THE SHERIFF'S BADGE.
[To THZ EDITOR OF TUB "SPECTATOR:] SIR,—The kindness and generosity of the thought which Las prompted you to present a badge to those recruits in the county of Surrey who have been rejected on medical grounds will be appreciated by many. To be able to show that if one is not privileged to wear the King's uniform it is through no fault of one's own will be a boon greatly valued by those rejected. May I instance my own case ? For some years I have been off work with a weak lung. Though much better, my medical man says I am still unfit for Army life. Being so much in the open air, I am bronzed and look healthy and strong. By the irony of fate, my favourite resting-place out of doors where I walk and sit has been commandeered as a training ground for recruits. I would give anything to be able to join them (my father is a Captain in the National Reserve, so it is in the blood), yet in their eyes I must appear a loafer and a shirker. Now, Sir, had I belonged to Surrey I might have been privileged to wear your badge, and been in a position to hold my head up when I passed a batch of recruits instead of
feeling, as I do at present, like a dog with its tail between its legs. To see others doing something for their country while one has to stand idly by would still be hard, but the sting would be removed from the wound if one could only show people that the spirit was willing if the flesh was weak. You are doing a noble work, Sir, and I hope most sincerely that your example will be followed in every county in the British Isles. In particular, let me thank you for the concluding words of your article: " It is a salute to those who were wounded even before the war began!" These words are balm to their wounds.—I am, Sir, &c., W. M. C.
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