to have fostered and protected art. So does the upas-tree extend its branching arms, to shade and to protect, but it also blights and destroys all that comes within reach of its baneful influence. The art which the merchant-princes of Florence encouraged was wholly an irreligious art. On what subjects do we find them employing the painters whom they assembled at their court? Sensuous representations of the human figure, pagan deities, the loves of the gods-such are the objects which these enlightened patrons loved to accumulate about them;

to discover an antique statue or a classical manuscript, to emendate, and write Ciceronian Latinthis is the serious business of their lives. The painters whom they patronized were expected to prostitute their art and talent to this newlyrevived paganism. The time was however not wholly ripe for the development of infidelity, at least amongst the middle classes. A few of the painters of the age may have grovelled in the mire of paganism and sensuality, but for the most part they passed through it immaculate and pure. It was reserved for more skilful artists but less pious men to deny that faith, the assertion of which was the glory and the boast, and the very purpose of all art in Italy, up to the sixteenth century. Christian art was shaken and overthrown, but it had not yet received its deathblow. The introduction of genre painting, and the fact of decoration being transferred, in great measure, from the churches to the palaces of the wealthy and great, must be considered as elements of decadence.

One by one, with care, toil, and assiduity, the corner stones of the foundation of painting were laid. The early labourers schemed and worked with a childlike humility and faith, and others have im

proved on the structure, and have entered upon the fruit of their industry. We, of a later age, who have witnessed what may be called perfection, if to anything human that name may be applied, in the realization of form and of colour in the fine arts, though we may feel inclined to smile at those abortive productions of the infancy of painting, should yet remember that there is nothing ludicrous, that there is much very precious in any work, however faulty, on which a human heart has lavished the wealth of its love and its devotion. The freshness and purity of the dawn seems to linger lovingly with those old painters still. A halo of gratitude and of kindly thoughts encircles their memory, as in their simple pictures a golden halo surrounds the head of saint or prophet; for out of their labours all modern art is developed, all that pleases the eye and gratifies the heart on our walls and in our galleries. Regarding painting as the art of imitation only, the names of Giotto, Pietro della Francesca, Masolino, Lippi, and Masaccio must ever be remembered, as of men who walked in a path almost untrodden of any before them-a path which brought them severally nearer to their destination-as of men who gave a most impulsive onward movement to art. Richness of colour, breadth, form, light and shade, and perspective,for all these, we are in some measure indebted to them, for they first experimentally studied the necessary elements of painting. And our esteem and regard for these early artists cannot but be increased when we remember that with most of them painting was not merely a profession or an amusement. was something far higher and nobler. It was the expression, however imperfect, of a living, practical faith.

It

1856.]

that a sketch of the present state of the Dutch army will not prove entirely devoid of interest. In the first place, all information on military affairs in the present warlike times has a claim to our serious attention, and, in the event of a prolongation of the war, it is of no small importance to be able to form some just estimate of even the most trifling weight to be thrown into the scale on either side; in the second place, the days of misrule in the War Office at home seem likely to be drawing to an end, and many useful lessons may be picked up abroad, even in the smallest states, which might be advantageously applied to the reforms we hope soon to see introduced in England.

We shall thus give in the present paper a succinct account of the state of the Dutch army as it now exists, and of the expense at which it is maintained, and we shall particularly direct our readers' attention to the way in which military officers are educated and promoted in the Netherlands. All the details we give are drawn from official sources, and we can answer for their being perfectly correct.

The peace establishment of the Dutch army is as follows:

I. MINISTRY OF WAR. Consisting of the Minister at War; salary. 12,000fl.* Secretary-General 5,000fl.

1. Bureau of the Secretary, at the head of which is a referendary, with 22 subordinate civil officers, enjoying salaries from 600 to 3000 florins

Pay and allowances as above.

4. Bureau of the Engineer Corps. -Likewise under the orders of a field-officer, with 1 captain, 3 first lieutenants, and 7 assistants, civilians. Pay and allowances as above, except one designer and engraver on a salary of 1200 florins, and a second designer with 1095 florins.

5. Bureau of Administration.At the head of this bureau is a fieldofficer of the military administration. Under his orders are-1 captain, I captain quartermaster, 2 sub-intendants (second class), 4 lieutenants (quartermasters), and 14 clerks. Pay and allowances as above.

6. The Topographical Bureau.Superintended by a field-officer, as above, with a staff of 14 designers, engravers, and printers.

7. Bureau of the Inspector-General of the Medical Service.-Consisting of 5 clerks, under the orders of the inspector-general, on salaries varying between 750 and 1300 florins.

Besides these officers, there is a captain, charged with the daily service of the ministry and the necessary staff of porters, messengers, &c.

The sum total of the annual expenses of the ministry for the whole army, amounts in round figures, as nearly as possible, to £1,000,000.

II. THE STAFF (Groote Staf) of the army contains

1. The field-marshals; 2. Such other high dignitaries as the King may please to appoint;

3. The aide-de-camps, orderly and other officers on the personal staff of his Majesty, the Princes of the Blood Royal, &c.

III. THE GENERAL STAFF is composed of lieutenant or major-general; I colonel; 3 majors; 9 captains-3 first class, 3 second and third class; 6 first lieutenants.

The highest pay (of the general) is 5500fl.; the lowest (of the first lieutenants) 1400fl.

ACADEMY.*

We shall have to speak more at length of this establishment when we treat of the military education of the Dutch officers. The staff consists of some 50 officers and professors, besides a numerous corps of non-commissioned officers, &c., and about 300 cadets.

VIII.-INFANTRY.

The Dutch infantry is subdivided into-The staff: 1 regiment grenadiers and jagers (rifles), 8 regiments of the line, I battalion of instruction, I general disciplinary depôt for punishment, I recruiting depôt for colonial troops.

THE STAFF of the infantry consists of the inspector-general of that arm (8ooofl. a-year), of majorgenerals commanding brigades, and of infantry officers not belonging to any regiment, but detached on special services, such as at the War Ministry, at the Military Academy, &c.

A REGIMENT OF INFANTRY contains 4 battalions and a depôt ; each battalion has 5 companies, and the depôt consists of two. The nominal force of the regiment is as follows: 91 officers and 4829 non-commissioned officers, musicians, artificers, rank and file. The latter are sub-. divided as follows:

896

698

698

1400

700

4392

437

4829

establishment scarcely exceeds 800 men to each regiment, or about onesixth part of the grand total.

It is calculated that in time of

companies, I company of the Limburg Contingent, and I depôt company, to serve II batteries of 8 guns.

The nominal strength of the regiment is 75 officers and 2553 rank and file, of which, besides the officers, only 323 are mounted.

The effective force kept up scarcely exceeds one-third of the nominal amount. The pay of the officers and men is a trifle higher than that of the infantry.

One regiment of Siege Artillery has, besides the staff, 12 companies and I depôt-company, to be augmented in time of war by 4 companies of militia, of which the cadres are to be taken from the regimental staff and companies. The nominal strength of this regiment is 64 officers and 1720 rank and file, of which half at most are kept under arms.

One regiment of Horse Artillery consists of the regimental staff, 4 companies, and I depôt-company, to serve 4 eight-gun batteries, 2 of which are armed with six-pounders and two with twelve-pounders; to each gun six horses. The nominal strength of the regiment is 30 officers and 716 rank and file; of the latter only 326 are kept under arms.

The Pontonnier-corps, for the construction of bridges, &c., is commanded by a major, with 6 officers under him, and consists of 200 noncommissioned officers, artificers, and rank and file, of whom about half are kept under arms in time of peace.

XIII.-CORPS OF ENGINEERS, SAPPERS AND MINERS. This corps consists of 102 officers, 32 overseers (opzigters), and 632 rank and file. Thirteen of the officers remain with the battalion, the rest are detached in the various fortresses. The pay is the same as in the artillery. The effective force of the battalion scarcely exceeds 250 rank and file.

XIV.-CAVALRY.

The Dutch cavalry consists of the staff and 5 regiments of dragoons.

The Staff includes, besides I lieutenant-general, inspector of cavalry, and 2 major-generals, commanding brigades, a few officers detached on special services.

One regiment of Dragoons has 4 squadrons and I depôt, and contains 36 officers and nominally 871 rank and file, of which at most 450 men per regiment are kept under arms. The pay is the same as in the artillery.

XV.-ROYAL MARECHAUSSÉES.

This corps, of which about onehalf is mounted, is organized for the same purposes and nearly on the same footing as the French gendarmerie. The privates have all the rank of corporal in the line; they are picked men, and have noncommissioned officers' pay. The officers are taken from the cavalry regiments, and all mounted. The corps is divided into two companies, and has 10 officers (2 captains), and 182 mounted and 172 rank and file not mounted.

The colonial troops, about 16,000 men, are barely sufficient for the requisites of the service in India, and could never be rendered available in a European war.

Of the militia or Schutterij, about 45,000 men might be called out.

The method of recruiting is the Napoleonic conscription; the recruits are, in time of peace, merely kept under arms until they are drilled, and then allowed to go home on furlough, and only called out again in case of need. Besides the regular army, the Dutch depend for the defence of their frontiers, in case of invasion, on their militia, in which all able-bodied men between the ages of 25 and 35 are enrolled. A reserve consists of all able to bear arms in case of need