New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-02-08
historic PARALLELS.

liz - curious 10 see how, IN history, events
reu-at themselves. As there lie no new thing
under the sun. so there 10 10 new truth, how
ever varied its application may be- for from
age 90 nge nations aud men so through the
same experiences to learn the same lessons.
We turn back 10 the historical pages OF the
past to see, aa in n mirror. reflection of to
day; w. read Of our own trials; We learn over
again what our own eyes have taught us is ~
true to-day IA hundreds Of years ago; aud we
90 on recording az new lesson for the benefit
of those who are TO come after u.s. what those
who have gone before US have recorded in
vain. The heroes OF this war, for instance,
have been civilians; except Lyon, the men of
cool heads and stout hearts" whose names
have become household words, are men who
buckled On their swords for the first time not
n twelyemonth ago. SO when disaster has
awaited US, tue plan Of battle, if there was
any. la. been made by the military men OF
experience, men whose whole lives have been
passed in the study and practice of the mill
tary art Has this phenomenon ever oc-
cured before Or has there been some
,pecial iatuity ate ndant upon this war,
which would seem to argue that the mil
ilary men Of our time, or our military educa-
ton. differ from those OF whom we read ia
history Not at Nil. The officers of our ARM
ara highly educated men, skilled in the acrcin-
plishments and learned 10 the lore of their
prof,ssio But the fact in regard to the
ser, ices they render when i. comes to actual
f,hting is simply fact oil which there nre
many parallels in history. There is this strik-
ing passage bearing upon this subject in
Macaulay's sketch Of John Hampden:
"is remarkable Circumstance tbs. the officer, who hed
J tactic. Ia what col,idr ell the best schools.
air we're the Ncthcands, and under OnsAyus Ado!ps
~ 90. .y displayed far le,. skill than those
WHO had been bred peaceful empoymcsi- and who
.sw even Srm,h till tho civil war broke out. Az al.
arei pcon might be inclined 10 suspect tat the military
sr. i. very profound mystery, that is pfncpls. the
principle. Of pl-in good and that quick eys cool
hssd and .ost heart win do 60 ma.o General than
81 the diagram. Of JomiuL Tail. however ia oer;sin that
iIamyd,u showed himsef far better officer than E.,ex and
Cromwell than Leslie"
Why there should have been this difference
betMeen Iumpden aud Essex, Macaulay goes
ON To show by one of those brilliant passages
with which he sometimes makes the reader
forget that he does not in the least answer the
question which either he or his subject has
suggested. Why Hampden was so superior to
Essex is plain enough on this showing; but
what Lord Macaulay meant by the supe-
riority of 30 many others, bred to peaceful
" pursuits US effective soldiers, over those
- who bad studied tactics" under We're and
Gustayus Adolphus, we are not quite certain.
lie goes on;
This military Of ESSEX probably IN gree
produced by poie0! timdiiy. He honestly, but ko
warmly stached to the Of the Parliament, and
great dJcat ne dreaded 9sa! reto,v Hampton.
other hand for igoov' and dec'irs When h.
drew the sword CaeEdon has well said he threw away h,
.cabbd III. had shown that he knew better than any public
Of III, time how value and how practice
Bpthe kaep that the Q Is violsnes and mod
s,aiDa u ,sbee,ny"
There is a remarkable confirmation of thu.