object in view; that is, to accustom the recruit
to the sight and sound of weapons meeting in
conflict—to accustom him to see clearly through
a mass of crossed swords and bayonets, and
to remain cool while swords flash, under shocks,
unexpected blows, and rapid orders. A fencing-room
in which twenty or thirty couples of men
are practising, is a fair illustration of a mêlée
with cold weapons. The prévosts d'armes dispersed
about the apartment giving rapid instructions
to thrust here, to cut there, to feint,
retreat, advance, parry, halt; the stamping of
feet, the shouts, the dust, and above all the
energy of everybody, every man eager in good
faith to defeat his opponent;—these things are
calculated to accustom the recruit to the tumult
of real action. Similarly, the infantry are taught
dancing; not that the men should figure to
advantage in a waltz or in a polka, but to train
them in deportment and agility, and to teach them
how to navigate through a moving and whirling
crowd, and avoid jostling each other during rapid
movements. The same may be said of gymnastics;
the men are induced to practise them as a
recreation, but are effectually taught to analyse
every movement of which their limbs are capable,
to learn their strength, and how to husband it.
The recruit is also taught to swim. Water, when
it becomes familiar, is the best of friends. Soldiers
have been known to march fifteen miles further
(after a long march) under a sultry sun, when the
officers have given them orders to bathe for half
an hour.

The recruit is enticed to the river on a
sultry broiling day. There, the fear of water
naturally seizes him; but he is entrusted to the
hands of a veteran swimmer, who gives him his
first lesson, and little by little he becomes expert;
he learns to dive too, and ascertain the nature
of a river-bed, so that the engineer may judge
from his report what sort of bridge may be
thrown across a stream. He is taught how to
swim a long time, how to rest himself, how to
save a companion; he is trained to swim with
his clothes on, to carry his musket dry, and to
practise a thousand dodges, by which he may
approach unnoticed the opposite bank of a river,
where an enemy is encamped.

The medical authorities of the French army
especially recommend that men inclined to
diseases of the chest should be continually made to
swim. The following are the effects (which M.
le Docteur Dudon attributes to swimming) on
the organs of respiration:

"A swimmer wishing to proceed from one
place to another, is obliged to deploy his arms
and legs to cut through the liquid, and to beat
the water with them to sustain himself. It
is to the chest, as being the central point of
sustentation, that every movement of the limbs
responds. This irradiation of the movements to the
chest, far from being hurtful to it, are beneficial,
for according to a sacred principle of physiology,
the more an organ is put in action, the more
vigour and aptitude it will gain to perform its
functions. Applying this principle unto natation,
it will easily be conceived how the membranes of
the chest of a swimmer acquire development—the
pulmonary tissues firmness, tone, and energy."

From almost the first day of his arrival in the
regiment, the recruit is taught how to cook
every sort of food he is ever likely to have;
how best to dress rice, hard biscuits,
vegetables; how to make bread, to make soup, and
generally how to make the most of a little.
Every man has his day by turns in the kitchen, and
he who dishes up the best soup or ragoût receives
the congratulations of his comrades. He
has the honour of being elected chef de cuisine
on certain festive occasions, such as the fête-day
of the emperor, when the troops receive extra and
daintier rations. He gets more than hollow
praise, for he is allowed to select, for himself and
a few of his own chums, the best of the tit-bits.

So far and further is the recruit taught. All
this he must know practically before he can
aspire to the rank of corporal. When he has
finished drill, fencing, gymnastics, dancing,
swimming, and thoroughly understands the
work of a good practical soldier, and the duty of
subordination, he has books delivered to him in
which he may learn how to instruct recruits,
may gain a theoretical knowledge of what he
knows practically, and may prepare himself to
compete for the chevrons, and ultimately to become
a distinguished officer—for the French military
authorities seek talent in every class: fortune
being with them quite an inferior consideration.
Let a man only show aptitude, and the government
will furnish him with means to sustain any
rank it may confer. More than that: wise military
laws and regulations will compel him to live
within his pay—not within his private means, but
his military pay.

It is not many years since the purchase-system
was abolished in the French army. The present
laws or ordinances regulating advancement
in the French army, came into life at different
periods of the Revolution of '93; were collected,
revised, and decreed as a code, by Napoleon the
First; and have remained in force under each
successive dynasty. So clearly do these laws specify
that merit, and merit alone, shall entitle to promotion,
that a clause in them authorises a meritorious
man to prove his right to it, when any
arbitrary act of administration has deprived him
of his just advantages. The mode of reclamation
is indicated as follows: " Any soldier, non-
commissioned officer, or officer, having any claims to
promotion or other rewards, shall be enabled to
reclaim them of the general inspector, when that
officer visits the corps at the time of the inspections."

The various indisputable claims a soldier can
have to promotion may be succinctly summed up
as the following:

1. General good conduct. Every punishment
inflicted must be noted and explained in the
"Régistre des Punitions," and a man's claims in
this respect can always be precisely verified.