There are numerous schools in France intended either for military education or further military instruction. Chief amongst them is the Military School of St. Cyr, into which 400 candidates are admitted every year as cadets, after a competitive examination. The course lasts for two years, and the cadets are then sent as 2nd lieutenants to the Infantry and Cavalry. The Polytechnic School in Paris sends 250 cadets annually under like conditions to the Artillery and Engineers. In the time of Napoleon I., a great many of the officers, including some of his most famous marshals, rose from the ranks; and even now a very large proportion of them come from the same source. [Sidenote: +Total Forces.+] The whole of France is divided for administrative and organising purposes into 18 Regions, in each of which an Army Corps is quartered. The 19th Corps is in Algeria. Each Army Corps comprises 2 Infantry Divisions, each of 2 brigades of 2 regiments each, besides a battalion of Rifles, a brigade of Cavalry (2 regiments), and a brigade of Artillery. On reviewing the size and organisation of the French Army, we cannot help being struck by the fact that, besides being exceedingly numerous, it is well organised, well armed, and endowed with a proper warlike spirit. Although not “the best in the world,” as every Frenchman will tell you, the French soldier is possessed of many excellent and soldier-like qualities. One cannot form one’s judgment by the extremely slack and unsmart appearance of the men, both as regards physique and uniform. The “Piou-piou,” as the Infantry soldier is called by his fellow-countrymen, who lounges about with his képi well on the back of his head and his hands deep in his baggy trouser-pockets, does certainly not present a soldier-like appearance, but all the same he is an active and handy man on service, and on the field of battle advances pluckily through a murderous fire, with little thought of danger or alarm. [Illustration: Chasseur d’Afrique.]