Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/557

force, as well as the command of all the forts, castles, and garrisons, in certain commissioners in whom they could confide. The king refused his assent to the bill; and when the parliament thereupon declared the kingdom in danger and issued orders to muster the militia, he issued commissions of array to some of the nobility for the same purpose. Thus began the civil war. After the restoration, the peculiar state of things which had sprung from feudal tenures no longer existed, and the militia was reorganized mainly on its present basis. The king was acknowledged as its sole supreme commander, and no other army was recognized by the law. Lords lieutenant of counties were charged with raising the force, as they had been indeed since the time of Queen Mary; every man who possessed a landed estate of £500 a year, or personal property to the amount of £6,000, was bound to provide, equip, and pay one horseman; every man whose property was one tenth of either of those amounts was charged with one pikeman or musketeer; and smaller proprietors united to furnish a soldier, each contributing according to his means. But it was not until 1757, when a bill to reconstruct the militia was passed, that the force acquired much vitality. The act then passed, though amended several times, is in its main features still in force. The able-bodied men of each parish between the ages of 18 and 35 are enrolled annually, and by ballot a certain required number are to be selected for service. Certain classes are exempted: peers, yeomanry, resident members of universities, clergymen, parish schoolmasters, articled clerks, apprentices, seafaring men, crown employees, free watermen of the Thames; in England any poor man with more than one child born in wedlock; in Scotland any man with more than two lawful children and not possessed of property to the value of £50; in Ireland any man with more than three lawful children, who pays less than £5 a year rent, or has less than £10 of property. Substitutes may be accepted for the men chosen by ballot, and for many years it has been customary to suspend the ballot, and make up the requisite number by volunteering. The time of service is five years. The command is in the lord lieutenant of the county and his deputies under commission by the crown. The militia are required to assemble for 27 days' training each year, but in time of peace the requirement is not strictly enforced. The mutiny law is applicable while they are under arms. The militia cannot be compelled to march out of their respective counties except in case of invasion or actual rebellion, nor in any case to march out of the kingdom. Their pay while in service is the same as that in the regular army. In 1873-'4 the militia force of the kingdom consisted of 133,952 men and 5,066 commissioned and non-commissioned oflicers, of whom only about one half appeared on the day of inspection. There are also volunteer organizations consisting of: 1, yeomanry cavalry, numbering about 15,000; 2, infantry, artillery, &c., including enrolled pensioners, numbering 195,750. These are only liable to be called out in case of actual or apprehended invasion, for service within the kingdom.—In France all able-bodied males are liable to military duty from the age of 20 to that of 40; the first five years in the active army, then four years in the reserve, then five years in the territorial or district army, and then six years in the territorial army of the reserve. Exemptions are made as follows: the eldest of orphans having neither father nor mother; the only or oldest son or grandson of a widow or wife separated from her husband, or of a father more than 70 years old; the elder of two brothers liable to service at the same time; the younger of two brothers when the elder brother is actually in service in the army; the younger son of a family, whose elder brother has died in the service, or been discharged for wounds or illness contracted in the field. There are also partial or conditional exemptions of pupils, teachers, ecclesiastics, &c.; and the local authorities may grant further exemptions, subject to the revision of the military councils, of young men who contribute to the support of their families, and who are engaged in studies or avocations which would suffer from the interruption. (See Guard, National.)—In Switzerland a standing army is forbidden by the constitution. Military instruction is given in the schools, though not made compulsory. The military forces are divided into: 1, the Bundesauszug, or federal army, consisting of all able-bodied males between the ages of 20 and 30; 2, the army of the reserve, consisting of all between the ages of 31 and 40 who have served in the first class; 3, the landwehr, or militia, embracing all the men from 41 to 45. Their numbers in 1872 were: of the first class, 84,369; of the second, 50,069; of the third, 65,981; total, with the staff added, 201,257. The federal army and the army of the reserve are drilled once a year in their respective cantons, and they also meet once or twice a year in general muster. In Belgium the militia includes all males able to bear arms between the ages of 21 and 40, and they number about 125,000 regular militia and 275,000 reserves. The regular army is supplied by conscription, to which citizens become liable at 19. In the Netherlands the regular army is kept up by conscription of those who have reached the age of 20. The militia consists of those between 25 and 55, who for the first ten years are called active, and afterward the “resting” militia. In Denmark all able-bodied males who have reached 21 are liable to serve eight years in the regular army and afterward eight years in the army of the reserve. The national militia of Sweden is raised and paid by the landowners, assisted to some extent by the income of state domains. The infantry practise a month annually, and the cavalry 45 days.