In the year 1875 there were, according to official returns, 309,124 young men liable to the conscription. Of these 29,797 were exempted as unfit for service, 42,268 were excused as sons or grandsons of widows, and for other domestic reasons; 19,508 were sent back for a year, 25,778 were already under the flag, and 4,295 were excused as professors, teachers, or seminarists. Of the remaining number, 140,863, or not quite one-half of the total, were declared immediately fit for active service, and 21,259 were draughted into the auxiliary services. The conditional engagements for 12 months numbered 9,204. Of the number declared immediately fit for service, there were retained 95,788 for the full service of five years, and 45,075 for service of from six to twelve months. Under the existing law, at 29 years of age a Frenchman is no longer liable to active service, and at 40 he is free from enrolment in the territorial army;

Notwithstanding the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, resulting in a decrease of population of more than a million and a half, the expenditure for the army has largely increased since the war with Germany. In the budget for 1869, the expenditure for the army amounted to 383,979,851 francs, or 15,359,1927.; and in the estimates for 1875, the amount stood at 493,776,321 francs, or 19,751,052l., being an augmentation of 109,796,470 francs, or 4,391,860l. The rise was due mainly to the increase in the numbers of the army under the new organisation.

The organisation of the French army, under the law known as the 'loi des cadres,' passed by the National Assembly, March 13, 1875, is as follows:

Infantry :

144 regiments of the line, each of 3 battalions of 4 companies, besides 2 depôt companies.

30 battalions of chasseurs à pied, each of 4 companies, with 1 depôt company.

4 regiments of zouaves, each of 4 battalions of 4 companies, with one depôt company

3 regiments of Tiralleurs Algériens, each of 4 battalions of 4 companies.

1 regiment of Légion Etrangère, of 4 battalions of 4 companies. 3 battalions of Infanterie Légère d'Afrique.

The troops of the last four divisions form a special class, enrolled as the 19th corps d'armée.

Cavalry:

12 regiments of cuirassiers.

26 regiments of dragoons.

32 regiments of light cavalry, including 20 of chasseurs and 12 of

hussars.

4 regiments of Chasseur d'Afrique.

3 regiments of Spahis.

Artillery and Engineers:

38 regiments of field artillery, forming 19 brigades, each of 13 batteries.

2 regiments of artillery pontonniers, each of 14 companies. 10 companies of artillery workmen for factories, &c.

57 companies of train artillery.

4 regiments of sappers and miners, each of 5 battalions of 4 companies.

The total effective force of the French army-'effectifs du pied de paix '-was reported as follows to the National Assembly in the session of 1875, by the Commission de la réorganisation de l'armée' (Session paper, No. 2,917):

The whole of France is divided into 18 military regions, each under a general of division, and subdivided into districts, of the same circumference as the departments, under a general of brigade. The fortified places are specially administered by a 'service des fortifications,' with 'chefs-lieux,' or head-quarters, at Arras, Bayonne, Besançon, Bourges, Brest, Cherbourg, Grenoble, Langres, La Rochelle, Le Havre, Lille Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, Perpignan, St. Omer, Toulon, and Toulouse. Before the war of 1870-71, there were two more of these chef-lieux,' Metz and Strassburg, which also contained the chief military establishments, manufactories, and stores. To replace them, it was ordered, by a decree of the Government, issued in July 1872, to create military establishments at Avignon, Perpignan, Quiberon, and Rouen.

2. Navy.

The war navy of France was composed, at the end of 1877, of 53 ironclads, 264 unarmoured screw steamers, 62 paddle-steamers, and 113 sailing vessels. The following statement gives the number of vessels of each class, their horse-power, and armament :

The following is a tabular list of the 53 ironclads of the French navy, either afloat, or nearly completed, at the end of 1877. The columns of the table exhibit, similar to that descriptive of the British ironclad navy, after the name of each ship, first, the thickness of armour at the water-line; secondly, the number and weight of guns; thirdly, the indicated or nominal horse-power of engines; and fourthly, the tonnage, that is, displacement in tons. Each vessel of the French navy is enrolled at one of the five great divisions maritimes' of the country-namely, 1. Cherbourg; 2. Brest; 3. Lorient; 4. Rochefort; and 5. Toulon; and in the following list the initial letter of these ports, preceding the name of each ironclad, denotes the division on the register of which it stands. Those ironclads marked with an asterisk (*) before their name? were launched, but not completed, at the end of 1877 :

The most powerful of the ironclads of the French navy is the Redoutable, launched at Lorient, September 18, 1876. The length of the Redoutable is 330 feet, and breadth 70 feet; steel has been employed throughout in the construction of the ship, and only the outer bottom and rivets are of iron. There is a ram attached to the bow of the Redoutable, weighing 30 tons. Horizontal steel armour is used in sufficient strength to render the decks bomb proof. The guns are mounted en barbette and capable of being used in all directions. Not much inferior to the Redoutable are the Trident, and Friedland, both launched in 1875, but the former not completed at