KILITARY SCHOOLS, as regards the British army, are divisible into several classes 1. Those for the education of officers already in the service; of these there are the staff college (q.v.) and the establishment at Chatham for training engineer officers. 2. Pro• fessional schools common to officers and men will be found under GUNNERY, SCHOOL OF, ELIA MUSKETRY, SCHOOLS OF. 3. Schools for the professional education of candidates for commissions; for these reference should be made to MILITARY ACADEAIY, ROYAL. and to SANDHURST MILITARY COLLEGE. 4. The schools for men in the ranks and. for their children are described und2r SCHOOLS, REorsts2s-TAL; while the instruction provided for their sons or orphans is shown uuder MILITARY ASYLUM, ROYAL.
The military schools of foreign countries deserve considerable atten. flout especially -those of France, where a military commission is one of the best scholastic pnzes lo.oked forward to. In France no attempt is made to impart general education at the military seminaries; a boy is required to have a thorough general know.-ledge before he can be admitted to these institutions. Being open to universal competition, and being the. .only channel—or nearly so—to the best employment under the state, the great military schools, by the high standard required for them, give great impetus to general education throughout the empire and the lycees, or public schools, adapt their course of instruc tion to the anticipated competition. In the army, two-thirds of the line commissions and one-third of those for the :.cientific corps are given to non-commissioned officers, but very few of these rise beyond the rank of captain; the remaining commissions in the line and scientific corps, and all appointments to the staff, are given by competition, after a careful course of professional education. The candidates in open competition are placed according to merit either in the infantry school of St. Cyr or the celebrated Polytechnique; at both colleges they have the right, if they need it, to partial or entire state support. From the school of St. Cyr the more promising pupils pass to the staff school, and thence, after a thorough course, to the etat majeur of the army; the remain ing students pass as subalterns into the line. The pupils of the Polytechnique, which is entered after the age of 17 years, have annually about 160 valuable prizes open to them. The first 30 to 40 candidates usually select civil employment under the state, such as the " ponts et chaussees;" those next in merit choose the artillery and engineers, and pass through a technical course at the school of application. The remaining students either fail to qualify and leave the school, or have to content themselves with commissions in the line, subordinate situations in the government, civil or colonial service, or they retire into civil life altomether.
In actual service there are schools for the men, who are also taught trades and sing ing. The standard of education among French soldiers is far higher than among their English brethren, as the conscription draws the men from all classes of society.
The Prussian system of military education differs from that of France in that competi tion is but sparingly resorted to; and the object is to give a good general and professional education to all the officers, rather than a specially excellent training to a selected few. Aspirants for commissions must enter in the ranks, and within six months pass a good examination in general and liberal knowledge; if, however, the candidate has been edu cated in a cadet-house—which is a semi-military school for youths--and has passed prop erly out of it, this examination is dispensed with. After some further serTrice, the aspirant goes for nine months to one of three "division schools," where he completes his professional education. If he pass the standard here required, he is eligible for the next vacancy, but cannot be commissioned unless the officers of the corps are willing to accept him as a comrade. The artillery and engineer schools do for those services what the division schools do for the line. The culmination of Prussian military education is the staff school, open to competition for all the officers of the army, and presenting the highest prizes in the profession. In all the schools, the candidates study at the expense of the state, or receive great auxiliary grants.
The Austrian system is very elaborate, and commences at an early age; boys intended for military service beginning their professional almost contemporaneously with their general education. There are schools for training for non-commissioned officers and for officers, and senior departments for imparting more extended instruction to both classes. Candidates for appointment as non-commissioned officers pass by competition through the lower houses, where they remain till 11 years old; the upper houses, which detain them till 15; and the school companies, whence, after actual apprenticeship to service, a few pupils pass to the academies for aspirants for commissions, and the others are drafted into the service as non-conamissioned officers. For officers, boys are pledged to the service by their parents at the ag,e of 11, when they are placed in cadet-schools; after which the state takes charge of them. At about 16 the boys pass, according to qualification, to the line or scientific-corps academies, and four years later into those services themselves. The young officer's chance of entering the staff school—and there fore the staff—depends upon his place at the final academic examination. The compe tition observed throughout the course of military education is said to impart great vigor to the tuition.
In the Italian arnay the system so nearly approaches that of France that a separate description is unnecessary. It need only be stated that the educational status of the Italian officers is considered high.