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    bilities , commend tKe tone and spirit of tfie book . Mrs . Young writes—we were going to say- —en militaire , in a sharp , brisk , clear , decisive manner ; add to this a . vivid sense of the picturesque , and every now and . then a certain feoninine felicity of discrimination , and you have a series of very readable chapters . Fortunately , too , Mrs . Young has bestowed a -woman ' s observation and a -woman ' sympathy wpon a subject which only a -woman can understand and feel correctly : we mean the position of the soldier ' s wife in the camp . She returns again and again to this distressing difficulty , and we can warmly recommend these chapters of actual experience to the attention of all who have a thought for tie living as well as for the dead , and who , while they eagerly subscribe to the widows and orphans , would do well to inquire intp the lot of the wives -who are permitted to sharethe rough endurance and the stern privations of the camp . - Hear Mrs . Young on the condition of . THE BRITISH SOLDIER ' S WIPE .

    I know nothing , whether at home oar abroad—whether In the lanes and alleys that spread infection , ^ moral and physical , over London , or in the distant heathen lands ¦« rhere slavery'prevaila , and of which religious philanthropists con&ider it their duty to preach—that so loudly and so justly appeals to the sympathies of the men and women of England , as the condition , of the soldier ' s wife . I saw JWany of . the women of ' this great army half dead with grief , when regiment after regiment marched on board their ships from the shores of our island , with bands playing and handkerchiefs waving from fair hands , to cheer on these , gallant bands . I heard their entreaties to be allowed to follow . I saw their tears and despair when , with helpless little ones jn their hands , they went their way , almost penniless , to proceed'by a railway to some imaginary home—where waat was to add its crushing power on themother , as anxiety arid grief had already done upon the Wife . I was associated With many of the poor creatures -who , unhappily , as . theVmoat respectable and Tinburdened , ¦ were . allowed to accompany the army-to Turkey ; and they were suffering , uncared . for , and in some case * dissolute . Self-respect was lost ; and the women were a disgrace to the army ,

    instead of being , as they should : have > been , useful items in their camp machinery . At home , we know how-it is . -Who WouHr take a soldier ' s wife as- an assistant in any domestic duties ? . = Who ; does not dread her habits ? To whom is not her very name ji . wor&of fear ? And why 5 s this ?—why should such a-. stain remain to be mixed up with the gratitude due to the brave men / who shed lustre -upon England's glory ? Why should the honest farmer ' s daughter , or the well-priacipled servant-girl—who , like heisisuperiors in . rank , is -won by the glitter , gaiety , and charm thrown over a dull provincial town by the presence of the military—^ be doomed , as the result of her her coming a , soldier ' s wife , tolose , character , self-respect , aad all that renders woman t ^ safeguard of society , in whatever grade of it her lot may ' fall ? Why cannot the original feelings of * modesty in . the soldier ' s wife be protected even in a barrack ? and if sufferedto accompany tlie army at all , -why should she remain exposed to the miseries that men would shrink from , while vilified for vices , thecertain , theinevitable result of thatutteT carelessness of her condition , ' which , ' in those * whb are responsible fox such things , forms indeed a blur ; , upon the fair , page of their humanity ?

    The reader , woul < l not have thought these remarks out of place , while attempting to afford a glance at our great camp of Scutari , if he had seen these poor creatures as I did \—i £ he liad seen them , fevered , imder a burning stra at Constantinople , left at Gallipoli under promise of" a speedy return to their native land , and remaining for Months in Turkish houses , swarming -witli rats and vermin ;~ if he had ' seen them as they fell with sickness at Varna , - terror-stricken and helpless r if he had liinwiwn . bow ; . much of their -vices abroad 'had been the' result of cruel carelessness at hSoraie ^ and remelnbered how the barrack system wiwsi ^ either-Wholly demoralise the purest-minded' woman , or crush her beneath a fearful sense of its shame and horror . * The appearance of the groups of soldiers' -wives at Scutari first attracted my symjjathy , aniJ the ¥ e $ bre 1 introduce ithem' at this point ; but matters grew worse as ^ re advanced , and , with misery , vice , as its too frequent companion , in all times and places . , . ¦ ¦ ¦ •' . ' ¦ . . ... .

    I cannot help thinking that the English soldier ' s wife is one of those miserable mistakes in our social system , by which , we are apt to make people bad , and then severely punish them for i being , so ,, by measures only calculated to make them worse . . We hav » found out , in part , one of these mistakes , as affected juvenile , offenders against the ~ laws , and perhaps may act more wisely for the futwre ; and it were weH could we discover another mistake , which , perhaps . this war may throw some light upon , and lead us to moro judicious , Christian , and merciful treatment of the wives , of out soldiers . The time may come when a woman ' s modesty may be considered worthy of protection , — -when she ia not driver * to intornperance , to render her insensible to the shame of a new , and , to some , terrible position , —when the religious education of thi 9 class of society may be considered as necessary as that , of , the heathen native of Africa or India , and when , as a woman , her influence for good or evil may bo recognised , and eyen the soldier's wife—degraded as she no-w . in the social scale , too often deeply sunk in habits of vice , drunkenness , arid depravity—rinay yet find true sympathy-r-a sympathy which may protect original goodness , —may raise the sinner from the slough of despond , —r-rnay train , educate , counsel , and forgive ; ultimately rendering the soldier ' s wifo not only a respectable and useful member of society , but improving tho ; to > nG , pf our army by her example and influence . , . .

    , 1 % ytill bo allowed by every one conversant with our present war , how cruelly the protection , of our women has been neglected . Many—avast deal too many ( since < thoy w < snt with undefined duties ) -r ^ wcro permitted to , encumber tho army - , the rest , married ,, some , with , some without leave , wcto condemned to risk the very , pr , obabj . e chances A » f ,, starvation , at homo . Thoso who went liad neitliey carriage nor shelter provided for their , wantB ,: those-who stayed had the public opinion , entirely against them , « 9 far as affecte 4 their cliancoa for honest employment . The reader will havo Been with me wbat . tho poor women suffered at Scutari nrul Gallipoli , and will belleyo , how much more judicjioufj the Fronch are in keeping tho wives of thoir soldiers at home , unless tUoy could give them , decided duties , under proper protection , with tho force . Nothing seemed more to amazo tho French , hoIcHoth than to see transports crowded with women jr-r-women and horses J—for truly this was the firrangomont , as tvo on board tho Tliabor a « w tho Qcorgianu transport paw up , JUvden in this incongruous manner . 1 wiw asked a hundred questions nt dinner about tho matter ; and in good truth , tho answers must havo been moat unsatisfactory . TIio fact , was , that I had seldom felt mor © ashamed of , » ny , chance association than X was at tho dtnncr-tablo of tho Thabor , when , aa an English aoldler ' a wife , I became Wc « - t ^ fled , wjth this subject , and -was expected to explain , to French officers , our military

    • 1 can hardly boliove that tho fact la generally known , thnt on tho marriage- of n uoldi « r , hia ^ wifo ia introduced into a barrack-room occupied by suvernl jicrHona of both soxes , and bo Uve » -without privacy of any kind . Boda nro placed jn rows , without partitionsi tho car ia profaned , und tho practice of pious or virtuous habits rendered impoaftible . Even at our public iwhoolntRossftl , nenr Preston , in Lnncaahiro , canvas pnrtittona have bcon considered necessary , t 6 « ecuro uelf-rcHpoot , and permit freedom io tho oxercluoof religious habits ; and thna . evon th « schoolboy enjoys » protcotion not provided , or doomed , it would uppoar , renuiuito for tUc yn . « nB < mrt ixsrlmpa originally pure-minded » nd virtuous wifo of th « British soldier .

    system of protection and eiriployment to the wives of our soldiers . Of course they could not understand me . " Were they going out to the seat of war , instead of Sisters of Charity , to minister to the comfort of the sick or-wounded ?"— "Oh no !" " As cooks ?"— " Certainly mot . " " Where were they to live ? what carriage had we for them ? -who was responsible for their conduct ? what pay had they for their duties ? ' * What could I say ? Could I lower the opinion held by the French of oxa army , our discipline , our religious estimate ^ of ourselves as a moral and benevolent people , by telling the Colonel of the Fifth , and my friend the staff officer of the Prince Napoleon , that our -women were perfectly untrained in all habits of usefulness ; that they were allowed to drowd out , to live like sheep upon the Turkish hills 5 that there was neither carriage nor shelter provided for them ; and that , should their conduct be had , they would be turned out of the tents they shared with the men to sit in the burning sun , or- ' lie in ditches outside our camps ? Could I say that these poor creatures might be cast into Turkish prisons , or left in Turkish houses , under promise of passages to their native land , half-starved , unpitied , and nearly killed , or frenzied , by rats arid vermin ? And yet the history would have been too true , saddening as it is to remenaber or to record .

    It may be asked , where were the women of the regiment all this time ? why did they not act as nurses ?¦—A very natural inquiry , and one that would suggest itself to any non-military person , who might have become aware of a large number of women , the wives of soldiers , having been allowed to accompany the army to Turkey , and being then in the camp with their husbands . Several of these women had been cooks , as well as nurses , in the families , of officers at home ; but it is not the system to allow or encourage them to be useful in an hospital . The soldier , as he did here , lies on the ground upon a bed of cut grass , and takes his tenth share of the attendance of an ignorant unpractised soldW like himself ;' atid the women aTe washing in . the sun , or drinking to drowa misery , or quarrelling about the right to some wretched shelter , or doing some bad thing or other , most likely , to whichv their whole previous traiiiihg , in the condition of soldiers' wives , and the suffering of their present state , urges them .

    How much -wiser it would have been to form such women as were allo-wed to accompany their husbands into a band , or " administration , " as the French call it!—to have given specific duties toglasses—made soine needlewomen , some cooks , some nurses is to'have given them encouragement , arid the reputation of having a character to support } to have provided proper shelter for them in the exercise of their duties , proper protection against the evils prominent in their position ; and so , by adding to their comfort and rendering them responsible for the due performance of w « rnairiy duties , have originated an idea in these women ' s minds of the true value of character , and o-f the real importance they might be of , if acting their part in the great drama of irar about to be played . If every regiment had taken this view , and judiciously acted on it—as soon as they left England , employing the women in hospitals , under the control of the medical officers , as in training-schools , till the forces left Varna for the Crimea , and then storing titem , as it were , under proper superintendence , at Scutari , Gallipoli , Therapia , or the Dardanelles , until their services were again required—what immense good might have been done I what enormous sums saved !

    We , in Turkey , should not have witnessed vice going hand-in-hand with misery . "We should not have seen the rays of a burning sun beating down on the heads of our ttnhappy women , and deriving them , half-frenzied , to intoxication for relief . Our ears "would not have been assailed by the language of blasphemous despair , and utter recklessness aa its result . Nor should we here in England have had our feelings harrowed by accounts of the want of woman ' s hand to raise and succour , and by knowing how much . has been endured before the aid that benevolence afforded could possibly reach its object . M Mrs . Young enjoyed , peculiar opportunities of studying the admirable military system of our brave allies , and her testimony corroborates the observations of all who have watched the administration of the two armies since tne beginning of the war . In a word , the French are born soldiers , as the English are born sailors ; but it is in all that relates to the administration of an army tnat the adroit and fascinating symmetry of the French , system , and the coarse and brutal clumsiness of our own , present the most ludicrous and lamentable contrasts .

    It is to he hoped that our national vanity will condescend to take a lesson or two from our ancient foes , and now ( we trust for ever ^ brothers ia arms . The one fact of the two armies having fought and fallen side by side is worth half tlie cost of the war , but we shall do well to belter our instruction in so glorious a rivalry of discipline and valour- Here is a scene on board

    A FRENCH TUAKSPORT . The Thabor was crowded -with French troops ; but fortunately they were French , 00 that Ies 3 annoyance was to bo expected * , aiul moreover I looked to havo a very interesting opportunity of observing a good deal of their system of military discipline . It was possible to enjoy fresh air too , -which would not havo been the case on board an English transport ; but here , on each side of tho deck , was stretched a rope , behind Which the men being ranged , room in the centre waa secured for tho accommodation of the passongers . On the loft hand were grouped tho " Administration , " aa they arc called , composed of a certain number of men employed as attendants on the sick , ¦ with tailors , carpenters , shoemakers , and artisans of all sorts . The attendants on the sick , aa it may be supposed , arc an eminently valuable class ; they nro carefully selected for the work , and regularly trained in . their responsible and important duties . All these soldiers composing the " Administration , " appoared full of intelligencej during tho day they employed themselves in reading , working , and writing—ono or two among thorn even drew -with considerable skill and tasto ; while , in the evening , they formod into h ' ttlo circles , and amused theinsolves by singing . It ia notable , however , with what decorum this matter wna conducted ; there was no uproar , riot .

    nor impropriety of any kind . A sort of loader mounted a littlo yvay up the rigging of tho vessel , to direct tho proceedings ; each circle followed in order , with their gleos and xihorusoa : the songs wero usually aoleeted from Guilfoumo Tell or tho Sonnam ~ bula ; occasionally wo had a solo from Bdrangor , or glees in honour of Napoleon . It wa » obHorvablo in those last , that tho enthusiasm expressed towards tho great leader did not appear so much to arise from his oxploitn , an from his fraternisation with the French army , as every verse ended with tho chorus Ho ato with his soldiers ;"— " II mangcuit avee sen Boldats . " Ono man , of oxtronioly delicate appearance , woe very popular , from his talent for ainglng French romances , which , ho did with a charming voico and oxquiaito tnHto . Tho part of tho matter tho moBt remarkable , however , wan tho perfect propriety oboorved , tho good taato » hown in tho selection of tho music , tho order in succession observed by tho bingora , and tho courtesy and good- ^ feeling , which wore noyor violated . This lnst charactorirttic -wan also very remarkable at Smyrna . Tho French soldiers all wont on shoro , —a certain tariff having bcon fixed for tho boats < nmploycd , —and I looked with terror for their reappearance , expecting sconoa of intoxication and purttHhmont . I liad no causo for alarm , however ; my frlonda all returned sober , polite , and in the best possible humour with each other and thoir boatmen . Tho groat soorot of tho order -which pervados tno French army , and itfl goncrul

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 9, 1854, page 1168, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2068/page/16/