88 CARNOT. 



can undertake is, to show in what it consists, and even 

 to be understood I shall have to make a fresh appeal to 

 your indulgent attention. 



The most ancient fortifications, the earliest ramparts, 

 were simple walls, more or less thick, encircling towns, 

 and thus forming continuous inclosures pierced with a 

 small number of gates, for the entrance and exit of the 

 inhabitants. In order to render escalading them diffi- 

 cult, these ramparts were very high on the outer side 

 towards the country ; besides this, a ditch, capable of 

 being filled with water, generally divided them from it. 



The very ramparts themselves, even in their highest 

 portion, were of a certain breadth. It was there that 

 the population of the towns collected in cases of attack. 

 It was from thence that, partly hidden behind a low wall 

 now called a parapet, they threw a shower of missiles on 

 the assailants. The most timid even had the advantage 

 of not descrying the enemy but through narrow aper- 

 tures, that are still seen in modern fortifications under 

 the name of loopholes or meurtrieres. 



The besieger did not begin to be redoubtable but 

 from the moment when, having reached the foot of the 

 ramparts, he could, by means of tools, engines, or ma- 

 chines, sap their foundations. To act then freely and 

 vigorously against him was, for the besieged, an indis- 

 pensable condition of a good defence. Now, let us imag- 

 ine to ourselves a soldier placed on the summit of the 

 wall ; he will evidently not be able to perceive the foot 

 of it without leaning forward, without leaving nearly 

 his whole body exposed, without losing the advantages 

 offered him by the parapet, without the shelter of which 

 he could not have thrown his arrows but by exposing 

 himself to the well-aimed shots of the enemy below. 



