Regular Forces 202,000 1st and 2nd Class Reserves 57,000 Militia and Militia Reserve 134,000 Yeomanry 11,000 Volunteers 224,000 Colonial Forces 84,000 Indian Native Army 152,000 altogether, 864,000 men at the outside. This apparently large number, however, includes every single able-bodied man, British or Native, who has been trained to bear arms: the Regular Army forms not quite a quarter of it. Taken altogether, this gives an average of about 1 combatant to 350 non-combatants—not a large proportion. Germany’s proportion is 1 to 99. This is a large proportion, it is true, but then she is threatened by powerful enemies on her eastern and western frontiers, whereas we are an island, and look to our Navy as the first line of defence. This being so, we can do with a moderately small Army, and need not (yet) have recourse to the system of all other European countries—namely, universal conscription. It is absolutely necessary, however, that we should follow the principle which underlies the military systems of all countries, whether their armies are composed of conscripts or not. This principle is that of keeping a small number of troops under arms in peace-time, with a large reserve of trained men ready to be called out in case of war. In our case, the small number under arms in peace-time is represented by the Active Army, both British, Indian, and Colonial,[2] and the large reserve by the 1st and 2nd Class Army Reserves, the Militia, the Militia Reserve, the Yeomanry, and the Volunteers. Before starting on the details of these different forces, it would be as well to give the mode of enlistment and terms of service of the British soldier, with a slight sketch of his history. [Illustration: Mounted Infantry. (Tropical Field Kit.)] [Sidenote: +Recruitment.+] The system of recruitment throughout the Army is that of voluntary enlistment. As mentioned above, we are the _only_ country in Europe whose soldiers are thus enlisted. The subjects of all other European countries are liable to be enrolled in the army whether they like it or not, and, as a rule, they do not like it. This voluntary enlistment is a great advantage for us in one way, in that only those need be soldiers who want to be; but, on the other hand, the strength of our Army is chiefly dependent on the number of men who happen to fancy soldiering, and this is hardly a matter for congratulation. Up till now, the system has sufficed: let us hope we shall never have to change it.