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Leader (1850-1860), 8th May 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 18

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      The Art Of War. Elementary History °F *L...

      natural military genius . But to induce the greatest possible number of officers to devote themselves to their , profession , we must rigidly adhere to the rule of advancing : the best ,, the real soldiers , wherever , we can find them , confining those to regimental duty who are fit for nothing higher . Among the military books recently published here is this of Lieutenant-Colonel Graham ' s . It is very elementary , and far better fitted to enlighten the youthful student and to aid him in his studies than to serve the higher purposes to which we have referred . It can never become a text-book ; but it would be useful to the young soldier and might be read with profit by all regimental officers , and there are many wlib know nothing whatever of their profession beyond the walls of the barrack and the exerciseeground . It would ierve , also , to indicate to - more , ambitious men the sources of knowledge and suggest modes of study . The author shows an extensive acquaintance with his subject , but , unfortunately , the plan of his work does not enable him to bring out ¦ with the greatest force the changes that have

      taken place in tactics , in strategy , in the equipment of the soldier , the size of armies , the invention of new arms , and the changes in the earth consequent upon civilization . lie has not given us a regular biography of war , which would have been an extremely interesting work , but ii series of fragmentary notes upon great captains anil their campaigns . Perhaps this defect arose from the desire of the author to crowd too much information into too small a space , to grasp the history of war in one volume . It would have been far better to have written a series of careful studies upon the operations of the six or eight great .- generals'who have lived since the days of Hannibal . Colonel Graham has chosen , a different course , and his work suffers in consequence . But we repeat , for quite beginners , the bpok is not without its uses . It contains amass of facts , and all it grants is order . A Chronology of Military Events placed at the end of the work will be found convenient for reference .

      There has been , and is , a sharp and chronic controversy upon the question whether-troops formed in column or in line are most effective . We are told by a distinguished Prussian officer that "la superiorite du feu de rinfanterie anglaise n'etait qu ' une execution pratique niiettx raisonnee ;" and that had its advantages been soobvious Ney and Marmont would surely have borrowed them . But this is begging the question . The fire of our infantry in the Peninsula was so deadly in two lines , because the troops could stand and fire , and receive the shock of battle , in two lines , just as coolly as other nations could attack in column . The line two deep may be good for us and "bad for other nations , unless imbued with the spirit of our system . The controversy of line versus column is really good for nothing , except to bring out the excellences of both modes of fighting ; and no good general would be guided by any absolute rule favouring the one or the other . The Duke drew up the Guards four deep at ¦ "Waterloo . He was not a bigot in military matters . Colonel Graham says : —

      It was the opinion of the Duke himself , as related by Jomini , that the mode of . attack of the French in columns , more or less deep , was very dangerous against a . firm , lino of infantry , armed with good firelocks , feeling confidence in their own . fire , and well snpported by artillery and cavalry ; but , in tlie course of the conversation ia which tins opinion was given , there is a striking proof that the 'Duke ' s mind was free from any prejudice on the subject . In reply to the question , -whether he had not formed a portion of his infantry in column at Waterloo ; his answer was , " that he had done so because they were composed of soldiers of whom he ^ vas not so sure as he was of his British troops . " On being then asked -whether that was not a proof that a line of columns appeared to him more solid than long lines deployed , his answer was : " Certainly they are good also ; but that depends always on localities and the spirit of the troops . It is impossible , to act in the same manner under all circumstances . " The advantage of tho formation in column or Hue is still a question for the judgment of the general to decide when the critical moment arrives , and in that state it will probably remain until its consideration becomes influenced by some now element .

      A new element has come in—the EnGeld rifle—but it decidedly favours the line , andadds tenfold to the dangers of the column . What its effect will be upon tactics is a question that has not yet received a solution , and unhappily it can only receive a practical one . Whether the new rifle will make any serious change in tactics or not is as sharply contested a question as that raging about line and column . What part will cavalry play any part ? Can artillery he used at . all , unless they are made to range as far and as accurately as the rifle ? To this wo may answer that two 18 -pounders , and not the Eafield riflemen , silenced the fire of the guns at Inkeririan ; that the llussian guns were not silenced on tho Tcheniaya ; and that in Havclock ' s buttles he did not silence guns with his riflemen , he took them

      AYith the bayonet . Except in the first action , and to a great extent even in the first , it was the bayonet that won every battle . Jomini admits that the rifle will exercise a certain influence upon tactical details , but that in grand operations tho old principles will again triumph , lie docs not think it will keep armies from fighting as some suppose . But neither Jomini nor any one else doubts that the Enfield rifle is destined to work some change . Paixhans is of opinion that artillery will disappcar before tho new arm , and that it will change this system of wrr . Colonel Graham has not discussed a subject so well worthy the attention oi all military men , It is certainly not overlooked by tho " illustrious pers onage whose questionings gave rise to the expression of Jomini ' s opinion ,

      450 The Leader, : [No. 424, May 8,1858.

      450 THE LEADER , : [ No . 424 , May 8 , 1858 .

      Letters On India. Tetters On India. By E...

      LETTERS ON INDIA . tetters on India . By Edward Sullivan . Siuiiulcn . and Otloy . Thk , best of uicn who write on Indian subjects do injustice to themselves by the triumphant facility ¦ of their style and the rhitorical dis . lu , with which they sweep away < l » iliculties and contradictions . Foster , the innate ¦ ly author of Jteep on J )«< usion of Character , set a very pernicious exam , le by his method of dcalmg with the stupendous myths of India Of the Bwihmmical system he had only to say that it waa a mass of ravin" folly with twenty-six heavens « bird named ( JoumIuhh , si herd of ° d v ne elephants , iron , silver , anil golden cities , and a unit followed by sixty-three cyphers roprcaontuig a period in tl . olifeofliruli . ua . Now it is ( rue hat tic sacred books of the Brahmins and Buddhists abound i > , grotU ucconce t «»* but the Englwu public never leurnod anything of ludi " ffonTKo

      fluent generalizations of satire . We do not characterize Mr . Sullivan ' s ' volume as one deserving to rank only in a similar category ; but it is wordy , ilippant , presumptuous book , in which the writer throws down Hs opinions as challenges , and appears more anxious to wrangle with the reader than to inform him . We could have spared all Mr . Sullivan ' s coatroversy had he chosen ' to'present us with a compact summary of his actual knowledge of India , free from expatiation on Lord Ellenborou ^ h or comparison between the Sepoy mutineers and the general . scoimdrelisin . of ancient and"modern times . To be a traveller does not inevitably qualify a man to discuss the politics of every country he visits , and not to have been a traveller , if less an advantage than Mill believed it to be , implies at all events no absolute disability . We are somewhat tired of being told by gentlemen who . have seen the elephant at home and sat in palm shadows that avc are

      all ignorant , rash , find astray . Mr . Sullivan , however , has bis own views on Indian matters , and the apology for bis arrogance . is-that ho desires to enforce them with all practicable .-emphasis , to which end lie gathers illustrations from ancient and modern history , and discourses at largo on military , political , social , administrative , judicial , financial , and religious to pics , varying his letters by compiled ' passages , which , we must say , form the most valuable portion of the work . For example , Mr . Sullivan discusses the actual position of the British-born , population in India , numbering in 1857 not more than fifty thousand persons , soldiers included , with ' about seventeen hundred ladies and their relatives , and nearly seven thousand little brown babies ., all of whom share the profits of the Indian service '; " but he adds a complaint to the effect that the English do not spend the money , of India in the country itself . That , however , is one of the conditions inseparable from conquest , for if , as-Mr . Sullivan admits , India can never be colonized from

      Europe , it must beheld by the representatives of a race returning periodically to enjoy at home the wealth acquired in the , East . The numbers and salaries of the Indian services are ' stated . ' as eight hundred , averaging 100 OI . sterling a year , and five -thousand' eight hundred upon the military establishment , averaging 4 SOA . ; in fact , with the Bombay marine and the Church , " we have a sum considerably over four and a half millions divided amongst the two services , •' which- would give an average salary of 650 / . to nearly seven thousand people . "' This does not include the pay and allowances of the Governor-General , the ' Governors : of Presidencies , chief justices ., judges , imeoyenanted civil servants—many receiving from 1 O 00 / . to 1500 / . a year—tlieCommahder-in-Chief , the members of his . staff , or the fifteen hundred Queen ' s officers attached to Queen ' s ; regiments and receiving double pay . A good deal of this sort of information is-to . be found in the volume ,, but . as u contribution to the general debate we cannot attach , much importance to Mr . Sullivan's Epistles Particular .

      ¦ ' Latter-Dat Poetry. Aheap Of Volumes ...

      ¦ ' LATTER-DAT POETRY . Aheap of volumes of verse on our table invites our critical attention , i ^ only by its ominous bulk . Sorting these productions into some sort o ^ arrangement , we find that they divide themselves into a kind of nationalities ; and the first two that we take Up come from Ireland . ' flu : Jiell-Fuunder , and Other Pbems ^ and Underglimpses , awl Other Poaus , are ' the work of Mr . D . Florence Mac Carthy , M . ' It , J . A ., author of " Dramas from the Spanish of Calderon , " kc . ; and are issued from the house of the late David Bogue . A strong Irish .-personality pervades' them all ; you may hear the brogue in their modulation . Indeed , they are so Hibernian in feeling— -so loc-aL in their colouring and their allusions—that probably none but an Irishman can thoroughly enjoy them . We cannot endorse the hi <» U praise bestowed by the late Earl of Belfast , who thought tho author litted to play a part in " . his country ' s destiny ; " but we have derived pleasure from some of Mr . Mac Carthy ' s songs . Like most of his countrymen , he has a lyrical faculty ; and , although some of his measures are rather obvious and conventional , others are very sweet , and all of them may be said to " sing themselves . " If the poet has the common Irish limits of excessive languor and superabundance of imagery ( not always ' well chosen or new ) , he has also the Irish -gifts of grace and sportive fancy , of teiulernessoi feeling and richness of language . He greatly ncuils compression ; but in that want he is not peculiar . Two stanzas from a poom called " Summer Longings" will show Mr . Mao Carthy's " capacity of weaving melody out of words : — . Ah ! my heart is pjiined with . throbbing , Throbbing for the May—Throbbing for the < H ; : i-. si < lo billow * , Or the wni or-wooing willows ; " Where in laughing mid in sobbing ( Hide the streams away : — All ! my heart , my liunvt U throbbing , Throbbing lor the Mny . Waiting sad , dejected , weary , Waiting for tin- May—Spring goes b y-with wasted warnings , Moonlit evenings , aim bright mornings ; Summer conies , yet chirk ami dreary Life still ebbs aviiv : — Man is over weary , Avoary , Waiting for the May ! Another Irish gentleman is Mr . Nicholas J . Gannon , who publish . * The <> J > onoffhM , > fJlwlMkeH , rmd < HlwrPoails . ( London : Jiosvortli and Ilinrison . Dublin : M'ChislmnumKJill . ) Here nffuin the local or national filing ia strong ; but we have not ob . serve . l in Mr . Chuuion tho same claims to general attention as those possessed by Mr . A ] 1 U . Carthy l ' ro . n . Ireland to Wnks . M , r . T . J . , lu i » owyH ant ] l J Jv of , / ,. / ,. / , ihvours us with a small but closely printed , pamphlet of Ponns . ( John Oliap . u . iu . ) IliQ vw-Hca aro lillutl with a mystical , religiou , . spirit , and toud . nl with a hiding oi melancholy . They aro sometimes obscure , but exhibit , power , emotion , and pioturesqneneau . A volume entitled The P ,, nm u , <> st » ll } c . litod by his Son ( . J-ongnum nntl Co . ) , presents ua with a lamontabl ' o instance oi' the iinlwuro-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 8, 1858, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08051858/page/18/