I had a long discussion with Mr. Rouse relative to the course of training at Woolwich in my time, and from what I told him we both agreed that the course was not practical enough for a soldier, and that too much time was occupied in theoretical matters which were never likely to be of use to us in afterlife. "It is," said Mr. Rouse, "one of the most certain of all things, that men who teach any subject for any length of time gradually grow to refine, as I may term it, on that subject, and go on from theory to theory, and lose sight of the fact that to all practical men, such as soldiers must be to be useful, theory may be even a dangerous study. Mathematicians," he continued, "are especially liable to drift into these habits, and often forget that the object of mathematics is to supply a means of obtaining results, so that they are means to an end, not the end itself. You, as a practical man, require to know some theory, such as the general rules of mechanics, the way in which trigonometrical formulæ are obtained, and so on; but I don't think it is necessary, especially in the short time you have for each subject at Woolwich, that you should devote too long a time to mere theoretical problems." The defects that I experienced after leaving Wool wich were that I found considerable difficulty in writing a clear account of any event in a concise and grammatical manner, so that had I been called on to write a despatch, and describe officially some action or battle, my production would have been discreditable. I could solve an abstruse question in dynamics, but I could not write three sentences in English correctly. Again, as regards the method of conducting discipline with soldiers, what their pay was, how they were paid, how men were treated for various offences, &c., I was as ignorant as a civilian, and there was then no preparatory training for an officer after joining the Artillery by means of which he could learn these matters. The Engineers had then, as now, a course of study at Chatham, after obtaining their commissions, by which such subjects were learnt. Defects such as the above-named have since been almost entirely removed, whilst various other matters have been improved at the Academy, especially as regards the feeding of the cadets, which thirty years ago was simply disgraceful. Bullying and even fagging have ceased to exist; and although there may be, as there always will be, in large establishments, some young men who are disposed to be bullies, and some others whose manners or appearance cause them to be unpopular, yet no recognized system of senior and junior, or of fagging, exists at Woolwich. Thirty years ago the defect at the Academy was the hard life that cadets lived; their food was bad, and their punishment for small offences severe. If there is a defect at the present time at Woolwich, it is that the cadet's comfort is too much cared for, and when he has, as he surely must have, in even peace time, to rough it, he will not, as we did, say, "Well, it's better than being a cadet," but he will probably compare the damp walls of a room in some Fort with his snug room at the Academy, and the absence of many luxuries will be felt the more, because as a mere cadet they were considered essential for him. Taking it all in all, however, we may fairly claim that at the present time the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich is perfect of its kind, and the training given there will compare favourably with that of any military college on the Continent; that it was not always as well regulated this tale will probably induce many to think. Any curious or interested person may learn all about the Academy as it is, but the strange life led by a cadet thirty years ago-the singular inconsistency of highly honourable conduct in some matters, and proceedings which can only be termed "brutal" in others-exhibits peculiarities in the character of English youths which we do not believe is entirely worn out in large educational establishments at the present day. In this tale it has not been our object to moralize, or even to suggest, but merely to give a history of the life of a Woolwich Cadet thirty years ago, and as the cadet's career may fairly be said to terminate when he joined the practical class, we draw the curtain over the future life of Gentleman Cadet Bob Shepard. THE END. GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE, LONDON. |