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SPY, a perfon paid to watch the aftions, motions, &c. of 

 another, particularly as to what pafies in an army. 



The ufe of fpies is a kind of clandeftine praftice or deceit 

 in war. Spies are generally punifhed capitally, and imme- 

 diately when they are difcovered in a camp ; and, fays Vat- 

 tel, not unjuflly, there being fcarcely any other way to pre- 

 vent the mifchief they may do. For this realon, a man of 

 honour, who would not expofe himfelf to die by the hand 

 of a common executioner, ever declines ferving as a fpy ; he 

 counts it beneath him, as it can fcarcely be done without 

 fome kind of treachery. The fovereign, therefore, cannot 

 lawfully require fuch a fervice from his lubjefts, unlefs in 

 fome fingular cafe, and that of the laft importance. The 

 mercenaries are allured to it by great rewards. If thofe 

 whom a fovereign employs make a voluntary offer, or if 

 they be not the enemy's fubjefts, or have no connexion 

 with him, he may unqueltionably make ufe of their fervice, 

 without offence to juttice or honour ; but it may be aflied, 

 is it lawful, is it decent, to folicit the enemy's fubjefts to 

 aft as fpies, and betray him ? Let the following paragraph 

 ferve as a reply. 



If it be adced in general whether it be lawful to feduce 

 the enemy's men, to engage them to tranfgrefs their duty by 

 an infamous treachery ? Here we mull diltinguifh between 

 what is due to the enemy, notwithllanding the ftate of the 

 war, and what is required by the internal laws of confcience, 

 and the rules of probity. Now the enemy may be weakened 

 by all poiGble means, provided they do not affcft the com- 

 mon fafety of human fociety, as poifon and affaffination. 

 The feducing a fubjeft to turn fpy, that of a governor to 

 deliver up his place, does not itrike at the foundation of the 

 common fafety and welfare of fociety. Subjefts afting as 

 the enemy's fpies, are not a fatal and inevitable evil, they 

 may in fome mcafure be guarded againli ; and as to the fecu- 

 rity of fortreffes, it is the fovereign's concern to choofe pro- 

 per governors. Thus thefe means are not contrary to the 

 external law of nations, nor can the enemy complain of 

 them as odious proceedings. Accordingly, they are prac- 

 tifcd in all wars. Bat are they jult, and compatible with the 

 laws of a pure confcience ? Certainly not. And of this 

 the generals themfelves are fenfible, as they are never heard 

 to boalt of having praftifed them. Seducing a fubjeft to 

 betray his country, fiiborning a traitor to fet fire to a ma- 

 gazine, praftifing on the fidelity of a governor, inticing him, 

 perfuadmg him to deliver up a place, is prompting fuch 

 pcrfons to commit deteftable crimes. Is it honell to incite 

 our moil inveterate enemy to be guilty of a crime ? If 

 fuch prafticcs are at all excufable, it can be only in a very 

 ju(t war, and for faving our country, when threatened with 

 ruin by a lavvlcls conqueror. The guilt of a fubjeft or 

 general who betrays his prince in a caufe manifellly unjult, 

 does not appear fo very odious. He who himfdf tramples 

 upon jultice and probity, dcferves, in his turn, to feci the 

 effefts of perfidy and wickednefs. And if ever it is ex- 

 cufable to depart from the ftrift rules of probity, it is 

 againit fuch an enemy, and in fuch an extremity. Vattel's 

 JLaw of Nations, b. iii. ch. lo. 



Wicquefort lays, an ambalTador is an honourable fpy, 

 under the proteftion of the law of nations. 



SPyCKENS, in Geography, a town in the ifland of 

 Voorii ; 9 miles E. from tlie Brill. 



SPYRUS, the Jung of goats. This is ufually found in 

 fmall round maffcs, and is recommended by Hippocrates as 

 a fumigation in the difeafes of the womb. 



SQUACCO, in Ornithology, the name of a large bird of 

 the heron kmd. Its head and neck are variegated with 

 black, white, and yellow, and it has on the back part of its 



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head a creft of the fame colour. Its back is of a ferru- 

 ginous yellow, its breail and belly are white, as are alfo its 

 wings and tail, at leafl in great part, and its legs are green. 

 It is a bold and fierce bird. 



SQUAD, in Military Language, a diminutive of fqua- 

 dron ; ufed to denote any fmall number of men, horfe or 

 foot, that are collefted together for the purpofes of drill, 

 &c. See EscouADE. 



Hence, Xo /quad is to divide a troop or company into cer- 

 tain parts, \n order to drill the men feparately, or in fmall 

 bodies, or to put them under the direftion and care of 

 lome Heady corporal, or lance corporal. Each troop ought 

 to be divided into two fquadj, when under 40, and into three, 

 or even four, when above this number, with an equal pro- 

 portion of non-commiffioned officers in each : and when the 

 eldell is on duty, the charge of the Iquad falls on the next 

 in the fquad, and fo on. Ricruits fhould always be quar- 

 tered and fquadded with old foldiers, who are known to be 

 Heady and well behaved ; and thofe men that are at all ".m- 

 gular in their conduft, mult be feparated and diltributed ia 

 fquads which are compofed of good old foldiers. 



SciU.\D, ^luktuard, confills not only of recruits at drill, 

 but of formed foldiers, that are ordered to exercife with 

 them, in confequcnce of fome irregularity under arms. The 

 term has hkcwife been ufed, by way of ridicule or reproach, 

 to mark out thofe officers who are negligent of their 

 duty. 



SQUADRON, a body of horfe, whofe number of men is 

 not fixed, but is ufually from eighty to a hundred and 

 twenty men. 



The word ia formed from the \x.iX\2.n fquadrone ; of the 

 Latin J'quadro, ufed by corruption for quadro : in regard, 

 at firlt, the fquadrons were always fquaie, and called alio by 

 the Latins agmiua quadrata. 



The fquadroM ufually confiits of two troops, and each 

 troop of about forty men ; a greater number cannot be ad- 

 vantageoufly polled, nor have room to aft in narrow grounds, 

 woods, marlhcs, defiles, &c. 



The eldell troop takes the right of the fquadron, and 

 the fecond the left. 



Squadron of Ships, denotes either a detachment of fhips 

 employed on any particular expedition, or the third part of 

 a naval armament. 



The number of fhips in a fquadron is not fixed : a fmall 

 number of veffels, if they be in a body, and have the fame 

 commander, may make a fquadron. 



If there be a great number, they are ufually divided into 

 three fquadrons ; and if the fquadrons be numerous, each 

 fquadron is divided into three divifions, diftinguifhed by 

 their flags and colours. See Division and Fleet. 



SQUAIOTTA, in Ornithology, the name of a bird of 

 the heron kind. Its beak is yellow, but blackifli at the 

 extremity ; its legs are green ; its head is variegated with 

 grey and black ; and its back rcry elegantly with white and 

 red. It feems to have had its name from its note, which it 

 often repeats in flying. 



SQUAI^L, in Sen Language, a fuddcn and violent blaft 

 of wind, ufually occafioned by the interruption and rever- 

 beration of the wind from high mountains. Thcie arc fre- 

 quent in the Mediterranean, particularly in the Levant, 

 as produced by the repulfion and new direftion which the 

 wind meets with in its paflage between the various iflandc of 

 the Archipelago. Falconer. 



SQUALLEY, a note of faultinefs in the making of 

 cloth. 43 Eli/., cap. 10. Blount. Cowel. See Rewiy. 



SQUALLY, in Agriculture, a term provincially applied 

 to fuch crops of turnips, corn, rape, &c. as are broken or 



detached 



