_The Invention of Gun-powder has been of great Use, and also very
beneficial to Mankind._
I. If in the account which Virgil gives of the descent of Æneas into
hell, he points out, as one of the most tormented and afflicted he saw
there, Salmoneus that king of Elide, who in order to acquire to himself
divine honours, attempted to imitate, although it was but in a very poor
way, the thunder and lightning of Jupiter;
_Vidi, & crudeles dantem Salmonea pœnas,_
_Dum flammas Jovis, & sonitus imitatur Olympi._
I say, if this was the case of Salmoneus, I believe I may venture to
pronounce, that the bulk of mankind, would judge the man deserving a much
more severe punishment, who invented gun-powder, and contrived cannon,
and would think, that he had imitated much better than the king of
Elide, the noise, the flash, and the havoc made by those fiery flying
meteors. In truth, the world contemplate the Author of that invention
with such horror and indignation, that they detest his name. And Quevedo
speaks the sentiment of them all, or they nearly all assent to the
opinion he expressed of him, in the following lines:
He was of iron race and heart,
In concave metal vast machine,
Who first combustible with art
Did shut;
And then to raise a horrid scene,
By violence produc’d a flame,
Destructive as his savage mind,
And thus transferr’d his odious name
As infamous to all mankind.
II. This abomination of the inventor, arises from the world’s considering
the invention of gun-powder, as a most pernicious thing to the human
race, as in consequence of it, the number of violent deaths has been
greatly increased; but this is an error, which in the discussion of this
Paradox I propose to banish from the world; and do not doubt, that by the
help of a little reasoning and reflexion, I shall be able so to explain
the matter, as to cause the mistake to vanish.
III. So far is the common conjecture, that the invention of gun-powder
has increased the mortality of mankind, from being true, that on the
contrary, it has lessened it. It is a notorious fact, established upon
the faith of all antient and modern histories, that when they only
used what are commonly called white arms in war, the battles were much
more bloody than they are at present. It was very rare then, that the
dispute was decided, when the contest lay between troops that were nearly
equal in valour and discipline, till one of the parties were almost
half destroyed; but at present, instead of that, the death of a tenth
part, is generally sufficient to determine the victory in favour of the
conquering side. I confess, that this in some measure may be owing to the
superior perfection the art of war is arrived at now, compared with what
it was formerly. I say in some measure, because I apprehend the greatest
difference, should be imputed to the different way of fighting. In former
days, when they fought principally with swords, or cutting and thrusting
weapons, the troops could not engage, without being intimately mixed one
with another. This mixing, conduced to irritate men’s minds, and caused
a greater difficulty in discerning the advantages one army had gained,
and the disadvantages the other laboured under: it also created great
confusion, and made it difficult for them to attend to or obey orders;
and likewise made it very hard to withdraw the vanquished out of the
reach of the conquerors; all which causes, concurred to make battles very
obstinate and bloody. Now-a-days, it is sometimes sufficient to decide
the contest, if one of the parties before their coming very near each
other, is greatly disordered by the fire of their adversaries; in which
case, if the general upon weighing the circumstances, concludes he cannot
repair the mischief, he orders a retreat.
IV. In the sieges of fortified towns, this difference of bloodshed is
still greater; for the reduction of places, is become much more easy
by the invention of gun-powder, and the slaughter attending reducing
them greatly less, than it was before the use of it. The siege of Troy,
which we are told lasted ten years, would probably not have continued
two months, if they had then known the use of cannon and mortars; by
so much the more havoc these implements make of the stone walls, by so
much the less, is the havoc made of men’s lives. Bombs and cannon balls,
are more terrifying than destructive. All hear their noise, and but few
perish by their flash. Frequently, the surprize and panic they occasion,
redeem people from the mischief of them, because the garrison, by being
intimidated before they are considerably wasted, entertain thoughts of
surrendering; by which means, an infinite number of deaths, both on the
part of the besieged, and the besiegers, are prevented.
V. It has not only been observed, that there has been a saving of men and
time in sieges, since they have introduced carrying them on by artillery;
but it has also been remarked, that in proportion as the fire of them has
been augmented, the destruction of the human race has been lessened. Upon
this experience, and with a view of preventing the effusion of blood,
Louis the fourteenth during his reign, either from his own feelings, or
by the advice of his best officers, directed, that they should increase
the expence of gun-powder in sieges. And Spain once imitated this
practice very happily, and with great success; for having observed that
the siege of the town of Namur in 1695, on account of the smallness of
their fire, cost them much time, and a great number of men, before they
could reduce the place; therefore when they came to besiege the citadel,
they for the space of seven days, kept an incessant fire against it,
with a hundred and forty cannon, and a hundred mortars and royals; by
which means, they obliged it to surrender in much less time than they
spent in besieging the town, and when the garrison consisted of eight
thousand good troops able to do duty, exclusive of sick and wounded. It
is a fact, that this good purpose was attained upon that occasion, and
would no doubt be attained upon others of the same sort, not only on
account of the terror, which such a fire impresses the besieged with, but
because also, the continual fatigue it exposes them to, exhausts their
spirits, and does not permit them, either to eat or sleep in safety, and
obliges them to exert an almost continual bodily labour, in repairing
the breaches, and clearing the ditches of the rubbish that is beat down
into them, and also in transporting materials to make breastworks at the
places attacked, together with ammunition and other things. Where the
garrison is not composed of veterans, the terror occasioned by the noise
of so many cannon and mortars, joined to the tumbling of the edifices,
is sufficient to intimidate, and frighten them into a surrender. And the
same thing will happen, when there are a great number of inhabitants shut
up in a place, although the garrison should be a veteran one; as we are
informed by that great master in the art of war, the Marquis de Santa
Cruz de Mercenado, in the fifth book of his Military Reflexions.
VI. It being then certain, that gun-powder has prevented the loss of a
great many lives in war, the mischief that has happened from it is very
light, compared to this great advantage, nor is the evil of its affording
people the means of putting one another to death, to revenge private
grudges, to be compared with this benefit; for such misfortunes do not
amount to a thousandth part of the other advantages. Nor should all the
deaths that happen in that way, be charged to the account of gun-powder;
for the steel in most of these cases, is commonly the instrument of
vengeance, and there are many of those instruments contrived very
artfully, for the purpose of giving desperate wounds to people when they
are off their guard. To this we may add, that rigorous laws against
peoples carrying concealed pistols, may in a great measure, prevent these
cruelties from being perpetrated by the means of gun-powder; so that by
making a general computation, of all the good and bad resulting from
gun-powder in these respects, we shall find, that for one man that is
slain by it in consequence of private piques and quarrels, the lives of a
thousand are saved, that would otherwise have been lost in the disputes
between princes.
VII. If we consider powder with regard to the advantages we derive from
it in other respects, we shall find it to be very useful and beneficial
to mankind, for it assists us to kill game, to extirpate wild beasts, to
smooth rugged surfaces, to blow up lime-stone, to open passages through
craggy mountains, to stop the progress of fires, and is likewise useful
in a thousand other instances.
VIII. From all which it may be inferred, that the inventor of gun-powder,
instead of meriting the execrations that are fulminated against him, is
deserving of the thanks and applause of the world. Who this inventor was,
agreeable to the general opinion, may be seen in the twelfth Discourse of
the fourth volume of the Theatrico-Critico[1].