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T HE COUNTRYM A N.
22
Tub Art op Fighting the
French Akmv.—“ Prince Freder
ick Oliarles, of Prussia, in a pamph
let, printed some years ago, gave, as
the fi”st principle of the French ar-
*ny, that the French soldier always
marches forward ; the second, he says,
is, that the moral is superior to the
physical force. So Marshal Canrobert,
when he had a coup de main on his
hands, in the Crimea,'always asked
his soldiers : ‘Do you feel equal to it V
They never answered ‘No;’ and the
promise, which they themselves had
given to their general, was the guaran
tee of their success. The third prin
ciple of the French, according to the
prince, is, to hold themselves in a ser
ried column, against an enemy which
is badly disciplined, and unaccustom
ed to military manoeuvres; and, on
the contrary, to fight with disordered
ranks, and like skirmishers, when
they have to do with regular and well-
disciplined troops. The fourth French
principle is, never to defend them
selves passively. Of this, the prince
says : ‘ If it happens that the French
are attacked by a close column, they
proceed in this way, and it is especi
ally excellent, when the attack is not
supported by a corps de reserve. The
French riflemen give way, at the point
of attack ; the attacking column, im
agining that this is tho commencement
of a retreat, pushes on, but soon the
riflemen piocor.1 «. .. Auno, hub or
two columns advance ; the sharpshoot
ers surround the enemy, on all sides ;
he hesitates ; he loses time ; he can
not turn back ; there he is compelled
to fight, and is abandoned to his fate.
The Freuch soldiers are ordered, in
this case, not to kill any more, but to
make prisoners : because a soldier can
take five or six prisoners in the time
required to kill one man.
' It is a principle,’ says the prioce,
* in the French army, that an attack,
•when once resolved upon, can never
be executed too soon, or loo rapidly.
In Italy, fire seldom lasted a quarter
of an hour before they came to the
bayonet; oftentimes, they did not
burn a cartridge during the attack.
It appears, now, that the French at*
tack at a full lun, to which they are
exercised during peace, so that, V'hen
they reach the enemy, they are not
out of breath/ The prince claims
many of these principles as of Prus
sian origin. He believes that they
are not even the product of the
French national *character, and that
the temperament of the Prussian sol
diers is admirably adapted to their
adoption. In conclusion, he propo
ses, first, to employ riflemen by col
umns of one company each ; second,
to dispose the armed in depth, rather
than in breadth, which increases tho
power of resistance on the flanks, and
prevents a rapid loss of men ; afid
thirdly, tho disposition of an army as
much as possible like the squares on
a chess-board, which is tho best means
of sustaining the impetuous attack of
such troops as the Zouaves, and Tur
eens, made on a full,run, and with the
bayonet. Perhaps it would ho well
for some of our own authorities to
study these principles.’’’
Preaching vs. Practicing.—
“About the time the temperance re
formation began, a well-disposed farm
er told one of his men that he thought
of trying to do his work without whis
key, and asked how much more he
should have to give him to do with
out it. The man told him he might give
him what be pleased. ‘Well,’ said
the farmer, ‘I will give you a sheep, if
you will do without whiskey.’ The
eldest son then asked him if he would
give him a sheep, if ho Would do
without whiskey.
‘Yes,’ said the farmer, ‘you shall
have a sheep, if you do without it.’
The youngest son then asked if he
would do tho same by him. ‘Yes
Sandy,’ was the reply ; ‘you shall
have a sheep, too, if you will do with**
out whiskey.’ Prasfi»»‘H
ru, valuer, harm t you better take a
sheep, too?’ This was a home ques
tion ; the father had hardly thought
that he could do without the ‘good
creature,’ but this direct appeal was
not to he disregarded. The result
was, that the demon was at once ban
ished from the premises.’’
Whipping and Branding White
Men.— Gov. Brown, in his message,
favors the whipping, and branding of
white men.* He says:
‘I recommend that the penitentiary
be abolished, as soon as it can be le
gally done, and that otbpr modes of
punishment, such ns banging, whip
ping, branding, etc., be substituted.’
The execution of such a law would
be an indignity to every white man
in the state, and would level him to
the negro slave.
We had thought that an enlighten
ed age had abolished such modes of
punishment, as barbarous.
Whipping is sometimes necessary
to the good discipline of the negro,
and, when properly administered, ben
eficial to his moral character.
But branding, even of the negro, is
unnecessary, cruel, and revolting .to
our feelings.—LaGrangc Reporter.
The Corsairs of Antiquity.4
“ During the most flourishing peril!
of the republic, the Meditenaneal
was infested with pirates, who plunl
dered the merchant ships of all nal
tious, and paid but little respect ti
the majesty of the Roman flag. Thesa
marauders belonged partly to tha
Balearic islands, partly to Illyria, and
Epirus, partly to Crete, and partly,
and chiefly, to the coasts of Asia Mi
nor— Oicilia being their stronghold,
and headquarters. Their depreda
tions were conducted on an extensive
and systematic plan. They hack
above one thousand ships, of differ-l
ent sizes, with watch-towers, arsenals,
and magazines ; and being formed in
to a species of commonwealth, they
elected magistrates, and officers, dis
tributed their naval force, into fleets,
assigned to each its proper duty, and
station, and gave unity, and consist
ency to their operations. Embolden,*
ed by their success, and by the occu
pation afforded them by-Mithridates,
they ravaged the whole line of the
Italian coast, sacked the towns, and
temples, the villas, and the country
seats on the seashore, and carried off
the inhabitants, whom they ransomed,
or sold as slaves. Nay, such was
their audacity, that they blockaded
tho entrance to the Tiber, destroyed
a Roman fleet, within the port of Os-
eity,^ wliicfi’lliey”mofe tnA’if drftifl’flc'i
prived of its accustomed supplies of
provisions. To make head against
this enormous, and rapidly increasing
evil, Pompey was invested with the
proconsulate of the Mediterranean,
and with the absolute command of
that sea, and of the adjoining coasts,
to the extent of fifty miles inland.
And though, by his vigor, and activi
ty, he succeeded in repressing the
evil, for a time, it was far from being
completely abated. During the sub
sequent civil wars, the pirates reap
peared, in considerable force. The
leaders in the struggle were glad to
avail themselves of their services ;
and the young Pompey, having joined
their fleet to his own, put himself at
their head, and became the most for
midable of all the antagonists of Au
gustus.”
Morals in Massachusetts.—“In
the Puritanical county of Middlesex,
Mass., there are no fewer than seven
ty-three divorce cases now upon the
docket. It must be lemembered, too,
that Middlesex is a country county,
Boston is in Suffolk county. The
New York Sun is our authority.”—
Dec. 15, 18G0.
