ist May. 'Yuz Taiping rebellion called out a, considerable number of able men in j the service of the government. Among them the most distinguished was Tseng Kuo-fan, the first holder of the title' Marquis 'I'séug. It was his thought to originate a uew army to restore the! country to peace by a vigorous and continuous assault on the Taipings, with the help of volunteers whom he could trust for their fidelity to himself and the country. The principle on which they were engaged was that when their services were no longer required they should return to agriculture. They were never then a part of the regular army. But when the laiping rebellion was crushed work was still found for them to do, It was known then that the Hunan contingent of volunteer troops was more efficient than the army proper. Nheir disbandment was postponed till all the local rebellions were quelled. Occupation was found for them in the north-west provinces to put down the Mahommedan insurrection, as also in Kueichow to quiet the Miaotze. lo conquer territory and take cities was their duty and this fell to the land army. Beside there was the river army which remained in existence until replaced by the steamers which now protect the River Yangtze. During last year and tiis, it has been the lot of the naval contingent to prevent the rioters who suddenly sprang into notoriety from expanding into large rebel bauds. Each riot might possibly have been the germ of a separate rebellion but for the energy of the gunboats, their officers and crews. This is regarded as a sufficient proof of the first Marquis "scug's far-seeing wisdom, The details here follow:—When the "Taiping rebellion spread into Hunan, sug Kono-fan was In mourning for his mother and therefore living in retirement. On returning to his duties in the public service he took vigorous measures and in this he was joined by Pao Ch'ang of Szechuan. 'I'he one founded the Siang army and the other the 'I'ing army. The Siang army camp rules were made with the help of Wavg-hin and Lo 'I'sé-nan, schoolfellows of 'l'séng Kuo-fan, and sympathetic companions of his who afterwards became taotais. System—One captain headed sixty men and one corporal six men, there were four chief captaincies in a camp with one in command to each who had twenty volunteer enarids; there were thirty-two decurions, In all there were volunteers 336, cooking assistants 42, In every regiment there were 500 men. The camp officers are separate. There were six ranks of ten, men each, 1 cannon, 2 sword and spear, 3 cannon, 4 sword and spear, 5 musket, Gsword and spear. Each chief captain had five guards and acock. He had under him eight rauks, The Ist gin-gall men with 12 volunteers, making with decurion and cook in all 14, had sword and spear. Each chief captain has 108 meu. The four chief captains have under them 432 men.
On the whole' each encampment numbers 500 men. with extra men 180.
In 1852 a new naval force was started of Fukien and Canton men. is Was done on the recommendation of Hiar yung, a famous several of that period.
consequence Canton fast boats with Fukien dragnet boats went to the! Yangtze River. With this beginning a fleet of several hundred war boats was gradually formed, and rules for their being officered, and used in putting down the rebellion of the Taipings in the central provinces were drawn up by Governor Kiang Clung-yuen in cou-junction with "'Wséug Kuo-fan, This Governor was afterwards killed in battle in the province of Anhui. his naval force of rowers, scullers, steersman and meu with hooked poles was put in operation. 'I'wenty-one boats were a fleet or brigade. hey were some large, some small, and all had small a managed by six men or two mel each boat according to size.
Tu 1855 the system was revi The old fast craft were discarded. Each brigade had thirty gunboats. 'I'hose of the larger size had a gun in the bow weighing 800 to 1,000 catties and there were four on the port and starboard quarter of 700 catties weight. There was a gun of 600 catties in the stern. The higher commands were the admiral, Titu, avd sub-admiral, Tsungping. Beneath these were seven other rauks, so that there are nine officer grades in the naval service. These correspond, speaking roughly, to the nine rauks of the Chinese civil service. When officers Auto before the Emperor in the palace halls of Peking, the nine ranks of prostrate officers are separated by the Pinchi-shan, or mouutains of the nine ranks. Each man is guided to his position and can only Kotow in his proper place. When a Titu or Tsungping has a fotille of gunboats in position he is on board his own flag boat, and two large boats take the lead. Each has a steersman before and behind, the one with the indder and the other with a hooked pole. There are two gunners and sixteen rowers, and twenty other sailors make up the complement of meu.
In this new military system of a generation ago there is still to be mentioned the cavalry arm. Twenty-four mounted volunteers make a company and teu companies make a regiment. Each regiment secretary for writing despatches, eight staff officers, five officers who take the lead in an attack on the enemy at the head of their men and are called the Hsienféng. In the infantry appointed to assist the cavalry there is an officer for every ten men. Their captain has a guard of ten and four other staff assistants.
These troops served their pul in part at the time. They were adapted for the putting down of rebellions, but when all has been said, it was "through Gordon'said, and forces drilled on the foreign system did the work of conquering the Taipings." When China recovered her autonomy, she adopted foreign drill and at the same time began the construction of a foreign navy. She is at the present time steadily engaged in increasing her forces military and naval, and supplying them with foreign artillery. 'I'his policy must inevitably cause the complete disappearance of the old troops in course of time. But so far as matters have yet vene, the military examinations show little sign of change, The programme according to which milita degrees are bestowed is still what it was under the Ming dynasty. and rewards for feats of personal agility such as skill in archery are still bestowed. Yhe book of military precepts made 2,000 years ago is the same as before and there is no sign that the government intends to modify the military examinations, so as to suit the uew age which has dawned on China.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.