I was much astonished at the manner in which we were taught to charge. Instead of charging in serried ranks, the moment the command "Charge!" was given, every trooper had to force his horse forward as hard as he could go, without troubling to keep in line; in fact, it resembled a race rather than the onset of a compact mass. The troopers of the front rank charged with the points of their swords held forward, while those of the second rank held their swords high up, ready to cut down their men, and as soon as the command had been given every trooper had to shout at the top of his voice three times, "Charge! Charge! Charge!" This, with the clattering of the scabbards against our spurs, drove the chargers to the highest pitch of excitement, and every one of them went for all he was worth. We were also taught to charge in serried ranks, but it was explained to us that in case of war this mode of charging would hardly ever be used, as it would enable modern artillery to destroy whole regiments before they had been able to reach the enemy. The charge over, the bugle sounded "Assembly" (_Ralliement_), and at this command we had to re-form our line. At the beginning of April we underwent a second examination before a board consisting of the Captain and the Commander of the _Volontaires_, the _Capitaine Instructeur_, and one of the Majors. The three _Volontaires_ who obtained the first places were nominated Corporals after the examination. One of them certainly fully deserved his promotion, but the two others only obtained it through interest; one of them in particular, who is now Duc de ----, ought by rights to have been classed among the two last, but his family was able to put great pressure on our Colonel, and one of our Lieutenants, who was his first cousin, helped him to obtain a place on the list to which he was in no way entitled. The same thing happens in the case of the promotion of officers in France, and in some cases undeserved favour is shown in an absolutely shameful way. I am well aware that in all countries of the world family interest goes a long way--in this country it is hard to get on without it--but at least it may be said that the recipients of special favours have always something to show to their credit, while this is far from being the case under the French Republic.