The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-04-23
tryin' to fool me; but Tim too smart for
him, r am. "a
The Cannon Six Centuries Ago.

him, am. III
The Cannon Six Centuries Ago.
h There is nothing in the history OF the
Chinese, nor in their = Dictionary of Arts
ana Sciences that bears any allnsion to
their knowledge of cannon, before the
invasion of Gengis Khan in 1919, when
mention is made OF hopes, or tubes,
the present name of cannon, which are
said to kill men, and to set tire to intlann- |
mable substance; they are said, too, to
have been used by the Tartars, not by the
Chinese, and very probably We're moth
ing more than the enormous rocket
known in India at the period of the Mo-
hammedan invasion.
The Moors, or Arabs, in Spain, appear
TO have used gunpowder and cannon In
the beginning Of tho fourteenth century;
an isolated case is mentioned even at an
earlier date. In the Cronica de Espana,
by Abu-Abdalla, il is said, that Gel Isey
de Granada, Abu-Walid, Ilevo consiggn al
sitio de Baza una gruessa maquina, que,
cargada con mintos tie aznfre, q tlG1tdloZe
flcgo despedSa con estetenda globos contra
eli Aleazar de aouella Ciudad." And in
1881, when the King OF Granada laid
siege to Aicant, he battered its walls
with iron bullets discharged by fire from
machines. This novel mode of warfare,
adds the annalist, inspired great ter
ror. ~ @aAf
1t is stated in the "Cronica de Don
Alonzo ell Onceno'' that when Alonzo XII,
King of CASTLE. beseiged Algesiras IN
1923 the Moorish garrison in defending
the place, 'lanzaban muchos truenos
contra la hueste Ell que lanzaban pellas
de tierro muy grandes." That the
truenos (iterally "thunders'D were q
species of cannon. and fred with powder,
| is clear from other passages in the same
chronicle. And Mariana mentions the
circumstance of the inhabitants defend
| ing themselves by "tiros con polvora que
lanzaban piedras," and adds that this was
the first instance be had found Of any
mention of the use Of such arms. The
| celebrated battle of Creci was fought by
Edward Ill. in 1346; and Hume, on the
authority of VILLAIN, says the English had
cannon, but not the French. The asser-
ton is unsupported by Froissart, who
was contemporary, and almost an eye
witness; he makes no mention of cannon,
although he describes the battle very
infinitely. Thomas Of Walsingham, who
wrote more than three centuries before
Hume. and who not only gives detailed
account of the battle, but even specifies
by name the arms and weapons used BY
the English, makes no mention ofcannOn
which he certainly would have done had
they been used.
The Oldest piece of cannon in existence
is preserved in the Castle of st. Juiliac
da Barra, ten miles from Lisbon; it il
twenty feet seven inches in length, ano
discharges a ball Of one hundred pounc
weight. It has neither dolphins, rings
nor button; is Of strange metal, ano
J has an Hindostan inscription, which say
. it was cast in the year 140O.
Cannon were originally made of irol
bars soldered together and bound rount
with strong iron hoops. Some Of thes'
relics of the culmsiness Of our ancestor
f may still be seen. One is in the Towe
, of London, two at Woolwich, and on
i. in the Royal Arsenal Lisbon. They wer
: sometimes also made with leather an
' plates of iron and copper.
: Queen Elizabeth's pocket pistol is wei
= known. At BOls le-Duc, IN France
: there is cannon called the Devil; Their
!, is an eighty FOUNDER in the Towel
|, brought from Edinburg Castle, Gale
|. Mounts Meg; an eighty FOUNDER in th
j Arsenal at Berlin called the Thundere1
it two curious sixty Founders in the Arsens
IL at Bremen called the Messengers OF Ba
$ News; and, lastly, seventy FOUNDER
le the Castle Of ST. Angelo, at Rome, mao
As of the nails which covered the o.
re Pantheon, with this inscription: 'Excl
as Wis trabalibus, Porticus Agrippee.'
is There was at Tong Castle, in Shrol
Id shire, fortv-pouneler called CLEAR Il
way of the Lord,' which was used at Il
demolition Of Cheney Longuville Cast
in that county by Oliver Cromwell. ~
Protector gave Scripture phrases
h. names to most of the Commonwealt
Of impressions of which they generally boz
1..l# Il