PRELIMINARY ARMY GUIDE. SEPTEMBER EXAMINATION, 1881. PART I. INTRODUCTORY. THIS is the first attempt, we believe, ever made to bring out the Answers to the Questions set in this Examination, and we must therefore crave the indulgence of our readers for any omissions or mistakes that may occur. If our present venture succeeds, we intend issuing this Guide three times a year, after the February, April, and September Examinations. The September number will contain the Questions and Answers set in the two Examinations immediately preceding its issue, and the price for this double number will be 18. 6d., instead of 1s. It will be our object, besides furnishing the questions and answers in full, to give such information, hints, &c., about these Examinations as shall appear to us advisable from time to time. We shall also give Test Papers in each number, framed on the lines of recent Examinations, for candidates to work out for themselves; and we shall devote a certain space to the purpose of answering queries, &c. At the end of each number we shall make remarks on the nature of the several papers set in the most recent Examination; and we shall always make a point of publishing the number of pupils sent in by us for each Preliminary, and state how many of them were successful at the last Examination. We shall also give a list of the subjects set for the Further Examinations for entrance into Woolwich and Sandhurst. We now proceed to make a few remarks on our system of POSTAL TUITION. This is a system carried out by us to a very great extent, and though many people are inclined to ridicule it, yet results prove that it is by no means to be despised; for, out of a very large number of Postal Pupils, we have only had one who ever failed to pass his examination, and he was a most irregular correspondent. The system is as follows: Every week a batch of questions on a certain portion of the work taken in hand is sent to the Candidate, who answers the questions given, and returns them in the course of the week to be corrected and have hints and explanations filled in. The papers when thus revised are returned to the Postal Pupil, with a fresh batch of questions, to be treated in a similar manner to the first. These questions and answers should be kept by the Pupil, and after revision they should be entered by him into his note-book, so that he may have them ready to read over just before the Examination. This system of correspondence has been proved by experience to be most effective, if the course given by the Tutor is faithfully followed out by the Pupil, and the work done and returned regularly every week. It has the following advantages: (i.) It keeps a Pupil to his work. (ii.) It draws his attention to particular points, and prevents him from wasting time over matters that for Examination purposes might be absolutely useless. (iii.) It gets him into a way of answering Test Questions on paper, a most important point, especially as these Test Papers cover nearly all the Questions likely to be asked in the Exami nation. The conditions of success are threefold : 1. The correspondence must be of sufficiently long duration. We recommend a course of not less than three months. 2. The correspondence must be regular; the questions answered and papers returned punctually every week. 3. The work must be bona fide. By this we mean that the Correspondent must get up the particular subject or subjects set for the week before sitting down to do a paper; and whenever he has need to refer to the text-book to answer a question, he must make a note to this effect in the margin. These conditions being observed, we have no hesitation in saying that any one who tries this system will make excellent progress, and find the plan most helpful and satisfactory. PART II. TEST PAPER ON GEOGRAPHY. Europe (generally). 1. Draw an outline map of Europe, insert the chief rivers and mountains, and twelve of the principal towns. 2. State the directions and approximate distances of the following places from London:-Stockholm, Dublin, Madrid, Milan, Aberdeen, Iceland, St. Albans, Constantinople. 3. Trace the course of the following rivers, mentioning their source, length, the countries through which they flow, and the seas into which they fall:-Danube, Rhone, Rhine, Elbe, Volga. 4. State the situation of the following, and mention anything of importance connected with them:-Lille, Leipsic, Saragossa, Toulon, Carlsbad, Dresden, Palermo, Ajaccio, Astrakhan. 5. Mention the capitals of the following countries and districts, and the river (if any) on which they stand :-Sweden, Hanover, Portugal, Bavaria, Saxony, Normandy, Denmark. 6. What points would be touched at, and what river mouths and capes would be passed in a coasting voyage from Havre to Barcelona ? [To be continued in subsequent numbers.] TEST PAPER ON ARITHMETIC. Vulgar and Decimal Fractions. 1. Add together 11, 21, 31, and ‡. 2. Subtract 9 from 1133. 3. Multiply 4% by 13. 4. Divide 6 by 71. 5. Add together 1.314, 271.5, 6741, and 15·521. 6. Subtract 16.742 from 19.8145. 7. Divide 00625 by 25. 8. Reduce 57123 of a mile to feet and the decimal of a foot. 9. Subtract 179 of a day from 23.2854 hours, and give the answer in minutes and the decimal of a minute. [Next Test Paper will be on Practice and Proportion.] In working out these Test Papers, Candidates are advised to follow the system recommended in our 'Preliminary Army Examination Made Easy,' p. 10. PART III. CORRESPONDENCE, NOTICES, &c. [All Correspondents are requested to send in their Communications, Queries, &c., for the next issue of this Guide (No. 2) by the end of January, 1882.] Further Examination Subjects for Sandhurst and Woolwich in 1882. The following Notices have been issued by the Civil Service Commissioners: "At the competitions for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, to be held in July, 1882, and at the examination to be held in April, 1882, of Lieutenants of Militia who are candidates for commissions in the Regular Army, the examination in English Literature will be limited to the following authors : Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. Coriolanus. Lycidas, and Samson Agonistes. Speech on American Taxation. Essays on Boswell's Johnson, and Lord Chatham. "The examination in English History will be limited, at the candidate's choice, either to the period A.D. 1760-1790 (inclusive), or to the period A.D. 1790 to 1820 (inclusive). The candidate's reading on the period selected should include the study of that part of Bright's History which treats of it." "At the competitions for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, to be held in December, 1882, and at the examination to be held in October, 1882, of Lieutenants of Militia who are candidates for commissions in the Regular Army, the examination in English Literature will be limited to the following authors: And either (1) Burke Julius Cæsar. Poems. Life of Milton. Thoughts on Present Discontents. Essays on Boswell's Johnson, and Lord Chatham. "The examination in English History will be limited, at the candidate's choice, either to the period A.D. 1760-1790 (inclusive), or to the period A.D. 1790 to 1820 (inclusive). The candidate's reading on the period selected should include the study of that part of Bright's History which treats of it." PART IV. ANSWERS IN FULL TO THE PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER, 1881. FRENCH. Wednesday, August 31st, 1881. 10 A.M.-12.30 P.M. [With Grammar and Dictation.] Translate into English: I. "J'étais voué," dit Moreau, à l'étude des lois au commencement de cette revolution qui devait fonder la liberté du peuple français; elle changea la destination de ma vie; je la vouai aux armes. Je n'allai pas me placer parmi les soldats de la liberté par ambition; j'embrassai l'état militaire par respect pour les droits de la nation. Je devins guerrier parce que j'étais citoyen. Je portai ce caractère sous les drapeaux, je l'y ai toujours conservé. Plus j'aimais la liberté. plus je fus soumis à la discipline. Parvenu au commandement en chef, lorsque la victoire nous faisait avancer au milieu des nations ennemies, je ne m'appliquai pas moins à leur faire respecter le caractère du peuple français, qu'à leur faire redouter ses armes. La guerre |