Other parts of the law of nations, the maritime law especially, require
improvement. Superficial men are apt to overlook the transcendent
importance of error on these subjects by which desolation may be spread
from one quarter of the globe to the other. As no man can bear long the
unanimous disapprobation of his fellows, no nation can long set at
defiance the voice of a civilized world. But we return to history in
military operations. A good map is essential to this study. For
instance, to understand the wars of Frederick the Great, it is not
enough to know that he was defeated at Kolin, Hochkirchen, and
Cunersdorf--that he was victorious at Rosbach, Lowositz, Zorndorf, and
Prague--that he was opposed by Daun, and Laudohn, and Soltikoff--we must
also comprehend the situation of the Prussian dominions with regard to
those of the allies--the importance of Saxony as covering Prussia on the
side of Austria--the importance of Silesia as running into the Austrian
frontier, and flanking a large part of Bohemia, should also be
considered--this will alone enable us to account for Frederick's attack
on Saxony, and his pertinacity in keeping possession of Silesia; nor
should it be forgotten, that the military positions of one generation
are not always those of the next, and that the military history of one
period will be almost unintelligible, if judged according to the roads
and fortresses of another. For instance, St Dizier in Champagne, which
arrested Charles the Fifth's invading army, is now perfectly
untenable--Turin, so celebrated for the sieges it has sustained, is an
open town, while Alexandria is the great Piedmontese fortress. The
addition of Paris to the list of French strongholds, is, if really
intended, a greater change than any that has been enumerated. This
discussion leads to an allusion to mountain warfare, which has been
termed the poetry of the military art, and of which the struggle in
Switzerland in 1799, when the eastern part of that country was turned