wards became fo expert, I profefs that I cannot meet with any pofitive proofs, and muft therefore state fuch grounds for conjecture as have occurred.

Our chroniclers do not mention the use of archery as exprefsly. applied to the crois, or long-bow, till the death of Richard the Firit, who was killed by an arrow at the fiege of Limoges in Guienne, which Hemmingford mentions to have iffued from a cross-bow. Joinvoille likewife (in his life of St. Lewis) always fpeaks of the Chriftian baliftarii.

After this death of Richard the First in 1199, I have not happened to stumble upon any paffages alluding to archery for nearly one hundred and fifty years, when an order was iffued by Edward the Third, in the fifteenth year of his reign, to the fherives of most of the English counties for providing five hundred white bows, and five hundred bundles of arrows, for the then intended war against France.

⚫ Similar orders are repeated in the following years, with this difference only, that the fheriff of Gloucestershire is directed to furnish five hundred painted bows, as well as the fame number of white.

The famous battle of Creffy was fought four years afterwards in which our chroniclers ftate that we had two thousand archers, who were oppofed to about the fame number of the French together with a circumftance, which feems to prove, that by this time we ufed the long-bow, whilst the French archers fhot with the arbaleft.

Previous to this engagement fell a very heavy rain, which is faid to have much damaged the bows of the French; or perhaps rather the ftrings of them. Now our long bow (when unftrung) may ay be most conveniently covered, fo as to prevent the rain's injuring it, nor is there fcarcely any addition to the weight from such a cafe; whereas the arbaleft is of a moft inconvenient form to be heltered from the weather.

6

As therefore in the year 1342, orders iffued to the sherives of each county to provide five hundred bows, with a proper proportion of arrows, I cannot but infer that these were long-bows, and not the arbaleit.

We are still in the dark indeed when the former weapon was first introduced by our ancestors, but I will venture to shoot my bolt in this obfcurity whether it may be well directed or not, as poffibly it may produce a better conjecture from others.

Edward the Firft is known to have ferved in the holy wars, where he must have seen the effect of archery from a long-bow to be much fuperior to that of the arbaleft, in the use of which, the Italian tates, and particularly the Genoefe, had always been distinguished.

This circumftance would appear to me very decifive that we owe the introduction of the long-bow to this king, was it not to be. obferved, that the bows of the Afiatics (though differing totally. from the arbaleft) were yet rather unlike to our long-bows in point of fo m.

This objection therefore must be admitted; but still poffibly, as the Afiatic bows were more powerful than the arbaleft, fome of our English

English crufaders might have fubftituted our long-bows in the room of the Afiatic ones, in the fame manner that improvements are frequently made in our prefent artillery. We might confequently, before the battle of Creffy, have had fuch a fufficient number of troops trained to the long-bow, as to be decifive in our favour, as they were afterwards at Poitiers and Agincourt.'

The battle of Poitiers was fought A. D. 1356, four years after which a peace took place between England and France.

When treaties are concluded, it generally happens that both nations are heartily tired of the war, and they commonly are apt to fuppofe, that no fresh rupture will happen for a confiderable time, whence follows the difufe of military exercifes, efpecially in troops which were immediately difbanded upon the ceffation of hoftilities, ánd the officers of which had no half-pay.

"We find accordingly, that in the year 1363, Edward the Third was obliged to iffue an order, forbidding many rural sports, and injoining the use of archery, which even in the space of four years had begun to be neglected; this order was again repeated in 1365.

The Black Prince died in 1373, and Edward furvived him but four years: we cannot therefore expect any further regulations for promoting archery, after the laft order which I have ftated, and which iffued in 1363. During the fix first years of this interval, the Prince of Wales was in foreign parts, and the whole ten were the dregs of Edward's life.

Richard the Second, who fucceeded, is well known to have little attended to the cares of government; in the fifteenth year however of his reign (A. D. 1692) he iffued an order, directing all the fervants of his household never to travel without bows and arrows, and to take every opportunity of ufing this exercife, which injunction feems to prove that it had during the greater part of his reign been much neglected.

Henry the Fourth, though of a more warlike difpofition, feems to have done little more for the encouragement of archery than his predeceffor, as the only ftatute of his reign which relates to this head, goes no further than obliging the arrow-fmiths to point their arrows better, than they had hitherto done.

The wars during his reign were indeed confined to this country, but the ufe of archers feems to have been well known, as the Duke of Exeter, at the beginning of his rebellion, entertained a confiderable band of them. Fouricore archers are faid alfo to have contributed greatly to a victory of this fame king over a large body of rebels at Circenfter, fome of which feem to have been of an Amazonian difpofition, as his majefty attributes this fuccefs to the good women, as well as men of this town, and for these their fervices, grants them annually fix bucks and a hogfhead of wine.'

While we must complain that the fociety of antiquaries attempt not to unite philofophy with their refearches, we are forry to remark that they are equally careless with regard to compofition. They feem to defpife the cultivation of letters, and are contented with a dry and infipid form of expreffion. It is, however, very certain that the proper study

of

of antiquity is not hoftile to literature and elegance; and it would redound to their honour with the public, if they would pay to it a due refpect, and relieve the dulnefs of their toils with the gracefulness of language.

ART. XVIII. Elements of Mathematics: comprehending Geometry, Conic Sections, Menfuration, and Spherics. Illuftrated with thirty Copper-plates. For the Ufe of Schools. By John Weft. Affiftant Teacher of Mathematics, in the University of St. Andreas. 8vo. 6s. 6d. Creech, Edinburgh.

OF late years attempts have been made by feveral inge

nious mathematicians, to provide beginners in thofe fciences with a new book of the elements of geometry, which, they conceived, the prefent improved ftate of mathematical learning requires while others, no lefs fkilful, have been of opinion, at Euclid's elements might ftill continue to ferve the purpofe for which they were defigned and have been ufed for many centuries. Which of these different opinions is right, we thall not take upon us to determine. We fhall only obferve, that, on the one hand, to difcourage every attempt to give equally clear but shorter demonftrations of any of Euclid's propofitions, and to alter the arrangement of them fo as to make their connexion more confpicuous, is to fuppofe that Euclid's work is a perfect one: on the other hand, to produce a better work than that which has stood the trial of fo many ages, is a tafk of no fmall difficulty. Mr. Weft has undertaken this arduous tafk; and, while we commend his enterprising spirit, we wish we could congratulate him upon his fuccefs. He has indeed brought together, in a small compafs, the principal propofitions of geometry; but then, he has introduced many things in corollaries, which, we think, fhould have been demonftrated. objection was too obvious to efcape Mr. W's. notice: he fays, Pref. p. vii.) "I am aware of an objection, arifing"from the concifenefs of this work. It will be faid, per"haps, that many propofitions are left undemonftrated, "and annexed as corollaries to others, while their dependence on thefe is not obvious to a beginner. But I "have to obferve, that fuch propofitions ferve to fharpen "the genius, and to exercife the invention, of youth.' To this we anfwer, their genius must be sharp indeed, and their invention quick, if they can demonftrate thofe propofitions without help.-This part of the work is divided into fix books. At the beginning of book 2d, the author talks of cutting a line "at any point, between or beyond its "extremes."- This is an expreffion which we should

This

27

have expected from an Hibernian rather than a NorthBriton.

In part the 2d. Mr. W. treats of Conic Sections. Here he confiders the parabola, ellipfe, and hyperbola, as described by the motion of a point, and thence deduces and explains the properties of thofe curves. He afterwards fhews. that they are produced by the fections of a cone. This part of the work is divided into IV books.

Book

Next follows Menfuration, which the author has divided into III books. Book I. treats of lines and angles. II. of plane surfaces. Book IIl. of folids and curve furfaces.

The IV and laft part of the work, under the title of fpherics, confifts of IV books. The first book treats of fpherical geometry; the fecond of fpherical trigonometry; the third, of the ftereographic projection of the sphere; the fourth, of the orthographic projection of the fphere.

Upon the whole, there is a good deal of valuable matter in this one volume, which, therefore, under the direction of a judicious mafter, may be very useful in schools.

FOREIGN

LITERATURE.

ART. XIX. N. J. v. Jacquin's Anfangs-griende des medicinicfh practifchen Chymie zum gebranche feiner Vozlefurgen. Wien. Jacquin's Elements of medico-practical chemistry for the Use of his Lectures. 8vo. p. p. 526.

THE Emperor of Germany having not long fince ordered

the principal part of the public lectures at Vienna to be delivered in the language of the country, the excellent author of this elementary work was induced, though a foreigner, to publish it in German. It will appear from the title that his defign was not to comprize every branch of the widely extended fcience of chemistry, but to felect fuch parts as more particularly intereft the phyfician and the apothecary. Of courfe he has formed a plan which differs confiderably from thofe of other writers; and both by this and the execution, this manual is advantageously distinguished from the fwarm of lecture books which iffue in fuch numbers from the continental preffes. It is difpofed in the following manner. 1. The vegetable kingdom, which is treated in four fections, under the titles of 1. analysis of plants, by a heat not greater than the boiling point of water.-2. by a more violent heat.-3. by a fpontaneous change.-4. com-. pounds of vegetable bodies and their products. Then fol

low

low the animal and the mineral kingdoms, with numerous fubdivifions, and the whole is concluded with a fhort intro duction to the art of affaying.

To fay that the lucidus ordo and utmoft caution in laying down propofitions every where appears, will raise no furprife in thofe who know how much it is the author's prac tice to think before he writes. But he has not contented himself with merely arranging what was known before; he has fometimes added new matter, though we have not ob ferved any thing which can well be called a difcovery. Upon the whole, we fcruple not to call this the best work that has yet appeared on the subject of pharmaceutical chemistry.

MONTHLY

CATALOGUE.

[For OCTOBER, 1785.]

MISCELLANEO U S.

Art. 25. A Journey from Birmingham to London. By W. Hutton, F. S. A. Scot. Birmingham printed and fold by Baldwin, and W. Lowndes, London. 12mo. 1785.

WHY

THY Mr. Hutton fhould have given the title of "A Journey from Birmingham to London" to his performance we can not pretend to fay: it is our province to inform the public that it contains a fort of an account of the fights to be seen in London the journey to and from the metropolis is difcuffed in a very few pages. We shall present our readers with the author's bill of fare, which will confirm what we have just advanced.