- spondent ironically adds: "It is, above all, very
good for those who die in the middle of their three years, for, indeed, they were not hardened enough for such a difficult thing as life," But there are so many ways of escaping from the three years' servitude, the wonder is all do not profit by the opportunities offered. These are the lucky ones: the eldest son of seven brothers, the eldest son of a widow, of an invalid father, or of one blind or over seventy; those who have a brother "under the flag," or students of all sorts. To quote my correspondent again: "There are, I believe, at least a hundred kinds of students, coming from you could never imagine where. I had a comrade who was a clerc de contentieux. I have never known, nor has anybody I have asked known, what on earth was a clerc de contentieux. He himself did not know, and when questioned about it he would answer, 'Something in the way of law.' He knew nothing more about his own profession. I am sure that he had none, but those magic words saved him two years' service."
One of the worst consequences of militarism has of late years been witnessed in France for the stupefaction and edification of Europe—the terrorising of all classes. In 1898, we saw how the army comported itself in the Palace of Justice, which it may be said to have carried by assault. The whole place was packed with officers in
