1806.] 



Writers of all Ages and Countries, 



445 



portion of its hiftory, and are highly 

 deicriptive of the miferies of a. civil 

 •war. 



Rapin-Thoyras, as an hiftorian, 

 evinces very profound penetration, with- 

 out one grain of tafte. 



David Hume is a better critic, and 

 his ftyie more flowing. Ilis work is di- 

 vided into periods dcfcriptive of the dif- 

 ferent reigns. 



Smoi LETT, a party writer, knew no- 

 thing of luihtary aifairs ; but having been 

 at fea, his deicriptions of naval attiuus 

 are free from grofs blunders. 



Belsham, wlio h;is written with fpirit 

 and accuracy the lliitory of England from 

 the Revolution till our own times, has few 

 national partialities. Ilis predilc(!-tion for 

 freedom will always render him popular 

 in England, notwithftanding he has with 

 fo much honelly arraigned the military 

 councils of his government. 



BucHAXAN, the Scotch hiftorian, pof- 

 leifes a fuperior genius, founded on the 

 ancient fchool. lie is faid to have vio- 

 lated truth in ftjveral iiiftances. 



Robertson lias the art of penetrating 

 objefts and of connecting facts with fo 

 much (kill, that the imagination, in con- 

 templating the adtion, parleys with the 

 a6tor. In his Introduftion to the Hiftory 

 of Charles V. this talent is eminently 

 confpicuous. In his narratives he is 

 exact; in his criticifms, jull; and in his 

 ftyle, appropriate. He is, at once, a 

 found philolijpher and an impartial critic; 

 but as a painter, he is certainly defi- 

 cient. 



In his Hiftory of America he gives an 

 account of the navination of the ancients, 

 its progrefs, and of the difcnveries made 

 by Columbus, concluding w ith thi^ phy- 

 iical and moral character of the Ne^v 

 World. Ilis fatts are deduced from Spa- 

 nhli authorities. 



GiEBON has written the Hiftory of the 

 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 

 in which he follows the footlteps of Hume 

 and Robcrtfon. The belt hiltorians, at 

 lead for the lad century, have beeii Eng- 

 lilh. 



•Soj.iMAN" was the firft Turkifti fultan 

 who cftabliihed a regular military code in 

 l»is empire ; and fhis^vurk is fo venerated 

 by the Turks, that they have claiVcd it 

 will) the Aicfyitm. \Ve huxe no other 

 . account of their lai'Mics tlian thofe to be 

 found in forei'jn aulhois. 

 ■, Mauszich h.is compiled a Statement 

 tif the Ottoman forcc^, wiih a corrett de- 

 scription of 'iurkii'h difeipline ; but ih.eir 

 |k1U iuunu;uvrei urc uot ikiticvd. His 



remarks on the courfe of the Danube 

 form a fine ground-work for future mi- 

 litary operations on that river; and liis 

 Iketches of the ruins of a Roman camp, 

 taken on the fpot, enhance conUderably. 

 tbe value of his puijlication : his pictm'e, 

 however, u too confined. 



C'ANTUriR improves on Marfigli ; and 

 defcribes the manner of receiving a 

 Turkilh alfault, which, in itfelf, proves 

 his ignorance of their tactics. By allow- 

 ing them time to arrange their attack, 

 to ad\'ance their cannon, and to form 

 their lines, which they do of extraordi- 

 nary depth, he removes the polhbility of 

 withftanding the irapetuofity of their on- 

 fet. Caiitimir, like all other hiftorians, 

 when fpefiking of a remote nation, does 

 fo at random : bis Turkifli and RiilliaB 

 tactics are, therefore, founded m error. 



It has been remarked, by Major Ge- 

 neral Warner\% that the Turkilh trenches 

 are almolt impenetrable ; and that the 

 befieging party cannot guard too vigi- 

 lantly againft the efTects of their frequent 

 forties, in which fervice they iinprefs all 

 who are capable of bearing arms. He 

 advifes, that an enemy ihould never at- 

 tack them by a regular fiege ; but harrafs 

 them in all directions, wherever they 

 mav be found ; to attack with horfe and 

 foot indircri'.uinately, but in good order, 

 and by rapid movements ; and, above 

 all, to beware of leaving the le^aft open- 

 ing in his hues, as the natural bravery 

 of the Turks, added to their ikili in. 

 wielding the fabre, often gives them the 

 victory when engaged hand to hand. 



By obferving thei'o cautions. General 

 Warnerv alferts conrifiently, that an aiiny 

 of 3i),OU0 men is equal to route an army 

 of 'lurks, be their number whatever it 

 may, and to force their march into Con- 

 ftantinoplc. Thefe plans were adopted, 

 and with fuccefs, by Count de Roman- 

 zovv'. Speaking of the Ruffians, he fays, 

 they excel all other nations in the fluency 

 and coiTft-tnefs with which they talk 

 French ; that their Generals dillinguiih 

 themielves on evciy occafioii ; that 

 patriot ifm, or rather religious frenzy, 

 the Ikill, and the temperance, habitual 

 amonsf their troops, give the Rulfians a 

 decided fuperiority. He fubjoins the 

 detail of their military force, and their 

 prosi'cfs in arms, interfperfed \vith por- 

 traits of their fuhjugated allies. 



Warnerv hasalfo written a irealife on 

 cnvah'v, in which, according to cuftom, 

 lie ri.iiciiles the writingic of all who dilfer 

 in O'))inion from him. lie contends that 

 ill* wnvalry lliould uf* ng wth« arm* but 



the 



