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sternation of the inhabitants, which wasexcited by a continual discharge of thesesignal shells, the grenadiers entered apracticable breach, and took the townby storm.

Signal -flag, in ancient military his-tory , was a gilded shield hung out of theadmiral’s galley; it was sometimes a redgarment or banner. During the eleva-tion of this signal the fight continued,and by its depression or inclination to-wards the right or left, the rest of theships were directed how to attack theirenemies, or retreat from them.

Signals made by the colours of anarmy , (signauxdes enseignes, Fr.) Theancients had recourse to all the variousmethods which could be used by signals,to express the particular situation ofaffairs, and to indicate measures thatshould be adopted. If, during an en-gagement, victory seemed inclined moreto one side than another, the coloursbelonging to the victorious party wereinstantly bent towards its yielding anta-gonist. This signal was conspicuous tothe men, and excited them to freshefforts. They imbibed the most livelyhopes of success, and eagerly pressedforward to reap the advantages of bra-very and good conduct.

When an army was hard pressed byits enemy, the colours of the formerwere raised high in air, and were kept ina perpetual flutter and agitation, for thepurpose of conveying to the soldiers,that the issue of the battle was stilldoubtful, and that nothing hut courageand perseverance could determine thevictory. If, in the heat of action, anyparticular regiment seemed to waver andand give way, so as to cause an appre-hension that it might finally he broken,its colours were instantly snatched outof the bearer’s hands by the general orcommanding officer, and thrown into thethickest of the enemy. It frequently hap-pened, that the men, who were upon thepoint of yielding ground and flying, re-ceived a fresh impulse from this act,rallied, and, by a desperate effort ofcourage, recovered the colours, and re-'stored the day. This method of re-animating their legions was generallyresorted to by the Romans. We havehad instances in modern times, in whichthe fortune of the day lias been whollydecided by some sudden and unexpectedact of an individual. In the reign ofLouis XIV . a private soldier threw hishat into the midst of the enemy, during

a hard-fought and doubtful battle, ex-pressing thereby that fresh succourswere arrived to strengthen the French army. This circumstance, so apparentlytrifling, produced the desired effect. Itthrew the enemy into confusion, gavethe French fresh spirits, and finally de-termined the victory in their favour.We read of various instances in whichsignals have been used to express thepersonal danger of a king or general,who was fighting at the head of a selectbody of men. The knowledge of thecritical position in which their leaderstood, excited fresh courage in the restof the troops, and drove them to acts ofthe greatest intrepidity. In the course ofthe late war, some examples of the samesort might be adduced, both on the sideof Austria , and on that of France . Theaction on the bridge of Lodi, the passageof the Tegliementi, &c. would illustrateany observations we could make uponthe subject.

Nor are the advantages, which arisefrom the use of signals confined to theseparticular cases. Various circumstancesgrow out of the desultory nature of mi-litary operations, to render flags of com-munication indispensably necessary. Thevast scope which is given to modern tac-tics makes it impossible, that the humaneye or voice should take in all the cri-tical manoeuvres or evolutions that occur,when an extended line is actually en-gaged. The right wing may be givingway, while the left is gaining ground,and the center might be in danger, whilethe two flanks were rapidly advancingwith apparent security against the ene-my; as was the case in the battle ofMarengo. Under these circumstances,a general, by means of communicatingsignals, would he enabled to provide forevery contingency, without losing timeby sending his orders verbally. Al-though signal flags, in modern engage-ments, have been generally laid aside,their use has been acknowledged in theadoption of warlike instruments, which,by the variety of their sounds, conveythe necessary directions to an engagingarmy.

The ancients had signals which theycalled mute signals , (signaux muets .)—These consisted in certain actions orsigns that were made by a general; suchas waving the hand, brandishing a stickor sword, or by exhibiting to view anypart of his dress, accoutrements, &c.Instances of the same kind have occurred