severed in the attempt to procure a decision of the¦ House of Commons against flogging in the army, renewed his motion in the committee on this bill, proposing to insert words providing that no court-martial should have power to sentence any soldier to corporal punishment in time of peace.

colonel, captain, and lieutenant; 3, The institution of | Mutiny Bill. Mr. Otway who had for several years pera course of practical professional training as a necessary preliminary to the acquisition of a commission in the cavalry, guards, or line. He objected to the motion, among other reasons, on account of its cost. To buy up the vested interests of the officers the country would have to pay 20,000,0007., spread over a period of about twenty years; it would be necessary also to revise the whole system of retirement, causing an addition in perpetuity of 1,000,000l. a year to the army estimates. Captain Vivian advocated a considerable reduction in the number of regimental officers.

General Peel also opposed the motion. He said there was practically a purchase system in the church and at the bar for though the highest offices in the law could not be purchased directly, the passage to them was through that house, and that cost money. Before they resolved on the abolition of the purchase system they must have a fuller explanation of what it would cost. It was far too large a question to be settled by a mere resolution of that house, and he objected to it not only on account of the expense, but on account of the alteration it would make in the composition of the army. It would alter altogether the system of officering the army. If promotions were by selection great jealousy would be caused, and the house would be inundated with complaints. One benefit of the purchase system was that it accelerated promotion.

Very many members on the Conservative benches vindicated the purchase system.

Mr. Otway said it was by selection that promotion was conducted in other armies. There was no purchase in the Royal Engineers, the Artillery, and the Royal Marines, and he appealed to the house whether there were better officers in the service? The Abyssinian expedition was conducted by an Engineer officer, who owed to purchase no step in his promotion. He granted that the purchase system might be retained with advantage for the cavalry, but he saw no reason why it should be retained for the infantry.

Lord Elcho defended the system of purchase. He was in favour of giving appointments in the commissariat service and clerkships in the war office to retired soldiers.

The secretary at war replied that the system of purchase was full of serious anomalies, and would not then be resorted to if seeking to establish a system of promotion for the first time. It did not, however, favour the rich over the poor, for the non-purchasing officer benefited by it more than any by the quick promotion which it caused. So, too, it was a delusion to suppose that another effect was to officer the army entirely from the aristocracy, as any one might see by a glance at the Army List or the Gazette. To the promotion of noncommissioned officers from the ranks in a definite proportion he was strongly opposed. The present system of promotion from the ranks could not be improved on; but in most cases this promotion was an unwelcome boon, and Lord Elcho's suggestion as to the employment of retired soldiers as clerks had been carried out to a considerable extent in the war office. Touching on the difficulties of retirement, Sir John maintained that the example of the French army which had been referred to was one to be avoided, and he mentioned that, though not prepared to take up Mr. Childers's costly plan of retirement for the non-purchase corps, he hoped before the close of the session to produce a plan which would be satisfactory to all parties. Admitting that Captain Vivian's scheme had been sanctioned by high authority-though it would cost between a million and a half and two millions-he could not support it at the

present moment.

The motion and amendment were then withdrawn.

A change of an important character in regard to the discipline of the army was this year introduced into the

Sir John Pakington in opposing the motion observed that a great concession was made in the test session, when the power of inflicting corporal punishment was reduced to a large extent. Another reason against the motion was that a royal commission was then inquiring into the whole system of military punishments.

Sir Charles Russell spoke in opposition to the motion, observing that they were now getting a better class of men into the army, but it was necessary to retain the corporal punishment in order to enforce discipline over the ruffians who belonged to it.

On a division Mr. Otway's amendment was carried against the government by 152 to 127. The same honourable member also induced the house, with the consent of Sir John Pakington, to strike out the cus tomary words in the preamble of the bill," and for the preservation of the balance of power in Europe."

The Marine Mutiny Bill was also amended in conformity with the motion carried by Mr. Otway on the Army Bill, by the insertion of a proviso that Marines on shore should not be liable to corporal punishment in time of peace.

When the Mutiny Bill came up to the House of Lords his royal highness the commander-in-chief addressed to the house some remarks in reference to this amendment. His royal highness said, while by no means wishing to disturb the decision the House of Commons had come to with reference to corporal punishment, still he could not help saying that the military authorities were now placed in a most awkward position; for they could not inflict corporal punishment, and no other means of correction had been substituted. In the civil law corporal punishment had lately been introduced in the case of garotters with the best effect, and he thought that the deterrent effect which corporal punishment had in checking outrageous offences in the army was most salutary in its operation. He did hope, as corporal punishment was now abolished, the royal commission would give the authorities something in lieu of it to support the discipline of the army.

Some peers expressed their regret that the House of Commons had adopted the decision against corporal punishment without waiting for the report of the royal commission on military punishments then sitting. The bill was then passed as amended.

THE ESTIMATES FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE.

The estimates for the third great branch of domestic expenditure, the civil service, underwent the usual ordeal of discussion in the House of Commons, when several of the votes proposed were excepted to, and many were put to the test of a division, but with the ordinary result of the house declining to over-rule the discretion of the government in regard to the sums demanded on their responsibility for the public departments. The whole question of the organisation of the civil service, however, its extent, cost, and classification, was entered upon and led to an interesting discussion, the subject being brought forward by Mr. Childers, in one of the ablest speeches on any department of finance ever delivered to the house. From the statistics quoted by him it appeared that there was paid in salaries to the strictly civil services 10,839,0001. (exclusive of 1,601,000l. for superannuations), and this he showed to be 2,000,000. more than the salaries of the army and navy departments, and considerably higher than the corresponding expenditure in the French and

American budgets. After illustrating the rapid increase in the cost of our civil service by a comparison of the present strength of the principal departments with that in the year 1853, and premising that he looked for reduction, not in diminution of salaries, but in reduction of staff, Mr. Childers indicated what he held to be the chie: defects in our present system. First of all came the entire want of classification of salaries; next the absence of distinction between those who worked with their hands and with their brains; next, the want of systematic control over the expenditure of the departments; and lastly, the unsound system of superannuation. Under the second head he hinted a doubt whether the system of competitive examination had not been carried so far that in the lower grades we occasionally got men who were too good for their work, which ended in a demand for, and an ultimate concession of, higher salaries. Mr. Childers then proceeded to state the remedial measures which he would propose. First, he would give all public servants to understand that if they could reduce their numbers, the reduction should be taken into account in dealing with their salaries. He believed that if this were done, in many instances two public servants would be able to do work which now required three. Next, a clear distinction should be drawn between clerks and writers, between brainwork and handwork. In the clerical part of the service we should extend the system adopted in the admiralty and customs, of employing an inferior class of man as writers, and paying them by the day, without any right to superannuation, and with power to discharge them if their services were not satisfactory. We might certainly carry out this plan much further than we did in the military and naval departments, and he should like to see soldiers employed upon work to be paid at the rate of three or four times as much as a soldier's pay. The third remedy he proposed was simplification of class. It was possible by degrees to lay down a rule as to classification, which, of course, would not apply to all departments equally, but still one which would prevent enormous additions to our expenditure. Fourthly, for the future, when persons as to whom we did not require the present system of superannuation entered the service, he would give them no right to superannuation, but would treat them as we treat a large number of persons in the dockyards, who remained in the service just as much as they would if they were entitled to superannuation, and in this way we should in process of time save between three quarters of a million and a million. The last remedy he would suggest was that the house should increase the control of the treasury, by discharging more effectually its own economical functions and enabling the treasury to effect financial reforms. In making these suggestions he meant to convey no reflection upon right honourable gentlemen opposite. It was not a party but an economical question which was involved; it was simply how the house could best discharge one of its most important functions; and if he had done no more for the present than direct the attention of some honourable members to the subject his object would have been satisfactorily gained.

The chancellor of the exchequer, while agreeing in many respects with Mr. Childers's speech, pointed in extenuation of the increased cost of the civil service to the many new duties which had been imposed on it. It was necessary to take into account the march of luxury and refinement, which led both to increase of salaries and increase in the number of persons employed. Another cause was the lukewarm support the treasury got from the house in its endeavours to control the other departments, and he concurred entirely with Mr. Childers that competitive examination in the lower grades occasionally brought in men who were above their work. As to the system of classification, he feared that with due regard to vested interests it could not be carried out for a long

time. The motion was withdrawn.

THE INDIAN BUDGET.

The last financial work of the session in which parliament was concerned, was the statement of the secretary of state for India on the finances of that part of the empire. As was customary, it was deferred till the last week of the session, and it excited, if possible, even less interest than formerly, there being only about thirty members present when, on the 27th July, Sir Stafford Northcote exhibited his account of the financial and commercial condition of the empire. The right hon. baronet began with a statement of the actual figures of the year 1866-7, the expenditure for which was 44,530,000., against a revenue of 42,012,000%., showing a difference of 2,517,000., and this he contrasted with the estimates of that year, which only contemplated a difference of 2,352,0007. He next contrasted the budget estimate for 1867-8 with the actual estimate, made up from eight months' actual experience and four months' averages. In the first the revenue was put at 46,783,000l., and the expenditure, including extraordinary public works, at 48,610,000l., showing a deficit of 1,827,000. But the actual figures were- revenue, 48,258,8007.; charges, 49,364,000.; thus reducing the actual deficit to 1,106,0007. Passing to the items, Sir S. Northcote mentioned that the licence-tax had increased by 158,000., the customs by 188,000., and the opium revenue by 1,100,0007., and on the other items there were decreases and increases which pretty nearly In the expenditure there had balanced each other. been an excess on almost every item except public works; the general charges (including the army) had risen by 265,000l., the charges in England by 580,0007., and the railway interest 660,0007.-in all, an excess of On the other hand, about about a million and a half. three-quarters of a million less had been spent on public works than was estimated; and though he admitted it to be unsatisfactory that the only saving should be on this item, he pointed out that, in every other budget but the Indian, the cost of extraordinary public works would be placed to capital and not to revenue, and if this were done the deficit would be converted into a surplus. The same remark applied to the estimate for the year 1868-9-in which the revenue was put at 48,586,0007., and the charges at 49,613,0007., giving a deficit of 1,026,000. But if the charge for extraordinary public works, 3,092,000, were transferred to capital, there would be a considerable surplus. There had been a very nice discussion on this point in India, and he had recently laid down a rule that only irrigation and special fund works should be considered extraordinary public works, and that all but remunerative works Examining the should be provided out of revenue. details, Sir S. Northcote said there was practically little or no change in the next year's estimates, and, under all the circumstances, he approved Mr. Massey's decision not to make any changes in the taxation. Looking, however, to the precarious nature of the opium revenue, which now stood at the unprecedentedly high figure of 8,000,0007., he had directed that in future estimates it should be taken at a fixed average, and that endeavours should be made to show in the accounts the returns which were actually obtained from the reproductive works. After showing in detail, under the three heads of inland revenue, consumers' taxes, and mercantile taxes, how largely the Indian revenue had grown since 1856, the right hon. baronet concluded by explaining changes recently made in the home accounts, which he proposed for the future should be referred to the public He concluded by moving the accounts committee. formal resolutions, declaring the revenue and expenditure for the year ending March 31st, 1868.

Mr. Laing argued that the opium revenue was no more precarious than the revenue from spirits here, and he went at length into the figures to show that the whole revenue was elastic, that the material progress of

India was eminently satisfactory, and that the popula- | and Confederate states, the government of Washingtion had received unmixed benefit from our rule. The general result which he drew was that public works ought not to be starved from a reluctance to borrow money, and he recommended a public works loan of 20,000,000l., spread over six years, on conditions which he explained. Particularly with a view to political emergencies, he pressed for the completion of railway lines to Peshawur and along the valley of the Indus. Measures were afterwards taken in pursuance of the hon. member's recommendation.

ton insisting that England had been guilty of an infringement of international law, and of her own neutrality laws, in permitting a vessel to sail out from a British port and prey upon the commerce of the Federal states. This was treated by the American administra tion and legislature as an insult to the honour of the Union and a vast material injury. Similar complaints were made in reference to other Southern cruisers, but the great difference between the two countries turned upon the question of the proceedings of the British government in reference to the war-ship Alabama.

In July 1862, this vessel, obviously intended as a warship, sailed away from Liverpool and inflicted terrible disaster upon the American commercial marine. This

The few members in the house were generally very conversant with the affairs of India, and the discussion to which Mr. Laing's motion gave rise was animated and intelligent, throwing much light upon the fiscal condition and material progress of British India. The de-transpired after notice from the consul at Liverpool and sirableness of aiding irrigation by grants of public money or by loans was much insisted on. This debate produced very good influence out of doors, especially among the council of India, and in India itself in the military and civil services.

CHAPTER XV.

Parliamentary Session (continued): the Abyssinian Expedition; Relations with the United States of North America: the Allegiance of British Subjects; the Insurrection in Crete; British Rule in India; Debate on the American Colonies Confederation Act: Attempt to Assassinate the Duke of Edinburgh; the Church Rates Bill; University Tests Abolition Bill; Education; Debate on Ritualism; Disendowment of the Church in the West Indies: Bill for the better Regulation of Railway Companies ing into Effect the Recommendations of the Public Schools Commission; The Election Resignation of the Conservative Ministry Meeting of

Bill for Transferring the Electric Telegraphs to the State; Bill for CarryBil for the Abrogation of Unnecessary Oaths-Close of the Sessionthe New Parliament.

the United States ambassador in London that such a vessel was under equipment for hostile purposes, and requests, in vain urged, that the English government would interpose.

When the claim for compensation was made at first, Lord Russell, then foreign secretary, refused to entertain it, nor would his lordship accept a reference to arbitration. In 1866, when Lord Stanley held the seals of the foreign office, he expressed his willingness to arbitrate, which Mr. Seward, the American foreign minister, avowed his readiness to accept, on condition that all the differences between the two powers should be adjusted by the same tribunal. The object of this condition plainly was to bring up another complaint, that in acknowledging the Confederation of the Southern states as a belligerent power, England acted prematurely, ungenerously, and insultingly to the Federal power. The British foreign secretary therefore declined to accede to the proposal. Under these circumstances great apprehensions were entertained throughout the country and THE HE success of the Abyssinian expedition in parliament of a war with the United States, which A.D. afforded parliament an opportunity of might subject English commerce to unlimited loss from 1868. expressing its approbation of all concerned American cruisers, for as English maritime trade was in the enterprise, but especially of the man whose genius greater than that of the United States, or of any other conducted the undertaking and brought it to a success-power and the United States together, British shipping ful termination. As the history of the expedition will appear in its proper place in these pages, it is here only necessary to review the parliamentary action concerning it.

THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

On the 28th of April news arrived of the death of the Emperor Theodore and the capture of Magdala. Both houses expressed their thanks to the army and its leader by vote, and the speeches of noble lords and hon. members did justice to the secretary for India, the governor of Bombay, the home government and all concerned in the enterprise. In both houses the resolutions of thanks were carried by acclamation.

A resolution voting to the commander in chief of the expedition and his next surviving male heir an annuity of 2,000l. a year from the consolidated fund was put and carried. The Queen bestowed upon the gallant chief a peerage, the title being Lord Napier of Magdala. The success of this noble soldier exemplified forcibly that the prejudice against generals of Engineers as not able to handle large bodies of men was not justifiable. It also showed that men may rise from the ranks to the highest posts in the British army, and that such officers are among the most valuable. Nor did it fail to prove the willingness of her Majesty's parliament and the public to render the highest honours to the most lowly-born men when their conduct merits it.

would necessarily incur more risks than could that of the Union, or any other power with which she might be engaged in a naval war.

Accordingly, on the 6th of March, Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, a gentleman who had the ear of the house, and was believed to be well conversant with international rights and duties, brought the subject before the commons. He handled the subject with moderation and justice, reviewed impartially the whole history of the differences between Great Britain and the United States arising out of the civil war, and recommended a general arbitration of all those disputes.

There was a general indisposition to speak until Lord Stanley should offer his explanations, and state his future policy; this he did in a manner so able as to carry the house with him, although Mr. Mill, the celebrated logician and political economist, combated his views and went entirely with the North. Mr. W. E. Forster, although "a Northern partisan,” aided Lord Stanley most efficiently in the debate.

The speech of Lord Stanley in its leading passages will convey the whole merit of the controversy, and the entire gist of the debate. In replying to Mr. ShawLefevre, he reminded the house that neither he nor Mr. Disraeli had said a word during the war to prejudge its issue. Never professing to be a Northern partisan, he had held throughout that it was our duty not to RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES OF sides alike. No man had a stronger sense of the iminterfere in a purely internal quarrel, and to treat both

NORTH AMERICA.

portance to both countries of a settlement of this and In our foreign relations, no question arose so impor-all other differences between them. But a tendency ant as those with the United States for the deliberations of government and parliament. The United States claimed compensation for the ravages committed at sea during the civil war which raged between the Federal

always to think ourselves in the wrong and to accuse ourselves of faults which we had never committed, and a readiness to make indiscriminate concessions whenever they were asked, were much to be deprecated. Our

THE INSURRECTION IN CRETE. Lord Stratheden introduced this topic in the House of Lords, complaining of British policy in the matter, which placed Great Britain in opposition to France and

Russia, her Majesty's government having sided wholly | lightened governors, if not the most enlightened, which with Turkey.

Lord Malmesbury said the object of England was to observe a strict neutrality. He deplored the horrors of that civil strife, but could not interfere between the Porte and its subjects, especially as the Sultan was the ally of her Majesty. His lordship promised that the British government would do all it could in the interest of humanity, but would not interfere by an armed intervention or by any means hostile to the government of Constantinople, but strictly maintain its international obligations.

India ever possessed. In like manner, when in charge of particular provinces, he had shown great administrative abilities, and while regulating his rule in conformity with the Imperial authority and ascendancy, instituted reforms of great magnitude, and succeeded in conciliating the natives largely, and endearing himself personally to them and to the Europeans resident there. This was especially exemplified in his prosperous government of the Punjaub, his land regulations and reforms, his personal respect to the native chiefs, his care for the administration of justice, and the great material im

The subject was left to the discretion of the govern- provements which he either initiated or effected. ment.