The  soldier  breathes,  as  it  were,  an  atmosphere  of  ac-
countability. His  daily  routine  is  made  up  of  inspections
and  reports.  What  he  is,  what  he  has,  what  he  does,  his
person,  his  possessions,  his  conduct,  are  constantly  passing
under  a  scrutiny  so  searching  that  nothing  escapes,  however
trivial,  and  all  must  conform  to  unvarying  "Regulations."
This  is  perhaps  the  most  prominent  and  impressive  feature
of  the  life.  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  it.  The  fact  is  patent —
can  its  influence  be  doubted  ?  Apart  now  from  your  impres-


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  SOLUIER-I1FE  363

sion  as  to  what  the  soldier  is,  what  ought  he  to  be  as  the  re-
sult of  such  training?  Can  you  conceive  of  anything  tend-
ing more  to  develop  regularity,  reliability,  promptness,  ac-
curacy, even  in  the  smallest  details  ?

In  the  upper  grades  of  the  soldier-life,  mark  how  this
accountability  is  retained  and  developed  into  Responsibility,
which,  in  the  case  of  the  commander-in-chief,  becomes  ab-
solutely awful,  unmeasured  and  unmeasurable.
Responsibility !  I  had  almost  said  no  other  human  being
can  have  any  adequate  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the
term.  Responsible  for  what?  For  the  lives  of  his  follow-
ers, for  the  future  of  their  bereft  families ;  but  it  is  not  life  or
death,  not  victory  or  defeat  alone,  that  trembles  in  the  bal-
ance of  his  battles.  It  is  the  life  and  honor  of  his  country,
the  weal  or  woe  of  millions  yet  to  be.  He  orders  the  charge,
and  liberty  and  destiny  and  history  flicker  in  the  gleam  of  his
bayonets.
The  experiences  of  the  life  are  unparalleled  Hardships,
Perils,  Crises.
