No, is not very clear, they don't even mention firearm calibres, gun power, machine guns, the drug war, automatic weapons, chemical weapons, missiles, nuclear artifacts, criminals with guns, tanks and other kinds of military vehicles, grenades; basically because back then those things didn't even existed or where not considered relevant. Today is a very different world that they didn't imagine even in their wildest dreams; is a romantic but childish illusion that their words can be literally applied to a world so different to the one they saw.

Context man, they were recently in a civil war and the communication and transportation was so bad that towns had to be prepared by themselves to affront any possible Britain retaliation; but now with the biggest army in the world, with carriers, combat helicopters and combat jets doesn't seem to have too much sense.