The Press. — London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

X ittraturt. Passages in the Life of a Soldier ; or, Military Service in the East and IVest. By Lieutenant- Colonel Sir James E. Alexander, Kat., K.C.L.S. Two Vols. London : Hurst and Blackett. Moot as we detest bookmaking, we have no objection to more arrangement of detail and careful construction of material than Sir James Alexander cares to exhibit. The gallant lieut.-colonel is a very fair type of that class of ambitious military and naval writers who, laden with material, but wanting all powers of arrangement, pour out their recollections upon us in a species of hodge-podge in which every event of their lives is mixed up in an inextri cable chaos. No doubt they have had groat ex perience of life, have seen much service, and passed through a career varied and interesting, but what on earth is the use to them of all their material if they are ignorant of the very alphabet of the business they undertake? These writers literally know nothing of the art of construction. They enjoy a good book like they do a good story, but they can neither tell the one nor construct. the other. As well might they, in the Crimea, have put a division or a ship under the command of a " special cor respondent," and have expectedeither to be effi ciently manoeuvred. Sir Jas. Alexander we know to be a very gallant soldier, but he writes a very bad book. And this is not his only fault, for besides being as heavy at description as his chief, General Simpson, he is intolerably dull in detail, and having a weakness for ter• perance and moral reform, and such light subjects, he constantly indulges us with fusty platitudes in the shape of moral re flections. What can be said of a man who moralises upon the failure of the attack upon the Redan on the 18th of June after this fashion?— It seemed that, after the dashing way in which we took the Quarries, and the French the Mamelon, on the 7th June, we were a little too proud, and required humbling. We seldom have it all our own way in this world, and are doomed to frequent disappointments. Or on the grand assault of the Bth of Septem ber in this style ? It was never intended that we should have invariable suceess,—we might become insolent when we are enjoined humility; and balancing our successes afloat and ashore in this war against our reverses, we have much reason to be thankful for what we have been permitted to achieve. This is my view of the matter, and I hope I am not singu• lar in these opinions. Or, when he treads upon a fongasse, tells us that " war rejoices in hellish inventions to " mar our Maker's image!" or when he passes a party of artillerymen keenly looking out for a " pot " at the Russians, reflects ? Alas 1 for human nature, what delight it would have given to these cannoneer* to see a dozen arms and legs go into the air to testify the correctness of their aim. We could multiply instances of this " gentle dulness," which may be suited to a private diary, but isnot admissible in a published book. We will now try to discover something more palatable to our readers. Those portions of his military career which were spent in Canada and the Crimea have been selected by the lieutenant-colonel for his " Passages." NVe have had so many books, good, bad, and indifferent, upon Canada and its sports, that there is nothing very novel or enticing in those portions of the " Passages," which read more like extracts from a diary than detailed and descriptive accounts of hunting or fishing expeditions. We have, of course, " noble views of hill and " forest far and near." Lake Chateauguay, we aro told, appeared like " a broad patch of " water backed by a wooded hill," and a grand mountain prospect is described as •' the " mountain opposite, apparently some thou " sands of feet high, and now powdered with " early snow, whilst below were swelling ridges, dark with the evergreen firs. Light, " fleecy clouds floated in tho transparent " American sky, and the glad waters sparlded "in the sunlight." Wooiltinten and int ppm of course abound '• in these- great " where still roam the moose deer, with its palmated horns and huge bulk, the brown " Virginian deer, panthers, lynxes, bars, THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 26,1857. " foxes, racoons, and other game, animals and " beasts of prey." And here life may be en joyed to its fullest extent—" the sensibilities being powerfully influenced by the clear " skies and solemn hills overhead ; the dark " woods and bright waters around ; and the " air redolent of the balsamic odours of the " silent wilderness." To judge from the minuteness and gusto with which the gallant colonel notes the quantity and quality of every meal ho made, the delicate flavour of the fish, the value of " milk emptyings," and the whole process of cooking fish, flesh, and fowl, from the boiling and roasting a porcupine to soften his " crackling," to stewing a sheldrake in three naters to modify his fishy flavour, he lived upon something more sub stantial than " balsamic odours." For ex ample, after a fair din's shooting he gets himself " comforted with tea," happy man ! and with soft toast and plain bread " of au excellent quality," and biscuits and honeycomb, " refreshes " himself, as he expresses it. Who can doubt but that the sporting man who re freshes himself with honeycomb and soft toast must have a soul above grouse and woodcock, and cannot appreciate a rump steak with the "gravy in it " ? No, be likes a mess of apple sauce, potatoes, maccaroni, and roast beef, and justifies his teste I would rather use these mixturn, than sit down to underdone meat, the trail of woodcock, or to " high" grouse; the taste for which, in England, is to me in comprehensible. Lehacen a son mauvais gout.l Of course a man who goes out deer stalking a ndj comforts himself with " tea," is just the sort of sportsman to write such a passage as this. "Old Bellows," the trapper, has brought down a " plump doe," whereupon the colonel moralises : The wanton destruction of this or of any other of the gifts of Providence, provided for the sustenance of man, is most reprehensible, but we have never scrupled to indulge in the chase in moderation, particularly as we never have yet assisted to slay the Jere watinr, except to use them or to let others do so. But our gallant colonel's sporting is, after all, very mild. He confesses to once catching a porcupine with his plaid ! But, to come to something more practical and less tedious than these (dark) " passages" in a hunting tour The gallant colonel visits the American Military School, at West Point, and gives us some notion of their " educa tional economy." As the result of his visit, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander advocates the training our cavalry to skirmish on foot : I am convinced, that it a commanding officer, and troop officers generally, encouraged dragoons to exercise on foot as well as mounted, and set them the example, we might get dismounted men to skirmish ovor broken ground, ( which cavalry are at present obliged to avoid), to climb hills, to storm field-works, to run, leap, swim. I would abolish all useless ornament and unnecessary weight in equipping this corps ; give the men light leather helmets (12 or 14 oz.) bronzed, with a lion•fronted crest, sabre proof, a short scarlet frock, bronzed buttons, dark-green facings, shoulder chains, such as were in use fifty years ago, dark-green trousers reinforced, and scarlet stripes, strap spurs. The arms, a light fail or short rifle, 7or 8 lbs. weight, a long straight sabre, and a small bayonet to fix, if charged whilst on foot by cavalry, brown belts (imitation Russian leather). I believe that men, turned out in this style, with military simplicity, and imbued with a chival rous spirit, would do excellent service ; and such should be our British yeomanry, in the national scarlet hunting frock. Let it be tried ! Better to run the risk, in red, of a rifle ballet, than to be shot by one's own people for wearing a foreign uniform. I lately tried the effect of blue, black, grey, and red jackets, at 1,000 yards ; all were faintly distinguished, and nearly alike marked, but a white belt across the body made a man a target at once. " Military simplicity '' is a difficult term to de fine ; it may mean anything between the stock and cross belt or jack boots of our Life Guards and the lance and bournous of an Arab. Such a force, and indeed every military force, should be equipped, not encumbered, with arms. Tule American artillery waggons he believeg superior to ours, and their mode of fitting their fasces to shells is certainly worthy of attention : The wheels were lightQr , less dished, and had smaller naves than the En4lish. I think the Anierican wheel en: rally is well worth careful study and attention. The nu•caniiges weer p tinted olive; e wa;.lait carried a spare wheel. for which an iran spindle was fixed to the hinipirt of the atletrae of the limber. The fasees wen• eta into lengths calculated f.)rrespe-ztive diitances, wire driven in past •b., tr.l ilste td of wool, end did nut require to be cut 11 fore being inserted into the shell. The lengths of range were denoted by colours, white, red, or yellow, which every soldier emit," easily understand. The fusees fix into a wooden plug, which is placed in the usual manner in the shell with the bursting powder; percussion caps fitted on the hammer, and were made of paper instead of copper. These were carried packed in tin cases of 1,000: and during the Mexican war, were never known to explode. Lastly, the fire f rom t h e caps is so strong, the cartridge need not be pricked. The discipline of the American army is pecu liar. During the Mexican war a great jealousy existed between the " Regulars " and the " Militia," the rank of whose respective officers occasionally clashed. Here is a good aces• dote in point : General " Downy," of the militia (lauded in a History of the War), in passing a volunteer sentry, who was lounging on the trail of a gun, called out, " Stand np, sir, and salute, or I'll take you off your post," whereupon the sentry, applying his thumb to his nose, said, " That won't do, Uen'ril, I tell ye; I was posted here by a regular lootenant." About the only detailed narrative in these volumes is the account of the arrival and recep tion of Gavazzi in Canada. Gavazzi's first lec ture was delivered at Toronto, where no opposi tion was offered him, the Protestant element being in the ascendancy ; but at Quebec the Roman Catholics prevailed. The first lecture passed off quietly—it took the Catholics by surprise. On the second occasion they were prepared. Gavazzi had told thorn in thrilling terms the horrors of the Inquisition, and, adding action to words, so closely imitated the dying agonies of the sufferers, that the people were spellbound for a moment, and then burst at him in a flood of fury. He was very nearly enjoying a practical application of the tortures he had so well imitated : Nine o'clock had struck ; it had become dusk ; when, in talking of Ribbonism in Ireland, that combination for mar der and violence, Gavazzi asserted that the priests did not try to put it down, when a voice front the body of the church called out, " It's a lie I" whereupon there was a cry of " Turn him out." The interruption seemed to be a signal for a general outbreak. The greatest confusion and tumult immediately ensued, and a volley of stones was thrown from the outside through the windows and in at the doors towards the pulpit. Dr. Cook, the eloquent and excellent minister of St. Andrew's Church, got into the precentor's or clerk's seat, and attempted in vain to ad dress the excited multitude. The sheriff Sewell, and Mr. R. Symes, the energetic magistrate, tried also to restore order ; but rioters from the outside rushing past the unre sisting police, and joined with those already inside, first hurled bibles and psalm-books from the pews at the head of Gavazzi, and then attempted to storm the pulpit, which is lofty, stands out from the well, and is ascended by two stairs in the rear. The design of the rioters seemed to be to tear Gavazzi from the pulpit, and to beat him to death with bludgeons on the spot. He knew he was in great peril, and that the most strenuous efforts were required to preserve his life. His muscular power and well knit frame stood him now in good stead. Seizing the chair whiet stood in the pulpit, he struck down the first rioters who ascended the stair, and he battled with this weapon valiantly. A gallant sergeant of artillery, " Lawson " by name, an honour to his corps (and afterwards presented with a gold watch by some of his civilian admirers), seeing the fearful odds mustering against Gavazzi, sprang to the rescue, got into the pulpit with Gavazzi, and fought by his side. His aid was very important; likewise that of Captain Houltain, R. A., and Lieutenant Noble, R.E. The chair was torn from Gavazzi's gra►p, when he seized a stool, and wielded it also with effect; till his assailants, climbing up behind when he was occupied iu front, overpowered him, and the sergeant and the padre were hurled out of the pulpit by the legs. Fortunately there was a crowd of rioters and Gavazzi's friends strug gling below. He fell fifteen feet, on their heads, and thus escaped death front the fall. Regaining his feet, he hurried into the basement, where his secretary was also carried, though with black eyes and much bruised. It is agreeable to turn from this tumult to a pleasant little " aside ": One or two strange incidents ocottrred, not reflecting much credit on the gallantry of the sterner sex, one of whom, having escorted a lady to church, after the tumult began, climbed into alkali) position, and then, looking down at the lady, said—" Can yon get np hex ?" " No," was the agonising answer. " Well, for God's sake, take care of yourself," said the hero. A more serious riot, and the loss of many lives, compelled Oavazzi to retreat. We must pass rapidly over the remainder of the gallant colonel's Canadian career, his voyage to England in 1855, and his arrival at Balaklava the same year. From an officer of his rank, intimate with the generals, and daily employed upon active duty in the front, wo expected some authentic statements upon many of the great events of the war. But there is nothing of the sort. a wretchedly meagre description, apparently made up of disjointed extracts from private letters and hasty jottings from a camp diary. comprise all that is novel in his det tile. He says not a word about Alma, and does not deign to men tion the fatuous flank maroh, so daring in 914