which became the subject for investigation, and as a proof of this the books of general orders issued upon service, are almost filled with parts of their proceedings and the observations of Commanders of the Forces upon them. It is by no means with the view of inducing any one to follow their example I now mention that, in the French armies, before the Revolution, courts-martial were only assembled for the trial of those guilty of very serious crimes; and in the field, even these were often summarily judged and punished, occasionally upon a simple verbal order. The National Constituent Assembly, however, without knowing what they were about, and from a sheer love of novelty, under the pretext of doing away with arbitrary military proceedings, rendered them, as now with us, most vexatiously frequent and complicated, by requiring courts-martial to be assembled for the investigation of even the most trivial offences, in order to award the most trifling punishments; and which commanding officers, as in our navy, could before have ordered upon their own authority and responsibility. The new laws which they made for this wise purpose had soon to undergo many and endless changes, all tending to occupy the time of officers and to make the proceedings of military tribunals more tedious and annoying; and they are now, after all that has been done, no better than our own, and they have attached to them a court of revision in which the matter, in case of appeal, is re-considered. But to make up for being thus hampered, the French état-major often found it necessary, under the delegated authority of their commander-in-chief, to act in a very arbitrary and summary manner in the field. Other branches of the service, such as the Post-office, &c., come under the Adjutant-General and his department, but I have already been too minute upon this head; yet I do not see how I can be less so if I am at all to enter upon the Quarter-Master-General's department, and in doing so I must touch upon what is well known to many officers. All military plans, sketches, &c. especially such as afford information like the following:-- Plan pointing out where are situated, the stone bridges, &c. &c., which exist upon the Ebro, from Reynosa to Tudela.