The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-10-20
MILITARY GENIUS.
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individuals, 90, too, they have been created by individuals. How, then, can 1t Do said that all the great political and national revolutions of the world are the direct outcome of natural laws5 Into every phase of history, the sheer ability, will, force of character, and the very idiosyncrasies, and above all other things, the military genius of great commanders or rulers, enter very largely as powerful factors for good or evil.
 Should we ever have had the Crus- ades, had Peter the Hermit never been born2 And In that case how different would have been the history of Euro- pean civilixationl What an influence Holland has exercised on the world, and yet, if the sickly, prematurely born William of Orange had died of tho virulent smallpox with which he was attacked in early lie. or had John Churchill died of fever in Tangier, there can be little doubt that Holland would have followed the fate which overlook Alsace and @Lorraine. and, like them, 1t must In time become essentially French in feeling and an integral part of France. If Well. ington had in early life accepted the small post in the Irish Excise which his family pressed him to take, or after Talavera, had he resigned his command in disgust with the inter- ferences of ministers, as ignorant of war, as he was of theology, Napoleon would, in all human probability, have died in peace and triumph at the Tuileries. After Sir John Moore's death, there was no English general save Wellington. In the same hun dred years before, Marlborough was our only commander who was it to cope with Villars and the other mar shals of France of that time. In Anne's reign, the grand alliance, which may be said to have saved European liberty, could have only been kept together by the tact and military genius of Marlborough. It was his great ability in the field that secured the independence of Holland, and saved Europe from the grasp of the great French king, as she was saved . century later from the tyranny of the great Corsican, by another illustrious British soldier.
 That in two such remarkable epochs of the worlds history peace and lib- erty were secured to all Europe by two of England's most renowned soldiers, two of her very greatest sons, would iudeed be proud remembrance for every British subject were 1t not for the comparison between the posi- ton we then occupied in the world and that to which . sickly and phArisAical philanthropy has since reduced us.
 Then we were the acknow ledged mistress of the seas, and our military strength gave us power and inhu. ence in the world which, while 1t wss gratifying to our pride, helped largely to the creation of this large empire Of ours, and conduced greatly to the good and welfare of mankind. The torrent of anarchical democracy lately let loose upon England b undermin- ing, and must eventually destroy that fabric of military and naval strength upon which our stability as . nation rests. With its destruction hundreds of millions of money, involved in British enterprises, will be removed to some country with an executive government strong enough to main- tain order and secure the rights of property at home, and strong enough in . military sense to hold Its own against all foreign aggression. Cur recent naval rnAneuvers will certainly cause ell Europe to question our naval strength, even If they do not open the eyes Of their own electorate to the diaagrecable truth long known to every one not on the "front benehes.S
 In many professions and callings genius pure and simple may command success, but gsnius alone does not make the great commander. When lesdership and responsibility in war arc conferred upon . man devoid of sound common sense, tact, good tem- per, and good health, simply because he can write ably On strategy or h . irst-rate lecturer on tactics, the fate of his army will be thst of GestsD In the fable As understand the genius poasesssd by the Narlboroughs and Napoleons of all sges, 1t l. compOasd of . greater variety of talents and of natural gifts than that which has made men great and renowned In any other walk of life. Military eenius in itS highest ssnse is . combina&iop ofmany qualities and powefs. 4 man mey shine as sn eminent military historian and yet be wanting ih some of tho simpe attributes without which no | man can even be . good private sol- dier. In fact, he reed not be soldier ct all. Mr. Kinglake and Thomas Car-