Final answer:
The statement suggests a social and military hierarchy during the American Revolutionary War, showing British troops' perceived superiority and the modesty of the local colonial militia.
Step-by-step explanation:
From the sentence: "While the regular and trained hirelings of the king marched with haughtiness to the right of the line, the less pretending colonists took their humbler position on its left, with a docility that long practice had rendered easy," it can be inferred that there was a distinct social and military hierarchy between the royal forces and the colonial militia during the American Revolutionary War.
The "trained hirelings of the king" refers to British regular troops who displayed a sense of superiority and discipline, while the "less pretending colonists" hints at a more modest, perhaps less professional group of soldiers, likely referring to the local colonial militia that fought for independence. This reflects broader social attitudes and the dynamics of military organization of the era.