We use the word _Panic_ or _Panic Fear_, for a needless or ill-grounded
fright. What marshal Saxe terms _le cœur humain_ is no other than fear
occasioned by surprise. It is owing to that cause that an ambush is
generally so destructive; intelligence of it before hand renders it
harmless. At the siege of Amiens by the Gauls, Cæsar came up with his
army, which did not exceed 7000 men, and began to intrench himself in
such a hurry, that the barbarians judging him to be afraid, attacked his
intrenchments with great spirit. During the time they were filling up
the ditch, he issued out with his cohorts; and, by attacking them
unexpectedly, struck a panic that made them fly with precipitation, not
a single man offering to make a stand. At the siege of Alesia, the
Gauls, infinitely superior in number, attacked the Roman lines of
circumvallation, in order to raise the siege. Cæsar ordered a body of
his men to march silently and to attack them on the one flank, while he,
with another body, did the same on the other flank. The surprise of
being attacked when they expected a defence only, put the Gauls into
disorder, and gave an easy victory to Cæsar.
A third instance may be added no less memorable. In the year 846, an
obstinate battle was fought between Xamire king of Leon and Abdoulrahman
the Moorish king of Spain. After a long conflict, the night only
prevented the Arabians from obtaining a complete victory. The king of
Leon, taking advantage of the darkness, retreated to a neighbouring
hill, leaving the Arabians masters of the field of battle. Next morning,
perceiving that he could not maintain his place for want of provisions,
nor be able to draw off his men in the face of a victorious army, he
ranged his men in order of battle, and, without losing a moment, marched
to attack the enemy, resolved to conquer or die. The Arabians,
astonished to be attacked by those who were conquered the night before,
lost all heart. Fear succeeded to astonishment; the panic was universal;
and they all turned their backs almost without drawing a sword.
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_SIMPLICITY._
Genuine simplicity is that peculiar quality of the mind, by which some
happy characters are enabled to avoid the most distant approaches to
every thing like affectation, inconsistency, or design, in their
intercourse with the world. It is much more easily understood, however,
than defined; and consists not in any specific tone of the voice,
movement of the body, or mode imposed by custom, but is the natural and
permanent effect of real modesty and good sense on the whole behaviour.
It has been considered, in all ages, as one of the first and most
captivating ornaments of the sex. The savage, the plebeian, the man of
the world, and the courtier, are agreed in stamping it with a preference
to every other female excellence.
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