22 APRIL 1865, Page 22

The Soldier's Handbook. (C. I. Coltson.)— This very useful and

well-theed little work is intended as a "guide to advancement and employment in the regular and reserve forces of the British army." We wish the information here so clearly stated and well arranged could be spread not only throughout the ranks of every British corps, but through the entire range of the classes from which recruits can be obtained. There exists too commonly in those classes the densest ignorance of what are the real prospects of a healthy, active, well-behaved, fairly- educated youth of eighteen on entering an infantry regiment. It is fairly open to him, after attaining the rank of serjeant-major, to quit the army at forty with a pension of 2s. 6d. a day, nearly 50/. a year, as well as an annuity of 20/. One man in six can find employment with extra pay, and the fact that in many regiments the number of depositors in the regimental savings' bank amounts to no less than 400 proves that money can be and is saved even out of a private's pay. On discharge —in the very prime of life—a good character and trained habits ensure for him the choice of numbers of honourable and remunerative em- ployments. In The Soldier's Handbook full details are given respect- ing every grade and appointment within the reach of a private, both in service in the ranks and on his discharge in the non-combatant branches of the service. There is also a summary of the "Pension Regulations," and no trouble has been spared to render the book really serviceable for the objects at which it aims.