THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
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plus leger que ceux de ce calibre.” 1 The gun failed, however, and the 
Chevalier appears to have been so chagrined at the unhappy result, as to 
come to the unwarrantable conclusion that it was impossible to improve 
either the fire or mobility of modern artillery. Certain it is that in his 
dreary “ Commentaries on Polybius,” he virtually proposed to abolish artillery 
altogether, and to supply its place by the ballista and catapulta of the 
ancients. 1 2 This proposal, made in open day to the whole military world, is 
1 Fig. 2 shows the Chevalier’s gun. 
2 Fig. 3 shows the Chevalier’s “ catapulte de campagne.” The catapult was his favourite 
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