for sums of money; but subsequently the employment of paid soldiers became the necessary consequence of the removal of feudal liabilities. The parliamentary army during the civil war was mainly composed of stipendiary troops, though the royalists consisted principally of landed proprietors followed by their tenants. The origin of a standing army is traced by some authorities to the year 1660, when Charles II. established a force of about 5000 men, including those in garrisons abroad: James II. subsequently increased this to 30,000. Up to the period of the Revolution, soldiers were embodied under the authority of the Crown only, but the Bill of Rights declared that the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom during peace is contrary to law, unless it be upheld by the consent of Parliament. This abridgment of the royal prerogative, therefore, placed in the hands of Parliament the maintenance of the troops, and an act is annually renewed for the regulation of the military force of the country. This act, popularly called the Mutiny Act, specifies each year the number of men to be kept on foot, as well as the conditions under which they are enlisted, paid, billetted, and governed. In conformity with this statute the Crown issues Articles of War which are printed with, and annexed to the Mutiny Act.

Although the Crown has no power to raise and maintain forces without parliamentary control, yet the King is the supreme head of the Army and Navy, in all that concerns the distribution, command, and organization of the troops when once they are raised. All forts, arsenals, and other fortified places are under

his sole government and disposal, and all military orders emanate directly from the Crown. These powers are of course exercised through the medium of responsible advisers; but the interference of the Parliament is confined only to the existence of the standing army, and that existence is only authorized from year to year.

THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF is the immediate deputy of the Sovereign, in controlling and superintending the organization, discipline, and efficiency of the military forces of the country. To the Crown alone the internal economy of the Army is entrusted, and the Commander-in-Chief receives direct from the Sovereign, in the royal closet, all orders relating to this portion of his duty; but as far as regards the disposal and employment of the forces, he is under the regulation of the secretaries of state. As a great state officer he is himself responsible for the first portion of his duty; but for the second, the secretaries of state are answerable. No important or extensive change in the whole system of military discipline can be made by the Commander-in-Chief on his personal responsibility; but yet the secretaries of state are not entitled to intervene between him and the Sovereign in the promotion of the interests of individuals, or in the promulgation of general orders for the maintenance of the internal government of the service. He is usually, but not invariably, a member of the same political party as the administration of the day; on the three most recent changes of ministry, no alteration was made in this office. The Commander-in-Chief is assisted in the perform

ance of his duties by the Adjutant-General, the Quarter-Master-General, the Barrackmaster-General, the Commissary-General, the Master-General of the Ordnance, and the Paymaster-General.

THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL is the medium of communication between the individuals in the Army and the Commander-in-Chief. By him all orders are published, and he superintends the recruiting, discipline, clothing, and accoutrements of the forces; he regulates the employment of officers on the staff, grants leaves of absence, &c.

THE QUARTER-MASTER-GENERAL is entrusted with the conduct of the Army as far as regards the localities and capacities of the ground they occupy; he prescribes routes and marches, regulates embarkation and debarkation, provides quarters and encampments, plans defences, &c. His duties, therefore, exercise. an important influence on military successes while the Army is in the field.

THE BARRACK-MASTER-GENERAL, as his name implies, is the superintendent of barracks, and is entrusted with all that relates to their construction and repair, as well as generally to the reception and lodging of the troops.

THE COMMISSARY-GENERAL is head of that department which superintends the supply of provisions and other necessaries to the Army; in this capacity he is subordinate to the Secretary-at-War as far as relates to military matters, and is under the control

of the Treasury in the financial portion of his department.

THE PAYMASTER-GENERAL holds one of those offices which are conferred and resigned at the formation of every new ministry. He is invested with no discretionary powers, but makes payments in strict pursuance of such warrants as the Treasury or Secretary-at-War address to him. Each regiment has in addition a paymaster of its own, who is of course to a certain extent under the control of the Paymaster-General. Formerly the PaymasterGeneral was only entrusted with the payment of the military forces of the country; but of late years a consolidation has been practically effected in three of the departments of the public service, by conferring upon one person the offices of Paymaster-General, Treasurer of the Ordnance, and Treasurer of the Navy.

THE SECRETARY-AT-WAR is the medium of communication between the Army and the government of the day, just as the Adjutant-General is the channel of intercourse between the Commander-in-chief and the military forces of the country. His department has an especial bearing upon the financial portion of the government of the Army. He is bound to give effect to the orders of the Commander-in-Chief so long as they are consistent with the known resources of the service; but when they appear likely to occasion an excess of expenditure, he refers for further instructions to the Treasury, by whose decisions he is bound to abide. His duty is to prepare the

Army estimates, and lay them before Parliament; he is always, therefore, a member of the house of Commons. He is occasionally, though not always, a member of the cabinet, but he is usually a privy councillor. The office was established in 1666; and the first person who held the appointment was detached from the Secretary of State's office, so intimately connected were the two departments then considered. The gazetting of military appointments and promotions, the preparation of the annual Mutiny Bill, the framing of the Articles of War, and the investigation of complaints against the military, all fall under his control.

THE MASTER-GENERAL OF THE ORDNANCE was formerly appointed for life, but now he varies with every change in the responsible advisers of the Crown. The celebrated Earl of Essex held the office under Elizabeth, but the last occasion upon which it was conferred for life occurred in 1660, and since that period the tenure has always been during pleasure. The appointments, discipline, and employment of the corps of artillery and engineers is under the personal control of the Master-General, as colonel-in-chief, as is likewise the government of the Military Academy at Woolwich. But there is another class of his dutieswhich is under the control of that board, of which he is the president. The officers composing the Board of Ordnance are entrusted with functions respecting the artillery and engineer corps, similar to those discharged by the Secretary-at-War, in regard to the rest of the Army. Arms and military