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.