The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-17 00:00:00

.LITERATURE.

The Instructive Picture Book; or, lessons in the
Vegetable World. By the Author of "The Heir
of Redelyffe." OD sten and Dangles, Princes•
street, Edinburgh.

It is pleasant to find beauty and utility combined
in a work intended to convey information to the
young. • Bot Any is a charming science, but is often,
and, indeed generally, .encumbere,if with tedithis
Tatoidddelriyoditiiii:hce eye,ulties' whichCa -use the juvenile' novi-
ciates to rejoice when the lo‘T.:k- of study is e'ozett.
impress
oftliiteermareymoarYnd painectlereiatli
art is no easy task ; bat the gifted author of ." The
Heir of Redclyffe," in this pub!ication, has appealed
With unerring force to the anise Of beauty, the
feeling of admiration, an l the -natural thirst' for
knowledge. -Thirty-one coloured plate 4, arranger:ll3y
R. M. Stark, afford a gor,pous an I attractive illus-
tration of the vegetable world, and Cie: letterpreiss
yields ample, conei-e, and simplified instruction op.
a host of natural glories and wonders, including
seaweed, fungi, mosieq; spring, =summer, autumn
and w;nter flowers.; edible .prodUctionvi; grasieft,
grains, poisonoub plant), fruits, and various
other interesting subjects connected wi.ll
tany. We cordially confess that we have never
met with so appropriate and excellent a work for
the purpose of arousng and simulating the young
learner to a real love of this portion of Natural
History ; and parents who wish to advance the
hearts and brains of their children in refinern,nt
and intelligence will-do well t) place " Tile lu-
tructive Picture Book" in their liana .

Recollections of Airs. Hester Taffetas. Knight and.
Son. Clerkenwell-cloie.. -

In this volume we have a number of stories,
chiefly running on the popular and an:-
cient theme of love ; and Mrs. Taffetas tells
them in a quaint ani pleasant . style. A
strong dash of improbability is visible here
and there, but any symptom of original power
is, worthy of notice in these days of stereotyped
sentiment and twaddle ; and there is certainly
grpe of freshness in some of these padpping recital;
which merits a fair portion of praise. We'
should imagine th) wrier to b 3 y.,Utog in the
craft of authorship, and in her next public
essay a ...little -more attention to the con-
Sistent acti-n of the characters and galena]:
construction of in.:idents would_enable her to Pro-
duce a better specmf.n of- inventive talent..
Meanwhile we can honestly recomtnena .the.Recol-
lctions of Mrs:- Hester TeaLta'S as a light and.
. •
amusing volume.

MILITARY SERVICE IN TILE UNITED STATES.

(From the New York Times )

The desertion of one-third of the force se7ected
for.the Utah expedition, involving the all but total.
annihilation of an entire regiment, suggests a few
considerations regarding our treatment of our army
which are worthy of attention. •The history of the.
sth infantry during the last ten years, the deban-.
cicide of which is causing so much delay and annoy- •
duce, reflects, we think, very great discredit, nut
Simply on the military authorities. but on the
whole public. This reginient, after arduous ser-
vic3i during the Mexican war, was immediately
sent to the Texan frontier, where it-bad to undergo
all the hardships and dangers of frontier life until
two years ago. It was then sent to Florida, and •
served a campaign against the Indians in the
swamp. This over, it was abruptly despatched to
Kansas, and ordered to march . I,OJO miles
through a howling wash, infested by savages, to
fight a hostile population on its own soil. Now,
we have the highest possible opinion of the
American army, composed though it be in the
main of foreigners. Its whole history has been
marked in no ordinary &agree of courage and for-
titude of the highest order. It will endure any-
thing with alacrity which human nature can be
brought to endure ; but such a life as this sth Regi-
ment has been leading is a life which .no, human
being in possession of a man'a ordinary instinct and
a man's legs can be got to undergo.
The greater portion of our military...service is a
kind which no other at my in.the world could be got
to perform. This outpost duty, in which our troops
pass their lives, is ;one which European armies, •
whenever they are engaged in it, perform only for
certain fixed periods. The Russian regiments
Serving in the Caucasus are either composed of men,
guilty- of some offence, military or other, or are per-.
mitted to return to civilisation at stated intervals:''
The French: army in Algeria is in comparatively
comfortable quarters once the razzia is over. The
British regiments serve in exposed positions in re- •
gular rotation. The condemnation of any one re-
giment, or bet of regiments, to perpetual service in
a Kaffir war would leactto mutiny.
In all other armie., too, the restraints of mill.
Lary discipline derive some mitigation from change
of scene and from'glimpses of gaiety, of relaxation,
and even of luxury, snatched here and there on the
march or in garrison. To-night the soldier, bivonacs
on the roadside, but to-morrow he will find him-
self billeted in a snug tavern in a large town. If
he pasacs the Alps he descends upon the rich.'
plains of Lombardy. After Canna comes Capita.
The pleasing uncertainties of his position, the mix-
ture of wild enjoyment with fierce excitement and -
terrible suffering of which his career is made up,
have for some natures an indescribable_ charm, and •
go far to furnish the hosts who pile up hecatombs
on battle-fields.

The American soldier, from the day of his en-
listment to that of his discharge, .passesirotaswamp •
to swamp and forest to forest, sees no human faces
but those of his companions in Misfortune, knows
no excitement better than fighting with a foe whom
it is no glory to conquer, has no hope of advance-
meat, lives wretchedly, and perishes obscurely. •
Change of quarters brings no relief. His condi-
tion is not much improved by being transferred
from the banks of • he Colorado to the Everglades.
A march to the Salt Lake is not a very pleasing
variety after scouting in Florida. The officers are
buoyed up under this terrible task by the influence
and resources of education,-by the voice of honour,
and the hope of distinction. But whence shall the
poor Irish and Gerniari; who compose the rank
and file, derive their consolation ? . Russian
serfs could ;scarcely be got to accept existence
on such terms. We can hardly wonder if,
in a free country, where labour is valuab'e,
and where a civilian's exertions are rewarded by
wealth, comfort, and honour in a far greater mea-
sure than in any other part of the IY, r:d, the sol-
dier, whose life is all toil and privation, should
prove " false to his salt." Military discipline will
• do a great deal with men of any race and under any
circumstances, but military discipline alone will
not .keep up the morals necessary for the perform-
ance of great euterpr:ses.
We are so essentially a non-military people
that our standing army is in a measure forced
upon us by pressing necessity. We are ob-
liged to have one, but we atone for our chagrin
by treating it as badly as possible. We don't
suppose we shall effect much by appealing to the
humanity of the people upon this question,. but we
hope its economical aspect will meet with sonie
consideration. -It is .the sheerest and most Nt iltul
extravagance to lead a body of trained soldierssuch
a dog's life that they shill desert en masse the first
great serain they undergo. The immense extent of
our frontier, and the d illy increasing complication
of our relations with other Powers, are rendering •
our standingarmy of yearly increasing
importance.
There is a deeply-rooted feeling of hostility. to any
increase in its. quantity, but,•ite qualitrusay be
whatever the War Department pleases. Toe present
mode of employing it renders it all but utterly
worthless, as this exped ion proves. Troops drilled
and trained and organised as ours are, are totally
unfitted for frontier service against Indians. The
superiority of a trained forcee is shown only when
it acts in masses. "Rangers," trappers, pioneers,
Bashi-Bazouks, any sort of irregulars, skilled in
in their
outwitted
°
the use of their, weapons, and. led .by daring
root men, .would' out. Indiang twice as well as
" United States' Infantry or Dragoons." It
is well known that our regulars are the laugbing
stock -
erfiiets
with
the In
t-
odn
fias. They areour backwoodstnen
constantly
mana3uvred, and outmerched by them.2 o u ,
Ten
thousand infantry; cavalry, and artillery, scat-
tered in microscopic detachments o
2,0Q0 miles of forest, are simply so over a
many frontier of
convicts
undergoing a terrible sort of punishment. Con-
centrated in one or two large bodies,
within reach
of books, society, and eivilisation„ within reach, in .
.rthort, of' all the social influences under which the
men wore born and brought
up, they would be a
powerful and effective
posse—so ma sr
• nGreyhounds
'straining in the leash. The mere talk of such an
expedition-as this)against the Mormons would rouse
them in the eagerest excitement. Their moralo
would be kept up by contact wills the rest of the
world. They would be, in short, an army—a
designation to which, at present, they can hardly
lay claim. But few of our soldiers are woodsmen,
or have any sort of natural aptitude for that sort
of life, and to be a good pioneer and Indian fighter
one must be "to the manner born." Our frontier
duty we might easily perform by the aid of such
corps as the " Texan Rangers,"'made up of the
scamps and scapegoats who haunt our borders in
great numbers, and who won't submit to rigid dis-
cipline, but would deal with. Camanches in their
harum-scarum fashion far bette • than
Frederick's
Grenadiers, were they still in existence. The re-
gular army wa could then reserve in full efficiency
for special service en masse, where its drill and its
discipline and expensive organisation would come
into play. We should thus consult the claims of
humanity and the claims of our own pockets at one
and the same time.