, 1877-11-14
emit child. In a year 10 never would have
occurred to him to dc it of himself.


This Is his main and his fatal fault.
Let US look a little at his virtues. Never
in my life have l seen so quiet, so gentle,
SO we'll conducted an army. In 900, 600
men | have not come across one drunken
man. 1t is the popular idea in England
that the Russian is a hard drinking, noisy.
violent, brutal boor. Never was there a
greater %fallacy. He Is sober to degree /;
never have I heard q violent word or even
seen a blow !; he pays scrupulously for all
he buys, and let's himself be cheated aud
t1eeced uncemp'ainingly by the uninterest-
ing Bulgarian whom he is fighting for. His
principal drink is tea, which is substituted
tour times a week for the authorized daily
ration OF vodski Coarse brandy. The
allowance OF tea is practically Unlimited
Under The private soldiers lowly tente
dGr6ri, as under the comfortable marquee
OF the General officer, the samovar, the
everlasting tea urn, is always smoking ;
aud NJ one who has not expelienc d the
luxury of q tumbler of tea-cups are un-
known. though the glass stands always Oh
q saucer-hot, fragrant, of a rich golden
colour, with plenty Of sugar and slice of
lemon, perhaps a soupcoa of rum-no one
VINO has not gratefully blessed this glori-
Gus drink after long miles OF a dusty rad,
or when Inc water is RAINING in streams
down the napa Of your neck, or Squeezing
In your boots at every step-ao one, l say
who has not drunk 'ochai' in a Ru sian
camp knows what tea is. AS different
from the miserable stuff we discolour and
spoil with L)nd9n chalk and water, as
champagne IS from small beer. This is
the universal drink, and right good liquor
1t ls to serve q campaign upon. But this is
a DEPRESSION from a Russian S dief to his
drink. May l say that he partakes of tho
nature OF his drink? Always patient, al.
ways CHEEKY, his principal amusement is
singing il chorus. Round the FIRE at
night. or from an early hour in the after
noon, this singing goes on /; alw VS. stand
ing, never seated ; one man gives the
words, and the whole join in the refrain
I cannot call it melody-in fact, it might
be llIed The least bit disc )rdlnt, Bat
1t makes up for that by b3iIg inc assant,
and apparently affords the greatest delight
to the performers, who rep at the same
note?, and, apparently, the same words,
tor hours aud hours t gather in a series of
abrupt and long drawn hOwls. Whenever
a company or u battalion moves the sing.
ers are called to the front. They shuttle
out of their places and form up in a loose
group Of fours at the head, and away goes
The column, the time being OCCASIONALLY
varied by a few taps on the drum. An
other popular fallacy in England is that
the Russian soldiers lives in an atmosphere
of b'ows-that the knout and the stick
are his only ruling motives. The fact is
that nowhere, not even among the Ger
MANS, is the soldier managed more entirely
by moral means. A word or even a look,
from his officer %sufices. He seems to feel
a reproot-and it is rarely deserved-as
much as an EnglishmaA would a blow.
The bulk of the Russian privates are
themselves small landowners, and have an
Interest and a stake in the country accord
ingly. | never saw more ready or implicit
obedience, or more cheerful compliance
and this is not official only but ap.
parently based on genuine mutual liking
and goodwill. Perhaps the officer some.
times forgets in planning operations that
his men are no longer serfs. | have heard
the apparent recklessness Of human life
thus accounted for: but in al else the re-
latiOns between officers and soldiers could
not be happier, even in our W favoured
Saru:oo F,an - t4,,o nf xuop tho Pucoian