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,