Part 387

PRIVILEGES. Among the different privileges which prevail in the British army, the life guards receive their promotions direct from the king, without passing through the commander in chief as all other corps do. The appointment of colonel in the life guards gives the honorary title of gold stick, and the field officer of the day is the silver stick, through whom all reports, &c. are conveyed to the king. Although there is a lieutenant general of the London district, the foot guards have the privilege of reporting to head quarters direct. The foot guards enjoy the privilege of ranking, from the ensign, one step higher than the line. A lieutenant, for instance, ranks as captain, and can purchase as such into any marching regiment without having waited the regulated period; and a captain, having the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel, may leap over all the majors of the line, by getting appointed to a marching regiment. The promotions of the guards, among themselves, are, however, extremely slow; and the only indemnification they have must beat the expence of the line. This preposterous pre-eminence which is not founded on any military principles or personal merit, has tended to destroy military emulation in England; and will every where when merit only is not the criterion of honor and promotion.

PRIVILEGES des régimens, Fr. Certain privileges attached to regiments, which are always abused, when not the reward of distinguished merit.

PRIVY Council, a council of state held by a king, with his counsellors, to concert matters for the public service; also called the cabinet.

PRIX des emplois ou charges militaires, Fr. The price of commissions, or military employments. During the monarchy of France, a company in the French guards sold for 80,000 livres!

A company in the six first regiments of infantry, went for 75,000 livres. The six following, exclusive of the régiment du roi, went for 55,000 livres. One in the regiment of Poitou, and as far down as the Penthievre, 40,000 livres; in the Penthievre, and from that to the last regiment inclusive, 30,000 livres!

A company in the Scotch gendarmes cost 180,000 livres; in the Irish, the Bourguignon, and Flanders, 150,000 livres. The other companies of gendarmerie went for 135,000!

The sub-lieutenants in the gendarmerie paid 100,000 livres, and those in the light horse, 95,000 livres. The ensigns and first cornets, including the guidon belonging to the Scotch gendarmes, gave 62,000 livres!

The guidons, and second cornets, 30,000 livres!

There was no specific regulation for the purchase of a regiment of heavy cavalry or dragoons. Appointments in the état major or staff belonging to the cavalry and the royal regiments (les royaux) sold for 100,000l. in the dragoons, from 100,000 to 120,000 livres.

The troops or companies in cavalry regiments, in the royal corps, and in the état major or staff, were fixed at 10,000 livres, and the rest at 8000.

A troop of dragoons sold for 7000 livres. No company or other appointment in the infantry, was allowed to be bought or sold. It will strike the military reader, that although the purchase of commissions was, in some degree, sanctioned by the old French government, it was nevertheless extremely limited, and confined to the upper ranks. The efficient part of the army, which is certainly the infantry, received its commissions gratis.

PRIZE-FIGHTER. See GLADIATOR.

PRIZE-money, officers and soldiers of the line doing duty on board ships of war, are entitled to prize-money as marines.

PROA, Ind. A sailing vessel is so called in India.

PROBABILITY, (Probabilité, Fr.) is nothing but the appearance of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas by the intervention of proofs, whose connection is not constant and immutable, or is not perceived to be so; but is, or appears for the most part to be so, and is sufficient to induce the mind to judge the proposition to be true or false, rather than the contrary.

PROBLEM, (Probléme, Fr.) In the general acceptation of the term, a doubtful proposition, which will admit of several solutions.

PROCEDURES militaires, Fr. Military process. It consists in the investigation of all crimes and offences committed by soldiers which come under the cognizance of a military tribunal; in contradistinction to the authority which is vested in the civil magistrates.

To PROCLAIM, (Proclamer, Fr.) to promulgate or denounce by a solemn or legal publication. Hence, to proclaim peace, which is used in contradistinction to the term to declare, which denounces war. Both French and English say, Declarer la guerre, to declare war; proclamer la paix, to proclaim peace.

PROCLAMATION. An instrument which is published by the constituted authority of government, whereby the country at large is advertised of something, and whereby the people are sometimes required to do, or not to do certain things. A proclamation has all the efficacy of law, because it must be in concord with or founded upon the law already in being.

PROCLAMATION of peace, a declaration of the cessation of war.

PROCONSUL, among the Romans, a magistrate who was sent to govern a province with consular authority.

PRODITION. See TREACHERY.

PRODUCE, PRODUCT, (Produit, Fr.) Effect, fruit. In arithmetic it is the quantity which grows out of the multiplication of two or more numbers or lines one by another: 5 for instance multiplied by 4, will give the produce 20; and the produce of two lines, multiplied one by the other, is called the rectangle of these lines.

PROFILE, in drawing, side-ways or side-view. A picture in profile represents a head or face set side-ways.

PROFILER, Fr. the act of profiling, or designing with rule and compass.

PROFILE, (Profil, Fr.) in architecture, the draught of a building, fortification, &c. wherein are expressed the several heights, widths, and thicknesses, such as they would appear were the building cut down perpendicularly from the roof to the foundation. It serves to show those dimensions which cannot be represented in plans, but are yet necessary in the building of a fortification: they are best constructed on a scale of 30 feet to an inch. It is also called section, orthographical section, and by Vitruvius, sciagraphy. It is sometimes used in opposition to ichnography.

PROGRAM, (Programme, Fr.) a word derived from the Greek, signifying any public edict, notice, or declaration. The French make use or the word on occasions of national ceremony.

PROJECTILES, are such bodies as, being put in motion by any great force, are then cast off, or let go from the place where they received their quantity of motion; as a shell or shot from a piece of artillery, a stone thrown from a sling, or an arrow from a bow, &c. This line is commonly taken for a parabola, and the ranges are computed from the properties of the curves. The assumption would be just, in case the ball, in its motion, met with no resistance: but, the resistance of the air to swift motions being very great, the curve described by the shot is neither a parabola, nor near it: and by reason of the resistance, the angle which gives the greatest amplitude is not 45 degrees, as commonly supposed, but something less, probably 43¹⁄₂. Hence the sublime mathematics are absolutely necessary in the investigation of the track of a shell or shot in the air, known by the name of military projectiles.