rior men *) have been favourable to the progrefs of the human mind, that we are perfuaded the authority of thefe works formed, during feveral centuries, a very powerful obftruction to all rational improvement. Ariftotle himself makes no ufe of the dif coveries of his Ogyavou (which is the general name for the writings above mentioned) in his treatifes of poetry, ethics, politics, natural hiftory, &c. performances which are equally ufeful and ingenious, and which do real honour to the ftagyrite. These performances are more worthy than the Ogyava of being explained and illuftrated by the learning of the prefent age; they have, in general, met with that attention which they deferve; which, as well as the late elegant tranflations of feveral poets and orators, affords reason to believe that it will not be poffible, even for Lord Monboddo's panegyric, to render Grecian literature unfafhionable. * See Bayle's Dictionary, Article Tyrannion. ART. VII. An Univerfal Military Difionary, or. A copious Explanation of the Technical Terms, &c. used in the Equipment, Machinery, Movements, and military Operations of an Army. By Captain George Smith, Inspector of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. 4to. 11. 1s. Large Paper. 21. 29. Subfcription. Millan. 1779. A MONG the vast number of dictionaries, of various kinds, which have lately iffued from the prefs, it is fomewhat wonderful, that a Military Dictionary has not been thought of (a trifling performance or two excepted) before now, efpecially as the profpect of fale was not unpromifing. Captain Smith obferves, that, although feveral performances on the fame fubject with his work have appeared in foreign languages, there had been nothing of the kind in our own, except Watfon's Military Dictionary; and another anonymous work called, The New Military Dictionary, or, The Field of War +. This laft mentioned work, inftead of what one would naturally have expected from its title, is only an account of the moft remarkable battles, fieges, bombardments, and expeditions, whether by fea or land, in which Great Britain has been concerned, from the defcent of Julius Cæfar to the year 1760: and the former, fo far from exhibiting an enlarged and comprehenfive view of military affairs, is extremely imperfect, even on its own very circumfcribed plan, and is only a fmall pamphlet in + Another book of this kind was published last year, printed for G. Robinfon. See Review for December 1778, Art. 22. of the Catalogue. duodecimo. duodecimo. This defect, Captain Smith remarks, would have been the less to be regretted, if even our best Dictionaries of Arts and Sciences had not been moft wretchedly defective and obfolete, in their explanations of the terms which relate to the art of war. It was these confiderations, joined to the use which fuch a work, when properly executed, might be of to every military officer, that induced Captain Smith to undertake the work before us; in the execution of which, he seems to have fpared no pains, and we are glad to fee, by the numerous Jift of fubfcribers, that it has not (so far) met with an unfavourable reception from the public. In a preface of fome length, our Author treats of the requifites neceffary to form the foldier, the officer, and the general; points out thofe virtues and qualifications which, he thinks, relate more immediately to each, and fhews how they are diftinguished from each other. In the difcuffion of thefe points, we apprehend, his manner and fentiments are fufficiently out of the common road, to afford entertainment to many of our readers. Speaking of bravery and courage, he fays, "These two virtues, which are often confounded in the fame fubject, merit a particular diftinction; they are not fo clofely united, but that they are often to be found one without the other. Courage feems fitteft for a general, and all those who command; bravery more neceffary for a foldier, and all who receive orders: bravery is in the blood, courage in the foul; the firft is a kind of inftinet, the second a virtue; the one is an impulfe almost mechanical, the other a noble and fublime conception. A man is brave at a particular time, and according to circumftances; he has courage at all times, and upon all occafions. Bravery is fo much the more impetuous, as it is lefs the refult of reflection; courage, the more it is the effect of reafon, becomes more intrepid. Bravery is infpired by the force of example, insensible of danger, and the fury of action; courage is infufed by the love of our duty, the defire of glory, and zeal for our king and country courage depends on reafon; but bravery, on the conftitution. Achilles, fuch as Horace defcribes him from Homer, implacable, cruel, defpifing every other right but that of force, prefents nothing to the idea, but the hardinefs of a gladiator: but the Roman general, whofe death would have produced the ruin of the army, the great Scipio, when covered by the bucklers of three foldiers, to avoid fhower of arrows which the enemy directed against him, approaches in fafety the walls he befieged; and, ftanding only a spectator of the action, and content himself with giving them orders, exhibits the idea of true courage. Bravery is involuntary, and depends not at all upon ourselves; whereas courage (as Seneca obferves) may be be taught and acquired by education: but yet, nature must sow the first feeds of it. It would be eafy to make the difference of thefe qualities better understood, by running over all the cafes in which they make their appearance, were it not for fear of going too far into fo copious a fubject. It is faid of a magiftrate, who expofes his life and fortune in defence of the laws, that he has virtue. Cicero, fheltering himself from the hatred of Catiline, undoubtedly wanted bravery; but certainly, he had an elevated firmness of mind (which is in reality courage), when he disclosed the confpiracy of that traitor to the Senate, and pointed out all his accomplices; or, when he pleaded for Deiotarus against Cæfar, his friend and his judge. Coolness is the effect of courage, which knows its danger, but makes no other use of that knowledge, than to give directions with greater certainty: courage is always mafter of itself, provided against all accidents, and regulated by the present occafions; never confounded by any danger, fo as to lose fight of the motions of the enemy, or of the means by which he may be most effectually oppofed. At the battle of Cannæ, when Gifco feemed to be most astonished at the fuperiority of the enemy's number, Hannibal anfwered him coolly, There is a thing ftill more furprifing, of which you feem to take no notice.' Gifco afked him what it was: It is,' replied Hannibal, that in all that great croud, there is not one man whose name is Gifco.' Plutarch obferves, that this coolness of Hannibal greatly animated the Carthaginians, who could not imagine that their general would joke at fo important a time, without being certain of overcoming his enemies.' And further on: Genius,' fays he, is not to be acquired; it is born with us. It has been defined to be a natural aptitude of doing fomething: but that definition is wrong; it is the difpofition only that fhould be fo defined. It is faid, to be easier for nature to produce a monster, than a man without a particular difpofition, but every one is not born with a genius; it is the fairest attribute of the foul. With parts, a man may be a good foldier; but with genius, a good foldier becomes a great general. It is fometimes an affemblage of talents, but it is always the perfecting of that which nature has given us, that discovers genius. A man ftudies; he fearches for his talent, and often miffes it; genius unfolds it. Talent remains hidden for want of occafions to fhow itfelf; genius breaks through all obftacles; genius alone is the contriver; talent only the work man. It often happens, that he who has only bright parts, is believed to have genius. These two modifications of the foul are very different. Genius can only apply itself to the fciences and noble arts; wit, more airy, fkims indifferently over all: the former undertakes but one fcience, but goes to the bottom of it; the other would undertake every thing, but touches only lightly upon all wit renders the talents more brilliant, without their becoming more folid; genius, with lefs application, conceives every thing, outstrips even ftudy itself, and brings the talents to perfection. • What is generally called a quick eye, is no other than that penetrating genius, which lets nothing efcape it; that looks into the heart, and difcovers the lighteft impreffions which can diforder it. A general, who knows how to unite this quality with perpetual coolnefs, never is in want of expedients; he will see how these events, which, to any other, would be the prefage of his own defeat, may end in the overthrow of his enemies. Thus the army of Cyrus, in the prefence of that of Crœfus at Timbrea, took a clap of thunder for a bad omen. This impreffion did not escape the quick eye of Cyrus; but the coolness, which on this occafion he knew how to preferve, fuggefted to him an interpretation which removed his foldiers fears. "My friends," cried he, "Heaven declares for us: come on! I hear the found of victory. Great Jupiter, we follow thee." Befides thefe qualities which are effential to a general, and which all who would attain that high rank fhould of courfe have, there are many others neceffary to make a great man. A hero requires fewer virtues: the great man is always a good member of the community; he confiders humanity as his firft duty; he is juft, open, and unbiaffed; his temper may be fiery, but this ardour is always regulated by prudence; he gives advice with the fame openness as he would afk it; and never afks but of those whofe experience, which he eftimates rather by their actions than their age, makes them capable of giving fuch as may be trufted; he is haughty only to his enemies, free to his equals, affable to his inferiors, brave without either arrogance or rafhnefs, and eafy of access to all. The general fhould be acquainted with the interefts and force of princes: a knowledge, very neceffary in judging of the power of princes, upon whom war is made, that he may fall fooner upon the country of him who can obftruct his projects, than upon a prince who, by the fituation of his dominions and force, can make no oppofition. In a word, a general, who would merit the title of a great man, should unite in himself all civil, military, and political excellence. It is by this, that he will easily attain to make war with fuccefs; nothing will escape him; he will know, without difficulty, the genius of every country, and of the nations which compofe the enemy's army; the abilities of the generals who command, and the nature nature of the troops under them. Without these precautions, he would never think that he could act upon certain grounds; he knows, he may venture a motion with fome troops, which he would not dare to attempt with others that are equally brave. One nation is vehement, fiery, and formidable, in the firft onfet; another is not fo hafty, but of more perfeverance: with the former, a fingle inftant determines fuccefs; with the latter, the action is not fo rapid, but the event is lefs doubtful. 'No man is born a general, though he brings into the world with him the feeds of thofe virtues, which make a great man. Cæfar, Spinola, Turenne, the great Condé, Eugene, Marlborough, Wolfe, and fome others, fhowed, even in their earliest years, fuch qualities as ranked them above other men: they carried with them the principles of thofe great virtues which they drew forth to action by profound ftudy, and which they brought to perfection by the help of practice; thofe who came after them, with perhaps fewer natural talents, have by study rendered themfelves worthy of being compared to them, Cæfar, and all conquerors, had this advantage, that they were able to make their own opportunities, and always acted by their own choice. A man may be a good general without being a Turenne; fuch geniufes are scarcely feen once in an age; but the more they are raised above the rest of mankind, the more they fhould excite emulation. It is by endeavouring to surpass the intellects of the fecond rate,--it is by ftriving to furpafs, or at least to equal, the moft fublime, that the imitation of them is to be attained. This paffion in a foldier is neither pride nor prefumption; it is virtue; and it is by this only, that he can hope to be ferviceable to the ftate, and add to the glory of his King. How much foever the honour of commanding armies may be fought after, it degrades him who is not worthy of it: this rank, fo much defired, borders on the two extremes of glory and ignominy. A military man, who labours to make himself capable of commanding, is not to be blamed; his ambition is noble by studying the art of commanding, he learns that of obeying, and of executing.' The critical reader will, no doubt, obferve fome flight inaccuracies in the language of thefe extracts; but this circumftance is pardonable in a profeffional man, writing on a profeffional fubject. People of every profeffion have terms and phrafes of their own, and even a manner, if we may fo exprefs it, which feems perhaps uncouth to a perfon who is an utter ftranger to them, but which, nevertheless, may render the book more valuable amongst themselves. Thefe extracts fhew, at least, that Captain Smith has ftudied his profeffion, and of courfe, that he is not an improper perfon to undertake a compilement of the kind now under |