3 FEBRUARY 1883, Page 24

Cavalry Life. By J. S. Winter. (Chatto and Windus.)—When Mr.

Winter claims to be the true exponent of military life, he probably means that Ouida and her imitators are among the number of those " charming women " who " talk of things they do not understand," and that he is, on the contrary, acquainted with " the way they have in the Army." He is welcome to the credit, so long as he does not claim to shear us military life as Maxwell, Lever, and Lawrence have shown it to us. His "Cavalry Life" is a collection, in two big volumes, of flimsy stories, some of them amusing, others as heavy as the dragoons whose dreary talk they chronicle. A young lady is not to be made impressive by spelling her name (Alice) "Alt's," and we should seriously like to know what Mr. Winter means by "obtuse self-blindness."