raifed England to a preeminence in the fcale of Europe which it had never attained before, curiosity, patriotism, and national pride, lead us not only to read, but to study that period of our history. The events in the life of King William, and the wars of the Duke of Marlborough, are fo interefting and fplendid, that no perfon fhould remain ignorant of them, who wishes to fupport a fhining, or even a decent figure in company. If Mr. Cunningham does not greatly enlarge the ftores of hiftorical description or difcovery, he places objects in a more ftriking light, and displays a knowledge of public affairs, of the characters of men, and the manners of the times, fuch as we might expect from a man who was converfant in the world, and received his information from the pureft fources. In the defcription of fieges and battles he is one of the moft enlightened and accurate of modern hiftorians. He excels too in painting the manners of the times; in his anecdotes of celebrated characters; and furnishes much entertainment to the antiquarian. The following defcription of the celebrated battle of Blenheim, will furnish a specimen of the tranflation. The field of battle was a vast plain of twelve miles in extent, very level, furrounded with a large ridge of hills, arifing from the Danube, in the form of a circle. The confederates marched against the enemy in two bodies. Prince Eugene, who commanded on the right, led up his men through the woods along the summits of the hills; and, before it was light, had furmounted that difficult pass, and reached a certain town, where he was alfo to pafs over a very dangerous valley encumbered with broken rocks. By the time he had cleared the woods, the fun arose, which shed its laft light on the domination and glory of France. The Duke of Marlborough, on the left, having paffed the river Keffel, marched along the fide of the Danube, and advanced towards the enemy through the plains of Blenheim, which were three miles broad, and enriched with fine corn-fields. When he was near the enemy, whom he faw ready drawn up, with their cannon planted to command the whole plain, he gave the fignal to halt: and, encouraging his men, distributed his orders to the feveral generals and colonels, for their conduct refpectively in the action. When Prince Eugene came out of the woods, and faw the Duke of Marlborough before him haftening towards the enemy, he commanded his men to quicken their pace. But why the French, when they faw the Imperialists extending their lines out of the woody aills, fhould miftake them for their friends, I can find no other reafon than that men are apt to believe what they with to be true: for, at the first fight of this motion upon their left, the French thought it was the Marfhal de Villeroy coming to their affiftance; but, when Prince Eugene ftretched out his right wing towards the hills, he foon convinced the French of their mistake, and marched into the field. He had a broad wash of water 1 water in front, and a thicket in his rear; and, in this fituation, he affigned to his men their respective pofts and duties. The Duke of Marlborough, ftanding on foot in the open plain, ordered the Lord Cutts, with fome troops which had fuffered much in the late action at Schellenberg, and other entire forces, to attack the village of Blenheim. On the fight of this, the Marshal Tallard fent a detachment thither from his army. The Duke of Marlborough being expofed to the fire of the enemy's cannon, formed his army in order of battle. He placed the British and Dutch foldiers in the left wing, and the reft between the centre and the wings, and placing himfelf in the front of the centre, well fupported by fome English regiments, he commanded them to face the enemy. The Lord Cutts and Major-General Wills, at nine o'clock, began the attack on Blenheim with great alacrity. After a bloody engagement on both fides for an hour and an half, and that the Lord Cutts' party had been feverely handled by the eneiny, without gaining any advantage, the Duke of Marlborough fent him orders to proceed no further, but to give over the attack. The Lord Cutts obeyed the orders of his general; and both parties, facing each other, refted on their arms; but the Lord Cutts' party being before inftructed what they were to do, kept their ground a long time before the enemy. In the mean time, the Duke of Marlborough, obferving that the enemy had weakened their army by the detachment fent into Blenheim, and that his men were eager to engage, waiting only for the fignal, ordered the horfe to provide themfelves with twenty fafcines a-piece, in order to fill up the marsh, and render it paffable; for the enemy had dammed up the water there to fuch a height as they thought would eafily prevent the confederates paffage that way, When the fafcines were prepared, and all the troops arranged in order, the Duke of Marlborough gave the fignal for battle, and ordered the feveral commanders to march up to the enemy. The whole army, with their natural alacrity, preffing onward to pafs the rivulet in defiance of the fire of the enemy, proceeded to the ford, according to the Duke of Marlborough's orders. The Marshal Tallard, having, as he thought, fo well guarded the paffes of the marsh, itood at the head of his army, fully perfuaded, that, if the confederates fhould attempt to pass through the marshes, they would be fo bemired there, that he should easily be able to overthrow them; for he had before given orders to his army not to quit their ground, but to receive the affault of their enemies; nor did he ufe any other means to oppofe our army in this paffage than a continual difcharge of his cannon. The conduct of Tallard, in this inftance, appears to have been improper. When the Duke of Marlborough was marching down to the ri vulet, he narrowly escaped being killed by a cannon ball; by which accident the whole event of the war feemed to his foldiers to have hung in equal fufpenfe with his life; but, all covered as he was with earth and duft, the Duke of Marlborough mounted his horfe, and, coming to the brink of the rivulet, made his way through it with all his forces. Some fquadrons of horse being fent over before, the foot followed as faft as they could, and, wheeling towards the left, formed them themselves in order of battle, leaving a space, fo that the reft might have room to fight as they paffed by. The confederates were fo eager to engage, that they would hardly ftay to be regularly formed, but made a furious onfet, with a terrible difcharge of their fire-arms, whereby the French ranks were very much thinned. And now the battle grew hot in many places. For an hour or two the event feemed doubtful. At length the confederates in the left wing, having spent all their powder, widened their ranks, that they might the more conveniently use their fwords. They were fupported by fresh troops, who renewed the fight in order of battle. The Duke of Marlborough took care to fill up the ranks; then he himself broke in upon the enemy. His cool courage, in this conjun&ture, was inflamed by action. The British foldiers often fell upon the enemy with the butt end of their muskets; and, being ftronger than the French, repulfed them as they advanced in their ranks, and flew those who refifted them by whole battalions together. The enemy was not able to bear the broad fwords of our dragoons, or the impetuofity and strength of our horfe. rear. Towards the afternoon the Duke of Marlborough, finding that he had the advantage, ordered the body of referve, which had not yet been engaged, to march to the affiftance of Prince Eugene, whom he perceived to be forely preffed by the enemy. The Imperialists, ftrengthened by this reinforcement, fallied out of the woods, and Prince Eugene renewed the engagement, The Duke of Marlborough forced the enemy to give ground; and, when they would have rallied again, the confederates, taught experience by the former engage. ments, attacked fome of the enemy's battalions in front, fome in the open flank, and endeavoured to come up with others of them in the When the Marshal Tallard faw his forces fhattered, he at lalt fent for his troops out of the village of Blenheim to reinforce them; but the Duke of Marlborough, being aware of this, cut off their communication; and, with the Heffian forces, and five battalions of English, defeated the French, who were on their way to join the main army. And now, all the avenues to the town being taken, the whole French army, no longer able to ftand the fhock of the confederate troops, began to fhake. But the Marthal de Tallard, inflamed with rage, endeavoured to renew the battle upon a hill not far from his cannon. The Prince of Heffe, Lieutenant-General Bulan, commander of the Hanoverians, and Lieutenant General Lumley, and other generals of the horfe, marching up with great intrepidity, drove Tallard's five fquadrons down the hill. Whereupon the Duke of Marlborough difpatched his troops immediately where there was the moft occafion for them. Thus a general affault enfuing, put the enemy every where to fight. The confederates, having once gained the advantage, were every where irrefiftible; and the Marshal de Tallard had neither time to form his army anew, nor to rally his fcattered troops; wherefore, giving up all for loft, and endeavouring to make his escape out of the field, he was taken by a certain colonel of the Heffian troops, and brought to the Duke of Marlborough. The confederates now carried all before them; and the whole right wing of the French was utterly routed, routed, and put to flight. The reft of the enemy's horfe, which were drawn up on a steep place, on both fides defcending towards the Danube, were there iurrounded by three fquadrons of dragoons; and, not having room to fight there, while they endeavoured to fave themfelves, by forcing their way through the confederates, they were prevented, partly by the ruggedness of the ground, and partly by the va lour of the confederates, and pushed into the Danube. During those actions on the left, the battle was hard fought on the right. The Imperialifts were twice driven back into the woods, and many of them flain by the Bavarians. While Prince Eugene was encouraging his men to make a third attack, he received advice of the good fuccefs on the left. The Duke of Marlborough defired to hear from him how matters went on his fide, and whether he wanted any thing but Prince Eugene, having cheered his men with the arrival of a fresh reinforcement, which had been fent to him by the duke, and the news of their fuccefs on the left, made a third charge with great intrepidity, and began to gain ground upon the enemy, though they difputed it with great refolution. Nor had the Elector of Bavaria time to bring his men together again; but, when he faw the French army broken and put to flight, left he fhould alfo be furrounded by the confederates, he marched out of the field in a close square, with hi: baggage, in order of battle, and, continuing his march all night, retired to Ulm.' The defcription of the battle of Blenheim is one of the happieft fpecimens of Mr. Cunningham's Latin style, which, though in general perfpicuous, nervous, and adapted to the fubject, is not always claffical and correct. The tranflation is faithful to the author's meaning, and at the fame time perfpicuous and neat ; a broad wash of water in the front," and "Lord Cutts' army had been feverely handled," are the the only exceptionable phrafes. 66 The period of this Hiftory, which was the Auguftan age of England, is one of the most important in our annals. The talents of the author, his wide experience of life, obfervation of the world, and knowledge of the fcenes which he defcribes, render this work a proper object of public curiofity and attention. Dr. Thomion's Introduction, though liable to fome objections, is one of the happiett efforts we have met with of his literary talents. [To be concluded in our next. ] ART. ART. II. A Treatise on the Venom of the Viper; on the American Poifons; and on the Cherry Laurel, and fome other Vegetable Poifons. To which are annexed, Obfervations on the primitive Structure of the Animal Body; different Experiments on the Reproduction of the Nerves; and a Defcription of a new Canal of the Eye. With Ten Defcriptive Plates. Tranflated from the original French of Felix Fontana, Naturalift to his Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Director of his Cabinet of Natural Hiftory. By Jofeph Skinner, Navy Surgeon, and Member of the Corporation of Surgeons of London. 8vo. 2 vols. 14s. boards. Murray. London, 1786. Ο N a former occafion we gave an account of the first volume of this valuable treatise, under the article of Foreign Literature *. A work of fuch merit could not but claim the attention of every philofophical inquirer: it was accordingly fought after with an avidity which nothing could gratify but a tranflation into our own language. The verfion is at length completed; and, with the announcing of this acceptable intelligence to the lovers of phyfical invettigation, we have now the pleasure to proceed to an account of the fecond volume. This part commences with an examination of the remedies employed against the bite of the viper. Upon the prefumption, maintained by Dr. Mead and others, that the venom of the viper is of an acid nature, the volatile alkali was fuppofed to be an effectual antidote against it; but the error of this hypothefis is clearly refuted by the ingenious author now before us. In order to afcertain the truth on this fubject, he made the following experiment: He cut a piece of the fkin under the belly of a Guinea-pig, the incifion being in the fhape of a parallelogram, three fides of which were feparated from the animal, the fourth ftill hanging to it. He then pierced the cut fkin with the dried teeth of a viper, which made a complete perforation. Under the hairy fide of the fkin thus prepared, he held a bottle filled. with volatile alkali, and having a mouth of four lines diameter; but could never perceive that any fmell was communicated to the infide of the fkin, how long foever he kept it over the bottle, and however great the ftrength of the volatile alkali, which was remarkably pungent. He re * See English Review for December 1783.. peated |