than I have diminished it by the moderation of authority.' (P. lxxxi.)

Lastly, then, as I suppose it is now sufficiently proved, to seek or take the profit or wealth of the crown by mutations of the coin of the realm is an act of injustice and tyranny, not to be endured or continued in any kingdom which is not tyrannically governed. Great evils and inconveniences arise from these mutations, as has been said; but other evils must precede those which come after, since such frauds and robberies can only be committed by men already corrupt in thought and intent-men ready to abet all frauds and tyrannical perversities to which they may see the Prince bend and incline, as indeed we have ourselves recently witnessed. I say this, in fine, that whatever tends to the perdition of the kingdom is vile and injurious to the King, his heirs, and successors; and one of those things is to govern tyrannically and to take the substance of the lieges by mutations of money or otherwise. Therefore all such mutations and exactions are against the honour of the whole royal posterity, and highly injurious: which is herein proved.' (P. lxxxv.)

There is a freshness and vigour in the language and the sentiments of this old Prelate-a tone of freedom and a sense of justice which do him immortal honour; and when we read these things in the sturdy eloquence of the fourteenth century, we marvel at the centuries of arbitrary power and triumphant wrong, which have seemed, at times, to crush the love of justice and liberty out of the hearts of the French nation. Even now they may be reminded by these pages that Trado diuturnius' is not the motto of power violently assumed or arbitrarily used; and that the principles which ought to regulate the sound administration of finance cannot be transgressed in vain.

The treatise entitled 'Monetæ cudendæ ratio,' by Copernicus, which is also included in this volume, is not less remarkable than that of his French prototype. Indeed it is of a more practical character, for it enters with precision into the means to be taken to restore the debased currency of the province of Prussia to its true value. Copernicus was born in 1473, so that this essay may be fairly ascribed to the earlier years of the sixteenth century, and it establishes the claim of the Polish philosopher to be regarded as the precursor of Serra, Davanzati, and the other Italian economists, who are commonly described as the first correct authorities on the subject.*

Some account of their writings will be found in Dr. Travers Twiss' View of the Progress of Political Economy in Europe,' delivered before the University of Oxford in 1846 and 1847.

On two points especially Copernicus deserves the credit of pointing out the principles which have been applied in far more recent times. He advocates the suppression of those numerous local mints which had powerfully contributed to confuse and perplex the monetary systems of Europe in the Middle Ages; and he recommends the limitation of the right of striking money to one establishment under the control of the royal authority.

In the second place, he proceeds to show that to strike good money is not enough to regulate the currency, unless the bad money be absolutely withdrawn from circulation. Melius semper erit veterem monetam in reparatione recentis penitus ' abolere. Oportebit enim tantillum damnum simul equanimiter pati, si modo damnum dici possit unde uberior 'fructus et utilitas magis constans nascitur ac respublica 'incrementum sumit' (p. 70). (p. 70). This was substantially the plan devised by Montague in 1695 to carry into effect the recommendations of Sir Dudley North, and of Locke, and to recoin the currency of England. The measure was a bold one even in that day, although the English Minister had contrived that the loss on the debased coin should be borne, not by the holders of it, but by the State. Copernicus appears to have thought, as may be inferred from the foregoing sentence, that the loss to private persons was more than compensated by the advantage to the generality.

It is curious to remark that although the evils of debased money were universally felt and acknowledged, and the remedy for these evils had been pointed out at so early a period, yet centuries elapsed before these remedies were applied. The reason is that corrupt and absolute governments conceived themselves to have an interest in maintaining their imaginary control over the value of money, and they therefore kept alive those delusions which obscured the true theory of the science. How often, and how long, have similar delusions retarded the application of the most obvious principles of political economy! and how slow has been the progress of mankind in the comprehension of laws immediately affecting their nearest interests!

ART. V.-1. Sur la Formation des Troupes pour le Combat. Par le Général JOMINI. Brussels: 1856.

2. Modern Armies. Translated from the French of Marshal MARMONT by Captain LENDY. London: 1865.

3. Études Tactiques. Par le Général Baron AMBERT. Série (Zorndorf et Austerlitz). Paris: 1865.

4. Tactics of the Three Arms. By Colonel Lippitt. York: 1865.

1re

New

5. Modern Warfare and Modern Artillery. By Colonel MACDOUGALL. London: 1865.

6. The Manoeuvres of Cavalry and Horse Artillery. General M. SMITH, C.B. London: 1865.

By

7. Professional Papers of the Royal Engineers. New Series. Vol. XIV. London: 1865.

8. Military Operations Explained and Illustrated. By Colonel HAMLEY, R.A. London: 1866.

IN

N tracing the main currents of thought which influence our time, and their effects upon public policy, a strange disagreement is at first apparent between the desire for peace professed on all sides by publicists and statesmen, and the activity of every great Power in the improvement of the means of war. Very different are these days, it would seem, from those of the preceding generation, when a millennium of trade, unbroken by the clang of arms, was held by many earnest politicians to be the future condition of the civilised world,-when even in the military profession men of high education and intelligence were not slow to declare that Europe would never again hear the tread of great armies in the field, and that the British soldier need henceforth prepare to meet no more disciplined enemy than the Maori or the Sikh. Then all was stagnation within our fleet and army, as all was neglect without. India was looked on as the only field where military ability could be the stepping stone to fame. Reduction and retrenchment were the order of the day; and faithfully reflecting the national feeling in the national service, the officer regarded the few among his fellows who gave their spare hours to the study of their profession as mere eccentrics, led by some strange aberration of intellect into a pursuit tedious in itself and tending to no practical result.

Great is now the change in all these respects. Instead of a government commending itself to the country's approval on

the score of a blind undistinguishing economy, we have heard a statesman, the most experienced and renowned of our age in foreign and domestic policy, not only avowing that the enlightened attention of the Ministry he directed had been systematically given to the care of our national armaments, but claiming their improvement and development as special grounds of public confidence. The present time,' said Lord Palmerston in his last manifesto to the Tiverton electors, is remarkable for the progressive application of the results of science to the operations of war, both by sea and by land; and this country has not in such matters lagged behind the other great Powers of the world.' Even his opponents gave the late Premier credit for knowing accurately how the national pulse beats, and for being well acquainted with what our neighbours are doing. And his assertions are borne out to the full by our increased expenditure for defences and by the formation of our self-created Volunteer army, as well as by the large share allotted to topics of military interest in the journals of the day, and by the attention paid to the progress of science in this particular direction by thoughtful men, both in and out of the service.

The art of war-to use the recognised term-is one of those sciences which time has seen by turns improve, stand still, retrograde, and again take a sudden advance side by side with the general civilisation to which its condition seems bound. The most recent events in the history of the world give us no hope of the speedy realisation of that Utopia, not long since dreamed of, where its use shall be unknown. And if it be acknowledged as a necessity of the existing state of things, its progress must follow closely that of other great branches of knowledge which affect the general good. For, viewed in its highest aspect, it is but the application of a nation's strength to the protection of the commerce, freedom, and order of its citizens; and the abuse of warlike power for the mere purpose of aggression is but a proof that to be independent it is necessary to avoid that decay of military resources which may invite attack. Happily, such pages of our history as the Indian Mutiny show that the advance of British wealth and science has by no means diminished that spirit of personal sacrifice, without which the warrior, though engaged in the fairest cause, would find but little honour paid to his profession. Steam, rifled arms, and railroads have not slain knighthood, nor taught us to undervalue the true soldier and his deeds.

But courage and patriotism are but of little avail when illdirected and untrained, or destitute of the needful appliances

from which they should receive support. The case of Denmark has shown too painfully how brave men are sometimes sacrificed for lack of warlike material and of the strategy which might supply its place. The successes of the Federal generals, in the West especially, have drawn attention to the advantage in war of a ready use of every improvement in mechanical art. And more striking still as an example, the brief campaign of 1859 showed the astonished world the practical results of the diligent improvement by France of her Algerian and Crimean experience. Austria found her utmost efforts unequal to those of her better prepared foe, and succumbed in the struggle, before unready Prussia dared resolve to throw her half-drilled forces into the scale for German honour*, or the Bund could gather its unwieldy legions on the Rhine.

Such lessons as these should not wholly be neglected by any nation possessing a permanent land force-least of all by one which holds a vast and distant empire mainly by the power of the sword. It is our purpose, therefore, to review the existing state of military science as a whole, with special reference to the modifications which the modern conditions of warfare in the field have lately undergone. An article in these pages t was lately devoted to the special question of rifled guns, and drew attention to the striking difference of the principles on which our own artillerists and those of our great neighbour have been at work. But the tactics of different nations have diverged more widely still. Nor is the contrast more startling between the Armstrong gun in broadside and the 450-pounder smooth-bore in its turret, to which our American rivals pin their faith, than between the agile scramble of the Zouaves up the Alma heights and the long-drawn movements of the army of the Potomac through the woods before Richmond. And great as is the difference between these operations of the same period, still wider differences may be traced between the tactics of modern armies at different eras. A brave man is now, indeed, according to the lament of Bayard, exposed to die by a miserable pop-gun, from the effect of which he cannot defend himself;' yet the levelling of all engaged in action

Those who were present at the assembling of the Prussian and Bavarian corps d'armée on the Rhine in June 1859, and at their disbandment on the astounding news of the Villafranca treaty, saw that the regiments of the landwehr were not in any fit state to take the field, being scarcely more mobile than our battalions of county militia. † Edinburgh Review, April 1864.

VOL. CXXIII. NO. CCLI.

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