multiplied by the number of members of which that body consists, you have at once a great vital force affecting the destinies of the country, and capable of producing the most important or the most fatal result, according to the direction which may be given to it. Let me ask, then, when you have in existence bodies of armed men, paid by the country, and organized with a view of defence, some of them intended for service abroad, some for special duties in this country, others again, like yourselves, to be called upon as a last resource in case it should please God to permit this country ever to be exposed to a state of things entailing that necessity, can there be any thing more fatal, any thing more erroneous-whether we regard the matter as one of national moment, or as one of expediency, or as one merely affecting the Parliamentary estimate -than a state of things in which this division and contrariety between the several bodies together, constituting what is called our military organization, is suffered to exist and continue? (Applause.) Lord Elcho has told us that the session of Parliament which is about to commence must not close without the great question of army organization being settled in a matter satisfactory to the country. I am not a political man, and I will not venture to say whether such a result will follow from the labours of the present session; but this I do say, that it is the duty, not only of those who are in office, but also of those who are out of office, to see that the session does not terminate without this great subject being weighed, and such practical results, at least, attained as shall cause the division to which I have alluded to cease, and be known henceforth only as a matter of history. I have said that, according to my apprehension of the subject, the vital difficulty with which we have to deal is the conflict of interests between the different bodies which make up the military organization of England. What is it that causes that conflict of interests? It arises from the fact that every one of these bodies relies for its existence merely upon the voluntary principle. As regards bodies such as that which I am now addressing, consisting of men who stand forward as volunteers willing to give up to the State such time as they can spare from the avocations pressing upon them, it would be absurd to expect that any principle of organization other than the voluntary principle could apply to them. Then, as regards what is known as the line. From whatever point of view we in England may contemplate what is going on upon the Continent, however we may be moved by the spectacle of two great military nations struggling, and with whatever feelings we may see these countries placing their whole population under arms, not merely embodying them for purposes of defence, but sending them across the frontiers as well, I do not believe there is any one who would like to see such an organization adopted and applied to this country. The regular army is called on to serve in all parts of the world, and frequently in tropical climates. I consider it, therefore, to be absolutely necessary that the line should continue to be raised as heretofore upon the voluntary principle.

there is a third body, as to which the circumstances are different, and this is the body that competes with the line for recruits as matters at present stand. The conflicting interests to which I have alluded as existing between the militia and the line can alone, in my opinion, be reconciled by causing the militia to be raised on that ancient principle of obligation which always belonged to the constitution of this country, which has always been recognized as the first duty of every member of the population, but which recently, for a certain number of years, has been held in suspension. I believe it to be absolutely necessary that we should revert to that principle of obligation-that is to say, that every man, without respect to his rank or to his position in the world, shall be liable to serve, in his own person, in the ranks of the militia. (Applause.) There may be certain exemptions which it would be necessary to make, particular persons that ought not to be thus employed; but a primary obligation should rest upon every man to serve in person, and no pecuniary sum of any amount should enable a man, whatever his rank or whatever his position, to save his person by means of his purse. (Applause.) I have sometimes heard it said that to revert to this ancient principle of obligation as a means of filling our army of home defence would be to interfere with the liberty of the subject. Let that proposition be fairly examined. I should like to meet a man who would stand before me and say he declined to come forward in defence of his country, because to do so would interfere with his liberty as an Englishman. People who use such an argument, and who contend that you should rely entirely upon voluntary service for the purposes of home defencethat is to say, that you should cause men to enter the militia solely for the sake of the moderate pay or the petty bounties that are offered to them-forget that this is a measure which secures what are called the comfortable classes at the expense of those who are not so well off. (Loud applause.) Addressing as I do a body of volunteers who may be taken as representatives of that great body of 150,000 men now in arms, I think I may fairly say that however much they belong to the comfortable classes, they, at least, have not shirked the duty which is incumbent upon every Englishman, but have stood forth when wanted for the defence of the country, at considerable loss of time and comfort, and without pay, or any thing being done for them except some help which may occasionally have been given by their commanding officers. I say, then, do not let us be led away by any argument about interference with the liberty of the subject. What is required from us, and what is rightly required from every subject, is that he should stand forward for the defence of the country-not according to his individual option, but according to his individual liability-whenever he is called upon by the nation to do so. And to do this involves no forfeiture, but on the contrary, an assertion, of the liberty of the subject."

Prominent among those who came forward with their views upon this absorbing subject was Earl Russell, who in a letter addressed

to the Times laid down the following as the objects to be secured in any re-organization of our national defences :

"The United Kingdom ought to be defended against invasion. The colonies and dependencies of the United Kingdom ought to be protected by our naval and military forces against a foreign enemy. The engagements of the Crown and of our country with foreign Powers ought to be fulfilled. Let us add to these three objects, that when our honour or our interests are deeply involved in some national dispute they ought to be firmly maintained."

In order to secure these objects, Lord Russell, borrowing from Sir John Burgoyne, Sir William Mansfield, and other distinguished officers, and adding some proposals drawn from his own civil experience, made the suggestions which follow:

"1. That not less than 200,000 men, consisting of regular army and embodied militia, should be kept up within the United Kingdom.

"2. Army. That the system of purchase of commissions in the army should be abolished, either immediately or gradually.

"3. That to the Commander-in-Chief should be assigned, as at present, the duties of maintaining discipline in the army and of recommending officers for promotion.

"4. That the field artillery should be largely increased, according to the example of Prussia.

"5. That a sufficient store of powder should be provided both for artillery and infantry.

"6. That the recruiting of privates for the artillery should be stimulated by bounty.

"7. That the term of service, both for infantry and cavalry, should be for seven years, and for artillery for ten years.

"8. That a service of twenty-one years should entitle the soldier to a pension of 9d., and of twenty-four years of 18. a day.

"9. Militia.-That the militia should be raised by ballot, according to the old militia laws, for service in the United Kingdom only.

10. That in the first week of May in each year every regiment of militia should be called together, and the number willing to volunteer for the army should be registered. That the services of not more than two-thirds of the men willing to volunteer for the army should be accepted. The places of those accepted to be filled up by ballot in the month of October succeeding.

"11. The commissions of subalterns in the militia to be given as at present by the Lord-Lieutenant, but all promotions to commissions of captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel to be granted by the Commander-in-Chief of the army.

"12. Volunteers.-Every volunteer who wishes to be entitled to a grant of money, clothes, or arms from the Treasury, to sign an engagement to attend days in the year the meeting of his

corps, or in default to pay a fine for absence."

It is unnecessary to cite further the extra-parliamentary utter

ances upon this subject; but one fact is worth quoting, as showing the view taken by the people in some quarters of the purchasesystem. Mr. Muntz, the Member for Birmingham, who had been on the Commission of Inquiry into that system, told his constituents, while condemning it utterly, that it would cost 7,000,000Z. to abolish it in an equitable manner. He explained this to them with great clearness and some peremptoriness, and asked them to tell him clearly whether they were prepared to pay the money. The question was put in the most formal manner to the meeting, and elicited an absolutely unanimous vote. Not a single hand was raised in objection, though the pecuniary difficulty had been most forcibly explained.

Among the minor matters of the moment must not be forgotten the serious small-pox epidemic which prevailed in London. It increased slowly through 1870-rapidly from November, 1870, to January, 1871-till the number of cases under the administration of the Poor Law Board increased from 300 at the beginning of November to more than 900 at the beginning of January.

In a report of the Registrar-General, it was declared that it had not been so virulent in London for fully thirty-one years. In the severe visitation of 1840-1 the weekly average number of deaths was only seventy-one, whereas in the present epidemic the average number of deaths weekly was for a long time 152. The ravages of the disease were at one time great even in the West End, where vaccination was resorted to by almost every family. Small-pox showed a considerable increase in the north of the metropolis. In seven weeks of the first quarter the deaths from the disease in London were 1184, and the greater number of these occurred under twenty years of age.

The visitation found us unprepared as ever; and cabs, omnibuses, and hospitals did their best to spread the disease, which had at last to die out as it came, "of itself."

Meanwhile the Parliamentary Session was opened on the 9th of February by her Majesty the Queen, though her speech was, as in previous years, read by the Chancellor, amid a general sense of disappointment. As the Chancellor proceeded, the Queen sat with eyes cast down, and almost absolutely still, a single slight movement of the fan being all that was at any time perceptible.

"My Lords and Gentlemen,

"At an epoch of such moment to the future fortunes of Europe, I am especially desirous to avail myself of your counsels.

66 The war which broke out in the month of July, between France and Germany, has raged, until within the last few days, with unintermitted, and likewise with unexampled, force; and its ravages may be renewed, after but a few days more, unless moderation and forethought, prevailing over all impediments, shall sway the Councils of both the parties whose well-being is so vitally concerned.

"At the time when you separated, I promised a constant atten

tion to the subject of neutral obligations; and I undertook to use my best endeavours to prevent the enlargement of the area of the war, and to contribute, if opportunity should offer, to the restoration of an early and honourable peace.

"In accordance with the first of these declarations, I have maintained the rights and strictly discharged the duties of neutrality.

"The sphere of the war has not been extended beyond the two countries originally engaged.

"Cherishing with care the cordiality of my relations with each belligerent, I have forborne from whatever might have been construed as gratuitous or unwarranted interference between parties, neither of whom had shown readiness to propose terms of accommodation such as to bear promise of acceptance by the other.

"I have been enabled, on more than one occasion, to contribute towards placing the representatives of the two contending countries in confidential communication; but, until famine compelled the surrender of Paris, no further result had been obtained.

"The Armistice now being employed for the convocation of an Assembly in France has brought about a pause in the constant accumulation, on both sides, of human suffering, and has rekindled the hope of a complete accommodation. I pray that this suspension may result in a Peace compatible, for the two great and brave nations involved, with security and with honour, and likely therefore to command the approval of Europe, and to give reasonable hopes of a long duration.

"It has been with concern that I have found myself unable to accredit my Ambassador in a formal manner to the Government of Defence which has subsisted in France since the Revolution of September; but neither the harmony nor the efficiency of the correspondence of the two States has been in the smallest degree impaired.

The King of Prussia has accepted the title of Emperor of Germany, at the instance of the chief authorities of the nation.

"I have offered my congratulations on an event which bears testimony to the solidity and independence of Germany, and which, I trust, may be found conducive to the stability of the European system.

"I have endeavoured, in correspondence with other Powers of Europe, to uphold the sanctity of Treaties, and to remove any misapprehension as to the binding character of their obligations.

"It was agreed by the Powers which had been parties to the Treaty of 1856 that a Conference should meet in London. This Conference has now been for some time engaged in its labours; and I confidently trust that the result of its deliberations will be to uphold both the principles of public right and the general policy of the Treaty, and, at the same time, by a revision of some of its conditions in a fair and conciliatory spirit, to exhibit a cordial co-operation among the Powers with regard to the Levant.