itten down some anecdotes in the best way
I could. Soldiers are not generally famous for literary excellence, and
when I was young, the military man was, perhaps, much less a scholar
than he is at the present day; but I hope that the interest of the
matter will make up for any deficiency of style.

In going over more than half a century, and treating of men, women and
events, it was necessary to leave out many anecdotes which would,
perhaps, have been more interesting than most of those that I have
given; for I would not willingly offend, or hurt the feelings of any
one, and I wish to respect the memory of the dead, as well as to take
into consideration the sensitiveness of the living. My Reminiscences,
it will be seen, are nothing more than miniature illustrations of
contemporary history; and though the reader may find here and there
scraps of biographical matter, I confine myself to facts and
characteristics which were familiar to the circle in which I moved, and
perhaps are as much public property as the painted portraits of
celebrities.

Should this work meet with the approbation of the public, I hope at a
future time to publish an additional one, as my memory still serves me
with sufficient materials for another volume of a similar kind.

R. H. Gronow.

MY ENTRANCE INTO THE ARMY

After leaving Eton, I received an Ensign's commission in the First
Guards during the month of December, 1812. Though many years have
elapsed, I still remember my boyish delight at being named to so
distinguished a regiment, and at the prospect of soon taking a part in
the glorious deeds of our army in Spain. I joined in February 1813,
and cannot but recollect with astonishment how limited and imperfect
was the instruction which an officer received at that time: he
absolutely entered the army without any military education whatever. We
were so defective in our drill, even after we had passed out of the
hands of the sergeant, that the excellence of our non-commissioned
officers alone prevented us from meeting with the most fatal disasters
in the face of the enemy. Physical force and our bull-dog energy
carried many a hard-fought field. Luckily, nous avons change tout
cela, and our officers may now vie with those of any other army in an
age when the great improvements in musketry, in artillery practice, and
in the greater rapidity of manoeuvring, have entirely changed the art
of war, and rendered the individual education of