PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

A NEW Edition of a Guide to the Civil Service has been for some time wanted, as the late changes have put all the existing books quite out of date. I have, therefore, attempted again to offer to intending Candidates what I hope may be found a tolerably complete view of the facts as they stand, and which they ought to know. There is so much in the present edition which is new, that I do not apologize for putting it forward, although the schemes for several offices are not yet settled. The principle upon which they will be settled, however, if the present plan holds, is readily seen. I have abridged some of the details as to labourers and others of that class, and also as to certain professional officers who scarcely come within the scope of this book. The subject of Army examinations is now introduced, together with particulars of some of the Indian Services.

INTRODUCTION.

OPEN Competition for the Home Civil Service is at length thoroughly established. It is no longer the rare exception, but the rule. The Order in Council of 4th June, 1870, by which this is done, is the natural development of the regulations passed in 1855. This Order is a measure of first-rate importance. Its chief praise, perhaps, is that it abolishes a mass of petty corruption begun in the course of electioneering, and continued during a member's Parliamentary existence. The direct effect of partly clearing political life of place-hunting is excellent, and its indirect effect is not less so, as it tends to influence the public mind, and sets an example to boards, trustees, and individuals who have places to give away. Detur digniori is to be our motto. Again, as a stimulus to education, and as it affects the quality of our administration, it is of national concern. The State can if it chooses command the best service, and the offices of the Government should be models of administration. To many of our present civil officers, I fear the new régime will bring loss and disappointment. Let us hope, then, that the good of the community will be large and general. Perhaps a generous or even a just mind might regard that as a reason for giving some compensation to those who suffer for their good.

The career of a civilian has largely ceased to furnish point to the stories which have been told of idleness and incapacity. But in the future no doubt the pace will be increased. The horse that cannot run with the team must be changed. Considered as a profession, it would seem that the moral advantages are likely to be greater and the pecuniary less in the future than in the past. The restriction of nomination being removed, it cannot be doubted that higher qualities of mind and body will be required to win. There will be more energy in the association of stronger men, more refinement in the association of cultivated men. There will be more independence and self-reliance when each one feels that he himself has won his own position and hopes to rise by the just

discrimination of his chiefs rather than by the influence of friends. On the other hand, much of the ordinary official work has been overpaid, much of it has been done twice over or in a cumbrous manner, and consequently an excessive number of clerks has been employed.

High pay for copying and other easy work will cease, and many of the Civil Servants will be disappointed when they cannot obtain for their sons places of the same rank as their own. The Service has been of many parts, without coherence or relation; now it is to be one. Reorganization of a thorough character has been begun, and will probably proceed till the whole is brought into form. It will then be an engine, let us hope, adapted to its purpose, and capable of working without that violent destruction of individual interest which now seems to be an integral part of its action.

The principle is this. Copying and simple entries to be executed by "Temporary Writers," and the ordinary routine work by "Clerks" and "Supplementary" Clerks. General superintendence and the work requiring mental powers and cultivation of a high order to be performed by gentlemen, for whom no different title than "Clerk" has yet been found, but for whom the titles of Civilian and Civil Officer, with others, have been suggested.

Let us now endeavour to estimate the position of each of these three classes as a profession. Beginning with the highest class, the first point to remark is the smallness of the probable number; perhaps one or two dozen vacancies a year. The pay of this class has been expected to commence at 250l. a year, with an ultimate prospect for those who remain long enough in the Service of an income of something like 12007. Add the prospect of superannuation and the security and general estimation of the position, and the advantages may fairly be compared with the prospects of successful men in the higher professions, particularly if we take into account their annual outlay during the early years of their professional life before they are fairly launched on the tide of success. If the smallness of the outlet offered did not make the comparison nearly useless, we might suggest, however, that the noble quality of freedom to pursue his own bent which attends the follower of art, of law, or medicine, and belongs to the author or the theologian, exists not for the civilian. But if a hesitating student of these professions incline to the Civil Service, at least he can try his chance, and will know his fate at an age when he may well try another road, nor will his studies have led him far astray. As the brightest talents may not be of the right kind for the par