But while we must consider many of the old hands deficient in some qualities requisite to the formation of good officers, let us not forget the habits of the times in which they lived, nor that these men proved themselves good and brave soldiers in the many hard services in which they were employed; “per mare, per terras” might have been their motto. In the wars of Bengal and the Carnatic they filled their part with credit, and many are the names from among them which have been handed down to our respect and esteem both as good soldiers and men of high talent and conduct. Pearse, Montague, Hutchinson, Duff, of the old hands, and others, such as Horsford, Clement Brown, Pennington, who living long into this century may fairly claim no small share in giving a tone to the present corps, are all names which we should not willingly allow to be forgotten; and although we may laugh at the anecdotes of the Hindes, Paschauds, and Greenes, and be tempted to rate the moderns highly when we look to the bright halo with which the Mahrattas, Nepal, Ava, and Affghanistan campaigns have encircled the heads of those whom we delight to honour, let us not forget those who shared in the wars with Hyder and Tippoo, and in the earlier campaigns in which the foundation of our Indian empire was laid. “Vixerunt fortes ante Agamemnona, multi.” The ranks were filled with men of an indifferent class; the great demand caused by European wars rendered it difficult to recruit for the Company’s service, and, as a natural consequence, the worst men were enlisted. The Regimental Orders, as might be expected, record many courts-martial and the infliction of punishments to preserve order; still, however, when any portion was sent on service, they never forgot what was expected from them, and always supported the national character by their conduct in the field.[54] A very mistaken notion as to the composition of the regiment has long prevailed, and is still repeated by those ignorant of the facts of the case; it is often affirmed that a large majority of the regiment is Irish, but from a reference to the long rolls at the period of which we are writing, we find the respective numbers as stated below,[55] and at a period six years anterior to it (1795), the proportion of Irish was still less, the English being 437 and the Irish 284. At the present time (1845) the English and Irish are nearly equal. We purpose noticing the constitution of the regiment in this point from time to time at different epochs, and also adding the casualties wherever we are able to ascertain them, and this we trust will form a valuable addition to our knowledge of the statistics of Indian mortality. Having detailed the formation of 1802, we must revert to the preceding year to bring up the record of the services of portions of the regiment. In November, 1801, two complete companies were ordered for foreign service, to embark on the _Dover Castle_ and _Asia_ Indiamen.