The qualifying examination for Woolwich appears, before 1862, to have required an amount of mathematical knowledge difficult of attainment for a boy educated at a public school; but it underwent in that year some changes which have made it easier for candidates who have not received a special training. The obligatory mathematics do not now go beyond plane trigonometry; and a candidate need not obtain in them, to qualify, more than 700 marks out of 3,500; with this minimum, and with a fair proficiency in Latin, Greek, French, and geometrical drawing, he is entitled to enter into the competition. This standard is certainly not so high as to be inaccessible to a boy educated at a good public school, and from a table showing the working of the scheme at the examination of January, 1863, it appears that of the 20 successful competitors, 11 distinguished themselves in classics; the other marks were chiefly gained in mathematics and French. In three years, previous to this change, 35 public-school candidates passed and 49 failed to pass the qualifying examination, the totals being 545 and 689. Of the whole 84, two only went direct from the schools, and these failed.
In another passage the Commissioners say: “The main studies of the public schools being classical, it is obvious that, unless a due amount of weight is given to the classics in the Woolwich examinations, boys from those schools will not stand a fair chance in the competition. On the other hand, as it is of importance that the examinations should comprise other subjects besides classics, it is also obvious that unless the public schools provide a due amount of instruction in those other subjects, the candidates whom they send up must compete at a disadvantage. It is certain that there has hitherto been a want of adjustment between the Woolwich standard and the teaching of the public schools. The fault, we think, lies chiefly, though not wholly, in the deficiencies in the course of education pursued at the latter; and we are convinced that when these deficiencies have been supplied the difficulty which is now complained of will speedily disappear. But it is also to be observed, with respect to the Woolwich examinations themselves, that the scale of marks has lately (as we have already stated) undergone an alteration, which diminishes the amount of mathematical attainment required, and allows greater weight to classical scholarship. It appears probable that the Modern Departments at Cheltenham and Marlborough would not have been what they are had the old Woolwich standard, which is stated to have influenced them so strongly, been the same as the present; and probable, also, that they will hereafter feel the effects of the change which has been made in it.”
[III. EXAMINATIONS FOR PROMOTIONS.]
HISTORICAL NOTICE.
Examinations for promotion were for the first time instituted shortly after the introduction of examinations for admission to the army, by the Duke of Wellington when Commander-in-Chief, in the year 1850. A circular memorandum, published on the 14th of May of that year, announced that all officers would in future be subjected to an examination previously to promotion to the respective ranks of lieutenant and captain. The first examination was to be confined to subjects connected with the rudiments of drill, regimental duties, interior economy, and the Mutiny Act and Articles of War. The second examination for the rank of captain was in addition to extend to more general subjects, and to include geography, ancient and modern history, mathematics, and field and permanent fortification; but the examination in these subjects was not intended to affect lieutenants who had entered the service previously to 1849.
The examination for promotion to the rank of lieutenant was to be conducted regimentally by the commanding officer and the two next senior officers of the candidate’s regiment. The purely professional portion of the second examination, for the rank of captain, was to be conducted in the same manner; with regard to the mode of testing the candidates’ qualifications in the more general subjects required in this examination, it was stated that such orders would be given in each individual case as the Commander-in-Chief might think proper and necessary.
These regulations continued in force up to the time of the institution of the Council of Military Education in 1857, although it appears, both from official statements made by the Secretary at War, and from numerous expressions of opinion in Parliament between the years 1854 and 1857, that, at least so far as regarded the second examination for the rank of captain, little attempt was made, even nominally, to enforce the regulations. Mr. Sidney Herbert proposed, in 1854, in connection with his general scheme of military education, to remodel the examinations and to institute a special machinery for conducting them; and though no actual steps were taken to carry out his proposal, the necessity of making the examinations real and genuine tests of professional knowledge, and of enforcing strict qualifications for promotion, was frequently recognized in the numerous discussions which took place in Parliament on the subject of military education during the course of the Crimean War.
The Council of Military Education, on their appointment in 1857, were directed to consider the question of the professional examination of officers for promotion up to the rank of captain, and in the course of the year submitted a proposal on this subject, in connection with a scheme for providing instruction for officers after entering the service.
New regulations on the subject were issued on the 19th of July, 1858, which, while introducing little change in regard to the examination of cornets and ensigns, rendered a knowledge of mathematics, history, and fortification no longer requisite in the second examination for the rank of captain. Geography, on the other hand, was still retained among the subjects, and, as a condition of promotion to a captaincy, a lieutenant was required “to be able to state the general divisions of the world, the name of the capital of each nation in Europe, and the principal rivers, seaports, and military posts in Great Britain, Ireland, and Her Majesty’s Dominions in every part of the world.” The examinations of cornets and ensigns still continued to be conducted regimentally; that of lieutenants, so far as related to matters of regimental economy, detail, or discipline, was to be made by boards of officers appointed by the commanding officer at the station, consisting, when possible, of three senior officers not of the same corps as the candidate.