442 



Retrospsctive Viexo of Ilifforkal 



fDec. 1, 



to throw infallible lights upon the an- 

 cient iyftera of waitare. Aware that 

 fo aidiious an undertaking could not be 

 jicconipliflied without an infinity of la- 

 bour, in exploring the records of Greek 

 and Roman antiquity, tiicy left us ^alu- 

 able coninienturies wliich cleariy define 

 the iubject. Cafuubon has revii'ed Poiy- 

 bius, Athenaeus, Strabo, &c. &c., and 

 has removed the myltery which formerly 

 obfcured their works. Du Choul, who 

 ought to be diflinguiihed as the moll ce- 

 lebrated ;uitiquary of his day, has writ- 

 ten a very learned, as well as critical, 

 review on the Ilouian cxercifes, their 

 difcipline, aud canip-manceuvres. 



In thofe remote ages, when the untu- 

 tored conquerors of the Roman empire 

 fprcad the veil of ignorance around them, 

 every tiiiiig vegetated in confufion : they 

 compiled their hifiorie* with as little 

 metliod as they conducted tlieir wars : a 

 labyrinth of difordered materials heaped 

 into an unconueettd mafs, formed the 

 fummit of their eilbrts. 



The liAHANS, iu the 14th and 15lh 

 centuries, were the firll to attempt re- 

 gula-ily, and to reduce objecls to prac- 

 tical theory. Tiiey v\ere great advocates 

 for tile Emperor Leo's tatncs, vhich 

 have been finely tranllatcd by Philip 

 Fegafetta, and eiunched with exceilcut 

 notes. 



In ihe 16th century, Guichakdix 

 cllablillied a lafting rejmtation, as the 

 elegant hiftorian of wars of his native 

 country: his ftyle is charming, and his 

 impartiality, when not fpeaking of the 

 l-"rcnch, exeraplarily fevtre. 



Ma( HiAVEL, in his account of the 

 City of riorence, difplays more talent 

 as a politician thuu as a foldier. Not- 

 withilanding, he has written a military 

 treatifc, tending to enforce the nccc'lity 

 of combining ancient with modern tac- 

 tics. This work appears in dialogue be- 

 tween two celebrated chara(!;tcrs, Rucelli 

 and F;ibricio Colonne, both Italians. 

 Wiih the exception of the general prin- 

 ciples then adopted, this treatife lias 

 litlle meiit, and certainly contirms the 

 criticifms made by Folard. The name 

 of Mucbiavel, and the <:ratincation of 

 that curiuiity which leads us to draw com- 

 parative views of things, arc the only 

 merits of this vyork. In the epiibde we 

 perceive the touches of a great mafter, 

 as he delineates the caufcs which pro- 

 duce great men, and the eitects which, 

 pjflame or reprefs national ardour in the 

 purfuit of military glory. 



Pallus Jovius, Bilhop of Nocera, in 

 a very entertaining work, the fcenery of 

 which prel'ents itfelf fuccclTively iu Eu- 

 rope, Afia, and Airica, elucidates with 

 great perfpicuity the tactics of the 15tli 

 and 16th centuries. 



BuoNAMici has written feveral excel- 

 lent hiflories of different war.--, which 

 will hereafter occupy our attention. 



The unfortimatc Ciaxini explains t<i 

 us, in his Hiftory of Naples, the various 

 military movements of that kingdom. 



The Jcfuit IMariaxa was well quali- 

 fied to have given poflerity a view of the 

 internal lltuation of Spain, durhig the 

 fretjuent revolutions it fullered, had he 

 not marred his narrative with tedious 

 digreffions on difputes among the cloif- 

 ters, and the intrigues of the court. 



During the laft century, the JNIarquis 

 DE Santa Cruz piibliihed a memoir, 

 containing regulations on the various 

 branches which compofed the art of war, 

 which he entitled '* Reflexions on Mili- 

 tary Tactics," aad fupports his opinions 

 by the authority of renowned leaders. 

 This work appears to be the refult of 

 long fervice and experience, and of a 

 remarkable memory. There arc too many 

 politital reflexions interfporfed through- 

 out; but the author takes every occa- 

 fion to ihcw his attachment to difcipline. 

 The engineer and artillery departments 

 arc too lightly palled over. It is fiugu-r 

 lar thaS the Spaniards, always a warlike 

 nation, iiiould have written fo little on 

 the art of war. 



The English, although perpetually 

 involving themfcives in continental wars, 

 have no military characterillie to diltin- 

 guifli them. Their military memoirs con- 

 tain no matter either intcrefting or in- 

 ilruCtivo to the land fervice ; if we ex- 

 cept thofe bloody wars which, for three 

 centuries, were the fatal confequences 

 of the impolitic divorce of Eleanor of 

 Aquiuune by Louis Vlf. Prcvioully, in- 

 deed, war was without fcicnce : but iu. 

 the reigns of Louis XIV. aud XV. the Eng- 

 hlh armies diuiuguilhed themfelves from 

 among their allies in their battles with 

 the French; their particular exploits, how- 

 ever, are confounded with the general 

 accounts of the war, as given m the Ilif- 

 t.'iry of Europe. 



Lord Crawford wrote a very inie- 

 refHng Memoir of the battle of Fontenoy, 

 clfential to the hif'torv of that war. The 

 famous dilfcntious between the houfcs of 

 York aud Lancaftcr, which lb long de-5 

 luj^ed Eu^laud In bioodj occupy a lai-ge 

 portion 



