-- Nay,
between friends, he offered such reasons on this subject, that I
was really confounded, if not convinced. -- He would not allow that
the Scots abounded above their proportion in the army and navy of
Great-Britain, or that the English had any reason to say his
countrymen had met with extraordinary encouragement in the
service. 'When a South and North-Briton (said he) are competitors
for a place or commission, which is in the disposal of an English
minister or an English general, it would be absurd to suppose
that the preference will not be given to the native of England,
who has so many advantages over his rival. -- First and foremost,
he has in his favour that laudable partiality, which, Mr Addison
says, never fails to cleave to the heart of an Englishman; secondly,
he has more powerful connexions, and a greater share of parliamentary
interest, by which those contests are generally decided; and
lastly, he has a greater command of money to smooth the way to
his success. For my own part (said he), I know no Scotch officer,
who has risen in the army above the rank of a subaltern, without
purchasing every degree of preferment either with money or
recruits; but I know many gentlemen of that country, who, for
want of money and interest, have grown grey in the rank of
lieutenants; whereas very few instances of this ill-fortune are
to be found among the natives of South-Britain.
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