Chapter XXXV: Part VIII (1)

MILITARY SYSTEM AND SCHOOLS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

* * * * *

X. MILITARY SYSTEM AND EDUCATION IN ENGLAND.

I. MILITARY SYSTEM.

The British army originated in the feudal system, by which the great barons were bound to furnish a contingent to the army of the State; and their vassals were bound to attend them in person, and to furnish each the contributions in men, horses, arms, and other materials of war, for which he was liable by the tenure on which he held his lands. When regal power absorbed the privileges of the great feudatories, the people were expected to provide themselves with arms, and, in case of invasion, to respond to the summons issued through officers commissioned by the sovereign to array the fittest men for service in each county. In the time of Henry VIII, lord-lieutenants and deputy-lieutenants of counties were first appointed as standing officers for assembling and mustering the military forces. For a time, contracts were made with “captains,” who undertook to provide, clothe, and feed a certain number of fighting men for a given money allowance. In the reign of Charles I, the important question arose, whether the King of England did or did not possess the right to maintain a military force without the express consent of Parliament. Charles II, was compelled to abandon all control of the army, except a body guard of 5,000 men, sanctioned by Parliament. These regiments still exist, and are proud of their genealogy. They are the First Foot Guards, Coldstream Guards, Life Guard, Oxford Blues, the Royal Scots, and the Second Queen’s Royals.[1] The Declaration of Rights, in the time of William and Mary, settled in positive terms “that the raising and keeping of a standing army in time of peace, without consent of Parliament, is contrary to law.” The first Mustering Act was passed in 1689, to last for six months; but it has been annually renewed ever since, except in three particular years; and it constitutes the only warrant on which the whole military system of England is exercised by the sovereign with the consent of Parliament. For 172 years, with only three interruptions, the ministers of the crown have annually applied to Parliament for permission to raise a military force and for money to defray expenses. The sovereign can make war and bestow military employment and honors; but the House of Commons can refuse supplies.

[Footnote 1: Two regiments created in the reigns of Richard III,
and of Henry VIII, the first styled _Gentlemen Pensioners_, or
_Gentlemen at Arms_, consisting originally exclusively of
noblemen, and the latter, _Yeomen of the Guard_, still exist. The
latter is the only body that has the privilege of traversing
London with flags flying, drums beating, and fixed bayonets.]

Military service in England is voluntary, except in rare cases, and then only in the militia. As the chances of promotion from the ranks are small, the recruits are drawn from the most necessitous classes of the community, or the least fitted for industrial pursuits. The system of recruiting, with the bounty and machinery of deception is the most characteristic feature of the British army as compared with those of Europe, and makes the distinction between officers and men more broad than in any other service.

The British army, in its completeness, is theoretically commanded by the sovereign, assisted by the secretary of state for war in some matters, and by the commander-in-chief in others. The component parts are the household troops, the infantry of the line, the ordnance corps, comprising artillery and engineers, and the marines. There are also certain corps, raised and belonging to the principal colonies; the troops in India; the yeomanry cavalry; the dockyard battalions; the volunteer artillery and rifles; the enrolled pensioners, etc. In 1814, the regular army reached 200,000, and at the close of the war, 10,000 officers were retained on half pay. In 1860-61, in the army estimates, provision was made for the following force, viz.:

Home and Colonies. India. Total.
Cavalry 11,667 7,243 18,910
Infantry 103,169 66,345 169,514
Artillery 22,675 5,482 28,157
Engineers 4,730 ------ 4,730
Staff & Depot 1,121 13,420 14,541
------- ------ -------
Total 143,362 92,490 235,852

Under the column “India” are included only troops _sent_ to India, and paid for out of the Indian revenues. Of the total 235,852 forces, 10,459 are officers, 17,670 non-commissioned officers, and 207,723 rank and file. For the use of this army, 24,342 horses are provided. The total expenditure sanctioned by Parliament in 1860 was £14,800,000, viz.:

Military Pay and Allowances, £5,500,000;
Civil Salaries and Wages, £1,800,000;
Stores and Works of every kind, £5,400,000;
Pensions, Retired Pay, &c., £2,100,000.

The military force of various kinds within the United Kingdom, excluding the troops in East India, on the 1st of June, 1860, was 323,259, viz.:

Regulars (service companies,) 68,778;
Regulars (depot companies,) 33,302,
Embodied Militia, 15,911;
Disembodied Militia--Effectives, 52,899;
Yeomanry Cavalry--Effectives, 15,002;
Enrolled Pensioners--Effectives, 15,000;
Volunteer Rifles and Artillery, 122,867.

The total force of the United Kingdom in 1870-71, was as follows:

Total.
Officers on the General and Departmental Staff, 1,239

Regiments. Officers. Non-com., Rank
&c. and file.
Royal Horse Artillery, 78 138 1,834 2,050
Life-Guards and Horse-Guards, 81 192 1,029 1,302
Cavalry of the Line, 465 969 7,733 9,267
Royal Artillery, 661 1,550 12,866 15,087
Riding Establishment, 7 13 205 225
Royal Engineers, 539 564 3,879 4,836
Army Service Corps, 8 386 1,801 2,195
Foot-Guards, 237 453 5,220 5,910
Infantry of the Line, 2,934 6,468 51,990 61,392
Army hospital corps, 1 165 694 860
West India Regiments, 104 150 1,680 1,834
Colonial corps, 58 149 1,632 1,839
----- ------ ------ -------
Total, 6,276 11,197 90,593 108,066

Depots of Indian Regiments.
Cavalry, 27 54 513 594
Infantry, 200 600 5,000 5,800
----- ------ ------ -------
Total, 227 654 5,513 6,394

Recruiting and Teaching Estab’ts.
Cavalry Riding School, 2 2 -- 4
Infantry Depots, 5 9 -- 14
Recruiting Establishments, 6 17 -- 23
Inst. in Gunnery and Engin’ing, 10 57 62 129
--- --- --- ----
Total, 23 85 62 170

Training Schools and Factories.
Cadet Company, Woolwich, 10 20 9 39
Royal Mil. College, Sandhurst, 17 30 1 48
Regi’al Schools and Factories, 32 281 7 320
--- ---- -- ----
Total, 58 331 17 407

The total force of officers and men was 115,037, viz.

General and Department Staff, 1,239
Regiments, 108,066
Depots of Indian Regiments 6,394
Recruiting and Teaching Establishments, 170
Training Schools and Factories, 407

The British forces in India, exclusive of depots at home, comprised the following troops, in 1870-71:

Officers. Non-Com. Men. Total.
Royal Horse Artillery, 200 253 2,680 3,133
Cavalry of the Line, 225 424 3,672 4,321
Royal Artillery and Engineers, 1,016 795 7,936 9,747
Infantry of the Line, 1,500 3,262 41,000 45,762
------ ------ ------- -------
Total, 2,941 4,734 55,288 63,963

In addition to the troops above mentioned the army estimates include appropriations for four classes of reserved or auxiliary forces, viz.:

1. Disembodied Militia, 128,971 officers and men.
2. Yeomanry Cavalry, 15,435 “ “
3. Volunteers, 25,688 “ “
4. Enrolled pensioners, 31,102 “ “
-------
Total enrolled number, 201,196 “ “

In England and Wales the Militia Establishment comprises 42 regiments, with 5,066 officers; in Scotland, 16 regiments and 670 officers; in Ireland, 48 regiments, with 3,463 officers.

By Act of 1870, in case of invasion, rebellion, or insurrection, or of imminent danger thereof, the Militia, in pursuance of an order of Her Majesty in council, can be called out (the whole or any part) and embodied for actual service; but when so called out, her proclamation must be communicated to Parliament within ten days. By recent Royal Warrant, a lieutenant of the Militia is made eligible to appointment of sub-lieutenant in the Regular Army, and in the localization of the military force of the United Kingdom, the Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteers, are to be brought into closer connection with the Regular Army.

The total cost of the British army, voted by Parliament in 1870-71, was £13,093,500, besides a supplementary vote of £2,000,000 towards defraying the expenses of the military and naval services of the kingdom. Of the regular expenses, it appears from official statements that £893,200 were for the Militia and Inspection service; £81,900 for the Yeomanry; £412,400 for volunteers; and £76,000 for enrolled pensioners and army reserve force.

EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS FOR THE ARMY.

The sum of £140,700 was devoted to military education, in the estimates for 1871, when the educational establishments provided for the army were as follows:

Royal Military College at Sandhurst, preparatory for Infantry and
Cavalry Officers.

Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, for service in the Artillery and
Engineers.

Royal School of Military Engineering at Chatham.

Staff College at Woolwich.

Advanced Class of Artillery Officers at Woolwich.

School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness.

Survey Classes at Aldershot.

School of Musketry at Hythe.

Army Medical School at Netley.

Royal Hibernian Military School at Dublin.

Regimental Schools for Children of Soldiers.

Garrison Schools and Libraries for Adults.

Schools and Asylums for Orphan Children of Soldiers at Dublin and
Chelsea.

Training School for Army Schoolmasters in Chelsea Military Asylum.

Military School of Music at Kneller Hall.

II. ROYAL NAVY.

The administration of the Navy of the United Kingdom is vested in the Board of Admiralty, composed of five members, who are styled “Lord Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral,” which was formerly charged with all naval matters. The First Lord Commissioner is a member of the Cabinet, and dispenser of patronage, and, with his associates, goes out with the Premier.

The effective strength of the Navy in February 1, 1869, was:

[KEY]
Sg _Sailing._
T _Total._

_Classes of Ships._ _Steam._ _Sg_ _T_
Afloat. Building. Afloat.
Iron. Wood. Iron.
Armor-plated ships, 1st Class, 1 - 1 .... 3
“ “ 2nd “ 3 - 3 .... 6
“ “ 3d “ 5 4 - .... 9
“ “ 4th “ 3 5 - .... 8
“ “ 5th “ 4 - - .... 4
“ “ 6th “ - 2 - .... 2
“ “ Sloops and
gun-boats, 3 2 - .... 5
“ “ Special, with
turrets, 5 1 5 .... 11
“ “ Floating
batteries, 3 1 - 1 5
-- -- -- -- ---
27 15 9
Total iron-clads, 42 9 1 52
Ships of the line (screw), 43 2 2 47
Frigates (screw), 29 - - 29
Frigates (paddle), 3 - 1 4
Block ships (screw), 1 - 2 3
Corvettes (screw), 24 - - 24
Sloops (screw), 33 - 1 34
“ (paddle), 7 - 1 8
Small vessels (paddle), 8 - - 8
Dispatch vessels (paddle), 4 - - 4
Gun vessels (screw and double screw), 50 1 - 51
Gun-boats (screw), 58 1 9 68
Tenders, tugs, &c., (screw), 14 - - 14
“ “ “ (paddle), 38 - - 38
Mortar ships (screw), -- - 2 2
Troop and store ships (screw), 11 - - 11
“ “ (paddle), 1 - - 1
Transports for India reliefs
(screw), 5 - - 5
Yachts (paddle), 4 1 - 5
Total screw, 310 14 - 324
“ paddle, 65 1 - 66
--- -- -- ---
Grand total, 375 15 18 408

Not included in the above list are several ships for the defense of the colonies. The total naval force, August 30, 1870, was:

_In Commission_--238 ships, of 57,205 horse-power, 1,984 guns and 314,449 tonnage. _In Reserve, &c._, 318 ships, 64,286 horsepower, 3,610 guns, and 318,845 tonnage. The total number of officers, seamen, boys and marines, in 1870-71, was 55,430, besides 4,300 in the coast-guard and 1,270 in the Indian service. Among the officers were 143 flag officers; 29 superintending dockyards, and 3,193 other commissioned officers on service.

III. MERCANTILE MARINE.

The Mercantile Marine of the United Kingdom in number of vessels, their registered tonnage, and men employed, together with the value of property and number of passengers transported in them, exceeds that of any other country. The total number of vessels in the home and foreign trade, registered in 1869, was 21,881, with a tonnage of 5,575,303, employing 202,477 men, and freighted with imports and exports to the total value of 532,475,266_l._

All matters relating to merchant ships and seamen, and the mercantile marine generally, are committed to the general superintendence of the Board of Trade, which, as constituted in 1786, is composed of certain high officers, (members of the Privy Council), and its President is a Cabinet officer. To this Board all consular officers, all officers of customs abroad, and all local marine boards and shipping masters must make reports in matter and form as required. Inspectors, duly appointed by this Board, may visit any ship, examine any registry, machinery, boats, equipments, &c., to ascertain if they are conformable to law. In every seaport a Shipping Master is appointed by the Local Marine Board, who must keep register of names and character of seamen, facilitate their engagement and discharge, as well as the apprenticeship of boys to sea-service. The Local Board must provide for the examination of persons who intend to become masters or mates according to rules laid down by the Board of Trade. And to such as pass a satisfactory examination as to sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct on board ship, shall be given a certificate of competency; and to those who have served as masters or mates, under certain conditions, a certificate of service with specifications must be given. Shipping Masters must assist, when applied to by parents or guardians, or masters of ships, in apprenticing boys to the sea-service. No person can be employed as master or mate, who does not hold a certificate of competency, and under certain conditions, of service. Opportunities of preparing for these examinations are now provided in all the large seaports, in Navigation Schools; and the Government, through the Department of Science and Arts, encourages the study of astronomy, navigation, steam and steam machinery, and other branches, which are serviceable to officers in command of vessels, whether propelled by sails or engines, by making appropriations of money to schools according to the number of pupils who pass satisfactory examinations in these studies.

MILITARY EDUCATION.

The following account of the institutions for military education in England is abridged from an article in _Blackwood’s Magazine_ for November, 1858:

There exist in this country three military seminaries--the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, where youths are educated for service in the Artillery and Engineers; the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, where cadets are prepared for the Infantry and Cavalry; and the Honorable East India Company’s Military School at Addiscombe, which educates simultaneously for the Artillery, Engineers, and Infantry services of the three Presidencies. Supplementary to these are the School of Practical Instruction at Chatham, where passed cadets from Woolwich and Addiscombe learn practical engineering; and the senior department at Sandhurst, supposed to be a Staff school, into which officers of infantry and cavalry are, under certain restrictions, admitted.

I. The Military Academy at Woolwich came into existence in the year 1741. It was created by George II., to supply a want under which the English army then suffered, by giving some instructions in matters connected with their respective arts to officers and men who served in the Artillery and in the Engineers. Its beginnings were of the humblest imaginable order. A single room in a house at Woolwich, where the Board of Ordnance used occasionally to assemble, was set apart by Government as a hall of study; and two masters were appointed to give lectures by rotation, during four consecutive hours, in three days of every week. At first only the officers of the single battalion composing the English Artillery and of the corps of Engineers were required to attend. By and by the room was thrown open to the non-commissioned officers and privates also, and eventually the cadets, of whom five were supposed to be on the strength of each company of Artillery, repaired thither in like manner. But the cadets being the sons of the officers of the corps, as they neither dressed in uniform, nor were under any military control, proved very difficult to manage; and the difficulty led to a great change as well in their condition as in that of the Academy itself.

In the year 1744 the cadets were, for the first time, clothed in uniform, and collected into a distinct company. Two officers, with a drum-major, undertook the management of them; and the arrangement worked, or was supposed to work, so satisfactorily, that by little and little, as the regiment enlarged itself, the numbers composing the Cadet Company were increased also. In 1782 they had grown from twenty to sixty; in 1798 to a hundred; after which steps were taken to lodge and board, as well as to educate and drill them, apart from the residences of their fathers. Hence, after trying for a while to accommodate some in a separate barrack, while others were billeted on private persons at a payment of 2s. a day per head, the pile which now attracts the attention of the passer-by on Woolwich Common was erected. And by the addition of a lieutenant-governor, and a whole host of officers and professors, it grew into the sort of establishment which is familiar to most of us. In 1806 the staff of officers and teachers appointed to the Cadet Company consisted of--

1. Lieutenant-Governor; 2. Inspector; 3. Professor of Mathematics; 4. Professor of Fortification; 5. Mathematical Master; 6. Arithmetical do.; 7. French do.; 8. Fortification do.; 9. Landscape-drawing do.; 10. Figure-drawing do.; 11. Second French do.; 12. Fencing do.; 13. Dancing do.; 14. First Modeller; 15. Second do.: 16. Clerk.

In 1829 the fencing and dancing masters were discontinued, and a chemical lecturer appointed. In 1836 three new masters were added; and in 1857 the staff stood thus:

_Military._--A Governor; one Second Captain, commanding; one do. for Practical Class; four First-Lieutenants; one Quartermaster; one Staff-Sergeant; seven Drill-Sergeants; one Paymaster’s Clerk; one Assistant do.; Servants.

_Civil or Educational._--A Chaplain; Inspector--a Lieut.-Colonel of Artillery; Assistant do.--Major, R.E.; Professor of Fortification--Lieut.-Col., R.E.; two Assistants--Second Captains; Professor of Mathematics; seven Mathematical Masters; Master of Descriptive Geometry; Master for Geometrical Drawing; Drawing-Master for Landscape; Second do.; Master for Military Plan-Drawing--Brevet-Major, R.A.; Instructor in Surveying and Field Works--Captain, R.E.; Assistant do.--Captain, R.A.; Instructor in Practical Artillery--Second Captain, R.A.; Assistant do.--Second Captain, R.A.; four French Masters; four German do.; Master for History and Geography; Lecturer in Chemistry; Assistant to do.; Lecturer in Geology and Mineralogy; Lecturer in Practical Mechanics, Machinery, and Metallurgy; Lecturer in Astronomy and Natural Philosophy; Clerk; First Assistant do.--a Sergeant; Second do.--Bombardier; one Drill-Sergeant--Practical Class; Modeller, Modelling Smith, Servants, &c.

Admittance to the Academy was, till very lately, obtained only on the nomination of the Master-General of the Ordnance. There was a preliminary examination, it is true; but this all except the dullest might calculate on passing, and the ages of entrance ranged between fourteen and sixteen. In 1835 the minimum age was raised to fifteen, the maximum to seventeen; while candidates were called up to compete for admission in the proportion of four youths for every three vacancies. The arrangement did not avail to produce any radical change in the spirit of the institution. The preliminary examination still proved to be a “pass,” and no more; and so it continued till those political views obtained the ascendant which abolished altogether the office of Master-General and Board of Ordnance, and gave us in their place a Secretary of State for the War Department.

Occasions had arisen, even under the old regime, when young men were permitted to enter the service of the Artillery under what may be called exceptional conditions. During the pressure of the great war of the French Revolution, the demand for officers became at one time so urgent, that it was found necessary to dispense with a regular academical education, and to give commissions to candidates who were pronounced by competent examiners sufficiently conversant with mathematics and physical science to enter upon the practical duties of their profession. Lord Panmure, taking advantage of the precedent thus furnished, threw open Artillery commissions in 1855, and has continued ever since to treat admission into the Royal Military Academy as a prize for which the youth of the United Kingdom may freely compete.

The subjects of study to be pursued in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, not less than the mode of dealing with them, and the text-books to be used, have hitherto been prescribed to the most minute particular by regulation. They embrace Mathematics, Fortification, Descriptive Geometry, French, German, Plan-Drawing, Geometrical Drawing, Landscape Drawing, History and Geography; to which, during his continuance in what are called the “theoretical classes,” the attention of the cadet is confined. When he enters the “practical class,” the student is instructed, over and above, in Practical Artillery, Surveying and Field-Works, and attends lectures in Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology, and Mineralogy. As many as five years may be spent by a young man in going over this course--viz., four years in the “theoretical,” and one year in the “practical” class--though the average period of actual residence does not appear to exceed two years and a half or three years. There are periodical examinations at the end of every half-year, the second of which, by its results, determines whether the young man shall be allowed to go on to a commission, or be removed from the Academy.

The moral tone of this military college has never, we regret to say, been of a very high order. Excellent men have been at the head of it, and the ability of the professors and teachers appointed to instruct admits of no question. Yet few right-minded officers look back upon the years spent in the cadet barracks except with disgust. It is not very difficult to account for the circumstance. Long after Continental nations had seen the absurdity of pressing upon boys the sort of training which belongs to men, we refused to be guided by their experience, and persisted, both at Woolwich and elsewhere, in our endeavor to accomplish an impossibility. “Boys of fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen,” says a very high authority on this subject, “require much personal supervision in order to form their characters, which young officers, very often appointed without any sufficient knowledge of their tempers and habits, cannot be expected to bestow. Such officers may indeed be able to superintend drill, but not moral training. Rarely do they draw the cadets towards them, and become their advisers; more frequently repel them by a harsh dictatorial manner, the cadet being in their eyes a soldier. There has been also, during all the time I have known the Academy, great inconsistency in treating the cadets. Honor is constantly talked of, and yet doubts as to their truthfulness are not unfrequently expressed. I have heard even the lie given in rough and emphatic terms. Confidence is professedly placed, and yet offences are found out in a way that shows that no confidence existed. Hence a contest arises between the officer and cadet, and the latter becomes tricky and disingenuous.”

In these emphatic words Colonel Portlock has struck at the root of most of the evil which has long been felt, and heretofore combated without success, in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. Whatever is wanting in the morale of that establishment, it owes to the original sin of its constitution. We know how to deal with boys so long as we recognize their boyhood, even while appealing to the point of honor among them. But we no sooner dress them up in uniform, and affect to treat them as soldiers, than we lose all moral control over them. They smoke, drink, swear, and fall into other vices, not because they are overcome by any irresistible temptation, but because they look upon such acts as tokens of manhood. And the corporals, who report readily enough for insubordination, and the officers, who punish for what they call military offences, take little heed of worse things; partly because, in a military point of view, they are scarcely criminal; partly because, not being regarded as such, they are seldom brought under the notice of the superior authorities. How a seminary so conducted and so managed should have given to the Artillery and Engineers a body of officers distinguished, as those of both arms unquestionably are for talent, intelligence, and gentlemanly bearing, would be inexplicable, were not the fact well known, that one of the first lessons taught to the young lieutenant, after quitting the Academy, is to throw off the habits which he had contracted there, and to adopt the high moral tone and excellent habits of his regiment.

It was partly with a view to provide a palliative for this admitted evil, partly to encourage in our young Artillery officers the habit of sustained study, that they were required, by a recent regulation, “to place themselves under the orders of a director of studies for half a year after obtaining their commissions. Meanwhile cadets who are appointed to the Engineers proceed to the training-school for that arm at Chatham; where they go through a somewhat careful course of surveying, and are instructed less elaborately in architecture, civil as well as military, and in mining, sapping, pontooning, and so forth. According to the report of the Commissioners, it does not appear that they reach their new field of instruction over and above well prepared to make the most of it. Indeed, the whole of the Woolwich system is by these gentlemen condemned in terms as decided as is consistent with good breeding.

II. It was not till the year 1804 that the propriety of training young men in ever so slight a degree for the service of the infantry and cavalry, seems to have occurred to any statesman or soldier in this country. Appointments to both arms took place for a time by purchase only, and by and by, when the numbers of the rank and file increased, through the weight of influence, personal, political, or social. Moreover, when the pressure of the great war was at its height, a third door of entrance to military rank was opened, and ensigncies and captaincies, and even lieutenant-colonelcies, became the prize of private gentlemen who were able to bring certain fixed contingents of able-bodied men under the royal standard. So far as the candidates for commissions themselves were concerned, however, the same even-handed justice was meted out to all. Nobody took the trouble to inquire whether the candidates were qualified morally, intellectually, or physically. He might be a pimp and blockhead, or lame, or deaf, or blind; but so long as his patron had the ear of the Government, or the men whom he brought with him were able to pass muster, his commission, whatever it might be, was secure.

The Military College at Sandhurst consisted at first, as it still consists, of two departments--one, called the Junior Department, for cadets--the other, the Senior Department, for officers desirous of qualifying for the Staff. But it had, in its original constitution, this marked advantage over the arrangement which has since been effected, that whereas now cadets and officers occupy portions of the same range of buildings, and come under the instruction of the same professors, they were, in 1804 placed, the one at Marlow, the other at Highwickam--each class of students having its own teachers, though both were subject to the control and management of the same military administration.

As first constituted, the junior department afforded both an asylum and a place of education for the sons of officers exclusively. Youths once admitted ceased to be a burden to their friends, except for the necessary expenses of travelling; they were housed, clothed, and educated at the public expense. But no sooner was the great war ended than Parliament began to slacken in its gratitude to the army, and by little and little the grants for military education fell off, till in the end they ceased altogether. As a necessary consequence, the numbers of persons seeking education at the Military College fell off in like manner. And now the junior department exhibits a muster-roll of 180 cadets only, while the strength of the senior department has dwindled to nine individuals. To be sure, other causes than the withdrawal of public support from the institution have operated to produce this latter result. Whatever it might have been forty years ago, the senior department at Sandhurst is certainly no Staff school now. Indeed, the only science effectively taught there seems to be mathematics; and it is a curious fact, that though the army abounds with officers who have passed through that school, and taken high honors, the instances are rare in which Staff appointments have fallen to the lot of any of them.

Lads are admitted into the junior department at Sandhurst between the ages of thirteen and fifteen. The preliminary examination is of the most trivial kind, and the instruction communicated is, for half the course, that of a common school not of the highest order. No doubt each youth may, if he be disposed, master more than the elements of a good deal of science; for over and above physical geography and history, instruction is given in practical astronomy, dynamics, and statics, practical mechanics, co-ordinate geometry, the differential and integral calculus, trigonometry and mensuration, Euclid’s Geometry, attack and defence of fortresses, practical field-fortification, course of military surveying, the Latin, French, and German languages. Unfortunately, however, there is no compulsion to study, nor any inducement, unless the youth aspire to win for himself a commission without purchase.

III. The Hon. East India Company’s College at Addiscombe approaches nearer in its constitution and objects to what a military school ought to be, than any other of which we can boast in this country. It came into existence in 1818, previously to which date the Directors were in the habit of sending to Woolwich, for instruction, youths to whom they had given cadetships in the Company’s Artillery and Engineers. When first founded, it was intended as a place of training exclusively for these young gentlemen; but the benefits derived from it became so obvious and so great that the Court of Directors gradually enlarged its views, and now young men are educated at Addiscombe not only for the Company’s Artillery and Engineers, but for their infantry also. And herein it is that the Directors have mixed up evil with good. They consider an Engineer cadetship as their great prize, and next to that a cadetship of Artillery; and they select for these appointments, not the youths who may have exhibited special talents for either arm, but the best men, or the men reported as generally best, of their batch. The consequence is, that to the infantry--for good service in which talent is as much required as for either the Artillery or Engineers--the idlers of the College are appointed, while many a clever lad, who would have shone as an infantry officer, becomes an indifferent engineer or gunner, simply because he has been posted to an arm for the practical operation of which he has no genius.

In all other respects the Military School at Addiscombe may be fairly said to surpass both Woolwich and Sandhurst. In the first place, youths enter there almost invariably at a more mature age. Though eligible for admission after completing their fifteenth year, they seldom, if ever, come up for examination till after they have turned seventeen. In the next place, the entrance examination is more severe than either at Woolwich or Sandhurst; and in the third and last place--and this is the most important condition of the whole--cadets must complete their course at Addiscombe in two years, unless for special reasons, such as sickness, they be allowed to prolong their stay one half-year more. Now, lads may linger on at Woolwich four, and even five years, gaining this remarkable advantage from their stupidity, that when forced to compete at last for choice between Artillery and Engineers, they compete with youths who may have had but two years’ training. And at Sandhurst, the course which nominally covers four years, may, if the youth have interest at headquarters, be completed, as far as his appointment to a commission completes it, in four months.

The general education given at Addiscombe is certainly not inferior to that which the cadets receive either at Woolwich or at Sandhurst. It embraces, indeed, almost entirely the same subjects which are set down in the curriculum of the others--including lectures in geology, chemistry, and artillery. But it undeniably falls short in specialties. Hence, after completing his course at Addiscombe, the Company’s cadet intended for the Engineers proceeds to Chatham, where, side by side with young men from Woolwich, he receives practical instruction in his art. For the Artillery cadet, on the other hand, there is no practical school. Like his comrade intended for the service of the Infantry, he proceeds at once from Addiscombe to India, and learns there how to turn to account the theoretical lessons which have been communicated to him at home.

Another distinction deserves to be noted between the constitution of the school of Addiscombe, and that as well of the Royal Military College as of the Royal Military Academy: Though all alike put from them the eleemosynary element, at Addiscombe alone is strict impartiality in the matter of payments observed. The youth who enters there, whether he be the son of an earl or of a subaltern’s widow, must be provided with his £100 a year, besides about £25 more to cover the cost of books, instruments, and uniforms. Both at Woolwich and Sandhurst there is a graduated scale, which exacts more from a general officer than from a subaltern, and more from a civilian than from either. The orphan of an officer dying in poor circumstances is admitted into Woolwich on payment of £20 a year. He pays for similar privileges at Sandhurst £40. The son of a gentleman in civil life pays in both cases £125, a sum more than necessary to cover the expenses of his own board and education, but which is exacted in order that there may be a surplus out of which the deficiencies occasioned by the payments of the sons of officers shall be made good.

Most important changes in the system of Military Education in England have been introduced since 1855, by Lord Panmure and the Council of Military Education, inaugurated under his auspices.

1. Admission to the various Military Schools is now gained by open competitive examination.

2. The order and method of studies, and all examinations for promotion, are governed by an independent Board of competent officers, and men of service, called the Council of Military Education.

3. The amount and order of studies in each school are minutely arranged, and each Professor is kept to the prescribed course by the supervision of a Master of Studies.

4. The development of the Staff School has given completeness to the system.

III. FRENCH VIEW OF ENGLISH MILITARY SCHOOLS.

M. Alphonse Esquiros, in the _Révue des Deux Mondes_ of September 1860, contributes two articles on the military schools and institutions of England, from which we make a few extracts:

THE MILITARY SPIRIT AND PREPARATION OF ENGLAND.

On what foundation is the assertion based that England is only a first-class naval power? Although never numerous, have not the English soldiers sufficed for all the great eventualities of history? Has not the weight of their arms been felt for centuries past in the balance in which are weighed the destinies of the Continent? Each time that it was necessary to conquer, have they not conquered? I will not awaken irritating recollections. I will not mention the name of a great battle so painful to our national self-love; it will suffice to recall the fact, that recently, England, with a handful of men, has reconquered India. Instead of denying history, it were better to ask by what links the British character is connected with the group of martial nations. The Englishman is not warlike from inclination; he does not love war for war’s sake, or maintain an army for the ruinous pleasure of seeing bayonets glitter and banners flaunt. He has an army to defend his territory, his commerce, the immense net-work of his external relations and possessions. Experience has more than once shown him the necessity of placing the pride of riches under the protection of courage. The Englishman has less enthusiasm than coolness. Immovable when attacked, he feels that the responsibility of the labor which has made England an opulent nation rests upon his arms. The military element, therefore, presents in Great Britain peculiar and interesting features. And then, quite recently, besides the regular army, a new independent army has arisen. Yesterday, it existed but as a project; to-day, it fills the towns with the blast of its clarions, passes review in Hyde Park and Holyrood, and covers the plains with the smoke of its skirmishers. I speak of the volunteers, or riflemen. We must investigate the origin of this movement, and the influence it has already exercised on English habits; but before busying ourselves with the army and volunteers, it will be well to study the military schools and arsenals.

REFORMS IN MILITARY EDUCATION AND PROMOTION IN 1856.

The delay and disasters of the operations before Sebastopol aroused the attention of the press and the people to the manner in which officers for the army were trained, appointed, and promoted. The Government was aroused by the emotions of the country, and in 1856, a commission was appointed by Lord Panmure, Secretary of War, to reorganize the education of the officers. That commission visited the different military schools of Great Britain, visited similar institutions in France, Prussia, Austria, and Sardinia, and collected all documents of a nature to enlighten it researches. Its report is a monument of science, and art, and impartiality. The authors of that investigation, Col. Yolland, Col. Mythe, and Mr. Lake, of the Oxford University, pointed out what reform ought to be made in the English system to raise the establishment of military education to the level of the inevitable progress claimed by the present age. They recommended a Council of Military Education, which, placed beyond and above the educating body, should direct the studies of the young men destined for the army. From these various influences--the pressure of public opinion, the commission appointed in 1856 by the Government, and especially the Council of Military Education, arose those happy changes, which we shall endeavor to point out in the military institutions of Great Britain.

ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY AT WOOLWICH.

Before 1855, the candidates were named by the master-general of ordnance; and although there was an entrance examination, the requisitions were very elementary, and no youth, influentially connected or recommended, was rejected. The results, although the institution furnished some good engineers and artillery officers to the English army, were not satisfactory. Since 1855 the system of appointment and instruction has been re-organized. Appointment on nomination has given place to open competition. A ministerial circular made an appeal to all candidates desirous of entering the academy without distinction of class, or party. Public examinations thrown open to the youth of England, with independent examinations, succeeded the private examinations within the college walls. The axe was laid at the tree of privilege, and personal merit was substituted in its place.

The entrance examinations take place twice, a year, at Chelsea Hospital--the home of disabled soldiers, and the school of orphan soldiers’ children--in a large hall hung with the captured trophies and battle flags of different nations. The programme embraces mathematics, simple and practical; history, geography, and English literature; the Greek and Latin classics; the French language and literature; German, chemistry, and physics; mineralogy and geology; geometrical and landscape drawing. To each subject a certain numerical value is assigned. Each candidate is limited to five subjects, including mathematics, which he may select out of the programme, and on his obtaining an aggregate as well as relative number of marks depends his success. The results are made public, and the unsuccessful candidates are allowed another trial to fill succeeding vacancies. Then examinations exercise an indirect but elevating influence upon the schools of the country which send forth the candidates. Competition has put a check upon ignorance and mediocrity, no matter how well backed by social and political influence.

Another reform, not less important than that of competition, or the system of nominations, was that order of the minister of war, lengthening the age for the admission of candidates. That age was fixed between 16 and 20. The inconvenience of submitting young men too soon to military discipline has been recognized with great wisdom by Gen. Portlock.[2] “The character of adolescents exacts,” he says, “a more delicate cultivation than that which must be expected from officers imbued with the command of a military school. In their eyes, no matter how young he is, the pupil is a soldier, and they treat him almost as one. Doubtless they excel in drilling him well; but do they possess the necessary qualities and experience for forming the morals of youth?” Another consequence of the early admissions was the introduction of a sort of confusion and uncertainty in the system of teaching. Now, a distinct line is drawn between the course of studies which precede and which follow admission to the academy. The conclusion was come to that a military academy formed a sort of line of demarcation in life between a good general education which ends, and a professional service which commences. The character, mind, manners of the candidate are supposed to be formed according to the usages of the world; he has reached that age when a man knows himself, and looks out for a career.

[Footnote 2: The Inspector of Studies at the Academy, now member
of the Military Board of Education.]

It is needless to dwell on the course of instruction, which is now nearly the same in all the great military schools of Europe. There are thirty-five professors, many of them eminent in their respective departments. One leading object, both of instruction and discipline, is to cultivate the habit of self-improvement and self-government. Physical sports are practiced and encouraged, and the cadets frequently challenge the officers of the garrison to a match of cricket.

An examination takes place every six months, in which the progress of each cadet is ascertained and reported. Those who pass through the series in good standing are promoted to a commission; the most distinguished to the engineer corps, and the others to the artillery. The appointment of these young officers gives rise to an interesting ceremony. The Duke of Cambridge, with a numerous staff, visits Woolwich Academy twice a year. All the cadets are present in review in front of the monument. It is pleasing to see how admirably they go through the manœuvres. The duke then enters a hall where a _viva voce_ examination takes place on the art of fortification. This over, the cadets form in square, and the duke then advances to the table where the prizes are laid out. These prizes consist of a sword of honor, telescopes, mathematical instruments, and books. The President of the Council of Education reads out the names of the cadets of the first class who are to receive commissions in the engineers and artillery. In conclusion, the Duke of Cambridge addresses some parental words to the young men who are about to leave the academy to enter the army. Such is a brief account of this academical festival, to which the brilliancy of the uniforms, the rank and names of the assistants, the happy emotions on the faces of the young men, impress a character of charm and solemnity.

MILITARY COLLEGE AT ADDISCOMBE.

Addiscombe was formerly the residence of the Earl of Liverpool, but was converted into a school at an expense of $40,000, by the East India Company. Within a few years it has passed into the hands of the Government. One of the first acts of the Secretary of War and Council of Military Education was to inaugurate a system of admission (which was open by patronage of members of the company) by competitive examination, and which has been attended with the happiest results. After passing a year at Addiscombe, the cadets enter according to merit (ascertained by examination) and either enter the engineers, artillery, or line service. The India service will always remain distinct and sought after; that life of adventures, encampments in the jungles, tiger hunts, the attraction of struggles against man and nature, the dazzling figures of a world shining in the east through the fogs of Great Britain, all this responds to one feature of the English character, the love of adventure.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SANDHURST.

Here are two distinct institutions--the college, which is a preparatory school for infantry and cavalry officers, and the _senior department_, or staff school. The scholars of the last department, who have already gone through the competitive examination, are commissioned officers; they have even served a certain number of years in the army; some of them have gone through the Crimean war and the Indian campaign. In 1859, one of these officers had received eighteen or nineteen wounds, which had deprived him of one of his eyes. I was surprised at finding among them candidates for staff appointments who could write and speak French in a manner that would have done honor to a French officer.

The English find it an advantage to admit young officers of talent and energy into the higher branches of the service. To the experience of their profession, their picked soldiers add knowledge already acquired, which a second course of education develops and consolidates. It must, however, be admitted that it requires a certain moral strength to return, after having held a command, to the benches of a school, to follow various studies, and to submit to strict examinations, which exclude all ideas of promotion and favor, fortune or birth.

In an economical point of view, these two institutions, Woolwich and Sandhurst, cover their own expenses without any cost to the State. This fact, which was by no means foreseen, is owing to two measures relatively of recent date--the gradual withdrawal of subsidies formerly granted by Parliament, and the accession of the sons of rich men not belonging to the army; these latter pay a high premium, and thus contribute towards the education of the other cadets, who, being sons of officers, enjoy certain immunities. In England, it is thought equitable that the services of the father should be counted in favor of the son; according to this principle, the debt contracted by the country towards military men is paid to their sons by civilians.

Young men who have not passed through Sandhurst may, nevertheless, be admitted as officers into the line or cavalry, but on the condition of undergoing an examination and _purchasing_ their commissions. This purchasing of direct commissions is doubtless detrimental to Sandhurst College. The abolition of the system has often been mooted. The Duke of Cambridge approves of the abolition, as does the Minister of War, and wishes that no officer shall be admitted into the English army except from a military college.

COUNCIL OF MILITARY EDUCATION.

So far we only behold the members of a great system. There is unity in the Council of Military Education, which to a certain extent is the head of instruction. The influence of their council, which consists of eminent men, is felt in the different schools, introduces changes and useful reforms, directs the public examinations--in a word, gives the impulse to the military studies of the United Kingdom. The civil and religious element is represented therein by one of the most learned men of England (the Rev. Henry Mosley, canon.) The other members are generals and colonels belonging to different corps of the army.

Thus it will be seen that England enjoys a system of military education which will bear comparison with that of any other nation in Europe. The chief purposes of this system are a good general instruction up to the age of sixteen or nineteen years, then a short military instruction, then, after some years of service, a final course of studies in the senior department or staff college. It must not, however, be supposed that the present state of things, though happily modified by the recent principle of competition, is the extreme limit of progress. In the name of liberty, I am too anxious that Great Britain should maintain her position in the world, to pay a full compliment to her self-esteem and enslumber her aspirations for reform. She has done much in these latter times; but there is still much to be done, and she is aware of it, to raise the moral power of her officers to the level of modern times, where enlightenment pervades every class of society.

MODIFICATIONS IN 1871.

In 1867 a Royal Commission was appointed “to inquire into the Present state of Military Education and into the Training of Candidates for Commissions in the Army.” The Report, with the minutes of evidence and illustrated documents, was quite voluminous, and has been followed with important changes in both the system of military instruction, and in the mode of making appointments and promotions in the army, that will be noted in detail in the following chapters, which are compiled from historical notices by the Secretary of the Commission, and recent Regulations for the government of the several schools and the examinations for appointment and promotions.

The most important measure affecting the British army; after repeated discussions of the principle, in the last and former Parliaments, and particularly in the last, on a bill of the Gladstone ministry, in which the votes of the Commons in favor was overruled by the Lords, was the abolition of the whole system of purchase and sale of commissions by Royal Warrant issued July 20, 1871. This radical change was followed (October 30) by a revision of the Queen’s Regulations, in which original appointments and promotions in the military service are put on a new basis. Henceforth, commissions of the first grade are to be issued to sub-lieutenants, for any vacancy occurring:

1. To successful candidates, in the order of merit as ascertained by competitive examination in general subjects.

2. To graduates of the universities who shall pass a qualifying examination.

3. To Queen’s Cadets, Indian Cadets, and Pages of Honor, who have passed successfully the final examination of the Military Academy, or its equivalent.

4. To non-commissioned officers who are recommended for promotion by their commanding officers. If more candidates apply than there are vacancies to be filled, appointment is decided by competition.

5. To a lieutenant of the militia, who shall pass the professional examination required.

Sub-lieutenants are eligible to promotion only after passing a professional examination, and only after twelve months’ service with a regiment, under strict discipline, with liability to be removed for physical or moral unfitness. Within three years from the date of their commissions as lieutenants, officers may submit to an examination in respect to fitness for promotion to captaincies, and any officer failing to pass within three years, must retire from the army. Lieutenants are eligible to the rank of captain at any time after two years’ service in the army, having passed the examination. A captain may be made a major after two years’ service in the army; and a major is at any time eligible to a lieutenant-coloneley, which means the command of a regiment.

Every promotion must now be made on the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief, with the approval of the Secretary of State for War; and from the principles laid down in the Royal Warrant, as will be seen further on, every precaution is taken to insure a gradual advance by seniority, and a more rapid rise by meritorious service founded on intelligent and disinterested tests. By the new Warrant the Militia is brought into closer connection with the Regular Army. To the abolition of purchase, and promotion by professional preparation and service, may be added the autumn field manœuvres, inaugurated in 1871, with 30,000 men, and the localization of the Army, by assigning a corps with staff, train, men, &c., to territorial divisions of the country.

COUNCIL OF MILITARY EDUCATION.

HISTORICAL NOTICE.

In the debates which took place in Parliament during the Crimean war, in the year 1855, attention was frequently drawn to the necessity of improving the professional education of officers, and more particularly of providing means of instruction for, and requiring special qualifications from, those who were candidates for the staff. In the course of the same year a great alteration was made in the principles which had hitherto regulated preparatory instruction for the army, by abandoning, so far as the scientific corps were concerned, the system of juvenile military education, and throwing admission to the Artillery and Engineers open to public competition among candidates whose age would afford the presumption that their general education was already completed. At the beginning of 1856 three Commissioners, Lieut.-Colonel Yolland, R.E., Lieut.-Colonel Smythe, R.A., and the Rev. W. C. Lake, were appointed by Lord Panmure, then Secretary of State for War, “to consider the best mode of reorganizing the system for training officers for the scientific corps”; and for this purpose were directed to visit the military schools of France, Prussia, Austria, and Sardinia. The instructions issued to the Commissioners informed them that it was already decided that admission to the scientific corps should be obtained by open competition, and that the age of candidates admitted to the examination should be from 17 to 20.