since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought nor accepted, nor attempted to exercise, the functions of any office whatever under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God;" which said oath, so taken and signed, shall be preserved among the files of the Court, House of Congress, or Department to which the said office may appertain. And any person who shall falsely take the said oath shall be guilty of perjury, and on conviction, in addition to the penalties now prescribed for that offence, shall be deprived of his office, and rendered incapable forever after of holding any office or place under the United States.

CHAPTER

-ACT OF MARCH 3, 1863.-To promote the efficiency of the Corps of Engineers, and of the Ordnance Department, and for other purposes.

That the Corps of Topographical Engineers, as a distinct branch of the army, is hereby abolished, and from

and after the passage of this Act is merged into the Corps of Engineers, which shall have the following organization, viz: one Chief Engineer, with the rank, pay, and emoluments of a brigadier-general; four colonels; ten lieutenant-colonels; twenty majors; thirty captains; thirty first lieutenants, and ten second lieutenants.

SEC. 2. That the general officer provided by the first section of this Act, shall be selected from the Corps of Engineers as therein established; and that officers of all lower grades shall take rank according to their respective dates of commission in the existing Corps of Engineers, or Corps of Topographical Engineers.

SEC. 3. That no officer of the Corps of Engineers below the rank of a field officer shall hereafter be promoted to a higher grade before having passed a satisfactory examination before a board of three engineers senior to him in rank; and should the officer fail at said examination, shall be suspended from promotion from (for) one year, when he shall be re-examined, and upon a second failure shall be dropped by the President from the army.

SEC. 12. That the increase of rank of officers, and in the number of officers provided for in this Act, shall continue only during the existence of the present rebellion; and thereafter the several officers promoted under this Act shall have the respective rank they would have had if this Act had not passed, and the number shall be reduced by the President to the number authorized by law prior to the passage of this Act.

MILITARY EDUCATION IN EUROPE.

THE general nature and extent of the military education most suitable to the officers of our Army, arising from the peculiar condition of our country and its military system, have been already indicated. With this in view, it may be well to examine the systems of military education in Europe, and to compare them with our own. The following account of the military schools of Europe is taken almost wholly from the report of the British Commissioners appointed to consider the best mode of reorganizing the English system of training officers for the scientific corps:

"Among the European systems of military education, that of France is pre-eminent. The stimulating principle of competition extends throughout the whole system; it exists in the appointment of the student, in his progress through the preliminary schools, in his transfer to the higher schools, in his promotion to the army, and in his advancement in his subsequent career.

"The French army is officered partly from the mili tary schools, and partly by promotion from the ranks. The proportions established by law, are one-third of the commissions from the military schools, one-third from the

ranks of the army, and the remaining third at the discretion of the Emperor.

"In practice, two-thirds of the officers of engineers and artillery are taken from the Polytechnic School, and one-third from the ranks. All the officers of the Staff Corps are taken from the School of the Staff. One-third of the officers of infantry and cavalry are taken from St. Cyr, and two-thirds are promoted from the ranks. Promotion in the army is partly by seniority and partly by selection, to the rank of major. Above the rank of major promotion is entirely by selection.

"Admission to the military schools of France can only be gained through a public competitive examination by those who have received the degree of Bachelor of Science from the Lycées, or public schools, and from the orphan school of La Flèche.

"A powerful influence has thus been exercised upon the character of education in France. The importance of certain studies has been gradually reduced; while those of a scientific character, entering more directly into the pursuits of life, have been constantly elevated.

"The two great elementary military schools are the School of St. Cyr and the Polytechnic School. These, as well as the other military schools, are under the charge of the Minister of War, with whom the authorities of the schools are in direct communication. Commissions in the infantry, cavalry, and marines, can only be obtained by service in the ranks of the army, or by passing successfully through the School of St. Cyr, admittance to which is gained by the competitive examination already referred to.

"Entire or partial support is given by the government

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to those presenting evidence of the necessity of such aid, while those who are able, pay for their education. Students from the orphan school of La Flèche, where the sons of officers wounded or killed in the service. receive a gratuitous education, are maintained in the same manner."

THE SPECIAL MILITARY SCHOOL OF ST. CYR.

The School of St. Cyr was established in 1803. "The course of study lasts two years; the usual number of cadets in time of peace is five, or, at the utmost, six hundred; the admission is by competitive examination, open to all youths, French by birth or by naturalization, who, on the 1st of January preceding their candidature, were not less than sixteen and not more than twenty years old. To this examination are also admitted soldiers in the ranks between twenty and twenty-five years of age, who, at the date of its commencement, have been actually in service in their regiments for two years.

"A board of examiners passes through France once every year, and examines all who present themselves having the prescribed qualifications. All the candidates must have taken the usual degree which terminates the task at the Lycées.

"A list of such candidates as are found eligible for admission to St. Cyr is submitted to the Minister of War.

"Those who succeed in the examination and are admitted, take an engagement to serve seven years, either