The New Hampshire Gazette Newspaper, December 2, 1756, Page 1

.83 & L Thurfday, Decemb. 2. . = 1756. S | - N&v Hampfbire & _- : Besssssssssenanssses With the Frefbeft Advices From the GEnerat Evenineg Post, Fuly 10. 1756. To the PrinTER, e, SIR Fuly 3. By in/'rrt’z'fzg the following little fealonable Effay, you may, perhaps, do fime Serwice to your Country, and will cer- tainly oblige a conflant Reader. Of Covrace and COWARDICE. o keeping his Underftanding clear and undif- turbed, when Dangers approach, and in dar- ing to face and oppole them, when he is {en- fible that it is his Duty to do fo. Cowardice, on the contrary, confifts in fufferiog the Un- derftanding to be difurbed or difabled when Dangers ap- " proach, and in not daring to face and oppofe them when we are fenfible it is our Daty to do fo. ;e - AsCeurage conduces to the Prefervation of Men's' Lives " and Properties from the Rapzcioufnefs and Cruelty of their Neighbours, it is confequently the neceflary fupport of all States, and a Quality which ought te be highly honoured and rewarded. ; . As¢ Cowarcice, on the contrary, neccflarily occafions the ' Dcftru&tion of a State, it cannot be too much difefteemed W . . and difcouraged, ror too feverely punifhed. \ I wll corfider firt the Rewards of Bravery,and then the Punithment of Cowardice. By Honors and Rewards Brave- ¢« . ry is cherifhed and propagated. It is almoft inconceiva- ble what a noble Ardour and Emulation were raifed thro’- p out all Greece by the Diflinclions and Honours paid to > thofe who fignahized themfelves in the fervice of their Country. 1hefe infpired them with a Refolation fuffi- cient not only to withitand, but even to overturn the migh- "ty Power of Perfia Themiflocles told his Friends, that R Miltiades’s T'rophies would not let him fleep. In all Pro- bability this fingle Curcumitance of a Trophy’s being . _erefled by the Athenians in Honour of Miltiades was the -§ « - QOgcafion of Themiltocle’s gaining “the Battle of Salamis, ¢ \i:éh'{aved all Greece from Deftro@lion. Had the Perfi. afsin the fame Marner encouraged military Merit amongft them, they had never been fo fhamefully defeated. The , * Romans, by their Trivmphs, mural and civick Crowns, &c. made themfelves Malters of the World, Our Neigh- . 8 . <bours the Dutch very rightly think that T'rade is the fup- port of their Nation ; but not confidering that that Trade muft be fupported by Arms, and therefore, not paying a proper Regard to the brave foldier, have brought into the . e ngd CURAGE feems to me to confitt in a Man’s ¥ - Nuwms. o | | GAZETTE, FHLEVBILSDLBBBBIHED Foreign and Dome/}:i'cé. ’ B HE I ES e P ] utmoft Hazard, and will inevitably lofe that Property and thofe Pofleflions they are fo fond of. The two or three laft French Kings,by a contrary Condu@,have infufed fuch a fpirit into their People, that, forgetting they are ingiality flaves, and dazzled by that Phaniom the Glory G@itheir Monarch, they delight in War, and are continually extend- ing the Bounds of his Dominions. Is it not abfolutely ne- ceflary then for the King of Great- Britain, when attacked by fuch an Enemy, and when almoft all the Powers in Eu- rope are confederating againft him, 10 ufe all pofiible Me- thods to raife the Courage of his fubjects, that they may be able to preferve thofe Liberties and Riches which the | Bravery and Indufiry of their Anceflors have procured them } The proper Diftribution of Honcurs and Prefer- ments would moft contribute to this End. = The Orders of Knighthood fhould be fiiled ggly with Perfons who have diftinguillied themfelves in'the Service : “A StaPthen would really be an Honour to the Wearer. No one fhould be preferred to the Command of a Ship or Regiment merely becaufe he is the Relation of 2 Lord or Member of Parlia- ment, but becauke he has entitled himfelf to it by his Re- folution and Conduét in Battle. T do not prefend to have advanced in this Point a new Method of regulating Prefer- ments ; I acknowledge that this Advice has been given and repeated a thoufand Times, and I wifh the Effe& of it had been fuch as that there was no Occafion for my mentioning it row ; but I cannot help urging it, as [ am convinced it is the only Thing that can poflibly prevent cur Deftru&ion in the defperate War we are now engaged in. It-was per- haps by his fieady Adherence to this alone that O.iver Cromwell rendered his Fleet and Army abfolutely invin- cible. There is one Thing more in which I have often thought that our Pradlice is very impolitick. It has been a Cuftom Jong eftablithed, both in the Army and Navy that the Of- ficers fhould rife to the higheft Pofts according to their fe- niority, and confequently they look upon it as an Affront when a Junior is advanced above themn ; fo that though the Junor is infinitely fuperior in Merit to the Seniors, and has all the Abilities of a Marlborough or a Blake, the Govern- ment cannot exalt him to a higher flation without advan- cing his Seniors in Proportion at the fame Time, to the very great Detriment, or at leaft Expence of the Publick. I grant that this is a very good Rule'to prevent Difputes and Contentions, where Merits are equal, or in Matters of lefs Confequence ; but in this Cafe, where perhaps the very,