Considerable
difficulty was found in obtaining recruits for that
service. Those who might have been otherwise
disposed to be soldiers, were afraid of the climate,
and of the species of banishment which the engagement
implied; and doubted also how far the engagements
of the Company might be faithfully
observed towards them, when they were removed
from the protection of the British laws. For these
and other reasons, the military service of the King
was preferred, and that of the Company could
only procure the worst recruits, although their
zealous agents scrupled not to employ the worst
means. Indeed the practice of kidnapping, or
crimping, as it is technically called, was at that
time general, whether for the colonies, or even for
the King's troops; and as the agents employed in
such transactions must be of course entirely unscrupulous,
there was not only much villainy committed
in the direct prosecution of the trade, but it
gave rise incidentally to remarkable cases of robbery,
and even murder. Such atrocities were of
course concealed from the authorities for whom the
levies were made, and the necessity of obtaining
soldiers made men, whose conduct was otherwise
unexceptionable, cold in looking closely into the
mode in which their recruiting service was conducted.
Pages:
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556