KOCH'S REVOLUTIONS OF EUROPE.
THIS standard work forms the first number of another enterprising speculation to supply the classes below the wealthy, and indeed toe mass of the people, with solid literature at a low price and in a compact form, The distinguishing feature of the " Popular Li- brary of Modern Authors " is, however, to publish eoiwright at a price but little if at all exceeding the more elegant re- prints of older writers, SO as to furnish the people with works be- fore the gloss of novelty is worn off, or any of their matter is super- seded or become obsolete. An excellent plan, it' it be carried out with spirit and discrimination.; the first regard being had to the nature of the book and its probable demand, instead of the copy- rights the publisher may have in his possession. This proper judgment has been exercised in the choice of' the tint number ; for Koen's Reeobttions qf Europe is not only a valu-
able work in itself, but one whose absence cannot readily be supplied; presenting, in a brief space, a compendious narrative of the events of European history from the fifth century, as well as an investigation of the causes which produced them and ethic results to which they gave rise. The manner of Koeu is not, indeed, very animated, nor is his style distinguished for grace or strength ; but history and its cognate studies was the employment
°idle Professor's life he is therefore thoroughly master (Wilk sub- iret : his scholastic education, ancl the practice of teaching, gave him the method and the clearness of arrangement which character- ize the scholar ; the length of time indirectly or directly occupied upon the work, enabled him to reject subordinate matters; aml his diction is lucid and often NVCiglity frOM the messiness of' the ideas.
The period treated of by Knelt extends front the downfal of the Western Empire at the beginning of the fifth century, till the time immediately preceding the French Revolution, This time is divided into eight epochs, each of which the author conceives to mark some change in the state of Europe. Prefixed to his work is a brief introduction, containing a priscis of ancient history ; and Kocies editor, M. Senost.r., has affixed a ninth period, containing the European events of the French Revolution and the Empire, till the final expulsion of Napoleon in 1815. M. &loaner. had also made some interpolations in the text, which the English translator let judiciously marked by brackets.
The mode of' execution varies, of course, with the nature of the inaterials and the taste of the author ; but the general character of the work is rather to point out the effects of events than to narrate particular actions. A battle, a siege, and similar deeds, are Olen compressed in a sentence, with the brevity of a chronological table; but the rise of municipalities, for example, the liberation of the serfs, the great inventions of linen paper, printing, .gunpowder, &e. are narrated at comparative length. Again, the origin and espe- cially the results of the Crusades arc dwelt upon ; but the exploits of the Crusaders are dismissed briefly. Although neither the merit of Kew!' nor the value of his work is to be judged of piecemeal—for which exhibition the Revolutions of Europe is not at all adapted— we will take an extract as a specimen of his exhaustive manner, and the information he crowds into a small space. And we select the invention of gunpowder and the mariner's compass, because they are important discoveries, whose origin is very much misappre- hended iii common compilations. " Ncxt to the invention of printing, there is no other that so much arrests our auoutina as that of gunpowder ; which, by introducing artillery, and a new method of fortifying, at tack ng, and detienli ng cities, Wrought it complete clumps in the whole art and tactics of war. This invention comprises several dis- csw•mies which it is neeessmy to distinguish from each other. 1. The discovery (Zaitre, the principal ingredient in gunpowder, and the cause of its detonation. 2. The lnext me ol nitre with sulprtur and charcoal, which, properly speaking, forms the invention of gunpowder. 3. The application of powder to fire- works. 4. Its employment as an agent or propelling power for throwing stones, bullets, or other heavy and combustible bodies. 5. Its employment in spring- ing mines and destroying thrtifications. "All these discovene belong to different epochs. The knowledge of saltpetre or :Mrs, and its explosive propertiesecalled detonation, is very ancient. Most pro- bably it was brought to us from the East (India or China), where saltpetre is found in a natural state of preparation. It is not less probable that the nations of the East were acquainted with the composition of gunpowder before the Euro-
. vans, and that it was the Arabs who first introduced the use of it into Europe. The celebrated Roger Bacon, an Englislt monk or friar of the thirteenth century,
was acquainted with the composition of gunpowder, and its employment in
fireworks and public festivities • and. according to appearances, he obtained
this intbrmation from the Arabic authors, Who excelled in their skill of the chemical sciences. The employment of gunpowder in Europe as an agent for , throwing balls and stones, is ascertained to have been about the commencement of the fourteenth century ; audit was the Axubs who first availed themselves of its advantages in their wars against the Spaniards. From Spain, the use of gunpowder and artillery passed to France, and thence it gradually extended over the other states of Europe. As to the application of gunpowder to mines and the destruction of fortified works, it does not appear to have been in practice before the end of the fifteenth century. The introduction of bombs and mortars seems to have been of an earlier date (1467.) The invention of these in Europe is attributed to Sigismund Pandolph Malatesta, Prince of Rimini ; but in France they were not in use till about the reign of Louis the Thirteenth. Muskets and matchlocks began to be introduced early in the fifteenth century. They were without spring-locks till 1517, when for the first time muskets and pistols with spring-locks were manufactured at Nuremberg. " Several circumstances tended to check the progress of fire-arms and the improvement of artillery. Custom made most people prefer their ancient engines of war ; the construction of cannon was but imperfect ; the manufac■ Cure of gunpowder bad; and there was a very general aversion to the newly.. invented arms, as contrary to humanity, and caiculated to extinguish military bravery. Above all, the knights, whose science was rendered completely useless by the introduction of tireserms, set themselves with all their might to oppose this invention.
" From what we have just said, it is obvious that the common tradn which ascribes the invention of gunpowder to a certain monk named Berthold.
tlieo Schwartz, merits no credit whatever. This tradition is founded on mere hearsay ; and no writers agree as to the name, the country, or the circum- stances of this pretended inventor ; nor as to the time and place when he made this extraordinary discovery. " Lastly, the mariner's compass, so essential to the art of navigation, was likewise ihe production of the barbarous ages to which we now refer. The ancients were aware of the property of the magnet to attract iron ; but its di- rection towards the pole, and the manner of communicating its magnetic virtues to iron and steel, were unknown even to all those nations of antiquity who were renowned for their navigation and commerce. This discovery is 11.u:tile attributed to a citizen of Amalfi, named Flavio Gioia, )1 ho is said to Lave lived about the beginning of the fourteenth century. This tradition, ancient though it be, cannot be admitted; because we have incontestible evi- dence that, betiae this period, the polarity of the loadstone and the magnetic ileac were known in Europe ; and that, from the commencement of the thirteenth century, the Provencal mariners made use of the compass in navi- gation. "It must be confessed, however, that we can neither point out the original author of this valuable discovery, nor the true time when it was made. All that can be well ascertained is, that the mariner's compass was rectified by degrees ; and that the English had no small share in these corrections."
The history of the ninth period, written by 31. SCHCELL, is pro- bably inure readable, and certainly more rhetorical, than the work of Koen, but wants his matter and his solidity. Koen has a lean- ing towards Legitimacy, but Seller:Li, is a mere partisan. A single sentence will sometimes mark the man ; and it does so in the in- stance of our rhetorician's narrative of the execution of Loris the Sixteenth.
"At the moment," writes M. Sencem, when the executioner's axe [by the by it was not an axe] was ready to strike, the Able': Edgeworth, his confessor, ad:lres,etl him in these sublime words—' Son of St. Louis, ascend to heaven.' The whtle inh«hitants of Paris, who viewed this ,foul deed with horror, were multi- onus. A mournful silence reigned in the city."
In one short sentence we have two affirmations both of which are untrue, and their conjunction forms another assertion perfectly absurd. All the inhabitants were not under arms; all did not view the deed with horror; and if they had, the execution must have been prevented.
31. SCHIELL, however, has his use: we know not where so full a narrative of the period can be got in so small a compass.
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