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ends in the Old Bailey? We must consider the future of these children. It may be urged, that there is no particular harm in running along by the side of a carriage, and emulating, by means of the arms and legs, the example of the wheel, on which the vehicle rolls; but what we have to consider is, what this is to end in. There comes a time when this branch of the begging profession must be abandoned, and then the little urchin

we have laughed at grows up and becomes- -what? A vagabond. Prevention is better than cure, and, though we can easily train the young plant when it first shows its green shoots above ground, it is not easy to do anything with the fullgrown tree, unless to cut it down. We should have, at any rate, fewer grownup beggars about our streets, if we thus arrested the career of the young beginners at its earliest commencement.

OUR DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICES.

SINCE the introduction of the examination system into the Civil Service, public attention has been directed to the different branches of the Home Service, but the working of the colonial and foreign departments has remained as much unknown as ever. And yet a knowledge of the mode of management of our colonial and foreign relations is one which would not only be useful in the way of general information, but would materially assist in forming an accurate opinion on many of the questions of the day. The recent Parliamentary inquiries into the diplomatic and consular services, as well as the events of the day, suggest that this would be a favourable time for giving some account of their present state, and of the changes which appear to be in contemplation, as well as to offer some observations respecting these professions. The general impression on the subject has hitherto been, that the members of these bodies have resided at agreeable places abroad, have enjoyed handsome salaries, and have had light duties to perform; but, while the result of the inquiries referred to has been to point out more clearly what the advantages of their professions actually are, they have unfolded counterbalancing circumstances which had previously been overlooked.

The Foreign Office has kept itself out of any very prominent public notice, in consequence of its official business being so conducted as to avoid the palpable dis

Admiralty have of late years fallen; and this has arisen from its staff being sufficient for the work to be done, from the ability of the successive Foreign Secretaries, and from the circumstance, that having had, for many years, a good reputation as a well-conducted governmentoffice, an efficient class of men have obtained appointments in it. Much also is to be attributed to Lord Palmerston's long tenure of the post of Foreign Secretary. His extreme attention to matters of detail, on the proper discharge of which the character of any public office mainly depends, has had a most beneficial effect in forming sound business habits among the senior clerks.

The staff of the Foreign Office consists of two under-secretaries, one assistant under-secretary, forty-one clerks on the establishment, divided into five classes, and about twenty supplementary clerks attached to various departments. There are also translators of European and Oriental languages, and the employés necessary for printing confidential papers, binding old despatches, and for managing a branch of one of the foreign lines of telegraph.

The office is divided into eleven divisions or departments, which are under the supervision of one or other of the under-secretaries of these, six are political, and the others transact the treaty, slave trade, consular, finance, and passport, and the librarian's on general reference business. The office

work of the day is done; differing in this respect from other public offices, which have fixed and regular hours of attendance. The amount of work to be done is said to vary considerably, sometimes being very slight, and at other times overwhelming. The business is transacted in the following manner :— There are four clerks resident in the office, who in turn attend to the receipt of despatches out of office hours, and forward them to the under-secretaries, by whom they are sent on to the Secretary of State. He returns them to the under-secretary, giving on each such directions as they appear to require, or asking for further information, and the under-secretary sends them out to the proper department to be registered and acted upon. Letters which arrive in office hours go to the under-secretary direct, and follow the same course. Drafts of answers are written by the senior clerk of the department to which they belong, and are submitted by him to the superintending under-secretary, who, in matters of importance, consults the Secretary of State. All drafts of political despatches are sent for approval to the Prime Minister and to the Queen, before the despatch is sent off. Despatches received are also sent to the Prime Minister and the Queen, and are afterwards circulated among the Cabinet Ministers. Business is carried on with great rapidity, and letters are often received and disposed of on the same day.

The salaries at the Foreign Office are as follows:-The permanent under-secretary receives 2,000l. a year; the parliamentary and the assistant under-secretary receive 1,5007. each. The chief clerk, who superintends the finance and passport business, has a salary of 1,000l., increasing at 50l. to 1,250l. The salaries of the five classes of the ordinary clerks range

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6 third-class

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4. In making a précis or abstract of papers.

In cases of equality, a knowledge of German is to decide to whom the preference is to be given. The limit of age is between eighteen and twentyfour.

Such is a brief sketch of the organization of the Foreign Office, and of the system of transacting business adopted there. This system has certainly succeeded in preventing the confusion from arising which has elsewhere taken place; while the amount of salary, and the prospect of regular promotion, combined with the social position which its service is supposed to give, have obtained for the office a higher character than that of most other public establish

ments.

The

The diplomatic corps is divided into the heads of missions and their subordinates. The former consists of ambassadors, envoys, ministers and chargés des affaires. The subordinate employés are secretaries of embassy and legation, and paid and unpaid attachés. career is in theory a regular one, and it is supposed that a man begins as unpaid attaché, and works his way up to the top of the profession; but this is by no means the case in practice, for there are numerous instances of "interlopers," possessing strong political influence, having been brought in and put over the heads of those who have

ends in the Old Bailey? We must consider the future of these children. It may be urged, that there is no particular harm in running along by the side of a carriage, and emulating, by means of the arms and legs, the example of the wheel, on which the vehicle rolls; but what we have to consider is, what this is to end in. There comes a time when this branch of the begging profession must be abandoned, and then the little urchin

we have laughed at grows up and becomes-what? A vagabond. Prevention is better than cure, and, though we can easily train the young plant when it first shows its green shoots above ground, it is not easy to do anything with the fullgrown tree, unless to cut it down. We should have, at any rate, fewer grownup beggars about our streets, if we thus arrested the career of the young beginners at its earliest commencement.

OUR DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICES.

SINCE the introduction of the examination system into the Civil Service, public attention has been directed to the different branches of the Home Service, but the working of the colonial and foreign departments has remained as much unknown as ever. And yet a knowledge of the mode of management of our colonial and foreign relations is one which would not only be useful in the way of general information, but would materially assist in forming an accurate opinion on many of the questions of the day. The recent Parliamentary inquiries into the diplomatic and consular services, as well as the events of the day, suggest that this would be a favourable time for giving some account of their present state, and of the changes which appear to be in contemplation, as well as to offer some observations respecting these professions. The general impression on the subject has hitherto been, that the members of these bodies have resided at agreeable places abroad, have enjoyed handsome salaries, and have had light duties to perform; but, while the result of the inquiries referred to has been to point out more clearly what the advantages of their professions actually are, they have unfolded counterbalancing circumstances which had previously been overlooked.

The Foreign Office has kept itself out of any very prominent public notice, in consequence of its official business being so conducted as to avoid the palpable dis

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Admiralty have of late years fallen; and this has arisen from its staff being sufficient for the work to be done, from the ability of the successive Foreign Secretaries, and from the circumstance, that having had, for many years, a good reputation as a well-conducted governmentoffice, an efficient class of men have obtained appointments in it. Much also is to be attributed to Lord Palmerston's long tenure of the post of Foreign Secretary. His extreme attention to matters of detail, on the proper discharge of which the character of any public office mainly depends, has had a most beneficial effect in forming sound business habits among the senior clerks.

The staff of the Foreign Office consists of two under-secretaries, one assistant under-secretary, forty-one clerks on the establishment, divided into five classes, and about twenty supplementary clerks attached to various departments. There are also translators of European and Oriental languages, and the employés necessary for printing confidential papers, binding old despatches, and for managing a branch of one of the foreign lines of telegraph.

The office is divided into eleven divisions or departments, which are under the supervision of one or other of the under-secretaries of these, six are political, and the others transact the treaty, slave trade, consular, finance, and passport, and the librarian's on general reference business. The office

work of the day is done; differing in this respect from other public offices, which have fixed and regular hours of attendance. The amount of work to be done is said to vary considerably, sometimes being very slight, and at other times overwhelming. The business is transacted in the following manner :There are four clerks resident in the office, who in turn attend to the receipt of despatches out of office hours, and forward them to the under-secretaries, by whom they are sent on to the Secretary of State. He returns them to the under-secretary, giving on each such directions as they appear to require, or asking for further information, and the under-secretary sends them out to the proper department to be registered and acted upon. Letters which arrive in office hours go to the under-secretary direct, and follow the same course. Drafts of answers are written by the senior clerk of the department to which they belong, and are submitted by him to the superintending under-secretary, who, in matters of importance, consults the Secretary of State. All drafts of political despatches are sent for approval to the Prime Minister and to the Queen, before the despatch is sent off. Despatches received are also sent to the Prime Minister and the Queen, and are afterwards circulated among the Cabinet Ministers. Business is carried on with great rapidity, and letters are often received and disposed of on the same day.

The salaries at the Foreign Office are as follows:-The permanent under-secretary receives 2,000l. a year; the parliamentary and the assistant under-secretary receive 1,5007. each. The chief clerk, who superintends the finance and passport business, has a salary of 1,000l., increasing at 50l. to 1,250l. The salaries of the five classes of the ordinary clerks range

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6 third-class

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[blocks in formation]

4. In making a précis or abstract of papers.

In cases of equality, a knowledge of German is to decide to whom the preference is to be given. The limit of age is between eighteen and twentyfour.

Such is a brief sketch of the organization of the Foreign Office, and of the system of transacting business adopted there. This system has certainly succeeded in preventing the confusion from arising which has elsewhere taken place; while the amount of salary, and the prospect of regular promotion, combined with the social position which its service is supposed to give, have obtained for the office a higher character than that of most other public establishments.

The

The diplomatic corps is divided into the heads of missions and their subordinates. The former consists of ambassadors, envoys, ministers and chargés des affaires. The subordinate employés are secretaries of embassy and legation, and paid and unpaid attachés. career is in theory a regular one, and it is supposed that a man begins as unpaid attaché, and works his way up to the top of the profession; but this is by no means the case in practice, for there are numerous instances of "interlopers," possessing strong political influence, having been brought in and put over the heads of those who have

ends in the Old Bailey? We must consider the future of these children. It may be urged, that there is no particular harm in running along by the side of a carriage, and emulating, by means of the arms and legs, the example of the wheel, on which the vehicle rolls; but what we have to consider is, what this is to end in. There comes a time when this branch of the begging profession must be abandoned, and then the little urchin

we have laughed at grows up and becomes-what? A vagabond. Prevention is better than cure, and, though we can easily train the young plant when it first shows its green shoots above ground, it is not easy to do anything with the fullgrown tree, unless to cut it down. should have, at any rate, fewer grownup beggars about our streets, if we thus arrested the career of the young beginners at its earliest commencement.

We

OUR DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICES.

SINCE the introduction of the examination system into the Civil Service, public attention has been directed to the different branches of the Home Service, but the working of the colonial and foreign departments has remained as much unknown as ever. And yet a knowledge of the mode of management of our colonial and foreign relations is one which would not only be useful in the way of general information, but would materially assist in forming an accurate opinion on many of the questions of the day. The recent Parliamentary inquiries into the diplomatic and consular services, as well as the events of the day, suggest that this would be a favourable time for giving some account of their present state, and of the changes which appear to be in contemplation, as well as to offer some observations respecting these professions. The general impression on the subject has hitherto been, that the members of these bodies have resided at agreeable places abroad, have enjoyed handsome salaries, and have had light duties to perform; but, while the result of the inquiries referred to has been to point out more clearly what the advantages of their professions actually are, they have unfolded counterbalancing circumstances which had previously been overlooked.

The Foreign Office has kept itself out of any very prominent public notice, in consequence of its official business being so conducted as to avoid the palpable dis

Admiralty have of late years fallen; and this has arisen from its staff being sufficient for the work to be done, from the ability of the successive Foreign Secretaries, and from the circumstance, that having had, for many years, a good reputation as a well-conducted governmentoffice, an efficient class of men have obtained appointments in it. Much also is to be attributed to Lord Palmerston's long tenure of the post of Foreign Secretary. His extreme attention to matters of detail, on the proper discharge of which the character of any public office mainly depends, has had a most beneficial effect in forming sound business habits among the senior clerks.

The staff of the Foreign Office consists of two under-secretaries, one assistant under-secretary, forty-one clerks on the establishment, divided into five classes, and about twenty supplementary clerks attached to various departments. There are also translators of European and Oriental languages, and the employés necessary for printing confidential papers, binding old despatches, and for managing a branch of one of the foreign lines of telegraph.

The office is divided into eleven divisions or departments, which are under the supervision of one or other of the under-secretaries : of these, six are political, and the others transact the treaty, slave trade, consular, finance, and passport, and the librarian's on general reference business. The office

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