which might be prevented by the commonest
precautions; and the public sanction is now
asked to a scheme which will not merely
preserve the lives of useful workers, but will also
avert the peril of contagion from every reader
of this page. The details of this proposal are
carefully considered, its principle is sound, and it
is for the country to say whether selfish or
pedantic considerations are to weigh against the
substantial practical benefits it would confer.
By making Death the witness upon whose grisly
testimony habitations are to be condemned, we
shall save an infinity of circumlocution, evasion,
and contradiction. By giving to independent
ratepayers the power of forcing the official
machinery into action, we shall triumph over the
obstructiveness, stupidity, and selfishness, of
vestries and local boards. By empowering the
government to advance the necessary funds for
rebuilding, at a moderate rate of interest, we
shall accord to poverty-stricken neighbourhoods
means whereby they can effectually help
themselves; and by making the act compulsory, we
shall ensure its merciful and just provisions being
carried out. It is clear that mere benevolence,
even when practised, is not strong enough to
cope with the difficulties besetting a
comprehensive measure of reform; and many of its
proposals, notably that of creating large colonies
of poverty, to which the workman is to be
carted off by railway every night, are manifestly
unsound. The labourer earning from sixteen
to forty shillings a week should have the same
facilities given him for investing his income in a
reputable and decent home, as the labourer
whose work is remunerated more highly. If
the former be willing and able to pay for
comfort and cleanliness, let comfort and cleanliness
be sold him at a fair price, without sense or feeling
of obligation either on the part of purchaser
or vendor. At present, these are fancy articles,
which only an extremely limited number of
working men are permitted to buy—the permission
being regarded as a sort of prize for virtue
—and so, monstrous as it may seem, the bone
and sinew of the country are sacrificed year by
year because of poisonous homes.

THE QUEEN'S SHILLING.

I MADE the acquaintance of the writer of the
following narrative a few weeks after he enlisted.
Business had called me to Cannontown, and the
recruit rendered me signal service in bringing
that business to a satisfactory conclusion. We
subsequently spent the afternoon together, my
new acquaintance accompanying me to the smoking-
room of my hotel, and favouring me with
his experience of, and opinions on, a military
life. Frankly admitting himself to be " fond of
change," he made no secret either of his distaste
for the army or his dislike for its restrictions.
That a uniform coat should render its wearer
ineligible for " the best room" in an inn, that
publicans do not pay the same respect to private
soldiers as to private gentlemen, that early hours
are compulsory, and that liberty action is
curtailed, seemed to be the social grievances
weighing most heavily on my friend. We
conversed, however, on many other subjects, and I
learned several particulars concerning his career
before he " took the shilling," which I have
been at the pains to verily. Walking together
from the hotel to the Cannontown railway
station, I suggested that he should put on paper
the facts and incidents he had just told me. He
agreed readily, and after impressing upon him
that a plain unvarnished statement, without
any attempt at fine writing, would be most
acceptable, we shook hands on the platform, not,
I am pleased to know, without mutual
satisfaction at having met. A few days later I
received, by book-post, the following narrative,
the substantial accuracy of which I am ready to
vouch for, and which I now give to the reader
in the recruit's own words.

I enlisted, not like some, on the spur of the
moment, but after due deliberation. I counted
the cost, and found I could hardly lose by doing
so, and after I had thought about it a few days,
one wet miserable morning (the 18th of January,
I believe), in the Free Reading-room at
Westminster, I told a friend what I intended to do.
My friend; who knew a little about the service,
having been in it six years, advised me to go
into the regiment he had got discharged from.
He grew eloquent about the advantages to be
derived from " the service," and I forthwith
went. This friend, I must mention, was not
entirely so disinterested as it would appear. One
would think a man counselling so wisely would
be doing it for my good, but he knew that if he
could get me enlisted it would be five shillings
in his pocket, and as we were both in the last
stage of hard-upishness, this seemed a magnificent
sum. On our way to Charles-street,
Westminster, the rendezvous of recruits and recruiting-
sergeants, we met a sergeant of the Royal
Buffs, and he said,

"Well, my man, want to join?"

"Yes," I replied, "but I want the sergeant
of the 63rd. This companion of mine says that
is a good corps to join."

The sergeant said, " Tut, tut, man, 63rd a
good regiment! Tell you, there can't be
anything better than the Royal Buffs—good
officers, good food, good pay, pass up to London
every month, and one pound bounty. The
friend, not caring, I could see, which I went in,
acquiesced in the sergeant's remarks, and we
repaired to a public-house and had a pot of
"half-and-half,'' and in a short time the sergeant
measured the breadth of my chest, and " took
stock" generally. He appeared satisfied, and
alter saying " You agree to serve the Queen for
ten years," slipped a shilling into my hand, and
motioned to me to accompany him. I did so,
and on arriving at a place in Delahay-street, got
into a cry large bath full of plenty of the very
dirtiest water. I can conscientiously declare
no casual wards ever had anything to equal this
water. It had no " mutton broth" appearance