284 62 tthid sae in aeer ye >, Oct-26 
ON IMPROVEMENTS IN ARTILLERY. * - 
Si, Io the Editor of the Bee. 
For two. reasons, I thank you for inserting in your 
useful miscellany, page 73 of this volume, the in- 
scription which] sent you from Stirling. The first 
is, because it is am example of that simplicity, 
which, in my opinion, ought to be in all such in- 
scriptions. And the second is, because it, conveys 2 
most important truth to the lovers of mankind, and 
to the lovers of warfare. As I respect the author 
of it for these two reasons, I resolved to see him 
when I went to Glasgow, in order to hear his de- 
fence to my charge, which is in the following words 
in the same page: ‘* I am informed that the gentle- 
man who wrote the inscription has dedicated a great 
part of his time to the perfection of military engines 
of destruction. How he can reconcile his theory 
with his practice, pretend not to say.” When I 
urged this argument at some length, he said to me: 
‘* yours is a common opinion both with the vulgar 
and the learned; but it is very far from being well 
founded.” And he then not only read to me the fol- 
lowing pafsage from one of his efsays on war, but 
he allowed me to take a copy of it. 
‘¢ Those persons who have had the greatest know- 
ledge in military affairs have remarked, that victory 
is almost constantly obtained by producing unexpected 
danger. From which it follows, that besides the 
advantage of using a powerful gun, the using it in 
situations where it is not looked for, will contribute 
