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The solution of that problem, as is well were offered for the best arm, for known, was found in the Snider-Enfield the best breech action, and for the rifle, an arm of recognized efficiency, an best cartridge. With this part of the arm which has now outlived its many and inquiry we need not concern ourselves. not always disinterested detractors, and To gunmakers and inventors, it had a cerwhich we would not willingly exchange with tain interest; as a means to an end, the any foreign military breech- loader now in end being the collection of a certain number use. But it is not so generally recognized, of arms to select from, it was important; because the recognition entails a closer as an opportunity for acquiring experience, appreciation of the details and fundamental it proved instructive. But it had no direct principle of the subject, that the success of or immediate bearing upon the decision the Snider has been due in a very large which has now been come to as to the future measure to, if indeed it may not be said to arm of the British Soldier, and may, theredepend upon, the very excellent cartridge fore, be passed by. which Colonel Boxer designed for its use. Substitute for this cartridge one of inferior resisting power, one less easy to load or extract, one less reliable or efficient in any way, and the Snider becomes more or less of a failure. Compared with most other systems of breech-loading, this is one which throws a maximum of work upon the cartridge and depends most largely upon it. The cartridge is not merely the means of sealing the breech against a possible escape of gas, - that the non-consuming cartouche obturatrice must be as a first necessity of its existence, but in the Snider the actual safety of the arm depends upon the cartridge. If the cartridge yields or if the gun does not support it properly, the block becomes blown open; and such an accident occurring in a large per-centage of cases would practically determine the failure of the system. But the cartridge has proved good enough to cover this radical defect, as we must consider it, of the Snider breech action; the explosive escapes have been comparatively few; and the system, in which expression we include breech and cartridge, has furnished, on the whole, thoroughly satisfactory results.

But the store of Enfield rifles available for conversion was not unlimited, and it became necessary to look forward to the time when new arms would have to be manufactured. At once the question arose, should these arms be Snider-Enfields, or some other weapon? Clearly, it was desirable to institute experiments on this point, to discover, before resuming the manufacture, if the Snider-Enfield could be improved upon. Accordingly, a special Committee was appointed, consisting of Colonel Fletcher, Scotts' Fusilier Guards, president; Earl Spencer, Mr. Edward Ross, Captain Rawlins (48th), and Captain Mackinnon (3rd); with Captain Haig (R. A.) as secretary. The Committee was formed early in 1867, and its first duty was to award prizes in connection with a War-Office advertisement of the 22nd October, 1866. These prizes

We have said that the questions of accuracy and rapidity of fire are distinct; they have been so dealt with by the committee during the inquiry. The barrel and breech action were tried separately, and this separation even extends to the ultimate selection. For the choice has fallen on the barrel of one gunmaker, Mr. A. Henry, of Edinburgh, and the breech action of another, M. Martini, a Hungarian. Throughout the inquiry the Boxer cartridge-case has held its own, and it will be the service cartridge of the Martini-Henry rifle, as it has been the service cartridge of the Snider. But the bullet will be one of Mr. Henry's designing, a hardened-lead bullet, of 480 grains' weight, and cylindro-conoidal in form. The lubrication consists of pure beeswax, placed in the form of a disc, at the base of the bullet between two pieces of cardboard. When we add that the charge is 85 grains (hitherto of Curtis and Hervey's powder, to be superseded, no doubt, hereafter by powder of Government make); that the bullet is enveloped in thin paper slightly smeared with wax, to prevent leading," and that the cartridge-case is adapted for a 45-in. bore, and is therefore longer and thinner than that of the Snider, we shall have said all that is necessary respecting the BoxerHenry ammunition. Returning to the arm, the barrel is 35 inches long, and is made of steel; its weight is 4lb, 6oz; calibre '45in.; rifling, Mr. Henry's, i. e., on the polygonal system, with ribs running down the intersections of the planes; twist 1 in 22. The Martini breech action is distinguished from most others in use by the absence of a lock and hammer. The piston is driven forward by a powerful spiral spring, which is situated within the breech block. The block is hinged behind, and by the action of a lever behind the trigger guard the fore part of the block is sufficiently depressed to admit of the cartridge being introduced. The same movement places the striker on full cock (if we may use that not very accurate expression, in default of a more convenient

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one), and ejects the empty cartridge-case. | proved free from fouling in continued firing. The arm is fitted with an indicator to show Its penetrative power was remarkable: it when it is at full cock, and with a safety bolt pierced 14 1-2 half-inch elm plank, and iron to secure it from accidental discharge. It weighs, complete, 9lb. 4oz.

plates up to 261in. thickness; rope mantlets, gabions, and sap rollers were peneTo follow the details of the inquiry which trated by it, and when tried against a dead has resulted in the selection of this arm horse the Henry bullet produced the most would occupy more space than we could severe fractures. The initial velocity was afford; it will perhaps be sufficient if we 1,362ft. per second (that of the Service state generally of what the arm has proved Snider is 1,252ft.); and the Henry bullet capable, and what tests it has satisfied. was much less sensible to the effects of wind Taking the breech mechanism, first, we find than any other bullets which were tried. As that the general course of the experiments to durability, a Henry barrel fired over was as follows. The arms were carefully 2,000 rounds without any injury or deteriorexamined, and if approved, twenty or more ation whatever, and evidence was received shots were fired for rapidity. Sand was that as many as 30,000 rounds have been thrown over the breech actions both open fired without any indications of wear. and closed, and the rifle fired without clean- What more need we add? Only this, that ing. Cartridges so damaged as to ensure a the new arm will cost in supply £2 18s. 9d. serious escape of gas, such as would have against £2 13s. 2d. for a new Snider-Enblown open the Snider block every time, field, — a difference of price which is wholly were fired. Then there was the test of insignificant when measured beside the adlong-continued firing, and the exposure test. vantages which it promises to purchase. This last was peculiarly severe, the arms being exposed unprotected for a week to the effects of weather, and water being poured over them to aggravate their sufferings. During the trials, the facility of manipulation, and general simplicity, and durability of the mechanisms were observed. It is not surprising that under tests such as these arm after arm broke down, What is more noticeable is, that there were some arms, the Henry and Martini breech actions among them, which passed through the whole of the tests, severe as they were. Of these two the Martini action acquitted itself the best, and was ultimately, after a close competition, preferred by the Committee to its formidable rival. A rate of fire of 20 rounds in 48 seconds has been obtained with it. Turning to the barrel, we find that the Henry defeated all the other bar-cupy. rels which entered against it, including the But if, as there is every reason to anticiWestley-Richards, Whitworth, Rigby, Lan-pate, the performances of the arm in the caster, and the 5-in. bore, as well as the Service 57.7-in. bore. It was superior to these in accuracy at all the four ranges of 300, 500, 800, and 1,000 yards, giving figures of 47ft., 90ft., 1.85ft., and 2-59ft., at these distances respectively. In flatness of trajectory it was practically equal to any of the other rifles of 45-in. calibre," and superior to the larger bores. With the Henry bullet and the beeswax wad, the arm

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It is intended, before proceeding with the manufacture of the new arms on an extended scale, to issue a few hundreds to the troops for further trial, and report as to their general serviceability. What tests the troops will be able to apply more severe or searching than those which the arms have already satisfied, we know not; and yet the precaution of eliciting the opinion of the Army on the subject before finally adopting the arm is a commendable one. It is just possible, although scarcely probable, that some defects may thus be brought to light which the Committee have not been able to discover; at any rate, some useful practical suggestions and minor modifications may result from this rougher trial, and we are happily not so desperately pressed as to be unable to afford the time which it will oc

hands of the troops shall confirm the opinion which its experimental performances appear to warrant, the country will possess an unequalled military breech-loader, and the Committee to whose intelligent and longsustained labours its selection has been due, will merit an expression of warm commendation, which even at this stage it is scarcely premature to bestow.

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No idle passion swayed her heart,

This quaint New England beauty! Faith was the guardian of her life; Obedience was a duty.

Too truthful for reserve, she stood,
Her brown eyes earthward casting,
And held with trembling hand the while
Her white life-everlasting.

Her sober answer pleased the youth
Frank, clear and gravely cheerful;
He left her at her father's door,
Too happy to be fearful.

She looked on high, with earnest plea,
And Heaven seemed bright above her;
And when she shyly spoke his name,
Her father praised her lover.

And when, that night, she sought her couch,
With head-board high and olden,
Her prayer was praise, her pillow down,
And all her dreams were golden.

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From Fraser's Magazine.

separate people. The Scotch have Norse

SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS: A PRELEC-bone and Celtic blood. It is the Norse

TION.

BY A SCOTO-CELT.

bone which gives them their persistency: it is the Celtic blood which gives them their

A NATIVE of the county in which Burns impulsiveness. was born, and of a town in that county at which a valiant battle for Scottish independence was fought six hundred years ago, I trust I am not presumptuous in venturing to utter a few words respecting Scotland and the Scottish people.

It would be absurd in a popular discourse to attempt anything elaborate or exhaustive, or to do more than glance suggestively at certain salient points and distinctive features.

Till the Reformation caught them by the feet and laid hold of their throat, and placed them in salutary chains, the Scotch were a nation of rovers and reivers, hating the Englishman much, but loving his cattle more, and fighting with each other because they were very fond of fighting. There was in them a rugged strength. But who could, in its centuries of barbarism, ferocity, and violence, have foretold the coming of a time when Scotland would be eminently prosperous and peaceful, and would gain and spread, long before rich and mighty England, some of the divinest blessings of civilization ?

Much is said in these days about races and nationalities. But where is a pure race to be found? And where is the nation that can be saved from enslavement or annihilation by external help? We hear As, however, there has been said to be a continually of that fabulous animal, the soul of goodness in things evil, we may Anglo-Saxon, though England has been likewise sometimes discover a soul of evil four times conquered, and though the Eng- in things good. The state of Scotland lish, like their great forerunners, the Ro- before the Reformation offers, from its wild mans, are compounded of the most hetero- lawlessness, little more than a poetical ingeneous elements. How nations and even terest, the stirring episodes excepted, that noble nations perish, we see in the case of marked the long and memorable contest the Polish nation. Deplore as we may the with England. But there was an opulence, sufferings of the Poles - plead and vindicate and perchance even a depth, in Scottish as we may their cause, we yet must con-existence which through the Reformation fess, with all sorrow, that the folly, the turbulence, the recklessness of the Poles gave a colour of justice and of wisdom to the most execrable crime in history-the dismemberment of Poland. For order as instinct and necessity goes before freedom as instinct and necessity: and while alas! that it should be so- freedom must often be sacrificed to order, order must never be sacrificed to freedom. Alone of modern communities the English community has been able to harmonize freedom and order; and herein how happy should England count herself! Let us hope that this sublime harmony may never cease, and that England's Conservatives may always be the best Reformers, and her Reformers the best Conservatives.

In regard to race and a nationality, it is well both for themselves and England that the Scotch are, no less than the English, a mixed breed, and that they were, till the beginning of the seventeenth century, a

was lost. The link that bound Scotland to the past was too suddenly snapped. There was a vast and awful chasm; and scanty and slender were the relations of the new Scotland to the old. What had been the most lawless of countries, became distinguished by its obedience to a self-imposed law, a law in some measure spiritual, but far more ecclesiastical-though, spite of loyalty to this self-imposed law, there were outbursts of anarchy down to the second Jacobite rebellion, when anarchy and romance vanished together.

For three hundred years Scottish development has in a large measure been fashioned by the presbyterian government of its churches. I mention this simply as an historical fact; for with controverted topics, either theological or political, be sure that I do not intend to meddle. No historical student, however, can fail to see that through causes stretching back to the birth of Protestantism, complexity- often a most

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