AFFIRMATIVE.

ADVENTURE, travel, novelty, freedom from care, and admiration from many, belong to the soldier's expectations. He has no responsibility before him concerning provisions, clothing, hospital comforts, houserent, where work is to come from. He has a small pay in ready money, it is true, but he has just as little to do with it; for the calls made on it, necessarily at least, are few. The joys of a soldier's life would not have been recounted in song and story unless there were rare fascinations connected with it, nor would it be so popular in every country in Europe if it did not supply a fair average of enjoyment. We think, therefore, that very fair inducements must be held out to the class required, or the supply would not be equal to the demand.-E. G. L.

The physical perfection of body maintained by due supervision of drill, exercise, food, rest and recreation, the general freedom from any need of giving heed to the things of the morrow, the changes of place and country open to the adventurous, and the chances of winning a

name in the annals of British warfare, all combine to prove that there is an attractive career opened up to those who have a desire to enlist, and it is now well known that the danger of death in battle is no greater than the average of accident in ordinary industrial life.-F. B.

A soldier's life is one possessing many attractions. The dress is gay, the pay sure, the housing generally confortable on home service, and if called abroad there is the joy of travel and the delights of new scenery got free of cost to the military man. Health is well looked after, and moderate amusement is provided for. For a few years of a man's life, while growing and getting up a man's strength, the ease, comfort, and care cannot but be beneficial. The vices of a soldier's life are no necessary part of it; while the training, the opportunity of seeing the world, &c., are very material parts of it. Few working men can feel secure of constant employment and a regular supply of the necessaries of life for ten years together, and many cares and difficulties crowd upon them from which the soldier is free; and hence we think

it may fairly be affirmed that the army affords fair inducements to enlistment.-E. J. C.

Care is a grim visitant at a hearthstone, and want is a dull companion, and asking for "leave to toil" as a favour and a blessing is a sorry lot. This is the common fate of a working man, and the workhouse without a pension looms in the distance. A soldier's lot is different in its comfort, certainty, and permanence.— W. M.

NEGATIVE.

The pay of private soldiers, trifling as it is, is merely a sham. Nearly every farthing is retained to defray uniform and rations, and a soldier is frequently in debt with the paymaster without having fingered a penny of pay. It is only when promoted to a sergeancy that a common soldier can really be said to hold any part of his pay. Promotion is very slow and precarious, and after the first few years of service is impossible. Unless a soldier is promoted early, he does not get promoted at all. A private rarely, if ever, is promoted to a commission. The quality of a regiment depends almost wholly upon the non-commissioned officers. They are they who do the real officer work of each regiment; the working affairs of a regiment are practically in their hands. Yet these men are little looked after, but left almost wholly without question. They are thus enabled to gratify petty vanities and severities upon the privates without check, and as they are frequently favourites of the commissioned officers, they hold the privates in their power to an extent which in most cases is perfect tyranny. To be under the command of a superior in rank and birth, even if he be a martinet, is not wholly displeasing to the private soldier; but to be constantly liable, under pain of punish

list, that they will be brought into immediate contact with officers who are gentlemen. Instead of this, they are handed over to a sergeant who, according as his humour lies, treats them as dogs or rational animals. Look at the record of military murders nearly all are committed upon obnoxicus sergeants, by men driven desperate by petty tyranny. The great extension of trade and demand for skilled labour, contrasted with the inducements of the army, weigh most unfavourably against the latter. No one who can avoid it prefers the army to comfortable wages and the domestic hearth. The life of a private soldier is essentially an indolent one, and one open to great temptation. Regiments are frequently composed of questionable materials, and the well-disposed soldier, in constant contact with suspicious characters, cannot remain long uncorrupted. The enforced celibacy of privates is the cause also of many irregularities. The commissioned officers, under the absurd purchase system, are, as a rule, most unfit for their duties, and instead of being models which the privates may imitate, frequently rival the most abandoned of their own soldiers. To crown all, the history of the British army is, as regards the care and comfort of the troops, simply a series of the most ridicu lous errors, only remedied by the sacrifice of thousands of valuable lives.-S. W. YOUNG.

The ordinary motives which induce a young man to choose a profession are its personal comfort, its pecuniary advantage, and its honourable position. The army affords none of those inducements. The

young man who has been surrounded at home by virtue and love, must, on enlistment, exchange these comforts for low vice and petty envy. Neither does the army afford a pecuniary advantage, as the pay is all along so little that even the most miserly cannot acquire a sufficiency, not to speak of wealth. Few common soldiers can attain a standing in society, as promotion is not by merit, but by purchase.D. S.

The inducements held out for enlistment are numerous, but they are not of the right description. Soldiers are, on the whole, tolerably well housed, clothed, and fed; they have a surplus of a few pence per day, and as much time to idle away as they could wish for; they have the pleasure (?) of travelling over the world, and being stationed in its may be unhealthy climes for perhaps two-thirds to three-fourths of their

whole time. But is this sort of life likely to be particularly enticing to those men whom it is most desirable to obtain? Increase of pay alone will have comparatively little influence. What is wanted is a few what I may call domestic reforms. For instance, -(1) The barracks should be made more attractive, so as not to be quite so far behind the gin-shops in comfort; this would lessen drunkenness. (2) All soldiers who are acquainted with a trade should be encouraged and have ample oppor tunities to engage in it, so as to supply as far as possible their own regiment; this would be saving to Government, and a twofold benefit to the men. (3) The period of ser vice in foreign parts should be some what shortened. Judiciously carried out, these need not cost the country the slightest additional expense.-R. R. Y.

QUESTIONS REQUIRING ANSWERS.

738. Is the Public School Latin Grammar really "the best Latin grammar ever produced in this country," as the reviews announce it to be ?-UN ECOLIER.

739. A notice of works containing extracts from authors suitable for being used at penny readings; a list of tales, sketches, essays, poems, &c., that might be introduced, or references to any sources from which selections could be made, would greatly oblige- AN ASPIRANT.

740. Has there been any History of the "Sunday School Union" published ?-R. F. L.

741. What was the Shakspere Society?-HAMLET.

747. What are the Pestalozzian and Jacototian systems of teaching? -S. W. YOUNG.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.

392. The life of Herder is one distinguished among instances of "Toiling Upward." Upon this subject we hope some of the writers in that department will keep their eye. It is a Romance of Literary Biography.-R. M. S.

724. "Thinker" has heard that Butler's "Analogy' "raises more doubts than it allays." A person who possesses a fair knowledge of the principles of rational religion, and yet doubts the authenticity of the Biblical revelation, would, I think, be more likely to have his doubts respecting Christianity dissipated than increased by a diligent perusal of this book. Knowledge modifies the requisite amount of faith. As Butler's book increases the knowledge of most Christians who read it, a proportionate increase in faith is necessary, or doubts will be the result. Every Christian reader of psychological works should be fixed to his Redeemer by faith, or the doubts caused by a "little knowledge" will wreck his piety before he has attained the "fulness" of knowledge. The result of a careful lecture on Butler's "Analogy," for the above reasons, differs with the character of the reader and the fixedness of his principles.-R. F. G.

731 & 732. I presume neither of the querists is a member of a university; and if so, the following course will be necessary. They will have to pass a preliminary examination in Latin and English History, one of which examinations is held every Saturday during term from ten to one o'clock in the Middle Temple Library. It is not very severe. Any information would probably be supplied by J. H. Dakyns, Esq., Middle Temple, who is, I believe, secretary

to the Board of Examiners. They will have to pay a deposit of £100, and about £40 or £50 for stamps, fees, &c., in addition to £1 1s. for the admission form, which must be signed by two barristers. The fees to be paid on call to the bar will be deducted from the £100, and the surplus (perhaps some £10) will be returned. They will have to keep twelve terms-that is, dine in the hall of their Inn six times each term, which will thus spread over three years; in addition to which, they must qualify in one of the three following ways:-Read for one year in a barrister's chambers (£100 per year is a barrister's regular charge for pupils), attend two courses of lectures for one year (fee payable, £5 58. per year), or pass a general examination. The student will, in addition, have to pay for his commons, which vary at the different Inns about £10 per annum will be an average. These will be all the expenses really attending studying for the bar. The student can live anywhere. For more full details the querists would do well to provide themselves with a copy of the "consolidated regulations" of the Inns of Court, which may probably be procured gratis from (say) the steward of Lincoln's Inn or the under treasurer of Middle Temple. These regulations contain all the information necessary, without reference to any books, and indeed more information than can be found in any book. The student will fix upon which Inn he is going to enter, and get his admission form from there. He will probably choose that in which he has friends, or, if going to the Equity bar, Lincoln's Inn (on account of getting chambers near the Chancery Courts). As to the total amount required, I should say that the most careful student should see his way clear to have £1,000 at his disposal before

wooing Themis as a barrister; for not only is the necessary outlay in a library large, but there is the more than possibility of passing several years without any practice. Of course I speak of London men. man in the country may step into a good connection immediately; and I would not wish to damp any one who, from the sums I have given and his own calculations, sees a possibility of making his way with a less amount, of doing so. I hope I have been sufficiently detailed in answering S. F. G. and "A Desirous Student."-NAM DER.

SUBJECTS SUITABLE FOR DEBATE.

Are the lives of the saints" profitable reading?

Is the weakness of the mind a more serious limit to religious than to scientific inquiry?

Does Vargas or Paul Sarpi supply the better history of the Council of Trent?

Is an irenicon or reconciliation of the churches possible, [desirable, or expedient] ?

Were the decisions of the Council of Trent beneficial to Europe?

Is public health public wealth? Were the French right in interfering with the Garibaldian expedition to Rome?

Is Swedenborgianism tenable as an interpretation of Christian doctrine?

Can Universalism be maintained from Scripture?

Is Tennyson's or Hallam's "Timbuctoo" the better poem? Are Eugene Sue's novels immoral in tendency?

Does the political career of the Earl of Derby deserve the gratitude of the country?

Ought Government to offer premiums for the utilization of sewage as well as [or in preference to] the invention of destructive guns?

Does the history of dogmas prove that the Church has always accepted Scripture as the rule of faith?

Can conscience and faith be reconciled?

Have heresies been prejudicial to the church?

Does the history of Joan of Arc do greater discredit to England than to France ?

Do the various liturgies of the church prove the unity or the diversity of her doctrines?

Is parliamentary government suitable to France ?

Are the military institutions of France superior to those of Great Britain?

Do men think during sleep?
Are dreams proofs of a spiritual

existence ?

Is Michelet's "Bible of Humanity" suited to our age?

Could monetary uniformity in civilized countries be inaugurated and maintained?

Was Chaucer an imitator of the Trouvères ?

Were the modern insurrections of Greece justifiable?

Is German thought less inductive than British?

Is the Platonic theory of ideas theistic or pantheistic?

Is the perusal of works of fiction consistent with a profession of Christianity ?

Ought coroners to be medical men? Is dogmatic theology only a statement of scriptural truth?

Is theology an inductive or an inferential science?

Have the Bampton Lectures been beneficial to Christianity?

Is the present system of colonization advantageous or the reverse?