motion. Some of the recruits felt tired, and
one of them sat down on a bag of sawdust, but
the sergeant quickly got him off with, " Now,
shall I send you a pillow? I am afraid you are
tired. Some of you fellows do, 'pon my soul!
Well, I never——!" and here the sergeant tossed
his head as if the remainder of the sentence was
too big for expression.

The gymnasium closes at three o'clock, and
then we nave done drill for the day. You,
however, have to keep clean your arms, &c., and
probably this will take you some hours in the
evening, especially if you have to parade in
marching order on the morrow. One day in
barracks is so much like another that I can
really give no better summing up than an Irish
boy in our room, who says, " It be all alike, you
know." On Sunday morning the Catholics
parade in side-arms at eight o'clock, and go to
chapel. The Protestants at ten o'clock go to
the barrack church, which is, in reality, a school-
room, and used as such on working days. The
officers sit at the upper end of the room, the
soldiers in the body. The chaplain to the depôt
preaches, but his voice is not very high; indeed,
the last Sunday, I, seated at the lower end of
the room, just as much knew what he had been
preaching about as if he had spoken in Greek.
The audience do not, as in other churches, rise
one after the other, but all rise at once, making
a great noise from their side-arms clattering.

I went out one night with the two Welshmen
of our room—one of whom I have mentioned as
having cells and being cropped close—and, after
walking some distance, we found we should be
late. It was just ten minutes after the time
when we got in, and we were taken before the
sergeant-major, who took our names. The next
morning we were brought before the captain of
our company by the orderly sergeant. This
man was much against us, and stated that we
were frequently late, which was an untruth. I
explained respectfully to the captain that I was
a recruit, and he let me off. To the next man,
Evans, he said, " I shall give you three days to
barracks."

Evans said, " I hope not, sir. It will stop
my pass."

The orderly sergeant insisted that he was
always late, and Evans was obliged to appeal
to tne colour-sergeant whether it was true.
The " colour bloke," as he is called, said Evans
was very punctual, and so he got off, but the next
man (he who had been in cells) was sentenced
to three days' barracks. The captain probably
thought that his hair being cut short condemned
him at once. The orderly sergeant, a regular
"griffin," is determined to " lag" Evans, so
he says, for proving him a liar, and he only
waits the opportunity. Any man accused of a
crime, such as the above one, once in four
months, gets deprived of a pass for ten days or
longer, just as he may wish, if he be convicted,
and this will explain Evans's anxiety about his
"pass," as he wanted to go home about the
beginning of April. The additional punishment
on to the cells made our friend quite mad, and
has only made him more disgusted than ever at
the " service."

It takes a long time to get used to the army.
There is no end of regulations. On Saturday
all the men are relieved from drill, but have to
go on " coal fatigue," that is, two and two, each
carrying a box of coals from the coal-shed to
the several barrack-rooms. Each barrack-room
is allowed two of these boxes a week, which is
quite sufficient. This coal fatigue lasts you until
twelve o'clock, when an officer comes round and
inspects each soldier's kit, to see that he has
everything right. If not, perhaps two days to
barracks is your fate. The " two days to
barracks" consist in answering your name every
half hour, and having an hour's extra drill each
evening, under the special charge of Sergeant
Brownlow. With these exceptions, there is very
little alteration in a soldier's life in barracks.

I must say it, that there are few soldiers here
that I could trust; they all will lie, and, to put
it mildly, appropriate whatever they can. I
doubt not it is the same in all barracks. The
English army, so long as it is constituted as it
is, will always remain an army of thieves and
blackguards—the scum of the land—only kept
under control by strict discipline. The soldier's
pay is fivepence a day, after paying for provisions
—rations they are called—and some people
wish to increase it. It would do good to a few,
but only increase the drunkenness that already
prevails to a fearful extent in the many. There
are no really intelligent men here, or any that I
take a pleasure in conversing with. The cause
why so few educated men are in the army is
obvious.

I hope I have described it fully as you wish;
but I was afraid of going over the same ground
twice, for when you have given one day's
experience you have given all.

MR. CHARLES DICKENS'S READINGS.

MR. CHARLES DICKENS will read in London, at ST.
JAMES'S HALL, on Tuesday Evening, April 10th,

DOCTOR MARIGOLD,

For the first time.

Mr. DICKENS will also Read at Liverpool on Wednesday
and Friday evenings, April 11th and 13th, and on Saturday
morning the 14th, at Manchester on Thursday the
12th, at Glasgow on Tuesday and Thursday evenings the
17th and 19th, and at Edinburgh on Wednesday and
Friday evenings the 18th and 20th, and on Saturday afternoon
the 21st of April.