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In the vat and almoft unbounded field 
of hiftory, different hiitorians are guided 
in their fele€tions by thcir refpeétive turns 
of thinking ; the objeéts and views mokt 
familiar to their imeginations, and what, 
‘to them, appears moft interefting and im- 
portant. Under the reign of philology, 
a veneration for antiquity, and that of re- 
‘ligious enthufiafm, hiftorians feem to ad- 
drefs their narrative to fchool-boys and 
zealots, and arrange every thing around 
the heathen heroes, gods, and philofophers, 
or the moft prominent charaéters and events 
in the hiftory of the Jews. In the period 
when Sir Walter Raleigh wrote, the dawn 
of experimental philofophy, a refpect for 
the ancient writers, facred and profane, 
began to be mixed with obfervations on 
aciual {cenes, phyfical and moral. Ra- 
leigh, who covid not be ‘* perfuaded, to 
ufe his own words, that God had fhut up 
all licht of learning within the lanthotn of 
_ ,Ariftotle’s brains,’ took a manly view of 
men and things with his own eyes, and in 
his range through the three -firft mo- 
narchtes, the Affyrian, the Perfian, and 
the Macedonian, was very much directed, 
in his fele&tion of matters of faét, by what 
he confidered as moft impcrtant in his 
own times and the world in which he 
lived ; and drew parallels with patt and 
prefent conjunétures, characters, actions 
and refults. He was a cavalier, a courtier, 
a fcholar, a philofopher, a ftatefman, and, 
above ali, a foldier equally experienced 
and renowned in war by land and fea. 
Let us lifien to the obfervations of this 
illuftricus perfon, on the fubjeét of tnva- 
SIONS, made not long after the threats of 
the Spanifh Armada, and apparently ad- 
drefled to his countrymen of the prefeat 
day. His doétrine on that fubjeé&t is 
founded ona very wide and comprehen- 
five indu&tion, according to the moft le- 
gitimate laws ofinveltigation. ‘Inali in- 
vafions, ‘* lays he,’” where the nations in- 
vaded have once been beaten upon a great 
advantage of the place, as in defence of 
rivers, firaits, and mountains, they will 
foon have periuaded themielves that fuch 
an enemy upon equal terms and even 
ground can hardly be refifted. Few 
regions cf any great circuit are fo well 
‘fenced that armies of fuch force as may 
be fufficient to conquer them can be de- 
barred ail entrance by the naturai difficul- 
ty of the ways; one paffage or other is 
commonly left unguarded. Ifall be de- 
tended, then muft the forces of the coun- 
try be diftradicd. And yet likely fome 
one place fhall be found that is defended 
very weakly. How often have the Alps 
~ Reply to Common Senfe on Invafion. 
[ Nov. Ty 
given way to armies breakinz into Italy ’ 
“¢ Yea, where fhall we find that they kept 
out an invader? They affiG& with all dif- 
ficulties thote that travail over them, but 
they give no fecurity to thofe that lie 
behind them, being of too large 
extent. He that hath men enow to de- 
fend all the length of his own frontier, 
lath alfo enow to beat his enemy ; and 
may, therefore, doe better to let him come 
over to his lofs, than by ftriving in vain 
to hinder the paffage, as a matter tendin 
to his own difadvantage, fill the heads of 
his foldiers with an opinion that they are 
in ill cafe, having their means of fafecuard 
taken from them by fuch as are too good 
for them.”—The truth of this maxim in 
war he proves by a copious induétion 
from hiftory—Of which indu&tion we here 
extract only a part. 
«© Alexander, having croffed the Helle- 
fpont and beaten the Perfians at the Gra- 
nicus, advanced, by a forced march, to- 
ward Cilicia, with a view of occupying 
the ftraits there before the arrival of 
Darius. 
‘* The governor of Cilicia, hearing 
of Alexander’s coming on, left fome com- - 
panies to keep the ftraits, which were in- 
deed very defencible, and withall, as 
‘Curtius noteth, he began overlate to 
prife and put in execution the councell of 
Memnon; who in the beginning of the 
war advifed ‘him to wafte all the provi- 
fions for men and horfe, that could not be 
lodged in ftrong places, and always to 
give ground to the invader, till he found 
fome fuch notable advantage as might af- 
furedly promife him the obtaining the vic- 
tory. For the fury of an invading army: 
is bet broken by delayes, change of diet, 
and want; eating fometimes too little, 
and fcmetimes too much ; fometimes re- 
pofing themfelves in beds, and oftener on 
the cold ground. Thefe, and the like 
fudden alterations bring many difeafes 
upon all nations out of their own coun- 
tries. Therefore, if Darius had kept the 
Macedonians but a while from meat and 
flvep, and, refufing to give or take battle, 
had wearied them with his light-horfe, as 
the Parthians afterwards’ did the Romans, 
he might, perchance, have faved his own 
life, and his eftate. For it was one of the 
greateft incouragements given by Al!ex- 
ander to the Macedonians in the third and - 
laft fatatl battell, that they were to fight - 
with all the ftrength of Perfia at once, 
* Xerxes, when he invaded Greece, and 
fought abroad, in being beaten, loft only 
his men; bat, Darius, being invaded by 
the Grecks, and fighting at home, by 
I being 
