BOOKS.

SMYRNA. A.ND ITS BRITISH HOSPITAL.* TIME and much repetition have somewhat dulled the interest at- taching to the harrowing tales of our military hospitals. The narrative of a " Lady Volunteer " at Scutari has removed the first freshness from the account of the behaviour of common soldiers brought into contact with ladies under circumstances that test men's behaviour. Nevertheless, this book, describing the experi- ence of a lady nurse at the Smyrna Hospital, may be read for the information it furnishes and the interest of its sketches. The greatness of the operations at Constantinople, the site of the hos- pitals, and the populous swarms of a capital, confined the Scutari nurses pretty much to themselves. At Smyrna things were differ- ent. The ladies established social intimacies with the native and foreign inhabitants of the city, and became known as it were to the people at large. Possibly the descriptions of manners at Smyrna' when the diminution of the sick allowed the ladies to visit in Smyrna, might have been sparecll seas to have limited the narrative to the observations at the hospital ; but this will depend upon the reader's acquaintance with Oriental books of travel. The nurses did not begin to act till towards the latter end of March 1855; so that they had not at Smyrna the same difficul- ties to contend with as were encountered at Constantinople nor were the " cases " so bad in a medical point of view, though they had their share of frost-bites. Either the men ht Sinyrna had not so much of chivalry and poetical feeling among them, (though some wrote verses,) as the patients at Scutari, or the "Highland lassie" who records her experience at Smyrna looked at matters with an eye more real and less sentimental than the Lady Volunteer. There was the same difficulty with the hired nurses as at Constantinople : the " equality " idea of the projeotors in England did not answer : very few of the women would do house-work—they came out to be nurses ; some misoonducted themselves ; which at first appears to have led to levity on the part of the soldiers. The ladylike influence of the volunteer nurses soon exhibited its.power ; and the natural good feeling of the men displayed itself actively, as well as in merely avoiding offen- sive behaviour. The inference we draw from the narrative., but rather from its spirit than any particular facts, is strongly in fe- your of a military instead of a civil hospital for soldiers. In the civil hospitals the rules and regulations may .be as strict, and de- vised to answer the same objects,. but the spirit of authority and discipline is not so prominent or pervading. The great use of the lady nurses as we observed in noticingthe Eastern Hospitals and Englieh 11Turses, seems to lie in their

moral influence, their delicate feminine perception, and the effects of refinement in procuring and administering . titbits. All this, however, must be limited to large depots ; it is impossible in the field or extemporized hospitals in the rear of an army. Perhaps it is not unmixed good even in a depot hospital, tending to a system of petting and "making too much of.' This is half admitted.

" Besides the rules I have given, there was another occupation which the doctors used to say We undertook with great delight, and always called the

petting process.' This was when a poor fellow, either recovering from fever or having been long invalided, from whatever cause, appeared utterly to loathe and reject the ordinary hospital diet-roll food. Then the doctors would say to us, 'This or that man may have such things prepared for bun in any way you please, so that you can tempt him to eat. Sometimes it was, Ton may give this or that man anything you please that he will take' : and it was curious to see how often a small pudding made in a cup, though of exactly the same ingredients as those made in the kitchen, with perhaps the addition of a slight flavour of nutmeg, lemon, or cinnamon, was eaten with avidity by a poor man whose stomach utterly rejected the doily square tinful of pudding which fell to his share : not that these puddings were not very good, but the men were often reduced to such a state of weak- ness that their appearance and consistence created in them an utter nausea. Dr. Meyer had a great objection to the ladies making 'pets' of particular men ; and indeed I am sure it would have had a very bad effect, for I saw in the most trifling matters they were particularly jealous if one received the smallest attention which the other did not. I do not think the system was at all pursued by any of us ; though of course some cases necessarily demanded much more care and attention than others ; and in such emer- gencies the others showed no feeling of the kind, but would generally en- deavour to contribute to each other's comforts, even at some self-saenflee ; mid I do not think the feelings of envy and jealousy existed then at all. For instance, I must plead guilty to having given perhaps More than his share of my attention to poor D—, whom I have previously mentioned as having made such a wonderful recovery from fever : I have heard them say to each other as I came into the ward, ! here comes Miss —; Jim won't be long without something good now ' : but this was said without tie slightest bad feeling."

That the moral effect of the presence of ladies would be WU, eiderable is likely from the results produced even by a well-4011-. ducted soldier.

"The influence that one superior well-principled man had over the ethers was astonishing. Such a person gave quite a tone to the ward in which he lived. It was remarkable in the case of 8—' almost a boy, of the Nine- tieth; his conduct and conversation had great effect on all the rest, who were much his seniors. He seemed to have been well brought up, and vety fond of reading the Bible. Being far from strong though convalescent, he was kept somewhat longer than he otherwise would have been in hospital, as librarian or chaplain's orderly, a post which he filled to Mr. V's sada- faction. But at last he was sent to the camp, and reached it in time to be present at the taking of the Redan; from which sad scene he was mercifully permitted to escape unhurt."

Here is its opposite—the influence of a bad man which bad- ness, however: the writer attributes to the coarse indifference of superiors, while she shows how the roughest yield to the soft answer "that turneth away wrath."

• Amory; or Smyrna and its Britiol• Hospital in 1853. By a Lady. Published by Madden.

"If it was true that the example of a good man had great power, it was no less true that the presence of a bad one also prodneed its effect. I am pleased to have to say, however, that in my experience I found few such ; and I most sincerely believe, that if instead of the roughness and swearing too often used to them by their superiors, they were spoken to kindly and quietly, we should have a very different style of soldiery. They seem too often to be spoken to like brutes, and they like brutes obey—not with the understanding and willing obedience of which I believe them quite capable, if managed with kindness. I confess, that while I personally found them much alive to any delicate or kind feeling displayed towards them, they were quite ready to be impertinent and restive at any appearance of harsh- ness.

"I had in one of my wards an Irishman, C—, rather a mauvais sujet. and used to have frequent complaints made to me of his rudeness and quar- relsome disposition.

"One day, while sitting in my 'den,' I heard C— outside, talking and constantly making use of violent language and oaths. I got up, saying, I must tell C— to be quiet.'

"You had better not,' said a lady, sitting by. 'You will only be an- swered insolently.'

"I went? however, and said, very quietly, C—, I am sorry to hear -you speak m that m i

anner. You are the only man n the division I have ever heard swear, and I hope you will not do it again.'

'" Well, mem, I'm sure I would'nt do nothing to offind you for ye're a tale leddy, and a very well-natured teddy too, and I ax yer pardon. but I rely did'ut know ye was in there, or I would'nt have done it.'

" It ought not to make any difference to you, C—, whether I was there or not; it is equally bad.'

" Thrue, for ye, mem— ; but faith, it's very difficult for a soldier to give +13p the habit of swearing, he's so used to it : but I'll thry.' "A very short time afterwards, I heard a sound of loud voices down the corridor, and went out to restore peace. I found C— had been at some of his Malpractices, which had provoked the second lady of my division to scold him rather sharply. He had retorted in no measured language ; and I came up just in time to hear him say, 'Report me, then, if ye like, and go to the divil ' "So it was evident, that whatever style suits them best from their com- manding officers, our only chance of securing obedience was by using mild persuasion. But they really were most obedient when we were present ; and we thought it, perhaps, wise frequently to ignore certain little derelic- tions which went on in our absence.'

Much more might be quoted indicative of the docility, kind- beartedness, and willingness of the generality of the men, and of the beneficial effect which discipline has in improving the intelli- gence and producing habits of order and regularity. There are some interesting particulars of their amusements and tastes in reading, as well as anecdotes of their volunteer employment and their ingenuity in rug and other manufactures. There are also interesting indications respecting the character and conduct of the Turkish people' which exhibit them in a superior light. The Government at head-quarters may be effete and corrupt, the subordinate authorities tyrannical and ignorant ; but the people are generOly described as sound at the core—hospitable, chant- able, honest, and almost hearty. This is our fair writer's account of them.

"These poor Turks were always so kind and polite to us. Never—al- though proceeding against all their ideas of propriety, by taking hold of a gentleman's arm—have they shown anything but courtesy and civility, frequently crossing the road to present us with bouquets of flowers, or some fruit, a portion of what they were carrying into Smyrna from the interim; on their donkeys. Once in the bazaar, a Greek boy said something insult- ing to a lady of our party—at least, it was supposed to be so though not understood—when a Turk, standing by, seized the boy, beat him soundly, and then admonished him and sent him away. "At first, the Turks followed their usual habit, and avoided looking at us as they passed. There was one boatman, whom we occasionally employed, who used, in rowing, to turn his back on us as much as he could ; but, lat- terly, they all got so accustomed to our presence and sang froid, that they evidently looked on us as a separate class of beings from their own women, and were always most deferential and respectful, and did not seem to think it at all a breach of etiquette to talk to, vide, or render us any service they could.

"We were not very sure of the Greeks and felt rather strange in any other quarter of the town than our own ; 'but the moment we reached the Turkish quarter, we had a sense of protection and an at-home feeling, which was very, pleasant. The women, too, evidently liked us. Many a time have we been stopped in the street, to have our hand shaken and Bono Inglese ' said to us, with kind looks. The children used to run after us, also saying Bono Inglese ' ; and a very favourite speech with them all was, 'Inglese bone, Francese bone, Turko bono, Mosco no bono.' Then followed a hearty pat on the back, a laugh, and shake of the hands. I al- ways felt perfectly safe with the Turks."

• The opening of the narrative is full of instances of bad official management, and a shabbiness of the penny-wise pound-foolish order. No system seems to have been pursued ; not even a plan formed. When the nurses arrived at Smyrna, nothing was ready; no place even was prepared for them. But for individual kind- sees they might have stood in the street all night, as they had to do for some time in the pouring rain. It is true that a band of nurses like this was a novelty ; but it is equally true that somebody in authority must have given notice of their co and orders that they should be allowed to go on duty. It only required thought and an additional sentence to have had their re- ception eared for.