annoyed by having a sentry placed near her
sick bed, as she had never been used to
greater privacy, and had no feelings to be
outraged. Let promotion from the ranks be
extended as you will; but it must always be
impossible to place men and women who have
become reconciled to the accomodation afforded
to soldiers and their wives and subjected to the
influences naturally arising therefrom, on a
real equality with gentlemen and ladies. The gulf
between the two classes is felt on the one side
equally with the other; and, so strongly on one
side in particular, that non-commissioned officers
have repeatedly refused commissions because
they knew the mingling to be a mere mockery.
If therefore the condition of the soldier be ever
to be really improved, it must be through a
change in his domestic condition, and towards
this object we are glad to see that a very useful
suggestion has lately been made.

The suggestion comes all the way from
Madras, and it is something to say in its favour
that it has been acted upon there with success.
It consists in the establishment of "Female
Workshops"—which might be more correctly
described as Workshops for Females—in some of
the European regiments. One of these is now
maintained in connexion with the Sixty-ninth
Foot, at Fort St. George. But the experiment
has been tried on a more extensive scale by
Brigadier-General Grant, commanding the
Hyderabad Subsidiary Force. This officer has, at
his own expense, established workshops for
females in the European corps under his
command; and so successful has he found their
operation that he has suggested to the government
the introduction of the system throughout
the army. The effect of the measure is not only
to furnish employment of a remunerative kind to
the wives of soldiers, but to produce valuable
moral benefits. It is stated that the local
government has refused to forward the
Brigadier-General's suggestions, to the home
authorities—upon what Un-Circumlocutional
ground it would be difficult to conceive—but
they deserve attention none the less, even
though received through an irregular channel.
In England, such institutions would be
productive of immense good. The clothing of the
troops, for instance, is now supplied on the
contract system: why should it not be made in
workshops established at the head-quarters of
every regiment, and more especially at the
stations of the depot battalions? In that case,
not only could the greater number, if not all,
of the wives of the men be employed, but a
direct advantage would accrue to government
from this disposal of the work. Soldiers' clothing
is now made by miserable creatures in
dens which are a frequent source of disease.
It is obvious that the work could be better
performed in large and well ventilated workshops,
and the discipline of such establishments could
not fail to have a good moral effect.

We have heard of the experiment being tried
somewhere, of clubs in which the wives and
families of soldiers are admitted with the men.
This is a plan which would be worth considering
— at any rate as regards one part of the
club-building. Objections might be made on
the score of the too intimate association
involved. But the association could surely not be
more intimate than that necessitated in
barracks: while the mingling might be conducive
to outward propriety, which is a very good
preparation for better things.

Some comparison has been made between our
military system and that of France. It can
scarcely be said that they manage things better
in the latter country as regards soldiers' wives.
In the French army, marriage, even among
officers, is discouraged as much as possible! To
wed without permission is a military offence,
and the proportion of married soldiers is very
small. But the arrangement is open to
objections which would be so strongly felt in England,
that it may be considered altogether
inapplicable to our army.

The material condition of the soldier is receiving
every kind of attention. Let his moral
condition be improved by domestic influences,
and his professional utility cannot fail to
improve itself. By having care for soldiers' wives,
we shall not only save them from degradation,
but shall promote the welfare of their husbands,
and through them conduce to the interests of the
service; which, just now, is in much need of
enlistments, and especially of re-enlistments.

TOO LATE FOR COPENHAGEN.

"LAND HO!" sung out the sailor from aloft,
bending down from his giddy perch on the yardarm,
and using his hand as a speaking-trumpet.
The captain sprang into the rigging and swept
the horizon with his glass. I imitated his
example, as I was weary of my floating prison.

"Land it is!" said Captain Brown, cheerfully;
"not in that direction, though, Mr. Compton,
sir. You are looking at Fehmern. The
mainland lies on the starboard tack. Mind what
you're doing, you, there, at the helm. Keep
her full, can't ye?—there's Holstein. Looms
low, don't it, and yet land's always attractive
to a passenger!"

By-and-by we stood into the pretty fiord at
the extremity of which stands Kiel. The setting
sun turned the smooth waters of the bay into
rippling gold, and I looked forward with pleasure
to the prospect of landing. The Emma
was the property of Hallett and Jones, my
employers, who did a great business both with
Hamburg and the Baltic ports. She was laden
with a valuable cargo of hardware, drugs,
dyewoods, and sheet lead, to say nothing of several
hundred tons of the rails required for one of
the first of the Danish railways. These goods
were consigned to a well-known firm, Krantz
and Co., of Kiel, wealthy and well-known
merchants with whom our house had had
extensive transactions. And I, who was in the full
confidence of my principals, had been sent as
supercargo. Now-a-days, supercargoes are