HRS. MISERLY'S JOURNAL. * INDEPENDENTLY of a picture of campaigning from

a lady's point of view, Mrs. Duberly's " JOurnal kept during the Russian War" has a strategy and campaign of its own. The lady had obtained permission from the Horse Guards to accompany her husband, an officer of the Eighth Hussars' and the Admiralty had allowed accommodation. On arriving at Scutari, General Lord Lucan sent an order to Major De Salis of the Eighth Hussars, " that unless Mrs. Duberly had an order sanctioning her doing so, she was not to reembark on board the Shooting Star, about to proceed to Varna." To this Major De Sails answered, that Mrs. Duberly had not disembarked, and he had not sufficient authority to order her to do so. The Cavalry General carried the matter to the Com- mander-in-chief ; but Lord Raglan declined to interfere and Mrs. Duberly sailed for Varna : having, however, pending the negotia- tion, called Jack to council, and a stratagem was arranged, to out- manceuvre the soldiers in case of necessity.

At Varna, Mrs. Duberly roughed it in the camp, pleasantly enough when things went pleasantly, not so well in bad weather with short commons. When the embarkation for the Crimea took place, even Lord Raglan refused permission for her to accompany the troops; but Lord Cardigan, her husband's more immediate commander, hinted that if she thought proper to disregard the prohibition, he would not interpose obstacles. A sterner ordeal, however had to be passed—nothing less than a reconnaissance from Lord Lucan in person.

"Friday, September lat.—The embarkation began at six o'clock. Whilst the troops were filing down, Captain Lockwood, one of Lord Cardigan's aides-de-camp, rode up with an order from Lord Lucan that no officer was to embark more than one horse ; those who had embarked more were to send them ashore again. Pleasant news this for me ! However, I had no time to grumble, but, hoisting myself into an araba full of baggage, and dis- guising as much as possible, I went down to the shore. Lord Lucan, who was there, scanned every woman, to find traces of a lady : but he searched in vain ; and I, choking with laughter, hurried past his horse into the boat. Here the crew received me very hospitably ; gave me some water, and a com- pliment on the clearness of my cheeks, which 'did not look as though I had done much hard work in the sun ' ; and finally put me safely on board the Himalaya, where I was immediately banded down to my cabin."

As an addition to the materials for a thorough knowledge of the campaign, or as a picture of actual warfare, this volume is of no great value. Ealaklava was the only action Mrs. Duberly was present at ; and though she witnessed a good deal of firing against

• Journal kept during the Russian War : from the Departure of the Army from England in April 1854 to the Fall of Sebastopol. By Mrs. Henry Duberly. Pub- lished by Longman and Co.

the city, and among the rest the final "feu d'enfer " her pictures are indistinct and hazy ; perhaps because she only describes what she saw, and does not import collected occurrences into her ac- count as if they were matters observed by herself. The book, notwithstanding, has a value. Its pages reflect pretty accurately the opinions or prejudices of the army as to the conduct of the home authorities or the heads of the force, and on this score agree with the general tenour of the newspaper-correspondents. Mrs. Duberly, however, exhibits a more enduring and less grumbling spirit than those gentlemen. Although living on ship-board in

the harbour of Balaklava—Lord Raglan not allowino.b her to reside on shore—she was continually riding or walking up to the camp ; and she speaks of the roads as very stiff and bad, but it is not in the whining kind of spirit in which mud, rain, and other hard- hips of campaigning, are mentioned by the journalist writers. Her account of the effect of the great storm in Ealaklava harbour

supports that of Mr. Woods, except that Mrs. Duberly describes the water as rough ; and she is the best authority, for she was ac- tually present in her ship lodgings.

"Tuesday, 141h.—The most terrific gale commenced blowing at about five o'clock this morning. At seven o'clock, when I looked through the stern- cabin windows, the harbour was seething and covered with foam, and the ships swinging. terribly. By nine it had increased to a frightful extent, and I could hardly, even when clinging to the ship, keep my footing on deck. The spray, dashing over the cliffs ninny hundred feet, fell like heavy rain into the harbour. Ships were crushing and crowding together, all adrift, all breaking and grinding each other to pieces. The stern-work of the Star of the South was being ground away by the huge sides of the

Medway, which was perpetually heaving against her. * * * "This is nine o'clock, p. in. The Medway, Marmion, Brenda, and Har- binger, are still bard at work on the sides of our unlucky ship ; and I much fear the figure-head of the Medway will be into my cabin tonight."

The journal appears to have been sent to England as opportunity offered, and to have been printed without revision, though it is edited by a friend. This is favourable to the freshness of the thoughts, and to the truthful reflex of the opinions whatever they may be. Some of them might probably have been softened had their writer been in England. Earlier portions of the following extract are of this nature ; but we quote it for the unconscious, almost unwilling testimony, borne by the army to the value of Lord Raglan when he was going and gone.

"Friday, 22d.—General Estcourt is taken ill with cholera. What a suppressed feeling of disgust and discontent runs through this army ! It is no part of my business to enter on such a discussion, and I have hitherto carefully avoided doing so ; but I cannot help sharing in the general interest and anticipation of a great and speedy change : men feel that their lives

have been trifled with too long. • •

"Sunday, 241h.Poor General Estcourt died this morning. It strikes us that Death has taken the recall of those in authority into his own stern hands.

"Thursday, June 28t11.—We had heard that Lord Raglan was prevented by indisposition from attending General Estcourt's funeral, which was a strictly private one; and we heard yesterday that Lord Raglan's health was im- proving, and that nothing serious was apprehended.' Our consternationwas great when one of his staff, who was with us at the monastery, received a

hasty i message that Lord Raglan was rapidly becoming worse. I can hardly imagine a greater misfortune to the army than his death at such a moment as the present. New, when we may be about to lose them, we remember how valuable and necessary are his diplomatic powers in an army composed of so many nations. We are almost tempted to lose sight of the inefficient general in the recollection of the kind-hearted, gentlemanly man, who had so hard a task, which he fulfilled so well, of keeping together and in check the heads of so many armies.

"Friday Horning, June 29/h.—Lord Raglan died last night. "It seems as though some pulse in this vast body had ceased to beat, the army is so quiet. Men speak in low voices words of regret. The body is to be conveyed to England for burial. There is a report that Baraguay D'Hilliers is coming out with 40,000 men to land at Eupatoria and invest the North aide of Sebastopol. A day or two ago, this might have caused some interest; now, for today at least, the thoughts of all meet in one dark- ened room, where lies he who a few hours ago was commander-in-chief."

Mrs. Duberly is a horsewoman, and much attached to horses. The illness and death of a favourite on ship-board is as prominent a topic as the death of biped friends. She abies as indifferent a picture of the condition of the noble animals "during the winter as the worst narratives that have appeared, and from her own expe- rience confirms the story of eating or at least biting the tails. It would seem, however, that in addition to over-work, exposure, and scanty food, the neglect and cruelty of the drivers contributed a good deal to the deaths. She indicates brutality as the common practice of the men who had the handling of the horses, and gives a curious instance of the effect of a seaman's kindness on a mulish nature.

"We were shown a wonderful proof of the efficacy of a little kindness and care in the case of a mule, which came to Balaklava in the baggage-train of the Sardinian army, and having been terribly knocked about, and very se- verely hurt on board ship, during a rough passage, was left by them for dead on the sea-shore. The boatswain of H. M. S. Rodney happened to pass where the wretched animal lay bleeding but still alive, and with the blessed in- stinct of humanity he stopped to help the sufferer. He raised the dying head, and gave the parched throat some water, and by and by he brought some food. In a day or two the mule was able to crawl; and, to make a long story short, when I saw him yesterday he was fat and strong and sleek ; still covered with sores, which are in a fair way to heal, and following his friend, Mr. Collins, the boatswain, precisely like a dog. In and out into the huts, among the workmen, wherever his business on shore calls him' may be seen the boatswain and the attendant mule ; and when he recovers from hia scars, he will be one of the finest and handsomest mules that we have out here."

Her connexions and the rarity of an English lady in the camp, procured Mrs. Duberly much attention, and gave her opportunities of seeing celebrated men. Here are sketches of two or three.

Omar Pasha.—" Omar Pasha impressed me as being shrewd, decided, energetic, as well as an amusing companion, and a man capable of appre- ciating more of the refinements of life than I should have thought he would have found amongst the Turks; though he tells me he hopes, after the war is over, to be made Minister of War at Constantinople—and, very probably, be bowstrung."

-Admiral Bruat.—" Sunday, August 19th. Went to church on board the Royal Albert, by invitation from Sir Edmund Lyons. We remained to dine; and as it came on to blow so hard that it would have been difficult for us to reach the Rodney, we staid in our most hospitable quarters all night.

"During the afternoon, Admiral Bruat came on board ; and I had an op- portunity of seeing, for the first time, the French naval Commander-in-chief. He struck me as being shrewd, and I was going to write false, but perhaps my meaning may hardly be understood; his manner was certainly polished enough. The two Admirals sat in conversation, side by aide; and, the con- trast struck me with such force, that I was obliged to lie awake at night to try and analyze it."

General Dosquet.—"We called today upon General Briquet, who was very severely wounded at the assault on the Malakoff; and, to our surprise and pleasure, be was sufficiently recovered to be able to admit us. We were shown into his room, which forms one of the compartments of a large wooden hut ; and found him reclining in an arm-chair, having been able to sit up only within the last two days. He was struck by a piece of a 13-inch shell under the right arm and on the right aide; it had completely smashed all the muscles and sinews, and his arm is as yet powerless above the elbow- joint. He showed us the piece of shell by which he was struck ; it could not weigh less than four pounds. It is astonishing how he escaped with life from a wound inflicted by so terrible an implement of war. He ap- peared cheerful enough, and glad to causer un peu ' ; said he was ordered away for change of air, but did not wish to leave his post here, and fully co- incided in my quotation, pointing to his wounded side, On no marche pas a la gloire par le bonheur.' In his room was a fauteuil taken from Sebastopol, and which he had very appropriately covered with the green turbans worn by the Zouaves of his division."

Among the numerous books that have been published on the war, Mrs. Duberly's Journal is certainly entitled to a front place, for its reality, naturalness, and absence of artifices of composition. Of warfare it gives few sketches, but it conveys a very good ac- count of warlike life in everything save battle. It also serves to indicate the manner in which foreign correspondence is got up, and. resolves the ubiquitous and all-knowing special reporter into a col- lector and arranger of camp stories and after-dinner judgments.