Poor Lightly is looking after his company, and in his anxiety to take it properly into square and say, 'Front turn, sections outwards,' at the proper moment, has drifted into an ingenious state of échelon with the officer marching in front of him. So he looks to his covering accordingly, and by the time this is set right one of the Majors rides up and reminds him of the next word of command, of which he is already aware, and the Colonel, who has an instinctive idea that he will forget, adds his own injunction to remember. The consequence is that Lightly loses his presence of mind and gives the order too soon, to the great confusion of the square--his own confusion not being diminished by the sarcastic comment of the Colonel, conveyed with all the force of that officer's vigorous lungs, that he is not fit to command a corporal's guard. After one or two mishaps of this kind comes a crisis not unfrequent in Lightly's essays at command.

'Mr. Lightly,' cries the Colonel, 'you can fall out. Sergeant Jones, take charge of No. company.'

Poor Lightly feels abjectly humiliated-conscious as he is that the eyes and ears of Europe are upon him. But, after all-considering his very limited experience-the wonder is that he is not a worse Officer. His principal fault, I suspect, is that of being fluttery. There are others in the regiment who are no better, but they have an easy way of setting their mistakes right and making them less conspicuous. Larkins, for instance, treats the whole thing as a joke, and is ostentatiously defiant in many matters of detail. But I never notice that he gets either himself or his company into important scrapes. Perhaps he knows better than he chooses to let us suppose. In the service, as elsewhere, it is sometimes advantageous to pretend to a little incapacity; but this may be too well done, and it is rather a bore if you get people tobelieve you

Some of ours,' I am bound to say, are above suspicion on this score. Several have served in the Line, and others are quite competent for any service at an hour's notice.

The Colonel is an old soldier, and insists upon everything being done up to a service standard; and the rule is observed in all essential respects. The Adjutant, too, who is from the regulars, takes a high moral tone, and is seriously distressed at any want of seriousness, in matters of duty, among the junior officers, as savouring of a Volunteer spirit, which he regards with a holy horror. There are some of us, in the Militia as in the regulars, who take a social rather than a professional view of the service, and look upon dining and dancing as its final cause. These are useful in their way. They are sure to be upon the mess committee, and keep up the courtesies in the way of returning calls which some of us are apt to neglect. They are down for any number of guests on public nights, and are themselves the recipients of invitations from far and near. The local people, it must be said, pay great attention to the regiment, and dinners and dances, kettledrums and croquet parties, are available on all sides. A particular set go in for such things; the remainder seem to run away from them, and dash into town as often as possible. A few, in fact, are seen but little with the regiment: and were there more Officers to supply their places, I suspect that they would not long remain attached. Among the social men are the few among us who are married, and have their wives with them at the training. It is due to them to say that they do not shirk their duties nor omit occasional attendance at mess, while they are always trying-with more or less success-to get up outside entertainments, and are further distinguished by the exercise of much domestic hospitality.

It must not be supposed that the Officers who are so fond of rushing into town are always bent upon pleasure. Several have professional or other avocations which they cannot altogether abandon, and to these some consideration is shown in the way of leave. Two of them have an erratic practice at the bar, and may be seen, at intervals of the training, in Parliamentary committee rooms

down at Westminster, their arms ceded to the toga-their war-paint cast aside for wig and gown. The change is a little embarrassing at first, as I was told by one of these legal warriors, who said that his instinct was to call the committee to attention before addressing them, and tell them off by subdivisions and sections, and that wishing to recall an inadvertent statement one day, he found himself bringing them back to the point by saying, as you were.'

The men, as you know, have many occupations. The most respectable among them make the best soldiers; they are quick, intelligent, well conducted, and give very little trouble. These are generally artisans of one kind or another, and some of them are so well-to-do that they ask as a favour to have their pay reserved for them until the end of the training. The larger proportion, however, have very miscellaneous occupations, or none at all.

Besides costermongers there are a few dog-fanciers, and I have a suspicion that chimney-sweeps are not unrepresented among us. Of day-labourers there are a considerable number, and others seem to pick up a livelihood in any way they can. To those whose occupations demand the concession, occasional leave is given 'on private affairs.' The most poor are not always the most apparently grateful to the service which provides for them during at least a part of the year; but it is probable that they are never so well off as during the training; and after that, besides their pay, allowances, and bounty, they have the advantage of retaining their boots, two shirts, and two pairs of socks, as their private property. All of these articles being the best of their kind that can be made.

Among men of such varied pursuits some will necessarily make better soldiers than others; but all are up to a very fair standard, and, in this respect, the men of towns have considerable advantage over men of the country-they learn more quickly and retain more readily. They have plenty of drill

-morning and afternoon regularly, unless the weather be absolutely prohibitory-for time is short and efficiency imperative. For the rest the duties are such as belong to any regiment of the Line in country quarters. The commanders of companies are responsible, as we have seen, for the pay of their men, and have to keep a strict account with their pay-sergeants for the moneys which they disburse-being supplied with fifty pounds each, every week, on account of the estimate of the ultimate expense, which is very carefully made. They have also to keep the defaulters' book, and enter the 'crimes,' for which their men may be brought up to orderly-room, from the guard report, besides checking the ledger and the paysheet, and being responsible for their correctness. They have also, with the subalterns, to take their turn of orderly duty, and the Queen's regulations under this head are strictly observed. There is a Captain and subaltern appointed by rotation each day for this duty, and two officers, one of each rank, are 'in waiting'-that is to say, are held in readiness to take the duty in case of accident. Each Officer goes the rounds once by day and once by night-turning out and inspecting the guard, visiting the prisoners, if any, in the guard-room and cells, examining the sentinels in order to see that they know their orders, and also, during the day, visiting the hospitals in order to make sure that everything is as it should be. In the case of the prisoners and the hospital patients the Officer is expressly enjoined to ask if there are any complaints-as. to treatment and so forth-and to notify the result in his next morning's report. Sometimes you get extra regulation answers to inquiries of the kind. Thus a sentry whom I was visiting, after reciting the bulk of his orders, concluded thus

to salute all officers according to rank, and prevent the children from scratching the adjutant's carriage.'

The latter was of course an extraneous instruction given by the corporal of the guard, and related

to a newly-varnished brougham which was standing under the arms-shed.

A hospital patient, when I asked him if he had any complaints to make, replied

Why, sir, Bill Simmons bin and hit me over the head with a pewter pot.'

As he was already being treated for the consequence of Bill Simmons' exuberance of temper, there was no need to include that item in my report.

One of the least pleasant parts of the Officers' duties-specially enjoined by the Queen's regulations— is in these days enforced with great exactitude. This consists in being called into the Officers' room from time to time, to be examined by the Colonel as to our knowledge of various points relating to drill and discipline. There is no escaping this catechism, which is not a little embarrassing to junior Officers, who, as they say, 'know how to do things, but can't say how they are done.' The questions embrace a wide range.

You are asked one minute, for instance, how you would form open column right in front, or line on the leading company; and the next you are interrogated as to the duties of a judge-advocate at courts-martial; presently you are required to state the pay and allowances of a corporal, or the price of the piece of sponge contained in a kit. The majority of us, it is right to say, answer most questions correctly; but others are reduced to make chance shots or a frank confession of ignorance. I have known such a thing as a very young Officer taking his seat as nearly as possible in rear of the Colonel, so as to avoid catching that officer's eye-an abject expedient invented, I believe, in the Line. We are always glad when this ordeal is over, and we feel ourselves once more Officers and Gentlemen instead of small boys at school.

There are various phases in the training by which its progress is marked. The first week is one of settling down. The parades are regular after the first two days, but a great deal has to be done in the

way of interior organisation, and the mess is not quite what it will be. A few people have called, and a few have received invitations, but the festivities are not in full force. The second week is one of thorough work. The regiment is in excellent order, and is beginning to do its best on the ground; our visitors at the mess-when we have by this time made a note of the best wines -are increasing in number, and we are bidden to entertainments in the neighbourhood. The third week we are in our best form, as regards both our exercise and our social gatherings. The movements are executed with wonderful precision, and another stock has been ordered of that favourite dry champagne. About this time we learn the day fixed for the inspection, which is usually about the middle of the fourth week, and the knowledge gives a new impetus to everybody. Some new manoeuvres are gone through on the field; there is a great deal of 'mugging up' from the

Field Exercise' and the 'Queen's Regulations,' in case of questions being asked; and long discussions take place as to the nature of the lunch-which is always made a feature upon such occasions-and the feasibility of further festivities. A couple of Officers who are going up for promotion become preternaturally diligent as the day of examination draws near; and their interviews with the little red books aforesaid are of a sustained character.

About this time-if it has not taken place before there is a 'marching order' parade, and an inspection of kits by the commanding officer. The latter proceeding is gone through before the regiment leaves the barrack-yard. The rear rank of each company being faced about, the men deposit their knapsacks on the ground in front of them, open them, and display their contents in proper order.

The contents are not in proper order in the beginning, as you may suppose, and getting them into proper order is a work of time. At first sight it may seem somewhat absurd that there should be any regulation as to the distribution of

the various articles; but the object is to insure neat packing and the occupation of the smallest possible space, and without regulation this would not be secured. Neatness in such arrangements is not a spontaneous military virtue, and men if left to do as they pleased would please to stuff their 'things' in anyhow, and lose or leave behind them a great many of the said things into the bargain. To meet this failing it is enjoined that each article composing the kit shall occupy a certain relative position, departure from which shall on no account be permitted. The sergeants do the rough work in the enforcement of uniformity, under the supervision of the officers, whose moral influence is strong in the matter, and saves a great deal of disputing. There is a model kit somewhere, from which the rest are supposed to be copied, but the sergeants are apt to have ideas of their own, derived from the practice of the several line regiments in which they have served, and a little discrepancy is the consequence. Thus my company, as far as I know, is settling everything in its proper place. We are getting on very well, in fact. The spare trousers are folded up at the bottom of the knapsack; the spare shirt is rolled up on the right, the socks are placed next, and next to these come the towels. The remainder of the space is occupied by the four brushes-for boots, clothes, and hair-the little box of blacking, and the sponge. The jacket (in marching order the tunics are on the backs of the men) is folded up in front of the knapsack, with the forage cap (the shakos are on the heads) placed in front, and the hold-all, with its minor appurtenances, a little in rear of these, but in front of the knapsack. It is not very easy to make the men observant of arrangement. Some roll up the articles unceremoniously in very small compass; others display them as if they were meant to tempt purchasers in a shop-window. Both faults have to be amended. In the disposition of the brushes it is especially difficult to make them economists of space. They have an

inevitable tendency to place the two long brushes together and the two short ones in a line, whereas the junction of a short one with a long one just fills the vacant space, and is an obvious measure of economy. I, as well as the other company officers, have to enter into distressing details of this kind, and bring to bear all the experience which we have ever obtained in the packing of portmanteaus. I have nearly succeeded in obtaining uniformity, when it is found that the model kit, which nobody seems to have noticed for some time, differs in some prominent respects. So a great deal of the work has to be done over again. The front rank claims my first attention. Here, to begin with, I find the right flank man has packed his knapsack erroneously. I have to assure him that he has his towels in the wrong place, and that his shirt should be in the position occupied by his socks. As for his brushes, his blacking, and his sponge, they are all wild and wandering, so a general redistribution becomes necessary; and so on, man after man. But it is wonderful how they make up for misguided time when they know that the Colonel is coming round. There is always a difficulty about the hold-all. This little epitome of a dressing-case-similar to what is called in old-fashioned domestic circles a housewife-contains the knife, fork, spoon, razor, comb, button-brass, and shavingbrush. They should all be displayed in certain rotation, but men will be men, and I regret to see that several of these articles appear in improper places. You think you have just got them right; the front rank is quite correct, and you have gone round to see that the rear rank is equally up to the mark, when up comes the Adjutant, who is giving us the benefit of a pre

liminary supervision. • Quite

wrong,' he says; the button-brass and the comb should change places; and the mandate thereupon goes up and down the line. You think you are right again, when another order is received from authority, that the shaving-brush

should have its handle pointed towards the Officer. This is awful; the tendency of the shaving-brushes in my company is to have their handles towards the men, so another adjustment in both ranks becomes necessary. Everything seems right now, but we suddenly discover that in many instances the marks on the socks and towels are not displayed, as enjoined by regulation; so the erring articles are refolded, and after that the kits are surely sans reproche. Not so. Some of the forage caps are so laid that the devices on their fronts do not duly appear to tue eye; so these have to be altered. After this everything is right except some of the shavingbrushes-the shaving-brushes always give trouble-which at the last moment are found to turn their bristles instead of their handles outwards. There is just time to prevent this insulting demonstration before the commanding officer comes round, when the company officer, calling the men to attention, conducts him with great gravity along the ranks. The eye of our Commandant is proverbial for seeing everything, but no grave deviation from decorum is noticed in my company; the only irregularity pointed out being the unnecessary display of two shirts and two pairs of socks by some of the men, the presumption being that they would be wearing some part of their regimental necessaries.

This important business being concluded, the knapsacks are closed, and deposited under the shed while we march out for exercise.

The Inspection comes in due course. Eleven o'clock is the time appointed, and precisely at that hour we are on the field ready to receive the Inspecting Officer-drawn up in line with shouldered arms, the Officers in front and at the port. Immediately upon his arrival there is a general salute, after which the Inspecting Officer rides along the line, accompanied by the Colonel, and makes his observations. After this comes manual and platoon exercise, and we are then put through a series of manoeuvres at his dictation; and then he calls upon the senior Cap

tain to exercise the battalion. The senior Captain does not half like it, but he gets through his task very respectably, and after a sufficiently hard morning's work we march back to barracks. Here, in the barracksquare, follows an examination of the kits, which are fortunately in very good order, even the refractory shaving-brushes being in their places. This is succeeded by an investigation in the orderly-room of various matters relating to the interior economy of the regiment. There are some preliminary inquiries in which the regimental staff are concerned, and then the Officers of companies are called in by rotation to give an account of their commands. The books of each company are already deposited, as well as the books which each Officer is required to keep by him for his instruction and guidance. With the latter the Inspecting Officer does not much trouble himself; but if they were not there he would be sure to notice the fact. As the examination gets more stringent every year, there is naturally some anxiety felt on the part of those who have to encounter it; for they are liable to be asked all kinds of impertinent questions, ranging from battalion movements to the price of a pair of boots. We are sure at any rate to be made to show that we are able to keep the regimental books, and have kept them to the extent required; and it is strange indeed if we are not met with a variety of minor and unexpected inquiries. These we get through as we best can, and when we break down it is usually in reference to such matters as the prices of articles, in which, as we consider, the quartermaster is more concerned than ourselves. Prices, by-the-way, would be much more easily remembered if they seemed to us more important, and if they did not include so many ignoble details-so many twopencehalfpennys and penny-three-farthings tacked on to round sums. The opinion is quite at variance with all authority, but the general impression among us is that the most distinguished Officers in the service would be least likely to