In this register is stated the date at which each man has been incorporated, as well as the date of his leaving the service, the date of his passing into the reserve, then into the territorial army and into the reserve of the territorial army, until he has satisfied all his military obligations. Every change of address is also noted. Every soldier receives on joining his regiment a _livret matricule_, a book in which are stated his age, his name, the address of his parents, his full description, the list of all the punishments he has received, and many other particulars. It is of the utmost importance for every Frenchman to keep this book carefully, as it has to be produced whenever required by the military, civil, or judicial authorities, and its loss entails several days' imprisonment. Whenever a Frenchman--until he has reached the age of forty-five and has thus satisfied all his military obligations--wishes to absent himself from his domicile, he is bound to present his _livret_ at the nearest _gendarmerie_ and to declare where he is going: this is written down in his _livret_, and on arrival at his new residence he must have this book "_visé_" anew. If he goes abroad he must present it to the French Consul, and whenever he changes his residence for more than three months, he must repeat the operation exactly after the fashion of a ticket-of-leave man in England. To omit to do so renders the offender liable to imprisonment. It is therefore easy to realise the tremendous power of the military authorities in France. II The military law I have just explained is that which has been in force since 1889 only. It differs from the previous law chiefly in regard to the length of service. In my time (1879) the period of service in the active army was five years instead of three. Young men, however, who had obtained the degrees of B.A. or B.S., provided they paid £60 to Government, and provided also they contracted a voluntary engagement within the year preceding that in which they became liable to conscription, were allowed to serve only one year instead of five. During the next four years they still belonged, however, to the active army, and were liable to be called at any time by decree of the War Minister. These young men were officially called _Engagés conditionnels_, but commonly termed _Volontaires d'un an_, or by abbreviation _Volontaires_. It was as such that I served. I have roughed it a good deal since those days, but I have no hesitation in saying that the time of my active service with the colours was the bitterest experience I ever underwent.