we are not what we used to be. It used to be that the army was composed
of the scum of the nation; some folks forget that it isn't so now.' They
do, or, rather, perhaps they _did_ until the war commenced and made the
soldier popular. But the fact is that, especially during the last twenty
years, there has been a steady improvement, and we venture to assert
that to-day, so far as his moral conduct is concerned, the average
soldier is quite equal, if not superior, to the average civilian. This
is due in large measure to the officers, who take a greater interest in
the everyday life of their men than ever before; but it is due in even
larger measure to the great interest the Churches have taken in the men,
and especially in the multiplication of Soldiers' Homes.

At Aldershot there are, in addition to the military and civilian
churches, which are all of them centres of vigorous Christian work, six
Soldiers' Homes, viz., three Wesleyan, two Church of England, and one
Salvation Army, in addition to the Primitive Methodist Soldiers' Home,
now used chiefly as a temperance hotel. At these Soldiers' Homes there
are refreshment bars, reading rooms, games rooms, smoking rooms, bath
rooms, and all other conveniences. They are for the soldier--a home from
home. Here he is safe, and he knows it. They will take care of his
money, and he can have it when he likes. They will supply him with
stationery free of charge. They will write his letters for him, if he so
desires, and receive them also. In fact, while he considers himself
monarch of all he surveys as soon as he enters, he is conscious all the
time that he must be on his good behaviour, and it is rarely, if ever,
that he forgets himself.

A counter-attraction to the public-house, an entertainment provider of a
delightful order, a club, a home, and a Bethel all rolled into one is
the Soldiers' Home,--the greatest boon that the Christian Church has