EDWARD III. AS THE PATRON OF THE NATIONAL SERVICE LEAGUE.
Ito TIIR EDITOR OR TIM ..EPRCTATOR."3 Sin,—One of the arguments most commonly brought forward by the opponents of compulsory military training is that such an idea is contrary to all the traditions of the English race, and that the people would never submit to it. As a matter of fact, compulsion, of one sort or another, is behind us from the cradle to the grave.- Our parents are compelled to register our birth, to send us to school, and to notify our diseases. When we become men, we are compelled to pay rates and taxes, and to submit to such legislation as the Insurance Act. Why, if service of the purse is thus compulsory, should per sonal service be of necessity voluntary ? It is sometimes given as a reason that "it always has been so," but this argu- ment can be refuted by appeal to historical fact. Five and a half centuries ago, on :Tune 1st, 1363, only seven years after the victory of Poictiers, Edward III. issued the following in- junction to the Sheriffs of the different counties (the original is in Latin) :— "The King to the Sheriff of (Kent, &c.), greeting.
Whereas the people of our realm, not only the nobles but the commonalty, were used in time past to practise in their games the art of shooting with the bow, whereby it is evident that, with the help of God, no small advantage did accrue to the honour of our whole kingdom, and to us in our warlike enterprises: But now, the said art being totally neglected, the people amuse themselves with the throwing of missiles of stone, wood, or iron; and some with games of ball struck with the hands, feet, or staves ; with dog-baiting and cook-fighting; some with games even less profitable, or wholly degrading : By which the said realm seems likely to become (which God forbid!) in a short time wholly destitute of archers :
WE, wishing to provide a remedy for this state of affairs, straitly enjoin upon you to make public proclamation, in such places in your county as you may think fit, that everyone of sound body in the said county Omit on holidays, when he is not at work, make use in his games of the bow and arrow, whether it be shaft or bolt, and shall learn and practise himself in archery; Forbidding on Our part to all and every one, under pain of imprisonment, to apply themselves in any way to the games above described, of throwing missiles of stone, wood, or iron; of playing with balls struck by hand, feet, or staves ; of dog-baiting and cock-fighting ; or other games of this nature, which are of no worth ; and ordering them to discontinue the use of such games.
Witness the King at Westminster, the first day of June.
By the King."
Even the National Service League does not go so far as this ! But some of us may almost wish that it were in the power of King George to repeat the proclamation of his great predecessor.—I am, Sir, do., [Our correspondent should, in this connexion, refer to the descriptions of the duties of the Sheriff as laid down in Blackstone and other text-books. In the case of invasion it is the duty of the Sheriff (as was pointed out by one of the speakers on the occasion of the recent National Service deputation to the Prime Minister) to call out, under a statute of Henry V., all males over fifteen years of age to assist him in repelling the King's enemies. Thus the State imposes the duty of universal military service in case of war in these islands. Unfortunately, however, it makes no attempt to train men beforehand for carrying out this serious duty. All, then, that the National Service League asks is that men should be trained to carry out a duty already part of the law of the land.—En. Specktfor.1
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