if it could be extended to every possible variety of circumstances; therefore the greater number it comprehends, the more generally useful it becomes.

Unfortunately, the precise circumstances in which a soldier may be placed, and the accidents to which he may be subject, cannot be foreseen; nor can the part that he is to act in life be entirely rehearsed: but the general principles on which others have acted, and by which he may hope to succeed, can be established. Every thing, that prepares him for the successful exercise of his faculties in any species of danger, is highly advantageous. Longinus advises those who would write sublimely, to suppose what the greatest poets of antiquity would have thought, and how they would have expressed their thoughts, on the same subject. In studying the moral sublime, young soldiers should imagine, how the greatest heroes would have acted in given circumstances. This species of exercise is not liable to the danger of exciting party-feuds; for circumstances may be stated, and cases put, which have no reference to any dangerous questions.

Many of Plutarch's Lives, Cæsar's Commentaries, &c. would afford lessons of this kind in abundance. Let a pupil be asked, what he would have done, if he had been placed in the situation of such and such a general? "Given such and "such circumstances, how would you act?" And when he has answered, let him hear, or read, in history, how the affair was really decided; and what were the consequences of the decision. Modern history will supply still more interesting topics than can be found in ancient history. For instance, ask,

whether in general Braddock's situation in the American war, he would have persisted in adhering to European tactics in fighting with the Indians? Or ask, how, in Adair's* circumstances, in the war with the Maroons in Jamaica, a commanding officer should have managed? The contrast of Adair's conduct and Braddock's might afford an excellent lesson on the utility of not being bigoted to any modes of warfare, and on the necessity of adapting new means to new circumstances. These instances are cited, because they are quite unconnected with all present parties. Thus refer to what has actually happened, to establish principles for future conduct, and give the pupil at once the advantage of his own invention, and of the experience of other men. A review may be utterly unlike a battle; but one battle will probably resemble another in some of its essential circumstances: similar principles, and similar quickness of decision, usually decide the fate of war, even in situations the most different. There are men, who cannot exert their faculties without the stimulus of real action; these are inert and stupid, when they are called upon to imagine, instead of being made to feel: of course, in their own justification, they exclaim against the inutility of ideal dilemmas.

Others have such a strong imagination, and such voluntary power of exerting it, without the motive of external circumstances, that they display their abilities fully when cool, and in council, and consequently are fond of creating difficulties, over which they are certain to triumph. Some great generals have practised this method of inventing expedients; others

* Dallas's History of the Maroons.

have ridiculed it as a practice altogether fallacious and absurd. Men who are accustomed to put their reasonings into words, and to observe the steps by which their minds arrive at certain conclusions, usually approve of this method. It is reprobated on the contrary by those who have not that power, or that habit, who do not mark the means by which they form their judgments, but who decide well by that rapid kind of reasoning, fashionably called tact, in which the steps are unobserved, and the conclusion only noticed. Two illustrious examples of these characters may be pointed out in Frederick the Great, and in his celebrated general Ziethen.

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"My dear general," said the king to him, " imagine your"self here, in this position, with thirty thousand men. Sup46 pose that your right wing ends at this point, and your left wing at this other point; that the enemy, who are forty "thousand strong, are coming to attack you, and that you see them marching at a certain distance, and in a cer"tain order; now tell me, what would you do in this case?" "Sire, I do not know; I never could form ideas upon "abstract problems; I never could perform operations in my head. I must see the things themselves; then the "facts strike, and inspire me; then I feel what I ought "to do, and I do it. Without the reality, I never can see any thing. I am fit only for action. I should be good "for nothing, if it were my sole duty to form pupils."-" But "can't you represent to yourself two armies in the positions "I have just described?"-" No, Sire; I always feel that the reality would offer some details, some particularș, that my imagination has omitted: and these very details, these

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particulars, are probably what would guide my deter "minations?"

As the king never could obtain any other answer from him, he soon ceased to consult him.

Ziethen was a great and successful general, without the habits, which Frederick had acquired, of foreseeing situations, inventing expedients, and preestablishing rules of conduct. Frederick, however, was undoubtedly the greatest man of the two, and he happily possessed the useful powers both of thinking at leisure, and of deciding in tumult and danger. Of these qualities, the power of judging in the moment of action is most valuable; but this faculty may certainly be acquired without preventing the acquisition of the other, and the mind may be prepared for it by previous discipline.

* Presence of mind depends on the power of withdrawing the attention from the associated sensations, and ideas of fear, which are naturally connected with danger, and of turning the thoughts from images of blood, wounds, defeat, disgrace, and death, to the view of the means by which-safety and victory may be assured. Experience of escape in past dangers, and of success from personal or mental exertions in former trials, tends much to increase and fortify self-possession, because the associations of hope, which are raised by these recollections, counteract or counterbalance those of fear. Though the confidence and self-possession, which result from the experience of

* Practical Education.

escape, can be felt only by those who have been in real danger, yet the general power of abstracting attention from surrounding objects, from noise and tumult, may be acquired before a man sees actual service; and he will find it then much easier to practise this useful abstraction in battle, than if he had been always accustomed to think and decide only in silence and tranquillity. An officer of great abilities or great military knowledge, who has never seen a battle, will not probably have the full command of his intellectual powers the first time he is in an engagement. It is said, that even Frederick the Great was not himself the first time he was on a field of battle. Many naval and military officers, whose courage and talents are indisputable, will be ready to acknowledge, that novelty of situation was not favourable towards their mental exertions; they will testify, that self-possession and presence of mind depend in some degree upon practice. But with the same practice, what an amazing difference there appears between individuals in similar circumstances! When once a man of knowledge and talents becomes familiar with danger, his whole superiority bursts forth. Young men should be sufficiently warned, that in new circumstances they will not perhaps be able to make any practical advantage of theoretic knowledge; but they should have it still more strongly impressed on their belief, that, if they have patience and confidence in themselves, they will, after a little practice, enjoy the full use and advantage of their previous acquirements. It should be frequently pointed out in the course of their studies, that no two cases can probably occur in real life precisely similar, and that much must always be left to the quickness of eye in perceiving the circumstances of the moment, and to