IN the summer of 1682, for the space of nearly three months, an old man might have been seen pacing daily up and down near the Ordnance Offices in the Tower of London, growing shabbier day by day, more hopeless and purposeless in his gait, yet seeming bound to the place either by expectation or command. At last with trembling hand he prepared for the Honourable Board of Ordnance the following quaint petition:— "The humble Petition of John Hawling, Master Gunner of His Majesty's Castle of Chester." "SHEWETH:— "That y^e Petitioner being commanded up by special order from the office hath remained here y^e space of 13 weeks to his great cost and charges, he being a very poor and ancient man, not having wherewithal to subsist in so chargeable a place. "He therefor most humbly implores y^r Hon^{rs} to take his sad condition into your Honours' consideration, and to restore him to his place again, y^t he may return to his habitation with such commands as your Hon^{rs} shall think fitt to lay upon him. "And your Petitioner as in duty bound shall ever pray." To which Petition the Honourable Board returned the following peremptory answer:— "Let y^e Petitioner return back to Chester Castle, and there submit himself to Sir Jeoffrey Shakerley, Governor, in y^e presence of Sir Peter Pindar and Mr. Anderton, and obey y^e orders of y^e Governor and Lieut.-Governor of y^e said castle, and upon his said submission and obedience, let him continue and enjoy his former employment of Master Gunner there, so long as he shall so behave himselfe accordingly." John Hawling, this poor and ancient man, was one of the small class of Master Gunners, and Gunners of Garrisons, who with the few fee'd Gunners at the Tower, represented the only permanent force of Artillery in those days in England. Their scientific attainments as Artillerists were small, and their sense of discipline was feeble. To take a very superficial charge of Ordnance Stores, and to resent any military interference, such as at Chester seems to have driven John Hawling into mutiny, but at the same time to cringe to the Board, which was the source of their annual income, represented in their minds the sum and substance of their duties. And taking into consideration John Hawling's offence, his advanced years, and his petition, we do not err in taking him as a representative man. * * * * * In the House of Commons, on the 22nd of February, 1872, the Secretary of State for War rose to move the Army Estimates for the ensuing year. These included provision for a Regiment of Artillery, numbering— including those serving in India—34,943 officers, non-commissioned officers, and men.