15 FEBRUARY 1873, Page 20

CURRENT LITERATURE.

Soldiering and Scribbling : a Series of Sketches. By Archibald Forbes. (H. S. King.)—Mr. Forbes has served both with sword and pen, and therefore writes with the familiarity of personal knowledge. He is careful, by the way, to explain that he has never been in a mili- tary prison, been flogged, or been a deserter, though his literary zeal for making his descriptions moro vivid has led him to tell the story of these, as of other military experiences, in the first person. The sketches of "Soldiering" strike us as especially interesting and valuable. They are, we take it, about as good evidence as we are likely to get on the question, so hotly discussed of late, of military morality. They are written by a man who knows, and they are not written with a purpose. Both Mr. Arthur Arnold, who can find no words bad enough for the soldier, and his hot-headed military antagonists may road them with advantage. And on the whole, the evidence is in favour of the soldier. Discipline does something for him in point of morals, as in other respects. It does not make him a saint. Nothing but strong religious emotion, or the mastering sense of duty which serves as a religion, or the calm pure temperament which nature gives to some of her most favoured children, can do that ; but it raises him somewhat above the level of his class, or even of classes that are socially superior to him. One of the most curious facts brought out by Mr. Forbes is the strange anomaly that positive harm has come to the tone of barrack life by the abolition of arrangements, seemingly so detestable, which located the married soldiers in the barrack dormitories, and that the soldiers' wives are not better for being away. The men respected the feelings of those who were thus forced to live among them, and the loss of this chock on their talk is said to be sensibly felt. Could anything be more perplexing than to find a change so excellent, seemingly so necessary, absolutely working harm ?