The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-26 00:00:00

LITRR 471717 E

Red, White, and Blue. Sketches of Military Life.
By the author of "Flemish Interiors." 3 vols.
Hurst and Blackett.

The writer of the volumes before us has already
introduced some animated pictures of military life
in his former works. He is evidently familiar with
his subject, especially as regards the French sol-
dier ; and, notwithstanding some drawbacks, the
information which he conveys, and the lively and
graphic style in which he writes, will secure the
attention both of military readers and civilians.
His chief defect, at least in the eyes of our country-
men, is the strong prejudice which he is continually
displaying against everything English—Govern-
ment, officers, soldiers, military system, moral con-
duct, religion, all are at fault ; even the Sisters of
Charity cannot be praised without an unworthy
sneer at the efforts of our English nurses. An un-
prejudiced reader belonging to neither country
might think it passing strange that, amid so many
pages devoted to its mistakes, misfortunes, and
misconduct, the hapless English army cannot fur-
nish a few creditable incidents ; while the anecdotes
of French patriotism, ingenuity, devotion to supe-
riors, religion, honour, and general merit, are suffi-
ciently numerous to satisfy the ambition of a
French colonel, and form a happy contrast to the
state of military affairs in the " den of assassins !"
It is strange, too, if the English are so deficient in
military attributes, that they are the only nation in
Europe which can dispense with the conscription,
while it is simply absurd to pick out isolated cases
from the police courts and quote them with full
detail as specimens of the morality and civilisation
of the British soldier. We presume that each in-
dividual of the 600,000 comprising the Imperial
army is not a model of sobriety and virtue; and we
should imagine it probable that frequent cases of
intoxication and assault might take place among
them without the general tone of the army
being held up to reprobation. But on this
point it is useless to dwell, when the pre-
judice is so strong and so openly displayed. The
author is a Catholic, anti as a fervent and con-
sistent upholder of that faith, deserves respect,
which he should render to others, sparing those
of opposite opinions denunciations of their creed
which we must consider entirely out of place in a
work of this kind. Leaving this branch of the
subject, however, we prefer to consider those parts
of the work which treat of the French, from whose
readiness, ingenuity, and savoir faire we have un-
doubtedly much to learn, and whose army is
much better managed in many respects than our
own. The assumed superiority of the French, the
English soldier can afford to smile at, and indeed
many observations on our country will probably
raise a smile, while the unprejudiced reader be-
fore spoken of will certainly consider modern
history a fiction, for how could such an assem-
blage of ill-treated ruffians have encountered such
well-drilled, fiery, patriotic, excellent men, with-
out suffering immediate annihilation ? The writer
himself must find this problem very bard to solve.
As may be imagined, some of the most interesting
pages of the work are devoted to the Zouaves
and Chasseurs d'Afrique. We subjoin the sketch
of these daring and successful soldiers.