There are a few flagrant cases of immorality every year amongst the French clergy; but although surrounded by enemies eager to publish every fault, and powerless now to impose or procure silence, they keep, on the whole, a reputation equal to that of the Catholic clergy anywhere. Even their enemies believe them to be far more moral than the Italian priesthood, for example. The clergy in England have an equally good reputation, in spite of occasional scandals, and there is no reason for supposing it to be undeserved; but they have the safeguard of marriage. [Sidenote: Soldiers and Sailors.] [Sidenote: English Medical Opinion.] [Sidenote: French Sanitary Legislation.] With the armies the case is different. Soldiers and sailors enjoy a reputation for bravery, but not for sexual morality in either country. There is terribly strong medical evidence on this subject which I cannot go into, _real_ evidence, better than the inventions of novelists. English medical opinions are of the gravest possible import, as they point to a danger to the military strength of the country in comparison with which the Channel tunnel would be a trifle; but it may be argued, as regards the health of the nation generally, that the English army is but a part of the nation, whereas the French army represents the nation itself. Another difficulty in the comparison arises from the fact that, although the French may be quite as immoral as the English, their sanitary legislation is more rigorously prudent, so that the consequent physical evils are much diminished. This subject is almost forbidden me in a book intended for general reading; but if any one cares to form a just opinion, I recommend him to study authentic statistics of the health of armies. [Sidenote: Student Life in the Two Nations.] [Sidenote: Student Life in Capital Cities.] [Sidenote: Struggling Students in Paris.] [Sidenote: Two Cases of French Students.] [Sidenote: Poor Students in Paris.] [Sidenote: Efforts of poor Students for their own Support.]