The Sun.
London, England, 1803-10-25 00:00:00

B 12 Ii7:01:
.0 JEW.

•
• THE, Ikti4cl4 AR IVIV, •XS i't 111 AS •BEEN o'BGANIz
PWONg THEJAYAroLVIOti,,AND.,Is LLD
,INT9',AcTIoN. FOR T,H•F;tIH&#q,W OF r LT% Nntilt
AND AmlikrtoN;. WISH 9A. r A RAL LEL VIt•W or
THE. lI,FBIGNO OF ANCIENT. ROME AGAINST,
CARTHAGEJ, AND oF .MODERN FRANCE,. HEAD'.
ED BY BoNAFABTE, AGAINST GRLAT rAIN.

• 0.--......... .

the present situation of the British EMpire,
threatned a% we are by an inf)olent:Usorper, whose
ambition:seems nor likely to be'gratift4 till he has
brotight: all Europe into the same: abject state of
Slavery as FriilCe suffers unda his detestable
it Ty.
rannyiis our duty to avail- ourselves' of all possi-
ble means to frustrate his• wicked designs. Et is
however,, to be inferred, that because we en.
deavour to put the Country into the best posture of
deirnce we are ,of tlwissue.of a contest,,with
hint and his horde, of Plunderers,: if they Aare make
the attempt to land upon our Coast, but it. is pro-
per that we should leave nulling at the mercy of
accident, since, in case of success, we could expeei
no mercy from him. The use of PIKES has been
strongly recommended in of all other means of
national security. it is resorted to by those who
endeavour to subvert the present Goverment, and
it may certainly be enaploytd with efficacy by those
who wish to support it. The following article on
this subjea is extraaed from the work before us.
The name of the Author does not appear in the title_
page, but we understand that it was written by
Captain JAMES, a Gentleman whose poetical talents,
are well known, and +.vho has often employed his'
pen on military, and poli:ical
,subjeds.

CURSORY REMARKS ON CANNON AND MUSQUETRY,
MEWING- THE SUPERIORITY OF PIKES OVER
THEM IN MANY INAANCES. ' •
" IT Will not be found uninteresting at this mo-
ment du furnish our Military Readers with the fol-
lowing opinions of two celebrated charaders, re.
speeling the oseof Artillery in War.
4'. Marshal Turenne \vas decidedly of opinion,
that the invention of gunpowder would at last wholly
supersede the use and exercise of every species of
weapon known to the Ancients, and that every bat-
tle would, one day, be determined by Artillery.
" Machiavel, the Politician, maintained, that
, the Raman armour was superior to all the engines of
Modern armies, and that he who could use the jave-
linv-sword, and pike, with the greatest dexterity,
would triumph Over the most expert at. the manage-
ment of firearms.
The armed chariots of the ancients, (this wti.
ter 'observes), were engines as destrnaive in war,
as any we arc acquainted with: means were, never-
theless, found oi.svoiding their effe't.
t' The rage ofeekphants, goaded' into aelioni was,
as dreadful, and almost as irresistible as the force of
carman.; yet methods were contrived for eluding
their. violence, and victory with the warlike anci-
ents was generally determined in close fight. They
were, moreover, acquainted wit!i missile weapons,
which were scarcely inferior to our guns. • The
Romans, however, whwe praCtice was Invariably
to rush forward, to come to-Close atlion and to fight
hand to hand, were superior to their Enemies, (who
trusted snore than they did -to variods machines) in
almost every encounter.
" The Marshal, on' the contrary asserted, that
the .progress of the knowledge of projealles and of
sunnery, 'must atiast reduce the art of war to skill
in the disposition, arid dexterity in the manugcnient
of Artillery. •
" The Politician contended, that great guns were
frequently short of their elfal, by being placed
either too high or too low, and consmently mis.
sing a distant °hied : that their progress would be
impeded by a small inequality (natural or artificial),
in the surface'of the ground : and that at any rate,
their, destruaive, ovateitions • might be pre ventett by
the rapidity of, a brisk and- unremitting onset : for
brsucli a 'movement, 'you might either seize them
or turn them, if an opportunity offered, againit
their owners ; or at all events, though it may seem
paradoxical, be completely out of the reach of their
power, by getting close td them. •
" The French General thought; that as skill in
tile science of war advanced, art would pteVail over

•
force.
'' The FlorentinC Politician, on the othCr hand,
contended, that nature and courage would finally
triumph over all the refinements of art.'
" ,The opinion of Marshal Turenne on this sub.
jai has for some time' been embraced in the culti.
vated quarters of the globe t and no wonder, for
the art of defence is posterior to that of attack.
" The methods by whi;:b an enemy May be' an-
noyed are many opti uioua: and men are every
day "contriving some new scheme by which their op.
ponents may he hurt.
A new cc fitr;vuoce.in the art of war astonishes at
first by its novelly, and is deemed irresistible
by and by 'the same ingenuity which gave birth to
such hostile inventions, imagines and produces me-
ihods for eluding _their destruCtive effiets. Art
being thus counter-balanced by art, an appeal is ne-
cessarily made, to superior force and courage.
" Although artillery and other fire•arms ate still
principally used in Most erigageMenti, yes it alt.
pears pretty evident, that ,thsngs ale' last reverting
to their original sisre. The alanost total disuse of
heavy ordnance, and the general. adoption • of light
field pieces and musqUett., are strongly illustrative
of shit observation.
1.30 th in the last war, and in the present, the
bayonet, an :instrument very, far interior to the
pike, has been used snore successfully than the hul.,
and as in every hatile 'the contending parties
ame,:closer and dotes' uritil it be decided,. if is evL.
dent, that superior force and superipr. instruments
must 11nel:determine the day ; more e,specially if
the wit! of•them he accompanied by.superiot conrage,
avd ooh of the natties dots not -abandon the ground
l.ictnrl it c.orfw to elosi:
see that ord:'“oce and cannon do rot pro..
tetc.'t a civy.,:is frt from being, taken by storm, even
widi -the ;i!vantar of -Walk and ramparts, much

less can they save an army in-an open field from the
fury of assailants, who are determined to rush for,
ward, and to fight hand :to Jtantl, The truth of
this passage has been strongly exemplified in the
desperate contiutit otahelrish rebels. Some of these
infatuated men, • with nothing but pikes to, defend
them, have been knownto rush up to the cannon's
mouth, and to render the use of that engine of war
tortlly fruitless, 'and such would be, the, conduit, of
an invading enemy against the flimsy entrenchments
thrown about a capital.
ig It is pleasing to a man, in the least inclined to
specidation, to behold art spending its 'own force,
and bringing mankind back to the simple, but el-
feaual, devices of nature and' t ,philosopher may
foresee many consequence's that must ensue from,
the: change which is manifestly'ocetirring in the art.
of !war.
" If such a revoltiii,m in' the engines of war is
!really commencing,' as it most assuredly appears to
be;. it must be matter of some weight to consider,
whether its ultinsate adoption among European ar..
ties would give .116 S, country any adVantage otter
its enemies ?, Every military man must !know, that
velocity is the life of war ; and that it must una.
voidably be checked and impeded by cumbersome
artillery and loads'ofartinmition.• With respeCl to
the present moment, the use of the pike is loudly
called for. The exercise of it is congenial to the
native valour of the -int.abitants Of Great Britain ;
• but it ought never to be used without a short ,Ro.
man sword, which might be 'hung: at the wrist by.
the sword knot. The only purpose indeed for
which this article was•first invented; wasao enable
the pikeman (the instant he -got within•the.point of.
his opponent's weapon),' to catch up his sword, 'and
thus fight with his enemy at close Timers.
" Every sensible, man must know,..„Piai it two
States, going to War,- are armed with,the same wee-
pons, that state whiehaises them in the most deadly
manner is most likely to be vielorious. In the pre:
sent contest with France,.. England is called 'upon to
exert the powers she possesses, and to put' forth all
the energies she is capable of. Her situation, and
the innate valour of her inhabitants, give her a de.
cided superiority over the rest of Europe; and how-
ever much we may be disinclined to, undervalue mo-
dern manoeuvres, (because they seem at present ne-
cessary from adoption) 'we cannot help being strong
advocates for light artillery, pikes and rifles. - It
ought always to be remembered, that without firing
at a mark, men will not be marksmen ; battalions
that are nut composed of persons of.thi4 description,
may besroppeti anti destroyed by battaliiini that are ;.
and with regard to the bayonet or pike,* every one
knows, that he who misses his' thrust May receive
one. Should the French land upon our coast, there
is not a doubt, but their invading columns will be
accompanied by swarms .of sharp-shooters. These
will be thrown, oat 10 every clireffion.;. and Should
we be so infatuated iis-to adhere to any opposite
system than what the nature of our ground, and the
character of our people point 'out, onr echellon
movements, our oblong 'and, our hollow squares,
will most assuredly terminate in defeat. An Eng-
lislunan, liken blood horse, is impatient troder the
slightest aggression. Check him in his prodigality
.of onset., ,and you either burst his spirit, or destroy
him by wearing'out his energies. Great Britain is
ane capital; the•oceari is her ditch ; her shipping
f her floating batteries; anti every lane and hedge-
Iher covered way."

.
"-General Waytte's artily was entirely defeated with a
dreadful. slaughter, by being attacked •in the night by the
British with bonnets, the tints: having been taken out of the
tirclock. Tliey. were attrik.ked on both .flanka and in the
centre at once, which could. not have•hczn done with shut
without the three' clivisio;nr tiring on each other. Iladthe
liritisit had pikes,, tliw;e that were .wountleti by. Atmre‘an
bayonet's would not have. bCen readied by them. . A nun
Witli.a bayonet will not fence with a pike-man., flap:mots
in the night will make but a feeble resistance againit•pikes,
and a caw . composed of. hortictnewaod artillery only would
Mak`eitione ai all. Pike-men piohuig on are irrcs6tible in
their Impulbe. ' • • .

it ig a known fad, that; atoon.g other ifreparations' for a
regular tles.:ont upon our Coat‘ art munense quantity of lons
pikes have been made fir the use of the French army. The'
French know our superiority over them in the: Caereise of
the bayonet, and they would ob.vi:ire our force by lonz pikes.

OLAsopir, Ocr. 20.

ARRIVED at the Buck's Head Inn, the Right
Hon.. the Earl and Countess of CA'slt iti; Lady
ANN KaNNgD.Y,• MiSlt ERSKINE, Mrs. Fu'LL'att.
Torr, of Fullarton, MiiiK BLAIR, Right Honourable'
Lord JOHN CAMPBELL, Dr, ROB EitiS6N,Meoll.
Scuttonowand Ditoor; from Hambuigh.
Last Saturday the Sitting'Magist rate fined ROhert
Stowell, a carter, in twenty shillings, for cruelty
'to his horse, and' conteaversion of the regulatiOns
of the City, by giving through the town with a
load of logs of wood of greater lehgth than 14 al.
lowed, upon a single cars, and of the enormous
weight-of at least two tons ,and a quarter.. With
this load, a single horse was forced along by
Stewart and another man, Whipping him incessantly
on each 'side, in the most barbarous 'manner, ►ill
one of the Commissioners of Police, With some of
•the'byc.standers, seized him and carried him to the
Council Chamber.

Yestcrday William Newham, an itinerant Quack
Dudur,
,wha being lately`convided before the Ma.
gistrales of several acts of imposition and fraudulent
extortion, was fined' and imprisoned till payment,
paid his fine, four guineas,, and went into banish.
mem from the City and Liberties, whin wag like'.
wise part of his sehience.

01.SatUrdity(Might . fire broke. out in the
candle-house of Mr.` tNnLe, tallow-chandler,
NeWbrot.street, Scitrborinigh," which: burnt with
sLieh.fury its, at one tulle,, to threaten the destrue.
tion of the whole. neighbourhood. Some_ calks' Of
gunpowder, in an upper room, blew up, colied
away the.roof,.ausl threw down the gableAud
kaohlier belonging to the.c:umberland Militia, was,
unfortunately blowit fitnn the roof, his lie 4 was•
severely Wounded, and two 0 his ribs broken. By
the timely assista'nc'e 'of the enOeSt anti a plentiful
supply of Water, the fire wits,luppily confined, to the
building Where it he ,viii, and`wati got .nnder about
ten o'clock at night, but not Until it hatiftegirly
stroyed the prerases..

SKIP NEWS.

POOLE, OCT.

Arrived—the Dispatch, Blake, from Newfoundland ;
Printems, Pattick, from IVeyinouth and Prince of Wales,
Evans, from Plynionth.. . .

-
Soiled—the Swift. Holloway, for Southampton
Williams, for Portsmouth; 13etsey, Collins, tor Falmouth;
Industry, Tucker, and Mary Ann; Rebell, for Litierpool ;
Pheasant. Florencei and Blessing, -Wills.- tbr London„ and
Seagull gevenue Cutter on a Cruize,