The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-30 00:00:00

any time have discovered great wisdom or i 97,
sight on the part of our military administratort
In former times we have managed to get tbrott;
somehow or other, and, thanks to our staYl4s
powers, have generally come out of our w'rld
stronger than we went in. But to organise %i
bring up our strength we have always retrili
time, and, as the report reminds . us, timwre
, e
precisely what we shall not get in any 1111;0j
war in which we may be engaged. The 'I, rp,
of nations henceforth will be short,
and decisive, and the ten-days' camPaigutbar
Bohemia shows how short and sharp...,prfol
an be even where the nations are so eeThjet
and warlike as those then engaged. It Isf
pleasant to think of the probable duration Of
resistance which our own forty or fifty
regulars, and one hundred thousand militia, cbcei,,
of to a similar invasion. It appears. 60
that if ever we should unhappily find ourse' to
again at war, it would be of the last important is
be able to lay our hands immediately and at onc`.:o,
addition to our regular forces, upon a sufficient
her of fully-trained soldiers capable of maintaiotVer
whether by defence of our own or invasion of cod
shores, the honour and position of the countqc
only force to which such a descripton is in ari)nibet
applicable is the enrolled pensioners; who nu the
tliot4ivuld
some 14,000 men, but these are mostly men Pas aoi
prime of life, and could not be relied upon ivr„fora
but garrison and other light service, and there'd
we may positively be considered to be at the Presero
moment utterly destitute of anything like a rqbed,
force coming up to the standard we have descri so
Among the Continental nations, who are elixir
earnestly engaged in the reorganisation of tios
armies, this point has received a share of attelliy
proportioned to its importance ; but with us scar' o
any attention at all has hitherto been bestoweduro
it. Now, it is worthy of remark that the sYstmse
which have been found best to answer their
arc those in which the soldier is subjected origieTio
to a very short term of actual service, but is ataned
end of it relegated into a reserve liable to be c 4.1,0
out whenever needed. The principle of this isivoot
the army should be considered as a school trnu.tijo
as an occupation, and that as many men asPe':a;
should be passed through it; a system which gl.eo
the State the command of a large force of efeeel d,
soldiers ready-made to hand in the hour of 0.,01
Ile first necessity of an army of reserve is preefiji
this, that the men composing it must he tot
trained, and that can only be attained by a cons to
flow into it of men who have been subjected te.ol
training of the regular army. This result is attillsol.
most fully by the Prussian system, iu which re.
dier has but three years of actual service with o'o
gular army, and is at the end of that time dr3evea
into the reserve for six years. The French aretoo,
now contemplating to move in the same dire% of
and it is expected that one of the main feattirewio-
the scheme which will be proposed by the ceri;,,o of
sion now sitting in Paris will be the redne"-parst
the term of actual service from seven to sir All
with an additional four years in a reserve f°l.ce'of a
this should be instructive to us, who are less od
military nation than either of those mentioned,: the
may serve to indicate the direction whirtake,
attempt to form our army of reserve should
The present term of service in our regular ar;l3)i of
from ten to twelve years, with a second Per`,,,"eive
optional re-engagement of from nine to t"ad
years, according to the branch of the service:lo
the Recruiting Commission recommend that of
two periods should be made to consist in intll'he.t.
twelve and nine years respectively for all brancd of
Now, experience has shown that if, at the enoir
twelve years, a soldier has not become a 11011;bcieist
missioned offimr, he must be absolutely 'Or'.ce is
and in fact a private with twelve years' servidios
considered to be, as a rule, not fit to stae io to
sentry-box. It would then be no loss but a gasvae
the service if the power of re-engagerneil, tiood
taken away from all but the non counr"sB^,ool'
officers. This is already a step beyond the eat
mission in the Prussian and French directiotboi,t.
the creation of an army of reserve, which is tile step
ter now in question, would necessitate going 3 00
further, and breaking up even the twelve years ulat
two periods, one of actual service in the r`,,
gbis,
army and one of service in the reserve. Probat
and
con wnient division would be into terms of eigh „ilor
four years, the former to be spent in the regolihi
army and the latter in thereserve. The aoldier?,,, be
thus fall into the latter force at a time When
was at his highest efficiency, and would not re
go.
in it long enough to lose the training he had the
quired ; and the War Minister would half miel
power of assembling at any moment a trained s for
efficient body of men sufficient in nernbcr,li'
any emergency, and equal in soldier•like
ties to any other portion of our regular forceS• is A
requirements of the colonial service, which ces'
peculiar feature of our military system, would rebut
sitate probably some modification of the plan ;
this might be met bya provision for granting 3001•
tional bounty such as the commissioners have re,,coio,
mended, and by breaking up the twelve yearsisyno
what difLreutly into three years of home and this,
of foreign service. Of course such a schetne 0,0.0
since it rests upon the condition of a shorter .t.vg
of service, would involve the necessity of seenri,i
larger number of men, and woulu consequen,t J,s of
volve the carrying out of the reconnendatletLe, of
the commission, or the adoption, at any 1.,3,.a5. $
sonic plan by which to make the army poPll'a. the
profession. As we cannot endure conscriptionLsr
recruiting sergeant should be able to enter theirtbe
ket and offer eual pay and advantages Isi,,tl 1d
other callings open. o the young men he seela
the lessening of the term of service would aughort
mensely to the attractions of a soldier's life. 1-;:oiii.•
service, at any rate, is the basis of all the hest d, and
tary systems with which we are acquainte,ciple
there is every reason to believe that it is a Page
both sound in itself and specially applicable
requirements of our army.

COUNTB,Y MARKETS.

BIRMINGHAM—THURSDAY. Whenlit'
7-7 At this day's market there was a fair supplY
2s ver't;
and the sales made were at a decline of is to pa
Barley of all kinds scarce, and tending downwards'
quite as dear. Beans were only taken in retail.

BR TOL—THURSAY.°
On our to-day's IS
mar ket there was sheoci a moderato I.le,
English wheat, which sold at barely last week's Irsforeigil
in some instances at a reduction of is per qr. Forotia
no inquiry, and values were nominally unaltered:s
barley fully as dear, with a fair inquiry. Grinding
and quite as much money. Supplies of oats scantL..iizo
sorts sold readily at 6d to is per qr. advance.
per qr. dearer.

---
BURY ST. ED3IUNDS— WEDNESDAY' 011°,to
We were abundantly supplied with wheat at our of 16'f
to-day, millers not being anxious buyers, a decline boo' ed
2s per qr. had to be submitted to by sellers. The 55,01/
barley of every description was good, prime samples is Pe
former rates, all other descriptions of quality
full y
cheaper. Oats, beans, and peas bought at less luell/

MAC o
TER--Titints.
wee
The excitements apparent in the tradeDAY for a fef.,,,s'Oe`,,
past has now subsided, and since our last report
in all articles has been inactive, without, howelcreals
noticeable change in prices. From abroad the artflioclil;
Liverpool have been liberal of all articles except fr°,l"f
corn, of which none has come to baud. The imP%sies
Ireland have consisted merely of moderate qut%t der;
oats and oatmeal. Our market this morning was s'-ilaio;o'
attended by buyers, and but little disposition was uo f
fested to purchase asy article. Without any Pre your
sell prices may be stated to be generally in fA,iiigb
buyers, but we repeat the quotations of this day se

EDINBURGH—WEDNESDAY. aoo"
Wheat on the top, 2s Od up v
'barley on the top, 4s 9d downaverage, iOs 1
„a don.
Oats on the top, is Od up average, is i dog
Beans on the top, 1s Od down average, is uci
Total supply and salesa 95 ciol
erage, O
. sold 651
Wheat 726 qrs sO 1295
Barley 1886 qrs sold 1261
Oats 2349 qrs sold 0
Beans 5l qrs ............ sold
Average prices.
Wheat, 61s 5d I Oats, 2Bs lld
Barley, 4os 2d 1 Beans 51s 03 '
es9l
Town-made flour sells as follows :—White, 53s -a '
superfine, 52s Od; superfine, 50s 6d; fine, 49s Od•

. d IVO
This day's markets was well attended. GLAGOW—WEDNESDAY
wheat An oite'
were quiet, and to make progress an abatement %eos'
Barley about 6d cheaper per 3201 b. Oats, oatmeal'
peas, and Indian corn the turn lower. —..*

Births. prydo'
Du's-Ims On the 28th inst. at 4 Cleveland-
fgcl
park, the wife of John Dunkin, Esq., of ad:rbeleifler Of
FULLER—On the 22d inst., at Florence, Mrs' G'
a son.

Marriages.
George
-
KrN:\'Ensix—ALLlES—On the 2Gth inst., at St• lie.'
ilanover-square, Edward Kiunersly, Esq., of tilo
Manor, Berks, to Jane, sole surviving daughter
late Edwin Allies, Esq., of Canford, Gloucestershavos's
KNOWLES—PAXTON —Ou the 29th inst., at St- et, t°
Church, Wm. Knowles, Esq., of 42, Moort,n-ate-st"-vAI
Eninia Loetitia, youngest daughter of W. POW n'
of Ashridge, Herts. _

,
Deaths.
aof
CARNE—On the 28th inst t., at Dimland Castle Olam---
Dshiimrel,anEdlicz,aabstelteh,
aged 94.
the Carrie'
11°11Sei
CAnNEGY—Ou the 25th inst. at Laveroelibanic
Edinburgh, Miss Helen llay'Caraegy. Sti't
JEANS —On the 27th inst., at Bath, Thomas Je3ll-1 5
aged 91. n ay
KENNEDY—On the 27th inst., Mrs. Shaw' Non—°
Kirkiniehael House, Ayrshire. •

London: Printed and Published by WIT, 'Ord- ill,
of No. 112, Strand, Punter et W,* of
Strand, in the Precinct of the Sav in the CO
ddleaez, Friday, November 30, 16e4.