yard; these, with a barrack orderly and a captain of the day, placed but four out of nearly one hundred officers on daily duty. The dock-yard guard, although a close duty, had been until that year a very desirable one, as Commissioner Proby had invariably asked the officer to dine and pass the evening at his house. This hospitality had been grossly abused, the worthy commissioner having seen his Curtis-like profile caricatured on the very walls of his official domain. Such unmerited indignities induced him to withdraw his attentions from the military altogether; and the many suffered from the cirme and ingratitude of one worthless member of the profession. The dock-yard guard, from having been one of the most agreeable duties that fall to a subaltern's lot, became one of unmitigated. tedium. To those who could afford the expense, the theatre of Rochester and the weekly assemblies at that city, (which are well attended during the winter season,) afforded occasional amusement. The commandant, Major-general the Hon. E. H. Fox, was not deficient in hospitality: all invitable officers of the garrison were admitted to his table by regular routine. The Misses Mawbey, daughters of Major Mawbey, the rigid, old barrack-master, had frequent evening parties; tea, cards, and one glass of wine, with once in a way a bit of supper for the select. The Misses Spry, daughters of the general of engineers, although past their premier jeunesse, were, like most ladies,. fond of the agreeable association of the sexes; and whether in their morning rambles, or evening routs "at home," or abroad, they could always boast of a pretty strong escort of beaux. Those to whom the loss or gain of a few shillings was no object, and whose appearance was favourable, found a ready entree to the tea and card-tables of several agreeable families in the neighbourhood, through the introduction of a friend. Thus the monotony of a garrison life was broken or forgotten, except by those whose more limited circumstances confined them to barracks, and who were obliged to create enjoyments for themselves, or drown reflection in a glass of Maidstone gin toddy, seasoned by a Welsh-rabbit, the regular guard-room supper; and for a plentiful supply of which, any officer, having an agreeable town engagement, might at all times procure a willing substitute for his tour of duty on guard, or picket. Amongst those accommodating friends, Jack Gun was always. a foremost man. If requested to mount guard for a brother officer, his kind and ready assent was always accompanied by a smiling requisition for the "COMBUSTIBLES;" which, duly interpreted, meant neither more nor less than ONE GALLON LOAF, a DUTCH CHEESE, and a COUPLE OF BOTTLES OF GIN! to which fare, honest Jack generously invited a few friends, in his own humble circumstances. The captain of the day, on going his rounds, frequently joined the jolly ensign and his party, where,. enveloped in clouds of smoke, they sung, and puffed, and quaffed away the merry midnight hour. The old and bold 10th, General Fox's Regiment, having returned from St. Domingo, a skeleton had been filled up with drafts from various regiments, amounting to about eight hundred men; and, at the general's particular desire, sent to Chatham to be drilled and disciplined under his immediate eye. Here it was I first saw the German close order system practised; the "lock-step" which brought every man in the battalion into such close contact, that an electric shock, given to the leading file of grenadiers, would be instantly communicated to the last of the light-bobs. At the same period, the Old Tenth first appeared in the short square-skirted coatee, called the German jacket, which buttoned from the throat to the waistband, and with it that happy improvement on the officer's and soldier's comfort and appearance-the PANTALOON. Every officer economically inclined, under such sanction immediately adopted the fashion, and in a short time, gray, blue, and pantaloons of every other hue, were to be seen amidst the detachment ranks. Amongst others to whom this change of costume proved a happy relief was poor Jack Gun, who speedily ensconced his nether members in a capacious pair of French grays, discarding for ever his forlorn hope of whites, which he vowed had latterly become "as tender as stewed veal."—"But now," added Jack, giving his seat of honour a sonorous smack of his broad and hairy hand, "HEAVEN and EARTH must come together before these give way!" |