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Warriors the greatest Incendiaries.

[Book III.

(judging from the flames issuing from monstrous animals’ mouths) seems tohave been designed for projecting G-reek fire, though it is difficult to per-ceive how it was done. Another mode of using this terrible material,was by forcing it in jets “ by means of large fire-engines,” and sometimes“ the soldiers squirted it from hand engines.” Its efFects upon those onwhom it was thrown, seem to have been somewhat similar to those pro-duced by the composition of alcohol and spirits of turpentine recently adopt-ed as a substitute for oil in lamps, and which has occasioned so many fataldisasters, by the explosion of vessels containing it and its consequent dis-persion over the persons of the sufferers. It was easy (says Beckman) toconceive the idea of discharging Greek fire by means of forcing pumps,because the application of them to extinguish fires was known long beforeits invention. It is supposed to have originated with Callinicus, a Syrian engineer of Balbec, in the 7th Century. It may however have been knownto the old Greeks and Romans, for they made use of similar devices forprojecting fire : Montfaucon, in describmg their marine combats, observes“ another mode of annoying enemies’ ships was by throwing fire therein,which they did after different ways, some using for that purpose siphones,and fire buckets, others threw in pots filled with fire.” From an expres-sion of Dr. G. A. Agricola, a physician of Ratisbon of the last Century, ina work on Gardening, (see page 127 in Bradley’s translation) it would ap-pear as if something like the Greek fire was then in use. Enumeratingseveral pernicious inventions, he notiees “ That infernal one of gunpowder.How many cities and fortresses has it ruined 1 How many thousands ofmen has it destroyed 1 And what is most deplorable is, that this art growsmore and more complete every day, and is brought to that perfection, thatin Holland and some other parts they have fire pumps filled with burningcompositions, wherewith they ejeet fiery torrents to a great distance,which may occasion dreadful and irreparable damages to mankind.”

Fires and wars have ever been deemed the most awful of earthly cala-mities, and, unfortunately for our race, they have. too often been United,for warriors have generally had recourse to the former to multiply the mi-series of the latter; and in almost every age cities have, like Jericho andAi, Hebron and Ziglag, Troy and Thebes , Carthage and Athens, Sagun-tum and Bagdat, been burnt with fire; and in some cases “ all the soulstherein destroyed”—“cities burned without inhabitants.” It was, we be-lieve, from the horrible, the inconceivable sufferings endured on such oc-casions, that much of the thrilling imagery of the Bible was derived. Tothe offending Jews, God was represented as “a consuming fire,” and theywere urged to repentance “ lest his fury come forth like fire, and burn,that none can quench it—lest he break out like fire in the house of J osephand there be none to quench it in Betheland some of the sublimest ef-fusions of the prophets have reference to “ firebrands, arrows and death”—-to “ blood and fire and pillars of smoke.” In modern times, too, war-riors have been the greatest incendiaries : hamlets, towns and cities havebeen wantonly consumed, and the “ gallant” actors have made the airshiver with their shouts of acclamation on witnessing the spreading eon-flagration. Well did the ancients represent Mars fierce in aspect, bran-dishing a spear, and driving in his chariot o’er mangled corses, amid theclangor of arms and the shrieks of the dying—Fear , Terror and Discordin his train, while before went Bellona, with her hair loose and clottedwith göre, and a firebrand in her hand. And these are the demons thatmen professing christianity worship with all the fervor of deluded hea-then ; and, what, will in future times appear incredible, they demand re-verence for the act, and they—receive it! Strange, that notwithstanding