London, and the method of conducting the examinations by printed papers, instead of by viva voce, had been adopted. The examinations have, ever since that period, been conducted by examiners appointed by the Council of Military Education, and have, as a rule, been held half yearly. By a regulation which has been for some years in force, candidates for direct commissions are also permitted to be examined at foreign stations. The examination is, in this case, conducted in the presence of a board appointed by the officer commanding the station; but the method of examination is, in all other respects, identical with that adopted at home. The examination papers are forwarded by, and the candidates' replies are returned to, the Council of Military Education.

The plan proposed by the Council was intended to regulate admission to the army in ordinary times of peace; but almost immediately after it had been formally approved, and before it had actually come into operation, the pressure occasioned by the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny led to an abnormal condition of circumstances. In September, 1857, a circular was issued, announcing that commissions would be given without examination on the condition of the applicant raising a certain number of recruits. In March, however, of the following year, this temporary measure was abolished, the pressure for troops being no longer such as to render its continuance necessary. Since that period no candidates, with the exception of graduates of the universities, have obtained commissions without passing the regular examination.

Before 1862, candidates were eligible for commissions without purchase, on passing the examination for direct appointments. Since that year, however, all free commissions have been reserved for cadets at Sandhurst, and those who pass the direct examination have only obtained commissions by purchase.

REGULATIONS IN FORCE IN 1869.

I. The examinations of candidates for direct commissions will be held in London at such periods as the exigencies of the service may require, and be conducted under the direction of the Council of Military Education by examiners appointel for the purpose. The number of candidates summoned to attend each examination will be limited to the requirements of the service.

II. The age of candidates examined for direct appointments will be, until further notice, from 17 to 20 years for the infantry, from 17 to 22 years for the cavalry, and from 17 to 26 years for colonial corps.

III. The candidate will be examined by a medical board, to ascertain that he is in every point of view, as regards his physical constitution, fit for military service.

He will be required to produce the following certificates, which must be forwarded to the Council of Military Education, 13 Great George street, S. W., as soon as possible after the receipt of the Military Secretary's order to attend for examination:

(a.) A certificate of baptism, or other satisfactory proof of his age. (b.) A certicate from a minister of the church or of the denomination to which he belongs, that he has been duly instructed in the principles of religion. (c.) A certificate of good moral character, signed by a clergyman of the parish to which he belongs, or by the tutor or head of the school or college at which he has received his education, for at least the two preceding years; or such other proof of good moral character as will be satisfactory to the Commander-in-Chief.

A statement of the subjects in which he wishes to be examined. The following will be the subjects of examination, but no candidate will be allowed to be examined in more than five of these subjects.

English language,

lects) each,

1,200

600

Modern languages (not including provincial dia

History, ancient and modern, with geography,

Natural sciences, i.e., mineralogy and geology,
Experimental sciences, i.e., chemistry, heat, elec-
tricity, including magnetism,

Drawing,

V. Of the foregoing subjects, the elementary branches of mathematics and the English language, to the extent stated in the following paragraphs, will be considered obligatory:

1. In mathematics, 1,200 marks will be given to the following obligatory portions, viz., arithmetic, including vulgar and decimal fractions, proportion, extraction of the square root, and simple interest.

Algebra, including fractions, simple equations, and questions producing them: Euclid, the first three books.

Of the 1,200 marks allotted to the foregoing portions of mathematics, 400 will be required for qualification, and of these at least 200 must be obtained in arithmetic.

2. In the English language, the candidate will be required to write correctly and in a good legible hand from dictation, and to compose grammatically. He will be required to obtain at least 200 marks in this subject.

3. Out of the remaining subjects the candidate may select any three.

4. No candidate will be allowed to count the marks gained in any one of the three voluntary subjects, unless amounting to one-sixth of the whole number of marks allotted to that subject; and for qualification, he will be required to obtain on his five subjects a total of 1,500 marks.

5. In the examination in classics, passages will be given for translation from the books usually read at schools; grammatical questions will be set, and English passages also given for translation into the Latin and Greek languages.

VI. The result of each examination will be reported to the Commander-inChief, and the names of any candidates who distinguish themselves will be specially brought to his notice.

VII. An unsuccessful candidate will not be debarred from applying to the Commander-in-Chief for permission to attend a future examination. No candidate, however, will be allowed more than three trials.

Should a candidate obtain only between 700 and 1,200 marks, he will not be allowed to present himself for reexamination for at least six months. If he obtains less than 700 marks, a period of at least twelve months must elapse before he can be allowed to present himself again.

In all cases permission to be reëxamined must depend upon the number of applicants on the list.

In subsequent examinations no credit will be given for the marks gained by a candidate on former occasions.

In the event of a candidate not appearing for examination at the time appointed, such candidate will not be permitted to attend on the next occasion, and he will render himself liable to have his name either erased entirely or placed at the bottom of the list of those noted for examination.

VIII. A student at either of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, London, St. Andrew's, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, or Queen's University, Ireland, who shall have passed the examination necessary for taking a degree in arts, is qualified for a commission by purchase without being required to pass the foregoing examination, provided he is within the limits of 17 and 23 years of age if for the infantry, 17 and 25 years if for the cavalry, and of 17 and 28 years for colonial corps, and can produce the certificates marked (a), (b), and (c).

Such candidate must furnish a certificate of having graduated, or of having passed the examinations, signed by the Registrar of the University, and showing the date on which the examination took place.

On his application being approved, the candidate will receive an order to be medically examined as to his physical fitness for the service.

The candidate will address his application, accompanied by the necessary certificates, to the Military Secretary, Horse Guards.

III. PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION AS PREPARATORY TO MILITARY EXAMINATIONS.

A. GENERAL NOTICE.

IN connection with the Modern Departments, at some public schools, technical instruction in military subjects is actually at present given. This, for instance, is the case at Cheltenham College, the Modern Department at which appears, in fact, to have been originally instituted with the express object of affording means of special military education, and at the present day is officially called the "Military and Civil Department." At one time, also, even at some schools in which Modern Departments did not exist, classes were formed in which instruction in military subjects was given to boys intended for the army. Both at Eton and at Harrow such classes existed, and fortification and military drawing were taught in them. The object of the formation of these classes appears in both cases to have been to enable boys to go up straight from school to the examinations for admission to the army, without the necessity of having recourse to private tuition. At the time of their institution a knowledge of fortification was required in the examination for direct commissions, and a candidate was therefore unable to present himself for this examination without some special preparation. At the commencement of 1858, however, the direct commission examinations were entirely remodelled; the small amount of fortification previously required was at that time excluded from the subjects of examination, which have ever since been of a non-professional character, and more or less such as enter into the course of ordinary liberal education. With the exclusion of technical subjects from the military examinations, the necessity for any special instruction in such subjects in

candidates for admission to the army ceased. The military class at Harrow seems to have died out within a few years of its establishment; it has not been in existence during the last ten years and more. At Eton, though the corresponding class is still maintained, the teaching of technical military subjects in it has been abandoned. Even in the Modern Department at Cheltenham the instruction appears of late years to have become of a less decidedly military character than it originally was; and fortification, which was at one time taught at Wellington College, no longer enters into the course of instruction there. In the Modern Side, which has within the present year been established at Harrow, though partially intended, among other purposes, to assist the education of boys intended for the army, no attempt is made to give special military instruction.

The question of the possibility of affording an adequate military education at civil schools was fully discussed by the Commissioners appointed in 1856 to consider the training of officers for the scientific corps.

Having arrived at the conclusion that professional military education as hitherto given in this country has been begun at too early an age, we are met by what may be called the extreme opposite view, which would suggest the desirableness of giving up altogether education in military colleges previously to entering the army, or to entering a purely practical class or college for the special corps of Artillery and Engineers. An opinion appears to exist that the ordinary schools of the country are the best means of giving nearly the whole teaching of general and even military science which is desirable for all classes of officers before entering the army. It seems to be thought that not only modern languages and mathematics, but military history and topography are likely to be taught in such schools sufficiently for the highest military purposes, and that even young men intended for the special arms of the service may, on joining a military academy, be absolved, or almost entirely absolved, from any other studies than those included under the expression purely practical course.

46

a

The Commissioners expressed their unhesitating dissent from this view. After pointing out the difficulties of giving at ordinary schools a complete preparation even in studies of a general preparatory character, such as modern languages and mathematics, and the still greater difficulties of teaching special subjects, like military history and topography, the Report proceeds:

Agreeing, therefore, as to the fact of a "sound general education being given by public schools," we are unable to draw from it the conclusion that they will give a specific military education." They may indeed assist our military education, in a manner which the true sense of the term "sound general education expresses, by encouraging preliminary tastes and studies, such as general history, mathematics, and modern languages, English included, to a greater extent than they do at present. But if there is such a thing as a science of war at all, it stands to reason that it can only be taught fully in cases where young officers have the passion and the capacity to begin it early, by its own teachers, and in its own place. The teachers should be

practical men, as well as men of military science; the place a military college. And the great schools of the country will perform the same service to such an academy for young scientific officers as they do for places which give a specific education for other professions; they will prepare for it, but disclaim any attempt to complete it.

The Report of the Public Schools Commission does not appear to have made any direct reference to the question of the possibility of giving technical military instruction at civil schools; but the disinclination shown by the Commissioners to recommend even the general institution of "Modern Departments" would lead to the conclusion that they were not disposed to view with favor the introduction of any system of special instruction into the ordinary school course.

The question has been dealt with at considerable length in the evidence taken before the present Commission. In addition to the evidence given by Dr. Barry, Mr. Southwood, Dr. Benson, and Dr. Temple, to which particular reference is made in the Report, opinions on the subject were expressed by several military witnesses. Major-General Sir P. Herbert considers that all which is learnt at Sandhurst-all the knowledge requisite for a line officer-might equally well be acquired at a public school, if proper arrangements were made for teaching it. In his opinion fortification (including the practical construction of field-works), military drawing and surveying, military history and drill, could all be taught by military instructors at public schools without difficulty, and without interference with the subjects of general education. MajorGeneral White considers that military history, modern languages, and drawing might be taught with advantage at public schools to boys intended for the army, although it would be difficult to teach the practical work of field fortification, artillery, and surveying. Colonel Baker appears to be of opinion that at the Universities, certainly, a special preliminary education might be given to candidates for the army, on a system similar to that which it was at one time proposed to introduce at Cambridge, but which does not appear to have ever been actually adopted. At the same time, though this instruction would be of a special character, Colonel Baker does not seem to contemplate its embracing strictly technical military subjects. On the other hand, His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge is of opinion that special military classes at public schools would fail; Major-General Sir F.